JANA ADRIFT
Ross Richdale
ISBN: Paperback 978-1-877438-08-0
Ebook: 978-1-877438-39-4
Published by Purrbooks
© 2009
When her husband dies suddenly in Houston, Margaret Schurman gives her granddaughter, Jana, boat tickets her husband and herself had intended to use. These are for a three month voyage around the Pacific on the container ship Konstellation. Jana elects to take her friend, Kelsie McNeil with her. On board they meet the other passengers, artist Rowan Clardy and an elderly couple, Hank and Denise Thorpe.
After an ordinary trip through the Panama Canal the Konstellation is attacked by an unmarked frigate. Terrorists strip the ship of all its communication and electronic equipment. The five passengers manage to hide in an empty container and escape being caught. They later discover they are alone on the ship.
After a frightening time when they disarm bombs placed by the terrorists the five realise they have though no way to control the ship. The engine is still going but all communications and navigation gear is destroyed. At this point, Jana and Rowan begin a romance that lasts throughout the novel.
Days later, the Konstellation hits a coral reef and begins to sink. The five passengers manage to land on a coral atoll where their adventures really begin.
CHAPTER ONE
The modern Cadillac looked tiny beside the hundreds of shipping containers, massive cranes and railroad locomotives at Houston's container terminal. It pulled to a stop beside a green and white freighter and the back door opened.
The woman who stepped out looked quite formal in a light business suit. A closer inspection, though, showed a fresh face and petite figure that any high school senior co-ed would have envied. But that was four years earlier. Jana Schurman was in her early twenties.
She stared at the towering rows of containers aboard and smiled.
"Well, Jana," said a second young woman who slid out of the car behind her. "Our home away from home for a couple of months. What do you think?"
"We're committed, Kelsie but I'm still feeling guilty."
"Why? If anyone should be guilty, it should be me. After all I'm not even related to your grandmother."
"But it was Granddad's dream to travel across the Pacific on a container ship. Then..." Jan's voice trailed off. "Anyhow, I'll go and say good-bye to her."
She walked to the front passenger seat of the Cadillac, reached through the open window and kissed the elderly lady passenger on the cheek. "Well, Grandma," she said. "I still wish it was you coming on the trip."
Margaret Schurman reached up and gripped her granddaughter's hand. "No you don't, my dear. Kelsie will be much better company and we both know that. Anyway, it was Bert's wish to take this trip, not mine. Enjoy yourself, Jana" Margaret's eyes twinkled. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Jana laughed. "That leaves me a wide scope, Grandma. I'll send a postcard from every port. Bye." She kissed her grandmother again and glanced across at the driver. "See you, Dad. Thanks for giving us a lift down here."
"No problem, Jan," the middle aged man replied. "I'll get your luggage out of the trunk."
"There's no need, Mr. Schurman," Kelsie shouted. "A guy in a white jacket's coming over with a trolley. I reckon he's a steward."
"Okay then." Jana's father turned to face across the car. "Well, Mom, we'd better be off. I'm already late for that board meeting."
"Oh Bryce, relax," Margaret whispered. "The company's not about to collapse because of some silly meeting. Bert always said..."
"Dad's gone, Mom. It was unexpected and tragic but we have to move forward."
"Yes, dear." The old lady blinked a couple of times before she wiped her eyes and smiled back at Jan. "Take care my dear," she said.
*
"Your old man was a bit abrupt with your grandma," Kelsie said after the Cadillac drove off.
Jana shrugged. "That's him."
Their luggage had already been taken aboard and they walked up the gangplank to where a second crewman in a white uniform waited.
"I am Arturio, your steward for the journey," he said "Allow me to take you to your stateroom?"
"Our tickets and documents?" Jana asked
Arturio smiled. "Customs will arrive in half an hour. We aren't as formal as at the airport here. Let's get you settled in first."
Kelsie chuckled. "You know, I think I'm going to enjoy our trip after all the hassle of college."
"I hope so," Jana whispered.
She watched the Cadillac disappear between a row of containers before she stepped aboard and followed Arturio along the deck. Their seventy-day journey to and around the Pacific was about to begin.
*
Like all the vessels owned by the Atlantik und pazifische German company, the interior of the forty thousand tonne Konstellation Vier looked more like a cruise liner than a working container ship. Arturio led them up several fights of stairs to A Deck and opened a door to their stateroom.
"I'll leave you to refresh yourselves," he said in perfect English. "When the customs and immigration officials arrive I'll return. Just press that button by the door if you need me." He grinned and held up his hand when Jan went to hand him a tip. "Thanks just the same but we aren't allowed to accept tips. It is my pleasure to serve you."
He disappeared and Kelsie stood with her eyes wide. "Oh hell, look at it," She caught Jana's eyes and pouted. "Okay, I know you're used to this high living but I was expecting a gritty little cabin where we'd fight over who was going to have the top bunk."
The room had polished fittings, pastel colored wallpaper and lace curtains across the front windows. There were twin beds, armchairs, two massive closets and drawers everywhere. Kelsie almost ran through to en suite bathroom and chuckled when she spied a spa bath and shower unit. She turned and her eyes caught Jan's.
"So why didn't you invite Graham along instead of me?" she said.
Jana laughed. "Grandma," she admitted. "I love her dearly but she is still a bit of the old school, you know. In her time one didn't 'shack up' as she calls it. I'd rather have you here anyway. Males come and go but we've been friends since high school, haven't we?"
"Oh yeah," Kelsie said. "So you've broken off with Graham?"
Jana shrugged. "Well, we've graduated from UHD and he's going home. He wanted me to follow but damned if I'm interested in those cold northern winters. I guess I'm a Texas girl at heart."
"And..."
"Okay, I was serious and he wanted to play around. I know you warned me three months ago. Let's just forget about him, shall we?"
"Sure..." But already Kelsie's attention was diverted by more immediate matters. "The notices are all in German. Look at that safety evacuation one."
"Well, it's a German line. I heard the Konstellation Vier was part of the East German fleet before the two countries joined. Don't worry, I was told the officers all speak English."
Jana was almost right. Of the dozen officers aboard, the captain and two others spoke excellent English while the remaining officers could communicate in it with difficulty. The crew were all Taiwanese who spoke no English but, like Arturio, the three Filipino stewards spoke better English with perfection.
Three other passengers came aboard at Houston; Hank and Denise Thorne were an elderly couple and Rowan Clardy looked quite out of place with his scruffy beard and casual clothes. He was a pleasant guy, though, an artist who spent most of his time on the top deck with his oil paints and easel. There were two messes and the passengers had the choice about where to go. Jana and Kelsie preferred the officers' mess where they were usually joined by the captain or the first officer for their meals. The service was excellent with the only difference from the food at home being the German preference for a variety of cheeses and cold cuts in preference to American deserts. As well as the meals and coffee or iced tea mid morning and afternoon there was a snack bar in the kitchen they could visit at any time they wanted something to munch.
Once they were at sea the passengers were welcome to go wherever they pleased. This included visiting the bridge, a wide expanse of electronic equipment that looked more like a jumbo jet cockpit than one on a freighter's bridge. There was a small six by four-meter swimming pool and deck chairs all along on the uncluttered decks. After exploring the ship from stern to stern Jana and Kelsie soon fell in a routine of reading books from the ship's library, relaxing under gigantic umbrellas that shaded them from the tropical sun or, in Jana's case, writing on her laptop.
On the second afternoon, Jana was almost asleep in a deck chair after a plunge in the pool when she heard a polite cough. She opened her eyes to see Hank Thorne beside her.
"Would it be too intrusive if I sat down in that vacant deck chair, Miss Schurman?" he asked.
Jana grinned. There were a dozen empty chairs around the pool. Kelsie had gone off to find a book in the library and, as usual there were no crew on deck. She nodded and waved at the chair beside her "Call me Jana," she said.
Hank Thorne smiled and sat down. Though, elderly he looked bronzed and quite fit. He coughed again and stared out over the ocean. "I love the smell of the ocean," he said.
Jana waited. It appeared as if her fellow passenger wanted to do more than engage in small pleasantries.
"You are, I believe related to the late Albert Schurman from Schurman Chemicals?" Hank continued. His pale blue eyes caught her gaze for a second before they moved away.
"He was my grandfather," Jana said. "I'm Bryce Schurman 's daughter."
"His daughter? I see. I thought you were related but never realized..." Thorne looked embarrassed and stood up. "May I pass on my sympathy at your grandfather's untimely death. Even at our age we don't expect it to happen so quickly. Enjoy your cruise, Jana..."
Jana frowned. "What is it Mr. Thorne? Why should my father being Bryce Schurman make any difference to what you were about to say?"
Hank said nothing for a second before he smiled and sat down again. "You sound as blunt as your grandfather, Jana. He called a spade a spade and was an astute businessman. I knew Bert well. He was as honest as the day is long..."
"Unlike my father?"
Hank glanced out to sea. "There's an old saying about a family fortunes. The first generation scrimps and sweats to build a business; the second continue with the established wealth and the third frets it all away. It is a not my business to comment on Bryce Schurman"
"But you were going to," Jana whispered. "I have no delusions about my father, Mr. Thorne..."
"Hank, please."
"Yes... Hank. I think I lost faith in him when I was twelve. Mom could take things no longer and walked out on him. He was having an affair with a woman no older than I am now and married her three months later."
"That marriage has recently broken up, too, I believe."
Jana shrugged. "In spite of myself I grew to like Carol. Still do, actually. While I was at high school and college she was more of a parent to me than he ever was. I always got on well with Granddad and Grandma, though. "
"And you miss your grandfather?"
Jana nodded. "It's only three weeks. Sometimes I think he'll still drive around in his old Chrysler. It was almost as old as me but he reckoned it was the best car ever made."
Hank laughed. "That's Bert. If he got an idea in his head a bulldozer couldn't shift it." He hesitated. "So what is going to happen to Schurman's Chemicals, Jana?"
Jana tensed. The eyes that studied her, though, looked empathetic rather than gossipy. "Who knows?" she whispered. "Grandma really never had anything to do with the business. I guess Dad will step in. Granddad was going to retire at the end of the year anyway."
"And yourself?"
Jana sighed. "I want nothing to do with the firm Mr.. I mean Hank. It took me years to get away from Dad's authoritarianism. I don't aim to go back under his influence."
Hank nodded. "Just keep an eye on the company, Jana. You may not think it is necessary but I believe that's what your grandfather wanted. In his memory and also for your grandmother's sake your father shouldn't be allowed to run your family business into the ground." The elderly man stood up. "We booked this trip together, you know. I was sad your grandmother pulled out but must admit she has a granddaughter to be proud of. I'm sorry if I encroached on your time." He briefly touched her shoulder and walked away.
*
Jana stared after him. The man's words triggered something about her grandfather in her mind. She had visited him in the hospital that last day and was staggered about his appearance. Granddad had never seemed old to her. He had always been there, always the same with his silver hair and square chin. But lying there dressed in old fashioned pajamas he looked a mere ghost of his former self. Everything except his eyes had wilted. These, though, were bright and focused.
"So you have your engineering degree, Jana?" he said in a clear voice for the first time in hours.
"Yes, Granddad," Jana had replied. "You can come to my graduation."
"No, Jana. I wish I could be but won't be here. I am so proud of you. Look after Margaret and the firm, Jana. You are the kingpin, you know."
Bert Schurman smiled, gripped his granddaughter's hand and closed his eyes. Three hours later he was dead.
*
"God you look morbid." Kelsie's voice cut through Jana's thoughts. "What's wrong?"
"Old Hank Thorne knew Granddad. Apparently the two families had arranged this trip together. He came over to pay his respects and made me think of Granddad, that's all." Jana smiled. "I'm okay, now."
"And so you should be," Kelsie snorted. "It's too nice a day to be miserable. Come over to the starboard side and look. There's a couple of dolphins following the boat. One jumped right out of the water."
"Okay," Jana grabbed a towel to drape around her shoulders and followed Kelsie across the deck. Thoughts about Hank Thorne's conversation were cast aside for the moment. As Kelsie said it was too nice a day to be miserable.
That evening in bed though, Jana thought about Hank and her grandfather's final words. The two conversations tied together in some ways. Oh well, she'd have plenty of time to speak to Hank Thorne again. His wife seemed somewhat hoity-toity but he was a pleasant old guy.
*
After a twelve-hour visit to at Kingston in Jamaica, the Konstellation Vier arrived at Manizanillo and the Panama Canal six days after their departure from Houston. The huge ship headed into the canal at dawn for the daylong journey through the narrow channels and wide lakes that made up the canal. Huge, locomotives called mules guided the ship through the six locks. The passage through looked so easy but the crew looked intense and only relaxed when they farewelled their pilot on the western side and headed west into the Pacific Ocean. Ahead was a nineteen-day stretch to Pusan in South Korea. From there they would travel south through The Philippines, on to Brisbane and Sydney in Australia and Auckland in New Zealand. From there the freighter would travel northeast to complete the circumnavigation of the Pacific Ocean.
The days out from Panama were balmy but breezes kept the temperatures down to a bearable level. Both the young women became tanned with Kelsie a bright red in the parts of her body that up until that time had been unexposed to the sun. Jana with her more modest swimming suit didn't suffer the same fate.
"That'll teach you," she said with a laugh when her friend complained on the third evening. "I told you to put on more sun block."
"I did," Kelsie moaned. "But the salt water in the swimming pool must have rinsed it off." She screwed up her nose. "My God, it's sore."
"Then wear a blouse tomorrow."
Kelsie sniffed. "Well, you could show some sympathy. How come you never burn?"
"I do but I don't spend all day in a bikini did I?"
"Point taken but you don't need to, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Rowan. He doesn't say a lot but he's always watching you."
"Oh rubbish. All he does is paint."
"And have you seen what?" Kelsie gasped as Jana squeezed some cold sunblock on her shoulders.
Jana shrugged. "Abstract stuff, all blobs of color with intersecting lines. I'm not really into art. It's not practical enough for me, I guess."
"You look tomorrow, my girl."
"Why?"
Kelsie chuckled but refused to say any more.
*
Jana watched Rowan the next day. Kelsie was right. He always seemed to be within sight, not close but across the deck, watching her in the pool or observing her from the opposite dinner table. Even during her keep fit jog around the containers he was there leaning casually against the railing. By mid afternoon she began to feel annoyed and decided a direct approach was the only way to approach the situation.
She stood up from the deck chair where she had been reading and walked straight up to the man painting behind his easel across the deck.
"Still around?" she said in a quiet but noticeably annoyed tone. "If you like my company why don't you come out and say so instead of slinking around in the background?"
Rowan jumped in fright. He peeped out from behind his easel and Jana saw his cheeks burn in embarrassment. She gulped and regretted her outburst. Her emotions changed again when she glanced at the painting. It was of herself, not in her present shorts and bikini top but in an exquisite evening gown. However, in the painting her eyes looked sad and almost tearful.
"Oh Rowan," she gasped. "It's a wonderful painting. But my eyes? Surely I don't look that melancholy."
"Only sometimes," the artist muttered.
"Like when?"
"After Hank's been talking to you. You seem to get on so well together yet whenever he leaves, you look this way."
"He was my Grandfather's friend. Granddad and Grandma were going to come on this trip together but Granddad died suddenly and my grandmother gave Kelsie and me the tickets. I guess I think about Granddad when I talk to Hank."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"How could you?"
"As you said, I could have asked. I guess I thought I would spoil your natural look if you knew what I was trying to capture."
"A morbid girl with a permanent pout?"
"Not at all. It is the exact opposite, actually. Now I know why Hank affects you that way it all fits in." Rowan grinned. "And old Denise looks as mad as hell when he's talking to you. I don't think she likes it."
"I did notice that bit." Jana laughed. "She's a snobby old bite, isn't she?"
"A real dragon."
"And Kelsie?"
"What about her?"
"Well how do you see her?"
"Beautiful figure that she flaunts too much. She's a nice kid who depends on you for security."
"So you're a real philosopher?"
Rowan smiled. "No, merely an artist who apologizes for intruding on your privacy?"
Jana laughed. "That's okay." She glanced at the evening dress in the painting. "Why the dress?"
"I had that already painted but could never find a face to fit in with what I wanted to achieve."
"Until you noticed me?"
"Something like that."
"I should be as mad as hell but I feel privileged somehow." Jana grinned. "Tell me, why are you aboard?"
"Same reason as you," Rowan replied. "I just wanted to get away for a while. I won a small art competition and blew all the money to buy my ticket."
"And you have no regrets?"
"Not one," Rowan replied. "Not one."
"So relax and come for a swim."
"You know," the artist said. "I might just do that."
*
CHAPTER TWO
As usual at breakfast the passengers were alone and shared one table. It was the usual scrumptious meal with far too much to eat. Jana only had light servings but looked forward to the coffee afterwards. It was proper percolated coffee with a rich aroma that premeditated the dining room. The waiter had just placed the mugs for Kelsie and herself down as well as the orange juice that the Thornes preferred.
Jana reached for her coffee when Rowan rushed in. Jana frowned. She'd never seen him rush before and, come to think of it, he was never late for breakfast. She studied him and saw an almost frightened look in his eyes. She glanced at Kelsie who shrugged.
"I will explain later. There is a problem. Please do exactly what I ask," Rowan said to nobody in particular.
"Go on," Hank said
"Leave the table and walk casually outside. Go to the port side. About half way along you will see a blue container with green Korean characters painted on it. Remember green. All the others have white or red lettering." His eyes linked with Jana's. They were pleading as if he wanted her to take the lead.
"Then what?" she said.
"This container is empty. You can unlatch the door and go inside. You must do it now!"
"I'll ask Arturio for help," Denise said.
"No," Rowan hissed. "We may not be able to trust the Filipinos. Act casual but go now!"
Denise paled and stared at Hank who stood up.
"What a delightful morning," he said. "Shall we go for a walk along the deck my dear?" He grabbed his wife's arm and almost propelled her forward.
"Come on," Jana said to Kelsie. She turned to Rowan. "Are you coming?"
"In a moment," he whispered. "Don't lock the container door. I may be in a hurry when I arrive." He gave a twist of a smile. "Thank God Hank rose to the occasion. I thought Denise would be a problem."
*
Except for Rowan, Jana was the last person to reach the container. As she was about to step inside she glanced out at sea. In the middle distance was the silhouette of a ship moving straight towards them. Two lines of wake fanned out behind it.
"Inside," Rowan's voice whispered in her ear.
She stepped into semi-darkness; Rowan followed and pulled the door shut. He pushed two interior bolts along to secure the door and waved at the passengers to sit down.
Jana's heart raced. There were a couple of mattresses on the floor and several plastic bags of what appeared to be food and a large plastic satchel of water.
"These were here," Rowan whispered.
Kelsie spoke for the first time. "So you're more than just an artist painting the scenery, Rowan?" she said.
Rowan squatted down. "No Kelsie, I am an artist. I don't really know much more than you. I guess I'm playing a hunch."
"Perhaps you'd better explain young man," Hank said. "How did you know about this container?"
"Last week a government official approached me and asked if I would keep an eye out for anything unusual during this cruise. He gave me a few details of what could happen and told me about this empty container."
"Was he from, the CIA?" Jana asked
"Possibly," Rowan said. "He said he was from the Department of State and had authentic documents to prove it. I only half believed him but checked on this container after I came aboard. It was here exactly as he said. After that I decided to keep an eye out." He smiled slightly. "It was my artist's curiosity, I guess but last night I noticed a boat out near the horizon. It didn't look quite right as it kept the same position for several hours as if it was keeping pace with us. When it became dark there was no sign of any navigation lights but at this morning I saw it closing in on us at quite a fast pace."
His voice was interrupted by a high wail of a siren. "They know we've gone. Sit still and don't move. We should be safe but noise carries through these thin container walls."
"I think your imagination has run wild, young man," Denise whispered but obeyed his request to keep quiet.
*
"We have the crew but all the passengers are missing, commander." The Filipino steward glanced nervously at Arturio.
"What do you mean missing?"
"I think that artist guy saw the boat. He was late for breakfast. After he came in they all left without even drinking the coffee or fruit juice we'd drugged."
"But everything else went as we planned?" The steward named Arturio had lost his servant's demure. His eyes were ruthless and devoid of emotion.
"Yes, commander. The gas pellets worked. The crew are either unconscious or held in the crews' mess."
"Any problems?"
"No emergency signals were transmitted. It was a complete surprise."
Arturio smiled for the first time. "Good. We'll deal with the passengers later. Stand by to help our compatriots aboard."
*
The ship that pulled in close looked like an old navy frigate except for a few differences obvious even to the most inexperience mariner. There were no symbols or flags flying anywhere and the whole ship was coated in rust. However, the rotating radar antennae looked new and the gigantic helicopter on the rear flat deck also appeared to be well maintained.
Jana pulled back from the hole used for crane hooks she had been peeping through and glanced up at Rowan.
"Russian?" she asked.
"Could be" Rowan replied. "The helicopter is a Russian Mi-8. The Soviets built thousands of them but many were sold off in the nineties. I wonder why they want something so big."
"Perhaps they want to take some of the containers?" Kelsie suggested.
Rowan shrugged. " I doubt it. According to the Department of State guy I talked to it's the Konstellation itself that they're interested in."
"Why?" Jan asked.
"It's been recently refitted with the most sophisticated electronic equipment available. The stuff is so new it's still classified at home in the U.S. and can only be used by the military. The Germans, though, are more liberal in their approach and have allowed civilian shipping lines to buy the equipment."
"So why did we sell it to them?" Kelsie retorted.
"I don't think we did," Rowan replied. "German and Japanese technology is every bit as good as our own, if not better."
"So if they take over the whole ship we have no chance," Denise cut in from across the container. "We'll be out of food within a few days. They only have to wait."
"I don't think so," Rowan replied. "This container ship is too big. They'll probably take what they want and sink us."
"Thanks." Denise's voice was heavy with sarcasm.
"Psst!" Hank whispered from the other end of the container where he used another hook hole to look out. "Someone's coming."
Everyone froze. In the eerie semi-darkness Jana was sure she could hear her own heart thumping. She stepped back and sank down on the closest mattress. Rowan slid a covering over the hook hole and joined her. The others did the same.
The crash on the outer wall made Jana jump in fright and Kelsie clutched her arm. The second bang echoed through the container but a third never came. They waited in silence for several moments before Rowan stood and chanced another peep outside.
"Seems okay," he whispered.
*
Everyone waited. It grew hot and stuffy. Little could be seen out the peepholes as the enemy ship had moved out of vision. Only the thumping helicopter rotors could be heard above them as it moved back and forth above them.
Jana never knew what came first, the gigantic roar of explosive or the violent shudder as if an earthquake struck. Denise screamed while the others just stared wide-eyed at each other. The shaking stopped and their container appeared to remain stable. They waited. A few moments later the helicopter's motor roared almost directly above and Rowan squinted out through the hook hole.
"Oh hell," he muttered. "I now know why they brought such a big chopper."
"Why?" Jana asked.
"Quick ... look," Rowan replied.
Jana stared through the peephole. The helicopter was already out of sight but the load beneath it wasn't. It looked as if the whole console from the bridge was being carted away. It was suspended out from them in a gigantic steel net.
"They must have blown a hole in the roof of the bridge," Rowan said. "Very clever. They're just lifting everything they want out?"
"So what do we do?" Denise asked in a subdued voice.
"We can do nothing for the crew," Rowan replied. "Those not in with the terrorists will be dead by now. My only hope is that we'll have time to reach a lifeboat before we sink." He nodded at a canvas bag in the corner. "There are life jackets and safety helmets there. Put them on. I'm going to see what happened."
"I'm coming, too," Jana hissed.
Rowan frowned. "If they catch you..." he protested.
"We could be drowned before the day is over. I'd rather go down fighting than just sit here..."
Rowan nodded
"I'll look after the Thornes," Kelsie said. Her expression also showed determination. "But if you aren't back in twenty minutes, I'm coming to look for you."
"Stubborn women," Rowan muttered but looked pleased that the pair had volunteered to help.
*
The view outside showed nothing. In each direction the narrow gap between the containers and the railing looked no different than the dozens of times Jana had jogged around them, the ocean was calm and the morning sun a quarter of the way up the eastern sky. It was a hot cloudless day.
"If anybody comes to this side of the ship we'll be seen," Jana said.
"What do you notice?" Rowan replied.
"It's no different than any ordinary day. When I jogged around I was often completely alone."
"Exactly! We're still moving. You can feel the throb of the engines?"
"Of course. I was so used to it, I forgot. What does it mean?"
" I guess they weren't interested in the engines only the electronic equipment. This ship runs on an autopilot system like aircraft. Until someone switches to manual control or stops the engines they just keep going."
"But won't they need the electronics?"
"Probably," Rowan said. "But let's go. There's a gap between the third and fourth containers. That's where we're going. Okay?"
Jana nodded, waved at the others and followed Rowan to the gap between the containers.
"It's a fire wall that goes right down to the base of the ship," he said. "We can cut right across."
Jana followed him through and stopped when they reached the far end. She could only see Rowan's back and a faint outline of the ocean beyond. Again, nothing looked unusual.
Rowan crouched down and peeped out. "Go back," he whispered after he studied the scene outside.
Jana retreated past three containers before Rowan spoke. "The enemy boat is pulling out," he said. "They'd have seen us if we walked out. The helicopter's got a cover on it and is roped down. That's the one good sign."
"And the bad signs?" Jana asked.
"What we don't see. They know we're still aboard so could have something planned for us. The boat leaving could be a decoy to give us a false sense of security or there may be terrorists left aboard. Perhaps they have some explosives planted to sink us when they are a safe distance away."
"So what do we do?"
"Take a gamble and look further or go back to the others and wait until nightfall?"
"Both are a gamble. We've come this far. Let's keep going."
"Right," Rowan said.
*
Over the next fifteen minutes they found out several things. On the credit side, there was no fire nor were there signs of anybody aboard. When they reached the bridge Jana gasped. There was hole in the roof and was just a gaping hole where the console had been. The area stunk of explosives. Even the pilot station with the steering columns, engine gauges and controls were gone. In places Jana could see blackened metal where steel beams had been cut through with acetylene torches. She walked along and stopped. A coil of new yellow wire was taped to one severed beam.
"Rowan," she hissed. "I found something."
"Don't touch," Rowan warned.
Jana felt a surge of annoyance. "I took a course on using explosives for my engineering degree. I'm not totally ignorant, you know."
"Sorry," Rowan said. "I was just going to say there could be a trip wire around. This coil looks too obvious."
Jana flushed. She hadn't thought of that. "Okay, I leave it for you to check out."
She looked around but found nothing so stepped carefully aside and watched while Rowan examined the wire. It wound around the beam, ran down a back wall and along to a cupboard.
"The door could have a trip wire," he said. "We need something to check it with."
Rowan's found a plastic ruler and slid in down the door opening but no wires were found. Jana concentrated so hard on watching that she never heard the footsteps behind her. There was a faint cough, she jumped in sheer terror and swung around.
Kelsie stood at the door. "I did say I was going to come and look for you," she whispered. "They murdered the crew, you know."
Rowan glanced back. "How do you know, Kelsie?"
"There's blood everywhere in the companionway. No bodies though. Didn't you see it?"
Jana shook her head. "We must have come in a different way."
"Arturio and the other stewards are on the other boat, too. I saw them looking back as they sailed off."
"I hope..." Rowan started but caught Kelsie's expression. "Okay, you made sure you couldn't be seen. Was there anything else you noticed?"
"All our lifeboats have gone, the helicopter's tied down on the other boat and they aren't going to fire their guns at us."
"Oh?" Rowan said.
"The guns are all facing down. If they were going to shoot us out of the water wouldn't they be aimed and ready? Their boat is moving away at a fair speed."
Rowan grinned. "And what is this yellow wire for?" he asked.
Kelsie glared. "Careful, you're sounding as sarcastic as old Denise," she said. "Anyway that's Jana's expertise, not mine, I took an arts degree."
Rowan nodded and turned his attention back to the door. He opened it a fraction and checked for any other wires. There were none so he opened it.
"There it is," he whispered.
The electronic circuit board sitting on a middle shelf looked as innocent as the frankfurter shaped container it was wired to.
"So why the big coil of wire?" Kelsie asked.
"Probably there are a series of explosives," Rowan said. He frowned. "There's no timer connected nor is there a chemical trigger."
"Isn't that a thermometer?" Jana said and pointed to a glass vial tapped to the container. "I'd say this is the trigger."
The other two bent forward and examined the vial.
" It doesn't make sense," Kelsie said. "There's a fine wire by the number thirty."
"It does on the Celsius scale," Rowan replied. "It would be in the mid twenties in here now, Have you noticed how the temperature builds up during the day?"
"Of course," Jana said. "It was sweltering yesterday afternoon." She glanced at her watch. "It's still only twenty past nine."
"Can we disarm it?" Kelsie asked.
"Or move it?" Jana added.
"Both would be risky," Rowan said. He frowned and inspected the explosive again. "You know, this is a pretty crude device. I think I can disconnect the yellow wire without triggering anything. I reckoned they worked on the principle of the afternoon's temperature rising to thirty degrees not long after they left." He frowned. "It would have worked, too. If we'd been captured, I'd be dead, you two would be on the enemy boat and the Konstellation would be empty."
Kelsie paled. "I don't want to know," she whispered.
Jana though was more determined. "So why did they leave us here?"
"Probably they wanted to be away before it became too hot." Rowan said. "The explosive could have been set up during the night. They would hardly have had time to change the settings so decided just to leave it. I'd say they're confident the explosion will sink the ship and know there's no way we can contact anyone. Notice that the radio, phones, satellite dish and computers have all gone."
"Haven't you a satellite phone or radio?" Jana asked.
"I've got a satellite phone but in my haste to get to you two I left it in my cabin. Want to bet it's not there any more?"
"We'll look," Jana said. "That's unless you need us here."
"No we stick together. Give me ten minutes." Rowan grinned. "You too keep an eye out but stay on the bridge. We're only assuming a sniper or bomber hasn't been left on board. Remember that these terrorists don't value life as much as we do. Some guy could easily be wandering around all wired up ready to denote himself the moment he sees us."
Kelsie bit on her lip but said nothing while Jana felt the pit of her stomach lurch. She knew anything could still happen!
*
CHAPTER THREE
Rowan's face dripped with perspiration as he snipped a brown wire and glanced up. "They're all disconnected from the detonators," he whispered. "Let's hope that's the last."
Jana squatted down and handed him a towel. "It's been over three hours. Why don't you come and have something to eat. Denise has something ready in the kitchen,"
"Thanks Jana. How are the Thornes?"
"Quite a surprise really. Hank is still on the top deck scanning the ocean with field glasses and Denise has decided we must all be hungry. I think she's terrified but wants to be a help."
"Yeah," Kelsie cut in. "She's almost human."
"Don't be too hard on her, Kelsie," Rowan said. He lifted the explosive out from the rafter where it had been poked and lowered it into a plastic bucket Jana held up. "This stuff is different from any I know. I don't trust it to be safe. See those streaks of brown?"
Jana and Kelsie stared at the green putty like substance and nodded.
"There could be a chemical reaction between two different chemicals. It could still blow even with the triggers disconnected. It's the type of thing a terrorist could design."
"So what do we do with it?"
"Keep the ice around the bucket, get the other three and we'll lower it over the side."
"Unless that was planned," Jana said. "Contact with water may set it off."
"Make a little boat out of a life buoy and let it float away without getting wet," Kelsie said.
"Okay," Rowan said. He stood up and stretched. "At least there are no more temperature activated bombs. It's well over thirty degrees Celsius everywhere now. If one was going to blow it would have done so by now."
"Why didn't you say?" Jana asked.
Rowan shrugged. "Would it have helped?"
"No but..."
"Come on," Kelsie whispered. "Let's get rid of this stuff."
Rowan nodded. There were six buckets in all with the tubes of explosive placed in three smaller buckets. These in turn were placed inside the three larger containers and chunks of ice from the freezer in the kitchen packed around the smaller one. The three carried a bucket each and walked out onto the rear deck. Rowan hunted around and found three quite sizeable inflatable rafts in a locker that the terrorists had missed.
"This'll do,' he said.
He took one out on the deck and rolled it out. Inside was a cylinder with a pull chord. He pulled it and, with a hiss, compressed air inflated the raft.
"Good. Now if we can pack those buckets inside something and tie them aboard we can lower it over the side."
"It's a long way down," Jana said. "What's to stop it being sucked into the propeller?"
"Take it up near where we hid in the container," Kelsie suggested. "It's still a long way down but with luck the raft will float out."
"Good idea," Rowan said. "We'll tie a rope on each end and try to keep it level as we lower it."
"Why not four ropes?" Jana said. "We can get Hank and even Denise to help us. It won't be heavy, just awkward." She glanced around. There must be plenty of rope coils around."
*
In theory it was great idea but in practice the situation was entirely different. The explosives were tied into a carton, held in place by plastic netting provided with the raft, and made secure. Rowan next looped four ropes through eyelets provided around the top of the raft.
Then the problems began. It took ages to even lift the synthetic rubber up to the railing. It seemed to flop everywhere and was surprisingly heavy. Hank proved his worth and the men's strength together with the women's dexterity finally had it all balanced on the railing.
"Be careful," Rowan puffed. " Don't lean out. Just use the railing to slide the rope across. Are you ready?"
Jana grinned at Kelsie. Both of their ropes were threaded through the sides of the raft while Rowan and Hank had an end each.
"Go!" Rowan whispered.
The raft dropped, Jana intended to use a hand over hand method but there was no time. The nylon rope just slid through her hands. She gripped harder but to no avail. Her hands stung as the rope burned her skin. Kelsie had similar trouble and Hank looked as if he was trying to hold back a bucking stallion at a rodeo. Only Rowan appeared to maintain control.
"Damn men," Jana muttered, "Why do you always have to be so strong?"
The raft hit the side of the hull and bounced out. Jana realized her rope was too tight. It held one side up and the whole thing began to tip. It looked as if the carton would crash back against the hull.
"Reach across and help Kelsie," Rowan said in a soft voice. "Once you have a hold on her rope, let yours go. Her side is dipping down."
Jana saw what he meant. Her rope was doing more harms than good. She grinned at Kelsie and reached her left hand across.
"Jana!" Kelsie screamed.
Jana's hand stung but she was also shocked when she glanced at her hand. It was raw and covered in blood. "I'm okay," she muttered, ignored the pain and continued her maneuver.
It worked, the raft steadied and continued down. As they had planned, as soon as it hit the water, everyone except Rowan let their ropes go. The raft hit the water bounced in a shower of spray and was caught in the turbulence. If it swung in or was sucked under... Jana bit on her lip and watched. No, it was okay, a small wave carried it out, Rowan played out his rope like a fishing line and grinned at her. But he ran out of rope. He screwed his mouth up and let go.
The raft bounced away from them towards the stern. It bumped over the turbulence caused by the ship's propeller and disappeared from sight.
Less than ten seconds later the raft exploded. There was a crack of thunder and the ocean erupted. Jana's ears rung. Like a sow motion movie her eyes saw things quicker than her mind could interpret. There was a glimpse of yellow fragments of the raft being hurled straight up, a mountain of water in the air and a radiating wave that hit the Konstellation. It shook the massive container ship like a tidal wave, went straight up before showering down over the deck..
"Oh hell," she gasped as she was flung into the railing. She was drenched! An arm grabbed her as a sea of foam rushed by. There were more sensations but finally silence... Everything had happened in mere seconds.
Hank had been flung the other way with Kelsie beside him. "Well folks," he said. "Better out there than here, I'd say."
Rowan still had Jana gripped in a vice like grip. He looked down at her and smiled. "You okay?" he asked.
"I've been better," she said. "Thanks for your help. It happened so quickly."
"Still is," Kelsie said in a shaky whisper. She was also drenched and hair was plastered over her face.
She was right. The water still bubbled and waves crashed in every direction. But they were safe!
*
"Hank," cried Denise. "What happened? Are you okay?" She appeared at the end of the containers with an oven cloth still in her hand. "I heard this terrible bang and thought..." She rushed forward into his arms.
"It's okay, honey," Hank said. "When the explosive got wet it blew up, that's all. Nobody was hurt."
"But you could have been!" Tears rolled down Denise's thin cheeks. "Oh Hank, when is this nightmare going to stop?"
Jana glanced at Kelsie and onto Rowan. Denise was distraught. "It's okay Denise," she said. "Hank just came and helped us lower the bombs overboard. Without his help..."
"My God Jana, you're covered in blood. What happened?" Denise rushed past Hank and grabbed Jana's arms.
Kelsie spoke in a quieter tone. "You do look a bit of a mess, Jana There's blood on your face. Did you wipe your hand across it?"
"Look at your hands," Denise gasped. "They're raw." She turned to Hank. "How could you allow this to happen, Hank?"
"Well I..."
"Come on my dear," Denise turned back to Jana. "Let's take you back and get you patched up."
She tucked an arm around Jana's waist and led her back inside. Hank followed and Kelsie was left with Rowan.
"Perhaps the old dragon isn't so bad after all," she said.
"You know, I think they're a pretty devoted couple," Rowan replied. "I wonder how we'd cope if we were their age."
"Yeah," Kelsie sighed. "I wonder."
*
As they had thought, there were no lifeboats, only the two deflated rafts. Hank suggested they should be inflated and loaded with essential gear.
"If anything happens it will happen quickly," he said.
"They're quite big," Rowan replied. "Wouldn't they be too obvious if we just lashed them on the deck?"
"So hide them," Kelsie cut in.
"Where?" Jana asked.
"In the container where we hid," Kelsie replied. "We can also store other emergency stuff there like cans of food and so forth."
Kelsie's idea worked well. They inflated one raft inside the container and tested to see if it could be moved easily. With both of the container doors open there was room to slide it out and across the deck to the railing.
"Lifeboat drill," Kelsie said with a laugh. "Don't they always have lifeboat drill on a ship?"
Jana nodded and glanced out. It was a long way down to the water. "Let's hope we don't need it," she said. "The thought of bouncing around in the ocean doesn't really appeal to me."
"Better than swimming," Kelsie replied.
By nightfall, the Konstellation's passengers were exhausted but still not prepared to relax and let themselves go to sleep. They had spent the afternoon making a thorough search of the container ship. There was nobody on board nor were there any transmitters or communication equipment. Even Kelsie's mobile phone that never worked this far away from home had gone and all of Rowan's equipment had been taken including most of his painting gear. The crews' quarters and captain's cabin had been stripped and a safe in the wall lay opened and empty.
*
Hank and Denise were in the kitchen. It had no portholes or external windows so they could have the lights on. Rowan was in the girls' cabin with the others where they sat staring out at the darkness. The darkness was absolute with even a layer of clouds that hid the stars. They'd turned navigation lights off in fear that the enemy ship might notice them.
"Will the e terrorists return?" Kelsie broke the silence.
"I think if they were going to come, they would have by now," Rowan said, "That explosion we created may have made them believe they had succeeded in blowing us up."
" I doubt it," Jana replied. "We'd show up on their radar."
"So they aren't worried about us," Kelsie said. "Why?"
"The same reason that they left and didn't continue to search for us," Rowan said. "They may need to be somewhere in a certain time or maybe someone is onto them and they want to clear out of the area."
"Who, for example?" Jana asked.
"Columbia, Equator and even Peru have quite large navies and sophisticated police forces. The terrorists must have come out from one of those countries. It could be that they have a secret port where they can transfer all that equipment onto another ship or even an airplane. Perhaps they had a very small rendezvous time frame. With no transmissions from us, the authorities will already know something is amiss. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a navy Orion patrol airplane flying over us in the morning."
"But it 's all guesswork, isn't it?" Jana said. "We don't really have the slightest idea what they are going to do nor what will happen to us."
Rowan shook his head. "I do know a ship this size can't just disappear without somebody coming to look for us. Only a few months ago a New Zealand airforce Orion traced a lone yachtsman in the middle of the South Pacific half way to Antarctica. He'd been hit by a rouge side wave and flipped over. He managed to crawl up on the upturned hull and just clung on for a couple of days. Everything was gone, his radio, food... everything!"
"So what do we do right now?" Kelsie asked.
"I'll stay up and keep guard just in case someone comes."
"The whole ship by yourself? Someone could be climbing up the starboard side near the bow right now and we wouldn't know," Jana said.
"True," Rowan said. "But I have to try."
"Then we'll help," Jana said. "We can take turns." She caught Kelsie's dark look. "What say Kelsie and I take over from you say in three hours. I'm sure Hank wouldn't mind replacing us in the early hours of the morning."
Kelsie smiled and Rowan nodded. "Okay," he said "But don't go too far away. It's probably best if you stay on the bridge. The view is as good as anywhere and we're only one flight of stairs down if we are needed."
*
The only problem encountered during the night was with the Konstellation itself. The seas became rough and the ship developed a sickening rolling motion that made both girls queasy. They were quite relieved when four thirty arrived and Hank walked onto the bridge with two steaming mugs of coffee in his hand.
"I couldn't sleep anyhow," he said after Jana commented that he was half an hour early. He handed them each a coffee. "It's getting stormy out there."
"Hell, I know," Kelsie said. "I feel lousy."
"Then go and lie down. I was in the navy and served off Nam in the early seventies. The destroyer I was on shook like this continuously... had no soundproofing either. I reckon that's the reason I'm half-deaf now. When they fired the guns our ears became blocked for hours." He laughed. "I guess I never got the sea out of my system. That's why Denise and I came on this trip. Never thought I'd be fighting again, though." He grinned. "Everyone is in the kitchen on mattresses. Denise didn't want to be by herself. We set your mattresses up there, too. Hope you don't mind."
"Hank, I could sleep on a bed of nails," Jana said with a laugh. "Come on, Kelsie."
"In a minute," Kelsie moaned. She put her coffee mug down and ran to the nearest toilet.
*
By morning a full tropical storm had blown in. The sky on the northern horizon was an inky black punctuated by streaks of forked lightning. Waves crested to form whitecaps that the wind grabbed and wrestled away in line of spray. The Konstellation plunged into a wave that broke across the bow and lifted the massive boat like a small canoe. Containers creaked but held and the wave surged by to form a trough that the ship plunged into. Water washed across the deck ran between the containers and back over the side... just as the next mountain of water arrived.
The rain arrived! The downpour hit the superstructure, bounced off and blended with the ocean waves. It did seem to flatten the next crest but this could have been because it came in at an angle. The ship rolled sideways, shuddered and crashed back as if it was waiting for the next onslaught.
The people in the engine room held on and waited until the room returned to an almost horizontal level.
"If we don't slow the engine down the boat could crack open like a can of beans," Hank shouted about the combined engine and storm noise.
"But how?" Rowan yelled back "The controls have gone and can't get to the engine. Everything's sealed."
"There must be a manual override," Jana shouted. "No matter how sophisticated a system is there is always an emergency override or cut-out system."
"Then why hasn't it worked?" Rowan replied. "The propeller is shaking the whole ship when it comes out of the water. Wouldn't the vibrations activate something."
"Find the fuel leads," Hank suggested. "If we can cut the supply..."
"No engine would be worse than having one running too fast," Jana said. "We would be at the complete mercy of the waves. We have no steerage but if we can cut the throttles back by a half the ship should ride the waves."
She grabbed a beam to stop herself being flung over and stared at the mangled steel. Beneath them the seven-cylinder Antwerpen Express two-stroke engine and three superchargers throbbed on. Jana had studied turbo diesel systems at college and knew the theory behind it all. However, in the pitching, throbbing bows of the container ship with the controls either gone or wrecked the situation appeared impossible. She did know, though, that unless something was done the engine would seize or the propeller would break away. There were other possibilities, too but every scenario was bad unless they could slow the engines.
"We have to get to the engine, itself," she said. "Does anyone know the way?"
It took a while but they found the access by going up through a trapdoor for two levels, along a narrow ventilation passage then down three levels until they were under the control room they had left. The air stunk of hot oil.
"It's running hot," Hank said.
"It appears so" Janna replied. "There should be a spray-down fresh water system that serves to keeps the cooler clean. A self-cleaning filter auto-shoots when the differential pressure reaches a certain level. It's notorious for its inefficiency and there is no bypass. If the filter gets blocked, the lube oil system becomes inoperable. If that happens the whole engine could overheat and seize within minutes."
Hank nodded but Rowan shrugged.
"You're the expert," he said. "What do we do?"
Jana glanced at the various gauges. The writing was in German and readings all metric but she found two of interest. "These show the differential pressure," she said. "If it is operating efficiency they should show a similar reading."
"The numbers mean nothing to me," Hank said.
Jana nodded. "It's all kilograms per cubic meter, Hank. Don't worry about it. The difference between the two is what is important. I'll try a manual backwash."
"What's that?" Rowan asked.
"We change some valves and redirect the water back through the filter and out an overflow. With luck, that will clear the filter so we won't have to disassemble it. Usually they color code the valves".
"Here's a wall diagram," Hank said. "I can't read it but I'd say it's what you want, Jana"
Jana nodded and studied the wall chart. "I was right. They are color-coded. We close those three blue valves, open the green ones as well as Yellow 3. That should make it backwash."
They all helped and there was a distinct gurgle of water from inside the filter system.
After several minutes Jana opened and closed the valves in their original configuration and watched with satisfaction as the water differential gauges showed similar readings.
"You did it!" Rowan exclaimed. He grabbed Jana and deposited a kiss on her cheek, flushed and let her go.
"Oops," he apologized. "I didn't..."
Hank winked at Jana and her cheeks burned. "That should stop the overheating for a while," she muttered but gave Rowan a quick grin. "We still need to slow the engine, though."