فصل 46

46

Why Did the Elgen Cross the Channel?

The next four days on Plutus were quiet except for the drones. The Elgen had increased the flybys to every two hours. On the third day Jack took a shot at one just out of anger.

“That’s not going to do any good,” Ostin said.

“It did me good,” Jack said. He put down the rifle. “What are they looking for?” “They’re just making sure we stay put,” Ostin said. “Or trying to drive us mad.” “It’s working,” Jack said. “They’re not bringing men over.” “Which means Hatch is waiting for a ship.”

Then the drone did a second flyby.

“That’s new,” Jack said. He lifted his binoculars. “It’s circling.” “Is it carrying payload?”

“No.” Then Jack lowered his binoculars to the eastern horizon. Then he groaned. “It doesn’t need it.” He turned back to Ostin. “You were right. Hatch found a battleship. And a few others.” Ostin lifted his own binoculars. “Oh no.” A moment later he said, “Wait, we know those ships. I recognize the flag. They’re Filipino.” He lowered the binoculars. “They’re probably the same ships that captured us in Fiji.” “Now the Filipinos are helping out,” Jack said. “Why would they help Hatch?” “Because he owns them,” Ostin said, still looking at the ship. “It’s got sixteen-inch cannons.” He turned back to Jack. “We’re so screwed.” * * *

It wasn’t a direct hit, but the battleship’s first shell exploded with a deafening boom that shook the entire depository. Even though the shell struck the rock shore twenty yards in front of the southeastern wall, it was big enough to rip away pieces of the outer wall and scatter rock higher than the depository. Smoke rose above the building.

Enele and Raphe came running up. “What was that?” Enele shouted.

“They’ve got a battleship,” Jack said, handing Enele his binoculars. Enele looked out at the ship and shook his head. “There are four ships.” “They’re the same ships that captured the Joule,” Ostin said. “I’m sure the others are carrying soldiers.” There was another boom in the distance, and a second shell struck. This one caught a corner of the southeast wall. Jack ran over to the nearest opening and leaned out. “They’ve breached the wall. It’s twelve feet up, too high for them to climb.” “They’ll keep firing,” Ostin said. “That particular battleship can hold nearly a thousand rounds.” “We are screwed,” Jack said. “Maybe they’ll just shell us into oblivion.” “If they hit this floor, it will kill us all,” Raphe said, grabbing Enele. “We’ve got to evacuate this floor.” “No,” Jack said. “Once they blow a hole in the wall, the soldiers are going to pour in. We need the machine-gun nest to stop them from getting inside.” “Then we can come back up after they’ve landed their men and have stopped shelling.” “He’s got a point,” Ostin said. “They’ll stop shelling after they land their own men. We can watch from the third floor.” As they evacuated the fourth floor, Ostin said to Jack, “Why did the Elgen cross the channel?” Jack looked at him. “Why?”

“To kill us.”