73
TWO THINGS SAVED PITT’S LIFE. FIRST WAS THE bounce of the grenade, which ricocheted off the rear bulkhead and detonated in front of an engineering console. The shrapnel blew up, around, and into the console—but not through it. Lying on the other side, Pitt was spared the lethal spray of exploding steel fragments.
His second salvation was the Hazmat suit. It shielded him from the flash fire that accompanied the explosion and engulfed the bridge. The blast rattled his senses, and he struggled to breathe, but he easily climbed to his feet once Dirk returned and dragged him clear of the carnage.
Are you okay?” Dirk asked.
His ears ringing, Pitt barely heard the words. “Yes, thanks to Buck Rogers.”
Shaking off the effects of the blast, he staggered to a nearby window. “We should be about on her.” He had to yell to hear himself.
The words barely cleared his lips when a bang arose from the bow. Pitt and Dirk grabbed at the bulkhead as the ship shuddered to a halt.
Kicking the rudder to port when he fell had turned the Adelaide on an intercept course with the crossing Salzburg. Caught in the narrow channel, the Salzburg had to hold to its attempted U-turn and hope it could slip by the Adelaide. Pitt’s action had ensured it couldn’t.
Bolcke looked on in disbelief as the Adelaide, its bridge a charred ruin, turned toward them as if guided by an invisible hand. The Salzburg was halfway through her port turn when the Adelaide’s prow struck her amidships. Accompanied by the screech of steel grinding against steel, the charging bulk carrier cut nearly twenty feet into the Salzburg’s beam. Had the Salzburg been fully loaded, the pressure on her frame would have broken her in two. Still, the collision buckled hull plates all along her sides, allowing a rush of water to penetrate her interior.
On deck, the stacked cargo containers scattered like falling blocks. Several tumbled into the canal after smashing through the starboard rail. On the port rail side, a pair of the empty containers fell onto the ADS, flattening the dish and crushing its two operators. Pablo watched as another container rolled onto its side, pinning the leg of his fellow RPG launcher. The man screamed for Pablo to help, but there was nothing he could do, so he silently walked away.
Both ships were mortally wounded, but the Salzburg was clearly in the worse condition. The ship quickly listed to port, sending more containers tumbling over the side. She settled lower as the canal waters washed over her main deck. She was sinking fast.
Pablo raced to the bridge, where Bolcke stared at the damage like a zombie. Pablo ran past him to a locked cabinet, which he kicked open. Inside was the plastic bin with Heiland’s design plans for the Sea Arrow. “Where’s the captain?” he asked. “We must get off the ship.”
He went to check on the chief engineer.”
There’s no time to waste, we’ve got to get to the crew boat. Follow me.” He picked up the bin and left the bridge.
Bolcke following a step behind. On reaching the main deck, they rushed to the elevated starboard rail, where Bolcke’s crew boat dangled. Pablo threw the bin aboard, then snapped at Bolcke, “Get in. I’ll lower you to the water and jump in.”
Bolcke did as he was told. Pablo took the winch controls and had started lowering the boat when Bolcke stopped him.
Look out, on the other ship.”
At the base of the Adelaide’s superstructure, two figures appeared in silver Hazmat suits, one of them coated with black soot. Pablo saw that the other man brandished a gun.
I know how to delay them.” He dropped the crew boat hard to the water, then tied off its bowline as Bolcke released the winch cable. Pablo sprinted up to the accommodations level and unlocked Ann’s cabin.
For once, she was glad to see him. While she wasn’t sure what had happened, she could tell the ship was sinking and feared being left to drown in her cabin.
Let’s go!” Pablo grabbed the handcuffs between her wrists and led her down the corridor.
Reaching the main deck, she was shocked to see the towering hulk of the Adelaide enmeshed in the Salzburg’s side. The entanglement hadn’t slowed the degree of the Salzburg’s list, which was approaching a sharp angle.
Pablo led Ann down the sloping deck to the port rail, sloshing through ankle-deep water. He stopped in front of a lone container that had slid to the side, smashing partway through the side rail. It stood out from the other containers, and Pablo made sure it stood out even more. He fished for a key in his pocket and removed one of the handcuffs.
Ann relaxed, feigning submission, as he pulled her close to the container. Taking a step, she sprang her knee into Pablo, just missing his groin.
He fired back in the blink of an eye, backhanding her head and sending her sprawling against the container. He grabbed her cuffed wrist and pulled it to the deck, where he latched the cuff’s free end to a loop at the base of the container. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out,” he said. “Be sure and wave to your friends.”
He turned and moved along the deck, ducking when there was a loud plink on the container behind him. He increased his pace and looked back to see a man at the rail of the Adelaide, firing a pistol at him. Pablo sidestepped down a row of containers and out of sight as two more shots followed.
Dirk lowered the SIG Sauer with disgust as his father caught up with him at the rail. They had shed the cumbersome Hazmat suits, which had left them both drenched in sweat.
There’s a woman tied to that shipping container,” Dirk said. “I took a shot at the guy who put her there but missed.”
Pitt spotted a woman with short blond hair lying at the base of a container. “That’s Ann.”
Any relief at finding Ann alive was dispelled by observing the Salzburg’s precarious state. The ship was sinking quickly. The gash from the Adelaide was taking her down by the beam, and Pitt could see that the ship would capsize before she went under.
Let’s see if we can get to her.” He took off running for the Adelaide’s bow. The whole section was mashed flat but still locked in the jagged grip of the Salzburg. The tangled beams of the sinking containership groaned as they tore against the Adelaide’s bow.
Pitt threaded his way through the shredded steel until he could drop onto the Salzburg’s deck. He ran aft across the ship, snaking around the scattered containers, until reaching Ann.
She looked at him in disbelief as he waded up to her. “What are you doing here?”
He grinned at her. “I heard you were trying to take a cruise without me.”
She was too frightened to smile. “Can you free me?”
He sloshed through the water to take a closer look. She was seated on the deck with her hand pinned low. Water already swirled above her elbow. Then the container creaked and slid a few inches over the port rail, dragging her with it.
It’s a handcuff?” Pitt asked.
She nodded.
Dirk approached, and together they looked for something to free her with. Somewhere on the ship would be tools, but they had no time to search. The ship was already half underwater. And so was the container.
It’s going to go over the side any minute,” Dirk whispered. “I don’t see how we can get her free of it.”
Pitt nodded and gazed up briefly at the Adelaide. “You’re right,” he said, a glimmer in his eye. “I reckon we’ll have to save them both.”