Read Online The Incredible Tide by Alexander Key - Free Book Online Page B

break apart when it hit rough water. They laughed at ’im and said who’d he think he was, Briac Roa? Well, the boat did break up. Five men drowned. So old Patch got his chance. He’s been running the shop ever since.”
    Tellit spat again. “You see, a boat’s not simple, even the simplest ones. That’s what fooled me. When the work commissioner got sore at me, and turned me over to Patch for punishment, I thought I’d get smart and learn about boats—then I ’d be on top. But it’s no go. I never saw anything so complicated. I’d give my soul to get away from this place.”
    â€œYou mean you’d like to escape?”
    Tellit stared at him. “Escape from what? I mean get away from the shop.”
    â€œBut wouldn’t you rather leave Industria?”
    â€œHuh? You got rocks in your head? Why, a man would be a fool to want to get away from Industria!”
    â€œYou don’t mind being a slave?”
    â€œSure I mind—but if I watch my points, I’ll soon be citizen third. Then I’ll be on the way up. Once you’re a proper citizen, this is a pretty good town. You get all kinds of privileges. But you gotta learn the ropes, and play it cozy with the boys on top. If old Patch had done that, he’d at least be citizen second by now. But he’s such a crank and a fool he doesn’t care what he says to people. So instead of gaining points, he’s always losing ’em. I’ve heard he’s almost three thousand points behind. Can you beat that? Of course, it’s turned into a sort of joke by now, and he’s so crazy he doesn’t give a hoot. Still—”
    They were interrupted by a shout from the boathouse, and a sudden blast of language that brought them to their feet like puppets on strings. “Get in here and act alive, you worthless pair of deadheads! You’ve been vacationing long enough. We’ve got a ship to build!”
    The ship turned out to be a plastic-and-metal trawler, some fifty feet in length, with a high bow for heavy weather and a broad deck aft for handling nets. Her staunch framework, partially covered with sheets of thick plastic, nearly filled the main shed and left little room at the end for several small boats that were being built at the same time.
    Conan was put to work helping Tellit clamp and fasten the plastic sheets to the framework, which was of heavier plastic reinforced with aluminum.
    â€œWe don’t have any steel here,” Tellit informed him, as he payed the seams with a reeking bonding fluid. “All we have is a little bit of aluminum, and we gotta make it stretch. Most of it has to go for motors.”
    â€œHow long will it take to finish a boat this big?” Conan asked, instantly deciding that the trawler was the craft Teacher intended to use for their escape. One glance told him that the little boats were entirely too small. Only something as large and as powerful as the trawler could possibly take them across the dangerous waters he had been watching for the past five years.
    â€œDunno,” Tellit replied. “We been on this job six months already. Even with you helping, it’ll take another six months before we can launch her. That is, if the motor’s ready.”
    â€œMotor?”
    â€œYeah. They gotta make one special for this baby. There’s the model for it yonder. Patch wants to try it out on that little runabout he’s finishing to see how it handles.”
    With a sudden sinking sensation inside, Conan glanced at the corner of the shop where Patch was busy cementing the stern in one of the boats. Would he be forced to spend the next six months here, working to complete the trawler, before there was any possibility of escaping? Or did Teacher have something else in mind?
    At twilight a bell rang, and he went with Tellit to a local food booth, signed a ration card that had already been punched for his earlier meal, and drew