Burnt Sea: A Seabound Prequel (Seabound Chronicles Book 0) (24 page)

“What are you going to do?” Judith asked. She glanced at Michael, who
had balled his hands into fists on the counter.

“They’ve got to let up eventually, so we’re pretty much waiting it
out,” Quentin said, tugging at the pockets of his coat. “The expats have a message
system going for
noncurfew
times, but we try to stay
hidden. Like I said, there’s been backlash against us because we’re here eating
up Chinese resources. Word is that we’ll get deported if we go into a
full-blown famine, but I don’t think it’s any better elsewhere.”

Quentin stopped talking to open a Tsingtao beer he’d pulled from
beneath the counter. He poured the whole thing down his throat, his Adam’s apple
beating like a heart with each gulp. He must have been bottling up that story
for days. He had to be lonely and stir-crazy—and possibly actually crazy,
judging by the meat cleaver and sweatpants.

“All right,” he said, smashing the can against the bar counter. “Your
turn.”

Judith gave an abbreviated version of what they’d been through and
finished with, “So we came to check things out before we bring everyone else
ashore.”

“How many people are on this cruise ship of yours?” Quentin asked.

“Over a thousand.”

Quentin whistled through his teeth. “There’s not a chance in hell.
Sorry, folks. They’re not going to let a thousand foreigners into the city with
resources as squeezed as they are. You’ll have to find somewhere else.”

“We can’t get much further on our fuel,” Michael said. “I don’t know if
we’d even make it up to Taiwan.”

“Don’t bother with Taiwan,” Quentin said. “I heard the PLA took over
three days ago. Now
that’s
something I never thought would happen in my
lifetime.
The same with other cities.
The People’s
Republic doesn’t do anything halfway. I’m sure the curfew and general sentiment
toward foreigners is the same everywhere. You won’t find any help in China.”

Judith felt like the walls of the apartment were closing in around her.
Nowhere to go.
How was that possible? The government
couldn’t just turn them away. Why would no one help them?

But she remembered that
their own
government
had done exactly that—and threatened worse. She’d expected great acts of
human compassion and altruism in the face of disaster, but they couldn’t count
on anyone. Didn’t countries usually send aid when storms and earthquakes hit?
Why was it so different this time? Was this truly the end?

Judith placed her hands flat on the cold granite counter of Quentin’s
bar as the world shifted around her. She wanted to go back to the
Catalina
.

They couldn’t count on anyone but themselves.

Simon

Simon
watched the PLA speedboat from the radio tower. Chinese words came through on
the radio. They had been repeating for hours, an automated message like the one
their own navy had put out that had enticed them to Guam.

Simon couldn’t see their lifeboat from this angle. It had been too
long. The others could come back any minute. He was afraid they wouldn’t see
the speedboat until it was too late. What would happen if they were caught?

He studied the harbor, worrying about Judith. How long could they wait
if the boat didn’t come back? They should have agreed something ahead of time.
It didn’t matter while the propeller was damaged, but as soon as it was fixed
they’d have to make some hard decisions, especially if that speedboat called in
reinforcements.
If worst came to worst, would he be able to
leave Judith and the others behind?

The radio crackled. A voice speaking in perfect English, but with an
obvious accent, burst into the room.

“You are not welcome here. Please sail away from the harbor at your
earliest convenience.”

Simon grabbed the microphone. “Hello? We need help. We are refugees,
and we need a safe place to come ashore.”

“You are not welcome here. Please sail away from the harbor at your
earliest convenience.”

“Please,” Simon said. “We’re running out of food and fuel.”

“We are sorry. You are not welcome here. Anyone coming ashore will be
shot. You are welcome to leave peacefully at your earliest convenience.”

“We have nowhere to go.”

The message repeated like a record, but Simon was sure it was a human
being at the other end. After the third “not welcome,” he slammed the microphone
down onto the computer console. Not again. They had to get off this ship
somewhere. Simon slumped into the swivel chair and put his head in his hands.

There was a knock at the trapdoor.

“Come in.”

“Simon?”

It was Mona Mulligan, the delicate woman whose son, Neal, had become
friends with Esther. He didn’t know Mona well. She’d been ill for most of their
voyage and had kept to her cabin. Now, however, she was tugging Neal up the
ladder behind her in a firm grip.

“This isn’t a good time, Mona.”

“Neal has to tell you something.” She pushed her son in front of her,
holding him firmly by the shoulders. “It’s about your daughter,” Mona said.

“Esther?”

Little Neal stared at his toes. He was wearing a pair of orange
Catalina
bowling shoes. A purple bruise
swelled beneath his eye.

“I tried to stop her!” he said. “She hit me and made me promise not to
tell anyone. I’m sorry!”

“Promise not to tell what?”

“She went to the city,” Neal mumbled.

“What?” Simon felt his world narrowing to the point of a pin.

“She wanted to see the city with Judith, so she hid in the lifeboat.
She said there was a secret box for food and stuff.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir,” Neal said. “I tried to stop her. Honest!”

Judith

Quentin
offered everyone beverages and snacks, chatting as if they’d come over for an
after-work cocktail. Judith felt antsy. Despite the many times she’d imagined
being on land, she wanted to get back to the
Catalina
as soon as possible. This apartment, with its sleek
couches and huge bar, felt wrong. She wanted the warmth of the Atlantis Dining
Hall, the sea-slicked decks, the comforting coldness of the rail beneath her
hands.

“We should go soon,” she whispered to Michael.

Quentin had launched into a discussion with Kim about the Chinese
diaspora
that seemed weirdly normal in light of their
circumstances.

“I agree,” Michael said. “I don’t like this.”

“Should we wait until curfew’s up?”

“That’s hours away. We don’t know what will happen when they notice the
Catalina
. I think it’s time to go.”
Michael wrapped his hand gently around her elbow, spreading warmth through her
arm.

“Okay. Quentin,” Judith said, not caring that she was interrupting his
conversation with Kim. “Can you tell us how to get back to the harbor without
walking right down the main street?”

Quentin took out another beer and popped the top. He took a long sip
before answering. “Why don’t you stay here for a few hours? I wouldn’t mind the
company.”

“We left a man in our lifeboat,” Michael said. “He doesn’t know about
the curfew.”

“Fair enough. What are you going to do?”

“Keep sailing, I guess,” Judith said.

Quentin took another long drink of his beer. Judith wished he’d hurry
it up.

“I’ll show you the back way out of the building, but I can’t promise
it’ll be safe.”

“What about you?” Kim asked.

“Yes, why don’t you come with us?” Michael said.

“I’ve got a decent setup here.” Quentin gestured around his chrome-and-glass
apartment. “It’s more comfortable than any ship.”

“But didn’t you say they’d deport you?” Michael said.

“He doesn’t want to come,” Judith said. “We should get going.”

The shadows were lengthening outside. Simon and the others would be wondering
where they were.

“I’ll be fine,” Quentin said, sounding less sure.

But Michael stood his ground. “It’s not right. I can’t leave a fellow
countryman. You’re in danger here, and we can help you. At least you won’t be
alone.”

Quentin tipped his beer back, finishing it off.

“You know, why not? That was my last beer, and I’m sick of having a
curfew anyway. Let me grab some stuff.”

Within a few minutes Quentin had filled a backpack with clothing and
bid farewell to his houseplant. The four of them left the apartment building
and jogged down a back alley littered with broken furniture,
trash
cans
, and bicycles. It smelled curiously clean, despite the debris.
Judith guessed that even rotting food must have been consumed when people
realized a famine was coming. They must hoard every scrap now.

Michael took the lead. He checked every entrance to the alley before
Judith and Kim reached it to make sure no one was lurking. Quentin warned them
to be as wary of civilians as they were of soldiers. The government was
offering food rewards for anyone who reported curfew breakers. But they still
hadn’t seen another soul.

The alley was quiet. Only their footsteps echoed between the buildings.
They could have been the only people in the entire city.

Suddenly Michael stumbled, sending
trash cans
clattering across the alley. The sound was like thunder. Judith ran up and
knelt by Michael’s side. His face twisted in pain.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Thought my foot was starting to get better after the beach,” Michael
said. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Can you walk?”

“Have to.” Michael gritted his teeth as Judith helped him into a
standing position. He leaned heavily on a barrel that had stayed upright when
the cans around it fell. “Give me a sec,” he said, working his ankle in a slow
circle.

“We need to keep moving,” Quentin said. He fiddled with the buttons on
his
peacoat
and looked around anxiously. The alley
was still deserted, but they shouldn’t linger.

“Wait a second.” Michael pried the cap off the opening at the top of
the barrel he’d been leaning against and dipped a hand into it. Light-brown
grains cascaded over his hands. “This thing is full of rice! We should take it
with us.”

“Are you crazy? We don’t have time,” Kim hissed.

“We’re not going to last much longer on the food we have,” Michael
said. “Help me find something to move this. A cart or—”

“Michael,” Judith said urgently. “We need to keep moving.”

“It won’t take long, and there’s no one around,” Michael said.

He began digging through the piles of rubbish in the alley. Judith
pinched her lips together tightly, but she helped him. He was limping and would
need more time to get back to the lifeboat. They had to keep walking.

“That probably belongs to someone, you know,” Quentin said.

“You think we should leave it?”

“Oh no! They just might be a little upset.” Quentin tapped the barrel
and looked up and down the alleyway again. Still empty.

“Finders, keepers?” Michael said. “I guess the rules don’t count at the
end of the world.” Sweat had broken out on his forehead, and he was standing on
one foot.

“Just hurry, please,” Judith said.

“Here! This’ll work,” Kim called. She dragged a furniture dolly toward
them. The tires were flat and the handle rusty, but it would do.

Kim and Judith eased the dolly beneath the barrel. It rocked back and
forth and then settled in place. It took both of them to keep it stable while
they pushed forward. Michael slung an arm over Quentin’s shoulder and they
hobbled along behind the women.

They had to be getting closer to the water. The
Catalina
would be waiting. They were almost home.

Suddenly there was an angry shout in the alley behind them. They didn’t
understand the words, but the tone was clear enough. Then a gun cracked, the
shot echoing through the alley like a breaking wave.

“Run!” Judith screamed.

Chapter 21—Retreat

Simon

Simon ran down the
service stairwell.
Manny kept pace beside him.

“Simon, sir, Judith will take care of Esther,” he said.

“We have to get them out of the city. Their boat could be discovered
any second.”

Panic clutched at Simon’s chest as he ran. He shouldn’t have stayed
behind. How had Esther gotten past him?

“Maybe it has already been found,” Manny said. “They are saying
they’d—”

“No.” Simon would not accept that their lifeboat had been discovered,
their people taken. He had to get his daughter safely back on the ship.

“How will you be getting by the army boat?” Manny asked.

Simon slowed. He had almost forgotten the PLA speedboat waiting between
the
Catalina
and the city. Between
the
Catalina
and Esther.

“We need a distraction,” he said. “I’ll take Michael’s speedboat. It’s
faster than the lifeboats.”

The landing party had originally decided not to take the speedboat
Michael had “borrowed” from the navy because its motor was so much louder than
the ones on the smaller lifeboats. They wanted to avoid being noticed. It was
too late for that.

Simon had fetched Captain
Martinelli
from his
cabin and left him in charge. He hoped that wouldn’t prove to be a fatal
mistake. The man would be able to get them out of the harbor at least. He had
done it before. And with Simon’s daughter in danger, the captain might actually
make a more rational leader than he would. The captain could protect the people
on the
Catalina
for once. All Simon
cared about was getting to Esther.

Judith

Gunshots
rang through the alley far behind them. The group broke into as much of a run
as they could manage with one damaged foot and one dolly with a barrel. They
turned left at the end of the building and ran back toward the main street.

They were in the open, but it didn’t matter anymore. They had to get
back to the lifeboat. Now. Shouts and shots pursued
them.

Judith’s lungs burned as she chased rather than pushed the rice barrel
toward the waterline. She looked back. Michael must have swallowed his pain,
because he was picking up his pace too, Quentin supporting him all the way.
Kim, who was at least twenty years older than the other two
Catalinans
,
gasped with the effort of running flat out.

They couldn’t see the shooters. They were getting further away. They
had to make it.

Judith was almost to the lifeboat. It still bobbed in the shallow water
beside the street sign. But a tiny figure perched on its edge beside Pieter.

Esther.

Simon

Reggie
met Simon at the lifeboat deck where they’d stowed Michael’s speedboat.

“Good news, Simon,” Reggie said. “We got the propeller clear. Only one
blade is broken. The rest were tangled on a shitload of wire beneath the
surface.”

“We need to sail out of the harbor as soon as possible,” Simon said.

“The
guys’ll
take care of it,” Reggie said.
“Now let’s get our people out of there.”

“Is our distraction ready?” Simon asked.

“Wong is on standby on the foredeck. He’ll do it as soon as we clear
the port side.”

Simon knew Reggie wanted to get Esther, Michael, and the others out of
the city as much as he did. The distraction had been his idea, and he had
volunteered to drive Simon to the city in the speedboat to bring their people
home.

“Good,” Simon said. “Manny, make sure all the decks are clear. Keep people
out of firing range in case this gets ugly.”

“It’s going to get ugly all right,” Reggie muttered.

They climbed into the speedboat and lowered it toward the water. They
were on the opposite side of the
Catalina
from the city, hidden from the PLA boat. Only the open sea and the wrecked
harbor mouth were visible from here. They hit the water with a splash. Simon
climbed to the bow, while Reggie operated the outboard motor. They sailed
forward, the
Catalina
looming beside
them like a tower.

As they came abreast of the bow, Reggie raised a hand to signal. A
flaming object catapulted through the air from the deck of the
Catalina
. It hit the water and sank with
barely a hiss. Reggie cursed softly.

Another flaming object followed the first, this time further to the
left. It too sunk without a trace. Reggie cut the motor to the speedboat.

“We can’t sail out there while they’re keeping watch. They’ll blow us
out of the water.”

“We have to keep trying,” Simon said.

A third burning object flew through the air, trailing a wisp of smoke
behind it. When it landed, the sea ignited. The patch of oil floating viscous
on the sea between them and the PLA boat began to burn. Reggie whooped and
fired up the engine. They sped toward the spot where they’d last seen their
lifeboat. The blaze slicked along the top of the water toward the PLA boat.

Judith

“Esther!
What are you doing here?” Judith demanded when she reached the lifeboat. She
nearly knocked the rice barrel into the sea.

“I want to see the city, but Pieter won’t let me go for a walk,” Esther
said, pouting.

“I found her hiding in the emergency hold. She locked herself in there
and finally shouted for help,” Pieter said. “You’re being chased?”

“I think we lost them.”

Michael stumbled into Judith from behind, winded more from pain than
exertion. Quentin leaned down with his hands on his knees, gasping.

“We need to get the barrel into the boat,” Michael said.

“There’s no time,” Judith said. “Leave it.”

Kim caught up with them. “Let’s just go, please,” she gasped.

Michael’s jaw set. “Not after we dragged it all this way.”

Judith looked back at the city to see if their pursuers had caught up.
The street was empty. Michael was already flipping the dolly around to try to
leverage the barrel up and over the edge of the boat.

“On second thought,” Quentin wheezed, “I don’t think I’m cut out for
this. I’m staying here.”

“You can’t!” Michael said. “You’ll be killed. Pieter, would you take
over here?”

Michael caught Quentin by the arm as he started to walk away. Pieter
moved around to help Judith with the barrel.

“It needs to be lower in the water,” Pieter said. “Get in the boat.”

Judith and Kim scrambled over the gunwale, while Pieter pushed upwards
on the barrel. Judith planted her feet and tugged on it. It was almost over the
side. Kim huddled back beneath the awning, pulling Esther down with her.

Quentin and Michael were struggling on the sidewalk. “Don’t give up,
man! If you get caught—”

Soldiers rounded the corner of the building. The barrel seesawed over
the gunwale. Pieter scrambled after it and joined Kim and Esther by the motor.

But Michael still wouldn’t abandon Quentin.

“We have to go!” Judith screamed. “Leave him!”

“It’s too late to go back,” Michael shouted at Quentin. “Get in the
boat! Let us help you!”

Gunfire shattered the empty street.

“Michael!” Judith shouted.

She stayed by the mooring, trying to loosen the knot keeping them
tethered to the shore. Bullets pinged against the street sign, much too close
to them. Kim shrieked.

“Please get in the boat!” Judith said. “Michael, we have to go!”

She managed to untie the rope. They were free. The boat lurched as
Pieter fired up the motor.

Then several things happened at once.

The heavy barrel teetered sideways.

Judith lost her balance.

Quentin broke away from Michael to run toward the city.

And a look of surprise appeared on Michael’s face as a row of holes
opened in his chest.

Simon

They
sped through the water. Every second they couldn’t see the lifeboat was agony.
Simon held on to the bench of the speedboat so hard that cuts must be scoring
his hands. Behind him the sea blazed.

The flames forced the PLA boat further away from them. Tongues of fire
danced across the water. Black smoke billowed in bigger and bigger clouds,
nearly obscuring the
Catalina
from
view.

“They
ain’t
seen us yet,” Reggie hollered
above the rush of the water and the growl of the engine.

Water drenched Simon’s face. He leaned forward, searching the broken
waterline for the familiar shape.

“There it is!” Simon shouted. “I see the lifeboat.”

But instead of speeding up, Reggie cut the engine.

“Why are you stopping? Keep going!”

“Can’t. They’re sitting right in a patch of oil. And the flames are
coming our way.”

Judith

Judith
toppled backwards in the lifeboat. The barrel rolled on top of her, pinning her
legs to the deck. The pain was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to the
black hole ripping its way through her heart. She realized she was screaming.

Someone was shouting at Pieter to go. The engine kicked to life.

“Wait!” Judith shrieked. “Michael!”

“He’s dead. Pieter, go!”

She didn’t register who was speaking, but she knew she hated all of
them.
Michael most of all.
He couldn’t be dead. Not
like that. Not so fast. She pounded her fists against the barrel. If they’d
left it behind . . . left Quentin behind . . . Damn Michael for wasting time trying
to do the right thing. But the barrel didn’t budge. She was stuck.

Water sprayed over the lifeboat. They were moving, sailing away from
the shore, away from Michael. An acrid smell choked the air, and something
roared in Judith’s ears.

“The sea is on fire!”

“There’s something out there.”

“The fire’s headed this way. We’re not going to make it!”

Pieter leaned on the motor as if willing it to be stronger, faster than
it was. But they were moving too slowly.

Suddenly, Esther shouted, “Look! It’s our speedboat.”

“Simon’s coming for us!” Kim screamed.

“Daddy!”

Nearly delirious, Judith pulled herself up as far as she could with the
barrel pinning her legs and looked toward the sea. It
was
Simon, riding toward them in the bow of the speedboat, looking
for
all the
world like a hero from a story. Coming to
save them.

Simon

“We
don’t have time.” Reggie’s words barely made sense to Simon. They had to keep
moving. “There’s a full fuel tank next to that lifeboat motor. It’s going to
blow any second.”

“We have to get Esther,” Simon said.

“There’s no time.”

“Do it!”

Reggie swore and gunned the engine, jetting into the oil slick.

Simon saw his daughter in the lifeboat, her tiny hands, blue T-shirt,
drenched pigtails. Beside her he could see Judith’s face and her arm waving desperately.

“Help us!” she shouted.

She seemed to be trapped under something. She wasn’t climbing any
further forward in the boat.

“Get ready to jump!” Simon shouted.

“I’m stuck!” Judith shrieked. “Help me!”

The two boats bumped together. Pieter and Kim leapt across the gap.

“Come on, button,” Simon coaxed.

Esther hesitated. “I’m scared.”

The flames crept closer. Reggie threw the speedboat motor into reverse.

“It’s going to blow! We have to move.”

Simon looked back and forth between Esther, crouching petrified on the
lifeboat seat, and Judith, trapped beneath a barrel, for one terrible instant.
He couldn’t reach both. Already the gap between the boats was widening again.

Judith

Simon
launched forward and snatched Esther out of the lifeboat. He didn’t shout for
Reggie to stop as it sailed away again. Simon’s eyes met Judith’s. The distance
between them grew larger. As Simon clasped Esther in his arms, his mouth formed
words that might have been
I’m sorry.

Then the lifeboat blew to pieces around her.