McCann gripped the controls tightly as he piloted them toward the formation. Gail noticed that his complexion had paled. Sweat and rainwater ran down his forehead and face. His knuckles were white, his arms stiff.
He’s scared, she thought. And so am I.
At Novak’s request, Warren went below decks to wake up some of the others and form a landing party. Ben and Caterina returned to their lookout positions. Deciding it best to let McCann focus on the task at hand, Gail glanced around the bridge and found herself alone. Novak had walked back out on the deck and was standing at the rail, studying the island intently through the binoculars. The boat rocked over a sudden, particularly strong swell, nearly knocking all of them off their feet, but Novak didn’t seem to notice. His attention remained focused on the mysterious mass. Clutching her coffee, which was now lukewarm, Gail inched her way across the slippery deck and tapped his shoulder.
“Anything different?”
He shrugged, lowering the binoculars, and turned to face her. “Nothing. Can’t figure out what it is. I don’t think it’s metal or wood. Guess we’ll know soon enough. Here. Have a look.”
He handed her the binoculars and held her coffee while Gail peered at the structure. She squinted, straining to make out any details, but the lenses were fogged and mist and rain swirled around the mass. She handed them back to Novak and accepted her coffee in return.
“Are you sure about this?”
Novak shrugged again. “No. But it’s like I said last night—we’re running low on fuel, food and clean water, not to mention other things. If there’s anything to be scavenged off this island, then it’s worth the risk, if only because we won’t be fishing it out of the ocean like usual.”
“But if there’s danger—the shark-men or maybe more of those flying fish, is it worth it?”
“If we worry about that, then we might as well all check out now. Quick death getting eaten by one of those fucking monsters or a slow death by starvation. Not much of a choice, is it?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve made up your mind about our conversation from last night.”
Gail flinched, blinking rainwater from her eyes. “I’m not saying that. I’m just scared. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Nothing’s felt right for a while, Gail. It starts raining at the same time, all over the world, and doesn’t stop. Everything floods. Then the monsters come—giant worms and fungus creatures and fish with scales like razors and all kinds of other bullshit… none of that is right. Chances are this place won’t be either. But it’s not like we’re going ashore unarmed. If we can find supplies—if we can find
They fell silent, watching as the boat slowly approached the mysterious mass. Even as they drew closer, their visibility didn’t improve. The smooth grayish-black surface lacked any topography—there were no buildings or vegetation. The small dome in the center didn’t appear to be man-made, but a natural formation.
“Know what I keep thinking of?”
Gail shook her head. “What?”
“The serpent mound in Ohio. Ever hear of that? The Indians built it a long time ago. This giant fucking hill that looked like a snake when you stared down at it from above. People lived around it for years and didn’t realize that it was man-made, or what it was supposed to resemble. They didn’t figure it out until the airplane was invented. There’s all kinds of similar mounds in this part of the country—barrows and burial sites. I mean, most of them are probably underwater by now, but what if that thing is one of them?”
Before Gail could respond, Warren pounded up the ladder and emerged on deck. With him were Riffle, Paris, Mylon, Tatiana, Lynn and Morgan. All of them appeared tired but alert. While the others yawned and stretched and flinched at the rain, Tatiana was fresh-faced—the benefits of sleeping through the night without a watch shift. Only Morgan seemed angered by being woken. His expression was dour and impatient. When Novak nodded at him, he sneered.
“What’s this all about, Captain?”
“I’ve told you before, don’t call me that. I’m about as much of a Captain as you are.”
“And yet you’re in charge.”
“You want to volunteer, Morgan? Cause if you’ve got any better ideas, I’m all fucking ears.”
“I think you’re doing a commendable job.”
Gail noticed Novak’s shoulders stiffen, but he ignored the sarcasm.
“What this is about,” he said, turning back to the ocean, “is that land mass over there. At least, we’re pretty sure it’s a land mass. Might be some type of man-made structure—a water tower or something similar. In any case, we’re gonna find out. That’s why I had Warren wake everybody up. I know that most of you just went to bed three hours ago, but I need all hands on this. Riffle, I want you to take over piloting for McCann. He’s more awake than you are, so I want him out there with me. Go slow as we approach. I don’t want us bottoming out. The rest of you come with me. Each of you gets one weapon. Half of you are going to stay behind to defend the ship. The other half are going ashore with me and McCann.”
Morgan’s gaze went from the island to Novak. “And if we refuse?”
“Shit, Morgan. I’m not twisting your arm. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. We can wake somebody else up. That just means if there’s anything of value over there—like food, for instance—you don’t fucking get any of it. Fair enough?”
Novak turned and winked at Gail. Then he strode past the sulking man and headed for the weapons locker. Grinning, Warren and the others followed him. Morgan trailed along a few steps behind. When Gail turned to glance at him, his face was twisted into a hateful, loathing grimace.
CHAPTER 35
“I’ve got an idea,” Gail said to Novak as they lined up at the lifeboat.
He blinked rain from his eyes and nodded, indicating that he was listening.
“If there is stuff on the island that we can salvage,” Gail continued, “then maybe we should leave some room in the boat, so we can bring it back? Which means taking less people ashore.”
Sighing, Novak pulled off his rain hat, ran a hand through his hair, and then plopped the hat back on again. He shook his head. His smile was rueful.
“You’re right,” he said. “What the hell was I thinking? Goddamn it.”
McCann shrugged. “It’s cool, boss. You’re tired. We’re all tired. Nobody’s bringing their A-game anymore, you know.”
“Yeah, but still… this is just common sense. And now we’ve wasted time and woke everyone up.”
Morgan raised his hand. “I’ll be glad to stay behind.”
“I’m sure you would.” Novak glared at him. The silence between them lasted a full thirty seconds before Morgan finally turned away.
Warren sneezed.
“Go on back to your rack,” Novak told Morgan. “If you’re skipping out on this then you’re pulling double watch tonight so that someone else can get caught up on their sleep.”
“I’ll do no such thing.”
“Fine.” Novak turned to McCann. “Go get Riffle. Then I want the two of you to throw Mr. Morgan over the side. I’ve had it with his shit.”
Morgan sputtered. “What? Now just wait a goddamn minute!”
“I’m kidding.” Novak grinned, but it was a humorless expression. He stared at the man a moment longer, as if daring him to respond, and then turned back to the others. “Okay. Gail brings up a good point, so let’s split this up. Who wants to volunteer to go ashore?”
Warren and Lynn raised their hands. Morgan glanced down at the deck.
