Glottis went below and I said, “Understood. Glottis is on his way. Help him get the pumps working and then look for any additional leaks.”
While Glottis and Preston worked, I plotted a course and turned the Lola toward the general location of the Pearl. The ship started to list further and further to starboard. I had a tense twenty minutes before Glottis reported that the pumps were working. We stabilized a little, but never lost that list.
The Pearl
Eventually Preston came to the bridge to make his report. “Sir,” he said, “I’ve made an inspection of the rest of the hull. There aren’t any other leaks that I can find.”
“Good man,” I said, double-checking our heading.
Preston scanned the horizon and said, “Uh, sir,” he hesitated, “I can’t see land.”
“That’s right, sailor. We’re headed for the Pearl.”
“The Pearl!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Sir, with all due respect, we need to get back to port. That blast overstressed the hull. That’s why we’re taking on water. Going into deeper water with heavier swells isn’t going to help us any.”
“We won’t be heading back to port any time soon, sailor,” I said. “The Pearl is where we need to be.”
“Sir,” Preston said, trying to sound calm and reasonable, “that expansion joint is cracking apart. It’s only going to get worse. It won’t be long before the ship splits in two. Remember the Titanic.”
I looked at him steadily a moment before saying anything, recognizing that Preston had been on that ship. “The Lola doesn’t matter any more,” I said, hating the words. “Getting to the Pearl does.”
Preston hesitated before speaking again. “Sir… I saw the rest of the crew… I understand. But that’s no reason—”
“No, you don’t understand,” I countered hotly. “I’m not out of my mind with guilt, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t want to sink the ship, but it’s vital we get to the Pearl. Hector’s goons are still in Zapato, so there’s no reason to turn back.”
“Who’s Hector?” he asked, baffled. “And what’s at the Pearl?”
“Hector’s a long story. Let’s just say that everything that happened today was aimed straight at me. They used Meche to lure me to Zapato, but Meche is supposed to have gone overboard at the Pearl. I don’t know what that means, either, but I have to check it out.”
Preston didn’t respond right away. Then, apparently deciding on a new tactic, he said, “The company’s going to take a hell of a beating if the Lola goes down with her cargo.”
“I know, son, but I stopped working for the line when those DOD coccyx-lickers boarded us.”
“DOD?” Preston exclaimed, stunned. “Then who do you work for?” he asked slowly.
“The Lost Souls’ Alliance.” Preston took a step backwards. “Don’t worry. We’re not terrorists.”
“What about Rubacava?” he asked pointedly.
I shook my head. “That was a simple labor dispute,” I said. “If it got way out of hand, it was only because of how corrupt the maritime union is.” At least, I assumed it wasn’t anything Alexi had intended. “The only thing the LSA is concerned with is clearing out the corruption in the Department of Death. I know that goes against everything you’ve heard, but you can’t go around believing everything you hear. I’m in a better position to know. Here,” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crumpled message I got from the pigeon, “check this.” Preston smoothed out the paper and read it. “Now, that’s Salvador Limones’ handwriting. I got that right after the ‘customs officials’ boarded the ship. Just a few minutes earlier…” I shrugged helplessly.
“So, they weren’t LSA terrorists after all.”
“No. The truth was too complicated, but it got everyone motivated.”
“And sprouted.”
Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. “I know it. First Lola…” I trailed off in a sigh.
“So now what?” Preston asked. “Sir,” he remembered to add.
I shrugged. “Now I go to the Pearl. Try to pick up Meche’s trail.”
“And then?”
“Then I try to save her,” I answered. “And maybe that’ll save us all.”
It was well into evening, and I thought we must be getting near the Pearl. Nobody really knew whether it existed, so it wasn’t on the charts, but sailor lore had a rough idea of the location. I had Preston scanning the sea for the light of the Pearl while Glottis worked in the engine room, trying to keep us afloat. I don’t think Preston fully believed what I had told him, but he seemed resigned to the situation. It’s not as if he could have convinced Glottis to mutiny.
We were listing badly by then, and were riding pretty low in the water. The pumps couldn’t keep up any more and, making matters worse, heavy swells were breaking over the bow and spilling into the hold. We would have done better if we could have gotten rid of the cargo, but we didn’t have that luxury. The only one who could be spared from what he was doing was Preston, and there was nothing he could have done alone. Unloading needed more than three.
It was getting dark when Glottis came to the bridge. “Hey, I need you below,” I said.
“Sorry, Cap, but you haven’t heard how the hull is groaning, and I don’t want to be trapped down there when she goes.”
I wouldn’t have wanted that, either. “OK, carnal,” I said. “I guess you’ve done all you can.”
“Captain…” Preston said, handing me the binoculars and pointing.
I looked and thought I saw a glow in the ocean ahead. “A little farther…” I said, just as the Lola came apart in a deafening screech of tearing metal. She went down pretty fast.
I trailed the aft section as it went down. Glottis was beside me. I lost sight of Preston after the first few fathoms. After a long time, I don’t know how long, the aft section hit the seabed and a huge cloud of sediment erupted around it. Glottis and I settled down near the hulk. There was no sign of the forward section nor of Preston. I never saw him again.
By some miracle the generators must’ve been inside an air pocket because the Lola’s running lights were still on, casting a feeble glow around the wreck of the aft section. I picked myself up and tried to take stock of the situation. Glottis was next to me on his hands and knees, making retching noises.
“Manny!” he got out. “Choking!”
“¡Mira!” I said. “Snap out of it, sailor!”
The demon got to his feet and said in a peevish tone, “Easy for you to say. You don’t have lungs.”
“You lived without your heart once,” I pointed out, “so you can do without air for a little while.”
“I’m a spirit of the land, Manny,” he countered, “not of the sea!”
“Well, just hang on while I try to figure out what we’re gonna do.”
I looked up at the wreck of the Lola and was suddenly seized with an overwhelming black feeling. “Oh, Lola,” I said thickly, “looks like I let you down again.”
“I told you that name was bad luck,” Glottis said.
“Hey!” I snapped.
“Sorry,” he said, but he had a wicked grin on his face. Yeah, the demon knew what he was doing. That tactless remark got me back on even keel.