فصل 48

48

Uira te Atua

“Holy crap!” Ostin shouted. The massive blast of lightning had hit the top of the ship, dropping all of the men on board. It was so large that it shook the depository even more than the shelling had. The first strike was followed by a second, third, and fourth. The soldiers on board scattered; some jumped into the sea, others ran inside the ship, but most of them lay still on the deck. Then a blast of lightning blew apart the second gangplank, and both tanks fell into the ocean.

Enele, followed by Raphe, came running up to the fourth floor. Enele was out of breath. “Did you see that?” “Still watching it,” Jack said.

“Uira te Atua!”

Lightning struck the ship over and over until there was no movement on board. Then the lightning moved to the ship behind it, then to the third.

“It’s a miracle,” Raphe said.

“No, it’s Uira te Atua,” Enele said. “The lightning god.” Ostin lightly smiled. “No,” he said. “It’s my buddy Michael.” * * *

After all signs of life had vanished from the three ships, the lightning began striking farther out at sea, hitting the battleship with such force that after just three strikes the ship was on fire.

“If that’s Michael,” Jack said, “he’s pissed.” “Wow,” Ostin said. “That’s what vengeance looks like.” Then a strike pounded down through the center of the boat. “That was huge!” Jack said.

Jack lifted his binoculars. “He sunk it!” Ostin lifted his as well. “He did. It’s sinking! Go, Michael!” The lightning stopped. “Let me look,” Enele said. Jack handed him his binoculars. “It is going down. Uira te Atua has saved us.” Suddenly the sky above them began to brighten, as if collecting the light from the sun itself, then forming into a ball about thirty feet above them. It grew in brightness until it was too bright to look at and they had to turn away.

“What is that?” Raphe asked.

Then the ball began to crackle and spark as it slowly lowered to the floor. No one dared speak. Then the light began to diminish and pull in tighter, taking the shape of a human form. When the light had completely gone out, Michael stood in front of them.

Ostin shouted out, “Michael!” He ran to him, but Michael held out his hand to stop him.

“Don’t touch me. I’m not safe yet.”

Ostin stopped. “It really is you!”

A smile crossed Michael’s face. “Who were you expecting?” “Uira te Atua?”

“You’re a what?”

“Nothing,” Ostin said. “It’s just so good to see you.” “It’s good to be seen,” Michael said. He looked past Ostin. “Hey, Jack.” Jack looked at him in awe. “I—I . . .” “Yeah, it’s weird. I know. But it’s me. That was also me on the boat.” “. . . Our dream. That really was you.” “Yeah, I was still figuring out how to get back to being human. It’s a little hard to explain where I’ve been.” “Well, you could have come a little earlier,” Jack said, joking. “Maybe before we said our good-byes to each other.” “No, that was good. People say things too late. It’s better this way. And you both got to apologize.” “You heard us?”

“Every word,” Michael said. “But that’s not why I waited. I knew you’d need the boats to get off the island, so I waited until they delivered them to you. And don’t worry about the crew on board. I visited them. They’re going to cooperate fully.” Michael laughed. “At least once they get off their knees. They think I’m a god.” “You’re not?” Enele said.

“No, Enele,” Michael said. “I’m Michael. And I’m proud of you. You have risen to greatness. It’s dark times like these that present us the canvas where we paint our own greatness.” “Wow. You’re like a poet now,” Ostin said.

“I think the electricity opened up parts of my brain,” Michael said. “I might be as smart as you.” Ostin just stared at him.

“But probably not,” Michael said, smiling. “Enough of this; we don’t have much time. Enele, take your men and get on the boats. I will meet you in Funafuti. Hatch is about to hurt our friends, and I need to stop him.” “Michael,” Ostin said.

“Yes?”

“Thanks for what you did on Hades.”

Michael smiled. “That’s what friends are for.” He waved. “See you in a few hours.”