When A Plan Comes Together (9 page)

Antonio gave Jay a quick tour of the boat, indicating where he wanted everything put away. Hermann introduced Jay to Betta. She took the shotgun from Hermann when the boat was hailed. Jay watched as she placed herself by the cabin hatch and carefully looked out.

“K, Hermann,” she said. “I will guard.”

Antonio, Jay, and Hermann went out into the cockpit. Antonio confirmed the contents of the delivery and the amount of gold agreed upon. He nodded at Jay. Jay stepped into the cabin and took off the money belt he was wearing under his shirt and jacket. He counted out the correct amount of coins and went back to the cockpit. He handed the gold to Antonio, and Antonio handed it to the merchant.

Working quickly, Jay, Hermann, and Antonio moved the goods from the dock to their storage points inside the boat. They made sure that at least one of them was in the cockpit at all times.

They repeated the task time after time, until almost dark. “Last one, except for fuel and water,” Antonio said. “We need to motor over to the fuel dock. We’re paying a premium, so we should get in and out quickly.”

Jay nodded, and then followed Antonio’s instructions to get the boat untied from the dock. Hermann started the engine and they motored slowly out of the slip and headed for the fuel dock.

Antonio was on the bow of the boat and waved at someone loading fuel. There were some harsh words exchanged, in about seven different languages, the best Jay could tell, as Fraulein Betta was fuelled before the line of boats waiting.

Antonio and Hermann had their own argument when several drums were rolled out and the dock hands started to load them onto the foredeck of the boat. Hermann didn’t like the idea, and let Antonio know it. But whatever argument Antonio used was effective. Hermann finally said, “Ja, Ja! Load. Secure as if lives depended on it.”

Antonio looked at Jay and Jay jumped to help get the barrels placed just so. Antonio secured each one with multiple lashings. Jay didn’t think they’d come undone in a hurricane. Jay looked over the side of the boat. They were sitting deep in the water. But as they motored over near the group that was already setting sail, Jay saw that all the boats were. “Guess it’s worth the risk,” Jay said to himself.

As soon as they were clear of the bay, all the boats lifted sail and cut their engines. Jay jumped to obey every command Hermann or Antonio gave him, making sure to note each thing he did, under what circumstances, so he’d know what to do in the future, without being told.

With a lot of shouting back and forth, and constant radio exchanges, the flotilla was finally arranged to suit each of the captains. Speed was adjusted to match that of the slowest boat. It wasn’t the Fraulein Betta.

As he learned more about the boat during the trip, he found out that Fraulein Betta was a sixty-five foot MacGregor, one of about one hundred built that were some of the fastest small motorsailer yachts in the world, under sail or under power.

Life on Fraulein Betta fell into an easy, simple routine. Though the boat wasn’t equipped as a one handed sailor, the way some of her sister ships, she was still easy to work and handle. Jay quickly learned to handle the helm, during the day, and took that watch most of the time. Betta could work the helm when the sailing was smooth. Antonio and Hermann shared the night time watches. Betta cooked, keeping everyone fed.

Things went very well, initially. Several of the boats, including Fraulein Betta, had state of the art electronics and were able to get satellite navigation information. But that suddenly stopped.

The flotilla of boats closed ranks somewhat, with no one wanting to get out of sight of at least two other boats, even with the radios still working just fine. At least locally. The HF marine band radios weren’t picking up anything. Two days after the failure of the satellites, the clear blue sky slowly dimmed slightly, behind a thin layer of dust that Jay, and the others, all assumed was fallout.

There was little falling, and all the boat crews were careful to wash down the decks and themselves regularly, to avoid any accumulation. But it seemed to panic several of the boat owners. The carefully orchestrated flotilla began to stretch out, the faster boats pulling ahead, leaving the slower behind, despite the agreement to stay together.

Jay supported Hermann’s decision to stay with the slower boats. “We agreed. Hermann Hoffer honors his agreements,” Hermann said. The five slowest boats, plus Fraulein Betta, closed ranks. One of those five was the big trimaran. With lots of space, and lots of sail, very luxurious, it simply wasn’t very fast.

Without the satellite weather information, the six boats ran into a very bad storm. It wasn’t big, but it was severe. Normally the group of boats could have avoided it, but not without outside weather information.

Two of the boats had serious trouble during the storm. One lost its main sail, and the other lost her rudder. The storm passed and the sea calmed. The four boats still maneuverable sailed up to the other two and the captains had a conference. An attempt would be made to repair the rudder on the one damaged boat. If it couldn’t be repaired, the boat would be abandoned, and all the supplies left and the passengers and crew would move to the other five boats. The one without a mast would be towed by the Fraulein Betta, the boat most capable of doing so.

Unfortunately they had to go to that plan. There was just no way to fix the rudder. The boat would be uncontrollable. The changes made, the group was ready to sail away when the captain of the Mercury Express decided to try and transfer the fuel from the boat being left to his own tanks.

The other captains tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined to get the fuel. It was a major error in judgment. As the other boats circled nearby, the Mercury Express was maneuvered up to and secured to the damaged boat again. A pump was rigged, and the fuel transfer was started. It didn’t go well. The swells weren’t particularly high, but they were enough to make keeping the boats together difficult. Impossible actually.

A deck cleat pulled loose and the boats started to pivot around the other point of attachment. The fuel line pulled loose from the fuel intake on the receiving boat, but the pump on the disabled boat continued to work, dumping gallon after gallon of diesel fuel into the water, after showering the Mercury Express with fuel.

Diesel isn’t particularly explosive, but it will burn, given a suitable ignition source. It wasn’t clear what set it off, but the diesel ignited, enveloping both boats in flames. The passengers and crew of the Mercury Express began jumping into the water, trying to get away from the flames on the boat. Several dove right into the flaming diesel.

Jay didn’t think when he saw one of the children struggling in the water. He dove in and swam toward the girl. By the time he got close, the floating, burning diesel had drifted around her, trapping her inside a ring of fire.

Though he tried to dodge a floating pool of the diesel that hadn’t caught fire yet, Jay wasn’t quick enough and the left sleeve of his shirt picked up some of the diesel. Ignoring it, Jay dove under the flaming ring of fire around the girl and came up beside her.

She was hysterical, and grabbed Jay, trying to climb up out of the water on top of him. He managed to get her in a control hold, the way he’d been trained at the pool during rescue training he’d taken. He put his hand over the girl’s mouth and nose, and dove down again, to get outside the ring of fire.

But the girl was amazingly strong from the adrenaline coursing through her body and she kicked free of Jay and surfaced. The wind knocked from his lungs, Jay had to surface, too. The girl was just outside the circle of fire and Antonio was there to get her to Fraulein Betta. Jay wasn’t as lucky. Just a few inches more and he would have been clear, but his left arm, the shirt sleeve soaked with diesel, came up in the flames.

He jerked his arm down as soon as he felt the heat on his arm, and drowned out the fire. He swam over to Fraulein Betta and helped Antonio get the girl aboard. There were three other people in the water and Jay swam back.

The boats were separating in the wind, the last line holding them together having burned in two. There were flaming spots of diesel everywhere. Jay got another of the survivors to the Fraulein Betta and helped her aboard. He saw Antonio swimming toward the other two survivors. He headed the same direction, but the fire encircled the three.

Jay scrambled aboard Fraulein Betta. He pointed at Antonio. Hermann didn’t hesitate. He steered the boat toward the flames. When the boat broke through the ring of fire, Jay reached down and helped first a woman, and then a man aboard.

“Hurry! Hurry!” Hermann said. The fire ring was closing.

Jay reached down one last time and dragged Antonio aboard through the flames. His left sleeve ignited again and Jay struggled to get the shirt off. He couldn’t dive into the water. The fire was everywhere. Hermann had the engine going and they were motoring out of the danger area, but it was long seconds before they left the fire behind.

Jay, the flaming shirt thrown overboard, held his left arm tightly against his body. It hurt like the dickens.

The last man they’d pulled aboard worked his way over to Jay. “Let me see. I’m a doctor.”

With a groan Jay held out his left arm. “I’m Dr. Marcus Tanner.” He inspected Jay’s arm. He looked up at Jay’s face. “This isn’t good.” He looked at Antonio. “Is there a first-aid kit aboard?”

Antonio, nursing a few scorch marks himself, nodded and started to go into the cabin, but Betta brought the first-aid kit out. The woman that had been pulled aboard before the doctor took the large backpack from Betta. “I’m Sue. His wife. I’m a nurse. Thank you.”

Betta nodded and retreated to the cabin to care for the young girl that had been pulled aboard.

Sue opened the first-aid kit and began to hand Dr. Tanner the things he asked for. Though it was a very good first-aid kit, it only had a few items needed to treat serious burns. And the burns on Jay’s arm were serious.

Well away from the fire now, Hermann brought Fraulein Betta up to the other three boats. The girl and woman Jay had rescued were transferred to the trimaran. Those aboard had picked up the girl’s parents after they abandoned the Mercury Express. The other woman was the girl’s Aunt.

His arm bandaged, Dr. Tanner took Jay down into the cabin of the boat and helped him into his bunk. “You’re going to need a lot of rest and fluids.”

Jay nodded. “You’re the doc.”

“Yes. And thank you. You saved both my wife and me.”

Jay shrugged. “Just doing what needed doing.”

Dr. Tanner left Jay to allow him to rest. But Antonio came down a few minutes later, sporting several bandages himself, from minor burns.

“Thanks, man,” he told a groggy Jay. “You saved my life back there.”

Jay repeated what he’d told Dr. Tanner. “Just doing what needed doing.”

“Thanks for doing it. Anything you need just let me know.”

Jay nodded and then closed his eyes. The painkiller that the doctor had given him was putting him to sleep.

It was several hours before Jay’s bladder woke him. He hurried to the forward head and did his business, and then joined the others sitting around the cockpit. He was holding his arm tightly against his chest.

“Let me get you a sling for that arm,” Sue said, moving to the first-aid kit backpack that was sitting nearby.

Antonio told Jay, “Doctor and missus Tanner are staying aboard to keep an eye on you.”

“I think that might be a good idea. I don’t feel very well.”

Sue was arranging the triangle bandage to support Jay’s arm. “The least we can do.”

“Ja,” Hermann said. “Both good sailors, they tell me. Can help with the boat while you’re sick.”

Jay looked around. The other three boats were cruising under sail again, as was Fraulein Betta. Jay could see their running lights. They were rather spread out, he thought, but said nothing.

“Thank you, Sue,” Jay told her when she stepped back, the sling finished.