by Brian Toal
"Well..." Carman shook her head uncertainly. "...it sounds good in theory."
"It’ll work!" Chris said positively. "I can see only three outcomes. One - we get my mother back peaceably, like Uncle Charlie promised. Two - she isn't on the ferry. In which case I phone Uncle Charlie and find out why. Or three - there are some bad dudes on the ferry who try and get me. I can handle them easily enough on my own. Then we find out from them where my mother is or if we can't find out, we call the police. Whichever way it goes - once we all are on the ferry, we are stuck there for two hours unless you like swimming for thirty miles in..." Chris' eyes went blank as he searched for the relevant fact "...eighteen hundred feet of water."
A puff of smoke came from the exhaust pipe of the van ahead of them and Carman reached down to start the car. "Well...I hope there won't be any surprises." Carman said, as she put the car in gear, then followed the van towards the loading ramp of the ferry.
"There won't be any surprises." Chris responded reassuringly. "The only thing I can't handle, is back in Detroit."
TWELVE - TWO
The parking lot was almost full with Friday afternoon traffic and after several short delays they were directed onto the lower deck of the ferry. Chris gawked at the massive steel loading ramps as Carman drove their car through the gaping maw at the front of the ship. An attendant directed them to a lane on the far side of the ship with large open windows in the hull to their right and a maze of tractor trailers, trucks, campers and other vehicles to their left. Chris jumped from the car as soon as Carman turned it off and looked through the opening beside him, a large rectangular hole four feet above the deck, cut into the metal plate of the ship. A series of them dotted both sides of the ferry, each about ten feet long and six high. A metal railing ran in front of each opening to prevent the more adventurous sightseers from falling overboard and into the sea twenty feet below - although the railings must not have prevented all accidents - as there were several life rings, an automatic flashing beacon attached to each, interspersed along the metal walls. "Nice view, A?" Chris asked as Carman and Jon joined him at the opening.
"A?" Carman laughed ruffling his hair. "Are you adapting the Canadian habit of making statements questions, by placing a vowel after them?"
Chris shook his head, remaining close to Carman in case she wanted to paw him again. "No, I just wanted to see if you would notice."
"Big boat, A?" Jon joined them at the railing, giving Chris a wink. "I’ve never been in a boat this big. How long does the trip take?"
"About two hours." Chris responded, recalling the article in the tourist guidebook. This trip from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo is one of the longer sailings as we have to travel up the centre of the Strait of Georgia, past Vancouver and then over to Nanaimo. The total trip is 37 nautical miles or about 44.4 regular miles and because of the distance, this ferry, The Queen of Selkirk, is one of the faster boats in the B.C. Ferry fleet. It cruises at 21 knots."
"Thank you Encyclopaedia Chris." Jon muttered, looking back along the side of the ship to where the crew were loading the remaining cars. "I think we should we go up to the passenger decks. I mean, this trip does have a certain element of danger to it. We can gawk all the way back, after we’ve got your mom."
The happy, carefree expression left Chris' face and he quickly looked along the inside of the ship to either side of them. "Yeah, we better go where everyone else is going."
They climbed three flights of stairs with the rest of the crowd, passing another level packed tight, only with cars, as the ceiling was too low to permit transport trailers. Finally, they reached the front of the main passenger deck. Its carpeted expanse was one level below the top deck of the ship with its open-air viewing area and the bridge, where the crew was preparing for departure.
"Cool, they have a restaurant." Chris exclaimed as they wandered among the hundreds of other passengers who were busily claiming the best window seats or lining up at the cafeteria. "I could do with something to eat. Do you want to eat anything?" He asked anxiously, because if Carman decided not to eat he would feel guilty borrowing the money from her.
"Yes, I do." Carman replied, "but I think our first priority is to look for your mother."
Chris nodded. He could eat anytime. He pushed his way through the line up to the cafeteria and moved towards the rear of the ship. Carman and Jon fell back twenty feet and followed him.
The ship was crowded. Rows of seats, bolted together in lines of four, jutted out from the side windows. They passed business people in suits, reading newspapers or working on portable computers. Campers and hikers dressed in heavy clothes and clumping hiking boots. Mothers and fathers with their families in tow. Truck drivers with pointed boots and Peterbuilt or Kenworth baseball caps. Dozens of school children returning to the Island from an excursion into Vancouver. And nowhere could he see his mother. His mother with her compassionate and understanding smile. Her quick laugh and bright humour. Her warm touch and loving caress. The mother that had raised him and loved him unconditionally. Who cared for his every need. Who laughed with him when life was grand and mourned with him when he was sad. His mother. And he missed her terribly.
They walked entirely around the enclosed passenger deck, then climbed the stairs to the top deck, where there was an open walkway around the bridge and the crew's quarters as well as two small seating areas - one enclosed and the other open at the top, where a group of smokers huddled. "I can't find her." Chris turned back to speak with Carman and Jon, his eyes misted with distress. "She’s not here anywhere."
Carman wrapped her arm around Chris' shoulders. "Never mind. She’s probably on the ship, only whoever brought her, hasn't let her come upstairs yet. Let's go back downstairs to the passenger area. You find a seat near an aisle where you can watch everyone go by and Jon and I will find somewhere to sit behind you."
"Ya, don't worry, buddy." Jon gave Chris a quick pat on the arm. "I'm sure she’s here. Otherwise, your Uncle's game plan is going to get blown wide open and they wouldn't want that. So, unless they want you to fuck them up, big time, she'll be here."
Chris nodded and opened the door to the stairs below.
"...passengers are not to remain on the vehicle decks during the voyage. All passengers are to move to the passenger decks. Pets are not permitted on the passenger decks and must remain on the vehicle decks except for..." the announcements blared from the overhead speakers as Chris opened the door.
"Chris..." Jon pulled him back from the door, cutting the speakers off as the metal door slammed shut ahead of him. "Now remember, when we get back down the passenger deck, try not to look at us too much, just in case your mom came on board with some real bad-ass types. We’ll keep you in sight and if the shit hits the fan, we’ll be there to help you out."
"Okay." Chris nodded and pulled open the door once again. "...lifeboats and life rafts are on the upper sun deck. Life preservers are stored in lockers on both the sun decks and the passenger decks. Children's life preservers are stored on the..."
The announcements continued as Chris manoeuvred his way through the crowds still milling about the seating areas. He found a seat next to the aisle about halfway down the ship, on the left side (the port side, he reminded himself).
He dropped onto its vinyl covered cushions, nodding as he did so to the young couple sitting beside the window. One seat separated them. A cushion of social distance.
He scanned the aisle ahead of him. A multitude of people moved by him. Some towards the cafeteria, others looking for seats, many just wandering, looking out the windows as they passed. A huge crowd of children had gathered at a long row of video games towards the front of the ship. (Bow of the ship - he corrected himself.) But his mother was nowhere to be seen - if she was on the ship at all.
Two decks below where Chris sat, the bus driver of the chartered bus abandoned his strange group of silent passengers and made his way up to the cafeteria. Every seat on the bus was occupied. Each sitting complacently, waiting for
their next instructions.
A few minutes after the bus driver had departed, Beth climbed the stairs and stood with her back against the metal railing at the front. "I have here..." She held up a stack of photos "...pictures of Chris McCarter. The boy we want. I will pass each of you a copy of his picture. I want you to find him and then report back here. Do not speak to him. Leave him alone entirely." She paused, handing the stack of photos to members sitting in the front seats on either side of the bus. Then she continued. "You’re all feeling a bit strange, as am I, because of our isolation from each other. This is necessary because the boy is one of us. He would know immediately if we were allowed our usual intimacy and there is no telling what he would do if he was aware of what we have on board. He is dangerous, all of us know that, but once we have found him and got him away from the crowds upstairs, we’ll control him. He will be virtually powerless to do us harm then." She watched as the photographs passed quickly from hand to hand to those at the rear of the bus.
"Go find him." Beth added and stepped off the bus.
The crowds in the aisle were thinning now. The cafeteria line dwindling as the staff dished out fish and chips, hot roast beef sandwiches, chicken strips and numerous other entrées. Most passengers had found seats and, besides the growing population around the video games, everyone was settling down for the two-hour voyage ahead.
Chris looked out beyond the couple sitting beside him. The ship was well beyond its docking facility now, the parking lot and raised loading ramps fast disappearing to the stern as the ship powered out into the Strait of Georgia.
He craned his neck to look behind him. Jon and Carman were sitting together six seats back. Carman's eyes met his for a moment and she nodded quickly before looking away. Chris sighed and resumed his careful search of the passengers walking by his seat.
TWELVE - THREE
"He’s sitting in an aisle seat on the main passenger deck." The tall executive from Laser Circuits reported. "He’s on the left side about ten rows behind the entrance to the cafeteria. It is definitely him and he’s sitting alone."
Beth nodded as Charlie appeared to the rear of the double gasoline-tanker parked beside the bus. Their two vans and the Tilden Rental truck had been loaded on the same lower deck as the bus, but were a row over and further back towards the middle of the cavernous hold of the ship. The ship's engines vibrated the steel deck plates beneath their feet and the air was loud with their muted thunder and the swish of water rushing below the large openings in the ship's side. "You found him?" Charlie asked.
Beth nodded. "He’s upstairs, but he isn't with his friends."
"What are you going to do?"
"It’s probably best I go up and see him."
"You?"
"Yes. He won't expect that, but more importantly I don't think he would try to harm me. We can't have him reacting in any negative way. Not with all those people up there. If he causes any sort of commotion then it’s likely that..." Beth paused, her expression blank as she thought over the possible consequences of an uncontrolled demonstration of Chris' abilities. "...I don't know what would happen. The ferry may turn back. We may be stopped at the other end...I really don't know, but we cannot afford any undue attention. It would be inordinately destructive to be discovered."
Charlie nodded. "Then it’s probably best you meet with him."
"Just in case I have to bring him to his mother - where is she?"
There was an electrical snap, followed by the roar of an engine as the cooling unit started up on a refrigerated trailer, parked on the other side of their bus.
Charlie waited until the engine had died to a noisy idle before he answered. "She’s still in the rental truck. But it’d be better if you brought him onto the bus.”
Beth nodded. "It may not be necessary to do either. If I can get him down here and away from any observers upstairs, it can effectively paralyse him."
"By observers...do you mean the man and woman he is travelling with?"
"Oh them..." Beth paused "I don't care about them. Bill..." She turned to the tall executive, "get the others back down here. The fifty-five of us should be able to subdue the two young helpers Chris has brought along."
Bill turned away as Charlie nodded. "I hope there are just two. I only brought four concrete blocks."
Beth moved carefully among the passengers strolling the aisles. She wanted to locate Chris before he saw her, in order to judge his initial reaction to her presence. She knew he could destroy her in an instant if he wanted to. That would be very unproductive and she wanted to insure the first moments of their meeting were positive. She must be certain she had the correct expression on her face when he first saw her.
Chris was still sitting in the same seat, legs outstretched in front of him as he scanned, with less and less hope, the passengers walking down the aisle by his side. His eyes passed by the woman with short blonde hair, momentarily visible behind a couple walking hand-in-hand towards him, then snapped back involuntarily, his body rising instinctively in his chair. Aunt Beth! Was that her? How could it be? He craned his neck outwards into the aisle, trying to see beyond the young couple blocking more than half the passageway.
She saw him. A fleeting glimpse. His dark black hair, hanging long over his blue eyes. Quickly she forced her mouth into a welcoming smile. Full of warmth and understanding.
"Aunt Beth!" Chris looked up at her with amazement. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled down at him, shaking her head from side to side as a mother might do when she is slightly disappointed at some minor misbehaviour of her offspring. "I’ve come to talk to you about your mother - my sister. I’ve had to fly all the way out here to this place in Canada and board this dreadful boat, just to talk to you."
"What...?" Chris asked, stunned. How could his Aunt be here? Surly she must be part of it now. How could she have left its influence? This was not what he had expected at all.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" Beth asked reasonably.
"Ahhh...sure." Chris automatically moved his knees slightly sideways so she could squeeze by, into the chair between himself and the young couple by the window.
His Aunt settled herself into the seat and then casually slapped his forearm. "What have you been doing for the last week? Your mother and I have been dreadfully worried about you."
"My...my mother? She has been worried?" Chris asked weakly.
"Of course, she has. After that terrible accident...Oh Chris..." She reached for his hand. "It’s your father isn't it? You were all alone after the fire and you’ve been running across the country in despair...Oh Chris...my darling little boy..." Her fingers tightened around his own. "It must have been awful for you."
Chris nodded. "Yes, it was..." He still didn't understand how this could be happening.
"Oh...Chris." His Aunt repeated mournfully. "It’s all over now. Your mother and I have come out here to get you and everything will be all right."
"My mom is here?" Chris pulled his hand out from his Aunt's grasp. "What about Uncle Charlie and that thing from Canada?"
Beth shook her head sadly. "Your Uncle hasn't been well lately. I really don't know what is wrong with him, and you know your Uncle Charlie...he refuses to see a doctor. He just wasn't well enough to come out here today."
"What about that machine from Canada Todd and I found?"
Beth shook her head. "You’re not still talking about that are you? It’s ancient news."
"Ummm...it’s pretty important to me."
"I wouldn't know why." Beth sighed as if she was bored with the topic. "I think Charlie had it delivered to NorthCan's offices' in Detroit. They wanted to take a look at it."
"Is everything okay, Chris?" Carman and Jon stood in the aisle beside him.
"Ahhh...yeah, I guess so." Chris replied uncertainly. "This is my Aunt Beth."
"Your Aunt..." Carman's eyes opened wide in surprise. "I thought you said..." She left the sentence uncompleted as she and Jon shared meaningful glances
.
"I thought she couldn't have come here either." Chris completed Carman's thoughts.
"So, these are your two friends." Beth said pleasantly. "I want to thank you so much for looking after Chris during the last few days."
"It was no problem." Carman answered in the same pleasant tone of voice, then firmly, "where is his mother?"
"She’s downstairs. She can hardly wait to see Chris."
"Why didn't she come up here herself?"
"Well..." Beth hesitated, "...I don't know if Chris has told you about the horrible accident his parents were in..."
"Yes, he has." Carman interrupted, "but we know his mother survived and was flown back to Detroit."
“Yes...but she still isn't well. She didn't think she could manage the stairs up to this level."
"So, my Mom is here? On this ship?"
"Yes, Chris, right below us?"
"What about Uncle Charlie. I phoned him and he told me he had brought that thing from Canada to Detroit and I should come back to Detroit and if I didn't I would be in trouble and he never said, but he hinted, he might hurt my mother if I didn't, and I had to force him to send my mother here and he sent the police after us and ..." the rush of words ended and Chris sat silently looking to his Aunt for an explanation.
She patted his hand once again. "Chris...Chris. Your Uncle isn't well and I’m sorry I didn't take the calls myself. But I was so busy, visiting your Mom in the hospital and Todd and working, that I have hardly ever been home."
"What about the kidnapping ads on TV." Jon asked suspiciously.
The couple sitting beside Chris and his Aunt were surreptitiously listening to this most intriguing conversation transpiring only inches away from where they sat. Their heads aimed forward, but their eyes alight as they sucked in every enticing word.