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“I call it a weakness. That ferry has over twelve hundred passengers aboard. My men have killed its crew, disabled its radio, sabotaged the lifeboats, thrown all the life vests overboard, and opened the sea cocks. I estimate it will sink within the next twenty minutes. What you may not know is that many Filipinos can’t swim. Strange, for an island nation like ours, but true. Most of them will die within sight of the shore.” He paused, then said, “Unless you do something about it.”
Juan seethed at hearing Locsin so casually talk about killing men, women, and children who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. What he would do if Locsin were in the room right now . . .
“The clock is ticking, Cabrillo. I know you’ll ‘do the right thing.’ You’ve been a challenging enemy, but I have to go now.”
With a click, the line went dead.
Juan knew it was no choice at all. He couldn’t take the chance that Locsin was bluffing.
He looked at Eric and said, “Stoney, give me all available speed toward that ferry.”
55
Remembering the ruse he’d read about Locsin using to escape from the police transport boat, Juan knew they would need to tread carefully. As the Oregon raced to the sinking ferry, he had Hali send out a distress call to the Philippine Coast Guard, but he knew it might be an hour or more before help arrived. If there really were passengers on board, they would have to carry out the rescue themselves.
When the Oregon neared the ferry, which was already riding low in the water, Juan ordered Eric to come up beside it but not too close. The sight that greeted them was disturbing.
Lining the railings were hundreds of people, including a large proportion of women and children, many of them terrified and crying. There was no doubt they were civilians. Juan could not imagine the mind of someone who would put in motion the atrocity that would occur if the ferry actually went under.
“We’ll have to take Locsin’s timing at his word,” he said. “That means we have fifteen minutes before that ferry sinks. Options?”
“We can start bringing them over,” Murph said, “but the deck of the Oregon looks to be about twenty feet higher than the deck of the ferry. With twelve hundred passengers, it would take at least half an hour for the evacuation even if everything went perfectly. And we’re starting to get a lot of chop out there from the coming storm.”
With the Oregon’s advanced stability systems, only large waves would be discernible to the crew, so Juan hadn’t noticed the swells. But the ferry was an older boat and rolling viciously and no longer under power. Many of the passengers were getting sick. Even if they could get a gangplank connected between the ships, bringing people across safely would be difficult.
“What about going aboard and seeing if we can close the valves flooding her?” Max suggested.
“Chairman,” Hali said, “the RHIB is pulling into the boat garage.” Eddie and the rest of his team had rendezvoused with the Oregon after recovering a severely damaged Little Geek.
Juan nodded to Max. “Get over there and see what you can do. Maybe you can slow the flooding long enough to get people over. Take Eddie, MacD, Linda, and Linc with you. Hali, make sure they’re armed in case Locsin left some of his soldiers on board.”
Hali nodded and relayed the order to Eddie.
“On my way,” Max said as he grabbed a handheld radio and hurried out of the op center.
“I’m going, too,” Raven said, but Juan put up a hand to stop her.
“My people have got this.”
“But—”
“Stay right here. They know how to work together. Stoney, pull us alongside the ferry.”
Raven grumbled but didn’t move.
The Oregon edged up beside the ferry. A minute later, Juan could see Max and the others latch a ladder over the railing and begin climbing down to the stricken vessel.
“We could tow her,” Eric said. He nimbly kept the Oregon butted up against the side of the ferry. There was a screech of metal as the ferry’s rocking hull scraped up and down against the Oregon’s.
“Where’s the nearest port?” Juan asked.
“Fifteen miles plus,” Murph said. “Our speed will be severely limited if we’re towing a sinking ship. It could take us an hour or more to get there.”
While Juan was watching the ferry bob, he could see Negros Island in the background every few seconds. The waves crashing on a wide, sandy beach less than three miles away gave him an idea.
“We don’t have to go that far,” Juan said.
Eric and Murph followed his eyes.
