Page 36 of One Last Chance

“He’s in the Cook Inlet somewhere,” Flynn said. “He keeps asking me to call his brother, Moose, and some rescue team.”

“Air One. Okay.” Peyton toggled the mic again. “Axel, you stay alive. I’ll get Moose to you. Hang in there.”

She turned the dial to another frequency. “This is AL7RAC, Alpha Lima 7 Romeo Alpha Charlie calling AL7SKY, Alpha Lima 7 Sierra Kilo Yankee on the Copper Mountain repeater. This is AL7RAC calling AL7SKY. Mayday, Mayday, Mayday."

Her gaze fell on Flynn. “Breathe. We’ll get him.”

Yeah. Breathing.

Flynn stood at the door, her arms around herself as Peyton repeated the call signs.

Then a female voice came on the line. “AL7RAC, this is AL7SKY 5-9. What’s your Mayday?”

“Echo, we got a call from Axel. He’s alive but in a life raft in the Cook Inlet. He lost communication with Moose. Can you ping Moose?”

“Roger. Dodge will call Moose.”

Peyton blew out a breath. Looked at Flynn. “You scared the pine out of me. I’ve been trying to call you for hours. And then, halfway here, I heard that gunshot.”

“Sorry. That was me panicking.”

Peyton raised an eyebrow.

Flynn stood up. “Who’s Dodge?”

“He’s an Air One rescue pilot, stationed up here in Copper Mountain.”

The female voice came over the line again. “AL7RAC, this is AL7SKY, I got ahold of Shep. The team is in Homer. Moose is receiving the message.”

Flynn leaned over to Peyton. “Tell them he’s in a life raft. The ship went down. And he’s really cold because he thinks it has a leak and?—”

Peyton held up her hand. “Okay.” She relayed that information to the other operator.

“I need to talk to him. Let me talk to him.”

Peyton turned the channel to Axel’s frequency. “CQ, CQ, this is AL7RAC.”

No answer.

Peyton tried again. “CQ, CQ, this is AL7RAC?—”

Flynn leaned over. “Axel, wake up! Wake. Up!”

No answer.

“Listen, Axel,” Peyton said. “Moose is on the way. Just hang on. Hang on.”

Still no answer.

Flynn looked at her, eyes wide. “We should go find him.”

“What are we supposed to do? They are hundreds of miles away in the middle of the ocean. The best we can do is stay right here in case he comes back on the line.”

Right.

Peyton gave her a sad look. “I’ve had my history with wandering off. We’re staying right here where people can find us.” She got up then and went outside. Returned with a sleeping bag and her pack. She shoved the bag on the top bunk. Then she pulled out coffee. “Coffee?”

“Absolutely.” Flynn sat down at the table. Picked up the mic. “Axel. Come in. Come in.”

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