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records claim.”
    “Your scales disagree with mine.”
    Aven shrugged. “Ours were calibrated three weeks ago, and they’re the official instruments. If you were off by a few pounds, we wouldn’t think much of it.” He turned to Seaman Kusiak. “Did you check on mandatory safety equipment yet?”
    Kusiak nodded. “Yes. They’ve got most of what’s required.” He held out a form.
    Aven looked over the checklist and noted the lack of two personal flotation devices and a case of flares whose expiration date had come and gone. The captain would face a stiff fine for certain because of the bulging refrigeration lockers below. The safety violations would add more fines and red flag the boat for another inspection soon.
    Aven beckoned Wayne a few steps away, down the deck, and asked quietly, “Anything else I should know?”
    “Just that they’re not happy.”
    “They never are. Did they threaten you while I was below?”
    Wayne hesitated.
    “Come on.” Aven walked several paces away and turned around so that he faced the captain and crew but Wayne had his back to them.
    “The big guy in the red hat.”
    Aven scanned the crewmen and nodded.
    “He said something to the skipper about how easy it would be to get the jump on us.”
    “What did Andrews say?”
    “Said he was nuts. The Guard would be all over them like a flock of seagulls on a garbage dump.”
    “He’s right. Anything else?”
    “No, just muttering and dirty looks.”
    “Okay. You and Kusiak be ready to get down into the boat. We’ll board in a minute.” Aven strode back to the captain and met his gaze for a long moment. “Make sure you’ve got all your PFDs next time.” He tore off the carbon and handed Andrews the citation. “You’ll be notified soon when and where to appear in court.”
    “Yeah, right.” The captain squinted at the paper. The wind fluttered it, and he reached up with his other hand to hold it steady. Half a dozen of his crewmen closed in around him, glaring at Aven and his team. The hulking man in the red knit cap looked over the captain’s shoulder at the paper and swore.
    Aven did a quick mental assessment. When a man’s livelihood and that of his whole crew was threatened, anything could happen. The Coastguardsmen were outnumbered. Although he had a pistol, his men were unarmed. No telling what weapons the fishermen carried. Prudence dictated that they make their exit.
    “Thank you, gentlemen,” he said.
    “Just get off my boat.” Andrews glared at him.
    The big fisherman spat out a filthy insult, advancing a menacing step toward him.
    Aven held his gaze. “I’d advise you to stay calm. I have the power to arrest you.”
    Three other men fell in beside the big man. One of them held a hooked fish gaff.
    Aven reached for the button on his radio. The big man swung fast—faster than Aven could react. The blow to his midsection sent him sprawling backward toward the rail where his men waited.

Two
    Caddie lay on the bunk in sick bay and focused on the lights overhead. The painkillers were already taking effect. The stabbing pangs in her arm had eased, but she still felt the deep, throbbing ache.
    Edward Smail, the hospital corpsman who’d dressed her fractured arm, hovered over her. “All right, that should keep your arm immobilized until we get home and a real doctor can look at it. Let me look at that bump on your head now.”
    Caddie blinked in surprise, but when she’d absorbed his words, she realized that her head did ache, too. She put her right hand up to her hairline and carefully fingered the lump.
    “I didn’t even know I’d hit my head.”
    Smail shrugged. “That arm’s going to give you something to think about for at least six weeks. But you’ve got a goose egg, too.”
    “Can I go to my quarters?”
    “No, I think I’d better keep you here where I can observe you until we reach Kodiak.” He smoothed her hair back and pulled in an overhead lamp on an expanding arm. “Yeah, that’s a