by Kalia Lewis
Miriam dragged the pile of rope over.
Katie couldn't tie a knot for toffee. "How good are you at tying a knot with a rope?"
Miriam grinned up at her. "Well, Tariq took me out on many boat trips."
Katie frowned. "So, does that mean you're good, not so good, never done it before, which one?"
"It means I can tie a constrictor knot."
The man groaned.
"I guess that means you're good then."
Miriam beamed. "Hell, yeah!" she smirked.
Katie wanted to laugh, but the ludicrousness of their situation quickly sobered her. Miriam though, was proving herself to be extremely resourceful.
While Miriam was securing the man's wrists and ankles he spoke in extremely heavy English. "You will not get away with this. The Captain will make you suffer, very slowly."
"Oh, you mean Cecil?"
The man nodded and kept his gaze to the floor.
"I'm afraid Cecil is out for the count after his meeting with the iron arm of Bruce Lee." Katie spoke with a cool confidence. Inside, she was anything but calm. After meeting Cecil, a further session of being tortured by him was not exactly on her 'to do' list. Once the man was secure and lying on his side, she went back to the door, locked it and looked down the stairwell. Everything was clear.
The man spoke again. "You don't have much time. Two men will be back from their break soon."
"Where's the phone?" she demanded.
He nodded his head to the other side of the room. On the wall was the phone. Picking it up, she called to Miriam, "Come and dial Tariq's mobile number."
It went to answer machine.
Damn!
"What's his office number?"
Miriam took out her phone from her tunic pocket and switched it on. A little beeping chirped into the air. "I just need to type in my password," she said sweetly. This was immediately followed by an audible message of 'Hello Miriam'. The cheery greeting rang out around the room as a slow agonising wait ensued for her address book to fully boot up.
Katie tapped her foot restlessly. "You just couldn't make it up," she mumbled to herself.
"We're in," grinned Miriam as she spoke the number out loud.
Katie dialled it on the ship's phone. It was picked up on the first ring.
"Malik."
Katie almost wanted to cry. "Malik, its Katie, where's Tariq?"
A huge sigh of relief came down the phone. "Praise be to Allah, it's you. I've been waiting by the office phone and Selina is by the home phone. Look, he's on his way. Here's his ship's satellite number." Malik reeled off a number and Katie picked up the pen next to the phone and scribbled it down on her hand.
"Is that father?" Miriam asked.
Katie nodded.
Miriam called over Katie's shoulder. "Hi Papa, we're on a ship!"
Katie could hear a little choke on the other end.
"Miriam is with you?"
"Yes," Katie whispered back, grasping the enormity of their situation and that they obviously didn't know Miriam was here too.
Malik's voice broke. "Phone Tariq now! He's on his way."
Katie dialled the number. "Miriam, go and check the door." On the third ring, she heard his deep warm tone and her knees nearly buckled. "Tariq," she whispered.
A silence so long and wide spread out before her, yet in time it was possibly only long enough for him to take a breath.
"Katie?" To hear him say her name caused a rumble of emotion to pass through her. She'd only known him five days, yet it felt like they'd been together forever. The second she'd seen him something had stirred deeply within her, like an invisible and unbreakable bond that moved through time, touching and caressing every part of her. She knew she'd been waiting for him all of her life. "I need you," she breathed.
A puff of air was exhaled down the phone. "Little moheet, I'm coming to get you."
She wanted to weep. What she would give to turn back time to the last moment when she was in his arms in their suite. Knowing how little time they had, she would've begged him not to leave her. Shakily, she spoke. "There's not much time. The Captain's a Somali pirate and a mean son-of-a-bitch! Amira led me here on the pretence that you were waiting for me."
"I know all about Amira. Where are you on the ship?"
"In the bridge room."
"Okay, that's good news. I want you to look along the front row of the main controls. There will be three screens next to each other with a set of dials in front."
Katie scanned the room. She located the three screens and pulled on the phone extension to move to where the man had been sitting earlier. "Yes, I have them in sight."
Tariq sighed in relief down the phone. "One of them on the left will be showing a set of coordinates for the longitude and latitude. Read them out to me."
Locating it, she read them out.
"Gotcha!" he replied in excitement. "I now have you pinned. Someone had disarmed the tracker and we took the chance of you travelling towards Somalia. We're at double knots to the ship."
She heard him pause and breath heavily down the phone.
"I'm coming baby, hold on."
He said those words in such a pain-filled voice she almost sunk to her knees.
"Erm...Katie," Miriam called from the door. "Some men are coming up the stairs."
"Was that Miriam's voice?" Tariq bellowed down the phone.
"Yes, but I can't explain it now. Men are coming." Panic was beginning to rise inside of her.
Tariq cursed heavily. "Listen, get out of there and go hide. We'll be there within the hour."
"Tariq...I..." There was so much that she wanted to say. If only they'd met under different circumstances. Perhaps equally, they could have come together without her being forced into his world of treacherous conditions. "I just wish we could start again from the beginning and get to know each other without all of this intruding."
Tariq's voice was soft and low. "It's going to be okay baby. I promise you a brand new start once I have you in my arms again."
A sob broke from her throat.
"Now go!" he commanded.
Putting down the phone on Tariq was the hardest thing she'd ever had to do.
"Hey lady," the man on the floor called to her. "You have to knock me out."
"What?" she replied. Talking to Tariq had taken her into another world and now she felt a little dazed and removed from reality.
He nodded to a toolbox under the bench. "If I'm not unconscious when they come through that door, they'll shoot me?"
"You want me to make you unconscious?" She'd never had that request before. "Hmmm, okay, I think I can, but is there another exit?" They couldn't go back down the stairs.
"Yes, at the end of the room is another door that leads to the fire exit outside."
"They're coming," piped up Miriam, as she picked up the toolbox and hit the man on the side of his head, knocking him flat out.
"Miriam!" exclaimed Katie. "What on earth...?"
"Tariq taught me the exact point to make someone unconscious," she pouted. "He did ask nicely and we are saving his life?"
"Well, when you put it like that." The men were now looking at them through the glass and furiously trying the handle. "Come on!" Katie grabbed Miriam's hand and they ran for the fire escape.
Bursting through the door, they clattered down the metal steps. The men below looked up at the two women. One began to point and shout. Katie threw open the door on the next floor and pulled Miriam in behind her and locked the door. Running along the corridor to the other side, she looked up the stairs. The men had broken through the bridge door above them and she could hear them pulling at the fire door. "Quick!" she whispered, as they quietly made their way down the steps into the bowels of the ship. As they got lower, orange bulbs gave it an eerie glow. At the bottom of the passageway, it split off into two corridors.
"This way is the store." Miriam pointed to a sign on the wall.
Katie was breathing hard. "We have to hide w
ell. Tariq will be here in about an hour." As they were running down the corridor, they saw that once again it split into two. Taking the left turn, they ran the short distance to another door. Behind them she could hear footsteps down the stairwell in the distance. There was no window in this door. Putting her ear to it, Katie couldn't hear any sounds behind it. Inching it open very slowly, they both crept through the door and onto a short metal bridge. Below them, large storage containers were packed into the hold and above them pipes ran right across the ceiling. At the end of the bridge was another door.
Katie's palms were now so sweaty that the gun she was holding out in front of them was in danger of slipping. Wiping each hand down her jeans in turn, she once again listened at the door.
Nothing.
Warning Miriam to be silent with her finger to her lips and using the same slow and deliberate movements, she opened the door. It led into a room with large containers on either side, but at the end of a long aisle directly in front of them, sat an African pirate with his back to them.
Crap! What now!
Someone coughed, so they took silent steps down the aisle past a few containers before hiding in-between two of them. They both peered around the corner at the pirate. In front of him sat a row of about two dozen men. They were all tied and gagged. Some of them looked wounded. Sickness engulfed her and the gun shook in her hand. These were possibly Tariq's men and the pirate overseeing them had a gun pointed at them.
Katie caught Miriam's eye. If only they'd brought the iron. Miriam smiled and beckoned Katie to follow her. She wondered what plan was formulating in that brain of hers.
Once in the aisle again, Miriam reached out to take the gun from Katie's hand. Katie couldn't believe that she wanted the gun, so she mouthed 'no' to her and held her arm straight up out of reach. Miriam swung on her arm to pull it down and they began a tug-of-war dance, all behind the back of the pirate. Katie was shaking her head furiously and Miriam was giving her a look that said, 'I know what I'm doing.' A couple of the captives were now watching them in disbelief. Finally, Katie gave in and handed Miriam the gun. If the pirate turned around and caught them, they'd both be dead.
Katie's heart was in her mouth as she watched Miriam sneak up behind the pirate and hit him hard on the side of the head. Before he even had time to register what had gone on, he was out for the count.
"Miriam," Katie hissed, as she took the gun off her and picked the other one up from the floor. "You could've gotten yourself killed and then what would I have told Tariq!"
Miriam tutted into the air and turned to the men. "Who are these people?"
Both of them were standing over the group. "Are you Tariq's men?" Katie asked them in fluent Arabic. They all nodded together and a few gestured with their heads to one man in particular. He was of a stocky, muscular build with jet black hair and a beard. "I think he must be the Captain," she murmured to Miriam. "We'll pull out his gag and let him speak, but first I need some pictures."
Miriam pulled a face. "You're going to take pictures again?"
"Yes, for Tariq, to prove that his men have been tied up." She took her camera out of her bag and began snapping at the sorry state of the men. She kept apologising and explaining herself in Arabic, and they seemed to understand. Finally, happy with the shots, she put away the camera and knelt in front of their Captain.
"Merciful Allah," he gasped, as Katie pulled off his gag.
Miriam had found a large bottle of water on the floor where the pirate had been sitting and she handed it to Katie, who helped the man to take a drink.
"What happened here?" Katie asked in Arabic.
"We were ambushed on our way to Socotra. I think we've been down here for a few days now."
Katie was a little weary. Would letting these men go bring them into another set of dangers? After all, they were sailors and with two women alone on board? She shivered and decided to test him out. "Tariq is on his way."
The man's eyes filled up. "I knew he wouldn't let us down."
Katie nodded and his answer confirmed her decision. "What's your name?"
"I am Captain Azab," he answered proudly.
There was something very wholesome about the man. "I'm going to untie you and your men. I think it's time to take back this ship, don't you?"
Azab smiled, revealing a missing front tooth and the men around him nodded in obvious agreement. Once Azab was free, it didn't take long for the rest of his men to help each other with their binds. They also tied up the pirate and gagged him.
Katie spoke directly to Azab. "Okay, from what Miriam and I have gathered, there's Captain Cecil," whose name received a snort of disgust around the room, "then his guard, three men in the bridge and about half a dozen outside. There are probably more in the engine room, but other than that I'm not sure there's anyone else."
Azab nodded. "When they took the ship there were about thirty men. They had guns and so we were easily overpowered."
Katie handed the pirate's gun to Azab. "Here, take this. Now, we need a plan."
Azab went quiet for a moment while they all waited expectantly. "We are all trained in every aspect of the ship, so the best thing to do is take the engine room first and position some of the more injured men in there and move up each floor in turn, securing it along the way. That way, when we take the bridge, we can signal for the engine to be cut. We really don't want to be getting too far into Somali waters."
Katie was pleased with the plan. It showed that he knew what he was doing. "I like your thinking Azab. If we can take those in the building and secure all the doors, we can stall the men from getting inside until Tariq gets here."
Azab cocked his head in interest at her perception. "I know who she is," he said pointing his finger at Miriam, "But who exactly are you?"
Miriam stifled a laugh. "She is Tariq's wife and my new sister."
A gasp spread around the room. "Allah, have mercy on us," said Azab, as he threw his hands up in the air. "You are Sheikha el-Tayeb and you want to go upstairs, catch pirates and fight them?"
Katie stood with her hands on her hips. "What? You want me to wait here and miss watching those guys have their butts kicked? I don't think so!"
Azab smiled. "I can see why Tariq married you, but he will cut my throat if anything happens to you."
Katie tapped her foot in temper. "Let's put this into perspective, shall we? Firstly, we put out Cecil's lights with the iron arm of Bruce Lee over there," she thumbed to Miriam. "Then we took down the bridge with a constrictor knot and a toolbox chop, just to save a man's life of course, while making an SOS call to Tariq. Finally, we escaped capture and saved about two dozen butts in the bowels of the ship with a mighty gun chop and you don't want us to come with you?"
Azab threw back his head and laughed. "Okay, you win," he spluttered. "But, you both stay close to me, okay, and I will need the other gun." He held out his hand for Katie's handgun.
Katie shook her head. "This one's mine."
Azab wiggled his fingers at her and his right eyebrow rose. "I can protect you now, but my men will need the extra weapon until we can secure more."
Sighing, she handed it over. It was probably for the best, as she'd yet to take down a clay-pigeon, let alone a grown man.
Azab turned to his men. "Right, collect up the ropes and gags that bound you, we're going to need them."
"Hey, who is this Bruce Lee that you keep talking about?" Miriam queried.
"He's a Kung Fu expert and when we get out of here, I promise you, we'll watch all his movies," Katie replied, as they collected the supplies and made their way back out of the same door they'd come through.
Chapter Thirteen
Katie was pretty impressed. These guys knew exactly what they were doing. Each time they knocked out one of Cecil's men, they bound and gagged him and secured the area. They were now making their way towards the bridge, but Katie had a growing problem, she desperately needed a pee. Tapping Azab on the shoulder, she whispered, "I need to go."
>
He half turned. "Go where?"
"No, I need to go, as in, go to the little ladies room."
She could see the tips of his ears colouring red. "Ahhh, we don't have any ladies' rooms I'm afraid, just the regular men's restrooms."
"At this point, even a bucket would do," she rasped, trying not to bring attention to herself.
Azab gestured to a big fella behind Miriam. "It's on the next floor up, but my man will take you. Whatever you do, don't get into any trouble."
Azab signalled to the man and murmured, "Take her to the men's room on the third floor and then meet me at the bridge."
The man nodded and Katie trailed behind him, closely followed by Miriam.
Once in the restroom, Katie sighed in bliss as she relieved herself in the cubicle. Afterwards, she washed her hands and splashed her face with cool water, smiling at Miriam in the mirror as she copied her. "Miriam, have I told you lately how amazing you are?"
Miriam blushed. "You're not just saying that to be kind are you?"
Katie scoffed. "After all that you've done to help me, why would I say it out of kindness?"
"Well y'know, because of my mental problem?" Miriam hung her head.
Katie was shocked. She remembered Tariq telling her about Miriam's slight brain damage at birth, but this woman had acted with more intelligence than anyone she knew. Turning towards her, she gave Miriam a great big hug. "You're the bravest, most intelligent woman that I know and I'm so proud of you."
Miriam hugged her back and excitedly spoke in her ear, "I drove Tariq's car to the port and it was fun. Do you think he'll let me learn how to ride a motorbike now?"
Katie pulled back and laughed. "I think Tariq will give you the moon and the stars once this is over, although your mother and father may not be as easy to calm down."
Miriam worriedly bit her lip. "I didn't tell anyone that I was going to follow you and Amira. They're going to be real mad."
Katie looked pensively at the innocence shining in her face. "Yes, mad, relieved, thankful, all thrown in with disbelief, but we'll face them together. I'm just so glad that you followed us."
Miriam grinned. "You are?"