Chapter 16

Captain Paul's distress call caught the Russian fishing boat Jennifer saw when she surfaced. They had stayed in an inlet on the other side of the island, trying to find shelter rather than outrun the storm. Viktor, their Captain, agreed to rescue the passengers and crew from the smaller stranded boat.

Entering the cabin where the group huddled together, Captain Paul began to lay out the evacuation plan. "I need you to each gather your belongings you can easily carry. That means if you have a bag you can hold on to, like a backpack, take it with you. If you do not, leave it here. We will be climbing into their rescue boat to be transported over to their ship. The waters are still rougher than I would like to be doing this kind of maneuver, so I need your complete cooperation and compliance in this matter."

Paul asked the Captain, "Can we not just tow this boat in?"

"With as rough as these waves are, and our boat being unable to assist in the movement at all, the tow line would snap, and we would be driven into the rocks very quickly. No, I will feel much better once everyone is aboard a ship that isn't crippled."

Nico spoke up, "I need one member of each group to go out and gather what you can of your things. I will send you out one at a time, so we aren't falling all over each other. Mr. Hart, would you like to head out first, since you've been out once already?"

"Sure." Jonathan kissed the top of his wife's head and stood back up. "I'll be right back, Darling."

Venturing out into the rain, Jonathan made his way to the area where he and Jennifer had been sitting. The beach bag Jennifer had packed for them with towels, sunscreen, their masks, and snorkels was soaked, but together. He looked for their shoes before remembering they had left them on the dock as they boarded the ship. He turned back into the wind to go into the cabin.

Paul was next, followed by each of the men. Most had rented equipment from the dive company, so the only things they were after were the few belongings they carried onto the boat.

Jonathan's next order of business was to figure out a way to keep Jennifer warm. Nothing he had was dry, and putting anything wet back on her would only make things worse. "Hey, Nico," Jonathan called. "Any chance you have a sweatshirt or long sleeve t-shirt we can put Jennifer in?"

"Let me see what I can find." He moved a few people over until he could get to the tiny closet in the room. He pulled out an old, wrinkled t-shirt. It had obviously been onboard for a while. "I think this will do. Oh," he said, reaching back into the closet, "And this," he handed Jonathan the shirt and rain jacket.

"Thank you." Jonathan turned to Jennifer, "Let's get this on you, Darling."

The larger vessel came within 500 yards of the stranded boat and launched a lifeboat. The smaller and lighter boat struggled not to be pushed too far by the waves rolling towards the shore, but managed to reach the stranded scuba vessel.

They set the four women and Paul into the lifeboat and sent it back to the fishing boat. The trip back was an even bigger battle as the motor whined against the strain of the waves pushing against it. Once they arrived, men on the fishing boat held the lifeboat close and allowed the passengers to disembark. Then they made the return trip, Jonathan and the rest of the men climbed aboard, and they were off to the safety of the larger boat.

Once everyone was aboard, they huddled inside the galley — everyone except Captain Paul and Nico, who were on the bridge with Captain Viktor and his crew. Below, Jonathan and several men were trying to chat with the crew, but not making very much headway with the standoffish men.

"This could make for a long ride," Jonathan scoffed. The men stared at him and then spoke to each other and started walking away from the group. Jonathan turned to Jennifer for help.

"I don't speak Russian, Darling," she answered.

Paul made his way closer to Jonathan. "I do," he said quietly. "And they are talking about a big fish they were chasing. Jonathan, I think our rescuers are fishing for whales."