Wrecked (44 page)

They were all in a pile at the back of the boat.  “Oh my god, someone’s bleeding,” announced Sarah.

“It’s me,” said Candi weakly.  “I think that guy shot me.”

“WHAT?!” roared Kevin, torn between going back there and turning his attention back to the task of driving the boat.  “Holy shit!” he yelled.  He’d just realized that the boat was pointing the wrong direction and instead of heading out to sea, it was heading towards the other boat.

He grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it to the left, narrowly missing the other boat.  He looked at the lever Jonathan had pushed forward and noticed there were two of them, but only one was forward.  He pushed the other one forward slowly, seeing what would happen.  The boat straightened out and gained more power.  The levers were about three quarters of the way to the top.  He realized each one controlled one of the motors in the back individually.  He had to move the levers together if he wanted full power and the ability to steer properly.

Shots rang out, but the boat kept going.  Kevin spared a glance over his shoulder.  “Are you guys okay back there?!” he shouted over the noise of the engine.

“Yes and no!” was Sarah’s answer.  “Just keep going!”

Soon he was joined by Jonathan, who grabbed the handset of the radio and started transmitting.

“Maydaymaydaymayday, we need some help!  Somebody out there, please help us!”  He turned the dial on the front of the radio to another position and tried again.  “Maydaymaydaymayday, someone, anyone out there!  We need help!”  He tried changing the dial again, stopping for a second to listen to the static that had broken out over the speaker.  He started to press the button again and then he heard the growling sound of another engine.  He looked out over the back side of the boat and saw lights coming in their direction.  “They’re coming Kevin!”

“Hold on, guys – I’m going to push this thing as fast as it will go!” yelled Kevin.  He pushed the throttle levers to their full forward positions.  The boat’s tip picked up high in the water, but settled down again.  “I don’t know what’s happening … it feels like we’re going fast but the boat just went down lower,” said Kevin, panicking.

“Don’t worry about that, it’s planing.”

“What?!” yelled Kevin.

Jonathan continued, louder.  “I said, it’s planing!  When a boat is just sitting in the water, its weight is being carried by the buoyant force – it has a displacement hull!  But as the speed increases to the critical point, the hydrodynamic lift increases to the point that it becomes the predominant upward force on the hull of the boat, which makes it ride more horizontally rather than diagonally!  See what I mean?!”

“No!”

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders and then worriedly looked back at his sister and Sarah.  Candi was laying down on one of the cushioned benches in the back of the boat, and Sarah was kneeling next to her.

Jonathan pushed the button again.  “Maydaymaydaymayday, is there anyone out there?  We need help!  We’re being chased by drug dealers!  Please!  Someone … ” he trailed off, worried they were never going to be saved.  He looked at the gas gauge and saw that they had about a half a tank of gas.

“I’m going to go check on Candi.  Keep going that direction.”

“What direction?” Kevin asked with a bitter laugh.  “I have no idea what direction we are headed right now.”  

Jonathan pointed to a radar screen that was glowing on the console.  “I think this line here is the shoreline of the island.  Just point directly away from it, and avoid any other similar looking lines because they will probably be other islands and shallow waters.”

He left Kevin to drive and went back to check on Candi.

“What’s going on?” he yelled at Sarah, crouching down to look in Candi’s face.  

“She’s been shot in the arm, she’s bleeding.  I don’t think it hit an artery or anything.  Not that I’m an expert, but there’s not as much blood as I’d expect, like there is in the movies.”

“How are you feeling Gumdrop?”

“I’ve had better days, but I’m okay.  Keep trying the radio.”

Jonathan stood up to look out the back of the boat.  The lights of the other boat were still behind them.  He went back to the front.  “Candi’s been shot, but Sarah says it’s not an artery.  She’s awake and talking, but we need to get her to a doctor.”

Jonathan looked at Kevin’s face and saw from the lights of the console that Kevin had tears running down his cheeks, his throat moving convulsively as he held back as much as he could.  Jonathan awkwardly patted him on the back.  “Don’t worry, she’s going to be fine.  We all are, I’m sure of it.”

Kevin swiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand.  “Yeah,” was all he could say.  He turned and watched the lights of the boat behind; they appeared to be closer than the last time he looked.

Jonathan pressed the button on the radio handset again.  “Mayday, mayday, mayday, somebody please, answer me!”

He let go of the button and heard static on the line.  Then a crackling.  He looked closer at the radio console.  “Hello?” he said into the handset.

Some crackling came over the speaker again and then a voice.  “Roger, on that mayday, Captain, state your position.”

Jonathan got so excited he dropped the handset.  “Oh crap!” He grabbed the cord and followed it down to the dangling handset as the voice came over the speaker again.  

“Captain, please state your position and have all passengers don life jackets … copy?”

Jonathan grabbed the handset and pressed the button, “Hello!  I’m … I have no idea where we are, but we are being chased by drug dealers at high speed … Over!”

At first there was no reply.  Then some static and the voice again.  “Captain, be informed it is a federal offense to make a false SOS mayday over these frequencies.”

Jonathan’s face blanched.  “No!  Sir!  This is NOT a false mayday!  We are currently being chased by drug dealers!  We stole one of their boats, and we are being chased by one of their other boats!  They have guns, sir!  My sister has been shot with a GUN!  With a BULLET!!”  He paused for a second and then continued.  “Come and arrest me.  Please.  I will gladly be arrested, just get us out of here!”

They all waited anxiously for the voice to come back.  It seemed to take forever.  “Captain, identify your vessel and location.”

“My name is Jonathan Buckley.  I am here with my sister Candi Buckley and our friends Kevin and Sarah Peterson.  We were on the cruise ship
Columbus
that sailed on February fifteenth from Miami.”

Then there was silence for a few moments followed by some crackling.  “Copy that … standby.”  

None of them could remember ever waiting so long for anything in their lives.

“Captain, provide Loran coordinates or GPS of your location.”

Jonathan barked out a bitter laugh.  “Sir, I wish I could, but I have no idea where we are.  Can’t you use your radar or something?”

“Captain, do you have a radar screen on the console of the vessel?  By the steering wheel?”

“Yes!”

“Captain, do you see a number at the top of the screen between the number one and three hundred sixty?”

“Yes, it says one-eight-five.”

“Okay,” the voice continued, “there should also be some sort of GPS unit on board there.  Either built into the console or attached to some holder near the console.”

Jonathan bent down to look at the console closer.  He saw a black box sitting suspended in a holder near the wheel.  

“I see a black box, but it’s not on.”

“Find the power button and turn it on. It should show you your current latitude and longitude.”

Jonathan dropped the handset and felt all over the GPS unit for a button. He found one on the side and pressed it.  Precious seconds ticked by as it powered up.  It seemed to take forever.  Jonathan looked back and noticed that the drug dealers were closing in.  “Can’t this thing go any faster?” he shouted at Kevin.  

“I’ve got it going full blast, it’s going as fast as it can.”

The GPS screen lit up.  Jonathan saw some numbers in the lower right corner that looked like they might be latitude and longitude coordinates.

“Hello, Sir, are you there?”

“Yes Captain, go ahead, state your position.”

“Okay, we are at:  two-six-point-seven-three-one-two-two-dash-six-nine-one-nine-one-eight-nine-five.”

They waited for a response.  

None came.

“Sir?  Did you hear me?”

“Son, are you sure you’re looking at the right numbers?”

Jonathan panicked, “I think I am!  They’re the only numbers there!  How am I supposed to know, I’ve never been on a small boat before!”

“Alright now, calm down. We have a cutter in that area.  It’ll take about ten minutes to get there.  I need you to turn the vessel to the left, heading one-one-zero.  Do you understand that?”

“Turn the wheel Kevin.  Watch that number at the top of the screen.”

Kevin focused on the screen, “Yeah, I know.  I can figure that much out.”

“Okay, we’re turning.  Now what?”

“Just continue heading one-one-zero, and you’ll see our lights.  Hold steady, Captain, we are underway toward your position.”

“Thank you sir.  And I don’t mean to be rude, but can I ask you to please hurry?  These guys are catching up to us, and I know they’ll kill us if they can.”

“We’re going as fast as we possibly can.  You just hold it together.  Did you say someone has been shot?”

“Yes, my sister.  In the arm.”

“Captain … apply direct pressure to the wound … have all personnel don life jackets. There is a Coast Guard medic aboard the Coast Guard cutter near you, don’t worry.  Everything’s going to be okay.” 

The line went silent for a couple of minutes, then the static stopped again and the voice came out of the speaker.

“Buckley vessel, come in Buckley vessel, this is the United States Coast Guard, over.”

“Yes, sir, we’re here.  Over”

“Is this Jonathan I’m speaking to?”

“Yes sir, it is.”

“Captain, you parents have been notified of your status. Just thought you’d want to know.”

“Oh my god!” burst out Jonathan as tears started streaming down his face.  “Candi!  Did you hear that!  Our parents are okay!”

He quickly pressed the button on the handset.  “What about the Petersons?  Did you call them?”  He waited desperately for the answer.  He looked at Kevin and saw the stern set of his jaw.  Jonathan reached out and put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder.

“Captain, we were unable to make contact.  Your parents and the Petersons will be enroute as soon as the Petersons get home.”

Relief washed over Jonathan.  Kevin had a relieved smile on his face, but continued to focus on the radar screen to be sure he stayed on course.

“Thank you so much sir, I can’t tell you how happy that makes us.”

“I have to tell you kids, you sure ended up way out in the middle of nowhere.  You have entered large open water far from shore.”

Jonathan pressed the button, “Where did we end up sir?”

“In the Bermuda Triangle.”

Jonathan couldn’t think of anything to say to that.  He clicked the button but said nothing.  That was so far off course from where their cruise ship had been, it didn’t make any sense.

About five minutes later, they heard another transmission.  “Coast Guard Station Indian River … Captain … our cutter has your position locked.  Continue underway at one-one-zero.  We also have a visual on the vessel pursuing you.  They will likely terminate their pursuit.”

Sure enough the lights from the drug dealer boat turned away and quickly faded in the distance.  Now that the pirates knew the Coast Guard was locked in and coming, they had to choose between getting revenge and getting caught, or going away and harvesting as many plants as they could before they were discovered.  

“Want me to take over for a while?” asked Jonathan. 

“No, that’s alright, I can do it.”

Jonathan gave him a curious look and then headed back to where the girls were.  Candi was still awake and seemed okay, even though she was in a lot of pain.  Jonathan held her hand and absently rubbed Sarah’s back with the other.  

Soon Kevin was shouting out that he saw a bunch of lights up ahead.  Then a voice came over the radio speaker.

“Buckley vessel, come in Buckley vessel.”

Jonathan spoke into the handset.  “Buckley Peterson vessel is here.  What do you want us to do?”

“Captain … place your engine in neutral … stand by to be boarded as we come alongside.”

***

Good to their word, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter arrived and took over the rescue.  The kids were transferred off the drug dealer’s boat to the cutter.  Candi was immediately rushed to the infirmary, Jonathan refusing to leave her side.  

Kevin and Sarah sat with the captain and his crew in what looked like the command center of the boat.  The boat’s cook brought up some food for them; it was the best food they had ever eaten.  Neither of them said much.  They were overwhelmed by what was happening and didn’t know what to think or do.

They arrived at the port; all of their parents were there waiting.  Ambulances were there too to take them to the hospital for observation.  Candi went into surgery to remove the bullet from her arm.  The kids were kept in separate rooms, kept in the dark about what was going on with one another.  

Their time was completely consumed by worried parents and then by the media that had somehow gotten wind of the fact that the four teenagers presumed dead from the
Columbus
cruise tragedy suddenly showed up after spending over two months on a deserted island in the Bermuda Triangle.  They found out from the reporters and their parents that their lifeboat was the only one released that night, due to some kind of mechanical breakdown.  Everyone else was transferred to another boat that was brought in several hours later.  By then, the rogue waves had disappeared and there was no immediate danger to any of the other passengers.  The
Columbus
was towed into port over the next two days for repairs.

Search parties had gone out looking for them for a period of two weeks, never finding any clue of their whereabouts.  Everyone assumed they had drowned at sea.  Even the last of the private party searches had been called off over a month ago.  Their parents had held funerals for them and hundreds of kids from their high school had come to their combined memorial services.