Everlast, TX

Surfing the Storm

The choppy ten-foot wave collapsed unexpectedly, catching Colt and his board in the turbulence. Salt spray blinded him before the force of the swell drove him under. His board tugged at his ankle as he rolled roughly over the sandbar.

He relaxed his body. Sixteen seconds later, the tide released him and he bobbed to the surface. He shielded his face from the wind and spray in order to gulp down a breath. The storm-addled ocean energized Colt. The sheer force contained in things as simple as wind and water brought his universe into pinpoint focus.

His board slammed into his back, reminding him of the danger’s that came with being energized. He flopped on the board and paddled away from shore with all his strength. Another swell rose beneath him, this one bigger than the last. He had to push through it. If it broke over the top of him it could snap his board, or worse.

He rose suddenly. His board threatened to buck him off. Just as suddenly, the ocean fell away and he rode down the back side of the swell. Still in no mans land, he maintained a hard pace. Two swells later, he found the right one. After rising onto his board, he knew all the hard work had been worth it.

The coast continued in both directions without the blemish of condominiums or tourists. He spotted Maddox, nearer than he had expected and riding the same wave. He screamed over the roar of the ocean. “This is awesome!”

She gave him the thumbs up.

The wave surged, pushing him further up coast with the tide. Content to stay in the sweat spot and ride it out, Colt breathed deeply of the moment. For now, he was the master—the storm his servant. He knew the relationship could switch in a heartbeat. When surfing the edge of a hurricane, every moment of relative calm had to be savored.

This wave behaved itself, depositing Colt directly on the beach. As the water receded, his board suctioned to the wet sand.

“This was so worth it!” Maddox unstrapped her board from her ankle and hugged it tightly to her body. The wind threatened to sail both her and her board northward up the beach.

Colt scanned the water until he caught sight of Gideon and Shasta bobbing beyond the breakers. They were catching their breath before riding their last wave of the day into shore. He tugged his board from the beach and used it to shield Maddox from the stinging sand.

“You had me worried there for a second.” She spoke directly into his ear.

He laughed. “I almost got worried for a second.”

Maddox rolled her eyes. “Can you see the others?” As she spoke, Shasta and Gideon rose out of the water, riding the same ten-footer toward shore.

Colt stared past them at a wall of rain moving their direction. “I can’t see the storm.”

“It’s so dark. Gotta be getting close.” Jessica scanned the beach southward. “The mag-lev’s gotta be a half mile down shore.”

“At least.” Colt tested the radio transmitter built into his surfboard. The red light had gone off. He thumped it with no results. “We should check the weather before heading back.” He tapped Maddox’s board. “Mine’s busted.”

She shook her head before pressing her ear to her own radio.

Colt watched the wall of rain rush past Gideon and Shasta on their way toward shore. The storm’s growl grew until he felt it rattling his insides. “I think its coming ashore.”

Maddox frowned and held a finger to his lips as she continued to press an ear to her board radio.

“What is it?” Colt’s stomach lurched—a surefire indication something bad had happened somewhere nearby. He stared at the wall of rain. Catching the tail end of the wave’s energy, Gideon and Shasta shot out of the curtain and cruised all the way to shore just as Maddox and Colt had.

Colt would have waved, but he needed both hands to hold onto his board.

Gideon and Shasta reached them the moment Maddox unglued her ear from her radio. “Trouble at sea!” She shouted as the curtain of rain overtook the four of them. The huge drops struck with a stinging ferocity.

Gideon gulped down breath. “What is it?”

“A tanker washed too close to an oil platform.”

“Why don’t they head for Galveston?”

“Mechanical trouble. The distress call says they’re dead in the water.” Maddox shouted.

Shasta glanced over her shoulder. “We’ve gotta get back to the mag-lev, or we’er going to be dead in the water. How far down the beach are we?”

“Half a mile.” Colt turned to Maddox. “She’s right. We can’t help anyone from out here.”

With grim determination, the four of them lowered their boards, narrowed their profiles as much as possible, and trudged directly into the wind and rain.

Thirty minutes later they reached the hidden entrance to the mag-lev in the nick of time. The storm’s voice grew into a deafening banshee, until finally the hatch closed behind them. The four friends stood in silence as sand sifted through the grate beneath their feet. Colt could hear the storm hitting shore above them as the lift dropped smoothly downward to the level of the mag-lev tube.

Maddox stared at him the whole time.

When the doors slid open, Colt broke the silence. “I suppose we’re already in trouble for using the mag-lev without permission.

Gideon swallowed. “They’ll know we were storm surfing, if they haven’t figured it out already.”

Shasta stared at both of the boys before rolling her eyes and gripping Maddox by the shoulders. “Tell us what you’re thinking.”

Ten minutes later, the four friends had reached the eastern terminus of the Gulf/Mustang Island mag-lev tube.

Colt triggered the water evacuation from the union and punched in the stolen code for access to the submersible tethered at the mag-lev terminus. “If we’re lucky, we’ve got an hour before anyone notices the submersible’s been activated.”

Maddox didn’t blink. “They’ll hail us when they notice. We’ll explain ourselves then. If we can save a life, we probably won’t even get in trouble.”

The four friends climbed into the five-man sub. Gideon finished the power-up and switched on external lights. He peered at the holoscreen imagery as it sharpened its focus of the external view. The churning ocean revealed nothing but silt. “I’ll be happy if we can save our own lives in this soup.”

“It’s not so thick as to clog the turbines.” Shasta said.

“Besides, sonographic imaging will guide us to the oil platform.” Maddox took the seat at the helm.

“Whatever.” Gideon switched from external video to sonographic. The holoscreen transitioned to a green-scale semi-3D projection of the ocean surrounding them. He filtered out the silt until the only solid, dark green masses where the ocean floor and a handful of large blobs scattered over several thousand meters of open ocean.

Maddox highlighted a solid mass northeast of their location. “This is the platform.”

“And the tanker?” Colt asked.

“Probably the same blob. Maybe they’re too close together to distinguish from this far.”

“Anyone opposed to seeing this through?” Colt gripped the tether release handle.

They stared back and forth at each other. No one spoke.

“Hold on then. I’m cutting tether.” Colt threw the lever and the sub lurched into the grip of the stormy waters.

What Happens Next?

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