The Oracle's Message

by Alex Archer

  She remembered seeing bodies and frowned. They had probably killed Vic and the young fed who had been assisting him. Annja felt a heat rise within her as her rage bubbled to the surface.

  Gottlieb ducked belowdecks looking none the worse for wear. He grinned at her. “Still peddling that story, huh? I told that guy it would never work. And they don’t believe it, either. So give it up already, Annja.”

  Annja smiled at him. “You’re a traitor, Gottlieb, and sooner or later they’re going to find out. And when they do, they’ll kill you for betraying them.”

  Gottlieb smacked her on the chin and Annja tasted blood. She spat a puddle of it onto the galley floor. “You hit like a suburban housewife.”

  Gottlieb laughed. “We’ll see who enjoys this day, Annja. And I happen to think it will be me.”

  Gottlieb vanished up onto the deck and Annja looked around. She needed to cut her hands free. She’d done it once before, manifesting the sword and cutting her ropes, but was there enough room in the boat itself to do so?

  She didn’t know.

  She’d also have to time it just right or else she’d be discovered. And she didn’t think that they’d take any chances with her. They all knew about the sword. They’d simply kill her and be done with it.

  The boat engine drew to a stop and the boat seemed to bob in the swells slightly. Outside, the dawn sky brightened, but Annja couldn’t see nearly enough yet to make out where they were. She couldn’t even see the coastline from where she was being held.

  If she could, perhaps she could throw herself overboard and swim for shore? Annja frowned. That would be tough under the best conditions. The water in Nantucket Sound was much colder than in the Philippines. And she’d have to take care of her hands first. Plus, the currents here were terribly strong.

  She sighed. Doing this was going to take a lot of work and she’d have to make sure she had half a chance before she attempted anything.

  Mueller ducked below and walked past Annja on his way to the bow of the boat. When he came back out, Annja saw that he had diving gear on. Along with that, he carried out oxygen tanks one by one.

  They were going diving?

  She frowned. Then it all made perfect sense. They’d plant the device and then swim away. Meanwhile, all the units on the ground on Martha’s Vineyard would be expecting some type of obvious assault.

  But there wouldn’t be one.

  And when the countdown expired, the device would blow and vaporize the intended target.

  I’ve got to get out of here, she thought.

  Hans and Gottlieb returned several times for more oxygen tanks. By the looks of it, they were planning on an extended stay underwater. Annja counted ten tanks in total, which would mean two each. That would give them plenty of time to plant the device, swim back and then hop on the boat and vanish.

  She wondered if the Coast Guard cutter she’d seen patrolling yesterday was still in the area. Chances were it was, but unless they saw something suspicious, would they even challenge a vessel like this? Probably not, especially if the boat made no obvious approach to the coastline near the target’s residence.

  With those tanks they can swim miles and back and no one would know they were planting the explosive.

  Would a nuclear device cause much destruction if it detonated underwater? She had no idea. She did know that water acted like a tamping agent to explosives, forcing their blast into a certain direction, but what about a nuclear device? Would it be enough to cause the death and destruction they sought? Or would it simply be like setting off a dirty bomb?

  Annja strained against her ropes but they were tied by someone who knew what they were doing.

  Mueller came by and noticed her struggle. “I wouldn’t bother. I studied rope restraints with a Peruvian Indian who knew so many ways to tie up a person that you’ll never figure it out, Annja.” And then he walked back onto the deck, laughing.

  Annja frowned. I’ve still got a few ways to get free, she thought.

  Spier came down into the galley. “So, you’ve no doubt noticed that we took great pains to make sure you couldn’t use that wonderful sword of yours to get free and cut us all to ribbons.”

  “Mueller’s handiwork,” Annja said. “Whatever.”

  “In any event,” Spier said. “It won’t matter much in a few minutes. We’ll be gone and then, tragically, so will you.”

  “You’re not taking me with you?”

  “I think you’d rather spoil all the fun,” Spier said. “No, no, you’ll be staying here, my dear.”

  “Shame,” Annja said. “I was looking forward to seeing you guys fail utterly and completely.”

  “In which case you’d be severely disappointed,” Spier said. “We won’t fail.”

  Hans ducked his head down and spoke to Spier. “All is ready.”

  Spier nodded. “Very well.” He turned to Annja. “I’m afraid it’s time to say farewell. At least this time we got to say a proper goodbye, hmm?” He grinned. “We won’t be seeing each other again, Annja, so I hope you’ve made peace with your life.”

  “Not until I kill you,” Annja said.

  Spier laughed. “Indeed. Maybe in the next life.”

  He turned and walked back onto the main deck. Seconds later, Annja heard a series of splashes.

  They were gone.

  And she was alone on the boat.

  As the boat bobbed, silence settled over it. Annja took several deep breaths.

  And then heard something out of ordinary.

  Beeping.

  Steady and measured.

  From somewhere far below her.

  Her heart rate quickened as the realization set in. The boat was rigged to blow up.

  34

  Annja tested the ropes but they held fast. She struggled to get to her feet and nearly lost her footing as a wave rolled under the boat and it dipped to the left.

  She twisted and tried to get a look at the knots, but she wasn’t nearly flexible enough to do that. Looking around the galley, she searched for anything sharp but saw nothing immediately available.

  Without knowing how long she had before the bomb went off, Annja knew she had to get out of there in a hurry.

  She concentrated and tried to manifest the sword in her hands. Nothing happened.

  Suddenly she realized why. Her hands had been tied back to back so the palms didn’t face each other. She couldn’t grasp the sword between them.

  She wondered if she could control the sword single-handed. Annja closed her eyes and concentrated on seeing the sword. Then she tried to feel the hilt only in her right hand. She felt her hand close around the hilt and then opened her eyes again.

  She felt the sword’s weight in her hand and then allowed it to fall to the floor, embedding itself into the wood of the galley floor.

  Annja leaned down carefully and felt the honed blade bite into the ropes. It slid through them like they weren’t even there. The ropes fell away and Annja massaged her wrists gratefully.

  She pulled the sword out of the galley floor and ran for the upper deck, unsure what she would find there. The boat was indeed abandoned. As she looked around she spotted a pair of oxygen tanks, a regulator, a mask and fins discarded on the deck. I guess I know where I’m going now, she thought with a grin. She returned the sword to the otherwhere.

  Now the question was how much time had Spier left on the bomb? Was it even worth looking for it and trying to disarm it?

  The answer came to her quickly when she heard the beeping sound suddenly increase in tempo.

  She grabbed the diving gear and ran hard for the stern, driving with her legs, churning and breathing hard, and then she launched herself into the air, gaining height and passing the apex of her dive as the boat behind her blew apart.

  Annja hit the water as the debris from the explosion showered the sea around her. Shards of wood and metal speared through the water.

  Annja swam deeper, trying to stay clear of the lethal fragmentation. Her lungs
screamed for air and she was forced to ascend faster than she wanted to. There was no time to use the oxygen tanks. She could barely hold on to the gear and swim.

  She broke the surface about a hundred feet away from the smoldering wreck. Flames danced over what remained of the boat, smoke billowing in the air. Around the boat, a pool of oil coated the surface of the water, already alight.

  Bobbing in the surf, Annja strapped herself in the gear and looked at the coastline in front of her. It was tough picking out topographical features from the ocean, but she figured they must have been about five miles south of the German chancellor’s residence.

  That meant Spier and his team were swimming north underwater.

  She frowned. It made sense. They’d never be able to be detected underwater unless Vic had deployed a defensive string of divers in the area.

  And that was highly unlikely.

  Annja figured she could have waited for the Coast Guard to show up on scene of the flaming wreck, but what good would that do? Her heart ached as she thought about it, but in all likelihood, Vic was dead.

  That meant someone else was now in charge. And the chances of that person taking any sort of advice from Annja were slim.

  She’d have to do this on her own.

  Annja thought briefly about Roux and George and how nice it would be to have some company along on this part of the trip. But she couldn’t contact them. She’d have to do what she could—alone.

  Unaware of the depths she’d be diving at, Annja decided to swim farther out and try to cut her travel distance down to straight line shots up the coast.

  It occurred to her that she was swimming in waters known for abundant numbers of great white sharks. And they were potentially far more dangerous than tiger sharks.

  As long as they didn’t think of her as a seal, she ought to be relatively safe. But the sooner she got started, the better.

  She tested the mouthpiece and got a good flow. The oxygen gauge showed full tanks.

  It was time to start swimmng.

  She heard a motor in the distance and saw the Coast Guard cutter bearing down on her location. She considered waiting but then disregarded the thought.

  Instead, she turned and submerged herself, descending rapidly before the cutter’s propeller blades turned her into shark chum.

  The visibility in the northern Atlantic was far worse than it had been in the Philippines. Annja could see maybe thirty feet in front of her. The level of sea life seemed far less, as well, but as she took herself deeper, she could make out more and see a little farther than she had closer to the surface.

  On her bearing now, Annja set off at a good clip, figuring that Spier and his team had maybe fifteen minutes on her. She had to cut that down to nothing if she had any hope of defeating them.

  She’d keep a lookout for oxygen bubble trails. With five of them swimming, they ought to be relatively easy to spot, provided she could find a way to catch up.

  Despite her recent injuries, Annja felt strong as she swam through the ocean. Her breathing felt measured and confident. She willed herself to drive harder, faster, so she could cut down the distance.

  She saw the wreck of an old fishing trawler lying on its side about fifty feet below her. She had the quickest flash of worry lance through her as she considered whether Spier would have left someone behind to ambush her just in case.

  But no, that would have split his forces. And Spier no doubt had some sort of complicated escape plan all worked out. He’d need all his men with him in order to make sure this gambit paid off. Plus, he’d never believe she could have outsmarted him.

  Annja swam on. She saw a dark shape glide past her some distance away and was sure it was a shark. But it paid her no attention and Annja calmed down her breathing and heart rate. It wouldn’t do her any good to get freaked out now. She’d burn through her oxygen in no time and then she’d really be in trouble.

  Besides, she had her sword, and if it came to finishing off another shark, she wouldn’t hesitate to do it. If she didn’t stop Spier and his team, no one would be able to. Worse, if their bomb detonated, then the sea itself might be contaminated. And that would mean more sharks and other sea life would die.

  Annja tried broadcasting that message out of her as if she could communicate telepathically with the ocean life. Don’t mess with me, she thought over and over. She knew it wouldn’t do anything but it gave her something to focus on as she swam ever harder.

  She could feel the tug of the current on her body, but she ignored it and kept her legs churning behind her. She figured she’d covered a mile pretty quickly. A glance overhead showed no increase in boat traffic. In fact, there were no boats in the area at all.

  I wonder if Vic established an exclusion zone? she thought. That would at least rule out the possibility that Spier had another boat.

  Annja drove herself forward and altered her course as she checked her position against the coastline. She turned slightly to the right and kept swimming.

  Her legs were starting to tire.

  The realization that she’d have to ignore the pain and keep going made her breathe harder than she had been.

  This isn’t good, she decided. She took a moment and pulled up, allowing herself to float in the water, semibuoyant. She closed her eyes and tried drawing on that inner well-spring of strength that she’d drawn on rarely in the past.

  She searched inside herself and found the strength necessary to keep driving on. She reminded herself what was at stake and she felt the telltale surge of adrenaline in her bloodstream.

  Annja pointed north and started kicking harder.

  Her breathing, despite her energetic output, was measured and calm. She knew her muscles needed a ton of oxygen, but she felt no greater pull on her reserves than if she’d been casually diving.

  Good, she thought.

  A face zipped past her. Annja noticed the whiskers and the freckled face of the harbor seal and grinned. The seal wanted to play apparently.

  Annja waved him off. Sorry, little pal, she directed to the seal. I can’t stop right now. Some other time, perhaps.

  But the seal seemed determined to stay with Annja, zipping out in front of her and then falling behind. She watched its fins and how it jetted itself through the water as if there was nothing holding it back.

  Of course, its body was much more streamlined than Annja’s. She smiled and thought, Sure, it’d be easy if I looked like you.

  They covered the third mile keeping each other company and then the seal abruptly shot off into the darkness.

  Annja frowned. I hope that’s not a bad omen, she mused.

  When the sleek torpedo shape slid past her a moment later, Annja’s stomach plummeted. The seal hadn’t wanted to play, after all.

  It had been using her for cover.

  She saw the great white lazily flick its tail once and eyeball her as it slid past. With its mouth open to allow water to flow over its gills, she could see the serrated rows of teeth. Unlike the tiger shark, the great white’s teeth were especially designed for sawing through thick seal and whale blubber.

  Or divers.

  She estimated it ran about fourteen feet long.

  A big fish.

  Annja felt a twinge of annoyance at the seal for using her to shield itself from the massive predator. But then again, she thought, I might have done the same thing in its situation.

  Annja kept swimming, hoping that the big fish wouldn’t take an interest in tasting her.

  I don’t want to have to kill this thing, she thought.

  She knew she could have her sword out and in front of her in a blink, however, as she swam on toward where she figured Spier and his team were heading.

  The great white kept swimming around her, keeping its distance by perhaps forty feet. But she could see it wasn’t particularly interested in her. She knew that if the shark wasn’t searching for food, it would be unlikely to attack her. But she still fought to keep her heart rate and breathing under control
.

  The shark rolled past her again and she marveled at how it could simply propel itself with a tiny flick of its massive tail fin. She shook her head. Give me three hundred and fifty million years of living down here and I might be able to do that, too, she countered.

  Annja kept her speed up, but the great white matched it easily. I may as well be running on a treadmill next to this big guy, she thought.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d been face-to-face with a great white in the open ocean, but each time felt like the first, she decided.

  If only there was some way to use this big guy to her advantage. She wanted to ask it if it’d do her a favor and take a bite of Spier and the boys while she disarmed the bomb.

  But of course, how in the world was she going to do that?

  Unless…

  She frowned. No way. That was insane.

  And when she’d seen it done before, she’d merely shaken her head and said, “That is absolutely nuts.”

  But now in the open ocean with this massive predator nearby, Annja found herself thinking over its merits.

  And it did have several.

  Worse, before reason could prevail, Annja found herself doing exactly the opposite of what her instincts screamed at her.

  She swam toward the great white shark.

  35

  It seemed to Annja that as she swam toward the massive beast that dwarfed her by almost three times, it had the ability to appear almost motionless, when in fact, it was moving at great speed.

  Annja, for her part, was forced to swim harder than she had before, a crazy situation since she was trying to actually get closer to something that could kill her with a single bite.

  But she drew near to it. For its part, the shark looked exactly like she thought it would when it realized what she might have been up to. It seemed to give her a distinct look as if to say, “Uh…you know what I’m capable of, right?” She couldn’t tell if there was a mixture of vague amusement in its eyes or if it was simply trying to size up how many calories it would get from devouring her.

  Annja summoned the sword to her right hand and swam closer to the right side of the great white. It kept pace with her and Annja drew parallel to it, aware that if it simply chose to alter its course with a subtle direction change, she’d be seeing the business end of the rows of steak knives that inhabited its mouth.