Merlin pushed at her wet hair,
blinking the odd stray tendril from her eyes.
She steadied herself with the other hand, holding on to the edge of the
table.
“What d’you want me to do, Alex?” She glanced over her shoulder, back to the
control panel. “If I answer that, you
know what he’s gonna tell us to do, don’t you?”
Alex grabbed at the table too as the
deck heaved suddenly beneath them. From
below, Jack’s loud groan was filled with misery.
“Shamrock, Shamrock, this is home
base. Do you copy?”
“If we ignore it,” Alex reasoned,
“Zeke will assume we’re in trouble and he’ll alert the authorities. We can’t let that happen. One, it’ll divert them from people genuinely
in distress an’ in need of rescuing, and, two, we’ll be taken back to Morro
Bay. But – ”
“If we answer it,” Rachel cut in, her
voice tight, “we’ll be ordered back to Morro Bay anyhow. Either way, we lose. We’ll be forced to give up the pursuit and
we can’t do that.”
Alex looked up at Merlin and felt a
twinge of guilt. Aquila was still on
the sundeck, still obeying her orders to keep watch. Alex had to keep reminding herself that Aquila could cope with
anything nature threw at her. She
probably wasn’t even damp.
“Can you lie ..?” she ventured.
Merlin grinned. “Do it all the time, Alex.”
“Then .. spin him a line,” Alex
decided. “Rachel’s gotten it exactly
right. We don’t give up. We’re in this till the end.”
“Okay.”
Merlin turned and lurched across the
main cabin. She felt exhilarated by the
conditions. The storm hadn’t really hit
yet. They’d had a couple of squally
showers and the sea was rough with a choppy swell of five to six feet. It was going to get a lot worse.
“Shamrock, Shamrock, this is home
base. Do you copy?”
Zeke Jordan’s voice sounded more bored
and impatient at the continuing silence than anxious. He was speaking by rote.
Merlin picked up the microphone,
braced her hip against the bulkhead.
“Shamr – ”
She flicked a switch. “Home base, this is Shamrock. Go ahead.
Over.”
“Jeez, at long damn last! Shamrock, turn your tail around an’ get back
to Morro Bay. Over.”
She narrowed her eyes at the radio and
it gave a squeal of static feedback.
“Sorry, home base, didn’t catch that message. Please repeat. Over.”
The feedback made Rachel’s teeth ache,
and it obliterated whatever Zeke said next.
“Home base, the weather’s turned
really bad and we’re making good time to Monterey, heading for shelter. It’s way better to keep going and we’ll ride
it out at Monterey. Turning round now,
we’d be heading into it. Not sure if
you’re hearing this, home base, but don’t worry about us, we’re doing just
fine. Shamrock, over an’ out.”
“Sha – ”
She hit the switch and cut him
off. “He’s more concerned about getting
his boat back in one piece,” Merlin remarked with a shrug. “So long as he thinks we’ve gotten her into
a harbor, he’ll keep off our case.”
Alex nodded. “How’s Jack doing?” she asked Rachel.
“He isn’t dying. He just thinks he is.”
“An’ Kat?”
Rachel smiled. “She thinks this is a grand adventure.”
“It’s okay now but it’s gonna get a
lot worse,” Merlin commented. “We’ve
only caught the edge so far. The wind’s
fairly mild as yet even if the gusts are picking up, but it’s gonna whip the
sea into frothy mountains in a few hours.”
“Can you cope with it?” Alex wondered.
“I know what the manual says this boat
can do an’ they tend to stay on the cautious side of safety. I figure we can count on her to go a little
further for us. As for me .. sure, I
can cope. I’ve got a few days’
experience with the controls and displays.
Not much, but I’m a quick study.
How about you?”
“When it’s for a good cause,” Rachel
declared, “the mind can push the human body past previously known limits. I can’t say I’ve got a hundred per cent
confidence in myself but I know I’ll get thru this one way or another if I’ve
got my friends with me. Derek would
never turn his back on me. I won’t give
up on him.”
Alex nodded. “Likewise. Are we all
prepared? Everything not only put away
but secured? Lifejackets on?”
“Uh huh.” Rachel braced herself against the table as a wave slammed into
them.
“Anyone who goes outside should wear
an anchor line,” Merlin added. “It’s
wet out there and it’s slippery. We
didn’t exactly bring the right clothes with us. I’d advise staying in here or down below as much as possible.”
“What about Aquila?” Alex asked. “Will she be all right?”
“This is nothing to her, Alex. Don’t give her a second thought. She’ll keep watch an’ she’ll feed her
reports straight thru to me. I’ll be
right here, at the controls. We’re
covered.” Merlin angled her head. “You guys look beat. Why don’t you go grab a nap or something?”
“Sleep thru this?” Rachel queried,
sounding startled.
“Did you sleep last night?” Merlin
asked.
“Not exactly,” Alex replied. “I was too wound up thinking about the
storm.”
“Well, I slept like a baby,” Merlin
stated. “I got a good twelve hours
under my belt. I can last a few days
now. You can’t do much up here,
Alex. Go below.”
“And what if something happens?”
“I’ll call you. Now go! Both of you. And send Jack up here.”
“He won’t come,” Rachel remarked.
“Tell him I need him up here. He can help me avoid slamming into the
land.” Merlin shrugged. “That man has one of the best developed
survival instincts I have ever known.
When his life is at risk, he doesn’t think, he just does.”
Alex looked alarmed. “Is there a chance we could – ?”
“No, but he doesn’t need to know
that. You two are gonna be trying to
rest. You don’t want him down there
moaning an’ keeping you awake. Send him
up here.” She gave a small smile. “I'll keep him in line.”
“Okay,” Rachel agreed, tottering
toward the steps. Alex hesitated then
followed.
Merlin closed the hatch behind them
and quickly took out her cell phone. It
was an idea she’d had; it might not work, but .. there gain, maybe it
would. Nick just needed to be on the
ball, think a little. She was disgusted
that she hadn’t thought of it sooner.
She pressed out his number and it began to ring. He couldn’t answer and, after ten rings, his
voicemail kicked in.
“Nicky, it’s me. We’re off your starboard side. We’re sticking with you even though it seems
we’ve got the same storm conditions as you.
If you can get a chance, next time you’re in our area, you can try jumping.
We’re here to pick you up. I
love you. Be safe.”
She ended the call. He might never get the message but she had
to try. She only hoped he’d think to
turn his phone on next time the ship materialized. He may not have the chance.
The battery may have run down.
Any number of things could go wrong.
“Fuck it. It’s a long shot but sometimes they pay off.”
Merlin heard heavy footsteps
erratically climbing the steps. The
hatchway opened and Jack Chivikian appeared in it, his face a nasty shade of
green, his lips clamped together over his teeth., He regarded her with accusing eyes.
“Come here,” Merlin said, beckoning to
him.
He swallowed and hesitated.
“You throw up in here, you spend the
rest of this trip outside, weather or no weather,” she warned. “Zeke Jordan will charge me an arm an’ a leg
if we hand this boat back stained an’ stinking. Come here.”
Jack’s stomach clenched and his
nostrils flared but he swallowed again and managed three staggering steps
toward her.
“You know this is all in your mind,
don’t you?” Merlin told him. Now his
eyes were accusing and wounded. “You
can think yourself thru it.”
He shook his head.
“You can, you’re just preferring to
use it as an excuse to curl up an’ hide.
Well, I can’t wait for you to realize I’m right. Come here!”
“Why?” he gulped and closed his mouth
quickly.
“Because. Just do it, Jack. I need
your help. Alex is exhausted, so’s
Rachel. They’re carrying a lot on their
shoulders right now so it’s down to the rest of the Brady Bunch – that’s you,
me an’ Kat – to keep going while they take some time out, okay? Come here, please.”
The
deck tilted sharply and he lunged the remaining distance but pulled up before
he crashed into her. He took one look
outside, thru the rain spattered window, and the color of his face matched the
livid green of the sea.
Merlin
put a hand on his abdomen and he flinched away. She grabbed his shoulder and hauled him back.
“Stand
still, for Pete’s sake,” she muttered.
She
replaced her hand on his gut and he felt a brief flare of warmth. Her hand shifted to his forehead which was
damp with sweat. This time, Jack felt a
coolness, as if somehow iced water was trickling over his brain. He blinked.
“What
did you just do?” he asked.
“Cured
your seasickness.”
“You
can do that?”
Merlin
regarded him. “Jack .. I just did.”
“Then
why the hell didn’t you do it before?” he demanded. “You let me suffer all this time. You let me look like a damn pin cushion with all those
shots. And you could’ve done this, at
any time ..?”
She
shook her head. “No gratitude in this
world, is there?”
“Well,
excuse me, of course I’m grateful but I’m also as mad as hell.”
“Good,”
Merlin smiled. “It’ll keep you focused
on your work.”
He
glared at her. “What does Nick see in
you?” Jack looked her up and down. “No, don’t answer that. It’s obvious what he sees in you. You’re as hard as he is and he must really
love that in a woman. What d’you need
me to do?”
“Keep
an eye on this display. This is the
land. This flashing dot is us. I’m gonna be concentrating on keeping us as
straight as we can be. We don’t want to
be broadsided by these waves cos it could capsize us. If I’m watching the sea, I need you to watch our position in
relation to land. Let’s not end up as
just another statistic, huh?”
Jack
grunted and nodded. “I can’t believe
you let me suffer like that,” he muttered.
“A
little suffering is good for the soul,” Merlin grinned.
His
shoulders twitched. “What about a lot
of suffering?”
“Good
for the character,” she responded.
“You
always have to have the last word, don’t you?” Jack accused.
Merlin
said nothing, merely watched him. Jack
slowly smiled and, feeling a little smug, turned to look at the display.
“Matter
of principle,” Merlin said and laughed.
*****
Despite,
on the surface, feeling this was a grand adventure, Kat was scared. It was one thing to see storms on TV and in
movies, quite another to be actually out in it. Imagination was powerful and could summon emotions and sensations
more profound than those generated by the real event .. but this, this was
different. Imagination didn’t really
make the floor shudder and tip at precarious angles. It didn’t make those sounds.
She’d
slept pretty well thru the night, content in the knowledge that Aquila was
topside on lookout, but she’d woken early and faintly heard the low, mournful
howl of the wind. When Kat had sat up,
the floor had been tilting one way, then another. At first, yes, it had seemed like fun, but it had gotten
worse. Kat had tried to go back to
sleep, using her imagination to transform the rocking of the Shamrock into the
rocking of a cradle, but this cradle was being rocked by a none too gentle
hand. Eventually, Kat had given up and
had just sat there, her knees drawn up, her arms wrapped around them, listening
and letting her imagination work some overtime.
Now
she wanted company, and, as ever, she turned to her honorary big sister. Her mother would be that blend of mother,
psychologist, and Legacy member and Kat didn’t want to hear concern, anxiety
and fear, nor did she want reasons why she was feeling scared, and she didn’t
need to hear again that this was for a good purpose and they were in this to
the end. Kat already knew that and,
anyway, ‘the end’ sounded much too finite for her liking. She wanted to be with someone who would instinctively
know how she felt and could deal with it in a hands-on, practical way.
Kat
crept up the steps to the main cabin.
“Is
it safe for me to be here?” she asked.
“Sure,
kiddo, as safe as anywhere else on board,” Merlin responded brightly.
“How
you feeling, Jack?” Kat inquired as she lurched to the sofa and sat down.
“I
feel great,” he said, his voice sour.
“Dr Schweitzer here finally took pity on me.”
“How
you feeling, Kat?” Merlin asked.
“Bit
queasy,” Kat admitted, hugging her knees to her chest. “I knew it would be bad but I didn’t think
it would be as bad as this.”
“Jack,
take the wheel,” Merlin ordered.
“Me? My job is to watch this dis – ”
She
took his hands and put them on the wheel.
“Keep us facing into the waves.
It’s easy.”
“Easy
for you to say,” he muttered, peering forward into rising walls of green. “Easy for you to do. Me .. I’m a stage act
and part time associate member of the Luna Foundation. I am not a helmsman.”
Merlin
ignored him. “Kat, this is gonna get
worse before it gets any better. We
never expected to have to do this, none of us brought the right clothes, we are
unprepared. Sitting around on the
sundeck .. just memory now. I want you
to promise me that you – Jack! Facing into the waves! – that you’ll stay
inside or down below. Outside is really
too risky. And I want you to promise that
you’ll keep your lifejacket on all the time, even when you go to sleep.”
“Will
you go out there?”
“I’ll
have to. My job, kiddo. Gotta top up the fuel reserve.”
“Be
careful,” Kat urged. “I promise, I’ll
do what you said.”
“And
I’ll be careful,” Merlin grinned thinking that, when danger was obvious and
immediate, people were much more willing to embrace the safety rules.
She
put a hand on Kat’s stomach, then on her forehead. “Okay now?”
Kat
smiled. “Yeah, I feel fine.”
“Good.”
“How
are Derek an’ Nick doing with this storm?” Kat asked next.
“Probably
better than we are. We’re a little
boat. They’re on a big ship. Big ships can take this kinda pounding.”
“But
it sinks,” Kat pointed out. “Does that
mean we’ll sink too?”
Merlin
paused. “Well .. it may – ”
“What?” Jack exclaimed, turning to stare,
his jaw sagging open. The Shamrock
rolled violently and surged upright once more.
“Jack,
I won’t ask you again. Facing into the
waves, please,” Merlin
requested. “Kat, just cos the Shamrock’s
small doesn’t mean we’ll sink. We may,
but remember this is a practically brand new boat, built to the highest
standards with modern materials –”
“And
crewed by the Brady Bunch,” Jack said cynically. “I don’t think I will ever find, not if I search for a million
years, a bigger group of rank amateurs who’ll only muddle thru this by dint of
sheer ignorance and gross mismanagement.
Y’know, I should have gone
back to Vegas. I should’ve stayed in
Morro Bay. But, no, I had to come over noble an’ do the right thing. When am I gonna learn? When is my common sense going to override my
special sense? Here I am, putting my
neck on the line, again, an’
why? Can someone tell me? Please?”
“I
think it’s because .. how did it go again? Alex an’ me are real tight. I want to help. Please, Alex, let me try,” Merlin quoted back at him. “Jack, you have helped. You are helping. Quit bitching about it.”
His
shoulders twitched. “I was right about
the rank amateurs though.”
“Absolutely,”
she agreed, winking at Kat who giggled.
“And that may just get us thru.
We don’t know what we’re doing, we’re going with our gut. We have no training, no experience, and we
could be doing everything totally wrong but so what? When nature decides to throw a tantrum, the rulebook goes out the
window. The sailors on that ship,
they’ve done this before. Their ship’s
gonna sink. We’re way out of our comfort
zone, and our depth .. and we may yet get thru – by muddling, arguing and
shouting if we have to. Kat, I have to go
top up the fuel. Can you help
Jack? He’ll explain about the display.”
“Sure,”
Kat nodded. “It’s okay, Jack. We’ll be fine.”
Jack
Chivikian rolled his eyes. “Yeah, kid,
never doubted it for a second.”
*****
The
day hadn’t really dawned, it had simply become less dark. The light was all shades of green
anyway. Sea green all around. A livid yellow green at the horizon. A bilious black green overhead. The wind was gusting strongly now and it was
really whipping the Pacific into a frenzy.
As the day progressed, Jack did his best to keep the Shamrock facing
into the biggest waves but they were attacking on all sides. The underlying wind, the constant wind, was
around forty miles an hour and it howled like it was in pain. A low cry of tortured agony.
Merlin
had gone out to top up the fuel and check in with Aquila. The loungers had been removed, as had the
awning, and stowed below. Merlin had to
cling to the rail and squint thru the squally showers and crashing spray. Aquila didn’t move at all. She was like a fixed point in the landscape
and the world twisted around her. It
was easy for her – she wasn’t standing on the deck, she was simply hovering
about six inches above it.
“Seen
anything?”
“No. I’ll tell you when I do.”
“You
sound confident,” Merlin had asked, catching her balance.
“I
am. I will see the ship. It’s just a matter of time.” Aquila glanced round. “Go below.
There’s nothing for you to do out here.
It’s dangerous. The conditions
are not ideal.”
“You
don’t say,” Merlin had grinned.
“You
always look for the wild ride. This
Legacy case has fulfilled your dearest wish.
From being hamstrung and helpless, you now have purpose and the violence
of nature.”
“It
is pretty wild, isn’t it?” Merlin had agreed, studying the sea and the
sky. Lightning sizzled into the water
and thunder grumbled. “Think I’ll go
fix lunch.”
“Is
anyone hungry?” Aquila had inquired, amused.
“We
all do what we must, Aquila. You
watch. I enjoy the wild ride and cure
the seasickness.”
When
they woke, Rachel and Alex needed the cure too. After that, they ate a hearty lunch and then took it in turns to
learn how to steer the launch. Jack
taught them while Merlin and Kat did the dishes, put them away, and snatched a
brief nap.
“Gotta
take it in turns, ladies,” Jack opined.
“Pretty simple once you get the hang of it and best to learn now, while
it’s still easy going.”
“This
is easy going?” Rachel queried.
“It’s
slowly getting worse,” he replied.
“I’ve noticed a deterioration since I took over from Peri.”
“You
.. took over,” Alex smiled.
“There
was a .. slight element of coercion but I figured I’m on the team so I should
help out however I can.”
Rachel
peered thru the window. The bow of the
Shamrock plunged down then lifted up as a wave broke over it and flooded the
deck. It was raining again, a heavy,
prolonged shower. Soon, it would become
constant and almost horizontal. It was
already starting to seep around the door seal.
Her breath caught suddenly in her throat.
“There
it is … ”
Jack’s
eyes widened and he took an involuntary step back. The sea slapped at the Shamrock’s stern, spinning her in a tight
circle.
“Where
is it now?” Alex called, looking all round, peering thru the false twilight as
she went hurriedly from window to window.
“A
little farther away, I sincerely hope,” Jack replied. “That was way too close
for comfort.”
Rachel
threw a disgusted look at him. “If you
were stuck on board on that ship an’ knew the only way to safety was to jump
for it, would you like to try surviving for long in that sea? Or would you
prefer a rescue boat to be fairly close?”
“That’s
right, make me out to be the bad guy, why don’t you?” he invited. “Rachel, I’ll answer your question. Yes, I would
like the rescue boat to be fairly close because I don’t swim so good
either. But what I’d like even more is
a rescue boat in one piece so it can rescue
me. That ship was .. twenty feet? Yeah,
about twenty feet away, and, in this storm, a wave can pick us up an’ throw us twenty feet. Not to mention that ship’s all over the place
too.”
“We
have to stay close, Jack,” Alex intervened.
“The sea isn’t only rough, it’s cold.
They have no protection against it.”
Merlin
scrambled up the steps. “Aquila says
it’s back. Where?”
“It’s
hard to see,” Alex replied.
It’s
off your port side, Aquila reported.
Fifty feet and increasing, heading north west.
Merlin
pushed her way to the controls. “Alex,
you want me to try to ram it?”
Alex
hesitated. Rachel looked round at her,
so did Jack. One expression urged Alex
to go for it, the other urged caution.
Merlin just waited.
Talking
about such a drastic course of action when the sea was flat calm, the sky was
cloudless and the sun shone hot and white was an exercise in theory. It had made sense. In the growing storm, the sea rising all around them, the sky
thick with angry black thunderheads, it was a horrible, terrifying idea.
“Alex
..?” Rachel prompted.
“No,”
Alex said. “Jack’s right. We can’t risk deliberately damaging the
Shamrock. We need it in one piece so we
can all survive this. Aquila, watch
them for as long as they’re here. If
Derek and Nick do jump, fix their position and report it. We’ll move in soon as it’s safe. If they don’t jump .. try to extrapolate the
ship’s likely course and speed, taking into account the storm factors. Peri, we’ll shadow them at around fifty
feet.”
Merlin
nodded and fired up the engines. The
Shamrock started to cut a path thru the waves and a little balance returned to
the people in the cabin.
“Fifty
feet, directly off our port side,” she said, throttling the engines back.
Rachel
and Alex crowded to the window. The
afternoon light was leaking away but they could see the barkentine, rearing up
and crashing down. There were men up on
the yardarms, taking down the mainsails and reefing the top shrouds. They looked like bugs crawling over a fire
blackened carcass. Tiny, insignificant,
but laboring with an urgent purpose.
There was no sound from the ship.
Under the constant low howl of the wind, all they could hear was the
suck and slap of the waves as they pulled and pushed at the Shamrock and the
occasional distant crack of thunder.
Merlin
listened to the stream of position reports coming in from Aquila and made
minute adjustments to their course and speed.
To a degree, the barkentine was giving them a little shelter which
suggested it was a solid object.
Certainly the Shamrock was getting the backlash from the waves when the
ship shuddered down into a trough. She
wouldn’t judge Alex’s decision as either right or wrong. Merlin was in charge of the boat but she
wasn’t leading this mission. She had
seen Alex’s mind working, racing thru the choices. Her decision hadn’t been prompted by fear or doubt. It was rational assessment coupled with gut
instinct. Merlin understood that. She wouldn’t judge. The orders which had followed were sound and
came from reasoned consideration.
Merlin had no problem with instantly obeying them.
“It’s
staying a long time this time,” Jack remarked, wiping at the window. “Wow .. it is a big ship. How many guys d’you think are on board?”
“Hard
to say,” Rachel replied. “At least a
hundred.”
He
nodded. “Launching the lifeboats in
this is gonna be tough.”
“They
may not get that chance,” Rachel commented quietly.
“Why
is it staying so close to land?” Alex murmured. “In a storm, any ship has better odds out at sea. The storm passes over them. Here, they run a terrible risk of being
blown or pushed ashore.” She shrugged
tightly. “How many ships have been lost
along this coast?”
“Do
you know how many boats have been
lost along this coast?” Jack asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
“Do
you?” Merlin inquired.
“No.”
“Would
it make you feel more confident if you did?” she wondered.
Jack
went to reply then considered for a moment.
“Maybe. Do you know?”
“Haven’t
got a clue. Two weeks ago, I didn’t
know how to pilot this boat. Some
things you only learn when you have to, Jack, and, right now, I don’t wanna
know the answer to your question. I’m
okay as I am,” Merlin stated.
It
was a polite way of telling him to leave it alone and move onto another
subject.
Jack
nodded to himself. Merlin was right.
“Why
is it staying ..?” Rachel breathed.
“It’s so close an’ yet so far away, almost like it’s teasing us. Saying .. here I am, try an’ get your
friends back.”
Lightning
flared and lit the ocean, sending everything into stark relief. The barkentine was cresting a wave, big,
dark, glossy with water. Rachel felt
her heart shrivel. In that moment, she
knew Alex had made the right call. That
ship was too real. Ramming it would
have sunk the Shamrock and damned them all.
Lightning spit again, warning they were now entering the storm proper,
and it hit one of the masts. Bodies
fell from the yardarms and plunged toward the deck. A few missed and hurtled into the ocean.
“Holy
shit,” Jack whispered as lightning flashed for a third time. When they could see again, the barkentine
had vanished back into the past.
Alex
turned from the window. “Did they risk
jumping?”
“No,”
Merlin replied. “No, we don’t get outta
this so easy.” She wrestled with the
wheel for a moment. For about a half
hour, the ship had stood between the Shamrock and the full force of the
storm. Now it was gone and Merlin’s
task was harder. “I don’t know you
about you guys but I could use a cup of coffee.”
“I’ll
do it,” Rachel offered. “Alex .. good
call.”
“The
best,” Jack agreed with a smile. “Now
.. who wants to tell me this – who the hell is Aquila?”
*****
“I’m
sorry, Peri,” Alex apologized.
“It’s
okay,” Merlin shrugged. She’d found the
auto-pilot and had risked switching it on.
The Shamrock was making a slow progress north west, following the course
Aquila had predicted. Merlin sipped her
coffee and stayed close to the controls, just in case she needed to take urgent
overriding action. She figured she was
here more or less permanently now.
“I
didn’t think. I just said it,” Alex
confessed.
“It’s
okay. Let me deal with Jack. Telling him it’s none of his business won’t
hold him for long and .. he knows I’m different. He was in the hotel with me and we came thru some tough stuff
together.”
“You’ll
tell him?”
“Only
what he needs to know .. an’ that isn’t much.
What he needs to know isn’t necessarily what he wants to hear.”
Alex
sighed. “I like Jack .. but .. his
mouth sometime leads an independent life.
He could talk, say something to the wrong person – ”
“I
don’t think he’d do that. No one would
believe him, Alex. Sure, he lets his
mouth run but he always knows what he’s saying. Easiest way for Jack to realize how important this is would be to
let him meet Aquila. She will tell him
how it’s gonna be an’ he’ll listen. She
won’t give him any choice.”
“Well
.. I am sorry.”
“It
was the right call, Alex. The orders
had to be given there an’ then. Waiting
till Jack was elsewhere .. it would’ve wasted time Nick an’ Derek don’t have.”
“Peri
..?”
Alex
nodded and wandered toward the steps Kat was climbing.
“Up
here, kiddo!” Merlin called, checking the displays.
Kat
emerged and let Alex descend. Rachel
was down below preparing supper with Jack’s assistance. Something hot but not heavy. The rain had strengthened from wind driven
showers into a prolonged downpour. They
needed something hot but the deck was still too uneven for anything heavy.
“Your
phone was beeping,” Kat said, holding it out.
“I didn’t answer it.”
Oh,
please, Merlin prayed, don’t let it be an emergency. There’s no way I can leave these people now.
She
took the phone from Kat’s outstretched hand.
“Thanks,”
she murmured.
Kat
nodded and went below again. The
rocking wasn’t half as bad down there.
Merlin,
alone in the main cabin, braced herself both physically and mentally then
opened her phone. Someone had left her
a message. She contacted her voicemail.
“Hi,
babe, good to hear your voice.”
She
closed her eyes, feeling tears burn them.
“Don’t
know what made me think to check but I’m glad I did,” the message went on. “Derek an’ I are fine, as best we can be in
this storm an’ knowing what’s coming up.
He thinks we’re here till the end.
It’s been a crazy few days. You
wouldn’t believe me .. I’ll tell you later, once I’m home. Merli, stay close but not too close. When the Santa Theresa goes under, she’ll
pull in anything in the general area so keep a little distance. There’s stuff going on here no one knew
about. Look .. I’m running short on
time so, when you can, leave me another message. Ask Rachel about something for us.”
Merlin
listened and nodded. “Okay, Nicky. I’ll ask her.”
“There’s
one thing I wish I’d done before I left – I wish I’d told you that I love you,
Merli. Can’t wait till I can tell you
to your face an’ hold you. I miss you
so much. I gotta go.”
That
was all but it was enough. She felt
tears slide from under her eyelids and she quickly brushed them away. He was fine and, soon, he’d be coming
home. How, she couldn’t guess but she
knew it was true.
“Rachel! Everyone!
I’ve got a message!”
*****
Supper
turned into a small celebration. They
soon got used to eating and grabbing at things as they slid across the
table.
“A
message from the other side, left on a cell phone’s voicemail. Has to be a first,” Jack remarked.
“They’re
okay, that’s the important thing,” Alex commented with quiet satisfaction. “We’d better widen the distance to a hundred
feet,” she added.
“We
could go on to Lopez Point an’ wait for them there,” Rachel added. “If Derek thinks they’ll be on board till
the end … He’s rarely wrong.” She laughed softly. “He’s never
wrong.”
“What
if this time he is?” Alex countered.
“Nick said to stay close an’ that’s exactly what we’re gonna do.”
“Nick
also said there’s stuff going on no one knew about,” Merlin continued.
“Ah,
the reason for our phantom ship,” Jack echoed.
“We figured as much.”
“Our
phantom also has a name,” Alex related.
“The Santa Theresa.”
“He
wants me to leave another message, with the answer to a question. He said to ask Rachel about it.”
“Shoot,”
Rachel invited, frowning slightly.
“Nick
said they have plague on board – ”
“Plague?”
Jack cut in. “Excuse me, did you just
actually say plague?”
In
one voice, the women on the Shamrock said, “Shut up, Jack.”
“It’s
how it was described to them by the Captain.
A plague ship.” Merlin looked
round at the doctor. “They want to know
just what diphtheria is.”
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