Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0)

by Jordan Rivet

  The radio headset still sat on top of the console by the window. Had Vinny heard something that tipped his hand? What could they have said to him?

  Kim was quickly promoted to head of communications. She refused to go into the radio tower until Simon and Ren had carried Vinny’s body out. As they maneuvered him down the ladder, Ren spoke softly over his limp form.

  “He’s been more withdrawn lately, ever since he started bringing food to the captain. I should have known—”

  “It’s not your fault,” Simon said. “No one could have known.”

  “I bet the captain did,” Ren said. “He as good as said this is what we should all do.”

  “He’s wrong.”

  “I know,” Ren said. Tears sat in her large brown eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. “I should have sent someone else to bring food to him sometimes. It wasn’t fair to put the whole burden on Vinny.”

  “We have to keep moving forward, Ren. Vinny let it get to him.”

  “I kind of understand wanting to take this way out,” she said

  “Let’s just focus on getting this ship to shore,” Simon said.

  He was surprised to realize that he had never once contemplated ending his life over the past few weeks. It was something he had considered in his darkest moments years ago, after he lost his first tenure bid and during a difficult stretch in his freshman year of college. He knew how despair could creep into you, like an oozing, oily mass. He knew what it was like to feel utterly paralyzed and empty, when even getting out of bed was a Herculean task. But here he hadn’t fallen into the downward spiral. Despite everything that had happened, he felt more sure of himself and what he had to do than at any other time in his life. The battle for survival, both for himself and the people counting on him, was all that mattered anymore. It had freed him.

  Simon looked up at Ren. “We can’t do this without you.”

  “It’s okay, Simon.” She wiped her nose on the shoulder of her uniform. “I’m with you. I won’t give up.”

  They left Vinny’s body in the little chapel. Simon sent a passing porter to get Penelope. He didn’t know if Vinny had been religious, but it seemed like someone should speak words over him. Simon himself had to focus on making contact with land. With any luck they’d be able to bury Vinny, so he wouldn’t have to stay at sea any longer.

  Simon and Ren returned to the bridge, and then Simon climbed back up to the broadcast tower. Kim had gotten to work quickly, sending distress signals out to any frequency she could find. Kim was Chinese, as Simon had hoped, but she was a third-generation immigrant. She told Simon her Mandarin skills were rusty at best.

  Simon waited beside her as she trawled the airwaves for voices, requesting help or information in both English and Mandarin. There had to be someone who could finally tell them what was going on in the rest of the world. She searched and pleaded. Finally, someone answered.

  “They say to go away,” she said.

  “Are they threatening us?”

  “No, at least I don’t think so.” She pulled the headphones off one ear. “They say there’s no food. They say we can’t stay.”

  “We have to keep trying,” Simon said. “See if you can get someone else.”

  As the sky lightened, a thin strip of coast and the outlines of skyscrapers began to appear on the horizon. Simon couldn’t help feeling hope leap in his chest at the sight. The silhouettes on the shoreline grew in the minimal light breaking through the clouds. Simon pressed his forehead against the window. Land. He just wanted to set foot on the land.

  Warning messages crackled through the radio, but no one challenged them directly as they sailed closer to the city. Simon had instructed Ren to get as near to the shore as she could, unless someone actually came out in force to stop them. They weren’t going to let mere words turn them away. They had to be allowed to come ashore. They had to get off this ship.

  Wrecks began to emerge from the sea around them. A crane rose from what he thought was a giant cargo ship submerged on their port side. A large steel structure stuck out of the water to starboard. Was it the keel of another ship? Simon wasn’t sure. They eased carefully through the water, trying to avoid the wrecks with their massive hull. Simon held his breath.

  Up ahead there was something strange about the coastline, but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Something about the hazy skyline looked wrong.

  Judith

  Judith studied the silent obstacles in the water as they drew closer to the city. The Catalina sailed slowly and carefully through the jutting wrecks. It felt like they were approaching an alien spaceport. Those were just buildings, but after the most harrowing weeks of her life had been spent staring out at a nearly empty view, it was like she had suddenly been transported to another planet.

  Land.

  Michael joined her on the balcony. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as the city approached. They didn’t speak. There was something solemn about this morning, this moment.

  Suddenly, Michael tensed.

  “That’s not the coast.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, that’s not where the coast is supposed to be. Look at the waterline. The water is actually lapping against the windows of some of those buildings. The sea has risen a lot here.” Michael went to the edge of the balcony and leaned as far forward as he could. “We’re almost on top of the old port. We need to stop. This is a minefield. We could rip a hole in the hull.”

  As he spoke, the Catalina shuddered.

  Simon

  Simon finally realized what was strange about the coast. He vaulted down the radio tower ladder and back into the bridge.

  “Stop! We have to stop moving!”

  “What? We can’t just . . .”

  Ren threw the propellers into reverse and tried to slow the ship. The Catalina groaned. But it was too late. They hit something. The shock wave from the impact reverberated through the ship. With a sickening shriek the Catalina stopped. All was still.

  “Can you check the hull?” Simon asked.

  “Something’s wrong with the computer system,” Ren said, striking rapidly at her keyboard. “I can’t tell if there’s a leak. I don’t know if I’ll be able to shut the water doors.”

  “Can it be done manually?”

  “Yes,” Ren said. “I’ll get Reg on the intercom to check everything out. But we can’t sail any farther.”

  “The important thing right now is that we stay afloat.”

  Judith

  Michael pulled on his shoes and headed out the door to find Reggie. People stuck their heads out into the corridor and asked what was going on. Judith stared into their worried faces for a moment and remembered Simon from the day before.

  “It’s okay, folks, we’re fine,” she said, trying to mimic his calming voice.

  But no one listened. They thronged into the passageway, the volume of their voices escalating. Their worry echoed around the narrow space, building up.

  Judith took a deep breath and shouted, “Shut up, everyone! Panicking isn’t going to help. We’re near the coast, and we hit something. If you know anything about fixing the ship, get to your posts. Everyone else, go back inside your cabins and stay out of the way.”

  “Well!” Rosa Cordova huffed, but she obeyed.

  She sent her husband off down the passageway and herded her offspring into their assorted cabins. The others began to disperse back to their rooms.

  Judith felt a brief thrill of pleasure as everyone did what she had told them to do. Then she rushed up to the bridge.

  Simon

  “It’s okay, Simon,” Reggie said on the intercom from the engine control room. “The leak ain’t that bad. It’s mostly contained in the lowest level by the propeller. We already shut the flood doors.”

  “Okay, good. I knew you boys would have everything in hand,” Simon said.

  “We took some damage on our main propeller, though,” Reggie said, voice crackling in the static. “We won�
��t sink, but we aren’t going anywhere in a hurry.”

  “I see. Thanks, Reggie. Let’s hope we won’t need to. We’re close enough. I think it’s time we organize a landing party. Would you choose a few men and send them to the starboard lifeboat deck?”

  “Sure thing. Over and out.”

  Judith

  When Judith reached the bridge, Ren was at work on the computers. The view of the city was much better from here. Lights burned in a few windows. Someone was alive there, or had been recently enough to leave the lights on. Structures jutted out of the dark water all around them, blocking their path.

  “We hit something. Are we going to sink?” Judith asked.

  “If we do, we can swim to land,” Ren said.

  She didn’t meet Judith’s eyes. They had barely spoken since Nora died. Judith knew it was her fault for not reaching out to her.

  “Someone’s alive over there, right?”

  “Kim got some traffic on the radio,” Ren said. “None of it’s friendly.”

  “Where’s Vinny? I’d think he’d want to be up here for this.”

  “Vinny’s dead. Hung himself.”

  Judith didn’t answer. She barely registered her response as sad. Surprised maybe. She didn’t have enough emotional energy left to be sad.

  “Where’s Simon?” Judith asked.

  “Went down to get the landing party on their way. We’re sending a boat over to check things out before we all disembark,” Ren said. Her voice seemed to come from a great distance. Detachment must be easier. It was the way to get things done.

  “Who’s on the team?”

  “Not sure. Simon’s sorting it out,” Ren said. She finally turned to meet Judith’s eyes. “I don’t think he should go over there. We need him here.”

  “I agree,” Judith said. “I’ll make sure he’s not on that boat. I want to go, though. I want to see.”

  Ren nodded. “Be careful.”

  “I will. And . . . Ren, I’m really sorry for not coming around lately. And for . . . for Nora. I should have come to talk to you.”

  “I understand,” Ren said heavily. “There’s nothing to say really. Look out for yourself, Judith.”

  Simon

  Simon wrapped a green scarf around his neck and prepared to board one of the smaller lifeboats. He had to find out what was happening on land. This could be the place where they would finally disembark and try to make their way home. It was time to see what their new lives would be like.

  Michael had already climbed into the boat, which swung gently above the water. Reggie had selected him and Pieter, a burly blond sailor Simon thought was from the Netherlands, to make the trip. Reggie himself would stay on board to fix the propeller that had been damaged in the collision, just in case they had to keep moving.

  “Wish we were armed,” Michael said.

  “If they don’t want us to stay,” Simon answered, “I doubt that would do much good.”

  “Still, if they’re hostile—”

  “It’ll be better for us to appear nonthreatening.”

  Simon held on to the railing and dropped one foot into the lifeboat. His head wobbled with vertigo as he glanced at the water forty feet below him. It was a long way down.

  “Simon! Wait!”

  Judith burst out of the ship with Kim Wu in tow. Simon clambered back onto the deck of the Catalina, limbs shaking slightly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t think you should go to the city,” Judith said. “It could be dangerous.”

  “I’ll be okay, Judith,” Simon said.

  “The Catalina won’t be okay if something happens to you.”

  “But I want to see—”

  “It’s not fair to us for you to risk yourself.” Judith crossed her arms tightly, her lips in a thin line. She looked positively formidable. “You need to keep people calm so they won’t go running off to the city until we know it’s safe. They’ll listen to you. I’ll go in your place and report back.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” Simon said.

  “Exactly why you shouldn’t go. The Catalina needs you. Esther needs you.”

  Simon didn’t want to put Judith in any danger, but he would not leave Esther an orphan no matter what. He’d been caught.

  “Maybe you’re right,” he began.

  “Of course I’m right. I’m taking Kim with me too,” Judith said, gesturing to the woman hovering behind her. “It’ll be more useful to have a Mandarin speaker in the city in person than as an anonymous voice on the radio, especially if we have to negotiate anything.”

  “You’re probably right about that. Okay, Judith, let’s do it your way.”

  Judith nodded as if she had expected nothing less. Michael offered her his hand and helped her into the lifeboat. Simon didn’t like sending Judith into danger, but he trusted her judgment. And Michael and Judith would look out for each other.

  A few minutes later the boat was lowered away from Simon. A strong breeze swept across the water, bringing with it the smells of land. City smells, earth smells. He wished he could go along, but Judith was right: he had to make sure everyone on the Catalina didn’t try to go into the city before it was safe.

  The team of four waved at Simon as the lifeboat dropped into the water. Pieter started the motor. They would try to keep the expedition short, just long enough to determine whether it was safe for the Catalinans to take refuge in the city. Simon prayed this would be the end of their voyage.

  Chapter 20—The City

  Judith

  The lifeboat motored through a shallow wasteland of sunken boats. A minefield of masts and shards of metal threatened to rip into the hull. Oil lay thick on the water in places. The whole harbor could burn at any moment.

  It took an eternity to reach the shore. Judith tucked her hand into Michael’s. It made her nervous that it was so quiet here. She would have expected people from the city to be out on the water, salvaging the wrecks. Now that the sun was all the way up—though hidden behind clouds—the city lights were no longer visible. She wondered if they had ever been there at all.

  The vacant windows of the skyscrapers stared at them as they crossed what must have been the border between land and sea before. The former shore, a ghostly line marking the drop from waterfront to harbor, passed beneath them. The water level had risen at least five feet, possibly more. It was deep enough for them to sail across the onetime boardwalk and up to the steps of the first building. The doors yawned open in front of them. Inside they could see the polished marble lobby of a hotel.

  Judith and Michael crawled forward to climb out. The lifeboat bobbed under their weight as they moved to the steps. But when they set foot on the first dry patch, gunshots greeted them.

  “Get back in the boat,” Pieter shouted.

  The shots pinged against the steps about ten feet away. Judith and Michael jumped back into the boat and ducked beneath the awning that covered part of the stern. Kim crouched in the bottom, and Pieter bent low near the idling motor.

  “Is anyone hit?” Michael asked.

  “We’re okay.”

  “Who’s shooting?” Kim wailed.

  “I saw someone inside,” Pieter said. “They’re gone now.”

  Silence rippled around them. No more shots, no shouts, no movement.

  “They obviously want us to leave,” Michael said. “Let’s pick a different spot to disembark.”

  “Wait,” Judith said. “They’re probably just scared. I don’t think they were trying to hit us. Maybe we should try to communicate with them.”

  “We’ve come too far to be gunned down now,” Michael said. “Pieter? Let’s keep it slow and quiet.”

  Pieter reversed the lifeboat away from the steps. He sailed along the waterfront, looking for another place to land. The gaps between the buildings revealed empty streets stretching away from the harbor. Glass glittered across the pavement. Wrecked and abandoned cars, broken signs, and garbage marred the streets. They passed what must have bee
n a busy commercial avenue leading right down to the water. Every single window had been broken.

  “Let’s stop here,” Judith said. “Looks like a main street.”

  “We can tie the boat to that street sign,” Kim said, peeking over the top of the gunwale. “I don’t know all the characters, but one of them means ‘sea,’ and one means ‘street.’”

  They motored up to the sign, and the boat bumped a bit against the sidewalk.

  Michael got out first. Worry clutched at Judith’s heart as he stepped out of her reach. He walked a few paces, but there were no shots this time. The city was deathly quiet.

  “Okay, I think we’re good. Someone should stay behind and watch the lifeboat,” Michael said.

  “I’ll do this,” Pieter said.

  He and Michael secured the lifeboat to the sign. Kim and Judith climbed out too, looking nervously around the deserted street.

  “Stay out of sight unless someone tries to mess with the boat,” Michael said to Pieter. “You’re big and scary looking. They should leave you alone.”

  Pieter nodded solemnly. He climbed back into the lifeboat and disappeared beneath the awning.

  Judith, Michael, and Kim walked a few paces across solid ground. The street was silent. A cat tiptoed across the way, but even it didn’t make a sound. Judith stayed close to Michael, willing herself not to cling to him. She tried to project a confidence that she didn’t feel inside.

  They walked on, but no one stopped them. There were no signs of life at all.

  “Well, I hope someone in this town speaks English,” Michael said after a while. His voice sounded far too loud, but conversation was better than this horrible silence.

  “They will,” Kim said. “And my Chinese is okay. Wish I’d spent more time practicing with my grandma, though.”

  “Have you ever been here before?” Judith asked.

  “Not to this city. I went to Shanghai when I was a teenager,” Kim said. “I hear it’s changed a lot since then.”