EMP Sabotage, page 56
“An island,” she said.
It wasn’t the big island they’d visited before. This was something smaller, mostly bare rock, but John aimed for it. As they approached the island, Ruth saw a small strip of sandy beach, some wild grass a little farther on, and then a heap of natural stone. It had started to rain again, but Ruth just let it fall on her. That, too, mirrored her mood. As they got closer to the beach, Curtis brought in the sails a bit to slow them down. Ruth spotted some strange object on the beach. It was nestled against a rock.
“Another boat,” she said, pointing.
It was tipped on its side, hull cracked wide open. Some supplies were strewn around it on the beach, including a large yellow banner of some kind which was half-buried in the sand. John brought their fishing boat alongside the beach so they could pass by slowly.
“An AILS banner,” Ruth said, pointing at the banner.
“Another scout ship,” Curtis said, stepping up beside her. “But the crew didn’t survive the storm.”
“How do you know?” Ruth said.
“No tracks on the beach,” Curtis said.
Indeed, the sand was pristine. No person or animal had walked on it any time recently. And that meant no Stella either. “The storm must have driven them ashore,” Ruth noted. As she said it, she felt a gust of wind. She turned to face John at the helm.
“What do we do, Ruth?” he asked, pointing skyward. “The storm is getting bad again.”
Grief and despair so filled her that she could barely breathe. After all they’d been through, after Stella had come so close to being killed during the first AILS assault, it seemed especially cruel that she would be taken from them by a storm. The truth was Ruth wanted to keep looking. She wanted to keep looking and never stop, but she knew they couldn’t do that.
Curtis, Kay, and Ignacio were all watching her, waiting for her response. Even Bestie was standing in the cabin again. In the distance, the narrow strip of beach with its abandoned boat passed by as they headed back out to sea.
“I suppose…” Ruth caught herself. She took a deep breath. “I suppose we should head back to the Mako. For now. I don’t know where else to go right now. The storm is picking up again, and the Mako is close. We’ll…” She hung her head. “We’ll keep looking on the way back.”
Curtis seemed like he was about to say something, but after a moment, he merely turned and went back to his place beside the mast.
6
It was late afternoon when the Mako appeared again on the horizon, and somehow, the sight of it made the reality of their situation stark. Everyone was still in their positions, staring out through the veil of rain at the water around them. Ruth had not ceased to scan the sea before them, not for one second, since leaving the island behind, but there was no sign of Stella. No sign of anyone.
But she couldn’t just go back on the Mako and return to the work of cutting wires and decommissioning the oil platform as if nothing had changed. She didn’t even want to set foot on deck again, so she rose suddenly and made her way back to the cabin. John let go of the wheel and went to her, giving her a big hug. She wept against his shoulder for a minute, letting herself give in to the grief. As she did, she sensed the others entering the cabin, gathering around them.
Finally, she pulled away, dabbing her eyes on her sleeve, and looked up into John’s compassionate eyes. Curtis was pacing behind him, breathing sharply. It seemed his grief had pushed him into a deep anger. Kay and Ignacio stood quietly to one side with somber looks on their faces. Even Bestie seemed to know something had happened to her favorite person, and she whimpered.
“Stella is gone,” Ruth said.
“I can’t accept that,” Curtis muttered, smacking a fist against his open palm. “I just…can’t.”
“We’ve spent the entire day looking for her,” Ruth said. “I don’t know what else we can do.” She shook her head sadly. Her eyes ached from crying. “My granddaughter was lost at sea.”
“I’m so sorry, Ruth,” Kay said softly.
“It’s terrible,” Ignacio added, crossing himself and shaking his head.
“I don’t blame the storm,” Curtis said. “We wouldn’t have been out in the storm if not for AILS. They’re the ones driving all of this. I blame them for everything.” He stopped his pacing suddenly and spun to face Ruth. “This is why I want to fight. Not flee. Fight. And deny Captain Tyra every inch of ground.”
“Son, we can’t make decisions out of anger,” John said, turning to his son and putting an arm around him.
“Yes, we can,” he roared in response. “Of course we can. I’m not going back in there and cutting wires, and it’s not enough to destroy the control room. We have to do more. I need to do more.”
John had no response to this. He turned to Ruth, but she didn’t know what to say either. She stood there, soaking wet from the rain, listening to the dull roar of rain on the sea, and she just couldn’t get any words out. A few tense seconds passed. Finally, Kay cleared her throat and spoke.
“Curtis, you said it yourself. The islanders want to team up with us. Shouldn’t we go to them first and make plans together? The evacuation is going to be a huge effort, and what if AILS attacks while they’re getting ready? We can’t just start blowing everything up before we’ve spoken to our new allies, right?”
“I’ll blow up the whole Gulf of Mexico if it will frustrate that cult’s plans,” Curtis snapped, and as he said it, he took a step toward Kay.
Kay stood her ground, scowling at him. “Okay, hotshot, settle down. I’m not with AILS, remember?” She looked at John, at Ruth. “Do either of you agree with me? Ruth, you’re de facto boss here. Say something.”
Ruth held up her hands. “It’s a sure way of denying them what they want. I have my concerns. This could turn into a catastrophe, but maybe it’s the right thing to do after all.”
“So you agree with him,” Kay said. “Just blow the whole place up.”
“We’ll blow up the Mako and grab however many AILS boats we can,” Curtis said. “Kill the terrorists, preserve the boats, and let the islanders sail off into the sunset.” He took another step toward Kay and pointed past her shoulder at the Mako. “That place is what the terrorists want, Kay. And they can’t have it if it’s gone!”
Kay frowned and pushed his arm aside. “Okay, kid. Okay. Quit crowding me. I’m trying to make a level-headed decision. I’m not trying to pick a fight.”
“Oh, yeah?” Curtis said, taking another step toward her. “Well, it sure feels like it. Otherwise, why are you arguing the point when you know damn well the Mako has to come down? We’ve been cowards long enough.”
John finally stepped between them, pushing his son back. “Stop it. Kay is not the enemy.”
“I didn’t say she was the enemy,” Curtis said, pushing off his father and moving to the back of the cabin. “I don’t know why she’s arguing with me.”
With a huff, he stormed out of the cabin and went onto the back deck, standing in the rain and facing away from them. Kay held her hands up in a gesture of surprise.
“The boy is angry,” Ignacio said. “Very angry, and I don’t blame him. He wants to hurt AILS very badly, and so do I. If they want the Mako, take it away from them. Anything they want, deny it to them. Makes sense.”
John gave Ruth a helpless look. Clearly, she was not going to escape making the decision here.
“I know Stella made a promise to the islanders,” she said finally. She turned to face the Mako, seeing that sad gray expanse rising from its concrete-and-steel pillars. She took a step toward the windshield. The grief was smothering. It clouded everything, but she tried her best to think past it. “If I make a decision, will all of you trust me, even if it’s not what you want?”
“I will,” John said immediately.
“Yes, boss,” Ignacio added.
Kay hesitated a second before saying, “It’s your call.”
Ruth fixed her gaze on the Mako. “Then we’re bringing it down. We’re blowing up the Mako. We’ll rig the supports with explosives so we know for sure it’ll all collapse.”
From the aft deck, Curtis gave a little whoop and came racing back into the cabin.
“But…” Kay almost stopped herself, but she pressed on. “Aren’t you the least bit worried about environmental damage? There’s petroleum stored in the platform. It’ll all get dumped into the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Of course I’m worried about the environment,” Ruth replied. “But AILS is not getting control of the Mako. We don’t have the means or the time to conduct an environmental analysis. This is my decision.” She turned to face the group. “Does anyone oppose me?”
Kay bowed her head. “Nope, I’m done defending my position. I’ll keep my feelings to myself. Count me in.”
Curtis had a look of furious delight on his face, his eyes twinkling, his mouth pulled back into a toothless almost-smile. It concerned Ruth. Did he want revenge just a little too much? She decided not to confront it. Maybe his anger would serve him well in the coming battle.
“And the islanders?” John said.
“Well, there’s two sides to this battle, clearly,” Ruth said. “We have to help evacuate the islanders, and we have to rig the platform to blow. Maybe we can work with the islanders to get both of those things done. For now, let’s get back onto the Mako, grab all of the gear we can safely stow on the boat here, and say goodbye to the place. If it’s any consolation, Kay, we’ll head back to the island before we destroy this place.”
“Then we’d better hurry up and get started,” Curtis said. “I’ll raise anchor.”
Without waiting for anyone’s approval, he headed out of the cabin and up the starboard walkway. John sighed and grabbed the wheel.
“Well, that’s it, then,” Kay grumbled, shaking her head. “I guess that’s how we conclude the meeting.” She turned and headed to the aft deck.
Clearly, she wasn’t comfortable with the decision they’d made, but as long as Kay didn’t cause problems or try to hinder the plan, it was enough. Once the anchor was raised, Curtis unfurled the sails, and John steered them toward the Mako. Ignacio stayed in the cabin, his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face. He looked tense and frustrated.
“There’s no good outcome here,” Ruth muttered, quietly enough that only John and Ignacio heard her. “Not without Stella. Just degrees of bad.”
“It’s revenge for Stella and Ricardo,” Ignacio said. “That’s all it is now.”
Ruth noticed that John had very little to say as he guided the boat home, as they docked beside the support post, and as they dropped anchor and set the chain. He was almost silent as they took the lift and went back to the building to grab supplies. They loaded the boat swiftly, bringing food, water, tools, and clothes.
Once they were done, they stood together on the helicopter landing pad, the wall of trunks at their backs, and regarded the building rising up before them, the big crane off in the distance to their left. Ruth stood between John and Curtis. She could hear the younger man breathing heavily. There was anger even in the way he took in air and released it. Bestie panted silently behind them, but her gaze was in the other direction, toward the western horizon, as if she longed to get away from here.
“I’ve worked here since this place opened ten years ago,” Kay said. “It was a decent job, and I always liked my quarters. It’s a mess now, of course, but it’s crazy that we’re going to blow it up. I know you folks are excited about destroying it, but don’t you think we owe the old Mako our gratitude? She gave us a place to live while the mainland was burning.”
“It was a good place to work,” Ignacio said softly, bowing his head. “Me and Ricardo had a lot of good times here.” And then he lifted his head and saluted. “Goodbye, señora, thanks for everything.”
Ruth felt a moment of regret for what was to become of the place. The Mako was, in many ways, the pinnacle of her brother Ronny’s career as an engineer, and much like her relationship with him, it was going to end its life in smoking pieces.
“Well, that’s it, then,” she said. “Nothing else to say.”
“What about the islanders?” John asked, taking her hand. “Evacuating the island is going to be a big operation.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Ruth replied. “Whatever the case, they need to know what we’re planning.”
7
The beach was abuzz with activity. The islanders had set up a bunch of workstations, and at each one, small groups of people were busy repairing and reinforcing the sabotaged lifeboats. They were also working on creating simple sails and rudders for each of them. Even from a distance, the results were impressive, though they clearly had a long way to go.
Currently, Ruth was standing on the foredeck, ready to drop anchor as John guided them into the inlet. Curtis might have done this particular task, but he had sunk into a dark place. There had been no sign of Stella on the way back to the island. Ruth hadn’t expected there to be. She had already accepted that her granddaughter was gone, though the loss was an open wound.
As they sailed into shallow water, John gave her a signal, and she opened the anchor box. Just the simple act of bending over to lift the lid caused a twinge of pain in her back. She had never fully recovered from her brutal trek on the mainland, and she’d never really had a moment to truly rest. The only thing keeping her going now was the coming conflict.
She dropped anchor, then Ignacio walked over to pull in the sails. As he did that, the others gathered on the starboard walkway, ready to go ashore. Some of the people working on the beach left what they were doing and approached the shore. Among them was a tall, strapping young man with jet black hair, a rugged look, and a leather headband. His bearing identified him as a leader.
“I’ll go first,” Ruth said, approaching the starboard gunwale. “Curtis, I assume that’s the leader there?”
Curtis was brooding darkly beside his father, arms crossed, brows practically fused into one. “That’s Daniel, yeah,” he said. “He took Stella at her word. He was nice to us.”
Ruth looked over her shoulder. They had some boxes of supplies stacked in the cabin, on the back deck, and in the hold below. The boat was riding heavy. She hated to leave it out here, even for a few minutes, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Do we take Bestie with us?” Kay asked.
“Maybe she should stay here,” Ruth said. “The poor girl’s not fond of leaping into the water.”
“I’ll get her something to eat,” Kay said. “That’ll keep her occupied.”
Ruth hopped overboard, landed in hip-deep water, and began wading ashore. John, Kay, and Ignacio followed promptly, but Curtis hesitated a moment before bringing up the rear. When Ruth looked back, she saw Bestie standing beside the starboard gunwale, some sort of treat dangling from her mouth. She was clearly unhappy about being left behind, but not willing to jump overboard.
“Sorry, girl, we’ll be back soon,” Ruth said, and she turned back around.
Daniel moved to meet Ruth as she waded up onto the beach.
“I’m Daniel Benavidez, island council leader,” he said, extending his hand to her. “You’re the leader of the Mako group, I assume. Good to see you made it here safely. The packing and repairs are taking longer than we expected.
Ruth shook his hand. “I’m not officially a leader, no,” she said. “They defer to me because of my age, I guess. Anyway, we can help with the packing and repairs, but…” She sighed. “We have some bad news to deliver. I’m afraid we…” It was a struggle to say it. Ruth felt a lump in her throat. “We lost Stella, my granddaughter, in the storm.”
Daniel frowned. About a dozen islanders had gathered behind him. The others continued to work. And many more were coming and going from the path into the forest.
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Daniel said. “The storm put a halt to all of our preparations. It was bad. You must be exhausted. Come and sit. We’ll get you something to drink.”
He turned and made a few gestures at people. They dashed off. As Daniel led Ruth and her group up the beach, people brought folding chairs, poles, a tarp, and a big plastic cooler. They created a shaded seating area near the trees. As Ruth lowered herself onto a chair, an islander handed her a can of cola. She wasn’t normally a soda drinker, but under the circumstances, she decided not to press the point. Plus, the sugar and caffeine might just give her a much-needed boost to her energy levels, even if it would be short-lived. John, Kay, Ignacio, and Curtis took seats around her, and they were handed drinks as well.
Daniel remained standing in the sun. “I don’t know how much they told you, but AILS intends to take the Mako, the coast, and all of the surrounding islands, including this place. Our captive admitted it.”
“Yes, Curtis explained it to us,” Ruth said. “Here’s the thing, Daniel. Their primary goal is the Mako—the AILS leader has a personal obsession with the place—but we intend to blow it up. We already possess enough explosives to do the job. It’s the only way to ensure that AILS can’t take it.”
“Smart move,” he said.
“Yes, but as you said, they want the island, too,” she said. “We need to find another place for your people as soon as possible. Maybe another island outside of the reach of AILS.”
“We will head to the mainland,” Daniel said. “Some have been wanting to return anyway.”
“The mainland isn’t safe,” John said. He gestured to Ruth and himself. “We’ve been there recently. The highways are run by biker gangs, and the cities are overrun with looters. Ruth is right. Your best bet is another island, at least for now.”
Daniel grunted thoughtfully. “Well, this is something we should discuss with the other leaders. I’ll go and track them down. Give me a few minutes. I’ll come and get you in a little bit.”
And with that, he turned and headed for the path into the forest. A few people from the work groups approached him, as if to inquire about the newcomers, but he motioned for them to return to their work. And then he disappeared into the forest, as he made his way to the camp.
