Chapter Twenty Seven
Karl was sitting out on the front porch, having a break from the turmoil in the cabin when he and everyone else heard the big helicopter lift off and fly away rapidly. A few minutes later he heard the klaxon sound again, only this time there were several rapid toots. To Karl's ears they sounded almost as if someone was celebrating and he had to grin when he realised it was the beat of the song that he knew as 'Shave and a haircut, six bits' which convinced him it was Don using the air horn. Then to his surprise, Fran came hurrying outside to rush off to the tents and didn't even pause to answer him as he asked her if there was a problem. He was debating whether to follow her when Ely came out of the house too.
"What's Fran's rush?" He asked.
"Oh, she knew how worried I and Dad were about the bay being contaminated. She's going to go find out what Commander Davis thinks."
"I'd imagine that if the box wasn't spilled open it will be fine." Karl smiled at her. "Actually water is one of the better dampening agents for radioactivity. Besides, that signal sounded quite happy. I'd say things were fine."
Ely looked at him and smiled softly, shaking her head. "That bit about the water? Is that you as the engineer speaking?"
"Eyup." Karl had to grin. "That's one of those tidbits of engineering information that was tucked away in an odd corner of my brain."
"You dough head." Ely's smile widened. "You could have told me that before."
"Sorry, I just assumed you knew that." His grin widened as well. "Salt water isn't as good as fresh water as a dampener and neither of them is as good as heavy water, but they all work fairly well."
She had bent down and was hugging him when Fran called loudly from near the main tent. "Karl, Commander Davis said to tell you it looks great and he said to tell you to polish up your most special glasses, whatever that means."
"Now that's good news." Karl shouted back.
"Oh, and he said to tell you it was his jug." Fran laughed.
"That's even better news." Karl laughed loudly.
In only moments the shouting that had followed the sound of the klaxon had brought all of the people out of both cabins. For the next while, it seemed almost as if there was going to be an impromptu party as people laughed and hugged in relief. Karl was astounded at how hard Fran hugged him and then even more surprised when Gillian Mathews came up to him and smiled at him almost shyly.
"I have a request." She said quietly.
"Right now, I'm so glad of the job you folks have done that you could have just about anything." He grinned at her.
"Umm, don't tempt me." She giggled, then forced herself to stop by biting her lip. "I want a little hug too but you've gotta promise not to squeeze, okay?"
When he held out his arms, she snuggled up to his chest and sighed. After a moment, she raised her head slowly and looked him in the eye.
"You don't happen to have any younger brothers do you?" She asked.
"Nope." He smiled and pulled back slightly.
"Darn. I was hoping. Just my luck." She sighed again and then slowly turned to walk over to talk to Keri.
To his surprise Fran came over to him and smiled. "I guess I was wrong about Miss Mathews."
"Pardon?"
"Well, I was under the impression that she was gay. Instead it seems that she's just looking for the right guy. Too bad she met a much married man like you first."
"Now you're really losing me."
"Oh come on Karl. There's some strange magnetism about you that draws women. Commander Davis has it to some extent. Springfield has it as well. As a woman, I notice it. As a doctor, I make note of it. But actually it's not that strange, I suppose it's really based a lot on ability and confidence. All of you have that in spades. In a lot of ways I envy Ely and the other two women, but I wouldn't want to be them. I'm a one man woman and I'm selfish, I want him to myself."
"Well as you said, there's Don Davis and Springfield."
"Yes, but I think they might have something to say about that too." She smiled, then she turned. "Speaking of them, I imagine they'll be returning soon, I'd best make sure of some things at the main tent."
With that she walked away from the happy group and Karl watched her, wondering just what she had really meant. Shaking his head, he watched the others now, trying to sort out the mix of feelings he was going through. He sighed and sat down slowly, then in moments he was surrounded by his friends and family. Their gaiety infected him again and his mood lifted. When Don Davis and the whole crew came back from below, they found everyone still outside. Even Springfield and Winchester and the two haz-mat divers were along and it wasn't long before the other people who had been acting as guards at various places showed up.
To the surprise of most of the people there, Commander Davis called for silence and gathered everyone into hearing range. First he advised them that the haz-mat divers were relatively positive that all of the radioactive material was still contained in the box. That meant that although they would do a precautionary search of the floor of the bay, they doubted they would find any problems. Then he advised everyone that he'd arranged for a few men to act as guards but that he was recommending to everyone else that they regard the rest of the day as a short leave, saying that he felt they had all earned it.
To Karl's astonishment most of the people didn't want to just relax. One of the biggest requests was that almost everyone wanted a ride on the 'Skolka', even if it was just around the bay. That set off the divers, they wanted to place and fire one set of explosive charges. They felt that if they did a good enough job, perhaps Karl could steam the 'Skolka' through the cut on the next high tide. Another surprise to Karl was the suggestion by several of the people that if Karl was going to steam through the cut on the morning tide, then perhaps they could work today instead. The general feeling seemed to be that they could go over and do some repairs on George and Trudy's house that afternoon, then everyone could take the time off in the morning to go along with him for the ride through the cut.
Don Davis had a brief huddle with the divers and then they called Karl over.
"Karl, these men think that since they've already marked out where they want to place charges on the slide that they'd like to do one blast this afternoon and they feel they have time. What we were wondering is if you would run the gorge at night? Do you have enough lighting on board your boat to do it safely?"
"Oh man, I've done it before, but the idea of the danger in that makes me break out in a cold sweat." Karl said quietly. "Besides, tonight's high tide isn't all that high. To be honest, I'd rather not try that except in an emergency."
"It's your decision." Don smiled. "So what do you men think, do you still want to blast rock today?"
The divers decided they wanted to go ahead because they knew what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it, so Don gave his okay. The divers hurried off and Don called everyone else to attention again.
"I am going to shanghai Karl, Springfield, and Winchester for the rest of the afternoon, however if the rest of you wish to help George and Trudy repair their home, I'd suggest you go ahead. Then tomorrow morning, if the weather allows and if the tide is high enough, I'm sure Karl would be willing to take all of us for a ride on his boat. Right Karl?"
When Karl agreed, there was a general cheer and suddenly George, Trudy and Ely were surrounded by willing volunteers. Don insisted that Karl and the two JTF2 men follow him and led them off to his tent. At Karl's protest that he should be involved with the repairs of George's house, Don simply put a hand on his arm and lead him off.
"Forget it." He said quietly. "For the rest of the day you have no duties other than to enjoy a good old-fashioned bull session and the same goes for these other two reprobates. That's an order."
So while Karl and the other three sat and sipped a few drinks while swapping tales, almost everyone else set off to attempt to make George and Trudy's home liveable. None of the four of men were heavy drinkers and they did manage to relax but in a way it was a forced relaxation. By the time that the tide was at a low ebb, Karl had talked them all into wanting to be nearby when the divers blasted the rock in the cut. They all wanted to see what the results would be, so late in the afternoon, the four of them walked slowly back down to the dock held up by Karl and Springfield's slower pace.
In actual fact Springfield shouldn't have walked as far as he had that day and he knew he was going to get hell from Dr. Baker over it. She had only agreed to provide him with a fibreglass walking cast when he'd assured her he wouldn't 'push' himself or walk too far He'd promised not to walk for any distance without crutches and had convinced her that he was really necessary for the action they were involved in. As for Karl, because he had been drinking alcohol he couldn't take any of his pain medicines and his legs were bothering him quite a bit.
When they did finally get to the dock, they had hardly gotten into one of the inflatable boats when they heard the explosion in the cut. By hurrying they were just behind the divers as they headed back into the cut to check and see what had happened to the rockslide. Karl was actually astonished. There were only a few rocks above the water and when he glanced up at the walls of the cut, the high tide mark was almost twelve feet higher. He guessed that there would be at least ten feet or more of clearance at high tide and he was relatively jubilant. However, neither the divers nor Don Davis were happy with the results.
Since none of them wanted to the chance of setting foot on the freshly shifted rock in case it should move and pin them, they all stayed aboard the little boats, but they did have an extended discussion about trying to improve the clearance even more. They decided that they wanted to leave it for twenty-four hours and see what it looked like the next afternoon after the incoming and outgoing tides had washed in and out a couple of times. They were prepared to try to blast more right away but after Karl told them that there was no reason he couldn't take either the 'Skolka' or the dive boat through there at high tide, they did agree to wait and their spirits seemed to lift. Actually it was quite a jubilant group when they returned to the dock. The divers wanted to have a closer look at the 'Skolka' and since Don had never really seen all of it either, Karl took them aboard to show them around.
After a quick tour, the divers had headed back to the dive boat while Karl and Don had started to climb up the hill on the steep trail, leaving Springfield and Winchester aboard the 'Skolka'. Karl walked along beside Don in silence for several minutes, but as they reached the shed at the wye in the trail, he suggested they sit for a minute.
"It's strange, I can keep going all day, but if I have to climb a long slope, my legs just kill me." Karl said quietly.
"Not that strange, it's the angle." Don smiled almost sadly. "Besides, I remember how bad your Dad's arthritis used to be in the cold weather."
"Well, if you look around, it isn't cold and I'm a lot younger than Dad was." Karl grunted.
"Your father wasn't damn near killed in an industrial accident though. Christ man, you're lucky to be alive."
"Oh, you heard about that."
"Oh Karl, you have to be kidding. I'm in the military and I'm here on official duty. Do you think that the government wouldn't have taken the time to do a record search on each person here before we came? Finding George and the girls here was a surprise until we managed to get the records from the helicopter firm that flew them back. Do you know that chopper and the pilot who was assigned to fly them disappeared during the earthquake later the same day? We originally had them listed amongst the missing as well but when we heard they were here, we had to do a record search just for our own satisfaction. Linda being here took us by surprise too until we realised that she and Keri were a couple. By the way, her boat was destroyed in the tsunami, at least we think so. We know that the dock where she moored it was totally destroyed, in fact so was the town where the dock was at."
"No survivors?" Karl tried to look astonished.
"We haven't found anyone." Don shook his head sadly. "The reason we know anything about that area at all is because we broke up a ring of scavengers who were acting as pseudo military personnel around there. The town was simply in the wrong place and was washed off the map because of the way the tsunami moved. We did find signs that someone had still been alive there, but we think the scavengers scared whoever it was away. They haven't come forth yet to tell us about it, in fact we doubt now if whoever it is ever will. You people had been very lucky on the island and now that we've straightened things out, I hope your luck continues."
"Well, we certainly owe you a huge thank you for your help."
"Oh, I think the Canadian Navy might still be in your debt." Don chuckled softly. "Morally we certainly are. There is no way we can repay you and your family for the pain caused by our inability to take those bastards into custody before they harmed you and yours. As for the rest, it's like I heard CPO Elgin say, "Every time we had a problem, you seemed to be able to help us get our ass out of a bind."
Karl simply waved his hand deprecatingly. He was about to say something, but just then both he and Don heard female voices coming down the path.
"Just so no one gets surprised, Don and I are resting at the shed." Karl said fairly loudly.
"Well, I'm glad you said something." Ely's voice came in answer.
Karl and Don stood and waited as Ely and Fran approached along the trail.
"Hi guys." Ely greeted them. "Getting hungry yet?"
"Yeah, I guess." Karl glanced at his watch and was surprised at how late it was. "Holy cow, eight o'clock? Time flies."
"Yes it does." Ely grinned and grabbed his arm then looked over her shoulder at Don and Fran. "Back to the house guys, and I'll make us all a meal."
"I have to get back to my duties." Don said firmly, "But Lieutenant Baker . . . "
" . . . is suggesting to her commanding officer that he needs to eat as well." Fran grinned and moved to touch his arm with her hand. "If I may sir, I would enjoy helping Ely prepare a meal for us."
Karl looked at Ely and grinned, starting to walk away.
"Good idea." Ely whispered leaning close to him and pointedly ignoring the two others.
Then Ely began to talk louder, telling him of what they had done that day.
"We cleaned the whole house." She announced. "And the outside crew patched the hole in the roof, replaced the broken porch post, cleaned up the debris in the front yard near the house, even cut up the big tree that had fallen onto the house into fire wood, then split and stacked it."
"How was the upstairs, was there much damage from the leak?" Karl asked.
"Quite a bit actually." She answered. "It's a good thing that it's summer though. We had to tear off wallboard and rip out some of the saturated insulation but the damage is really limited to just that one area. We were really lucky it didn't spread too far. Of course Daddy is trying to take credit for that."
"And how the hell is he doing that?" Karl chuckled.
"Well, remember how he insisted on having floor drains in the bathrooms? It turns out that there's a tiny grade in the floors of the bedrooms too and the water from the roof drained to the bathroom, then down the darn drain. Daddy is trying to say it was all planned because he knew that as the house settled it would do that and that he had it planned all along."
"Well considering that there's an inch of concrete and another inch of slate in all the bathrooms, he might have at that." Karl said thoughtfully. "I mean, the floor there was bound to settle more than in other places."
"Whatever." Ely grinned at him. "You're as bad as he is."
Karl just laughed and asked her about what else had happened that afternoon.
"Well, we left the damaged walls open to let them dry out so those will have to be fixed up later. Oh, and Keri had to leave early, she was starting to feel that creepy feeling again, I hope it was just that there were too many people around. She and Linda went back home, escorted by the 'pouff boys' as dad calls them." She said quietly, then she grinned. "I think those two are doing more to cure Dad's homophobic tendencies than anyone else has ever done."
"Umm, I hope Keri feels better soon, and as to the 'pouff boys', well, I like them, but I notice that they're selective of who they let know about themselves."
"Wouldn't you be if you were in their shoes?"
Karl paused as they came to the bridge, looking down at the racing water below.
"Still lots of water, but maybe a bit less already." He commented, but Ely didn't comment, she just grasped his hand and pulled him forward.
It wasn't long before they were climbing the steps and about to head into the house.
"Ely." Fran called at that moment.
"Yes?" She turned and looked back.
"We're both going to pass on eating with you tonight." Fran smiled. "Both of us have several things that need to be done if we intend to go for that boat ride tomorrow and neither of us want to miss that."
So Karl and Ely wished them a goodnight and went inside. The house was dark and quiet.
"Where's everyone, did they stay at George's house?"
"Yes dear, they decided they wanted to try it, even David's staying there tonight, we have the whole house to ourselves."
"Oh my, now you're giving me ideas." Karl grinned.
"Well, don't get too excited, after the way I worked today, I'm hungry and I need a shower."
"I could use a shower too." Karl grinned even more as he wrapped her in a hug. "Why don't we go clean up and then eat?"
"Because you'd want to shower together and I know you're hurting." She murmured as she snuggled against him. "Since you've had a few drinks, I know you haven't had any pain pills this afternoon."
"So . . . " She pushed away from him and stood hands on hips. "I want you to take one of those new pain pills that Fran gave you and I'll wash up a bit. While you check the weather for tomorrow morning's cruise, I'll make us a snack and then we'll see what happens."
"I'd almost think you planned on seducing me." He laughed.
"Forget the almost." She snorted. "Now go take that pain pill. You're going to need to be limber tonight."
"Mmm, that sounds promising." Karl chuckled.
The two of them continued to tease and joke until after they had eaten, then Ely stood up and grinned at Karl.
"Well, we've eaten." Karl grinned back at her as he stood up too. "Now about that shower, would you consider. . . ?"
"Unh uh." Ely said shaking her head. "I want to shower alone, we might not make it to bed for a long time if you join me."
So Karl hurriedly showered downstairs, letting her go up to the other bathroom alone, then when he was done, he rushed upstairs too. He could hear Ely still in the shower. Knowing how she loved candle light, he lit the candles that someone had placed on the tables near the bed, then he shut off the other lights and lay back waiting. He didn't have that long to wait.
For just an instant as she stepped out of the bathroom door her body was brightly lit, then as she shut the light out she seemed to disappear. Out of the darkness, his beautiful woman was moving toward him, seeming to float into view in the soft flickering light of the candles. Her hand lifted to her lips, signalling him to be quiet as she slipped into bed at his side then bent toward him.
Her lips met his and she reached down to guide his hand, sliding it over her smooth skin from a hip to her tightly muscled stomach, then pressing it downward along her soft flesh. Her legs spread open making room for his hand. She felt as smooth as always and he touched her gently then brought his other hand up to cup a full breast. Her skin was smooth as satin and soft as velvet. Her nipple swelled beneath his fingers. He played with it, softly teasing it to full distention, his one finger stroking around in tighter and tighter circles. The fingers of his other hand softly stroked her smooth folds and clefts, slight pressure found moisture and one finger slipped inside, gently exploring.
She broke the kiss and leaned back.
"Now that's more like it." She murmured.
She lifted her body against his hand, slipping her hand between her hip and his stomach, then her lips met his again. This time his tongue was demanding almost as insistent as hers was. He moaned as she squeezed his hardness then began to stroke him gently, her hand cupped along his length. She pulled back again. Her hand lifted from between them. Roughly, she pushed both his hands away and forced him back.
She twisted about then her mouth and both hands engulfed his penis. He moaned as she stroked and sucked at the same time. He dropped both hands down, one hand cupping her breast, squeezing her taut swollen nipple, the other hand sliding over the full roundness of her bottom. She pulled back with a gasp, then rolling into the middle of the bed. She held out both arms, inviting him into her embrace. In seconds they were kissing again and his hands stroked her body as hers wandered over his back. She pressed herself against him, sliding one leg under his body, then pulling at him so he was lying stretched upon her soft form.
"Take me." She demanded. "I'm ready, very ready. Hell, I've been ready for days."
He arched his back, his penis pressed against her moistness. It slipped along, not penetrating. She moaned and wriggled, spreading her legs further apart as he shifted back. He tried again and found her opening. He pressed against her, forcing himself inside her tightness. She gasped, wriggling her hips in a tight circle. He held back, still pressing but not quite as hard while she wriggled back and forth. He felt more moisture, more heat, he pressed again. His hands grasped her waist, holding her so he could rock slowly back and forth.
Gradually each stroke became longer until suddenly she seemed to open to him and he slid deep inside her. She squealed, rolled her hips to pull away, then hammered back again. Her legs clamped tightly around his hips, so tight he couldn't move. She held him still for a long time, her breath coming in gasps, then she slowly calmed.
"Don't move, oh please don't move at all." She moaned quietly.
"I'm sorry, am I hurting you." He tried to pull back but she held him tightly.
"No. Oh shit no, it feels wonderful. I don't want you to ever stop."
He moved his hands to her breasts and his lips covered hers. She moaned as he rolled his hips, surging away and then back into her tight warmth. Her body surged, pulling back from his thrust then slamming against him again. She twisted her head from side to side, squealing as their hips met time after time, then her lips found his again and she kissed him again and again in a frenzy. Her legs spread wide, her knees bent tightly until only her feet were on his hips urging him on. Her head moved wildly again, swinging rapidly from side to side.
"Yes, oh yes, oh yesss." She moaned over and over.
His hips were pounding against her, driving deep. She raked her hands along his back, then her nails were biting into his hips. She clamped her hands around his butt, urging him deeper with each thrust, demanding that he drive harder. He felt his climax approaching and he forced himself as deep as he could go, holding him hips tight against hers as her body went into the throes of a spasm. She clamped around him, squeezing so tightly it was painful. As his semen surged into her, her body surged as well, milking him, making him come, drawing him deeper. He groaned, pressing even harder as she squealed again. She gave one final shudder and then collapsed, her whole body limp. He kissed her once more, then slowly, he softened and slipped free, then he rolled to lay at her side. They lay panting for several minutes.
Finally both of them seemed to come alive again and he started to say something, but she lifted a hand to rest it on his lips silencing him. He knew she wanted to rest and just enjoy being there so he lay still, his eyes watching her. His one hand lay under her shoulder, still touching her but he didn't move it, he just wanted to touch her.
After a few more moments, she rolled on top of him, her lips wildly kissing his face, his beard and finally his lips. She lifted up finally, her hips on his pelvis, her legs spread to each side his. He ran his hands up her legs and along her back, then around to cradle her breasts. Her skin was so soft and she was still covered with a sheen of perspiration.
"Wow." He grinned.
"Satisfied?" She smiled.
"Unh huh, and you?"
"Mmm, I'll do, for now." She chortled.
"Horny woman." He accused.
"Mm hmm, what's your excuse?"
"Pure relief." He grinned. "I was uptight before."
"I know, me too." She snorted, then lay on him. "Could you sleep like this?"
"For a while."
"Okay, I'll move in a bit." She sighed as she lay on his chest.
He could just move his head enough to bring his lips to the top of her head and kiss her lightly.
"Nmmmmm." She shivered, then giggled softly.
When Karl awoke in the morning he was alone in bed and it was fully daylight. Remembering that he had promised people to take them on a boat ride today, he quickly slipped out of bed and into the bathroom. He took the time in the shower, grinning to himself at the thought of last night then he hurriedly dressed and went downstairs.
"Good morning." Ely crowed as she set a plate of eggs and bacon in his place at the table. "You look to be in as good a mood as I feel."
"I wonder why?" He laughed, slipping his arms around her and pulling her into a kiss.
"It just might be sex. We should try it more often." She giggled, pushing away from him after a few seconds. "Although while all the crap was going on, I can't say I was really too interested."
"Yeah, well, we'll just have to try to make up for lost time."
"Deal." She chuckled, grabbing her own plate and sitting down. "We need to eat and get going, remember we have a thrill ride to run today."
"I refuse to rush all that fast." He grinned, looking at his watch. "It's almost three hours until high tide and since we're going outward first, I don't really want to buck much of a current."
"I was thinking about cleaning and polishing up the boat first." She announced.
"Oh, didn't I tell you?" He paused, staring at her in surprise. "Springfield's crew did that while they were guarding the boat. They did a hell of a good job."
"They did? What did they say?"
"Oh, that was wonderful." He grinned. "I had a really hard time keeping a straight face. They bellyached that we hadn't cleaned and polished anything for weeks or even months. They thought the boat looked like we'd almost abandoned it. On top of that one of the people they had guarding the boat must have been a really good mechanic. He had repaired almost everything that was worn and put it partially back together. I only had a little work to do to get her running. Those guys did a top notch job of fixing and polishing but they sure chewed me out for the state she was in."
"They did?" She grinned. "Oh we have to tell David. He'll be so proud."
"Yeah, and if he's going along today, we'd better tell him before he inadvertently says the wrong thing with the wrong people around."
"Well, I was going to go over to Dad's this morning before coming down to the boat, would you like me to talk to him?"
"Please." Karl smiled. "I'd love to be the one to tell him, but I don't think I can make time today before we got out. It's okay though, the whole story can wait and I'll tell him another time."
"What if I suggest that he thank Mr. Springfield and Mr. Winchester for polishing things so well, because it would have been mostly his job?"
"Fine, but either tell him the whole tale or tell him that I'll tell him, just so he knows there's more to it, okay?"
"Absolutely, now do we have time to have a cup of coffee out on the deck?"
"Of course."
Once they were out on the deck, they noticed a different atmosphere around the military camp. In only moments Karl was in a very thoughtful mood, feeling left out of the action somehow and almost feeling sorry for himself. He realised that it was a combination of relief and yet a sense of loss as well. These people who had come into his life were going to be moving on. All the Navy people would be going off to take care of other duties. Springfield and Winchester would disappear to handle another problem situation somewhere else. Even the divers that he had scarcely gotten to know wouldn't be around for long.
Ely must have noticed his thoughtful stare. She smiled almost sadly. "Feeling weird now that it looks like it's over?"
"Yeah, I've got the blues I guess." He waved his hand toward the tents. "All our new friends and acquaintances are going to be gone soon and I just realised I'm going to miss them. I'm not going to miss the crap, just the people."
"Well, we'll still be seeing some of them for a while. Fran was saying that the Commander intends to leave Lyle and Raymonde here until they have Dad's house all repaired. They have leave due and they asked if they could take it here so he granted it as long as it was okay with Dad. That means they're moving one of the tents over to Dad's meadow to be close by while they work on his house. They'll be here for about two weeks more." She smiled. "Fran herself is going to be coming back at least once or twice a week for a while and she's pulled rank on Springfield. She's having him sent to the hospital and then perhaps to rehab. as soon as this mission is finished. According to her, he absolutely refused to be put in the hospital until this incident was over and actually shouldn't be on that foot at all. Do you realise that fool might be walking around with a pulled tendon. She's worried that he's doing irreparable damage to his leg and it could wash him out of the service if he carries on."
"Well, he is getting a little long in the tooth for the job he has. Winchester was saying that even his bosses think Springfield might be better off on a desk job. It's a shame in a way." Karl sighed. "We all get older though."
"Yes, Don reminded me of that the other night, talking about you and old times." She grinned. "But then he asked if he might be able to come back as a guest some time after this emergency is done, He wants to go out with you and me on the boat. It seems he has a girl friend who loves boats."
"I hope you told him yes." Karl laughed softly.
"Oh, of course. I thought you'd like that." She grinned.
Their quiet talk was interrupted at that point by Fran coming over and then Don joining the group, each asking about the morning's trip on the 'Skolka', so Karl explained what he had in mind and everyone agreed on a final plan.
It didn't seem like any time had passed after that discussion before Karl was walking out onto the dock to ready the 'Skolka' for her short trip. He hardly had time to say hello to Springfield and Winchester before everyone else started to arrive. In short order almost everyone on the island was there and Karl was astounded. There were more than thirty people and Karl felt he hardly knew most of them. Instead of worrying about it, he set about getting steam up and getting ready to shove off. He asked George, David, and Don Davis to ride in the wheelhouse with him but Don asked to be excused, wanting to be out on deck with all the rest of his contingent.
Once Karl had the 'Skolka' almost up to steam pressure, he stepped out of the wheelhouse and asked people if they would please sit down during the trip through the cut. He explained that if all of them happened to move one way at the same time, it might change the balance of the 'Skolka' and that might make it hard for him to compensate in time to avoid hitting a bank. Then he asked Keri and Linda to stand by on the bow with fending poles and Ely to take the stern, with Winchester standing by if she needed to call on him. He warned both crews that he was going to have David standing at the door to the wheelhouse to shout if he wanted help in fending off, explaining that he needed to be prepared for any fending push since otherwise it might do more damage than good. That explanation was mostly for the people who had never been aboard before but it bore repeating as a reminder for the others.
He asked Don if he would please have two of his crew untie the boat on his signal and stepped back into the wheelhouse. Karl watched with a grin because after he reached up to give three sharp toots on his whistle as the signal that he was going to back out, Lyle Elgin and Raymonde Lebeaux made a ceremony out of untying and retrieving the stern line first and then followed that with the bow line. Raymonde, who had been on the dock, stepped aboard just as the 'Skolka' widened the gap and pulled away. Karl eased her back until they were well clear and then threw the wheel hard over as he sounded the whistle with two short blasts, in seconds the boat swung sharply as it began to move forward.
By just skirting the little island near the cut, he was able to head almost directly into the slight incoming current that he knew would help him slow down. He needed that, because he was moving just a little too fast for safety. As they actually entered the cut itself, he heard quiet murmurs from the people on deck, but it was when everyone saw the raw, newly exposed rock of the slide that he heard louder voices. George's eyes opened wide as they steamed along unaffected by currents.
"It seems they have done an excellent job." George said quietly.
"They did George. They really did. The highest rock is probably only three feet above the low water mark. Still, they're not happy with that." Karl answered.
Then they were into some rougher water with hard currents and Karl had to swing the boat, use reverse, and he almost had to call for help from Keri and Linda. Instead the 'Skolka' shuddered as the water churned under her stern, then she swung her bow so that they made it around a tight bend with a foot or more to spare. On deck there were several sharply drawn breaths and a couple of quiet swear words. Almost the same thing happened on the very last corner. Perhaps they weren't quite as close, but to everyone on deck they seemed to be moving much faster. Karl knew that wasn't true, it just seemed that way, but it was actually because the cut was narrower and shallower so the water itself was moving faster. He also knew that there was an underwater current near the rock face that actually acted almost like a buffer and helped to keep them away from that edge while making their apparent speed seem to be higher than it actually was.
Then they were out into the open water. Karl glanced down at the pressure gauge and grinned, he'd gauged the steam use well, they had lots of pressure. Don had asked him to circumnavigate the island, so he began to ease the throttle open and increase the fuel flow to the boiler. Soon they were charging along, still moving almost silently, but now doing about twelve knots with the steam pressure steady. Then he asked George, David, and Mary-Beth to take the wheel while he went outside, telling them to keep several boat lengths from the shoreline.
Out on deck he walked around thanking each and every person for their help in the last while, trying to be sure he would commit each person's face into a special place in his memory. His timing was almost perfect, he ended up standing at Don Davis' side just as they completed the circle around the island.
"Don, I do want you in the wheelhouse on one trip through the cut." He said quietly.
"Okay, just as long as I'm not the one doing the steering." Don grinned at him.
"Chicken?" Karl teased, remembering the times when they had dared each other to do silly childish stunts.
"Yep, as I've aged, I've found that sometimes it pays to be cautious."
They made their way back to the wheelhouse and Karl took over from George, David, and Mary-beth, making sure he thanked each of them which made David and Mary-Beth almost glow with pride.
The trip back through the cut was quieter, but to Karl it was the more satisfying passage because he used a slightly different line in going through two touchy places this time and he didn't come as close to the rock walls. Once they were in the bay, Karl made one slow circuit around the bay before docking. As people went ashore, most of them paused to say thank you to Karl and soon he was left with only a few people on board.
Before George and Trudy left, they admitted that although they liked being back in their house, it was badly disrupted so Karl and Ely suggested that they stay at their place for a few more days. Springfield and Winchester were below, packing up to leave and finally, only Karl, Ely, and Don Davis were left on deck.
Karl and Don sat out on the stern deck, both of them simply sitting quietly for several moments. Finally Don broke the silence.
"I'm not sure if you realise how much the Navy feels we owe you." He almost whispered. "When we found out that there was a chance that those bastards might have slipped a load of radioactive material into the country right under our noses . . ."
"I'd say it was extenuating circumstances." Ely said quietly. "The earthquakes and tsunamis didn't exactly help you."
"Perhaps true." Don sighed. "But even then, it was too close."
"Keri is really the only person who might really have a grudge to hold against the Navy's actions. I think she still believes that your warning about the smugglers came too late." Karl interjected. "In a way I wish you'd managed to get word out about that earlier myself. It would certainly have made a difference in the way we handled things."
"Hmmph, guess who had a hand in slowing that announcement from reaching you earlier?"
"Not Lieutenant Commander Greene ?" Ely asked in disbelief.
"Yes, he was involved with public communications before this duty and when it first appeared that civilians had been involved because of a decision he had made, he demanded to be on the mission to set things to rights. We should have listened to Springfield, he had reservations about Greene from the start."
"Yeah, it's unfortunate that we can't see the future as well as we do the past." Karl said quietly. "But now what's going to happen?"
"Well, Greene is under investigation, so are several of his close associates. We will be getting out of your hair in the next few days. In fact by tonight a lot of our people and most of our gear will be removed." Don paused. "There is one thing though, it turns out the navy had a secondary motive for approving all the blasting in the cut. Some of my superiors want to list the island on the charts as an emergency refuge in case of storms or problems at sea. They said they'll make sure that it's listed as a private island and that the entrance to the harbour is marked as extremely dangerous."
"It won't work Don." Karl snapped. "What that will do is make me spend all my time trying to rescue damn fools who decided they have an emergency because they're running short of ice for their cocktails and try come in through the cut while they're dead drunk. If that's what you want to do, I'd rather you left the rocks alone and didn't do any more blasting at all."
"This is a private island." Ely said firmly. "That channel is presently listed as unnavigable and even if all the rocks were removed there are very few people who could navigate it most of the time. In fact, since you've been through it several times, why don't you to take one of your inflatable boats and run that channel when the tide is running."
"Well, I may be a commander, but I'm not all that familiar with small boats." Don said quietly. "I don't think that would be safe."
"Hell, I'm not even stupid enough to do that." Karl snorted loudly, then he stared Don in the eye. "Have you even seen what it looks like from above when there's a ten or twelve knot current running?"
"Well, no, but how do we prove to my superiors that it's unsafe?"
"With simple English." Karl said bluntly. "Just tell them that it would be a death trap. If they put that listing on the chart, come tourist time, I'll be calling you and your divers about once a week to come recover the corpses of the victims of their decision. Each time I go through there I worry a lot and each time I learn more about the currents but I'll never be completely comfortable with it. I don't usually do it for the fun of it either, for us that passage is a hazard of living here on the island and it's not something we take lightly. If you want to prove it to them, turn loose an empty wooden hull in the tidal rip and film it getting wrecked from a helicopter flying overhead."
"Before you even do that, go talk to your divers." Ely suggested.
"Well since it's a private island, we would need your permission. Since it doesn't look like you'll be giving that, I think you're fairly safe for now."
"Good, but does that mean the blasting will stop?" Karl asked.
"Oh no. The blasting was my decision. I told them that due to the way the rocks had come down we needed to blast to be able to get the dive boat out." Don grinned. "Actually, I'm happy you're as vehement as you are about the cut being dangerous, I rather dislike the idea of having the political people in the service getting their way when they propose silly ideas. But I should warn you, I'm betting that you'll be approached by one of them."
"Fine." Karl smiled maliciously. "You pass on word to them that the only way we'll even consider it is if they bring the letter and hand it to us themselves. And there are two conditions, they have to come by boat and they have to come in through the cut while the tide is running fast."
"You're still a mean son of a buck aren't you?" Don said, shaking his head.
"Nope, just pragmatic. That way if they really believe it's possible, they get to prove it. If it's impossible, the world will lose a few idiots. Either way, someone wins."
Ely just rolled her eyes, then looked at Don seriously.
"Don, one thing you haven't mentioned is this flu we keep hearing is ravaging parts of the world. Could you update us on what you know about it?"
"Well, there's not much I can tell you that you haven't heard. It started spreading from somewhere in the desert part of the United States and it spread like wildfire. In some ways it acts like whooping cough but after a day or so it starts to act like the Spanish flu of 1918. The US had a huge contingent of people that they were going to send in to aid the earthquake and tsunami victims in Washington State and Oregon from bases on the prairies. The flu hit there before they left and it decimated them. Here in Canada, our airports took such a beating that they were going to send people overland. That would have been one hell of an adventure too, there are avalanches all through the mountain passes. Actually because of the way the flu was spreading, the politicians in Victoria asked them not to." He sighed heavily. "We haven't even had air drops and if we did, I don't know what we'd do. Could we trust that the supplies they dropped weren't contaminated? So far we've been living on our own resources but I don't know how long that can last."
"The airports were wiped out?"
"Yeah, the one at Victoria was overrun by the tsunami and a lot of it was washed away. The main airport in Vancouver was built up over the years and when the quake hit, the substrata liquified then the backwash of the tsunami hit it and finished the job. Further up the Fraser one of the airports is underwater because a slide blocked the river. Here on the Island the only airport that's really functioning is the one at Duncan and it can only handle really small planes or choppers. The only things that are really workable in these conditions are the helicopters and we're stretching them thin. Some of them need to go down for service and we've had to find repairs as well as fuel. It's a nightmare."
"Wow." Karl looked at him in surprise, he hadn't realised that it was that bad.
Any further discussion stopped at that point because Springfield and Winchester came up from below decks. All five of them walked slowly up the hill and back to the cabin area. When they got there, they found that the larger of the tents had already been taken down and was being rolled up, it was only a short time before the first helicopter landed to take away a load of gear and some of the personnel.
Springfield, Winchester, Gillian Mathews, and several others that Karl had hardly seen, all left that day. Two helicopter trips later, almost everything from the lower camp was gone and so was most of the upper camp, there were only three tents left near the house that evening, and they were smallest ones. Don Davis stayed to see the evening blast that the divers were setting up. Fran stayed to do one more check on Keri, Trudy, and Karl. Lyle and Raymonde were staying to work on George's house and Dave Peacock stayed for one more night as well, other than that, the upper camp was empty.
Ely and Trudy insisted that they were cooking another dinner for those who were left on the island. Karl asked them to have the dinner after the divers had set off their blast so he and anyone else who wanted to would be able to see it. Since the divers wanted to have some water flowing over the rocks when they blasted, they had it planned for seven that evening.
At Keri's suggestion several people were going to go see the blast from the bank above the cut, well clear of the blast area. It was going to be quite a party who were going to hike down the lower goat pasture and then along a path on the upper edge of the cut. Keri and Linda were joined by Fran Baker, Ely, Don Davis, Lyle Elgin and Raymonde LeBeaux. At the last minute, Don asked Dave Peacock if he wanted to come along to take pictures of the blast. Karl almost wished he was going too, but he'd already agreed to meet the divers and go with them, besides he wanted to see things from water level since that was where it was going to concern him in the future.
Dave was jubilant when he picked Karl up at the dock. He and Sam had been back to the cut and had made two small blasts during the day while the tide was dropping and Sam was preparing the blast that they wanted to set off soon but they were happy to show Karl what they had accomplished. He was astonished. He'd heard the blasts, but their sound had seemed very small in comparison to the amount they had accomplished. Somehow they had lowered the whole of the area of jagged rocks and had turned much of it into rubble. The whole area had several boulders left on the surface but only a few seemed to have explosives tied and taped to their surfaces, mostly all you could see were primer leads running down into holes in the top of the rubble.
"This is gonna be a big one and most of it's going to be down deep in the pile."Sam called as he scrambled over to the inflatable. "I've just double checked everything. What do you say? Do you want to hear a boom?"
"I hope you're not going to set off any more slides." Karl said staring at all the primer leads going to explosives. "It looks like you plan on blowing this area to the moon."
"Well, we do figure to shake the whole pile up somewhat but I don't think there will be any slides." Dave laughed. "Now, I'll ask you to back us out of here slowly and I'll feed out the blasting cord."
Karl backed them out and when they were clear, they set off the blast. It wasn't one single bang, Karl could actually hear a rolling boom, and he guessed that they had used a synchronized blast. He wasn't surprised when a fair sized wave came rushing out of the cut. After they reentered the cut a few minutes later to look at their handiwork, there were no rocks showing above the surface but it was still disturbed in many places. Karl would have been quite happy with that result, but neither Sam nor Dave was satisfied.
Later that evening, Karl and Don were fascinated by the video that Dave Peacock had shot and was able to show them on his video monitor. In fact, watching it for a second time almost made them late for their dinner. It was actually a very quiet dinner, like a party that never quite made it.
One of the reasons for that was the fact that during the dinner, George got into a discussion with Don about the earthquake and the tsunami.
"So, Don, does the military have any idea why this earthquake seemed to hit all along the west coast?" George asked.
"Well, it's not exactly from military sources, but I understand from what the Pacific Geo-Science Center is saying that outer edge of one of the smaller sections of the Juan deFuca plate dropped down and shifted inward under the North American plate. Do you understand plate tectonics?"
"Somewhat." George smiled. "Thanks to a few small booklets that Karl has in his library, at least I now have a rudimentary knowledge of what you are discussing."
"Okay, basically the Juan deFuca plate is sliding under the North American plate out at sea and west of Vancouver Island. Now the Juan deFuca plate is made up of several sections and the other day, one of those smaller plates shifted laterally as well as vertically and that shift relieved a lot of pressure at that point. Since the pressure was removed in that area, it set off a chain reaction, causing various plates up and down the Pacific rim to move as well."
"So the tsunami and earthquake that we had here travelled all the way around Vancouver Island?" Ely asked.
"Oh no. That was a big quake, but I doubt if you'd have felt it much and you certainly wouldn't have seen a tsunami from it. However, this area would have felt the results of several tremors. The first noticeable one felt here would probably have been the one centred off of the mouth of the Fraser river which happens to also be the cause of the major tsunami in this area. Then you'd have felt the one from off the tip of the Saanich Peninsula and as well as the one that hit the Jordan River area. As well, you'd have felt multiple others, for instance the one off of Nanaimo was a day later."
"You mentioned that the one off of the Fraser River, was it bad? How did Vancouver make out if the quake was bad enough to cause such a devastating tsunami?" George demanded.
"Vancouver is really shook up, but actually, the quake wasn't that strong. I can't remember the numbers, something about a six or seven on the Richter scale I believe. Actually, the tsunami was caused by the slumping of the silt deposits off of the mouth of the Fraser river. It was a massive slump and the tsunami was practically aimed at Vancouver Island. A lot of the lower Gulf Islands had water sweep right over them and it did tremendous damage to all the cities and towns on the eastern edge of Vancouver Island as well. Sidney and the Saanich peninsula took a beating, so did Nanaimo, Oak Bay, a lot of places." Don just shook his head solemnly. "There hasn't even been a good count of the dead and missing yet but it must be in the hundreds if not the thousands. You people were extremely lucky to be here."
Karl wondered what Don would have thought if he knew the truth but he didn't dare tell him so he let it pass without commenting. After Don's speech about the earthquakes and the tsunami, it seemed no one really felt like talking. In fact, the dinner party broke up early and they all headed off to their beds with almost sombre looks on their faces.
Early the next day two more tents were dropped and packed, then Don, Fran, and Dave, and most of the gear left by helicopter. During the day Lyle and Raymonde moved their tent over near George's house so that they could begin work on the repairs with Karl's help. They had the hole in the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom patched by that evening. Karl went home, but not before suggesting to Lyle and Raymonde that they might be more comfortable bivouacking in George's house rather than sleeping in the tent. He left while they were still discussing the idea as they cooked their evening meal in Trudy's kitchen.
Karl didn't tell George and Trudy about his suggestion, but he did tell Ely about it after they were snuggling in bed. She just giggled and called him a shit disturber before suggesting a much more pleasant way of spending their time than speculating about what George would think of Karl's idea.
Over the next few days, Karl noticed that Keri was suffering from mood swings and one night, Linda came over to see Ely. Both women went back to talk to Keri and for once Ely didn't want to talk to him about anything that had been said or done. Whatever had happened, Keri seemed to be less moody afterward, in fact everyone's mood seemed to improve.
It was five more days before the divers were finished surveying the bottom of the bay with Geiger counters as well as doing more blasting but when Dr. Fran came out to see Keri, the helicopter brought along a crew for the dive boat. In the time when they hadn't been involved with the blasting or diving, Sam and Dave had unshipped the derrick so the boat was a lot more stable but they still asked Karl to take it through the cut. Karl towed his dinghy and outboard behind the dive boat and just before they entered the cut, Sam and Dave told him that they'd blasted a few of the other rocks that had been further along the cut as well as those at the slide. In fact they thought that at low tide he would probably have about six feet of water in any part of the cut's length and they felt that as the water washed back and forth, even that would improve with time. In actual fact, Karl could feel the difference in the way the water acted as he travelled along against a slight incoming tide. It was a lot less turbulent. When he bid the divers goodbye in the little bay, he found there were tears in his eyes and he was a sober man as he arrived back to the dock.
When the helicopter came with Dr. Fran a week later and he had to bid goodbye to Lyle and Raymonde it was even worse. The day before they had helped George, Trudy, and Mary-Beth move back to their house and to Karl it felt suddenly like his home was half empty.
"You know, I didn't realise it until now, but I don't think I make a very good hermit." He sighed as he snuggled at Ely's side that night.
"Huh." She snorted. "And I can't even accuse you of chasing after women like most guys. Especially since you've been working with the 'pouff boys' for the last while. Say . . . you aren't getting the urge to become a switch hitter are you?"
"No, no way." Karl snorted with laughter. "I'm afraid I'm just not wired to be ac-dc. Actually those two didn't flame out around me at all. It was just us guys who were working together. I think they flame out around your dad far more, just to tease him."
"Of course they do. And Dad overreacts too. It's like a game." She grinned. "Did you know that Dad said they could come back any time they want if they ever feel like coming for a visit?"
"No, but I can match that, did you know that Fran is going to take a short break after she gets out of the Navy and then she wants to start a prenatal clinic or something along those lines?"
"Well, that's good to know, since it seems that you're starting a little population explosion all your own."
"You mean Keri?"
"Well, yeah. But as well as that, you know how regular my periods have always been? I was really only late once before, when I was pregnant with David."
Karl just stared at her. "But you said . . . just a couple of weeks ago . . . you implied that . . . do you mean?"
"I lied, I was already a few days late then, but I wanted to be a little more certain before I told you and got your hopes up." She giggled. "It's really too soon to be positive but there is a chance."
So on that note, let's leave Karl and his family, living alone on an island but not as isolated nor as lonely as they might have been. There is more to their story ... one day, it will be told, somehow, somewhere, sometime.