CHAPTER 1

Saturday,August 10th 1985

"All hands on deck!" Pat called out from the helm of theboat.

Ed looked around. There were just the two of them. He lookedat his hands, unsure what to say. Pat was taking her Captain's roleseriously. He called back "Both hands on deck, Captain."

Pat looked at him questioningly. He held up both hands, grinning.She shook her head and continued. "Anchors aweigh," she shouted.

Ed walked to the back of the boat. The anchor was safely storedon deck. He waited for a few moments. "Anchor's on board," he calledforward.

"Off to the blue yonder then," Pat called out as she put the motorin forward gear and slowly moved the boat away from the dock.

Ed grinned as he looked back. He called to Pat in full voice."Should we untie the boat from the dock, Cap'n?"

"Oh damn," Pat said out loud, and put the engine in neutral."Christ why didn't you say something!"

The owner of the boat stood on the dock, shaking his head. Heuntied the boat and threw the line into the water. Ed waved at himwith a wink and pulled the line on board.

Ed walked to the helm where Pat was ready to commence theirmomentous trip. Ed smiled. "First, Captain, my name's not Christ.And secondly we ain't exactly heading into the wide blue yonder;we're heading down the Rideau Canal along with about twenty otherboats."

Pat brushed him off with a wave. "Hey I'm the Captain, we usemy language. I've been looking forward to this trip for months. I don'twant a land-lubber like you spoiling it for me." She gave him a quickgrin. "Why don't you go to the galley and brew some hearty coffee?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Galley? Hearty coffee? This could be a long trip."

"You're the cook aren't you?" She didn't take her eyes off thewaterway ahead.

"Sure I'm the cook," Ed agreed. "It seems I'm also the ChiefMechanic, the Sergeant at Arms, the late night watch, and the boilerstoker—and we don't even have a bloody boiler!"

She turned and kissed him on his cheek. "But you're also my FirstMate." She smiled. "Get it? You're my first lover—my First Mate!"

Ed was tempted to say he hoped he'd 'get it', but thought better ofthe choice of words. "Aye, aye, Capt'n," he said, moving to head downto the galley.

She turned to him with a cheeky smile. "So what am I, your fifthmate? Your tenth mate?"

He smiled and winked at her. "You're my Captain. That's whatcounts here." He stressed the word 'counts'.

"Very clever," she smiled back. "And don't you forget it!"

"I'll go brew some hearty coffee."

Pat called after him. "Make sure the mess isn't a mess."

He turned back. "What?"

"You know make sure the mess, that's boating talk for the eatingarea, isn't a mess—as in untidy." She grinned, pleased with her play onwords.

He walked down the stairs; now wishing he had taken the sameMarine Training Course that Pat had taken. This was going to be along one-week cruise.

The boat they had rented, that Pat had rented, was perfect for twopeople. The living area was high enough that Ed didn't have to walkabout bent over, and the eating and sleeping areas were comfortablylarge. The fridge was small, but held enough basic food and white wineto get them through a couple of days. With plenty of shopping alongthe entire route, storage was not an issue.

Ed looked around. Pat had done a wonderful job of planning thetrip—which was quite a distance—from Ottawa to Ed's hometown ofOakville. The entire length of the Rideau Waterway to Kingston andthen along the shore of Lake Ontario, past Toronto, to Oakville wasa challenge for two non-sailors, but Pat had worked hard and long toensure their get-away cruise would be close to perfect. Everything wasat hand. He put on a pot of coffee.

Ed had been impressed with Pat's organizational capabilities sincethey had met in May 1984 when they worked together on OperationNiagara. She had just a few days to convert him from a typicalEnglishman who knew very little of Canada, to a point where he couldconvince members of the Turkish terrorist party, the Kurdish PKK,that he was a Canadian immigrant from England, but one that hadlived in Canada for four years. It had been a successful operation; Ed'sfirst working operation with the British MI6, which had led him tomove to Canada while still remaining a consultant with MI6. Ed andPat's relationship had changed during the past fifteen months. Theywere lovers, with an agreed-upon understanding that it would lead nofurther. While denying she wanted to marry him, she knew in thedepths of her heart she would gladly put up with a 'Delayed Pioneer',in spite of the fact that he constantly annoyed her with his penchantfor correct English. Ed's love for Pat was what he described as a lovewith a small "L". It was real, but had its limitations.

Ed's true love was a senior MI6 operative Carolyn Andrews,daughter of MI6's Chief of Staff, Lord Stonebridge. In their less-than-normalarrangement they had agreed to live somewhat separate lives,with an understanding that Ed was going to ask Carolyn to marry himin October 1989, but with no understanding of how Carolyn wouldrespond. It was imperfect but acceptable to both of them. In Ed's case,he had little choice but to accept the arrangement since it was betterthen no...