Megan's Cure (29 page)

Chapter 56

CAPTAIN NICK AND Enzo Lee stared at the glowing green scope that showed what the marine radar unit circling above their heads atop the
Red Snapper
could see.
 
Lee saw the rough outline of the San Francisco Bay he knew well.
 
A glowing line emanating from the center of the screen swept around in a complete circle every three seconds.
 

“This is set to pick up anything of size on the Bay,” said Nick.
 
“But most boats have at least a transponder and all commercial ships and a lot of pleasure craft transmit an AIS signal as well.
 
That will tell us everything but the amount of beer on board.”

The
Snapper
belonged to Nick Sokolov, otherwise known as ‘Captain Nick.’
 
He was a burly man with long blonde hair and most of a PhD in Comparative Literature which he had abandoned in favor of running a daily fishing boat.
 
Every day, the
Snapper
took up to 30 fishermen out through the Golden Gate in search of salmon, snapper, bass and whatever else they could find off the Northern California coast.

Lee had immortalized Captain Nick in an article about the former academics in the Bay Area who had become overqualified gardeners, plumbers, cabinet makers and…boat captains.
 
Ever since, Nick had been his go-to source for everything nautical.
 

After a quick call to Nick, Lee had picked up Choy on the way to the
Snapper’s
berth in Emeryville.

“Ah ha!” said Nick as he stuck his finger at a blip on the radar southwest of Alcatraz Island.
 
“Thar she blows!”

Nick fiddled with the screen, pushed a button and the name “
Oblique”
appeared on the screen along with details of the craft’s location, speed, heading and even the size and type of boat – a 27-foot Catalina.

“So he’s heading for the Golden Gate?” said Lee.

“Yep,” said Nick.
 
“Sure is.
 
Straight for the open ocean and straight into a 20-knot wind.
 
See his angle?
 
He’s gotta tack all the way out.
 
Slow going for a sailboat.
 
C’mon.
 
Let’s go get her.”

Nick started the
Snapper’s
engine, yelled down to one of his helpers on the pier to let loose the lines holding the fishing boat in place and slowly eased toward the opening to San Francisco Bay.

They were a mile past the Golden Gate Bridge when the
Snapper
caught up with the
Oblique
.
 
The sun had already set and the late afternoon winds were blowing hard. Whitecaps were everywhere and the rolling swells were lifting up the
Snapper
as it plowed forward, slamming down into the following trough before being lifted again by the next swell.

Once they passed under the bridge and hit the open ocean, the
Snapper
had closed quickly on the
Oblique
.
 
Nick ran the
Snapper
along the sailboat’s starboard side.
 
Novak was at the wheel in the back and Megan sat on the port side bench near him.
 
The wind came off their port bow and pushed the sailboat onto its starboard side.
 
They wore yellow rain gear.
 
Megan’s jacket was huge for her and hung down to her knees.
 
She wore no life vest.

Lee left the enclosed bridge and stood along the railing on the upper deck.
 
He waved his arms up and down as if he was shaking sand out of a towel, trying to get Novak to slow the
Oblique
.
 
Megan gave him a small wave.
 
Novak just glanced at Lee and then turned his gaze forward, over the bow of the sailboat and the ocean beyond.

“How can we stop them?” Lee asked Nick back inside the bridge.

“There is no way without doing something pretty crazy, not to mention dangerous,” said Nick.

“Explain,” said Lee.

“Well, we’ve got the speed,” said Nick.
 
“We could just cut them off.
 
Force them to turn away or run into us.”

“Then what happens?” asked Lee.

“One, he turns to avoid us,” said Nick.
 
“He’s not that experienced a sailor.
 
It’ll take him a while to get sorted out.
 
Hopefully, he’ll be dead in the water. You should have a chance to talk to him, at least.

“Two, he runs into us.
 
I’m not too worried about the
Snapper
.
 
Some patching and paint.
 
But, his damage could be anything from minor to massive.”

“Life threatening?” asked Lee.

“Shouldn’t be,” said Nick.
 
“I can nose over so it won’t be a direct collision.
 
We’ll be right there if they have to abandon.
 
I’ve got life vests…even inflatable rafts.
 
We can come to a dead stop pretty fast.”

“Okay,” said Lee.
 
“I think we need to do it.
 
It’s getting dark.
 
The wind is picking up.
 
Walter doesn’t know what he’s doing.
 
It will be life threatening if we
don’t
do anything.”
 

Nick nodded his head solemnly.
 

“If you’re right and he doesn’t have any open ocean experience, he might not survive the night,” Nick said.
 
“These winds can get vicious and he’s got to manage the boat alone.
 
That’s tough.
 
One mistake.
 
One misjudgment.
 
It’s all over.”

Lee nodded his head and he picked up a handheld radio that the
Snapper’s
crew used to communicate on the boat.

He descended the stairway to the lower deck where he joined Choy at the stern.
 
He pulled out a couple of orange life vests from a white storage compartment.
 
He put them on the deck near where he took a place on the portside rail.
 
He gave Choy a donut-shaped float with a rope attached to it that was hooked on an exterior wall.
 
She wore one of Nick’s sweaters and a long rain jacket over her dress.
 
He told her the plan and then called Nick on the radio.

“We’re ready,” he said. “Let’s go.”

The
Snapper
drifted over closer and closer to the
Oblique.
 
Lee waved at Novak, urging him to pull his boat toward the port side away from the
Snapper
which must have appeared like a huge wall of moving metal as it shifted almost on top of the sailboat.

Lee saw Novak turn the wheel hard to the left.
 
The
Oblique
shifted quickly away from the
Snapper
.
 
It lost momentum suddenly as the sailboat turned into the wind, the big mainsail flapping and swinging loosely.
 
Nick throttled back the
Snapper.
 
In the relative quiet, Lee yelled across the water.

“Walter,” he shouted.
 
“Go back.
 
You’ve got to go back.
 
It’s not safe out here.” Lee pointed back to the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

Novak looked at Lee.
 
His white hair splayed out in all directions in the wind.
 
His face was flushed.
 
He shook his head, leaned down and picked something off the deck near his feet.
 
He brandished it up in the air.
 
It was a spear gun.
 
Novak waved it in Lee’s direction and then put it back at his feet.
 
Then he reached behind him and pulled on a line that yanked the
Oblique’s
mainsail tighter until it stopped fluttering and filled with wind again.
 
The sailboat picked up speed, heading off toward the left on its new tack.

Lee felt the engines of the
Snapper
pick up in pursuit.
 
He clicked on the handheld radio.

“See that?” he said.

“Right,” said Nick.
 
“He is nuts.
 
What now?”

“Can you do that again?
 
Make him turn and stop for a minute?”

“I can try,” said Nick.
 
“What does that get us?”

“I think I can get aboard if you stop him,” said Lee.
 
“He’s got a fender on the left…port side.
 
It’s almost in the water.
 
I can pull myself up.”

“You’re more nuts than he is,” said Nick.
 
“You have any idea how hard that is?”

“If you’ve got a better idea, let’s hear it,” said Lee.
 
“I’m not going to let him drown Megan out here.”

Silence.

“Okay,” said Nick.
 
“Look.
 
Wait until I’ve throttled down.
 
If he starts up again, I’m not following.
 
I’m staying put until we get you back on board.
 
I’ve got a rope ladder down there.
 
You can swim, right?”

“Water polo team.
 
Lowell High School,” Lee said.
 
He didn’t add that he dropped out after two weeks when he nearly drowned during the high school team’s first scrimmage.
 
He wasn’t going far.
 
He swam well enough.

The
Snapper
was churning forward again, closing the gap on the
Oblique.
 
Nick pulled up on the port side to repeat the previous maneuver but from the opposite side.
 
Lee and Choy moved to the opposite side of the
Snapper
as they drew closer.
 
He explained his plan to her.
 
She shook her head.

“I wish I had a better plan but we left our grappling hooks back in the car,” he said.
 
“I think I can do this.
 
And if I can’t, you’re going to have to save me, okay?”

“We can get you out of the water,” said Choy.
 
“I’m more worried about you getting crushed or your head getting laid open.
 
Be careful.
 
Don’t make things worse.
 
We’re a long way from a hospital.”
 
Lee nodded.
 

As they came up close to the sailboat, Lee undressed quickly.
 
He dropped his jacket and sweater on the deck.
 
He was glad he had worn a white T-shirt.
 
It would give Nick and Choy a good visual if they needed to fish him out of the water.
 
He kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his jeans.
 
He stood on the cold deck in the chilly wind in his bare feet, boxer shorts and T-shirt.
 
He smiled at Choy as he tried not to shiver.

Choy shook her head.
 
She wasn’t happy about this.

Lee had an orange life vest in his hand as they pulled even with the
Oblique.
 
They edged closer and closer, giving the sailboat time to change directions.
 
Lee figured Novak would be quicker making the direction change the second time.
 
He’d probably tack without stopping completely.
 
But, if the sailboat slowed just for a few seconds and he was in the right position, Lee thought he could manage it.