CHAPTER XIII
Message in the Storm
The wind blew. It piled the surf high on the reef and blew the tops fromwaves between the reef and the shore. Hour by hour the wind stiffened,until the breakers on the shore were higher than those through which theSpindrifters had swum on the reef.
The first hours of the morning were spent getting ready for a blow. The_Water Witch_ was secured by springlines, and extra fenders were putover her side. The four hauled the Sky Wagon high onto the beach bysheer muscle power, then turned the plane into the wind. Rick and Scottysalvaged the concrete-block foundation from the wreck of the cottagewhere they had found the planks, and used the blocks for land anchors onthe plane.
The shutters were checked, and closed on the front of the cottage. Theshed where the tank had broken through was repaired as well asimprovised tools and materials allowed, and all loose gear was stowedinside.
The rain came. It drove with the wind into the front of the cottage in acontinuous thunder. Its force carried it under the door, through cracksbeside the window frames. The Spindrifters were forced to shred rags tostuff into cracks. In the kitchen the roof began to leak, and soon everyavailable pot and pan was being used to catch drippings.
Rick worked almost in silence, not joining in the bantering of hisfriends. As was his way, he worried the problem of the frogmen and theirmysterious behavior the way his dog, Dismal, would worry a bone.
He discarded a dozen possible reasons for their actions, includingunderwater communications, bombs, and an unusual way of fishing. Hepondered on the relations of the Spindrift group--or lack of them--withthe frogmen and re-examined their various theories.
First premise: The frogmen, specifically Steve's former shadow, hadn'trecognized them or the _Water Witch_.
Second premise: The frogmen considered them harmless tourists,interested only in diving to the wreck, and therefore to be watched butnot considered dangerous.
He rather liked that one. It would mean that the chicken had beendropped "mischievously," to use Zircon's word, to try to scare them outof the immediate vicinity. But there were other possibilities.
First premise: The frogmen knew of their connection with Steve.
Second premise: The frogmen weren't worried about people with JANIGconnections.
This might be explained by superior weapons in the hands of the frogmen,coupled with the assumption that the Spindrifters had no communicationwith Steve. It might also be explained by knowledge of their real reasonfor being on Clipper Cay.
Rick didn't care much for the last two premises. The first one seemedmore reasonable. After all, they were not sure that the former tail hadseen the _Water Witch_ in St. Thomas, or had known of their connectionwith it. On the contrary, to get to Clipper Cay so soon after theSpindrifters arrived, the frogman must have left about the same time thescientists did. There was even a possibility that he had arrived aheadof the Spindrift group and that the frogmen's boat had been out whenRick and Scotty had first spotted the diving equipment in the house.Anyway, there had been no sign of any tail but the Virgin Islander whilethey were around the pier and on the _Water Witch_. Either he or Scottywould almost certainly have spotted a second man--especially since theyhad seen him before.
There was a major precaution, however, to be taken: he and Scotty mustnot let Steve's former tail get a good look at them. They had to assumehe had recognized their clumsiness for what it was--a deliberate stall.
Scotty poked him, and Rick suddenly realized that he had been leaningfor quite a long while on the broom he was supposed to be using.
"Made up your mind about anything?" Scotty asked.
Rick knew his friend had been watching him. During their many adventureseach had developed a rather unusual understanding of how the other'smind worked.
"Partly," Rick replied. He told Scotty his thoughts.
"You make sense," Scotty agreed, then added practically, "but I don'tsee what difference it makes, whether they know about our connectionwith Steve or not. The moment they catch us snooping they'll assumewe're enemies. Until then, they'll let us alone just as they've beendoing."
Zircon and Scotty joined forces to prepare lunch. The temperature haddropped sharply, and hot soup and hamburger sandwiches were welcome.
After lunch, Rick braved the storm long enough to go to the _WaterWitch_ for his camera. He returned to the cottage soaked to the skin."We'll need diving equipment to go outside if this keeps up," heannounced.
He took the camera case apart and disconnected his circuits, then hewent outside again with tools in hand and got into the Sky Wagon. Theplane had a heater switch that would do. He removed it, leaving thewires to dangle for the moment. If the heater was needed he could putthe wires together.
That done, he sat in the plane and racked his memory for a source ofsheet rubber. There was none, but he recalled a repair kit for theplastic floats in their tool supply. He found it and took it back to thehouse.
Using the awl blade on his scout knife, he bored a hole through theplastic back of the case and installed the switch. Then he reconnectedhis circuits so the new switch would turn on only the infrared light. Hewaterproofed the switch as best he could, making gaskets from a rubberjar ring he found in the kitchen.
He knew, however, that the switch wouldn't be waterproof under pressure.He took a sheet of plastic repair material from the float repair kit andshaped it carefully with his knife. After much trial and error hesucceeded in cementing it onto the case so that it would protect theswitch from the outside, but left enough slack for the switch to beoperated through the flexible patch. Satisfied, he put it aside to dry.
It was nearly time for dinner when he finished. He took a hand incooking ham and eggs with fried potatoes, while Tony prepared a saladand made coffee.
As they ate, Zircon gestured toward the front of the house. "Gettingworse instead of letting up. This must be a hurricane, although I'venever heard of one quite this early in the season."
"If it gets much worse we'll have to anchor the cottage," Scottyobserved.
They finished just in time to tune in for the weather forecast from St.Thomas. According to the announcer, the storm was now centered off theisland of St. Croix, moving in a northwesterly direction. That meant itwould pass St. Thomas, and perhaps come very close to them. Theannouncer said, "While the storm has many of the characteristics of ahurricane, including the general form and wind velocities, we hesitateto designate it as one."
"In other words," Tony said, "it's a hurricane but we'll call itsomething else because it's too early in the season for hurricanes."
"Whatever it is, we'll have more of it," Zircon stated.
Rick switched to the Navy command frequency in time to intercept aconversation with a destroyer somewhere off the British Virgin Islands.The destroyer had just lost one of its boats.
At four minutes after six the air went silent, then a new voice tookover the microphone. The voice said:
"_A message for the ones who hunted blue sheep._"
"That's us!" Rick gasped.
When Steve had dispatched Rick, Scotty, and Zircon to Tibet, it had beenwith the cover story that they were going to hunt the blue sheep calledBharals in the mountains of West China. Only Steve would know that. Themessage was from him.
Static crackled, but the message was clear:
"_The one who started the hunt needs the biggest hunter. Only thebiggest hunter. He should be delivered as soon as possible. Call yourusual contact before arrival and say that the doctor is coming and tonotify the patient._"
The message was repeated, while the four strained to be certain they hadheard every word. When normal traffic resumed, Rick switched the setoff.
"It appears," Zircon said slowly, "that I'm wanted."
"Yep." Scotty grinned. "The demand is there, all right. But delivery isa long way off."
The storm punctuated his words.