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I know my fate, and I’ve made peace with it.
Thank you.
Then darkness closed in around them as Ned pointed them out to sea.
Eleven
It had worked. Ned couldn’t believe it.
In truth, he’d given their chances of getting off the ship alive about point seven percent.
But desperation made for blind faith, maybe.
He just needed to tell that to his heart, still back on the ship, a hood over his head, seeing his future unwind into a cell in some Chinese prison.
Tortured for information until he begged to die.
“Ned, you okay?”
Over the last few hours, Shae had found lights, powered by the generator, which was powered by the motor, and had been down below, digging around in the compartments under the seats, calling out when she uncovered items, like “C-Rations,” and “drinking water,” and “thermal suits.”
Even, “There’s instructions on how to launch the life raft. I think it’s attached to the backside of the boat.”
Good to know.
“Hey! There’s toothpaste!”
Meanwhile, he’d been staring out at the black sea, wishing for stars, pretty sure he might be driving them in a circle.
She popped her head up into the hatch that sat above the main section. “Hungry?” She handed up a wrapped candy bar, Cyrillic written on the outside.
“I think I’ll pass. My stomach is already roiling.”
“How much longer before we find land?”
“Five or six days?” If they were headed the right direction. For all he knew, he was pointing them due south, headed out to the Pacific Ocean.
Maybe they’d get picked up by a Japanese trawler.
But just as easily, a Russian cargo ship, headed back to Vladivostok or Sakhalin Island. But given Russia and America weren’t at war yet, maybe he’d take his chances.
“Do we have enough fuel for that?”
Oh, she’d been brilliant with that fuel pump.
“I don’t know. We’ve been out here for two hours, and the needle hasn’t moved. I’m afraid it’s stuck there.”
“Which means it could die any moment?”
“And we turn into a bobber.”
“As long we don’t sink. We could probably live for a month down here, with all these rations.”
“I’ve been radioing Alaska, but I’m not sure anyone is hearing me.”
“Is that where we’re going?”
“I’m hoping the coast guard has picked up our signal, but if not, I’m aiming for an island in the Aleutian chain. But at this point, I’d be happy to be on board a crabbing boat. It would help if the stars would come out. I’m just relying on my watch, and so far, it’s pointing due west.”
