CHAPTER 13: SILVER

Harbor in the night was so busy, crowded, and noisy. Several ships had just arrived, followed by the loading and unloading process, and so many passengers that went out. There are lots of cranes and big cold rooms all around me, probably lots of marine's fishes being kept there.

I let the sea wind touched my skin. For a moment, I focused on looking at the sky, then began to lurk silently into the row of boats in front of me. At first glance, there was nothing suspicious. I stepped closer to the dock.

The row of boats became clearer. There were only five or six boats, whereas the other boats were leaving to take fishermen out to sea since early night. It wasn't hard for me to find a boat number 27 that written in dark blue paint.

I approached the boat.

At a very close range I could see a man with a black beard slumbering over him. He snored so hard, reminded me of a pirate movie I used to watch.

I knocked on the wooden end of the boat over and over. And, for the last time, I kicked that boat until it rocked because the bearded man didn't even wake up.

"What was that?!"

The bearded man was stunned. He then sat down and blinked in his eyes. Slowly he leaned in so he could see me clearly. I just stood there staring at him.

"Who are you? Did you just wake me up?"

I nodded quickly. The man slowly rose by using his feet and stepped out onto the small floating dock I was standing on. From this close, I could see his eyes were red and his ears were perspiring.

He looked at me. "Why did you wake me up? What color do you think the ocean is right now?"

I was surprised by the question. I didn't think that was a pep talk. Did he just ask for the password?

"What color do you think the sea is right now?" he asked once again.

"Silver," I answered instantly.

The expression on the bearded man's face changed drastically, from being initially tired and drowsy to both enthusiastic and excited.

"Oh, yeah! I think so," he laughed harder. Then he walked out of the sea, seemed to lead me somewhere.

Then I walked up to him without asking any questions. It looked like this guy was a middleman to accompany people on the outside to the mafia. We walked quite far until we finally got in front of a worn-out old container truck with no wheels at all. His steps came to a sudden halt.

I watched that figure closely.

The guy with the beard looked at me and waved his hand, and then he just left. I thought this was where the bandits were supposed to be.

I looked back at the old container truck in front of me. I immediately sent my location to Dova and Roy through cell phone.

As I was getting sleepy, I forced myself to come closer and peek through it's unlocked door. Well, it looked like this door was intentionally unlocked, because it was very low-vent in there. The people inside were falling asleep in unison. In the middle of them, there were about four medium-sized cartons that got my attention. I stepped closer to it.

There was so much stuffs in the carton boxes, and everything was all expensive. I was guessing these conspirators belong to the black market network. I could find it with rolls of cloth from overseas, imported phones, even guns. And luckily, I found the scroll of The Dancing Smoke!

But just now I was about to take the scroll out of the box, suddenly a strange cloth covering my mouth and nose from behind.

I fought back.

A few moment later, everything went dark.

****

(Dova's Point Of View)

"Good job, Cordova. You and your colleagues will get points." Mr. Ferdy shuffled the sheets of papers at his desk. "Your red mission will be black mission for another group."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you must give the location to the black team," he commanded as he fixed his eyeglasses. "After you do that, your mission is complete."

Then came three older guys from upper class, all members of the black mission team. They all seemed enthusiastic about the mission ahead.

All of a sudden my phone vibrated, I got the location scene. Suri had just finally found them. It seemed that I worried too much about her, because maybe she was still safe now. Hopefully.

I tried calling her back.

No answer.

I repeated once again.

Still no answer.

I waited for Suri's answer while Mr. Ferdy was also waiting for my response. Then I showed my screen phone and explained to the black mission team about this important notification. "There were mafia hiding there. This is the right location."

"Okay, then leave it to us," offered one of the team members kindly.

I shook my head. "I'll go there too."

"No need to, Cordova," warned Mr. Ferdy calmly. "Your mission is complete now. You're free."

"Thank you, but I have one friend who has not returned," I informed. I was hoping my subtle rejection would be understandable.

"Don't you think about it, we will let you know when we find your friend," continued the members of the black mission team.

I paused a while. "No, I have to see her there," I explained. "For me it's important. So I know she's all right."

"Cordova!" humped Mr. Ferdy. "If you do that, you'll be deemed as someone who is interfering the mission of another team without higher orders. And that means a violation."

"I will accept the consequences," I declared without hesitation.

"So your friend is a girl, huh?" Mr. Ferdy sighed. "A spy should never fall in love carelessly. A spy cares for nothing, except his mission."

I didn't want to argue anymore over something that didn't fit my idealism. "If I have to, I'll break the entire ethics of being a spy in order to get there so I can see her."

"Well, then, go ahead and do your job," mumbled Mr. Ferdy, seeming to give up on me.

****

The four of us arrived at the harbor at three o 'clock in the morning, driving a black car. After quickly parking the car where it was supposed to be, the four of us immediately ran to the target's site.

After arriving in front of the container truck, the four of us quickly worked out a strategy. I was sure this time it was just me who had absolutely no interest on that painting anymore. In my head right now there was just that girl. Where was she exactly?

"Hey," said a member of the black mission team. "I don't know what kind of painting is that?"

"The title of the painting is The Dancing Smoke," I whispered. "I've never seen it before, but the painting must show pictures that resemble to it's name."

Then one of the other team members stepped forward.

"Okay, it's crowded. All are busy packing," informed the voice on the earphone.

"It is strange that a member of the mafia fell asleep while hugging a roll," the voice continued. "Why did he not put the roll in cartons like other stuffs?"

"From his attitude, he is very unwilling to lose what was in his hands," I thought. "It was as if someone had just tried to steal it from him."

"Interesting."

Then we started to move quickly.

The three of us silently could take The Dancing Smoke from the sleeping mafia. The painting was now in my hands. But actually in that case, I wasn't helping so much because it was basically not my mission anymore.

Not too long after we had the painting in our hands, the four of us got into a fight with one of the mafia, but after a long pursuit, we ended up at a far distance from the danger zone.

But I hadn't been able to calm down, because I hadn't found Suri yet. I couldn't even find her in the big truck.

Suddenly there was a loud noise from behind.

"Give the painting, or ... ,"

I was shocked and looked back. My head was suddenly filled with possibilities that could happen after this. My eyes glazed.

"...we're gonna kill your friend."

****