The two police vessels reached the opening. ‘No, get back!’ Nina shouted, waving her arms to warn them off; the cops probably thought it was nothing more dangerous than smoke. ‘Turn around!’
Too late. The cloud drifted across their path, blocking them from view…
Both boats burst from the dense fog, yellow vortices streaming out behind them. The men aboard thrashed and screamed. One vessel veered sharply away as its pilot hit the steering wheel in his blind panic. It rolled in a tight turn, engine still at full throttle, then flipped over, hurling its dying occupants into the water.
The other craft charged onwards, holding course—
Straight at Eddie and Nina.
‘Whoa, fuck!’ Eddie yelped. He jammed the tiller to its limit, leaning into the turn to keep from capsizing. The coast guard powerboat surged past barely a foot behind them, bounding over their wake before smacking back into the water. It kept going, heading for the jetty.
‘Turn, turn!’ Nina cried after it, but there was nobody alive on board to hear. The boat rammed into one of the jetty’s pilings, wood and fibreglass disintegrating in a huge shower of smashed fragments. Its ruptured fuel tanks exploded, sending a black mushroom cloud boiling into the sky.
But a different cloud dominated the couple’s thoughts. Even though the water seemed to be affecting it, the sulphurous mass had still engulfed the bay’s entrance, and was now spreading across its interior after them. ‘We’ll have to get back on shore,’ Eddie said, ‘and hope it doesn’t cover the whole fucking island!’ He turned the boat towards land, beyond the burning jetty.
‘Eddie, wait!’ Nina pointed at the rock spit. ‘There’s a blowhole or something where the waves hit the rocks.’ Right on cue, a great burst of spray erupted from the corner of the cove. ‘The cliff’s only narrow, and the sea’s right on the other side — we might be able to ride a wave over it!’
He shot her a disbelieving look. ‘Those pregnancy hormones must’ve screwed up your brain. It’s me who’s supposed to come up with the insane plans, not you!’
‘It’s the only way out!’
Eddie grimaced, but knew she was right. The deadly cloud would soon cover the entire bay. ‘Let’s hope I time it right,’ he said, revving the engine.
The boom of water striking the rocks grew louder as they approached. Spray was being flung high into the air over the barrier, but most of the frothing waves stopped a couple of feet short of its top. Some managed to clear it, but there was no way to predict which ones.
Eddie slowed, watching the waves roll in — then twisted the throttle to full. A large breaker had already passed beneath them, and they rapidly caught up with it. ‘Come on, come on — shit!’
He had mistimed it, the crest smashing against the wall and reaching almost to its top, then falling just as they angled up its rising shoulder. He turned away hard, but momentum carried them onwards—
The backwash as the wave retreated saved them from a catastrophic crash, but the boat’s side still slammed against the rocks, throwing its passengers sideways, before being pulled clear. Water sluiced into the hull as the craft lurched upright and careered back into the cove.
The Yorkshireman shook foam off his face. ‘Jesus!’ he gasped, regaining control. ‘Are you okay?’
Nina sat up, clutching a bruised arm. ‘Yeah. I think.’ She flicked wet strands of red hair from her eyes, then flinched as she saw what lay ahead. ‘Oh, crap!’
The cloud now covered more than half the bay, consuming the jetty, and was still advancing on them. If they had made landfall, they would never have been able to outrun the vaporous juggernaut.
Eddie hurriedly turned away, but the boat was rapidly running out of space to manoeuvre. He looked back at the cliff. ‘We’ll have to go for it,’ he said reluctantly, ‘but we’ll only get one more chance. You ready?’
Nina braced herself. ‘No, but do it anyway!’
He half smiled, then turned his attention back to the water. He had no choice but to follow the first large wave that came along, and hope it would propel them over the ridge.
None were coming. The sickly cloud roiled ever closer.
A deeper trough — then a new wave broke through the deadly fog.
Eddie didn’t know if it would be strong enough, but he had to use it. He waited for it to pass beneath the boat, then — as the first yellow tendrils stretched out towards him — jammed the throttle to full power.
The boat leapt forward, following the wave. One last tweak of the tiller, aiming for the spot where the impacts were focused, then he gripped Nina with his free arm and held on for dear life—
The wave struck, surging upwards before exploding against the cliff and sending a broad spout of water and spray skywards…
Carrying the boat with it.
It tipped back almost vertically, riding up the wave to be flung off its top into a blinding mass of spume. The keel hit the rock with a hideous raw crunch, the boat teetering atop the ridge like a seesaw for a nerve-shredding moment, then the weight of the water falling back into the hull pulled the prow downwards. It rasped over the summit and dropped into the sea on the far side with a pounding smack.
The landing flung Nina and Eddie from their seats. The Englishman spat out seawater, then scrambled back to the motor. He looked up — to see the deadly cloud spill over the clifftop and drop towards them like a slow-motion avalanche.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ he yelled, grabbing the throttle. The propeller clashed against rock, making the tiller jar painfully in his grip, then finally bit into clear water. The boat surged away as the malevolent mass silently fell down behind it.
He swung away from the shore, only looking back once he was sure they were at a safe distance. ‘Christ…’
Nina was just as shocked. The cloud was draped over the island’s eastern side like a monstrous jellyfish, still swallowing up the jungle tree by tree. Its advance did appear to have been slowed over the water, but at a price: the azure sea around it had turned a bloody red. ‘My God. I can’t believe how big it is!’
‘All of that from one little statue? What the bloody hell was in it?’
‘Part of a meteor, according to Cross. Something that fell to earth in ancient history and became part of apocalyptic mythology.’
‘Yeah, I can see why.’ He glanced towards Antigua. ‘Shit, we’ve got to warn somebody! If that stuff reaches the mainland…’
Nina looked more intently at Elliot Island. ‘I don’t think it will. Look, over by the Mission. It doesn’t seem to be pumping out any more gas, and the wind’s starting to push the cloud out to sea. Cross told me that whatever creates it gets burned up when it reacts with air; maybe it’s all been consumed.’
‘Along with everyone in the village,’ Eddie reminded her.
‘Oh God, yes…’ She nodded sadly. ‘I don’t think most of them were bad, just… just misguided. Cross found people who could be persuaded to follow his beliefs, used them to build his organisation, then left them to die once they’d served their purpose. Poor Miriam…’
Eddie was less sympathetic, but kept his opinions to himself. ‘Over there,’ he said instead, pointing. The Flirty Lady was visible in the distance, having moved well clear of the island. ‘That’s my mate’s ship. We can radio the mainland from it and tell ’em what’s happened. Hopefully we’ll be able to stop Cross and Dalton from taking off.’
‘Hopefully,’ said Nina, though with little confidence. The damaged propeller was slowing them; it would take a while to reach the ship. She looked back towards the Mission. The gas cloud was indeed dispersing in places, the church spire now visible through the yellow haze, but a good third of the island was covered. ‘Because they’ve got another angel. If they release it in a city…’