Page 94 of Uncharted

And the VHF radio on the side table crackles. It takes all of a minute to adjust to the sound. A garbled voice...

Chapter41

Radio Signal

Easton

We’re all silent, gathered around the radio. Sam’s sitting in a chair next to Haley. We’re waiting. So far, we haven’t been able to make anything out. If we hadn’t seen what appeared to be pirates... I would have been the first one to grab the mic and let them know we’re here. But we’re sitting on an expensive piece of salvage. That’s without them knowing about the diamonds. It occurred to me once or twice that I could try and leverage myself by giving a finder’s fee reward to them. But there’s so many ways that could go wrong. So many. I shiver internally at the thought of anything happening to Haley.

And then it crackles again. Words with breaks in between them. It’s not a language I know. Something Asian, not Japanese, but that’s the limit of my knowledge. My head snaps to Dante. He was at least able to identify the language on the bottle we found on the derelict.

“I have no idea what they’re saying, but it’s Filipino. The most I can do in Tagalog is hello, goodbye, and bathroom. I was only there for a few weeks.”

The speaker slows and then says, “over.”

Someone else starts, “Kamusta...”

“That’s ‘hello,’” Dante says.

“Great, we can at least be polite,” I say.

Sam’s next to the radio, his hand on the mic, when the second speaker says, “over.”

And another one begins, but this one is throwing in a lot more English words. Cargo, sick, and payment are all mixed into the five minutes of Filipino.

“Fuck,” Calvin says when the radio goes quiet.

Sam crosses his arms over his chest. “We need to keep a log.”

“I’ll grab an empty logbook from the wheelhouse.” Zane takes off down the hall.

“And we need to keep a better watch.” Calvin’s trying not to limp as he moves to the table. “We’re all in agreement—we stay quiet until we know more about them.”

“Fuck, yes,” Dante says.

There’s static on the line again—it’s stronger this time than last time. “Are they getting farther away?”

“Yes and no. Each of the speakers could have different types of equipment, and even just having their antenna pointed in a different direction could increase the static. They could be changing course, moving to a point away from us. But the best equipment out there can give thirty nautical miles, depending on conditions,” Sam says.

“But sitting on the ocean, two to two and a half miles is the farthest you can see,” Zane says.

“I know the answer, but I’m just going to go out on a limb and say we’re not going to risk that they might not be pirates and broadcast. What if they’re actually a hospital ship and they need payment for their sick...?” Stern faces stare back at me. “I’m going to shut up now.”

“No, Easton, you might be right. That’s why we need to keep a log. I definitely saw a pirate ship. That doesn’t mean that these guys are pirates, but let the evidence lead us to the answer,” Sam says.

“Agreed,” Zane and Dante say together.

“Right, Calvin?” Haley touches his arm. “We need to keep an open mind.”

“What we need to do is get the damn boat fixed,” Calvin growls.

Zane cocks his head at Calvin. “True, but we’ve got weeks of work?—”

“Weeks of work if we had power and the right tools. Months without power tools, if ever. And the rainy season’s going to get going soon. It’s going to get a lot harder to get back and forth between the beach and the boat, and a heck of a lot more uncomfortable on the beach.” Calvin straightens his leg under the table.

“Until the rainy season starts, we need to conserve water.” Sam’s still looking at the radio. We all are.

“What about the regular radio—what’s it called again?” I ask.

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