EARTH PLAN (29 page)

The sound of loud scratching came from the bottom of the ship and all three of them—including everything in the room that wasn't fastened down—went flying as the ship lurched.

It struck something underwater, lost speed as it dragged along, and then finally stopped with a terrible noise coming from the hull.

Charles, the prof, and Lang got up from the floor where they had been thrown to the carpet—luckily it had been padded.

“Is everyone OK?” Lang asked, picking up his computer from the floor. It was a tough, military model, so he knew it was probably alright, and it didn't look damaged.

“I think so,” Charles said, rubbing his head.

“Yeah,” the prof said, rubbing his elbow.

“We must have run up on a reef or something. Hope we're not taking on water. You should grab your valuables and head up on the deck, just in case. They might not have power to put out an alarm,” Lang said. He grabbed his computer, put it into its bag, then made his way out of the office, up the metal steps to the deck.

“I'm going to find my wife,” the prof said and dashed out of the room.

“Hold up, Mr. Lang!” Charles went after him.

CHAPTER 47

Once Lang and Charles got up on the deck a scene of confusion greeted them.

They were in shallow water, the ship obviously had ridden up on some shoal or reef near a small island. The sky was clear and it was sunny, with the storm receding into the distance from where they had been. The deck of the ship was wet and dripping water everywhere, including the helicopter that was perched dangerously close to the edge of the deck and was teetering, threatening to fall into the sea.

Several sailors and The Four were on one side of the 'copter pulling on its skids, trying to move it forward. “Ready? One, two, three, pull!” yelled the leader of The Four.

Then ten or so men managed to move the machine forward an inch or two with each heave. In a matter of minutes, they had it pulled back onto the deck enough that it wasn't going to fall over.

The captain came down from the control room and took off his hat, wiping the sweat from his eyes. “Did you ever see anything like that?” he gasped, looking at Lang and Charles.

“The storm just ended, did it?” Lang asked.

“Yes! Strangest thing I ever saw! Then, by the time we were out of the gale, we were off course. The fog and rain lifted, and there was no time to turn her about before we ran ashore. I'm so embarrassed! This has never happened to me before!” the captain said, close to tears, his face red.

“Well, don't feel too bad. I think this is probably the first time you've had a storm directed at you,” Lang said.

“I think you're right,” the captain said. He looked around the deck, then at the island. “The boat took a bit of a beating up here. I don't know about the below decks, yet. How was it when you came up?”

“Fine. Just things thrown around,” Lang said.

“No water coming in? No leaks?” the captain asked.

“Not that we could see,” Lang said, looking at Charles, who shook his head.

“That's good. I should do down and make an inspection. If she starts to go down, get into one of the lifeboats,” the captain said. He started down the stairway to go below deck.

“You think it will?” Lang called after him.

“Probably not. We're stuck on something, but she might take on some water,” the captain yelled back, before disappearing below.

Lang and Charles stood watching the men pull the 'copter back a little more. Then, a couple of minutes later, the prof and his wife came up the stairs with their bags.

“Going somewhere?” Charles asked them.

“We thought we might have to abandon ship,” the prof said.

“Is it that bad? I heard a big crash! What did we hit, do you think?” she asked.

“Probably a reef or a shoal,” Lang said.

“Are we sinking? Should we get in a lifeboat?” Wendy looked around, desperately.

“I don't know, honey. No one looks in a panic, yet,” said the prof, looking around at the men working on the 'copter. “I think if there was any danger, they would all be abandoning ship. Besides, we didn't see any water coming in. Did you guys?” the prof asked them.

“Not on the way up,” Lang said.

“The captain just went below to look for leaks,” Charles said.

It was about twenty minutes later that the captain came back up to the deck. The others were sitting around by this time, smoking and drinking bottles of water in the sunshine. A few of the sailors were in the control room, trying to get the equipment going.

“So?” Lang asked the captain, as he padded up to them.

“A little water in the cargo area, but we plugged up the small holes there. She seems to be holding fast, though I'd hate to see what bigger holes are along the bottom of the hull! If we were able to get her off whatever she's stuck on, she'd probably open right up and sink like a stone with all the water she'd take on in a flash,” the captain said. He pointed at the pack of cigarettes Lang had, and Lang handed them over.

“Good thing we're not moving, then,” the leader of The Four said.

“How did this happen, anyway? I thought you had all sorts of instruments on this thing?” Wendy asked. Her husband shot her a harsh look. “What?” she said. “Don't you want to know how we got shipwrecked out here, in the middle of God knows where?”

The captain sighed. “Mr. Lang was right. This storm was forced on us, I'm convinced of it. It was no normal storm, in that it carried some very high voltages with it. All our electronics went out. Our manual gear was almost useless with the heavy winds and swells. The fog obscured all visibility. When we got out of the storm and could see again, we were headed straight for this island. There was no time to do anything. It's almost like it was planned this way. I'm sorry I failed you all.” The captain slumped down, sitting on the deck.

“It's not over, yet,” the leader of The Four said. “We've been in worse jams. We'll get out of this, too. Isn't that right boys?” He looked at his men and they responded with gusto.

“Well, I'm glad you guys have some optimism. What about that 'copter. It's alright?” the captain asked.

“Dunno. We haven't fired it up, yet, I flipped on the main computer and it still works. The whole chopper is hardened against EMPs, which is what I suspect we were hit with. Strangely, the radio is out, though. Emergency beacon, too. I'd say we were the victims of sabotage before we even got on this ship. No sense in starting up the engine until we find out where we are, since last I checked we didn't have the fuel to make land from our last position. But seeing as how some of the other systems were sabotaged, it might make sense to see if it will even start up,” the leader said.

“Maybe we can fly to where we're going from here?” Wendy said, her face brightening.

“Maybe,” the prof told her, squeezing her hand.

“Yes, well, the first step is finding out where we are. Let's see if my men have figured that out, yet,” the captain said. He got up and motioned to the leader to follow him. They went up to the control room.

The captain and the leader poured over a large map and worked out things with a compass and made some calculations. Wendy, the prof, Charles, and Lang tagged along to watch.

“I make us to be about here,” the captain said as he pointed to a spot on the map. “Way off course, like I thought. Seem right?”

The leader said, “Yes, but it's no use, we're still way out of range for the fuel we have. We've only got a half tank and we'd need a full tank—and that would be stretching it. We'd never make it to land. No use, unless you feel like ditching in the ocean and swimming the rest of the way.”

The prof looked at him, and said, “You forget you're here with a couple of scientists.” He turned to the captain. “How much fuel do you have aboard this ship?”

“Thousands of gallons, but it's diesel. You can't use that in the 'copter, Mr. Scientist,” the captain said.

“No,” the prof explained, “but if we can do a conversion on it, distill it out to what the 'copter needs—kerosene, right?”

The leader nodded.

“Of course!” Charles said.

“We should be able to do it, won't even take that long. Heck, all we have is time right now, anyway, right?” the prof said.

“Yes, until they send a death squad here for us,” Lang said.

“That might happen if we don't get out of this place. Tell me more of your plan. What do you need? Let's get this done,” the captain said to the prof.

“Wait,” the leader said. “I'll see if it even starts. Just hold on a few minutes.” He strode out to the chopper and got aboard.

“Please, God, please!” Wendy prayed.

They all watched as the leader pressed some buttons inside the cockpit. The engine sputtered and then died, making some of them gasp. He tried it again, and the engine started for a few moments, then quit.

He got out and went to the side of the chopper, opening up a panel with one of his men. They looked inside for a few moments, then came back to the rest of the group.

“It looks like one of the fuel pumps is out of commission, but there should be enough tools on this ship to fix it. You've got a machine shop?” the leader asked the captain.

“Sure. Come with me,” the captain said. “The rest of you stand guard,” he said to his sailors. “Look alive!” The men with guns milled around the deck.

The captain, the prof, the leader, and Charles walked off together, going below the deck.

It didn't take long for them to fabricate a part for the fuel pump, and get in reinstalled. This time the chopper started up.

The leader didn't let it run long, just enough to see that it was working. He shut it down and came back onto the deck.

“Thank God for that!” Wendy said, hugging him.

The leader smiled. “Yes, thank God for small miracles.”

“Well, now that's settled, we can get to work on the kerosene,” the captain said. He pointed to Charles and the prof, who nodded.

“Those of us that are free, mind if we go explore the island?” Lang asked.

“You want to go ashore?” the captain said.

“If that's alright with everyone?” Lang said.

“I don't see why not. We've got hours of work to do below deck. It would be good to know what's on there, just in case. But be careful. And, don't go far. Take some guns with you. You can take one of the lifeboats.”

“We will. Alright, who wants to go?” Lang asked.

“I do!” Wendy put up her hand.

The captain turned and led Charles and the prof away. The prof lingered for a moment to hug his wife goodbye, before running after the other two, below deck.

“Come with us?” Lang asked the leader of The Four.

“Why not? We've got nothing to do right now. I'll bring one of my men, but two of them should stay here,” the leader said.

“Sounds good,” Lang said.

“How will we get over there? Lifeboat?” Wendy asked.

“No need. There's a small boat you can use, over there,” a passing sailor said. He pointed to the back of the ship. “Under the tarp.”

“Great, thanks!” Lang said.

The “landing party” went to the back of the ship and lifted up the rain soaked tarp to reveal a small boat that could sit about ten people. It had a motor attached and fuel.

“Can you drive this thing?” Lang asked.

“Sure! Looks like fun,” the leader said. He looked at Lang and Wendy. “Where's your guns?”

“We need guns?” Wendy asked.

“I'd advise it.”

“I'll borrow a couple from the crew,” Lang said. He went up to the control room and rounded up two handguns in holsters. Once he and Wendy got a little instruction on them from the leader, they were ready to go ashore.

With some help from the crew, they got into the boat, and it was lowered down on its tether to the water below. It was then unhooked, and the engine started up. They drove away from the main ship and made for the beach of the island ahead of them a few hundred feet.

Beaching the boat, they stepped out into the shallow, warm water and waded ashore, bottles of water in hand.

“Oh, that water feels so good!” Wendy said, taking off her shoes and enjoying the feel of the sand.

“Yeah,” Lang said, shielding his eyes from the sun and looking around at the white sand, blue water, and blue sky. Beautiful, he thought.

“We'll just take a quick look around. I think we should be able to circle this place in a couple of hours. That should give us a good idea of what's here, should we need to stay for any length of time,” the leader said.

“But, if we're stuck here, wouldn't it be better to stay on the boat until we're rescued?” Wendy said.

“It might,” the leader said, staring to walk ahead, sticking to the sandy beach that seemed to run around the island. “That is, if the ship doesn't sink. We don't know how bad the damage is underneath it. The hull could be cut to ribbons. There might be a high tide that does it in. We'll have to see. But, it's good to have options, so we should be aware of what's on this island, just in case.” The others fell in behind him.

The island had dense foliage. There were some animals, but they scurried away and were small. The party didn't venture into the undergrowth, as it would be tough going, and there was no need at the time.

A couple of hours later, they arrived back where they started from, carrying bananas. The small boat sat waiting for them, and their big, stranded ship was still on the shoal in the distance.

“That was a lovely walk,” Wendy said.

“Yes, not every day you get to explore a tropical paradise,” Lang said. “But that just goes to show how far we really are off-course. We shouldn't be anywhere near here.”

“No, we shouldn't,” the leader agreed, as they waded out to the lifeboat. “And that means that we'll have to fly back to South America, if we want to fly at all. That's the only place we'd be able to make it to.”

They boarded the boat and shoved off the sand, then made their way back to the big ship, with the helicopter still safely perched on the deck.