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Hidalgo's eyes narrowed skeptically "Not another gringo folktale about fishered into the Gulf?"
"Who is to say?" Maderas replied with a shrug "All I know is that orders from our fleet headquarters in Ensenada directed our ship and crew to patrol the waters on the northern end of the Gulf between San Felipe and Puerto Penasco for any sign of bodies"
"A large area for only one ship to cover"
"We'll be joined by two Class P patrol boats out of Santa Rosalia, and all fishing boats in the area have been alerted to report any sighting of human remains"
"If the sharks get the left to find"
Maderas leaned back against the railing of the bridge wing, lit a cigarette, and gazed toward the stern of his patrol vessel It had been modified from a 67-meter (220 foot) US NavyG-21 painted on the bow But the crew unaffectionately called her El Porqueria ("piece of trash") because she once broke down at sea and was towed to port by a fishing boat-- a huave her for
But she was a sturdy ship, quick to answer the helm, and stable in heavy seas The crews ofboat and private yacht owed their lives to Maderas and El Porqueria
As executive officer of the ship, Hidalgo had the duty of plotting a search grid When he was finished poring over a large nautical chart of the northern Gulf, he gave the coordinates to the hel down one lane and then reversing course as ifa lawn
The first line was run at eight o'clock in theAt two o'clock in the afternoon a lookout on the bow yelled out
"Object in the water!"
"Whereaway?" shouted Hildago
"A hundred and fifty meters off the port bow"
Maderas lifted his binoculars and peered over the blue green water He easily spotted a body floating face down as it rose on the crest of a wave "I have it" He stepped to the wheelhouse door and nodded at the helside and have a crew stand by to retrieve" Then he turned to Hildago
"Stop engines e close to fifty meters"
The foaentle ripple, the heavy throb of the twin diesels died to a side the body rolling in the waves Fro, Maderas could see the bloated and distorted features had been battered to pulp Sht