Chapter 3 - THE GREEN LIGHT
Mara gripped the life ring and searched the empty horizon. Somebody had to hear her.
But the light on her beacon stayed red.
She raised it above the water. The first wave slapped it out of her fingers. She caught the strap with her teeth, coughing so hard her ribs felt cracked.
"Come on," she whispered. "Just once."
Her shoulder burned where Ward's boot had thrown her against the rail. She pictured Owen at seventeen, stealing the last piece of pizza while she threatened to tell Mom. She would not make her mother bury another child.
The beacon finally flashed green.
MESSAGE TRANSMITTED.
Mara nearly laughed. Then she saw a black shape moving beyond the swell.
A low white research boat, maybe two miles away, was crossing her line of sight. She pulled the whistle from her jacket and blew until her lungs hurt. The boat held its course.
"Look this way," she begged. "Please."
The sky dimmed. The orange ring scraped her chin whenever a wave lifted her. She began to shake so hard she couldn't keep the whistle between her lips.
A searchlight snapped on aboard the distant boat. It swept left, right, then caught the water near Mara. She lifted one arm.
"HERE!"
A voice boomed through a loudspeaker. "Person in the water, stay with your flotation!"
A woman in a yellow jacket appeared on the approaching bow. Relief hit Mara so sharply her vision blurred.
Then a second engine sounded behind the boat. A dark launch came racing out of the dusk, its running lights off.
The research vessel's speaker crackled again. "This is Blue Heron. Unidentified craft, state your intention."
No answer.
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Mara saw someone on the dark launch lift a hand toward the research vessel. A red laser dot slid across the woman in yellow.
And the person steering the launch shouted, "Leave the woman in the water!"
