“What’s that supposed to mean?” Willa said.
“It’s a weather phenomenon. Weather clouds just over the horizon. The lightning can travel more than twenty miles—including through clear blue sky.”
“Come on!” Finn said. “That was no blue-sky lightning. That was Maleficent.”
Charlene stood off to the side, biting her hand and trying hold back her sobs. Willa wrapped an arm around her shoulders, unsuccessfully attempting to calm her.
“And they’re calling the frigate bird attack a virus,” Philby said bitterly. “Like when whales get messed up and beach themselves.”
“I’m sure,” Willa said.
“They need to explain this, both to themselves and the passengers. They can’t very well say Maleficent is out to kill us and that some raven is using seabirds as its air attack force.”
“I’ll bet they just happen to mention that this is a Kingdom Keepers cruise,” Willa said. “You watch, they’ll make it sound planned.”
“Well, it was planned,” said Philby. “Just not by us.”
Maybeck twitched and shifted on the table.
Charlene finally spoke, calling for the doctor.
“Hold that arm!” the doctor directed Finn. Together, they held down the unconscious Maybeck.
“Hope!” the doctor shouted. “Restraints!”
Hope, a kind-looking nurse with sandy hair, entered carrying nylon straps. Together, she and the doctor strapped Maybeck down.
“That’s awful,” Charlene said. “He won’t like that!”
“This happens,” the doctor explained to the Keepers. “Vivid dreams during a coma. Best if we keep him from rolling off the table and further injuring himself.”
“How long is he going to be like this?” Charlene blurted out. She broke out sobbing before the doctor could answer.
“Fifty people die of lightning strikes each year,” Philby said calmly. He won the harsh scrutiny of everyone in the small exam room, including the doctor and nurse.
“Which is why,” the doctor said, “we should be glad it wasn’t a direct strike. I’m told the lightning hit a tripod next to Terrance. Melted it. The deck being metal…Terrance being so close…but it wasn’t a direct strike. He’s in trauma. His body took a heck of a jolt. People recover from comas every day. Sometimes they’re two minutes, sometimes two days. The body has to convince the mind it’s safe to come out again. You all being here, talking to him, talking near him, that’s got to help. He can hear you—at least we believe he can.”
“He’s going to come around,” Finn said.
“We’re not done here,” Willa said. The others nodded.
The doctor seem poised to say something, but did not speak.
“He’s going to be okay,” he said finally.
“You can’t promise that!” Charlene said.
The doctor eyed her sympathetically.
“What if he’s not awake by tonight?” Philby asked.
The doctor considered each of the Keepers individually. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it. The sooner, the better. It gets…more delicate…the longer he stays asleep.”
“And if he’s not conscious by the time we reach the canal?” Philby said.
“Let’s take it one step at a time.” The doctor and nurse left the exam room.
“What was that about?” Charlene asked. “What did he mean?”
“They’ll take him off the ship if he’s not better.”
“No way!” Charlene said, her eyes glassy. “What? Some hospital in Panama?”
“Better than an exam room on a cruise ship.”
“We are not leaving him behind!” Charlene shuddered. “That is not happening.”
“We’re going to do what’s best for him,” Finn said. “Whatever gives Terry the best chance.”
“No…way…” Charlene muttered.
“Like the doc said,” Philby said, “one step at a time.”
Charlene grabbed Maybeck’s hand and squeezed. “Wake up, you idiot! Wake up right now!”
Tears poured down her cheeks.
* * *
A day at sea presented Uncle Bob with his first real chance since sailing from Aruba to follow up on what the two Kingdom Keeper boys had told him. He wanted someone held responsible for the damage to the Buzz Lightyear balloon; and he wanted to pursue the stowaway he and his team believed was linked to the trouble on board.
Determined to get his ship in order, to explain the improbable lightning strike, the bird attack, the reports of a plane on Castaway, he intended to put his security team to the test.