Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) (29 page)

The shockwave from the blast nearly carved out the ocean around it, peeling back the water all the way down to the ocean floor. What water that wasn’t vaporized instantly was pushed out at a rate of several hundred miles per hour.

A wave began to grow from the force and it too climbed up into the late afternoon sky. When it reached its crest, it was over one hundred feet tall, and it carried something with it.

***

“Hold on!” Shane shouted as he sat on the infirmary floor, having decided to join his brother, Mike, Gunnar, and Darren as they watched over Lucy and Darby. “Here it comes!”

“Dude,” Max said. “We aren’t going to feel the EMP. It’s not like it’s made of rock or something. We’ll probably get a little nauseous and then the lights will go out.”

“I know,” Shane said. “I just wanted to yell something dramatic.”

“Well, that’s okay then,” Max said and opened his mouth wide. “We’re all going to die!”

“You two are not helping,” Gunnar said.

“We aren’t hurting,” Shane smiled.

***

Ingrid, Carlos, and Moshi sat on the floor of the Toyshop, all wearing harnesses that clipped into rings in the floor.

“Will the armory make it?” Ingrid asked. “Did you shield it well enough?”

“I hope so,” Carlos said, “but I’d be a moron to say I’m certain.”

“Wow,” Ingrid laughed, “never thought I’d hear you admit that.”

“Never thought I’d admit it,” Carlos said. “Don’t tell Ballantine.”

***

Ballantine sat up in the briefing room, his sunglasses on and his head turned towards the huge nuclear fireball off in the distance. He did some quick calculations then took a drink from the glass of scotch he held. He began to mentally countdown as he watched the horizon. When his mental countdown hit zero, he drained his glass and stood up.

He grimaced just as the lights went out and he felt the engines die from deep within the ship.

“Sorry, everyone,” he said to himself, “but now we really get to work.”

***

The days went by slowly as the ship languished in the open waters.

The three women watched from the observation deck as Lake and Cougher stood below the improvised sails and argued over the proper way to secure the rigging to the helipads.

“How many times have we had to listen to this shit?” Lucy asked as she shifted her position in the lounge chair. She winced as the wound in her belly stretched, but she didn’t worry about the pain. Gunnar had said she was out of the woods over a week before. “Why are they still fighting about the sails?”

“They have nothing better to do,” Kinsey said as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back into her chair. Her body was roasting from the bright sun, but it felt good to soak up the rays. It made her feel alive and considering how many times in her life she almost didn’t have that luxury, she didn’t intend to take a single second for granted. “Let them bicker. It keeps them occupied and out of our hair.”

“Three weeks straight,” Darby said as she adjusted her bikini top and then reached for her water bottle that sat next to her chair on the deck. “Three fucking weeks. I’m going to kill them both if they don’t shut up by tomorrow.”

“You’re giving them a deadline?” Lucy laughed. “I think you’re softening, Darby.”

“Hardly,” Darby replied then turned her head and shielded her eyes as someone came up the steps from the lower deck. “Woman time.”

“Is that code?” Max grinned as he stepped onto the deck, a cane in his hand. “You left this in our cabin.”

“I don’t need a cane,” Darby said. “It will only slow me down and make me dependent. I’ll heal faster if I put as much weight on my leg as possible to get it back to full strength.”

“You realize that goes against all modern medical wisdom, right?” Max said as he set the cane by her chair then pulled up one of his own. “Don’t make me tell Gunnar.”

“Woman time,” Lucy said as she lifted her sunglasses and glared at Max.

“What?” Max asked. “You’re serious?”

“Woman time,” Kinsey said. “Not Max time. Go play with your brother or find something else to do. We have the observation deck for the next hour.”

“You have to be joking,” Max said. “You can’t just call dibs on the observation deck.”

“Yes, we can,” Lucy said, “and if you have a problem with it then go talk to Thorne. He’s the one that put the sign-up sheet in the mess.”

“Wait, what sign-up sheet?” Max asked, looking at Darby. “What did I miss?”

“You missed your chance to sign up,” Darby said. “You shouldn’t have overslept this morning.”

“Overslept? You told me to sleep in! You said that whatever Thorne had to say you’d fill me in on!” Max protested then arrowed his eyes. “Hold on...did you know this was going down? Did you block me out on purpose?”

“Hey!” Shane shouted as he climbed the stairs and stormed onto the observation deck. “What the fuck is this shit about a sign-up sheet?”

“Oh, did you miss the meeting too?” Lucy asked. “Bummer.”

“Bummer?” Shane snapped. “You said it had been cancelled!”

“Did I?” Lucy shrugged. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Dude, we got screwed,” Max said. “They had inside info and totally blocked us out. The observation deck is booked for another hour for ‘woman time’.”

“Woman time? What the fuck is that?” Shane growled.

“That is us sitting up here without worrying about all the men staring at our tits and asses,” Kinsey said. “You think it’s fun being on a ship full of men, stranded out at sea?”

“It kind of is,” Lucy said, “but mostly, it kinda isn’t.”

“Woman time,” Darby said. “Leave.”

Max sputtered and fumed then just shook his head and walked over to his brother.

“Are we just going to take this?” Shane asked.

“Let’s talk to Uncle Vinny,” Max said, then growled as he saw Ingrid and Moshi in their swimsuits with towels and sunscreen in hand come up the steps. “Not you guys, too.”

“Sorry we’re late,” Ingrid said as she and Moshi pushed past the brothers. “Hope we still have some time left.”

“Yeah, but not much,” Max snapped, “only an hour.”

“Only an hour of woman time,” Kinsey smiled, “but then there’s two hours blocked off after that for book club.”

“Oh, good,” Ingrid said. “Although I don’t think my skin can take three hours out here in the sun.”

“Take whatever time you want,” Lucy said. “The deck is ours for the next three hours.”

“Book club? Book club!” Max shouted. “What fucking book are you reading?”

Kinsey lowered her sunglasses and looked at Max like he was a small, simple child. “Come on, Max, everyone knows book clubs have nothing to do with books. Stop whining and take off, will ya? Or we’ll have to tack on more time at the end of book club.”

Even with his wounded leg, Max still had to be dragged away by Shane.

“Come on,” Shane said, “we’re getting this worked out right now.”

***

Ballantine, Darren, and Thorne, all studied the map that was laid out on the briefing room table.

“You’re saying it’s here?” Darren asked as he pointed to a spot on the map that held nothing but open water. “How is it possible for there to be an uncharted, secret island in the 21st century?”

“Easy,” Ballantine said, “you don’t let it get charted. It’s not on any shipping lanes, it’s in a permanent satellite blind spot, and there is no other land for nearly a five thousand square miles. No one in their right mind would go there.”

“Which is obviously why we’re going there,” Thorne said.

“Obviously,” Ballantine laughed. “Trust me, gentlemen, it is our only option, and I assure you that you won’t be disappointed when we get there.”

“It’s just like the other uncharted island?” Darren asked. “With the same type of facility?”

“In a way,” Ballantine said, “this island’s facility is much larger due to the nature of the work done there, but yes, it is the same. We’ll have more than enough supplies to keep us fed and in relative comfort while we repair the ship. Once the Beowulf III is back in action, then we can decide what to do from there.”

“Fresh water?” Thorne asked.

“An almost infinite amount,” Ballantine said. “Almost. Trust me-”

“Stop saying that,” Thorne interrupted. “I don’t trust you. No one trusts you. You want me to trust you? Then make good on what you are saying here and now. We get to that island and I find it’s all that you say it is, and then we’ll be on the road to trust.”

“Of course,” Ballantine nodded. “I understand.”

“So, if it’s there,” Darren said as he tapped at the empty space on the map. “Then we should arrive in the next day or two as long as we have the wind with us.”

“Exactly,” Ballantine said. “I’m sure everyone will-”

“What the fuck is this about a sign-up sheet?” Max snarled as he came into the briefing room. “When the hell did that happen?”

“This morning,” Thorne replied. “You missed it. Deal. Go away.”

Shane pulled his brother back and held up his hands. “Uncle Vinny, you have to be joking. Why do we need a sign-up sheet for the observation deck?”

“Because we have all been in close quarters and under a lot of stress,” Thorne replied. “A little space is good. Now, like I just said, deal and go away.” Max started to argue, but Thorne held up a finger and he closed his mouth. “Good. Go away.”

Max shook with anger then turned and stormed back out of the briefing room with Shane right behind.

“What was that about?” Darren asked. “A sign-up sheet?”

Thorne waited a few seconds to make sure the Reynolds were gone then grinned from ear to ear at Darren.

“It’s all bullshit,” Thorne said. “Darby was bored and wanted to push some buttons so she came up with the fake sign-up sheet to fuck with the boys. It worked. I haven’t seen them this bent out of shape for a long time.”

“That’s because they are out of weed,” Darren replied.

“Are they?” Thorne said. “Huh.”

“It is always fun to see how people choose to amuse themselves,” Ballantine said, “but I guess you must in times like these.”

“That’s what I’ve learned over the years,” Thorne said. “If people don’t have a chance to let off steam, then they’ll snap and kill each other.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” Ballantine nodded.

“No, we wouldn’t,” Thorne agreed.

***

“Hey, ‘Ren,” Kinsey said as she stepped from the shower and found Darren waiting there with a towel in hand. “I could have gotten that myself.”

“We have to talk, ‘Sey,” Darren said.

“Can I put some clothes on first?” she asked as she started drying off.

“No,” Darren said. “This is the only way I can keep you from dodging me. I have to catch you naked coming from the shower.”

“You just wanted to do a little ogling,” Kinsey smiled. “Don’t make me have Darby create a sign-up sheet for the showers too.”

“That was pretty funny,” Darren smiled. “The boys are still pissed.”

“They’ll get over it as soon as they find out it was a practical joke,” Kinsey said as she wrapped the towel around herself and walked over to a bench by the wall where her clothes lay folded. “They love practical jokes.”

“They love playing them on others,” Darren said, “not when they’re played on them.”

“Oh, well,” Kinsey said as she got dressed.

Darren reached out and lightly touched her temple. She didn’t shy away.

“What are we doing, ‘Sey?” Darren asked.

“I don’t know, ‘Ren,” Kinsey replied. “Honestly, I don’t. I love you more than anything in the world, but I don’t know if I can risk getting hurt by you again.”

“You did some hurting there as well,” Darren said, “but, you’re right, I fucked it all up. I have no illusions that this isn’t all on me.”

“It’s not all on you,” Kinsey said as she pulled a t-shirt on. “Only ninety-nine percent.”

“So?” he asked.

“So, we keep going,” Kinsey said. “We keep talking and we see what happens.”

“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Darren said. “I need more, ‘Sey. I need to know if we have a chance to be together again.”

Kinsey didn’t reply as she pulled on a pair of shorts, put on her socks then laced up her shoes. Finished getting dressed, she moved in close to Darren, put her hands on his cheeks, and kissed him.

“We’ll be together again,” she said, “I promise. Just let it happen, okay?”

“I’m not good with-”

“I know,” Kinsey interrupted. “You never have been, but if we are going to avoid repeating our previous disaster, then you’re going to have to let go and wait. It’s not as if it’ll be forever. I mean, I’m pretty fucking horny right now and it’s taking all my willpower not to fuck your brains out.” She patted his cheeks. “Hey, a little anticipation never killed anyone.”