Enduring the Crisis (11 page)

The truck rolled into the parking lot where they had been earlier in the day. It looked much different at night. Lights reflected off the dock and off the water. Out to sea were a few pinpoints of light far off in the distance. Probably from ships but mostly it was black. The boats creaked and rocked gently from the motion of the waves as Ben and Nate stood at the edge of the walkway that led to the docks.

“Do you remember which way to go?” Ben asked. He usually had a good sense of direction because of his truck driving days but he had been so supercharged with adrenaline all day long that his brain was foggy.

“Hmm…” Nate said as he nodded at a man that passed by on the dock.

“Ain’t no use. They grounded the boats.” The man in coveralls swore up a storm as he walked across the street to the bar.

At least they didn’t have to explain themselves.

“I know where to go now. I recognize those boats over there.” Nate pointed to the left and headed for the far dock.

Ben recognized it too.

Two men were practically shoving each other as they approached.

“One of them is falling in the water. Wanna bet which one?” Nate elbowed Ben in the rib.

“Hopefully it’s not one of us.” Ben waited for them to stop or move out of the way.

“Ya owe me, Trent.”

“I told ya, I ain’t got it. Not until we get a few days out on the water. What’s the point of keepin’ on harrassin’ me?” The skinny guy in rain gear glared at them. “What ya starin’ at?”

“We’re not meaning to stare. You
are
making a spectacle out of yourselves and we need to head down this dock. So you’re kind of in the way.” Ben could swear he heard his wife’s voice coming from his mouth, all timid and nice as he stated the obvious instead of telling them outright they were a public nuisance.

“I haven’t seen you two before. You make it in before the Coast Guard locked us down?” The one that was demanding money was a bit too curious.

“We lucked out. There was some scary stuff going on out there so we’re not minding dry ground at the moment,” Nate said as they cautiously passed the brutish guy.

Ben turned his face as he clenched his jaw. Nate didn’t need to go there.

“What kind of stuff?” the skinny broke one asked.

“You know, the stuff that took out the grid down south. That’s what he’s talking about. It could have happened here.” Ben tried to deflect the attention.

“Could have been us.” Nate nodded excessively.

“Could have been us, huh? It will get much worse here if none of us can leave.” The skinny one shifted his weight as he discreetly moved closer to the end of the dock.

“Dude, I’m not done with you,” the brutish one shouted when skinny took off running.

Ben passed Nate on the dock to steer clear of anymore fishermen encounters and nearly dropped to his knees from the dock rocking on the water after the other two launched off the end to run through the parking lot. “Woah. I don’t know if I’ll ever get use to ocean life.” He caught Nate’s arm as he swayed too close to the water.

“Me neither. And yet here we are. Ready to get on another. The boat is up ahead.”

“Thank goodness. You should be thankful I diverted that convo. You didn’t need to tell him what’s going on out there. I know we’re lucky we are both still in one piece, but we weren’t suppose to talk to anyone about anything.”

“Oh, you’re right. Sorry. That whole episode is still playing through my head. I’m sure we’re lucky to be alive.”

“We don’t need to talk about it to everyone when we’re trying to blend in as a local to slip out of here unnoticed.”

“I get it, shesh.” Nate shook his head in aggravation and was the first one up the temporary boarding ramp. “Oh, wait. Is this the right boat?” He took a few steps on the deck and pushed Ben back down the ramp.

“What do you think you’re doing?” A rather tall man ducked his head as he made his way out from the wheelhouse.

“Sorry, I think we have the wrong boat.” Nate turned to look up the dock and back the way they came before he went to look for the name of the boat. “Nope, we found the boat. Seas the Day. Appropriate, huh?”

Ben smiled and waited for Nate to come back. “Are you Jackson’s brother?”

“Perhaps. Depending on who is asking.”

“The two men that are joining you on your trip to Anchorage,” Ben said.

Jackson’s brother headed straight for Ben and towered over him as a couple of men that had obviously come from the bar staggered down the dock. He whispered through tight lips, “You better hope those two were too drunk and wrapped up in themselves to hear you.” He flicked Ben’s shoulder hard.

Ben had been holding his ground but felt it was wise to move away from the brute before he had a chance to flick him again. The guy had monster fingers or something because his shoulder burned with pain where the jerk flicked him. But he wasn’t going to react and he didn’t dare rub the spot that was tightening into a muscle spasm . The three nodded politely as the two drunkards greeted them semi-coherently as they walked past.

“What you boys doing out here? Why aren’t you out getting wasted while there’s nothing better to do?” The old shaggy one stopped and turned around to ask.

Ben shrugged. Nate followed Ben’s lead and kept his mouth shut.

“No, really. It’s a shame you boys ain’t havin’ much fun.” The drunk guy turned on his heel, nearly spilling off the side of the dock before catching himself and they were traipsing down the dock again.

“Before anyone else decides to have words with us, come on.” The giant nodded for them to follow.

Nate was eager to follow. However, Ben decided to keep his distance.

Not a word was said as they were escorted into the main living area.

Nate stuck out his hand once they were standing in a somewhat awkward semi-circle. “I’m Nate.”

The big guy looked towards the door. “Look, I wasn’t keen on having spares on our trip out of here. Jackson and I have been doing just fine. With everything cinched down tight on the island, I know he’s asking for trouble allowing you two to come along.”

Ben rocked back and forth on his heels. “Now, we promised Jackson we’d be useful. He was perfectly comfortable with us being a part of the crew.”

“We get boarded and inspected by the Coast Guard, there is no hiding you and it will be obvious that the four of us aren’t good friends.”

“You sure aren’t making it easy.” Ben stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared out the window at the darkness to avoid an intimidating glare from someone so much taller than himself.

He sighed. “I’m Anderson. And I’m well suited to life out at sea with next to no one around. I think Jackson just barely puts up with me on his boat because he knows I’m not good with people. So let me have my space and we’ll get along just fine.” He turned his back to them and headed for the galley.

“Gladly,” Ben said and looked for a place to sit. He didn’t feel at ease without Jackson there as he sat perched on the edge of his seat.

“Is there a cabin we can stay in or at least a place where we can put our bags so it’s out of the way?” Nate asked.

“There’s a berth with some bunks that we’ve been using to store supplies that Jackson said you all could use. We haven’t had time to clear it out.” He pointed towards the front of the boat and down the short flight of stairs. “You can’t miss it. Just walk until you can’t anymore. Then look to your left. The head is also on the left. You’ll pass the door just before you reach the berths. But don’t think of spending endless time in there doing your business. I use it too and I won’t hesitate to send you out on a dinghy if you take too long.”

“What’s a head?” Nate asked.

“The toilet room.” Anderson shook his head and concentrated on whatever he was cooking on the stove. He obviously had said all he wanted to at that point. The smell of bacon usually was a call to eat but Anderson was a great appetite suppressant.

Ben led the way and when they couldn’t walk anymore, he had seen the door to the bathroom but there wasn’t a berth he could see. Haphazard stacks of boxes, packages of water bottles, and other supplies took over the space. He looked back the way he came and scowled. “What are we supposed to do with all this crap? I can’t even tell there is anything like a bed back here.”

“What? You don’t think stacking those water bottles on top of some of these boxes might make a nice water bed?” Nate smirked.

Ben shook his head and backed away. He was about to give Anderson an ear full until the spot on his shoulder twinged with pain again. He studied the hastily stacked pile of supplies instead. He could almost make out where the berths were located on each side. He went down the hall to look in the doorway opposite the bathroom. It was a small bedroom with a desk and it had two berths as well but only one looked like it had been slept in. He couldn’t believe a giant like Anderson could actually fit in that compact bed.

“What you looking for?” Nate looked in the room. “I don’t think he’d take kindly to having a bedroom guest.”

“I also don’t want to bunk on the same side of the boat as him. We might tip it over.” Ben tried to keep a straight face and gave him a smile once Nate lightly hit his arm with the back of his hand.

Nate shook his head at Ben’s bad joke. “I moved a couple of those boxes. They were just tossed there. I can see some room where we can move things. We just need to reconfigure all that crap into something more organized.”

“It seems to me that might have been someone else’s job before we showed up.” Ben pointed his thumb back to the galley.

“I would really like to sleep in something resembling a bed, with some privacy. Last night was ridiculous.”

“What? You didn’t enjoy feeling like you were on exhibit?” Ben grabbed all the plastic wrapped packages of water bottles and stacked them along the wall.

It took some of Nate’s super skills playing Tetris with the boxes before they found their beds. Unfortunately, the bedding wasn’t exactly clean and Nate was about to have a fit. Ben didn’t care but he didn’t want to listen to Nate carry on while they were stuck on a boat together with the nit-picky giant in earshot.

“I can’t do this. It was bad enough at the village. So little resources, mud everywhere. Nothing ever stayed clean.” He pointed emphatically at the beds. “I can’t sleep in filth and this is filth.”

“Dude. What is wrong with you? Last night we slept on the floor of a carpeted exercise room I’m sure the floor was covered in sweat and who knows what else might have been in that mattress and you were fine.” Ben searched for a linen closet, trying to find something before Nate took everything apart that they had sorted and cleaned up moments ago.

“The bedding was clean. It smelled like bleach.” Nate went into the bathroom and rummaged noisily through the cupboard and closet.

Ben took a few steps toward the stairs hoping Anderson couldn’t hear Nate or at least didn’t care what was going on. He noticed a sliding door. The door was skinny enough that it looked as if it belonged to another closet. He quietly slid it open and was thrilled with what he found. Yanking out a set of sheets and a clean blanket, he whisked them over to Nate just as several things clattered when they hit the floor in the bathroom.

“I found some. Here.” He shoved the bedding against Nate’s chest and it instantly calmed his friend down. Ben leaned against the wall while Nate methodically made his bed. The man that had been with him while they thought for sure they were going to be blown apart at sea and was otherwise fine on the smelly fishing boat just about lost it, giving himself heart attack over dirty sheets. The plan was to travel with him all the way home but now for the first time he was feeling uneasy about his companion. There would be more issues than dirty sheets that they were going to have to deal with if they were going to travel together through the wilderness in Canada to get home.

Ben heard Jackson when he arrived. Actually, he heard Anderson’s complaints about the new shipmates and it had to be Jackson he was fuming at.

Nate never looked at Ben after he finished with his bed. He sat on the bottom bunk and gripped the wood rail while he stared at the floor.

Ben stuffed his hands in his pockets. His lunatic-suddenly-clean-freak-friend, the flicking giant, and the very rich invincible man were his traveling companions. Was he the normal one? He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out with the instability of everyone else around him. So far, not making a fuss was getting him exactly where he needed to go. It wasn’t a good time to do anything different or change tactics with his good fortune so far.

However, he hoped that all his good fortune wasn’t going to doom him later on. Or doom him even sooner while he was on a boat that was about to sneak out of port while warships could be lurking out there. He quickly pushed all those concerns out of his mind.

“I see you’ve made yourselves at home. That’s wonderful. And you took care of the mess Anderson and I have been battling over for months now. I will say, I could use a few organizational masters on this journey.”

“Be careful what you wish for,” Ben mumbled and only glanced at Nate briefly.

“If you fellas are situated, I could use your help as we slip out of the harbor. I’ll brief you in the galley.”

They waited for what seemed like forever. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was just Jackson visiting with them. But Anderson’s snide and pessimistic remarks about them getting out of the harbor undetected and his strong feelings about having some greenies onboard were making Ben very tense. The soreness on his shoulder continued to remind him to maintain the peace.

When it was time, all the lights onboard were turned off. Ben didn’t want any of his navigation systems turned on, too much light in the wheelhouse and he didn’t want to be tracked. Nate crouched down on one side of the boat and Ben hunched down on the other, holding onto the side of the boat while Anderson removed the docklines from the mooring . He hopped in the boat and  gave them a good push off the dock with a pole.

Water lapped against the side of the boat, pushing it closer to shore. Anderson used his long pole to move them away from the other boats and slowly they pulled away from the docks.

Ben pressed his back against the side of the boat when he heard boisterous chatter as some men walked up the dock. He closed his eyes hoping they wouldn’t notice the boat that was starting to drift out to sea.

They continued their loud debate and didn’t seem to notice the boat in the dark.

In any other circumstances, Ben would have admired Anderson’s strength in how he pushed that big boat around as if it were a gondola in Italy. Instead he clenched his jaw, struggling to bottle up his disdain for the man that had made the past few hours more miserable than they needed to be. And they were about to spend days trapped on a small vessel together. He shook his head to stop wallowing in his pity party.

Ben could see the silhouette of Anderson’s body just barely as he walked to the bow of the boat. He shined a light directly on the water and motioned for Ben and Nate to start. They each had long poles of their own. They were to shine a light in the water, being careful not to shine it at the shore or other boats as they eased the boat past any rocks near the surface until they were safely out of sight from shore. They were to hug the coastline so the Coast Guard couldn’t spot them so easily and it was dangerous.

A few pinpoints of light far from shore were all that could be seen of the boats that patrolled the water.

Jackson finally lit the deck with the faintest light from a lantern so he could see the hand signals they were supposed to give him so he could turn the rudder to help them navigate a little easier.

Ben struggled to get the hang of finding any decent spot to place his pole. He was on the deeper side and couldn’t find anything solid. Nate was on the rocky shore side so he managed much better and looked far more skilled. Ben was struggling just to keep a good grip on his pole and not lose it in the abyss. He missed seeing a substantial rock as he looked behind him, trying to pull his pole out of the deep water. He jumped when it knocked the side of the boat, screeching as it scraped along the hull as they passed. Which in turn veered the boat closer to shore and more rocks.

Anderson swore up a storm, ending the silence of ocean breeze and water lapping as they hit more rocks on Nate’s side and the two of them worked hard shoving the boat back to the deeper water.

“You look in front of you the whole time and you can pull that pole up without watching it drag behind you. In fact, just keep it ready for when you see the dark shadows under the water. You’re on the deep side but those big underwater boulders will sneak up on you. That’s what you need to navigate us
away
from.” Anderson shoved off another rock and they moved a bit farther away from shore.

They managed to follow the shoreline with only a few minor bumps when they finally couldn’t see the lights from Dutch Harbor anymore. Just the glow from the town that spread out from behind a high cliff. Jackson finally started the motor.

Anderson motioned for them to turn on their brighter spotlights. They were able to put their poles on the deck while they used hand motions to show Jackson where to navigate.

They were finally away from the island and were farther out to sea when Jackson turned off all the lights and Anderson motioned for them to do the same.

It took a few moments for Ben’s eyes to adjust. He gripped the edge of the boat. The blackness was disorienting especially with the boat rocking from the motion of the water. Soon he could see the stars as the dense misty air parted overhead and revealed the sky above.

He immediately thought about Holly. How he wished she could be there to see so many stars there were out on that massive expanse of night sky. No trees to obscure the view and the mist continued to settle more over the war and the Milky Way’s trail he could follow from one end of the horizon to the other. He missed his daughter terribly as he remembered the nights they spent at the cabin standing outside in the cold together for hours while she looked through her telescope and told him all about the constellations she could see. He rubbed his damp cheek on the shoulder of his jacket.

“Do you see anything out in the distance?” Jackson hollered from the wheelhouse.

“What are we looking for?” Nate asked.

“Lights from boats or something bigger, metal reflections off in the distance. We are in the stretch of water where we could be in the most danger if Alaska really is under attack. Once we are away from the islands and in between the peninsulas, we will be safer… and yet not.” Jackson was not very reassuring.

Ben swallowed the lump in his throat and cleared his mind from flashbacks of campfires and stargazing with his children as he searched the ocean. He suddenly felt so small in the world and way too far away from home.

“I see something.” Nate pointed off to the left. The light was growing brighter in a hurry as it approached. “Do they see us?” He started to duck down.

Anderson and Jackson didn’t say a word. Ben’s heart started to pound in his chest as they could hear the sound of the motor as it approached even closer. He thought about crouching as well but they really couldn’t be seen. He gripped the side of the boat tight when the Coast Guard patrol boat passed by in front of them. It didn’t slow or change directions, just continued on.

Brighter spotlights were turned on and the beams weaved back and forth across the surface of the water off in the distance in front of it.

“They’re looking for something, that’s for sure.” Jackson shouted from the wheelhouse.

“Maybe it’s us,” Ben said, not letting go.

“Not likely but I don’t want what they are looking for to find us instead,” Jackson said.

“True.” That comment made Ben edgy.

When the Coast Guard patrol boat moved on without any altercation of any kind, and there was not a hint of light that they could see in any direction, Jackson turned the boat and the lights on again and they were off on their long night’s journey across the ocean.