Partials

“I don’t exactly want to travel through enemy territory, though,” said Kira. “We won’t be able to hide, thanks to your link—as soon as they get close, they’ll know exactly where you are.”

“Also true.” Samm nodded.

“We’ve still got gas,” said Jayden, checking the engine. “That means the problem’s with the motor itself.”

“Then let’s find a new boat,” said Kira. “The longer we can go before walking, the better. Our nine-mile run last night almost killed us.”

They rowed through the harbor, searching for a boat they could handle, and finally found one docked on the side of a much larger yacht—a lifeboat, maybe, or a backup designed for emergencies. Samm climbed aboard, peeled off the cracking canvas cover, and fired up the motor. It started on the fourth try and purred much more evenly than their first boat. He and Marcus and Jayden managed to unhook it from the yacht and dump it into the water, and then the five travelers transferred their gear from one boat to the next. It was much smaller—a rowboat with a motor, not the fancy motorboat they’d been riding in thus far—but it held them, and the engine worked, and Marcus steered them back out of the harbor and north toward D Company.

“Farther out from the shore,” said Samm. Marcus steered away from land, deeper into the sound, and Samm watched the shore with nervous eyes. “Farther.”

“Too much farther and we can’t see the shore at all anymore,” said Marcus. “We’ll get lost again.”

“I can see the shore just fine,” said Samm. “Which means anyone on the shore can see us. Go farther.”

Marcus frowned and glanced at Kira, but steered farther out into the water. The mainland was a distant line on the horizon now, barely even visible. Samm watched it intently, giving Marcus minor course corrections when necessary. Kira and Xochi and Jayden lay in the bow, draped uncomfortably over the fiberglass benches, trying to get some sleep.

It was Marcus who first spotted the storm.

“How long have we been out here?” he asked, his hand still guiding the rudder. “Is the sky supposed to be that dark this early in the morning?”

“Wind’s picked up as well,” said Samm. “It’s cooler than it was a few minutes ago.”

“I’ve seen a few of these sound storms from the shore,” said Jayden, sitting up. He looked worried. “They get pretty heavy out here, or at least it always looks that way.”

“I’ll turn toward shore,” said Marcus, but Samm stopped him.

“We’re passing rebel territory right now,” he said, looking at the map and then peering back out to the north. “It’s not safe.”

“Have you seen the sky?” asked Marcus, pointing to the thick gray clouds. “That’s not exactly safe either.”

“This boat barely fits us,” said Kira. The water was choppy now, bucking the boat gently as they plowed forward through the waves. “If it gets too rough out here, we’ll flip right over.”

“We can’t go in,” Samm insisted. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Then everybody hold on,” said Marcus. “This is about to get a lot more exciting than we’d planned for.”

The storm raced toward them, and they to it; Kira felt fat drops of rain on her face, mingling with the salty spray of the sea. They pulled out their blankets and cowered under them for shelter, but the rain seemed to be coming almost horizontally with the wind. The sky grew dark above them, an eerie half-light, and the small boat started rolling with the waves.

“I’m going closer to shore,” said Marcus, turning the rudder before Samm could protest. “It’s impossible to see in this storm anyway—no one’s going to spot us.”

The storm grew worse, the drops giving way to thin, slashing knives of rain. Kira gripped the side of the boat tightly, holding on to Xochi with her other hand, certain that each new wave would be the one to dump them over the side. She was soaked to the bone. It was nearly as dark now as it had been last night.

“Get us closer to shore,” she shouted to Marcus, grabbing Xochi’s arm even tighter as another wave lurched the ship up and sideways.

“I’m going straight toward it already,” shouted Marcus. “Or at least I was last time I could see it. I’m just afraid the ocean’s trying to turn us around.”

“We’re too heavy,” shouted Jayden. “We have to lighten the load.”