Storm Chaser: Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The wind began to pick up speed and the dark clouds seemed to be rushing towards them. Judging she had moved far enough from the Marta, Elena cut the tow line loose, releasing the unknown ship to its own fate. She marked down the coordinates but somehow thought they would be of little use. With no one at the helm it was likely to shift position drastically.

“It will at least give them a starting point,” she said to herself. She thought about Peter and his conversation with Andre. “That ship was not bound for the Augustine. Peter could have lied.” She adjusted her course. “Or Jonathan could have lied.” She thought about it. “Or the military could be building several different ships at the same time.” Somehow she liked that scenario less than the others. It meant that the military was comfortable enough in its designs to use it as a template for multiple ships. Given the ship she had just released she felt this was probably the more likely option.

“I wonder how many dead that translates into?” She frowned as the first drops ticked against the glass of the pilot house windows. “I suppose the regular channel riders are supposed to act life lifeguards until they get it right.” She shook her head. Considering the low number of American pilots and the complicated allegiance system she had the feeling the military was in for a rude awakening. “After all New World pilots are still bound to Old World council members.” It was a situation that could be at best described as uneasy. Briefly Elena thought of her mother. A wave crested the Storm Chaser’s bow and she was forced to put anything but the ship out of her thoughts. She trusted Mateo and Benjamin to see to their passengers. She just had to ride out the storm.

The rain increased and individual droplets disappeared into a gray sheet. Whatever sun remained was hidden and Elena switched on the ship’s lanterns. She didn’t know if anyone else was out here but the squares of butter yellow light gave her comfort. It also provided distinction between her ship and the world turned gray. Water sluiced across the deck as the ship dove into troughs and rode crests. She hoped none of the passengers suffered from sea sickness. Elena held steady, riding each wave and keeping them more or less on course. Her focus was as tight as when she fled raiders. For all the technology the Storm Chaser possessed, the ocean was still the ocean.

Time passed and Elena blocked fatigue with adrenaline. Gradually the rain eased. The wind took longer to die down and waves still buffeted the ship. Elena felt the ache in her arms but shook it off. Eventually the waves became merely choppy and the sky began to clear. Elena loosened her grip and checked their heading.

“Not bad,” she said. Spin stuck her head out from under the equipment panel where she had taken refuge. “A minor correction will have us heading towards home in no time.” Spin meowed in her direction and began to groom herself with dignity, as if she hadn’t spent a chunk of time cowering from the elements. Elena laughed and her stomach growled.

“Looks like I came just in time,” Benjamin said as he stepped into the pilot house. He held out a plate containing a sandwich.

“Have I ever told you that you are my favorite non- blood relation crew member?” She said taking the plate from him. He laughed.

“And the competition for that position was fierce.”

“Of course,” she said taking a bite of the sandwich so her stomach would quiet. “How are our passengers?”

“Comfortable,” he answered. “Mateo is taking care of them and of course muttering that he is used to tinkering with mechanical things and not people.”

“That I can believe,” she told him. “But unfortunately my medical knowledge is limited to basic first aid and getting people to a doctor as fast as possible.”

“Mine is about the same,” Benjamin admitted. “This is why I bowed out of our makeshift infirmary and headed to the galley. I figured if they were holed up in space suits for very long they might be a little hungry. That I could handle. Now that things have calmed down a bit I’ll make something a little less basic.”

“No soup in a storm?”

“No soup while riding a bucking bronco of a storm. We left the sippy cups behind and I didn’t think we had that much burn ointment. I’ll send up a bowl when it’s ready.”

“Thanks,” she said. Benjamin returned to the galley, Spin trailing after him. The cat stepped delicately over the still wet deck. Elena finished the sandwich he had brought and the hollow space in her belly seemed to echo less. She let the promise of a bowl of soup calm it for the moment. Elena corrected her course. She yawned hugely and felt her jaw pop.

“I wonder how long we were in the storm?” The clock in the pilot hose was still out from the channel crossing and her watch was safely back in the port locker. She glanced at the sky and realized it had the pearly look of early dawn. “That means about half a day and the night.” Elena saw Mateo crossing the deck to the pilot house. From the look of him, he hadn’t gotten much sleep either.

“Morning,” he said, entering the pilot house.

“Morning,” Elena replied. “Heard you were up all night playing doctor.”

“Be a lot more fun with different patients,” he told her. Mateo held out a thermos and Elena took it. She unscrewed the cap as was greeted by the aroma of fresh coffee. She sighed in contentment. “Thought you could use a pick me up.”

“Always. She poured coffee into the thermos cup and placed the thermos in the build in cup holder. She took a sip. “Thanks.”

“No sweat.” Mateo settled himself into the one extra chair in the pilot house. It was build into the wall and the seat could be folded up and attached to the wall if it was in the way. He sighed heavily as he settled and Elena watched him scrub his hands over his face.

“You need some sleep,” she told him. “Why don’t you take a few hours down now that we are calm?”

“Like I can’t see your exhaustion?”

“True,” Elena said with a smile. “But if you take a few hours down now then I can let you have the wheel while I take a few hours down.”

“You could take yours first,” he commented. Elena snorted.

“And trust my ship to someone as tired as you? I’d never get any rest that way.”

“Of course.” Mateo rubbed his face again. “I’ll head down in a minute.” He paused. “All three have military haircuts,” Mateo said. Elena nodded.

“I figured as much.”

“They also feel disinclined to chat.”

“Ah,” Elena said, not all that surprised. “Are they feeling better at least?”

“As far as I can tell,” Mateo answered with a shrug. “If they have any internal damage it will take an actual doctor to determine.”

“Thanks for taking care of them.”

“Beat the alternative,” he answered wearily. Elena sipped her coffee and stared out into the sea. The waves had calmed and the sky was clear. It would be a fine day. Off to starboard Elena caught a glimpse of movement. She turned to look. At first glance it looked like a whale or some other creature of the deep surfacing but something about it was a little off. Elena frowned.

“What is it?” Mateo asked. From where he sat he couldn’t see the ocean’s surface.

“I don’t know,” she said slowly. Elena reached for the mounted telescope and swung it in the direction of the shape still rising from the ocean. Mateo pushed himself off the chair with an audible groan. “You really need to crash,” she said to him with a frown.

“In a minute,” he replied. Elena peered through the eye of the telescope. The shape was pulled into her view. It was still quite a distance away but the shape had some sharp edges.

“That is not natural,” she commented. Elena backed away to give Mateo a turn to look. He frowned.

“It’s a submarine.”

“Explains how the other ship got into the channel,” Elena said. Mateo quirked up an eyebrow in question. “If a submarine was watching us they could have marked where we entered the Marta.” She explained. “While all channels vary in depth and can shift in a certain area it would be a logical guess we would aim the Storm Chaser to the center of the Channel. If they came only a short time after we did they would have a reasonably good chance of making it into the channel, especially at this time of year when it is fully open.”

“Makes sense,” he said. Mateo leaned on the telescope. “I think sleep is out for the moment.”

“I’d wake you if anything happened.”

“I’d never be able to sleep,” he said. A yawn made it sound like a lie.

“Try there,” she said pointing to the wall. A bunk was folded into the wall. “I’ll still need someone to relieve me in a few hours. Mateo grimaced but yawned again before he could comment. With a sign of defeat he walked to the wall and unlatched the bunk. It folded down like a shelf on chains.

“And if anything happens?”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

“Okay. Maybe just a few minutes.” Mateo curled up in the bunk and Elena was willing to swear he was out the moment his head hit the pillow. She turned her attention back to the ocean where the submarine was still rising out of the depths. She sipped her coffee. When it stopped rising not much of it was out of the water. From its elongated shape however it was clear Mateo had been right. It was a sub and she had a feeling it would want her three new passengers back. To her surprise the sub did not attempt to hail the Storm Chaser. Instead it kept a more or less parallel course. It didn’t come any closer but it easily kept pace. The sun crested the horizon and spilled golden light across the waves, breaking up the pearly gray that had come before.

“Maybe they are waiting for a decent hour to call,” she mused softly. Mateo snored softly in the background. A little while later Benjamin brought a bowl of soup and a couple of hot rolls.

“Not exactly normal breakfast,” he commented “But since we all missed dinner I suppose it could be called catching up.”

“Works for me,” Elena told him.

“I would have brought a second bowl but I thought he was out in his bunk.”

“No problem. He crashed up herein case something happened. I’ll send him down for a bowl when he wakes.”

“Are you expecting something to happen?” Benjamin asked. Elena used her spoon to gesture towards the submarine.

“They have been shadowing us for about two hours,” she told him. “More or less.” Benjamin looked out across the water. “Have our guests been fed?”

“Yeah I dropped off their food on the way up. I’m guessing from the way they went for it their last meal was quite some time ago.” Elena calculated how long it took the Storm Chaser to get from the channel opening to the Docking Facility and back.

“Nearly a week would be my guess,” Elena told him.

“So do you think they will ask us to pull over and show identification?” Benjamin asked.

“They might,” Elena said with a smile. She dipped a corner of the roll into the soup and then took a bite. “Pretty sure they will want their people back in any case.” They stood quietly, both watching the sub as Elena ate. She was halfway through her bowl of soup when the hail came across the radio.

“I guess they decided we were up,” Elena commented. Mateo blinked awake and sat up rubbing his eyes. “I guess we had better talk to them.”