# For Marianne. R.I.P.



## Cpt Dick Brooks (May 13, 2013)

I first met Marianne in Asau Harbour, on the island of Savaii, in Western Samoa. I was on a salvage contract, to pull the expedition ship, Heraclitus, off the reef, just outside the harbour. Marianne was Canadian, and was sailing around the world with her cousin on their small yacht. They had called in at Asau to see if they could help out the crew of the stranded vessel. I employed Brent as a deckhand for the second part of the salvage operation, and Marianne as a nanny for our baby daughter, Zyanya, so my wife, Mariana, could carry out her duties as chief-engineer.
Frances, one of the American crew on the Heraclitus, had got a job as a teacher in the local village primary school, and decided to say goodbye to her shipmates in her own special way. She undressed and lay down on the varnished mess-room coffee table, then invited all the men on board to enjoy her favours. One by one, the men stripped off and took their turn. With over twenty crew of Debut and the Heraclitus on board, there was much clapping in time and laughing, with calls of encouragement. 
Brent stood up from beside Marianne to take his turn. They were very affectionate together while working on board Debut, and held hands and kissed when ever they thought no one was looking. 
She caught her breath. "Don't, Brent... please!" She watched them start. "Oh no!" she whimpered. "Brent! Why?" Her shoulders started shaking with her tears. She lowered her head and wept.
Mariana put her arms around her to comfort her. "You bastard, Brent! Now look what you've done!" She looked at Marianne. "Don't cry, honey. He isn't worth it."
They both watched in silence until he'd finished. He put on his shorts and sat down next to Marianne, breathing hard from his exertion.
Mariana stood up. "Keep away from us!" she shouted. "Look what you've done to poor Marianne." She reached for her hand. "Come on, honey. Don't cry. Let's go up to my cabin." She glanced back at Brent, her face turned to stone. "And don't you dare follow us! Get off my ship!" She looked at me. "I'll take her up, sweetheart."
At first light, there was a knock at my cabin door. Brent stood there looking at us. "Sorry to disturb you," he apologised. "But I've decided to leave."
Mariana looked up from the other side of Marianne on our bunk. "What do you want?" she asked him. "I told you last night not to come in here again!"
"I'm now leaving," he told her, then looked at Marianne. "I'm now going to fetch the yacht alongside. If you want to come with me, be ready in half an hour. Otherwise, I'll dump your stuff on the deck of Debut and leave without you."
Mariana reached under the pillow and brought out the loaded Colt 45 semi-automatic pistol that was kept there. "Get out of my cabin before I blow your guts out," she shouted. She clicked back the hammer." Get off our ship before I blast you off!"
"You're all crazy!" Brent turned and fled out into the wheel-house.
"I've asked Marianne to stay with us," she explained to me. "But she won't do it. She still wants to go with that bastard!"
"I have to, Mariana! Brent and me spent such a long time planning this trip. We took years, saving enough money to buy the boat and fit her out. I can't give it all away, just because he went with that girl!"
"*****, you mean! We'd love to have you live with us... wouldn't we, darling?"
"Sure, Marianne. We could all three of us live together. I'd like you to... very much."
"Thank you, but I have to go. I just can't give it all away over this!" she sniffled. "He's not touching me again until he's been to a doctor."

The mile-long undersea oil pipeline had been breached again in Apia Harbour, caused by another hydraulics lock when one of the employees of BP. closed the valve on the oil tank in the tank-farm being filled, before opening the next one first. Four tons of diesel oil had ended up in the harbour. We had to return to Apia and repair it, as the harbour master had shut down the tanker berth until we'd fixed it. The island was almost out of fuel... and with the South Pacific Games starting in Apia in two weeks time, it would look real bad in the eyes of the world.
I was having a last drink with the mate up in my cabin before getting underway, when Mariana came in carrying baby Zyanya.
"Are you two still boozing?" she asked. "I came up to see if you were ready to start the main engine. Can you take her for a moment, honey?" She handed me the baby.
There was a movement in the doorway, and I looked past Mariana to see Roger standing there. He was another Canadian, that I'd taken on as a deckhand for the salvage operation.
"Come in and take a seat," I invited him. "Would you like a last glass with me and Dirty Mike before we leave?"
"Yea, I'll go for one! I had to come over and say goodbye."
"Glad you did! When are you leaving on that yacht back to Pago Pago?" I enquired. 
"Tomorrow morning." He accepted a glass of rum and water and sipped. "Cheers!"
"Cheers, mate! Give my love to your lovely wife, Maureen."
He laughed along with me. "Listen, Dick. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news... but there it is."
"Go on, Roger. What's up?"
"It's Marianne." He stared back at our silent faces. "She's lost at sea."
I shot up in my seat. "You what!" I spat out. "What are you on about?"
"I heard it over the net. When Brent woke up this morning, she wasn't on board their yacht... there was no trace of her."
"Where abouts is he?"
"Off Wallis Island, over two hundred miles away." He waited a moment before continuing. "There are a dozen yachts combing the area, that were anchored at Wallis Island, but there isn't much chance of finding her."
"How long was it till he found her gone?"
"Over eight hours... they would have covered some sixty miles in that time." He sat in silence for a minute. "She should have called him to relieve her at two in the morning, but it was gone six when he woke up. There was no trace of her on their boat."
"Bastard!" I shouted. "He's done her in... the bastard!"
Mariana looked over from plaiting her hair. "What is it, sweetheart?"
"It's Marianne... she's lost at sea." I gritted my teeth at the thought. "I bet Brent had a row with her over Frances and killed her out of spite."
"That's what I reckon," Roger agreed." It's just too much of a coincidence, after what happened on here the other night."
"She's dead?" Mariana gasped. "Marianne!" Tears welled up in her eyes and she rested her forehead against the mirror. "Dead?
My best friend... dead!"
"What a way to treat your cousin!" I shook my head. "Especially after he's been sleeping with her for years."
"Cousin!" Mariana repeated, looking at me. "She was his sister!"
We all looked at her, aghast. I sighed in complete shock. "Bloody hell!"
You were a beautiful girl, Marianne. It's about time you got justice for your loss. We'll all miss you so much. R.I.P. Cpt Dick Brooks.


----------

