Paul Zindel - Loch

At the main gate of the base, Jesse was surprised to see the encampment swarming with new recruits and heavy equipment. The loud, steady clanking of a pneumatic driver cut through the air as a crew of sweating men completed the installation of a high link fence topped with barbed wire.

“What’s going on around here?” Jesse asked the guard. “Looks like you’re goin’ to war.”

The guard put on a phony, folksy smile. “Nothing much. Just getting ready for another sweep tomorrow.”

“No kidding,” Jesse said like he cared. The only thing that really interested him was a pile of lumber and a couple of big toolboxes. He figured he’d go home, have a couple of drinks, then come back and see what he could rip off.

Loch and Zaidee thanked Jesse for the lift, jumped down from the truck, and ran in through the gate. Construction workers were throwing up additional structures and setting up machinery. A large military helicopter made a pass along the shoreline, then stirred up a big cloud of dust as it landed on a freshly leveled pad.

They spotted John Randolph cutting across the base in a jeep. “Have you seen Dr. Sam?” Loch called.

“He’s on The Revelation, ” Randolph shouted back.

Loch and Zaidee walked toward the dock. The old brown fishing trawlers were backed up to the shore with their crews feeding shiny metal netting from two flatbed trucks onto the boats’ huge, rusted spindles. To the left of the Sea-B several dozen men were helping guide a large, sleek boat into the water to join the fleet of skiffs.

“What kind of boat is that?” Zaidee wanted to know.

“Looks like a converted PT boat,” Loch said. He remembered seeing them in World War II footage on TV and knew they were famous for their speed; some were some still used by the Coast Guard for running down harbor drug traffic.

When they reached the dock, supplies were being unloaded from trucks onto the water taxis. Zaidee held Loch’s hand as he guided them through the horde and up the gangplank onto the yacht.

They found Dr. Sam in the control room with Cavenger, Emilio, and several other electronics technicians.

“Dad,” Loch called from the doorway.

Dr. Sam looked up from calibrating the graphic recorders. He was surprised to see Loch and Zaidee.

Cavenger saw them too. “Get rid of them,” he ordered Dr. Sam.

Dr. Sam moved quickly to the door, his face flushed. “What are you doing here? I told you the base was off-limits today.”

“We’ve got something to tell you-” Zaidee started.

“Not now,” Dr. Sam cut her off, sharply.

“It’s important, Dad,” Loch said.

“I told you to stay at the trailer.” Dr. Sam raised his voice, wanting Cavenger to know it wasn’t his fault the kids had shown up. Loch picked up on exactly what his father was doing. He really hated it whenever his dad was afraid to stand up to Cavenger even when it just meant taking a minute out to talk to his own kids.

“Daddy, something wonderful-” Zaidee tried to get the words out.

“Look. Just leave. And I mean on the double,” Dr. Sam yelled at them, acting like a stranger as he practically pushed them out the door.

Zaidee stared down at the deck. She wanted to cry. They had the most wonderful news in the world to tell their father, and he wouldn’t even give them a minute.

Loch put his arm around his sister. “Sorry we bothered you,” he told Dr. Sam.

“It’s just not the right time,” Dr. Sam said, guilt crawling into his voice now. “You’re going to get me fired.” He went back into the control room and slammed the door.

“He doesn’t mean it,” Loch told Zaidee.

“Yes he does,” Zaidee said.

Loch kept his arm around Zaidee as they walked along the deck. “What do you say we go down to Sarah’s cabin?”

Zaidee ducked out from under his arm and glared at him. “No thanks. She’s probably having a bad hair day. You’re not going to tell her about Wee Beastie, are you?”

“No,” Loch said. “Let’s just see how she’s feeling.”

“That’s a definite pass.”

“You used to like her,” Loch reminded Zaidee. “I don’t get it. Lately, all you do is put her down.”

“Because she’s turned into a really horrible, spoiled, rich brat, that’s why,” Zaidee said.

“How can you say that?”

“It’s easy. Her father gives her everything she wants, and she’s got too many Harrods and trendy store shopping bags.”

“What does it matter how many shopping bags she has?”

“She always has them on display in her room, with all the brand names and logos of her clothes staring at us. Remember last year I had this nice new blouse from Penney’s and it had a little fox logo on it, and she saw it and kept asking, ‘Who has the fox, oh, who has the fox?’ Remember that? Her father lets her buy so much junk, nothing means anything to her, including people.”

Loch flicked his hand up the back of Zaidee’s neck. “Zaidee, don’t be jealous.”

“Look, just don’t tell her about Wee Beastie is all I’m saying,” Zaidee pleaded. “He’s ours.”

“Okay,” Loch said.

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Excellent,” Zaidee said. “In that case, I’ll wait on the rear deck. I’ll be lounging.”

Loch went down the stairway to the lower deck. What he really needed was a minute to himself to shake off the way his father had treated them. He knew the whole power play around Cavenger was very complicated, but the bottom line was that his father jumped whenever Cavenger blew his whistle. It seemed to be eating away part of his father’s very being.

The second cabin on the left was Sarah’s. Loch combed his hair with his fingers and knocked on the door.

“What?” came Sarah’s voice.

“It’s me,” Loch said.

The door opened. Sarah stood there, looking sleepy in pajamas. “Loch, what’s the matter?” she asked, when she saw how flushed he looked. She had come to know the look, and knew what caused it.

“Nothing.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Zaidee and I stopped down to see Dad,” Loch explained. “She’s up on the sundeck. How’s it going?”

Sarah brushed her hair back from her face. “All that riveting and hammering going on around here is driving me crazy,” she said. She closed the door behind them. “I really needed sack time. I had a hundred and forty-three nightmares about that horrendous monster trying to kebab me!”

“Yesterday was a nightmare” was all Loch said, knowing he couldn’t tell her about Wee Beastie. “Looks like your father’s still going to try to catch one of the creatures.”

“That’s all he talks about every second,” Sarah admitted. “I think he’s starting to go a little psycho. He knows if he gets one, it’ll be his vindication against all the people who have said he was nuts for going on crazy expeditions all his life. Let’s take a walk.”

“Okay.”

“I just have to throw on some clothes.”

“I’ll wait outside.”

“You can just turn around.”

Loch turned his back, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot while she threw off her pjs and put on a top and jeans.

“Do you remember how you used to drive me crazy pretending to eat out of dog-food cans?” she asked. “And you’d lift the cheese off a pizza and wear it on your face?”

“How do you know it wasn’t Mighty Dog?”

Sarah laughed as she slipped on multicolored leather boots. “I guess we both always liked weird things.” She led the way out into the hall and up to the sundeck. Zaidee was stretched out on a chaise longue reading a magazine. She made a face when she saw Loch had brought Sarah.

“Hi, Zaidee,” Sarah said.