Chapter 27

Amy burst through the door and collapsed on the floor. She did not bother with shutting anything since the pitching of the boat did it for her. Now that it was over she was starting to notice the little fact that she was completely soaked. Her red hair looked a couple of shades darker and laid on her head and shoulders like it was so many thick rope strands. Her skin was a lot more pale than normal and, still, Amy found herself coughing up the occasional bucket of water.

Still on her hands and knees, she managed to look up at Cal who was across the cabin and still at the BMV’s controls. He was also busy on the head set. He looked like he had gotten wet but, Amy noted, every shred of fabric on him wasn’t hanging down like wet cement. His short sandy brown hair did not even look as if he had been in a shower, let alone driving a boat under water! Amy growled and bared her teeth like a cat about to strike.

When Cal looked back he saw a perky smile on Amy. He asked her, “are our passengers stable?”
With a perky head jerk Amy said with a huge smile that brought out her freckles, “oh they’re just dandy. Nice and warm below with Bob and a lot of blankets.”

Cal turned to look back at the sea, “good. We got another one now.”

Amy mumbled, “oh and I’m fine too by the way.”

Cal did not hear or, at least, he acted like he didn’t. He pointed to port and said, “we got him Shannon! He’s about seventy meters to our port. Thanks kiddo, glad you’re safe.”

Amy facetiously mumbled to herself, “oh sure. Everybody’s fine, even on the beach, they’re fine.”

Cal took Amy’s mind off of her problems when he told her, “we found Kent. Bob was even able to raise him on short range.”

Amy got to her feet. She was finding it easier to walk now. The swells were probably starting to settle down. She knew the wind and rain was. It was not exactly what she would call nice weather but, it was greatly improved even over just a few minutes ago. It also helped that the darkness outside was turning into a dull gray. Dawn was slowly catching up with them.
Amy made it next to Cal at the controls. She grabbed a cloth hand grip on the cabin ceiling and asked, “did he sound ok?”
Cal shrugged and said, “Bob just patched me through to him. He sounded like, well, Kent.” The way Cal said that indicated that he never actually thought Kent was ok to start with. It did mean, however, that the guy was healthy.
Amy then asked the big question, “can we pick him up? It’s a lot better out there now.”

“Um,” Cal lingered on that thought for a moment. “That’s the rub Amy. It might be better but, we still run the risk of them smacking the hull if we use a hook.”

Amy could tell there was more. She reached out and drove a knuckle into Calvin’s arm until, “OK! He’s got two survivors with him. One of them is going into shock from a microbial infection.”

Amy blinked, “say what?”

Cal made a slashing motion with his free hand and said, “he has a cut on his arm or something. I don’t know. Get on the radio and talk to his majesty if you want details.”

“Oh god,” Amy told herself under her breath. She looked at Calvin with some seriously big eyes and a bite in her tone, “we can’t wait for the sea to calm down, Cal. If he’s going into septic shock then we don’t have long. What about the crane thing again?” 

Amy could not believe she was suggesting that. She was relieved when Cal ruled it out too, “one more trip like that and none of us are going to make it in. We took on way too much water and the pumps aren’t getting it out fast enough for my liking.”
Amy stomped her foot, “no! It’s not that bad any more. We don’t have to do that again!” Without another word Amy ran out of the cabin and back to the open deck. Garcia was still at the crane. He was having an easier time of it now that he could stand up for extended periods without having to use a hand to steady himself. Unfortunately an easier time of it was more than she needed.

After listened to Amy rattle on for a minute he shook his head and gestured to what he had been doing, “Amy, do you see the net? You already knew this before went down below.”

“OK! So it’s all tangled up Gar,” she burst out with, “just cut the damn thing.”
He slapped his forehead, “what do you think I’ve been doing? Look Amy, it don’t matter. That net is already ripped to shreds anyway. I’m only trying to get it untangled so we can take the crane down.”

Now Amy felt a sense of desperation. She asked, “but the crane still works, right?”

“Yeah,” Garcia shrugged it off, “so?” He was about to go back to work when he realized what she was thinking. He turned back to her, “no way Amy. We can’t get it out far enough to reach anybody and Cal can’t get close enough without running the risk of…”

“Getting slammed into the hull,” Amy growled at him. “I know already! Can’t we sling it a little further out? We’ll just have to risk it when we’re reeling them in.”

“You don’t get it do you,” Garcia growled back. “Amy even if we had another counter weight, which we don’t, it was the pitching that let us do it in the first place and, sides, it would be useless without the net anyway.”

“No,” Amy replied with a gulp. “We need to make that cable like, what does the military call it, um, a smart missile?” She shrugged and gave him a cute smile, “or whatever?”

Garcia gave up, “never mind.” He went back to work on the net, with his hatchet, and only a minute later did he notice what Amy was doing. She had opened up the diving gear bin and slapped on a couple of flippers. Then she started stripping down out of her vest and other garments that might slow her down. She topped it off with a pair of goggles and snorkel clipped to it’s band.

Immediately, Garcia gave up on the net and stomped over to Amy, “oh hell no woman!” When Amy stood up and stared him down. Garcia exploded on her, “if I let you do this, then Calvin’s going to kill me. Hell, Barbara is going to have me for lunch.”
Amy began the clumsy task of walking over to the cable’s metal hook that was now laying on the deck. She carefully slid her finned foot into it and then clamped her harness to it’s cable with her D ring. Garcia just watched her but, in the end, he just crossed his arms and said, “ain’t doing it.”

“Gar!” She wined. “There’s a guy out there that’s about to die and it’s not Kent. We can’t wait.” He was unimpressed. Amy summoned her courage. She really did not want to do this but, she also knew it was the only way. Her fear of living with the fact that she let a man die was more than any fear she ever had of the ocean. Amy could literally feel that guys pain. She could imagine being in his place. It was too vivid for her to stand. 

Garcia still did not move so Amy lashed out, “I can handle Cal and Barbara’s not even here!”

Garcia dropped his arms and then his shoulders. He still made it plain that he thought this was a very bad idea. He fired up the wench motor anyway. He really wondered what Barbara was going to do to him. He wondered what she would say if she were here. He kind of wished she was.

Then with a huff he lifted Amy into the air and mumbled to himself as he still wondered about Barbara, “knowing that woman, one day, she really is going to figure out how to be in two places at once.”