Guerra, he decided to tackle what seemed to be the last hurdle.
“Mr. Guerra, up until now you and I have reached an agreement on a ship that your company has built. However, that ship is riddled with technology developed in cooperation with the government. Do you have some sort of plan to get a permit for selling it to private buyers?”
Guerra smiled with the air of someone who’s already thinking three steps ahead.
“Let’s just say that bridge’s is already been crossed,” he said. “Spain can’t afford to lose its only military shipyards nor generate thousands of layoffs. I have obtained permission to sell the technology on the condition that it will never be used against Spain or any of its allies. If so, the sales contract would be immediately revoked without possibility of a refund.”
Reyes could not ask for more.
“I just have to ask you,” the engineer said, “to give your project some positive publicity. It won’t hurt, and let’s just say the government would like its citizens to know that the technology that has been developed with everyone’s money is going to be used to do good.”
And that was not a very indirect way of saying that the government wanted to make sure they had public opinion on their side.
Reyes knew that Guerra was right, and that some publicity was certainly not going to do them any harm. He imagined the government would present this sale as an excellent way out of a somewhat complicated situation. As far as he was concerned, he knew exactly who he had to call to get a couple of pages in a national newspaper. Inflow of foreign capital, generating and maintaining jobs, and the possible eradication of damages inflicted on innocent people by evil pirates, were the perfect arguments to convince anyone.
“Splendid Mr. Guerra! It has been a pleasure doing business with you. In a few days you will hear from me with the modifications I have in mind.”
And with that, Reyes said goodbye, looking forward to an afternoon off to celebrate the strides his project had taken.
Then he remembered he had an appointment.
#
Pablo Marzán Febles’ phone rang.
“It’s Nacho,” he told his brother Javi before answering.
“What’s up Nacho?”
After listening for a couple of minutes he replied, “All right, I’ll be right there.”
After putting his phone away he looked up and met the quizzical look of his older brother.
“He wants me to meet someone. He didn’t tell me who it is or what he wants but he hinted at maybe having a job for me. Apparently they met on the train,” he said, making a face to indicate he didn’t know what to make of it all.
Pablo watched his brother carefully. He had always been a role model and a source of good advice. Even then, at thirty-three years old, sitting on the sofa in his older brother’s living room and drinking coffee after the amazing dinner they had just had, Pablo was surprised at the influence Javi had on his life.
The oldest of the Marzán Febles brothers was thirty-nine; married, with three kids. He had become a Navy officer following his father’s footsteps. He was already a lieutenant commander and was assigned as a teacher at the nearby NCO School in San Fernando.
He had always had great drive and enthusiasm for his work, but over the years he had become disillusioned with it. The lack of real-life operations and the enormous political restrictions on the ones that had taken place had disappointed him. Besides, he had discovered a second passion: teaching, which he was doing at present. Having a family also played a part in the fact that now he only asked assignments on ships as commanding officer or to meet the minimum years of embarkation required for promotion.
From what Pablo knew and had heard, his older brother was really good at his job and truly believed in the Navy, but not in how it was used. When the youngest boy was a teenager, Javi’s influence, even more than that of his father, had made him want to enroll in the Naval Academy, the training center of naval officers. However, some comments from his brother and idol disconcerted him and he had decided to talk to him.
He could still remember every detail of that long chat. His brother had not been long out of school, but was beginning to realize that it had not been exactly what he had expected. It’s not that he regretted his choice because he had always wanted to serve Spain, but he also knew that his chosen career would have very frustrating moments.
As the responsible, older brother he had wanted to convey all this to young Pablo in that conversation. He never discouraged or tried to influence his decision. No one better than he knew that the military offered economic security, albeit not luxurious, but it was something to be thankful for. It also provided opportunities to travel and to live quite unique experiences. And he never criticized. He devoted himself to show Pablo objectively all those things that only could be seen from the inside.
But that was enough for young Pablo. He knew it wouldn’t have discouraged the others, like his brother Nacho, the second of the five, who also eventually followed in his father’s footsteps. But Pablo was different. He always had a need to try new things and feel useful. Maybe even be special, though that may have been the result of being the youngest of five brothers.
Because of all that Pablo had made the decision to become a merchant marine. He had done his research and had learned that there was more to it than just taking ocean liners across the seas. It would allow him to keep in contact with the sea, which fascinated him so much, and would open the doors to adventures he only dreamed of having.
Even after all these years, he often relived in his mind the day he decided to join the Merchant Navy and not the Navy. And yet, there were days when he wondered if he had made the right choice.
Like all careers, his also had its ups and downs. He had done it all. Fishing and transport, sailing and motor, routine routes like the Ceuta Ferry, which he had become bored with, and amazing navigation such as the one around Cape Horn on a 130 foot double mast sailing yacht.
Had it been worth it? Maybe he’d never know. Did the incomparable experience of going around Cape Horn on a sailing yacht make up for all the time he had been unemployed, or had a horrible job? Fortunately, with time and experience he had carved himself a small niche in the world and it wasn’t hard for him to find work.
He knew what his parents would have preferred. He also knew that no one in his family would be proud of him if they knew some of the things he had to do. There were times he had been well aware of the illegality of actions that he had deemed necessary to take in order to fulfill some contracts. Of course, he himself cringed when he recalled the trucks going off into the darkness. Truckloads of packages labeled “FRAGILE” that had been unloaded on the beach just a few minutes before from the ship under his command. Furniture? Jewelry? Exotic animals? He was sure they weren’t drugs, but that didn’t ease the shame of the memory. Coldly considering it, the adventure of approaching a beach at night, everything turned off, was unique. But it wasn’t exactly one of the qualifications that were required from an officer or captain.
Sometimes he couldn’t help thinking he'd imagined a life as a sailor too fantastic and impossible to fulfill. A life based on books with storylines from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Pablo smiled to himself. Javi had also been the one who had introduced him to the books he loved.
While he got lost in his memories, his brother seemed
