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“We et us free”

“Then please do so”

Eric pushed the engines to on resisted at first, but the re operational Venturi tubes es and scoured the sand out froon moved away from the beach until Juan felt they were in safe waters He ordered Eric to maintain position Everyone relaxed and waited for Corporation crew members in the RHIB to retrieve Max and the others from the ferry

By the tiers were already scra downashore, grateful to be on dry land again

When Max got back to the op center, he began assessing the da systeust

“Not good?” Juan asked

“You’ve done a nuone”

“Yes, a lot has happened since you left us twenty et out of here before the Coast Guard arrives?”

“Yes, but we can’t go far”

“What do you mean?”

Max held up his fingers as he ticked off the probleot a rupture in the starboard hull that we can’t repair until we get to a service dock Our starboard Venturi tube is danets have overheated, which means that they’ll have to be completely overhauled and recalibrated I can do the last part myself, but it’ll take time, and, until then, we’ll risk a full system shutdown if we travel any appreciable distance”

Juan had Eric put up the weather ht? Hidalgo is heading straight for us According to the latest projections, it will pass directly over Negros Island”

“And I would love to

get out of its way,” Max said “But if we try to outrun it, we could be stuck in thea Category Five stor to me”

“I hope you have an alternative”