The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) by Pendelton Wallace

the bleed screw. Next he cracked the bleed
screw on a fuel injector.
    “Try it again.”
    Chris cranked the
engine over until a steady stream of diesel flowed from the injector.
    “That’s good.” Ted
tightened the screw down. “Try it again.”
    This time, the
diesel fired and caught. “Woohoo! Ol’ Teddy figured it out!”
    Ted put the companionway
stairs back in place, covering the rusty old hunk of iron, and washed his hands
in the galley sink.
    For half an hour
they motored on, then the engine sputtered and died again.
     
    ****
     
    Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia,
Canada
    What have we
done? The lack of motion on board the Valkyrie stunned Ahmad .
    “We’ve gone
aground.” Hani shoved the gear shift lever into reverse and gunned the engine.
“Maybe we can back off.” A froth of white water burst from under her stern, but
the Valkyrie held fast. “We have to get out an anchor.”
    “Why do we need an
anchor?” Ahmad’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “We’re stuck on the bottom. We
need to get free of the bottom.”
    “If we can set an
anchor out in the channel, we can kedge ourselves off the rocks.” Hani’s hands
pantomimed pulling themselves free.
    Hani’s nautical
jargon totally confused Ahmad. 
    “Get the skiff in
the water,” Hani directed. “Fire up the motor.”
    Ahmad, sensing
Hani’s desperation, ran back to the after deck, calling Kalil to follow him.
They used the cargo boom to hoist the aluminum skiff off of the seine net and
swing it over the side, into the water. 
    “It looks like you
guys’re in trouble, eh?” The shout came from the skipper of a crab boat idling
into the harbor. “Eh” rhymed with “hay.” “Can we pass you a line?”
    Ahmad looked up to
Yasim, standing on the bridge deck, with a look of panic.
    “What should we
do? We don’t want to have contact with the infidel, but the longer we stay here
stuck on the rocks, the more exposed we are.”
    “If we remain
here, authorities will surely take notice. Coast Guard will come to offer
assistance. We can’t afford to make contact with them. Take help from this
kaffir.”
    “We’ll bring our
skiff over to take your line,” Ahmad shouted across to the crab boat.
    Kalil managed to
get the cranky diesel in the skiff to turn over. Ahmad dropped into the skiff,
cast off from the Valkyrie and motored towards the crab boat.
    The skipper
screamed as Ahmad came along side too fast and bumped into the crab boat’s
side. “Be careful, God damn you.”
    “I’m sorry. It’s
the first time I’ve driven this boat.”
    “Who the hell are
you guys anyway? No fisherman I know would handle a skiff like that.”
    Panic ate at
Ahmad’s gut. He took a deep breath. His training started to come back to him. Stick
to the cover story.
    “We’re marine
surveyors. We’ve just bought this boat.”
    “Well, you sure as
hell better learn to handle her.” The skipper passed a thick rope down to
Ahmad. “Make this fast to your tow bit and I’ll haul you off of there.”
    “Thank you.” Ahmad
tied the rope to the skiff and headed back to Valkyrie .
    He passed the
heavy line up to Yasim and stood off to help again if necessary. Yasim looped
the line around the tow bit on the Valkyrie’s bow.
    “We’re ready,”
Ahmad shouted, waving his arms.
    The crab boat
slowly moved forward, taking up the slack in the line. As the line straightened
out, water dripping from it as it rose, the crab boat let out a great bellow
and a dark cloud belched from her smoke stack. Ahmad felt his pulse rate rise.
The crab boat went to work and slowly, the Valkyrie began to pivot on her keel.
    The noise coming
from the crab boat was terrifying. Surely everyone in Vancouver must be able to
hear. Any chance of our slipping away unnoticed is gone.
    “It moved,” Yasim
screamed. “I just felt boat move!”
    Ahmad saw the Valkyrie lurch forward a few inches. She pivoted towards the crab boat, then jumped
forward a few more inches. Finally, with a