If you would like to see what Baestar's ocean rescue tug looks like, and the storm they traversed, watch this short video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yCCPioL4Ro

Chapter 3 The ship pitched violently with the storm while the hull screamed in protest. Bae gripped the cold steel railing until his knuckles were white and his hand cramped. His head snapped back and forth with every pitch of the tug as it rose up and then slammed back into that space between waves. The room reeked of vomit, and even Gunther was pale as the ship was tossed about in the hurricane. Bae and Massi were strapped into the bench seats, but Tath and Gunther were each positioned at the port and starboard hatches in case they needed to go out on deck quickly. Bae pulled at his shoulder straps where the harness dug painfully into his flesh. Another round of nausea swept over him and he swallowed hard fighting the urge to throw up again. His throat was raw and tasted of bile. He had practically grown up on this ship and been in many storms, but nothing like this. Even in a storm there was a rhythm and pattern to the waves, but this storm was chaotic and coming from every direction. Gunther glanced back at the boys. "Hang on, boys, we're just starting to have fun." Bae replied by throwing up whatever might have been left in his stomach. The light on the ship phone began flashing and Massi shouted, "The Captain's calling." The First Mate made his way back across the heaving deck, his steps confident in the odd way sailors had of dealing with a floor that rolled and pitched frequently. Gunther picked the phone up and spoke with the Captain for a few minutes. Bae knew what was coming, the storm would soon be too dangerous to continue attempting a rescue. Gunther hung the phone up and turned to Bae. "Your father ordered all rescue tugs recalled, we're to seek the nearest shelter." Bae swiped at his mouth and looked up. "What about the cargo ship?" Gunther shook his head. "I'm sorry, Bae, but we don't really have the fuel to keep searching." "If we shut down one of the engines, will we have enough fuel?" asked Bae. "You're the owner of this ship, but if you over-ride your fathers orders, we won't be covered by insurance if she sinks." Bae gave the man a weak smile. "We're not covered anyway." Bae shrugged. "I didn't have the money to pay the premium last month. Tell the Captain to shut down an engine and keep searching, we're not abandoning that crew out here." Gunther gave Bae a nod. "Well then, perhaps there is an Altain sailor in you after-all." Gunther picked the phone back up and spoke with the Captain. Bae pulled at his harness release and yanked the straps off his shoulders — he'd had enough of the straps cutting into his flesh. The straps were no more released than a wave rolled the ship to starboard and Bae fell into Massi who grabbed him and held him until the ship righted itself again. Massi looked into Bae's eyes and grinned. "Thanks, but you're not really my type, you being a nobleman and all." Bae pushed himself out of Massi's arms. "We're in a hurricane and you got jokes." Bae stood and stumbled across the deck. He grabbed the edge of the control panel as another wave crashed across the bow and the ship dug deep into the water; for a moment it gave the illusion that they were sinking — Bae found the sensation unpleasant. Gunther kept the phone to his ear and turned his head to Bae. "The Captain says he's not shutting down an engine, but he will give it another fifteen minutes, then we turn back for the atoll and..." Gunther was interrupted as Tath shouted, "Men in the water! Starboard!" Bae whipped his head around. The ship was already climbing the next wave, and if it hadn't been for the perfect timing of the pitch of the ship, he would never have seen the flashing strobe light. Gunther shouted into the phone. "Captain, men in the water, starboard." Bae lost sight of the strobe light in the waves and watched the powerful beam of light from the spotlight above the bridge scan across the waves to starboard. Massi was already out of his seat and running to Tath's side. Bae arrived a second later and the three watched the spotlight moving back and forth. On the third pass the spotlight illuminated a round yellow lifeboat with men clinging to the side of it. "There they are," shouted Tath. Gunther slammed the phone down and began barking orders. "Massi, Bae, get the nets over the side. Tath, get the cage hooked to the crane, they may have injured that can't climb the nets." Tath waited for the ship to settle as the Captain fought to bring the vessel stationary. The rolling abated somewhat and the towering spray of waves ended, only to be replaced by an onslaught of waves to beam; the ship was as calm as it would get. Tath pulled the door open. A spray of water and fresh air entered in a chilly gust. Bae only then realized how badly the room stank. He drank in the sweet salty scent before plunging through the door after Tath and Massi. Bae hooked his safety tether onto the jackline and moved with Tath and Massi towards the stern. Massi stopped at the rescue zone and knelt next to a long silver box. The rescue zone was a section on the side of the hull lower than the rest of the hull where ladders or climbing nets could be hung over the side. The nets were stored in a long narrow silver box and folded in a way that the boys only had to lift the net out and throw it over the side. Massi lifted the lid on the box and Bae grabbed an armful of net and heaved it up. Massi took the other side of the net and together they lifted the heavy netting and threw it over the rail to drape over the side of the hull. The top of the net, which was at the bottom of the box, was permanently attached to the deck and would hold the weight of a dozen men at a time. Massi shouted to Bae. "Some of them don't have life vests, you start throwing the survival vests to them, I'm going to help Tath with the cage." The extra life vests were stored in a locker behind the rescue zone. Sea water sprayed up and over the railing as Bae pulled open the life vest locker and grabbed an armful of vests. He dumped the vests on the deck next to the railing, and began throwing them in the general direction of the men swimming towards the tug. He would throw every life vest they had overboard to give the exhausted men every possible chance to find one and make it to the ship — it could be the difference between life and death. But, he couldn't help adding up in his head how much money he was throwing into the sea; each vest cost around sixty dollars and very few of them would be recovered. He would have to find the money to buy hundreds of dollars in new life vests before they could sail again, and there would be no rescue fees collected for this rescue now. It was maritime law that mandated the rescue of someone in danger of bodily harm or death, but the rescue fees were collected only if the distressed ship were saved. The cargo ship had obviously gone down and now there would be no rescue fees. Bae finished throwing out the life vests and stood waving at the men to swim to the ship, most of whom already were. The waves rose and fell, and with each cycle he would lose sight of the men in the water. His throat clenched each time they disappeared behind a wave, then opened again in relief as they reappeared when the wave had passed. He saw one of the men, obviously exhausted and no longer able to fight the current, being pulled away from the group. Even if his ship mates had seen the man struggling, there was nothing they could have done, they all must have been in the water at least an hour by now and were all struggling just to save their own lives. Bae looked back at Tath and Massi, but they were both busy preparing the crane. The man in the water slipped beneath the waves for a moment before coming up again. Even Captain Sal probably didn't see the man being pulled away in the current; the man was already beyond the illumination of the main spotlight above the wheel house. Bae flipped on the small spotlight mounted on the railing and swung it out over the water to illuminate the man. It took a second for Bae to realize the man was wearing a neon green life vest, while the other men were wearing orange life vests. Bae squinted through the rain. It was a fairly established practice that children's life vests were always a bright neon green, even Bae's life vest was neon green, and he was fourteen, though, Bae had painted a pirate's skull and crossbones on the back of his vest to look cool. Bae stared out across the water, the person being dragged away by the storm couldn't be a man, it must be the ship's boy, and he wasn't big enough yet to fight the waves. There was no time to get anyone else to help, the boy would drown if Bae didn't do something now. Bae unhooked his harness and tossed it aside, then kicked his boots off and slipped out of his rain coat. He checked his own life vest to ensure it was secure, locked the spotlight on the boy's current position, then took a deep breath and dived off the side of the ship. Bae's jaw clenched as he struck the water, it was much colder than he expected, and much darker. He kicked his feet and for a moment thought he had become disoriented in the darkness and was going down instead of up. He fought the moment of panic and searched for the glow from the spotlight. Then a spot above him grew bright, and he swam towards the light. His head broke the surface, and he gulped in a breath of air. The ship's big spotlight felt like it was aimed right at him, then the light swung away and joined the smaller spotlight. The Captain must have seen Bae point the smaller spotlight at the boy, and then dive over the side. The big spotlight returned to Bae, and then back to the boy. Yes, the Captain knew what he was doing and was guiding him. Bae followed the big spotlight with strong, confident strokes. Swimming in these waves were hard, but he knew he could do it. The Captain made Bae and Massi both swim the harbor every day, and now Bae knew why. He lost sight of the boy in the rising and falling waves, but the spotlight kept sweeping back and forth, and he followed. It seemed an eternity before he finally reached the boy. The boy was no longer attempting to swim, but only hung limply with his chin resting on his chest. Bae was still cautious though and swam around behind the boy; a panicked swimmer could push his rescuer under the water. Bae wrapped his arm around the boy's chest. "I've got you," shouted Bae. The boy lifted his head for a moment in confusion and resisted for only a second, but he was too exhausted at this point to be a danger to Bae. The ship dipped below a wave out of sight and Bae had to wait a moment for the ship to rise on a swell, so he could mark the direction back to the ship. The ship rose and Bae began the long swim back to the tug. The waves and current fought him, pushing, pulling, crashing around him. His eyes stung from the salty water and the sound of the storm was deafening, but soon all he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. Swimming with only one arm was a challenge and his muscles burned with the exertion. His legs felt like lead and every kick and stroke became a torturous effort. Bae's teeth were chattering together from the cold of the water now. His mind went back to a day he and Governor Baestar were walking on the beach together. The Governor had made him pick up a handful of sand. Bae had done so and held it out. "What do you hold in your hand?" asked the Governor. Bae shrugged. "Sand?" The Governor's smile was grim, and a little sad as he spoke. "The Tares tribe conquered these islands when we arrived, but how many generations of Altains have walked on that sand since the beginning of time before we arrived. We made ourselves responsible for them, do you understand?" Bae hadn't understood, but he did now. The grains of sands were the Altain's lives he held in his hand. He was responsible for their lives, their prosperity, their futures. But more than that, he was responsible for every life within his province. He was responsible for this boy's life, he was responsible for not saving enough fuel to mount a longer search and rescue, he was responsible for not servicing the engines sooner, he was responsible for everything. The full weight of his inherited position crashed down on him. He was the Baestar. Bae gritted his teeth and ignored the growing exhaustion in his legs. He tightened his grip on the boy and swam with a fresh resolve. The ocean seemed to calm and stopped fighting him, or perhaps he was no longer fighting the ocean. He had finally accepted who he was and had struck a balance with the sea. The ship disappeared below a dip in the waves and he lost track of where it was. Bae looked up at the sky and wished he could see his star. "Bae Star, help me," he pleaded. Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he heard singing — a long low melody that rode across the waves. Certain that the Bae Star had answered him, he swam towards the music. The music continued to roll across the waves as he gritted his teeth and willed the exhaustion to leave his legs. "We're almost there," he whispered to the boy, though it was unlikely the boy could hear him over the storm. Something dark in the water rose up next to him, an ominous shadow barely seen following beside him, and then an eye was staring at him. A spout of water rose into the air as a whale breeched the surface. Bae stared into the whales eye and kept swimming. "Did the Bae Star send you?" Bae shouted to the whale. "Am I going the right way?" A spout of water again rose and the whale sank below the surface and moved ahead of Bae. "Okay, I'm coming, I can do this, I can," said Bae. Bae felt a hand on his arm. He stopped. It was the boy. Bae leaned his head in close to the boy. "There's a sea monster," whispered the boy. "It was a friend," said Bae, but if the boy had doubts, he was too tired to express them and his eyes drooped shut. Bae gave the boy a comforting squeeze with his arm. "You'll be okay, just hold on tight." Bae resumed swimming and pulling the boy with him. The darkness around them seemed forever, and just as swiftly a light cut through the darkness... and the music... Bae grinned to himself... no, it wasn't music, or maybe it was. The Captain had lost sight of Bae and was sounding the tugs horn to guide him back to the ship. In the cold water Bae's mind had confused the sound of the horn for music. The rescue cage was in the water with Massi swimming next to it and helping an injured survivor into the cage. Bae swam past the cage and to the net hung over the side of the ship. He hadn't thought this part of the rescue through. How was he going to carry the boy up the net? Tath was on the crane, and Massi was in the water helping other survivors. Bae clung to the net, thinking. Something bumped his arm. It was the pole-hook. He looked up and saw Gunther looking down at him. Of course, Gunther was no longer needed at the winch controls, so had come out on deck. "Use his lift strap," shouted Gunther. Bae guided the hook through the lift strap on the back of the boy's life vest. Gunther pulled the water-logged boy up out of the water just as he had done to rescue Bae earlier that night. Bae followed up the netting and pulled himself onto the deck. Gunther was checking the boy for injuries, then looked at Bae. "You did good, now take a breath," said Gunther. "How do you feel?" "I'm okay," replied Bae. "Then stop lounging around on the deck like a tourist on a pleasure cruise and get back in the water and help Massi, you don't get to rest until every survivor is aboard." Bae almost laughed, the First Mate could be almost as hard a task master as the Captain. Bae put his hands on the cold steel deck of the ship, his ship, the Baestar Ocean Rescue Tug, and pushed off the side. Just as his feet hit the water and he plunged into the sea, he thought he saw a large eye watching him from just beyond the spotlight.