Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) (13 page)

“Okay,” Simon said slowly. “But please don’t bring any weapons.”

“Roger that. Let down a ladder from the starboard lifeboat deck. I will
be unarmed. Over and out.”

Simon pulled the headset down around his neck. “What’s that about?”

“Maybe he doesn’t want his superiors to hear what he has to say on the
radio,”
Vinny
said. “Otherwise, he’d just ask us to
transmit the list—or read it out to him.”

“But they’ll know that,” Simon said. “I wonder what he wants. Hold down
the fort here,
Vinny
. I’m going to meet our Seaman
Williams.”

Judith

The
loudspeaker on the other ship ceased abruptly. Judith tensed. Would they start
shooting? She felt like she was watching the entire scene from underwater. She
should duck in case they opened fire, but she still didn’t believe the navy
would hurt them. What had happened in San Diego was a fluke, an aberration. Any
minute now they’d offer to lead the
Catalina
in to port.

The haze had cleared a bit, revealing the coastline of Guam. They were
so close. There were definitely warships moored there. She couldn’t make out
any buildings, though. That was strange. They should see the city by now.

A small speedboat appeared from behind the other ship, apparently
launched from its stern. It approached the
Catalina
,
manned by a lone sailor. Judith saw the fuzz of a crew cut and thick eyebrows
on a high forehead before the boat sped around the side of the
Catalina
. She jogged after it toward the
starboard lifeboat deck, Manny following in her wake.

A burly blond crewman—she thought his name was Pieter—was
lowering a ladder over the side of the ship beside the foremost lifeboat. The
little speedboat bobbed in the shadow of the
Catalina
. It was dark gray, like the sea beneath it, with a
powerful-looking outboard motor. The sailor tied the boat to something below
and began to climb the ladder. He hunched his shoulders as he ascended, as if
every second he expected someone to fire down on him. Judith felt like she had
seen this man before. Could it be the same face she had glimpsed behind a gas
mask in San Diego harbor? The odds were impossibly slim.

Pieter reached down to help the young sailor aboard, but he waved off the
assistance and climbed up by himself. He wore a crisp uniform and carried
himself with an obvious sense of assurance, as if he was completely aware of
every muscle in his body at all times. Beneath his thick eyebrows he had
striking blue eyes, a classic square jaw, and a full mouth.

Judith felt suddenly shy. The sailor was
movie-star
hot. He looked like a high school quarterback in a teen movie, the kind that
was always played by a twenty-six-year-old actor.

Simon appeared in the ship’s entryway.

“Welcome aboard the
Catalina
,
Seaman Williams,” he said.

He moved deliberately, but Judith could tell he was nervous.

“Are you Simon?” the sailor asked.

“I am.”

“You’re the captain?”

“No. The captain of the
Catalina
is indisposed,” Simon said. He stood at a distance from the young sailor, not
offering his hand.

“I see.”

“Why are you here, Michael?”

The sailor scanned the deck, as if expecting someone to be listening
in. He noticed Judith, and his eyes widened slightly.

“I want to come with you on the
Catalina
,”
he said finally.

“You’re deserting?”

Michael flinched at the word. “I’ll work in exchange for a lift,” he
said.

“You won’t be any better off with us,” Simon said. “We’re dangerously
low on fuel, as I said on the radio.”

“I know where you can get more fuel,” Michael said. “Enough to sail on
to Asia.”

“Why are you here?”
Simon repeated the question so
quietly
,
Judith could barely hear it
.

Michael’s jaw tensed. Finally, as if the words were being torn from
him, he said, “We’re being ordered to gun people down. Refugees, any ships that
get in our way, anyone who won’t listen to our warnings. I can’t do it
anymore.”

Judith couldn’t believe it. The world had gone mad. The navy was
supposed to help them!

“Are they guarding something on the island?” Simon asked.

“We don’t have much in the way of food and fuel, but they’re defending
whatever’s left,” Michael said. “There’s no leadership. The men are fighting
each other. They don’t know what else to do.”

“But why come with us?” Simon asked.

“The navy is supposed to be better than this, sir. I want to do what’s
right. I have to get back to my family. My first duty is to them. You reminded
me of that.”

Simon didn’t answer. He studied the younger man, but his face gave no
indication of what he was thinking. Judith wished she could read his thoughts.
Did he believe this stranger? Would he trust him?

“Has there been any news from back home?” Simon asked.

“The East Coast is a shambles,” Michael said. “There were riots after
the eruption, and then some sort of tsunami. I’m not really sure what happened.
All the food’s gone, hidden away in people’s homes—if they still have
homes. Water supplies are tainted. No one knows where the president is. If he’s
still alive, he’s not talking to us.”

“What about internationally?”

“Same thing. Panic. Looting. They don’t have aid to send. It’s the end
of the world.”

Judith stared at Michael. He seemed to be confirming what that crazy
conspiracy theorist said on his website.
About the East
Coast.
About the complete breakdown of order.
It couldn’t be that bad. It just couldn’t.

“Things will have to calm down eventually,” Simon said, his face grave.
“We need to hold on until then. I’ll be honest with you, Michael. You wouldn’t
be any better off with us.”

Michael looked back toward his ship. It drifted silently on the waves,
the guns still pointed at the
Catalina
’s
decks.

“I can’t stay in Guam.” Michael turned back to Simon. “If you give me a
ride to land, I can help you get more fuel. But we need to move fast.”

“We’ll have to put it to the council,” Simon said slowly.

“There’s no time,” Michael said. “You just have to trust me. I swear
I’ll help.”

Simon studied Michael for a moment, then walked over to Judith and
leaned close to speak to her privately.

“I’m not sure what to do, Judith,” Simon said heavily. “What do you
think?”

Judith met Michael’s eyes. They were a blue so light they made the sky
seem gray. His navy uniform looked clean and sure, like order, authority. More
importantly, he had an open, honest face. He seemed like he meant what he said.
He was trying to do the right thing.

“We need fuel,” Judith whispered, “and if he’s telling the truth, he
might be the only one who can help us get it. I think we should trust him.”

“Okay then,” Simon said. “I agree.” He turned back to Michael and said,
“You may join us. What do we need to do?”

Michael nodded, his shoulders relaxing a bit. “There’s a wrecked cargo
vessel off an atoll that we haven’t had time to salvage,” he said. “It’s carrying
a load of fuel tanks, but we need to move fast. They’re scheduled to retrieve
them at 0900 tomorrow.”

“What about your comrades on the other ship?”

“The captain’s son is my friend,” Michael said. “We were in basic
together, and I helped him out of a tight spot. The captain owes me. As long as
we don’t let on that we’re going after the fuel, he’ll let me go. I just need
to talk to him.”

“Okay then. Welcome aboard,” Simon said. “Judith, will you take Seaman
Williams up to the bridge? I need to explain the situation to everyone, and
then I’ll join you so we can make a plan. Manny and Pieter, would you get
everyone else off the deck, please, just in case?” Simon gave Michael one
final, long look before heading off.

Judith jerked her head toward the doorway, and Michael followed her
into the ship, leaving the view of Guam behind them. She led him through the
corridors toward the bridge.

She wasn’t sure what to say to him, so they walked in silence. He was
tall and broad shouldered, and the way he carried himself made him seem much
larger. Judith was conscious of her seawater-washed hair and sweats. She had
grown used to seeing the same faces on the ship, and it was very strange to
have a newcomer.

“So,” Michael said finally. “You’re Judith?”

“And you’re Michael.”

They climbed a service stairwell, the same one that Manny had taken her
through a lifetime ago. She stayed two steps ahead of Michael, and she felt the
added height gave her a slight advantage. She still didn’t know what to say.
How were you supposed to start a conversation with someone who had just told
you the world
was
ending?

“So . . .” Michael tried again. “What’s a girl like you doing in a
place like this?”

“Seriously?” Judith smiled in spite of herself.

“Worth a shot,” Michael said. “Where are you from?”

“San Diego. We escaped from the harbor.”

Judith glanced back fast enough to see a flicker of uncertainty cross
his face. She stopped short. He took one step up, closer to her, before he
stopped too.

“I—”

“Were you there?” she demanded.

“My ship escaped from San Diego, yes,” he said.

“You gunned through all those people.”

“We couldn’t help them,” Michael said. “Any ships that stopped would
have had their equipment clogged by ash in minutes. We barely escaped.”

“But you’re the navy! You should be helping, not firing on civilians.”

“You’re right,” Michael said. “When that ash cloud rolled in . . . the
officers just panicked. I know we let people down. I was scared shitless, just
like everyone else.”

“That’s no excuse,” Judith said.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “The navy should be better. I never thought
we’d do something like that.” Michael met Judith’s eyes steadily. “I gave my
whole life to the navy, you know, to serving my country. I was really part of
something, but now . . .”

Judith scowled. “I thought a crisis was supposed to bring out the best
in people,” she said. “How could they just turn the
Catalina
away when we came to them for help?” She had put so much
hope in the navy waiting for them in Guam. Deep down she believed what had
happened in San Diego was an accident, a one-off. Now she felt betrayed.

“I don’t know,” Michael said, “but I want to make it right, do what the
navy really stands for, even if my superiors won’t. That’s why I’m here.”

He seemed sincere, but Judith wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. The
people they should be able to count on had let them down again and again. She
felt like she was caught in a whirlpool, grasping for some kind of stability,
for an anchor. Tears welled up, and she tried to blink them away.

Michael put a hand on her arm.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said.

Judith met his eyes, startled by the physical contact, the sudden
intimacy with this stranger. His eyes were very, very blue.

“Do you think it’s too late?” she said. “Even if we get the fuel from
this shipwreck that you mentioned, is the world really—?”

“I don’t know,” he said, dropping his hand from her arm. “I don’t know
if the human race is going to last much longer. I don’t even know if my family
is still alive.”

Judith was so close to Michael that she could have touched his face.
For a moment she wanted to, here in the half-light of the darkened stairwell.
She wanted to reach out to this man, to forget about everything that was going
on in the world. But something held her back. She turned around and continued
up the stairs. Michael followed in silence.

When she reached the bridge,
Ren
and Nora
looked up from their usual posts at the computers. They stared as the stranger
followed her through the door.

“This is Michael,” Judith said. “He’s going to lead us to some fuel.
Simon says to let him use the radio.”

“Um, what about Guam?” Nora said. “You know, that bit of land right in
front of us?”

“We’re not going to Guam.”

Judith slumped into a chair and avoided looking at Michael. She was
embarrassed by her outburst. He wasn’t the navy personified. He had just been
following orders, scared like everyone else.

“I was afraid of this,”
Ren
said grimly.
“Where to, sailor?”

Simon

By
the time everyone had been pulled off the deck, the patient optimism of the
last few days had evaporated. The news about not being able to disembark in
Guam spread, filling the ship with despair. When the people had somewhere to go
and something to do, they’d been almost cheery. But now the fear and grief of
the past week came crashing down like a tsunami.