Seeking Safe Harbor: Suddenly Everything Changed (The Seeking Series) (5 page)

San Diego was gone. Gone! The people dead, the buildings reduced to rubble. They could only hope that Zach’s parents and a brother who lived in the Santa Maria area were still alive. Even if the area hadn’t been bombed, had gangs taken over?

Over the the years, they’d seen people who were supposed to be taking part in peaceful protests against some relatively minor thing turn into violent mobs. If simple differences of opinions and the hope for something better did that to people, what would such massive devastation – the loss of homes, food, water, friends, loved ones, just about everything they’d ever had – do to them?

Zach finally went to bed at two o'clock in the morning. Stacey, still mourning the loss of her parents and friends, opted to stay at the wheel, using the time to gather her thoughts. When he came back on deck at eight, she was still at the wheel. They’d been taking two hour shifts at the helm, but now she insisted they all sleep while she kept the boat on course – and allowed her mourning to steer its own course. She finally come to grips with the reality. Her parents were gone, and her family needed her.

“Did you sleep okay?” she asked.

“Better than I expected. I guess having had only two hours in the last couple of days took a lot out of me.”

She took a seat next to the wheel when he took over.

“I’ve been thinking about your parents,” she said.

“Mine?”

“Yes. For now, I have to put my own out of my mind. Yours have to be our goal. They’re the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

“They are tough,” he agreed.

“They’re survivors. I think they’re still alive,” she said.

“I hope you’re right. I believe you are. They always stay prepared for an extended time of self- sufficiency, so they should be able to hold out until we can get to them.”

“So,” she made eye contact with him, “you think that’s where we should go, too?”

“Yes. Besides being my parents, they are, as you said, really strong. Commander Kotchel was right, but it’s not just the world that will need those kinds of people. So do we.”

“We’re strong, too, Zach. Including Glen and Denise.”

“I wasn’t saying we aren’t. I know we are. What I’m saying is, strong people will need to band together. The old saying, ‘there’s strength in numbers,’ is true. Never more so than now.”

“I agree. You know something, though?”

“What?”

“Strong as your mom is, she’ll still need those medical herbs.”

Zach didn’t reply right away. He looked off in the distance, then turned back to Stacey. “Would you get me the chart for the Hilo area?”

“We’re going after the herbs?”

“For diesel. Commander Kotchel was right about everything else, but he was wrong about our need for fuel. We need more. In the months to come, there could be many boats after us, and in calm weather, we will be sitting ducks if we depend only on sails. Besides, we may have to go from port to port, and we need to be able to get in and out in a hurry, directly, not having to tack as the wind demands. And, yes, I want to take my mother what she feels she needs. Being as Oxnard was hit hard, we can head for Santa Barbara after Hilo, dock the boat, and go to Santa Maria from there.”

Stacey returned with the chart, and Glen and Denise were with her. “They’re all for it,” she said.

“I want you to know it could be dangerous,” Zach told the children.

“Oh, we know that,” Denise said brightly, “and we’ve already talked about it. We think we need to establish right away that we’re going to live as we need to, not like some cowering fools, living the way fear dictates.”

Zach looked at Stacey. “Remind me again… exactly how old is she?”

“According to the birth certificate, thirteen, but sometimes I think it’s off by at least ten years.”

“Actually, those were Glen’s words,” Denise giggled, “but I would have said the exact same thing if he hadn’t.”

Glen raised his eyebrows and looked askance at his sister. “Anyway,” he said, turning his focus back to his parents, “we’re with it a hundred percent. Besides, we all know how to handle AK-47s now, right?”

“You learned fast, but you still have a lot more to learn,” Zach advised his son. “The main thing, though, is that you’re on board with the plan. We’re gonna be in for some difficult times and need to pull together all the way.”

He locked in the mechanical autopilot and sat with Stacey on the seat behind the wheel. The children sat on the seats at either side of them. Zach rolled out the chart and studied it carefully.

“When we sailed into Hilo on our way from California, we approached Hilo Harbor directly from the east. I’m sure you remember that even though the town is on the eastern part of Hawaii, it’s located on an indentation, and the town and bay face north.” He traced a finger along a line that ran north from the eastern part of the bay. The line, which was the breakwater, turned and went west, eventually stopping, leaving an opening at the western part of the bay. “This breakwater protects the bay, and the entrance isn’t very wide. For us, that’s good; but it’s also bad.”

“Why’s that, Dad?” Glen asked.

“What we need to get for my mother is supposed to be with that fellow George that we met at Aunt Millie’s Hilo Hotel. That’s where we need to go.”

“Hey, that was a really neat place,” Denise chimed in.

“And George is a neat guy, assuming he’s still around. He’s the hotel’s concierge, although I doubt that’s what they call him there. He does a little of everything and is the kind of guy who knows how to get things. We need to find a supply of diesel fuel, and if anyone can get it for us, it’s him.”

“You haven’t answered Glen’s question, honey,” Stacey reminded him. “I think I know both the good and the bad, but we need to all be on the same page.”

“Absolutely,” Zach agreed. “The configuration of the breakwater is good, because the water will be calm. We can sail in quietly and anchor in that little niche between little Coconut Island and the mainland, which is near the hotel. I’ll take Denise with me and row the dinghy over to the mainland. You and Glen will need to watch the boat. There’s no telling who… or what… will be waiting there in hopes of capturing a boat.”

“That’s the bad?” Glen asked. “There may not be any bad guys there at all, you know.”

“True, but that’s only part of it. The worst part is, we have to go back out through that little opening between the breakwater and the mainland across from it. That’s a great place for an ambush. We’ll be an easy target for anyone on land, and if they have boats, we’ll be in real trouble.”

“We’re armed,” Glen said, “and we’re all darned good shots”.

“Yes, but I sure hope it doesn’t come down to that,” Zach said, “There’s a good chance it will, though.” He turned his attention back to the chart. “Okay, here’s where we are.” He tapped the chart with his index finger. “We’re southwest of the island. We’re going to have to stay quite a distance south so we won’t be seen. We’ll sail far enough past that we still won’t be seen when we turn north. Then, we’ll turn west and follow the same course we followed when we went there last time.”

Looking at each of them, in turn, he continued, “The difference is, we went in by daylight before and used the motor once we were inside the harbor. This time, we have to remain unseen. We’re going to sail the whole way at night, never using the motor. Any questions?”

“Will there be lights on the breakwater, or the town, to help guide us?” Glen asked.

“No telling,” Probably a few, although I have no idea if they still have electricity. For all I know, there may be fires. But, that doesn’t matter. The radar will show the landmasses, the breakwater, and the larger boats. We’ll just have to hope there are no little rowboats out there for us to run over.”

“We can’t let our guard down. It isn’t going to be easy,” Stacey said, looking at the children to be sure they understood.

“From now on,” Zach added, his voice low, “nothing is going to be easy.”

W
HEN they got near enough, they could see there were a few lights scattered around the town, but the multitude of fires gave off the most useable light. The glow of those fires framed mainland Hilo enough that the Arthurs could make out buildings off in the distance as they approached land.

They set their course to run parallel to the long westward leg of the breakwater, about fifty yards north of it. The radar gave them a view of what was on or near the water, away from the fires.

As near as they could tell, there were seven ships at anchor – they weren’t moving, anyway. None was in the path of their destination. There might be a canoe or dinghy in the way that didn’t show up on the radar, but they’d have to chance that.

When they were slightly past the eastern edge of the Hilo Bay entrance, they turned due south. Zach went aft, dropped the mizzen sail, and tied it down. With Denise up front on the jib, Glen on the mainsail, and Stacey at the wheel, they turned again when they passed the breakwater, this time southeast. That should take them to where Hilo Bay and Reed’s Bay mingled. Specifically, it was a spot a little east of Coconut Island and north of the point where Aunt Millie’s Hotel sat.

With the mizzen sail out of the way, Zach went forward and lifted the anchor from the compartment at the
La Sirena
’s bow. He stepped onto the bowsprit with it and prepared to drop it when they reached the spot they were seeking. There were no lights on the little island they were planning to anchor next to, but there were some on the mainland where they calculated Aunt Millie’s Hotel was located. The fires and lights that were interspersed throughout Hilo provided sufficient light for them to see where they were going. It was just enough for them to see that nothing appeared to be in their way.

Unfortunately, they knew it might also be enough that they could be spotted by anyone looking in their direction.

When they reached the area that looked best for anchoring near their objective, Zach raised his arm. Stacey spun the wheel to port, turning the boat into the lightly blowing wind. Denise and Glen immediately dropped the jib and main sails, and the boat slowed, then halted. Zach dropped the anchor. It hit bottom with twenty of the fifty-foot chain still above water. He slowly let the chain drop foot by foot until all of it was beneath the water, then let the line out a few more feet and tied it off on a forward cleat.

In normal circumstances, he would let more line out so the boat could swing freely. But in normal circumstances, they wouldn’t be this close to shore. If he could get the diesel as he wanted, it would require his rowing their little dinghy back and forth several times, and a longer distance meant more time rowing. They didn’t want to spend a minute longer in this place than was absolutely necessary.

The boat settled, with Coconut Island to the left, the mainland behind, and Reeds Bay on the right. Four boats were anchored in Reed’s Bay and they had seen three more on the other side of Coconut Island when they came in. There was no movement on any of the boats or on Coconut Island. Two of the boats looked like they were burned out. From time to time, they could see a shadowy figure running on the mainland, and they heard voices off in the distance. They were yells, not conversations.

They thought they saw a guarded light that might have been coming from behind closed blinds in the structure they remembered as being Aunt Millie’s Hotel. It gave rise to an optimism that was as guarded as the light.

They walked softly to the stern, their rubber-soled shoes making no sound. Zach and Denise picked up AK-47s from the cockpit on their way. Zach and Glen untied the lines holding their eight-foot dinghy to the two davits extending back from the stern, and the little boat sank quietly into the water.

“We should be back within the hour,” Zach whispered to Stacey. “I’ll call as soon as I find George and get a handle on the situation.” He showed her the battery operated two-way radio he had in his pocket. “If we run into trouble, we’ll call… if we can. Be prepared to make a quick exit if you have to.”

“We’re not leaving without you and Denise,” Stacey whispered back. But her voice was sharper than his was.

“I appreciate that!” He took a breath and attempted to whisper with a softer tone, realizing she must be scared. “And that’s the last thing I want, but we have no idea how bad things are here. We’re in survival mode now, and we need to do what we need to do.”

“I’m not an Army Ranger,” she reminded him, “and my family is all that matters to me.”

He didn’t argue. He turned to Glen and pointed to the left side of the boat. “Keep your eyes peeled for anything that doesn’t belong on the port side. Your mother will be doing the same on the starboard side.”

With that, he and Denise slung their AK-47s onto their backs, the strong canvas slings securing them there, and Zach stepped quickly down an aft ladder onto the dinghy. Denise followed, with Zach helping steady her when she was in the boat. When she was seated and the dinghy steady, Glen handed Zach one oar and Stacey gave him another. He slipped them into the oarlocks and shoved off toward shore, rowing the short distance quickly while Glen and Stacey grabbed two more AK-47s and took up their guard duties.