“I think it’s a tourist boat!” Mano leaned forward with a pair of binoculars.
Dread coiled in the pit of Kaia’s stomach. She squinted. “Can you see the boat’s name?”
“Yeah, it’s the Squid.”
“Laban’s boat!” She stared at her brothers and saw the same stricken expression she knew must be on her own face. Their cousin had only operated the tourist sightseeing catamaran a little over a year.
New urgency fueled them. Bane pulled in the anchor. Mano started the motor.
“Come, Nani!” Kaia shouted over the roar of the engine as the boat picked up speed. Mano turned the boat toward the disaster. Kaia leaned into the wind, frantically scanning the sea for people. The fresh scent of salt water mixed with an oily odor that clung to her nose and throat.
The dolphin kept up with the Porpoise II as it slammed against the waves, the swells building now from the impending storm. As they drew nearer, she could see a sixty-foot catamaran on fire with at least a dozen people in the water.
“I’ll call it in!” Mano turned and grabbed the radio mic.
“Help me!” a woman screamed as she caught sight of Kaia.
Kaia turned to seize a flotation cushion, but Bane beat her to it and tossed the cushion to the woman. A boy of about fourteen, his face blackened by smoke, swam toward the boat and reached out his hand. Bane hauled him in.
The boy landed on the deck. “My mom!” he panted. He scrambled to all fours and pointed to another woman floating face-down in the water.
The woman wasn’t moving. Kaia dove overboard. The mounting waves tossed her about as she swam to the woman. She rolled the boy’s mother over. The woman’s eyes were closed, and she didn’t appear to be breathing. Kaia fought the whitecaps and towed the woman to the boat then pushed her into Bane’s arms. He pulled the limp figure over the edge.
“I know CPR,” the boy panted. “Please find my sister. She’s out there somewhere.” He bent over his mother.
Bane hesitated then nodded and jumped in the water with Kaia.
Kaia wanted to search for Laban, but victims bobbed all around her. She struck out toward a man ten feet away, but the dolphin got there first. Nani nudged him until he grabbed hold of her dorsal fin, then she towed him toward the Porpoise II.
Mano soon joined them. He struck off toward the burning catamaran. Kaia propelled herself through the waves toward another victim. The thick, oily smoke hung low over the choppy seas and burned her eyes and throat. Her muscles ached, and she lost count of how many people she and her brothers hauled to her boat. At least ten, she was sure.
Looking around her craft, she saw people lying on the small deck. The boat rode low in the water, and she knew they’d have to stop soon or the rough seas would swamp the small craft. But not yet. Laban was still out here somewhere.
Praying for strength, she plunged back into the mounting waves.
The black smoke told Lieutenant Commander Jesse Matthews where to aim his boat. He stood in the bow of his vessel as it sped toward the catastrophe. For catastrophe it surely was. He felt physically sick. What could have caused the missile to veer off course that way? Every stage of the new missile defense system tests had gone perfectly up to now.
This new missile defense system was capable of distinguishing between decoys and true incoming missiles, a feature no previous missile defense system had possessed. The navy had a lot of money riding on it, and even more pressure from Washington. Tests so far had been promising: the exoatmospheric kill vehicle had managed to separate from the interceptor and the booster rocket, the interceptor had worked, and the infrared signals had performed flawlessly.
Until today. For no explainable reason, the test missile had turned north five miles off course and then plunged. He prayed no one had been killed.
Another long night lay ahead. He’d already been on the job nearly eighteen hours, investigating a security breach at the base that had resulted in a fatality. But an adrenaline surge now pushed away his earlier fatigue. The boat’s bow slammed against the waves, and the salt spray drenched him. Jesse put binoculars to his eyes. The horrific scene jumped into focus: bodies everywhere in the water, and what remained of a tourist catamaran was quickly being swamped by the swells. Another boat loaded with victims rode precariously low in the water. He lowered the binoculars as he drew near. The vessel slowed, and the engines throbbed as the craft fought the seas to maintain its position alongside the sinking boat.