Dreams of Fire

G. Harrison A.

Description

What he did not notice was that a woman had followed him into the bank and she now stood at a counter making out what appeared to be a check. Yet once she had her check made out, she didn't approach a teller. Instead she went outside and stood across the street waiting for him to come out. She had done what she wanted; she'd heard his name while she stood at the counter, it was Pete.

Informations

• Publié par: A. G. Harrison
• Date de parution: 29 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839783487
• Langue: English

Extrait

Dreams of Fire
 
 
Book series: “Coral Bay”
 
 
Part 5
 
 
Series by A. G. Harrison
 
 
Publication as of July 2021
 
Introduction by A. G. Harrison
 
Introduction
 
From the time human felt the necessity to communicate, he realized the value of the written word and wrote by drawing on cave walls, clay tablets, stones, papyrus, parchment, paper, and today, with the development of technology, he has created e-books.
 
The object "book" is classified in industrial products, but at the same time it is a cultural good. Personally, I emphasize both of its dimensions, but mainly in its cultural dimension. I consider the book to be the most important expression of culture because quite simply, in addition to being the same work of art, it supports all other expressions of culture.
 
As an industrial product, through the many stages of its creation and before it reaches the hands of the reader, it financially supports a wide range of professions, such as writers, philologists, translators, designers, publishers, paper merchants, printing houses, bookbinders, distributors and, finally, bookstores… Let us not forget, of course, that today it also greatly supports the huge online market industry.
 
The governments of many countries, studying and delving into the economic benefits of the book, have invested and supported this industry in various ways, which flourished and offered them great financial gains.
 
Starting with the Sumerians, Babylonians and other peoples of Mesopotamia, who wrote on clay tablets, Egyptians and Romans, who wrote on papyrus, the Jews on parchment, the evolution with handwritten books images in the Middle Ages in Europe, the creation of the first wooden typographic elements and paper by the Chinese, who printed the first books, the discovery of metallic elements by the German Johannes Gutenberg during the Renaissance and the really rapid development of printing in 1450 until 1456 and, finally, during the 19th-20th century the Industrial Revolution, which makes the production of the book flourish are some examples of the value of the written word.
 
The agony and effort of all these civilized societies, over time, in various parts of the world, teaches us that the book is an integral part of human existence.
 
Throughout this course the book records and transports from the depths of the centuries ancient civilizations, which teach us about the mistakes that we can avoid or imitate the achievements of our ancestors and adopt timeless principles and values, supplies for survival. but also the evolution of the human species.
 
By reading a book, we have the opportunity to create with our imagination the heroes of history, landscapes, various objects, etc. In the pages of a book, the author, in addition to his study, research, experiences, also expresses his feelings. He makes us members of his own world and gives us the opportunity to learn.
 
It helps us to acquire knowledge but also to enrich our vocabulary, improving our own writing.
 
It contributes to our mental alertness, increases the ability to focus, improves our memory, helps to develop our analytical mental abilities, entertains us, calms us down and helps reduce stress.
 
Of course, apart from the importance of touch and contact with a hot material, reading a quality book contributes significantly and decisively to our self-education, the cultivation of critical thinking, the upgrading of our aesthetics and consequently contributes to our quality of life.
 
It conveys art, informs, cultivates the spirit and the soul, elevates intelligence, finds solutions to problems, conveys messages, circulates ideas, forms consciences.
 
I hope my books convey a message of personal experiences and you could find segments of your own truth as well.
 
Thank you in advance for being here and being ready to start reading.
Chapter One
 
For nearly two days Pete kept the Mermaid Dream in the storm front; however, it lost a lot of its strength shortly after it passed the equator and the seas slowly became calmer. It was during this time that the three different personalities that were onboard the Mermaid Dream got much closer and they became more at ease with each other, in fact they acted a lot more like well-oiled crew. They had also traveled over eight hundred miles and were within a mere few hundred miles from the island of Kiritimati.
 
On the third morning the sun broke through the heavy overcast and seeing the sun for a change had a marked effect on the two women. They seemed to have more life in them and there was a livelier bounce to their step. Meanwhile, Pete relaxed a little and began sleeping off and on during the day and at night letting the autopilot do all the work for him.
 
It was after four in the afternoon when he awoke from another of his catnaps and looked out at the deck from the pilothouse. There was Connie and Penny pulling on lines, checking them like he did all the time, and they were back to wearing next to nothing in the searing heat of the day. He checked his heading and made a minor course correction. They were heading almost due east by now and it was time to put a call in to the port authority. He had to do that in order to ask for permission to enter port and he also needed to get an assigned anchor location number.
 
He picked up the Satcom Phone and both women saw him do this at the same time. They looked at each other and they ran for the pilothouse together. When they came through the door, they heard him say, “Mermaid Dream calling Kiritimati Port Authority, registration number SA57935S. I am requesting either a berth or anchorage near London. Over.”
 
Pause; then he said, “Can do and thank you. I’ll leave the fee with the marina office. I expect to arrive there sometime around eight in the morning. Over.”
 
Pause; “No there’s only myself on board. I’m taking my boat back to the United States for its refit. Over.” He looked at them and winked.
 
When he hung up, he looked at them and said, “After tonight you two will have to stay below and out of sight, especially while we’re in port. I’ll try to keep our time in port to a minimum, but we’ll probably have to spend the night there and we might only be dockside long enough to take on our fuel and stores. While we do that, you need to stay in your staterooms with the doors locked, do I make myself understood,” he admonished, but he could have saved his breath.
 
“Don’t worry about us; we’ll do what it takes. Thank you, Pete, thank you very much,” Penny said.
 
As the boat heeled over to starboard with a large swell and a freshening breeze, both women set their bare feet to the pitching deck and did not have to grab for something to keep them from falling anymore. They had become quite the pair of sailors in the past few days and Pete was proud of them. For something to do yesterday they polished everything on the inside of the pilothouse and the place really sparkled. The steady diet of nutritional food was also showing on them in both the color of their skin and how active they had become. Connie had already gained back a few pounds and she was looking damn good to Pete.
 
**♥**
 
In London, two men and a woman were positioned in various places around town. They were watching and waiting for the Mermaid Dream to show up. One of the men was named Jal Khaldun Filsin and he was their leader, though he didn’t look like one. He sat alone on a bench near the marina watching the comings and goings in and out of the harbor. The other man, Mosif Helou, stationed himself outside the huge store’s outlet, it was across from the marina. Meanwhile the woman, Raja Chamoun Al-Falan, was actually standing outside the bank and posing as a woman taking a survey of people on the island. She stood there with a clipboard asking questions like, “Where did you come from before living here in the islands?” or “Have you changed your style of living much after moving here and if so to what extent?”
 
All three had a hi-powered, yet tiny, short-wave radio sets strapped on them and they were on a private frequency. They used these radios to stay in touch with each other. Their earpieces came to life as Jal said softly into his radio, in Arabic, “Raja, you take the first watch tonight. I’ll spell you at one and Mosif, I will see you at five. This evening I will sleep until eight but awaken me if the boat comes in sooner.”
 
“Okay,” Mosif said softly into his microphone, it was hidden in his shirt lapel. Raja didn’t answer because she was talking to one of the islanders and both men could hear the conversation.
 
“I am going to bed now, Praise be to Allah and good night,” Jal said and got up to leave. As he walked away from the marina, he noticed Mosif coming in to take his place on another bench near the quay wall.