Coincidence - Alan May [48]
“Yes, I have already asked for a course change. How long is the Inspiration?”
“One hundred and eighty-eight feet.”
“Okay. We are six hundred feet long, so I would propose you approach us on our starboard side. I’ll slow down to three knots and you can come about and run on our lee side about three hundred feet away. I’ll need to keep three knots on to maintain steerage.”
“We have a fifteen-foot hard-bottom Zodiac that we can easily launch. We’ll transfer to your vessel on your starboard side.”
“We will lower a pilot ladder.”
“I will bring what I need to treat a spontaneous pneumothorax. Have you any anesthetics?”
“Only topical. We have sterilization equipment, an administration kit, and a catheterization kit.”
“Captain, have the cath kit and administration kit ready but don’t open them. I should be onboard the Great Princess in two and a half to three hours.”
“Roger.”
17
Phillip sat listening to the radiophone in the engine room of the Coincidence, not quite thirty miles southeast of the Great Princess.
He waited until the Great Princess had left the area, then waited an hour longer for good measure. He had not told Stefano his plan. He and Juan had agreed it was best not to. The guy was probably too far gone to understand, anyway, he told himself. And if this didn’t work out, well … Best not to tell Stefano.
He picked up the radio mike.
“Inspiration, Inspiration, this is the Coincidence, over.”
A few moments later Matt, the Inspiration’s first engineer, turned to Sam, the second engineer.
“Can you believe this?” he said. “We’ve got another medical emergency call. I don’t remember this ever happening before, and now two on the same day. Some guy on a boat called the Coincidence. See if you can scare up Dr. Williams again, will you?”
In less than a minute, Elliott Williams was on the radio. Phillip described Stefano’s wound as a “puncture wound,” and was careful not to mention that it had come from a gunshot.
“It sounds badly infected all right,” Dr. Williams said. “He’ll need antibiotics right away. Have you any onboard?”
Would I be risking everything by calling you up if we did, ass-hole? Phillip thought.
“No,” he said.
“How far away are you?”
“We’re about an hour away if we alter course. We have you on our radar. How should we approach?”
“Captain Marzynski will change course and head in your direction. Not much wave action today, but it’s still not a good idea to come alongside. Why don’t you approach on our port side about a hundred feet off and stop in our lee? Is the patient transportable?”
Phillip hesitated. He sure as hell didn’t want anyone boarding the Coincidence. Much too risky.
“We believe we can transport him, so we’ll bring him to you,” he said finally. “I’m not sure how we can get him aboard your vessel, though. Do you have a stretcher that can be lifted aboard?”
“Sounds like I’d better make another house call,” Dr. Williams responded. “I’ll come to you in our Zodiac.”
Within an hour the boats were stopped one hundred feet apart from each other. Phillip told the others to stay out of sight while he dealt with the doctor. Juan didn’t like the way the little cabrón was taking charge, but he had to admit Phillip would make the most respectable-looking front man, so he let it go.
Dr. Williams boarded the Zodiac and, as before, two members of the Inspiration crew took him over. They stayed in the dinghy while the doctor climbed aboard with his bag.
Dr. Williams was alarmed at Stefano’s appearance. His face was a pasty gray, he was soaked with sweat, foul-smelling pus was leaking through the bandages, and he was thrashing from side to side in delirium.
“What happened?” he asked as he began to remove the dressings. He noted the swelling, the shiny, hot flesh, and the red streaks surrounding the wound.
Phillip chose his words carefully.
“Just before we left port, something hit Stefano in the leg. We have no idea what it was. It didn’t bleed much and he was