Groundhog Day

Capital Ferry — en route to Olympic Village

The colony of seagull's repertoire up in the sky as it hovered over the ship made all the passengers flinch on their spots. These boisterous creatures have a talent for annoying and scaring people at the same time.

A drop of poop landed on Chinshih's backpack. 'What the f*ck? That's disgusting.' She eyed the culprit and took a slingshot from her pocket. She squinted her eyes, two fingers pulled the leather pad loaded with an imaginary rock as she aimed for the bird's wings. Her imaginary stone hit the wingspan of the seagull, which made the bird land on the waters.

Plop!

The sound of a kid that jumped from the harbor into the still chilly harbor waters awakened her from her reverie. The target, which was the seagull, left the waters and flew overhead as it waited for its next victim.

Time stood still for Chinshih until a frail old man walked past her. "Cangjie? Cangjie?" the old man asked her, his ticket raised to her face. She instantly realized that the old man was asking for help.

The ship's tickets were written in alphanumeric; thus some passengers, especially old folks who were stuck in the Cangjie method had a hard time finding their designated cabins.

She looked at the old man's ticket and decided to show him the way to his cabin instead. She had a long day ahead of her, why not use it to earn good karma.

The ship started swaying side to side as it moved rhythmically to the music of the waves. They reached the stated cabin on the old man's ticket and Chinshih patted his back. Then she helped him settle down in the dog house.

Seeing as her job was done, she turned around and was on her way out to look around the ship for clues when the hairs on her nape started to rise. 'What's up with women's intuition. Sh*t,' she thought to herself. She debated on whether (or not) to peek in the direction of the old man's cabin. With her left foot already out of the room, she decided to go on her merry way.

As she turned right on a corner, she instinctively glanced back at the old man's cabin. Something deeply bothered her about that cabin, but she could not pinpoint exactly what it was.

She moved about lightly and quickly from side to side and shook the bothersome thought out of her mind. She had a mission to do and she must get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.

The sun was already high when the ship blew its nasal-like horn.

*HOOOOOONK*

*HOOOOOONK*

The ship's crew were yelling at each other as they pulled the gargantuan anchor up to the ship's deck.

One of the crew saw Chinshih and nodded his head towards her. He then grabbed the towel that was wrapped around his forehead and proceeded to wipe the mess of sweat that covered his body.

He then slung the towel on his shoulder, and started walking towards the lower deck to which Chinshih followed suit.

Before they landed on the lower deck, the ship's crew tucked a piece of paper in between the gaps on the railing. He whistled a random tune before he slid both of his hands inside his pockets and walked away.

Chinshih slowed her steps and glided her fingers on the rail. Her palms were cold and sweaty. Something about this mission did not feel right. She smoothly pinned the paper that the crew left for her.

She was on her way back when she decided to recheck the old man's situation. When she was a few steps away from the old man's cabin, she saw Jenny come out of the booth right next to it, followed by a man who Chinshih guessed as Jenny's coach.

Moments before Jenny left her coach's cabin, she was repeatedly reminded to be careful and not wander around. Jenny shrugged it off when she was told to be vigilant against strangers that might lure her and inject her with drugs without her consent or worse without her even feeling it.

'Tch! It's just a 30-min ride. What could go wrong, anyway?' Jenny thought.

Jenny waved her hand when she saw her Da-jie cabin neighbor, and her chestnut-colored hair was blown by the wind to reveal her almond-shaped eyes that formed like a crescent moon as she smiled so sweetly and innocently.

Chinshih replied with a faint smile, waved her hand, and strode away from her newfound meimei. She really liked this girl, but unfortunately, she was here for a mission and not to make friends.

Chinshih pushed open a steel door that revealed the only bathroom on their deck that every passenger had to take turns in using. She stepped inside and locked the door before reading the contents written on that piece of paper she just picked up. She bobbed her head at the details that she had to remember.

A few days ago, their facility got a lead from one of their moles that a person from the International Olympic Committee was responsible for the sudden deaths of young athletes from doping.

It was said that a deal would be made during the 30-minute ship transfer from the Capital to the Olympic Village.

Chinshih had volunteered herself to gather the evidence from the dealing and her brother's go signal made her beyond ecstatic. She was relieved to be off the hooks after she passed out on their first meeting.

She tried to remember what happened that night, but everything was a blur. It was as if she was on antibiotics and decided to chug it down with alcohol.

On the eve of the mission, Lucas kindly dropped her off at her hideout.

"Pirate!" Lucas called her out when she was steps away from her hideout. He threw a necklace, and it almost hit her face if not for her excellent reflex.

"That's a tracker. It'll come in handy."

Chinshih was about to say 'thank you' when Lucas wind up the window. He left as soon as he said his piece.

'Am I a burden to you, brother?' she thought as she watched the glow of the pickup truck's tail lights fade in the dark as it went farther.

She waved her hand at the now dark and empty dirt road, the corners of her mouth turned down. She knew it was too much to ask for anything from her brother, but he was the only one she has left in this world. There's nothing wrong with a little expectation, right?

*KNOCK!*

*KNOCK!*

*KNOCK!*

The sound of a person's impatient knocking snapped Chinshih from her trance. She crumpled the paper and flushed it down the toilet.

The intel was brief and comprehensive: TOO SUNNY FOR A GROUNDHOG DAY

Chinshih opened the door and saw a middle-aged lady's face in full view. She wore a scarf over half of her face that only her eyes showed. Chinshih felt awkward and quickly exited the toilet, pressing her body on the metal railing to face the sea to clear her thoughts and focus on her task. Then she glanced at her watch, tapping the screen twice. Her vision was momentarily distracted as the ship sailed away from the harbor and revealed the capital's splendid skyline.

'20 minutes. I have 20 minutes to finish my task.'

Chinshih gazed at the capital's skyline. This time, with a clear plan in mind.

A few minutes later, the same middle-aged lady came out of the toilet and walked past Chinshih. Her scarf that smelled like a bomb of orange, jasmine, rose, and vanilla tickled Chinshih's nose, causing her nose to twitch at the perfume's assault. She turned around, ready to leave when she noticed something on the middle-aged woman's right helix.

The hairs on her nape raised. Women's intuition could sometimes be a scary thing. That tattoo on the woman's ears belonged to the drug syndicate that they were trying to take down.

She turned her back on the woman and left casually. She walked as if it was her first time on a ship; she looked sideways every once in awhile, nodding her head as she pouted her lips as if amused by everything that she saw. But once she was far enough she started to move stealthily along the damp and dimly lit narrow halls, unaffected by the intermittent swinging of the ship.

Chinshih recalled the old man's cabin and made her way there, and true to her gut feeling, she saw the middle-aged woman enter the cabin. Chinshih casually sat on a step of the rusty stairway at the end of the hallway that led to the main deck. It was the perfect spot to spy at the duo for traffic was lower around there as people avoided using this rusty stairway which didn't look safe for use.

Chinshih didn't wait long before she heard a door open and she saw the old man came out of the cabin followed by the middle-aged woman. Chinshih stood from her spot, her back against the cold metal wall. She twisted her torso and peeped at the duo's direction.

The duo entered a passage that led to the crew's cabin. She sneaked after them stealthily, feeling lucky that the ship's loud engine could cover the sound of her footsteps, reducing the risk of her snooping around being discovered. She entered the cabin next to it and climbed on the top bunk, then dug through the pile of pillows, and found a hole reserved for electrical wirings at the corner.

She fished a small recorder as tiny as a fiber optic cable then inserted it in the hole. She placed an earphone to her right ear then checked if she got a good reception.

A smile crept upon her face when the voices were loud and clear through the earphone. She checked the tiny monitor on her small recorder but it only showed white. 'Damn it! There's a pillow blocking on the other side!'

She pushed the fiber optic cable a little bit more and the old man's face could now be seen. He was all smiles at the person before him. Chinshih tried to wiggle the fiber optic cable; however, what happened next took her by surprise: a back blocked the view of the fiber optic cable.

The man spoke to the middle-aged woman, "Make sure everything is clean."

Then the man left the cabin, his face registered on the device. Chinshih almost dropped the device in her shock. 'What a snake!' her mind full of disdain at the frozen image of the man.

Chinshih curled up, startled when she heard gunshots as she tried to clear her mind from her initial shock.

She glanced at her watch.

She huffed and puffed. She clutched her heart as it abnormally palpitated. She was soaked with fear and beads of sweat.

'10 minutes. 10 more minutes until we reach the dock.'

Chinshih gave herself a timeline. And it was not just an ordinary timeline...

Little did she know it was her death sentence.

Edited by Swaning