wrath of the Sea Queen (38 page)

C
a
eli did
n
o
t know how to respond. 
T
here was importance
laced
in Urim's words. 
But w
as
Urim
referring to Rika's offer to help or perhaps to Vin's use of his own gift to assist her?  Knowing that she would need time to fully comprehend Urim's message, C
a
eli simply gave Urim her gratitude.

"
Thank you for saving me from my first
,
and almost my last
,
mistake
as I learn to use my gift
,
"
C
a
eli answered and prepared a
barrier
to protect herself
from the pressure of the water surrounding her
.  The bright light
a
nd Urim's soothing presence faded away.  The waves pushed against C
a
eli once again, but this time, they did not harm her.

CHAPTER
10

In an
unfortunate
turn of luck,
the tropical storm changed course rapidly and settled across the opposite side of the island mid
-
Sunday morning.  Many planes were rerouted and several flights, in and out, were cancelled or delayed.  There would be very few arrivals on this festival Sunday.  As a matter of fact, the only plane that air traffic controllers could not ground in time flew out of Washington and directly into the storm.  Somehow, none of the communications got through to the plane's pilot.  To all those watching from afar, the storm encircled the aircraft and harassed it all the way to its bumpy landing.

However, the lead news story
did not cover
the brave plane that flew through the storm and survived.  The more intriguing story arose from a subsequent flight.  Passengers from the Washington flight boarded a connecting flight to finish their journey, expecting a
short,
pleasant trip.  What they got instead was a harrowing crash about
two
mile
s
from shore. 

News reports were providing status updates on the rescue attempt
all
evening.  A
Coast Guard
ship finally reached the stranded plane and
brought the
survivors to safety.  There was still no word on the number of casualties.  It was a tragic incident at the beginning of what should have been a happy time for the islanders.  Yet, there were many locals who knew incidents like this were exactly why they continued to hold their festival.  They knew, all too well, the capricious will of the sea.

Two young men stood
near
the
back
of a group of rowdy
protestor
s.  Both appeared to be natives of the island
s
.  Each
man stood
around five feet nine inches tall,
with
dark hair, tanned skin
, and a squarish build
.  However, the younger of the two seemed paler and about thirty pounds lighter than
his muscular companion
.  They shared a definite family resemblance.

These two were not
participating with
the rest of the group. 
T
hey were not there to protest the medical conference at all.  In fact, they hoped to benefit from it
.  Unfortunately
,
there initial request
had been
denied
. 
Th
ey were
frustrated
, but
did
not give up. 
Now
,
t
hey
watched the local news on a television set they could see through the
storefront
window
near
where they were st
ood
.  The regular programming
had been
interrupted to
provide an update
on
the
plane crash and rescue
attempt
currently
underway.

"
Do you think that was her plane, Maku?
"
the younger man asked.

"
Probably.  If these people were serious, then they found a way.  They probably
paid
some willing
fool
to help them.  I can't believe Lorrie is involved with this lot
,
"
the older brother, replied.

"
I think that new boyfriend of hers got her tied up in
all
this
mess
. 
I don't like that red
headed idiot.  But, then again, Lorrie
hasn't been herself in a long time,
"
Pete offered a small consolation to his brother.
  He doubted that
Maku
would ever fully get
over
his feelings for
Lorrie
.

"
Well, no matter.  It doesn't look good for the doctor.  If she survived the crash, a water rescue is difficult in the best of conditions.  In this
bad
weather
and the dark of night
, wh
o can say?  I hope she makes it, little brother.
"

"
Me
,
too,
"
Pete said dejectedly.  He really needed the doctor to show up at the conference.

"
Come on
,
Pete.  We better get out of here before this crowd gets too wound up.  We don't want
one of these spotlights to put
our faces on the next news
reel
.
  That would get us barred from the conference for certain.
"

The two
men
walked off, Pete leaning on his brother for support.  He tired
much
more quickly than he used to, but
Pete
insisted on getting out of
the house for a little while
each day
. 
He
could not stand being cooped up all day and night, especially when Maku
worked out of the house
most of the day and on many nights.  The house
echoed the hollowness of their loss
since their father passed away nearly four months ago.  Pete did
n
o
t like being
home
alone.

Their father raised the boys since they were babies.  Their mother died when they were very young. 
S
he
never fully recovered from
complications
involved with Pete's birth
.  One day she
fell
ill and passed out in the shallow water on the beach.  The
boys'
father
did
not f
ind
her soon enough to save her.  But, he raised the boys well and gave them as good a life as he
possible
.  They
were
happy.

Then,
a little more than
six months ago, Maku
was
working late.  Pete and his dad decided to drive out and pick him up.  They were all going out to eat
to celebrate Pete's acceptance to a college in the States
.

A
massive
thunderstorm
rolled in
that evening
, and
standing water in the
roads
made driving
conditions hazardou
s
.  The flooding and poor visibility caused a nine car accident on the highway.  Pete and his dad were caught in the middle of it.  All
twelve
accident victims were taken to the local emergency room and treated
for their vari
ous
injuries
.  Pete and his dad both received blood
transfusions
during the course of their
care
.  It wasn't until later that they found out
that
the blood used to treat
all of
the accident victims
had been
contaminated. 
Five
recipients died
during the first month,
prior to
the mistake
being
discovered.  Two more died
the next month,
while they were trying to find a way to fix the problem.  Maku remembered those two
specifically
from a
nasty
ordeal in his
and Lorrie's
youth
.  H
e did not mourn their passing. 
Three more died in the following month. 
Finally, t
heir dad died while they were still searching for
any
possible treatment
they might have overlooked
. 
Pete, having received t
he least amount of toxic blood,
now
had the significance of being
the only accident victim left alive
.