Aquaria - 18. Aqu Chapter 18

I continued up to deck two and informed Uncle Jonah that the cadet has been released from detention and informed him of what will be happening tomorrow. “It is unfortunate that we have these issues, but rules are rules, so he had to suffer the consequences” Uncle Jonah replied.

“Excuse me Captain, a message for Mr Blackthorn, from security, to come down to the Deck restaurant right away” one of the officers said when he dashed into the bridge.

I quickly made my way down to deck 6, to find four security guards detaining cadet Reid, and one cadet being treated by the medical staff.

“Sir, Cadet Reid attacked and stabbed Senior Cadet Albertson, calling him a coward and traitor, and punching him a number of times” one of the security guards reported.

“How is Senior Cadet Albertson?” I asked as I turned towards the medical staff, “Just a minor stab wound sir, nothing that a few stiches will mend” one of the medical staff replied.

“Has Cadet Reid eaten yet?” I asked, “No sir he threw the tray towards Senior Cadet Albertson, when he saw him, but he ducked, and the tray and its contents landed on the floor” one of the cadets answered.

“Security, escort former cadet Reid back to the detention centre, where he shall remain until he is escorted off this vessel and to the airport, to be deported back to his homeland, without a meal tonight.

He is permitted to have breakfast before he leaves, but while he is in his cell” I ordered, and the four security guards handcuffed Cadet Reid and took him back down to deck 9.

The following morning, I watched from the deck 1 side window, as former cadet Reid was escorted off the vessel, and into a police van, who would deliver him to the airport. I returned to deck 2, to report to the Captain why I was summoned to the deck restaurant.

“Ok, I think we will get what we need, loaded as soon as possible, and we get on our way, so let’s set 1300 hours as time of departure” the Captain announced to all in the room.

The supplies that my father had ordered, had arrived by cargo plane from Anchorage, and everything was loaded onboard and stored away, with it being completed by 1030 hours, so Uncle Jonah decided that we should set sail right away.

I arrived on the bridge just as he gave the order for preparation to set sail was given, and I walked over to the phone and dialled the number for my admin office.

“Jocelyn, can you send a fax to head office please - Supplies loaded and departing Hooper Bay at 1045 hours Western Alaska time, eta to designated location to be 0500 hours local time, Signed Trenton Blackthorn, thanks” I said, and I ended the call.

“I think we can wait sleep in for two hours, and make it 0700 don’t you think?” Uncle Jonah said to me, “Yes sir, that is fine by me” I replied.

We remained on the surface till we passed the western side on Nunivak Island, before turning South-south west, and going below the surface, with the Captain ordering us to a depth of 150 metres, and as I felt us go deeper into the Bering Sea, I headed back to my office, to come up with some ideas for when we enter the Pacific Ocean.

The following morning, I was showered and dressed well before 7am, and I called into the café for a cup of tea, before heading to the Captain’s office on deck two, to see what the envelope reveals as our next destination. “Good morning Uncle” I said after knocking and entering his office.

“Good morning, are you eager to see what is in the envelope as much as I am?” Uncle Jonah replied, “Yes, very much so, I responded, as I sat down, and watched as Uncle Jonah unlocked the safe and removed the still sealed yellow envelope and sat down in his chair.

“What adventures will we be facing with this” my uncle said as he grabbed his letter opener, and sliced through the end of the envelope, and retrieved the single sheet of paper, and placed it face up on the table between us. “W.I: 19.17.43 N – 166.37.4652 E” was all that was written on the paper, and we both stared at it for some time.

“Well it is not Hawaii, as that is 21 degrees North and 157 degrees West, so it is a little further to the south, and a lot more to the west, right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean as far as I am aware” Uncle Jonah said, and I went over to my uncle’s computer and booted it up, and when it was ready, I did a google maps search of those coordinates.

“Holy Cow, Wake Island, your dad has bought an old WW2 Airforce base in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Pacific” Jonah exclaimed, “I thought it had been sold years ago, when it was put up for sale, I remember reading about it somewhere” I responded, “No, you are thinking of Johnston Atoll, which is further East of Wake Island.” Uncle Jonah replied, as I zoomed in on the location.

“By the looks of this, it doesn’t get used much, but we don’t know when this satellite picture was taken, let me try and work out how long it is going to take us to get there” I said, and I started to work out the distance.

“It looks to be just over 2,407 nautical miles to the south-west, so at 22 knots, it will take us approximately 4 days and 18 hours from our current location” I said to my uncle.

“Right, I will plot the new course, without revealing the destination, and now we just have to find out from our MD what he has planned” Uncle Jonah said just as the phone rang, and Jonah indicated for me to answer it.

“Trenton speaking” I said, “Hello Trent, is Jonah with you?’ my father responded, and I indicated for Jonah to come to the phone, just before he left the office.

“Ok, I presume you have now opened the envelope and know where WI is, as you know it is very remote, but it has an operational harbour and large runway, which I have been putting to good use. How long before you get here” my father said to us. “You are there already?” Jonah asked, “Yes, I arrived on yesterday’s supply flight from Honolulu, took us 5 ½ hours to get here, and a very rough trip in a cargo plane” my father said.

“We have just worked it out, and it will take us 4 days and 16 hours once we have cleared Fox Island in three hours’ time” I replied, “Good, I will see you all when you get here, goodbye for now” my father said before ending the call.

I did a Google search of the island, to get some more information about it, and I printed it out. “The runway is 3000 metres long, the land area is 1,754 acres, with a large shallow lagoon in the centre that is 1,480 acres in area, its highest point is 6 metres above sea level, and it is 3,700 km’s West of Hawaii, and 3,200 km’s south east of Tokyo.

It has a control tower with operational weather & air traffic radar, 8 heavy duty aircraft shelter hangers, an administration building, 3 maintenance hangers, and workshops, two large fuel tanks, all located on the north east end of the runway.

At the south east arm of the main island, there are two more large fuel tanks, plus the ship harbour, and a maintenance shed, and a very shallow channel separates the east arm of Wake Island with the smaller Wilkes Island, which has no buildings and low vegetation on it.

In the centre on the north arm of the island, there are four houses, well-spaced apart, with another sevenmore houses on the inside end of the north arm. Near the centre, there is two H shaped barracks, able to accommodate up to 52 people in twin-share bedrooms, with two unisex bathrooms in each building.

Near to these are 8 semi-circular huts, that can accommodate an additional 16 men in each hut, with a dining hall just across the road. Further around on the north side of the arm, there is 7 more modern accommodation blocks, that can accommodate another 26 people in each building, and another building that accommodates 12 officers, and one more house is near to this.

Finally, there is a group of ten new houses located on the north side of the arm, about three hundred metres from the rest of the buildings.

There is a narrow channel that separates the main island from Peale Island, which has no building on it and minimal vegetation on it” I said to Jonah.

“I wonder what your father has been doing since he bought the place, and what does he have in mind” Jonah responded, before leaving the office to give new course heading, once we have cleared Fox Island.

Looking at the satellite map of the island, I looked at the narrow boat channel, and decided that it is way toonarrow for the submarine to fit into it, and there is no room to even turn around, because it is too long.

I looked at the partial channel 1 km further to the west, and it looked to be a bit wider than the boat harbour channel, but it was a shorter distance into the lagoon, so I was not sure what my father had planned for mooring the Aquaria, the other partial channel between the north arm and Peale Island, was also possibly wide enough, but it wasn’t a straight line, plus there is a visible reef close by.

I gave up trying to guess what my father planned to do apart from plant lots of trees and shrubs, so I shut down the computer and returned to my office.

“There is a large email printed out and waiting for you on your desk, I just printed it out, I didn’t look at it” Jocelyn said to me as I entered the admin office, “Thank you Jocelyn, can you call one of the stewards please” I replied, before I walked into my office and closed the door.

The manila folder in front of me, as I sat down, had the cover sheet stapled to the front. “From: Lloyd Family Corporation Head Office, Douglas, Isle of Man. To: Trenton Blackthorn, Project Director, RSV Aquaria. Subject: New Project”. “Please find enclosed more detailed information about the new project, you are welcome to share it with Captain Burke, but no one else, Regards H.A. Lloyd, Managing Director”.

When I opened the folder, I found a folded in half, A3 size printout of an aerial shot of the islands, showing all the buildings in detail, and a key in one corner giving the names and uses of each building. There were a few more folded A3 sheets with closeup shots of different areas of the island.

Next there was a deconstruction and clean up list, that mentioned areas that needed to be cleaned up of rusty metal drums and other items that need removing from the island, as well as the pulling down and removal of the 8 huts and some of the older smaller sheds that will not be needed.

The next sheet was another map of the island, with areas shaded in along the south east, east and northern sides and south west end of Wake Island, as well as all of Peale and Wilkes Islands, which will be planted with more trees, and shrubs, to create more shade and wind breaks, from the regular strong winds, as well as providing edible fruits, like coconuts, paw paws, mangoes, bread fruit, and passionfruit.

Also, where the fuel tanks are at the south west end of Wake Island, a new water storage tank will be built, along with a desalination plant, to produce a good amount of fresh water, and solar power panels will be put on the roofs of all the larger buildings.

After reading through all the information a second time, I locked the folder in a drawer, and started looking at possible research projects for the area of Wake Island.

Almost 4 ½ days later, with just a few more hours before we arrive at Wake Island, I headed up to the bridge, soon after lunch time. “Good afternoon captain, I think it is time to make an announcement to all the crew” I said after entering the bridge.

“Yes, a good idea, we are only two hours away till arrival” Jonah replied, but before I could make the PA announcement, the phone rang, and Jonah answered it.

“Yes Jocelyn, he is here… ok put the call through” I heard my uncle say. “Good afternoon sir… yes sir, our eta is just over two hours’ time” Jonah said, before he indicated for me to come to the phone and he handed it to me. “Trent speaking” I said.

“Hello Trent, have you shown the Captain the email I sent to you a few days ago?” my father asked, “No, I totally forgot about that, I have been busy trying to plan research projects for this area after I had a quick look at it” I replied.

“I suggest you go and get it, and show it to Jonah, as he will need the information for mooring the Aquaria, we have been busy building a wharf especially for the Aquaria, between Wilkes Island, and the south west end of Wake Island.

We have dug out a channel deep enough for her to get into the wharf at high tide, which will be in three hours’ time, so you will need to slow down a little, so you arrive just before the peak of high tide at 1605 hours.

The channel is long enough for the middle of the Aquaria to be in the centre of the channel, with 20 metres of the Aquaria sticking out at each end, with the sand and rock from the dredging going into making the islands slightly larger by about ten acres each. See you when you get here, bye” my father informed me, and we ended the call.

“Captain Jonah, I have some sensitive information that you need to see, can you join me in my office in about ten minutes time please” I said to my uncle, “Yes, that will be fine” Jonah replied, before I left the bridge.

A few minutes after I arrived back at my office, Jonah arrived, and he sat down in the chair opposite, “So what is this information” Jonah asked me.

“A few days ago, I received a lengthy email from head office, and I totally forgot to show it to you, as I have been planning research projects for this area, to keep the cadets busy” I replied, as I retrieved the folder from the locked drawer, and handed it over to him.

“As you see there is the main island of Wake Island and two smaller islands, Wilkes and Peale Islands, between Wilkes and Wake, there is a shallow channel, Dad informed me just now that the channel between those two islands, is now wide and long enough to fit the Aquaria into it at high tide, at 1605 hours, so we will need to slow down a little, and approach the island from the southwest” I said to Jonah.

“Right, we will pass the islands on the western side and turn in towards the submarine channel from about twenty nautical miles out, I will get you to be at the helm, since you have already studied these pictures, and hopefully, it will all go smoothly” Jonah said to me, as he closed the folder and handed it back to me.