New Beginings - 21. NB Chapter 21

After an hour, we had inspected nearly every inch of the ship, including the engine and generator rooms, which are quite large and noisy, and when we arrived at deck A crew living area, I wondered what Seb was doing, as we arrived at the crew galley, were the chief steward and executive chef were chatting. “Sorry to interrupt you both, James I just need to ask you, about your comment of a secure cabin, do we actually have one?” Seb asked.

“We do now sir, I have relocated one of the crew members to a shared cabin, so as to make his cabin available, it is the portside end cabin you passed when you entered the crew area on the main deck sir” the chief steward replied. “Next to the incinerator room, yes that is isolated from everyone, good choice, carry on” Seb replied and I followed him out of the galley, and we headed downstairs to the main deck.

When we arrived at the cabin, the name plate that usually has a crew members name on it, now read “Detention cabin”, and we opened it up to find no desk or chair, and the doors to the wardrobe had been removed, with just a few cheap plastic coat hangers. The cabin has no porthole window at all, with just one florescent light in the room.

The bed had sheets, and a blanket, one pillow, and a spare blanket, that was all, just the bare minimum requirements. The bathroom had the vanity doors and storage drawers removed, leaving just open shelves. “Wow, that is going a bit extreme, but I guess it is meant to be a punishment cabin” I said as we exited the cabin, which we noticed has a new lock on it.

Back on B deck, we found that the twins were up and eating breakfast, and I went up to the storm lounge, which is the most forward spot of the whole ship, to enjoy a birds eye view of the ocean ahead of us, which is awesome to see. Soon I was stunned to see whales breaching the surface, blowing air and spray into the air, then flapping their huge tails down onto the sea surface.

I was so memorised by it, I didn’t even notice Sebastian approaching from behind me, and sit down in the lounge. When I heard a slight noise, I turned to see him sitting there and smiling, “It is an amazing sight to see isn’t it” Seb said to me, “Yes, it is spectacular to watch” I replied as I kept watching. “The passengers are already getting very demanding to the staff, I will need to give them a bit of a lecture, during their lunch time” Seb commented after a long period of silence.

“Would you like me to do it?” I asked, as I turned to face my cousin, “no it will be fine, if you can get an early lunch and man the office, that would be helpful” Seb replied with a smile, and I picked up the phone and pressed the number for crew galley, “Yes sir, how may I help you” came a response, “Huon Devonport here, I will require a 11.30 lunch today in the VIP dining room please” I said, “Very good sir” came the reply and the call ended.

Straight after lunch I headed across the hall to the administration centre, and got to work to answer some faxes and emails from Como, Italy, and when I looked at the clock, and saw that it was nearly 12.30, I raced out, across tot he dining room, through the crew door, down to the central crew stairs, to the next deck down, coming out in the crew pantry, where passenger meals, and served from.

Staying out of sight, I listened in, having already seen Seb enter the passenger dining room. “Good afternoon, it has come to my attention, that you have been making unnecessary requests to the crew. Your journey to your research station, allows you the use of the facilities in all open areas of the ship, a cabin service every second day, three meals a day, snacks mid morning, mid afternoon, and supper at 9pm. You are not entitled to alcohol, which we do not carry anyway, and you are not entitled to make unnecessary demands of the crew, do I make myself clear” Seb said raising his voice a little as he spoke.

“Perfectly Mr Executive” the same Australian passenger who gave us a little bit too much attitude earlier, said in reply. “Mr, I am the owner of this ship, so knock off the attitude, or you will be going no where very fast” Sebastian snapped, as he walked away. When a steward passed me and walked into the dining room to start clearing away plates, I heard another Australian passenger asked the steward, “Is he really the owner of the ship?”

“Yes sir, that is Mr Wagner, he is the owner of Wagner International Investments, who owns this ship, the other gentleman is Mr Wagner’s first cousin, Mr Devonport, who is the new company Administrator” I heard the steward say, as he headed towards the pantry and my location.

“Thankyou” I whispered to the steward as he arrived and started to clean up the dirty dishes, and stack them into the dishwasher located in the scullery next door, and I headed back upstairs to the administration office, where Seb was seated and looking very annoyed.

“I heard all of that from the pantry, you could always use the plank to send him overboard to the sharks” I commented, and Seb laughed out loud, “Don’t tempt me cousin, I just might do that, when we are in International waters” Seb replied, and we both laughed. “Some how, I don’t think Antony would be too pleased if you did” I added, when we had calmed down, “Very true, I will have to give him sixty lashes instead” Seb replied, “Arr, eye eye Captain Nastyface” I said in my best pirate voice, and we started laughing again.

A few minutes later we exited the administration centre, and went to find the twins, who where watching cartoons, “Can we go into the hot tub after lunch please Sebastian” the twins asked in Italian, “English hoys, you need to practice your English” I said to the twins in English. “Can we go to hot bath after lunch please” the boys chorused, and Seb smiled and nodded his head yes.

As we were finishing lunch, the captain arrived, which surprised us a little, “Sorry to interupt your lunch, I heard there is a Captain Nastyface on board, anything I should be worried about?” the captain asked. Seb and I looked at each other before busting into fits of laughter, the captain just smiled and left the room. After lunch Seb decided that we should go and explain to the captain, so we headed to the bridge.

“No need to explain, the steward informed me of what happened in the passenger dining room, and what he overheard coming from administration” the captain said as soon as he saw us enter the bridge, and Seb and I began to chuckle, “Sorry Captain, just letting off some steam, although it is a good idea” I responded, “Which one? Off the plank to the sharks or sixty lashes?” the captain asked, ‘What about six months in a leaking boat” the first officer added, referring to a song by Chris De Burgh, which had everyone on the bridge laughing.

Back at administration, we settled in to an afternoon of office work, with Seb leaving early to check the sail schedule with the captain. I was about to finish work, when I heard crying and shouting in Italian coming from outside on the foyer, and I rushed out to find Louis laying on the floor crying and Joachim shouting in Italian, Standing in front of Joachim, I asked him in Italian to stop shouting and tell me calmly what happened.

Joachim informed me they had found a passenger wandering around the outside deck on B deck, and when he entered the foyer they tried to stop him from entering, that is when Louis was pushed away and he fell to the floor. Quickly I checked Louis, to see if he was ok, before picking him up and grabbing Joachim’s hand and lead them through the door into the hallway, and I asked them to go to the storm lounge and wait there.

Returning to the foyer, I found the French passenger standing there looking annoyed, “Do you speak English” I asked the man, and the man shook his head no. I reached over to the phone on the wall and pressed intercom, “Attention crew, Ship’s doctor to the storm lounge, and ship’s captain and Mr Wagner to B deck foyer asap please” I said which echoed through the speakers around the ship.

Less than a minute later the Captain arrived, with Sebastian close behind, “This gentleman was found on the outside deck of this deck by the twins, when he entered the foyer, he pushed Louis away and he fell down crying” I explained, and the passenger started saying something in French, and I noticed the captain listen carefully, then reply in French, before the captain went to the phone on the wall, and pressed a button.

“James, have two strong men and yourself come to the B deck foyer, to escort a passenger to detention, and ask Mr Kent prepare his bird for a quick trip to Busselton and back” the captain said, before he hung up then picking it up again he pressed another button, Bridge, this is the captain, all stop, prepare for helicopter extraction of a passenger” the captain said before hanging up.

After the two calls, the captain faced the passenger, and spoke to him in French, and the passenger looked shocked at what he was being told, and started to protest, until James and two stewards appeared and took him away. I made my way upstairs to check on Louis, to see if he was injured badly or not. “He is just a little shaken up that is all’ the doctor said when he saw me arrive.

“Thanks Doc” I replied, before facing the twins, and in Italian, I suggested that we order some banana splits from the galley, which cheered up both boys, and I heard the doctor chuckle, “I understood the words banana splits, so I can guess the rest, they won’t eat their dinner if they have it now” the doctor replied, “True, maybe a double helping after their main course” I suggested, and I said that to the twins in Italian.

I had the boys wash up ready for dinner, and we made our way down to the dining room for dinner, where Seb was talking to the Captain, who left the room soon after we arrived, as we sat down, and our meals were delivered, and we began to eat. “The captain has contacted the police at Busselton, and they will be waiting at the airport, to collect our evicted passenger, where he will be given a written warning for assaulting a minor, then he will be deported” Seb said.

“That is good to hear, what else will happen?” I said in reply, “Well the company he works for, will get a bill from us for his full journey costs, of 8 days at $75 per day, a total of $600, which he has forfieted, a notice of lifetime ban on the passenger, forever travelling with us again, plus the cost of the helicopter trip, which will be $850, for flight time, avgas fuel and pilot’s wages, plus they will have to pay for his deportation flight back to France” Seb replied.

‘Well he won’t be doing that ever again” I commented, “The captain will also be addressing the other passengers during their dinner time, to let them know that the actions of one passenger, has resulted in him being transported back to the mainland, for assaulting a minor, and that he will be deported back home to France” Seb announced, “I hope that is the last that we hear any trouble from passengers” I said and Seb nodded his head in agreement.

“By the way, I received a fax just before all of this happened, I didn’t get a change to read it, it was addressed to you, and marked personal and confidential” I said to Seb, “Yes I know what that is about, you can go ahead and read it, as it concerns you” Seb replied with a smile, which had me confused a little, “It can wait till tomorrow” I said in response, “Ok, it’s not urgent” Seb answered, and he continued to finish his meal.

Soon after dinner, we heard the helicopter starting up, and the twins wanted to go outside to watch it take off, so we headed up to the bridge, where they could get a clear view of the chopper taking off, arriving just in time to see the evicted passenger and his luggage be loaded into the helicopter, and soon after they took off.

It was just after 9pm, when the helicopter arrived back, and once it was safely stowed away, we were on our way again, already over three hours behind schedule. Once we had the boys settled in bed, Seb and I settled in the storm lounge to watch a movie, and the stewards brought us up some drinks and popcorn. “They really do over do it, with spoiling us” I commented once the steward had left, “That is their job, and they are getting paid well for it too” Sebastian replied with a smile.

“If you pay them more than the usual wages, doesn’t that cut into the profits for this side of the business?” I asked my cousin, “Huon, I have this contract for three reasons, to have something unique and interesting to do, to spend quality time with my twin brothers, and to be closer to you. We get a small profit, between income and costs, that is all that matters, the other three things are more important to me” Seb replied.

I felt very touched by what my cousin just said, and I leaned over and gave him a big hug, “Thanks for being in my life cousin” I said with tears in my eyes. The next morning, I had a late breakfast, and I spent the morning hanging out with the twins in the storm lounge, and watching them as they spent some time in the hot tub, before I headed into the office.

That is when I remembered the fax from the law firm in Italy, which was written in English. “Mr Wagner, as per your request, the share portfolio of Wagner International Investments has been altered, with the changes now in place, you retain 52% share of WII, your twin brothers – have 20% shares each, and the remaining 8% shares are allocated to your first cousin, Huon Devonport”.

I stared at the document for a few minutes then read it again and for a third time, when Sebastian walked into the office, and seeing my shocked look, he chuckled. “I thought that might be your reaction, once you have read it” Sebastian said to me. “What, is this, it is too much” I replied. “It is part of what my dad wanted, to repay a debt that he owed your dad for saving his life, if he hadn’t then we wouldn’t be in this position we are in now” Sebastian responded, with a big grin.

“Ok, I understand that, but 20% of WII, that must be a hell of a lot of money” I said to my cousin, “Yes, it is alot. As part of my dad’s will, he allocated 4% shares of WII to you, so since we first met, you have been a wealthy young man, recently as I have been getting to you know you better, I had that percentage doubled, dropping my shares from 60% down to 52%, so I still have majority shares” Sebastian said to me.

“So how much exactly are my shares net worth?” I asked, curious to know, “Well, when you had 4% shares it was 15.48 million Euro, but now it is E 30.96 million Euro, before we left Albany, I deposited your first two annual payments, the first for 154,800 Euro, the second for 309,600 Euro, into your bank account” Sebastian said to me, “Holy cow that is a lot of money, what am I suppose to do with that much money?” I replied.

“Spend it, which ever way you want to, it is your money, remember that it is in Euros we are talking here, so in Australian value, it is a little larger than that” Sebastian said, and I reached for my mobile and clicked on the Units Conversion App, and selected currency, then selected Euros in the first bar, and Australian dollars in the second bar, before entering 464,400 Euros, as the currency amount.