" Nice complicated navigation system," Harri commented as Bruce looked over the screens in the yacht cockpit.
"I'm scanning the.." Bruce struggled to decide what to call whatever had emerged from the water. "The rock."
Harri pulled off the windbreaker she was wearing and water spilled out of the hood and splashed onto the floor and on to Bruce's feet but he didn't seem to notice.
"What's that beeping?" Harri asked.
"The system is warning us of a natural formation, likely an iceberg," Bruce said. "It's just noticing the rock is close."
"Oh.." Harri commented. "So now what?"
Bruce took a step back from screens and looked at Harri who was grabbing and wringing out her long black ringlets.
"The floor is already wet," she said as an excuse.
"I don't care about that," Bruce said. "I'm just thinking."
He turned and looked out the window at the rock.
"About the bald floating rock island with nothing on it?" Harri asked. "Bruce..It's impressive, I'll give her that. It's like one of those expandable water toys, you remember those? But it doesn't exactly look like a time machine."
"I need to investigate it," Bruce told her.
"Investigate?" Harri asked. "We've been circling it for 20 minutes...I think we've investigated what we can, given the wind and rain."
"We'll have to wait for this storm to pass," Bruce remarked. "The rock doesn't appear to be stationary, it's moving."
"So..what then? You just want to follow it?" she asked.
"Yes...Perhaps until this storm is over," Bruce said. "Then perhaps I could get closer-"
"Ay pendejo!" Harri exclaimed. "Esta tormenta nunca terminará!"
"Harri.." Bruce said after hearing her exclaim that the storm would never be over after calling him a fool. "This storm should be ending soon..It can't go on forever, it's probably just a pocket-"
Bruce stopped speaking as the sounds of thunder crashed around them.
"It's getting worse," Harri said before rolling her eyes and walking away.
"So what are you saying?" Bruce asked. "We should leave?"
"I'm saying," Harri said, turning back to him so fast that her hair flung droplets of water at his face. "We've been out here for a week. I told Antonio it would be ten days max..even if we leave now we'll be a day late and I don't want to worry him."
"I have a satellite messenger," Bruce said. "We can let send out a message to let him know everything is okay."
Harri sighed. "Then what?"
"We wait for the storm to pass," Bruce said as if it was obvious. "We won't be able to anchor here because of the weather but-"
"So you're going to do what? Stay awake day and night going in circles around the rock?" Harri asked sounding even more annoyed.
Bruce blinked and turned away from her. He then sat in the sleek black helm chair in front of the steering wheel.
"I can program the boat to circle the rock formation," Bruce said. "Without getting too close."
Harri said nothing. She let out a huge sigh and left the cockpit. .
.
.
.
Harri sat on one of the enormous white couches in the yacht's entertainment room after taking a long hot shower. Grey's Anatomy was her distraction. A bowl of salty, buttery popcorn made her feel a bit better after her disagreement with Bruce. There was no way they could stay out there forever and Harri was growing anxious. She wanted to go home and was wondering why she had even come on this trip.
"Hey," she heard Bruce say quietly as he came into the room.
She said nothing and put a few more kernels of popcorn into her mouth.
"I understand if you don't want to talk to me," he said. "I also understand it's selfish for me to keep you out here for so long. We'll head back in a bit."
"Really?" Harri said, her next handful of popcorn placed back into the bowl. "So..you changed your mind? You don't want to investigate the rock?"
"Not exactly.." Bruce said and walked over to sit beside her on the couch. "I'll go over and check it out within the next hour-"
"Hm?" Harri said and made a face like she had suddenly smelled something bad. "Go over and check it out?"
"I have diving gear," he said. "I'll-"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait-" Harri said holding up her hand. "Hold up-"
"I'm a strong swimmer, Harri-" he said as the sounds of another round of thunder exploded in the sky above them.
"My thoughts exactly," Harri said looking up at the ceiling. "You're not going out there. That's crazy-"
"Harri, I can swim over and back-" Bruce said.
"You said we can't anchor! We're going in circle right now! That rock isn't exactly ten feet away!" she said. "It looks like quite a swim and by the time you get over there the boat will have moved! Have you even thought this through?! Look out there! You probably won't even be able to see the boat once you're over there-"
"I will leave the flood lights on," Bruce said. "I'll be able to see."
"This is so stupid Bruce," Harri said. "The water isn't safe..what if something happens?"
"It's perfectly safe," he said. "It will take me fifteen minutes max to get over there."
"So you're going to swim in crashing waves for half an hour-"
"I'll be underwater," he said, knowing this was something he was capable of. "It will be calmer."
"And how long does your scuba tank last?" she asked.
"40 minutes," he replied.
"So you'll basically be able to risk your life to swim over, touch the rock and then swim back," Harri said. "With ten minutes to spare to catch your breath."
"I'm not asking for permission Harri," he said. "I'm going."
"Bruce, what if something happens to you? I'll be stranded and-"
"I showed you how to use the radio to call for help," he reminded her.
"And while I wait for them to come I can sit here and think about how you drowned and how Arsenio will have no parents!" she began to shout.
"You have to trust me," he said. "I'm a strong swimmer and I've done diving even in worse conditions than this. I could probably even do this without the tank. The boat will be well lit and I'll be able to find my way back easily. I know it looks bad out there but please trust me, I am skilled at these types of things. I wouldn't suggest it if I though it would leave Arsenio with no parents, Harri."
Harri began to rub her forehead.
"Its really getting dark out there," Harri said.
"You're worried about me not seeing the rock," he said. "Which yes, that's my only concern at the moment."
"At least...wait until it's light out," she said. "I mean..lighter. It's still grey in the day with this storm. Maybe a better chance that the coast will be clearer."
"So you'll wait another day?" he asked.
"If it means there's less of a chance of you drowning or running out of air, yes," she said.
"Thank you, Harri," he said with relief.
"Yeah," Harri said, with the tone letting him know 'You're Welcome' was not on her mind.
She picked up the bowl of popcorn and looked ahead at the TV for a few minutes but felt Bruce's eyes still on her.
"What?" she asked him.
"Nothing.." he said. "Just...well...Adriana hated popcorn. I was just remembering."
"Right," Harri said, laughing a bit. "She did. She said it was like chewing squeaky Styrofoam."
"Styrofoam," Bruce laughed and Harri could see the sadness in his eyes.
"Oh, Bruce," Harri said and reached for his hand. "Do you really believe this rock is a time machine?"
He looked into her eyes and blinked a few times. "No."
"Then why are we still here?"
"Harri..." Bruce said, clasping her hand. "I just need to know I did everything I could. If there's nothing here..at least I tried."
"But this is just so extreme Bruce," she said. "How will you know this is everything you could have done, if you're willing to try something so crazy? Even if you can't get Adriana back, you'll still keep wondering about the Joker and your anger will only grow and then what?"
She could see his expression and energy change as soon as she mentioned the Joker.
"Will we keep sailing?" she asked. "Over to Africa? To Ghana or Togo to find someone that does voodoo to curse him?"
Bruce raised his eyebrows. "You know any good African voodoo priests or priestesses? That's actually not a bad idea-"
"I'm not joking with you, I'm for real!" she said.
"And so am I," he said jokingly.
Harri leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms. Bruce was smiling and shaking his head.
"My longing and missing of her trumps my hatred for him," Bruce told her. "Right now, all I'm thinking about is doing whatever I can to get to the stupid rock and back. I'm doing this for her. I wasn't thinking about him at all."
Harri listened to the rolling thunder and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"You know what's weird?" she asked.
"The fact that we're here in the middle of the Atlantic because I expect a rock to change the course of history?"
"Haha!" Harri laughed and looked at him. "That too. Also the fact that you haven't shaved since we've been out here. You are getting the true sailor look."
Bruce rubbed his facial hair. "I suppose."
"What's weird," Harri said and sat up. "It seems like that storm didn't start until we got here. I mean..it was totally clear and you said the forecast was perfect..such a coincidence for this last minute trip. Then as soon as we go in the vicinity of that coordinate she gave you, a three day storm? Maybe that rock is bad luck."
"You're right," he said and perked up a bit.
"About the bad luck?"
"No," he said. "The storm. I mean it was bad when we came here with the rock but after I tossed it, it really got terrible out here."
They looked at each other for a few seconds and then the lights in the yacht flickered momentarily. They looked up and the ceiling and then Bruce stood up and began to walk out of the room quickly. Harri sat the bowl of popcorn on the table and stood up to follow him. Bruce paused in the narrow corridor leading to the cockpit and turned to see Harri right behind him.
At that moment a cracking thunder louder than anything either of them had ever heard shook the yacht and Harri lept into Bruce's arms and he grabbed and held her instinctively, looking up at the ceiling as the yacht went completely dark for a few seconds. Once the lights were back on she backed away.
"I wasn't scared," she said.
"Yeah," Bruce said nervously. "Neither was I."
They nodded in agreement and continued down the corridor as the lights began to flicker again. Bruce immediately went to the cockpit, examining the screens and controls. Harri paused at the windows on the right side of the boat looking out into the darkness.
"We're still on course," Bruce said, slightly shouting over the sudden continuous thunder. "Circling the rock formation...Everything's okay, it just seems like the storm is getting stronger..we might have to move out of the area. Harri?"
Bruce said and saw her staring out the window into the pitch black ocean.
"Harri?" he asked and she simply raised an arm pointing to the window.
Bruce looked at the dark sea. Repeatedly, he could see the bright jagged lines forming in the sky. Lightning striking down. He looked straight ahead at the rock formation and could see each lightning bolt, brightening the black sky, illuminating the violent waves and the rounded rock. Each bolt appeared to hit the top of the rock as though it were a lighting rod. And with each contact of the bolt Bruce could see very vividly, for a split second, the rounded rock would glow olive green. Very distinct lines and patterns would glow green on the surface of the rock until it went dark again a moment later until the next bolt of lighting hit. The patterns almost looked like some strange futuristic wiring. It looked like a machine.