by Ellis, Tara
“Lay on your back, feet pointed up!” Peta shouted above the din of the helicopter as the rotors slowed. “Hug yourself and make sure you have the headrest part out. It can make a big difference.”
Bill raised an eyebrow at her as he tugged at the piece she’d mentioned, untucking it from where it was caught between the vest and his back. “Sounds like you have some experience with water rescue?”
“I’m a marine biologist,” she answered matter-of-factly.
“Couldn’t we have just landed on an island or something?” Devon asked. He was looking around the dim interior with a tangible fear.
“Rogers said the nearest one was only at the halfway mark,” Peta explained. “Aside from the obvious issue about tsunamis and other effects that may reach this far, we’ve lost radio communications again. There’d be no way to relay any new coordinates to the rescue boat.”
“So, we take our chances,” Bill said.
Tyler stared at his dad. He sounded much more in control than he had the whole day before. He wasn’t sure if it was the sleep and a chance at being rescued, or maybe because they were with other people. Whatever the reason, it went a long way to helping his own anxiety, except he really didn’t want to drown. He turned his attention to Devon. “I thought you were a marine biologist or something, too. Why are you so afraid of the water?”
Devon didn’t seem at all embarrassed at being called out, and raised both his hands in the air. “I work in a lab, man. I avoid the whole boat thing whenever possible and I absolutely stay away from helicopter crash landings. I’m not so much afraid of water as I am being adrift in the middle of the ocean with nothing more than a fifty-dollar life vest. Where’s the emergency raft Hernandez mentioned?”
“He said he’d get it if it came to that,” Bill said, shining his flashlight around at the stark interior.
“Here we go!” Hernandez yelled from the front. They’d all taken their headsets off to get their life vests on.
Tyler dropped to his hands and knees, as far from the door as possible. Hernandez had come back and closed it earlier when he explained what to do when they landed. He figured it still wouldn’t be the safest place to hang out just in case it came open. There were straps hanging from the walls, and Tyler grabbed at one, wrapping it around his wrist. They were probably meant to be used as tiedowns for cargo, which he thought was a pretty accurate description of the passengers. They had no control over what was happening and were only along for the ride.
“It’ll be okay,” his dad whispered as he dropped down next to Tyler. “Your mom will make sure the boat is here.”
Tyler shook his head. “You heard what Hernandez said, Dad. There could be monster swells out there from the earthquakes that no boat could get through.”
Bill squeezed his arm. “We’re a good fifteen-hundred miles away from the eruption by now. Sure, eventually the whole ocean will likely be impacted by the waves but it’s only been thirteen hours, Tyler. We have to have faith. If we lose that, we’ve already given up and we will never give up. Do you understand me?”
Tyler nodded in answer and didn’t pull his arm away. Whether he believed him or not wasn’t the issue. It was still reassuring and he was at a point where he didn’t mind being told what to do. Feeling much like the ten-year-old who felt safe from a storm by his daddy’s arms wrapped around him, Tyler leaned into his father’s touch. They would be okay.
He was aware of Peta and Devon bracing themselves moments before the engine sputtered, threatening to go silent before they could make the water landing. There was a sudden, sickening feeling in Tyler’s’ stomach as they dropped the last several feet before hitting the water with a bone-jarring impact.
“Umph!” Tyler’s breath was knocked from his chest. His left wrist twisted painfully in the strap as it was pulled taut. Someone fell onto him, adding to the effort it took for him to suck in a mouthful of air.
Alarms were blaring, the cabin went dark, and a smell like hot electrical wires filled the space. Tyler could hear water sloshing. Before he could manage to get back onto his knees, a wave hit near the side door with enough force to shift the whole helicopter several feet, throwing them all around like toys.
His wrist came loose and Tyler found himself on the top of a dogpile against the far wall. Devon groaned, and Peta cursed.
“Come on!” His dad ordered, pulling at his arms. “We need to get centered.”
“He’s right,” Peta agreed. Tyler could hardly see her face though it was obvious there was fresh blood covering her mouth. “Devon!” she yelled, drops of the red crimson splattering the floor.
Tyler saw the man was crumpled up against the wall. He had taken the full impact of all of them, and wasn’t moving.
“Help me!” Peta ordered, grabbing at her friend’s feet. His dad shifted his attention from Tyler, once he was positioned in the middle of the helicopter, and then helped Peta drag an unconscious Devon next to him. Tyler stared at his chest, relieved to see it was rising and falling. The guy was already starting to moan.
“This is no good,” Hernandez barked, stumbling into the middle of them as the Sea King rolled with another wave. “The swells are way too big. We’ll capsize before we sink.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” Tyler mumbled. He wasn’t sure if he should nurse his throbbing wrist or help Peta hold onto Devon as another swell pushed them the other direction. He ended up with Ensign Hernandez on his back, so he abandoned any other ideas while he untangled himself from the other man. Tyler wasn’t sure what to think of him and the Lieutenant anymore. If they should even be called by their rank. Were they being rescued by his mom and the Navy, or ICONS? Did it matter?
His small, internal debate was interrupted by a new, annoying claxon-like alarm that drowned out everything else.
“That’s it!” Rogers shouted. He staggered from the cockpit and fell into the side door. As he struggled with his injured arm to pull it open, Hernandez scrambled to his feet and threw his weight into it.
“You think now’s a good time for that raft?” Devon croaked.
Tyler saw he was sitting up and leaning against Peta, who was holding pressure to a bleeding headwound on his forehead. His dad had pulled himself to his feet and went to stand with Hernandez and Rogers, looking outside.
From Tyler’s angle, it all appeared to be a mass of black, swirling water with white, frothy spray being caught in the exterior lights that were still working. How could they survive in that?
Crawling, he dragged himself next to his dad, getting knocked over twice in the process by huge, rolling swells that rocked the helicopter like a sleeping baby. They had to be over twenty feet tall. Tyler didn’t know a whole lot about the deep ocean, but Mikael had taught him quite a bit about waves, swells, and how to ride them out on a board and small boat. He knew enough to understand that once swells got big enough, it didn’t matter what kind of vessel you were on. It was going to eventually get caught in the wrong spot and be flipped over.
“We have to abandon her before we capsize,” Rogers explained to Bill. “The swells alone are enough to roll us, and if we get caught in a cross sea, where two swells intersect, we’re dead. This is designed to simply stay afloat to load up in an emergency. It isn’t meant to act as a boat.”
Tyler remained crouched down as he spoke to the Lieutenant. “Is a small life raft going to be any better? I mean, what’s the point if the boat isn’t out there? We’re going to drown no matter what.”
“It could still be there,” Rogers yelled, pointing outside. “Get the raft,” he ordered Hernandez.
Bill went to help the ensign release the heavy case, which turned out to be located in the far end of the tail. By the time they dragged the heavy, metallic canister back, Devon was on his feet, though wobblily. Peta stared skeptically at the raft and then outside.
“You’re sure it’s the better option?” she asked.
“It’s an ISO ocean life raft with a canopy, designed for up to ten people,
” Rogers explained as he knelt and snapped the case open. “It has six ballasts, as well as an emergency beacon and lighting. Trust me,” he said, standing again. “There’s no question it’s a better option. It’s meant for these kinds of conditions.”
“You had me until conditions,” Devon quipped. “I don’t think anything’s been designed for what’s going on in the world right now.”
Hernandez shrugged. “Stay here if you want.” He squatted down next to Rogers and helped undo the rest of the fastenings. He took what Tyler assumed was the main rope and tied it to the hand strap along the edge of the door, before shoving the raft outside. It began inflating and unfolding before it hit the water. It was a mix of orange and yellow flashes as it tumbled around, before landing upright and turning into something solid.
Devon was nodding. “Okay,” he muttered. “Okay, I get it now.”
“Ladies first,” Rogers ordered, holding a hand out to Peta.
Without hesitating, Peta disappeared over the edge of the door, and Tyler held his breath as he watched her leap from the turbo engine and into the raft. They were in-between swells, but he could feel them rising up on another one.
“Come on!” Hernandez urged, waving at both Tyler and his dad.
Gritting his teeth, Tyler was the first to move and scurried out onto the engine that looked like a small wing. It was wet, of course, and he hadn’t expected it to be so slippery. Nearly losing his footing, he jumped before he could fall and almost missed the raft altogether.
One foot landed on the inside, while the other sank into freezing cold water. Tyler’s forward momentum threw his chest into the rubber siding and he began to bounce back, losing his balance. Peta grabbed his hand.
“Hold on!” she screamed, while trying to counter his weight by throwing herself backwards into the center of the raft.
There was a second of what felt like suspended animation. Tyler could hear the water, feel it pulling at him, and imagined how it would swallow him up and drag him into its dark depths. Then, he was on the floor of the raft next to Peta, gasping.
He didn’t have time to thank her before Devon landed next to him in a heap, and his dad quickly followed. The raft was big, but the four of them already occupied a lot of its space, which they were also sharing with two bags full of what he assumed was survival gear and the canopy. Tyler wasn’t sure if he believed the lieutenant’s claim of it holding ten people.
Hernandez jumped as the swell crested so that the raft moved away from the Sea King, causing him to fall short and land on the edge of the raft. He clung desperately to the side, kicking at the water as Peta and Devon hauled him inside.
The raft suddenly lurched, the end closest to the helicopter coming all the way out of the water. As Tyler was thrown harmlessly into the inflated two-foot tall sidewall, he could see that the rope tied to the helicopter had been pulled tight. Rogers was still standing, braced in the open doorway. It looked like he was trying to cut the rope loose as the Sea King began to capsize. Otherwise, it would take the raft down with it.
“Come on!” Peta shouted! “Jump!”
“He isn’t going to make it,” Hernandez said. Turning to the supply bag attached to the center of the raft, he looked frantically for a knife as they continued to get bounced around.
Twang!
The rope gave way with a loud snapping sound that echoed, and the raft slapped back onto the water before shooting away in the opposite direction. Tyler watched as Rogers fell from the helicopter just before it flipped, and then disappeared into the black swirling waves.
They all clambered awkwardly on the soft bottom of the raft in an attempt to see where the lieutenant was. “Stay over there!” Hernandez ordered Devon and Bill. “We have to keep the raft balanced.”
Tyler clung onto the sidewall next to Peta. He couldn’t see anything. Though it wasn’t raining, the waves were a chaotic mess that was whipped around by the wind, creating a constant barrage of water.
“I don’t even know his name,” she gasped. Turning her head toward Hernandez, she grabbed at his arm. “What’s his name?”
“Adam.” Hernandez had an emergency flashlight in his hand he’d dug out of the bag, and pointed it out at the water. “His name’s Adam.”
“Adam!” Peta screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth.
“Adam!” Tyler joined her, feeling totally inadequate. Guilt was already pressing on his chest as he thought about how he’d doubted the guy less than an hour earlier. It didn’t matter anymore why Lieutenant Adam Rogers was there. He was willing to sacrifice himself so they could live.
Seconds turned to minutes, and they all called his name until they were hoarse. There was no sign of him. Not even a flash of orange from his vest. Tyler finally closed his eyes and did his best to block out the harsh reality as the others talked strategy. Not that there were any other options than to float at random.
The swells were so tall it was like falling into a valley between mountains. Tyler figured Adam was pulled down the other side of the swell with the Sea King and there was no way for him to get back. No one could swim through that, especially not with a bullet wound in his arm.
After what felt like hours but was really no more than thirty minutes, Tyler opened his eyes and turned to lean his arms on the top of the raft. Hernandez had given everyone flashlights, and he pointed his out at the inky darkness. It was difficult to tell what was towering water and what was sky, though he could see a faint glow in one direction. At first, he thought it was the same hazy light from the rising sun they saw just before the emergency landing. Except, it was getting brighter.
“Dad,” he muttered, shaking his father’s arm. “What’s that?”
Bill looked at where Tyler was pointing and after a moment, jumped up onto his knees excitedly. “Is that a light?” he shouted, also pointing.
Peta crawled to the far side of the raft, where the yellow glow was intensifying. “Turn your lights off!” she demanded.
As Tyler and his dad complied and his eyes adjusted, Tyler gasped. It was a boat. It had to be a boat!
“Turn them back on!” Hernandez barked. “Wave them around.” He rummaged through the survival kit that was anchored to the middle of the raft, and pulled out what looked like a gun. Pointing it up, he pulled the trigger, sending up a blindingly-bright flare.
He’d done it once, already, after they first stopped yelling for Adam, so Tyler didn’t jump this time at the loud report. It burst into a shower of red and slowly arced back toward the earth.
A ship blared its horn in one prolonged blast.
“They saw it!” Peta said, falling back onto her heels.
Within minutes, a boat bigger than any Tyler had ever been on came into view. Flood lights were already searching the water and when one found them, he used one hand to cover his eyes while waving frantically with the other. He knew they obviously saw them, but he couldn’t help it. They were going to live. Again.
Getting into position so the life raft could be safely tied off next to a ladder was a lot harder than Tyler could have guessed. There were a couple of paddles with the raft, but they were too short and almost useless. After what felt like forever, he was nominated by everyone else to be the first to climb up the ladder.
After ascending what had to be around twenty feet, the water stopped pelting him and he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d forgotten it wasn’t really raining out. Another ten feet and he could see hands reaching down over the side to help him.
Exhaustion coursed through Tyler’s body. As he was lifted down to the deck of the ship, he was barely aware of the voices, lights, and smell of the sea and oil of the boat. He didn’t care that they were all wearing the same, oddly plain uniforms with the single ICONS patch on the shoulder. All he wanted to do was go to sleep. To sleep until everything was normal again. His eyes closed as someone started yelling his name.
“Tyler!”
His eyes sprang back open. Tyler knew the voice. He searched for the
source and when he saw her, began to cry.
“Mom…”
Chapter 28
JESS
Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname
Northeast interior of South America
“It’s late,” Akuba said, trying to appear stern. “You should get some sleep.” The sounds of the jungle were slowly coming back, though it was still…off. While Jess and Akuba had been sitting on the patio, eating their second helping of dessert, it felt as though something else was lingering just beyond the shadows, waiting. She’d been hoping Goldie would show up like he often did in the evenings, since her dad had forbidden Jess from looking for him. She wasn’t sure if she was sad or relieved at not seeing the little monkey. She was afraid what her dad would say if he was still acting weird.
Jess began to think up another round of excuses as to why she shouldn’t go to bed yet, and then realized how selfish she was being. Akuba had come back to help with dinner and be with Jess while her father met with the other men. She left her injured mom to do it, and certainly didn’t have to. Akuba could have easily stayed away for several days, leaving Jess to fend for herself amongst her father and his endless arguments with whoever happened to wander into his office next.
It was almost ten thirty, and though Jess sometimes stayed up that late during the long, hot summer days, her official bedtime was supposed to be ten. It obviously wasn’t a normal day, though the stress was beginning to catch up with her. Yawning, she looked sheepishly at Akuba “Okay,” she relented. “I surrender. Besides, I already had to listen to Kofi and Mr. Sandwood get into it with Dad while I was trying to eat. I don’t know if they’re ever going to leave, so I might as well go to bed.”
Akuba smiled before standing, and moved behind Jess. “Finish your pie,” she said gently. “I will do your hair.”
As the young woman began untwisting her braids, Jess paused with a forkful of syrupy baked apple halfway to her mouth. An intense feeling of nostalgia swept through her, making it hard to swallow. It was an old bedtime ritual they hadn’t done for years, and it reminded Jess of a time that seemed so much simpler. Even before the explosion and geyser, the older she got, the more complicated life was getting. The week before, her father brought up sending her away to school…again. It was an argument they’d had many times. She knew the tutor was expensive, but that wasn’t the reason he wanted her to go.