Chapter Six
Linda checked their course one more time on both the GPS and the radar, then she checked the chart, making sure she was following a safe course into the narrow strait they were going to pass through. She was about to ask if he had a tide and current table for the area when she saw it on a shelf above the wheel.
"I was waiting for you to ask for the tide book." Karl chuckled as she took it down and opened it to what she thought would be the right area.
He had the old tom cat sitting on his lap and it was purring softly as he stroked it gently with one hand and twiddled with the controls of the radio with the other, slowly scanning the bands.
"Charlie, are you awake? There's a boat going by, big one too." Came loudly over the radio as they passed the tip of one of the islands that formed the shores of the pass they were in.
"I don't hear nothing and I can't see a damn thing in this fog." Another voice said
"It's running real quiet. It'll come past you. Just shut up and pull out slow. You'll see me. I'm following it into the cut."
"I wonder who that could be?" Linda asked.
"I don't know, but it's damn loud so they're really close. I think they might be referring to us, if you check the radar, you can see that someone is following us now." He said quietly, pointing at the radar screen above her head. "They may be meaning to intercept us before we get to that pass."
"Oh shit, who would that be and why would they do that?" She frowned.
"I'm not sure, but adjust the burner to full fire and adjust the water feed pump to compensate, We want a full head of steam in the pass anyway, just in case we need it. Bring the boiler up to just below the redline, that's where the safety blows off."
"You don't want to see whoever is in that boat?" Linda reached down and adjusted the controls quickly
"Maybe I'm paranoid, but I couldn't hear anything on the radio that sounded authoritative. With the storm and everything else that's gone on lately, I'm going to assume that it's someone who wants to forcibly take the boat. If it were some official, I'd have expected them to hail us directly."
She looked carefully at the radar screen and frowned.
"Karl, isn't that another boat moving over there, just on the tip of the other island?"
"It looks like it might be." He said, standing quickly and staring off into the rain, trying to make it out. "Good eyes. I've been looking for that since the one guy mentioned someone else. I can't see it visually though."
The cat had meowed loudly at being slipped off his lap, then hopped up to the window sill, flipping its tail rapidly in disgust at losing it's comfortable position.
"Could you take over the controls, please?" Linda said quietly. "If we are being chased by someone, you know the boat a lot better than I do and I'd feel a lot safer."
"All right." He said quietly and taking her place quickly. "Stick close by though, I may need you to do something or other in a hurry, with the tide changing we'll be caught in a tidal rip going through the pass and I'm not sure it will be an easy passage."
Looking back, she could just make out the boat that was following behind them. It appeared to be very small and looked to be an inflatable. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite make out the other boat that should have been off of their starboard side, although she could make out where it should be from the radar screen. The boat on their stern was gaining, but checking their position on the radar screen, she was sure they would be in the pass before it caught up to them.
"Karl, I think they want us to go into the pass." She said quietly. "They almost seem to be herding us."
"I was thinking that." He said slowly. "And they're certainly faster than we are even though we're a lot bigger than they are."
"I'm worried." Linda said just as quietly. "What could they be doing?"
"I think it may be a trap, Check the chart would you, see if we should be able to see through the gap on a clear day. According to the radar, there appears to be some sort of blockage and I remember it as clear sailing, all the way through."
Linda scooted over to the chart table as Karl reversed the engines to slow the boat. Both of them heard the boil of the water against the hull as he revved the engine. Linda concentrated on the chart, found their position, and looked along their course at the pass ahead of their position.
"It should be clear from here Karl, but the radar shows an almost solid line of objects." She said quickly. "What could they be after, do they want us to wreck?"
"Maybe." Karl growled. "Hang on."
The boat had slowed drastically, but was in the gradually narrowing pass between the islands. High rocky cliffs were just visible on either side. He threw the wheel hard over to port, then ran the engine up to full speed forward. As the boat began to swing, he threw the throttle into reverse, and went hard astern, but didn't move the wheel. Linda was amazed as the boat heeled over and swung rapidly, yet seemed to be still travelling almost along the same path as before even though it was turning in relation to the banks which were passing much slower now.
He repeated the move, full ahead, then full astern, As they swung around almost completely, he advanced the throttle to its full forward position and swung the wheel until he was headed for the tip of the island now on their port side. Now he seemed to aim directly for the radar image of the second boat behind them which was now visible on the radar screen. The boat was shuddering as it fought both the current and their former forward momentum, but in seconds they had swung completely around in an amazingly short distance and they began to breast the current and make headway against it.
"Now, we'll see if we're dealing with breakers or what?" He growled softly as the boat began to move into slower current because the channel widened.
"Breakers?" Linda asked. "What are breakers?"
"Breaker's, or wreckers, or whatever you want to call them. Years ago, before we became so civilised, and had coast guards and cops and such, in some places in the world there were groups that used to lure boats onto the rocks. They were called breakers, living off the salvage of the wrecked boats."
Glancing up at the radar, he grinned, a wolfish grin, and pointed out the window at the boat ahead of them, now easily visible through the rain and mist. Linda could make out one man in the bow, waving his arm wildly and the boat swinging rapidly. It raced off in a wild surge of spray.
"They've turned around, Charlie. They're heading straight for us, and they're fucking big! We're getting to hell outta here." The radio crackled to life.
"They don't want us to get close." Karl laughed. "I guess they didn't expect that turn."
The first boat was easily visible now as well, there were two rough looking young men in it and they were staring at the 'Skolka', seemingly in shock. Then they both ducked lower in the boat and it swung away, it's powerful engine raising a small rooster tail as the raced away into the mist and rain. It was going in the same direction as the other boat had gone.
"What the hell happened, Charlie?" One voice on the radio asked. "How the hell did they turn so fast?"
"Who the hell knows?" The other voice answered."For now be glad they didn't get too close, If they have guns they could have shot us both."
"What do we do now?"
"Go talk to the boss, that boat is worth something."
"Maybe we should radio him?"
"Not on your life, you know we don't have enough power on these walkie talky things and if we use the big radio he'll kill us, but I'll bet he'll want that boat."
" I wonder if we can take it without sinking it?"
"Who knows? Shut up for now, Charlie. If they've got a radio, they can hear us."
Karl looked at Linda whose eyes were big as saucers. The small boats were racing away. It was only a moment or two before their echo disappeared from the radar as they rounded the headland of the island at a high rate of speed.
"I don't understand, do you think they wanted us to run into whatever was there in the pass?" Linda asked quietly.
"I don't know?" Karl said quizzically. "But with both of them turning tail and running when we got closer to them, I don't think they were too friendly. "
"You aren't going through the pass then?"
"Nope, it will take longer, but we can go around this island quite easily, what worries me is that now we're following them and they know that we know they're there, they could try something else. I'm not sure if there's any way we can be certain to avoid them."
"Shouldn't we report them to someone?"
"Well, we could try to call the coast guard, but we aren't supposed to be out here either. Remember, there's a ban on travel according to what we heard on the radio."
"We've got to do something, If they're really trying to lure people onto the rocks . . ."
"They might have just wanted to check on what we were doing." Karl interrupted. "We don't know that they were up to no good, even though that last conversation they had was pretty convincing to me. I was suspicious even before though, from the way they ran off when we turned around so quickly."
"How did you do that, anyway?" Linda said quietly. "I mean the pass is narrow enough and the current is so strong that I'd never have tried to turn around."
"The current actually helped. I just swung our stern out of true with the bow and then used the sweep of the current as well as the tendency of the 'Skolka' to crab to starboard when she's running astern to quickly swap ends. You've probably done the same thing when you docked your boat."
"Never like that. We heeled over a hell of a long way, I'd have been chicken to even try a stunt like that at the speed we were going, especially in tight quarters."
"Well if we'd waited any longer, we wouldn't have made it." He said slowly. "We couldn't have swung around if we were in a much narrower space and we'd have had a hell of a hard time bucking that current if it was much stronger like it would get as the pass narrowed."
He sighed. "We were just lucky. Now let's see that chart again. This detour is going to add a good hour to our travel time. We're going to have to make up for part of it by running faster. We do have a time limit on this trip."
"I guess we should have started last night." Linda spoke quietly.
"If we'd started last night, we'd have probably gotten caught in that trap or whatever it is." Karl answered her, concentrating on the chart. "Can you imagine being in that channel in the dark, with an even faster rip tide going through it? I'm glad we did it on this tide, thank you. I wouldn't want to get George's hopes up and then let him down."
"Can we still make it in time?"
"Oh yeah, I was counting on some delays, this weather is helping us, the wind and the tide are actually with us. But still, until we're away from this island group, and we've made up the time we've lost, I'm going to run at full throttle. I'm a bit worried by those two boats we saw. If a whole bunch of them came out at once, we could get boarded and have to fight."
"Do you have a gun on board?"
"Only a flare gun." Karl snorted, pointing to the wall mount where it was hung. "I wasn't expecting to be in a place where I'd need to repel boarders."
"I always wondered what a flare would do to an inflatable." Linda said quietly as she picked up the flare pistol, breaking it open and checking the barrel.
"That's an idea, but you wouldn't shoot them with that would you?"
"I would." She said in a determined tone. "No one has the right to take this boat from us. This thing looks new, has it ever been used."
"Once, to test it." Karl answered quietly as he adjusted their course to steer well clear of the end of the island they could just make out on their port side.
"Okay, how many flares do you have?"
"Um, one box of a dozen here and another almost full box below, but those are outdated, I've been meaning to get rid of them."
"Where are they?" She asked, putting the flare gun back.
"In the work room, on the top shelf of the oil cupboard, why?"
"I'll go get them, just in case." She said, then disappeared down the ladder.
Karl stared after her for a second, then concentrated on the radar and the view out the window. There was no sign at the moment of either of the boats they had seen earlier and no sign of any other boat on the radar. With the tide and the wind both behind their aft starboard quarter, Karl had to constantly correct slightly for drift so he didn't approach too close to the island, but with the speed of the tidal rip being strongest near the island, he didn't want to be too far away either. Both the tide and the wind were helping them make time. Several minutes passed as he waited for Linda to come back. He kept glancing at the radar and the GPS to make sure he was in clear water. He had to admit to himself that he really was worried about the situation.
Then he saw the first boat appear on radar, rounding a point far ahead of him. In seconds there were two, then four and finally a fifth boat on the radar screen. He watched them spread out in the distance and from the way they moved he doubted if they had radar themselves. In fact, they seemed to stay at what he thought was just visible distance to each other in the rain and mist. He almost automatically altered course, heading out to sea further.
"Linda." He called. "We've got company."
She came charging back upstairs with the box of old flares under one arm, a tin box in one hand and a black powder rifle that he had built from a kit years ago in the other.
"I thought you said you didn't have a gun aboard. Does this thing work? There was powder and balls stored with the flares, so I hunted until I found it as well."
"I forgot that. I made it years ago, but it's not too accurate." Karl stared at her.
"We aren't going to need to worry about accuracy. Load it would you, I don't know how much of a load of powder to use. I might blow it up." She said as she leaned the rifle against the bulkhead and took the wheel.
Karl checked the powder. It was kept in a tin box lined inside with waxed paper and then plastic so it was still dry. Without any argument he showed her how to load the rifle, keeping one eye on the radar to see what was happening. They were going to pass just outside of the end of the five boats, but they were bearing down on them rapidly. Quickly he tamped home powder, wadding, a ball, and more wadding, then he fitted a cap under the hammer.
"Don't cock the hammer until you're almost ready to fire, but just what are you planning?" He asked quietly.
"Well, like you said, from the way they're acting, they can't have radar on those boats and since we travel almost silently, I don't think they will know where we are. We're travelling a lot faster than we were before, that should surprise them as well." She said, taking the rifle from him and handing him the flare gun. "From the looks of it, only one boat is going to be able to see us. If you fire a flare so it goes off above and in front of the rest of them, I'm going to shoot across the bows of the closest boat. I'll try to make the bullet skip on the water close to them. I hope this thing is noisy when it goes off."
"Oh, it's noisy all right." He chuckled. "It sounds like a cannon. Would you rather I shot it, and you took the flare gun?"
"I don't know." She said, hefting it in her hands "It might be an idea. Does it kick?"
"Like a mule." Karl answered. "Make sure you keep the stock tight against your shoulder."
"Could you do it? I've never shot a gun at anything but targets." She admitted. "Besides, you know how much it kicks. It might throw off my aim."
"Okay." Karl answered, hefting the long rifle easily. "I'm ready."
"I'm ready." She said picking up the flare gun and staring into the rain for a view of the boats. "Lets get out on deck. We should be able to see the closest boat soon."
Karl checked the setting of the steering before lashing it in position and checking the throttle, then glanced one last time at the radar, before he followed her outside and forward. Neither of them bothered to put on rain gear, but Karl protected the firing mechanism of the black powder rifle with one hand.
"There it is." He whispered, pointing off their bow on the port side.
Linda dropped to one knee on the deck, resting the barrel of the flare gun on the hand rail.
"I'm ready to shoot the flare any time." She whispered.
Karl guessed where the rest of the boats were and nodded his head.
"Fire the flare upward and above the center of the string of boats." He said quietly as he knelt and steadied the barrel of the rifle on the handrail as well. "Okay, do it. Now!"
In the dim light he could just make out the shape of the first boat and he realised that it was either a wooden or fibre glass boat. Karl decided at the last instant that he should hole its bow, so he drew a bead on the hull near the water line. In the brief flash of light as the flare shot skyward, Karl pulled the trigger, aiming at the bow wave of the boat. The sharp whoosh of the flare must have startled the operator of the boat near them because the engine revved and it shot forward just as the black powder rifle thundered loudly. In the damp weather you could feel the shock wave of the explosion in your bones and even pointed away, the noise made Karl's ears ring.
"Damn." He said quietly and almost instantaneously.
He lowered the rifle knowing that the boat had run forward into the shot. The boom of the rifle had been almost instantly followed by a crack-like sound as the shot hit the boat, but that was followed by a strange loud whomp that he couldn't place.
"It's a fucking cannon." He heard a hoarse voice shout.
"Where the hell are they?" Came another voice from farther away, probably from the next boat in line.
Karl was trying to see but the cloud of black powder smoke obscured his vision for a second or two, then as the flare lit the water far away, a corresponding flash of fire lit the water much nearer. The nearby flash was accompanied by a sharp boom and Karl stared in surprise. The closest boat was on fire and there was a wide hole in its wooden hull just forward of midships.
He could easily see it now from the light of the fire. There were two men on board, one had been in the bow and the other astern, while the fire was amidships and separating them. Karl's shot must have ignited the gas tank. They were soon fighting a losing battle with the flames, shouting loudly at each other as they used fire extinguishers. Karl whipped inside the cabin and cut the throttle. He rapidly reloaded the old rifle as well, then ran back on deck. Linda was still kneeling at the rail, staring at the fire.
"Shit, shit, shit." She was whispering softly.
The 'Skolka' was still moving ahead and the boat was falling astern. The flare had gone out, so the only light was from the fire.
"Let it burn and jump Dave." They heard another voice coming out of the mist and rain. "We'll pick you up."
In the added light of the fire, Karl could see another boat come close.
"The bastard shot us." Came the hoarse voice Karl had heard before. "Get closer. I don't want to get wet."
"Shut up and jump, I'm not getting any closer to that fire and I want to listen for their engine. They might be coming back."
In the sudden silence there were two loud splashes, then the sounds of disturbed water as the two men swam energetically to the second boat. Since they were still moving and gradually drawing apart, Karl could no longer make out the men or the boat, just the glow of the fire in the rain and mist
"Did you hear that fucking cannon?"
"Yeah, it's lucky you shot off that flare."
"I didn't shoot the flare. They did it, so they could see us clearly."
"Shut up, everyone. They're still out there and I can't hear a damn thing so they must be drifting. That's got to be a fucking gunboat to have a cannon like that. Do you think they'd only have one shell? They could shoot another one at any time. We might be their next target."
In the silence, Karl grinned and reached into the cabin for the whistle lanyard. Glancing at the steam gauge he saw the safety was about to blow anyway, so he pulled long and hard, then let it go and signed for Linda to be quiet.
"Holy Shit." Someone yelled. "What was that?"
"That's a ship and they're right behind us."
"No they're in front of us." Another argued.
"I don't give a fuck where they are? Let's get to fuck out of here." Another screamed. "I don't want to get run over by a freighter."
"Linda, fire another flare over them." Karl said, quietly hoping she had reloaded the flare gun.
She looked at him in surprise but raised the pistol and fired again. As the flare rose upward he heard new cries from the men in the boats.
"Holy Shit, they're attacking again." One voice shouted.
"Where the fuck are they?" Another voice responded.
To add to their terror, he aimed the rifle high in the air and fired again. There was a second's silence following the boom of the rifle, then a babble of screaming voices.
Karl had to chuckle as he heard the outboard rev up to race away, then the sound of the engine seemed to lessen to be joined by shouting voices then almost instantly other outboards joined the race away from them toward the shore of the island. He stepped back into the cabin and watched the receding dots on the radar as they followed the curving shoreline and then entered a harbour. Linda came inside as well.
"I hope nobody got hurt." She said in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. "I don't know what happened. Weren't you trying to aim to miss altogether? I thought you were just trying to scare them?"
"I was at first, but I decided it would slow them down if I put a hole in their hull at the water line, but flare must have startled the driver I guess. Their boat leaped forward when the flare went off, but I think hitting their gas tank and setting their boat on fire was the best possible thing that could have happened after all. " He chuckled. "From what they did say, I don't think anyone was hurt, but I think they're certain that we've got a navy gunboat complete with a cannon of some sort. I'll bet it will be while before they try to sink another boat."
He threw the throttle of the engine into forward again and then slipped his arm around her shoulder.
"It couldn't have worked out better." He chuckled pulling her close and hugging her tightly. "They aren't going to bother us again and from now on they're going to be worried that we may come back. Once we get well clear of this vicinity, I'm going to fake a call to the coast guard, giving a report about pirates in the area and cut off the broadcast in the middle, like we got sunk or something. That'll do two things, it'll report them and as well it'll tie up the local coast guard and keep them from checking for stray boats further away; meaning us."
Linda was shivering, Karl assumed she was cold from the damp clothes she was wearing.
"Maybe you should change your clothes." He said quietly.
"I guess." She whispered and pulled out of his arms to slip downstairs.
She was gone quite a while. Karl heard the shower running and realised she was showering as well as changing. He kept an eye on their speed and direction but spent some time as well scanning the radio channels for any traffic that he thought might be related. In his spare time he cleaned the old rifle and looked around the cabin for somewhere to hang it, grinning to himself. The government had insisted that he take out a licence in order for him to keep the damn thing after he'd made it, but had told him that he had to keep it in his home. Well, the boat was his home, at least for part of the year, so it was legal to have it here.
There were several pegs along the roof beams and he lifted the rifle and hung it there, taking the time to check that it hung solidly. It looked almost like the pegs had been put up there just to hold it, then he recalled that this had been a fish boat and that years ago fishermen had often shot seals when they bothered the nets, so the pegs could very well have been installed to hold a rifle. He put the powder and shot on a shelf and then cleaned the flare gun as well, before hanging it back in its place, tucking all the flares away under the chart table in a cupboard.
The weather was slowly easing but Karl was hoping it wouldn't clear completely. Linda came back up into the wheelhouse with a cup of coffee for him but was strangely quiet, and soon disappeared below to make them a meal. While they ate, she was quiet for a long time and they ate in silence, but as they were having an after lunch coffee, she opened up.
"Karl, we could have been killed back there."
"Um hmm." He responded, looking at her sitting at the chart table. "But you did a swell job, you were right where I needed you and did exactly the right thing."
"You could have accidentally killed those men." She whispered.
"Now wait a minute." Karl said quietly. "Do you think they'd have been easier on us? I mean they were trying to wreck the boat, there is some sort of barrier in that pass and they were following us to make sure we ran into it. I was just protecting us."
"But we were already past them. We didn't have to do that."
"I think we did. They stepped well outside the law and were trying to steal from others, one way or the other. When they were just following us into the pass and it was blocked, the right thing to do would have been to speed up and warn us. Instead they held back, then when we did turn around, they ran. What made me think we had to defend ourselves violently was the fact that they came back with help. A boat this size would be quite a prize for them and they wanted it."
"I guess." She said, in an irresolute tone.
"I know." He said firmly. "If you noticed, there were rifles in that boat and the boats were spaced out in a line across the water trying to intercept us. They had decided they wanted this boat and I think they were willing to do anything to get it. I think they'd have shot us without too much fuss."
Linda was silent and Karl didn't feel like having an argument, so he didn't say anything either, instead he turned up the volume on the radio and tuned it to the weather.
" ... light to moderate north westerly with constant light rainfall and heavy mists until later this evening with a possibility of heavy fog tonight and a possibility of rising winds and heavy rainfall late tonight or in the early morning. An incoming low pressure system will probably bring on a general small craft warning throughout the whole of the forecast area by noon tomorrow with a possibility of extremely heavy rainfall. If the trough deepens as expected, there will be a good possibility of gale warnings by tomorrow evening and extreme weather conditions for several days. . . ."
"Damn." Karl growled changing the tuning to another band on the radio. "That's all we need. I just hope the winds hold off until after we've picked up George and his family."
"Will we be all right in a gale?" Linda asked quietly.
"Oh, sure." Karl reassured her. "This boat was built to cruise the outer coast and no storm in this area can stir up the waves like they get out there, there just isn't enough distance for the waves to build as high. I'm just worried about picking up George before it gets too rough. If we have to pick them up on the water, they'll be in a small boat and it could get easily swamped in heavy weather."
"Oh, can't we go near the shore? Don't they have a dock?"
"Who knows, but you know what the tsunami did to all the wharfs back in the bay? They were wiped out completely, so their dock may be gone and since we draw more than five feet of water at the keel, we can't get very close to the shore without a dock of some sort. Remember too, George is in a wheelchair so he can't do anything athletic. We might even have to hoist him aboard with the crane."
"Oh." Linda said quietly. "If they're in a small boat, will you lift it right onto the deck?"
"If I can, that would be the simplest, but even if you're at the wheel, I should have someone else to help me with the crane. If there's no wind, it won't be bad, but from the sounds of that forecast it could be rough."
"Well, let's not look for trouble." Linda smiled softly. "Let's just hope the forecast is wrong."
"Yeah." Karl sighed. "Do you happen to remember the name of Tom Bourgogne's boat? He had the marina back in the bay where you were."
"Sure, and I even remember the registration number. It was the 'Silverfish', number 14KZ30659, the reason I remember it is that it was the next number after mine. We went together to register our boats, why?"
"Well, we've been travelling for an hour since we left those pirates and if you listen, there's no one on the emergency band. We're far enough from where they tried to scuttle us that I think I can safely report them." He said as he wrote down the numbers on a pad.
"But why do you need Tom's boat number and name?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure it was one of those wrecks back in the bay where I found you. I'm sure it's a wreck already, but the coast guard doesn't know that. I can use the number and give them a boat to search for and I'll make sure they're searching in this area."
"Oh, I see, is there any way I can help? I do feel that those crooks should be stopped."
"Well maybe, when I'm on the radio and if I point my finger at you, lean close, scream loudly and then cut off the scream sharply."
"Just scream?"
"Yeah, I may need it for dramatic effect."
"Well, all right." She looked puzzled.
Karl tuned the radio to the emergency band and listened for several minutes. It was relatively clear. He glanced down at the name and number of Tom's boat and then signalled Linda to silence. Picking up the microphone he tried to make his voice excited and shrill as he spoke.
"Mayday. Mayday." He glanced at the numbers again. "This is the 'Silverfish' registry number 14KZ30659, we're at Pig Island and we're being attacked by pirates. They're going to board us. Mayday, Mayday, please help."
He paused for a moment and just listened. Linda was silent as well, studying his face. Then they heard a crackle and a weak voice answer his call.
"Vancouver coast guard, calling 'Silverfish' please repeat your message and give your location. Over."
Karl looked at Linda.
"I need the location off the chart, just make it close to the pass. I won't answer them directly, as if we can't hear, but I will give the info they want."
Linda jumped up and grabbed the pad, quickly writing down the exact location of the pass where they'd first seen the roughnecks they'd had their skirmish with. As soon as he had the numbers, Karl lifted the microphone again.
"Mayday, Mayday this is the 'Silverfish'." He paused and then gave the latitude and longitude as clearly as he could, then broke off the signal.
There was brief pause, then the weak answer came back.
"Vancouver Coast Guard, calling the 'Silverfish' Please state the nature of your emergency. Over"
Karl waited for a moment and then smiled at Linda.
"Mayday, Mayday. Please someone answer me. This is the 'Silverfish' in the pass at Pig Island. There are five boats of pirates behind us, shooting rifles and shotguns at us. We don't dare turn around and they've got the pass blocked with wreckage. The current is so strong we can't turn around." Karl said in a rush. "Someone please help. They're shooting again. Mayday, Mayday."
He pointed at Linda, who leaned forward and screamed loudly, then let the scream die in a blood curdling gargle.
"My god, they've shot my wife." Karl said loudly.
He lifted his thumb from the contact switch to stop sending, then set down the microphone.
"A little theatrical, don't you think." He said and grinned at Linda.
"Well, you said I was to die." She grinned back. "I tried to make it convincing."
"Calling the 'Silverfish.' Come in 'Silverfish.' This is Seattle Search and Rescue. Come in please." Came a stronger signal from the radio.
"Hah." Karl said quietly. "Now we've got the Yanks on the hook too. The question is, do we answer and repeat our supposed location or do we let the 'Silverfish' sink and let the Vancouver Coast Guard pass on the location to them?"
"Let's wait a while and just listen." Linda suggested.
"Okay."
They waited a moment or two and heard Vancouver and Seattle both try to contact the 'Silverfish' and were about to answer one more time when Seattle came back strongly.
"Vancouver Coast Guard, this is Seattle Search and Rescue in regard to the vessel 'Silverfish.' Do you have an accurate location, please?"
"Seattle, this is Vancouver. That's affirmative." They repeated the location Karl had given them. "We show that location as a pair of Islands often referred to locally as Pig Island and there is a Pig Island Pass that is navigable but extremely narrow in sections. The 'Silverfish' is registered as a thirty-six-foot aluminum fishing vessel capable of seven knots and the current in that pass is estimated at ten knots during a flood tide. The international border runs approximately two miles from that location, but it would appear the vessel is on the American side. We have dispatched a hovercraft to investigate, and it should arrive inside of ninety minutes, but if you prefer we will withdraw."
"Thank you, Vancouver. Please allow your vessel to continue. Our vessel will take longer to arrive. Please do not use force unless absolutely necessary but be prepared, this sounds extremely serious. Our men will assume responsibility upon arrival."
"Thank you, Seattle. Vancouver out."
"Thank you, Vancouver. Please keep us posted. Seattle over and out."
Karl looked at Linda and grinned widely.
"That takes care of that, now as long as we don't run into the Yankee boat, we've reported the 'pirates' without being directly implicated."
"What bothers me is that the Search and Rescue boats might have been rescuing someone else and gotten pulled off to go on a wild goose chase." Linda said quietly.
"They don't work that way." Karl said slowly. "At least the Canadians don't, if they don't have a boat free, they don't respond quickly, they call for local boats to come to their assistance."
"So we wouldn't be calling them off of an emergency?"
"Nope, at least I don't think so and someone has to control those bastards. I wouldn't want anyone else falling into their trap."
"Oh I know and even if I don't like it, I agree." Linda said quietly. "Would you like another coffee?"
"Sure, and I was wondering if you could take a nap. Later on I'm going to ask you to take the wheel for a while, I want to rest for a bit so I'll be in fair shape for later. If I can, I'll let you rest again then, but I'll need you to be awake and in good shape when we get down to pick up George and his crew."
"I'm not really tired now, but I might be able to rest a bit." She said quietly as she went below. "I'll get you a coffee first though."
Karl did his best to put the episode with the men he now referred to as pirates out of his mind, checking the weather once more, hoping for an improvement but was disappointed. If anything, the forecast was even worse than before. He took that into account as well as the fact that he expected a boat to come racing from the general direction of Seattle, so he altered his course slightly and kept the boat running at almost full throttle. With the help the boat was getting from the wind off the stern quarter, they were making good time but the wind was definitely getting stronger so the boat was becoming more difficult to control. He looked at his charts again as Linda brought his coffee to him.
"The weather doesn't look good for later tonight or tomorrow morning." He said quietly. "But if we keep up this pace, we're going to be early getting down there, we may be able to take a break for a few hours if we can find shelter somewhere."
"Is it going to get rough?" Linda asked.
"If the weather system they're forecasting comes in, it's going to be really rough." Karl said quietly. "We'll have rain and wind as well as high waves."
"Oh, I was going to start a stew, since George said they hadn't been eating too well. I thought that might be appropriate."
"Well, normally it would be great, but if it's really rough it will only make them sea sick."
"How about if I make it anyway, then if the weather turns out to be not too bad, they can have a good hot meal to warm them up. If it gets that rough, we can put it in the cooler to keep it. Then eat it when the weather calms down."
"Okay." Karl agreed. "But when you're cooking be sure to put the guards up on the stove and use the tie-downs on the pot to keep it from sliding off if we get some bad waves. I know the stove is gimbaled but I've never used it in really heavy weather, and I really don't know how much worse it's going to get or even how soon it will happen. It looks like we're in for a big one though. Look at the barometer. It's dropping like a stone."
"Okay, I'll put on the stew on low heat and then try to lie down for a bit. If you need me, just call."
She bent and kissed him on the cheek, but before he could pull her into a hug, she slipped away and down the steps into the galley. He glanced after her, feeling slightly worried that she seemed to have been changed by their brush with the pirates.
Left alone, Karl spent his time for the next few hours watching the weather, monitoring the radio and guiding the boat toward their destination. He had never been out in the 'Skolka' in weather quite as rough as this was getting to be and he was astounded to find how well she handled and responded. Even in ten foot whitecaps, she was reasonably stable and although he had to keep constant attention, the 'Skolka' seemed amazingly stable. She was so stable that as the odour of the stew started to work its way up from the galley, he grew quite hungry and was surprised that he felt no signs of queasiness or seasickness. For some reason he even thought he could smell fresh baked bread and he was actually salivating, but didn't dare leave the wheel to satisfy his curiosity or his hunger.
Just as he was finally unable to resist any longer and was about to lash the wheel and go below to find something to satisfy his hunger, Linda poked her head up from below, carrying a plate of stew and a huge slab of fresh baked bread.
"Hungry dear?" She asked with a grin. "I'll take the wheel while you eat."
"You are wonderful." Karl laughed. "The smell of that stew was driving me nuts. I'm starved."
Linda laughed in delight as she took the wheel.
"I already ate." She explained. "And I'm astounded, being below decks I expected to get sea sick, but I'm fine."
"Um hm, me too." Karl mumbled around a mouthful of stew.
"Once I get used to it, I'm going to love that galley. I checked the freezer and I used a couple of your steaks to make the stew. I thawed them in the microwave and I found a loaf of frozen bread too, so I baked it. Do you mind?"
"Unh uh." Karl managed around another mouthful. "S' wonderful."
Linda laughed softly. "I'll shut up until you've eaten."
Karl just grinned and kept on eating, he was hungry but he also didn't want to be away from the wheel for any length of time, just in case Linda had any problems. He realised then that they would have to be in better weather before he would feel safe to leave her in control of the boat, either that or else he would have to be more certain of her abilities. As he polished the plate with the last of his bread, he wondered how he could express his feelings without offending Linda. At last he looked up at her with a deep sigh.
"I was hungry." He smiled at her. "And that was excellent."
"No shit, for a while I thought you were inhaling that stew but I'm glad you enjoyed it." She said quietly, her face quite sober. "Now would you take the wheel again? I don't feel confident in this storm. I've never been out in anything like this."
Karl rapidly rethought his feelings and decided she needed the experience at the controls.
"In a few minutes, if you can do it just a little longer." He said quietly. "I need the can right now."
"Oh, okay, but hurry would you? I'd rather you were here if I run into a problem."
"Okay." He said over his shoulder as he went below. "I'll be back shortly."
He was only gone for a few moments and when he returned he found several excuses to do small jobs, keeping her at the wheel until she began to relax a bit.
"You're doing this intentionally." She accused.
"What?" He said, trying to sound innocent.
"Keeping me at the wheel until I feel more confident." She glared at him. "In case you didn't know it, this damn thing is hard to keep straight. I don't have your muscles or your weight."
"Swing just a bit more away from the wind, let it come right up the stern for a while." Karl said quietly, coming closer, but not offering to take the wheel again.
Linda swung ship slightly, checking over her shoulder for wind direction and was able to relax somewhat. The boat rode much easier and took the waves even better, there was less swing than ever to their motion.
"Won't this make it hard on us later? We're going off course now." She said quietly.
"Not that badly, I was going to have to change course soon anyway." He gestured toward the chart, then out the windshield slightly off to one side. "We're going to try to pick up some shelter from a couple of islands in a while and they're off in that direction. We have to be careful not to come too close to them before we swing into their shelter but even at this heading we have a little leeway."
She stayed at the helm for the next hour or more, at first he stood at her side and later he tried to ready the boat even more than it had been, even taking the time to go down in the engine room and check over everything there to make sure there were no developing problems with either the engine or the boiler. On the way back to the bridge, he grabbed two cups of coffee to take up with him.
"Oh, there you are. Thanks for the coffee." She sighed. "I think I can just make out the American patrol boat on the radar. I was just going to call you."
He studied the screen for a moment, then grinned. The blip on the screen was at least five miles away and on a slightly different course as well as moving in the opposite direction.
"Thank goodness they're so far away and slogging their way against the storm while we're travelling with the wind. With so much flotsam in the water the last while, they must think we're just a derelict. Besides, we have a mighty small radar profile. I doubt if they'll bother trying to check on us. The only thing that might alert them is our speed and since we're travelling with the wind, it's not going to be that noticeable. Has there been anything on the radio?"
"Nothing at all in the last while." She answered. "Could you take the wheel? I need the little girl's room."
"Oh, sure." He took over and she slipped away.
The vessel on the radar was making surprisingly good time against the wind while they were travelling at a good clip with it, so by the time Linda was back from below, it was off the radar screen and well behind them.
With the heavy clouds and the rain as well as the lateness in the day, it was growing dark and Karl was growing a bit concerned that they were coming up on the small island chain where he was heading because they were going to be heading into relatively unknown waters in the dark. They were going to have to depend on the radar and the GPS as well as their charts, because it was somewhere that Karl had never been in his own boat. He had travelled around them, but with someone else at the helm on a totally different boat, so he wasn't familiar with the area. He wanted to be in the lee of the islands, using them as a shelter from the storm and if possible he was hoping to heave to while he was on the radio with George again.
He explained all this to Linda as they drank their coffee and she did her best to reassure him, but admitted that she had never been there before. She was the first to make out the outline of the islands on the radar screen and Karl had to swing the 'Skolka' onto a heading that had the wind coming from their starboard side. With the running waves of the storm and the reflected waves from the shore, the sea was in constant and erratic motion. One of the coffee cups slipped from the shelf retainer and smashed, while the cat abandoned his position on the window sill for a safer spot almost at Karl's feet. Linda was forced to hold on and Karl struggled with the wheel several times to hold their course in the battering waves. The ride was extremely rough for a few moments and then suddenly they were in much calmer water.
Karl heaved a sigh of relief.
"Yeah." Linda laughed, almost a giggle of relief. "I wouldn't want to be out here if we had to put up with much of that."
"I wouldn't either." Karl grinned. "Keep an eye out would you, there should be a buoy ahead and on our right, if it survived the tsunami."
"Do we dare use the searchlight?"
"Why not?" Karl laughed. "This island is uninhabited and I'm not worried about people being out in this storm anyway. Besides we need to find that buoy. It marks the entrance to a bay where we're going to anchor for a while."
"Anchor? Here? I thought we were in a rush to get to George's?"
"Sorry, I guess I never told you. George lives on the last island in this chain. We're where we have to be in general, but I'm not about to try to hold position in this storm. We can moor here in shelter temporarily, since no one lives on this island. That's because it's small and has no water, besides it only has one small bay that can be used as a harbour and then only in winds from the north. I don't even know the name of it, but George calls it Jack Knife Island, because it's shaped like a jack knife with one blade partly open, the opening between the handle and the blade forms the bay. In a southerly wind, it gets battered terribly, but we can use it for shelter tonight and we should be completely safe. After we talk to George, we can just cruise over and pick him up."
"Oh sure." Linda laughed sardonically. "We're going to pick up a paraplegic, as well as women and kids, who are all crammed into a small boat and we're going to do it in the midst of gale force winds. No problem."
"It could be worse." Karl laughed easily. "Right now we need to find that buoy and the bay."
They didn't find the buoy, but by using the searchlight and the GPS as well as the charts, they did find the bay and before full dark they were safely moored with both a bow and stern anchor. They were both tired and Karl was so relieved that he felt it tremendously. Linda encouraged him to lie down for a while since she had napped for a short while earlier. He argued, but gave in and lay down to rest after he had made her promise to awaken him in lots of time to call George.