UnAlaska

38. Follow the Trail

Laura and the guard climbed the extending metal walkway into the Zodiac. When they left the cover of the cargo door, the steps and railing were freezing cold and slick with torrential rain. They had no rain gear or life jackets. Laura felt an icy prickle of anxiety as she stepped down to the small ship. She swallowed hard and tried to shake it away. They weren't far from shore now, and they knew exactly where to go to find Jacqueline. But what if they sunk the Zodiac? Or fell off in the huge swells?

She reached the bottom of the walkway. The Cecaelia and the zodiac were both pitching and rolling. The zodiac was bucking hard, and shot through through with rain. The chain securing it to the ship was pulling tight with a loud clank, then coiling up slack as the prow lifted on the waves. Laura's hair was already soaked, and she was shivering involuntarily. She held the railing with one hand and stretched to reach the hand holds on the zodiac. She grabbed one, and the black rubber was textured and solid. She held tight, and counted down in her head.

At the final count, she vaulted her legs into the zodiac. Her feet skidded out from under her, and she went down. Her hand held tight, and she scrabbled for grip with her other hand as she slid back and forth in the waves. A wave broke over the edge of the zodiac and soaked her completely to the bone. Her mouth was filled with sea water. She spat it out and coughed, but could still taste the salt. She found a handle with her other hand, and muscled herself upright. Above her, the guard was waiting to climb on.

She extended a hand. He leaned down, and grabbed a hand hold first, then Laura's hand. He swung his legs over and fought to stay upright. Another wave broke over the zodiac, and they braced against each other, both soaked head to toe and shivering. The sound of the waves and the gigantic ship were crushingly loud. Laura tapped the guard on the shoulder, and pointed at herself, then at the outboard motor. He nodded.

She climbed on all fours to the motor. She planned her hand and foot holds, like rock climbing horizontally. She reached the large outboard motor, and tipped it into the water. She looked around it, and found an electric start switch instead of a pull cord. Thank god, she thought. She flipped the electric start. The motor whined and then rumbled, churning water behind the zodiac. It was barely audible above the weather.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Undo the chain. Ready here." A wave crashed over the side of their boat, and they both fought to stay upright.

The guard nodded. He waited until the zodiac heaved upward on the next swell and left the chain slack, then pulled a large shackle open. The thick, heavy chain swung free. He ducked as it swung toward his head, then slapped against the massive hull of the Cecaelia.

Laura turned the rudder hard to point them away from the Cecaelia. They turned slowly, then she opened the throttle wide. She knew they only had a few seconds to break free of Cecaelia's hull. If they were too close, they would be pulled into its massive, churning wake and never seen again. The zodiac picked up speed. They crested a large wave, and came crashing down again on the other side. It pulled them back toward the Cecaelia, and they picked up speed again on the way down.

Their progress felt slow and creeping. They cleared enough distance from the Cecaelia that Laura thought they might not be pulled under. She couldn't be sure. She looked behind them, and saw the incomprehensibly massive, stark stern of the Cecaelia slip by. The wake followed behind it. She turned to the guard and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Wake coming! Brace for it!"

He nodded. Laura let go of the rudder and held on to the thick rubber handles with both hands. The guard did the same. The first swell felt like a wave, but it hit them from behind. A sickening lurch, and they were tipped forward. For a second, they hung nearly vertical. All they could see in the disappearing flood lights of the Cecaelia was a wall of water. Laura realized she didn't know if it was above or below them. Then, they tipped further.