Page 21 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

Mano cleared his throat. “Regardless, we have larger problems,” he went on, glancing at Lucy and Shinji, who had come in behind Oliver, followed by Roux. For a moment, his gaze lingered on Roux, and he hesitated, as if debating

whether or not to continue. But then he went on. “I’ve gotten word from some friends in the coast guard,” he said as everyone crowded around the console in the center of the room. “There’s good news, bad news, and worse news. So, brace yourselves.”

“Well, that’s ominous,” Oliver said. “Let’s hear the bad news, then.”

“The bad news. The Hightower ship theSea Plundererhas been spotted moving thirty knots in a southeasterly direction from Pula. As of now, they are heading straight for the wreckage site. The good news? They’re about a day and a half behind us. At their current speed, we should reach the shipwreck first.”

“That’s the good and bad news,” Oliver said. “What’s the worst news?”

“The worst news…” Mano sighed and pressed a button on the console. “Is that we just picked up this message.”

A grainy, staticky signal sputtered to life. A few seconds later, Shinji heard a voice, garbled and indistinct, through the white noise. “... day, Mayday! If anyone…ear this, our vessel…broke down near…stranded with no…Sharks are starting to circle…send help…please!”

The message started to repeat, and Mano turned off the radio. “That signal is about a day away from us,” he said. “There are no other ships or vessels in the area. The coast guard is too far away to help. Therefore…Ocean?”

Oliver let out a loud groan and rubbed at his eyes. “Therefore, good marine protocol says we need to go help them.”

“What?” Lucy glanced at him in concern. “But Hightower is closing in! If we veer off course, they could get to the shipwreck before us. At the very least, they’ll get a lot closer.”

“They might,” Mano said solemnly. “But I checked, and we’re the only ones in the area. If Hightower receives that distress signal, do you think they’ll change direction to help?”

Lucy fell silent. The answer was pretty obvious, and Shinji clenched a fist on his knee. Time was precious, and they were just barely ahead of Hightower. But they couldn’t ignore a call for help out in the open ocean. As much as Shinji hated the thought of losing to the corporation, he agreed that the decision to rescue the stranded vessel was the right one.

Mano sighed. “I know this is frustrating,” he said. “Believe me, I don’t want Hightower to snatch those artifacts out from under us any more than you do. Dr. Grant has already chewed my ear off. But I think, under the circumstances, we have to do the right thing. Artifacts and lost treasures are not as important as human lives. We have to remember that. It’s what makes the Society different from Hightower—”

“Oh, come on,” Roux broke in.

Everyone stared at him. He gestured at the console screen. “You don’t see what’s going on here? You guys are

trying to beat these Hightower guys to a shipwreck, and a distress signal comes in out of nowhere?” He snorted. “Where did it come from? There’s nothing around here for miles. This is obviously a trap. You’re blind if you can’t see that.”

Lucy bristled. “And what wouldyoudo?” she challenged. “Ignore a call for help? Pretend it doesn’t exist so you can get to the treasure first?”

“I am aware that it could be a trap,” Mano said, frowning at Roux before rapping three times on his wooden desk. “It certainly is convenient timing. However, what if it’s not? We can’t take that chance. If it is someone in trouble, it is our obligation to help. That’s my decision. Again, I apologize to all of you, but this is not negotiable.”

“Don’t apologize, Captain,” Phoebe exclaimed. Even through the palpable disappointment in the room, her cheeriness never waned. “You are right, of course. Helping people should always take precedence over discovering treasure.”

Roux snorted. “Speak for yourself,” he muttered.

It took nearly five hours to reach the stranded vessel.

“There it is,” Oliver murmured, standing on the deck with a copper spyglass in hand, pressed to his eye. “Well, you guys certainly have gotten yourself into a pickle, haven’t you? That is not a boat for deep-sea exploration.”

“Can I see?” Shinji asked, and Oliver handed him the spyglass. Peering through the glass, Shinji saw a medium-size catamaran, a ship with two parallel hulls instead of one.

The twin hulls, plus the wider stance of the ship, made a catamaran hard to capsize. This one, however, seemed to be dead in the water. A trio of figures, two men and a woman, milled around the upper deck, looking lost.

“Tourists.” Oliver sighed. “They probably came down here for the weekend, rented a boat without knowing what they were doing, and headed merrily out to sea.” He took the spyglass from Shinji, folded it, and stuck it in his coat pocket. “This is why you should always know how to use your sails. In case your engines malfunction or you run out of fuel.”

“Looks like they see us,” Roux observed. “They’re all waving their arms now.”

“Yep,” agreed Oliver, and shot a quick glance at the three of them. “You kids leave the talking to me,” he said. “Keep your eyes peeled, and if something seems strange, go tell Mano on the bridge. With any luck, this will be a normal rescue operation.”

“And if it’s not?” Lucy wondered.

“Then we gun the engines and get the heck out of here.”

TheSeas the Daydrew alongside the vessel, the waves from its wake making it rock heavily from side to side. “Hey there,” Oliver called down to the three strangers on deck. “Looks like you’re in a bit of trouble.”

---