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Jessica settled down with the manual again and found a diagram showing what each fuse in the box was connected to. Sed just started plugging a new fuse into the slots one at a time to see if anything fired up.
“What should we try first?” she asked. “The radio?” She slid a finger down the list of electrical components, looking for the radio.
“Antenna was destroyed, so even if we got it going, I’m not sure how far the signal would carry.”
“Navigation? Engine battery?” She found that on a separate diagram. “That fuse is down below by the engine.”
“There’s a second fuse panel?”
“Three of them, actually. There’s one in the kitchen too.”
“Maybe those fuses are fine, and we can nab some for up here. Where’s the panel?”
She grinned at him. “Wouldn’t you rather open every cabinet in the galley hunting for it the hard way?”
“Not when I have a handy manual reader at my disposal.”
But he wasn’t patient enough for her to locate the information. He was already on his way below deck when she called after him. “There’s a small panel near the ceiling to the left of the stove.”
“Got it!” he yelled back.
Jessica crossed her fingers and sent a silent prayer to Poseidon, not knowing which god would be in charge of electrical fuses. Perhaps Zeus would be more amenable to cutting them a break. He had zapped them with lightning yesterday, after all. He owed them one.
A few minutes later Sed came back up the steps with a handful of fuses. He checked them all carefully in the early morning sunlight.
“They’re all fried too. Every single one of them.”
“So we have two fuses for the entire boat.” That did not bode well for a quick recovery, but it was better than zero fuses.
“I’m going to try navigation and the sail winches,” he said. “If we can figure out where we are and get the sails up, we don’t need power. We’ll use the wind to get us back to shore.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Kiss me for luck.”
She stood and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him so deeply and thoroughly that a winning lottery ticket was likely to fall out of the sky and land in his hand.
“Mmm,” he murmured. “Maybe I should have requested that you fuck me for luck.”
She pecked him on the lips. “We’ll go that route if the kiss doesn’t do the trick. Wouldn’t want to use up all my luck right out of the gate.”
“Point me toward the correct fuse slot,” he said, handing her the manual.
“You only love me for my instruction-reading abilities.”
“A definite perk in this situation.”
While he waited for her to carefully read the diagram and cross-reference written instructions, he munched on the trail mix she’d brought him. He even ate her unwanted raisins. Such a selfless husband.
“We make a great team,” she said. “When we aren’t arguing.”
“I’d say I hope we never argue again, but it would be a lie.” He pelted her with a candy-coated chocolate. “Make-up sex is a personal vice of mine.”
She had the same personality flaw. “I’m sure we’ll find something stupid to argue about.”
“Like how many ridiculous pillows you want to put on our bed.”
“Decorative pillows are not ridiculous.”
“Yeah, they are. Complete waste of space, time, and money.”
She could feel her temper starting to flare. “Well, I like them!”
“Then you can have as many as you want. At least until I need to start an argument. Then I’ll chuck them out the nearest window.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t?” He grinned and pointed at the owner’s manual. “Got it figured out yet?”
“I think so.”
They positioned themselves side by side in front of the fuse panel, and she pointed out the slots he wanted while he inserted the fuses. The navigation panel flickered to life, and they exchanged a high five.
“It’s working,” he said. “I guess the battery fuses are okay, then. I forgot to check them.” They watched the screen load for several minutes before deciding to raise the sails while they waited.
As soon as the fuse was inserted, the winches worked, and Sed used them to raise the sails. But he had no control over moving the booms to catch the wind from the proper direction. Jessica ran her finger down the list and told him to move the winch fuse to a different slot, which gave him access to different controls. He steered them east—the direction they’d seen the sun rise not long before. The navigation screen still hadn’t loaded.
“Maybe the GPS data got erased by the power surge. Can it reload it from a satellite?” Jessica asked.
“I have no idea. We’ll have to wait and see. I just hope it doesn’t drain the battery in the meantime.”
Jessica didn’t find any information on their predicament in the manual. “So we just keep sailing east until the handheld picks up someone’s signal?”
“Hard to tell for sure if we’re still heading due east. We can easily get off course.”
The sun had risen far above the horizon now, but they seemed to still be heading east or possibly northeast. But he was right; it was hard to tell.
“We’ll run into land eventually,” she said.
“Well, hopefully we don’t literally run into land. I’ve had enough disasters for one honeymoon.”
“How do you slow this thing down?”
“Lower the sails.”
“Well, if the navigation system is useless, you might as well put that second fuse back in the electric winch control.”
“Sounds like a plan. Why don’t you try hailing with the portable radio again? We should be getting closer to shore. Maybe someone will hear us this time.”
She made her way back to the handheld, which was resting on the seat where they’d slept the night before. The channel display was blank, so she switched it on. Only to find it was already on.
“Uh, Sed.” She shook the little radio in his direction. “The batteries are dead.”
Chapter Twelve
Sed had to laugh. Of course the handheld radio’s batteries were dead. Why wouldn’t they be? They had two fuses, no navigation, no compass, no far-range radio, and now no short-range radio. And if he didn’t manage their remaining engine battery power properly when using the winches and autopilot, they’d soon be without the small gains they’d made that morning. But he wasn’t going to bring up that concern with Jess. He’d tried the engine again earlier, but even with the fuse in the proper slot, it wouldn’t kick over. No engine meant no alternator which meant the battery he was using wouldn’t recharge. So they needed to get to shore as quickly as possible. He just hoped he was going in the right direction. He wouldn’t even let himself worry about the possibility of missing Trey’s wedding that was to take place in a couple days. Trey meant the world to him, but getting his wife and unborn child safely on land was his only focus.
“I’m going to try my cellphone again,” Jess said.
Sed smiled at her determination. She made it possible for him not to despair. They’d get through this and any other challenge life handed them because they were a team and he couldn’t fathom a better partner than the one he’d married.
A moment later she returned to his side and handed him an open bottle of water. How had she known he was thirsty?
“Still no signal,” she said. “Just keep sailing.”
She moved to the seating area near the back of the boat and watched the water as they glided along its choppy surface. Sed focused his gaze farther out, searching for a hint of land or other boats, but so far, the water was endless. How far had they drifted during that storm?
“Is that a dolphin?” Jessica pointed at a dark shape near the side of the boat.
Sed squinted at the waves. “Too big to be a dolphin.”
“A whale? How cool!”
She leaned over the rail to get a closer look. The sea creature crested—its fin breaching the surface of the water—and she scrambled backward, toppling over into the seating area. “Sh- shark!” She sat upright, her hair in disarray and her eyes wide.
“Big motherfucker.” And even cooler than a whale.
“You didn’t tell me there were sharks out here!” She crawled back into the cockpit and squeezed into the captain’s chair with him. Like he could possibly protect her from an enormous shark.
“He’s not bothering anything. Just checking out the boat and looking for breakfast.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about,” she said.
“We’re safe as long as he doesn’t—”
The boat shuddered as the shark plowed into its side.
“It’s trying to knock us overboard and eat us.”
Sed highly doubted the creature had enough brain cells to devise that complex a plan. “He’s probably looking for a painkiller after knocking himself silly on the hull.”
The dark shape had vanished beneath the surface of the water and was no longer visible. Sed kept an eye out for it, though. He wasn’t afraid that they’d fall overboard and get eaten. He was worried that the dumb fish would damage the rudder and he wouldn’t be able to steer the boat at all.
