Page 101 of Devilish Debt
Understanding sinks in simultaneously.
“Itdoesgive us pinnacle directions for where the ship was coming from based on that information.”
Nods of comprehension are executed.
“Galeisalso not a person.”
Zero’s forehead crinkles in obvious confusion prompting Garcia to lightly squeeze his fingers as a reminder to remain silent.
“Ittoois a reference except toweatherinstead of specifically boats.”
“Gale force winds,” casually states the man currently allowed to speak.
“Yeah, but before modern characterization…in its more basic etymology roots…it was just a reference to strong wind, and then they’d attach descriptors to it to aid in defining just how strong or dangerous.”
“Meaning… ‘no life left in this tale’…”
“Combined with Lee Shore was all about how fucked they were in this very spot.”
“How they were likely to die.”
“Here.” I abruptly come to a stop.“All the other clues and riddles and wording people tend to follow refer to thejourneythey were making, where they had been, where they were headed, where theyhopedto land, all thrown out to keep people off their actual location; however, that last clue, that last journal entry line that Weslington brought us was about where all the shit ended.Where they were most likely to –and most likely did– die.”My hands slide into my back jean shorts pocket.“Starting here, I’ll navigate outward.Using the information Zero and his program came up with, I have a pretty clear path to search for his ticket to freedom.”
Garcia let’s a curious eyebrow quirk.“His ticketoryour ticket?”
My lips press together in a refusal to answer.
It’s definitelyhis ticketto not get royally fucked – pun intended – but finding the shit to salvage is technically mine too.
The type of payday that can take me anywhere I wanna go.
Anywhere that’s notherewhich is where I swore, I was done wanting to be.
And that’s true.
Or at least itwastrue.
It’s getting harder to pretend that that hasn’t changed.
A lot like it’s getting harder to accept this fling to fuck off situation is now more like a fling to possibly forever one.
Changing into my diving gear is mostly done to the sound of Zero re-reading every and any fact about our current location he managed to whip up – with his handy 1s and 0s at the helm – and Garcia loudly sipping tequila, his telltale sign he’s nervous yet unwilling to admit it.
Fact is…I’m a bit nervous too.
If we’re wrong…fuck, ifI’m wrong…we’re dead.
Prince Problem Child will kill Zero and thenusbecause no one likes loose ends.
Normally, when I’m wrong, who fucking cares.
We load up the boat.
We try again the next day or the next or whenever we can because that’s the nature of the salvage whale, but this time…if I’ve missed the mark…it’ll cost us all our lives.
The first plunge into the water is baptisingly beautiful.
Cleansing.
