reaches its destination. The liquefaction process has to be done in a special facility that costs billions of dollars to construct. Then it’s shipped off in refrigerated tankers that cost another hundred million a pop to build.’
‘Big bucks,’ Dana grinned. ‘I’ve never even heard of the stuff.’
Barry nodded. ‘You won’t meet a lot of people who have, but LNG is a massive industry. Not only does an attack on an LNG facility hit the oil companies in the wallet, the exploding gas burns cleanly and does little lasting damage to the environment.’
Dana smiled. ‘No oil slicks or gooey black birds then.’ ‘That’s right.’ ‘You said facility,’ Dana said. ‘I thought we were going for
a tanker.’ Barry nodded. ‘If you take out the boat when it’s refuelling, the explosion will take a nice chunk of the terminal with it.’ Dana looked solemn. ‘But if we get caught, they’ll lock us up and throw away the key.’
Eve hit Dana on the back and spoke furiously. ‘Don’t say that. Don’t even think that. It’s so negative. We’re Survivors. We have honest souls and God will protect us.’
*
James turned anxiously to face Brian Evans, but it wasn’t him. Same accent, similar face, but a younger looking dude with curly hair.
‘Name’s Mike,’ the man said. ‘You here with my man Ernie?’
James nodded.
‘I see you’re admiring the picture of my little nephew.’
‘Yeah, he’s cute,’ James said. ‘That’s Brighton, isn’t it? I recognise the pier in the background.’
‘I wouldn’t know, it’s my brother that married the limey girl. Are you from England?’
‘Nah, but I’ve lived there for most of the last three years.’
‘Certainly picked up the accent. You sound like a genuine Cockney boy.’
Ernie came in through the screen door wearing his usual smile. ‘So you’ve found each other. Didn’t you hear the truck arrive, Mike?’
Mike nodded. ‘The screeching brakes and the blasting horn were a giveaway, but I was up in the roof fetching down some boxes of documents.’
‘Brian not here?’ Ernie asked.
‘He’ll be landing back at the Ark this evening and running a few final errands here before shipping out himself,’ Mike said, to James’ massive relief.
‘Well, I sure hope your business takes off down south,’ Ernie said. ‘I’ll miss chatting with you guys.’
‘Thank you kindly,’ Mike nodded. ‘We’ve got customers all over the world; I reckon we’ll do all right.’ He turned and looked at James. ‘I hope you’ve got some good muscles on you, young fellow. Gonna work up a sweat clearing out that workshop.’
Ernie smiled at James. ‘You don’t need to worry about the boy. You should see him throwing my mail sacks around. Tough as a bull, ain’t you, son?’
James hated it when adults patronised him, but he couldn’t help smiling at being compared to a bull.
*
Dana sat on the side of the dinghy and flopped backwards into the water, clasping the metal can to her chest. This was her fifth practice, but her first wearing a near black visor designed to simulate diving at night. Even in the bright sunlight, all she could see was a mass of gloomy outlines.
She swam four strokes with one arm, before pulling up and going into a doggy paddle. She felt around with her toes and was reassured to feel the sunken white bow beneath her feet. It hadn’t even been underwater long enough to rust.
After a couple of deep breaths to oxygenate her blood, Dana tipped forwards and plunged blindly underwater. As her fingers felt along the metal hull, she pulled the heavy can away from her chest. Its powerful magnetic base took on its own momentum and clamped itself to the hull with a hollow thunk. She sensed a rush of water from some unseen sea creature disturbed by the noise.
Once the dummy bomb was in position, she fumbled until she found a switch, which was locked in place with a steel pin to prevent accidental activation. Dana was getting desperate for breath, but she knew it would be a nightmare relocating the device after surfacing, so she stayed under.
It was always fiddly getting the pin out and not being able to see made it harder. When it finally twisted away, Dana flipped the switch and kicked her feet against the hull, filling her lungs with air as her face broke the surface.
The boat had drifted a few metres, meaning she faced a longer swim back. She grasped the rope on the side of the dinghy, expecting to clamber back aboard, but found Barry holding another dummy bomb in her face.
‘Not too