“Are any of them military ships?”
“No. They are used for shipping food to the other islands.”
“That’s okay,” Enele said. “If there is still an army of Elgen on Vaitupu, it’s best they only see the arrival of a shipping boat. That will not cause suspicion. Who do we have who can pilot the boat?”
“We have many skilled boat captains. The best are Pita, Daniel, Jimi, Noa, and Pio.”
“Zeel, go with those five and whomever they choose to prepare the boats. Nazil, arrange the people who are willing to fight so we can arm them. Take as many soldiers as you need and retrieve our weapons from the boats.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Adam, gather fifty to help us distribute the compound weapons.”
Adam shouted, “I need fifty strong men and women to come with me to get weapons.”
More than fifty hurried up to the front of the building.
“Single file,” Enele said to Adam. “Give us a minute to prepare.” Then Enele and Raphe went back downstairs to the arms closet. A moment later the first of the fifty appeared. They loaded each worker with as much as he or she could carry, moving through a steady line until the entire arms room was emptied.
When Enele went back upstairs, Adam had all the weaponry, ammunition, and clothing, piled by type, on the ground in front of the building. As far as Enele could tell, nearly all the Tuvaluans had volunteered to fight.
“Who of you have experience in using a gun? Please come forward.”
Only two dozen from the group stepped forward.
“Okay. You are the patrol leaders. Each of you will select twenty-five soldiers to lead. As soon as Nazil returns with the others, we will begin arming you.”
Fifteen minutes later Nazil and his people came out from the trees, each carrying multiple weapons.
“If you can use your weapon, keep it,” Enele said. “Bring the rest up here.”
Within ten minutes the rest of the weapons were arranged and the squad leaders began arming their squads.
“This is good,” Enele said. “We are still few, but we know our islands. It’s time to sail for Vaitupu.”
PART THREE
5
Auxiliary Fuel
After the Joule had sailed more than sixty nautical miles from Hades, the COB said to Welch, “If I’m putting her on autopilot, I need to know where we’re going. Besides ‘south.’ ”
Jack and Zeus were sitting on either side of Welch, and they both turned to him.
“Panama,” Welch said.
The COB looked up from the controls. “We don’t have enough fuel to make it to Panama.”
“You’re lying,” Welch said. “This craft can carry enough diesel to cross the Pacific.”
“It can if it’s full. But we haven’t been refueled since we crossed over from Peru with the rest of the fleet. We were one day from refueling.”
“Show me.”
“The fuel gauge is here,” the COB said, tapping a small screen. Welch looked at the monitor. It had a blinking warning light that read: AUXILIARY FUEL.
“What about auxiliary reserve?” Welch said.
“We’re on auxiliary reserve. That’s why the light is blinking.”
“How far will our fuel get us?”
“About eight hundred nautical miles.”
“Can we make Fiji?”
“Yes. Fiji is about six hundred nautical miles.”
“What about New Zealand. Or Australia?”
“New Zealand is two thousand nautical miles, and Australia is about eight hundred nautical miles farther. We can make Fiji and refuel there.”
“There are still Elgen on Fiji. What other options do we have?”
“Samoa.”
“How far is that?”
“Almost the same distance as Fiji, but it won’t be any safer. There are almost as many Elgen, and we’d be more noticeable. I suggest we make Fiji, refuel, and then sail immediately to Australia, where we’ll have more opportunities to hide, which is to both of our benefit.”
Welch thought for a moment, then said to Zeus, “Get Taylor.”
“I think she went back to sleep.”
“Wake her. It will only take a few minutes.”
Zeus ran out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with Taylor behind him, her eyes puffy.
“I’m sorry I had to wake you,” Welch said. “But I need your help.”
“It’s okay. How can I help?”
“I need you to tell me if the captain here is telling the truth or not.” Welch looked at him. “We have a game here. I ask you a question. If you give me the wrong answer, you get shocked.”
“That would make a good TV show,” Zeus said. “Truth or . . . Electrocution.”
One of the Elgen sailors nodded in agreement.
“What do you mean?” the COB asked.
“This young lady can read your mind. So, unless you want Zeus to shock the truth out of you, I suggest you tell the truth the first time.”
The COB looked at her warily. “I was telling the truth.”
“We’ll see,” Welch said. “Taylor?”
She stepped up to the COB, put her hands on his temples, and then turned to Welch. “I’m ready.”
Welch looked the COB in the eyes. “Do we have enough fuel to make Fiji?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do we have enough fuel to make New Zealand?”
“No, sir.”
Taylor nodded. “It’s true.”
“Set autocourse to Fiji,” Welch said.
The COB turned to his navigator. “Set course for Fiji.”
“Cruising depth?”
“Maintain.”
A moment later the man said, “Course is set.”
The COB turned back. “Our course is set.”
“Are the Elgen able to track us?”
“Yes,” the COB said.
“He’s telling the truth,” Taylor said.
“Is there any way to turn off tracking?”
“No.”
“He’s not telling the whole truth,” Taylor said.
“Zeus.”
“Wait,” the COB said, holding up his hands as if surrendering. Zeus had already shocked him twice in the taking of the boat, and the COB wasn’t eager to get shocked again. “I wasn’t trying to deceive you. What I meant was, you cannot turn it off from the control. You would have to manually destroy the GPS broadcaster. But it’s built into the circuitry. It would be nearly impossible to get to.”
Welch turned to Taylor.
“He’s telling the truth,” she said.
“Nearly impossible is still possible,” Welch said.
“It wasn’t meant to be deactivated, so there’s no way to get to it.”
“Could it be deactivated by an EMP?”
“If you wanted to put our entire computerized control system out of order.” He looked at Welch intensely. “Trust me, you don’t.”
Just then there was a crisp burst of static from the radio.
“What was that?” Welch asked.
The COB shook his head. “I don’t know. Some kind of interference.”
“A broadcast?”
“I hope not. The only broadcast we’d receive would be from EHQ. They’re the only ones who know these frequencies.”
After a moment Welch said to Taylor, “All right. Thank you. Go get some rest.”
Taylor walked out of the room.
Welch stood. “I’m going to my quarters. Zeus, take these men to bunk room two and lock them inside. Have Ian keep an eye on them.”
“Yes, sir.” Zeus turned to the men. “Let’s go.”
“Gladly,” the COB said.
After they were gone, Welch said, “Jack, I’m going to my cabin to sleep. You have the Conn.”
“Got it.”
“No Elgen are allowed in the Conn.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack said. “How long will you be out?”
“Just until I wake up. Or unless ther
e’s a problem. Wake me if there’s anything irregular.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack said.
Welch started out of the Conn, then turned back. “I suggest you don’t touch anything.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good. I’d hate to end up back at Hades by mistake.” He turned and walked out of the room.
6
Only a Dream
Several hours after Taylor had gone back to sleep, she bolted up in bed, as if someone had woken her. Suddenly, in the dark room, there was a bright light floating above her, flickering like a projection. The light was in the shape of a person. The image was hazy but grew in intensity and clarity until she thought she recognized who it was.
“Michael!” she screamed.
The image flickered, then disappeared.
“Tay?” McKenna said hoarsely, dimly illuminating her index finger to light the room. “Taylor?”
Abigail also woke. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you have a bad dream?” McKenna asked.
Taylor was shaking. McKenna got up, standing to the side of Taylor’s bunk. “What’s wrong?”
When Taylor could speak, she said, “I just saw Michael.”
McKenna glanced over at Abigail and frowned.
“It was only a dream, honey,” Abigail said.
Taylor started crying. “No. I was awake. I really saw him. I did.”
For a moment, neither McKenna nor Abigail knew what to say. Ostin sat up, mumbled something, then went back to sleep.
“I’m not crazy,” Taylor said.
“We know you’re not,” McKenna said.
“No one said you’re crazy,” Abigail said.
Taylor looked at them with tear-filled eyes. “. . . But you’re thinking it.”
Just then Tara also sat up. “You okay, Sis?”
“She thinks she saw Michael,” McKenna said.
Abigail got out of her bunk, walked over to Taylor’s bed, and knelt down next to it. “I believe you saw him.”
Taylor wiped her eyes. “You do?”
Abigail nodded. “Jack told me that after Wade died, he kept hearing Wade’s voice. Once he said he was sure he saw him. Grief does strange things to the mind. It happens.”
“I didn’t make it up,” Taylor said. “I saw him!” She began to cry again. “I think I saw him. I don’t think I made it up.”
“Taylor, you and I both know how the mind can fool itself,” Tara said.
Taylor wiped her eyes again, then looked at her sister. “Can you give me Michael?”
“What?”
“Just for a minute.”
“Tay . . . please don’t ask me to do that.”
“I know you can do it.”
“It’s not . . . right. It’s not healthy.”
“Please.”
Abigail and McKenna both glanced back and forth between them, and McKenna lightly shook her head.
Tara finally said, “All right.” She got out of her bunk and stood a few feet in front of her twin. Suddenly she looked exactly like Michael, though she looked at her sister with sad eyes.
Taylor began sobbing. “Stop. Okay, stop. You were right.”
Tara took Taylor in her arms. “I’m so sorry. It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.”
“That was really wrong,” McKenna said.
Abigail nodded. “Yeah. But I probably would have asked too if it had been Jack.”
PART FOUR
7
Battle of Vaitupu
The rising early morning sea was calmer than Enele’s heart as the northwestern Vaitupu harbor came into view. He led the four-boat armada aboard the ES Regulator, the largest of the Elgen shipping boats, along with two hundred and fifty Tuvaluans, only sixty of whom were armed. They were followed at a short distance by the three other ships they’d commandeered from Demeter: the ES Pulse, the ES Proton, and the ES Neutron.
Unlike Hades and Demeter, Vaitupu—renamed Ares by Admiral-General Hatch, after the Greek god of war—was technically not an island, but rather was an atoll, a ring-shaped coral reef consisting of nine isles. It was the largest of the six Tuvaluan atolls and had the second-largest population in Tuvalu, only smaller than the Tuvaluan capital of Funafuti.
Seagulls circled the ship, and to the east the sun was rising like fire from the Pacific Ocean. Enele sat in the control deck next to Adam and the ship’s captain, Noa.
“How long until we reach the dock?”
“Fifteen, twenty minutes,” Noa said.
He turned to Adam. “Are the troops ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Are they mentally ready?”
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Suddenly the radio chirped. “ES Regulator, this is Ares Dock. We have no authorization for your docking.”
The radioman looked over at the captain. “What should I do?”
Captain Noa turned to Enele. “Sir?”
“Ignore it,” Enele said. “Prepare to dock.” Enele grabbed the mic for the boat’s PA system. “This is Enele, your commander. We have reached Vaitupu and are about to dock. First-wave soldiers on deck, armed and prepared to attack. Second- and third-wave soldiers remain inside on level two and wait for further instruction. Everyone keep low, especially those soldiers on deck. Do not be seen until I give the signal. Do not fire unless commanded. Expect hostility.”
As the Regulator sidled up to the Vaitupu dock, they were met by an armed Elgen officer and six other dockworkers. The officer was wearing the Elgen insignia beneath two stripes, the markings of an Elgen naval lieutenant. He walked up to the starboard side of the ship and lifted a bullhorn to his mouth. “You’re not scheduled to dock here, Regulator. Pull away now or face consequences.”
“We just lost a war,” Enele shouted over the side of the boat. “No one is scheduled anywhere. You haven’t heard?”
The officer looked at him suspiciously, then, lifting a radio, said, “I’m going to have to check with EHQ for authorization.”
“Drop that,” Enele said, pointing a gun at the officer and simultaneously giving his soldiers the signal. Two dozen Tuvaluan soldiers rose up over the side of the boat, their rifles aimed on the dockworkers. “You just got your authorization. Pull us in now, or we’ll blow you apart and do it ourselves.”
The officer hesitated, then said, “Pull them in.”
The Elgen dockworkers pulled the boat in, lashing her to the dock’s cleats.
“Shoot anyone who tries to leave the dock,” Enele shouted to his men, loud enough for the Elgen to hear. “Adam, tell the captain to open the starboard port door and signal the other boats to dock. I want you to lead the first wave out. Take the dock, commandeer all communications, and establish a hundred-yard perimeter.”
“Yes, sir.”
A large metal door opened on the starboard side of the ship, and the Regulator crew lowered a gangplank from the boat. Twenty Tuvaluan soldiers dressed in Elgen uniforms were the first to storm out of the ship. Behind them came the rest of the Regulator’s soldiers.
As the other boats moved up behind the Regulator, Enele went belowdecks and disembarked. He walked up to the dock’s main building. The Elgen officer he’d been talking to had already been cuffed and bound and was sitting on the ground with three other Elgen. Two armed Tuvaluans in uniform stood to either side of them.
“How many Elgen on the island?” Enele asked.
The Elgen officer looked at the other Elgen, then said, “I’m not talking.”
Enele looked him in the eye. “What’s your name?”
The officer scowled. “Earl.”
“Earl,” Enele repeated. “That’s an American Southern name, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you from in America?”
“Jackson, Louisiana.”
“I only know that name because of that country song. ‘Earl had to die.’ Clever song.” Enele said to one of the Tuvaluan soldiers, “Take these men inside. Leave Earl wit
h me.”
“Get going,” the soldiers said, one of them pushing the closest Elgen with his foot. The Elgen struggled to their feet, then walked off.
“So does Earl have to die?” Enele said, taking an Elgen Taser prod from his utility belt. He knelt down and put the Taser on Earl’s neck. “How many Elgen are on the island?”
Earl just swallowed. Enele didn’t wait two seconds to push the Taser’s button. The sound of arcing electricity filled the air, and the officer’s frozen body fell to the side. He groaned out in pain.
“I know that hurts,” Enele said. “Do you want to guess how I know? Because your Elgen buddies used to do that to us every day in Hades. In fact, they especially liked to do it to us when we were in the shower. Yeah, that was hilarious.” Enele pushed the Taser button again, and the man stiffened and groaned.
“You can’t make me talk,” he said.
“Earl, you’re so brave,” Enele said. “Stupid, but just so . . . brave. So let me tell you what I’m going to do.” He moved the electric prod to Earl’s face. “After I’m done shocking you a few hundred times, and if your heart holds out, I’m going to tie a rope to your feet and hang you from one of those cleats, just a few feet above the waterline, then let the tide slowly drown you. And, while all that fun’s going on, I’m going to bring out one of your other men, show them you, and then make them the exact same offer. I’m pretty sure that one of them will tell us everything. So, you can tell me what I need to know, or you can die a slow, painful, and very worthless death, since it will accomplish nothing.” At that, Enele again pushed the electric prod’s button. This time Earl screamed out.
“I wonder what it would feel like to have your eye at the center of all that voltage,” he said. He moved the prod to Earl’s right eye.
“I’ll talk,” he said.
Enele moved the prod away from Earl’s face. “I thought you might come to your senses. Just so we’re clear now, if you so much as stutter, we’ll test the eye thing, and then you’re shark bait. You understand?”
“Yes.”
“Say ‘yes, sir.’ ”
“Yes, sir.”
“How many Elgen are on the island?”