Gale Force

74

By morning, the Lion’s list had dropped to thirty-eight degrees. McKenna climbed the ropes down to Ridley and Jason Parent, found the engineer asleep and Jason awake, flipping through some kind of cheesy romance novel.

“My dad packed it in,” the deckhand said, shrugging. “I wish he’d chucked in a Car and Driver or something.”

“Matt and Stacey got an adventure story,” McKenna told him. “You give it here, I can see if they’ll trade.”

Jason looked at McKenna’s outstretched hand, then back at the book. The kid was blushing a little. “It’s just, I’m kind of invested by now. The characters, you know?”

McKenna laughed. “Suit yourself. Everything okay otherwise?”

“Perfect. Except Ridley snores like a diesel engine.”

“Good to hear,” McKenna said. “It’ll keep you awake.”

She made her way along deck one to Matt and Stacey’s nest, made sure the Jonases and their pump were in working order.

“Everything’s fine, but we’re almost out of fuel,” Stacey reported. “How’s the rest of the crew?”

“Jason’s feeling romantic, and Ridley’s fast asleep,” McKenna replied. “And Al’s singing Waylon Jennings to Jason’s little boy.”

Matt laughed. “Don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys?”

“Surprisingly, no. But I bet if you requested it, he’d be glad to oblige.”

“How are you, McKenna?” Stacey asked. “Did you get any sleep?”

“I’m fine,” she said, set to brush off the question. Then she met Stacey’s eyes. “Sent Court back to the tug for some bunk time last night, so that kind of eased the tension a little bit.”

Matt and Stacey both nodded like they knew exactly what she was talking about. “He’s still Court,” Stacey said. “That’s for sure.”

“Still a genius,” Matt agreed. “And still a little boy.”

“And still my ex-boyfriend, or not even,” McKenna said. “Ridley thinks I’m being extra hard on Court because I still hold a grudge.”

The Jonases swapped looks. “I mean,” Matt said. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but—”

“You guys have some stuff to work through, is all,” Stacey finished. Then she smiled brightly. “But who doesn’t, right?”

“Sure,” McKenna said. “I guess I was just hoping I wouldn’t have to work through all this stuff with a hundred-million-dollar ship on the line.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll get that fuel for you. Give me an hour or so.”

She left Matt and Stacey to tend the pump. Climbed back up topside, where the sky was still gray but getting lighter, and the clouds still whipped around the bases of the volcanoes on Umnak Island, obscuring their peaks. It still looked like a hell of a gale on the south side of the island, and from what McKenna had picked up from the weather forecast, the storm wasn’t set to die yet. Another couple of days of a real solid blow, at the very least. She looked up at the racing clouds and shivered, thankful they weren’t still out in open water.

Around eight in the morning, the Coast Guard helicopter returned, bringing fuel for the pumps, and more food, and Court Harrington.

“Brought you a case of Red Bull, too,” Harrington told her. “Figured you probably didn’t get much sleep last night.”

McKenna helped him unload the rescue basket. Thought about last night’s conversation with Ridley, forced herself to meet the architect’s eyes. “You’d be right about that,” she said.

“We still okay, though? I mean, the ship’s looking better.”

“Everything’s good,” McKenna said. “No problems. Still pumping away. You okay?”

“Slept like a baby,” Harrington said, grinning. “First time in my life that old bunk felt comfortable.”

They got the basket unloaded, marshaled the supplies on the deck. “You know, you could head back to the tug for a little bit,” Harrington said. “Get a little rest yourself. It’s going to take another day or so for the ship to level out.”

McKenna finally looked at him. A good night’s sleep had done Harrington well, put some color on his face; he looked refreshed and energized and ready to work. And you look like you spent another sleepless night on a smelly old shipwreck.

“I have these supplies to distribute,” she told Harrington. “Pumps to refuel, food to pass out. Those guys down below could probably use some fresh air.”

“They can help me haul down the food,” Harrington said. “I feel good today. I can spell them down there. No need for you to do everything, skipper.”

“We have a job to do,” McKenna said, picking up a fuel canister. “I’ll sleep when it’s done.”

Harrington cocked his head. “I swear, I’m not trying to give you back talk this time,” he said. “But how can you keep working? Aren’t you, like, exhausted?”

“I know you’re not, and I am exhausted,” McKenna said. She nodded to the case of energy drinks. “But that’s what those are for.”