Coincidence - Alan May [89]
Anika shrugged and shook her head.
“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find the words to thank him; I just turned around and walked away.”
Sharon’s eyes grew wide.
“You mean to tell me you were going to say ‘thank you’ to the head bad guy?”
“Really, Anika,” Dave said. “Don’t you think that’s carrying our famed Canadian politeness a bit too far?”
40
Moving at just under one knot, with the Inspiration in tow, the Serendipity’s progress toward the small harbor at Hanga Roa was barely perceptible.
Captain Ritchie scanned the water, looking for a good place for the Inspiration to drop anchor. As luck would have it, no docks had been available, but they would need to be as close as possible to town to pick up the parts required to make the repairs.
The cutter inched its way to a suitable spot just outside the docking area.
As soon as Captain Marzynski had given the order to drop anchor and cast free the towline, the Serendipity turned and, gradually picking up speed, headed out of the harbor. Captain Ritchie wanted to avoid any chance of getting entangled in a jurisdictional dispute with the Chilean authorities on the island. The sooner the ship got back to international waters, the better, as far as he was concerned.
With what seemed like startling suddenness after their long, drawn-out ordeal, there they were, safely in the lee of Easter Island, the Serendipity rapidly disappearing from view, spiriting the hijackers out of their lives and on to whatever justice awaited them once they got to San Diego. It was all over. It was almost more than anyone on the Inspiration could take in.
Anchorage off Hanga Roa could be rough. Except for a small shallow basin, used by fishing boats, it was largely unprotected and subject to unpredictable swells. The port captain required that any boat anchored in the harbor have someone onboard at all times.
This suited Captain Marzynski just fine. Edward Flynn would be on his way out to the Inspiration in a rented boat with the new injectors as soon as he could make the arrangements, and Luke wanted to get started on the repairs immediately. He, along with the second mate, Henry, and the two engineers, Matt and Sam, would remain onboard; they would very likely have the engine up and running again before the afternoon was over.
He knew the hydraulic parts were waiting for them on the dock, and the electronic equipment was due to arrive on tomorrow morning’s flight from Santiago. Chances were good that they could manage all of the repairs themselves; if not, even though the island had no repair facilities, the government did have a small maintenance shop and no doubt would help them out in an emergency. And there were a few local mechanics they could call on as well if necessary.
If all went well, they could just have everything ready for the Lloyd’s inspection in four days.
The rest of the staff and the Floaties were free to go ashore. The kids especially were champing at the bit to get off the ship and explore—and to call their parents.
As soon as customs and immigration had cleared them, Mac lowered the Zodiac into the water and began ferrying the Floaties, about ten at a time—Pierre’s cabin was in the first group—to shore. How many times now, Mac wondered, had he been to this most remote spot in the world? Och, he’d lost count by now.
He never tired of the place, though. Despite its subtropical climate, there was something about Easter Island that always put him in mind of the islands off the north coast of Scotland. They had the same rocky, treeless, windswept landscape; the same sudden changes in the weather, which could go with scant warning from misty drizzle to brilliant sun to driving rain; the same play of light and shadow against barren cliffs.
And even the Moai, those great mysterious stone statues, were they not, when one came right