The Rig 3: Eye of the Hurricane Read Online Free PDF Page A

top of her head and as he rested his head against hers, he too felt his eyelids droop.
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    There was not much Commander Lovell could do. For everything he could, he needed FEMA's help and he knew he would not get it. The FEMA man was looking over his shoulder with everything he did. The man was even questioning him when he changed course by a few points. He had snapped at that and told the man to sit himself down on a stool in the corner of the bridge and leave him to steer his damned ship.
    And now he saw the storm rolling in as well. He wanted to go closer to the rig, to find out what might be done, but he dared not disobey direct orders. So he kept his cutter at five miles from the place and waited. But that storm looked ominous. It looked as though it would spell the end of the world, and Commander Dan Lovell knew how it would likely be the end of the world for a lot of people out there on that rig. Not just that; if he stayed put, it might be the end of his cutter and his crew as well. It was not a risk he wanted to take.
    “Lieutenant James. We will go to within two miles of ‘The City’ to make our observations and then we will head back to San Clemente. We cannot stay here.”
    “Aye aye, sir,” the lieutenant answered. He nodded to the master and the joysticks were pushed forward.
    The man from FEMA got up from his stool and approached the Commander.
    “You have orders to stay put.”
    Commander Lovell grabbed him by the arm and swung him around, pushing him towards the door of the bridge.
    “What the fuck do you see there?” he shouted at the man in despair.
    Indignantly, the man looked out. He answered even more irritated.
    “Sea. Waves. Dolphin.”
    “You don't see that storm coming?” Commander Lovell just managed to stop himself from punching the man in the back of the head. “The black clouds and the high waves underneath it that show how hard the wind is blowing? And the part in front of it where there is no wind?”
    The man shrugged. He did not see it, of that Commander Lovell was certain. He was relieved he had refused to take this chap's orders. The man was useless as a sailor.
    “I want to get as close to that fire as possible to see what is going on there. We are the only officials here observing that thing so I am duty-bound to make proper observations. And then we will head back to port because I am not risking my fucking cutter in a storm like that. Understood?”
    He got no answer. He released his grip on the man and gave him a slight push to show him his disapproval.
    Lieutenant James looked at their position on the GPS. Slowly they approached a point two miles from ‘The City’. He picked up a pair of binoculars and scanned ‘The City’. He saw the flames had abated a bit. The top of the structure was flame scarred, but was no longer burning. He scanned the lower structure and he felt alarmed then.
    “Sir?”
    Commander Lovell approached the lieutenant.
    “What is it, Lieutenant James?”
    The lieutenant handed him the binoculars. “Check the lower structure sir. Front starboard pillar.”
    Commander Lovell took the binoculars and looked where his lieutenant told him to look. He turned the dial a bit, focusing the lenses. Then he whistled. He had seen what had got his lieutenant to call him.
    The pillar was breaking down. Metal plating was coming off the outside, some of it had even been set alight by the intense blaze. And it was just possible to see some of the iron beams that held the pillar up. Several of them were buckling, another had sheared clean through. That pillar was going to collapse soon. And then the whole structure would begin to tilt over. Extra strain would come onto the other already weakened pillars and it would be inevitable the whole structure would come crashing down into the ocean.
    The FEMA man was standing behind them. He had grabbed another pair of binoculars and was looking at the same thing. He was smiling.
    “Perfect,” he