“Uh, never mind. I think we’ve got our distraction.”
They emerged on a rain-lashed deck. The fog and rain made it difficult to see, but Inga had lived her entire life in Westerly Cove and knew it all like the back of her hand. The ship had, indeed, moved into the mouth of the harbor to wait out the storm. Being a deepwater ship, it probably couldn’t go any further. The shallow cove accommodated fishing boats easily, but it wasn’t set up to handle anything bigger.
“This is better than I hoped,” Inga said to Luke as they grouped together again. “Any boat will be able to get us to shore from here, since it doesn’t have to handle the open?—”
“You!”
Brockton appeared from the other side of the lashed-down and rain-wet helicopter. He was soaked and there was dog hair on his fatigues.
“Can you get the lifeboat launched?” Luke asked Moberly, slinging the gun off his shoulder.
The older woman nodded, tapped the male biologist on the arm, and the two of them ran to start working on it.
“I’ll hold them off. Inga—” he began.
“I’m not letting you go down in some kind of last stand.” Inga moved to stand beside him. Brockton had at least a half-dozen men with him; their odds weren’t good. “What if I shift?”
“You’re not bulletproof as a bear. One well aimed shot from one of those guns and it’s over.”
“We’re about to launch!” Moberly shouted. “Get in!”
Luke shook his head. “Go! I’ll follow?—”
“We’llfollow!” Inga interrupted.
“We’ll take one of the other boats!” Luke called. “They don’t want you, they want us. You’ll be safer without us. Go!”
He didn’t turn to see if they followed his instructions. Inga stayed with him as they ran along the railing.
There was a great splash as the lifeboat hit the water.
“What are you going to do?” Inga asked.
“Jump, I guess. You’ll be fine if you shift, right?”
“Yes, butyoucan’t shift!”
“I guess I’m gonna have to figure it out.” A bullet chipped paint off the bulkhead just in front of them. “Go!”
It had been a long time since Inga and her brothers used to dare each other to jump off high rocks into the sea, but she still had the knack. Hearing the crack of more guns, she flung herself over the edge, hoping Luke was right behind her. She struck the icy water, went under, and came up as a bear, struggling to rid herself of the raincoat. So much for Dr. Moberly’s shoes.
Luke splashed into the water next to her—as a human. Inga bear-paddled next to him. He wasn’t wearing a life vest, and if he didn’t shift, the cold water would drag him down before he made it to shore. She wondered if she could tow him through the water somehow.
But then, just as she was getting desperate, he shifted. The bear flowed out of him, as if he had been doing it all his life.
Together they struck out for land. The soldiers on the ship had ceased trying to shoot at them, but looking back, Inga sawthat they were launching the powerboat. The lifeboat was some distance away.
There was no chance that two swimming bears could beat a speedboat. Rather than striking out for the town itself, which they couldn’t possibly reach without getting overtaken, Inga turned to swim at an angle for the rugged rocks sheltering the bay.
She heard the boat gaining on them as she struggled out of the water, with Luke in her wake. Inga shifted so she could use her human fingers and toes to cling to the rocks. There was nothing like a beach here. She was abruptly very conscious of icy rain hitting her like needles.
“They’re launching the helicopter,” Luke gasped, pulling himself out behind her, human-shaped. Icy water streamed off his naked body, and he was shivering.
“What?” Inga looked around. She hadn’t even noticed the additional sound of the helicopter’s rotors, but there it went, lifting off the deck into the storm. “Can it fly in this weather?”
“I didn’t think so, at least not safely, but it looks like they don’t care. I bet Brockton is on it.”
Inga had thought the speedboat was chasing them, but it turned out that it was going for the lifeboat instead. Inga swiped rainwater out of her eyes and pressed herself against the rocks. The waves were beating at them both, threatening to tear them off their precarious perch and wash them out to sea again.
