Dream Sky Read Online Free PDF Page A

them as they stepped outside. “What the hell is going on? I could hear people shouting, but I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying.”
    Robert quickly explained the plan.
    “You’re taking me with you, right?” she said.
    “One of us has to stay here,” he said. As she opened her mouth to argue, he added, “If we don’t come back, you need to use what we have here and get everyone off, no matter how many trips it takes.”
    She frowned as she closed her mouth, but didn’t fight him.
    “Keep an eye out for us,” Robert said. “If you see us coming before we get into the bay, you can get the others started.”
    She shook her head. “I make the sacrifice, you get the glory. Typical.”
    He winked at her. “I’ll make sure they put an asterisk by your name in the history books.”
    “Get out of here before I throw you off the deck.”
    Heading down the stairs, Robert couldn’t miss the spots of residue along the railings and on the steps. He wanted to pull away from them but the gunk was everywhere.
    When they reached the sand, he moved in front of Pax and led them down the path to the dock. One speedboat was tied to a buoy in the bay, while the other—Robert’s preferred boat—was at the dock.
    While he started the engine, Pax untied the mooring ropes, and within moments they were moving across the bay toward the channel that led to the sea.
    “How long is it going to take?” Pax asked.
    “In this, not more than an hour, less if the sea’s calm.”
    He slowed as they turned into the channel, and slowed again as they exited the other side. The sea was choppy but not too bad. He didn’t open the engine all they way up, though, until they circled around to the side of the island that faced Costa Rica.
    “You might want to hang on,” he said, and then pushed the throttle forward.
    __________
     
    T HE TOWN OF Limón was located on a little bump of land along the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. With the exception of a few scattered villages, it was the only real civilization on the country’s entire eastern seaboard, and the only place able to accommodate the ferry that had shuttled guests to and from Isabella Island.
    The first indication that Robert and Pax were getting close was the sight of red and white antenna towers peeking above the horizon. Soon after, the buildings that crowded the coast came into view. From the sea, the town looked to Robert like it always did. It wasn’t until he and Pax were closer that he could see the roads were empty and there were no people about.
    Robert tried not to think about it as he guided the boat around the southern end of the land bump to where the main port was located. As soon as it came into view, he stared in surprise.
    Limón had always been a stop for cruise ships touring the Caribbean. In the past, Robert had never seen more than one docked at the pier at a time, each ship usually staying only a few hours before heading back to sea. Now, however, three giant vessels were in the harbor—two on either side of the main pier, and the third tied to the ship on the east side.
    Robert wondered if the flu had broken out on board the ships first, or if the vessels had rushed to shore upon hearing news of the outbreak. As the speedboat neared the docks, he was able to get a better look at the third ship. It appeared it hadn’t pulled up next to the other one, but had crashed against it, buckling metal and scraping off long streaks of paint. He could see hastily rigged gangways between the two vessels, apparently so that passengers could cross onto the ship at the pier and then to shore.
    Jesus. They must have been in full-on panic .
    “Where’s the ferry?” Pax asked.
    The haphazardly docked third ship was blocking their view of the dock where the Albino Mer was normally tied up.
    “Should be on the other side,” Robert said, hoping the bigger vessel hadn’t clipped the ferry, too. If so, the Albino Mer wouldn’t have suffered a few dents and some lost