She made some coffee, then went to check on Nick. He was sleeping deeply, and as she watched her heart skipped a beat, and her hand flew to her mouth. Her mind went back to last night when he had hugged her, and the feeling that shocked her remained even now. It was electric, something she hadn’t experienced since her first heady days with Sean. She told herself it could never be, it would destroy Nick’s relationship with his brother.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Tuesday, June 6
Waking as Karen was leaving for work, Nick went to the verandah and shivered in the cold morning air, surprised that he had been able to sleep at all. He watched Karen leave the house. Nurses at the Northern Hospital wore orange body suits, it’s fine silky fabric moving without restriction as the nurses went about their duties. On Karen the Navilon body suit accentuated the graceful curves of her small body, and the high Nehru style neckline was a stark contrast to her pale skin and jet-black hair. Nick thought she never looked more beautiful, and his eyes followed her SUV until it was out of sight, on it’s way to the Trancab station that would take her to the hospital. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted into his senses and drew him to the kitchen. After helping himself to a cup, he splashed water from the kitchen sink over his face and left without waking Brian.
The Trancab dropped him near the car park at The Contessa building, and he spotted three army jeeps parked neatly side by side in front of the main doorway. They were four wheel drive vehicles, but instead of being open as the old style of jeep, these were enclosed within a bullet-proof Navilon shell, with carbon fibre and titanium reinforced chassis to protect the passengers from hand grenades or ground mines. Two army officers hovered in the foyer, one a tall rather British looking gentleman aged about forty, and a shorter, younger man.
‘Are you blokes looking for me by any chance?’ Nick asked, noticing them studying him intensely. ‘I’m Nick Torrens.’
The tall man introduced himself. ‘I’m Captain Robertson, this is Major O’Keefe. Can we talk to you Mr Torrens?’
‘Names Nick. Come on up.’ He gestured on entering the lift. Neither man spoke until Nick ushered them into his apartment.
‘Mr. Parker said you were the bloke who started all this, and we should keep in touch with you. We’re just touching base to let you know we’ve got Star Flight rolling up in the Hinterland. We’re stationed at Canungra, and a good thing too, easy access. Parker’s men are taking care of things down here.’
‘What’s your plans?’ Nick asked.
‘As you know most of the Hinterland is rugged bush except for top of Tamborine Mountain and Beechmont. Those mountains are five hundred metres above sea level so we’re setting up community centres and distribution points in both areas. We’ve caused a bit of a stir up there though, we had to commandeer all the public buildings and churches, mainly for the people being evacuated from the hospital. The volunteers will be in tents.
‘What about everybody else?’
‘Depends on how much time we have. Do you have any news?’
They followed Nick to his kitchen. ‘No. Coffee?’
Both men shook their heads. ‘We’ll be taking all the tents and temporary shelter we can find. We’ll do all we can, but it’d be easier if we knew when this’s going to happen.’
‘Only God knows that.’ Nick said.
Captain Robertson blinked rapidly. ‘Getting fuel up there’s the biggest problem. We haven’t got anywhere to store it, so we have to keep the tankers up there. If your predictions are right, we won’t have much use for vehicles anyway. Those roads up there go nowhere but into more scrub.’
‘My brother lives up there, I’ll be using his place as my base on land until my boat gets here. Where’s your headquarters?’
‘We’re mobile now. You can get any of us on 1313131. Parker’s on that number too. He said to tell you to call him.’
Nick sipped his coffee. ‘He’s here on the Coast?’
‘Yeah. He needed some of our men down here, so we’ve set up a small army base at the Waterside complex for him and his men. Luckily they had several floors vacant.’
‘Okay. Thanks, I’ll call him.’
Nick showed them out and ordered his smart system. ‘Phone please 1313131.’
‘Dave! Welcome to the Gold Coast. Just had a visit from two army officers, they said you wanted me. What’s up?’
‘Need to pick your brains. After this is over we’ll need boats and plenty of them. Can we save any of them? You said boats at sea are usually safe.’
‘Yeah, I did but um, I’m not sure, it’s going to get rough out there.’ He thought of Platypus and winced.
‘What’s the alternative?’
Nick ran a hand through his hair. ‘Maybe if the bigger boats go right out to sea, they may stand a chance.’
‘D’you know the Commodore at the Yacht Club? He might have some ideas.’
‘Matter of fact I do. He’ll be in touch with the commercial boats by radio.’
‘Right. I’ll leave you to it then. Call anytime if you need me.’
‘Will do. Thanks Dave.’
‘End call.’ Nick said, immediately followed by ‘Phone Platypus.’
‘Sam. What’s happening?’
‘Ho boss. Everythin’s okay. We’ve already refuelled and picked up those stores you arranged.’ Sam advised. ‘The guy at the depot couldn’t believe the gear we took on board. He said it looked like we were takin’ off for a round-the-world-trip, maybe. Man we couldn’t have jammed another thing into our hold, you must’ve bought out half the stores on the waterfront boss. Over.’
Nick smiled at Sam’s use of the word over. Radio communications demanded its use and Sam didn’t distinguish between the radio and the long-range sat-phone phone Nick had left on board. ‘You’ll be needing every bit of it. When are you leaving Hawaii?’
‘Um, we’re having some problems here boss. Um, most of the crew jumped ship soon as we arrived. We’re tryin’ to get some more men but it’s almost impossible since the news was let out. Don’t know how long it’s gonna take. We’ll refuel at Nauru Island, and if the weather holds up we should be in Brisbane nine….ten days. Over.’
‘Do your best Sam, keep topping up wherever you can, I want you to arrive with full provisions and as much fuel on board as you can carry.’
‘Okay boss. Anything else? Over.’
‘No. Take care of Bunyip.’
‘You bet boss. Roger that. Out.’
Nick grinned as he imagined Sam trying to keep the crew from jumping ship and spreading the word in port. Sam always made him smile, he missed his good humour.
Nick’s next call was to Barry Cole, the Commodore of the yacht club.
‘So, it was you who found out about the coming catastrophe.’ Barry bellowed. ‘Thought you’d be still out on your boat. Is Platypus here? Where are you moored?’
Nick threw his head back and ruffled his hair. ‘No, she’s on her way back here. Listen Barry, I need you to organise a meeting with the commercial fleet and skippers. I want to talk to them.’
‘Oh yeah, and I bet they want to talk to you too. I’m being bombarded with questions about how everyone can save their boats.’
Nick knew Barry lived nearby the yacht club, and was a man who spent almost all his time there, or out on his boat. Most boats using the waters here now were all over sixteen metres, and whether they could remain safe during and after the event was another question. Knowing the mindset of most boating people was to put their boat before all else, apart from their family, they would want to know what they could do to save them.
Nick looked at his watch. ‘Can you get them together quickly, I can come to the club today.’