Biff raised a cry. It was too late. His voice was drowned out by the roar of the cruiser’s engines—Biff knew now that it was a twin-engined craft.
Now the boat seemed on top of the yawl. Its bow, with a much higher freeboard than the low-lying yawl, reared up menacingly only twenty feet from the sailing craft. Surely it would crash them, ram them, send them to the bottom of the sea, with Biff’s father, Hank Mahenili, and Li trapped below.
At the last moment, the cruiser swerved sharply to the starboard, making an almost right-angle turn. It roared alongside the _Easy Action_, not ten feet separating the two boats.
As the cruiser made its fast, skidding turn, it threw up a tremendous wave. Biff saw the wave sweeping toward the yawl. Then, tons of foaming water cascaded over the _Easy Action_. Biff grabbed for the mainmast, wrapping his arms around it in a death lock. He felt the wave tugging at his body. It took all his strength to prevent being swept overboard.
The wave passed on over, tumbling gallons of water into the cabins below.
Biff released his grip on the mainmast. He sprinted to the cockpit. It was nearly filled with water.
He started to plunge into the water-filled cabin and was met by his father, Hank, and Li fighting their way out, gasping for breath, trying to expel water from their choked lungs.
The black cruiser had sped away, the throb of its engines barely audible now.
Everyone was all right. But what a mess! Bedding was soaked. Galley equipment, pots, pans, dishes had been swept off shelves, some of the pans bobbing like corks in the swirling waters inside the ship’s cabin.
Biff went into action. Maybe he could start the engine before the water did its damage. He splashed through the water and reached the engine compartment. He pulled open the door. It had held back the flood from the engine room. Before the water could rush in and fill up that compartment, Biff had the engine going. He quickly turned on the yawl’s sea pumps. He stood there with his fingers crossed, hoping the engine wouldn’t conk out. It didn’t. The heavy-duty pumps worked perfectly. Already the water inside the boat was beginning to recede.
Biff joined his father, Hank Mahenili, and Li in the cockpit. They were still dazed and only now beginning to breathe easily.