sixty and seventy metres long,” Andrew answered.
“Describe the conning tower,” Carmen asked.
Andrew paused for thought and then tried to explain with his hands. “Sort of oval, but with a curved or rolled front where they con when on the surface. There was a row of windows just below that,” he answered.
“Only one row of windows?” Carmen queried.
“Yes.”
“Definitely a Russian then. Nobody else has windows on their subs. Did the conning tower have a sort of stepped down section at the rear?”
“No, but there was a drum shaped thing on top near the rear,” Andrew answered.
“Sounds like a Kilo Class,” Carmen replied. “They are old diesel electric subs built in large numbers in the nineteen sixties and seventies. The Russian built several hundred,”
Andrew nodded. He was often amazed at how much his sister knew about the world’s navies and their vessels. But then she is a Cadet Chief Petty Officer and has been a navy cadet for four years, he thought. In fact, she was due to go on her course for promotion to Cadet Midshipman in the June School Holidays. That is if we survive, he added gloomily.
Carmen went on. “Of course it may not be Russian now. They sold quite a few to other navies, to places like Indonesia, India, China and so on.”
“Or it could have just fallen into the wrong hands during the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Andrew added. He knew enough history to understand what had happened to the huge Soviet empire when communism collapsed in the 1990s.
Suddenly Carmen sat up and pointed. “They are moving! The game boat is under way.”
A spasm of pure terror galvanized Andrew. He rolled over and crouched to get a better look. The game fishing boat came into view.
Heading west, he noted. Then he flopped down and said, “Quick, grab all your gear and get into the water. Keep down! Crawl! And keep the island between it and us.”
Carmen nodded and then reached out. “Give me your fins,” she said.
Andrew let her take them as he rolled onto his back again and struggled to get the weight belt back around his middle. His fingers then seemed to be all thumbs and he fumbled and flustered while trying to do it up. But he was determined to keep the dive gear.
It may be what saves us again, he thought.
As soon as he had the belt done up he snatched up his mask and pulled the strap down around his neck. Then he crouched and grabbed the air tank and BCD and began dragging it down the sand.
Carmen had begun crawling away but she now stopped and pointed to the water. “Keep going and I will scuff out our tracks,” she said.
Andrew looked and was appalled to see that the air tank was leaving a deep groove in the sand.
Bloody hell! I forgot that, he berated himself.
But he did as he was told and scurried on down to the water, angling around the slope to the right as he did. The sand cay was so low that he was afraid that they might be visible even when crawling.
It was with relief that he slid into the water. To his surprise the water felt quite cold and he found it pleasant. As soon as he was in waist deep water he knelt and pulled the BCD and attached air tank on and zipped and clipped it on. Then he raised himself until he could just see the tip of the fishing boat’s mast over the cay. Carmen joined him and gave him a quizzical look.
Andrew ducked down again. “It has turned north. It is heading our way,” he said.
“Oh my God!” Carmen cried, going pale and breaking into a trembling fit as she did.
“I don’t think they have seen us,” Andrew said to reassure her.
“I agree,” Carmen replied. “I was just remembering what they did to Tristan and to Mr Craig and Dan. I…” She shook her head and broke into sobs.
Andrew experienced some gut-wrenching terror as the same images flooded his mind. But it was the callous way he had been tossed in to drown that really made the greatest impact and he shivered with what he knew was absolute fear.
These men will certainly kill us if they see us, he told himself.
So he moved deeper into the water and began moving to his left, edging around the northern end of the sand cay to its eastern side. From time to time he very cautiously raised himself on bent knees but only until he could see the tip of the trawler’s mast. Satisfied that the game fishing boat was in fact heading north he lowered himself back into the water until only his head was sticking out.
“They are still heading north and are only a couple of hundred metres out,” he explained.
“Do you think they will come and search the island?” Carmen asked.
Andrew shook his head. “No. I think they are heading off to meet the dive boat. Then they will take their booty ashore,” he replied, although he was by no means sure and was gripped by a feeling of apprehension so strong he had trouble breathing.
For the next five minutes he and Carmen kept moving south, only their heads exposed. It was easy to do, just floating face down and pulling themselves along with their hands. Carmen slipped on the fins rather than carry them in her hands and risk dropping them. Both took turns at raising themselves up to check on the boat’s progress. Andrew was always careful to make sure he saw no more than the tip of the boat’s mast. He had no intention of risking being seen by any men on her deck or in her wheelhouse.
To his intense relief the game fishing boat maintained a steady course northward, slowly angling away from the reef. But Andrew still took no chances and he insisted that they keep moving southwards until they were at the southern side of the sand cay. By then the game fishing boat was at last half a kilometre away and almost stern on.
“We will wait till it is just a dot on the horizon,” Andrew said. “We are not taking any chances.”
Carmen nodded. “I agree. And then I can have a look at that wound of yours.”
“And we can try to get ourselves rescued,” Andrew added.
Chapter 7
DESERT ISLAND
For the next twenty minutes Andrew and Carmen remained lying in the shallows on the south side of the sand cay. Only when the game fishing boat was so small that it was hard to make out what type of vessel it was did Andrew crawl up out of the water and kneel on the dry sand while he took off his BCD and air tank. Placing those down he peeked over the low sand ridge to make a final check.
“We won’t take any chances. We won’t show ourselves or walk around until it is out of sight,” he said.
“Suits me,” Carmen agreed as she sat on the beach and rubbed her feet.
Andrew unbuckled his weight belt and took his mask and snorkel from around his neck. Then he lay back on the warm sand and broke into a fit of shivering.
“Are you sick?” Carmen queried anxiously.
“No, just worn out and feeling a bit battered,” Andrew replied. In truth he felt very scared and totally exhausted. For the next few minutes neither spoke. It was only when he heard Carmen stand up that Andrew asked, “Can you still see them?”
“Yes, but they are just a speck on the horizon,” Carmen answered.
Andrew nodded and sighed with relief. But he quickly found that the fear of the men had been replaced by a gnawing sense of apprehension.
Now we have to be rescued, he thought. In the back of his mind was the knowledge that he and Carmen were now in dire peril from the natural environment. We are cast away, he thought, on a desert isle with no food or water.
Carmen was obviously