Hail Warning

Sulu Sea — Aboard the Hail Nucleus

Hail knocked on Kara Ramey’s stateroom door. She answered wearing a tight sleeveless T-shirt and yoga pants. In her right hand, she held the latest Dean Koontz novel.

“Reading a little?” Hail asked.

“Yeah,” Kara said. For some weird reason, she felt guilty.

“I didn’t know people read anymore. At least the kids on the ship would rather have a sharp needle stuck into their eyes before they read a book.”

“That’s weird, isn’t it?” Kara asked not knowing much about teenagers.

Hail chuckled and said, “It’s either, I’ll wait for the movie, or Is there an audiobook? I can’t tell you the last time I saw anyone under the age of twenty actually reading a book — in print or electronic form.”

“I like reading,” Kara said, allowing Hail to remain standing awkwardly in her doorway.

“Did you want to come in?” she asked.

“No, I wanted you to come up on the deck so I can show you something.”

Kara cocked her head to the side and asked, “Is it something cool or something stupid. Because if it is something stupid, then I’d just as soon go back to reading.”

“I think it’s cool,” Hail responded, sounding as if she had hurt his feelings.

“Yeah, but sometimes you think something is cool, and I think it is stupid.”

“Name one thing,” Hail said defensively.

Kara didn’t hesitate for even a second before saying, “Remember when you interrupted me and Nolan during my mixed martial arts training to drag me down to the galley just to show me that the ICEE machine had overflowed onto the floor?”

“Are you kidding me?” Hail shot back incredulously. “It had run for more than eighteen hours and dumped like three inches of grape ICEE all over the floor. Now that was interesting.”

Kara put her hand up to her mouth to cover a fake yawn.

Hail stood and waited for Kara’s rebuttal.

Instead, she said, “This better be good.”

“It’s cool, really,” Hail assured her.

Kara turned and walked back into her stateroom, looking for some quick footwear to wear.

“I’ll be the judge of whether it’s cool or not,” Kara said.

A minute later, Kara emerged from her bedroom with her red hair combed, and she had donned sandals. Hail wished he felt as fresh as she looked. Instead, he always felt worn out and a little depressed.

It was as if he was climbing a steep hill. If only he could make it over the top, everything would be all right. But after he reached each plateau or accomplishment, he felt euphoric for a few days. But then it was back to the climb. Again, he felt blue and defeated. Life was for the living. There were many things he was not, but living happened to be one of those things. If he still consumed air, water and food, he might do something he considered positive.

Hail walked into the hall, and Kara closed the door to her stateroom behind her.

“What’s this cool thing you want to show me?” she asked. “No, no, let me guess — one of the nuclear containment vessels broke open on the deck. Now the seagulls are green AND they can lift the ship’s anchor.”

“Wait until we get on deck,” Hail said. “And they are not green, just greenish.”

“Really, you want to play that game?” she said with a groan. “You stole me away from Dean Koontz. Just think how Dean would feel.”

“It’s worth the time and the walk,” Hail told her. “I promise you.”

They walked towards the stairway that led to the upper decks. While they were walking, Kara asked, “Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“Yep,” Hail said without elaboration.

“Did you and your lab engineers get the drones programmed, charged and ready to fly?”

“Yep,” Hail said again.

“Do you have the card table and the two chairs?”

“Yes, and I even have a cowboy hat. I thought it would add a little panache to the meeting.”

“How are you getting the gear on site?” Kara asked.

“Flying it in on a Hail cargo plane, and then I will chopper it to the location.”

“Do you have business assets in that region?”

“I’ve got Batman.”

“Batman?” Kara asked. “Wow, you do have a high opinion of yourself.”

Now they were climbing stairs and Hail was getting winded.

Hail laughed and panted, telling Kara, “Batman, as in a city in Turkey.”

Kara laughed, “You have got to be kidding me. There is a city in Turkey named Batman?”

“Of course, it’s right above the city of Robin. It’s in the Gotham district.”

Kara laughed. “Now I know you’re lying.”

“Ah, well just a little, but there really is a city named Batman and it’s pretty big. Close to a half-million people. It also has an airport and a long runway. We’re installing a traveling wave reactor in the city of Batman, so flights in and out by my company planes are not uncommon.”

“Do you have any concerns flying that far over that many radical countries?”

“Not really. We’ll fly over Armenia and Azerbaijan and then the Caspian Sea. The longest country is Turkmenistan, but it’s not like they have radar installations to protect their country. Hell, there is hardly anything in Turkmenistan that requires protection. Most of it is covered by the Karakum Desert. It should be clear flying all the way to Termez. There are no hostiles anticipated.”

Hail opened a thick bulkhead door that led onto the deck of the Hail Nucleus. The day was free of clouds. Both Kara and Hail squinted their eyes from the sun reflecting off the white surfaces of the nuclear containment vessels, stacked like massive logs on the deck. Hailed walked over to the starboard railing. Kara followed, putting her hand up to her forehead like a salute, using it as an improvised visor.

Hail stopped at the railing and waited for Kara to walk beside him.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, pointing out into the far distance. Still shielding her eyes with her hand, Kara looked in the direction Hail was pointing. About a quarter mile away was an island. It was pleasant to look at, as islands go. It had a wide expanse of beach that fronted thick green vegetation.

“OK, it’s an island,” Kara said.

“It’s my island,” Hail told her like a proud father.

“Check this out,” Hail said, leaving her at the railing. He began walking toward the portside of the ship, threading his way between a row that divided the shipping containers. Kara followed.

On the other side of the ship, Hail again pointed out at the water. Even before Kara had reached the railing, she saw another island.

“That’s mine, too,” Hail said with a big smile on his face. “They are known as the Golod Islands. Of course, I will officially change the name.”

“Don’t tell me — let me guess,” Kara said. “Hail Islands, right?”

“Nope, wrong. Well, they will be known as the Hail Islands because they belong to me. But one island, the smaller one is Tabitha Island. The other one is Courtney Island.”

Kara knew a lot about Marshall Hail and recognized the names of his deceased daughters who had lost their lives because of The Five.

Hail was smiling as he pointed towards the island, but there was a sadness in his eyes. It was like he was pointing at something real, yet he couldn’t touch it. Kara didn’t know if it was healthy for Marshall to name the islands after his daughters. After all, how could you have fun on an island named after your little girl who died in a senseless tragedy? But Kara didn’t have kids, so maybe she was missing something.

“Very nice islands, Marshall,” she told him. She waited a moment before asking, “Is there any particular reason why you bought two islands?”

“Sure, I got a better deal than if I had just purchased one.”

Kara gave him a look of exasperation and said, “No, I mean, why do you need any islands at all?”

Hail looked at Kara, truly mystified, and said, “Who wouldn’t want an island, let alone want two of them within a mile of each other?”

Kara understood she was getting nowhere with Hail, who was playing his typical word games, but she tried one last time.

“Do you have any plans for your two new islands?”

“Yeah, I have an idea, and I wanted your opinion.”

“OK,” Kara said, waiting for Hail to elaborate.

“Do you want to take a little ride over to the islands on the launch and check them out?”

“That would be fun, but I really need to focus on tomorrow’s mission today. I need to think it all out. There are a lot of things that could go wrong, and I need to decide the best plan of action to make things go right.”

“But you were just reading,” Hail said.

Kara replied, “It’s my method of relaxing, and when I relax, things pop into my head that I hadn’t thought about before.”

“Please?” Hail asked with a puppy dog expression on his face.

Kara paused for a beat and then added, “Plus, I’m not really happy being with Kornev.” She pronounced being with like they were derogatory words.

Hail looked serious and didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.

“Doesn’t that bother you, Marshall? Me going to see Kornev, possibly having to stay with him?” The word stay was the nasty syllable this time.

“You won’t have to stay with him,” Hail told her. “Just go along for the ride, and then when it’s over, you tell that scumbag you are freaked out and want to leave. Then catch the first plane out of Termez.”

Kara gave a little uncomfortable laugh. “It doesn’t always work that way, Marshall. Trust me, I know. Guys like Kornev are accustomed to getting things their way. Once I go to him, then it will be up to Kornev when I leave.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Hail told her.

Kara laughed again. This time, it was the laugh someone elicited when they thought the other person was clueless. “And what are you going to do, Marshall? Walk in with your guns blazing and rescue me?”

Hail didn’t think it was all that funny.

In a serious tone, he said, “I could get you out.”

“What happens if I don’t want to get out? You need to remember that this is part of my job. Staying close to scumbags like Kornev yields a lot more intelligence than observing him from a distance.”

Hail didn’t have an answer for that, but it was apparent to Kara that Hail had developed a soft spot for her in his calloused heart, and that made her feel warm inside.

“It’s what I signed up for,” Kara added softly.

“But I don’t want you doing — doing—” Hail let his words trail off.

“Believe me. It’s not much fun for me either, but it is what it is. And to tell you the truth, I’m a little nervous about it. Aren’t you?”

“Not really,” Hail said. “My engineers have my back, and you will be there. You’re tough, right?”

“Yeah, right,” Kara said sarcastically. “All the bad guys tremble with fear when I walk into a room.”

Hail laughed. “Well, they shake with something. But I don’t think it’s fear.”

“Oh, aren’t you sweet,” Kara said, reaching over to cup Hail’s chin. She then gave his face a little squeeze. Kara considered giving him a little kiss, something they had done in the past, but they had decided to take things slow. And to Kara, this didn’t seem like the right time for intimacy. Instead, she made Hail happy by telling him that his islands were beautiful.

Hail said, “Let’s go see an island. I want to show you something and get your opinion. We won’t be long, I promise. I’ve already had a picnic lunch prepared for us, but I’ve got a jujitsu lesson later today. Best to eat now before Nolan tries to squeeze my lunch out of me.”

Kara laughed and said, “OK. OK.”

“Great,” Hail said. “Follow me.”

Hail began walking toward the stairwell, and Kara fell in behind him. They went down a dozen flights before ending up at a sea-level door on the Hail Nucleus, that had already been opened. Sitting in the water, next to the side of the ship, was a small boat that was used to take crew members back-and-forth between land and their cargo ship. One of Hail’s crew members assisted Hail and Kara into the small boat.