Alone by Brett Archibald

Author:Brett Archibald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

THE NAGA LAUT

3.40PM

‘What’s that? What’s that?’

Ridgy’s shouts have set the men on edge again. They move in unison to the portside of the boat where they follow his finger pointing out into the swirling grey, several boat lengths ahead.

‘Pass me the binos!’

Banger complies. Someone calls for the captain to stop the boat as Ridgy tries to focus through the rain into the surging sea. The engines cough as they slow and the Naga Laut lurches clumsily in the swell.

‘There! There’s definitely something…’

No-one else says a word. There’s so much riding on this moment, on this day, but the men have already suffered one false alarm; they have started hardening themselves to the cruelty of hope.

The engines cut out suddenly.

‘I can see it too.’ But Snowman is less animated than Ridgy.

‘Me too,’ says Craig. ‘It could be him but…’

Most of the men can now make out the object in the water and, as the powerless Naga Laut approaches, its pale lifelessness becomes increasingly apparent. A shared thought crystalises among them: if it is Brett, we’re too late.

The moment envelops the boat.

Finally, Ridgy locates the object in the binoculars. ‘It’s not him. Just some junk or something.’

The men’s collective relief is barely felt in the wind-driven rain. In the course of the longest minute they’ve been tossed from extreme hope to extreme despair and now – what? The familiar emptiness in the pit of their stomachs returns.

Craig and Weyne keep watching the piece of flotsam as it rises and falls into and out of view, now a mere stone’s throw off the port bow; they can see clearly that it’s a piece of polystyrene. ‘Jesus, I though it was the top of his head,’ says Weyne.

JM, Tony and Snowman move out of the rain back to their portside positions, while Ridgy, sodden like the others, trudges to the bridge to resume his search. Banger and Niall retire silently to starboard, where they stare in resignation out to sea. As the boat, buffeted by the wind and sea, starts a gentle turn to port, the rain powers directly into their faces, reducing their visibility almost to nothing.

Inside the bridge the captain and Yanto, both flustered, engage in a spirited exchange, evidently working out their next move. Barely a minute passes before Ridgy calls to the crew on the bridge. ‘Yanto! I think I’ve seen something else! Tell the captain we need to turn back and search the area.’

This time the men don’t respond as before. They automatically glance over to Ridgy, but this time they don’t move, their natural self defences not allowing it.

‘Captain say we can’t go there,’ says Yanto. He has a rumpled look as he turns to JM and Tony. ‘He say we go to mainland.’

‘We have to check it out,’ says Ridgy, gesticulating out to starboard.

Yanto shakes his head. ‘Not safe there. More storm coming. Boat not good.’

‘This is the search area,’ says Craig. ‘Why are we leaving?’

‘We can’t go there,’ Yanto is almost shouting now. ‘Boat will sink.’

The men look at one another, uncomfortable with the unfolding unpleasantries.

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