Jack looked around the table at four
gloomy expressions. They’d spent their
second night in Morro Bay. They’d
verified everything they’d been told.
They’d learned nothing new. They
were stymied.
Well, Jack thought, they had learned
something but it didn’t help. It didn’t
explain what had happened to Derek and Nick on board the Shamrock, nor did it
give any hint to where they’d gone or how to get them back.
He, Alex and Kat had gone on board and
into the main cabin. Jack, whose gift
was the most powerful and reliable, had sat at the table. Alex had gone to the wheel. Kat had wandered around, eventually pausing
by the steps leading down to the lower cabin.
He’d put his hands flat on the table top
and, for a second, nothing had happened.
Then it had hit him. Noise. Unbelievably loud noise. Creaking.
It was dark but he had sensed movement around him. The floor had shifted violently and Jack had
felt sick. Tiny squares of light. Then he was back, sitting calmly at the
table but still with a sense of nausea.
Alex had held her hands to the wheel
then grasped it. She’d stiffened,
gasping, as darkness surrounded her.
She had rolled slightly as if the deck was moving under her feet. Squares of light, in a long row. Movement.
Feet walking fast. Voices in the
distance. Then gone. She’d been holding the wheel. Slowly, she’d released it.
Kat had put her hand against the cabin
wall. She’d looked into darkness
punctuated by those same squares of light but she stood in light. Overhead was a big rectangle and, above it,
a clear sky. She’d glimpsed, very
briefly, a flickering piece of white cloth.
Kat had heard voices too but distantly.
She hadn’t been able to make out the words. Then it was over.
They’d left the boat and returned to
the Starlight Hotel for an early lunch.
Rachel had said she’d go back in the afternoon to examine the boat for
more physical, substantial evidence.
She’d felt she was on a pointless mission but she had to try.
Over lunch, they’d discussed their
findings so far. For all three to have
seen more or less the same vision, it only confirmed to Alex that Derek’s and
Nick’s disappearance was tied somehow to the ghost ship – because that’s what
they’d seen. The ship.
“Darkness. We were on a deck under the top deck or whatever it’s
called. The tiny squares of light in a
long row – the portholes. Kat was by a
hatch leading up to the top deck. She
saw a corner of a sail. There was
movement and voices – the crew being given orders and obeying them.” Alex had sighed. “A glimpse into the past .. and it doesn’t help us at all to
explain what happened in the present.”
“The deck shifted violently,” Jack had
added.
“That could’ve been anything,” Rachel
had shrugged. “A cross current. The wind changing direction.”
“The creaking sound you heard, that
was the timbers. It was just a
flashback,” Alex had gone on. “What we
need is a flash forward.” She had
turned to Merlin. “You’re sure they’re
not dead.”
“I’m positive. They know enough about the forest to not go
off the paths. I searched all night,
Alex, an’ I wasn’t taking my time. They
weren’t there.”
“So all we know is exactly what we
knew before,” Jack had remarked.
“Except there’s no evil involved,”
Rachel had commented. “Which is good
but doesn’t help.”
Rachel had gone back in the afternoon
and had examined the main cabin in minute detail. Apart from a few crumbs from sandwiches, a small piece of wilted
lettuce, and a damp spot which had turned out to be coffee, she’d found
nothing.
And now it was Thursday and they were
still no closer to resolving the mystery than they’d been two days ago. Frustration and the specter of failure was
eating at them. Alex felt it the most
because Derek had left her in charge.
“What about the video camera?” Jack
asked.
Merlin had watched the replay over and
over, staring at Nick’s image in the tiny view-frame. He’d been laughing about something as he cast off one of the
mooring ropes. The camera had followed
him into the cabin where he’d started the engines and steered the Shamrock out
of the boatyard and into the bay. She
could see he was upbeat about the whole thing.
His eyes shone. There was not a
single worry or doubt anywhere in his face.
Derek had propped the camera on a shelf because he came into view. They’d sat at the table and gotten out a
pack of cards. Eaten their
sandwiches. The mood was good
natured. Then the camera had tipped
over and the recording stopped.
“I couldn’t see anything,” Merlin
replied. It could be the last record I
ever have of him. If he were dead, this
would be easier to deal with but he isn’t.
Is this how he felt when I was
missing for so long? God, I must’ve put
him thru hell. “The camera stopped
recording before the crucial event.”
Alex sat up slightly. “All right, let’s go over it again.”
They all sighed, shifting in their
chairs. It wasn’t that they were bored
but they’d been over it so many times already that just thinking about it was
frustrating. They were on the hotel
patio at a table with a broad, brightly colored parasol. In the circumstances, it seemed rather
obscene.
“There has to be an explanation,” Alex
went on as patiently as she could. “We
have the facts, people. We just have to
interpret them in the correct order.
Somewhere, somehow, we’re missing something. Or,” she said, her
patience running out, “we can pack up an’ go back to San Francisco. Write them from our lives. I’m not willing to do that.”
Merlin
sat back and lit a cigarette. The
ashtray in front of her was already overflowing. “Neither am I.”
Rachel,
Kat and Jack leaned forward. “Nor are
we,” Rachel stated.
“So
.. what do we know?” Alex asked.
“I
found crumbs on the floor.
Breadcrumbs. Deputy Matheson
said there were food wrappings. The
tape shows them sitting at the table, playing cards and eating sandwiches. There was a damp spot on the carpet, which
was stained slightly. It smelled of
coffee. Deputy Matheson said there was
a Thermos of coffee.”
“The
tape doesn’t show it being spilled,” Merlin said.
“The
tape doesn’t show them standing up quickly or looking surprised or
disappearing,” Alex pointed out.
“I
know that, Alex. We’re examining our
findings. Analyzing them. The tape doesn’t show any coffee being
spilled.”
“Okay,
let’s stick with that for now.” Rachel
picked up her own empty coffee cup.
“What would cause someone to spill coffee on the carpet?” She let the cup slip slightly. “A fumbled hold. Going to pick it up or put it down an’ not getting a proper
grip.” She shifted sideways. “Horseplay.
Someone went to drink and the other pushed him.” Rachel put the cup back on the table. “That’s about it. I don’t think the spilled coffee on the carpet is an important
clue. It doesn’t go anywhere to telling
us how they vanished.”
“With
no trace,” Merlin added softly.
Someone
went by their table and stumbled, lurching sideways and falling heavily against
the wrought iron top. Rachel’s cup
skittered across the metal and crashed onto the patio. They went silent, minds racing as they
helped the hotel guest back onto her feet and sent her on her way.
“The
camera was propped on a shelf,” Merlin said,
“It tipped over just before it switched off. It’s pretty well balanced an’ heavy.” She looked up. “Something
hit them.”
“It
can’t have done,” Jack said promptly.
“I said, at the time, if you recall.
There is no sign of impact damage.”
“Another
boat, or a ship,” Rachel went on, “they would’ve sounded a siren or something.”
“You
say they rose quickly, they were startled, and then disappeared,” Alex said.
Merlin
nodded, her mind racing faster, taking all the evidence and fitting it into the
puzzle. “Not startled. They were shocked. There was no warning.”
She leaned forward. “How’s this
for a theory? Derek an’ Nick have gone
out in the Shamrock hoping to see the manifestation. It’s September 24, the first day of the sightings here, at Morro
Bay. They’re out there, it’s still
fairly early, so they’re killing time playing cards, eating, drinking. Then something hit them. No warning.
The camera tips over an’ switches off.
The coffee gets spilled on the carpet.
They’re shocked, start to rise .. an’ they vanish.”
“Yeah,
it all fits,” Rachel nodded. “But what
hit them? Who could do something like
that an’ sail on? What – ?”
“They
got hit by the ghost ship,” Merlin said.
“It appeared .. an’ they were there, right in the way. They vanished .. because they’re now on
board that ship.”
Jack
began to laugh. “Now that is some wild
theory,” he chuckled.
“You
went on board the Shamrock. You
experienced a vision when you sat at the table. The same table they were sitting at when it happened,” Merlin
said hotly. “You said you saw the old
ship. That’s what happened to
them. You said you felt the deck shift
violently. It would, if they’d hit
something.”
She
watched them. “C’mon! Get with the program! It fits, all of it. It’s the only thing which does take
everything into account an’ explains it.”
Alex
nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re right, it
does. It’s still a wild theory.”
“Is
there any way you know to prove it?” Merlin demanded. “Because, if I’m right and I really do believe I am, that ship
isn’t here anymore. It’s sailing up the
coast, Alex, and, in one week, it’s going to the bottom. We know this from the research!” Her voice was steadily rising in
volume. “An’ Derek an’ Nick are on it. They’re not dead but they will be unless you get off your ass an’
start doing something!”
She
got up and stormed away, leaving a ringing silence behind her. Several people at other tables were staring.
“Mom? Should I – ?” Kat began hesitantly.
“No,
honey. I’d leave Peri to cool down for
a while. It’s that feeling helpless
thing we spoke of. She’ll be okay, just
give her some time.” Rachel looked over
at Alex. “Is there some way to prove it?”
“Maybe,”
Alex replied. “If I slow the video down
and look at the last few images before it shuts off, we may discover something
that we can’t see when it runs at the normal speed.”
“Can
you do that here?” Jack asked.
“With
the laptop, yeah,” she nodded.
“Then
let’s do it,” Rachel said.
*****
Merlin
stalked down the sidewalk, unaware that her expression alone was making people
cross the street. She couldn’t sit
still any longer. She couldn’t debate
or discuss or analyze. She had to
do. Something, anything. As she couldn’t do anything useful, she
walked. If she’d stayed, her temper
really would have erupted. And, if they
thought Nick’s temper eruptions were bad …
Her
face was animated with frustration and anxiety. Her entire body twitched.
Shoulders. Arms. Her neck felt tense. She clicked the fingers of one hand, the
other was busy chain-smoking.
Eventually,
Merlin arrived at the beach and came to a halt, staring at the ocean. Today, it was living up to its name. Peaceful, calm. It could stay like that for weeks. But, in three days, she knew that the ship, the floating trap,
would enter a storm which would last five days, maybe even longer. Five days of it would be enough. The ship
would sink.
Her
gaze tracked slowly north. Somewhere ..
out there .. back then .. it was sailing to its death.
“An’
I’m stuck here, sitting on my fucking backside, doing absolutely nothing to end
it.”
That
was a clear, concise statement of the situation and she felt slightly better
for getting it into the open.
“Hey,
lady … ”
She
glanced round. A young guy in ripped
jeans and wet T-shirt shrugged at her.
He looked like he’d been swimming in his clothes.
“If
he’s giving you such a bad time at home, all you gotta do is walk. Plenty of other guys out here. It’s a big world.”
Merlin
closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Hey,
anytime.”
“Now,
please, go away an’ leave me alone.”
“I
can buy you a – ”
“I
said,” Aquila growled, “go away.”
He
was already stumbling back, then he turned and ran.
“We
don’t touch bad,” Merlin remarked. “And
he wasn’t bad, not in the least. He was
just a pest.”
We
have a full range of tactical options.
That was the least offensive one.
It works. Don’t complain.
“Probably
give him nightmares the rest of his life,” she muttered and smiled a wicked
smile.
Merlin
strolled down onto the sand. People
were sunbathing. Swimming in the
ocean. A few were in wetsuits and
snorkeling.
What
I will never understand is .. how come the Legacy gets all the interesting
stuff? I just get the serious action
but they get all this neat stuff as well as serious action. I feel like the poor kid who can only look
in the toy store window. Yeah, okay,
it’s dangerous as well as neat but .. even so … I mean, I’ve read thru their journal entries. That town which only appeared for a few days
every fifty years? That was neat. I would’ve liked to try that. It was almost like time travel, y’know? But, if I’d been around when that was going
down, I would’ve .. maybe, found a way to destroy the bubble. I would definitely have acted against the
guy in charge which would’ve freed all the others and blown his bubble sky
high.
Now
why am I thinking of that? Why now?
Merlin
frowned, staring at the sunlight glittering on the water.
Because
.. they got out okay and they did it without you. There’s a lesson to be learned here. Don’t give up on ’em.
Have faith. You can bet that Nick
an’ Derek have already figured it out and they are working hard to escape.
And
what if they can’t? What if, this time,
they can’t get themselves out? That
they’ll need help from outside? From
us? Who knows the way Derek Rayne
thinks? Who can guess accurately enough
so that we’ll do what we have to do at the exact moment we have to do it? Maybe Rachel. She knows how people assess situations, how they choose one course
of action over another. But maybe it’s
Alex. She’s known Derek longer, worked
with him more closely. It sure isn’t
me. Yeah, I know how Nick would
approach this but Derek’s the Precept.
He’ll be giving the orders, Nick will be doing what he’s told.
Jeez
.. this is a nightmare in logistics.
We’ll need a boat. Maybe a
vehicle on shore, going ahead to deal with the admin like hotels for
overnight. Do we take the Range Rover
an’ leave the rental here? Do I take
the rental back to Santa Maria?
Alex
is in charge, she reminded herself.
Alex can decide. But we’ll
definitely need a boat. If Derek does
find a way to escape before the storm hits .. they’ll end up in the water. We’re gonna have to be fairly close when
that happens or the cold will kill them.
It’s
September 27. Where’s the ship now
..? I need to go over that research
again. Damn, I hate it when people
prove me wrong. I said we didn’t have
to solve the mystery of the ship. And,
now, we do.
Last
question … What if we can’t save
them? What if, despite all the thinking
an’ planning, we’ve lost them forever?
Merlin
twitched again. Can’t answer that
one. Ask me again on October 5.
She
turned and started back to the Starlight.
*****
Alex
connected the video camera to the laptop and began to download the digital
image. “I did the same thing at Hidden
Valley,” she remarked. Of course,
there, I wasn’t in charge. Derek was
with me. This time, it’s me who’s
making the tough decisions. Please,
God, let them be the right ones …
“Is
it ready?” Rachel inquired.
“It’s
processing, getting it in the software application,” Alex replied. “It doesn’t take long.”
“She
can’t be right,” Jack muttered, pacing.
“Why?”
Kat asked.
“They’re
not dead, yet they’re on a ghost ship?”
“Freddie
an’ Fedora weren’t dead an’ they were trapped,” Rachel commented. “Trapped a good long time as well. Derek won’t have that chance. If he is on that ship, we’re looking at
seven days. Max.”
Thanks
for reminding me, Rachel, Alex thought slightly bitterly. There’s nothing quite like a little
pressure.
“It’s
ready,” she announced.
Rachel
and Kat sat on either side of her. Jack
watched over Alex’s shoulder. She hit
the play button and they watched the recording at an increased speed right thru
to the end. Alex’s heart squeezed
painfully. Derek looked so relaxed, so
.. at peace, that this was difficult to view.
Knowing he would vanish sometime before the end of that day, maybe
within even minutes. Nick appeared to
be in good spirits as well. Alex felt
she knew how he must have felt, watching the old recordings of Julia. Except, of course, he’d known Julia was
dead. Alex knew he was still alive, she
just didn’t know where, or when, or
how to get either of them back.
The
recording eventually tipped sideways and became a screen full of static. She swallowed and reset the recording to the
last two minutes and adjusted the playback speed to one eighth.
Rachel
leaned in closer, so did Jack. “Did you
see that or was it just me?” she whispered.
“Did it get a little darker?”
“I
think it did,” Jack said heavily.
Alex
reset it again to the last ten seconds and put the playback to frame by
frame. “Derek an’ Nick, playing
cards. Still playing cards. There’s the Thermos top with the coffee,
right there on the table. Wow, what was
that ..?”
Everything
was blurred. For three frames. Then the image sedately began to tip onto its
side.
Rachel
blinked. “Go to the end,” she murmured.
It
got progressively darker. Derek’s head
was just starting to turn to his left.
Nick’s hands were on the table top and there was just the faintest suggestion
of tension in his body. The very last
frame appeared. Black. With tiny squares of light.
Alex
paused and enhanced the image, upping the contrast, trying to find some detail
in the darkness.
“Is
that a timber support?” Jack asked, pointing.
“It’s
a bulkhead,” Alex replied. “That
blurring .. that was the impact. Peri
was right. The ship hit them, it
ploughed straight into them.”
“And
it sailed on .. taking them with it,” Rachel said. “Well, at least we know where they are, if not when.”
Jack
sat down on the bed and scrubbed both hands thru his hair. “Okay.
What do we do now?” he asked in a brisk voice. “How do we get ’em off that
ship?”
They
looked to Alex. She was in charge, she
gave the orders.
“I
don’t know,” Alex admitted.
*****
Handling
these papers, Merlin felt very close to Nick.
Reading his notes, she could hear his voice. It was as if he were there, speaking his thoughts out loud.
“Hang
on in there, babe,” she whispered.
“We’ll find you.”
There
was a map. A chart, to be more
accurate. There were three lines
plotted on it. One for each of his
possible targets, she guessed. Two
schooners and a barkentine, whatever the hell that was. The chart was a copy downloaded from the
mainframe back in San Francisco and it showed just this stretch of coast. Morro Bay was at the bottom. Lopez Point was at the top. Between them .. seventy odd miles of Pacific
Coast Highway 1. This road was marked
with other numbers, and she scrambled thru the folder of clippings. Each one was numbered and, more importantly,
dated. She went to the ones dated for
today.
“Cambria,
or just south of. Must have been one
hell of a storm coming in if they were only making six miles a day. That’s practically becalmed, and the
current’s taking them. All the wind was
being sucked away into the storm’s center.
Still means we’re eighteen miles south of where we need to be.”
She
shoved it all away back in its folders and was just rising when there was a
knock on the door.
“Peri? Are you in there?”
Merlin
opened the door. “Alex .. I have to
apologize – ”
“No,
you don’t. You were right. The video proves your theory,” Alex cut
in. “No apologies necessary.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Now
.. we really need you back in the loop.
I need you back in the loop,
Peri. You think straight.”
Merlin
nodded. “Well .. I can tell you we’re
in the wrong place. By tonight, we need
to be at Cambria. And we’ll need a
boat. Even if one of us stays ashore,
some of us need to be tracking this thing on the water. The ship’s averaging six miles a day. After San Simeon, there’s no stopping until
Big Sur, certainly nowhere to stay overnight.
I say .. sorry, advise that we leave the vehicles here an’ we ship
out. And, as they were on the Shamrock
when it happened, we should use that launch as well. There’s a link, Alex. It
could be important.”
Alex
nodded too. “It makes sense. We’ll check it with the TK meter. If there’s residue of a paranormal event, it
could act like .. some kind of magnet.
I’ll call Zeke Jordan, see if we can get down there today.”
“I’ll
organize the packing up. Alex .. I
shouldn’t have lost it with you.”
Alex
smiled. “I need a metaphorical kick on
the ass every so often. If it keeps us
headed in the right direction, you go on losing it. C’mon, we got things to do.”
*****
Within
two hours, they were back at Jordan’s Boatyard. Of them all, only Jack was dead set against the plan.
“Alex,
c’mon,” he begged. “I’d be a lot better
off staying on dry land. Believe me, you’d be better off too.”
“No.”
“Alex,
have you ever been stuck on a motor launch with someone who is seasick ..
constantly? It is not a nice
experience.”
Alex
looked exasperated. “Jack, why don’t
you just go back to Vegas?”
He
looked hurt. “I still want to help.”
“Then
stop making excuses and help,” she
told him. “You think for one second I like being in this position? I don’t.
If I make a wrong decision, I could kill two of my closest friends. I have to guess right every time. I need people around me I can trust. I need my other friends to rely upon. I don’t need to hear you complaining all the
time!”
Jack
Chivikian regarded her. “Okay.”
“Let’s
check the Shamrock for TK residue.”
Rachel
watched as they climbed on board. “Is
checking the launch for TK important?
We know the ship hit them.”
“I’m
not sure,” Merlin answered. “It’ll
confirm the video but .. I am hoping that it also means the Shamrock is linked
somehow to the ship. When two vessels
collide at sea,” she went on, thinking out loud, “there’s damage. What we have here is one launch in the
present and one ghost from the past.
They met. There was no physical
damage that we can see with the naked eye.
But Derek an’ Nick went with the ship.
It’s a kinda damage.”
“Like
paint scrapings on a fender?” Kat ventured.
“Yeah,
in a way. Imagine, if that ship sliced
straight thru the launch, enough for it to feel the impact, it must have left
some of itself behind. Maybe, to
balance the mass, spectral or otherwise, it took what was easily removable. Now, that could be total crap. I have no idea, but it sounds a reasonable
explanation to me. And, if it’s right,
the Shamrock and the ghost ship have something belonging to each other. We may be able to use it as a tracking
device.”
“Fluctuations
in the TK reading might indicate we’re getting closer,” Rachel translated.
“That’s
what I hope.”
Alex
clambered back to the pier. “Definitely
residue. The thickest concentration is
in the main cabin. Okay, Peri, would
you come with me to talk with Zeke?”
“You
think he’s gonna give you a hard time?”
“No,
but I want to negotiate a fair price for the charter.”
Merlin
grinned. “Lead on.”
While
they went back along the pier, Rachel saw Jack trudging heavily toward
her. “Jack .. are you really serious
about motion sickness?”
“Believe
me, Rachel, I am very serious. I'll do this because Alex needs me there but
I am really not looking forward to
it.”
“Once
we’re on our way, I’ll give you a shot.
It’ll make you a little drowsy but it should kill any urge to throw up.”
He
nodded gloomily. “Great. Kill.
Just the word I wanted to hear.”
In
the office, Zeke Jordan scratched his chin.
“Until your friends show up, one way or the other,” he said tactfully,
“really that launch is part of a police investigation. I can’t let anyone use it.”
“But
we’re going to look for our friends so .. we’re assisting with the inquiry,”
Alex reasoned.
He
looked unconvinced.
“Mr
Jordan,” Merlin said, “we need that particular boat. It’s been involved in a paranormal event.”
“They’re
ghostbusters?” Zeke exclaimed.
Merlin
glanced at Alex. “Yeah,” Alex said.
“Why
the hell didn’t you say so? They were
out looking for the ghost ship … Wow!”
“They
found it. Or, rather, it found
them. Now they’re stuck on board. We have to get them back and we need the
Shamrock to do it.”
“Wow
… ” he repeated. “I ain’t never heard
of anything like that before.”
“If
Deputy Matheson wants to argue it out with us, he can do it by radio. This way, he can concentrate on other police
work,” Alex said, “and we’ll do his search for him.”
“Name
your price,” Merlin invited.
“Well
.. how long will you need it?” Zeke inquired.
“At
least two days. Maybe even eight,” Alex
replied.
“Three
thousand bucks.”
Merlin’s
eyes narrowed. “Be reasonable.”
“You
said to name my price. I just did.”
“Two
thousand,” Merlin countered.
“Two
thousand, eight.”
“Peri,
we don’t have time for this,” Alex muttered.
“This isn’t a souk somewhere in North Africa.”
“Until
we agree on a price, we’re not going anywhere,” she responded. “Two thousand, two.”
Zeke
grinned. “Two thousand, six. My final offer. You’re in a hurry.”
“Two
thousand, four. My final offer.”
He
shifted. “Two five. You need that launch.”
“Done.”
“Cash.”
Merlin
dug into her pocket. “Is it ready to
go? Fully fueled?”
“It
will be, soon as you pay.”
“Spare
fuel as well. Included in the price.”
“Of
course.”
“Alex,
go start moving everything from the rental.
Mr Jordan here will let us park eight days for free.”
“I
never said – ” Zeke began.
Merlin
looked up. He fell silent. “You were saying?”
“For
free, sure. Not a problem.”
“That’s
the rental and the Range Rover.”
He
glared but nodded.
She
finished counting out the bills.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr Jordan. And, remember, if I should find that I’ve been shortchanged
somewhere along the line, I do know where you live. You can be sure I will come pay you a visit.”
“Right,”
he muttered, picking up the phone.
“I’ll get the Shamrock prepped right away. I take it you an’ your buds have marine insurance and know how to
sail a fine boat like that? It’s
practically brand new.”
“Sure,”
Merlin replied with easy confidence.
*****
Forty
five minutes after that, they were on board.
The gear they’d brought with them was all stowed away. There were two cabins below with four berths
plus the main cabin which had two long sofas.
Plenty of places to sleep. There
was a tiny galley and two bathrooms on the lower deck as well. The upper deck had loungers under an
awning. The well out back had bench
seats around the cockpit. Rachel and
Kat had quickly shopped for food at the grocery store right at the boatyard
entrance. They were ready to depart.
They
all stood looking at each other.
“Some
reason why we’re not going anywhere?” Merlin asked.
“We’re
waiting for you to .. start,” Rachel replied.
“Me?
I don’t know how to work this thing.”
Merlin looked at them. “Does anyone here know how to drive a boat?”
Heads
were slowly and warily shaken.
“How
difficult can it be?” Alex asked. “You
can fly a helicopter.”
“I’ve
had lessons,” Merlin protested.
“Team
approach,” Rachel decided. “We figure
it out between us.”
“I
think you have to start by undoing the ropes holding us to the pier,” Jack
chipped in. “That seems a very good
first move.”
“Okay. Kat,” Alex instructed, “c’mon.”
Rachel
went to the control panel. “There’s a
control which says fuel and a toggle switch on an’ off.”
“Set
fuel to on,” Merlin suggested. “Button
marked ‘start’. Press it.”
The
twin outboards roared into life but the launch didn’t move.
“We
can figure this out,” Merlin muttered.
“I am damned if I’m going back to Zeke Jordan to ask for a driving
lesson, new boat or not.”
Alex
and Kat returned to the cabin and joined the cluster around the control panel.
“Forward,
reverse lever.” Merlin looked up. “Nothing in front of us so .. set it to
forward.”
They
still didn’t move.
“What
about that thing?” Kat pointed. “It
looks like it slides forward.”
“Who’s
gonna steer?” Jack asked, pointing at the wheel.
“Peri
.. you steer,” Alex said.
Merlin
gingerly set her hands on the wheel.
Rachel warily slid the control forward a little. The Shamrock started to move, very gently,
thru the water. Merlin turned the wheel
to the right and the launch angled away from the pier. Rachel pushed the control forward a little
more. The boat got a little faster.
“Okay
.. so that’s the gas pedal. The brake
would be to change forward to reverse ..?” Merlin hesitantly reasoned. “What the hell .. we’ll figure it out once
no one’s watching us screw up.”
The
Shamrock puttered serenely from Jordan’s Boatyard and into the bay.
*****
On
the ocean, away from land, Merlin tried opening up the speed a little
more. She and Kat were at the controls,
trying to figure out the intricacies of the radar and sonar, as well as the GPS
and the entire communications panel.
Alex was hunting thru the cupboards for an instruction manual. Jack was going green.
“Roll
up your sleeve,” Rachel instructed.
Gratefully,
he obeyed, wincing slightly as the syringe punctured his flesh.
“If
I were you, I’d go outside an’ get some fresh air till the medication takes
effect,” she advised.
Jack
nodded and, his lips clenched together, staggered to the cabin door.
Grinning,
Rachel went to join the others. “We
seem to be doing okay.”
“Amazingly
enough, for a load of total amateurs who have no idea, yeah,” Merlin
agreed. “Alex, come take the
wheel. It’s easy. Like driving a car. Easier, in fact. Less traffic.”
Alex
took the controls, her body rigid with tension.
“Okay,
now, as far as I can tell, these numbers here are .. some kind of trip
meter. It shows how many nautical miles
we’ve done,” Merlin said. “We have to
convert those into land miles so I know where the hell we are on the road
map. I think, but I don’t know, that
this shows we have about .. fifty feet of water beneath us. Eight fathoms. A fathom’s six feet, right?”
“Uh
huh,” Kat nodded.
“Somewhere
in all Nick’s research, there’s a chart showing rocks an’ stuff. They should show up on the sonar. If one of us could understand how to
recognize rocks on the sonar, we’d be in great shape. Radar should tell us of other shipping in the area but those big
suckers tend to sail farther out to sea.
We shouldn’t get into trouble with them.”
“The
big danger’s gonna be if the fog rolls in,” Rachel remarked.
“By
then, I really hope we’re gonna be more proficient at reading these displays.”
“Maybe
I can find out something on the Internet,” Kat offered. “We’ve got the laptop.”
“Good
idea,” Merlin nodded.
“Kat,
how are you doing with those assignments from school?” Rachel asked.
Kat
looked uneasy. “I haven’t started them
yet.”
“Okay. You see if you can find some information on
these displays then you make a start,” Rachel instructed. “Sooner you finish, the sooner you can help
us sail the boat an’ be a full member of the team.”
Kat
smiled happily. “Deal.”
“You
can work downstairs. It’ll be
quieter. Go on,” Rachel pressed.
“What
do we do when it starts to get dark?” Alex asked, relaxing at the wheel as she
got the feel for it. “Head for shore?”
“We
could get stranded, like so many others before us,” Merlin replied, shaking her
head. “I’d .. go in a little but not
too far, then throw the anchor overboard.
We’ll need to work in shifts.
Someone should be up top at all times to watch for the ghost ship. Once we’ve seen it, we can parallel its
course an’ speed, day an’ night.”
“Can
I try?” Rachel asked.
“Sure,”
Alex agreed, relinquishing the wheel.
Merlin
frowned.
“What
is it?” Alex inquired, frowning too.
Merlin
glanced up. “Isn’t there some kinda
rule about having navigation lights at night ..?”
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