Trey, Vish, Jaideep, Eevi, Alexander, Jed, Sandy, and Edgar were strapped into their various stations on the bridge, eyes glued to the cracked porthole windows letting in cascades of rain.
She turned back to her monitor. While she scanned the data and looked for a break in the storm, another voice called out.
“What’s that?” Edgar said.
Glancing up, she scanned the swells. A flash of lightning illuminated a wall of water.
Not a wall. A mountain.
“Dear God,” Katrina whispered as the wave grew in height.
It had to be near sixty feet tall.
She took the ship off autopilot and made her way over to the controls two stations over. The warship didn’t have an oak steering wheel like the Hive’s, and she was glad for that at least. She hated that bulky thing and much preferred the cruiser’s smaller black control sticks.
“Hold on,” she ordered as she strapped herself in. “This is going to get pretty rocky.”
Working the controls, she turned the ship as fast as it would move to meet the wave head-on. If they could avoid being hit from the side and ride over it, they might have a…
Shit, we’re not going to make it.
There wasn’t enough time to orient the vessel to the wave. The colossal wall towered over them, and Katrina watched in horror as the crest began to descend on the ship.
She continued turning and managed to get them in a slightly better position. Several screams rang out across the bridge as the wave lifted the fifty-thousand-ton warship like a toy. The bow climbed at a dizzying pitch. Water sprayed the cracked windows; blocking her view of the crest the engines were powering them toward.
And then they were falling fast, like an airborne Siren on the attack.
She wasn’t sure what happened next, but the USS Zion managed to stay upright when they went over the backside of the wave. The angle, though… It didn’t feel right…
Katrina felt her stomach float upward inside her. Then the bow slammed into the trough of the next wave, the already cracked windows shattering from the force. Water flooded the bridge, and warning sensors and screams rang out on all sides.
She felt the sting of saltwater in her eyes, but the harness held her where she sat. Shielding her face from the spray, she looked out through the gap where the windows had been, expecting to see another monster wave about to swallow the vessel whole, like a whale sucking in a shoal of fish.
In the intermittent lightning bursts, she could see something out there. Not a rogue wave and not a sea monster—a landmass.
She steered the ship toward the island. Rain beat the inside of the now windowless bridge, adding to the inches of seawater sloshing on the deck. She tapped the monitor and closed the windows’ steel hatches to protect the equipment. The shutters lowered, cutting off her view of the island.
She didn’t know where they were, but it definitely wasn’t the Metal Islands. There was no sign of the sun, only storm clouds.
A grinding and vibration shook the deck below her boots, and the lights flickered. Her eyes flitted to the monitor, her heart quickening when she realized the source of the noise.
The ancient ship had taken too many hits, and now, finally, the lights were about to go out on the USS Zion. Power levels dropped rapidly as monitors flickered on and off. A grinding noise echoed through the bridge.
They were close to the lee shore now, and the storm waves were much smaller. Katrina unbuckled her harness and checked in with her crew.
“Is everyone okay?” she asked.
Several voices responded, barely intelligible over the click click of the shutters in the wind.
“Jaideep… He’s hurt bad,” someone said.
Katrina crossed the space, boots slapping in standing water, to find the young diver slumped in his chair beside his brother. Vish unbuckled his harness and went to do the same for Jaideep, but Katrina stopped him.
“No, don’t move him,” she said. “Might make things worse.”
Vish looked up at her, fear in his eyes.
The other divers all circled around, and Katrina gave them orders one at a time.
“Jed, Sandy, give me a sitrep on all critical systems. Edgar, try and figure out where the hell we are. Trey and Alexander, gear up. I want you on patrol just in case that island is inhabited. Vish, Eevi, you help me with Jaideep here.”
As the others went off on their appointed tasks, Katrina leaned back down to Jaideep. He had a bad gash on his forehead from hitting the bulkhead. Blood flowed freely from the nasty wound, but a touch to his neck confirmed he had a pulse. He was breathing, too.
Her main concern was a broken back or, heaven forbid, a broken neck. Especially after seeing that head wound. Despite the risk, they had to move him.
“Help me with him,” she said to Vish and Eevi.
The three of them gently moved him onto the table where they had eaten earlier.
Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the steel shutters, and the ship continued to groan and shake as they pushed through the waves. The power levels were holding for now.
A crackling noise came over the comm station.
“Is someone trying to hail us?” Edgar said.
“We’ll take care of Jaideep,” Eevi said. “Go check that radio.”
Katrina gave Eevi a nod and stepped carefully over to where Edgar sat. The water had drained through the scuppers, but the deck was still slick. She picked up the handset and hit the call button.
“USS Zion, this is Lieutenant Les Mitchells of Deliverance. Does anyone copy, over?”
Katrina almost smiled when she heard her XO’s concerned voice. Finally, they were having some luck.
“Dad!” Trey said, rushing over.
“Copy, LT, this is Captain DaVita,” Katrina said into the receiver. “What’s your status?”
“Damn good to hear your voice, Captain,” Les replied. “We docked with the Hive two days ago and have been awaiting orders.” There was a short pause. “What is your situation, Captain?”
The lights flickered again, and several monitors blinked out.
“Not good,” Katrina said. “We’ve broken through a storm and sustained some damage.”
“What’s your location?”
“I’m… not sure,” Katrina said.
“Have you taken on water?”
“Not much, but we’re not sure how bad the damage is yet. We’re working on reports.”
There was a pause, then the crackle of static.
“No, no, no,” Katrina said as the radio fluttered.
The power held, and she quickly sent another message.
“How are the airships? How’s recruitment going for that fighting force I requested?”
Another pause.
“Les, do you copy?”
“The ships are okay, but rumors are causing a problem,” he replied. “Talk of the Metal Islands has spread like wildfire. I’m working with Sergeant Sloan to recruit your fighting force from the militia, but there aren’t enough soldiers, and I don’t feel right about recruiting from the passengers until we tell everyone the truth about the Cazadores.”
Katrina had feared this all along, but the idea of telling everyone had her on edge. Doing so could create panic. But it sounded as though they didn’t have a choice.
“You should also know, we sent a recommendation to Samson for reactivating Timothy Pepper on the Hive.”
“What!” Katrina barked. “On what grounds?”
“We needed his help, and after learning that his counterpart helped X and Mags reach the Metal Islands, we think we can trust him.”
“I’ll leave it up to Samson, then,” she said.
“Roger. So, what do you want me to do about the fighting force?” Les asked.