by Glenn Carter
‘Right so!’ said Conor brightly. ‘Tings are looking up. Sure, let’s get outta here.’
Conor drove the Mini more slowly now as there was no sign of their pursuers. Darragh contentedly ate his sweets and would sometimes throw a suspicious look at Rachel and Sharav, holding the sweets closer to his chest.
Suddenly the blue Ford smashed into the back of the Mini sending it into a spin. The Mini spun through revolutions. Conor hit his head on the window and when they came to a halt he was dazed and confused. The men got out of the Ford and approached the Mini from behind, pointing their guns towards the gas tank. Paul shouted, ‘Conor reverse!’ Conor was shaking his head struggling to focus.
Paul thrust his right leg over the gear stick pushing down hard on top of Conor’s foot onto the clutch. He pulled the gear stick to the left and then up and shouted ‘accelerate!’
Conor slammed the accelerator down to the floor and crashed into both men, knocking them over. The Mini’s tyres smoked as it sped off. Sharav looked back to see the men slowly get back up again and one of them limped towards the car. ‘They aren’t dead!’ said Sharav, relieved.
Conor was steering from right to left, narrowly missing cars and hitting the kerb a couple of times.
‘Conor, pull over,’ said Rachel. ‘I’ll drive.’
Conor sat in the back and Rachel took over, grinning broadly as she did so.
As they passed some shops Darragh piped up, ‘Into Dunnes’.
Rachel threw the car left into a three-story car park which would give them excellent cover. The Mini quickly made its way up each story until they came to a stop sign, ‘Warning building in progress.’
Rachel got out of the Mini and pulled the temporary barrier to one side. Soon they were on the roof of the car park. ‘No safety barriers! Anyone could fall off the edge of this building,’ Sharav exclaimed, as everyone apart from Darragh got out of the car to have a look around.
Ten minutes later, Conor was talking into his watch. Sharav was a safe five metres away from the edge, whilst Paul was enthusiastically re-living the car chase with Rachel. They were all basking in the relief of their escape when out of the corner of his eye Paul saw a flash of blue. He stepped closer to the edge of the flat roof to have a better look. Sharav and Rachel watched Paul turn quickly and stride towards Conor who was now sitting on the bonnet of the Mini. ‘Conor, the men are back. We’re trapped!’
13
Wet
‘Everyone in!’ shouted Conor. Rachel, Sharav and Paul jumped into the Mini.
Conor lifted his wrist and spoke into his watch, ‘Bryan, we’re trapped. Please advise on escape options. I’m tinking there might only be one option, but I’d like to avoid it if possible.’
‘Of course, Conor, please wait.’ Just a few seconds later Conor’s watch spoke again, ‘Conor, you are correct, there is only one way out. Please see map for details.’
Conor glanced at his watch, nodded and instructed them all to put their seat belts. ‘Even you Darragh!’ Darragh gave Conor a dirty look and clambered onto Sharav’s lap.
‘Sorry Sharav. Der are only four seat belts,’ Conor said. Sharav smiled weakly, saying it was fine but looked extremely uncomfortable. Darragh didn’t. He looked very comfortable indeed.
‘Listen everyone, the gunmen are going to be angry at us knocking dem down.’
They heard tyres screeching below.
Darragh started bouncing up and down on Sharav’s lap chanting, ‘jump, jump, jump, jump.’
Conor ignored the chanting, ‘I’m going to double check it’s dem before taking evasive action.’
Rachel asked, ‘When you say evasive action, what exactly do you mean?’
Just then there was a loud crashing sound as the Mondeo sped through the barrier and skidded to a stop.
‘I mean dis!’ shouted Conor. He threw the gear stick into first and sped towards the edge. Sharav and Rachel screamed, and Paul’s eyes were wide with terror. They could hear gun shots behind them. A few metres from the edge of the roof Conor flicked a switch on the top of the gear stick and they heard a loud blast from the rear of the car. They were all pushed back into their seats with the g-force. And then silence. Everyone was quiet as the Mini left the edge of the three-story building. Sharav was praying loudly. The Mini flew above the three lanes of traffic and headed straight for the canal on the other side.
Conor shouted ‘Brace for impact!’ The Mini hit the water hard. All the air was knocked out of Darragh as Sharav squashed him against the seat belt. Conor reached for another switch as the Mini slowly sank towards the bottom of the canal. The seals around the door hissed as the Mini became watertight. After a few seconds the Mini settled on the canal bed. Sharav was the first to speak, ‘Are we dead?’
Darragh, having recovered, let out a howl of laughter, ‘Are we dead?’ he shrieked. ‘Are we dead? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!’
‘Everyone okay?’ asked Paul as he turned around to look at the passengers. Rachel and Sharav were white as a sheet and sat with a stunned look on their faces. Darragh was still sitting on Sharav’s lap and was contentedly eating his M&Ms. Sharav undid his seat belt and pushed Darragh off into the middle seat.
‘This is the craziest 48 hours of my life!’ exclaimed Paul. ‘I mean are we indestructible or what? I love this!’
‘Sure, it’s not like dis every day,’ smiled Conor. ‘Anyway relax, we have enough oxygen to survive down here for quite a while.’
Rachel looked at Conor, ‘Well actually, suffocating in an enclosed space is not due to running out of oxygen. It’s more about being poisoned by carbon dioxide.’
Sharav stared at her, ‘She’s right! We did this in biology. What was it… normal concentration of carbon dioxide is 0.03ish% and it becomes toxic at 1%. If it gets to 10% we are properly doomed!’
Rachel sighed, ‘It’s okay Sharav, calm down. Let’s work it out. So, this car is about 10 feet by 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. The air has 21% oxygen and each time we breath in, it uses 5% of that. We breath out 16%. By my calculations, if there was only one of us in this car, we could last about 9 to 10 hours. Divided by 5, that gives us 2 hours at best. After that, yes, we will die. It wouldn’t be very pleasant either. Symptoms would include dizziness, reduced hearing and sight, drowsiness, shortness of breath, headache and then…’
‘You are not helping!’ interrupted Sharav.
‘Look it’s fine,’ said Conor. Those boys in the Mondeo can’t wait around for long. Someone will have called de Guarda after hearing de gun shots. After about ten minutes, I can show you another cool feature of de car.
For the next ten minutes the car was quiet. It seemed like everyone needed time to think. Paul hated the silence. It was in the quiet that he found his thoughts being drawn back home. He was used to the sadness but now when he thought of home, he also felt a huge knot in his stomach as he worried about where his Dad was. Was he even alive? And why would someone want to kidnap him? He was away from home a lot, but he was just a boring civil servant, wasn’t he? Paul remembered the knowing look that Mary had given him when they first met. He was gripped with a sense of urgency. ‘We’ve got to find out who Sabre is,’ he thought. ‘I’ve got to save Dad.’ Losing another member of the family was too much to even consider and he knew the impact this would have on his Mum. Paul remembered the times when he had tried to make his Mum feel better. But it was like there was an invisible barrier around her. A wall of sadness that he couldn’t get past. It would be so good to see her laugh, to see some of the joy that she used to have. Paul smiled weakly as he remembered how their house had been such a happy place. A place where all their friends wanted to come and hang out.
Paul glanced back at his sister. Although quiet, she was restless. She kept checking her phone and then putting it down frustrated with the lack of signal. Paul could almost see her rapid, anxious thoughts as she bit her lip and kept glancing out of the misted windows. Perhaps she was worried about Dad too, but Paul sensed there was something else.
Conor broke the silence, ‘Okay lads, I think dat is long enough. You ready to get outta here?’ He touched a black plastic panel near the radio, which slowly moved down to reveal a digital display screen. The head lights came on and they now had about 5 metres visibility in the filthy water. Two propellers extended out the back of the Mini, the car lifted off the bottom of the canal and to their delight they were propelled forwards under water. Conor smiled, ‘I love dis car. Bryan, is der a slipway near us?’
‘Yes Conor, 100 metres on your right.’
Five minutes later, much to the amazement of the Enniscorthy locals, the Mini exited the water up the slipway. The dirty canal water poured off it. Darragh waved at the spectators as the propellers were sucked back into the car. Conor and Paul opened their windows and they all breathed in the fresh air with huge relief, ‘Let’s go and catch dat boat!’ Conor said.
14
Ferry
After boarding at 8.30pm, Conor handed them each thirty Euros spending money and asked them to meet at the Bernaval Restaurant at 9pm. Each member of the group had their own cabin. Paul and Sharav headed for the sleeping quarters, which were adjacent to each other. When Paul opened number 15, he gasped. Although not terribly spacious the room was beautifully decorated with gold, cream and dark blue. There were wooden floors, a large double bed, a bathroom and a seating area with a small table with fruit in a crystal bowl. Paul went straight for the fridge where to his delight he found several cans of soft drinks and twelve chocolate bars. He grabbed one of the bars and threw himself onto the bed with a smile. Sharav burst into Paul’s room with five chocolate bars, one of which was in his mouth, ‘Did you find all the chocolate?’
‘Got one,’ laughed Paul.
Sharav sat down at the small table and looked out at the port. ‘What time do we leave?’
‘I think it’s 9.15.’
‘Great, I love ships. Hate planes, love ships.’ He leaned back in the soft seat. ‘I’m totally knackered. This trip has been wild. Once we have dinner I’m going straight to bed.’
‘Good idea,’ said Paul. ‘I was wondering about letting our parents know that we’re okay.’
‘Are we okay?’ smiled Sharav. ‘It’s not as if you can tell them everything is fine and please don’t worry, we only nearly died four times today!’
‘True.’
‘Anyway, I’m not sure exactly what part of the world my parents are in. They have had loads of adventures on their trips. But I’m not used to so much excitement.’
Sharav and Paul climbed up a couple of levels and had a look around the ship. Eventually they found the Bernaval Restaurant. Conor and Rachel were already seated at a round table with a white tablecloth, complete with a red flower in a vase and a bottle of wine. Paul looked down at his dirty jeans and thought that he should have changed. Rachel had made an effort. Paul was too hungry to go back to the cabin, so he sat down and said, ‘Wow, it’s really posh, isn’t it?’ They heard a loud grunt and looked around to see Darragh push past a waiter and glare at his surroundings. Darragh grabbed an empty chair and threw himself into it.
‘Howaya Darragh.’ Conor said.
‘Urgghhhh,’ Darragh replied.
They spent some time looking at the menu. Sharav, having travelled more than the rest of them, was able to explain some of the fancy foreign choices. After a couple of minutes, the waiter approached the table and with the finest of manners took their order, coming to Darragh last.
‘And what would sir like to eat tonight?’
‘Chips.’
‘Of course sir, and what would you like with the pommes frites?’
‘Chips!’ said Darragh, increasing his volume.
‘Sir, we have a large range of delicious meats and vegetables that I’m sure you would enjoy in addition to your… chips.’
Darragh glared up at the waiter, narrowing his eyes and baring his teeth. ‘CHIPS, CHIPS, CHIPS!’ he shouted. The other diners looked over as he head-butted the table.
The waiter looked at him in shock and quickly said, ‘Very good sir,’ and scarpered off to the kitchen.
The group spent an enjoyable ninety minutes filled with good food, fun and chat. Conor told them several hilarious stories about his childhood. The waiter had learnt that when Darragh looked at him, that was the sign to bring more chips to the table. After the ninth plate, Darragh smiled at the waiter and Conor interpreted saying, ‘I think he’s finished now.’ The waiter let out a short sigh and said, ‘Excellent, I hope sir enjoyed them.’
At 10.30pm Sharav looked at everyone and said, ‘Well, I’m done. Thank you very much for a lovely meal, but I am going to bed. I plan to sleep until someone wakes me up’.
‘Good idea,’ said Conor. ‘I’ll wake you up at about 6.15am and then we can drive to London.’
As they stood to leave, Paul looked over to see Sharav already asleep, so Conor and Paul took an arm each and dragged him to bed.
At 2am Paul woke up. Was that a knock? He pulled himself out of bed and walked towards the door rubbing his eyes. He grabbed for the wall as he felt the ship swaying from side to side. Paul noticed something on the floor and knelt down to pick it up. A note. Paul gingerly made his way back to the bed and sat down. ‘Hugo, light.’ The room was filled with the soft light from Paul’s watch. He read the note, ‘If you want to see your father again, meet me on the top deck now. Just you.’
Paul’s back straightened and he quickly pulled on his shoes and clothes.
Five minutes later he was opening the door onto the deck. Paul took a sharp intake of breath, pulled up his hood and ventured out, leaning against the biting wind. Paul adjusted his weight from one foot to another as the ship rolled back and forth. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he scanned the deck. He hadn’t walked far when he froze as he heard the words, ‘Stay right where you are. Now turn around slowly.’
Paul turned and looked up into the face of a well-built man with dark eyes, black glasses and a weather-beaten rugged face. Paul instinctively edged away from the bulk of the man.
‘Stop there please Paul,’ said the man with a strong London accent. ‘Smile, you’re on camera!’ The man pointed to a body cam that was strapped to his chest.
‘Where’s my Dad?’ Paul said, his voice cracking with emotion.
‘I was going to say somewhere safe,’ smiled the man. ‘But that wouldn’t be true. However, he is watching you right now.’
‘Dad?’ said Paul looking into the camera. ‘I’m going to find you. I’ll sort all of this out. I’m fine. I…’
‘That’s enough,’ said the man, grabbing Paul by the neck and lifting him off the ground. ‘The whole point of this interaction is to show that you aren’t fine.’
Paul grabbed frantically at the man’s hands that were clamped around his neck. Now face to face with the man, Paul noticed an image being projected onto the man’s glasses. Paul gasped, desperately trying to inhale some air. As he did so, he saw a figure running towards them. Strengthened by this hope he pulled back his right leg and kicked with all his might. The man instantly let go of him and fell to the floor holding his crotch. Paul was on all fours sucking in the cold air and saw the man’s glasses had landed nearby.
Conor skidded to a stop near the man who was breathing heavily on the ground. As Conor got closer, the assailant pulled out a gun and slowly got to his feet. He pointed the gun at Conor. ‘This situation has just got a whole lot more serious for you both. I was just playing with Paul here, putting on a bit of a show for his Dad.’
Paul was sitting on the deck, leaning against a bench. Instinctively he grabbed for the glasses near him and put them on. There in front of him he could see his father sitting at a table with his head in his hands. It was like watching television.
‘Dad!’ said Paul. He felt the prick of tears as he was flooded with relief.
Michael Fox looked up and called, ‘Paul… I can’t see you. Are you okay?’
‘I can see you Dad, I love you!’
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‘I love you son.’
Paul saw a bald man rush around the table towards the camera and Michael said with urgency, ‘You’ll find me at North…’ The audio and visual went dead.
‘Dad… Dad! Where are you?’
Nothing. Paul threw the glasses aside and stood up.
‘Get up against the railing,’ the main said, finally recovering. He motioned with the gun towards the sea, ‘Time to go for a swim,’ he snarled.
‘I’m sure we could work something out.’ said Conor. Paul saw another figure slowly approaching the attacker from behind. As the figure got closer, he could see it was Sharav in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt.
‘Listen,’ Conor said to the man. ‘Tell me what you want. Money? Cars? I work for an organisation dat can get anything you want. Anyting, just don’t hurt him.’ He nodded at Paul. ‘Let him go.’
‘He is the one I’m here for,’ smiled the man angrily. ‘You are getting in the way.’
Sharav was now within five metres of the group and realised that he had only one option. Taking a deep breath, he ran at the man and jumped on his back. It all happened so quickly. As Sharav was holding on to the man’s back, Conor rushed towards him, only to be met by the hard blow of gun metal to his face. He fell backwards and lay sprawled on the deck. Sharav continued to hold on for dear life. Paul joined in and kicked the man hard in the stomach. This resulted in Sharav being catapulted over the man’s shoulders. The man staggered backwards, still holding the gun and pointing it at the group. Paul, Sharav and Conor got to their feet and surrounded the man in a triangular formation. The assailant switched his aim quickly from person to person.
‘I’m here for him,’ he shouted looking at Paul. If you want to get in the way, then fine’. He started moving towards Paul and Conor, who both backed away towards the railing. Sharav was now directly behind the man.
Conor looked at Sharav, ‘Sharav, protect de package!’
Sharav looked at him confused. ‘Protect the package?’ he repeated.