Trial by Fire

Reagan introduced himself and the two boys. "These are my two boys, Mason and Lanston. The lady that was talking to you is my wife Sara," he told them. "That's Danni at the helm and Kierra, Mason's girlfriend, and Danni's sister Alex looking at you out of that window. Jason is the guy on the machine gun up top. He's Alex's fiancé. We want to help you, but what kind of fuel do you need? If you're a steam turbine and burn fuel oil we can't help you, but if you need diesel we have that."

"I haven't heard of a steam turbine ship being built since the seventies," Burt said, "other than for the navy. We're an electric drive and we burn diesel."

"How far can you go on how much fuel?" Lanston asked.

"We could get to Columbia or Venezuela on 1000 gallons,"

"See that oil platform down there?" Reagan asked. "We'll take you in tow and move down to that platform. We're tied up there and when we get there we'll talk."

"Sounds good," Burt replied.

The Thayers got back on the tug, tied the Alley Cat off and Lanston took the wheel. They slowly moved the heavy ship back down to the platform and the Alley Cat let down its anchor. Jason and Mason launched the Jon boat and ferried the Ramsey's to the platform.

The two families got acquainted over a meal of fish the kids caught and shrimp ferried over from the Alley Cat. Burt, Wes and Jack were partners in the shrimping business. Angela was an emergency room nurse, Alicia was the bookkeeper for the shrimp business and Miranda was a travel agent. Samantha was in the fifth grade and was as cute as a button. Angela was obviously of Spanish extraction and her children all shared her dark eyes and skin. She spoke fluent Spanish. Miranda was two months pregnant with Burt's second grandchild.

"What are you planning to do?" Reagan asked them.

"We really didn't have a plan," Angela told him. "When people started going crazy Burt just got us down to the boat and we pulled out. We just wanted to get away. I'm afraid we weren't thinking about anything but staying alive. What are you guys going to do?"

The Thayers outlined their plan. "I didn't tell anyone, but I wanted to go over to the port of Huston and see if we could get hold of a Coast Guard cutter," Reagan said. "It was probably a pipe dream anyway. We're probably better off with the tug. We couldn't tow the barges with a cutter anyway. I just wanted a big gun and a seaworthy ship."

"We saw a Coast Guard cutter run aground on a sand bar day before yesterday," Jack said. "The crew abandoned it and sailed away on lifeboats. We saw the boats but we were afraid to get close."

"Do you think you could find it again?" Reagan asked.

"I think so," Jack replied, "We would just have to go back up the current. We ran out of fuel about an hour after we spotted it."

Reagan was excited. If they could get their hands on that cutter, they would be set. He knew the others really didn't understand why he wanted a ship, but he would soon open their eyes. It took two days to locate the stranded cutter. Reagan had taken Lanston and Mason and the others camped on the platform. They waited for a high tide and the boys launched the john boat and carried lines to the vessel. They tied on and Lanston backed the tug slowly taking the slack out of the lines. Reagan cleared the decks and got everyone behind something substantial. If a line broke, it would snap back like a striking snake, likely killing anyone unlucky enough to be in its path.

The big diesel's roared and the lines creaked and popped, but the brilliant white coast guard vessel didn't budge.

"She's probably stuck in the sand and there's a suction holding her there," Reagan shouted. "Swing east and west Lanston: about 50 feet each way."

The diesels roared again and as Lanston tweaked the twin screws, the tug swung to the east. The stern of the cutter swung with the tug and the cutter slid a little. Lanston reversed the screws and the tug swung back west. With a slurping sound the cutter broke free from the grip of the wet sand and it was floating freely. Lanston nosed the tug's bumpers into the side of the cutter and they tied it off. Eight hours later they pulled up to the platform, and a cheer broke out from the crew standing at the rail.

"Now, we just need to figure out how to run the thing." Reagan said. The Ramsey's were experts in everything about ships and soon had the cutter up and running. They went on small cruises and soon trained everyone else on running both the new cutter and their own Alley Cat.

The cutter was an Island class patrol boat named the Ocracoke. It had two diesel engines and was capable of 28 to 30 knots. It was armed with two .50 caliber MK2 Browning machine guns like the .50 they already had and an M242 Bushmaster 25 mm chain-fed auto cannon. The MK242 was a fearsome weapon. Using armor-piercing, explosive, and incendiary rounds, it was capable of defeating armored vehicles up to and including some tanks. It was deadly against boats and could even shoot down low flying aircraft. There was a huge stock of ammunition and everyone learned how to shoot the new weapons.

The Ocracoke had five small berthing areas and could sleep 12 people as well as an extensive and well-stocked freezer and refrigeration unit. They all admired the galley and especially the heads. The first thing the Thayers did was shower. The blessed feel of hot water and soap left them fresh scrubbed and glowing.

The whole group met on the bridge for a strategy session. They all agreed that the Alley Cat was a valuable addition to their fleet. It could fish and carry large cargoes. The Ramsey's had asked, and were accepted, to accompany the Thayers in their search for a new home. They would occupy and operate the Alley Cat and lend crewmembers to whichever boat needed them. The Thayers would live on the Ocracoke, which would be operated by Reagan, Sara, Mason and Kierra. Jason, Alex, Lanston and Danni would operate the trusty old tug and tow the barges.

They drained the water tanks on the platform and the small fleet headed south on the course Jason plotted. They had spent two weeks on the platform and with some degree of nostalgia; they left it behind. Their speed was limited by the progress of the tug, but they were still making more than 50 miles a day. On the eighth day, they saw the sun for the first time. It was pale and sickly, but they stood on the deck with their faces turned to it in awe.

The ash fall had turned to scattered clouds and for the first time since leaving Missouri, the Thayers felt like they were going to make it. Their course would pass between Cancun and Cuba. They had not picked an eventual destination and that was the subject of debate at anchor at night. Reagan favored some sparsely populated country in South America. He was leaning toward Guyana. Jason, Sara, Mason and Kierra really had no opinion so long as it had no ash.

Lanston and Danni poured over maps until the wee hours of the morning. They favored a tropical island but couldn't agree on the right one. "It has to be one without a lot of people and kind of off the beaten track," Lanston insisted. "We don't want someplace everyone else will think of. There will be refugees from all over the world looking for a place to land."

"Yes, but it has to have nice beaches and plenty of fresh water and food," Danni said. "We can't just go to some deserted island and live like hermits for the rest of our lives. I like people and schools and sports. I'm still in high school, and so are you. What about Samantha? I want to finish school and live like normal people. I don't want to be a hermit."

"That's not what I'm saying," he objected. "I want all that, too. Let's just look for a place that we both like. And anyway, I'd be happy living like a hermit if you were there."

Her cheeks dimpled. "You are too sweet. Where were you back at my school? I would love to show you off to all my girlfriends back there." Her eyes misted. "They're all dead, aren't they Lanston? That makes me so sad."

He squeezed her tight. "I know. I miss them, too. It's too horrible to think about. We had a lot of family and friends that didn't make it. I hate to think about my cousins and friends from school and people we went to church with. They're all gone. But, I've got you and my family and Jason and Alex. We just have to find a place we can live in peace."

She sobbed for a minute but soon her irrepressible bubbly personality asserted itself and she picked up a magnifying glass. "Look Lanston. I've heard of Grenada," she said with delight. "Can we go there?"

"Too big," he said, "but look here. There's an island just north of Grenada named Carriacou. It's part of Grenada, but it only has 8,000 people. That's about the size of my hometown. It's only about a day's boat ride to St. Georges which is the capital of Grenada. There's a university in St. Georges, too, and we could like run in to the mall or whatever whenever we wanted. They have horses there, too. Kierra could have a horse and everyone could work in town. The town is called Hillsborough and it's the only town on the island. We could go to school there."

"What about the beaches," she asked? "Does it have beaches?"

"How would I know?" he said. "It's a tropical island. It's bound to have beaches. Why are you so keen on beaches anyway?"

"I love beaches," she said. "You know you want to see me sunbathing in my bikini."

"Yes I do," he laughed. "I also want to see you sunbathing without any bikini."

"You're so bad," she slapped his chest. "Help me convince your dad to go there and I might sunbathe without a bikini."

"We'll talk to him in the morning," he said. "Let's get some sleep. Good night, beautiful." He kissed her and she scampered away.

Lanston took the ship's ridged-hulled inflatable over to the Alley Cat early the next morning. He asked Alicia if he could borrow Samantha.

"What for?" she asked. "I mean, I'm sure she would be happy to go on a boat ride with you, but when will you bring her back?"

"Danni and I will take good care of her," Lanston assured her. "I need her to talk to Dad. I want to ask him something and with Danni and Samantha to help me there's no way he's going to say no. I'll bring her back tonight."

"You're a devious boy," she laughed. "Remind me not to ever have anything you want. You would find some way to wheedle it out of me. Yes, you can take her."

"Hey Sam, you want to ride on the tug today with me and Danni?" he asked. "I need you to help me with something and then we can have a picnic on the barge,"

"I don't like to be called 'Sam,'" she said. "My name is Samantha, but I'd love to go with you today. Is it okay, Mom?"

"Yes it is. Be a good girl for Lanston and Danni and do what they tell you," Alicia told her.

"I will, Mom." She tucked her hand into Lanston's and they climbed down the ladder into the inflatable. Lanston let her man the tiller and they shot up the ramp back onto the cutter.

He got Danni and they had a whispered conference. "Samantha, Danni and I want to go live on this beautiful tropical island," he told her. "Its name is Carriacou and it is a wonderful place. There's a town, people, horses, banana trees, and beautiful beaches. My dad wants to live in an old ugly place in the woods. If you go up to him and ask him, there's no way he can say no. He loves girls, especially cute ones like you, and you can get him to do anything. Will you ask him? Danni and I will go with you and we'll ask him, too."

"I would like to live on an island, and I don't like the woods," she agreed. "Let's ask him to go to the island."

The Thayers were gathered on the bridge and Reagan was sitting in the captain's chair drinking a cup of coffee when they came in. They walked up to Reagan and Samantha climbed into his lap and put her arms around his neck. She held him at arm's length and looked into his face.

"Please Mr. Thayer, can we go and live on Carriacou?" she begged. "I don't want to live in an ugly place in the woods."

Reagan choked on his coffee and the room exploded with laughter. "Did Danni put you up to this?" he gasped.

"Well, maybe a little," she said, "but I really do like beaches and horses and bananas and they have all that on Carriacou. Can we please go there?'

He looked around helplessly at his family. His mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

Danni wrapped her arms around his neck from the other side and Lanston hugged him from behind. Her long lashes tickled his cheek. "Please, Dad, can we just go and look at it?"

His eyes misted when she called him Dad. "How can I resist that? You're a naughty little minx, Danni, and I love you. Thanks for calling me Dad, but I'm glad I'm not really. I wouldn't have survived a month. I suspect Lanston is the evil genius behind all this, but okay, we can at least have a look." Both girls shrieked with delight and hugged him tightly.

"Where is Carriacou anyway, and how did you get here, Samantha?"

"Lanston came and got me this morning. We're going to have a picnic later and he's going to let me drive the tug," she beamed.

"I knew it," he said. "I can't believe you raised such a devious child, Sara!"

Sara laughed. "That's all on you. You're an evil man, too. Look how you tricked me into marrying you."

"How did you swing that, Dad?" Mason asked. "I've always wondered how an ugly guy like you got a smoking hot woman like Mom to marry you."

"It's a secret I'll take to my grave," he said. "Now if you girls are through wrapping me around your little fingers, we need to figure out how to get there."

"I know what that means," Jason said. "How come every time a Thayer gets a bright idea I have to go to work?"

"Come on, lazy," Alex took his hand. "I'll help, but I think I see the hand of my little sister at work here, too. You better get used to it, she's going to be your sister-in-law."

Chapter Fourteen

It took Jason and Alex three hours to get the course plotted. They had brought Wes in to help and the three of them got it figured out. None of the Ramseys had ever been that far south, but Reagan surprised them by telling them he had actually been to Grenada. He told them the story sitting around the galley that evening. The ships were anchored out and the tug tied off the Ocracoke. They had ferried the Ramseys aboard and Mason and Kierra cooked pork chops from the ship's freezer.

"Back when I was young and foolish, before I met your mother, of course; I did a lot of surfing," he explained. "This was back in the late seventies. My Dad was a career Navy man and we lived for years in Hawaii. I got addicted to surfing. After I left home I moved to California and that's where this all started.

"We were sitting around a bonfire down at the beach. You remember this was back before smoking weed became such a big crime and before they started legalizing it. We were all pretty high and one of my buddies mentioned he had heard that there was a big tropical storm out in the Caribbean Sea and the surf on Grenada was supposed to hit 15 feet.

"We all got to talking about how great it would be and the next thing I knew five of us were on a plane headed for Grenada. This was September 1983."

"Dad, somehow I am having a lot of trouble picturing you as a surfer dude," Danni said.

After their moment the night before, she never called him anything but "Dad" again. Alex and Jason soon followed suit and Reagan willingly assumed the mantle.

"Well, I never liked the Beach Boys, but I did have long hair and I did love to surf and I said 'dude' a lot," he told her. "Anyway, we flew in to Grenada and surfed for two weeks. I knew a kid that went to college in St. Georges at Presentation Brother's College. We stayed with him.

"One morning we woke up and the radio said that Maurice Bishop, this really sketchy Communist dude that was head of the government had been executed by the army and some other, even sketchier communist dudes had taken over the government and the airport was closed.

"They issued a four-day curfew and said anyone spotted outside would be shot on sight. There were a lot of Cuban soldiers around. We heard the troops were coming for us and hid in the jungle. They found two of us and they were searching for the rest. I got one of my buddies to go with me and we made our way down to the harbor, stole a military captain's gig and drove a 25-foot open powerboat down to Trinidad and Tobago.

"We hopped a freighter bound for Florida and 25 days later, the Americans invaded. They arrested everyone involved in the coup and I never went back. That's the end of the story."

"Wow," Kierra said. "That's quite the story, Dad. If I hadn't been with you the last few weeks, I'd have had trouble believing that story. You guys should have seen him before the volcano. He read books; spent a lot of time fishing and writing and I never saw him angry. Now it's like a whole different person lives in his skin. I never knew anything about when you were younger. Did you know, Mason?"

"He doesn't talk about it much," Mason said. "I caught hints here and there when he let things drop accidently or when he knew about things he shouldn't have known anything about. About two years ago, I heard part of it for the first time. It was quite an eye opener."

Reagan laughed. "You guys are making a lot bigger mystery than it deserves. I did a lot of stupid things before I was 25. A lot of them I'm ashamed of and they weren't romantic. I've always been willing to tell you about the interesting things, but I don't like to brag about things I'm not proud of. I hope you all know I'll tell you anything you need to know. There are just some things in my life I've chosen to forget. They've never been important. You're what's important to me."

"Did you ever shoot anyone, Dad?" Mason asked.

"Now see. That's some of the things I don't want to remember."

"You said you'd tell us anything," Sara said. "That's one answer I'd like to hear."

"Well, if you mean before the volcano, I don't know. I shot at some people. I intended to shoot them, and if I didn't it wasn't from lack of trying. I never had time to go back and count bodies."

"Where were you?" Kierra asked.

"Different places," he said. "If I tell you one, is that enough?"

"No," Danni said. "I want to hear about them all."

"Well, I'm not going to tell you, so don't get that puppy dog look going. Come over here and sit by me and I'll tell you one."

He scooted over on his chair. It was a big chair and Danni easily fit in under his arm. He slid his arm around her and she snuggled up against him.

"I had a buddy in San Francisco that manufactured LSD," he began.

"You were a drug dealer?" Danni looked up at him in surprise.

"Not me, Danni, this was just a guy I knew. I knew a lot of sketchy people and I did a lot of drugs. He was a graduate student in chemistry at Berkley. He was just a lab geek that knew a lot about chemicals. He knew some people who were small time dealers and they set him up with a major player. He needed some muscle so he offered me quite a bit of money to set up a protection team because he knew I had a lot of military contacts. I knew some ex-rangers from Schofield Barracks in Hawaii that lived in Stockton and I offered them the job. They needed the money so they signed on.

"We met the buyer in Oakland at a warehouse and he tried to rip us off. We got behind some cover and were having a firefight when the whole thing went south. The DEA had been after the chemist for a while and they showed up. We had to shoot our way out. The chemist got hit and fell off a walkway and got busted. There were a lot of bodies on the floor when we went scooting out and I went to Mexico for two months while the heat died down."

"Dad, you shot at the police?" Danni exclaimed! "Did you put any of those bodies on the floor? I hope you shot the man that tried to rob you."