The Fifth Season (58 page)

By dusk, more than one hundred fishing boats had been raided, their silent, bloody cargoes, evidence of the brutality inflicted that day. More than a thousand refugees had been slaughtered, the booty recovered in no way commensurate with the frigate captain's expectations. Disillusioned by the results, he issued orders that raids were to continue with first light, determined to fill his ship's coffers before rejoining his own command.

* * * *

Chapter Twenty-Six

Not twenty miles to the east of the Indonesian warship, Mary Jo's boat was starting to founder as it took on more water. She raised herself to full height, winced painfully, then looked out across at the other vessel.

‘Hani, can you swim?'
Mary Jo asked, shaking the young woman slightly.

‘Swim?'
she replied, her mind elsewhere.

‘Our boat is sinking, Hani. We must swim over to that other ship.'

‘Swim?'
she muttered, distantly. Hani stared at Mary Jo as if she were mad.
‘No. I don't wish to swim,'
with which, she brushed her hair back with one hand. Mary Jo frowned. The distance between the two boats had grown marginally and, judging by the condition of her own vessel, she knew that little time remained for any attempt to swim to safety. She looked up at the late afternoon sky. It would be dark in a few hours and Mary Jo knew that it would be better to take their chance now, while they could still at least see the other vessel. Her shoulder still hurt like hell and she was not all that confident that she could make it to the other ship with Hani in tow. Mary Jo called out, across the widening gap, to the other survivor.

‘Can you swim?'
she shouted, but when there was no response she knew that they were now out of hearing range. Her eyes scanned the horizon.

There were other ships but these were impossibly out of reach. She turned back to Hani, again.

‘
We must swim to the other boat, Hani.'
Mary Jo insisted, taking her by the hand. They had nothing which would support their attempt. The fishing boat was devoid of anything except what was left of the battered hull and twisted wheel-house. Her cameras and film had been lost, her photographic records dating from when she first set foot on the fleet, washed away before she realized these were gone. Hani stared at Mary Jo vacantly, permitting her to take her hand.

‘Hello!' she shouted again, ensuring that the other person understood her intentions. Satisfied that they were being watched, she took Hani forward and plunged into the sea before Hani realized what was happening.

She screamed in terror as her head went under, immediately fighting to escape Mary Jo's firm grip on her wrist, thrashing around in fear.

‘Let me go!'
she spluttered, salt water filling her mouth.
‘Let me go!'
she managed again, this time striking with her free hand, hitting Mary Jo on her injured shoulder. Shocks of pains caused her to gasp, swallowing enough salt water to make her choke but she maintained her grasp on Hani's arm. By now, their boat had drifted and when Hani became aware of this she screamed as panic took hold, and started kicking as she had once been shown.

The current was strong and Mary Jo's energy was soon sapped as she struggled to drag Hani behind without the aid of either arm. She kicked, and continued to do so, soon recognizing that they were making very little headway. The ocean swell lifted them up, then down, then up again and she caught the outline of the other boat ahead. Mary Jo set her mind swimming now with her legs kicking in frog-like motion, similar to what she had practiced a thousand times before, when breast-stroking through her college pool.

A small wave caught them unawares, causing both to swallow water.

Hani struggled and for a moment she managed to break free. Mary Jo grasping her by the leg, then the waist, slapped her face with as much force as she could muster, then grabbed the stunned woman under the chin, gaining more freedom of movement as she returned to her challenge.

Another few demanding minutes passed and Mary Jo was forced to rest, treading water while holding tightly onto her charge. As a wave lifted them again, her heart fell when she saw that the other ship was no closer than before, and for the first time Mary Jo was tempted to let go and save herself.

As fatigue set in, tempting Mary Jo to go it alone, Lily watched the foreign woman struggling with her companion. She judged the distance from her boat, and although she believed that this would be an easy swim for her, Lily was certain she would also perish if she attempted to save both. Lily could see that they were in extreme difficulties, expecting one or both to go under at any moment. When suddenly they stopped, then disappeared, her heart was pricked by a twinge of guilt and Lily prepared to lunge into the sea. She lowered the end of a short length of nylon into the water, checking first that this was still firmly tied to the cast-iron bollard, before feeding the rope through the hole in the bulwark.

She paused, picked her moment, then threw herself out, hitting the water with confident strokes, taking her to the desperate couple within minutes.

‘She can't swim,'
Mary Jo shouted, overcome with relief.

‘Can you swim alone?'
Lily asked, taking the Indonesian woman from the foreigner's grip, holding her head as the other had done.

‘Yes, I can swim. But I have injured my shoulder.'

‘I'll take her; you swim alone,'
Lily yelled, kicking hard as she commenced the difficult swim with another in tow. They kicked and pulled their way through the unkind sea, Mary Jo resting from time to time, waiting to catch the outline of the ship to ensure they were swimming in the right direction. Finally, when they reached the battered vessel, Lily insisted they swim around to the other side, to take advantage of the ship's list. There, Lily passed Hani back to Mary Jo and climbed aboard, using the rope for leverage. Then, reaching down, she dragged the water logged Hani up in stages, finally falling heavily to the deck with her arms around the other's chest. She left her there, face down, returning to help Mary Jo.

‘Here, take my hand,'
Lily called, leaning down as far as she could reach.

Their first attempts failed, as Mary Jo was just too heavy for the smaller woman.

‘Put your foot here,'
Lily indicated the hole where the rope passed through the bulwark. Mary Jo understood, and placed one foot on the well-worn, wooden hull, while waiting for the swell to lift her body.

Then, when she felt herself being lifted, Mary Jo mustered her remaining reserves and pulled herself up and over the bulwark, collapsing painfully onto the deck. Exhausted, Lily held her head between her knees and threw up. Minutes passed and she looked up, then over at the women she helped save, lying curled on the deck.

‘Terima kasih,'
Mary Jo thanked Lily, having recovered her breath.
‘My
name is Mary Jo. And we both owe you our lives.'
She crawled over to where Lily sat, crouched on her knees and placed her good arm around the young Chinese woman, kissing her gratefully on the forehead.

‘My name is Lily,'
she said, pleased now with what she had done.

A groan caught their attention and Lily looked over, catching the eye of the other survivor who, with great difficulty, was struggling to her knees. For a moment Lily stared, then her mouth fell open in shock, her eyes locked with those of the woman she had just saved.

‘Wha…?'
Lost for words, Lily could not continue. Her face smothered with disbelief, she moved forward, then pulled back as old superstitions suddenly filled her with apprehension.

‘What's wrong?'
Mary Jo was surprised by the sudden change in Lily's expression, as the air suddenly cracked with hatred.

‘No! It can't be true!'
she said, shaking her head.

‘What is it?'
Mary Jo tried again.

‘Hani? Are you Hani Purwadira?'
Lily challenged, using the more familiar Jakarta dialect. She waited for some sign of recognition, now almost certain that this puffy-faced woman she had just dragged from the ocean was General Purwadira's daughter.
‘Is it really you, Hani?'
She asked again. Mary Jo watched with growing concern, looking first from one, then to the other, unable to follow what was taking place.

Hani tilted her head to one side, her face covered with quizzical expression.

‘Who are you?'
she asked, the curtains covering her mind suddenly lifting, the shock of near drowning jolting her back to reality. Hani rubbed her eyes with wet hands, then looked again.

‘What's going on?'
Mary Jo interrupted, observing the exchange between both young women closely. Again, she was ignored.

‘Hani, it's me,'
Lily said, confused by what she now felt. Bitter memories came flooding back and she recalled, with great clarity, the events which had followed the last time they had seen each other and the resulting recriminations.

‘I'm… sorry, but.. I don't understand.'
Hani responded. Then, as signs of recognition triggered her own memory, Hani's hands went to her face in shock.
‘Is that you, Lily?'
Hani asked, searching the other's face for verification. Lily sucked in a short, quick breath, startled by this confirmation. She looked at Mary Jo, then back to the woman who had once been her friend.

‘My God,'
Lily said, her voice but a whisper,
‘it really is you?'
and climbed unsteadily to her feet.
‘What are you doing here?'
Mary Jo was now completely puzzled by what was taking place.

With great difficulty, Hani rose also, shakily holding to the side of the ship.

‘Lily..?'
she whispered, confused and bewildered by the other's presence. The physically demanding ordeal of past weeks had taken its toll.

Hani started to waver precariously as she staggered towards Lily, reaching her as she fainted, falling dead weight into her rescuer's surprised arms.

It was then Mary Jo became aware of the ship's list and the cause for the way the vessel sat so low in the water. She crawled across to the open hold and looked down, then back at Lily.

‘Yes,'
she said, softly, and without emotion,
‘we're also sinking,'
with which she moved out from under Hani's seemingly lifeless form and crawled across to sit beside the American woman.

‘But she could be anywhere, for chrissakes!' the voice at the other end of the line argued. ‘Sorry, love to take ya money, mate,' the charter captain offered, ‘but I really don't think you're gonna achieve much without something more definite.' Satellites crossing the disaster scene had difficulty identifying anything due to cloud.

‘I realize that there's no way of knowing which group of boats she might be with,' Hamish tried, desperate that this owner would agree. He had worked his way through the registered charter companies, none willing to venture out even though conditions had improved. ‘Couldn't we just give it a try anyway?'

‘Sorry, mate,' the man replied without hesitation, ‘why don't you leave it to the navy? If she's out there, they'll find her,' he added, encouragingly.

Hamish thanked the skipper and hung up. Having run out of options, he felt the disappointment of defeat. He had phoned every government agency even remotely connected with shipping and aviation in his attempts to galvanize the authorities into action.

‘Search and Air Rescue is under way,' he had been told. ‘We have a number of Australian Navy ships on their way out there as we speak,' another officer advised. ‘The search area covers an area greater than England, Scotland and Wales,' a miffed bureaucrat suggested officiously. By the time Hamish had finished his phone around, everyone in town knew of his presence and short temper. In the end, there was nothing else he could do, but wait. Hamish stepped through the open, sliding-door leading out onto the balcony, immediately regretting this decision. The temperature had climbed back to uncomfortable levels, the sticky conditions causing perspiration to appear within seconds. He looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun, feeling some comfort from the bright, cloudless sky, pleased at least that the cyclone had turned away from the refugee fleet, raising his hopes for Mary Jo's successful rescue.

Mary Jo had never been one to be frightened of the dark but out on the ocean, the only sounds were those of slapping waves against their boat.

She decided to encourage her new friend to talk. This had not been all that easy, Mary Jo sensing the younger woman's reluctance to enter into conversation. Finally, after some hours in close company, it became impossible for Lily to avoid responding to her questions. They talked, Mary Jo about how she became stranded on the trawler, while Lily listened, finally concluding that her own terrifying experience had been far more traumatic.

Hani's presence on the boat had unsettled her considerably, confused by what she felt and angry that she had re-entered her life in such a manner.

Mary Jo had pressed on, hoping to pass time and reassure the young Chinese woman that they were of no threat to her. When Lily had explained her limited reserves of drinking water, Mary Jo had immediately understood her concerns. As a diversion, she engaged Lily in conversation, hoping this would ease whatever still bothered the young woman.

‘So that's how you knew each other?'
Mary Jo was responding to Lily's explanation regarding her relationship with Hani. Lily had not gone into any great detail and Mary Jo suspected that there was more to the story than had been told.

‘Yes, we attended the same university.'

‘Were you friends?'
Mary Jo had asked, but when this received no response she tried again.
‘Lily, were you friends at …..'