wrath of the Sea Queen (36 page)

C
a
eli heard
the
call from Vin
and quickly returned to her place in line.  She briefly considered how she and Vin
could
both share their thoughts ever since his near death incident.  Salma's ability
continued to
grow as well.  All three found the ability to be highly convenient, and the more they used it, the stronger and more
versatile
it became.  One such advantage was that C
a
eli could hear Vin's or Salma's thoughts at a distance.  Between her and Vin,
the bond
was
even
more personal.  They not only shared their thoughts, but also their emotions
.  V
in
's most
recent
act
t
ook
his ability a step further by helping Ben initiate such a conversation, even though Ben did not
possess
the ability
to do so
on his own.  C
a
eli found it all fascinating
and, though she had not sought it, s
he was
eager
to tell Vin about her
own
new
talent
.

Salma relayed
Vin
's message to the co-pilot,
who forced
the plane's door open.  Water came rushing in much too fast.  C
a
eli took another moment to
create
one additional barrier to stop the sudden inflow.  Unfortunately,
even
with
her
bolstered
energy,
C
a
eli
neared her extended
limit and
could
only lessen the speed at which the cabin flooded.  She could not stop the water entirely. 
T
hankfully,
her effort
reduce
d
the
panic and ease
d
the way for the survivors to exit the doomed plane.

It occurred to C
a
eli that this test of her talent was
an oddly amusing
sink or swim situation. 
Then h
er musing was cut short as the slack in the rope
was
pulled taut.  The line began to move slowly forward.  C
a
eli could hear the waves crashing against the plane, trying to pry it free from the ship's clasp.  As the
disembarking passengers
made their way to the waiting ship, C
a
eli hoped they would move quick enough to reach safety before her strength gave out.  There was nothing more that she could do while she maintained the shielding around the plane.  As another spasm of pain
acutely
cramped her abdomen, C
a
eli noticed a small trickle of water begin to flow into the plane from the hull area she
ha
d
been shielding the longest.

From above, Ben and Vin were busy tugging at the
end of the
rope
that had been tossed up to them.  They
reach
ed
out to give their hands to those reaching the top of the net, pulling them to safety and the aid of waiting crewmen.  The copilot was the first person to reach the deck, muttering something about the strange behavior of the water.

"
Ben!  Do you see the water at the door?
"
  Vin shout
ed
to be heard over the commotion of the storm.

"
Yes, I noticed.  It's not rushing in, and the compartment hasn't flooded yet. 
It
'
s v
ery strange!
"
  Ben hollered to Vin.

"
And did you see
the wing on the far side
of the plane
?
"
  Vin asked curiously.

"
Yes.  It started to tear off then seemed to right itself.  It appears as if something is holding it steady in the water.
"

"
Holding what?
"
  Salma smiled as she released Vin's hand after being pulled onto the ship.  Ben's broad grim could have lit a city block when he saw his wife.

"
Salma!  It's good to see you,
Love
.
"
 

"
I swear
.
I don't think you two ever have your minds entirely on the task at hand,
"
Salma joked to relieve her own tension.

Ben detached himself from the safety line, jumped up, and pulled Salma into his arms.  He motioned for the crewman behind him to take his post for a few minutes, then ushered Salma into the steering room.  He placed a blanket around her shoulders and a kiss on her lips.  Ben quickly made sure that the cut on her leg was not
too
serious and that she
was not
otherwise
injured
.  He left Salma standing near the door as he
headed
outside to finish helping the others. 
B
efore he got out the door, Salma informed him that C
a
eli chose to be near the end of the line.  Salma didn't want Vin to worry when C
a
eli
did not
show up
directly behind her.

Immediately after Ben moved Salma into the steering room, a
crewman pulled a
young boy
off of his father's back and safely
on board, followed closely by his father.  Vin overheard the boy trying to make his father understand something
about what
one of the other passengers
did
.

"
I told you Papa!  I was right.  The pretty lady has to stay at the back to make the water stay down.  Otherwise, it would have drowned us all.
"

"
Max, you have to stop this,
"
the man gently chided his son.

"
I told you already that she is a good swimmer and wanted to make sure she was able to help anyone who was not.  She has a good heart to risk her life for other people, and you should not make up such tales about her. 
You
a
re going to apologize to her
later,
and that
i
s going to be the end of it, ok? 
I don't want to hear
you mention
i
t
again
.
  She has enough to worry about.
 
Now come on,
let's
get out of the way.
"
  The man put his arm around the boy's shoulders and followed one of the crewmen below deck.  Vin
got
the distinct impression that they
were
talking about C
a
eli, who definitely fit the boy's description.  Nonetheless, Vin
could not imagine
how the kid
could
have noticed the connection between C
a
eli and the water.
  Vin was more than a little curious to know what the man meant by his last comment.

As C
a
eli finally stepped over the threshold and grabbed hold of the cargo net, she caught a glimpse of Vin near the top railing
, his dark hair blowing in the wind
.  She couldn't help but smile.  She could not have asked for a better sight after such turmoil.  C
a
eli began climbing slowly, but steadily, up the net.  When she and the pilot were nearly halfway up, the
Coast Guard
rescue team returned to the deck to add their strength to the weary
ing
efforts of Ben and Vin to finish pulling the remaining few
survivors
aboard. 

"
It's rude to leave in the middle of a conversation without
even
so much as
thanking me
for my help.
"

"
I did say thank you.  Please, don't distract me right now, Rika.
"

"
Not for the petty healing.  You know exactly what I'm talking about.
  If you turn your back on me now, y
ou will force me to
show you
how
talented I
really
am
.
"  The irritation in
Rika's voice
border
ed
on angry.

C
a
eli completely ignored her.
 
There were
more
pressing matters
to worry about than Rika's wounded ego
for some perceived slight
.
 
Within
the last
minutes
, the plane
had
slipped loose from the tenuous hold of ship's crane
due to
a particularly large ocean swell.  It
's height
nearly swept across the top deck of the enormous ship
.  Because C
a
eli still
held
the protective barriers in place, the plane did not sink
once free
of the crane
.  Instead,
an
unusually
strong wave suddenly shoved
the
air
plane
directly
at
the side of the ship where
C
a
eli
, the pilot, and the redheaded guy held on, exposed and vulnerable
.  They had
not
yet
reached
the safety of the deck above.