Message in the Storm
The wind blew. It piled the surf high on the reef and blew the tops from
waves between the reef and the shore. Hour by hour the wind stiffened,
until the breakers on the shore were higher than those through which the
Spindrifters had swum on the reef.
The first hours of the morning were spent getting ready for a blow. The
_Water Witch_ was secured by springlines, and extra fenders were put
over her side. The four hauled the Sky Wagon high onto the beach by
sheer muscle power, then turned the plane into the wind. Rick and Scotty
salvaged the concrete-block foundation from the wreck of the cottage
where they had found the planks, and used the blocks for land anchors on
the plane.
The shutters were checked, and closed on the front of the cottage. The
shed where the tank had broken through was repaired as well as
improvised tools and materials allowed, and all loose gear was stowed
inside.
The rain came. It drove with the wind into the front of the cottage in a
continuous thunder. Its force carried it under the door, through cracks
beside the window frames. The Spindrifters were forced to shred rags to
stuff into cracks. In the kitchen the roof began to leak, and soon every
available pot and pan was being used to catch drippings.
Rick worked almost in silence, not joining in the bantering of his
friends. As was his way, he worried the problem of the frogmen and their
mysterious behavior the way his dog, Dismal, would worry a bone.
He discarded a dozen possible reasons for their actions, including
underwater communications, bombs, and an unusual way of fishing. He
pondered on the relations of the Spindrift group--or lack of them--with
the frogmen and re-examined their various theories.
First premise: The frogmen, specifically Steve's former shadow, hadn't
recognized them or the _Water Witch_.
Second premise: The frogmen considered them harmless tourists,
interested only in diving to the wreck, and therefore to be watched but
not considered dangerous.
He rather liked that one. It would mean that the chicken had been
dropped "mischievously," to use Zircon's word, to try to scare them out
of the immediate vicinity. But there were other possibilities.
First premise: The frogmen knew of their connection with Steve.
Second premise: The frogmen weren't worried about people with JANIG
connections.
This might be explained by superior weapons in the hands of the frogmen,
coupled with the assumption that the Spindrifters had no communication
with Steve. It might also be explained by knowledge of their real reason
for being on Clipper Cay.
Rick didn't care much for the last two premises. The first one seemed
more reasonable. After all, they were not sure that the former tail had
seen the _Water Witch_ in St. Thomas, or had known of their connection
with it. On the contrary, to get to Clipper Cay so soon after the
Spindrifters arrived, the frogman must have left about the same time the
scientists did. There was even a possibility that he had arrived ahead
of the Spindrift group and that the frogmen's boat had been out when
Rick and Scotty had first spotted the diving equipment in the house.
Anyway, there had been no sign of any tail but the Virgin Islander while
they were around the pier and on the _Water Witch_. Either he or Scotty
would almost certainly have spotted a second man--especially since they
had seen him before.
There was a major precaution, however, to be taken: he and Scotty must
not let Steve's former tail get a good look at them. They had to assume
he had recognized their clumsiness for what it was--a deliberate stall.
Scotty poked him, and Rick suddenly realized that he had been leaning
for quite a long while on the broom he was supposed to be using.
"Made up your mind about anything?" Scotty asked.
Rick knew his friend had been watching him. During their many adventures
each had developed a rather unusual understanding of how the other's
mind worked.
"Partly," Rick replied. He told Scotty his thoughts.
"You make sense," Scotty agreed, then added practically, "but I don't
see what difference it makes, whether they know about our connection
with Steve or not. The moment they catch us snooping they'll assume
we're enemies. Until then, they'll let us alone just as they've been
doing."
Zircon and Scotty joined forces to prepare lunch. The temperature had
dropped sharply, and hot soup and hamburger sandwiches were welcome.
After lunch, Rick braved the storm long enough to go to the _Water
Witch_ for his camera. He returned to the cottage soaked to the skin.
"We'll need diving equipment to go outside if this keeps up," he
announced.
He took the camera case apart and disconnected his circuits, then he
went outside again with tools in hand and got into the Sky Wagon. The
plane had a heater switch that would do. He removed it, leaving the
wires to dangle for the moment. If the heater was needed he could put
the wires together.
That done, he sat in the plane and racked his memory for a source of
sheet rubber. There was none, but he recalled a repair kit for the
plastic floats in their tool supply. He found it and took it back to the
house.
Using the awl blade on his scout knife, he bored a hole through the
plastic back of the case and installed the switch. Then he reconnected
his circuits so the new switch would turn on only the infrared light. He
waterproofed the switch as best he could, making gaskets from a rubber
jar ring he found in the kitchen.
He knew, however, that the switch wouldn't be waterproof under pressure.
He took a sheet of plastic repair material from the float repair kit and
shaped it carefully with his knife. After much trial and error he
succeeded in cementing it onto the case so that it would protect the
switch from the outside, but left enough slack for the switch to be
operated through the flexible patch. Satisfied, he put it aside to dry.
It was nearly time for dinner when he finished. He took a hand in
cooking ham and eggs with fried potatoes, while Tony prepared a salad
and made coffee.
As they ate, Zircon gestured toward the front of the house. "Getting
worse instead of letting up. This must be a hurricane, although I've
never heard of one quite this early in the season."
"If it gets much worse we'll have to anchor the cottage," Scotty
observed.
They finished just in time to tune in for the weather forecast from St.
Thomas. According to the announcer, the storm was now centered off the
island of St. Croix, moving in a northwesterly direction. That meant it
would pass St. Thomas, and perhaps come very close to them. The
announcer said, "While the storm has many of the characteristics of a
hurricane, including the general form and wind velocities, we hesitate
to designate it as one."
"In other words," Tony said, "it's a hurricane but we'll call it
something else because it's too early in the season for hurricanes."
"Whatever it is, we'll have more of it," Zircon stated.
Rick switched to the Navy command frequency in time to intercept a
conversation with a destroyer somewhere off the British Virgin Islands.
The destroyer had just lost one of its boats.
At four minutes after six the air went silent, then a new voice took
over the microphone. The voice said:
"_A message for the ones who hunted blue sheep._"
"That's us!" Rick gasped.
When Steve had dispatched Rick, Scotty, and Zircon to Tibet, it had been
with the cover story that they were going to hunt the blue sheep called
Bharals in the mountains of West China. Only Steve would know that. The
message was from him.
Static crackled, but the message was clear:
"_The one who started the hunt needs the biggest hunter. Only the
biggest hunter. He should be delivered as soon as possible. Call your
usual contact before arrival and say that the doctor is coming and to
notify the patient._"
The message was repeated, while the four strained to be certain they had
heard every word. When normal traffic resumed, Rick switched the set
off.
"It appears," Zircon said slowly, "that I'm wanted."
"Yep." Scotty grinned. "The demand is there, all right. But delivery is
a long way off."
The storm punctuated his words.