From Sand to Nand

Chapter Twenty-Three

The crew began painting down the ship's side, letter by letter: G-R-A-C-E-V-I-T-A

In celebration and in memory of the island's two most maternal and paternal people, a collective vote was taken in the morning just before boarding. One half—Captain Royce De San Grace loyalists—wanted to call the ship 'Grace,' while the other half—who missed their maternal figure, Evita Carano—suggested the name 'Evita.' In the end, it was agreed that the two names could be merged to form one full title: Gracevita.

Several thousand kilos of perishable crops like rice and wheat were secured below deck. Individuals and families abord were responsible for packing their food and supplies. They were expected to pack enough fruits, veggies, and salted meats to last 4 to 5 days per person, while their portions afterwards would rely on those stowed away. Each row ship carried its own supply as well, though much less, in case something happened to the main ship along the way.

150 people trained for months as the main rowers for both the main voyager as well as the row ships. They were all ready, confident in their abilities and carved with an impressive posterior musculature from their months of training.

The island's people were nervous but ready. If the gigantic cruise ship didn't sink while sitting stagnantly in the sea for the previous few days, then there was no reason to think it wouldn't survive the journey. Surprisingly, the lowest deck only took on a mere inch of water per day at its deepest point. This was quite impressive. A number of buckets and pulley systems were prepared to quickly scoop the water out of the ship. At the rate the ship took on the excess, however, it looked as though such servicing wouldn't be needed more than a few times.

The row ships took turns chauffeuring passengers one by one to the main ship. A queue was formed, and it was decided that larger families would go first. Soon, the entire process was complete.

Due to the lack of a sophisticated stabilization system, the main deck swayed noticeably. It was just enough to make a handful of people vomit within minutes. The smaller ships were much more comfortable to those who didn't have the proper sea legs. Still, a number of people regurgitated their breakfasts not long after their boarding of the smaller boats, as well.

It was almost time to disembark. Most of the crew were ready except the head officers and the captain. Looking out toward the island, there was a faint image of the last members to descend from the plateau. With them was a man no one had seen in quite some time: John Doe. Still refusing to give his name, McSchmitt and a few other members in the crew escorted him in rusty handcuffs. He appeared to have lost a significant amount of weight.

Two more men carried their makeshift-electronic equipment aboard and began setting up the system on the starboard side. They also brought along one of the generators Pei had made several months prior with the help of one of the Australian car mechanics. The generator was to be used as a source of power for the device, which was fed from a special tank of electrolyte-enriched salt water. Together, the generator and the buffered concoction acted like a battery that could be tweaked to control the necessary amperage and current.

It was actually a quite simple design. It was a reverse radar machine that could only generate an outward pulse for sending messages. So, it wasn't really a radar, as the engineer had called it. The team used it for several months to send out messages for help in morse code. They estimated its range to only be 10 kilometers but decided it would be useful to bring on the journey home. They considered they may just end up within range of another vessel that could send help.

The captain had descended last. He wanted to make sure no one was left behind and so he checked every last dwelling before the final walk down the mountainous slope to the beach. From there, his ferry escorted him and the remainder of his crew to the deck of the Gracevita where Semoure provided the official head count. The captain verified the number of people aboard the main ship and the row ships to be accurate before giving the order to lift the walkway.