The ship was righting itself. Slowly. Faster by the moment. The magnet engine was doing its job, which was to keep the ship balanced with gravity. When a ship flipped, it was meant to roll upright, same as if it were in the ocean.
The moment it was on its side, Kora and Scarlet were on their hands and knees, climbing up the stairs as fast as they could to throw themselves into the action, to kill the pirates.
*****
Felix put his arm across his face so he could breathe.
He screamed into his arm, trying to find Alex, looking, seeing nothing but darkness, with light patches here and there where the sand wasn't as dense. But the patches fluctuated as fast as the sands did.
*****
Alex brought up her knees to reach the center of the board where the motor was. She felt around, trying to find a button. Her hand came across something and she flipped it. Didn't know what it was for, nor could she see it.
She tried the remote again.
The board powered up—sputtered, fighting to come alive. Then it was loud, like it had been before the storm. Alex kept the board beneath her center of gravity. Used the remote to control her pitch as she came to a stop. Then she started upwards, back to the ship, which she couldn't see. The board's engine cried out against the sand, sounded quite precarious—if it were possible for something to sound precarious.
Alex had zero bearing out here.
Was a guessing game.
Luckily, she enjoyed guessing.
*****
Kora made it to the wide open door.
She nearly fell out of it but caught herself against the frame. She could see about fifteen feet out, same as before. Sand was pouring in here, packing the inside of the ship as if it were a sandbag, adding to it more and more weight.
Scarlet was beside her now, holding onto the opposite door frame. A few feet between them. Sand whipping around them, slapping into and sweeping across the deck of the ship, which was currently vertical. The sail on the main mast had come even more loose, was whipping all around—which was making it harder for the ship to right itself.
Kora didn't know what to do.
"They're not going to destroy the ship," said Scarlet, yelling to get her soft voice to catch above the winds. Kora looked at her.
"They'll want to keep it and sell it."
Kora liked that thought, decided to agree with it. She didn't want to see The Ginger Star torn to bits.
"Any ideas?" Kora asked.
Kora could only see Scarlet's eyes above the fold of her scarf. Could see her dark hair, tied back, whipping around. The ship continued rotating, righting itself.