When I turned around, the motorboat was close. Men stood on the bow; rifles held loosely in their hands.
One stood slightly alone. He was short, wide, and about forty. When the boat was fifty feet away, he asked, “You the captain?”
“Yes.”
He scrutinized me. “Don’t think us unfriendly, but we’ll keep our distance if you don’t mind.”
I nodded again. It seemed to be my way of communicating today.
He continued, “We appreciate the warning you gave us. We’re also going north to wait things out. No hurry to get there, I suppose. Safety in numbers while traveling and all that. So, if you want us to cruise along with you, we’ll be happy to do it to repay you by mutually adding our protection.”
“We’d like that. Is there anything you need that we can provide?”
“We’re good. For now. We might see a place to stop and restock that we can’t pass up, but we’ll face that when and if we find it. When are you planning on leaving?”
I jabbed a thumb at the cabin. “They’re inside figuring it out.”
He scowled slightly. “Without the captain?”
“I’m new at this.”
He chuckled, and so did a couple of others. He said, “We’re all new at this. Thanks again for the warning about the blockade, and thanks to you, there are now two fast boats down by the bottom of Whidbey Island that will intercept any others moving north and send them this way.”
“Is that why there are so many boats today?”
He turned to look behind. There were two more boats moving north. One sailboat, another a pleasure boat with a big outboard. He said, “After seeing how things are going, how we’re tearing ourselves apart and killing each other on land, I suspect a lot of people are going to grab a boat and try to get away until things calm down.”
“It seems like a lot of us,” I said glumly, thinking that the islands I thought of as isolated and almost deserted might already have hundreds of boats anchored in the bays. It might not be much better than being on land.
The man hung his head for a few seconds and then straightened his shoulder and stood taller. He said, “Maybe too many up there. The waters around those islands must be getting pretty crowded by now. We might move on up north into the Canadian islands. There’s a lot of them and I guess nobody is going to fine us for going into Canadian waters without the right paperwork, huh?”
“Okay,” I said because I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
He said firmly, “Listen, while our little task force is moving, we’ll stand off from you guys a half-mile or so, maybe take the lead now and then, and be ready to join in any fight. We owe you that. Do you have any other orders for us?”
Orders? He wanted me to give him orders? I shook my head and watched as the boat backed away and took up a position in the deeper water where it could watch for any boats coming our way. The man gave me a limp wave and a smile of encouragement.
The meeting inside broke up a while later. The people passed by me on the way to returning to their boats. Several muttered thanks or made small gestures with their hands in my direction. I suspected Sue or Steve had told them some tale about me and how I’d saved them all, which was a total lie. They treated me with respect, a new experience.
An hour later, the four boats headed north at a sedate pace. Sue cooked our salmon, Steve had the helm, and I sat in the stern and worried enough for all of us.
A fifth boat, a large open boat with a pair of huge outboards on the stern quickly caught up with us from behind. The pleasure craft with all the armed passengers intercepted it. Using the binoculars, I saw only two people in the open boat, and there was no place for others to hide. They talked for a short time, then the new boat trailed behind at a respectable distance, using us as protection until we accepted them, I assumed.
Sue came outside and sat next to me. She motioned with her chin and said, “That boat says they will follow until you allow them to travel with us.”
“Me?”
“You’re the commodore of this fleet. That was decided when we all met.”
“I thought I was the captain.” I tried to smile and failed.
She let her head hang back while her face looked directly at the sun that had appeared. “A commodore is higher than a captain, they said. You won the unanimous vote. Congratulations.”
I didn’t miss the grin she tried to conceal. Steve had the helm and Sue went back into the cabin to check on her cooking after cleaning the little salmon I’d caught. All was well until Steve said, “What the hell is happening?”
I sat upright. The sailboat that was off to our right dropped its sails, the main and jib. The open boat with the outboards roared as it accelerated directly at us. The cabin cruiser had been making a circle to our left where another small powerboat was speeding past. The cruiser had positioned itself between the other boat and us.
Now, it had turned and drove through whitecaps directly at us. Steve let the jib and mail sail flap. Our boat instantly slowed and plowed into the small waves until our forward progress stopped and we bobbed as we waited.
Sue threw the cabin door open and called, “You guys better get in here!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Steve and I raced into the cabin. Sue darted to the desk with all the radios. She had the volume up and people were talking over each other, some shouting to make themselves heard. The resulting cacophony of noise was almost undecipherable. Now and then a few words or a phrase came through clear enough to understand.
The three of us listened in stages of increasing confusion. From outside, a hail drew me away. I went to the stern and found ourselves surrounded by the four boats, including the new open one with the huge outboards. They all came to rest within fifty feet, with the Truant as the focal point.
The man I’d spoken to before on the cabin cruiser was standing on his bow, nearest to me. Another was at the helm keeping their position stationary to us. To my wary eyes, everyone looked confused—but at what? With my appearance, he called, “Captain, have you heard?”
“Too much confusion and too many people were talking at once on the radio,” I called back, seeing a few people on the other boats nod in agreement that they were experiencing the same.
He understood. “We’ve been listening since the beginning, more by accident than anything else. Up where that blockade was at the top of Whidbey. It just blew up.”
I started to smile. So, someone had defeated it and the way would now be clear for other boats. I was glad but still intended to continue north and sail through Deception Pass instead of circling around again. However, the expression he wore prevented my smile from developing. I said, “What else?”
“Ships.”
“Ships?” I asked, not understanding what he meant. He’d almost spat the word.
“Coming in from the Pacific. Big ships. All in a row. Troop carriers, they say.”
Finally, there might be some order returning and we could revive our civilization and that was also good news. I felt like dancing and slapping a few backs when Steve placed his calming hand on my shoulder. He called, “You’re holding back.”
The captain of the cabin cruiser visibly drew a deep breath and raised his voice so all on the other boats could hear, “They are troop carriers loaded with soldiers. Not ours. They are not flying any national flags.”
“What?” Someone asked in a shocked voice.
He said softer, but all heard every word, “We’re being invaded. America is under siege.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN