wrath of the Sea Queen (25 page)

The concern etched on Ben's face prompted Vin, for the first time, to consider Ben's age,
nearly twenty
years
his senior
.

"
Try not to worry, Ben, though you will likely have no more success than me.  Urim knows the situation, so at least the
girls
may not be
alone.  We have a chance to help them
.  Still
, I suspect it also means something much larger is brewing.
"

Though the statement was
ominous, the look on Vin's face revealed much more than his words implied.

"
You are talking about something similar to what happened to the two of you a few months ago, right?
"
  Ben kn
ew
before
Vin answered
. 

Ben befriended
Vin and C
a
eli after
a
storm nearly ended Vin's life.  Fortunately,
Vin's
comatose body had been kept alive by
the
madman who wanted to use
Vin
for nefarious purposes.  Thankfully, the
lunatic
's plans were thwarted, and Vin was miraculously revived.  It was still as fresh in Ben's mind as if it all happened yesterday.  After all, it was during this time that he also
hooked up with his new
wife.  The
close ties between
C
a
eli
and Salma allowed him to
get
re
acquainted with
the
younger couple
and
also made them
very dear to him
.
Ben
would do whatever he could to help them. 
He
would give his life to save Salma.

"
Yes, that's what I think, though I don't have any idea what
sort of trouble
it could be,
"
Vin answered, only partially paying attention, his mind already pondering the significance of what Urim
said
about C
a
eli's gift with water.  Given C
a
eli's background, the connection to water made perfect sense.

They reached the end of the hall and walked out into the misleading calm of a Sunday
evening
.  The sun h
u
ng lazily
near the horizon
.  A
new,
streamline
d
military airplane with a wide cargo door
on the
side was being loaded with men and supplies.  They were each given a backpack and instructions
as they were
ushered to seats
lining the walls of the plane
.  The plane took off a few minutes later
.  A
n anxious
ninety
minutes after that, they were nearing the first
milestone in the trip
. 

Here,
the plane began to shake vigorously
.  A
strong head wind, caused by the
fierce
storm off shore, began to slow their progress.  The other men on the plane did not seem
overly
concerned
;
but
to
both
Ben and Vin
, each minute
ticked by like an hour
; time their wives could ill afford to
lose.

Vin knew they were flying low enough that the cabin was not pressurized because
he enjoyed the cool relief provided by
a breeze
whisking its way
from the front of the plane
and brushing his cheek as it continued by
.  Vin readjusted his position in
his
seat and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.  He had not used his gift significant
ly
in months; he was not even sure it would work on a large scale
storm
, but he
intended
to try.  If
Vin
could divert the head wind to regain their speed, it would be helpful.  He was going to make the effort and hope for the best.  From the tale Javeed
once shared with him
, Vin
was optimistic
that it
w
ould work.

"
Ben, keep an eye out for me.  I
a
m going to try to clear the air, so to speak,
"
Vin whispered, glancing at him
through partially closed eyes.

Ben nodded, having seen
firsthand
Vin's unique, almost telekinetic, ability to manipulate the wind. 

Vin closed his eyes
fully
and concentrat
ed
on
the breeze wafting from the front of the plane.  He followed it
backward
to
ward
its source
,
out
to the plane's exterior, where strong gusts were pushing against the plane's forward momentum.  Vin took a few moments to assess
his skills
, finding
that reviving the
talent
was not difficult at all
.
  The wind, however, almost seemed to have a mind of its own.  It was as if there was someone on the other end pushing the wind in his direction.  Vin
,
unfamiliar with that sensation,
had to
quickly adjust his tactic and
, after a small struggle,
managed
to change the flow of the air around the plane.

Finding
relatively
easy success with his first attempt, Vin decided to take the next step
to
see
if he could push the plane any faster by increasing the tail winds.  He caught one of the air currents outside and turned toward the rear of the plane.  He tugged on several of the streams of air until at least a dozen of them
were
flowing toward the back of the airplane, and a few along the side
s
to help stabilize the flight.  That would be more than enough to gain some speed, but not enough to cause the pilot any difficulty in keeping the craft airborne.  With any luck, they would shave perhaps
thirty
minutes off the estimated flight time, which could make a life or death difference in the rescue operation.

Vin slowly opened his eyes and looked over at
the smirk on
Ben's face.

"
Looks like you've done it,
L
ad.  I could feel the difference as soon as you worked your magic up front
.  The ride became much smoother.  W
hen you added the wind in the hindquarters, everyone seemed to take notice
of the sudden surge of speed
. 
Of course, they ha
ve
no idea
they were admiring
you
r handiwork
, but they were excited to have a positive omen.  They beli
eve it bodes well for the
ir
mission
.  I'm of a mind to agree with them,
"
Ben
remarked
quietly.

"
You sound like C
a
eli.  She always finds the good
in
a situation.  She could be stranded on the moon with no
hope of returning
home and
still
be happy that she
had
the opportunity to travel in space.  Me, I
woul
d be hurling moon rocks at the earth and cursing the idiot who forgot to pack enough fuel for the return flight
; well
, at least until
C
a
eli
calmed me down
.
"

Ben couldn't help laugh
ing
at the images Vin's words brought to mind.  They talked of inconsequent
ial things for a while. 
The two shared a few words with some of the other
men as
the flight continued to speed along. 
O
ne man in particular,
barely in his mid-twenties,
had been a patient of Salma's a few weeks before.  He
had
sprained his ankle in an embarrassing skateboarding stunt, but Salma fixed him up and even managed to salvage a little bit of his dignity in the process.  As fate would have it, he also
caught a glimpse of
C
a
eli that day, though he
did
not
meet
her directly.  He saw
his
now favorite
doctor walking out of the hospital with her when C
a
eli picked
Salma
up for lunch. 
In smaller towns like the
irs
, it was not uncommon to
know everyone directly or, at least, to know of them
.

The young man's nam
e was Jeremy
Franks
,
a recent
law s
chool
graduate
working in the public defender's office.  He joined the
National
Guard
three years earlier, wanting to give something back to the community. 
B
oth Ben and Vin quickly made a new friend
of the nice young man
.