Final Option by Clive Cussler EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Clive Cussler
- Language: English
- Genre: Suspense Action Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
PRESENT DAY
Jack Perry stared in amazement at the approaching cargo ship. He
wondered not only how it had made the voyage thousands of miles from
South Africa, but also how it stayed afloat in the first place.
With the afternoon sun behind him, Perry had a good view of the
decrepit vessel. The peeling hull was painted in so many different hideous
shades of green that it looked like a collage of rotting avocados. Gaps in the
deck railing were patched together by rusty chains, and the five cranes were
so dilapidated that they seemed capable of collapsing at any moment. The
bridge windows on the dingy white superstructure set two-thirds of the way
toward the stern were so caked with dust that Perry couldn’t see the crew
inside.
He shook his head in disgust at the ancient steamer called the Portland.
Why his employers back in Virginia would trust such an important
operation to this rickety ship was far above his pay grade. When he had the
freight safely transferred over to his own container carrier, he’d breathe
much easier.
The Mantícora wasn’t a fancy ship by any means, but she had to be fifty
years newer than the Portland. The bridge where Perry was standing was
set near the bow, and she was smaller. Designed as a containership for
smaller ports, the Mantícora had two recently overhauled cranes.
Perry turned to the captain and said in Spanish, “Make sure we lift the
containers aboard using our cranes, not theirs.”
“Sí, señor,” the captain replied as he eyed the Portland with contempt.
“I wouldn’t trust those cranes to carry a feather pillow.”
“How long will the transfer take?”
The captain looked at the bridge clock, which read 14:17. “Once you
complete the transaction with the Portland’s captain, it shouldn’t take more
than an hour to haul four containers over and secure them.”
“And when will we arrive in Nicaragua?”
“There’s no significant weather expected along the route to slow us
down, so less than a week.”
“Good. Then let’s get this over with.”
Perry left the bridge and climbed a rope ladder down to the lifeboat that
had been lowered into the water. The Portland was now stationary two
hundred yards off the starboard bow of the Mantícora. Perry couldn’t be
sure, but he thought the creaky ship was listing slightly. He didn’t relish
getting on her, but he had to check the cargo to make sure they were getting
what they’d ordered.
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