Crossing Waters Chapter Three

CHAPTER Three: Aboard the Journey

The next day Kaitlyn Arrens woke up to endless blue. There was no land in sight. It was a bright, warm Monday morning. Overnight the Journey had travelled three hundred miles south east.
The trip was estimated to be 2000 miles. Although the exact location of the island was unknown, Jack’s guess placed it 400 miles east of Miami, Florida—right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Captain Harrison had estimated it would take less than three weeks to reach the island, if they could make it through the canal. The last remnants of the Panamanian Army fiercely guarded it, and if they couldn’t get through, their voyage would last a lot longer.
The weather was good, and the sea was calm. Kate slid out of bed and made herself ready for the new day. After a cool shower she threw on shorts and a blue t-shirt and went outside. Peering over the railing she could see the water rising and falling, and felt the ship gently rocking. The sounds of the waves were soothing. Kate closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air.
She remembered the first time she’d been on a boat. She had been eight then, her parents had taken her fishing. She had been fascinated by the ocean and the life in it. That was before the White Death. Her and her parents had happily lived in Portland, Oregon. She really missed them.
She heard a door close, and remembered where she was. Opening her eyes, she saw Mark coming over.
“Morning, Kaitlyn!” He said jubilantly.
“What is it, Mark?” Kate mumbled.
“Kalvin’s looking for you; thinks you can help him with something.” He shrugged. Kate looked at him in surprise.
“Oh!” She said. “Okay…. well, where is he?”
“I...Um, think he’s in the diner still…” Mark replied, “But…Hey! Please wait a moment?” he pleaded, for Kate had already turned to leave. “I’m sorry about Jack, you know. You like him, right?”
“Does it really matter?” asked Kate.
“Um, no…I guess not.” Mark murmured. “You know I like you too, right?” he asked. He looked hopeless.
“Yes” Kate answered. She went over to him and gave him a quick hug. Then, backing away, she said, “Feel better now?” She smiled.
“Yeah…” he nodded glumly. She walked away, heading back to her room. “So does this mean ‘Yes’?” Mark asked.
“Probably not.” Kate replied, closing her door.
She snatched up her room key and headed down the hall to the diner. There, she found Kalvin, Eric, and all of the cooks sitting around. The clock showed Eight o’clock. Must’ve missed breakfast.
“Good morning,” greeted Valdez, holding out a chair. She sat down.
“You wanted me for something?” she asked Kalvin.
“Ah…yes, see, we found a few transmitters last night, the kind used for tracking someone, and we suspect there are more.”
“Well, I’d be glad to help out, but where are they hidden?”
“That is the problem, we have absolutely no idea. This boat is like a floating maze. We guess, however, that the radios are hidden mostly in the V.E.S. A store room would be an excellent place to hide.”
“Okay, so I’ll go down there. Which way?” she asked.
“Valdez has a short-cut, he’ll take you,” one of the cooks offered. Eric nodded.
“Kate, I have just one more question: which room did that spy come from, last night?” Kalvin inquired.
“I…don’t remember…” she whispered.
“Could we go back down the hall, do a quick check?”
“Sure,” Kate agreed, and the two of them rose.
In the hallway, she began to search. The door had been the second or third from the diner. After a couple minutes, Kalvin got impatient. He led her back, and Kate recognized it while walking past. It had been the third door, but she didn’t tell Kalvin when she saw the name on the door: Mark Iles.
“Go ahead and take her down now Eric,” Kalvin replied when they returned to the table.
“Gladly,” said Valdez with a warm smile. He took Kate’s hand and led her to the kitchen. The Journey’s kitchen was HUGE. There were multiple stations, a walk-in freezer, and an elevater at the right end. Even after three meals, the room was clean and the appliances shiny. Every cook’s dream! Kate thought. She giggled when she saw the elevater.
“Is this a multi-story kitchen?” She asked, both curious and joking.
“Nah,” said Valdez, “that goes down to the V.E.S.; the food is stored down there. In fact, that’s where we’re going right now.” He pressed a button by the doors and they rattled open. It was spacious, made specifically for carrying cargo or lots of people. The interior was shabby, the metal bare and undecorated. There were no walls, only a railing separating people from the gears and wires. It was like a cage.
They stepped in and a dim light came on. The doors closed and the elevator slowly clanked downwards.
“We only go down three floors, but it takes forever. Kalvin didn’t want it, so I mostly had to pay for it myself. He thought it was pointless- he said I should just use a giant dumbwaiter! Can you imagine how annoying that would be? I would have to call someone downstairs to get the food and raise it up. So I made this instead. I guess it will do.”
Kate nodded but remained silent. Did Mark know? She thought. Last night he had left so suddenly. She hadn’t been able to find him in the hallway, and then the spy came out of his room. Mark can’t be one of them, she thought, even though he’s untrustworthy and Kalvin suspects him, he would at least never do anything to put his friends in danger. The news about Eskal had worried her. What could he want? She only had one answer: Godstone.
For over thousands of years, humans had created many myths about magical sources of life: the fountain of youth, the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life, and Vita formatter. After weeks of study Kaitlyn Arrens and Jackson Connors both concluded that all these sources were the same thing- and that thing rested in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.
The Bermuda Triangle was a place of secrets and mystery. There were still parts of it unknown to man. Of course, with satellite imagery, you could see anywhere in the world, except, for some reason, the island they were searching for. Kalvin had a theory as to why: he believed that the US government knew about it and had erased nearly all evidence of the island’s existence due to the triangle’s history and the danger the island might pose to tourists. The effects of this could be disastrous. It would severely limit radio communication when they reached the island, that is, if they could even find it.

There was a final clunk and the elevator stopped moving, the doors opened, and Kate looked into the V.E.S. Directly ahead of us was a group of vehicles. Strange. Kate thought. Why would Zorray’s hummer be here? Behind the vehicles were towers of crates and a cluster of workers at the bottom.
“Let me show you around first, before you go wandering off.” Valdez took a few minutes to give her a tour, pointing out equipment, vehicles, weapons; and where the freezer and food storage were.
After, they joined the group by the truck. It was a 5-ton covered truck of the likes used in World War II, an M54 with a bed covered by thick canvas. There was a person underneath it, and Kate bent down to see Jordan Carson searching with a flashlight.