فصل 44

44

Payload

Enele’s war council met again a little after sunset. They decided that since the first trip would be the riskiest, they would start with just one boat and ten men to find a place to gather in secret. The boat would leave right after the drone had passed by, since it had been coming fairly regularly at about three a.m. Captain Nikhil volunteered to take his boat and captain the first sortie.

“You are brave,” Enele said.

“It is why I came,” Nikhil said.

“You must get some sleep while the others prepare your boat.” “I’ll take watch,” Jack said.

Enele nodded. “If you are willing, I will leave you in charge of the fortress tonight.” “I’m willing,” Jack said. “Good night.” “Good night,” Enele replied.

As Adam and Enele walked to the sleeping quarters, Adam asked, “Are you okay leaving such a young man in charge of our defense?” Enele looked at him. “Of course. In the last battle I worked for him.” * * *

Ostin and Jack went up to the open fourth floor. The stars shown brilliantly above them like a million pinpricks in a black velvet canvas. There were three other watchmen, one at each wall.

“Do you have any idea how close we are to our friends?” Ostin said.

“No.”

“Really close. Just sixty miles. If we had a telescope, we could see Funafuti.” “They might as well be on the moon,” Jack said, looking out. He turned back. “Do you think Ian can see us?” “Yes.”

Jack nodded. “Somehow that makes me feel good.” “If he’s still alive,” Ostin added.

Jack sighed. “Well, that did make me feel good.” He walked over and looked out the west side of the floor. He could see the men preparing the MAS. He said back to Ostin, “Did you ever figure out what ‘MAS’ stood for?” “ ’Men at sea,’ ” Ostin said.

“Could be,” Jack said. “It’s a lot better than what I just came up with.” “What’s that?”

“ ’Mexicans and Spaniards.’ ”

Two hours later Vishal came up to the fourth floor carrying a woven basket filled with food. Seeing how Enele had greeted them, he had gained even more respect for the two young men.

“I brought you some food.”

“Thanks,” Jack said. “You should be sleeping.” “I know. I couldn’t sleep.”

Jack looked through the basket. There was salted fish and small loaves of bread. He took out a loaf and ripped it in half, then put a fish inside. “Look at us,” he said to Ostin. “A raw fish sandwich in the middle of the night. Could you imagine eating something like this back in Idaho?” “I can’t even imagine Idaho,” Ostin said. He turned to Jack. “Do you think we’ll ever see Idaho again?” Jack thought for a moment, then said, “Keep it in your mind, and you will.” Vishal looked back and forth between the two, then said, “You mean Uh-Idaho in California?” Jack laughed. “We’re not good liars.” “No. You’re not.”

Just then one of the other men shouted, “Drone!” Jack walked over to the east wall. The drone was approaching. Jack lifted his radio. “The drone is approaching. Prepare for sortie, Alpha.” Ostin lifted his binoculars to examine the drone. “You may want to belay that order,” Ostin said.

Jack turned around. “Why?”

Ostin handed Jack the binoculars. “That’s not an observation drone. It’s carrying payload.” Jack looked through the binoculars, then said, “We’ve got more than that.” He quickly lifted his radio again. “Everyone, inside the compound. I repeat, get inside the compound. Abort sortie. Abort sortie. Nikhil, are you there?” “I’m here, Jack. What’s wrong?” “Wake Enele. Tell him we’ve got an armed drone and a fleet of Apache helicopters incoming. The Elgen are coming.”