Beyond the Barrier Reef. Christopher Cummings

to come up the Boat Passage on the top of the tide using the smuggler’s boat as a leading mark,” Andrew explained.

      “I think you might be right,” Carmen agreed. “But the tide would need to suit.”

      “The Coastwatch aircraft would be their biggest worry,” Andrew went on.

      Carmen frowned. “Are you suggesting that they might have a spy inside the Coastwatch organization to tell them when the flights are due?” she suggested.

      “Maybe, but they could also do it with less risk by having a couple of small boats with radios, one to the south and one to the north to give them warning,” Andrew answered.

      “Possibly. I wonder how big their organization is and where they base the sub for refuelling and repairs,” Carmen said.

      “One of the Pacific islands, in a failed state like the Solomons or Bougainville maybe,” Andrew suggested.

      “That’s possible. It is about five hundred nautical miles across the Coral Sea. If they can do about twelve to fifteen knots they could cover the thousand miles there and back in about… er… um.” she did a mental calculation. “In about thirty to forty hours one way.”

      “A couple of days to cross,” Andrew added. “And you said that Ivanoff said something about five days. That figures. They could do that. They could be back in five days’ time.”

      Carmen pressed her lips into a hard line then said, “They might be, but if we don’t get rescued or don’t find water we are not likely to be alive to see them.”

      Andrew swallowed as fear churned his stomach. “I know,” he replied. “But I didn’t want to frighten you by saying it.”

      “We need to face facts little brother,” Carmen answered grimly. “Now, let’s cool off in the water and then sit and try to stay calm and try not to sweat too much.”

      So they did. For the next few hours they sat with their backs to the afternoon sun. Neither talked much, trying to prevent their mouths from drying out. Andrew became more and more sunburnt and so did Carmen until both were lobster red. That caused shivering and a general feeling of sickness. Allied to that was the effect of shock and apprehension. Andrew was really scared and knew it.

      The sun sank ever so slowly, burning at them with a horrible intensity. As much as possible they hunched under their wetsuits to gain a little shade. Time dragged. 1500 slowly changed to 1600. The tide ebbed further and further until all of the reef stood dry, a dark brown and black mass. The surrounding reefs also showed clearly.

       This will be really dangerous to walk on if we have to,

      Andrew thought, appreciating that he could not possibly walk on coral wearing his swim fins. The thought of trying to hurry over that jagged coral in bare feet made him shudder.

      But there was no need. No vessel of any kind appeared. Andrew became thirstier and more uncomfortable and stopped sweating. His head ached and he felt nauseous. His tongue felt furry and seemed to fill his mouth and his eyes became sore. It took an effort of willpower not to rub at them as he knew that the dried salt in the corners would scratch the eyeballs. Blurred vision began to bother him and he knew he was entering serious heat stress.

      Not heat exhaustion yet, he told himself, But by this time tomorrow it will be heat stroke.

      Surreptitiously he studied Carmen to see how she was coping. She looked badly sunburnt and tired. Her face was drawn but it was the haggard look in her eyes that bothered him the most.

      She is really hurting over Ella and Tristan, he decided.

      That gave him a series of morbid flashbacks of death and rotting bodies. A crawly, sickening dread of dying crept within him until he felt he could not endure it any longer.

      You’ve seen death before and you have faced death, he told himself. So get a grip and face up to it like a man.

      That helped steady him and he settled to waiting and hoping. A glance at his watch told Andrew it was 1700.

      Low tide, he told himself. The tide will start to come in now.

      With that came the frightening thought that it would soon be dark—and that high tide was just before midnight. Andrew now wished he had studied the tide tables more carefully, but he was sure that the tide that night would be higher than the tide during the day.

       The day tide was only about three metres, but I think tonight’s is nearly four metres.

      With that he looked around and tried to estimate how high the sand cay was above the level of the earlier tide. To his dismay he decided that the dry sand stood only about half a metre above that level.

      Oh, bloody hell! This might be a challenge! he thought.

      The fear tightened its grip on his chest and stomach and he licked his lips and looked anxiously around the horizon.