THE BLUE MAN by Sue Lumb

The Blue Man – by Sue Lumb

Genre – Science Fiction

The Storm

At first light the Gothenburg Star sailed from the port of Stockholm. Yan, a student from the university, had secured a passage joining the crew as a marine researcher. As the ship steamed ahead he gripped the rail on the side of the ship and looked back to the port. He felt excited and anxious. This would be his last opportunity to gather further evidence to support his thesis about unusual seismic activity in the Celtic Sea. He needed more data to corroborate his theory about the effects this was having on the marine ecology. He would submit his findings to the university as part of his PhD. If the Science Institute validated his findings he would be awarded a bursary to continue his research.

He felt the cold chill of the wind in his face and looked out across the water as the glow from the harbour lights drifted into the distant horizon. He could feel the low vibration of the engine as it began to get into its stride. The conditions were perfect. The ship seemed to coast along effortlessly. In no time at all he realised he had nearly completed his first watch and he was relieved that all seemed to have gone well.

Over the next few days, the ship’s voyage wound away from Sweden, around the Skagerrak, south into the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel, and finally turned north into the Celtic Sea. After an afternoon of study in his cabin, Yan wandered down to the stern of the ship to check the monitors and log the first set of readings. So far, everything appeared normal.

He was about to head back to his cabin when the ship suddenly lurched to one side. This was so unexpected that he lost his balance and he fell against a large wooden box, gashing the side of his head as he did so. He was alarmed by the amount of blood which was oozing from the wound. As he tried to stem the bleeding, he looked up and saw that the crew were frantically tying off ropes and gear that had come loose. He stumbled towards the door, holding his hand against his forehead. Blood was dripping down his face and onto his collar. He found it hard to keep his balance. Someone shouted to him, ‘Get yourself inside, that cut looks nasty!’

There seemed to be a lot of agitated activity as they pulled on the flapping tarpaulins which secured the cargo. The captain had ordered a full alert. He was on the bridge and looked anxious. He had received an urgent weather report informing him of the conditions above Fastnet. Apparently, it was gale force 10 and rising, and the storm was heading straight for them. A voice rang out, ‘All hands on deck!’

Yan turned and tried to make his way along the side of the ship. He could hear lots of shouting as more commands were being hurled at the crew. They too were taken aback by the immediacy of the storm that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Waves began to heap up. In the unforgiving swell, the ship began rocking violently from side to side. He could see that the clouds were getting darker and more menacing. The ship began to veer repeatedly off course as the waves crashed across its path. The storm was so fierce that they could not escape it, and had no choice but to ride it out. Hours passed as the ship was tossed to and fro, helpless against such forces.

On the bridge the navigator drew the captain’s attention to the depth sounder. There seemed to be a dark shadow on the screen. At the same time a seismic monitor went off the scale. The captain sounded the alarm. Seven blasts were followed by one long one; the air was filled with a sense of fear and panic. Huge waves were swamping the decks and it was impossible for the ship to make headway. A distress signal was sent out, and crew were sent to muster stations, donning life jackets in readiness. As the roll call was checked, it was discovered that there was a man overboard. On discovering this, the crew frantically tried to locate the missing person.

A flare was set off which illuminated the sea just beyond the stern of the ship. A beacon scoured the rolling waves. The boat was tossing back and forth and waves were pounding the deck, the captain muttered, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’

He called the first mate to begin the evacuation.

‘We’re not gonna make it, how far from land are we?’

The navigator tried to assess their position, but it was impossible to make out the coordinates.

‘Look, there’s a light flashing in the distance!’

It was a beam from a lighthouse. They seemed to be approaching some kind of reef.

‘We’re taking on too much water. It’s gonna take a miracle to get us out of this.’

Then there was an enormous grinding roar as the hull of the ship hit the edge of the reef. They began the emergency procedures and were about to launch the lifeboats when out of nowhere the shape of a boat could be seen. It was racing towards them, all lights aglare and it became clear that it was a lifeboat.

‘Where the hell did that come from?’ someone shouted.

It had launched from Port Lar on the Isle of Manes, which they had been driven towards in the storm. The coastguard had spotted their flare and the lifeboat crew responded as soon as they heard the siren, racing to the lifeboat station from all over the island. Drilled in such an emergency, they were at their posts in no time at all.

‘It’s going to be a tricky shout,’ said Frank, the boatswain.

The lifeboat berthed its way down the slipway and into the powerful swell of the unforgiving sea. Fortunately the vessel was sturdy and powerful, and it ploughed its way head on through the towering and unrelenting seas. Very quickly they came alongside the stricken vessel. As soon as they were alerted to the fact that a man was overboard, their searchlights scoured the waves.

‘I think I can see something,’ shouted Frank, who was pointing to a shape in the water. They edged closer to where he was pointing and sure enough there was someone floating with his head just visible above the waves.

‘Pass me the hook, I think I can get him.’

They hurled a lifebelt into the sea and the man grabbed it. It was Yan. He reached with all his might and managed to put the lifebelt over his head. Frank then leaned over the side and hauled him ungraciously in. He lay comatose on the deck. Another five minutes and he would have drowned.

Yan had lost his balance when the ship swung around. Despite his efforts to hold on to the rail, the force of the surge had propelled him over the side.

As he began to recover, all he could remember was falling into the sea and the icy shock of the water overwhelming him. He recalled sinking beneath the waves and being overcome by a sense of panic as a strange bluish shape had emerged from the depths. He remembered its long undulating body swimming towards him.

The creature had fixed a mesmerising gaze on him. For a moment he was transfixed and time seemed to stop. His mind seemed to be filled with strange images, both familiar and surreal. He saw himself as a child and for instant relived the grief of losing his parents in a tragic accident. Strangely, he heard them cry out and felt the force of the impact of the car which had hit them. He felt himself being lifted from the wreckage. He remembered feeling confused and scared. He then began to see himself as an older child, riding along the path on his bike by the side of his grandmother’s house. ‘Buster’, the old faithful Labrador, was following him. He remembered his school, and playing football with his friends in the school yard. Then all went black as the activities of the lifeboat above seemed to dispel the blue shape, which then dissipated into the murky depths.

Somehow, he found himself above the water reaching out towards a life belt which had been thrown to him. He heard a man shouting. It was Frank.

‘Got ya … ya bloody idiot what do you think ya doing in the water, you’ll catch yer death.’ As he hit the deck he could feel his lungs burning. His body heaved as he vomited and then he began to slowly recover. He was wrapped in blankets and given a warm drink. ‘You were bloody lucky, mate,’ the voice was unfamiliar but comforting.

The lifeboat sped back through the heaving waves into the harbour of Port Lar. Port Lar village lay nestled between the green hills of Barullane and the Manes Sea. It was a pretty little place, a throwback, removed as it was from the rest of the world.

It consisted of rows of precariously built, white stone cottages which cascaded down chalky cliffs, at the bottom of which was a bustling harbour filled with an array of fishing boats.

The storm had come in from nowhere, forcing the fishermen to abandon mending their nets and secure all the lobster pots on the quay side. They moved to take refuge in an old ramshackle hut at the top of the cliff. As they fought their way against the wind, they could hear the roar of the huge waves crashing over the harbour wall, and saw blankets of white froth swirling around in the fearsome wind.

There was a great sense of relief when the lifeboat was spotted making its return. As it docked it could still be seen bobbing up and down in the unyielding and ferocious swell. The lifeboat crew disembarked swiftly along the heaving gangway followed, by the men from the Gothenburg, who had had to abandon ship. They clung to each other as they were beckoned along. They were cold, tired and hungry, but nonetheless relieved to have survived.

Once ashore they were led to the harbour office.

‘That must have been a tricky shout, George,’ said the duty officer.

George swelled with pride and replied, ‘Got a good team.’

‘Well I guess it’ll be your round then!’ shouted Frank, as he followed behind. There was silence, George grimaced and then laughed.

‘Not one to miss a trick, eh!’ Frank looked sheepish.

They swaggered along the pier to a scruffy looking establishment at the end of the quay. It was called ‘the Fisherman’s Arms’. On the outside wall hung a weather-beaten figurehead of a blue-headed woman, beneath which there was a noticeboard which swung on two rusty hinges, it read ‘Round island trip to see the seals and caves of Emnerald Rocks’. The spelling of ‘Emerald’ was noticeably not quite right.

Island Life

Some of the fishermen worked shifts on the lifeboat as well as running fishing boat tours around the Emerald Rocks. Frank knew the sea around there well, it was quite treacherous with the swirling tides and its strange turbulent eddies. Fortunately for Yan, Frank had been on duty when the Gothenburg had gone aground on the rocks.

The ‘Fisherman’s Arms’ was the most popular pub. It was the centre of the community. The proprietor was known as ‘Uncle George’. He wore several hats. He was also the skipper of the lifeboat, a fireman and the local councillor. He was relieved that when he had to attend that night’s ‘shout’, he was able to rely on his niece Grace to stand in for Ruth, the regular barmaid, who had been unavoidably delayed.

He had called her mobile when he had heard the lifeboat siren. He knew he had to get to the lifeboat station as fast as he could. Every second counted in such emergencies.

‘Gracie, I know it’s a lot to ask and it’s a filthy night but could you possibly do a shift tonight? We’ve got a call out. There’s been some flooding at the Beck and Ruth says she’s stuck, I’ll make it up to you.’

‘Of course, no problem, I’ll just go and drop my stuff off at the house.’

‘You’re a star, my favourite niece. I’ll catch you later.’

Fortunately for him, she had agreed to do the shift, even though she felt quite exhausted having worked all day at the local garden centre.

Grace and her mother lived at ‘Dove’ cottage, just above the quay, about five minutes from the Fisherman’s Arms. Grace was living on her student grant and was grateful for occasional bar work to supplement her income. She was training to be a horticulturist. She had always liked working outdoors. Being knowledgeable about various plant species and habitats and being part of the process of cultivating seeds to flower gave her immense satisfaction.

She was presently doing work experience at the local garden centre. Her task was to establish some lily plants in the water garden. She wanted to impress the manager and had been working tirelessly all day. To be asked to do a night behind the bar was the last thing she wanted to do, but her uncle had seemed quite desperate, so she felt obliged to help out.

On such a stormy night it was hard to resist the cosy comforts of her mother’s cottage, the sweet smell of pine logs burning on the stove, the tempting smell of home cooking and the sofa, which seemed to be beckoning her to collapse into its soft voluminous embrace. Her mum, who had been busy in the kitchen, began to grumble about Uncle George.

‘He’s got a nerve asking you to go out on such a horrible night.’

‘Don’t worry, Mum, I could do with the extra cash.’

‘Well, I suppose he’s had a lot of problems recently. You know I could ring that other barmaid’s neck, what a little madam she was, and poor Frank!’

The new barmaid that George had hired recently had caused quite a scandal in the village and everyone had something to say about it.

‘Mum, not now, I’ve got to go.’

She grabbed her coat and headed down the lane on her bike. She was cold and drenched by the time she reached the pub. The siren could still be heard ringing out across the village.

‘Oh no! That sea looks really rough,’ she thought to herself.

The storm was very much in evidence as the wind howled and dark ominous clouds gathered overhead. Uncle George drove past her in his beaten up old Volkswagen saying, ‘Could anything else go wrong tonight? Thanks love, see you later.’

On her arrival at the pub old Charlie was propped up in the cubby hole as usual.

‘I’ve never seen it so rough, look at the lightning. It must be force 11 veering over the Emerald Rocks, that’s not good.’

Old Charlie dragged on his ‘roly’. Smoke billowed above him. He was playing dominoes as usual, clicking the little tiles in his hand and then deftly moving them around the table. Several dead matches were sticking out of the scoring block. It seemed he had a winning round, but he looked anxious.

Old Charlie then got up and looked out through the great bay window at the sea. He began to shake his head and started a running commentary about what he could see. The rest of the clientele listened intently.

‘There’s another flare, someone must be in the water. Dunno what that boat could be that they are racing up to, but it’s pitching all over the place. Must be one of those northern boats … ah! Someone must have been picked up,’ there was a tense pause, ‘they are towing the boat back, yes … they are on their way back … better get those pumps ready, Gracie.’

Grace had a sinking feeling as she realised that she would have to manage a very busy pub by herself.

An hour or so later there was a lot of commotion as the crew piled into the place. It began to reek of steaming oilskins and sweaty rubber boots which were thrown in a heap near the fire.

She was relieved that her uncle had got back safely, although she wasn’t expecting him to bring the crew back from another ship. She knew it was going to be a long night.

‘That was a close call,’ said George as he turned to Frank.

‘You did well, son, he owes his life to you.’

He pointed at the stranger who was hunched in the corner looking very sorry for himself. Frank smiled, he was glad to have done something right.

Frank looked up to George. George had been a very close friend of his father, who had tragically drowned ten years previously. His boat had been stricken by a fearsome storm. He was the last man on board as it went down. The lifeboat crew had been unable to reach him. It had been a terrible tragedy that had left its mark on George. Poor Frank was just a small boy when it happened. So, George felt it was his moral duty to look out for him.

It was a foregone conclusion that Frank would follow in his father’s footsteps. It was his family that owned the most prominent fleet on the island. It was assumed he would take control of the family business, although he had other dreams and didn’t want the responsibility.

He wasn’t business minded either, being more interested in where all the action was. At every opportunity he would take off to sea and when ashore would most likely be found tinkering with a boat that he was renovating. His ambition was to sail single handed across the Atlantic. The sea was in his blood. He was by all accounts a natural seafarer and had already gained a wide knowledge of the nature of the sea. He knew both the joys and the dangers of its embrace.

It was unfortunate that his youth and folly eventually led him into a storm of a different nature. George had felt somewhat responsible. It all began when he had hired a young attractive barmaid to cover Ruth’s maternity leave. Ruth was the regular barmaid and Frank’s older sister. Little did he know the problems this would cause. The new barmaid, Maisie, appeared to be hardworking but underneath the charming exterior was a determination to better herself one way or another. She had no intention of pulling pints for the rest of her life.

Her weapon was her skill to flatter, which utilised with unashamed confidence. She lured men easily with her charms. It was unfortunate that she had her sights set on young Frank and of course his promising financial prospects.

‘That Maisie was a bad ‘un, you were best rid of her,’ said Charlie

Frank sank into his chair and stared blankly at the wall, he didn’t want another inquisition about Maisie as he was tired and irritated. Charlie then ambled over to the bar where Grace was busy washing glasses. Grace turned to her uncle and rolled her eyes as she had heard the story too many times.

‘Oh leave him alone, he’s had a tough call.’

Frank had an ambivalent expression on his face; he just wanted to have a pint and go home. His moment of peace was soon shattered as little Jimmy, his son, was spotted wailing at the door. He looked dirty and unkempt with a snotty nose. He wasn’t a pleasant looking child. Frank’s sister Ruth had finally turned up. She had been stuck at Briars Hill with her young baby, who had vomited all over her, and young Jimmy who followed her into the pub. She was tired, agitated and full of apologies.

‘Sorry George, the car got stuck.’ She turned to Grace.

‘Sorry Grace. She turned to Frank. ‘Sorry Frank, the stormy weather always upsets him.’
‘No bother, I’m on my way home, come to daddy, son.’

The child gladly hurled himself towards Frank, who then slung him over his shoulder and left.

‘Frank’s lucky to have you as a sister,’ said Uncle George.

Ruth just smiled and said, ‘We all know he’s had a difficult time, let’s just let him get on with life.’

Then Charlie piped up, ‘Still can’t believe what happened to young Frank. He used to be so different, always laughing and joking.’

‘Yes we all know that woman got her claws into our Frank that night. I hope the poor bugger she ran off with gets what’s coming to him.’

At that remark one of the crew members shouted out, ‘Yeah, Maisie certainly had talents,’ and he laughed.

‘Right, you can be quiet. Frank’s back now and shall we just leave it at that,’ she disappeared behind the bar to help Grace with the pumps.

Maisie had worked out that Frank would be the best catch, being the only male heir to what was a wealthy family business. Her opportunity to reel him in happened at his twenty-first birthday bash. In his inebriated state he was egged on by his mates, but this time things went toHey Maisie, how about giving Frankie a birthday kiss.’