Dave departed leaving Nick feeling optimistic. His strength was beginning to return, but his body still ached all over. His muscles were strained and pinched, not ready yet to recommence their duties, although the headache had finally lifted leaving him feeling clear-headed at last. Emotionally he was far from being calm, a pain stabbed in his chest and a tight knot filled his abdomen. His mind was full of unanswerable questions.Must do what Dave suggested, one step-at-a-time, he thought. The sun penetrated his open jacket, massaging the surface muscles on his chest with a soft warmth, spreading drowsy ripples throughout his body. He gulped the last of his coffee and went below to his cabin. This time he undressed and took a long hot shower before falling back into the bunk and finally into a restful sleep.
Chapter Fifty-one
The New Day – The aftermath
The sound of a horn blaring stirred Nick from his deep slumber. The cabin was dark. How long had he slept? He fumbled for the light and blinked as his eyes became accustomed to the pale white light from the bedside lamp. He glanced at the clock, eleven thirty? His stomach rumbled as he yawned and slowly stretched. Muscles felt a little better. Food might be a good idea, wonder what sort of lunch they serve in the Navy?He casually strode down the companionway, climbed the ladder and upon opening the door to the deck was startled when confronted by the black coat of darkness.Good God!He thought.I’ve slept all day.
Making his way forward to the bridge, he found the seaman on watch on the port side. ‘Evening, Sir. How you feeling? Looks like you couldn’t pull the skin off a rice custard!’
Nick laughed weakly. ‘I’m much better thanks. Hungry though, any chance of getting some food?’
‘I can organise some scran for you, just be a snack though. Rest of the crew’s below.’ He called to the other man on watch to take over and led Nick down to the galley where he left him to raid the refrigerator. The ship was quiet and there was nothing to do but return to his bunk, where after reading for a while he was surprised to find himself sleepy again. He snapped off the light and drifted off, until startled by the ship’s wakey, wakey call at six am the next morning.
He found Dave topside with the Captain. Nick felt totally refreshed now and eager to get ashore. ‘Morning Nick.’ Dave’s bright blue eyes twinkled. ‘We were wondering when you’d surface. The masks have all been distributed. I was going to wake you, but Karen asked me to let you sleep. The Captain has organised some boats to take us in. We’ll round up the flotilla out there first.’ He gestured toward dozens of vessels drifting for as far as the eye could see. ‘Obviously we can’t let them come any closer, who knows what’s below the surface.We’ll get the people off and ferry them in. They’ve all been advised of the procedure. Let’s go and have some breakfast.’
Smells from the wardroom tantalised their nostrils as they made they way below deck. Karen emerged wearing navy camouflage overalls and shirt borrowed from the Slops Chest. Her dark hair was neatly in place and her face scrubbed clean of make-up. Nick was startled by her natural beauty and blushed as she nudged close to him at the table. The weary beaten cloud over her eyes had lifted, revealing a deeper purple glow, almost a glimmer. The cook looked on with pleasure as they wolfed the scrambled eggs, sourdough bread and orange juice.
After breakfast, with the Captain’s permission, Nick placed a call to the Platypus.
‘Capsicum to Platypus. Come in Platypus. Over.’
The radio crackled noisily. ‘Platypus here.’ Nick was ecstatic to hear Sam’s familiar New York drawl. Sweeter words he had never heard.‘Bout time you called boss, we’ve bin really worried. We’ve bin hit by more huge gales, but we’re okay. We’ve got some strange reports from land. Hard to decipher, everyone’s gone crazy. What’s it like there? Over.’
‘Pretty wild Sam. Is everything okay on board? How did she come through the tsunami swells? Over.’
‘No problem, just like you said boss, great big swells. Never seen anything like it and hope I don’t see it again. Wolf wants a word. Over.’
‘Nicky, We’ve been so worried.’ Wolf butted in. ‘How is everything in Australia? Over.’
‘Just as we predicted Wolf. Horrendous! I spoke quickly with Josh and Laura in Washington, they said there’s catastrophic damage everywhere. The whole area here where I used to live has been inundated by the sea and we can only communicate through the military, so news is limited. This entire city of millions of people here has been wiped out. We’re stuck on board a Navy frigate at present, waiting to get back to shore. Are you still on schedule? Over.’
‘Sure, Sam says we will be there in nine days, we’re making very good time. Over.’
‘Nine days! Why so long? Over.’
‘He’s had to plot new courses around the new islands. It’s no longer a straight run.’
‘Okay. I didn’t think of that. If you want to make contact again call me on this frequency, I’ll make sure the Captain knows where I am. Over.’
‘Roger that Nicky. Sam has been listening to all the channels. A volcano in the devils playground that’s been dormant for thousand of years is erupting. My Got it’s bad. Communications here are the same, almost non-existent, we’re only getting snippets. I can’t imagine what it’s like there so be careful. Call us when you can we’ll be on standby. Out.’
Nick felt a weight had lifted from his shoulders knowing his beloved ship was safe and steaming toward him. He checked the impulse to cheer loudly, instead selfishly savouring the tiny bubbles of enthusiasm that silently popped and prodded inside his chest. Waiting was going to be intolerable, once they were united things would be different, but until then he’d work with Dave doing what he could to help. Graham had gone to Brisbane and he allowed his mind to imagine the destruction that the city must have sustained. All his favourite haunts from the past marched past his closed eyes. The Tung Palace in Fortitude Valley’s Chinatown where he dined two nights out of seven in the summer of 2029 would be under ten metres of sea-water, he was sure. He thought about five million inhabitants of the city and wondered how many survived. He had read all about the 1974 and 2011 floods that had wreaked havoc on Brisbane. Every flood since then had been measured against them until now. This was the granddaddy of all floods, there would never be one to equal it. He decided then that he would take the Platypus there when she arrived. He wanted desperately to be on board her again where he was at least in charge of the situation. He felt like a fish out of water and smiled at the irony of that phrase.
Time dragged interminably as food and supplies were unloaded from some of the commercial vessels anchored out. Alex and Karen were eager to get back to Camp B and Nick was frustrated by the inertia, feeling helpless now they were all well rested.
‘Glad I’m not a sailor.’ Dave muttered beside Nick. ‘It’s bloody boring sitting about on this ship. We’ll go ashore in the morning. I’m afraid that’s going to be rough. I’d get a Veto back to take everyone into the hills but they’re all in Brisbane rescuing survivors. Looks like another lazy night at sea!’
The evening turned out to be anything but lazy. The Ship’s company turned on a rip roaring party in the wardroom. The survivors from the Phoenix had snapped out of the pain of their horrific experience and joined in, timidly at first, then with an exuberance bordering on hysteria with the aid of alcoholic drinks brought in by the commercial ships. Underlying the frivolity was a constant uneasiness, a dread of the ordeal they faced tomorrow. Some visitors from other boats came on board and the party raged well into the night. New friendships were formed, stories swapped, impossible tales related. Nick and Karen danced until they thought their legs would cave in. The chief steward brought more drinks. ‘Better make the most of this lot maties.’ He warned. ‘When it’s gone, God knows where we get any more. Think the brewery’s gone up the river!’ His joke unintentionally stopped the party dead, reminding everyone of the dilemma ahead, bringing home in a peculiar way the reality of the situation. Most then staggered off one-by-one to lay down their heads and allow the alcohol to lull them into a foggy sleep.