Page 54 of Casualties of War
“That’s the North Star,” Joaquim said. “It’s right over the north pole. That way is north.”
“We don’t want to go north. We want to go west, stupid,” Monty said.
The silence lingered. Adán suspected the other three were all looking at Monty now. They got it.
“You put the NorthStar on your right and keep it there. That means you’re heading west,” Joaquim said, his tone far more patient than Monty deserved.
“All right, then,” someone said. The motor opened up and Adán felt the boat swing around and steady.
Correct for current drift!Adán shouted to himself and ground his teeth together to stay silent. He wouldn’t help them reach Vistaria.
As the motor picked up revolutions,the water rushed and the nose of the boat slapped against the waves, Joaquim raised his voice. “You might want to head more north than south there, Monty.”
“Vistaria is west!” Monty shouted back.
“The ocean current runs north-south here,” Joaquim told him. “It’ll pull you south. You have to compensate.”
This time, Monty had just enough wisdom to keep his mouth shut. Adán couldn’t tell if henudged the boat northward or not, although Joaquim and the others said nothing more.
The roar of the motor and the vibration of the boat numbed his body and thoughts. Adán fought against the drowsiness. He tested the bonds about his wrists and ankles and decided they had used zip ties, which were unbreakable.
Time passed, as the boat climbed up and down the waves.
“Shut her down!” Joaquim shouted.
“Why?” Monty shouted back.
“Look at the time!”
Silence.
Then the motor cut and the boat slowed. The deck fell back to horizontal. The wind brushing Adán’s cheek ceased.
“Lights, lights. Turn them off!” someone whispered.
“Kill everything,” Joaquim said. “Hurry. It’ll be in range in less than a minute.”
Range?
Water lapped at the hull, slapping it. The boat rocked.
“How long?” one of themwhispered.
Joaquim made an impatient sound. “It can’t hear you. Turn your phone off, Monty. The screen glows.”
“It’ll see that?” Monty said, sounding winded. “Fuck.”
Range. See.
“It takes twelve minutes to move out of range,” Joaquim said. “Then we can fire up again.”
Satellites. They were talking about satellites. Spy satellites, Adán supposed. How on earth did they know the schedule ofthe satellites, though? Vistaria had none. Whose satellite were they hiding from?
The USA or Mexico, Adán decided.
The conclusion was a chilling one.
Where had they got the data about American satellites from? That information was closely held, or else every criminal and terrorist would know when to duck and hide.
