Curse of the Komodo

By Thomas Ridenour

Mike Steiner, former Delta Force officer and contract government agent, is a weary warrior who wants to put his troubled past behind him. He has been spectacularly successful in battle and spectacularly unsuccessful in his love life. Now he just wants to sail the oceans and explore the remote corners of the globe with his few close friends. Unfortunately, he can not escape his past and his unique skill set is in high demand. His friends are in trouble and he enlists the help of his long time friend, Jackson Wales, to try to save them but everywhere he goes some new enemy tries to kill him. He is not a superstitious man but could he also be plagued by an ancient curse and what of the secret society that, unknown to him, seems to manipulate his efforts to rescue his friends? Who are his friends and who are his foes and which is the beautiful mysterious lady who has just entered his life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Ridenour
• Release date: May 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311716675

Thomas Ridenour

When you first meet Tom Ridenour you are aware that he is an accomplished man, He has the demeanor of a military man, he moves and talks with the authority and a confidence that comes from meeting fear and challenges head on, and coming out on top. Tom has led the sort of life that would make an excellent adventure novel in its own right!Thomas L Ridenour was born and raised in a small farming community in Southeastern Ohio. His early life was agrarian and centered on the small village where he lived. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and participating in high school sports andlike many farm kids, he was active in the 4-H, worked in the hay fields in the summer and looked forward to the county fair each year. His early life was that of a rural Midwestern farming community.Tom was blessed with a household full of books and would pounce on the monthly issue of National Geographic Magazine as soon as it arrived in the mail, He would eagerly read the magazine cover to cover and as a boy, it would take him to far off places filled with wonder.Tom would listen wide eyed to his father and uncle tell stories of their experiences in the South Pacific in WWII and Europe in WWII. These stimuli fired Tom’s imagination and he grew up with a deep desire to travel and see the world; the seeds of Tom’s wanderlust were sewn deep.That wanderlust and his desire for adventure were motivations that influenced his life and carried Tom to over 60 countries; he has lived in the Middle East, Oceania, Asia and Europe.Those afflicted, or blessed, with wanderlust are usually also afflicted with a desire for adventure. This was certainly the case with Tom. He graduated from High School at the age of 17 and went directly to College. He made gentleman's "C's" but lacked specific goals and direction and, forsaking his draft deferment, he dropped out of school, joined the military and volunteered for duty in Vietnam.Military life suited Tom well and he stayed in the military for 11 years. While serving on active duty, Tom earned his Bachelor's Degree in International Affairs from Florida State University and did post graduate work in Instructional Systems Design.However, the post-Vietnam wartime military was a toothless tiger to and sank into tedium. He left the service an took a job as a training adviser with the Saudi Arabian Air Force in Jeddah.Tom always loved the ocean and used the money he earned in Saudi Arabia to buy a small sail boat. Tom then took a year off work to cruise the Caribbean. Once again, the combination of adventure and travel reinvigorated Tom and the salt water got into his veins.Not being one to do things by halves, Tom Ridenour became a licensed captain, feeling that; "A bad day on the water is better than a great day in the office." Who can’t argue with that?Once qualified as a captain, Tom became part owner and captain of a dive charter yacht in Bali, Indonesia and captained live-aboard dive expeditions to Komodo Island.Tom has, as have many successful, worked in many jobs during his journey. Tom has been a stockbroker, teacher, ship captain, car salesman, consultant, laborer, carpenter, and school bus driver. He was the Director of Maritime Operations for Blackwater USA and served on the Maritime Security Council in Washington DC was a guest speaker at numerous events regarding piracy, terrorism and maritime security.For now, Tom now calls Bangkok, Thailand home and is the Coordinator of the English program for a private language school located on the campus of a major university there and he is a member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.As you can see, Tom still enjoys traveling and still possesses those itchy feet that have sent him around the globe many times.Tom Ridenour strives for technical accuracy in his writing and to this end, his books are infused with his personal life and experiences. Tom draws on his adventures while travelling the globe and his expertise as a military man to bring a sense of realism to his books. It is often said that a good story is based on truth. This is true of Tom Ridenour’s fiction which is firmly supported by history, geographical accuracy, and Tom’s life experiences.

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Part I

1.

Kapingamarangi Atoll

Micronesia

Early November 1407

The idyllic Micronesian Atoll of Kapingamarangi had been pelted with rain and blustery winds for the past three days. Lying only 50 nautical miles north of the Equator and 2750 nautical miles southeast of the South China Sea, the atoll seldom experienced the severe storms or the typhoons that swept across the Philippine Islands wreaking havoc on the East coast of China and Vietnam.

The twelve extended families living there totaled less than one hundred and thirty people lead a simple subsistence life based on fishing, coconuts, bananas and the ubiquitous taro patch; common throughout the Pacific Islands. The lagoon provided many kinds of crustaceans including spiny lobsters and the outer reefs were alive with many species of fish. Schools of tuna swam close to the reefs and were easily caught by the experienced islanders. Delicious giant coconut land crabs lived in burrows beneath the coconut trees from which they took their name. The homes were made of bamboo and thatch and were shaded by coconut palms. The prevailing breezes blew through the open windows and loosely woven walls providing nature’s own air conditioning. The little village was pristine and the sand and dirt lawns were swept daily and flowers grew in great profusion.

The monsoon rains were welcoming after the long dry spell and were essential to flood the thirsty village taro patch and replenish the cisterns with fresh water. The winds gusting to twenty-five knots did little damage to the thatched huts or vegetable gardens but were strong enough to loosen some of the coconuts from the tall trees so the boys and young men had only to gather them from the ground rather than climbing for them.

The nearest major Island to Kapingamarangi was New Guinea over four hundred nautical miles away. The picturesque isolated atoll was its own little universe and seldom had visitors. Occasionally nomadic sea gypsies, ancestors of the Bugis, would reach the atoll and enter the lagoon. They brought fantastic stories of boats as big as many houses and standing taller than the tallest coconut trees. They said the huge boats had sails as large as clouds and flew across the waters. They spoke of strange people living in the boats whose skin flowed about them as they walked and glistened in colors of red, orange, green and blue like the sunsets, flowers, trees and oceans.

The people of the Atoll could not fathom of such things and immediately discounted the stories. Their little universe had no room for such strange tales. They had no way of knowing that vast continents existed across the oceans with countries whose populations numbered in the millions. Their world was one of taro and fish and tools made of wood, coral and sea shells. Their world was one of the reefs and coconuts trees. The Atoll provided all that they needed.

Just as the people of Kapingamarangi knew nothing of the outside world, they also did not know that they lived in the region of the Pacific where huge typhoons were born. The November rain storm that provided the water for their taro patch was a tropical low that would strengthen as it moved off to the Northwest. The great typhoon’s life cycle began between five degrees north and five degrees south of the equator. The infant storm would grow from a weak disorganized tropical low with rain showers and winds of fifteen to twenty knots into a tropical depression. Its winds would gain strength and start to form a distinctive counterclockwise rotational pattern. As the depression lingered over the warm waters fed by the Westerly equatorial current it would increase in size and strength. The warm tropical waters would fuel the growing maelstrom just as dry pine trees fuel a forest fire. In a matter of days the winds would reach gale force.

The tropical storm, now barely five days old, had winds of over seventy knots and was over one hundred nautical miles across. It meandered its way to the West-Northwest toward the Island of Mindanao, in what is today the Philippines, still six hundred nautical miles away. It had passed south of Guam and hammered the small Islands of the Palau group which offered little resistance to its relentless march. Now, over the open warm waters of the Western Pacific, there was no land mass to sap its strength or slow its trek Westward.

In eleven days the storm was a full-fledged category three typhoon with winds of one hundred and twenty knots and a storm surge of three meters (ten feet). It brushed the Southern end of Mindanao with the eye passing directly over the Davao Gulf and Makar Cove destroying numerous villages and killing scores of people. The killer typhoon over swept Basilan Island and entered the warm waters of the Sulu Sea the glancing blow to Mindanao doing little to reduce the intensity. The steering winds allowed the storm to linger over the Sulu Sea for two more days growing to a category four typhoon with winds exceeding one hundred fifty-five knots.

After spending two days in the Sulu Sea the killer typhoon now bore down on the Island of Palawan, the fifth largest island of the Philippine group. As luck would have it, the storm skirted the southern end of the two-hundred-mile long island the eye passing over the Palawan Passage between Palawan and northern Borneo. The one thousand meter high mountains of Palawan were the last significant obstacle that might have drained the storm of some of her fury before she reentered the open waters of the South China Sea.

The future would bring technology in the form of weather satellites and worldwide communications systems that would detect these incipient storms and warn people in their path. In the future storms would be named, tracked and studied in minute detail but hat future was six hundred years away. In 1407 the people in what are now the Philippine Islands, the South China Sea, Vietnam and China had no knowledge that a huge unnamed storm would soon wreak havoc on their lives.

2.

Suzhou, China

Mid-November 1407

The bulk of the great fleet had already set sail for Malacca with the coming of the winter monsoon taking advantage of the prevailing Northeasterly winds. The Chinese junks were the largest vessels in the world. They were very beamy and flat bottomed spreading huge fully battened sails. They sailed easily before the wind but lacked any ability to make way to windward. Their long journeys of trade and exploration were meticulously planned to take advantage of winds and currents. The Chinese navigators had amassed an amazingly extensive knowledge of the world’s oceans during their previous voyages and had produced some of the most detailed maps in the world. Their technology, literature, astronomy and general understanding of the world far surpassed anything known in Europe.

There were only twenty-three vessels in the small fleet and they would be the last to sail from Suzhou this season their departure delayed by matters of state. This was a relatively small number for a Chinese fleet and it consisted of mainly Chinese vessels accompanied by a few trading vessels from Korea. The Admiral’s ship was the largest in the small fleet and would be the flag ship for the estimated four hundred and fifty ships gathering in the Port of Malacca. Vessels had come from many regions in East Asia for a year long trip across the Indian Ocean and beyond. The fleet would take advantage of the yearly northeast monsoon winds and relatively dry weather to sail on a beam reach all of the way to west to Calcutta, the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.

Admirals Ho, standing six feet four inches tall, was a giant of a man for his time. He was an impressive figure and his ship was equally impressive. The Flagship measured over one hundred meters in length (three hundred thirty feet) the superstructure standing as tall as a six story building. Along with the Admiral and his staff, it carried the party of the son of the Raj of Malacca. Manning the vessel were one hundred and twenty sailors, one hundred and fifty soldiers, and many others serving as servants, cooks, concubines and tradesman. The Admiral’s party always included his personal guard of thirty men, some of the most formidable soldiers in the Chinese army, and many noted scholars, scientists, philosophers and spiritual councilors.

In the vast cargo holds were fine silks, porcelains, and other trade goods. There were provisions, armaments, material and supplies to maintain the ship during her long voyage. The ship also would sail with live chickens, ducks, and pigs for both the consumption of the crew and for introduction to foreign lands where they may be unknown. The Admiral’s suite of rooms contained the ship’s treasury housing chests of gold, silver and precious stones to be bartered and given away as gifts to gain favor with rulers of far off lands.

The vast assembled armada gathering in Malacca would eventually consist of over one thousand ships carrying thirty-five thousand people. The provision vessels carried chickens and pigs and many tons of rice and other grains along with fruit and vegetables both fresh and dried. There were sea otters trained to catch fresh fish and living gardens in the holds to provide fresh vegetables. Every conceivable trade was represented and the fleet was fully self-sufficient. There were dozens of scholars, geographers, cartographers, scribes, historians and scientists for knowledge of all things was as keenly sought by the Chinese as was commerce. Their mission was trade and peace but there was little doubt that the armada could fend for itself for among its thirty-five thousand souls were fifteen thousand men under arms and one thousand two hundred horses.

Malacca was one of the most important ports in the world at the time and the center of a vast business enterprise that connected China to Indian, Africa and beyond. The Straits of Malacca lies between what is now Malaysia and Sumatra in Indonesia was, as it is today, the passage way between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Malacca was the staging port and warehousing center for the great Chinese fleets, both those sailing to the West to trade and those returning home from the East, their holds laden with the bounty from far off lands.

Admiral Ho, the Son of the Raj of Malacca and his party have boarded reported Captain Gia, Commander of the Admiral’s vessel and the Chief Navigator for the fleet assembling in Malacca.

Finally! We have delayed far too long for that opium soaked idiot.

Sir, please some spy may hear you and make a report.

And exactly who would a spy make such a report to, Captain? The Emperor knows well of this foolish son of the Raj. Why must we Chinese, with the most powerful military in the world and the most advanced civilization on earth, cater to all of these petty bureaucrats and minor nobility from uncivilized weak states? snorted the clearly angry Admiral and, with good reason; the Great Admiral commanded a military force that could crush the city state of Malacca in a few days and he himself had amassed a personal fortune that would almost rival that of the Raj.

Admiral, the policy of China and the Emperor is…, began Captain Gia.

Yes, my good friend we have had this discussion many times before and I know that our policies are conquest through trade. People subjugated through military means are not productive and only sap our energy, Chinese blood and treasure. But still, it annoys me to play ‘host’ and nursemaid to the likes of the Son of The Raj.

Yes, it does seem a waste to entertain royalty from such a small city-state as Malacca but we have many warehouses there and it is the gathering place for our ships and those of many of our trading partners, added Captain Gia. He wanted to comment on the fact that the beautiful young Chinese concubines assigned to the young Raj didn’t mind their jobs since the Raj was impotent from too much opium but out of sensitivity to the Admiral he held that thought. The Admiral was a eunuch and had never known the pleasure of a woman. Yes, Admiral, we have delayed too long but at least the season for typhoons has past, we will sail on the falling tide, he added.

One last thing Captain, has the gift for the Raj been properly secured on my ship.

Sir it arrived yesterday and the Captain of the Guard took personal responsibility. It has been placed in your treasury. Did you see the sculptures before they were sealed in many coats of silk and lacquer?

Yes, I saw them in the palace. The emperor showed me personally.

Sir, those sculptures are cursed. They were inspired by the horrible death of one of the zoo keepers and there were reports of mysterious deaths of some the craftsmen who made them, responded the Captain.

Nonsense! You know that sailors are a superstitious lot and I will have no idle talk of cursed objects on my ship.

Admiral, it is too late for that. Rumors travel quickly on the waterfront and even faster in the city.

Enough my friend, we are well traveled and educated men. Let’s get back to the task at hand, commanded Admiral Ho. The discussion was ended.

The gift, intended for the Raj of Malacca was a gold life size Komodo dragon with eyes made from rubies and diamonds and teeth made of carved ivory. It was over three meters long and weighted over one thousand kg. Its life-like scaly skin was highlighted with green lacquer containing powdered jade and its sinister tongue, protruding from its lips sampling the air, was coated with glossy lacquer making it glisten as though it were wet with saliva. It was beautiful and revolting at the same time. Accompanying the giant Komodo dragon was a one-meter-long identical offspring also intended as a gift for the nobility of Malacca.

The Island of Komodo in what is now Indonesia had been discovered by some of the Emperors ships a few years before. Komodo and Rincha Islands were the home of the fearsome Komodo dragons who reach lengths of four meters and weights of six hundred kg. The Chinese soldiers discovered the hard way that the dragons were fierce predators while trying to capture one for the Emperors magnificent zoo. Three men were eaten and four others died from the infectious septic bites of the beast. The saliva that constantly drips form the beast’s mouth was highly septic and even large animals that were bitten and escaped usually died within twenty-four hours.

Eventually they succeeded in capturing six of the giant lizards. They also failed to appreciate the fact that Komodo dragons are not selective predators and will prey on small members of their own species. Of the six dragons captured, they returned to China with four, the two smaller ones were eaten during the four week trip by their larger cousins. The dragons were prized additions to the royal zoo which housed animals from all of the lands that the far reaching fleets visited.

The Raj of Malacca received a private showing of the zoo during his state visit to China. The Komodo dragons often look lethargic sunning themselves and showing no signs of life but they are deceptively quick ambush predators. Thinking that it was sleeping or even dead, the Raj insisted that one of the zoo keepers prod the largest of the six dragons with a stout bamboo pole to get it to move. In a flash the dragon whipped its powerful tail into the poor zoo keeper breaking his legs and sending him to the ground where he was pounced on by all four of the dragons and eaten alive. Witnessing the terrible death impressed the perverse Raj so much that the Emperor had commissioned a less lethal golden dragon as a gift for his highness.

Such extravagant gifts along with beautiful Chinese concubines, liquor and opium were only one means of keeping royalty from far off lands on good terms with China. The Chinese trading fleets were also accompanied by the largest most formidable war ships in the world; ships so large that they could have carried Christopher Columbus’s flag ship, the Santa Maria, as deck cargo. The great ships often returned to China with family and nobility of the rulers of these far off lands as ‘guests’ to be entertained and lavished in the Chinese court for as long as one year at a time. Even if they realized that they were de facto prisoners no one minded, their treatment so good and their pleasures so great.

3.

Suzhou China

Yangtze River Delta

Late November 1407

The Grand Canal connected the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers as well as many lesser tributaries. The canal, started in the fifth century BC, was finally completed during the Sui Dynasty (581-618 A.D). The canal connected Beijing in the North to Hangzhou in the South and bisected the city of Suzhou. At almost one thousand nine hundred and fifty km in length, the Grand Canal was (and remains) the longest man made water way in the world. It is estimated that its construction cost the lives of three million workers.

Suzhou was one of the most important cities for culture, government, trade and shipbuilding in China. It was a beautiful city of exquisite waterways and classical gardens and is still known as the Venice of Asia. Its many canals connected it to the Grand Canal and were the home of every conceivable trade and craft required to build and service the largest ships in the ancient world. Many of its thousands of citizens, merchants, craftsmen and politicians lined the canals to bid farewell to Admiral Ho’s small fleet.

The Mid-November morning was crisp and clear, the fog having lifted from the low lying marshes. The tide was falling accelerating the current flowing down the mighty Yangtze River. All was ready for the departure of Admiral Ho’s fleet. As the Admiral Ho and his men waved at the assembled well-wishers on this beautiful late fall day, two thousand seven hundred and seventeen nautical miles to the South-Southeast on Kapingamarangi Atoll the rains had started to fall and the skies had begun to turn gray.

The Emperor had bid his farewell at the lavish dinner the night before. Given the early morning sailing hour he had decided not to attend the morning departure ceremony. He sent many members of his court in his stead, Admiral Ho being one of his most respected admirals. The Admiral’s skills and past exploits were well known throughout China contributing to the throngs that came to wish him well on his voyage.

November was prone to heavy fogs but the skies were swept clear by the prevailing North-Easterly winds. It was an absolutely perfect way to begin a voyage. The fleet, added by the currents and the falling tide, averaged seven knots and easily transited the ninety-five nautical miles of Hangzhou Bay and entered the East China Sea by midnight. There were ample light houses along the way allowing the navigators to avoid the many small islands and shoals in the bay. The prominent large lighthouse high on the cliffs of Dachu Shan Island towered over all, its penetrating beam providing constant reassurance to the fleet.

After entering the East China Sea the small fleet steered to the Southwest with the Northeast monsoon winds abaft the port beam. They sailed about thirty nautical miles off of the Chinese coast to take advantage of the Southerly freshwater Zhejiang-Fujian Current. Averaging about seven and a half knots, the Admiral easily transited the next four hundred and twenty-three nautical miles and was off of Quanzhou on the Chinese mainland two and a half days after entering the East China Sea.

The currents weakened as the vessels exited the Straits of Taiwan and their speed dropped. The navigators sailed an elliptical route hugging the coast to take advantage of the East China Sea Coastal Current. After sailing an additional nine hundred and thirty-seven nautical miles, their journey now thirteen days old, they were about twenty-three nautical miles off of Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam.

The winds had weakened the day before and a gray cloud bank hugged the sea to the East. The fleet was barely making one knot in weak winds and non-existent currents. The Chinese sailors, navigators and scholars had amassed a vast library of knowledge about the natural world around them. It was very late in the season and none of the veteran navigators in the fleet had reason to suspect that calm winds and low lying clouds were harbingers of a huge approaching typhoon. Cam Ranh Bay is one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia. The fleet could have easily changed course and made the bay’s sheltered waters had they known of the approaching storm.

After the eye of the typhoon passed between Palawan Island in the Philippines and Borneo the storm took a northerly course and meandered aimlessly in the South China Sea in the vicinity of the Spratly Islands. As the small fleet was virtually becalmed only twenty-eight miles from safety of Cam Ranh Bay the storm continued to strengthen its eye four hundred forty nautical miles to the East.

The counter-clockwise winds from the outer bands of the huge tropical cyclone caressed the fleet from the North and at first lifted the spirits of the becalmed sailors. As the storm moved slowly Northward the winds grew in strength and shifted coming from the Northwest making it impossible to sail to the safety of Cam Ranh Bay. The winds rapidly grew in strength and were now in excess of one hundred and twenty nautical miles per hour. The fleet was, unfortunately, caught in the most dangerous quadrant of the counter-clockwise rotating storm; the Southwestern section of the huge circulating air mass where the storms speed over the water added to the winds speed from the cyclonic rotation.

The damage to the individual vessels quickly mounted. Masts and rigging were swept away and rudders were lost. The vessels were soon unable to maintain any steerage and were completely at the mercy of the storm. The fleet was quickly scattered each vessel meeting its own fate. The majority of the vessels were lost on the islands and reefs of what is now known as the Spratly Islands; a collection of recourse rich disputed islands now claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and China.

Some of the ships were wrecked on the London Reefs. Some were lost on Braque Canada Reef. Some were smashed on Sand Cay Island and Da Tay Island. Some of the ships were lost on countless other unnamed shoals between Vietnam and Palawan. Of course, it would be centuries before these obscure reefs and islands would be charted and named.

The great flag ship of Admiral Ho somehow escaped the many reefs, shoals and small islands that ensnared the other vessels. The nearly one-hundred-meter-long, one thousand five-hundred-ton flag ship was stripped of masts, rigging and rudder. Many of her brave sailors were swept away in their vain attempts to man the rudder and sails and affect damage control. She was larger than any of the other vessels but equally at the mercy of the winds and seas. The high tide and storm surge no doubt allowed her to clear many small reefs and shoals. Her superb construction kept her water tight even though her hull was pounded relentlessly by the storm. After the vessel was stripped of her mast and her rudder torn away, there was nothing that the remaining sailors, soldiers, craftsmen, dignitaries, concubines or Admiral Ho could do except hunker below decks and pray for the best.

As the typhoon turned to the Northwest its eye, over seventy-five nautical miles across, passed over both Da Nang and Hue bringing an eight meter (twenty-six feet) storm surge destroying villages and cities alike. The counter-clockwise winds pushed the great flag ship to the Southeast toward the straits between Borneo and Palawan Island retracing, in part, the original route of the eye of the storm. She was the last ship of the small fleet remaining afloat only thirty-six hours after the storm winds reached gale force.

The disabled ship transited the straits between Borneo and Palawan Island and entered the Sulu Sea as the storm weakened. The Admiral quickly took charge and the survivors emerged from below decks and surveyed the destruction. The sailors and craftsmen quickly set about jury-rigging small mast from the wreckage and rigging large timbers as steering oars. They fitted small sails and were greatly relieved to find the hull sound and water tight.

Thankfully, much of the food and stores was undamaged and the cooks quickly organized meals for all. Of the four hundred sixty-seven people who departed China on the great ship over two hundred forty perished in the storm. Of the one hundred and twenty brave sailors who battled the storm on deck only thirty-eight remained the others having been washed overboard. Of the one hundred fifty soldiers sixty-three remained the others having tried to help the sailors on deck. The son of the Raj of Malacca died, crushed by shifting cargo. Many craftsmen and concubines also perished in the chaos below decks. There were injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones and more serious injuries that would prove fatal in the coming days.

The damaged ship limped into the Sulu Sea and slowly sailed to the Southeast. Although moral was high, she was in bad condition but still afloat and in unknown waters, her next landfall uncertain.

4.

Adrift

December 1407

The crippled flag ship limped to the Southeast through the Sulu Sea. Her sailing ability was greatly diminished with her six great masts gone. Her ability to steer a precise course was compromised with her massive eleven meter (thirty-six feet) rudder missing. Her surviving craftsmen, carpenters, sail makers, riggers and sailors exercised great skill and ingenuity in making repairs but it would require months in a proper shipyard and massive amounts of proper ship building material to bring her back to her former splendor.

Six days after passing the Straits between Borneo and Palawan she had crossed the Sulu Sea and transited the long broken chain of Islands and reefs connecting Mindanao in the Philippines with Northeastern Borneo. Fortune smiled on them. The currents and winds delivered them to the fifteen nautical mile wide deep water passage between Bongao Island and Sitankai Island. They had transited two hundred and six nm of the Sulu Sea without incident and now faced the Celebes Sea.

Their time in the Sulu Sea passed quickly. Admiral Ho organized the one hundred and ninety survivors and repaired his badly damaged ship as skillfully as he had organized fleets of one thousand ships and crews of forty-thousand men. Ship fitters, riggers and sail makers were busy with repairs, teams of men were assigned fishing duties and physicians and concubines tended to the injured. Their spirits were buoyed by good weather and good food. There were large schools of yellow fin tuna feeding in the aftermath of the storm and they were easy to catch. The vessel had prepared for a year long voyage and the provisions were well stored and intact. The cooks were instrumental in contributing to the high moral.

Fortunately, Admiral Ho’s friend and confidant, Captain Gia, was unharmed. He and the Admiral had sailed together for many years. It was difficult for a eunuch like the Admiral to have a close friendship with a man who was ‘whole’. It was also very difficult for a supreme commander to have a close relationship with a subordinate. For eons men in command and responsible for the lives of others knew well of ‘the loneliness of command’. Given the difficulties facing them, the unique relationship and bond between Admiral and the Captain would grow even stronger. Colonel Jin and his twenty-two men, the Admiral’s private handpicked security detail, also survived. These men had also sailed with the Ho for many years and each would give his life for the great Admiral. There was no threat aboard the vessel to the Admiral but it was comforting having his personal security detail intact.

Most of the forty beautiful concubines were unharmed and those injured only suffered minor cuts and bruises. The soldiers were very protective of the beautiful ladies during the storm and strict decorum was maintained even during the following days of hardship. The concubines were prohibited from consorting with common workers and those of lower rank. Their beauty and grace were as valuable to success of the enterprise as the gold, jewels, silks and porcelain. During the days of trial ahead their status would evolve from that of concubines to treasured respected ladies of a new lost colony; the mothers of future generations.

During the six days in the Sulu Sea many small sailing canoes were seen but none approached the massive flag ship with its strange fair skinned people dressed in bright colors. The inhabitants of the local islands and the sea gypsies had never seen such a large vessel afloat upon their waters and were rightly fear struck.

Their first day in the Celebes Sea was uneventful. The craftsmen and sailors had done their best to repair the great ship. She was water tight and had only a slight list to port which they soon corrected by ballasting. Her makeshift rigging, sails and rudder, while not enabling her to sail efficiently, allowed the once great vessel to maintain a Southeasterly course in the prevailing light monsoon winds.

The second day brought grey skies and rain. The change in weather brought an immediate change in the spirits of the survivors. The memory of the great storm was fresh in their minds and the possibility of another maelstrom was terrifying.

As the skies grew dark the rain and wind increased. The crew had no way of knowing that the changing weather was not the harbinger of another tropical cyclone but was the beginning of the formation of an inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) otherwise known as the doldrums. This was a common occurrence in the Celebes Sea and was characterized by days of dead calm with oppressively hot and humid conditions followed by sudden thunder storms and heavy squalls.

The hot and oppressive days of calm did little to help the condition of the badly injured and hastened death for several suffering from infections. The ‘white squall’ conditions that suddenly formed with heavy driving rain required all to act quickly to prevent damage to precious supplies spread about the decks. The contrast between being becalmed one day and squall conditions the next was unnerving for all.

Twelve days after entering the Celebes Sea the damaged ship and her survivors had transited three hundred and seventy-five nautical miles of doldrums and squalls averaging less than forty nautical miles per day. They had crossed the Celebes Sea from northwest to southeast. They were approaching the Sangihe Island chain that connects the Island of Mindanao in the Philippines to the Island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The Chinese navigators and cartographers were the most skilled and knowledgeable in the world at the time but their knowledge was of the great ocean routes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and their important ports, bays and passages. Their knowledge did not extend to the relative backwaters of the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea. They were able to fix their position on the globe with relative accuracy but they knew little of the islands and reefs in these strange waters.

Day ten began with early morning twin water spouts to the South and darkening skies to the North. Water spouts were terrifying sights for sailors although much smaller than their land based cousin the tornado. Thought fantastic sights, they seldom lasted long and seldom were responsible for sinking ships. On the previous day land birds were spotted and there was the hint of nutmeg, cloves and the smell of jungle vegetation in the air, all indications of approaching land.

The darkening skies to the North soon surrounded the ship and a sudden white squall slammed the port side. The temporary rudder was torn free from the hull and the jury rigged sails were shredded. The sailors were unable to maintain steerage and were once again at the mercy of the elements. As the ship surged to the East driven by the sudden storm the smells of the islands; nutmeg, cloves, flowers, and rotting jungle vegetation grew stronger. There was also the hint of smoke in the air indicating the possibility that the islands might be inhabited.

As the deep water waves approached the shallow waters they increased in steepness and began to break over the reefs. For weeks the great flag ship had miraculously escaped shoals, reefs, rocks and islands but now, a scant three hundred meters dead ahead, steep waves were breaking over a reef made of coral and volcanic rock. The ship was making six knots driven by the storm and had no steerage. There was no way to avoid the reefs ahead. The doomed ship would have only ten minutes before being impaled ending her fantastic luck filled voyage.

5.

Sangihe Islands

Mid-December 1407

The harrowing voyage of the great flag ship of Admiral Ho ended on the reefs and volcanic rocks lying between and to the west of Ruang Island and Thulandang Island in the Sangihe Island group in the Eastern Celebes Sea. These islands are now part of the archipelago nation of Indonesia. The ship had traveled a path of two thousand four hundred and seventy-one nautical miles from her home in China through the East China Sea, The South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea, her voyage lasting thirty-one days, before washing up on the rocks. That distance in a direct line is only one thousand six hundred and seventy-two nautical miles and could be covered by a modern commercial jet aircraft in a little more than three hours.

The sounds if the howling wind, the pelting rain, and the breaking seas combined with the sound of splitting timbers and the screeching agony of the death of the great ship drowned out the cries and screams of the survivors and victims. Both Ruang Island and Thulandang were volcanic and Mt. Ruang was in full eruption adding to the surrealistic horror. The volcano was spewing clouds of ash and lava but fortunately the wind was driving the ash away from the shipwreck and the lava was following its normal course into the inlet on the East side of the island away from the reefs.

Some of the survivors perished when the ship struck the reefs either smashed in the wreckage or drown. Fortunately, most made it ashore and washed up on the sandy beach along with parts of the ship that were swept across the reefs and not impaled. All manner of debris washed ashore; food stores, timbers, rope, tools, weapons, and personal items both serviceable and unserviceable along with the lucky survivors. Fate did not distinguish between male or female, nobility or commoner, officer or common seaman/solider or even between the inherently strong or weak. Simply put, some made it ashore alive and others washed up on the beaches as corpses.

The treasure on board the ship was sorted in the huge stern castle that was also the personal quarters of Admiral Ho and the Captain. Miraculously the stern section was torn away when the vessel struck the reef and was propelled by the winds and storm surge across the reef and was flung up on the beach. Much treasure was lost including the smaller gold sibling of the great Komodo dragon but the vast majority of gold and precious stones survived. The Most of the fine Chinese porcelain table ware and decorative items of blue and green, much valued by remote trading partners, was smashed and broken. Much of the beautiful silks, also highly valued in trading, were lost. Much was lost but much survived. The surviving porcelain items and silks would become highly prized by the survivors, fragile links to their lost home.

Every rank and skill was represented in the survivors. There were soldiers, sailors, concubines, craftsmen, and nobility totaling one hundred and sixty-seven souls. The great Admiral Ho and his loyal Captain/Navigator Gia both survived as did Colonel Jin commander of the Admiral’s personal guard. The ship wrecked group was ashore on an unknown island group far from their home and far from the normal trade routes of Chinese vessels and their trading partners. They would have to fend for themselves, organize, build shelters, gather food, defend themselves from any hostile natives on the islands or the numerous sea gypsies and in general…survive. The thirty-two surviving concubines and thirteen assorted maids and female cooks would become wives and provide the essential maternal component necessary for the lost colony to prosper. Their role reversal was almost instantaneous and accepted by all as a natural evolution.

In the coming days they would find that their new home was blessed with reefs teaming with fish, sea weed, spiny lobster and other shell fish. There were great forests of towering trees and coconuts and bananas were abundant. There were numerous sheltered inlets and the mountains had natural groves of cloves and nutmeg that mixed with the ever-present sent of flowers. These spices were a rare luxury reserved for only the nobility in their native China. Deer roamed the forests and the pigs, chickens and ducks brought from China would procreate and, with no natural enemies other than man, become feral providing a valuable and familiar food source. In many ways the lucky survivors had found their own little Eden.

Admiral Ho, whose skills had been essential in their survival, would become the unquestionable leader. Over the years he would become revered by every member of the community. He inspired, directed and governed the new colony as efficiently as he had the vast fleets under his command. Captain Gia would continue to be his friend, confident and chief administrator and Colonel Jin would become the head of security and defense. As the ultimate respect, many of the descendants would assume the last name of ‘Ho’.

The survivors had no way of knowing that events China would doom any chance of rescue. The Yongle Emperor who aggressively spent the country’s treasure and used forced labor to complete the Great Canal, build the new capital of Beijing and its Forbidden City, and finance a great fleets and seven voyages of exploration would anger the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. They would support his enemies and the Emperor would be replaced in 1449 during the Tumu Crisis. The great fleets would be allowed to rot at anchor. No more voyages of exploration would take place and many of the records of previous voyages amassed in the great library would be destroyed.

Their chances of rescue were remote before the fall of the Yongle Emperor and after his fall rescue would be impossible. It would be assumed that they had been lost along with the other vessels in the great storm. They would become a lost and forgotten Chinese colony in a remote and unknown land.

Part II

6.

The Boogeyman

Mid-November

(Present Time)

The stars twinkled in the southern sky and the Scorpio constellation was clearly visible with the star representing the heart of the scorpion glowing ominously. The Southern Cross was rising off of the ship’s port side and the gentile Southeastern breeze had blown away the day’s humidity. There is a beauty and tranquility unique to the sea at night and the reason that many men chose a life at sea that takes them away from family and home. Often seamen become jaded and forget the constant changing panorama and natural beauty of their chosen work place. There are special times when they are jarred from their malaise and once again become at one with their environment and appreciate it anew. Tonight was one of those special times. Being at sea is days and days of boredom punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror. Tonight would prove to be one of those moments of sheer terror.

The ‘M/V Adalarr’ was a medium sized ship of seven thousand seven hundred metric ton displacement. Modern in design, she was built in 2010 as a Roll On/Roll Off - Load On-Load Off vessel known in the industry as a RO/RO-LO/LO ship. She was equipped to load cars, trucks and light and medium wheeled construction equipment via an angled stern ramp and she had cargo cranes allowing her to load and off load twenty and forty foot containers and miscellaneous bulk deck cargo. This configuration allowed her the flexibility to service third world ports lacking cargo handling infrastructure.

‘Adalarr’ was under the command of Captain Hermann Vandermeer, a dour Dutchman but a seasoned skipper. She traded throughout Asia time-chartered to various clients. Captain Vandermeer had skippered some of the largest container ships afloat, some over three hundred meters (almost one thousand feet) long, in his forty plus years at sea. His present command was a significant step down in terms of the size of the ship and the trade routes serviced. He had tried to climb the corporate ladders of the major shipping companies and was bloodied for his efforts. His marriage to his Dutch wife declined as he fell from the rungs of those corporate ladders and divorce followed. It was obvious that he was better suited for a life at sea than a life in the boardroom. He had re-married and now had much younger lovely wife from the Philippines and had established a home there. Tonight his thoughts were with her and his three young children.

For the past three years ‘Adalarr’ was chartered by international consortium with mining interest in Kalimantan, the Indonesian province on the Island of Borneo, and also in Irian Jaya the Indonesian province occupying Western New Guinea. ‘Adalarr’ had left Singapore three days ago in route to Balikpapan on the East Coast of Kalimantan with a containerized cargo of mining supplies, light trucks and miscellaneous deck cargo in support of the remote mining outposts on both Kalimantan and Irian Jaya. Given the remote location of these outposts, the gold being produced, and the lawless nature of some of the disgruntled local residents in these areas, she also carried small arms and ammunition for the defense forces that guarded the mines.

‘Adalarr’ was in complete compliance with current International Maritime Organization requirements for a vessel of her class and carried all of the necessary GMDSS (Global Marine Distress and Safety System) communications equipment. Part of the purpose of GMDSS gear was to monitor maritime safety messages over designated navigation areas worldwide. Those safety messages concerned a wide range of topics of interest to mariners including weather, vessel accidents, hazards to navigation and piracy. The GMDSS telex system recorded all incoming messages in hard copy for the navigational area in which the ship operated.

Captain Vandermeer’s present command was routine and lacked the challenges of his earlier days at sea. The vessel was usually in sheltered water operating in the seas between the major island chains comprising the archipelago nation of Indonesia. He had competent crew and a very good first mate. Unlike American flagged vessels, there was on prohibition on alcohol consumption on the Panama flagged ‘Adalarr’. So routine was the voyage, the Captain seldom changed his written ‘standing orders’ to the navigational watch before retiring to his cabin for a few drinks and a night’s sleep. He preferred to leave the decision as to when he should be woken to the judgment of his First Mate, Henri Blanke from Holland, who had the night watch along with two of the Indonesian junior officers, Didik and Wayhu.

Relations between the ship’s Dutch senior officers and the Indonesian junior officers and crew were professional but also cordial and even friendly on occasion. Some might find this at odds with the turbulent history of the Dutch involvement in what is now known as Indonesia. The Dutch exploitation of Indonesia began when the first ships arrived in 1596 and lasted until independence in 1945 making Indonesia the longest lived of all of the European colonies.

The Dutch used a combination of superior firepower, Bugis and Ambon mercenaries, and divide and conquer techniques pitting rival indigenous groups against each other to ruthlessly maintain a three hundred and fifty year hold on the region. One example of Dutch exuberance in controlling their far-reaching overseas empire occurred on the Paradise Island of Bali. Always independent minded, the local Rajah of Bandung refused to pay three thousand silver dollars to the Dutch in a salvage dispute over a wrecked Chinese ship. The Dutch sized the opportunity to land a force on Bali and launch a naval bombardment of Denpasar, the capital of Bali.

The Balinese realized that they were outnumbered and lacked the modern weapons of the invaders. They chose to take the honorable course of action and committed puputan, a fight to the death. Over four thousand of the Balinese nobility marched, man, woman and child, point blank into Dutch gunfire with the women throwing their gold and jewels at the Dutch soldiers shouting, This is what you came for, take it! Yes, the relations among the crew belied the turbulent history between their two nations.

The colonial period of history had formally ended but its remnants persists throughout the world today and are mirrored on the ‘Adalarr’ and in the mining