7   OVERBOARD

The ocean liner arrived in Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas and Helena wanted to explore the Island for a few hours and talked with Gábor about it. He also wanted to see the island and wanted to know what to do with Leo. They talked to him about it and asked if he would want to go. Leo, tired of wearing a hood and shaved on these occasions, declined and they asked him to stay in the cabin until they returned. He wanted to practice writing and reading. Locking the cabin, his parents left.

Taiahae was interesting but didn't offer much in sightseeing and they visited the market with all the handicraft and goods, candy for the eyes, and Gábor bought a few items along with massage oils made from coconut oil and the Tiare, a flower indigenous to the Tahitian Islands and another of Sandalwood. They visited the produce market, bought some fruits to eat on the boat, and knew they had to smuggle it aboard because of the agricultural restrictions, but they intended to eat them before arriving on another island and did not feel guilty about it. Nuku Hiva was used to visitors and although it was still very friendly, it was not what they had read about it. Perhaps if they stayed longer and made closer contact with the locals, the real attitude would come out.

Two days later, in the late afternoon, the Tuamotu atolls came in sight and the captain announced over the ship’s communication system they would slowly and carefully skirt around Fakarava so the passengers could have a glance at the atoll and then continue on to Tahiti.

Earlier they got a look from a distance of about five miles to the north of Aratika. Now they were only a few miles off Fakarava and saw a flashing white light every five seconds indicating the Garuae pass. The captains briefing was about the dangers these low-lying Islands presented to shipping and their size. Basically, they came about, he explained, as underwater volcanoes pushed up the seafloor and then they collapsed and sank again leaving a coral growth in the shape of roughly a circle. He talked about the pearl industry and the French nuclear testing in the southern Gambier Islands and the environmental damage done to the area.

As the briefing came to an end the Fabien family came out of their cabin to enjoy the setting sun. The ship took a course toward Tahiti, still about two hundred nautical miles to the West. Leo had his hood up and a scarf covered most of his face, but his slanted cat-like eyes, not covered with sunglasses as he had most of the time, were exposed and his face was not shaved after they boarded. His parents didn't think it necessary. They would have to shave him if they wanted to disembark, but it would be unlikely Leo would want to.

The staged accident would happen between Tahiti and Moorea after the cruisers twenty-four-hour visit to Papeete. Leo didn't like it. It meant there would be a lot of activity on deck and he would have to confine himself in the cabin for that time.  He almost looked forward to the staged accident.

As the sun sunk below the horizon, it became dark fast as is normal in the tropics. The family enjoyed the smooth warm air, and the gentle rocking of the ship as it moved toward Tahiti with the eastern trade winds in their backs. Silently they sat close to the bow of the cruiser. Not many people came here; the movement at the bow was more to the liking of people who were active in their lives', and not for folks who liked the gambling, drinking, and socializing.

Leo, with his cape covering his alien looks, stayed with his parents for a time until it was dark enough to move about without fear of discovery. Upright, as instructed by his parents to appear human, he lumbered unnoticed aft towards the stern of the ship. He felt reasonably safe; his Star Wars character outfit hid his alien body and everybody was either gambling or at the ship’s bar. Cooped up in the cabin most of the time, he felt he needed some time to himself to think.

As he stopped on the port quarterdeck, lost in his thinking without any sign of his usual awareness, a tall figure approached him unnoticed from behind and put a hand on his shoulder.

Leo jumped, shocked by the unexpected touch he spun around, his cape came off his head, releasing a shaggy mane of rusty brown hair, and he snarled like a lion. His distinctively furry lion's face with the broad wrinkled nose, large and phosphorescent eyes took on a fierce look. Feline hairy ears flattened against his head. His carnivore teeth exposed, were frightening to someone not used to it especially to someone not expecting it. The bright light blinded Leo.

The dark figure in front of him recoiled, at least as shocked by what he saw, and some words escaped his mouth.

"Fuck! What the fuck is this?" Leo lifted his paw to cover his eyes, but the man slapped it down.

"What kind of a fucking mask is this? Let me look at that."

Grabbing Leo's face he recoiled, feeling real tissue. "Jesus Murphy! What the hell are you? Are you for real? You are, aren't you? How did you get here? Come on you freak, let's see what the captain says about you."

The big man grabbed Leo roughly by the shoulder, and that's when Leo recovered from his shock. He swept his arm across his assailant’s face, his hard razor sharp nails ripped four deep bloody furrows on the left side of his cheeks and the big man thought a heavyweight boxer landed a hit on him. A hot burning sensation erupted into his awareness, and he nearly lost consciousness.

Shrieking with pain, he staggered, then struck with the heavy flashlight toward Leo's head, and connected. Leo fell back against the guardrail and sank onto his haunches, blood rushing into his eyes. The flashlight had cut a gash on his forehead to the bone. He tried to get up to his feet as the black man advanced on him, and in that moment, another person arrived at the scene, Leo's father.

"Get off him you son of a bitch. That's my child," Gábor roared beside himself with anger. Seething with rage he lifted his right hand to strike the much larger man. His left hand pulled the man back by his jacket and stopped his advance toward Leo. Furious, the large man whirled around and swung the light toward the new target. Something in Gábor's mind snapped. A force welled up with the intent to get this man as far as possible away from Leo. He dodged and shoved the man hard. He didn't really think it was as hard as the effects were, but the man lifted off his feet and literally flew through the air before connecting with Leo. As Leo was up on his feet, shaky and wobbly, the heavy man slammed into him. Leo lost his balance and crashed into the man onto the guardrail. Losing ground from under his feet, Leo grabbed desperately for something to hang on to and that something was the man colliding with him. Seeing the two entangled figures perilously losing equilibrium, Gábor lunged forward to pull them back but was too late. Both, Leo and his assailant went over the rail and fell from the upper deck overboard into the churning water astern of the ship.

At that very moment, a deep transformation happened in Gábor. In an instant, he recognized Leo as his son in another form of intelligent life, a life that Helena and he produced. Together they didn't create a human; they created life, other in form than human, but nevertheless worthy of love, respect, and all the rights a human would request for himself. Paralyzed for a moment Gábor looked into the dark water, and then shouted.

"Man overboard! Man overboard!"

Helena's heart stopped and she froze. Only a few meters behind Gábor she had witnessed the entire scene. Someone took up the alarm and Gábor kicked off his shoes and with a shout flew over the guardrail into the water. The last he heard was Helena's piercing scream "NO" before he hit the foaming, black water.

Waves about two meters at the crest and the wind from the East at thirteen knots created valleys deep enough to render a swimming person invisible unless they were close. At night, one may just forget it. The captain, receiving the alarm, hit the MOB button on the GPS and instantly ordered the ship to stop the engines. An operating engine in reverse could suck a person into the prop and kill him. However, it takes a while for a big ship to come to a full stop traveling twenty-five knots.

The inertia of a large vessel will carry it farther than two miles. To launch a life raft was the best option. It took only five minutes for the first raft to hit the water and it sped off in the wake of the “Emerald Seas” while the cruiser circled around, then another fifteen to get close to the point where the man overboard should be. The ship turned perpendicular to the original course to light up the water around it and lay broadside to look out for the MOB. Searchlights pointed in the direction where the ocean cruiser came from, the water still frothy, and the raft circling in a pattern with lights searching the dark waters and around the returning ship. The GPS coordinates were right, but nothing.

Aboard the cruiser, Helena stared into the dark waters screaming, frantically pacing fore and back, shouting. "Leo, Gábor, Leo. This can't be happening, please, no," to any avail. A hollow feeling in her being nearly killed her. Then a faint shout of a man in one of the rafts sounded.

"I see something. Shine a light over there. Over there," and a light beam pointed in a direction to the right away from the cruiser.

There was nothing and the boat began to move away.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. There. There he is. Go! Go! Go!" Now there was something in the water, someone, or something coming up and going down again for a long time, then coming up. It was Gábor. He held something in his hand. The crew in the raft reached for him, but he went down again for a long time.

For a while, there was no sign of him, then he surfaced again near the raft and some hands got a hold of him. He tried to fight them off, gasping for air, but they were stronger and hauled him into the boat. Incomprehensible words came out of his mouth and he struggled against them, but they were five of them holding him down.

"There are sharks in the water. Are you crazy? Look. What the hell do you think you can do in the water? Stay in the boat. There is nothing you can do. You're lucky the sharks didn't get you," and a light caught a glimpse of three fins slicing the water. Sharks indeed. Gábor sobbed, struggled against the hands holding him until someone slapped handcuffs on him, and shackled him to the gunnels of the raft and Gábor collapsed. In his hand was the scarf Leo had around his neck. Helplessly, he kept looking around while the raft circled and more rafts joined in the search to aid the rescue attempts.

If the crew would have had a bit more experience, they would have followed the shark's direction and would have had a better chance finding the people, but it was not so. Thirty minutes later, Helena watched the raft returning to the ship with her husband aboard. The rafts began a search pattern to look for the MOB. The crew ascended with Gábor in tow. Helena rushed to them. Others took the place of the returning men and joined the rafts in the search. Gábor resisted the crew returning to the ship and someone shackled him to another man. Two other crewmembers held him by his arms. Both were bleeding, one had a swelling eye and bleeding from the mouth, the other bleeding from his broken nose and had a fat lip. Clearly, Gábor fought the men. He thought it was his fault that Leo fell overboard and felt guilty that the men stopped him from saving his son. Helena realized the deep changes he went through.

When earlier they noticed Leo's absence, they thought he had returned to the cabin, checked, but he was not there. She had a premonition about something being wrong and told Gábor. He looked at her and saw the worry on her face. She had in the past foreseen events and he trusted her intuition.

"I should have watched him. Let's look on deck," he said and left the cabin. Walking aft, they heard a man's angry voice and a beam of light shining at someone. Suddenly there was a lightning-fast swipe of an arm, a shriek, and a bright light descending on the figure hidden by the man's looming silhouette. A solid "tock" sounded and a muffled hiss, and with absolute certainty Helena knew who the hidden person was. She saw him crumple to the deck. A fury rose in her and Gábor rushed the man, grabbed his jacket and pulled back on it. The man turned, his dark cultured face fuming with anger. Bloody, with deep slashes from eyes to mouth, he struck towards the new target with the light. Gábor easily dodged the strike and shoved the man back. "Get off him you son of a bitch. That's my child," she heard her husband's roar. In this moment, he didn't really have the control over his emotions as he normally would have, it seemed. The full impact force lifted the man off his feet, and without ground under him, he sailed through the air as if he were on strings.

The big man on the receiving end of the shove must have felt as if a gigantic horse had kicked him hard. He crashed onto Leo, who at that moment rose to his feet. The two figures collided and the heavy man fell over the guardrail, taking Leo with him. Something clattered on the lower deck, and then they were gone.

A shout, ‘man overboard, man overboard' rang out a moment later and then Gábor flew over the railing. Helena's scream pierced the air like an arrow. "NO!"

When she saw Gábor flying over the guardrail, her heart froze in her chest. She saw all that happened, and for a moment, she stood paralyzed. I'll lose them both was her first thought and she got ready to jump also to save them or die with them, her hands on the guardrail, ready to jump when somebody grabbed her arm. She shook it off, but then another pair of arms clamped around her waist as she grappled with the man holding her arms.

She heard them shouting at her, but didn't process the words. All she wanted was to help her husband to find her son. She wasn't aware of her screaming at the men holding her and then there were others pushing past them to see what happened. Where did they come from so fast?

A man in the ship’s uniform of the liner looked down, seeing blood on the deck, spun around and yelled.

"Get the raft in the water. Now! And clear the area of all people. Seal off the area. Move!  Move! Out of the way! Get back! Move, goddamned," and he ran off toward the raft bays.

During all the confusion, nobody aboard noticed a half dozen fins moving through the dark water, about twenty meters to starboard. It seemed everybody aboard congregated on the aft deck and gawked to port at the spot where the cruiser had been minutes ago.

Finally, the men let her go. There was no sense in going after Leo and Gábor anymore. She wanted to go with the raft, but they did not allow it, so she hastily returned to the guardrail and saw something on the deck. She stooped to take a better look and a chill ran down her spine. Blood. But whose? Leo's? In a flash, she recalled seeing blood running down his forehead.

A terrible fear rose in her and she began to tremble, tears flooded her eyes and she clawed her way through the throng at the rail to see if there was anything, but the mass of people pushed back by the crew swept her along and all she could do was call her son's and husband's name in hope they would hear and answer.

Agonizing minutes elapsed and some passengers' pitiful glances grazed Helena. The crew in the raft seemed to have found something and she ran to the raft bay to see the lowered ramp and the crew with her husband in tow. Oh, thank heaven he is okay, but where was Leo? She ran to him and hugged him fiercely. "Did you see Leo?"

Of course, not or he would have been with him, she realized. "Gábor, my god, what will happen to him?" Gábor looked at her, his eyes deep in their sockets, hollow and dark he seemed to have aged ten years. He lowered his eyes, his head dropped to his chest and he shook his head without a sound.

"Oh god, no," whispered Helena. "Not like this." She had a feeling her heart had been ripped out from her chest. Leo was in the water and bleeding. And what was Gábor thinking? Did he want to die too? What chance did he have to find Leo in the night? She turned to the men holding her husband.

"Please, keep looking for our child. He is only five. Please find him. And let my husband go."

The crew who had the handcuffs tied to Gábor's wrist stood silent. Two other men held Gábor as well. Seeing that he no longer fought them, they relaxed. "You're safe; you're safe," she said over and over, "I thought I'd lose you both," and tears obscured her vision. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm so sorry Honey. I couldn't find Leo. I couldn't see a thing. I'm so sorry. Help me, please," a sob racked his body and he sank to his knees. The two men holding his arms released him and stepped back. She squatted in front of him, hugged him, with tears streaming down her face, crying, trying to comfort him, and seeking solace herself by holding him. But somehow she knew her son was alive and safe.

"They'll find him, Honey. Leo is okay. I know he is okay," she said.

For some time they just held each other, seeking comfort in each other then somebody helped them up and led them to a chair. Another person stepped up to them and Helena looked up. The captain stood in front of them with a pair of shoes and keys.

"These must be yours, Sir," handing the shoes to Gábor while he used the keys to remove the shackles and handing them to an oriental woman in ship’s uniform.

"These are no longer necessary I'd think. Victor, Garry, go and see doctor Henning with those injuries." The crew left and the captain turned to Gábor.

"Sir, Ma'am, I'm Captain Sven Olafson. Are you okay?" Both shook their head. Gábor glared at the man. They couldn't believe he asked them that. The captain caught himself, not believing he'd asked something stupid like that and tried to correct his mistake.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask you to come to the mess hall to tell me what happened. My crew is looking for the person in the water and if they find something, they will let me know. I am very sorry, but I must know what happened. I alerted the French authorities and a search team, chopper and rescue ship are on the way. The chopper will be here in an hour and a ship should be here in four. Would you please accompany me so I can take your report?" Helena didn't believe her ears. Leo was in the water and this man wanted a report. Helena was indignant at the man's request.

"Look, captain, our child just fell overboard and you want us to give you your goddamned report? Can my husband get into some dry clothing first at least? Find our son and you'll get your damned report."

"But of course, I'm sorry" replied Olafson, taken back by his own insensitivity and her furious response. She just lost her child in the ocean and nearly her husband. With sharks in the water at night, this man was fortunate to still be alive and he had asked for a report. Her outburst was justified and understandable. He noticed also how spectacularly beautiful she was, even when she was angry, he thought. Hastily he apologized again.

"Whenever you are ready it's fine. I didn't think. I'm sorry. This is a first for me too." He really seemed to mean it and Helena backed off. After all, he was the captain and had to do his duty. She looked at his face and found compassion in it. He didn't seem to be insensitive, but not very tactful.

Her anger subsided, but her pain of possibly losing Leo made it difficult to be reasonable. She wanted to know if a half hour would be okay and requested he remain in the area to look for the men in the water. Olafson assured her they would be looking until the rescue team arrived and then the S&R would take over. They knew their job much better than he. Helena accepted. The captain had a ship full of passengers and once the rescue team arrived, his job would take precedence.

She understood Olafson. He seemed to be a good man and appeared trustworthy. She did not want to be hard on him but was scared and therefore angry. She realized, once they found Leo alive, and they would, she knew deep in her heart they would, his identity would come out, but that wasn't important anymore; to find him alive was.

She looked at the captain again. Should she tell him about Leo? If they found him they would think it was an animal and not likely take him onboard. Querying she scanned him over. Scandinavian, Olafson was a tall man and his stature imposing. Almost a head above her husband, he looked like she had imagined Vikings of old. He suited the image, she noted. If she told him about Leo's looks, would he tell the men to pull him out of the water?

She hesitated. What would he think about her and Gábor? She noticed his clear blue eyes skimming her over like most men she's met in the past and although she enjoyed being seen as a woman, in light of the present situation she found his interest inappropriate. Annoyed, she rose to her feet and opened her mouth to tell him about Leo when Gábor stood up.

"Captain, I must go with your men to look for my son. His image is not as you would expect it. He's got a condition that makes him appear different. Your men might get scared when they see him."

"I'll tell my men to rescue whomever they find, but I'm bound by regulations that won't allow you to go with my men until I know what happened. I'm sorry. I'll tell them to bring aboard whoever they find."

Olafson glanced again at Helena as if he wanted to comfort her. He saw a beautiful woman that had just lost her child, but at least her husband was back onboard. A stab of envy towards her husband surprised him. He had a beautiful partner as well, but this woman would look very good on him too. Her husband had great taste for sure. He noticed her eyes on him, studying him.

‘Please, find them', she pleaded inwardly as she looked back at him. He seemed concerned about the fate of her son and the crew.

Gábor was wet and looked at the captain as if he was an enemy, but admitted, the man did his duty. He too implored the captain to keep looking for their child.

"Look, I understand. I'm sorry about the man, but I protected my son."

Olafson didn't catch on to what Gábor said right away or have the heart to tell them that the chances of finding a person in shark-infested waters alive were slim. A man overboard at night is a dead man. The chances for bleeding people in the water with sharks around were absolutely zero.

"Ma'am, Sir, we have four rafts in the water now and we're searching for any clues of the person who went overboard. I must know what happened. Walker saw blood on the deck."

"It was my son and another person who went over. I want to go with the men. I want to find my son," Gábor insisted with a voice that came from the grave. Like Helena, he also worried about the rescuers would not pick up a lion from the waters if they saw one. They would expect to see a human.

"My son looks a bit unusual. I need to go with them," Gábor insisted.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that until we know what happened. I'm sorry; this is a matter of investigation by the authorities. I can't do anything about it. Who was the other?"

"I don't know. It was a person who struck my son with a light and I tried to stop him. It was a big black man. The man turned and took a strike at me and I shoved him. He fell on my son and both went over. I went after them but didn't see anything in the dark. Then your people pulled me out of the water. Let me look for my son, please."

Sven Olafson scanned his memory and knew four in his crew that were African-Americans, but only two were big and one was off duty. Lundy was on the roster for tonight. Did this man in front of him scuffle with him? Not many would take on Lundy.

"Jonathan, Jonathan Lundy. I have to check with the crew," the Captain said quietly ignoring Gábor's pleading. "Heaven have mercy on him. You're lucky my men got you. There are sharks in the water in this area. I'm truly sorry, but I can't allow you to join the men for the search. I'm bound by regulations. There is not much hope for the people in the water, especially at night, but we'll keep looking for them. I'm very sorry. We saw blood on the deck; do you know who was bleeding?"

"I saw the face of the man briefly when he attacked me and he had blood on his face. I did not see much as my son was behind him, and the man's body obstructed my vision. I don't know if he was bleeding or not."

"I saw him. He had blood on his face, I'm sure," whispered Helena under tears. It broke Gábor's heart. Olafson felt their pain like a knife in his heart.

"I'm very sorry, believe me. Please take your time and when you're ready, join me in the cafeteria. And for you, my name is Sven."

He offered his hand to Gábor and shook it, then bowing to Helena she extended her hand and he took it.

"I'm truly sorry. I wish we had met under other circumstances."

He turned and left. Helena's eyes followed him until he was out of sight. The master of the cruiser was an attractive man, polite, considerate, and focused on his duty, but his poorly concealed and ill timing in showing interest in her bothered Helena. To a point, he had similar characteristics as Gábor and that appealed to her as well as his looks; only his almost rigid bearing was in contrast to his apologetic manner. Perhaps it was his position as captain of a big ship that portrayed him like that, but she was sure he would do all that he could to find the unfortunate crew and Leo. If the circumstances were different, they could become friends. The man seemed to have compassion and was doing his duty.

It was the first time they came face to face although they have been on the cruiser enough time to meet. But because Helena and Gábor didn't participate in social events with the other guests where the captain attended as well, they were never acquainted nor had personal contact before. This tragedy changed that. Helena looked at her wristwatch. The time was 22:45h. Leo was now 1:45 hours in the water. Was he still alive?

She listened to her heart and there was a trace of hope and a sense of a flickering presence that she felt whenever she was around her son and that assured her that he was still among the living, but for how long?