He looked shell-shocked – like he’d aged ten years in the space of a minute. But he answered: ‘Twenty-one, including me.’
I thought it through, but it was inconclusive. I didn’t know if the captain had been counted among the hostages. If he had, Ellen might still be hidden. If not, she was either awaiting the firing squad, or was already gone.
The possibility filled me with mad, crimson rage.
‘You’re gonna go, right?’ said First Mate tentatively.
I looked at him, and suddenly thought of the parable of Jonah and the Whale. I needed to sacrifice everything to prevent the destruction of the crew.
‘We have to go,’ said Chen simply, before I could reply. ‘I won’t let hostages die.’
Chen didn’t realize, of course, that if the hard-drive got into the hands of the Chinese government, it would spell the death of many more people.
But while rationalizing things was simple, actually allowing innocents to die was not. And I couldn’t think of any other option. I was over a barrel. The only thing I could do was try and save this crew, and maybe myself.
I nodded. ‘We have to go.’ I paused. ‘And we have to go now. If we’re gonna do this, we have to make sure we don’t antagonize them, otherwise they’ll kill the hostages anyway.’
‘What should I do?’ said First Mate.
‘Stay here. But keep one of the submachine guns just in case they come for you.’ I handed him an MP5. ‘You okay to use it?’
‘I’ve been to a firing range before,’ he said simply.
I grunted. It’d have to do.
I turned to Chen.
‘Okay, we’re going to exit onto the deck, which will place us about twenty yards away from the entrance to the deckhouse. I reckon we’ll then be met by either Yuelin – the head terrorist – or her accomplice, who’ll be armed and holding a walkie-talkie so that they’re able to send a signal to their accomplice to kill the hostages. They’d only need to press the button to send a crackle of static. I’ll immediately level my gun at them, so they can’t kill me without my death spasms automatically returning fire. And then I’ll hand you and the hard-drive over.’
‘Then what happens?’ said Chen.
I shrugged. ‘I make myself scarce, and hopefully the crew will be spared.’
I went silent. Talking it through was agony. I’d been outmaneuvered and defeated. And the best I could hope for – the absolute best – was to escape with my life, and save the remaining members of the crew.
And Ellen, if she wasn’t dead already, was screwed. I’d let her down once too many.
Not for the first time, an insane burst of hatred towards Yuelin shot through me. And knowing I was powerless made it near unbearable to process. There’d be no revenge today.
I quashed these emotions. I had to stay focused. For the crew.
I looked at Chen. ‘Let’s do this.’
With that, all three of us began marching towards the stairs to the corridor. When we got there, both men studied the dead bodies and, judging by their expressions, this sight finally drove home the severity of the situation. I kept on leading the way. And soon enough, we were passing through the door to the hallway above.
At which point, First Mate stopped abruptly. ‘Good luck,’ he said simply.
I nodded at him, and Chen and I continued. Forty-five seconds later, we hit the foot of the stairs leading to the deck, and could hear the rain pummeling the door at the top. It was beyond torrential. Shitting potatoes, the house detective back in Vegas had predicted.
Chen looked at me with his grizzled eye – a sad, solemn look – then slowly began leading the way. My head felt light and the world unreal. I was a dead man walking. I knew it’d take a miracle to survive this.
And I knew, also, that if it was Yuelin who met us, I might not be able to keep my emotions under wraps. Might not be able to keep myself from doing something reckless, as Vann had been worried I would.
There was a time when I didn’t understand fanaticism. But I felt fanatical about exacting revenge on Yuelin. And terrifyingly, I understood that made us not so different.
We kept on moving. Then we were at the door. I readied my MP5 with my right arm. Made sure my Walther and the hard-drive were both still in my pocket. Turned to Chen.
And then I realized I didn’t know what to say. So I kept it simple.
‘I’m sorry it had to come to this. Thank you for your sacrifice.’
He gave a curt nod.
I positioned myself behind Chen, pushed open the door, and we both stepped out into the thick, apocalyptic rainfall.
* * *
The rain was so heavy that it came as a physical shock to the system. So heavy that, though I could see the outline of the halogens ahead, I couldn’t make out the deckhouse entrance.
We took a few steps forwards. I shouted:
‘We’re here. We have the hard-drive.’
There was a momentary silence. Then a voice. Yuelin’s.
‘Come nearer. So I can see you.’
Her voice sounded exhausted and pained. Yet it still had that underlying quality that was so unnerving. A fanatical hardness.
We kept on moving. Ten yards later, she was in plain view.
She’d taken maybe five steps from the entrance of the deckhouse. Sure enough, in her left hand was a walkie-talkie. And in her right, not a submachine gun, but a Walther. But that wasn’t surprising: the walkie-talkie was plenty threat enough.
But it was her face – blurred by the onslaught of rain, and made all the more severe by her tight ponytail – that was truly terrifying. It spoke of religious, overwhelming, searing hatred. And as I stood there, I knew that I was wearing a similar expression.
This was the woman who’d murdered kids in cold blood. The woman whose machinations had led to the death of Lawrence Kelden, Scott Brendan – perhaps even Ellen.
But I understood that my lust for her blood was matched by hers. This wasn’t a psychopath. This was a woman who felt every death I’d inflicted on her men as though it constituted the death of a sibling. And so, for a long moment, we just stood there, studying the object of our most profound hatred.
Finally, Yuelin broke the silence:
‘What happened to my man? The one guarding Chen?’
‘Dead.’
I smiled inwardly to see her flinch. I wanted her to suffer.
‘The two men I sent after you?’
‘Both dead.’
She set her jaw, and slowly shook her head. ‘The damage you’ve done to my project, and to a brotherhood of pure-blooded Chinese fighting for their homeland, is unparalleled. You have pure blood on your hands.’
‘Justice for a dead father isn’t found in murdering innocent youngsters who see the world differently to you, and—’
Yuelin cut me off with a scream: ‘YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND, GUIZI.’
I continued studying her. She was ill. Her mind warped by an ideology that made her sincerely believe that what she’d done – what she was doing – was right. But knowing this did nothing to assuage my wrath.
The rain beat down on the deck with an almost hypnotic intensity. The boat heaved back and forth.
‘Where’s the hard-drive?’ she said, after a considerable pause.
‘In my pocket.’ I slowly reached in and pulled it out, my fingers slick with rain.
‘Put it on the floor, kick it over carefully.’
I glanced at her walkie-talkie, then the deckhouse. I put the hard-drive on the ground and kicked it.
She picked it up, and put it in her pocket.
‘Now, send over Chen.’
‘Okay. But he’ll walk over to you in a semi-circle, so I can keep my weapon on you at all times. Remember, even if you take a head-shot at me, you’ll wind up dead – my post-death spasms will work the trigger.’
Yuelin nodded.
‘Okay, Chen,’ I said in his ear. ‘Make a semi-circle, moving off to our left.’
He took a deep breath then started moving.
Yuelin and I continued staring at each other as he made his slow progress. I fantasized about pinning her down, and smashing her head against the deck, until the water ran red with her blood.
My desire to see her suffer terrified me. But I knew, ultimately, I wasn’t going to put a bullet in her. As much as it pained me, I knew I’d let her walk to save the crew.
A few moments later, Chen arrived at Yuelin’s side. She grabbed him so that he was also facing me, and her left hand which was still clutching her walkie-talkie, was in front of him. She pushed the gun to his temple. She wasn’t going to kill him. She was simply making clear that if I tried to shoot her in the head, Chen would die, too.
We stood looking at each other for another long moment.
‘Will you leave the crew alone?’ I said, at last.
She looked at the sky, then back at me. ‘I’ve no motive to hurt this crew. I only killed them because you gave me no choice.’
Silence.
I wanted to ask about Ellen. But, on the off chance she was still hidden, I held my tongue. Yet the prospect of her surviving, even if she had managed to remain undiscovered, was dim.
‘So what’s the plan?’ I said instead. ‘You retreat inside, pin the carnage on me?’
‘I’d like nothing better than to put a bullet in your head,’ she said bitterly. ‘But since I can’t without killing myself, I’ll use my connections to make sure you’re taken in, and will never see light of day again. That’ll be revenge enough.’
I sighed. I didn’t doubt her claim. She could alert her contact in the LAPD; and then she could take the ship back to the port, and make sure I was brought in, that the deaths were put on me. And then she could concoct some fresh strategy for smuggling the hard-drive out of the country, while leaving me high and dry.
I was beaten. And while I’d saved the hostages, that was little consolation. Especially since I’d put them in danger in the first place, and six had already died.
There was nothing I could do but retreat inside and await my fate.
‘If you attempt any kind of strategy, the hostages die,’ said Yuelin.
I nodded bleakly. Yuelin started edging backwards.
All over. Done for. Finito. I felt empty. I’d let down Scott, Ellen, the kids at the Consulate, the folk who’d die once the hard-drive eventually got to China…
‘March, cocksucker. Nice and slow, or I’ll shoot your fucking head off.’
My heart leapt. That was Ellen’s voice. And suddenly, out of the haze behind Yuelin – the haze concealing the deck house’s entrance – came a new figure: a skinny Chinese man, unarmed, fear-stricken. Behind him, Ellen, as cool as ice, her Walther to the back of his head.
Almost in the same moment, Yuelin grasped Chen more tightly, and backed five steps away from them so that we were standing in a loose triangle: I was maybe ten yards away from both, and Yuelin was maybe seven yards away from Ellen and her hostage.
Yuelin’s eyes were wide with shock, and she ground her muzzle so hard into Chen’s temple that he winced and groaned.
I immediately understood. Yuelin had had no idea Ellen had been hiding in the deckhouse, and somehow, by some miracle, she’d managed to sneak up on Yuelin’s man and disarm him. But it didn’t matter how she’d done it. It mattered that she had.
With a giddy surge of hope I realized this had completely changed the game. Yuelin had lost her most important leverage – the lives of the hostages. All she had now was Chen. And not only that, but we’d gained leverage. The life of her accomplice.
But though the tide had changed, Chen’s life was still on the line, and that was not something I wanted to lose. And that meant we were now in a Mexican standoff. Both had leverage. Both had something to lose.
In one fluid motion, I slung the MP5 aside, withdrew my Walther, and aimed it at Yuelin’s head. Now that Yuelin had Chen in her arms, the Walther was more appropriate: I didn’t want to shower them with bullets.
Yuelin eyed Ellen with a mad hatred. Ellen gave as good as she got.
‘Here’s the deal,’ announced Ellen over the rain. ‘You let Chen go, otherwise your friend here gets a taste of his own medicine.’
‘Bullshit,’ snapped Yuelin. ‘If I let Chen go, you’ll slaughter us both.’
Nobody spoke for a long moment. Then suddenly Yuelin turned to me, and shouted at me – manically, challengingly, derisively:
‘Go on, shoot me. Go on. Kill us both and be done with it, you coward.’
I continued aiming at Yuelin’s head, but made no move.
‘I thought not,’ she said softly, her words barely audible over the rain.
Again, we fell into silence. At last, Ellen said calmly:
‘Enough. In ten seconds, I’ll execute your man. Simple as that.’
‘Then I’ll kill Chen,’ snapped Yuelin.
‘So be it,’ said Ellen.
I looked at Ellen, but she didn’t look back at me: she just continued staring at Yuelin. Then, slowly but surely, she started counting.
Yuelin’s face contorted hideously. It was hard to tell, but I reckoned she was on the brink of tears.
When Ellen got to seven, Yuelin cut her off.
‘You can shoot him, but I won’t kill Chen. I’m leaving here with the hard-drive. I’ve come too far too let you destroy everything. So, you can kill him.’
Her tone was completely changed from when she’d challenged me to kill her. Then, it’d been mocking, defiant. Now, it was pained and sincere.
‘Please, Yuelin,’ gasped her accomplice.
‘I’m sorry, Jantzen,’ said Yuelin. ‘I’m so, so sorry. But I need you to make this sacrifice – for our cause. I love you Jantzen, you know that.’
‘No, please, Yuelin, please, don’t do this.’ Jantzen sounded distressed – like he was very near his breaking point.
‘I’m so sorry, Jantzen.’
Ellen continued her countdown. ‘Six – five –’
‘Please Yuelin,’ Jantzen screamed. This time, he wasn’t asking. He was begging her not to throw him to the wolves. It was oddly gut-wrenching.
Yuelin just shook her head, her expression distressed yet decisive.
‘– four – three –’
Suddenly – as Ellen said three – something in Jantzen broke. And the next instant, he was charging at Yuelin at a dead sprint. Charging at her with a look of murderous, inconsolable, devastating rage. Ellen didn’t hit the trigger: she let him run.
Yuelin’s eyes widened as he approached. She had to make a snap-judgment. A half-second later, as he was nearly upon her, she did: she moved her gun off Chen’s temple, aimed it at Jantzen’s head, and hit her trigger.
In the same moment – knowing this was my chance, maybe my only chance – I made my own snap-judgment, and worked my own trigger.
Jantzen was knocked clean off his feet by the bullet, which splattered his brains all over. My bullet, however, didn’t hit Yuelin’s head. It clipped Chen’s shoulder, and seemed to skim Yuelin’s neck.
And scarcely had I processed this when Yuelin dropped Chen, turned and, before I could take another shot, disappeared at a sprint, into the thick rain.
Immediately, I started chasing. And I knew where she was heading: for the escape boat on the opposite side of the deckhouse at the back of the ship. The little orange submarine-like pod that, if she could get to it first, and shut the door, she could use to eject herself into the water – they’re designed to freefall the sixty feet or so from the deck – and then she’d be able to make her way back to shore.
But I couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let her slip through my fingers. I sprinted over the slick surface, guided by the intermittent halogen lights; sprinted as fast as I humanly could without losing my footing. Before I knew it, I was on the opposite side of the deckhouse. And though I couldn’t see Yuelin ahead, nor hear her footfall over the rain, the halogen lights directed me to the path that led to the back of the ship. The path overshadowed on either side by to
wering containers.
And as I dashed, I allowed my anger to consume every inch of me; allowed it to completely take over. And though I knew it was foolish – reckless, even – to give it such sway, I was too far gone to rein it in. I was like a wild animal, hunting its prey.
Five seconds later, both the escape boat and Yuelin came into view: Yuelin maybe ten feet from me, on her knees, with her hands on the escape boat’s entrance hatch. She turned, raised her gun, let loose a bullet, and nothing but blind luck saw it fizz past my head.
As it did so, I knew I’d just cheated death; that losing my cool had almost cost me the ultimate price. But I’d gotten away with it, and now I was going capitalize.
Yet, as I raised my gun to return fire, I knew I was approaching too fast to have any hope of making the shot and that, as a result, this was going to end in hand to hand combat.
I leapt at Yuelin, and my shoulder hit her chest, and we tumbled into the boat-cum-pod. Tumbled down the small, two foot wide central reservation, lined on either side by fifteen small plastic seats, both of our limbs colliding with the seats as we rolled to the front. And, more due to luck than skill, I landed on top of Yuelin in the full mount position: Yuelin on her back; me leaning over her, my back to the front of the escape pod.
But barely had I got my bearings than Yuelin lashed out with brutal efficiency. She smashed her right hand into the left-hand side of my neck with a chopping motion, and I instantly felt my throat close up, and she followed it up with an identical motion with her left hand into the right-hand side of my neck, exactly where the dog had bitten me. The pain was blinding. Next thing I knew, her left foot smashed my jaw, and I toppled back.
Two quick thoughts shot through my mind as I fell. She was a ferocious fighter. And I’d no goddamn clue where either of our guns were.
When I hit the deck, and hit the back of my head against the front of the pod, I registered through the cloudiness induced by the blow that I was lying in a pool of water, maybe two inches deep. The next instant, I understood. The rain was pouring through the entrance, and gathering at the nose.
Yuelin appeared over me, looking like some specter from hell – now she was in the full mount position – and she instantly rained down on me with two more brutal chops to either side of my neck. She then spat on my face, and reached down with an open palm and, as she did, I understood what she wanted to do.
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