something bothering you, Travis?” asked a voice from the shadows next to him. Travis started as the sensei appeared. “Forgive me if I startled you.”
“Jesus Christ,” Travis exclaimed. “Don’t you ever make any noise when you move? I’m gonna have to tie bells on your ankles just so you don’t scare the hell out of me every time you show up when I think I’m alone.”
The sensei chuckled. “You must learn to hear with more than your ears.”
“Forgive me for being so Western, Sensei, but I’ve been using my ears to hear with all my life. As far as I know, they’re the best I’ve got for that.”
“They are good, yes,” replied the sensei, “but they are not all you have, Travis-san. You can learn to identify by vibration, exercise sense of smell and, most of all, learn to feel the presence of others. It can be done with patience and practice. They can become valuable assets in times like these.” The corners of his mouth turned in a small distant smile as he gazed out over the water. “I tell my students, he who sweats much in practice will bleed less in war.”
“An old Japanese saying?”
“No,” replied the sensei, “coach of Dallas Cowboys. Now tell me, what were you thinking about when I shattered your concentration?”
Travis grinned, beginning to recognize an adroit sense of humor in his stoic companion. “Well, Sensei, this may sound strange, but I sometimes get these premonitions of danger, and I’m starting to get one again. I think we need to pay close attention to what we do for the next few days; we might be in for some trouble.”
“It is wise to listen to the voices of your ancestors,” the sensei acknowledged. “If it is as you expect, and civilization has changed, the times may lend themselves to those who have no conscience about taking what they want from others. Let us prepare, and proceed cautiously. It is better to have the arrow notched and not need it, than to find you are too late to the quiver.”
Travis just looked at him. “I’m not even going to ask.” A moment later Travis yawned. “Well, I feel better having told you. I’m going to hit the sack. We’ve got another long day tomorrow.”
An hour after daybreak the next morning, they were once again underway. The rising sun had yet to drive the cold from the air and Travis, at the helm, was thankful for the sweater he had found among the clothes in the forward cabin. There was a light, quartering tailwind, and the seas were relatively calm. Nice day for a sail on a normal day , Travis thought. Only this isn’t just a sail, and nothing is normal anymore. That disquieting feeling was still dancing around on the periphery of his consciousness, as unsettling as an anonymous, threatening letter.
Christina came up from below, bringing a couple of cups of instant coffee, one of his most valuable acquisitions from the dive a few days before. “Just a wee bit chilly today, huh?” she said as she passed him a mug and sat next to him.
“Yeah, it is, but it’ll warm up as soon as the sun gets a little higher. Still, it’s nowhere what it should be for early April.”
“Could be just a cold winter.”
“Yeah, it’s possible,” Travis said as he tightened the lines on the main. “But the air feels different. There’s less humidity than there should be. It’s like sailing on the Great Lakes in late spring.”
“Do you think we’ll reach the mainland today?” she asked.
“I think we’ll reach where the mainland used to be, but it stands to reason that if the Keys are thirty feet under the ocean, the better part of South Florida is going to be treading water.”
She lifted her head, the wind rippling her hair like water as she turned to watch the gulls darting downward at a school of baitfish off the bow. “It’s so peaceful and pretty today,” she said. “Sitting here, it doesn’t seem possible that the world . . . has changed.”
“The thought pleases me no more than it does you. But
“Jesus Christ,” Travis exclaimed. “Don’t you ever make any noise when you move? I’m gonna have to tie bells on your ankles just so you don’t scare the hell out of me every time you show up when I think I’m alone.”
The sensei chuckled. “You must learn to hear with more than your ears.”
“Forgive me for being so Western, Sensei, but I’ve been using my ears to hear with all my life. As far as I know, they’re the best I’ve got for that.”
“They are good, yes,” replied the sensei, “but they are not all you have, Travis-san. You can learn to identify by vibration, exercise sense of smell and, most of all, learn to feel the presence of others. It can be done with patience and practice. They can become valuable assets in times like these.” The corners of his mouth turned in a small distant smile as he gazed out over the water. “I tell my students, he who sweats much in practice will bleed less in war.”
“An old Japanese saying?”
“No,” replied the sensei, “coach of Dallas Cowboys. Now tell me, what were you thinking about when I shattered your concentration?”
Travis grinned, beginning to recognize an adroit sense of humor in his stoic companion. “Well, Sensei, this may sound strange, but I sometimes get these premonitions of danger, and I’m starting to get one again. I think we need to pay close attention to what we do for the next few days; we might be in for some trouble.”
“It is wise to listen to the voices of your ancestors,” the sensei acknowledged. “If it is as you expect, and civilization has changed, the times may lend themselves to those who have no conscience about taking what they want from others. Let us prepare, and proceed cautiously. It is better to have the arrow notched and not need it, than to find you are too late to the quiver.”
Travis just looked at him. “I’m not even going to ask.” A moment later Travis yawned. “Well, I feel better having told you. I’m going to hit the sack. We’ve got another long day tomorrow.”
An hour after daybreak the next morning, they were once again underway. The rising sun had yet to drive the cold from the air and Travis, at the helm, was thankful for the sweater he had found among the clothes in the forward cabin. There was a light, quartering tailwind, and the seas were relatively calm. Nice day for a sail on a normal day , Travis thought. Only this isn’t just a sail, and nothing is normal anymore. That disquieting feeling was still dancing around on the periphery of his consciousness, as unsettling as an anonymous, threatening letter.
Christina came up from below, bringing a couple of cups of instant coffee, one of his most valuable acquisitions from the dive a few days before. “Just a wee bit chilly today, huh?” she said as she passed him a mug and sat next to him.
“Yeah, it is, but it’ll warm up as soon as the sun gets a little higher. Still, it’s nowhere what it should be for early April.”
“Could be just a cold winter.”
“Yeah, it’s possible,” Travis said as he tightened the lines on the main. “But the air feels different. There’s less humidity than there should be. It’s like sailing on the Great Lakes in late spring.”
“Do you think we’ll reach the mainland today?” she asked.
“I think we’ll reach where the mainland used to be, but it stands to reason that if the Keys are thirty feet under the ocean, the better part of South Florida is going to be treading water.”
She lifted her head, the wind rippling her hair like water as she turned to watch the gulls darting downward at a school of baitfish off the bow. “It’s so peaceful and pretty today,” she said. “Sitting here, it doesn’t seem possible that the world . . . has changed.”
“The thought pleases me no more than it does you. But
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