Xavier Knew
Character – retired pearl diver- Setting – dead end
- Object – Geiger counter
- Situation – obscene phone call
Xavier knew what few others even thought to suspect, things hidden in the inky depths of the sea. Forced into early retirement over the Bimini Road Incident, he scraped by on a consultant’s income, unable to line up a big score without drawing down the wrath of an international conspiracy bent on keeping the Deep Things forever secret.
And now he walked quickly, sure he was being tailed. Damn! If only he hadn’t agreed to make that one last dive. His shadows were cool, professional, relentless. And they could zero in on him wherever he went by following the clicking of a Geiger counter, which would betray his presence ever since he retrieved the launch codes from the crippled Trident sub.
He turned into an alley and jogged to the first bend. It dead-ended behind a dentist’s office. Peering back out to the street he saw the men seeking him with their electromagnetic bloodhound. They came into the alley, but slowed. Xavier held his breath. The waste disposal containers from the dentist were masking his own signal! If he just kept silent…
His phone rang — why didn’t he set it on vibrate? He instantly silenced it and hissed, “Hello?” into the mouthpiece.
“I’m calling for Mr. Hunt, first name Mike. Is he there?”
The situation was worse than Xavier had feared. It wasn’t the CIA or NSA tailing him. The obscene phone call was the signature motif of the Pearl Divers Union, local 308, and they frowned upon scab sinkers.
This one gave me the giggles.
The enforcers at PDU local 308 don’t think it’s so funny.