فصل 23

23

War Criminals

Welch was the first to climb up the tower to the Joule’s deck. He was greeted by more than seventy guns, every one of them pointing at him. He was followed by Ian, Jack, Quentin, and Torstyn. Then Tara and Taylor, Nichelle, Abigail, McKenna, Ostin, Zeus, Tessa, and Cassy.

Before Welch could shout out the command, all the electric youths fell to the deck, frozen with pain.

“RESATs,” Quentin groaned to Ian. “You didn’t see them?” “No, man. They were disguised.”

Everyone had fallen to their knees or stomachs except the Nonels—Ostin, Jack, Welch, and the Elgen crew. Suddenly Ostin dropped to his knees, then his stomach, groaning out loudly in pain as he rolled closer to the side of the deck.

Jack looked at him with a perplexed expression.

“Fall down,” Ostin shouted as loud as he dared. “Near the edge.” Jack also dropped to his knees, groaning loudly as he held his side, grimacing as if in pain.

Ostin continued to roll over until he was about a yard from the far edge of the boat. Jack rolled up next to him.

“When I say ‘now,’ ” Ostin said, “we’re going to roll off the side. Got it?” Jack nodded. “Got it.”

Ostin looked at Taylor, who was on the opposite side of the boat. She suddenly looked over at him. Even though she was in pain, she could still hear his thoughts, carried to her by the wet steel deck. Ostin looked around, then thought, Now, Taylor.

Taylor erupted in a bloodcurdling scream. For a brief moment everyone turned toward her. “Now!” Ostin whispered fiercely. He and Jack rolled off the side of the boat, dropping twelve feet into the water. With Taylor’s distraction, no one noticed their disappearance. They swam underwater, reemerging on the other side of the Joule, clinging to the boat beneath a small metal fin.

“What now?” Jack asked.

“Just stay close to the boat. It will pull us in to Fiji.” “How do you know it’s going to Fiji?”

“It’s out of fuel.”

“They could tow it back to Tuvalu,” Jack said.

“Let’s just hope they don’t.”

While Jack and Ostin held their place, the Filipino sailors swarmed the Joule’s deck, handcuffing Welch and the Joule’s crew while soldiers walked among the youths, strapping RESATs to them.

Since neither Hatch nor the navy knew how many people were on the boat, no one even suspected that Jack and Ostin were missing. A patrol of six sailors climbed down the Conn, looking for anyone left behind. They returned fifteen minutes later with Kiki.

“She’s the only one left. She says she’s the cook. She’s Fijian.” “Take her too,” the commander said. “We’ll let the Elgen sort them out.” The Glows, Welch, and the Joule’s crew were marched single file onto the largest of the ships, then taken belowdecks, where they were separated by gender and locked in four separate cells in the boat’s brig.

“I want to speak to your leader,” Welch said from behind bars.

The man he spoke to wore a bright white shirt with several gold bars and gold tasseled epaulets on his shoulders. “I am the leader. I am the ship’s captain.” “I demand to be taken to the American embassy. You’ve illegally taken us prisoner.” “We’ve done nothing illegal. You are war criminals. We are returning you to stand trial.” “We’ve done nothing against your country. The Philippine courts will free us.” The captain shook his head. “Yes, but we are not taking you to the Philippines. We have been ordered to return you to the location of your crime. We are taking you back to answer to President Hatch of the Hatch Islands.”