fire was still streaking through the sky occasionally, a few small explosions still going off. Was the beachmaster simply unaware of what was happening?
At the time, Alpha Squad didn’t want to find out. They told the ship’s senior crewman to reply that he was awaiting the beachmaster’s further instructions. Then Nolan came up with the only way possible to get the Untouchables aboard the creaky Taiwan Song quickly.
The Shin-1 had landed about halfway between the ship and the beach, thinking they would be retrieving the squad. Nolan radioed the Stormos with his change in plans. Moving in the fading darkness and using the pervasive smoke as cover, the pilots maneuvered their airplane right up to the beach and took on all of the Untouchables, as well as Emma and the smartly retreating Senegals. Though too overloaded to fly, the plane was still able to taxi its human cargo over to the stern of the Taiwan Song, where Nolan and Gunner were stationed with an access ladder. They hastily pulled everyone onto the ship.
Just as the last Untouchable was brought aboard, the ship’s radio came to life again. It was the beachmaster, with his further orders. The sun was just coming up, and even though there were some small fires still burning from the gunfight, it was apparently business as usual with the breaking operation.
The beachmaster’s instructions were direct. The crew was told to raise anchor, start its engine and—oddly—head out to sea. But that was only to build up speed. Once the ship was three miles off the beach, they would then turn around and head for the shore at full throttle, building the momentum needed to properly run the 30,000-ton ship aground. After hearing the instructions, Nolan told the ship’s crew to follow the beachmaster’s orders.
All this time Nolan had been watching the breaking beach come alive with workers, arriving for another day of hellish labor. Though it seemed one hand didn’t know what the other was doing, he was half expecting some kind of armed boat to come out and challenge them at any moment. Or maybe the security troops would begin shelling them from the north beach. The emptied-out Shin-1 had taken off and was circling high overhead by this time, giving Alpha some eyes in the sky. But no one really knew what the flying boat could do if any unfriendlies did appear.
But … nothing happened. There was no opposition. No gunboats. No counterattack from shore. The only explanation was that the people who ran Gottabang simply believed the wretched souls taken from the Black Hole just weren’t worth fighting over.
With the Senegals looking over their shoulders, the ship’s crew got the Taiwan Song moving. Zigzagging through the heavily polluted harbor, it finally made it to the less congested bay beyond.
But when the ship reached the three-mile limit, and the point where they were supposed to turn around, Nolan ordered the crew to just keep on going.
The beachmaster went ballistic. Screaming in a variety of languages, he repeatedly ordered the ship to turn around and come into the beach as instructed. But the Taiwan Song just kept on going.
After a few minutes, the angry calls from shore suddenly stopped. The radio went silent for a minute and then they heard the beachmaster’s voice again, sending out instructions to the next ship in line to get ready to beach itself.
They never heard from Gottabang again.
* * *
FROM THERE, THE immediate plan was to get as far away from the ship-breaking beach as possible.
But it wasn’t just the power plant on the Taiwan Song that proved difficult. It was also the steering; it was like something found on an amusement ride. The Senegals were expert seamen, but they discovered the ship’s controls were so out of whack, it took all their strength just to move the wheel even a quarter way. Eventually, though, they got it heading southwest.
In the meantime, Gunner had walked through the ship, taking stock of their situation. He’d returned with nothing but gloomy things to report.
One of the ship’s engines was not working at all; in fact, its bearings had already been removed. The second engine was working, but only at half speed. They were diesel-powered, but the ship’s fuel tanks were less than one-quarter full. The electrical systems on board were down to running at ten percent; everything on the ship was dim. The bilge pumps weren’t working at all. They had very little drinkable water, and practically no food. Finally, there was