by David Riley
“What’s going on?” Julius asked. “Did you find out anything from the crew?”
“Yes!” he said breathlessly. “They just finished their sounding measurement and Rayiz took off for the back of the boat. I tried to catch up with him and he would only tell me the water is getting shallower and we have to drop anchors to keep from breaking up on the rocks ahead!”
Julius stood up quickly, alarmed, while the captain put his head in his hands. “Captain, what do we need to do? What is going on?” Julius asked.
Captain Sahaq raised his head and met Julius’s eyes, his face lined with the mounting stress he felt. “We are doing everything I know that can be done. For now, we drop our anchors hoping to keep us from getting closer to a rocky shore we can’t see. Once daybreak comes, then we may have a better idea of what’s ahead.”
The soldiers gulped as they considered what this could mean. “This must be what Paul was telling us about! Surely if he was right about running aground, he must be right about us surviving, too!” There was hope in Gaius’s voice.
“I can’t let myself trust the word of a prisoner who claims to see angels and talks to God!” Captain Sahaq spat out. “We will just have to see what the morning brings! Whatever God you believe in, pray that our anchors will take hold and keep us still until morning!”
With that, the soldiers returned to the hold. Both of them hoped to speak to Paul about this. Maybe he had another vision or more information to tell them. As they crossed the undulating deck to the hatch, there was a sudden lurch of the ship, throwing them forward to the deck. Thankfully they both had their lifelines securely tied. The picked themselves up and crouched low to the deck as they made their way to the hatch.
Lifting the hatch sent the usual cascade of water to the hold below. As they descended the ladder, all were eagerly watching. As soon as they stepped to the floor of the hold, the soldiers began asking questions. The prisoners and passengers nearby leaned in closer straining to hear any information. There was a mixture of apprehension and hope in all their faces.
Julius raised his hands calling for order and quiet, and gradually the babbling died to a murmur. “The sounding of the depth of the sea shows we are reaching shallower water.” This was met with muted cheers of those in the hold. “The crew has heard waves crashing against a shore somewhere ahead, but it is too dark to see how close we are. The captain has ordered anchors to be dropped from the stern to halt our progress toward the shore until we can see what is out there. There may be rocks that could destroy the ship before we can tell where we are.” The cheers quickly turned to worried murmurs at this.
“For now, we can do nothing but wait for morning. Those of you who believe in God, pray that we will be safe!”
Julius turned away as the crowd broke into smaller groups discussing what they had heard. He and Gaius made their way to Paul, who was already surrounded by other believers, plying him with questions, seeking reassurance, asking again to hear his promise that they would all live.
Gaius pushed through the small crowd, telling them he needed to speak with the prisoner privately. They grudgingly withdrew and Gaius helped Paul to his feet and led him a short distance to where Julius was standing.
“Julius, how can I help you?” Paul said as the three huddled close together for privacy.
“It appears that your vision may have been true. We are close to land but we don’t know where. We are asking you once more if you have any further information we can use.”
Paul remained calm and confident but shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. I told you all of the message I was given.”
“Are you certain your vision said all will survive? Do you believe that to be true?” Gaius asked.
Paul paused before speaking. “I believe God that this will happen just as He said it will. I have served Him for many years, and I have been in some bad situations that threatened my life. And yet, God has been faithful. He seldom will tell us the details of what to expect. I imagine you, Julius, as a Centurion of Rome, do not expect your lowliest soldiers to know all that you plan in battle, but you do expect them to follow orders and trust that you know the battle ahead. It is the same with God. He knows the plan, and He will tell us what we need to do, but not always why. It is a walk of faith.”
Julius nodded as he considered this. “I can understand what you mean. But please, if you hear anything else, let us know!”
Paul nodded in agreement. As the soldiers turned to go, he spoke up again. “I would like to go up to Luke’s quarters if you would allow it. I feel one of my headaches coming on.”
Julius nodded. “Actually, I would like to go back up to see if the Captain has further information. Gaius can take you to the doctor while I see the captain.”
As they made their way to the deck, Julius, Gaius, and Paul could see a flurry of activity involving several crew members toward the bow of the ship as well as a few soldiers. They knew the crew had dropped anchors from the stern of the ship, but this seemed like a lot of activity at the bow. Julius wanted to see what was happening and started in that direction with Gaius and Paul following. As they got closer, there was something in the furtive manner of the men that piqued their interest. Gaius and Julius looked at each other silently but both knew there was something subversive going on.
As they approached, several of the men straightened quickly and turned away, trying too hard to appear innocent. Gaius recognized Porcius and Cassius among them and called out to them.
“You two, soldiers of Rome! What are you doing?”
The guilt in their demeanor was obvious, even in the darkness. “Commander!” they saluted. “We are helping the crew. They were getting ready to drop a heavy anchor from the bow and saw us on deck and asked us to help!” Cassius replied.
The crew dropped their gaze and turned away at this. Julius, Gaius, and Paul drew closer. As they did, it was apparent that there were no anchors on the deck. The men were huddled around the ship’s boat that had been hauled aboard at the beginning of the storm. It had been moved from the stern when they were dropping the anchors since it was in the way. It appeared this group had dragged it to the forward deck and now had it suspended by ropes ready to swing it out over the water at the prow.
“What is the meaning of this?” Julius demanded. “The anchors are already in the water. Are you trying to get away in the boat? Is this desertion?”
“No, no sir!” Porcius and Cassius stammered, fearful of immediate execution if they were guilty of desertion. “These crewmen were trying to escape and we came up and found them. We were trying to stop them when you arrived!”
Paul pulled Gaius and Julius aside. “Julius, I must tell you that unless these men stay on the ship, you cannot be saved!”
Julius and Gaius shared a puzzled look at this statement. “Why do you say that?”
“I know they must remain on board. The message from the angel was that all of us together would be saved. I know in my heart that if these men leave on the small boat, none of us will survive.”
This was good enough for the centurion and his first officer after all that had transpired so far. Both of them advance and pulled their swords as the crewmen scattered. Porcius and Cassius, trying to repair their reputations, followed suit, although the look in their eyes as they looked at each other and then at Paul betrayed their desire to use the sword in another way.
The four soldiers each began attacking the ropes holding the skiff and were quickly rewarded by the sight of the small boat plunging into to the rough waves below and quickly being lost in the darkness. After this, Gaius wheeled on Porcius and Cassius.
“Get below and stay there with the prisoners!” he ordered angrily. “And don’t think for a moment that I believe your story of trying to stop the crew from escaping! I’ll deal with you after this crisis is over!”
The two quickly saluted and hurried away, glad to be dismissed. The other crewmen had dispersed, not wanting to be identified.
Juliu
s turned to Gaius. “We need to punish those two!”
“I agree, Centurion! Once we are ashore, I will see to it!”
Julius nodded at that. “I will go inform the captain of what just happened. I imagine he may not be too thrilled that we cut lose his boat. We may wish we had it to reach whatever shore is ahead!”
He walked away as Gaius and Paul turned to go to Luke’s quarters. By the time they arrived, the headache Paul had felt building was fading away. He wondered if God had allowed him to have a headache so he would be on deck going to Luke’s quarters at just the right time to see the men trying to escape and thwart their plan. He smiled slightly at the thought of God directing their impending rescue even with something like a headache!
They informed Luke, Aristarchus, and Temeros of all that had happened. All were excited, anticipating the possibility that they would be saved once the daylight came but also began considering all that they should do as they prepared for leaving the ship. After a brief visit and time of prayer (which Gaius silently participated in), Gaius and Paul returned to the hold to await what the coming dawn may bring.
After they left, Luke told Temeros he needed to gather all of his parchments and secure them in waterproof pots with wax seals so they would survive if they had to swim to shore. He had gathered a lot of written information over the past few years and did not want to lose it. They began to gather them and also any medical supplies they may need on shore, planning to work the rest of the night.
Meanwhile, Julius met with Captain Sahaq. His expectation that the captain would not be happy they had jettisoned his small boat turned out to be an understatement. The captain spewed a tirade of angry profanity at the situation, much of it in another language, the general theme of which was the soldier’s ignorance of safety on the ship and how vital it was to have a small boat to rescue people, especially if they were about to run aground!
Julius stood his ground, reminding the captain that as a Roman Centurion, he outranked the captain on this ship and regardless what was done was done. There was no way to recover the skiff after it had been dumped in the sea.
After a few minutes, the anger faded slightly and they were able to communicate in a more civil manner. He eventually learned that the anchors seemed to be holding and that there was hope of daylight in just a few short hours. Julius remained there for the rest of the night to monitor any changes.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Paul and Gaius returned to the hold. As Paul settled in, he looked around in the gloom at the prisoners, passengers, and soldiers. Most still wore fearful and anxious expressions, although news of the approaching shore brought a wave of hope. They all knew there were still trials ahead in the next several hours, but for most, any change in their circumstances was welcome, even if it brought dangers. All were eager for this stormy voyage to be over.
At the beginning of the voyage, Julius had made arrangements with Captain Sahaq for provisions for his soldiers as well as the prisoners in their care. There was a cooking hut on the forward part of the deck where one of the crew had been responsible for making bread and stew and cooking any fish that were caught.
This had worked well until the storm hit, at which point there was no cooking to be done. Their stores of bread and fish had quickly dwindled. The soldiers had some reserves of jerky and hard, crusty pieces of unleavened bread that would keep for long periods of time, but these also began to give out. All that seemed to be left were several large bags of the grain cargo that were not dumped early in the storm. They had taken to supplying a ration of this grain to all who wanted it, but as the storm wore on, there were few takers.
Fortunately, there was plenty of fresh water. They just had to collect the rain in any containers available. Hydration was not a problem, as long as they were able to keep it in their stomachs. The epidemic of seasickness at the beginning of the storm had diminished as the passengers became accustomed to the motion of the ship in the storm. They still did not like it, but at least they were no longer vomiting as often as they did at the beginning.
As Paul surveyed the men around him, he could see that they were weak and pale-appearing. Most had dried lips and sunken cheeks. All appeared much thinner than when they left port two weeks prior. Everyone on board was struggling with nutrition, due to a combination of lack of appetite and seasickness. Fear and uncertainty had taken away most of their desire for food of any kind.
Paul stood up and called out in a loud voice to be heard over the storm. “Men, we all need to eat something.” This was met with a few groans. “It has been fourteen days that we have been in this storm, and for many days now, we have not had steady nourishment. We are all feeling weak but I believe our voyage is about to end. This day, we will need our strength to get to shore. I urge you to eat to regain your strength for what we will face. This is for your survival! Not a hair will fall from your heads. God will protect us all!”
“But what can we eat?” someone called out. “Even if we wanted to, the stores of food are mostly depleted.”
“I have a small loaf of bread still in my bag,” one of the soldiers called out. “I think it is pretty stale and may be moldy by now.”
“We still have the grain sacks,” one of the crew offered.
Paul responded, “See! We are not out of options. Can you bring me the bread you have? And also the bag of grain?”
The soldier rummaged in his damp rucksack, pulling out a parcel wrapped in cloth. He brought it to Paul as two of the crew members carried a heavy bag of grain.
“It’s not much!” the men said.
Paul took the bread loaf. It was indeed hard, and there were a few spots on the surface that appeared dark with mold, but it was still bread. “During His ministry, our Lord Jesus was able to multiply bread to feed a large multitude of people that were following Him. I think God can provide for us with the provisions we have. Let’s thank Him for what He has provided.”
He bowed his head, holding the bread in his hands. The others in the hold bowed as well, although some were watching closely as they did so, wondering what was going to happen.
“Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this bread that we have to share. You know every need even before we bring it to You, and You know we are weak and need strength for the day to come. We thank You already that You have provided rescue, saving us from this storm. Now we ask You to bless these humble provisions to give us what we need. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.”
Paul took the bread and broke it, and as he did, he saw that inside the crust, the bread appeared fresh and soft. He took a portion and passed it around and there were gasps of surprise in seeing the state of the bread after so long in the musty wet hold.
They cut open the sack of grain and were happy to see than instead of wheat kernels, there was corn. All were able to scoop a handful to munch on and after such a long time of fasting, they savored the flavor and sweetness of this corn as much as the finest meal they could remember.
Others found spare pieces of jerky they were willing to share, and one passenger even found a small bag of oranges that he had thought lost early in the storm. They shared this as well.
After this humble meal, none were full but all were strengthened. The act of sharing food was an encouragement to each of them, and as their spirits were lifted, so was their energy. The general mood of anger and despair lessened noticeably and there were even some smiles.
—————
With the anchors restraining its forward progress, the ship was tossed roughly in the waves, groaning and creaking with each battering blow. The weight of the water in the hold and what remained of the cargo was not helping matters.
Captain Sahaq and Rayiz became more concerned with each passing moment. They desperately needed to make it until morning when they would have enough daylight to see what was ahead. Thankfully the rain seemed to be lighter and the thunder and lightning had passed.
“Captain, I think we need to dump all of the
cargo that remains. It isn’t much but every bit of weight we can remove could help.”
Captain Sahaq scowled at this, thinking of the last of his income disappearing making this voyage a heavy loss. But at least he was alive, and he knew that was the only logical recourse. He nodded. “Aye, you’re right. As much as I hate to, we better do it. Send the men down to the hold to get the last of the grain sacks overboard. And double the men on the buckets to get more water out of the lowest hold. Maybe we can catch up with it enough to increase our chances. It’s only a few more hours until daylight and then we can see what we are up against.”
“I’ll get the men on it right away. I hope Paul’s god was telling the truth and that we will all survive! Now that we have no skiff to use for ferrying people to shore, it is going to be rough!” He turned to go.
“And Rayiz!” He stopped and turned. “We need a final head count. I want to account for everyone under my care!”
Rayiz hurried out to give the orders. When he arrived in the hold, he found many of the crewmen participating in the makeshift meal orchestrated by Paul. He could sense that all were in better spirits. He marveled, not for the first time, about the power Paul seemed to have over the level of optimism of those on board.
He called his crew over and gave the orders to dump all remaining bags of grain as well as to double the bucket brigade to get as much water out of the hold as possible. Upon hearing the order to dump all remaining bags of grain, those listening shared a mixture of fear and excitement. If they were dumping the grain, they must feel they were not going to be needing it, which must mean they were close to landfall! But at the same time, they sensed the urgency of the order and the concern about the water in the hull in these rough, pounding waves.
Rayiz also tasked three of his most trusted men to make a head count, two to count those on the lower levels and the other to count those on deck. They were ordered to bring him the counts so he could report to the captain and the centurion.