فصل 31

31

Changing Course

“The problem now,” Jack said, standing up from his bunk, “is how do we tell Vishal we need to change destinations?” “We just tell him the truth,” Ostin said.

Jack frowned. “The truth? You want to tell Vishal that Michael appeared to us like a ghost? He’d have us thrown overboard.” Ostin thought on that. “Yeah, he wouldn’t go for that.” “We could tell him that we suddenly remembered that Enele told us he was going to Nukufetau.” “We just suddenly remembered? He’s not going to buy that. That’s not something you’d forget.” Ostin thought a little more, then said, “I think we just tell him that we both had the same dream.” “A dream. How’s that any different from a ghost story?” Ostin shook his head. “These native guys put a lot of stock in dreams.” After a moment Jack said, “Can’t hurt.” Then added, “Too much.” Ostin pulled on his shirt. Then they both walked up to the boat’s cab. Nikhil was wearing aviator sunglasses and was seated in the captain’s chair, holding the wheel. Vishal was seated a few meters from him. Both men looked tired. Vishal turned back as they entered. He spoke above the sound of the ocean. “What’s up?” “We need to talk to you,” Jack said.

“Yeah? Go ahead.”

“Can we go outside?”

Nikhil glanced at Vishal but said nothing.

“Sure,” Vishal said.

He followed them out the portside door. It was another clear day, and to the southwest there was the pale silhouette of one of their other boats. The sound of the boat’s engines and the hydroplaning of the boats on the waves was the only real noise.

“What’s on your minds, guys?”

“We think we need to change destinations,” Jack said.

Vishal looked back and forth between them. “We already went through this. What are you up to?” “Nothing,” Jack said. “It’s just . . . last night we both had the same dream.” He looked at Ostin. “You explain.” “We dreamed that our friend Michael came to us in the night. He told us both the exact same thing.” Vishal looked at them skeptically. “Which was . . . ?” “That we will find Enele on Nukufetau.”

Vishal shook his head. “Why would he go to Nukufetau? There is no reason at all for them to go there.” He frowned. “We already spoke of this back in Fiji. It was either Vaitupu or Funafuti. We’re sticking with Funafuti.” “But we had a dream,” Ostin said.

“A dream?” Vishal said, his voice sharp with annoyance. “Shall I lead these people to their deaths because of a dream you had? We’ve made our plans. We’ll follow them.” “It was a dream we both had,” Jack said.

“Okay, shall I lead them to their deaths because of a dream you both had?” Jack shook his head. “You’ve got to admit that’s weird.” “In the world of dreams, everything is weird.” Ostin said, “In the dream, our friend said that Elder Malakai sent Enele to Nukufetau.” Vishal’s expression suddenly changed. “Who did you say?” “Malakai. The elder.”

“How did you know that name?”

“It was in the dream,” Jack said.

Vishal suddenly looked worried. “ ’Malakai’ is a name only known by a few. You could not have known that name.” “In our dream, Michael told us that Enele had gone to see Malakai in Nui.” Again Vishal looked surprised. “How did you know that the great elder was on Nui? That is information that had been kept very secret.” “The dream,” Ostin said. “He said Enele went there to get Malakai’s blessings before going to war.” “That is our way. We consult the elders before battle. Just as we did in Fiji.” Vishal looked back and forth between the two of them. “Did he say anything else?” “He said something about the Uira te Atua.” Vishal turned white. “How do you know that phrase? It is sacred, in an ancient language, known only to a few.” “We told you,” Jack said. “That’s what he said in the dream.” “We’re not making this up,” Ostin said.

“No,” Vishal said. “No one could have made that up.” Jack looked at Vishal seriously. “What do you think?” Vishal took a deep breath, then breathed out slowly. “I think we better change course to Nukufetau.”