Escape to the Moon Islands: Quest of the Sunfish 1

by Mardi McConnochie

  One day Will noticed Pod examining the solar panel that powered the auxiliary engine. They hadn’t had any reason to use the engine since Pod had come aboard and it was possible Pod hadn’t realised that there was an engine. Until now.

  ‘What are you looking at?’ Will asked suspiciously.

  ‘Solar—what’s it for?’ asked Pod.

  ‘It doesn’t work,’ Will said untruthfully. In fact it ran all sorts of things that needed power, from the sat nav to the kitchen stove. Essie used it to charge her shell, although she had not been able to link since Southaven.

  ‘I seen one like this before,’ Pod said. ‘I could help you fix it.’

  ‘I can fix it myself, thanks,’ Will said.

  Pod slunk away without another word, leaving Will more suspicious than ever.

  Later that day, Will said to Annalie, ‘Are you keeping an eye on him?’

  ‘What for?’

  ‘I saw him today poking around one of the solar panels.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So, what’s he doing getting into the workings of the boat?’

  ‘I think he’s trying to learn more about it. He wants to help.’

  ‘You sure about that?’

  ‘Why are you so paranoid?’ Annalie said, exasperated.

  ‘We already know he was a pirate. We’ve got a boat, and he’s got nothing. What’s to stop him from taking it?’

  ‘He wouldn’t do that,’ Annalie said firmly.

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ Will said. ‘I’m not letting him out of my sight.’

  Annalie rolled her eyes.

  The good weather held; they completed their crossing of the open expanse of ocean. Annalie steered them towards the Astramans, the island group which was one of the westernmost outliers of the Moon Islands, where they would take on fresh water and supplies.

  ‘We made it through the Furies,’ she said to Will, smiling, as the top of a mountain appeared on the horizon.

  ‘Easy!’ Will said, and laughed. ‘The worst of it’s behind us now.’

  Astra Nostro, the second largest island, had a port and trading post. Unfortunately, there was also a small Admiralty base there, so they decided to bypass Astra Nostro and go to Astra Semla, a smaller island, which their charts told them had fresh water. Although the Astramans were far from Dux’s territorial waters, the Admiralty maintained a base there—one of many around the world—so they could patrol inside the island archipelago if the need arose.

  The most obvious route would take them directly past Astra Nostro and on to Astra Semla, but neither Will nor Annalie wanted to risk coming to the attention of any Admiralty ships, so they took a longer route, circling a smaller island and looping around to Semla, which lay to the east of Nostro.

  ‘I bet the fishing’s good around here,’ Will said, as they sailed around the rocky coastline.

  ‘You want to throw a line in?’ Annalie asked.

  ‘Actually I was thinking I could do some spearfishing—maybe look for shellfish too.’

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ Annalie said. ‘If you got enough, we could barter.’

  Will loved to fish, and loved to dive even more. He used a mask, but didn’t bother with a snorkel, just held his breath while he dived under the water.

  ‘I can drop you off and you can have a dive while we take the boat into harbour and get the supplies,’ Annalie said.

  For a moment, Will let himself get excited about diving a new site. But then he realised that if he got off the boat, he would be leaving the girls alone with Pod. ‘Forget it,’ he said.

  Annalie looked baffled.

  ‘We should all go to get the supplies. There’ll be time for diving later.’ When Pod was safely off the boat.

  Essie began assembling a shopping list as they drew closer to Semla Harbour. ‘How much cash do you think I’ll need to take?’ she asked.

  Will was aware of Pod listening attentively.

  ‘Don’t take too much,’ Annalie said.

  The wad of notes Essie had got for them in Southaven had been divided up and hidden in different places around the boat. To Will’s relief, the two of them disappeared into their cabin and closed the door while they dealt with the money.

  When the girls emerged again, Annalie turned to Pod. ‘So, we’ll be in Semla Harbour soon.’

  Pod nodded, expressionless.

  ‘I think they’re meant to be pretty safe, the Astraman Islands.’

  Pod still said nothing.

  ‘When we get there, I thought we could go into town and see if International Flood Relief have an office there, or the Charitable Sisters.’

  ‘Brothers in Harmony are good too,’ Essie offered. ‘They have excellent second-hand shops.’

  ‘We’ll find someone who can help you,’ Annalie said.

  Pod just nodded again. It was obvious he didn’t want to go. Annalie looked guiltily at Will. But Will didn’t feel any guilt. He wouldn’t be able to relax until he knew the pirate’s apprentice was safely off his boat.

  They sailed into Semla Harbour and docked at the water station. The fees were high, but not outrageous (it rained a lot on Semla). All of them were glad to step ashore. They had been at sea for weeks now.

  ‘The ground feels so weird,’ Essie said. ‘It’s so flat.’

  ‘Will, do you want to fill the tanks and mind the boat while we take Pod into town?’ Annalie asked.

  Will hesitated, torn between his desire to stay and protect the boat, and his unwillingness to let his sister go off with Pod. But before he could decide what he thought, Pod spoke: ‘I’ll go now. Thanks.’

  Pod turned swiftly and began to walk away.

  ‘But—’ Annalie began.

  ‘I thought we were going to give him some money,’ Essie said.

  This was news to Will, but he said, ‘Let him go. He can handle himself. He doesn’t need you fussing round him.’

  ‘But he hasn’t got a cent,’ Essie said.

  All three of them watched him go, Annalie in sorrow, Essie in awe, Will with a sense of growing relief.

  ‘Well, that’s that then,’ Will said briskly. ‘Let’s get what we came for.’

  Will pumped water into the tanks, then they all went into the small town to buy supplies.

  ‘Look,’ Annalie said, pointing. The shabby little post office had a sign advertising that it was an office for International Flood Relief. ‘He’ll be able to get help there.’ She kept hoping she’d see Pod. But he had vanished.

  ‘You know,’ Annalie said, as they walked back through the little market with their provisions, ‘we don’t need to get out of here straight away. There’s still time for some diving.’

  Will grinned at her. ‘You girls want to come?’

  Annalie shook her head, and Essie said, ‘Are you kidding? There’s signal here!’ She waved her shell happily. ‘I have weeks of catching up to do.’

  ‘Your loss,’ Will said.

  They sailed out of the harbour and back towards a likely looking bay Will had spotted on the way in. Essie and Annalie arranged themselves on the deck while Will kitted himself out with his dive bag, mask and speargun.

  ‘Don’t drown,’ Annalie said.

  Will made a face at her and jumped overboard.

  The water here was lovely and warm and a beautiful colour. He stroked strongly away from the boat and looked down into the swarming, flickering life below. The sea was full of fish, all colours, all sizes. For a long time he just swam about, enjoying the sights, without any thought of using his speargun. After a while his swimming took him towards the rocks, which were deliciously clustered with shellfish. He swam over and prised some off with his dive knife. He thought he saw an even denser bed of them further away and swam on, then swam again. Soon, his dive bag was laden with the freshest shellfish, but when he stuck his head up to work out where he was, he discovered that he was much further from the boat than he’d thought. A current was working down the side of the island and it had swept him away from the Su
nfish. He could see it, but it was going to be a long swim back. He was just contemplating whether to begin that swim now or dive for a bit longer and swim back later when he heard an odd whistling sound, and then something landed wetly and heavily upon him. Startled, he went under and came up spluttering to discover he was entangled in something.

  That something was a net. He fought to get it off, thinking it must have been floating in the water, but then he heard a little croak of laughter.

  ‘Hey boy, doing some poaching now?’

  He struggled to turn towards the shore, still encumbered by wet nylon webbing, and saw, to his horror, two young men standing on the rocks above him. They were bare-chested, in the Astraman fashion; one had a shark tattoo, the other was tattooed with something clawed and crabby. Both were looking down at him with hostility.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he called, treading water. ‘I didn’t realise.’

  ‘You think you sorry now?’ Shark said. ‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.’

  Will struggled to free himself. Crab pulled on a rope attached to the net and it pulled tight around Will. They began to haul him in. He kicked and struggled, trying to get his arm free, to reach his knife, to manoeuvre the speargun into a position where he could use it. But his head kept getting pulled underwater, flushing him with panic, making it impossible to do anything.

  He glanced back at the Sunfish, desperately hoping the girls might have seen him. But they were so far away he could barely see them on deck; what hope was there that they could see him?

  He crashed painfully into the rocks, and the two young men began to haul him up. He was dragged up, kicking, scraping himself in numerous places but as he came level with them he managed to wave his speargun about and fire it.

  The shaft flew, but flew wide. The young men shouted in astonishment. Crab grabbed the speargun from Will and tossed it behind him into the scrub, while Shark said, ‘Oh, you in big trouble now.’ They dropped him hard onto the rocks, and Crab pressed his knee into Will’s chest, while Shark pulled out a knife of his own, a big, ugly-looking hunting knife.

  ‘I think you got something that belongs to me,’ Shark said. He took Will’s dive bag, opened it, and showed it to Crab. Crab chuckled. ‘Didn’t anyone tell you this place is for locals only?’

  He tossed the dive bag aside, then came at Will’s neck with the knife. Then, quite suddenly, something flashed across Will’s line of sight. Shark grunted and fell back, then Crab, who was still kneeling on Will’s chest, toppled too.

  Pod was standing over him, brandishing the speargun. He’d swung it once, twice, clouting the two men across the head. He darted to where Shark’s knife had fallen from his hand and picked it up.

  Will scrambled to his feet. Shark was still lying on the ground, groaning, clutching his head, but Crab was on his feet, coming back for another go.

  ‘The speargun,’ Will shouted to Pod.

  Pod tossed him the speargun. Will caught it and slipped another bolt in, his hands shaking, before training it on the men. Pod and Will moved towards each other, as if they were a team.

  ‘I won’t miss this time,’ Will warned.

  Will and Pod began to back away over the rocks.

  Shark moaned. Crab turned to check on his mate, and Pod hissed, ‘Run!’

  Pod ran up the rocks like lightning and Will followed. There was lush green foliage above the rocks, with a well-trodden path between rocks and scrub. They ran along it as fast as they could, back towards the Sunfish.

  When they got close enough, Will started shouting, ‘Hey! Hey!’

  He could see the girls still sprawled on the deck. Essie was cruising the links, Annalie reading a book.

  ‘They’re coming,’ Pod reported, looking back over his shoulder.

  The men were still after them, one of them with blood running down his neck.

  ‘Annalie!’ Will roared, ‘Essie!’ and at last Annalie looked up and turned in every direction until finally she spotted him jumping and waving as he ran along the shore.

  ‘We’re going to have to swim for it,’ Will said as he neared the boat and began clambering as fast as he could down the rocks.

  ‘I don’t swim,’ Pod said.

  ‘I thought you were a diver?’ Will shrieked.

  ‘Doesn’t mean I can swim.’

  They reached a rock ledge that projected over the water. Below, the waves swooshed in and out. Will looked down, then back. The men were still coming and, worse, he saw them shouting to someone. He looked over his other shoulder and saw another man coming from the other direction.

  ‘Time to learn!’ Will shouted, grabbed Pod and leapt into the water with him.

  Down they went, down and down, then bobbed up to the surface. Pod grabbed Will and started frantically trying to climb up him to get out of the terrible water. Will fought back, and they wasted precious moments floundering at each other. Then a soft plop sounded near them.

  ‘Oi!’ Annalie shouted.

  The life preserver floated almost within reach. Will and Pod paddled towards it, then Pod grabbed onto it desperately and clung on. The girls hauled him in, leaving Will to swim the fastest he had ever swum in his life. Pod scrambled up the ladder, Will went up behind him, and they had barely got themselves over the side and onto the deck before Annalie gunned the engine and sent the Sunfish roaring out of the bay.

  On deck, Will started to giggle. ‘That was a close one.’

  ‘Who were those guys?’ Annalie asked. ‘What did you do?’

  ‘Locals,’ Will said. ‘I guess fishing isn’t allowed.’

  Pod was still sprawled on the deck where he’d flopped, still catching his breath, his face grey. Now he surged to his feet and grabbed Will angrily. ‘Never do that again!’ he shouted.

  ‘What?’ Will said. ‘You mean the water? Mate, I had to. They would have caught us.’

  ‘You never do that again,’ Pod said ferociously, shaking him. ‘Ever.’

  ‘You tell him,’ Essie said.

  ‘Okay, I’m sorry!’ Will said, feeling ganged up on. ‘Man!’

  Pod let him go, still glowering.

  ‘Nobody likes being tossed in the water,’ Essie said unapologetically. ‘You’ve really got to stop doing that.’

  Annalie, Will and Essie all turned then to look at Pod.

  ‘So . . . ?’ Annalie began, speaking for them all.

  ‘Those men,’ Pod said. ‘They followed you from the market. They thought you were easy pickings. So I followed them.’

  ‘Why?’ Will asked, astonished.

  ‘You saved me,’ Pod said awkwardly. ‘I owe you.’

  ‘No you don’t,’ Annalie said. ‘But thank you.’

  ‘What were they going to do to us?’ Essie asked.

  Pod shrugged, brushing the question away.

  ‘So now what?’ Annalie asked.

  Pod looked down, clearly very uncomfortable, then back at Annalie. ‘Maybe I can help you get where you’re going,’ he said.

  Annalie looked at Will. Will raised his eyebrows at her and shrugged.

  ‘Okay,’ Annalie said.

  And then, for the first time, Pod smiled.

  Pod joins the crew

  As they left the Astraman Islands behind, Annalie spotted an Admiralty boat patrolling the waters they had just left. This was probably just a coincidence, but it gave Annalie an uncomfortable feeling. How certain could they be that they weren’t still, somehow, being tracked? Luckily the patrol boat did not seem to see them, and they left the Astramans without any further trouble.

  From now on the sailing would be trickier; the seas of the Moon Islands were full of hazards, from rocks and reefs to dangerous currents and shipwrecks. Spinner’s sat nav had charts, but they were old—some were even pre-Flood—and couldn’t be relied on. That is, the islands were mostly in the right place, but some of them showed pre-Flood towns and coastlines that were now underwater. Others had been updated to show the present waterline and depths. But what they didn’t show
were the other things they needed to know: where to buy water or get a mast repaired; where the movement of the ocean currents deposited sea junk, from lost shoes to whole shipping containers. They might not mention the whirlpool that sometimes appeared at high tide off a particular island. They certainly wouldn’t show the lighthouse that wasn’t really a lighthouse, but a trick designed to lure boats onto rocks so the islanders could strip their contents.

  ‘Now that we’re here we’re really going to have to work together as a crew,’ Will told the others as they sat at dinner, the night they left the Astramans behind. ‘Pod will have to work with me to get up to speed on everything, and Annalie, you’ll need to make sure you stay across the navigation.’

  ‘Yes boss,’ Pod said. The others looked at him and realised he was not joking.

  ‘What do you want me to do, boss?’ Essie asked, more facetiously.

  ‘Just keep doing whatever it is you’ve been doing,’ Will said.

  Essie stuck her tongue out at him.

  Now that Pod was a part of their crew, they realised they were going to have to try to get to know him. Essie, overawed by the story of his traumatic upbringing, didn’t have the first clue what to talk to him about, so she plied him with food instead. She had an idea that he must have grown up eating bread made with sawdust, mouldy rice, and roasted rat, so it was up to her to introduce him to all the nice things in life, as if that might make up for the deprivation of his early years.

  Annalie wasn’t sure what to talk to him about either, but she noticed how his eyes followed Graham around the cabin, and that gave her an idea.

  ‘Did you know Graham’s more than forty years old?’ she said to Pod one day.

  Pod looked surprised. ‘He doesn’t look that old.’

  ‘He is though. He was part of an experiment into animal communication, before the Flood.’

  ‘Is that how he learned to talk?’

  Annalie nodded. For the first time it crossed her mind to wonder how Spinner had come to own an experimental parrot who had once been part of a scientific study, and whether it had anything to do with his former life as a scientist. ‘My dad rescued him. They’ve been together ever since.’