Ivory by Tony Park Read Free Book Online

Africa’s coastal waters, as well as shipping goods to and from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
    George scrolled through the list of recent incidents of piracy, stopping at one which had occurred off South Africa’s so-called Wild Coast. It read:

    An estimated seven men dressed in military-style uniforms and gasmasks, all armed with automatic weapons, boarded the car and truck carrier MV
Oslo Star.
The pirates beached the ship on an isolated stretch of coast and offloaded fifty-two new Hummer H3 four-wheel drive vehicles. One member of the ship’s crew was stabbed during the attack. All crew were locked in the officers’ mess until the theft was complete. They then had hoods placed over their heads and their hands tied before being driven to an isolated spot ten kilometres inland, where they were abandoned with a supply of food and water.
    He rocked back in his swivel chair then opened the internet browser on his computer. He typed ‘pirates’ and ‘
Oslo Star
’ into the search engine. More than a dozen news stories popped up about the daring heist.
    George clicked back on the emailed piracy report. The next item referred to a foiled raid by MEND rebels in the Niger Delta. It was believed a heavily armed gang of locals was planning to kill or kidnap foreign oil workers at a village. ‘Security consultants’ had intercepted and ambushed the gang before it could mount its attack. Some more googling came up with an online article based on an Amnesty International media release.
    INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED INTO KILLING OF NIGERIAN NATIONALS BY ‘PETRO-MERCENARIES’
screamed one headline. George snorted with disgust at the sensationalism.
    Returning to the analysts’ report on seaborne crime, George noted a summary which highlighted a number of recent incidents off the coasts of Mozambique and Tanzania, to the north. These included the hijacking of a twelve-metre luxury San Lorenzo motor cruiser, theft of several tonnes of building materials from a coastal tramp steamer and the loss of the contents of three shipping containers from a Liberian-registered cargo freighter. In the case of the latter the pirates had made off with alcohol, television sets, DVD players and furniture. The analyst noted that these recent attacks were proof of earlier predictions that piracy would move south down Africa’s eastern coast. The common thread that bound all the attacks was the reported level of organisation of the attackers, their dress and their use of automatic weapons.
    George pressed the intercom button on his phone.
    â€˜Good morning, Mister Penfold.’
    â€˜Gillian, please contact Harvey and ask him to pop in and see me. Soonest.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜Oh, and Gillian . . .’
    â€˜Sir?’
    â€˜Get me an update on where the
Penfold Son
is right now, please.’
    Harvey Reynolds was Penfold’s company security officer. He regularly briefed George on developments and trends in crime on the high seas. They had discussed increased security measures but had so far limited this to more sophisticated electronic tracking devices for the company’s fleet.
    Gillian knocked and entered. She placed a tray with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a bowl of muesli on his desk. ‘Sir, the
Penfold Son
’s expected to berth in Mombasa in about twelve hours.’
    â€˜Thanks Gillian. Get in touch with the master and have him fetch Jane for me. Tell him I need to discuss some confidential legal matters with her, so I’d like her to call me back from her cabin on the satellite phone.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    After a few minutes the phone rang.
    â€˜Hiya. It’s Jane. Anything the matter?’
    â€˜No, no. Everything’s fine. How are you enjoying the voyage?’
    â€˜It’s been good, actually. I’ve gotten so much work done, and it’s been nice to have time alone to . . . well, to think. If you know what I