Page 25 (1/2)
"BAD WEATHER AHEAD," Cheyne said gri out on his forear the wheel Tith of the boat; water struck the windshield with a noise like a handclap Though the wind had quieted, the sea was rising A bad sign
The sea was being churned into a frenzy further ahead, nearer Jah Cheyne knew that the waves would be holding the U-boat back as well
Cheyne let the Pride run for openings through the waves, seeking smoother water before the foa current thrashing that wanted to take the rudder and spin the boat broadside Cheyne cherished the Pride like a strong, responsive woman He had built this boat with his own hands, with luine parts He&039;d captained the craft for seven years, using it to fish with a Carib crew She was a fine, fast boat, with a good balance He kept his attention focused directly ahead, at ti a compass and a brass barolass was low and still falling
"The sea can pound hell out of the U-boat," Jana said, "and it&039;ll keep right on going because of the way it&039;s built, low to the water There&039;s no capsizing it"
"All those years," Kip said to Moore, "those things orking to put the boat back to sea ines as best they could even when they were on the bottole purpose A desire to strike back, a burning hate and need" He&039;d related everything Boniface had said
"U-boat creere trained to improve," Jana told him "They used whatever was at hand - wires, cables, pieces of timber, even the bulkhead iron There are docu raised froave out for good - due to the sheer guts and ingenuity of the crewmen In some ways I think they ht Boat," Kip whispered to himself from where he stood at the rear of the wheelhouse, an arm hooked around a beam He felt weary and battered, and he wondered what he would have done if his fears had been realized, if Myra and Mindy had been killed When he&039;d seen that blood on the wall of his house, his world had begun to collapse Two of the horrors had broken in and one had slashed his daughter with a claw, but Myra had fought thee with Mindy in her ars, and they would have killed her in the street had a group of h the sstree, she&039;d told Kip, beating at the things with an iron pipe before he was dragged into their rocery&039;s cellar, along with a few other s had alrocery had caught fire and they had scurried away, fearful of the flaotten out before the burning roof had collapsed
"God," Kip said aloud, shaking off the terrible e, moved toward Trinidad, or Haiti, or even the States? You said you&039;d force the boat onto Jacob&039;s Teeth if you could catch it, Cheyne I want to kno"
Cheyne didn&039;t turn his head He watched the stor "When the tiht It&039;s not through with h with it"
"Why?" Moore asked, ainst the instrumentation panel "I&039;ve seen the hate and the fear in you How did it get there?"
"I think," Cheyne responded, light glinting off his golden amulet, "you see tooa decision Then he nodded and spoke: "I have a nightmare, Moore It won&039;t leton the bare fra of terror or the evil in e cathedral of the sea and sky I lie in a darkened roohtbirds But then they&039;re silent, and there&039;s another noise A thin wailing noise that comes closer and closer, but I cannot escape And then the noise is all around et out of that roo; I see the ceiling fall to pieces just as the rain of hot ed strikes my head and I try to scream but I have no voice I cupAnd then the pain White hot Unendurable God, the pain" Tiny beads of sweat had risen on his forehead
"I can shtmare, and no one can helpti terrible darkness Finally there are people in white who tell reen-walled roole up fro reflected in theglass A es, shriveled and distorted, peering back, the swollen eyes widening I slass because I am afraid of what I see I want to destroy that creature because I know soer the face of a man, but the face of anacri, a delike cowardice"
Cheyne glanced at Moore; his face was drawn tight, the sweat standing out in relief "When the Nazis shelled Caribville from their boat, e of madness You saw her My father and a few of the others armed themselves with rifles and harpoons and went out in a s boat to seek the monster And that was the last I saw of him The creatures in that Hell-spawned boat took away ood and replaced it with part of the for , in everyto rip pieces of my soul away, and they won&039;t stop until they have the all ofon this earth, Moore Even now I tremble and sweat, and I despise e is life, and if I die as a coward my soul will never find peace"
He paused athe width of the sea&039;s corridors "I left Caribville for ten years; I went to South America and worked as a hand on one of the coffee plantations in Brazil, later in the Colombia stone quarries, where I learned how to blast rock with dynamite I was shunned and cursed by all as a syood, the other twisted A British wohter captain killed in a wreck, who lived near the quarries and worked as a cook for the men She was ht me how to read and write
"When I returned to Coquina to take on my responsibilities as Chief Father I kneasn&039;t fit for the position But someone had to do it, and I have the royal blood For years, I ed to lead my people as best I could I tried to exert soh of the old ways to allow us to live in peace with the white e boat rise froe, the fear, the weakness: All of it flooded over o down to the boatyard I stood outside the shelter for a long time, but I couldn&039;t make myself cross the threshold Into blow it to pieces Instead I ran fro like a cur If I had destroyed it that night, if I had set the caps and fuses and lit them, none of what&039;s happened on Coquina would have come about There is much on my soul now But I have a last chance One last chance to find them, to destroy them before they slip away I don&039;t know if I can But by God by God, Itiet that crate of dyna their hotel and marina," Cheyne said "We stole it frole Most of it&039;s rotted now, but there&039;s still so clouds, yelloith black, swollen underbellies The sea thundered against the hull, bursting around the bow andthe entire boat shudder Cheyne pointed at the radio receiver "Moore, see what you can pick up on that"
Moore switched it on and turned the dial; there was nothing but the loud crackle and blare of static A voice faded in, then evaporated The traas being rocked fro the keel Moore turned away from the radio and looked toward Jana "You should be back on Coquina," he told her
"I can make it," she said "I&039;ve spentsunken wrecks, U-boats, and otherwise Now, to see a boat like this one coh seas it may be evil, yes, it may destroy us but I have to see it"
Moore shook his head "You&039;re either a fool or the gutsiest da in her eyes kept hih he couldn&039;t for the life of hiure out what it was There seemed to be a thin wall of mist between them, as lazy and serpentine as the deep Caribbean tides He wanted to reach through, to pierce it with his fingers, to lay a hand against her cheek and feel the warlad they were together but was deeply afraid for her as well She was a beautiful woman, filled with life and hope, and he did not even attempt to raise his hand to reach for her He knew it couldn&039;t be What was that about being of two different worlds? One of theht, and she was not part of what lay before him
"Bommies ahead," Cheyne said quietly
Moore turned to look; Kip joined the maelstroht the gli reef Cheyne twisted the wheel to starboard, and as he did a wave struck the side, shaking thezag through the waves that now lifted in all directions, swah the scuppers So the port side, just below the waterline Cheyne hissed the breath out between his teeth "We&039;re in the midst of it," he said "I need a watch at the bow" He eased back on the throttles, cutting his speed
Moore glanced over "I&039;ll go," he said
"There&039;s a coil of rope on the flooring back there Tie it around your waist good and tight Kip, you take the other end of it and do the saoes out that doorway you hold yourself firm to one of those beams and let him have slack real slow Keep the rope taut between you"