Chapter 2 #3
“Are we doing that now?” Trent asked.
“Sounds like the rendezvous point will be”—Kane looked at his watch—“in twenty minutes.”
“Great. Anybody tell Naomi yet?”
“No.” He laughed. “The doctor just found out, so the staff may be telling her now. You might want to get ready.”
Trent frowned. “Why is that?”
“Because you’re going with her. You’re on babysitting duty,” Kane announced as he slapped Trent on the shoulder. Trent groaned. Kane noted the time. “You’re down to seventeen minutes now.”
Trent shrugged. “If we have to wait, we wait.” With that, he headed back inside where Dr. Maya was talking to a very sleepy Naomi.
She turned to him in surprise.
Trent nodded. “Yes, we’re leaving the submarine. Sorry, I didn’t know anything about it until a second ago. Apparently we are moving to an aircraft carrier, and, from there, we board a helicopter to get you and Ricky back stateside faster.”
She nodded, then pushed back her covers, and muttered, “I was just getting to sleep.”
“I understand,” he told her, “but this is best for you and Ricky. The chopper will be at least an hour now.”
She didn’t say anything. “I don’t have any clothes.”
Just then someone walked in and handed her two small backpacks. Her face lit up. “Hopefully it’s all there,” the uniformed man noted, and, with a salute, turned and disappeared.
Trent smiled. “One problem solved.”
She shook her head and waved him off. “Go and talk to Ricky and see if he’s ready.”
“Ricky is a different case entirely.”
“I’m not even certain we should be moving him right now,” Naomi noted, frowning at the concept.
“I’ll double-check with the doctor. Hopefully very soon you’ll be back in bed in a new place.”
She didn’t say anything, and then she heard sounds. “What’s that?”
“We’re surfacing. Let’s go,” he prompted her. “Get changed. I’ll help Ricky.” Trent found Ricky already awake, staring at him wide-eyed.
“You promised me a tour,” he declared.
“I know, buddy, and they changed the plan on me,” Trent shared, his tone mild. “But how about this? I’ll carry you up there, and we’ll give you as much of a tour as we can along the way.”
With that, the boy opened his arms eagerly. Trent scooped the little boy into his arms, wrapped him up in blankets, and stated, “Let’s go.”
With Naomi now at his side, they walked out.
In a roundabout route, he led them through some of the main parts of the submarine, explaining things as they slowly made their way up.
As soon as the hatch was open, they stepped out onto the small platform at the top, Ricky looked around and called out in amazement, “Smashing!”
“If you say so,” Naomi muttered, shivering. “It’s really cold out here though.” Then she saw a boat almost at their side. She stared at it and asked, “We’re going in that? We’ll freeze all over again.”
“Just for a little bit, but we’ve got lots of blankets for you two,” Trent added. “It’ll be a short trip.” Then he pointed to change the direction she was looking, “That’s the aircraft carrier.”
“Good God,” she muttered. “I had no idea this was out here.”
“They’ve been heading toward us ever since we found out we needed a helicopter,” he explained. “So, it’s good that they were in the area.”
“And, if they weren’t, what would you have done?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, with a shrug, “but we would have found a way.” Then he added softly, “We always do.”
With that, she was escorted onto the small boat, and Trent stepped on board, carrying Ricky.
As soon as they were both seated, the boat took off and headed toward the carrier.
She turned to Ricky and smirked. “This is definitely right up your alley. Look at all the different boats you get to go on.”
“Ships,” he immediately corrected her. “These are ships, but this is a Zodiac.” He turned to Trent and smiled wholeheartedly. “This is awesome!”
“I’m glad you think so,” Trent said, with a smile. “You will be on that one for a little bit. I don’t know for how long because we’re trying to get you back home again.”
“Home would be nice,” he noted, his expression sad, “but I would love to see as much as I can while I can.”
“Oh, I hear you,” Trent agreed. “That’s what every kid your age would like.”
He laughed and exclaimed, “Not everybody gets to be on a submarine and an aircraft carrier.”
Such awe and reverence filled his tone that Naomi groaned. “Okay, now I can see that we’ll have a challenge,” she noted, with a wry smile. “Some hero worship is happening here.”
Trent chuckled. “I don’t know too many little boys who wouldn’t love this part of the trip.”
Almost before he had a chance to say it, the Zodiac slowed down as they approached the carrier. As they got to the side, she looked up at the huge ladder and groaned. “Is this the only way up?”
“Nope,” he told her. “We’ll use this hatch over here.” He pointed to another ladder much lower down.
She sighed. “Oh, thank God. I don’t think I could have made it up that far. This one is high enough.” But she managed as one of the pilots of the Zodiac climbed up behind her and assisted her inside.