Mike Dixon

They entered the control shed and Humphrey looked at
the message on the screen. „It‟ll take a while,‟ he muttered.
„The system has been immobilized. We‟ll need to hack our
way past the codes.‟
He was typing at the keyboard when Janet burst in.
„What‟s going on?‟
David explained the problem.
„Don‟t waste your time!‟ She turned to Humphrey. „I know
the shit who shut it down. He‟s in a tree back there. I broke
his collarbones. Gimme a slate or something I can write on.
I‟ll swim out and get them off him.‟
Humphrey handed her a ballpoint pen. „You don‟t need a
slate. You can write on the back of your hand like we do
when we go diving.‟
Janet snatched up the pen and dashed back outside. Da-
vid followed. Noelene was there with an iron bar. Harald and
the pilot lay at her feet, trussed like chickens and menaced
by the dog.
„David!‟ Harald let out a wheezing noise. „I can‟t breath.‟
„Stop wasting our time.‟ David glared at him. „There‟s
more bad weather coming.‟
The pilot raised his head. „The cyclone‟s passed.‟
Noelene sprang at him. „Shut up! You stupid dickhead!
You didn‟t even check your fuel gauge before you took off. I
blasted holes in your tanks and most of it drained away. No
one‟s going to listen to you.‟
She turned on Harald.
„And no one‟s going to listen to you. You‟re the mongrel
who said David had broken your back. You bloody liar.‟
David watched as Janet swam out to the big man. He was
draped over the branch of a submerged tree like a piece of
discarded clothing. She rocked him up and down and he
screamed. Then they started to talk. It looked as if he would