Welcome to the End

Chapter 19: Troubled Waters

George burst onto the bridge but found no initial signs of trouble. One of the refugees from Walton was on the bridge, holding hands with Kevin. Her lightly tanned skin looked pale next to Kevin's dark skin tone, but neither Kevin nor the woman seemed to notice.

"Why have we stopped?" he asked.

"It's too dark," Kevin explained. "I almost hit one of those old wrecks back there."

"Can't we turn on some lights?" George questioned.

"I'd rather not," Kevin explained. He reached into one of a set of recessed cylinders installed horizontally in the wall. Pulling out a rolled sheaf of papers, he spread them out on the chart table behind the wheel. "Come and see for yourself."

George joined Kevin and Alana at the table, staring down at the map Kevin had spread out.

"We're about here," Kevin explained, pointing to a spot near the coast. Tapping a finger at a location further into the bay, he continued. "This is the approximate location of an oil rig. It's controlled by a scavenger clan known as the Coral Blade. They have small motor boats, and the refinery built next to the oil rig makes sure they have plenty of fuel. Anyone or anything passing through their waters will get their attention. I was hoping to slip past them without being noticed."

"We may not have the option," George said. "We're dangerously low on fuel."

"Why didn't you say something before now?" Kevin demanded.

"Before now, we didn't have a place where we could get any more, so it didn't matter," George replied swiftly. "We could get the fuel we need from the scavengers."

"They don't bargain," Kevin stated firmly.

"I wasn't planning on asking them," George said with a sly grin.

"They'd see this ship before we got near them and swarm all over us," Kevin pointed out.

"Yes," George agreed. "They'd see the ship, but they wouldn't see the two of us."

"A stealth raid?" Kevin queried.

"We do have some scuba gear onboard," George explained. "If the two of us were to approach underwater, we could reach the rig without being seen. Once onboard, we could appropriate a few drums of fuel without them ever being the wiser."

"I don't know," Kevin said, folding his arms across his chest and staring hard at the map.

"We can go on, hoping and praying we don't run out of fuel before we reach out destination," George suggested. "Or, we can risk two people for a chance to save all the rest. If we don't make it, they can still go on with Isabella in command."

"I don't like where this is going," Alana said uncomfortably.

"Don't worry about it," Kevin replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "George and Isabella used to lure scavengers into ambushes. It's actually how we met. If he thinks we can do this, there's a fairly good chance we can."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," George grumbled sarcastically.

"Since this will most likely need to be a nighttime raid, let's discuss this tomorrow," Kevin suggested.

"Fair enough," George accepted. "In the mean time, I'm holding a small service in the mess hall, explaining our situation and the reason there is still hope."

"Sounds like something worth hearing," Kevin said. He looked to Alana. "What do you think?"

"I'd like to go," she answered him.