title: The Charter
author: Hilliard, John
description: Escaping from his past, a charter boat captain fled to Nassau after World War II and was living a dream aboard his own yacht, the Ms. B'haven. Business was good, and his first mate, a young Bahamian girl, who was his on and off again girlfriend, was happily on again. Reminiscing on that gorgeous spring morning, he believed that life just couldn't get much better.
  That is, until she showed up and paradise would suddenly become much more complicated.
  April 1, 1953, a tall beautiful blonde saunters onto the boat and into the lives of the captain and crew with a surprising and unusual request. She wants to charter the Ms. B'haven for diving lessons. Not skin-diving lessons to frolic on the beautiful reefs, but deep-sea hard-hat diving to recover sunken treasure. Maybe he should have asked more questions about her mysterious past and need for secrecy. Lust and desire will blind a man, you know. Maybe his young first mate should have asked herself more questions about her relationship with her captain. Jealousy and envy will blind a woman, you know. Maybe, just maybe, everyone should have just stepped back for a moment to take a breath.
  This is the story of a charter. A charter filled with high-seas adventure and underwater perils. A charter wrapped in friendships and betrayals, plots and schemes, victories and defeats, speechless joys and inner demons. A charter that could send souls soaring into the heavens or drowning into the depths of hell. A charter that would turn into a matter of life and death.
  All will be touched and changed forever. At least, those who survive The Charter.