Cassandra’s Gift
Chapter 32
The weather was terrible. A hurricane was generating large waves and dumping heavy rain in our island, even though it was hundreds of miles away.
Our boat was rated well beyond what we were experiencing and the captain assured me she was comfortable getting to the mainland for supplies. Melissa wanted to go as well, and spent the whole trip over being seasick.
They’d loaded up with supplies and were on their way home when the hurricane suddenly changed direction and headed straight for us. The storm was playing havoc with our radio and we only had intermittent contact with the boat, but we, hopefully, managed to inform the captain of the situation and suggest she head back to the mainland and wait it out.
The waves grew and started breaking over the boat. Jane, the captain, had everyone get into survival suits; the suits would prevent hypothermia in case someone got washed overboard.
The water crashing over the boat was more than the pumps could handle and it started wallowing. Jane ordered everyone to abandon ship and the two crew got info one life raft. Melissa, practically dragging Jane off the bridge, got into another life raft and they were quickly separated from the stricken boat.
The life rafts were equipped with EPIRBs, emergency beacons, that automatically activated when they came in contact with water. They would send out an automated distress signal with GPS coordinates for 48 hours.
The storm was too severe for Search and Rescue to fly and shipping traffic was taking shelter nearer the coast. We were unable to help either, our helicopter couldn’t safely fly in this weather and we only had smaller boats available.
We were tracking both EPIRBs and could see the two life rafts had drifted a long way apart. Jane’s and Melissa’s beacon shut off after 36 hours, with an “ok” signal, indicating that they’d been picked up. The battery in the other beacon went flat after two days and we lost their signal.
An Arab Liquefied Natural Gas tanker picked up Jane and Melissa. They were shown to a cabin, clomping along in the bright orange, oversized survival suits. They stripped off the suits, leaving them in just the panties and T-shirts they had hurriedly put on under the suits.
Melissa opened the door to find a crewman standing outside. He said a few words in Arabic then, seeing she didn’t understand, shook his head and indicated that she should stay in the cabin. She indicated her skimpy clothes and shrugged, but the man repeated his gesture.
A short time later the door opened and a man wearing an apron entered carrying two plates. The food wasn’t great, but it was better than survival rations and they are it ravenously.
A couple of hours later, a group of men entered the cabin, the lead man looked to be the captain. Jane and Melissa didn’t like the grin on their faces.
Two men grabbed each girl by the arm while a third stripped off their clothes. Melissa fought back and kicked one man in the balls before another punched her in the stomach.
They both had their hands tied behind their backs and all 24 crewmen took turns at raping them. It lasted all night with most men coming back multiple times. At last, in the early hours of the morning they were left alone.
They realised that the chances of them being let go were slim, so they’d have to escape on their own. Melissa used her teeth to untie Jane and, when they were both free, they planned their escape. They didn’t bother putting their torn clothes back on. Both were comfortable naked and it might make the men hesitate in surprise.
Hidden in each of their survival suits was a compact pistol, a Walther P22, and two spare magazines, all loaded with hollow point bullets. Melissa got the pistol out of her suit and told Jane to do the same. She stood near the door telling Jane to open it on her mark. She took a deep breath and nodded to Jane, who opened the door quickly and got out of the way.
The guard in the other side jumped in surprise and Melissa shot him twice in the chest and once in the head. They dragged his body into the cabin and closed the door.
Melissa had decided to head for the crew quarters and take care of them first. She snuck in and shot two of the four crewmen while they slept. The other two woke up and she shot one of them before he’d gotten out of bed, but the other had started charging her and Jane shot him.
Jane had never shot anyone before, just targets, and was shaking and looking sick. Melissa hugged her and stroked her hair, calming her down a little. Small caliber guns such theirs were pretty quiet, sounding more like a pop gun; hopefully the gun shots hadn’t been heard by anyone.
Giving Jane a final quick squeeze, they left the cabin and headed up the stairs, their bare feet silent.
They reached the bridge where only the captain and helmsman were on duty. Melissa shot the helmsman in the leg, the captain jumping to his feet and spinning around. He had no weapon and was helpless; he raised his hands in surrender, and Melissa shot him in the leg as well. They removed both men’s belts and tied a tourniquet around their legs to stop the bleeding. Jane opened a utility cupboard and found some rope then helped Melissa bind the men so they couldn’t move.
Seven crew down, fourteen to go. Melissa replaced the magazine in her gun with a full one and took a full one from Jane. She left Jane in the bridge to guard the two men, with instructions to shoot anyone that came through the door.
Melissa had been gone for an hour. Jane thought she could occasionally hear gun shots, but it was probably her imagination. The two men moaned in pain and Jane threatened them with the gun until they were quiet. Jane heard Melissa call her name and breathed a sigh of relief which turned into a gasp when she saw Melissa. One eye was red and swollen shut, her arm was broken and hanging uselessly and she had a deep knife cut on her leg and was trailing blood behind her.
Jane helped her into the room and sat her down in the captain’s chair. She rushed to the infirmary to gather medical suppliers and was back in less than ten minutes. Melissa was flagging and leaning heavily in the arm rest. If the men hadn’t been bound well, they could easily have overpowered her. Jane gave Melissa a shot of morphine and another of ephedrine, before tending to her cut and splinting her arm.
The rest of the crew were dead, Melissa had intended to take some captive and punish them, but they fought back too hard and she was forced to kill or fatally wound them.
Melissa had the helmsman program in a new course. He baulked when he saw what she wanted but Melissa was in no mood to tolerate arguments: his choice was obey and be allowed to take a life boat or disobey and die. He did what she wanted. When Jane had verified that the course was correct, Melissa shot the captain and helmsman in the head and they left the bridge.
They collected their survival suits then climbed aboard one of the lifeboats and launched it. The lifeboat was covered and designed to survive rough seas. It could hold 24 people so the two of them had plenty of room and ample supplies. Jane started the engine and pointed the boat towards land. They’d take it in turns to steer and keep it on the correct heading, though they took the opportunity to have sex regularly.
Two days later, a naval ship picked them up and they climbed aboard with relief. They were given clothes and bunked with the other female crew members. The ship’s doctor examined and treated them, taking photos to be used as evidence. The bruising on their bodies had turned a deep purple, making them look even worse than they were. They told the captain their story, including shooting their way out, but didn’t mention they killed the whole crew. Melissa used her injuries as proof on how brutally they’d been treated by the crew.
The course Melissa had chosen for the ship steered it full speed into an active volcano, which was in the process of forming a new island. The shipping line that owned the tanker tracked its course, but couldn’t raise the crew or airlift anyone onto the ship before it collided. The impact ruptured the tanks and liquefied natural gas spilled out, only to be set alight by the volcano resulting in a large explosion. The remains of the ship were soon overrun by fresh lava, burying it forever.
The news of the tanker’s destruction reached them while they were still aboard the naval ship and the captain interrogated them on the cause. They offered no explanation, but surmised that, after they had escaped, they crew didn’t want to face the rape charges and subsequent dishonour for their families and the death penalty or life imprisonment for themselves.
The navy got in touch, letting us know what had happened. The storm had passed and we could fly again so Natalie and I went to the mainland and met with a lawyer we had on retainer.
Jane and Melissa were given transport back to the city by the navy and handed over to the police. They’d admitted to shooting, and possibly killing, some of the crew and the shipping company wanted someone to blame for the destruction of their ship.
In the end, no charges were laid as the evidence for the girls abuse was overwhelming and their actions were deemed self defence. There was no evidence that they had anything to do with the ship’s destruction, and nobody believed that two woman, beaten and abused could overpower 24 men. Fortunately, they didn’t know Melissa like I did.
Happily, while all the legal wrangling was going on, the other two members of Jane’s crew joined us. They’d been found, safe, when they drifted into the shipping lanes.
Jane required my help in handling the memory of what had happen. Both the rape itself and the violence of their escape were causing her anguish. I faded her recollection of the events and removed any trauma she was feeling.
By this time Melissa was mostly recovered. Her arm was still in a cast, but otherwise she was ok. She was itching to get back to train with Natalie and Christine.
Jane spent a couple of weeks searching for a new boat and found one slightly bigger and more capable than the old one. I arranged to have it bought and she stocked it with supplies and headed home, happy to be captaining her own boat again.