Brooks gave himself a little excited shake. “Ooh, I must say working with you is wonderful, all the rest of them are boring, that is apart from McCall.” He winked then shook Steel’s hand. “Well, John, it’s been marvellous to see you again and I wish you well. Oh by the way, how is that fat clock maker? Has he bonked Mrs Studebaker, yet? I should have a chat with him, he does wonders with timepieces and stuff.”
Steel turned round to see the last of the men leave. Then he stood up and made for the stairwell, knowing that he was running out of time and he had a clockmaker to find.
John had made it to Deck Two and the heavy bulkhead door to the engine room and cargo hold. He paused for a moment and gathered his thoughts. He had so much to tell them, but recent events had probably shattered all hope of them trusting him. Beyond him lay the long corridor of the cargo hold and the first defence against any intruder. Someone would no doubt be lying in wait guarding the entranceway.
He knocked three times. The heavy metal made a hollow thud with each impact from his fist.
Slowly he opened the door and waited for a second, then called out: “It’s me, Steel!” He sucked in a breath before moving slowly through the half-open door, hoping that Jane Stewart wasn’t on guard. He smiled in relief to see the massive form of Vedas trying to hide behind some boxes for cover.
“Ah, Mr Steel, my friend, it is good to see you once more,” Vedas said, and he suddenly frowned and shot a look towards the dining area. “Many people are mad at you, big time.”
Steel shook the man’s massive hand. “Good, then this will make things easier. Come on, I have to talk to everyone.”
Vedas looked back at the door. “What about if the mercenaries come?”
Steel shook his head as he walked. “They’re no longer a problem.”
The buzz of conversation echoed along the white metal corridors like a strange humming sound until they grew near to the room. Albert Studebaker cut his laughter short as he looked up to see a pale-looking Steel standing behind them. The rest of them turned to see what the American was looking at and the room fell silent. Without a word, Steel made his way to one of the large glass-fronted display fridges and took out a small bottle of water. All of them watched as he downed the first bottle and the proceeded to finish off another.
“So, Mr. Steel, the lifeboats are ready to go, I take it?” Studebaker asked, sitting up in his chair as if he was trying to make himself larger. Steel looked at them all as they just sat there, staring at him with enquiring expressions. He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out another bottle. As he turned back, his eyes locked with Tia’s. She was horrified at his appearance.
He was dirty and his clothes were slashed, displaying bloody wounds underneath. The man looked as if he had been in a war zone but no one seemed to care. “How is everyone doing?” Steel asked as he took smaller, more controlled sips from the bottle.
“We are fine, thank you. Now what’s with these damned lifeboats, when can we get off this tub?” Studebaker demanded.
Steel glared at him. “The lifeboats are out of the question. Each one has an explosive device on it, so it’s not recommended you try using them.”
Grant spat out a mouthful of coffee. “The mercenaries? You mean they rigged the lifeboats to keep us here?”
John shook his head as he looked round the room carefully, trying to get a read on who was present. “No it was someone else, whoever planned this whole trip—the person who got you all here. The mercenaries are here to get the explosive devices back.”
Tia looked up at Steel with sad eyes. “They want you to get them back?”
He nodded, then shrugged. “Well, I had some time to kill before we hit the port.”
“So what if you don’t, what then?” Jane Stewart asked in a defiant tone.
“Then a lot of people die, and I can’t let that happen,” Steel said. He turned to Vedas. “I need some strong backs. Can your men assist me?”
The two men from the gym stepped forwards and folded their arms, and one said, “We are ready, you tell us want you want. Da.” The men smiled broadly and Steel laughed to himself as he tucked the water bottle into a pouch on his vest, noticing that one of Russian bodyguards had no front teeth.
“Okay, fellas, let’s go,” he said. As they headed off Steel stopped and looked over at Martin Goddard. “Say, Martin, you said you were good with clocks and electrical stuff, right?”
Martin nodded cautiously. “Yes, why?”
Steel looked back at him. “I need your help, I’ll tell you on the way.”
Grant stood up angrily. “And what about the rest of us?” he asked. “Do you expect us to just sit here?”
The Englishman turned and shot Grant a curious look. “You’re safe in here. Just stay here until I call you and pray we pull it off.”
*
As the massive liner cut through the water, the warm midday sun blazed down upon the cool waters. The cloudless sky showed no sign of the storm which they had passed through as though it had never happened. However, the silence of the vessel and the battle-scarred decks showed otherwise.
Steel and Martin Goddard had made it up to Deck Five using the elevators. Steel knew he had free access and that Brook’s men wouldn’t get in the way: if they were there it was to observe and nothing more.
“Okay, Mr Steel, we are here, what now?” Martin asked as he stepped off the elevator. The sound of a gun’s safety catch being released made Goddard freeze. As he slowly turned round, he saw Steel standing there holding the UMP machine pistol at hip height, the barrel facing Martin.
“What in God’s name are you doing, man?” Goddard barked, confused at the turn of events.
“So, Martin,” the man with the gun asked. “Where is the control unit and why did you set it?” Goddard looked shocked. “How did you know? Look, it was meant to be for an insurance scam. The ship has an accident then the company goes under. It was meant to be just the lifeboat falling off, that was all—that’s what I was told, anyway.” Goddard sat down hard on one of the benches near the elevator.
“Did you set the charges?” Steel asked. He was watching over him, but he knew just by looking at his sorry state that he was no killer.
“No, I just finished the work someone else had started, set up the wireless connection and the activation unit.”
Steel remembered what McCall had said about the central hub. “So what sets them off?” His voice had softened but still held that tone of authority.
“The radar, it’s fixed to the radar. Whoever puts in a point and when that point is achieved it activates.” Goddard sat with his head in his hands.
John Steel looked at his watch. It was now two o’clock and the clock was ticking, and definitely not in their favour. “Come on, Martin, you can save the people on this ship, not to mention the others in New York.”
Goddard looked puzzled as he stood up. “What do you mean, Mr Steel? Why would anyone be in danger? I thought you had found the charges that would destroy the lifeboats.”
John turned and shook his head, a look of sorrow etched across his rugged face. “Do you know what red mercury is, Mr Goddard?”
Martin went pale as he slumped back down onto the bench below him. “They told me—” Goddard started to talk and stopped.
“They lied, and when this is over you can tell me who hired you.”
Goddard stood up and shook himself off, upset at the thought of the risk to all those people, including Missy. The thought that he may have caused her any harm because of them sickened him. “We have to get to the bridge. But what about the ship? How are we going to stop it?” Steel looked down to read the text that had just sprung onto his phone. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, someone else is dealing with that.”
The two men raced for the elevators at the other end of the deck; from there they would be closer to the bridge. However, Steel felt uneasy. One of the group had to be the perpetrator, the mastermind.
The question was, which o
ne?
The two large Russians were on their way to the elevators. Steel had given them instructions to go to the elevators near the engine room and wait. They had been there for at least twenty minutes before the elevator came down and the doors opened. To their surprise, the Captain stepped out and grinned at them.
“So, lads,” Captain Long asked. “Have you ever smashed up an engine room before?”
The men shook their heads in anticipation of the next order.
“Well, it’s your lucky day.” Captain Long watched as they ran down towards the engine room.
When they had arrived at the outer entrance, Long sent a text to Steel. After a short while he looked down at the simple reply: “Roger that.” Before Long opened the door he handed the Russians a set of red plastic ear defenders and told them, “You’ll need these, believe me. Now when we get in you stick with me, yes?” The two men nodded as Long put on his ear defenders and stood by the door, saying, “Welcome to hell, boys.”
He opened up the door and the air was filled with the roar from the seven marine diesel engines. The smell of oils and lubricants filled their nostrils, in addition to the potent waft of hot metal. Long took the two men down to the lower floor, where the piston arms were busy pounding like some mechanical beast. Long pointed to the arms and showed the men roughly what to do, as he mimed the action of them swinging sledge hammers at the control arms to smash them. When they nodded and smiled, Long realised that they understood.
His intention was to slow the vessel not to stop it, not if Steel had to get the lifeboats off at a safe distance from the city.
Grant paced up and down, to the annoyance of the others. He was scribbling in his notebook as he walked.
“Can’t you sit down and do that?” yelled Jane angrily.
Grant looked over to the others, a troubled look on his face. “Don’t you find it odd we never went with them?”
Everyone just stared back at him as if he had gone mad.
“How do we know Steel didn’t set this whole thing up?” he continued.
“You think about it. Ever since he has been on board it’s been one thing after another. How do we know he isn’t getting off the ship on one of the lifeboats, eh?”
Missy tutted and rolled her eyes.
“Because there are some kind of bombs on board, silly!” Grant sat down and leaned forwards.
“And who told you that?” He sat back and grinned as he saw the looks on all of their faces, all except Vedas who just stood at the entranceway and scowled at him. However, Grant felt too hyped up to care what the big Russian thought, and he started to jot down ideas in his leather-bound notebook.
“If there was no danger from the mercenaries, why keep us cooped up here. No, if you ask me something is going on. Steel has lied to us before, why not now?” Grant looked round the room to assess the effect of his words on their faces and he could see the anger welling up inside them.
“What do you suggest we do, Mr Grant?” Bob Stewart spoke softly, trying not to be heard by Vedas.
“We overpower the Russian and head for the lifeboats, and then get off this ship.”
They all nodded in agreement, all except Tia who was now sleeping in the corner on a makeshift bed.
As Steel and Goddard neared the bridge, the latter stopped, saying,
“Look, someone else has got here before us.” He rushed towards the splintered door and stopped before entering. “You’d better go first just in case whoever did this is still here.” He turned to face Steel, who had a strange expression on his face.
“Oh, never mind, I hope they didn’t break anything,” the large man said as he entered. The bridge was just as Steel had left it. The midday sun flooded through the polarized glass, lighting up the large room. Goddard headed for the guidance control and the radar system. Kneeling down, he patted his pockets as he realised he had forgotten about the four screws securing the panel.
“What’s wrong?” Steel asked, seeing the man looking perplexed.
“Do you have a screwdriver or something I can use to get this panel off with?” Goddard suddenly jumped to the side as Steel rammed an eight-inch combat blade into the top of the cover, and with a screech of metal prised it open.
“Will that do?”
Goddard smiled nervously at Steel as he lay on his back looking upwards.
“Yep, that should do it.” Martin got up and started to disengage the radar so the activation device would be inoperative.
“How long do you think it will take?” Steel asked, looking at his watch.
“Twenty minutes. It’s not like yanking all of the wires out, you know, it has to be taken apart carefully, otherwise it will set everything off anyway.”
Steel nodded and headed for the door. “I have to find a way to get the lifeboats off this ship while you’re doing that. Good luck, Martin.” Martin smiled at Steel. “Good luck to you too, my friend—for all our sakes.”
Steel had made his way down to Deck Five using the elevator. As he travelled down he stopped and listened for the first time to the silence, the soothing quietness. He closed his eyes and just let himself drift off for just a moment. He took out the bottle of water, took a small mouthful, and swilled it round his mouth to get rid of the dryness there. The metallic knocking as the metal box hurried past floors was almost music to his ears. For a long time he hadn’t stopped rushing around, and he just took a moment to let his brain recuperate. The elevator stopped with a small jolt and the doors opened. He knelt and held the weapon ready: even though he had a cease-fire with the organization, he didn’t have one with the person who had orchestrated this whole thing. The fifth floor was empty but the potent smell still lingered in the air.
He moved quickly to cover as he made it out of the elevator. Taking out the sat phone, he dialled McCall’s desk phone. He needed to find the control unit she had told him about, and fast.
It took several rings before she picked up, saying her usual: “McCall, homicide.” Steel smiled at the sound of her voice, it was soothing and hopeful.
“Hi, Sam, it’s me. Okay, I am on the fifth floor near the damned lifeboats. So what am I looking for?”
In NYPD premises in New York, McCall took the cordless handset and moved into the briefing room where the tech was busy figuring things out. “Okay, hot shot,” she said to him. “Our guy is on fifth. What is he looking for?”
The young tech placed his finger on the small box drawing. “There should be something in the middle of the room, around about where the fifth lifeboat is.”
On the ship, Steel ran down, counting the doorways until he reached doors five and fifteen. He stopped and looked round at the empty space.
“Did you find it?” asked the tech, his voice sounding anxious as he looked up at the clock.
“Find what?” Steel yelled back. “There is nothing here. Are you sure you read it right?”
The tech nodded to reassure himself and McCall. “Yes, you can’t miss it. It’s something large and square.”
Steel frantically looked around the large empty space.
“Oh, you can’t miss it, it’s large and.....oh boy.”
Steel looked straight up and swallowed hard. “Oh that’s so wrong,” he muttered.
McCall and the tech looked at each other, puzzled at Steel’s words.
“Steel, you okay?” she asked.
Steel walked towards some service steps in the gap between two shops.
“Um, I think I found your thing and yep, it’s big.” He clambered up the ladder and headed along the service walkway until he made it back to where he had started. In front of him, held by four long metal arms, was a large Victorian style four-faced clock. The gold and brass encrusted timepiece stood around six feet square.
“Steel, are you still there?” Sam asked anxiously. “What is it? What did you find?”
Steel moved towards the nearest arm and prepared to run across the long beam.
“It’s a clock, a big ass clock,” he told
them.
“Okay, genius, what do I have to do?”
McCall looked down at the tech, who was searching through his notes.
“If you can disable the connection you should be fine,” he told him.
The man on the ship looked at the handset as though he was looking at the man himself. “Should be? Define ‘should be’ would you?”
McCall shot the tech an enquiring look.
“You will be, once the connection is broken the devices should be disarmed.” the man explained.
Steel held his breath as he prepared to dash across.
Below him he heard footsteps as Captain Long and his new helpers came rushing over, Steel leant over the side and called down to get their attention:
“Captain, good to see you again, how did we do?”
Long looked up to see the tired-looking man above them.
“Ah, Mr Black, we have damaged her enough so that she will crawl and not run, and the power is off in this section.”
“Good, okay, Captain, we need to get those lifeboats off as soon as I take care of that clock.”
The three men looked at the shimmering timepiece.
“What do you mean, take care of?” the captain asked.
“I don’t know yet but I think you will know.” Steel shrugged and gave a quick desperate smile.
Tobias Long grinned; he had a fair idea what the signal might be.
“By the way, the doors are stuck so you will have to get to them from the floor above,” Steel told them. Long glanced up at him.
“And you couldn’t have mentioned that before?” Steel shrugged and looked apologetic.
“Okay, we’ll take care of the boats, you just get rid of that damned clock.” Long told him then the three men headed off towards the stairs and the sixth floor.
Steel looked at the long distance he would have to go, for the arm stretched for around twenty feet before it ended in a platform, designed for clock repair engineers. Light blazed through the high-density windows above the heavily damaged shops and lifeboat entrances, illuminating the room below. Steel looked over to see the captain and the oversized Russians climb down from the sheet rope he had used earlier. He was glad they had found the room open and bothered to investigate the option. As he watched he could see the captain explain with hands and feet what he wanted. “Hit the top of the arm support,” he remembered the captain saying.
Operation:UNITY (John Steel series Book 2) Page 39