Chapter 3: Salvage

The vessel was capsized, and he could see a gash near the keel deep below the waterline. Staring at that maw of splintered wood, he could see now why it had sunk so quickly. The storm had dragged it across the sharp rocks, pretty much tearing out the bottom. He had never seen such extensive damage to a boat before. There was no chance of getting it seaworthy again, but that didn't mean it couldn't be useful. It lay heeled almost completely over, caught on the reef.

"The tide and the storm surge must have covered it earlier," Cammy remarked.

Lance pointed to some smaller objects floating nearby, pieces of wreckage or supplies from the yacht. "Let's go collect those," he said. "They might be useful. And I want to see if I can retrieve anything from the boat while the tide is low. Come on."

The three of them hurried down the beach to the liferaft. They climbed in, and Lance took the oars. Luckily, Cammy had not untied the securing lines for the oars in order to fit them into the rubber rings in an attempt to row, so the oars had remained secured to the liferaft.

It took a little effort to get out past the breakers, but soon they pulled up alongside the broken hull of the Siren's Song. Lance pointed to some large pieces of the sail floating nearby. "You two see if you can gather those up," he told them. "If we dry out that sail cloth, it will help to make a good shelter."

"Where are you going?" Autumn asked.

He grinned and pointed down to the submerged yacht.

"You're not serious?" she said, stunned. "But ... what if you get trapped inside?"

"I'm a pretty fair free diver," he replied. "I can hold my breath for about five minutes. Besides, I'm not going to go exploring; I'm going after something in particular, and I know exactly where it is. I'll be down there two, maybe three minutes tops."

"You be careful," Cammy told him.

"I will," he nodded. "Don't worry; at the first sign of danger or if I decide I can't find my way without getting lost, I'll come right back out."

Autumn stared at him and looked like she was going to say something, but she kept her silence. It was obvious that she didn't like the idea of him going down there. Of course, he didn't like the idea either; free diving was always a little risky, especially without a direct path to the surface and someone there with you to drag you out of the water if needed. Cammy knew CPR, but it would do him no good if he got trapped inside the wreck. No, he had to operate completely under his own power.

Lance took a few quick hyperventilating breaths, ignoring the slightly dizzying euphoria that came with them, then took one deep breath and slipped over the side of the raft into the water. He took only a couple of seconds to orient himself, then grasped the nearby gunwale of the yacht and used it to navigate toward the dark opening to the interior.

As he passed into the darkness, he wished he had his diving watch. Not only could he use it to tell him how long he had been under, but it also had a luminous face, making it easy to read and providing a little more light. But he had lost it either when his arm was bashed against the companionway railing last night, or later after being washed overboard.

He glanced back to make sure the opening was clearly visible. As long as he remained in the main passageway, he would be able to see his way to safety. He took note of the position; it was all too easy underwater to lose one's bearings and forget which side was up. It was important to orient oneself with a known sight.

The once-familiar confines of the boat took on a strange, alien atmosphere here under the water. Familiar sights juxtaposed with unfamiliar colors and orientation produced an uncanny effect that threatened to upset his confidence in finding his way to his goal, and he was tempted to admit defeat and return to the surface. Only the clear sight of the main hatch opening behind him gave him the courage to continue.

Fortunately, his was the aft cabin, which made his journey shorter. At the angle that the boat lay, the door would be below him. He soon found it, and pulled it open.

As he slipped down into the nearly pitch black room, he thought about how long he had been down here. Time seemed to flow strangely underwater; what seemed like only a few seconds could actually be a minute or two. He had learned not to trust his sense of time when diving. Expert free divers learned to estimate how much longer they could last by the sensations in their chest and know a minute or two ahead of time before they ran out of air. That was why they could stay under so long; they knew not to panic at the first sign of pressure in their chest. The world record was over ten minutes, but Lance wasn't quite as trained. As soon as he sensed that he would need to take a breath soon, he planned to drop what he was doing and return to safety. He figured on ten seconds to get out of the cabin even if he had to search for the opening above, then another fifteen down the passage and up to the surface. That would give him plenty of time.

He had to grope around in the darkness to find his way. He thought of what this cabin looked like in daylight, especially the tactile details that could guide him by touch. He moved toward the end of the cabin and the closet. Finally, his hand settled on the knob. He turned it, and suddenly it burst open and he was attacked by all of its contents. Clothes tangled in his arms and legs, and he had a moment of panic as visions of getting caught up in it and not being able to escape filled his thoughts. He forced himself to calm down; he was naked, so there was nothing for the coat hangers or fabric to catch on. At worst, he would suffer some scratches.

Soon enough, the items drifted down and settled on the bulkhead of the cabin, and he was free again. He thrust his hand into the closet and searched around. Eventually he found what he was looking for: a large package, vacuum-sealed in an airtight plastic cover. He took no time to check for leaks; he didn't have enough air to waste any time. Taking it by a handle at the top, he dragged it out to the cabin. It took some exertion to pull it up and out of his cabin into the main passageway, but eventually he got there. The sunlight shining through the main hatch opening was a welcome sight after the darkness of the cabin. He was starting to feel the squeezing in his chest that meant he was running out of air, so he grabbed the package and propelled himself towards the hatch opening and daylight. The bundle was too heavy to float, so as soon as he reached the entrance he left it there and swam upward. A couple of seconds later, his head broke the surface of the water and he glanced around.

Cammy and Autumn were only about ten feet away, dragging the torn pieces of sail into the liferaft. Autumn's eyes lit up with delight and relief as she spied him. Then she looked away, not wanting to appear too excited. He swam over, then reached up and rested for a minute with his arms on the edge of the raft.

"I found the survival kit," he smiled. "Even if we salvage nothing else, the trip will be worth it. Wait here."

He dove down again and grabbed the package. It was a strain, but he managed to drag it to the surface. He had weighed it before the trip, and it was about thirty pounds, so it wasn't the lightest thing to be carrying. The water made it feel much lighter, but it was still bulky and hard to drag to the surface. The girls helped him pull it into the raft, then he climbed in himself and rested there, tired after the exertion.

"You had us worried, Lance," Cammy told him. "You were down there a very long time."

"I told you it would be two or three minutes."

"Neither of us has a watch, but I was counting seconds in my head. It was closer to five minutes."

"Really?" he asked, shocked. He hadn't realized he had been down so long. Now that he thought about it, not having a watch with him wasn't the only risk he had taken. "I must really have hit my head earlier, to be so foolish," he commented. "Diving without a line to lead me back to the surface, even diving at all so soon after being unconscious. The last thing I needed was a prolonged period without air. I took a serious risk there. Well, let's just chalk my poor judgment up to fatigue so that I don't have to feel so embarrassed about making a couple of stupid mistakes like that."

"You shouldn't have said anything," Cammy grinned. "Neither Autumn nor I would have even thought anything of it if you hadn't mentioned it. I'm just glad you're back. You scared us. Autumn said she was about to go in after you."

Lance stared at his sister's friend, surprised to know that she would have risked her life to rescue him. He knew she liked him, but he had never thought of her as particularly brave. Then again, physical fears and social fears were different. One of his friends who had accompanied him to the top of Everest, for instance, could stand on the edge of a thousand foot drop and not bat an eyelid, but would freeze up and panic any time he had to do any kind of public speaking. Lance shouldn't underestimate Autumn just because she wasn't good with words.

"Thanks," he told her with a smile. "I appreciate that."

"I didn't mean anything by it," she blurted out. "I just don't think our chances of survival are very good without you."

He could have told her that it was nothing to be ashamed of to be concerned about his well-being, but he decided just to drop it. "Let's get our bounty back to shore," he said instead, reaching for the oars.

"Oh no you don't," Cammy said, slapping his hand away. "You look exhausted. I'll row."

"Thank you," he nodded, actually relieved that she had offered to take his place. After his exertion the thought of rowing back to the beach didn't excite him in the least.

Lance lay down in the boat and rested, letting Cammy take the oars. He stared up at the blue sky, noting with interest how foreign a solid color could appear to eyes used to seeing many things at once. It reminded him of their predicament. Back home they had so many things to occupy them: school or work, friends, family, hobbies, books and television. Here, on an island in the middle of the ocean, their cares were few.

As Lance rested and Cammy rowed, Autumn kept a look out for any other flotsam that might prove useful. Cammy altered her course so her friend could pick these up, and by the time they reached shore, they had quite a collection.

Lance carried the survival kit to the lagoon while the girls hauled the masses of sail. The first thing they did upon returning to camp was lay the fragments of sail out on the sand to give it time to dry. He was happy to see that some of the pieces were pretty large, a good size for making a lean-to or even a tent. That would give them shade during the morning when they couldn't shelter under the shadow of the cliff.

Lance tore open the plastic cover on the survival kit and withdrew the contents. The whole bundle was wrapped in a thick, wool blanket that would have to serve as a bed, and many of the other contents were equally as useful. The biggest by far was a machete that Lance had picked up on his safari in Africa. It would serve well to blaze trails or cut open coconuts. A chunk of flint and a steel pocket knife would provide fire. Though not as easy to use as matches or a lighter, it would last a lot longer. A flare gun with several flares could be used to signal a passing ship. There was a small yet complete first aid kit, but he hoped they wouldn't have to use it. One of the more useful items was a spool of nylon cord, about a hundred feet if he remembered correctly. Not a lot, but if they used it sparingly it could serve all their needs. The rest of the items were of varying usefulness, but one in particular stood out.

"Our number one problem is solved," he announced with a grin, picking up a large bottle of waterproof sunscreen.

They immediately set to work applying the lotion to their bodies. Being a gentleman, he looked away when the girls rubbed it on their more private spots, and especially tried not to glance when they rubbed it on each other's backs. Though it was all perfectly innocent, the sight of the two girls touching each other like that awakened certain feelings in him, though he somehow managed to suppress them.

Cammy then offered to do the same for his back, and he agreed. Tired as he was from all of the events of the past day, her hands on his back felt almost better than anything he had ever experienced. It wasn't quite a massage, but it might as well have been for how much it relaxed him.

Now that they had a some time to rest, the pangs of hunger set in. From the position of the sun, Lance guessed the time to be late morning, probably around 1100 hours or so. There was a package of jerky in the survival kit, which they opened and feasted on. They only took a small piece each, just enough to sate their hunger. Until they explored the island and identified the local fauna, it might be the only meat they had.

Lance perused the area and discovered a nearby fallen coconut, which he split open to accompany the meal. They each had some sips of the juice, then cut out and devoured the meat. It wasn't exactly a three-course dinner, but they enjoyed it all the same.

Despite the invigorating and refreshing brunch, Lance still had no energy left. As they got up to head back to the raft to retrieve the rest of their gatherings, Cammy insisted that he rest. He tried to argue, but Autumn came in on Cammy's side, and he found himself arguing with two girls who were at least as stubborn as he was. He gave in and let them carry the items back to camp.

"I think I'm going to take the raft out and see what else we can salvage," Cammy said, nodding toward the wreckage of the Siren's Song. "Do you want to come with me, Autumn?"

Her friend nodded.

"You two be careful," Lance cautioned. "Don't overload the raft or pick up anything pointed that could put a hole in it."

"We'll be fine," smiled Cammy. "Besides, it will give Autumn and me a chance to talk."

Lance nodded, picking up on the subtle hint that there were things the girls needed to talk about that weren't meant for his ears. It didn't bother him; while it would be nice to have someone himself that he could share a secret with, he knew from experience that women had a much stronger need than men to bond with members of the same sex. Besides, the talk might center around him, and he was sure there were some things they might mention that he really didn't want to hear.

As they headed back to the raft, he lay down on the sand to take a much-needed nap. He hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few nights, so it was time to catch up. He closed his eyes and basked in the warmth of the sun, letting its rays work their lethargic magic on him. It didn't take him long to drift off into peaceful oblivion.

He awoke to the sound of laughing voices. It brought back memories of happy times, of warm summer days at the park and cheerful afternoons at the public pool. For a moment Lance forgot where he was, and when he opened his eyes he was surprised to see unfamiliar surroundings. His disorientation didn't last long, and the events of the past day returned to his memory.

Survival, he thought. That had been at the forefront of his thoughts ever since the accident, and it was the first thing he thought of now. He had to make sure the girls got through this ordeal alive.

They didn't share his concern, apparently. The girls were waist-deep in the lagoon, laughing and splashing each other. With the backdrop of the waterfall and the jungle behind them, the sunlight sparkling on the surface of the lagoon, and the rivulets of water running down their bodies, he could definitely get used to this sight. From what he could tell of their attitude, to them this was just another part of the vacation. For just an instant, he thought of getting after them; what were they doing having fun when there were so many things to worry about? But he decided to hold his tongue. It was his fault after all; he had done his job too well. His reassuring words, meant to keep them from being frightened, had comforted them even better than he had expected. They weren't aware of the dangers; all they knew was that everything would be all right.