Red Sun Rogue

EPILOGUE

Standing atop the rocky coastal bluff, Jonah enjoyed the warm sunshine and gentle tropical breeze on his skin. He could see across the entire breadth of the beach from his vantage point, past the half-buried colonial-era Philippine township, to the Scorpion as she rocked gently against the length of collapsed concrete dock. The sun had already begun to set, its deep orange reflecting off the endless ocean as it slowly descended through purple clouds. He turned to Hassan. “You ready for this?”

“Despite all we’ve been through, I believe I’m more nervous now than I’ve ever been before,” Hassan whispered. “It’s just a shame we don’t have any music.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” said Jonah. “Sun-Hi has told me she’s quite the talent on an accordion.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’ve heard they’re still pretty popular in North Korea. So, if an accordion should happen to make its way aboard the Scorpion, please let me know immediately.”

“So that you might give it to her?” “Of course not,” Jonah said as he teasingly slapped his friend on the shoulder. “So I can eject it out the trash chute before she finds out. Same rule goes for bagpipes and bongos.”

Alexis emerged from a rough trail they’d chopped into the jungle canopy, tiptoeing barefoot with Dalmar and Vitaly on the crook of each arm. Her long blond hair was simply braided and rested on one tanned, exposed shoulder, her freckles glowing as she smiled. Sun-Hi had expertly tailored a long sweep of immaculate Japanese white parachute silk into a wedding dress, sewing in hundreds of tiny, almost translucent shells into the bodice. Alexis wore a delicate crown of tropical flowers and carried a matching bouquet, clenched hands resting just below her slim waist. She’d worked for two days to clean the engine oil from beneath her fingernails.

Hassan ran a hand through his thick black hair and straightened his linen suit as he shifted from foot to foot, unconsciously touching his breast pocket to verify his notes had survived their passage up the steep slope. And then they locked eyes, the rest of the universe disappearing as they stared at each other. Dalmar and Vitaly held Alexis’ hands above her head; the ethereal silk of her white dress rippling in the tropical breeze, her bare feet gliding across smooth rocks. She handed the bouquet to Dalmar and stepped up to Hassan, taking his hands in hers and squeezing tightly.

“Hello,” Hassan whispered. “You are more beautiful than I can say.”

She blushed, smiling up at him with unusually bashful eyes. “You’re alright yourself.”

“I’m so happy we’re all here,” Jonah began. “I know we’ve all been incredibly busy preparing over the last few days, but—”

“I can’t hear!” Marissa’s tinny voice squawked over the speaker of a satellite phone. “Move me closer!” Sun-Hi crept forward towards the bride and groom, holding the blocky black telephone high above her head.

“You’re picking up the charges, right?” Jonah asked, winking at Alexis. “I’ll move through the ceremony fast, but not two-bucks-a-minute fast.”

“You better not rush a damn thing!” Marissa protested. “I’m warning you, Jonah Blackwell! I want to hear every single word!”

Jonah waited until the laughter subsided before speaking. “We’ve been incredibly busy repairing the Scorpion, and preparing for this moment, but I wanted to point out how happy I am that we’re here together for this ceremony.” He paused for a moment, letting his gaze pass over the bride and groom and to his crew. “We’ve not known each other for very long,” he said, “but in the short time we’ve all been together, we’ve lived more life than most.”

“And longer than our enemies!” Dalmar interjected as he pumped the air with the wedding bouquet like a hard-won trophy.

“Save it for the toast!” Alexis said, laughing. “The life we live is hard,” continued Jonah. “We’ve been hunted, betrayed, manipulated, left for dead. We’ve seen death among our ranks, and we’ve all known suffering in our own ways. None of us have a nation, and for some of us, the loss of loved ones is all too recent and raw. Even joyous times like this can be difficult; these are the moments that should be shared with mothers, with fathers, with brothers, and sisters.

“But we’re not broken. And the reason we’re not broken is because we have each other. We didn’t gather here today under flag or law, the marriage you’re about to witness will have no seal or certificate. But this ceremony is performed under an altogether more ancient and sacred tradition— that of captain and crew. We’re under the flag of the stars and the law of the seas, this union sealed and certified by our bond with each other.

“Being here, on this island, is the most beautiful contradiction I could possibly imagine. Despite the specter of conflict, we are here to celebrate the future, to celebrate new life. From beneath the shadow of destruction, we congregate to honor love itself. This island was once a graveyard, the site of a buried secret that nearly destroyed two nations. But I believe we can re-christen it, make it something beautiful once more. It’s not the first time we’ve done this — our very home was once the greatest threat we’d ever faced.

“And in light of those sentiments, it is my greatest honor to join together two of the most exceptional people I’ve ever known.” Jonah turned to the doctor first. “Doctor Hassan Nassiri, your brilliance as a surgeon is matched only by your limitless compassion. You’re our unflagging moral compass, always guiding us to true north. For every threat we’ve faced, we’ve always known that you will be there to mend broken bones and broken hearts.”

“And many bullet wound,” muttered Vitaly, patting his chest.

“Thank you, my friend,” Hassan said, eyes closed against the threat of tears as he nodded in acknowledgement.

Jonah turned to the engineer next. “Alexis Andrews, you are one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. You are unflappable, ingenious, and an incredible beauty inside and out. You’re the beating heart of this crew, the woman who not only keeps our ship running, but who has truly made it our home. I’ve seen the way you look at Hassan, the way he looks at you — and we all wish you both a lifetime of happiness as husband and wife.”

“Thanks, Jonah,” said Alexis as she gently brushed away a single tiny tear from the corner of her eye. “That was super sweet.”

“They’ve both written their own vows,” said Jonah as he took a half-step back. “Hassan, would you please begin?”

The doctor reached into his breast pocket to retrieve his folded paper. He held it clutched in his hands, but could not bring himself to open it.

“I needn’t read this,” he said, voice trembling. “I needn’t read this to know how I feel about you. Alexis, I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you. I loved you so much that I could scarcely contain it. I would sit alone and think of things I might say when I saw you next. But when I did, the words evaporated from my mind as though they’d never existed at all. We’ve gone through so much loss together, so much violence. And as a consequence of these experiences, my first thought upon rising and the last thought before sleep is that life is so tenuous; I could so easily lose the most incredible woman I’ve ever known. Loving you is impossible, it’s reckless, it’s selfish — but it’s also undeniable, beautiful, and the very center of my every waking moment. You’ve watched me die, you’ve breathed the very breath of life back into my lungs, and I’ve never loved anyone in all my life as much as I love you.

“And so, I, Hassan Nassiri, take you, my dearest Alexis, as my wedded wife, from this day forward, in peace or war, in calm or tempest, in wealth or poverty, in sickness, in health, to love wholly and without reservation for as long as I have breath in my body.”

Alexis’s eyes glistened as she looked up into Hassan’s face. “I’m not sure how I’m going to tell my mother how we met,” she said, “because I doubt she’d much approve. But I know this with all my heart — my parents will learn to love you just as I have because you are the kindest, most generous, most selfless man I’ve ever known, a fact you remind of me every day. I never told you this, but I used to play a silly game whenever I met someone I thought I might like. I would wonder what our house would look like, who our friends might be if we got married. I couldn’t ever play this game when I thought of you. At first I was worried — maybe I couldn’t see into our future because it was a big unknowable filled with uncertainty and danger. And then I realized that wasn’t the case at all. It was because each moment we had together was new and amazing and incredible and unforgettable. We’ve lived through some of the worst days of my life, but I’d do it all over a thousand times for just one more moment with you.

“I’d never imagined I could be so lucky,” she said, looking around. “We’re in the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, surrounded by people I—” her voice broke “—people who have risked their lives for each other without hesitation.” She stole a glance at Jonah and blurted out the next words, her voice running away from her. “And… I know we talked about this, but I’m still not taking your name and thanks for not taking it personally or whatever.”

Hassan ran his hands up her arms, resting finally on her bare shoulders, steadying her. “So long as you take my hand, I am the happiest man on the earth.”

“So I, Alexis Andrews, take you Hassan Nassiri, from this day forward — and forever — and ever — and ever—” She stopped speaking, suddenly too overcome to continue.

“Why are you crying?” whispered Hassan as he ducked his head to her height, brushed the tears from her eyes with a single soft thumb.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, shaking her head vigorously. “Everything. All the reasons. I wish we had rings.”

“I am not wholly useless,” said Hassan. He reached into his pants pocket and retrieved two bands, one a delicate, ornate woven design of white gold, the other a thick yellow loop for himself. He slipped the smaller of the two over her finger. “This was my mother’s. She would have wanted you to have it.”

Alexis took the larger band, turning it over in her hands. “Where—? How—?”

“I forged its mate from fragments of our home, from the Scorpion,” he said. “There was a great deal of debris from which to choose.”

Alexis held Hassan’s hand and placed the ring on his finger as everyone watched in silence.

“Be good to each other,” Jonah said as he placed his open palms on their shoulders. “Also, I think you two were supposed to say ‘I do’ at some point, but we may have glossed over that bit. And wasn’t somebody supposed to bring a couple of pieces of rope to tie together? We went over this in the meeting—”

Hassan and Alexis didn’t even hear him as they held each other, staring into each other’s eyes, seemingly deaf to Jonah’s voice.

“Are they kissing yet?” Marissa shouted over the satellite telephone. Hassan swept Alexis off her feet, cradling her in his arms as his mouth met hers, kissing her as her bare feet dangled in the air, the crown of tropical flowers nearly falling from her long, blond hair. Vitaly, Dalmar, and Sun-Hi, tears on her cheeks, cheered and hugged the kissing couple, whooping and hollering as their voices echoed through the valley below.

“I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but today brings great joy.” Jonah’s voice was barely audible over Vitaly and Dalmar. “We’re going to eat. We’re going to drink. And we’re going to be merry. Dalmar’s spent two days hunting in the jungle, and the rest of us have done our best to scrounge together a fantastic feast.”

“I also picked the most beautiful bridal bouquet,” announced Dalmar, handing the bouquet back to Alexis.

“And I’ve never been to a wedding where the groom is also the chef, but Hassan has outdone himself once again,” Jonah added. “Oh, and I almost forgot — Vitaly’s been brewing up some coconut rotgut in the engine room. Try it at your own risk. You’ll either get drunk or go blind.”

“Both always possibility,” Vitaly said with utmost seriousness.

“Sun-Hi’s set up a hi-fi system on the beach,” Jonah continued, “and we’re going to light the biggest bonfire this island’s ever seen.”

“I have Michael Bublé, very forbidden!” Sun-Hi declared. “Also Billie Holiday, Norah Jones, John Coltrane!”

The crew began to file down the steep jungle trail, but Jonah hung back, watching them go. He wanted to linger on the rocky bluff for one more moment, alone in his thoughts. Alexis spotted him, patting Hassan on the shoulder as she turned, stepping back up the trail with the hem of her dress and her bouquet clutched up in one hand. She stood beside Jonah as the last of the sun slipped silently beneath the waves with a faint green flash almost lost to the distance.

I knew your father, Himura had said. Jonah hated himself for his fixation on those final words. It was plausible enough; his father spent the years leading up to his disappearance deeply involved in the American intelligence community. Or maybe it was just a maddening thrust from the grave, Himura wouldn’t have needed the power of Meisekimu to unearth ugly secrets from Jonah’s family history.

Alexis placed a hand on her captain’s back, gently pulling him back into the moment. “What’s next for us?”

“A celebration,” Jonah said, still facing the fading sunset. “And one that traditionally requires your attendance.”

She shook her head. “Beyond tonight. I need to know that this wedding wasn’t for nothing — that Hassan and I actually have a chance at a future that isn’t… this.”

Jonah turned to consider her for a few moments before answering. “I haven’t told anyone else yet, but we’re going back to the Mediterranean Sea.”

“The Mediterranean? Why?” “I’ll tell you more when the whole crew is together again, but the short version is this — I’m the only man alive who knows the exact location of a vast sunken treasure in Moroccan waters. My last attempt to recover it cost the lives of some good people and landed me a long stretch in prison. I spent every waking moment in that cage thinking about the day I’d go back.”

“And now you’re not alone — now that you have us— you want to try again?”

“We’re ready,” he said. “If we can take down Bettencourt and Himura, we can do anything. And if we’re successful, we can buy whatever future we want. What do you say; want to go on a treasure hunt?”

Alexis smiled. “Yeah,” she said, looping her arm in his. “I think I just might.”