Page 34 of Wild Tempest

"Where's my father?" Tempest asked, still clutching the gold bar under one arm, her eyes full of fading hope.

Dale frowned. He didn't have to say any more.

Tempest’s eyes filled, knowing what was coming next.

Dale squeezed her hand tight. "He went crazy. He tried to kill everybody." Dale's throat tightened, and the words came hard. "I had no choice. It was me or him.”

The tears spilled over her lids and ran down Tempest’s cheeks.

Seeing her cry made Dale tear up. "Don't hate me."

Tempest’s face contorted with sorrow, and she squeezed his hand tighter.

Jack returned a moment later with bandages, disinfectant, antibiotics, and a bag of saline. Dale had a fighting chance as long as he didn't get an infection. If the peritoneum and intestines had been compromised, that could be a challenge.

I pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves, then went to work on Dale, disinfecting and dressing the wound. I packed both entry and exit with gauze to control the bleeding, then I started him on an IV to replenish fluids and stabilize blood pressure.

Jack had found a bottle of water. He twisted the top and handed it to Dale along with the pills. “Take these.”

Dale looked at him with suspicion, but took the pills. He studied them before popping them into his mouth. With a guzzle of water, he swallowed them down.

“What happened here?” I asked.

With wide eyes, Dale said, “This place is cursed.”

22

“Nothing but bad luck,” Dale said. “I should have known from the moment we set out. I just had a bad feeling about the whole thing. The signs were all there.”

"When did Paul start having problems?” I asked.

"It wasn't long after we got here. He took ill. Had a fever. Started sweating. I thought he picked up some kind of bug. Then he got violent. He got into a small disagreement with Norm. Shot him. Over nothing. We were shocked. Paul just started acting paranoid. Didn't trust anybody. Said people were out to get him. It was clear he was hallucinating.” Dale frowned. "Then Owen got the fever. I came down with it as well. To be honest, it's a blur after that. I just have these glimpses in my head. I don't know what's the truth or what's a dream." He looked at Tempest. “Maybe you’re just a dream.”

"Did you go into the lab?” I asked.

"We went all over the ship.”

I shared a look with Jack.

Dale said, “You know what's in those drums, don't you?”

I shook my head.

"You don't want to know.”

"How have you been surviving?”

"Well, there's plenty of food rations left aboard the ship. Canned goods, bottled water, that kind of thing. There’s enough food to last a few months. If you can stomach it. I tell you, after a few weeks of cold ravioli, you’ll grow to hate it.”

I chuckled. "Let's get him back to the Titan Deep. See if we can get that engine fixed and get out of here. We need to get him medical treatment as soon as possible." I addressed Dale. "You think you can move.”

"I can try."

Dale groaned as we helped him to his feet. With his arms slung around our shoulders, we walked him down the hallway. He winced with each step.

We helped him up the ladder to the main deck, then escorted him down the central corridor. We stepped outside and moved aft. Dale was pretty worn out by the time we reached the stern.

JD and I helped him sit down and recline on the deck. Dale stared at the gray sky. Jack held the bag of saline.