Page 18 of Honor Code

“A day, maybe two.” Phoenix looked at Boomer for confirmation, and he nodded.

Ellie picked up her cutlery and was about to start eating when an almighty crash came from somewhere above them.

“Shit, what was that?” Suzi’s eyes were wide.

Both Phoenix and Boomer were already out of their seats and running toward the door.

“Sounds like part of the rigging,” Ellie gasped.

If it was, this was bad. Really bad.

Suzi jumped up and dashed after them. Ellie followed, as did several other rig workers and operating staff. The first person she saw once she got topside was a windswept Billy, the Operations Manager, yelling into a hand-held radio. “Get up here! We need to secure it.”

“What was that??” she asked, looking around.

His face was grim as he held the radio away from his ear. “The crane. It fell over and crashed through the railing.”

Rain lashed across the deck and tore at the rigging. The huge crash had been made by a mini crane that had toppled sideways onto the upper deck. The weight of it had buckled the side railing, which hung off the edge of the platform, banging against the metal structure. One of the steel bars had come loose and flapped around dangerously.

“It’s going to fly off,” Suzi yelled behind her. “It could hit someone.”

Ellie grabbed a length of rope out of a nearby crate where they stored such items and ran over to the railing. “We can secure it with this.”

The wind howled around her, threatening to blow her off the edge of the platform into the tumultuous seas below.

“Get back!” Billy shouted, running over. He took the rope from her hand. “Let me.”

Suddenly, a piece of debris flew across the deck, smashed into the ops manager, and sent him careening backwards.

“Billy!” Ellie screamed. She dove for him but missed, and he fell over the edge, out of sight.

“Man overboard!” she screamed, clinging onto the broken railing. The wind buffeted perilously around her, the force so strong she could barely hang on.

“Help!” Suzi turned to where Phoenix and Boomer were working to secure the damaged crane. “Billy’s fallen off the rig!”

CHAPTER 8

Phoenix saw Ellie hanging onto the broken railing, the wind threatening to tear her away and send her hurtling over the edge, and his heart nearly stopped.

Fuck, no!

The thought of losing her to the heaving ocean below was too horrifying to even contemplate.

"Hurry!" screamed Suzi, pointing down into the frantic swells. "Billy’s down there and Ellie’s in trouble."

"Go! We’ve got this,” Boomer yelled as several roughnecks appeared to help him secure the crane.

Phoenix raced across the slippery deck, his brain already assessing the situation. It was nearly 1800 hours, and the storm was intensifying by the minute. Massive waves pounded the rig, sending sheets of spray into the air. The wind howled like a wild beast, tugging his clothes and making it hard to keep his balance. The last known position of the man overboard was directly below Ellie.

He grabbed a lifebuoy, fitted with a personal locator beacon, and sprinted to where she lay, clutching the railing. He saw her hold was firm, and she wasn’t in immediate danger.

Thank God.

"Billy fell," she sobbed. "He was trying to help me."

"Do you have eyes on him?" Phoenix yelled over the roar of the tempest. Now he knew she was safe he could concentrate on the missing man.

She shook her head, her face a mask of anguish. "No, but he went in right here."

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