Yuto moved out of his way to allow him a restful position and then walked over and stood behind Frank as he huddled down with his ear on the door. Irving was soon asleep. His soft breathing then led to a whistling snore that was low-pitched, and all the passengers smiled, and Soo Mi giggled as he continued snoring.
It had been at least an hour since Frank had taken over the listening at the door. He hadn’t heard any sounds of footsteps on the deck above. The pirates must be sleeping, and a sense of ease came over him. After several more hours, Irving woke with a start, eyes wide open, looking as though he felt fear until he recognized everyone in the cabin being somber but not excited.
“Shit, I’ve been asleep how long?” he asked.
“Don’t know, three, maybe four hours,” said Helen.
“Okay, I’ll take over, Frank.”
Frank thought maybe he should give Irving a bit more time to rest, but Irving moved so quickly to replace him, Frank felt obliged to stand up and get out of his way.
“Thanks,” said Irving.
“Yeah, you okay?” Frank asked.
“Yeah,” Irving remarked.
The hours again passed without Frank hearing much at all. The engines of the boat continued to hum along with no evidence of slowing. The sea was relatively calm, the sun shone brightly now, and the boat was not rocking side to side as it would if the waves were high.
“Why no hear anybody up there?” asked Soo Mi as she pointed to the ceiling.
“I get the feeling they are preparing for the transfer. I’m guessing the boss is giving them their orders, being sure they’re on the right course. I suspect the transfer has to be at night, you know, under darkness for fear of being seen,” Irving said. “Frank, keep an eye out for sundown through that portal.”
“Yeah, okay,” Frank answered.
~~ ~~ ~~
It was now quite evident that they were all getting nervous about their plan, the execution of it, and the outcome of their lives if they screwed up. Irving said he knew it and went over the plan again, clearly trying to give them a feeling of strength and confidence. He discussed it with each of them, sat by their sides, and talked about the plan and what they would do to be successful.
Later, Irving suddenly rose from his crouching position and kneeled on one knee, waving his hand to the others. By now, they all knew this meant something’s up and to be quiet. He then raised his hand with only his index finger showing.
Frank sighed with relief.
One goon! Thank God.
The crew stood still, awaiting any change in Irving’s finger. His arm was still in the air when the middle finger went up.
Shit, two goons!
Irving stood with his ear still placed on the door. He moved his ear around several times, seemingly trying to find the best area to hear. He stopped and listened again. It was then that his middle finger flexed down, leaving only the index finger. Frank sensed the relief through the silence in the cabin.
Then Irving quickly pointed to the door with his index finger, alternating between pointing to the ceiling and pointing to the door as he fully stood up into a combative position.
“This is it, guys,” Frank whispered.
The sound of a key entering the lock and turning was followed by the door slowly opening. Irving had been correct. There was only one pirate standing there with his AK-47 at the ready but relaxed, obviously expecting to find all of the captives still tied. The look on his face was that of not only surprise but horrible fear as Irving snatched the AK upright with his left hand, pulled him toward him into the doorway, and grabbed his shirt with his right hand. Irving let go of the rifle then jammed the base of his left palm into the base of the pirate’s nose. Irving retracted his hand and struck the man in the throat with the side of his right hand. The man lunged for his throat. Irving spun the man around and positioned his hands on his head and neck, hyperextended his head, and twisted. The man dropped to the cabin floor. Irving quickly dragged his body into the room toward Yuto and Frank and closed the door.
Frank and Yuto took hold of the man, pinning him down. There were no muscular movements in response to their actions. Frank released his hold, as did Yuto. The man’s chest remained motionless. Irving had killed him in very quick, adroit maneuvers just as he’d said he would. Irving dropped to the floor, removed the rifle from around his neck, and relieved the man of his pistol, handing it to Frank. Frank pulled the slide back a bit to check to see if there was a bullet in the chamber. There wasn’t. He chucked the slide, loading a shell, then dropped the magazine to examine the number of shells in it. Irving got up and strode to the door to listen. Yuto knelt down and took out the two magazines from the man’s belt and handed them to Frank as Yuto gestured for him to put them in his pockets.
“What next?” Yuto asked.
“Well, we have two options. Stay here and wait for the next goon to come and do the same thing or go up and face whatever comes our way,” Irving replied.
“If we go up, there’s no telling where they are or how we will be positioned to fight them. I vote to wait until the other comes down. We figured the boss was running the boat and Hector was his backup, leaving only one guy to come, right?” Frank said, looking to Irving for affirmation.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Irving.
Again he crouched with his ear on the door, and they waited. Soo Mi shoved the man under the bunk and attempted to cover the opening under the bed with a blanket, but before doing so, she went through his pockets, keeping his switchblade knife and flashlight as well as some money. Helen looked surprised at her ingenuity and gave her a very congratulatory smile as she joined her in pushing the body well under the bunk.
They all then assumed their original spots for the next ambush.
Chapter Thirty-Three
A few minutes ticked off, and the passengers waited anxiously for the next confrontation, but no one came to the door. Frank wondered why. The boat was still churning away in the mildly choppy waters with no sign of slowing, so why did this goon come down if he was not going to get them ready for transfer?
“Carlos? ¿Qué estás haciendo allí abajo (What are you doing down there)? Hacer el amor con las mujeres (Making love with women)?”
Irving jumped up and, in a low but forceful voice, said, “It’s time. They’re looking for him!”
“Carlos? ¿Que esta pasando (What’s going on)?”
“He wants to know what’s going on with Carlos. I’m going to tell him everything is okay, all right?” Frank asked Irving.
“Sure, we have time,” Irving responded.
“No hay problema aqui. Solo verificando a estos prisioneros y asegurándome de que estén bien amarrados para la transferencia,” Frank uttered in a low, gruff voice, letting the other guy know he was just checking the ties and making sure things were ready for transfer.
“Bueno (Good). Darse prisa (Hurry up). Estaremos allí pronto (We will be there soon),” replied the other pirate.
“Próximamente (Coming soon). Solo algunas cosas más (Just some more things),” said Frank and then he whispered, “He says we’re going to be there soon and to hurry up.”
“Okay, we need to do this now,” Irving said. “Tell the guy to come down and help. Uh, tell him one of the ties is tight and to get another one for him.”
“Oye ven aquí. Trae a otro cremalleras. Estos son muy apretados. Demasiado dolor. Mal color en las manos,” Frank said, telling the man the ties were too tight, giving pain, and cutting off the circulation.
“Bueno. Vengo,” the man shouted.
“He’s coming. Get ready!”
It’s just like déjà vu all over again—just like Yogi Berra once said.
Frank was just so impressed at the skill, the cunning, and the quickness that Irving possessed to repeat almost the exact maneuvers he had performed on the other goon. Grab, pull, break a nose, and chop the throat of his victim, and then twisting him around like a rag doll, and, with one smooth motion, break his neck.
It didn’t even look difficult, but Frank knew the strength needed to execute the actions Irving had displayed was incredible, necessitating a well-trained and rehearsed muscle memory.
Yuto took no time to pounce on the second man, checking to see if he was still breathing. Suddenly, he reached for some of the sheet strips on the bunk and shoved them down the goon’s throat. Soo Mi chimed in and pinched the guy’s nose and sat on his forehead. The man tried to move his hands but began shuddering all over as his oxygen was diminishing quickly. Finally, Yuto motioned that he was definitely dead. The body was then stowed under the opposite bunk from the other and the opening covered with a blanket. His AK was taken, this time by Yuto; Soo Mi took the pistol and magazines, and Helen retrieved the large magazines for the AK and handed them to Yuto. Frank reached behind himself and slid the AK strap off his shoulder, held it out toward Irving, and nodded as if to say, “Here, take this. You’ll need it.” Irving grasped it and slung the rifle over his shoulder and across his chest so he could easily bring it up into a solid firing stance.
“Okay, we’re halfway home here,” Irving said. “The other two are probably busy getting ready for the transfer, but they are soon going to find out those guys are gone. I think it’s time we start upstairs. I’ll go first. Frank, you follow, then Soo Mi. Soo Mi, you know how to shoot that thing?”
“Yes, I take lessons one time but remember this 1911, nine millameta. I know how take safety off.”
“When we start up, take the safety off.” Irving took her gun and placed his right index finger pointing straight along the slide of the pistol. “Be sure your finger is like this. Only put it on the trigger when you have to shoot. Frank, Yuto, right? Yuto, you’re after Soo Mi. Okay, Helen, you’re last. Do you want a pistol?”
“No. Never shot one and I don’t want to shoot you guys,” she replied.
“All right then. Ready, folks?”
Everyone nodded with nervous affirmation. Irving opened the door, peeked out, and started up the stairs carefully and deliberately, step by step, waiting on each step for any unexpected noise or motion.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Just short of the top step to the next deck, Irving felt and heard the engines slow a bit. He squinted into the distance against the setting sun and thought he could see a tiny bit of land on the horizon. He wasn’t sure, so he signaled his party to move down the steps until he could be certain they were nearing their destination or whether what he’d seen was an optical illusion. The boat then sped up and turned a little to the north and straightened out. Irving could tell that what he’d seen wasn’t land. He had to coordinate his ambush with the boat nearing land so he could get his bearings. He decided to halt his ascent and motioned for everyone to return to the cabin.
“Damn,” he said. “I thought I saw land when those engines slowed, but it wasn’t. I need to see land. I think we will see some lights now that it is nearing nighttime, so you all stay here. I’m going up to the top step to keep watch. If one of them comes my way, I’ll either take him out or get down here fast. Three knocks on the door means it’s me.”
They all quickly entered the cabin and closed the door. Irving positioned himself, hunched and peering over the top step, cautiously sticking his head out to see if he could find any signs of land.
And then waited.
~~ ~~ ~~
The sun was gone now, but no lights were visible. Irving figured it best to return to the cabin and wait there where he had reinforcements. He stepped back one step at a time, slowly, until reaching the floor in front of the cabin. With his back to the door, he rapped three times with his left hand. The door opened, and he slipped in.
“Someone count to six hundred. That will be close to ten minutes. I’ll go up every ten minutes until I see lights on land. When I do, we will all go up together,” he said.
“Do you know what the boss and Hector are doing?” asked Helen.
“No, but I’m guessing the boss has to be driving the boat. I have no idea what Hector is doing. It doesn’t make sense that they haven’t realized the other two haven’t come back up, either. That can only mean that they are near the transfer site and are concentrating on being in the exact area at the exact time. Hector could be looking for light, too. Lights on land are our only hope to do our thing. I figure they will not be near a well-lit area, but even small towns have some glow of light like a halo at night, and as soon as I see any sign of that, we have to go. When we do, we go to the bridge in the center console. I’m figuring Hector is outside and the boss is inside. We have two AKs and two pistols, and they have two AKs and two pistols. We’re even.”
~~ ~~ ~~
Irving was once again hunched over in the stairwell at the top of the steps, hugging the left side of the wall to avoid being seen from that side where the bridge was located. He strained to peek over the side of the boat for light anywhere. He had a feeling someone else was looking as well. He just had to see it first. Suddenly, he saw a blink of light, but it didn’t last long.
Was that a light?
As he elevated himself from his crouched position, he first checked his left side for motion. He stood up fully on the last step before the deck and scanned the lower aspect of the sky.
There it is again! Just a tiny blip. Is that really a light on shore?
He continued to stare and now saw several lights. He stood still to be sure these were lights from shore and not a boat. He figured a transfer boat would not have running lights at all. Any other boat would have them, but they would have some color to them to let other boats in the vicinity know of their position. He tensed up and tried to listen for any voices from the area of the bridge. He heard none.
They haven’t seen the lights!
He squatted for a few seconds, closed his eyes, then opened them and blinked multiple times. Arising from the upper step, he scanned the ocean and again saw the two lights he had seen before. They were, indeed, small but close to one another. Once more, he switched from his eyes to his ears, listening for the boss’ or Hector’s voice.
Now’s the time to do it!
He backed down the stairs until the bottom of the boat creaked. He knocked three times on the door. It opened. “Let’s go. Just like I prepped you guys, okay?”
Just as he was about to ascend the stairs, the boat sped up, knocking him over the right side of the stairwell and almost sending Frank down the stairs. Soo Mi held Frank up. The boat swerved to the left and increased speed quickly. It had to be at top speed at this time. From the right and behind them, the sound of automatic fire started. Irving held his hand flat up and back at the others. He slid on his knees to the right of the entrance to the stairwell and looked behind their boat. There was another boat coming up quickly with no lights, but it was outlined by the multiple bright explosions from rifle fire from what Irving knew to be more AK-47s.
Rival pirates?
“More pirates trying to commandeer this boat,” he said. “We can’t take the boss out without slowing down and being captured and possibly killed. We’ll have to wait to see the outcome.”
“Shit,” barked Yuto.
Soo Mi turned around in amazement. Hadn’t she ever heard him say that word before?
“Everyone, get ready for a rough ride right here!” Irving ordered.
Everyone grabbed the railings on each side and tried to keep an even balance as the race between the two boats and the automatic firing continued.
~~ ~~ ~~
The boss was clearly getting as much speed out of his boat as possible, and it was working to his advantage. The other boat was keeping pace but it was not catching up. The boss glanced at his fuel gauge and wasn’t happy with what he saw, for sure. He tried hailing Hector, who was trying to fire back at the pursuers. The boss was leaning out of the confines of the console bridge, one hand on the wheel and one hand banging on Hector’s back.
Hector turned around, and the boss shouted, “Ve a la ametralladora ahora. Daré la vuelta al bote y los enfrentar
é cuando estés listo.”
~~ ~~ ~~
Frank translated the words in his head: Go to the machine gun now. I’ll go around the boat and face them when you’re ready.
Frank reached up and tapped Irving on his back and relayed his translation to him. Irving became wide-eyed in amazement at the words ‘machine gun.’
Hector slung his AK over his shoulder and rushed forward toward the bow, an area none of the passengers ever saw or were allowed to go. He ripped off the canvas covering an armament, a Browning 191A4 thirty-caliber machine gun. He fed the belt of ammunition into the gun, pulled back on the firing mechanism, and loaded the first shell. This weapon was very prevalent in World War II and the Korean as well as Viet Nam War. What was good about it was the fact that it could be mounted almost anywhere, and here, the boss had it under wraps on the front of the boat as a precaution for just such an attack.
~~ ~~ ~~
“Tell everyone to keep down, get back in the cabin. This is gonna get crazy,” Irving shouted.
The boat veered to the left and continued doing so until it had rotated almost one hundred eighty degrees. They were all slammed against the right side of the stairwell. Helen landed on the bottom floor while Yuto tried with all his strength to steady both Soo Mi and himself. The boat seemed to stall for a second and then went into high gear. Irving completely saw the entire turn and the other boat bearing down on the bow. He couldn’t understand the boss’ motives for such a stunt until he heard the enormous burst of automatic fire from the front of the vessel. The boat almost lit up with the explosions of the thirty-caliber shells, a sound he knew very well.
The Mystery of Flight 2222 Page 14