Part 10 (1/2)

Sumner shook his head. ”Have no idea. They've got to be moving. Probably zigzagging to avoid us. See anything?”

”Not a thing,” Clutch said. ”And it's worse with the deck lights on. They're killing my night vision.” He pulled his transmitter off his belt. ”Douse the lights!”

”We've got a spotlight,” Wainwright said. ”We'll use the LRAD on them as long as we can see them.”

The cruise s.h.i.+p picked up speed. Now Sumner could hear the pirates as they opened the throttle on their boat. The spotlight danced around the water, searching. Sumner still couldn't see them, but he heard them just out of the searchlight's range. Whoever was manning the acoustic weapon had heard the pirate boat as well. It bellowed again at the exact moment the floodlight caught them. The decibels bounced off the pirate s.h.i.+p.

”That was good,” Block said. His words were swallowed by the boom of a grenade being fired.

Sumner flung himself back against the wall, away from the railing. He threw down the rifle and curled into a ball, protecting his head with his arms and presenting his back to the ocean. The grenade shot over his head, high. He heard it hit something before it exploded. This. .h.i.t was close. So close that Sumner felt the heat and the pulsing wave of air that came after. Bits of shrapnel peppered the water. Thank G.o.d they're such p.i.s.s-poor shots, Sumner thought. Had they even a modic.u.m of skill, the deck would have been blown to pieces.

”That one sheared off the satellite dish. There goes our contact to the outside world,” said Wainwright's voice through Clutch's receiver.

Sumner was bathed in sweat. He wiped his hands on his pants before retrieving his gun, then returned to the railing. The deck lights blinked off, plunging them into darkness once again. Even the searchlight was gone.

This time Sumner's hearing was useless. The air around him was a cacophony of sound. The LRAD blasted, leaving a ringing in his ears and rendering him functionally deaf. The water pounded against the hull as they carved through it, and in the distance came the screams of the pa.s.sengers somewhere deep inside the s.h.i.+p's bowels.

”Block, shoot a flare,” he said.

Block was flattened against the deck wall behind him. He rolled up next to Sumner. ”I don't have a flare gun. I've got a Taser. Clutch has the flare.”

Sumner heard the pirates. Another grenade shot could be only seconds away.

”Clutch, shoot a flare, now.” Sumner snapped out the order in the general direction of where he thought Clutch was. He could hear the cigarette boat revving, first far out, then maintaining the same volume, then becoming louder. In his mind's eye, Sumner pictured the vessel making an arc away before returning to home in on the s.h.i.+p. The deck stayed dark.

”Clutch, the flare, now!” Sumner shouted.

”Where the h.e.l.l is he?” Block said.

Before Sumner could answer, a flare shot out into the darkness to Sumner's left. The flaming projectile rose into the sky. While it didn't throw a lot of illumination, it was enough to once again expose the pirates' position. He heard them give a yell. He lay on his stomach, aimed, and fired. The flare died out before he could determine if he'd hit. To his relief, he heard the pirate s.h.i.+p veer away.

”b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are moving back again,” Block said. He turned toward the spot where the flare had fired. ”Good shot, Clutch. I was just starting to wonder where you were. What the h.e.l.l took you so long?”

Out of the darkness came a woman's voice. ”I am sorry, sir. My English is not so good, and it took me a moment to find the flare gun.”

Sumner and Block both turned to look. The lights on the deck sprang to life again, and there stood the German girl, holding a spent flare gun.

20.

”I'M MARINA SCHULLMANN,” THE GIRL SAID.

Block stood up and put out a hand. ”I'm Harry. And this here's Sumner. What's your first name again?” Block asked him.

Sumner stood. ”Sumner's fine. Not too many people use my first name.” He held the rifle down and slightly behind him. Marina's white-blond hair, chopped to her chin, blew around in the breeze, flicking over her ice-blue eyes. She had a reserved, cool way about her, which he knew from watching her was alleviated somewhat when she smiled, but she wasn't smiling now.

She pointed at the gun hanging by Sumner's leg. ”This is what caused them to leave?”

Block shot Sumner a cautious look.

Sumner nodded. ”It is. But it's illegal on a cruise s.h.i.+p, so I would ask that you not broadcast that I have it.”

Marina looked surprised. ”I am happy you have it. Who is Clutch?”

”The head of security. He had the flare gun. Did you see him over there?”

Marina shook her head. ”I found the flare gun on the deck floor. No one was near me.”

Sumner made a mental note to throw Clutch against a wall and explain the rules of engagement to him. The first being this: Never run and leave your comrades to go it alone during a firefight.

”How long before they return?” Marina said, getting right to the point.

Sumner was about to tell her that it could be anywhere from a few hours to a matter of minutes when Block broke in.

”They turned tail and ran. We may never see them again.”

Sumner frowned. He wouldn't have lied to the girl. She struck him as no fool. He watched her take in the information and shake her head.

”That is not true, Herr Block.”

Block s.h.i.+fted. ”Now, don't you worry, miss. Sumner and me here got the situation as far under control as it can be, considering the circ.u.mstances. You should go back to your cabin and lock the door.”

Marina raised an eyebrow. ”I think the situation was better controlled when I shot the flare gun.”

Sumner suppressed a smile.

”And we thank you,” Block said, clearing his throat. But you still should go back to your room. Didn't I see you with your parents?”

A cloud pa.s.sed over her face. ”My mother is frightened for me, that's true. But I wanted to know what was happening. The s.h.i.+p's captain is not informing us. He only says that he has sent a distress signal and an American aircraft carrier in the region is coming to our aid. But this I don't believe.”

Block gave Sumner a worried look.

”Why not?” Sumner said.

”The Frenchmen in cabin 216 said that Americans will not come to the aid in Somali waters.”

”Did they say anything else?”

”Not to me. They moved away. Besides, it's rude to listen to another's conversation, is it not?” Marina gave Sumner a reproachful look.

Just what we need, he thought, a woman with a proper upbringing.

”And,” she continued, ”I do not speak French.”