Seeking Safe Harbor: Suddenly Everything Changed (The Seeking Series)

by Albert Correia

  Chapter 6

  WHAT the Arthur family heard was so appalling that none of them felt the will to speak for well over a minute. Zach was the first to break the silence, attempting to keep a quavering voice calm.

  “The United States? Is there still a United States?”

  “Yes,” Kotchel answered, trying to sound positive. “It’s not what it was, but its better off than most of what used to be the other major nations.”

  “Do we have a Congress?” Stacey asked. “A President? A Supreme Court?”

  “Yes, but from the bits and pieces of information we’ve received, it’s all changed. It’s not clear what all those changes are. Congress was out of session, so many of our representatives were at home and survived. The President and Vice President were killed when Washington was hit, as were all members of the U.S. Supreme Court. As you have no doubt surmised, Washington was destroyed, along with almost all of the Atlantic Coast. The Speaker of the House of Representatives was visiting relatives in Iowa and is alive. He was sworn in as President by the nearest federal judge. No one knows for sure if the judge had the power to do it, but the Constitution designates the Speaker as next in line and there was no one else around to do it. The members of Congress that could be found are meeting in an undisclosed location in Kansas.”

  “Undisclosed? Why undisclosed?” Glen asked. He’d been taking it all in like a horrible history lesson. Now his mind was full of questions.

  “I’ll answer as best I can, but the simplest explanation… there are gangs and terrorists throughout the United States as well as the rest of the world. There are numerous factions and they’re vicious. People, and groups that were prepared, have been able to fight them off and are surviving. Others are barely able to find food and water and can’t protect themselves. Until whatever military people that are still alive can be found and a new structure established, and until police forces can regroup, people, especially those in leadership positions, are in serious danger. If any are found by the terrorist elements, they will be killed. They must operate in secret.”

  “Are you getting orders?” Zach asked.

  “It’s spotty. Originally, we were told to stay in these waters and keep our eye out for troublemakers and people we can help. This morning, we were able to do both. We haven’t received any new orders, so we will continue doing what we’ve been doing.”

  “But, you’re an aircraft carrier,” Glen said. “How can you stoop to this kind of thing?”

  “Son,” Kotchel said, not showing any anger at the youngster’s comment, “in emergencies, we do what is needed. Nothing is too petty.” He looked toward the big ship. “Actually, we are still a carrier, and we still have sixteen planes aboard. Not much fuel, but we could get them up, if necessary. It’s just that at this moment, there isn’t the need for us to act in the capacity of an aircraft carrier.”

  “Sir, is it the new President and what’s left of Congress telling you to do that?” Glen asked, trying to get a handle on the chain of command.

  “No, my boy, it doesn’t work that way, even in as dire a situation as this. What’s left of the joint chiefs has managed to get together and they’re trying to reorganize our military. It won’t be easy. It will have to be a volunteer force for some time to come, so they have their work cut out for them. I think they’re in Oklahoma, but I don’t know, and don’t want to know. There’s no point in talking about things out of our reach. Look, for the purposes of this talk, we’ll accomplish more if we restrict our discussion to those things that are pertinent to yourselves and your situation at the moment. What do you want to know that pertains to your own lives?”

  Stacey had a question that had been in her mind from the start, but she could barely get it out. “San Diego?” she murmured.

  Kotchel asked, quietly, “Your home?”

  She nodded, biting her lip.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Are you sure?” Zach inquired, trying to keep his voice steady.

  “I’m afraid so. Everything around there, from Camp Pendleton in the north, to the naval facilities in the southern part of San Diego, was obliterated in the first wave of nuclear strikes.”

  Stacey covered her face and Denise began crying.

  “What about the inland coastal area of Central California? Santa Maria?” Zach asked.

  “I don’t know for sure. It may be okay, if okay is the correct word. The problem would be getting there. Ports and even small marinas were targeted. Oxnard had a naval base, so it was hit hard.”

  “My parents live in Santa Maria. We’d planned on laying over in Oxnard when we went to visit them. That’s where we were going after Hawaii,” Zach said. “Her parents live – lived – in San Diego. Us, too, and we were planning on getting Glen and Denise back in time for school. My business is – was – there.”

  “So, our assumption was right, Hawaii was to be your next stop.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry to be so blunt after giving you such terrible news, but you need to rethink that decision.”

  “We have to get supplies. We have enough for three weeks, but that’s cutting it close and anything can happen out on the water. We need more. It’s as simple as that.”

  “We thought that might be the case when we saw what your heading was, but I have to tell you, the island of Hawaii is very dangerous. We don’t think anything major hit them, but the other islands were decimated and the survivors swarmed to the big island. There’s widespread looting for what is left to eat and drink. Fortunately, our Commanding Officer gave some thought to the problems you would be having. Kind of an apology for almost running you over, I think. We took everything we could off the boat we sank. There are at least a hundred large cans of beans and all sorts of vegetables, six tons of coffee, quite a few medical supplies, and some boat equipment that may come in handy. Oh, and some dynamite.”

  “Dynamite?” said Stacey. “What were they doing with dynamite?”

  “They were a gang of terrorists. There’s a lot they could do with dynamite, none of it good. It might useful to you in some good ways, though.”

  Denise frowned with unbelieving curiosity at that. “What could we do with dynamite?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” admitted Kotchel. “Maybe you’ll come to a place where you need to blow away some rocks away to get into shelter.

  “We’ll take it,” said Zach. “I have no idea what’s in store for us, so anything has potential at this point.”

  “That’s the mindset you’ll need. There’s also a sextant if you need an extra one.”

  “I wish I had a use for it,” Zach said, “but I don’t know celestial navigation.”

  Kotchel whistled. “With the GPS system in shambles, you’re going to need it.”

  “We could use some lessons.”

  “I’ll give you a quick lesson, but there’s no time to teach you everything. I think I may have a book I can give you, though.”

  “That would be great! We’re fast learners. The kids are, anyway. They took their exams two months early so we could come on this trip.”

  “Be glad they did and you made the trip,” Kotchel said, then quickly went on before they began to think about what had been lost while they were gone. “I see you have some small weapons here.” He pointed at the carbine and pistol still lying on the cockpit seat beside Glen and Denise. “Is this all you have?”

  “Yes,” Zach replied, worry lines beginning to crease his forehead. “We never anticipated anything like this.”

  “Who could?” the commander wondered aloud. He eyed the weapons. “I see the guns are by your children. You said they can use them. Is that true?”

  “Everyone here is trained, and they’re all excellent marksmen.”

  “Assault weapons?”

  “We’ve never had any and my family has never been trained to use them.”

  “But, you’re an ex-Army Ranger, so you know them well.”

  “I do, but we have none, and I doubt we c
an buy any now.”

  “There were six fairly modern AK-47s aboard that boat and enough ammo to hold off an army for months. We have all we need, so they’re yours if you want them.”

  “Absolutely!” Zach exclaimed.

  “Six?” Stacey said. “But we saw only two prisoners.”

  “Four were killed by the missile hits or by our gunfire when we boarded. They went down with the ship.”

  “We saw that the two men you captured are wounded,” Zach said. “Stacey is a nurse. Maybe she can be of some help?”

  “Thanks for the offer but we have a medic attending them, and we’ve got doctors on the carrier. They’ll be well taken care of before joining eighteen others in our brig.”

  “You have eighteen prisoners already?”

  “I imagine we’ll have a hundred before this is over. Although we’ll find an island as soon as we can that may be able to sustain them and let them go. We have stores for a couple of months, but after that, we’ll be foraging for food for our own personnel.” He straightened, realizing he was off topic again, and said, “Okay, back to you people. Is there anything else we can do for you?”

  “We have a little diesel and enough water for about three weeks. We could use a lot more of both. Is that possible?”

  “We can’t spare any diesel. Thank goodness you have a sailboat and your only real need for the motor is in dead calm waters. As far as the water goes, we can give you a three-month supply if you want. We have two desalinization plants on board the carrier, so fortunately we have plenty of that.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Zach said. “This is a bit overwhelming.”

  “The world is going to need strong people, good people. You appear to be good people, and you’ve got to be tough to be out here cruising like this, so you’re exactly what the world will need. If we have been of help, we’re glad. Let me call my crew over and we’ll unload what we have, and then we can go over to the carrier to get the water and give you some celestial navigation lessons with your new sextant.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll give the family some lessons on the AKs while you’re still around.”

  “Fine, and we have some experts who can bring you up to speed if you’re a little rusty.”

  “A little practice never hurts,” Zach agreed.

  Commander Kotchel stood and motioned to his crew to come over, then turned back to Zach. “Okay. Please understand that the reason we can only give you a short lesson is because we have to get down to Samoa. We got word just before we went after the terrorists that there’s some massive gang activity there. And, you need to be heading for California.”

  “We’ll be on our way by nightfall,” Zach concurred.

  “Zach, the package,” Stacey said.

  “Package?” asked Kotchel.

  “There’s a package of medical supplies in Hilo that we were planning on taking to my mother,” Zach explained. “She is into holistic medicine and there are some herbs that apparently only grow in this area.”

  “Forget them,” the naval officer recommended. “I’m sympathetic and use as many natural cures as I can myself, but it’s not worth the risk.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Zach said.

  The commander’s boat came alongside and he went to the bow to tie a line to a cleat that a crewman tossed aboard the sailboat. Glen went aft to tie another line there.

  Once the supplies were unloaded onto the sailboat, the naval officer walked over to get aboard his boat.

  Zach called to him. “Commander Kotchel, how can we thank you for all of this?”

  “By surviving!”

  Chapter 7

  WHEN the sun came up the next morning, it shone on a family that had spent the night in sad reflection. Stacey’s parents, most of their friends, cousins, uncles and aunts, schools the children attended, their home, their business, everything they were used to had been in San Diego.

  San Diego was gone. Gone! The people dead, the buildings reduced to rubble. They could only hope that Zach’s parents and a brother who lived in the Santa Maria area were still alive. Even if the area hadn’t been bombed, had gangs taken over?

  Over the the years, they’d seen people who were supposed to be taking part in peaceful protests against some relatively minor thing turn into violent mobs. If simple differences of opinions and the hope for something better did that to people, what would such massive devastation – the loss of homes, food, water, friends, loved ones, just about everything they’d ever had – do to them?

  Zach finally went to bed at two o'clock in the morning. Stacey, still mourning the loss of her parents and friends, opted to stay at the wheel, using the time to gather her thoughts. When he came back on deck at eight, she was still at the wheel. They’d been taking two hour shifts at the helm, but now she insisted they all sleep while she kept the boat on course – and allowed her mourning to steer its own course. She finally come to grips with the reality. Her parents were gone, and her family needed her.

  “Did you sleep okay?” she asked.

  “Better than I expected. I guess having had only two hours in the last couple of days took a lot out of me.”

  She took a seat next to the wheel when he took over.

  “I’ve been thinking about your parents,” she said.

  “Mine?”

  “Yes. For now, I have to put my own out of my mind. Yours have to be our goal. They’re the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

  “They are tough,” he agreed.

  “They’re survivors. I think they’re still alive,” she said.

  “I hope you’re right. I believe you are. They always stay prepared for an extended time of self- sufficiency, so they should be able to hold out until we can get to them.”

  “So,” she made eye contact with him, “you think that’s where we should go, too?”

  “Yes. Besides being my parents, they are, as you said, really strong. Commander Kotchel was right, but it’s not just the world that will need those kinds of people. So do we.”

  “We’re strong, too, Zach. Including Glen and Denise.”

  “I wasn’t saying we aren’t. I know we are. What I’m saying is, strong people will need to band together. The old saying, ‘there’s strength in numbers,’ is true. Never more so than now.”

  “I agree. You know something, though?”

  “What?”

  “Strong as your mom is, she’ll still need those medical herbs.”

  Zach didn’t reply right away. He looked off in the distance, then turned back to Stacey. “Would you get me the chart for the Hilo area?”

  “We’re going after the herbs?”

  “For diesel. Commander Kotchel was right about everything else, but he was wrong about our need for fuel. We need more. In the months to come, there could be many boats after us, and in calm weather, we will be sitting ducks if we depend only on sails. Besides, we may have to go from port to port, and we need to be able to get in and out in a hurry, directly, not having to tack as the wind demands. And, yes, I want to take my mother what she feels she needs. Being as Oxnard was hit hard, we can head for Santa Barbara after Hilo, dock the boat, and go to Santa Maria from there.”

  Stacey returned with the chart, and Glen and Denise were with her. “They’re all for it,” she said.

  “I want you to know it could be dangerous,” Zach told the children.

  “Oh, we know that,” Denise said brightly, “and we’ve already talked about it. We think we need to establish right away that we’re going to live as we need to, not like some cowering fools, living the way fear dictates.”

  Zach looked at Stacey. “Remind me again… exactly how old is she?”

  “According to the birth certificate, thirteen, but sometimes I think it’s off by at least ten years.”

  “Actually, those were Glen’s words,” Denise giggled, “but I would have said the exact same thing if he hadn’t.”

  Glen raised his eyebrows and looked askance at his sister
. “Anyway,” he said, turning his focus back to his parents, “we’re with it a hundred percent. Besides, we all know how to handle AK-47s now, right?”

  “You learned fast, but you still have a lot more to learn,” Zach advised his son. “The main thing, though, is that you’re on board with the plan. We’re gonna be in for some difficult times and need to pull together all the way.”

  He locked in the mechanical autopilot and sat with Stacey on the seat behind the wheel. The children sat on the seats at either side of them. Zach rolled out the chart and studied it carefully.

  “When we sailed into Hilo on our way from California, we approached Hilo Harbor directly from the east. I’m sure you remember that even though the town is on the eastern part of Hawaii, it’s located on an indentation, and the town and bay face north.” He traced a finger along a line that ran north from the eastern part of the bay. The line, which was the breakwater, turned and went west, eventually stopping, leaving an opening at the western part of the bay. “This breakwater protects the bay, and the entrance isn’t very wide. For us, that’s good; but it’s also bad.”

  “Why’s that, Dad?” Glen asked.

  “What we need to get for my mother is supposed to be with that fellow George that we met at Aunt Millie’s Hilo Hotel. That’s where we need to go.”

  “Hey, that was a really neat place,” Denise chimed in.

  “And George is a neat guy, assuming he’s still around. He’s the hotel’s concierge, although I doubt that’s what they call him there. He does a little of everything and is the kind of guy who knows how to get things. We need to find a supply of diesel fuel, and if anyone can get it for us, it’s him.”

  “You haven’t answered Glen’s question, honey,” Stacey reminded him. “I think I know both the good and the bad, but we need to all be on the same page.”

  “Absolutely,” Zach agreed. “The configuration of the breakwater is good, because the water will be calm. We can sail in quietly and anchor in that little niche between little Coconut Island and the mainland, which is near the hotel. I’ll take Denise with me and row the dinghy over to the mainland. You and Glen will need to watch the boat. There’s no telling who… or what… will be waiting there in hopes of capturing a boat.”