LeFleur rocked back and forth. That raft didn’t inflate itself. Maybe the authorities were wrong. Maybe someone had survived the Galaxy tragedy, at least briefly.

“OK, Rom,” he said, snuffing out his cigarette. “Let’s go take a look.”

Sea

“I am the Lord.”

What do you say to that, my love? Maybe under normal conditions you laugh or make a wisecrack. You’re the Lord? Buy the drinks. But alone in the middle of this ocean, thirsty and desperate, well, it unnerved me, to be honest.

“What did he just say?” Nina whispered.

“He said he was the Lord,” Lambert scoffed.

“You got a first name, Lord?” Yannis asked.

“I have many names,” the stranger said. His voice was calm but husky, almost hoarse.

“And you’ve been swimming for three days?” Mrs. Laghari interjected. “That’s impossible.”

“She’s right,” Geri said. “The water temperature is sixty-seven degrees. You can’t live in that for three days.”

Geri is the most experienced sea person among us. She was an Olympic swimmer when she was younger and has that take-charge tone—confident, curt, intolerant of stupid questions—that makes people pay heed.

“DID YOU FLOAT IN SOMETHING?” Nevin yelled.

“For Christ’s sake, Nevin,” Yannis said, “he’s not deaf.”

The stranger looked at Yannis when he said “for Christ’s sake,” and Yannis closed his mouth, as if trying to suck the words back in.

“What’s your real story, mister?” Lambert said.

“I am here,” the stranger said.

“Why are you here?” Nina asked.

“Haven’t you been calling me?”

We glanced at one another. We are a pathetic-looking lot, faces blistered by the sun, clothes crusted by salt water. We can’t fully stand up without falling into someone, and the floor smells of rubber, glue, and vomit from our retching. It is true, most of us, at some point, thrashing in the waves that first night or staring at the empty horizon in the days that followed, have cried out for divine intervention. Please, Lord! . . . Help us, God! Is that what this new man meant? Haven’t you been calling me? As you know, Annabelle, I have struggled with faith much of my life. I was a dutiful altar boy, like many Irish kids, but the church and I parted company years ago. What happened with my mother. What happened with you. Too much disappointment. Not enough comfort.

Still, I never considered what I would do if I called for the Lord and He actually appeared before me.

“Is there any water you can share?” the man asked.

“God is thirsty?” Lambert said, laughing. “Great. Anything else?”

“Perhaps something to eat?”

“This is foolish,” Mrs. Laghari grumbled. “He’s obviously playing games.”

“No!” Nina yelled abruptly, her face contorting like a denied child. “Let him talk.” She spun toward the man. “Are you here to save us?”