It was hopelessly stuck.
Chapter 55
“IT’S TWO Mrs. Arthur,” Commander Beam told Stacey. “We have to go now.”
The captain had sent the commander with strict orders to leave at two a.m. – no matter what. The captain wasn’t there because he knew Stacey would try to persuade him to change his mind. The commander could not disobey an order.
They were one hundred yards off the beach at Gaviota. The rain had stopped hours before and the moon, along with a few stars, sneaked out from behind the clouds.
She looked sadly at the dark beach in the distance, feeling much further away than she knew it actually was.
“You promised the captain you wouldn’t jump in again,” he reminded her.
She smiled grimly, a thin look that had no mirth in it. She had promised, and she knew he had his orders.
The seaman at the controls turned the skiff toward the cutter and motored toward it.
“I’ve seen your husband and the others,” the commander said. “They are all very capable. If they’re alive, they will find a way to get to you on Catalina Island.”
“A minute longer without your loved ones is a minute too long,” she retorted.
“I agree,” he said, turning his head away.
She realized that he, and probably everyone else on board the cutter, had lost loved ones in the terrible war that had claimed billions of lives. She slumped against a rail and she, too, looked away.
When they were on board the cutter, Commander Beam said to Kotchel, “Sorry, but they were a no-show. We can head south and look for that container ship now.”
“We’ll have to delay that,” the captain replied. “We just got a call about another boat in distress north of here. We need to take a look before we head south.”
“Do you think it’s the same as before? Another false alarm? That container ship has put several pirate boats out there.”
“Yes, that could very well be what it is,” Kotchel conceded. “Whoever made the distress call didn’t give our contact on shore a description of their boat or its name. They just said they lost power and immediately went off the air. Sounds fishy, but we have to check it out.”
* * * * *
Zach and Ron went looking for another abandoned vehicle, and at three a.m., they returned to where the others were waiting on a bank of the gully near the SUV. By that time, the water had subsided considerably. But the SUV was so far down in the muck, there was no way they were going to get it out.
“We couldn’t find a four-wheel drive, but we did find a pickup,” Zach advised the group. “There’s a gravel road about a hundred feet from here that leads to the highway, so I can take a can of gas out to the pickup and bring it that close. The pickup bed is big enough that we can transfer all the supplies to it and still have room for all of us. It will take a little time, and we’re still an hour away from Gaviota. We should be there by seven or eight.”
“They were expecting us at midnight,” his mother reminded him.
“Maybe they waited,” Denise cut in, looking hopeful.
“I don’t think so,” said her grandfather. “They’re military, and they have a lot to do.”
“Stacey can be very persuasive,” Zach responded with a bit more emotion in his voice than even he expected.
“They’re military,” his father repeated. He didn’t feel he needed to elaborate with his son.
“True,” Zach conceded, “but we have to do all we can – and hope for the best.”
* * * * *
Kotchel and Beam worked out a plan to capture the “pirate,” if that was who had sent the two distress calls. They reasoned that if the boat that made the first call was a pirate, it probably had radar strong enough to spot the cutter before the cutter could pick up their small blip. If that was what happened, the pirates would know that the blip was too big for it to be a small boat, the kind they targeted. They would have sped north and got in close to shore. They could hide near rocks and not be seen by the Coast Guard ship or by the people on land.
The Coast Guard officers determined that if that happened, the pirates would attempt to do the same thing again. The way to thwart that tactic was for the cutter to stay close to shore and speed north, blocking off the pirate’s escape route.
It turned out that it was a pirate, and by the time the men on the small boat spotted the cutter this time, it was too late. They tried to make it to shore by heading northeast, but this time the cutter had them on their radar, and it was between them and land.
Using their powerful loudspeaker, the Coast Guard ordered the boat to stop. Instead of surrendering, the pirates opened fire with bazookas. The weapons were ineffective against the larger ship, but the shells could do great harm to the Coast Guard personnel. The light generated by the pirates’ bazooka fire gave the cutter’s shooters an easy target. They sunk the smaller boat in minutes.
“Fools,” said Kotchel as he watched the blip on his radar disappear. Turning to Commander Beam, he added, “Okay, let’s head south and look for bigger game.”
* * * * *
The cutter was more than a mile offshore as it approached the Gaviota area. The sun was up and land was clearly visible.
“Are you going to go in and look?” Stacey asked the captain.
“We’ll move in a little closer. If they’re there, we can see them easily with binoculars.”
They sailed to within a few hundred yards of the beach. Four Coast Guard personnel scanned the land looking for the crew of the La Sirena. Captain Kotchel handed his binoculars to Stacey so she could confirm their findings. No one was on that little beach or anywhere else along the shore. Not the La Sirena crew; not anyone.
The ship continued south.
Chapter 56
IT WAS a little before eight when Glen Arthur, who was behind the wheel of the pickup, drove into Gaviota State Park. He stayed on paved roads as he maneuvered toward the beach. When those ran out, he sought gravel roads, winding through the area.
Denise, who was in the front seat with Glen and Mae, suddenly pointed out the road she and the three others had used leaving the beach two days earlier. It was a dirt road, but the area was rocky, so it wasn’t all mud. The rain from the night before was the first in six months, and most of the water had soaked into the dry ground. There were puddles, but it was passable. The tires slipped and spun without gaining traction in spots. The riders got out and pushed. The pickup kept moving forward.
Ten minutes later, they had gone as far as the pickup could take them. They were thirty yards from the bank that led to the beach on which they had landed. The four crewmembers jumped from the pickup and ran to the hill. When they got to the top, they could see the cutter off in the distance.
It was too far away for anyone aboard to hear, if they called out. They couldn't even hear gunshots.
Glen and Mae joined them on the hill.
Zach turned to his father. “Dad, are those walkie-talkies handy?”
“I remember seeing them on the top of the pile, near the front,” the older man responded, directing the comment to Denise, who was at the bottom of the hill. She darted toward the pickup.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “In a black plastic case,” as she neared the vehicle.
“The problem is,” he confided to Zach, “I have no idea what frequency they’re using. I doubt we’ll be able to make contact.”
“True, but we need to try everything we can.”
When he had the walkie-talkies in hand, the senior Arthur tried to make contact. He tried numerous settings, but never got a response.
“No use,” he admitted. “I might never hit it, and we’re running out of time. Do you think Stacey is aboard that Coast Guard ship?”
“The La Sirena isn’t around, and I doubt she’d leave without us, so there’s a good chance she is.”
“She knows the way you used to signal us when you were a kid, right? I’ve heard the two of you joking about it.”
“Dad, that couldn’t…”
Glen put up a hand. “You said yourself that we need to try all we can and hope for the best.”
Zach rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Couldn’t be sillier than trying to ford a muddy river in a rainstorm.” He called out, “Denise, Ron, gather all the driest limbs, twigs, and leaves you can. George, do me a favor and bring one of those cans of gasoline up here, will you?”
Mae said, “I’ll get a blanket.”
* * * * *
Stacey sat near the stern of the cutter, still watching the area behind them. Although it was hazy on the sea ahead, the rain had cleared the skies over land. There were a few cottony clouds up high, brightened by the sun that rose over the coastal range of mountains.
Her eyes never left the area that she had watched so hopefully for two nights. There was a little cloud there. Unlike the ones up high, this one was dark. And very low. She watched it rise.
Rise? A cloud was rising? She leaned forward, as though getting an extra foot or two closer would give her a better view of an area miles away. Another small, dark cloud appeared. It seemed to be rising from the ground. She continued to watch. Two minutes later, there was another.
She jumped up and started to run forward, stopping abruptly when she ran headlong into the captain.
“Whoa, whoa,” he said, grabbing her arm to keep her from falling. “I was coming back to see how you're doing, but if you’re on your way somewhere…”
“I was on my way to find you,” she exclaimed excitedly. “They’re there! They’re there!”
“What do you mean, ‘they’re there’? Who’s where?”
“Zach is on the beach. And the others, too, I’m certain.”
He looked toward the distant beach. “How could you possibly know that?”
“He’s signaling. Look.” She pointed to what was left of the dark “clouds,” most of which had dissipated as they rose in the air. Another began to rise at that moment. “Look,” she cried, again pointing.
He looked again. Confusion rather than enlightenment registered on his face. He saw something that looked like a little dark cloud, but had no idea if that was what she was talking about or what it meant if it was. “What am I looking at?”
“Smoke signals.”
“Smoke signals? You’re joking.”
“No, I’m not. When Zach was young, he used to go on long hikes in the country. He sent up smoke signals when it was time for his folks to pick him up. It was some kind of game he and his dad dreamed up. Cheaper than phone calls, they said. Look!” She took his arm and pointed once more. “That’s definitely a smoke signal.”
He studied the beach area, but before he could respond, there was a buzz in his pocket. He put up a finger and took a little communication device out of that pocket. “Yes?” he said into the device.
He nodded. “What do you think?” he asked. He listened again. “Yes, I have an opinion. It might be them.”
He listened another second. “Yes, that’s them.” He listened for a few more seconds, and then responded, “Yes, but that container ship will still be there if we show up a little later than planned. Turn us around.”
“That was Commander Beam,” he told Stacey. “The radio man picked up some weak signals coming from land. He couldn’t get a fix on it, but thinks someone with a handheld transceiver is trying to make contact. I’m like a cop; I don’t believe in coincidences. We’re going to check on that smoke you’re so fixated on.”
He shook his head, but a smile played on the corners of his lips. “Smoke signals! What could possibly be next?”
Chapter 57
STACEY jumped into the water and swam to shore before the skiff slowed to a stop, technically breaking her promise. No one faulted her for it. Zach and Denise rushed out to greet her before she reached shore and the three engaged in a very wet hugging spree.
Captain Kotchel waited on the skiff beyond where the waves started to break. He allowed the Arthurs a few moments to greet one another, and then called out, “Good to see you, Captain Arthur.”
“And I, you,” Zach responded happily. “We weren’t sure you would see our signal.”
“Were those really smoke signals?” the curious Coast Guard officer wanted to know.
“I found that if you pour gasoline on wet wood and leaves, and then put a match to it,” Zach advised the captain, “you get a lot of really dark smoke. I’m glad you saw the signals.”
“Stacey saw them.”
Zach hugged his wife again.
“Ready to go to Catalina?” Captain Kotchel asked, a grin on his face.
“Absolutely,” said Zach. He pointed at Glen and Mae. “My parents were doing just fine, by the way, and they’re coming with us.”
“I will never underestimate the survival ability of anyone in your family again!”
“Speaking of which, we also have the seeds you asked for.”
“Didn’t doubt it for a minute.”
“And a lot of other supplies. When we saw the ship turn back, we brought them here to the beach, so all we need to do is load them.”
The captain had brought an inflatable along, just in case they needed it. They inflated it and loaded Glen and Mae Arthur’s supplies on board. Zach, Ron, and George pulled it past the breaking waves to the skiff. The same seaman who had dropped them off was piloting the small vessel. He maneuvered the controls to keep the craft as near as possible to shore, but always behind where the waves broke.
Twenty minutes passed, and they were on their way to the Coast Guard buoy tender. Those who had been ashore were pleased to learn that it was now an armed United States military ship.
In another twenty minutes, the Coast Guard cutter had again turned south, now with six additional passengers aboard. It was ten a.m. The cutter’s top speed was fourteen miles per hour in neutral water, but faster with the current behind. They would be at The Isthmus before six p.m. That would give the Coast Guard two daylight hours to drop off their passengers and then hunt for the container ship.
* * * * *
Two hours later, they were in a light fog. It reduced their visibility, but they could see almost three miles ahead, so they sailed unimpeded toward Catalina at full speed.
The passengers found places toward the back of the ship to recline and talk. In those two hours, Zach and the others learned what had happened at sea during the last two days, and Stacey learned what took place on land. The most obvious lesson they learned was that life in this new world was dangerous, no matter where a person was. They hoped The Isthmus would be an exception.
“Hard to imagine a container ship equipped as a warship,” Zach commented. “I would have thought it was too cumbersome to be effective.”
Captain Kotchel overheard Zach’s comment. “That would have been true two months ago,” he agreed. “Now, it’s like the big, cumbersome kid bullying the other kids on the playground. He doesn’t have to be well coordinated if he’s twice the size of the others.”
“And the container ship is twice the size of your ship?” Stacey asked.
“A lot more than that,” Kotchel replied, his voice thoughtful.
“How are you going to handle that?” Zach asked.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” the Coast Guard officer reported. “That’s what I came back to tell you. We just got word that they’ve attacked Avalon on Catalina Island. We’re still headed in that direction, but we’re changing course to go to Avalon.”
“Didn’t you say Avalon was taken over by hooligans?”
“Yes, and I got word last night that they’ve learned about the settlement at The Isthmus. They went there yesterday and demanded food and fuel.”
“That sounds familiar,” said Zach. “What happened?”
“The leaders at The Isthmus pretty much told them they could have what they worked for and nothing more.”
“Good for them,” Zach said. “But, I imagine that didn’t go over too well with the hooligans.”
&n
bsp; “They said they would be back with a small army to take what they wanted.”
“Maybe the container ship is doing everyone a favor,” Zach suggested.
“I can’t fault your logic,” said the captain, “but right now, we’re sort of like cops. We can’t pick and choose who we protect. When bad guys attack someone, we have to go stop them, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
* * * * *
At a little after five,” the Arthurs noticed the ship altered its coarse from almost due south to southwest.
“What do you think it means?” Stacey asked her husband.
“This will take us to The Isthmus instead of Avalon. That should be good news, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.”
They, along with Glen and Mae, went looking for Captain Kotchel. They found him on the forward deck where the weapons were. Some had been bolted down and others were loose on deck. Ron was there, talking to several of the Coast Guardsmen.
“What’s happening?” Zach asked.
“Ron was on a missile cruiser when he was in the navy,” Kotchel said. “We’ve had a little training this past month, but he’s filling us in on what we missed.”
Glen spotted five bazookas lying on the deck off to one side. He went over and picked one up. After he examined it, he said to Kotchel. “Where did you get these?”
“A fellow brought those five and several hundred shells in from some old armory out in the desert. They looked pretty lethal, so we traded some diesel for all he had. Are you familiar with them?”
“Sure,” said the old vet. “You made a good deal. These are M20s, ‘Super Bazookas.’ Haven’t seen one in years, but we used them a lot in Viet Nam. You’re right; it is lethal. It’ll penetrate six inches of steel, easily.”
“Do you remember how to use it?”
“Yep. I used to knock out vehicles at five hundred yards with one of these.”
“Do you feel like training some people?”
Seeking Safe Harbor: Suddenly Everything Changed (The Seeking Series) Page 20