The six of us stood in a circle not knowing what to say or what to do. Gamba carefully removed Captain Harris’ body from leaning against his, and then laid him down gently on the floor. Once he had done that, he slowly rose to his feet and joined us.
“Why is the boat moving?” I asked stupidly, not expecting an actual answer from anyone. I was hoping that someone might be able to shed some light on the situation. The boat’s horn sounded again, as the port drifted further away from us.
“Let’s jump overboard!” Gamba suggested, “We can easily swim back!”
“But what if there are people waiting for us? People with guns?” Shasa argued with him.
He shrugged. “We’ll just have to risk it.”
“I’d just like to inform you that we aren’t great swimmers,” Niyol told us.
“That’s why we must jump now. Here, you stand a chance. If we have to swim in the middle of the ocean; you don’t.”
Niyol’s brow furrowed as he realised that my brother was right. If we had to escape elsewhere, the Ventus would be doomed. There was no way they could swim for as long or as well as we could.
Niyol nodded. “Okay. We’ll jump.”
“No!” Shasa cried, just as Gamba and Niyol began to place their legs over the side of the ship. “The police or army will be waiting for us at the port. Also, we can’t just leave Captain Harris here like this.”
“He’s dead,” Gamba stated coldly, “there’s nothing more we can do with him.”
I wanted to slap him across the face, but I didn’t.
“Stop being an idiot,” Aura dictated, “That whole ‘tough man’ act is getting really old now.”
Gamba scoffed. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”
“How dare you tell me what to do?”
“I can say what I want…!”
“Shut up!” I blared out, pushing between Gamba and Aura who were now face to face with one another. “Let’s just… think… for a second, okay? Now Captain Harris is dead, but he died for this mission. He wanted to save us, and the people of Equatorial Guinea, didn’t he?”
Everyone nodded.
My hands were placed firmly against Gamba’s thumping chest and Aura’s stiff arm.
“So let’s get what we came here for, and then decide how we’re going to jump ship. I’m sure there’s a lifeboat somewhere on board…”
The distance between the boat and the city of Malabo seemed to stop increasing. We all heard a noise, and realised that the anchors had been dropped.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Madz pondered.
“Well standing here doesn’t either! At least the boat has stopped. If we need to jump overboard, now we can make it back to shore. But let’s stop arguing and start searching!”
Everyone seemed to agree with what I was saying and Aura and Gamba turned away from one another in disgust.
I looked up one side of the deck and then down the other. There didn’t seem to be anyone on board, except for us. But I knew that wasn’t the case. The boat was huge, and a lot of people were needed to keep it running. It must have extended at least five floors high out of the water, and was as long as the entire Aqua Headquarters on Aqua Island. There was no way we would be able to find the toxic waste, unless it was conveniently mounted in a giant room that spanned the entire width and depth of the ship.
“We’ve got to split up,” I stated, “We’ll cover more ground that way.”
“Good idea,” Gamba agreed. But once again, Sefarina and Madz didn’t seem thrilled with the concept.
“I don’t think that’ll work,” Sefarina argued meekly, “what if something happens to one of us?”
“We’ll go in pairs,” Niyol answered authoritatively.
“There are seven of us.”
“I don’t mind going by myself,” Gamba informed us.
“Oohh, big brave man…” Aura teased him sarcastically.
“Shut up Aura!” Her brother told her. He then took his other sister by the shoulders to soothe her. “This boat is massive. How else are we going to find what we’re looking for?”
“Splitting up isn’t a good idea.” She was certain in her defiance.
“Fine then, you stay here. If anything happens, you can swim to shore.”
“That’s stupid Niyol and you know it!”
“Then what else do you suggest?”
“We need to stop arguing,” Shasa interjected. “We’re wasting time. It’s almost twilight and I don’t want to be running around this boat in the dark.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Niyol requested.
“I’m a Primus, and you’re a Primus. I hate to have to pull rank, but I think in this situation it’s for the best.”
Niyol smiled smugly. He was happy that he was Primus, and could trump his sisters’ wishes.
“I’ll go with Sefarina then,” Niyol dictated, “and Madzimoyo can go with Visola and Aura with Shasa and then Gamba can go by himself if he wants to.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“I’m not,” Shasa told him, “so you can go with Madz and Vee.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so!”
“What happens if we get caught by someone?” Mazimoyo pondered.
“Don’t.” Shasa’s answer didn’t fill me with confidence, but the way she said it did. “You three go down to the hull and work your way up. We’ll start here and go to the top. You two,” she pointed at Niyol and Sefarina, “look on this floor and then work your way around to see what’s happening with the other groups. Let’s all meet back here in an hour. We haven’t got any time to lose.”