Under Vanishing Skies (26 page)

He jumped off the bed and ran to the door. I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“
Look. I have to go, okay? And I need your help.”

He tried to pull away, but I held firm. Finally, he looked up and said, “Help with what?”

“
With getting away. That guy out there, Pun, he won’t let me go. I’m not supposed to leave the island.”

Sniffling, he said, “So? What can I do?”

I let go of his arm and smiled. “I need a diversion. Do you know what that means?”

He shook his head.

“
I need you to distract the guard long enough for me to get to the pier.”

William wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and said, “Okay. How?”

I told him the plan. He smiled. That kid really was fearless. I wouldn't have had the guts to do what I had just asked him to do...not at his age.

I sent a message to Mohamed and waited for the reply. When it came, I asked, “Ready?”

He nodded.

“
Okay, do it just like before, but louder.”

William and I stood a few steps from the door. I nodded and William yelled, “That’s not fair. I hate you. I really hate you.” Then he ran to the door and opened it. Pun turned to look. William pushed him, but Pun didn’t budge. William squeezed by him and started to run, but fell as he jumped off the deck.

“
Ow!” William screamed. “My leg, my leg.”

I pushed Pun out of the way and ran to William.

“
It’s okay, William. Let me see.” I pretended to examine his leg and looked up at Pun. “I think it’s broken. I need your help to get him over to the infirmary.”

Pun looked down at us. That look of conflict returned to his face again.

“
Come on. You’re going to follow me over there anyway. I’m just asking you to carry him for me. I can’t lift him with this hand.” I held up my hand, which was still covered in scabs from the close call in the kayak. “It’s broken,” I lied. “I can’t lift him.”

Pun hesitated, but finally came over, bent down, and gently picked up William. William screamed out in pain. Damn, that kid was a good actor.

I motioned with my other hand. “This way.”

We walked quickly over to the infirmary. I knocked and Mohamed opened the door.

Looking first at Pun, who held William, and then at me, he asked, “What is it? What is wrong?”

“
It’s William. I think he broke his ankle,” I said.

“
Come in, quickly,” Mohamed said.

Pun went in first and I followed.

“
Over there. Put him on the table,” Mohamed ordered. “Gently.”

Pun did as he was ordered.

“
Good,” Mohamed said. “Now hold him firmly by the shoulders. I don’t want him to fall off the table when I examine his leg.” Then looking up at me, he said. “Aron, I need you to bring me some extra gauze. It’s out on the deck, in the big box marked Emergency Supplies.”

Pun looked at me. William gave another award-winning scream. Pun looked back at him. I did too. I winked and went outside.

I ran to the pier without stopping. Michio was waiting for me on his friend’s boat.

Chapter 16

The vibration of the ship’s diesel hybrid engines resonated through my body. I stared into the mug that I cradled in my hands and watched the chicory dance to its rhythm. I was buying time. Michio had just gone over the plan. Everyone was waiting for me to say something. But what could I say?

I glanced at the scars on my wrists and realized that this plan wasn’t that much different from what I had attempted twelve years ago. The only difference was that this would be a mass suicide. But that wasn’t the sort of pep talk that this ragtag group needed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to lie and tell them that it was a great plan. It wasn’t.

“
Aron?” Nisha asked softly near my ear. I looked up. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled like they did eight years ago when I first met her on Dhonakulhi. Even her round, dark-skinned face hadn’t changed much. It was easy to see why Anand fought so hard to marry her. Sure, she was a little plumper, but anyone who squeezed out six kids in eight years earned the right to carry around a little extra weight.

“
Yeah?” I said.

“
Would you like another cup? Yours looks cold.”

Her smile was infectious. I smiled back. “Sure, thanks, Nisha.”

She took the cup, inched past Michio, and smiled at Anand before walking down the stairs into the galley. I still couldn’t believe that Anand was the friend that Michio had talked about.

When I had boarded the ship and saw Anand standing at the top of the gangplank, I almost ran up and hugged him. After he saved my ass on North Point, there was nobody I trusted more on a mission like this. But after we had gotten underway, I saw a group of kids playing ball in the cargo hold. Anand had brought his entire family along. I begged him to go back and drop them off.

He had tried to assure me that it was okay. His family always traveled with him on long supply runs. But this wasn’t a normal supply run and we both knew it. In the end, he finally confessed that he didn’t want to leave his family alone and unprotected. I couldn’t blame him.

Nisha returned a minute later with a steaming mug. She bowed slightly as she offered it to me.

“
Thanks,” I said with a nod. She smiled and returned to the galley. When she was gone, I looked around the bridge. Anand stood at the helm, one hand on the wheel and the other on the throttles. Michio leaned against the outer bulkhead on my right. His son, Yoshirou, stood beside him. Both wore black, loose fitting clothes that looked like martial arts uniforms. Michio had never mentioned that he knew martial arts, but then again I had never asked him. I just assumed that a bureaucrat like him collected stamps or butterflies. It never dawned on me that he might know how to break a concrete block with his forehead.

Yoshirou looked to be in his late teens. He had wide, glossy eyes and straight black hair. Like his father, he walked like a panther stalking its prey. Unlike his father, Yoshirou had a goatee, or at least what I assumed was supposed to be a goatee. It was faint and patchy; the kind of facial hair that makes a kid think that he looks like a man. I thought he looked like a kid who had just finished eating a chocolate ice cream cone.

Kamish stood to my left, hunched slightly so his head didn’t bump against the ceiling. Before we left Lohifushi, Michio had raised concerns about Kamish coming along, because he didn’t know him. He had said that he wanted to keep the group small. But I had insisted. What kind of chance did we have against an island full of bloodthirsty pirates? With Kamish along, at least we had a little muscle on our side. Besides, Kamish wouldn’t take no for an answer, not after what the pirates did to his brothers.

When he saw me running to the pier he stopped me and asked where I was going. As I told him, I saw the flash of vengeance in his eyes. He didn't say a word.  He just followed me on board.

I took another sip of chicory and finally spoke. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Michio. If you want me to say that it’s a good plan...well, I’m not going to do that. I think the plan gives us almost no chance of getting out of there alive.”

“
Do you see, father?” Yoshirou said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I told you that we should have done this alone. He will only hinder us and I—”

“
Silence,” Michio said. His eyes narrowed and jaw clenched as he stared down his son. Yoshirou averted his eyes and Michio continued, “Aron is a good man and you disrespect him and me with your childish words. Remain silent and allow him to finish his thoughts.” Michio looked at me and said, “I apologize for my son. Please...continue.”

“
Michio, the kid has a right to say what he thinks,” I said. “He’s putting his neck on the line too. Besides, I’d rather know what he really thinks now, before we get there. We all have to be honest with each other if this is going to work.” I swallowed hard. “So I’m telling you what I really think because that’s what you asked for. I think that plan is way too risky…but I’m in.” 

I looked over at Kamish and asked, “How about you?”

He looked at each one of us before responding, “They will pay for what they did to my brothers.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

“
Okay, so we’re all in. Now let’s go over the first part of the plan again,” I said. “I’m not quite sure how we’re supposed to paddle in on surf boards from that far off shore on a moonless night.”

Michio walked back over to the map that was laid out on the table. He placed his finger on the map and said, “You see these large outcroppings just to the north of the island.”

Everyone except Anand huddled around the map to see what he was pointing at. Anand probably had the map memorized. But I looked. I saw two tiny dots on the map that marked the location of the outcroppings. They looked to be about a quarter mile apart from one another.

“
So?” I said.

“
So, we use this to help us find the island.”

“
That’d be great if we could see them.”

Michio looked at me with the hint of a smile. “We will see with our ears,” he said.

I cocked my head to one side and waited for him to explain.

“
All we have to do is listen to the sound of waves crashing on either side of us. As long as we hear that, we know we are moving south toward the island.”

I looked closer at the map and said, “I’m pretty sure my surfing guide brought a group of us down here twelve years ago. And if I remember right, he called those outcroppings the Razors or the Razor’s edge or something. I’m guessing they called it that for a reason?”

Michio nodded.

I continued, “So it would probably be a bad thing if we got too close?”

The smile disappeared and Michio said, “We will be alright as long as we stay in the middle and we stay close to one another.”

I nodded and said, “Okay. I don’t like it, but okay. We paddle in between the outcroppings. But why don’t we leave the same way we go in? Wouldn’t it be easier?”

He shook his head. “No. The prevailing winds are currently blowing from the north, so instead of fighting the wind, we will use it to help us get off the island.” He stabbed his finger on the map again and said, “Here on the south side.”

Kamish said, “That is close to the main pier. You said that it will be guarded.”

“
That is true,” Anand said without looking over. “And they have snipers in at least two places on either side of the pier.”

“
How do you know that?” I asked.

“
I’ve been delivering supplies there ever since the refugees arrived.”

“
So you saw the pirates up close?”

Anand shook his head. “No. Up until a few months ago, there was nothing unusual about the island. But then things began to change.”

I set my mug on the table. “Change how?”

“
The people who normally met me at the pier for deliveries were replaced by men I had never seen before. They dressed like the refugees, but they looked like middle easterners. Others had very dark skin, like Africans.” He continued to look out the front window and said, “One day, I arrived and they would not allow me to get off the boat or talk to anyone. They said it was a new security rule. Occasionally, when I would drop off supplies, I would see familiar faces, but when I waved to them they hurried off. I mentioned this to an MDF patrol once.”

“
What did they say?” I asked.

Anand looked at me and said, “They said they would check it out, but I never heard anything more about it. That was a few weeks ago. So when Michio asked me if I had seen anything strange during my supply runs, I told him about the island. He asked me to keep a closer eye out for anything unusual. That’s when I noticed the snipers hidden in the bushes near the pier.”

Michio walked over and put a hand on Anand’s shoulder. “Thanks to Anand, we now have a much better chance for success.”

I don’t know whether it was Anand’s story or the smell of the diesel exhaust, but I felt nauseous. “So how do we get the surf boards from the north side of the island to the south side?” I asked.

“
Yoshirou will take care of that. He will tie the boards together and swim around the island and then wait for us.”

“
But father,” Yoshirou said, “You know that I can fight better than him,” he said, pointing at me. “He should take the surf boards around the—”

“
Enough, Yoshirou!” Michio said. “We have had this discussion and I will not have it again. You will do as you are told.”