cradle.
âWhatâs the word?â
âI told them what weâve found,â Joe said. âBased on AIS data from last night, theyâre guessing the freighter is the M.V.
Torino
.â
âWhatâs she carrying?â
âMachine parts and textiles, mostly. Nothing dangerous.â
âTextiles, my eye,â Kurt said. âWhatâs the ETA on those helicopters?â
âTwo, maybe three hours.â
âWhat happened to getting airborne in thirty minutes?â
âThey took off,â Joe said. âBut based on our report, theyâre returning to Sicily to refuel while a hazardous-materials crew is rounded up.â
âCanât say I blame them,â Kurt replied. Still, his mind was on the fate of the doctor whoâd radioed them and the NUMA team members who were still not responding to calls, not to mention the five thousand other men, women and children who lived on Lampedusa. He made a quick decision. The only decision his conscience would allow.
âLetâs get the Zodiac ready, Iâm going in to look for our friends.â
Reynolds overheard this and responded instantly. âAre you out of your mind?â
âPossibly,â Kurt said. âBut if I wait around for three hours to find out whether our people are living or dead, thereâll be no doubt Iâll end up losing my marbles for sure. Especially if it turns out we could have helped them but sat on our hands instead.â
âIâm with you,â Joe said.
Reynolds shot them a stern gaze. âAnd how do you propose to not die of whatever it is that apparently affected the rest of the people on that island?â
âWe have full-face helmets and plenty of pure oxygen. If we wear them, we should be fine.â
âSome nerve toxins react with the skin,â Reynolds pointed out.
âWe have dry suits that are waterproof,â Kurt shot back. âThat ought to do the trick.â
âAnd we can wear gloves and tape up every gap,â Joe added.
âDuct tape?â Reynolds said. âYouâre going to bet your lives on the integrity of duct tape?â
âWouldnât be the first time,â Joe admitted. âI used it to tape the wing of an airplane back together once. Although that didnât work out the way we planned.â
âThis is serious,â Reynolds said, baffled at what the two seemed intent on doing. âYouâre talking about risking your lives for nothing. You have no reason to think anyone is even still alive on that island.â
âNot true,â Kurt replied. âI have two reasons. First, we received that radio call, which was obviously made after the event happened. That doctor and several others were aliveâat least at that time they were. In a hospital, no less. They mentioned being sealed-off, presumably to keep this toxin from reaching them. Others could have done the same thing. Including our people. Beyond that, some of the squid arenât dead out there. Theyâre flapping around, grabbing onto each other and moving just enough to tell me theyâre not ready to be thrown onto a barbecue yet.â
âThatâs pretty thin,â Reynolds said.
It was thick enough for Kurt. âIâm not waiting around out here only to find out there were people we could have helped if weâd have moved sooner.â
Reynolds shook his head. He knew he wasnât going to win this argument. âOkay, fine,â he said. âBut what are we supposed to do in the meantime?â
âKeep an ear to the radio and an eye on the pelicans sitting on that buoy,â Kurt said, pointing to a trio of white birds on the channel marker. âIf they start to die and drop off into the sea, turn the boat around and get out of here as fast as you can.â
5
A few miles away, a brooding figure sat in a small Zodiac boat, one that heâd stolen from the doomed freighter. Ammon Ta