The Secret Cardinal

60

‘Not much of a beach,’ Gates said as they walked along the rocky shore of the lake following Norbu’s sons, Rinzen and Tashi.

Han dipped his fingers into the cold water, tasted it, and winced. ‘Fishing can’t be much either. Too salty.’

A helicopter roared overhead, though with the fog they could neither see it nor be seen by it.

‘I hope Nolan has a good head start,’ Tao said.

‘My prayers are with him as well,’ Yin added.

Rinzen and Tashi raced forward excitedly, urging the others to follow. Through the mist, they saw a number of large and small shapes on the shore. As they drew close, the shapes took form as boats.

‘This must be the marina here in Lake Woebegone,’ Gates opined.

Gates walked up to one of the boats. It had a flat wooden top and several large inflated bladders as pontoons underneath. On closer inspection, he noticed stubs sticking out of the bladders and tightly woven seams.

‘What is this?’

‘Goat, of course,’ Yin replied. ‘When sealed properly, it makes a good vessel for air.’

‘And I thought I’d seen everything.’

‘The hide on those boats is yak stretched over a wooden frame,’ Yin pointed out. ‘Flexible and watertight.’

‘Is this what we’re taking all the way to India?’ Han said skeptically.

‘Naw,’ Gates replied. ‘To carry the four of us, we’d need something bigger, maybe made out of a yeti.’

Norbu’s Tibetan sons passed the traditional Tibetan boats and finally stopped at the one they were looking for. Unlike the other boats, this one was slender with a hard finish; to Gates’s eyes, it was recognizable. He ran his hand over the smooth granite-gray hulls and found the name molded into the polyethylene: Windrider Rave.

‘What is it?’ Han asked.

‘A trimiran,’ Gates answered, amazed to find such a craft in the remotest region of Tibet. ‘How did this get here?’

Yin asked Norbu’s sons, and the two alternated in telling the tale.

‘Many tourists come to see the lake in the summer,’ Yin translated. ‘This past summer, a foreigner, a wealthy Japanese man, came with a group of friends. The man brought a boat to sail on the lake. When the time came to leave, the Chinese told him he must pay for a license to take the boat out. The fee was very expensive. The man refused to pay and left the boat instead.’

‘Quite a coincidence finding such a boat out here,’ Gates mused.

‘There is an old saying among the native people of the western provinces,’ Yin offered. ‘Allah provides.’

‘It has only two seats,’ Han noticed.

‘Yeah,’ Gates replied. ‘And two of us will be riding on the trampolines, assuming they’re stowed in here somewhere.’

Gates peeled the cover off the cockpit and found a bag containing the boat’s accessories. With help from Norbu’s sons, he stretched the fabric trampolines between the center hull and the outriggers, set the lines, and unfurled the sails. A steady breeze rolled through the valley, fluttering the teal-trimmed translucent sails and promising a good wind for the voyage west.

‘Now for the seating arrangements,’ Gates announced. ‘Roxanne, can you swim?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, take a seat on the starboard trampoline. Terry, you’re on the port side. Padre, you sit in front of me, and I’ll be the even hand, or in this case feet, on the rudder.’

Tao studied the taut triangular trampoline suspended just inches above the water skeptically. ‘What would you have done if I said no?’

‘I’d have asked if you could sail. And if I got another no, I’d have told you to hang on real tight out there ’cause there’s no way I’m putting Yin out on a trampoline. Nolan would kick my ass all the way back to Coronado if he found out. That said, helmets on. Let’s get this boat in the water.’

The six easily lifted the sleek craft and set it in knee-deep water. The Tibetans, on the shallow end of the boat, quickly moved back to shore before the icy lake water found a way into their felt boots. Tao and Han held the boat steady as Gates and Yin boarded. Gates gingerly pulled himself into the cockpit, adjusted the seat, and found the pedals. With a shove, Tao and Han leaped onto the trampolines. The Windrider responded quickly, catching the wind perfectly. The jib and mainsail billowed, and the craft began to accelerate. Gates threw a wave at the Tibetans as the boat disappeared into the fog.

‘Display GPS,’ Gates commanded.

A map view of the area appeared in his heads-up display. In the center was a dot indicating their current position. Readouts in the corners of his display indicated his speed, direction, and altitude.

‘Display topography.’

Thin lines traced out the forms of mountains, valleys, and ridges in the surrounding terrain.

‘Identify lake perimeter and display.’

The view panned out as a bright blue line highlighted the shoreline of the entire lake.

‘Identify centerline of lake through long axis, west to east.’

A line appeared running down the middle of the lake from Tibet to Ladakh.

‘Centerline defines course and waypoints. Audible alarm if position deviates point five kilometers from course.’

‘Do you know where you’re going?’ Han sounded concerned.

‘Yeah, for at least as long as the batteries in my helmet last.’