Seaswept (Seabound Chronicles Book 2) (16 page)

“Are we ready? We
don’t know what’s over there,” Esther said.

“Your inventor
better be over there is all I know.”

Mists teased them
with views of the conch in the distance. The black shell grew as they inched
closer to the Island.
Yes, David better
be over there
,
Esther thought.

Liana turned from
the railing to begin barking orders at the crew, back to her hard-nosed
first-mate role. Esther looked around for Zoe. Then Luke let out a roar from the
other side of the ship.

No!
Esther
felt a sharp pain like a kick in the stomach. She and Liana exchanged glances
and ran toward a small crowd forming on the portside deck. Their boots slipped
on the hammered steel tread. A puddle of blood glistened on the floor. As they
drew nearer, they could hear Luke’s words better.

“Not Patrick!
Why?”

Patrick lay on the
deck, his fair hair matted and wet. There was a jagged hole in his gut. Luke
knelt over him, gun slung across his back. Blood spread out around him. A handful
of crew watched silently as Luke wet the only dry patch of Patrick’s coat with
his tears. Esther imagined Patrick’s father leaving messages at the
Amsterdam
for his son. She could see
him, an older, grayer version of Patrick, approaching Rachel’s stall, his
jacket still wet with sea spray, expecting a note or a gift or even his son
waiting for him. They would never see each other again.

Zoe came running
then. She made a small noise in her throat when she saw Luke kneeling over
Patrick’s body. She and Esther watched solemnly as their friend grieved.

After a while Luke
closed his friend’s vacant eyes. Then he raised his head and stared at the
crowd gathering around him.

His eyes fell on
Esther.

“You!”

“Oh, rust.”

“What’s all this
for, huh? You sent us into this shit storm for nothing. You know how to build
that salting technology. I heard what you said before. You’re the real
inventor, aren’t you? And now you’ve gotten Patrick killed, you manipulating
daughter of a sea-slug farmer.”

Esther stood bolted
to the deck as the crew erupted around her. Some were confused, but rumors
about the technology had been making their way through the ship. They knew what
they were chasing. And Esther had it all along.

Esther didn’t even
have time to run. Liana grabbed her arms and shoved her to the deck while the
others were still shouting questions or staring between her and Luke. Esther
had a good view of Zoe’s shoes as she struggled with Rawlins nearby before she
too was pushed to the ground.

“So,” Liana purred
in Esther’s ear. “You must think you’re clever. Captain Alder will have a few
choice things to say about this.”

“Please let me
explain,” Esther said. “Liana, I can give—”

“Shut up! You will
address me as First Mate, mechanic.”

She
slammed Esther’s head against the deck, making black sparks float across her
vision.

Chapter 20—Caught

In short order, Esther
and Zoe were locked in their cabin, with an armed
guard at their door. The first mate told them she and Captain Alder would see
them as soon as they dealt with the aftermath of the battle.

“There’s got to be
something we can use in here.”

Esther felt along
the edge of her bunk for loose screws. The first mate had taken her tool belt,
but she could improvise.

“You’ve gotten out
of scrapes like this before, haven’t you, Esther? All part of the fun?”

Zoe didn’t look as
optimistic as she sounded. She scrubbed at a spot of blood on her coat.

“We have to move
fast. We’re already sailing.”

The
Terra Firma
was returning to the
Amsterdam
. Captain Alder must have
realized that his men weren’t ready to assault the Island. There was no hurry
now that he had Esther. He would lock her up and make her build the biofuel
system. The Harvesters would return to storm the Calderon headquarters another
day, after her system had made Captain Alder the most powerful man in the New
Pacific. Esther would never see the light of day or feel the sting of the salt
breeze on her skin again.

They had to escape
now. David was doomed unless they rescued him before the Calderon Group found
out the truth. Esther kicked the edge of her bunk and swore.

“Look on the
bright side,” Zoe said. “Hawthorne’s probably had enough time to ingratiate
himself with his captors. They’ll be paying to set him free before much
longer.” She gave a thin smile.

“Why’d we get into
this, Zoe? Luke was right. It wasn’t fair to risk this entire crew just for
David.”

Esther felt a
terrible guilt pulling down on her like a sinking bowling ball. Patrick had
deserved better. Now he and his father would never make their final voyage to
start a new life on land. It was Esther’s fault. She’d made one terrible choice
after another, and other people were paying the price.

“They were going
after the Calderon Group anyway, Es,” Zoe said. “A war was going to happen no
matter what. Besides, you’re going to give them the tech as payment.”

“We won’t even get
him back,” Esther said.

“You’ll figure
something out. You always do.”

Esther looped a
finger through the storm goggles around her neck, twisting them as she searched
for a way to fix this.

“Maybe I can get
them to anchor for a few days while I write out the plans. Then we can borrow a
lifeboat and go after him ourselves.”

Zoe shook her
head. “Did you see the way the first mate looked at you when Luke gave us away?
She won’t be in an accommodating mood.”

“Maybe Captain
Alder—”

“He’s worse, even
if he lets her do the dirty work sometimes.”

“If I give them
the tech, they’ll be done with me,” Esther said, “but I have to get to the
Island before we’re too far away.”

Esther hoped they
wouldn’t simply be recovering David’s bones if it came to that. She needed to
get out now. Time was up.

The door opened
and Cody walked in.

“They’ll never be
done with you after this,” he said.

He closed the door
before Esther could see if there was still a guard outside.

“What are you
doing here?”

“I’m here to take
you to Captain Alder. Officially.”

Cody perched on
the edge of a box near the door. His eyes were red, and grease smudged his
cheeks.

“How far are we
from the Island?” Esther asked.

“Far enough that
you can’t swim, if that’s what you’re planning after you knock me over the
head,” Cody said, smiling weakly.

Zoe put down the
heavy knapsack she’d picked up from her bed. “Is it that obvious?”

“Let’s just say
I’m not as
naïve
as I look, and you won’t get further than
the door if you try it.”

“You can’t expect
us to submit to Captain Alder’s torture,” Esther said.

Cody sighed, and
his round shoulders slumped. “No, I don’t suppose I can. But I don’t want my
friend’s death to be for nothing. I need you to give me your word that you’ll return
and build the energy system for us if I help you escape right now.”

“Why would you do
that?” Esther asked.

“Hey, you’re on
this crazy love quest.”

Cody grinned, but
the joke was forced and unnatural.

“I’m not in love
with him.”

“You are,” Cody
said. “No point in denying it. But no, the real reason is I can’t stand for you
to be tortured, not if I can do something about it. Rawlins told me what they
did with that prisoner to make her tell the location of the Island. It’s not
right.” Cody dragged a sleeve across his nose.

“What—?” Zoe
began, but Cody shook his head.

“I’m not going to
repeat it. Ever. Now can we make a deal about that energy tech?”

“I need to give it
to the Calderon Group too to get David back,” Esther said.

“I don’t care if
they have it. I just want to make sure we’ll get it too,” Cody said, fixing his
red eyes on Esther. “To make it worth it.”

“How can I
guarantee we’ll come back?” Esther asked.

“I’ve talked it
over with some of the guys,” Cody said. “I’m not the only one who doesn’t go in
for torture. For starters, we’re going to keep Zoe.”

“No way.”

“It’s a better
deal than you’ll get from Captain Alder,” Cody said.

“As soon as he
realizes I’m gone, what do you think he’ll do to her?” Esther said. She’d had
enough of letting other people get killed because of her choices.

But Zoe had folded
her arms, and she was studying Cody. “He’s right, Es. I can buy you some extra
time. Cody, take me to the captain while Esther’s escaping. Pretend you made a
mistake and brought the wrong girl. Everything was so confusing on deck; it’s
plausible. Then while you’re trekking back and forth with me, it’ll give Esther
time to get further away.”

“This is not going
to work,” Esther said. “What happens if I get caught? We need a better plan.”

Zoe tucked a stray
hair back under her scarf. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be their insurance
policy. I’m upset you’ll get to see the Island and I won’t, though. I miss having
my feet on solid ground.”

“They’ll torture
you,” Esther said.

“Why? I don’t know
anything. I can barely say half the terms you use to talk about your system.
There’s no way I can possibly give them what they want, so why would they waste
time torturing me?”

“No,” Esther said.
“Cody, either let us go or don’t, but this hostage idea is ridiculous.”

“Sorry, Esther.
The other guys don’t trust you like I do. We need to know you’ll come back and
give us the technology.”

Cody glanced back
at the door, obviously afraid of being overheard.

“I’ll just write
out the plans and then we’ll leave together.”

“No time,” Cody
said.

“We’re getting
farther from the Island by the minute, Esther.”

Zoe went to
Esther’s bunk and began throwing Esther’s things into her knapsack.

“The one thing we
know for sure about you, Esther,” Cody said, “is that you’ll do
anything
to rescue your friends.”

“This is a good
plan,” Zoe said, leaning close to Esther and lowering her voice. “I’ll be
fine.”

Esther wished she
had more time to consider. But Zoe was right. They were speeding further and
further from the Island, and every second counted.

“I was sort of
counting on you storming the Island with me.”

Zoe smiled and
punched her arm. “You can do it. Hawthorne needs you. I’d never be able to live
with you if we don’t manage to save his sorry ass. I reckon your love-sick
moping would be even worse than Neal’s.”

“All right,”
Esther said. “Let’s do it.”

Moments later Cody
and Esther left the cabin and passed Cody’s friend Terrence, sitting in the
corridor with a gun across his knees. He looked pointedly in the opposite direction
as they jogged toward the exit. They took a circuitous route through the bowels
of the
Terra Firma
. Every few minutes
Cody would nod to another crew member. Everyone on the evening watch seemed to
be one of his friends. He had done his work well.

They emerged from
a hatch on the aft deck. The sky was black and the mists offered no glimpse of
stars or moon. A chill stung the air like during the worst of the cold years.
The crane that Patrick had shown Esther swung like a large black bird above
them. Beyond it, a pair of lifeboats waited.

Luke stood
directly in front of them.

Esther recoiled,
nearly dropping Neal’s satellite phone, which she’d tucked under her arm before
leaving the cabin. Luke’s face looked awful. It was streaked with ugly brown
crusts of blood, and his eyes, like Cody’s, were rimmed with red.

“Well,” he said.

“Salt.” Cody
grabbed Esther’s arm, trying to make it look like she was his prisoner, but he
moved too late.

“Luke,
wait—”

“Shut up, Cody.”
Luke’s voice was hard, like flint. “Did you think I wouldn’t wonder what
everyone was up to, sneaking around and volunteering for the late shift? It
didn’t take more than two seconds to figure out what was going on.”

“What are you
going to do?” Cody said.

Luke gave a short,
barking laugh, not unlike the first mate’s. “What do you think? I’m taking her
straight to Captain Alder.”

Luke crossed the
deck in two strides and wrenched Esther away from Cody. The satellite phone
clattered to the deck. Esther struggled, but it was much more difficult to
wrestle him now than it had been when they first met in the
Amsterdam
Bazaar as teenagers. Luke
twisted her arm painfully behind her back.

Cody shoved Luke’s
shoulder, but he was too small to make Luke do more than grunt.

“Hey, man,” Cody
said. “She’s just trying to save her friend.”

“What about
Patrick, huh? He was
my
friend.”

Luke’s grip on her
arm tightened. Esther writhed, trying to free herself without making too much
noise.

“That wasn’t her
fault,” Cody said. “We were gonna fight the Calderon Group anyway, especially
after they attacked the
Amsterdam
.
You know that. She’ll come back and give us that technology. We trust her.”

“Why in the name
of salt, rust, and volcanic ash would you trust her now?” Luke said.

“We have to. We
can’t just give her to Captain Alder. You know what he’ll do!”

Luke stared at
Cody as if he’d never quite seen him before.

Esther sensed
Luke’s focus shifting and dug her heel hard into his toe. Luke swore but didn’t
loosen his grip. She twisted sideways, gritting her teeth against the pain in
her arm, and kneed him in the groin. The sudden violent movement surprised
Cody, but he recovered faster than Luke. He jumped forward and punched his
friend in the nose.

Luke stumbled
backward, releasing his hold on Esther. She slipped around behind him and
grabbed his arms before he could take a swing at Cody. Feet lifting off the
deck, she held on like an octopus, until Cody rushed to help her. Together they
forced Luke to the ground. He was cursing, his nose bleeding freely, but he
collapsed beneath their combined weight.

“Just let her do
what she needs to do,” Cody said, struggling to keep his hold. “She’ll be
back.”

“You moron. I
think you broke my nose,” Luke sputtered.

“I’m sorry,”
Esther said, “but Cody’s right. I’ll come back after I get David, and I’ll give
you the energy technology I promised.”

“I don’t care
about that,” Luke said. “I want my friend back.” His tears mixed with the blood
from his nose.

“I want my friend
back too,” Esther said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Luke slumped at her
words. She stood and patted Cody on the shoulder, then turned toward the
lifeboats. She found Neal’s phone and said a little prayer to the clouds that
it would still work. Then she climbed into one of the lifeboats swinging over
the dark waters and nodded to Cody. He hoisted Luke to his feet, and together
they started the winch that would lower the lifeboat into the sea.

“Take
care of Zoe, guys. I’ll be back.”