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MYSTIC:
When they are within five miles of the island, they lose computer control and Okana switches to thrusters. Twenty minutes later, he eases the speed back and stares through the front window at the island. Two-hundred-feet ahead, a slow spinning whirlwind rises from inside the crater nearly one-hundred-feet into the air. He circles the shoreline until he sees the small beach, but the motorboat is gone. Everyone, including Dieter, is standing outside on the bridge deck.
Okana steps outside through the open door. “He must have left.”
“What if the boat was blown away by the wind?” Lisa asks.
Okana steps back inside and presses a button and the deep roar from the ship’s horn echoes back from the island. He steps just outside the door and watches the V for Alex to walk over the top. After fifteen minutes, he knows Alex has left. Dieter steps in front of him and the odor of alcohol assaults his senses.
“Maybe the Russian killed him and took the boat,” Dieter says with a slur in his voice.
“I doubt it.” Okana replies, a surreptitious smile forming on his lips at the idea that the Russian could overpower Alex.
“I studied the chart with Alex before we arrived,” Dieter continues. “He would head east, to the nearest land. He would never reach it, of course.”
Mike is listening and steps closer. “The wind will have forced him southeast. Even using the helicopter, there is no way we can cover that much territory. As much as I hate to say it, we might never find him.”
Okana shakes his head no. “I’m not giving up. We’ll do the same thing the wind is doing. We head in a southeast direction. We’ll find him.”
“I hope so. He’s a good man.” Mike walks into the bridge and the rest of the group follows him down the stairs to the lounge.
Okana engages the thrusters and moves the Mystic away from the island. When the electronic systems suddenly activate, he switches to turbines and quickly gets up to speed. He enters a southeast course into the guidance system and the computer takes over control of the Mystic.
***
Lisa stares at the bloodstained blanket on the floor and cannot stop thinking she murdered another human being. She walks out of the lounge and into her laboratory to sit in front of the computer monitor. When she presses a button to bring it out of sleep mode, a picture of the dark material appears. She glances over at the worktable, noticing that one of the small tubes of samples is missing. She slides the keyboard to one side, puts her elbows on the table, and clasps her hands to support her chin while she stares at the dark material on the monitor.
It seems she just sat down when she feels the speed of the Mystic decrease and opens her eyes. She leans back and stretches her arms, then notices the time on the bottom of the monitor shows 4:00 PM. She stands and stretches before making her way back to the lounge, but the room is empty. When she climbs the stairs to the bridge, she sees everyone standing outside. As she opens the door to join them, the sudden blast of frigid air is like a slap in the face and her grogginess vanishes as she goes over to the group. “What’s going on?”
Rita turns from the railing when she hears Lisa’s voice. “We can’t find him anywhere. We’re discussing what to do next before it gets too dark.”
Lisa shakes her head no. “We can’t give up. He needs our help.”
“I know, and we’re not giving up. We just need a new plan.”
Lisa nods and looks up at Josh. “You still have my sample of black material, so don’t forget to give it back later.”
Josh gives her a blank look. “I gave it to Alex for the test.”
“Really?” she says. “Do you think he still has it?”
“I don’t see why not?” He suddenly grins. “We can locate him with the modified radar! I’m not sure if I can detect a sample that small from a distance, but it’s certainly worth a try.”
He hurries into the bridge and turns on the sensor. Sure enough, a small dot is flashing only twenty-miles due south. He turns and opens the door. “I’ve found him!” he yells, then enters the direction into the computer and presses start.
The Mystic immediately turns south and slowly increases speed. No one wants to leave the bridge, so the crowd moves inside and line the walls where they have a good view of the operation.
***
THE MOTORBOAT:
Alex opens his eyes at the soft sound of a horn in the distance. He hears it once again, only this time, slightly louder. A smile spreads across his face as he recognizes the horn. He gets up and moves to the stern to unzip the clear rear cover, then steps outside and waves his arms at the Mystic approaching quickly from the rear of the boat.
Josh stops the Mystic thirty-feet away from the motorboat and spins in a stationary circle, then backs up slowly to block the wind. Alex sees the smiles from the crew on the bridge as Josh eases back against the motorboat. Okana reaches down and pulls the smaller boat against the stern of the Mystic.
Alex looks up at him. “What took you so long?”
“The pirates didn’t take the hint. You know how hard it is to get rid of party crashers. What happened to your new coat?”
“I wanted to see the spaceship and the berry vines were in the way.”
Alex hears a mechanical growl. Mike is operating the hoist and stops the straps directly over the rear of the motorboat. Alex helps Okana guide them under the boat, then steps onto the deck while Mike brings it out of the water and swings it around to the storage bracket. He and Okana strap the motorboat snugly into the brackets while Mike puts away the control box.
Alex turns and looks at Okana. “What happened?”
Okana tells him the story. “I hope Harrison and Bartram make friends easily.”
“How is Lisa holding up?”
“She was really worried about you,” Mike answers. “That helped to distract her from what she went through today. She’s the reason we found you. She wanted her sample of the black material back from Josh, and he said you had it.”
Alex frowns, checks all his pockets, and finds the small glass tube in the chest pocket of his coat. He holds it up so the others can see it. “I’ll give it to her later. That ice is getting close to the island.”
“We know,” Okana tells him. “It’s getting bad, Alex. The weather conditions are worsening all around the world.”
Alex turns to Mike. “We should go back to the island and find out what we’ll need.”
“It won’t be easy. We saw a small cyclone spiraling up out of the crater.”
“I know. That’s why I got away from there. I know a few smart people who might be able to help.”
Okana looks at the stairs up to the bridge. “I’ll go relieve Josh. You can make your calls from there and keep me company.”
“All right.”
As Alex goes into the ship to get his sat phone, he meets Rita and Bett waiting just inside the walkway and they exchange hugs. “Where’s Lisa?”
“We told her to wait for you in the lounge.” Rita tells him.
“She is still shaken up about it,” Bett adds. “You need to talk to her, Alex. We thought it might help her if you two were alone right now.”
Alex walks past her lab and looks into the lounge. The sad, pleading expression in Lisa’s eyes breaks his heart, and he goes over to her and holds out the sample. “I believe this is yours.”
Lisa bursts into tears and throws her arms around Alex’s neck. “I was so worried about you. After everything that happened, I thought I might never see you again.”
Alex wraps his arms around her waist to hold her close and feels her body jerk with deep sobs. After a few moments, he lets go, steps back, and uses the back of his fingers to wipe the tears from her cheeks and smiles softly. “Thanks for rescuing me. I understand it was your idea.”
Lisa gives him a small smile. “You’re welcome. What happened to your coat?”
“I tangled with a blackberry bush and it almost won. I need to make a few calls, so I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Okay.”
He turns, walks over to the stairs, and goes down to his cabin. He grabs the satellite phone from the charger on the dresser and goes up to the bridge.
Okana points at the radar screen. “That wall of ice is still moving south. I hope we can shut that device off before it reaches the island.”
“I know. This is going to be hard enough just dealing with the whirlwind. It seems I have a few messages.” He enters his code and turns on the speaker.
“Alex, this is Henry. Please call me.”
“Let’s find out what’s going on.”
Alex presses the speed dial number, and a woman answers. “This is Alex Cave. I’d like to talk to Doctor Henry Heinz.”
He’s put on hold and looks at Okana. “You had my back again. Thanks.”
Okana returns Alex’s smile. “You should have seen the way Blacktooth acted like we were best friends.”
Henry’s voice comes from the phone. “Alex?”
“I’m here, Doc. I found the spaceship and one of the devices, so we might be able to shut them down.”
“I am afraid we have had some bad luck. The device activated again.”
“I see. I think the device activated because this one did. The blue light travels through the clear ice like a lens. The ice is already spreading deep into the Bering Sea. Now that I’ve found the ship, we need to hurry.”
“You should contact that young man, David. He knows the systems on those ships as well as any of us. He was most helpful in Nevada.”
“It would be nice if you could join him. You two are our best hope of shutting down all the devices.” The phone is quiet for a moment. “Doc?”
“Of course. I will need the crystals to power the ship.”
“Call Lewis and make the arrangements, and I’ll meet you in Prince Rupert, Canada tonight.”
“I will call right away.”
Alex disconnects the call. “Sonja is next.” He plays her message.
“Hallo, Alex. The weather is becoming increasingly unstable over Western Europe. You must call me.”
Okana notices his puzzled expression. “It was on the news earlier. It looks nasty on that side of the planet. Something to do with a convergence zone, I think”
Alex presses her number. A few moments later, she answers.
“I am so glad you called, Alex. The weather is getting bad, but that is not our most serious concern. The water level around the world is dropping because so much water is locked in the ice and rising out of the Arctic Ocean. The weight of all that ice on only one side of the planet is causing the earth to wobble. If we do not stop it soon, the rotation of our planet will change and destroy everything on the surface.”
“I might have a way to shut down the devices, Sonja.”
“How long?”
“I’m getting everything in motion as we speak, but I don’t know how long it will take. I have to be honest with you. I don’t even know if we can get the shutdown command working.”
“I appreciate your honesty, Alex. I will tell our friends what you are doing. Good luck.”
Okana lightly shakes his head in wonder. “Man, this is the craziest situation I’ve ever been in. I don’t even know what I can do to help.”
“You already have by saving my life. Now it’s up to me.”
When Alex enters Martin’s number, his receptionist answers. “Tell him it’s Alex Cave.” A moment later, Martin comes on the line.
“I was hoping you’d call, Alex. No one has informed me of your progress and I was getting worried. The news about the ice sheet is causing a lot of panic around the world and the President is hounding me for an update from you.”
“I had a couple of problems, but I’ve located the spaceship and one of the devices that’s not in the water. I need a jet to fly my friend David Conway from Bozeman Montana to Prince Rupert, Canada.”
“I’ll take care of it. Good luck, Alex.”
Alex enters David’s number, and he answers on the second ring.
“Alex. I was beginning to think you forgot about us. It’s snowing here and Marcia’s worried about the change in the weather. Have you been watching the news?”
“No, but I was told what’s happening. Pack your cold weather gear. I need your help.”
“What’s going on?”
“I found the crashed spaceship, and you need to get it working.”
“Heck yeah, I’ll help. We’ll need at least one crystal.”
“Doctor Heinz is getting one. He’ll meet us tonight.”
“Where is the ship?”
“North of the Aleutian Islands.”
“That’s where the ice is headed, Alex.”
“I know. We need to hurry on this. A plane will be waiting for you at the Bozeman Airport to take you to Prince Rupert, Canada. I’ll pick you up and bring you to the Mystic.”
“Okay. What should I tell Marcia?”
“Just tell her I need your help to fix the weather problem.”
“Right. See you soon.”
Alex turns off the phone and stares through the front window.
Okana reaches for the computer terminal. “I’ll set a course for Prince Rupert.”
“No, we need to see how bad the conditions are for getting on the island. If we need specialized equipment, we won’t have to make two trips. I can make arrangements once we know how to proceed and have what we need waiting for us in Prince Rupert.”
“The timing should be about right for filling our tanks with jet fuel. We’re down to one quarter now.”
“How did you know I would run out of gasoline?”
“I knew you would, eventually. I just didn’t think it would be that soon.”
“I smell food.”
“No one felt like eating until we found you. Relieve me when you’re done.”
Alex gives him a nod and walks down the stairs.