April 2: Down to Earth

by Mackey Chandler

  Harold had his night vision goggles pulled down, but could easily see him motion for them to climb back up and they both did so not worrying about the slight wine of the winches.

  Once he was safely back on the massive limb, he pulled his rifle up on the end of its tether and was finally able to look back at the action. There was still smoke lingering over the yard, but the grenades had burnt out and were not spewing anymore. Their kits were still strapped securely to the limb, clinging better than they had.

  Bill searched in the smoke with his spex, finding the smoke was infrared opaque. It was probably meant to thwart laser fire too. It was clearing upwind, beyond the wall where the grenade had landed - grenade? Perhaps anything that powerful should be called a bomb - some of the smaller trees on the forest edge were down, or leaning away from the blast. The wall was down in a shallow notch that went all the way to the ground in the center, with stones scattered in a fan across the lawn and climbed on each side until it was straight and whole about eight meters each way. a crater a couple meters across showed the charge had landed about two meters beyond the wall. Nobody caught between that blast and the wall stood a chance.

  The wind was pushing the smoke away from the Lewis house and Bill first saw some movement and then the great dog became visible. He had the second soldier, who had sprayed fire their way, by the neck straddling him. His neck was well back, deep in the big dog's jaws. The angle his head hung back made it clear he was dead, but the dog still whipped him back and forth like a rag doll.

  Diana and he must have gone over the wall into the smoke, right after the blast. Then it cleared a bit more and the two women were visible standing over the man with the arrow in him. Diana's bow was still in her left hand, an arrow notched. The soldier was on the lawn, leaning on his good arm and Bill could see zoomed in that he was talking, because his face was tilted up to them.

  Adzusa had her back to their tree and there was a dark thin shape hanging across her back and sticking up past her shoulder. Their prisoner stopped talking and looked away from them. They must have been still talking to him, because he kept shaking his head no, still refusing to look up at them. Finally he lifted his face and said something with a nasty snarl.

  Adzusa reached back and grabbed the handle sticking up over her shoulder and in one motion there was a flash of silver and the man's head rolled away downhill, then the headless corpse slowly fell sideways over the propping arm. She whipped the sword in a double twisting motion to fling the blood off it and sheathed in one continuous motion.

  "Sweet Jesus," Harold said aloud, breaking their silence protocol. Bill couldn't find it in himself to chastise him. The man was staring wide eyed, feeling with one hand around the base of his neck, like he could imagine the blade passing through him. Below the last tendrils of smoke blew away and the wall seemed to have saved the rear of the house from the full effect of the blast, but the lanai was pushed over in a heap of sticks. Diana turned and called her dog off the corpse he was abusing.

  "Let's go down and see if we can render the ladies any assistance," Bill suggested. "We are sort of silly, sitting up here with no blind and no leaves."

  "Like they need a hand," Harold scoffed. "Let's call from the wall and make sure we're welcome...Sir."

  Chapter 42

  They woke Gunny and April who had finally succumbed to the fatigue from all the excitement and got back in the same Green and Blue SUVs. There was even more stuff piled in the back and April was astonished to see packages in the distinctive cream with burgundy pinstripes, the dress shop Lin took her to used. It was too soon for her formal stuff, but she had some more casual things now.

  They pulled out the same door into the dark, lights out. The lead vehicle pulled to the side and let the vehicle with Li take the lead. They turned on lights when they hit the public street. A pair of electrocycles ghoasted past them and led well ahead, out of sight.

  They seemed to go through a lot of residential streets, avoiding the main arteries as much as possible. A couple times April saw water in the distance, the moon making the choppy surface obvious. It was no surprise when they turned and a forest of masts was visible ahead, bright points of moonlight gleaming on the metal and rolled up sails.

  The lights went off again as they turned in the drive and they actually drove right out on the jetty, stopping out near the end. Another jetty parallel to them had soft lights, with bonnets illuminating it, but theirs were out. Similarly, the interior lights stayed off when they opened the doors. Papa-san spoke in low tones, urging them on the boat to their right. There were a lot of big boats all around them. Mostly dark, but a few with soft lights, if they had a gangplank out.

  Instead of a rattling conveyer with hundreds of little wheels, they had a big U-channel coated with something slick as ice. Their baggage and supplies slid down it with barely a whisper and were stowed below. They were loaded and the ropes thrown off, even before the trucks were backing down the jetty. There was a sigh of lines through pulleys and a sound April had never heard before, the murmur of sail cloth sliding against itself and the snap of it going taunt in the wind. They pulled away with barely a gurgle of water eddying in their wake.

  Papa-san tried to send her below, but she whispered she wanted to stay above. He silently pointed to a bench, well away from the wheel and she tucked herself in the dark corner.

  Gunny occupied the other end, so quietly she felt the movement rather than heard him. Nothing that big should be able to move that quietly.

  Somebody was working out on top of the boat, visible in the moonlight, but she didn't know enough to understand what he was doing. She could see one narrow sail up well ahead, but after awhile a really big one went up closer and she suddenly realized this boat was a lot bigger than she had thought at first. When the big sail filled, the water started making more noise going past and the boat leaned a little from the wind.

  She looked back and was surprised how far away the lights on the shore were already. By the time a third sail was up, most of the line of lights down by the water were gone and it was only the tall buildings and antennas showing lights behind them. In another twenty minutes they were all gone and there was a light way off on the horizon to one side and a flashing aircraft light that soon was gone. Li came past carrying an odd metal object. It was light but awkward. A round shape of sheet metal mesh with square corners in each quadrant. He took it below. The boat was entirely dark and it rolled back and forth really slowly. She leaned back and watched the moon approach the edge of the sail and back away repeatedly. Somewhere along the way she fell asleep.

  The sky was a silvery color, the moon set and the stars washed out, when April woke up. One of Papa-san's young men was at the wheel in front of her and the air smelled better than even at the Santos house. Way better than in town, which literally stank to her. She was stretched out on the bench, having no memory of getting there, from leaning in the corner. The padding was firm, but she wasn't sore. She'd slept injured side up. She was surprised to find somebody put a loose belt and safety line on her. She'd been so tired she had no memory of it. It hardly seemed credible she'd fall out of the sunken cockpit, with rails around it, but, their ship - their rules. Every once in awhile, she caught a faint smell of breakfast cooking on the wind.

  Haru, that was the man's name at the wheel, she finally remembered. He looked at her several times while scanning all around, looking off in the distance mostly, but he did not acknowledged her at all. She fumbled around and got the line off, to go down in the boat finally, needing to find a toilet. She went down the companionway and forward at the first level.

  The inside of the boat was pleasant, light composites, not as much wood as she expected, more for accents than big areas of it. She went past several doors, until she found one open that was a bathroom. The sink was stainless, set in a synthetic counter top. It was cozy but not oppressively compact to her, bigger than her own bathroom at home. That was smaller than anything you’d find Earthside, except maybe
in a compact motor home. She hesitated over the white terry towel hanging in a ring. The only other thing to dry her hands was her own clothing and the towel probably beat them for cleanliness. She went ahead and used it, but pulled out the back part hanging by the wall.

  The murmur of conversation was from the front of the boat. She followed it and her nose, across a huge salon with big ports down both sides making it bright and came to a table with Gunny, the older Satos and Li all chatting over coffee. There was still some sausage and fruit on the table. The kitchen was in a cute little alcove, but way too small. There must be a bigger one for serious meals on the lower deck.

  "There is oatmeal in the pot on the stove, rolls warm in the oven," she pointed. "We have shell eggs in the frig if you want and the pan is still on the burner for them." If there was to be cooking she obviously was to do it herself. They apparently ran the boat less formally than their house. She went for the oatmeal, loaded it with butter and syrup. The rolls she buttered and put lots of jam on them. It said Fig preserves on the jar, in English and a bunch of Arabic writing. She'd never had it before and it wasn't bad. The coffee was wonderful.

  "What is down the corridor to the front?" April asked.

  "That's a passageway," Pap-san instructed her. "It goes between a pantry on this side, what we call a cuddy and a storage compartment with an arms locker opposite. Beyond are two double bunk crew cabins and then on the end more storage under the bow. There is an alternative stairs to the next deck too. If you explore down there be quiet, we have two crew sleeping, who stood watch in the night."

  "Where should I go to shower and dress?"

  "There are four staterooms at the rear of the passageway where you came in. Your things are in the rear one, the aft, on the starboard side, that's the right looking forward. Gunny is opposite on the port side."

  "How many of these terms will I need to learn?" April asked, grinning.

  "A few hundred will carry you through being a passenger. If you want to learn to sail a few hundred more. If you want to learn to build boats," he smiled big, "that is a project that would take some years. I am going to show Gunny how to handle the boat," Papa-san explained. "If you'd like to learn you may join us. Gunny however has some sailing experience. I doubt I would trust you at the wheel alone, with no history of sailing smaller boats. There is a matter of a feel for it, anticipating what will happen that comes from experience. No offense to your intelligence or maturity in any way. There are things that can happen suddenly, that don't lend themselves to calling out for help."

  "None taken. I would be very cautious about handing the Happy Lewis off to somebody without experience, even orbiting away from any station and no burns scheduled."

  "Exactly."

  "I have to tell you though, my experience is in an eighteen foot open boat, with a single sail you trimmed by hand. It had a folding keel and you held the tiller by hand instead of a wheel. But yeah it gave me a sense of what a boat will do, although it reacts faster than a bigger boat like this," Gunny said.

  "They are both small compared to the ocean," Papa-san said, smiling.

  "Your little boat was eighteen feet? Five meters? How long is this one?" April asked.

  "The Tobiuo is twenty-three meters," Papa-san informed her. "It is considered a ketch."

  "Your boat is longer than my spaceship!" April exclaimed.

  "And I bet it has a lot more room inside," Gunny told her.

  "Oh yeah. We have a toilet and that is the only enclosure, besides storage cabinets and tool boxes. It has a lock too, uh, not the toilet, but the ship, but it is a coffin lock and really snug, tapered even to reduce the volume to pump down."

  "A description I would not want to explain to nervous passengers." Papa –san noted.

  "The big room back there is nicer than our living room on station. How wide is it?"

  "The main salon is about seven meters, at the wide point."

  "Ha! Wider than Gunny's boat is long," she said amused. "We had the sun on our left when I came down." April started, waving a hand that direction.

  "Sun off our port when I came below," Papa-san corrected.

  "Yeah, so we are headed South. Do you have someplace in mind for us to go, or just cruise around for awhile?" She got a refill of coffee too.

  "We are headed toward the equator. When we get close, there is a band where the circulation of air in the north and the south hemispheres meets. That is an area where you get long periods of calm, or it can also be an area of storms. I'd rather not deplete our fuel motoring through. But if I have to I will do so, at a low speed to conserve it," He explained.

  "Are we going to see any other islands?" April wanted to know.

  "Perhaps a week from now, we may visit an atoll," Papa-san promised. "There are three I have been to and which one we go to will depend on the winds. We can kill a few pleasant days anchored in one of them and then go on to Samoa. Eventually we will move on to Tonga. If you want to lift for Home that will be your opportunity."

  "What about my two lieutenants I came to rescue?" April asked.

  "If you go to the mainland, maybe even if you go back to Hawaii, I can see you needing rescued, instead of rescuing anyone. Or more likely dead. The Chinese are playing very rough. I doubt sinking their very expensive submarine endeared you to them either. Such things excite sovereigns, instead of making them back off. In my professional opinion and as your friend, it's time to back off." Papa-san entreated her. "I offered to help your young men if needed. The offer still stands."

  "Perhaps you'd be safer to come up to Home too," April suggested.

  Papa-san looked surprised at the idea. He looked at his wife and pursed his mouth. "Perhaps in the future. I'm not quite ready for that big a move. That would be taken as a political statement by my colleagues," he explained. "I'm not sure it's a statement I want to make yet."

  "I'd like to contact my service, when it won't compromise our location," Gunny added.

  "If I call Home, I can arrange to have your call relayed, so that our location is hidden from the end recipient," April promised.

  "I'd appreciate it if you went through the ship's dish to contact Home," Papa-san requested. I know your com will contact them, given the power from your pistol, but that has to radiate pretty broadly. I don't know who might be out there looking for us. My radio guy can set his gear up to track Home and radiate quite tightly."

  "No need. I can give you a geostationary sat to aim at. It won't answer until you ping it with the right code. And it has two mates, so it can relay through them to Home anywhere along its orbit. We set that up about two months ago, so it was tested before I came down. It's encrypted, but it talks to the other sats with a laser, so chances are nobody will know there is any traffic. I wish my laser could be modulated to transmit directly, but Jeff hasn't built that in yet."

  "Wait until we cross the equator. I'll feel safer well away from Hawaii,"

  "No hurry. They know I'm out of touch for a few days. You got any urgency Gunny?"

  "Not to my knowledge. I'd like to get some news and understand what's going on first if I can, before contacting my chain of command."

  "There is regular television we can get off the satellites. For as much good as the regular news channels are worth to you. We had coverage from six satellites until some maniac shot them up last year," he said squinting at April. "We're down to two now, but each carries multiple channels."

  "We missed two?" she asked, totally unrepentant.

  * * *

  The day was uneventful, the sailing smooth. April cleaned up after breakfast and decided she didn't need to wear the public eye away from land. She took it on deck though to record what it was like sailing. At one point there was a large ship on the horizon, crossing in front of them east to west. The man Haru was at the wheel again. He adjusted the sails slightly and aimed to their rear to keep as far from them as possible. Their own radar was turned off during the day and he explained the radar reflector they normally carried a
loft was stowed below. They might use their radar if visibility was very poor, but even at night they planned to keep a careful watch with binoculars and leave their lights off.

  The fewer people who saw or reported a vessel of their size the better. Satellites they could do little about, but there were far fewer of them since the Happy Lewis had destroyed so many, a year ago. The various nations had used the cover of that, to take out quite a few satellites of unfriendly powers, while it could be blamed on somebody else. Indeed the Happy had not destroyed a single satellite in Low Earth Orbit, but they were seriously depopulated.

  April tried to volunteer to help with lunch, but the galley was so small and the provisions so organized, she was just in the way. The other young man Taro sent her back to the wheel, with the suggestion she be put to work fishing. That sounded interesting. Haru called Li, who was clearly his supervisor and passed the idea along.

  "We often put four or six lines out in the evening," Li agreed, "but we don't usually do well enough in the day to bother. It is complicated setting a spread of multiple lines and knowing how to pull them in, especially in the dark. I don't want to get into that with you. It's easy to get them tangled and you can hurt yourself landing a fish. Why don't we just have you fish over the transom with a rod, for right now?"

  "I think it was more for entertainment than catching supper. I'd like to try it though."

  Li already had her on a safety line, like going EV in a shuttle and set a swivel seat into a deck sprocket in the corner of the cockpit and put its belt on her loosely too. He explained how the tackle worked and showed her the line and leader with a shiny spoon on it. "This is weighed to let the lure work to the surface and dive, back and forth. You want to hold the pole up at forty to sixty degrees and let about twenty meters of line out. If you get a bite give a yell and start reeling it in. Somebody will come gaff it and help you get it aboard."