Island Jumper 3

by M H Ryan

  We rounded the back side of the ship and up next to the port side, where the fire had done a lot more damage.

  A hole big enough to sail our boat through sat near the back of the ship, right where the fuel was stored. It must have burned through the metal or at least weakened it enough to fall into the sea.

  From the big, burned-out hole, the engine room could be seen. Well, about half the engine room, the other half was under water. The ship would be at the bottom of the sea, if I hadn’t rammed it into the island.

  “That’s crazy,” Benji said. “We were in that room.”

  The damage to the ship might have concentrated on the engine room, but the whole ship on this side had been destroyed, with holes big enough for me to crawl through scattered along the ship. It might have been the explosives Mario set off, or from the long-running fire.

  I steered the raft closer to the engine room, and the girls held the paddles up as we slowed to a stop, bumping into the vessel.

  “Paddle us closer to the hole. We can walk right into the ship from there,” I said.

  They paddled our boat until it touched part of the opened up ship. The two boats connected with a slight thud.

  I walked to the front of the Luna and to the edge of the hole in the ship. The smell of burned metal, plastic and rubber became stronger but not overwhelming.

  “Okay, let’s see what we can salvage from this thing,” I said. “Cass, you want to come up here with me?”

  “Oh, yeah, sure,” Cass said, rushing up to me.

  I climbed over the railing of our boat and found a good spot to jump to on the ship—a catwalk over a section of pipes. I jumped and landed on the metal with a firm clank sound. I tested the platform, rocking my weight side to side and found it firm. Then waited for Cass to make the jump. She did with ease and then we made room for the others.

  Soon, we were all on the ship, staring at the former engine room and the surrounding mess of pipes, burnt walls, and melted tubes.

  “Can I touch the walls?” Cass said, fascinated by the boat.

  “Sure, let me know what you feel.”

  She walked to a black wall and placed her hand on it. She jerked back and then placed it again, putting her ear near the wall as if it was whispering to her.

  “What’s it saying?” Aubrey asked, half joking.

  “It’s thick and strong,” Cass said.

  “Like Jack,” Benji said.

  “Okay, while you touch Mr. Thick and Strong there, I’m going to find shit we can use back home,” Aubrey said, jumping down off the catwalk and into the water, landing on the engine room floor. She walked through the knee-high water toward the front of the ship.

  I hopped off it as well and walked behind her, getting my knife out. I didn’t sense anything outright but I had this feeling as if we were being watched. I glanced out through the hole and tried to feel if anything was out there. Nothing suspicious, but I still felt it, just like when I knew the watchers were watching. I shook the feeling off and kept next to Aubrey.

  “Dude,” Aubrey said. “There are intact pipes up here.”

  I rushed ahead, stomping through the water as it shallowed. Aubrey stood near the door leading to the upper floor and pointed at a bundle of steel pipe leading to other parts of the ship. They were scorched, but I didn’t see any holes in them.

  “Hey, Cass, get up here,” I called.

  “Yeah?” she said, moving up next to me.

  “Can you tell if these pipes will work?”

  “I don’t know,” Cass said.

  She placed her hand on one and closed her eyes.

  “It feels intact and long. I think it runs all the way to the front of the ship,” Cass said, letting go of the pipe and searching for somewhere to wipe her soot-covered hand.

  “Okay, but how do we get these down? Those bolts are probably welded to the hull, and it isn’t exactly like we have a bag of tools out here,” Aubrey asked.

  “Cass, do you think you can remove those bolts and get these pipes down?” I asked.

  “Um… I don’t… Maybe?” Cass said and shrugged.

  “Okay, Sherri, Eliza, Kara, can you help her?” I asked.

  “Yeah!” Sherri said. “Just like I said, pipes just like I was talking about water, like running water. We can have a shower—”

  “Just tell me we can have a toilet, and I will go down on you right now,” Aubrey said.

  “Maybe eventually we can get something that resembles a toilet,” Sherri said.

  “There’s some toilets in this boat,” I said.

  Aubrey took in a deep breath, looking as if she was in ecstasy. “Jack, you are talking dirty to me right now.”

  “Well, let’s see what else we got on this boat,” I said, getting close to the door to the staircase leading up to the second floor.

  Benji, Aubrey, and I pushed the door leading to the staircase and it fell over, striking the metal floor with a thud. We climbed the stairs, and when we got to the top, Benji put a hand on me.

  “Let me go first, okay?” she said, gesturing to the floor.

  “Okay, you and Aubrey,” I said, realizing she was trying to protect me from the stones.

  They walked down the hall, looking briefly into the empty rooms. They had looked bare before, but now they were blackened from the fire, with holes burned through many of the walls, floors, and ceiling. The smell of smoke had grown in this room, and it felt hotter as well.

  The feeling in my chest tightened as we neared the storage room and the container that had held the black stones.

  “Whoa,” Benji said, stopping and staring at the bin.

  The floor around the bin had collapsed to a floor below, and the metal on the edges looked as if it had been melted from the heat. Down below, the ocean water washed in and out in small waves. The bin sat in the water, broken open, and appeared to be mostly melted. We could see right into it and it was empty.

  “Well, I guess that’s that,” I said.

  “Yeah, let’s just hope all those things got destroyed,” Benji said, looking relieved.

  “That’s where those stones were stored?” Aubrey asked, looking down into the hole.

  “Yup,” I said, staring at the box. “Well, let’s see if we can find anything else we can easily take off this ship.”

  Over the next hour, we scoured the middle floor, not finding much beyond scrap metal that we tossed to the bottom of the stairs. There was a metal bathroom that looked fairly intact but we get the girls down below gathering the pipes first. They were making good progress below, pulling many pipes off the walls with the help of Cass’s gift.

  Once we cleared the middle deck, we went to the bridge, or what was left of it.

  I stood at the door, thinking of the moment Benji and I had encountered Mario. The bridge itself had burned as bad as any part of the ship. Most of it had collapsed to the floor below, and what was left had melted into a heap of burned wires and melted glass. Thankfully, I didn’t see anything the resembled Mario’s body.

  The odor of the bridge felt toxic and burned my nose. After a minute, I called it off, and we headed back down to the engine room.

  The girls were pulling another pipe off the wall and carrying it to the raft.

  Then Eliza, at the lead, dropped the pipe into the water.

  “Guys, that she-fish thing is back,” Eliza said, grabbing at the stone knife at her hip.

  “Shaya?” I said.

  Chapter 27

  I stomped through the shallow water and then jumped up onto the catwalk next to the hole. The opening framed the outside in a way that I only spotted her from the neck down at first, and I was reminded of how truly stunning she was. Her grayish-blue skin looked slick and wet, and her tiny bikini did little to hide her female-like assets. She bent over, accentuating the display of her breasts. Her gaze met mine, and she gave me a nervous smile with a small wave.

  “Shaya?” I asked, stepping out of the hole and jumping onto our boat.

 
I squinted, my eyes adjusting to the bright light. She didn’t respond but looked as if she was bursting to tell me something.

  “You can’t talk with me, can you?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  I glanced back at the girls. Most had a weapon in hand. Benji had an arrow pulled back and ready to go.

  “She’s okay,” I said, waving them off.

  Shaya’s father had died to convey a message to me, one that spoke of me being the person to save the islands from the king. He also said I wasn’t ready and to watch out for a square-emblem type fish people. The Crultar, I believe he called them. The Crultar would kill me—that part I remembered well.

  The girls walked onto the boat, weapons at the ready. Shaya, nerves on display, kept her hands raised as she walked to the corner of the boat. She paid close attention to Emma and her new bat.

  “What are you doing here?” Emma said, raising her bat up.

  Fear filled Shaya’s eyes.

  “She can’t talk, remember. Some kind of bond they have with the king,” I said. “Plus, the last thing she said was that she would be coming back here to tell us the next step in all this.”

  Shaya nodded her head and pointed at me.

  “Cat’s got your tongue?” Emma asked, confusing Shaya. “Can you write it down?” Emma lowered her bat.

  Shaya shook her head.

  “Then how can you tell us anything?” Cass asked.

  Her big green eyes went wide, and she gave me a slight nod, as if she didn’t know either. Then, she spoke. “I can speak as my father did. It will be an honorable death.” She winced and touched her temple.

  “No, don’t say another word,” I said as a spot of blood formed under her nose.

  “Can we even trust anything she says?” Aubrey asked. “I mean, she kidnapped Emma, and they’ve been watching us since early on.”

  “Why don’t you just do your mind thing on her?” Benji asked.

  That wasn’t a bad idea. “I’ll try, but I’m having trouble connecting with her.”

  I took a breath and closed my eyes as I held it. My extra sense felt a few creatures near Tar Island, but around me felt empty, as it always did with the women. I opened my eyes and locked in on Shaya. She held my gaze, and I tried hard to get into that mind of hers.

  After a minute of awkward stares and failed attempts at using my power with her, I gave up.

  “She’s as blank to me as you guys are,” I said, defeated.

  “How’s that possible?” Benji said. “You can read anything but us girls.”

  “She’s got boobs, and I imagine a va-jay-jay down there as well,” Aubrey said. “She is near human, if not for the big eyes, blue skin, and thick hair. I think that’s hair…”

  “What are you saying?” Eliza asked. “That she’s a….she, and Jack can’t read her?”

  “Yeah, exactly,” Aubrey said.

  “I think you’re right,” I conceded. “I could read Du’rack and Du’tumey, but I don’t think I ever got a reading on her. I just didn’t realize it at the time.”

  “Holy shit,” Emma said. “You remember their names?”

  Shaya brightened up at this and gazed at me with the big eyes, as if wanting me to say more. She had lost her father yesterday, and my heart went to her as I saw her pained expression.

  “There has to be a way for her to communicate without her dying,” I said, trying to come up with that way.

  I walked to her and reached out. She backed up, looking at my hand.

  “It’s okay; I just want to touch you. I think I have a stronger connection when I have physical contact.”

  She nodded then reached out with her slender, blue arm and held my hand. She had fingers, but they were a bit longer than mine, and the color of her skin changed from gray to blue and then to white near her hands. My fingers grazed her soft palms as our hands connected, and I rubbed her soft-feeling skin on the back of her hand. I wasn’t sure what I expected, scales or something unpleasant, but she felt as lovely as any women I’d had the pleasure of contacting. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought a bit of color hit those cheeks of hers, and I felt a slight tremble as we held hands. I hoped I hadn’t breached some kind of major cultural faux pas.

  “Okay, I’m going to try it,” I said, and she nodded again.

  I closed my eyes. While I felt her physically, she was still a blank to me with my extra sense. After a good try, I conceded once more that I was not going to connect with her, hand-holding or not. I patted the back of her hand and then let go. She looked as disappointed as I felt.

  “I need to tell you—” she started to say.

  “Stop,” I said at the same time as a couple of the girls. “Shaya, don’t talk. We’re going to figure this out.”

  “Maybe I can try,” Emma said. “Like you, the girls are blank to me, but when I touch you, I’m connected. Maybe I can do it with her as well?”

  “Sure, give it a try. Shaya, Emma is going to touch you this time.”

  She looked nervous about it but nodded in agreement. Emma handed me her bat and stood in front of Shaya. They two held hands for nearly a minute.

  “I’m not getting through either,” Emma said. “I think my ability might be limited to just you, Jack.” She gave me a wink.

  “I doubt that. In fact, I think we haven’t even grasped the slightest bit of what we are capable of yet.”

  “I’ll just have to—” Shaya spoke again.

  “No,” we said in unison.

  “Wait,” Shaya said, her big green eyes going wide in shock. “I didn’t feel him.” She laughed. “It doesn’t hurt to talk about the king.”

  Emma cringed in pain.

  “What? How?” I asked.

  “Emma,” Shaya said. “She’s blocking it somehow.”

  “I can feel it like a pressure building,” Emma winced. “It hurts. Not too bad, but I feel it getting worse with every word she speaks.”

  Shaya rushed to speak. “They’re coming. The Crultar. My brother Du’tumey has abandoned the Shultar and gone to tell the nearby group of Crultar of your existence. They will be here soon. We’ve got to get you out of here. They will kill you and take the women to the king.”

  “They’re coming here?” I asked.

  “To your island. Du’tumey knows where it is. He will guide them right to it.”

  “Why is he betraying you and your father? I thought the Shultar wanted to help us?” I asked.

  “We do, but Du’tumey has gone crazy with anger since our father died. He blames you, and thinks you are the cause of all the troubles lately.”

  “How much time do we have until they get here?” I asked.

  “I can’t hold this much longer,” Emma said, and a drop of blood dripped from her nose.

  “They’ll be here in hours.”

  “Emma, let go,” I said.

  Emma did just that and collapsed to the ground. Sherri cried out and ran to her friend. I kneeled next to her as Emma sat back up. She shook her head and blinked a few times.

  “I’m okay,” Emma said. “Just feel like I took a high, fast one to the head.” She got to her feet with Sherri’s and my help.

  “Sorry,” Shaya said, looking as if she wanted to comfort or even hug Emma. Tears were in her eyes, tears of joy, and I realized what Emma had probably done for her. All her life, they would not be allowed to speak of the king, and now, with Emma’s help, she found a way.

  “Emma, that was super brave what you just did, and I don’t think it’s something Shaya will ever forget.” Shaya clapped at my words in excitement and I wondered how old she was. She looked mature, but how could I even begin to guess her age?

  “Emma, sit next to the shack and let us get you back home,” I said.

  “Can I have my bat back, please?” Emma asked, and I handed the bat to her and she leaned on it like a cane.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, get back to it. Sounds like we’ve got one heck of a fight coming our way,” Emma said.
“I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

  I paused for a second, and then call out the orders. “Let’s pull anchor, get the sails opened, and head back to the island as fast as we can go.”

  Chapter 28

  We got back to our island and rushed to prepare for this invading force.

  Emma was back to helping, but at about fifty percent, at best. I had a million more questions for Shaya, but there was no way to get them without hurting her or Emma.

  From charades, nods, and shakes, we gathered there could be a dozen of the watchers coming but even these interactions put Shaya through a lot of pain. The good thing was that they had knives and spears, but didn’t have bows or firearms. They were as primitive as or more so than us.

  “If the shit starts going bad, we have two fallback points,” I said, pointing at the circle in the sand representing our island. “We’ve taken the life raft to the back side of the island and the main one on this side. These are last resorts because when we’re on the water, we’ll be on their grounds. The two fallback spots on the island are the house and the cave under the waterfall.”

  “Please, these things won’t even get out of the water,” Aubrey said. “Look at us, we’re a bunch of badasses.”

  “Badass or not, things can go unexpected, plans can fall apart and I’m not willing to lose any of you because we weren’t prepared,” I said. “Eliza, what are you feeling on this?”

  Eliza looked at my sand drawing and then up to me. “I feel as if we are missing something important here, but I don’t see what.”

  “Are we going to make it through this?” I asked.

  “I think we will, but it might come at a great cost,” Eliza said.

  “Jack, maybe we should consider leaving,” Sherri said.

  “No, we need to face them here,” I said. “If we run now, we’ll not only throw away everything we’ve created here, but we’ll have to fight them down the road.”

  “Yeah,” Cass said. “But they said we weren’t ready for this. I’m still learning my powers, but I feel that with time, I can do something spectacular with them. Sometimes I feel as if I can actually lift metal.”