Chapter Twenty Three
Karl decided he needed to sit down and digest all that he had learned so he went back inside, only to find Keri and Ely in a heated discussion.
"How can you blame the military for things that happened before they even got here?" Ely was asking.
"Well, for heaven's sake, they knew what was going on." Keri said excitedly. "They could easily have warned us to be on the look out for trouble."
George interrupted to ask if she felt that they should put in an official complaint and Keri nodded.
"I think we have to, Dad." Keri whispered, then her voice got louder. "I think this whole thing was handled poorly. Trudy wouldn't have been hurt and I wouldn't have been raped if the Navy had let us know that those bastards were around. We wouldn't even have been out there because of the danger and if we had decided that we absolutely had to go out of the house, we sure as hell would have been a lot more careful."
"They probably felt they couldn't say much more than they did on an open radio channel." George said quietly. "For all they knew, the fugitives could have been listening in to every word they spoke."
"Oh Shit!" Keri almost screamed. "The crooks already knew that the Navy and the cops were after them. If the Navy would have had a sense of decency they would have warned everyone of what was going on, then people could have taken precautions. Trudy got beat up and I got raped because some dip-shit admiral in the fucking Navy thought he could get a feather in his cap for catching those bastards by keeping facts from people. You've always taught us that information is the key to survival, well in this case, someone screwed us by not passing on to us information that they had that would have protected us from harm."
"She's right in some ways, George." Karl said quietly. "I'd never have done things the way I did if I'd know what I was dealing with. I sure as hell wouldn't have let Trudy and Keri walk back from the other house unguarded. Actually, I'm not sure if I wouldn't have insisted that we all travel together for safety, Ely and I weren't exactly safe either because we weren't expecting an attack."
"So you agree with her contention that while the Navy had information which we could have used to protect ourselves and that their withholding that same information caused you to be less cautious than you needed to be?" George asked quietly."Do you feel that the act of doing that was deliberate?"
"Oh sure it was Daddy." Keri snarled. "Although they probably felt that they were acting completely safely and reasonably, this isn't a normal situation, so they tried to compensate. They probably reasoned that they were doing it to prevent people from panicking. What they seem to have forgotten is that on one hand they had ordered people not to travel and on the other hand they were effectively hiding the fact that dangerous criminals were skulking around who were moving freely."
"Now don't you go off half-cocked Dad." Ely said quietly. "I don't want to hear that you were on the radio screaming at some politician friend of yours about this situation. At least not until they've caught the last of the bastards hiding out here."
"I most certainly will not." George said quietly. "I think some of the personnel that they have sent to assist us are top notch and I would dislike having them tarred with the same brush as the idiots whom I feel planned this whole operation. For instance I believe Commander Davis, Doctor Baker, and Springfield are excellent people. Unfortunately in order to prevent them from looking bad at the present time, I feel we must wait patiently and then shake up the whole idiotic methodology that we have been shown."
"Daddy, I'm not sure what you mean." Keri sighed as if she gave up trying to convince him. "And to be honest, right now, I really don't care."
Karl sighed heavily as well. "What he's trying to say is that he wants the Navy to get the crooks out of here and then he wants to rip them a new ass hole."
"Karl!" Ely protested.
"Well, it's true. Isn't it George?" He demanded. "Just what would you have done differently if you'd been in charge of Navy intelligence?"
"I'm not certain." George looked at him strangely. "I thought you were angry about the way they handled things?"
"Oh, I am annoyed with them, I just can't think of any other way that they could have handled it without creating even greater problems." Karl replied. "Until I can think of a better way that it could have been done, I can't see how I can complain."
"But not two minutes ago you said that you would have handled things differently if you had been warned of the criminal element that was involved. Aren't you contradicting yourself?"
"Not really. Look, all I can say is that hindsight is twenty - twenty. I can't see the Navy putting out a public broadcast about someone smuggling radioactive materials either. Can you imagine the panic that would have caused?"
"But they could have simply warned people that there were four dangerous criminals . . ."
"But they didn't know there were four of them, they didn't know for sure how many there were. In fact, they didn't even know that they were still alive. Why create unrest when they were trying their best to help people get their lives back to normal? They weren't certain that there even was a danger. The crooks could have drowned in the storm or a thousand other things." Karl sighed deeply again. "Look, I don't like playing devil's advocate, but in this case I don't think we can afford to make unfounded accusations. We don't dare offend the help we have. We need the doctor, we need the troops, and we certainly need their goodwill ..."
"But Karl, I wasn't about to rock the boat until we were certain that we were okay and . . ." George interrupted.
"George, Karl was speaking, don't interrupt him when you asked him to explain." Trudy snapped.
"Thanks Trudy." Karl smiled. "Look George, right now we can't even afford to worry about it amongst ourselves or it will affect our actions toward the people who are here to help us. Now, Don Davis is an old friend. I can talk to him about . . . well, just about anything. I'm certain he isn't about to leave here without talking to me again or at least without leaving a way for me to contact him. I plan on talking to him about my thoughts and I might be quite critical, but it will be between friends. He's an exceptionally good ally to have, first of all, because he is a friend and second, because his word is going to carry some clout."
"Isn't that almost sleeping with the enemy, if we are trying to affix blame for what happened?"
"George, I affixed the blame rather permanently this afternoon." Karl growled. "The guy who was to blame for our real troubles is dead."
Having said his piece, Karl stood up and walked outside. He'd hardly gotten seated out on the front porch when he heard the door open behind him. Since he was starting to feel annoyed and didn't want to snap at someone, he decided he wasn't going to get involved in another discussion right then. He tried his best to ignore the presence of the person that moved over and sat on another deck chair.
"Sometimes Daddy can be a pain in the ass." Keri finally spoke. "I have to admit, now that I think about it, you're closer to right than I was."
Karl's head snapped around in surprise.
"What the hell?" He blurted. "What are you doing out here?"
"Talking to a friend." She smiled sadly and shivered. "And fighting off about a thousand demons."
"But. . . ."
She raised her hand silencing him instantly.
"Just being out here in the open is scaring the shit out of me." She said quietly, almost whispering. "It's terrifying. There could be a hundred men hiding out there, watching me and waiting for the second I'm alone to attack. I know it's crazy but that's what I feel."
She sighed deeply. "Hell, even having you sitting next to me doesn't seem to help much. I know I can trust you, but you're still a man and . . . aww hell, I'm scared of everyone. I think that bastard hurt my psyche more than he hurt my body and I don't know of a bandaid I can put on that."
"Whatever I can do. . . ." Karl gestured almost futilely as he let his words trail off.
"Oh I know that in my head, it's getting it through to my heart that's going to be the problem." She interrupted again. "Look, the real reason I came out here is because I think I see what you're getting at and I wanted you to understand how I feel before you talk to your friend, the Navy guy."
"Okay, I'll listen." Karl said shortly.
"Okay, here it is in a nutshell. I agree that we could have used a warning but in a way I agree with you. I don't think it was possible for them to warn us because of the circumstances at that time. The problem is that I don't know if we understand all the circumstances. If some high-muckity-muck-braided bastard of an admiral decided to withhold the fact that the smugglers were running around because he felt it improved their chances of catching them, then I want his balls for bookends. But if the decision was made because they felt it would panic people, I don't feel as strongly that someone needs his ass kicked."
"Huh, you're more liberal than I am." Karl growled. "If the idea that keeping it secret because it improved the chances of catching them even entered the discussion for more than a passing instant, I'd like to see that someone gets a full dressing down and maybe there should be some strong disciplinary action taken."
"Oh, I imagine it did."
"Yeah, but we'll never find that out." Karl snapped. "The military protects its own."
"Everyone protects their own." She sighed. "Look at us. We do it too. You do your best to protect us and in return, we want to protect you. It's basic human nature, you try to protect your tribe, or your family, or whatever group you're part of."
"I suppose." Karl said quietly. "Sometimes I feel like a huge failure at it though."
"Karl, don't you dare blame yourself for what happened."
"I can't help it, just like you can't help being afraid or. . . ." He paused as he heard the door open again and turned to look over his shoulder.
It was Linda, looking like she was afraid she was interrupting.
"Come on out." Karl said quietly.
"All I wanted was to tell you two that Ely and I have something to eat on the table." She said quietly.
"Oh, okay thanks, we'll be in to join you in just a moment." Karl said, slowly shifting forward to get to his feet.
"Are you hurting?" Keri asked, looking back and seeing that Linda had gone inside.
"I'll survive." Karl grunted. "But I should have had another pain pill."
"Oh, let me help." Keri said and moved to grab an arm, helping him to his feet.
When he was standing, she suddenly realised what she'd done. She gasped and actually pulled back slightly.
"What's wrong?" Karl asked.
"I touched you." She moaned softly and then turned to run inside.
Karl followed her, frowning heavily. He saw her running up the stairs.
"What did I do?" He called, but she didn't answer.
"What's wrong?" Ely demanded.
"I don't know, I was stiff and she helped me get out of that damn folding chair, then she squawked something about touching me and ran off."
"Oh." Ely sighed.
Then, after glancing around the room at the rest of the family, she explained to him what was going on, how Keri felt that she was somehow contaminated and that she was actually afraid to touch anyone. She had hardly gotten done with her explanation when there was a knock on the door. Linda was closest and opened it, to be met by the doctor.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting your meal, but I was hoping to catch Karl before he ate." Dr. Baker said quietly.
"Well, I haven't eaten yet."
"Good." She smiled at him. "I'd like you to take one of these pills. It's for your pain and stiffness from arthritis. They're new and supposed to be very good, but you have to take them with food."
"How did you know I was hurting?" Karl asked, taking the small vial from her.
"I was on my way up here to give them to you and saw you trying to get up. Did I see Keri outside and trying to help you get up?"
"Yeah. Then she mumbled something about touching me and ran off upstairs. Ely was just trying to explain and . . ."
"I'd better go see her if you don't mind." Dr. Baker interrupted.
"Please, go for it." Karl waved her past.
Upstairs, Keri was laying on the bed, wanting to cry but not able to. As she heard footsteps on the stairs, her temper was rising, she readied herself to give whoever was coming to disturb her a piece of her mind.
"I just wanted to be alone, damn it! Why do they have to disturb me?" She raged to herself.
"Hi." Dr. Baker said quietly. "I thought maybe you'd like to talk to someone outside of your family, but if you'd like to be alone, I can come back another time."
Keri opened her mouth to ask her to please go, then simply let the air out of her lungs in a gust. Instead of ordering the doctor away, she waved her hand at a chair near the bed. The doctor smiled slightly and closed the bedroom door before she came over to sit down, then to Keri's surprise, she simply waited.
"Well, what did you want?" Keri finally demanded after a moment.
"Oh, I didn't want anything." She smiled. "I thought you might want someone to scream at who wouldn't be offended by your anger."
Keri stared at her in surprise for a few seconds and then actually got a ghost of a smile on her lips.
"How did you know I wanted to scream at someone?"
"Oh, I know a little bit about frustration." The doctor smiled. "Being a doctor and in the military as well, I run across my fair share of stone walls. I know a little bit about fear as well and about anger, so I'm here to be a sounding board."
"Well, just between you and me, a lot of my anger is about the fact that the Navy didn't warn us about those bastards being around."
"I can certainly understand that. If I were in your position, I'd probably feel the same."
"You don't agree, of course."
"It doesn't matter if I agree or not. Someone far higher in the chain of command than I am made the decision of how the whole thing was handled. My job is to help pick up the pieces and help you put your life back together."
"That might be quite a job. I feel like my whole world is screwed up."
"Oh, not as badly as you seem to think." The doctor smiled. "I saw you offer help to Karl a little while ago. Then I suppose you realised what you'd done, and you ran off. Right?"
"Yeah, you got that right." Keri actually shivered.
"Hey, that's progress, actually amazing progress."
"Fran, you're full of shit!" Keri snapped. "I had hold of his hand and suddenly I felt creepy, just from touching him."
"Honey, the progress is that you even went out there, alone with him and then to top it off, you touched him, you reached out to him and you touched him."
"But Karl gets hurting so much at times. . . ." Keri paused.
"Unh huh, and you love him, right."
"Yeah . . . I do. I love him a lot and I don't want to see him hurting. Even more than that I don't want anything to happen to our baby, but I'm so bloody scared that something will go wrong now."
"Well, that's one thing I need to talk to you about." Fran paused, then continued. "Tomorrow or the next day, I want to go into Victoria with you and Trudy. I want to get you to have an ultrasound so we can check that the baby is okay and I want to have some x-rays taken of Trudy's neck and shoulders."
"The ultrasound in the hospital is okay? The earthquake didn't destroy it?"
"Yes, and I have your name down on a priority list to get you checked."
"How do I rate a priority?"
"Not many people are attacked by a wild-man. By the way, from the blood tests we had done on him, he was high on PCP, that's why he managed to break free and probably why he was so devastating in his attack."
Keri drew a deep breath and slowly let it out, then her lower lip quivered as she asked: "If you've done blood tests, did he have any diseases that I might catch?"
"So far no, he was clean, but there is one test still in process."
"The HIV test, I suppose?" Keri whispered.
"Yes, but after actually seeing the man, then hearing the results of the other tests and results of the interviews with the other men, I somehow doubt if he was HIV positive."
"But you said he was on PCP? That means he was a drug user, doesn't that up the chances of his being infected?"
"Normally yes, but PCP is different, it can be snorted, swallowed, or injected. It seems he took it orally. I would have noticed the needle tracks if he'd been shooting up." The doctor sighed. "One of the other men who was captured told us that Karpichov wouldn't even have been near you if he hadn't overused in the last while. He actually swam across the stream trying to save his dog from drowning after the dog got knocked into the stream by a landslide. It seems he misjudged and had to swim for his life. That's how he got to the other side of the stream from the rest of them. The part I find astounding is that he swam back after Karl shot him."
"We saw that dog get drowned in the whirlpools at the entrance to the cut." Keri said quietly. "The dog had to have been in the water for a long time at that point, just to get washed that far across the bay. That means Karpichov could have been watching us when we were down at the dock. Omigod, I just thought, he must have followed us up the hill."
"That's quite possible, in fact since he was described as being deeply committed to that dog and high on PCP, he may have transferred the blame for his dog's death onto you. PCP has some very strange effects at times."
"Jeez, he could have killed us all, have you told the others downstairs about all this?"
"No, I thought you deserved to know first."
"No damn it, Trudy and Karl need to know too. NOW! Let's go down and you can tell them as well." Keri jumped out of bed and grabbed the doctor by the arm.
Fran stood up slowly and smiled at Keri.
"Now, you've just touched someone else voluntarily." She said quietly.
"Who cares? Karl has to know why that madman did what he did. Trudy does too, and Ely, they've all been blaming themselves for everything and if he was on drugs, it's not their fault."
Downstairs they found the family still gathered in the kitchen and just finishing their meal.
"Ah ha, you two decided to join us." Ely said as she saw them. "We saved two pork chops and there are lots of vegetables left. Can I get some plates for you?"
"Fine, but first Fran has some news for everyone." Keri said firmly and turned to the doctor.
Dr. Baker began with her news about the tests as it related to Keri and at Ely's frown she paused, then smiled.
"Keri asked me outright. So I told her that almost all the test results were negative and the only one we don't know about is the HIV test, but that I felt there was a good chance it would be negative as well."
"Oh thank God." Trudy said loudly. "I've worked with AIDS patients and . . ."
Ely just nodded, but she was smiling and crying. Linda was crying too.
"But there's more." Keri said loudly, looking at the doctor in expectation.
She went on to explain about Karpichov's use of PCP and how he had come to swim across the stream. Then Keri broke in with her thought that Karpichov had probably been watching them as they stood on the dock and had more than likely followed them up the hill.
"I hate to sound dumb, but what does PCP do?" Karl asked.
"Well, first off it numbs pain and then it gives the user a feeling of almost superhuman strength. In fact some people feel that it does increase the strength of the drug user by activating the adrenaline glands" Trudy said quietly. "Which would explain why one swipe of his arm knocked me out."
"And why I couldn't seem to fight him off at first." Keri said.
"Which reminds me, how did you get free of him?" Fran asked.
"I threw my head back and I guess I smashed his nose. But then he came back at me, so I kicked him in the balls and he collapsed on top of me. I couldn't seem to get free."
"I think that's where I came in. I hit him over the head with a stick." Trudy added. "He was out long enough that I was able help Keri work her way out from under his body. But in a few moments I saw that he was coming after us again, so I grabbed the shotgun and got off one shot, then Karl came running up and the big son of a bitch ran off."
"Well, one of the other effects of PCP is paranoia." Fran said quietly. "At that point he probably felt that everyone was after him. You're all very lucky though, he could have just as easily have charged at you instead of running away from you. PCP also can make you feel invulnerable and you'll run at danger instead of away from it."
"Cripes, why would anyone take a drug that drove you crazy like that?" Karl frowned.
"Well, it starts out by making you feel exceptionally strong and extremely healthy, as I said, almost invulnerable. The problem is that it's extremely addictive." Fran explained. "Then after a while, it begins to do all sorts of weird things to your mind. I'd say Karpichov was a long term addict and it had him well in its clutches. Eventually it would have probably driven him completely mad."
"You mean you don't think he was totally mad when he attacked us?" Keri stared at her.
"No, I think he was probably delusional and mentally unstable, but he hadn't reached the point of being completely out of sync with his surroundings. He still had enough sense to realise that a gun could kill him."
"I'm not so sure of that." Karl said quietly. "When I chased him down the hill and he came crashing out of the brush, it seemed like he almost dared me to shoot him."
"That could be a combination of the fact that he knew he was wearing a bullet proof vest and he knew that most people aim for the body when they shoot. On top of that, the feeling of invulnerability that the drug gave him would have made him more rash."
Karl simply heaved a deep sigh.
George, who had been extremely quiet for him, cleared his throat and directed his gaze at the doctor. "Would you be so kind as to explain how the four dastards ended up here on the island in the first place? That is, if you know."
"I'm not certain. I did notice in the report from the initial interview with one of the two prisoners that they were wrecked and that they knew the island was inhabited. However the initial report we received was mostly aimed at information for catching the fourth man and also some information for my use. I'm unsure if that was even a question that was asked."
It was George's turn to sigh. "Well, I was hopeful that you would know. It really is of no major importance, it's just that after the rock slide into the cut we are uncertain if we can navigate the channel safely in the 'Skolka' and with so much turmoil in the area it would seem to me that we will have extreme difficulties in obtaining any necessary supplies in the near future."
"Oh, I see, I hadn't even thought of that." She smiled. "I'll mention your concerns to Commander Davis if you'd like. Or perhaps Karl could, it seems the Commander and he are old school chums."
"Well, along those lines I was just wondering, do you think they could fly over the cut with the helicopter tonight at low tide and take a few still photos like those I saw this morning?" Karl asked. "They'd certainly be a help in the future if we have to hire someone who does underwater blasting to clear the channel."
"I'm sure Commander Davis would be glad to provide you with photos and I know that Dave Peacock has saved some of the overhead shots to a disk for you so that you can simply access them with a computer. I'm not sure how well equipped the chopper is, but if he has the equipment, he might be able to even give you stereoscopic shots or perhaps something even better." The doctor smiled. "By the way Ely, I've already had a bite to eat and I should really have my main meal with the others, so I'm going to have to turn down your offer of a meal. In fact, I was thinking that I should return to the command center. I was wondering if Karl would like to accompany me, just to see how the search is progressing and perhaps to speak to Commander Davis about those photos?"
"I'd probably be in the way this time." Karl said quietly.
"He's trying to say that he hasn't had his after dinner cigarette." Ely grinned. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to eat with Keri? He could go out on the porch and have his smoke, then go along with you as well."
"I think it would do him good to miss his cigarette." The doctor smiled back. "And I'm certain that none of our people would feel that Karl or any of you would be in the way. If you were, I'm certain that they'd soon ask you to move."
So after very little discussion, Karl found himself walking beside the doctor as they moved toward the Navy's tents.
"Cripes, what have you got now, five tents?" Karl asked.
"Yes, but then most of them serve double duty. My tent is actually my infirmary as well as sleeping quarters for the female members of our troop and one of the tents is simply a supply tent, used to shelter our spare equipment but it has a separate area that houses the latrines."
"Cripes, I never even thought of that." Karl chuckled.
"Ah, since we're on private land we have to be careful of that sort of thing." She laughed softly. "We're treating this almost like we do a bivouac in the tundra. All human waste and all refuse is contained, then it will be removed when we leave."
Karl just shook his head in wonderment. "Trying to leave no pollution behind huh? Well thanks."
"I wouldn't say no pollution, but we are trying to leave as little behind as possible. We still have the 'grey water' problem from washing and such. I'm afraid with that, we handle through settlement and filtration, then the partially treated water is allowed to drain into the ground."
"It sounds pretty good to me."
They broke off their discussion as they reached the main tent.
"Permission to bring a civilian aboard, Sir?" The doctor asked as she opened the tent flap.
"Karl? Of course Doctor, he's just the man we want to see." Commander Davis said loudly. "Leading Seaman Peacock, you had a question for Karl?"
"Yes sir." He grinned at Karl. "Could you tell us, are there any caves that you know of on the island?"
"Well, there are several openings in the sandstone cliffs at the 'weeping wall' where the springs are and there may be some smaller ones, but I don't really know of any."
"Okay, then I think we may have a problem. So far we haven't found our guy."
"Nowhere?" Karl frowned deeply. "No sign at all?"
"Nope, not even a residual heat trace, it's like he got swallowed up by the earth. We haven't seen any sign of him since this morning on those scans I showed you before."
"OH SHIT! What time were those taken, the photos from this morning?" Karl asked loudly.
"Just after daylight, I'd say about oh six hundred or so. I can check if you need."
"No that's all right. I'm just guessing anyway, but what if he saw the copter and surmised that you were using heat sensing gear? First off, he'd hide, and then since Commander Davis says he's damned intelligent, I'd suspect he'd get as far away as he could as quickly as he could."
"We'd already come to that conclusion." Davis said firmly. "We guessed that he'd immediately run to the cliffs and climbed up them, or rather, we assume he did it as soon as he saw we were done scanning that area."
"What if he didn't do that? What if he was desperate as well as a gambler?" Karl said quietly. "The doctor said that his cousin swam across the stream when he was high on PCP. What if this guy took his cousin's PCP, then found something that floated, and swam out through the cut? It was about high tide then and that would mean he could have swum over top of that rock slide. Hell, if he were a good enough swimmer and he had good floatation, he could make it without using that drug, the PCP stuff. Now on the outside of the island, there are lots of overhangs and caves that he could hide in, at least for a day or two."
"But we've had a minesweeper standing off the outside entrance to the island since early this morning." Someone said.
"Oh for cripes sake." Peacock turned to him. "How hard is it to see a man in the water even if you know where he is? Have you ever been out and gone through a man overboard drill when you had to rescue a dummy with a locator beacon? I have. One day we crisscrossed an area for nearly an hour, unable to find the dummy, and we had the beacon to follow. A man swimming in the water is a bloody small target for visual ID. Especially if the sea is a little rough like it was this morning."
"But what advantage would his hiding on the outer cliffs of the island be?" The doctor asked.
"He could have gambled that we would search the island for a day or two and then perhaps we'd give up because he wasn't that important." Davis said thoughtfully. "Then he could have come back and tried his luck at stealing a small boat, or perhaps just have hidden out for a while, then who knows what he would do?"
"So how do we go about hunting him on those cliffs if he's in a cave? Our helicopter cameras work great from above, but they don't scan sideways very well." Peacock said quietly.
"We aren't going to do all of the hunting, that's why we have support at sea. Put me into radio contact with the Captain of that minesweeper would you? We'll have his men do some patrols around the island for us and scan the cliffs for signs of life. We might as well have the chopper make a swing around the outer verges of the island too."
Far the next few moments, Karl stood and watched as Commander Davis issued orders and changed the direction of the search. Several times he asked Karl questions that related to what they were now doing, mostly about which way the currents would have been moving at the time of the tide change and where Karl would have expected the fugitive to have found shelter. Then there came a break as they waited for any results.
Davis came over to Karl. "You still think 'around corners', don't you? We were up against a mental block when you came along."
"Hey, who knows if this idea will hold water?" Karl grinned. "I was grabbing at straws, trying to think of alternate ways that I'd have thought about if it were me down there."
"Well, whatever." Davis smiled, then frowned. "What is this rockslide you mentioned?"
"Ah, I have a favour to ask you about that." Karl answered. "I was wondering if the helicopter could fly over the cut and take photos at low tide for me? Part of the cliff face fell into the water during the first earthquake and we're sure that it's going to mean that the only time we can get through is at extreme high tide, if we can get through at all. If we have pictures of what it looks like at low tide, we may be able to use them, particularly if we have to hire an underwater blasting crew to help us get the rocks down low enough to sail through at lower tides."
"Oh, we can certainly do that for you. In fact we may have some photos of it already." His brow creased into a frown for a moment. "What time is the next high tide?"
"There's a lower high tonight around one, then the real high will be tomorrow somewhere just before seven in the morning. Why are you asking about high tides? I'd like photos of it at low tide."
"I was thinking that you and I could take one of the inflatable boats and run through your cut." Commander Davis grinned. "I'm still young enough to want a thrill once in a while. I saw it from the air and like most of the guys here, I can't imagine how you got that big steam boat through there"
"Aw, there's no thrill in using an inflatable at high tide." Karl grinned back. "One day when I get the 'Skolka' running again, and my crew has recovered, I'll give you a ride back and forth through the cut in her. That is, if that slide hasn't made it impossible."
"What would it take to get her running? I could have a crew ready for you at any time." Davis laughed. "The big discussion during dinner tonight was how the hell you got her in here in the first place. These guys know what a boat can do and that trip through the cut seems damn near impossible to all of us."
"Well, it might be now, with those rocks in the channel. But you can do a lot with a boat if you know all of it's little quirks. I just happen to know exactly what I can expect out of the 'Skolka' under almost any conditions. I suppose since I was the one who totally rebuilt her and I've owned her for years, that's part of it. However to be honest, the first time I came through that cut, I had a sixteen-year-old girl for my crew, I'd only owned the boat about a year and I'd spent most of that time rebuilding her, so I had really only run her for a few weeks. On that first trip we were just plain lucky and we didn't realise just how bad the conditions in the cut could get."
"Why don't I find that a surprise?" Davis said, shaking his head.
Their discussion was interrupted by Peacock. "Commander, the men from the minesweeper have something for you."
Davis was instantly attentive. It seemed that one of the small boats from the minesweeper could see a life jacket hung up in a scrubby bush along one of the undercut sandstone cliffs on the south east end of the island, but they could see no sign of anyone in the area.
"Could you please ask them about the area? Is it full of small caves and indentations in the rock?" Karl asked quietly. "If it is, I know the area fairly well."
The answer was affirmative and Karl sighed.
"Damn." He growled.
"What's wrong?" Davis asked.
"There's a real fast current that runs past there and it's broken rock right at the edge, then the bottom drops off steeply underwater. I doubt if they can get ashore easily."
"That's just what they were saying." Davis grinned wryly. "And it seems there's an overhang to the cliffs above them, so the helicopter isn't much use either."
"What's Springfield doing?"
"He and Winchester have just traversed the whole of the ridge behind your house, from this end, all the way to the cliff that's covered with springs, why?"
"Well, he and his buddy went up and down the damn cliff to the bottomland like they were mountain climbers and I think he'd be damn good in a hand to hand fight, even if the guy he was fighting was high on PCP. If I went with them in the copter, I could show them where to land on the ridge so that they could drop off to just miss the end of that overhang. They could rappel down from above and then come in on the caves from one side."
"I think instead, we'll get some photos taken of the area and then we'll get Springfield and Winchester back here to go over the photos with you. I refuse to put a civilian into danger."
"Don, that bastard trespassed on my property, I have a lease on the area that he and his buddies used as a hide out, not to mention all the other crap he or his buddies put me through. I have a stake in this."
"Karl, I will not voluntarily put you in any place of danger. Face it, you're not going out there in the helicopter."
"You always were a stubborn S O B." Karl sighed. "I just hope the damn pictures are decent in this light."
"Well, come have a look." Peacock called.
"What, already?" Karl snapped around to stare at him.
"Well, the chopper was there to try to help the guys in the boat if he was needed. Since he was there I had him snap some pics of the area. They're only on the screen though, it'll take a few minutes to give you hard copies."
"I think you'd better start printing them then, and ask the chopper to pick up Springfield and Winchester to bring them back here." Davis said firmly. "We've still got almost two hours of daylight left today, let's use it."
"After all this, I hope the guy is there." Karl said quietly. "We're gambling a lot on a hunch of mine and an old life jacket hanging in a bush."
"It all makes sense though." Peacock argued."Your first print of the area should be almost ready."
Karl spent the next few minutes studying that print and two more that were taken from different angles. When Springfield came in, he felt he knew just what signs to point out for them to use as guides.
"So, you're doing it again, huh?" Springfield greeted him.
"Pardon me?" Karl responded.
"You're showing me the way, via photographs." Springfield grinned. "Just a second while Winchester and I grab a plate of beans, then while we're eating, you can point out details on those pretty pictures."
Karl just nodded and grinned back, then had to grin at Commander Davis' raised eyebrows.
"I should have known you two would hit it off." Davis said quietly. "You two are like peas from the same pod."
"Hah." Karl snorted and spoke quietly in hopes that Springfield wouldn't hear him. "Personality wise perhaps, he's an extremely skilled man for this job though."
"Yeah, and you aren't skilled? In your case it's just different skills."
"Whatever." Karl smiled and waved a hand deprecatingly. "I'm just a jack of all trades. He's a trained fighter."
Twenty minutes later, Springfield and Winchester were climbing into the helicopter with a load of climbing gear. What surprised Karl was that the doctor went with them along with one of the other men that he'd noticed around the camp. When he asked about it, Davis explained that they didn't expect Chenkovich to be in very good shape if they did find him.
"Why?" He demanded.
"To start off with, he wouldn't have been in any better shape than all the others this morning and they were suffering from exposure when we found them. If he swam out and around the island, he would have spent enough time in the water to get badly chilled. So if he's been hiding in a cave all day without a source of heat and soaking wet, he's either hypothermic or perhaps he's dead." Davis said bluntly. "What you may have missed in that radio message from the men who saw the life jacket is that they think it may have been a try to get help. It's flourescent orange and if the guy was trying to hide, why would he leave it where people could see it?"
"Cripes, I never thought of that." Karl admitted.
"Now, Springfield and Winchester are going down first, just in case that life jacket is bait for a trap. After they're sure it's safe, the doctor may go down, if it's not too dangerous.
"Bait for a trap?"
"Sure, the guy puts out a sign that seems to mean he's helpless. Someone rushes to his rescue and the guy offs them and has their clothes and weapons for protection. It was the sort of trick they used in Vietnam."
"Cripes." Karl just shook his head.
"They've landed already sir." Peacock advised, tapping his headphones.
"Can you put it on the speaker, Peacock?"
"I could sir, but there's a lot of noise from the chopper."
"Peacock, we really don't care about the noise. We want to hear what's going on."
"Yes sir."
"Tell the old bugger he was right. We can actually see the life jacket from here and it is just under the edge of the overhang." Springfield's voice came through on the speaker.
"The old bugger wants to know if you can see the edge of the cave just above and to the left of it." Karl grinned.
"Oops, I didn't realise the old bugger could hear me." Springfield answered with a chuckle. "The cave doesn't seem to be visible from this position, but we'll let you know in a minute or two when we go down there."
"Just watch your ass, that sandstone around there is badly weathered. I've seen one of the feral cats leap on a section of that stuff and just his weight snapped off a piece that looked like it was solid."
"Yes Granny. We're starting over the edge now, so if you want a running commentary, it won't be from us, we're gonna be busy."
Karl rolled his eyes and Commander Davis grinned and reached out to switch off the microphone. "Okay Peacock, use the headphones now. We don't need a blow by blow account."
Karl didn't bother arguing although he would have liked to. Instead he went outside to have that long overdue after dinner cigarette, realising that Commander Davis probably didn't want him right near the radio. At the same time he didn't want to go far away either, just in case his knowledge could help the crew on the cliff. To his surprise, he was joined by CPO Elgin as they stood under the tarp that was stretched in front of the tent as a porch.
"I've got a spare cup of coffee here if you'd like it, Sir." Elgin offered him a cup.
"Thanks Elgin." Karl grinned. "I appreciate that."
"No problem Sir." Elgin grinned back.
"How about dropping the 'sir' business? I keep looking for someone behind me with a ton of braid on his sleeve. Just call me Karl, please."
"Okay Karl, and my first name is Lyle. But actually you've earned the title, far more than some of the officers I've served under."
"Well, look at it differently, would you call Springfield sir?"
"No, he'd probably dump me on my arse and then lecture me afterward."
"Where do you want to land, Lyle?"
"Pardon me?"
"When I dump you on your arse, you've already had the lecture."
Elgin chuckled and stepped back. "I'll do my best to remember . . . Karl."
"Good." Karl paused in thought. "Lyle, how much do you know about this crap that's going on."
"About what everyone does. We're trying to catch a bunch of criminals that smuggle dope and weapons. In case you didn't know it, this was strictly a volunteer mission, sir. We knew we were dealing with the Russian Mafia and they can be rough. But just in case you were wondering, we only knew who and what we were dealing with about eight hours before you radioed us."
"Oh! That puts a different spin on my thinking."
"Yeah, it put a different spin on ours as well. That's when Springfield and his three henchmen joined our group and when it became a voluntary assignment. Up until then we were sure that we were after smugglers but we didn't have any idea that they were as hard core as this Chenkovich bastard."
"Chenkovich is hard core?"
"They figure he and his cousin have killed upward of twenty people, maybe more."
"Holy cripes."
"Yeah. We owe you big time on this one, Karl."
"Actually I feel that I owe your people a fair bit."
"Oh for fucks sake Karl, wake up. This is our job." Elgin snorted. "You and the geography of this island have done us so many favours that its damn near unbelievable. You reported the smugglers to us, you softened them up, you managed to have them trapped in an untenable spot. Now admittedly that part was geography but still you kept them there. Then when we went to go after them, you showed us how to use the geography to do it. Now you're digging us out of the hole we got ourselves into by losing the main guy. Shit man, we really owe you big time for making our job easier."
Karl wasn't sure what to say but he was saved from needing to respond, just then Commander Davis called him back inside.
"They've got him." He said shortly.
"Alive?" Karl asked.
"Yeah, but he's in bad shape. The doctor will be treating him as much as she can in the field and then we'll be shipping him off to the hospital."
Karl heaved a deep sigh of relief. "That's a relief."
"Yeah, well it could have been better. Springfield got hurt."
"Oh hell, what happened?"
"A slab of rock fell on him, his leg is badly hurt, so he'll have to go to the hospital as well. Besides that, the doctor got in the way too, luckily she only got scrapes and bruises."
"So they rescue a bloody crook and nearly get killed doing it." Karl frowned.
"Yes, but if we can keep that crook alive until we can question him, we might be able to find out what terror group or political upstart wanted the radioactive material. Then if we can chase that down, we might be able to prevent a whole lot more death and suffering."
"Maybe." Karl sighed. "At least with him caught and shipped off of the island, my family will sleep better tonight."
"Yes, and this one isn't going to break out of his constraints. Springfield has him in real handcuffs." Davis smiled. "Now, can I walk you back to your house. I'd like to be there when you tell everyone, that way I can answer any questions that might be asked."
"I'd like that." Karl smiled.
As they walked toward the house, they looked at the sky toward the west and there was an arch of clear blue sky showing under the clouds hanging overhead, clouds that were reddened by the setting sun.
"Jeez, think maybe the weather is going to break?" Karl asked. "By the way, what's that old verse? 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight' or something like that?"
"Well, I'm not delighted, but I'm a sight happier than I was this afternoon." Don answered. "How about you?"
"Happy that the bastard has been caught and pissed off that my friends got hurt." Karl answered honestly.
"I have to agree." Don smiled almost sadly as they climbed the stairs of the porch.
Ely and her father were sitting at the kitchen table having a discussion, but doing it quietly for once so as not to disturb David or Mary-Beth who had already gone to bed, when Karl opened the door and walked in with Commander Davis. Trudy was quietly watching and she smiled as Karl and Don walked over.
"Coffee?" She asked, as Karl took a seat, waving his friend to another.
"Yes, please Trudy." Karl smiled. "How about it Don, cuppa java suit you?"
"Yes, I think I will." Don smiled back.
"You two seem relatively happy." Ely looked from one to the other. "But you don't look like you want to celebrate or anything. What's up?"
Don waited for Karl to speak, but Karl simply gestured to him.
"We have good news and not so good news." Don started. "First of all, we caught Chenkovich, actually we rescued him from a cave on the outside edge of the island."
"On the outside, on the cliffs?" George said almost in disbelief.
"Yes, on the outer edge, actually almost on the exact opposite side of the island from here. He was hiding in a cave in the sandstone cliffs. Karl was the one who second guessed how he had managed to disappear. We'd pretty well scoured the island from the air and couldn't see a clue of where he could be."
George just shook his head and frowned at Karl. "How in the world did you think of that?"
"Well, I just decided that he had to be pretty smart, maybe too smart to realise he was actually being dumb." Karl sighed.
"What do you mean being dumb, he damn near got away with it?" Don asked.
"Don, you're in the Navy, how long does it take for a person to get hypothermia in the waters of the strait? Maybe twenty minutes or half an hour, right?" Karl said shortly. "So this guy gambles that he can swim somewhere before getting too cold and simply drowning? That is not brilliant. I'll bet he was in bloody poor shape by the time the rescue crew got to him."
"I suppose. Still, I think it was an act of desperation."
"Why would he be desperate? If he was smart enough, all he'd get was deportation to Russia."
"Karl, the man was a smuggler and if he was smuggling radioactive material, he would have been classed as a terrorist."
"Don, just what the hell would Canada do with a smuggler and a terrorist? We don't have the death penalty any more. At the worst he'd be put in jail for a few years and then deported, but more than likely he'd just have been returned to Russia."
"Well, it would depend on where the radioactive materials went. The US would be bound to be interested and if they went to anywhere that Al Queda could get their hands on them. . . ."
"Oh sure, and but proving that might take years. No, he had another reason for running like that." Karl frowned deeply. "Hell, if he was from Russia, he surely understood hypothermia. If he was as smart as you've painted him, then he was acting out of panic at being caught and at the present time, I can't see a reason for that."
"Perhaps he felt that he would automatically be turned over to US authorities." George interjected. "I do know that they would be very interested in any case."
"Oh come on George." Karl scoffed. "That's one of the reasons we end up with so many scoff-laws in this country now. They know that if the US or any other country has a death sentence waiting for them, they can play on the sympathy of the Canadian government to try to prevent them from being extradited. Nope, he had an immediate fear, something strange is going on, I can't see what it is, but it's there."
Don looked at him quietly and slowly shook his head. "Karl, this time I think you're wrong."
"Sorry Don, it just doesn't feel right. The other thing that doesn't feel right is something I wanted to ask about. You said they hijacked a freight boat? I mean after their ship got wrecked and they abandoned it in a life boat."
"Yes, they killed the old couple who owned it."
"Explain that to me please. Why would you hijack a bigger boat, shoot the old couple, put them in a boat that can be traced to your ship, and then set it free? That's asking for trouble. If they dumped the old couple overboard, their bodies would sink. Why leave them floating around in a boat that could be found?"
"Maybe the old couple escaped and the only way to stop them from identifying the crooks was to kill them?"
"That doesn't fit the profile I've got in my head for this guy. He'd have been smart enough to have gone after the boat, catch it, and dump the bodies overboard. There's no way he survived this long by leaving raw evidence of his activities around."
"Karl, you should have been a detective." Don growled softly. "Now you've got me asking myself questions that I doubt I can find answers to."
"You've got three prisoners, two of them are in fair shape and can answer your questions, just ask them." Karl growled right back. "I wouldn't wait until Chenkovich is in shape to answer your questions, I've got an idea that there's a time limit on this whole deal."
"Would you like to explain that to me?"
"I can't. It's just a gut feeling that I've got. It's like we're sitting here feeling safe and there's big trouble brewing that will affect us somehow."
"Do you feel strongly about that?" Ely asked, then seemed to shiver slightly at Karl's nod.
"I remember those gut feelings of yours." Don said quietly. "Thank you for the coffee, I think I'll go see if I can talk someone back at the base into asking a few more questions of our prisoners."
He pushed back from the table and it was as if a different man slowly stood up, almost like he had taken off a cloak that branded him as an old friend and donned one that labelled him as a commanding officer.
"Would you like me to drop back later if I receive anything in the way of significant answers?"
"I'd like that, or I could come with you?" Karl asked. "I mean, if I can be of any help. . .?"
"I saw you limping on the way back to the house this last time." Don said quietly. "If I really need you for anything, I'll send CPO Elgin to get you, okay?"
"Somehow I get the feeling that I'm still being guarded." Karl smiled, almost sardonically.
"I think I'll repeat that to the men." Commander Davis snorted. "I think they'll find it rather ironic."
"What do you mean?"
"Look Karl, I've known you since we were kids. I know you aren't a magician, but to most of those guys out there you've been pulling rabbits out of your hat since they came. Since I got here, I've heard nothing but tales about how you can do things no one else does."
"Oh shit." Karl frowned. "I'm not so bloody perfect but since your guys have been here I've just made a couple of lucky guesses. Maybe I'd better stay here and perhaps you should let them think this hunch thing is your idea."
Davis frowned. "That might be an idea at that, for now. I could use some good PR at the moment."
"Don't count on PR. I could be wrong this time."
"I'll gamble that you've got a reason for your hunch." Davis said shortly, heading for the door. "By the way, how late will you be up? I wouldn't want to disturb you by coming back too late."
"At least a couple of hours." Karl grinned. "Probably more. Actually, since I feel safer now, Ely and I may wander down to see you in a while. That is, if you don't mind?"
"If you do use flashlights, we do have guards out on patrol." Davis said, opening the door. "See you later."