by Dale Mayer
Her tone had him backing up a step.
“Sometimes you have to rescue yourself.” She turned her back on Dr. Walker and studied the hatch again. Her fighting spirit was truly aroused at this point. “There has to be some way to unscrew or demobilize the hinges.”
“If you mean, trying to open it, I’ve searched for a screwdriver,” Jasper said, studying the stairs. “But I haven’t found anything. These are really heavy duty welds in here.”
She groaned. “Of course. It’s a great seaworthy old boat. Probably been in service for decades. I hate to ruin her myself, but I don’t plan on letting that storm drown us. Or having some assholes open the door suddenly and come in with machine guns and take us out.”
“We don’t have a whole lot of other choices,” Jasper said. “Again there’s a limit to what we can do.”
Frustrated and angry, she threw herself onto the chair and stretched out. “In that case, I’ll have a nap,” she said angrily. And of course, what that really meant was, Don’t talk to me unless you have some plan to get us out of here.
*
Vince and Johan could see the storm brewing up ahead. Johan studied it and smiled. “That one’ll be a doozy.”
“Yeah,” Vince said, standing at his side. “I don’t have much in the way of coordinates for the last time the research crew was seen. But we have their ship—which nobody has seen or reported to have heard from in almost two days now—about fourteen nautical miles off the Galápagos Islands. They were apparently moored out to sea where they were doing their research work. Far enough away for any storm to batter them, but apparently it was a prime distance for the type of work they were doing.”
“Whatever the hell that means,” Johan said with a smirk. “Probably was just a nice spot.”
“Agreed,” Vince said with a laugh. “But that gives us a general direction. Unless the pirates have taken them and moved them away. Or moved them off their research boat onto another one, but I don’t know why they would do that.”
“Because the research vessel is probably worth a lot of money,” Johan said. “If you think about it, there’s a lot of money in the electronics alone.”
“True enough,” Vince said, tapping the paper map in front of him. “From the looks of it, we’re almost a full day out.”
“We’re going at a pretty good clip,” he said, “but we’re burning through a lot of gas. I’m hoping, when we get there, somebody has spare fuel for us.”
“But we have two tanks with us, correct?” Vince turned to look back on the decks. Two big tanks of fuel sat on the flat main deck area, one on either side of the sailboat, plus two rowboats, one on either side. Down below was one lab, which was old and no longer in use, and the kitchen and bunks for the staff and crew.
“Yes. We should check to make sure both really are full.”
“I’ll do that,” Vince said.
He made his way down the four steps to the main deck and checked on the fuel tanks. There was a small ladder on the side. He climbed up, opened the tank nozzle at the top and tried to peer in. When that didn’t work, he pulled up his flashlight on his phone and used that to help him see the reflection inside. Sure enough, it was almost full. Buoyed by that thought, he closed the opening and made his way to the second one. It was full too. Satisfied, he made his way in the high winds back up to the pilot station. “Yes, both are full,” he said.
“Okay. We’ll take shifts. So, if I’m driving now, you’ve got meal prep duty. Then we’ll switch out and start four-hour sleeping rounds.”
“Good enough,” Vince said and headed to the kitchen, looking to see what they had that he could pull together. There was a lot of fresh food but not much meat. He managed to make a thick stew within forty minutes.
As he cleaned up, waiting for the meal to finish cooking, he thought he heard the engine churning in a different tone. Frowning, turning off the heat under the food, making sure the pot was secure in case the weather picked up, he made his way back upstairs. There he crawled up the stairs to the pilot station and asked, “What’s that I’m hearing?”
“I had to tone her down,” Johan said, pointing at the storm coming toward them. “That’s looking pretty nasty. I’m trying to avoid it as much as I can. But we need to hit as close to a straight line to our target as we can make it.”
“Correct,” Vince said, studying the storm. “We hardly have gear for that kind of weather.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Johan said. “This boat has handled that and much worse. We need to make sure we’re able-bodied when we arrive because there’s just two of us, and there’s no way to know how many pirates or poachers that we’ll be up against.” He glanced at Vince. “Did you get any food together?”
Vince nodded. “I’ve got a hot stew down there.”
“Good enough,” Johan said. “I’ll set this on autopilot. Let’s go eat.”
The two men made their way down below. Vince realized he had barely enough clothing for this adventure. When he got a minute, he’d check the cupboards in the bunk room, see if there was any spare gear. If that storm hit, even though they were in warm equator climates, it would be cold, and hypothermia would set in fast.
They both downed two big bowls of stew with some big chunks of bread. After he cleaned up, Vince asked, “Are you okay to keep piloting the boat? Or you want me to relieve you now?”
Johan looked at his watch. “We’ll switch at midnight.” And he headed up again.
Left to his own devices, Vince packed away the leftovers, checked in the bunk room, found a couple heavy coats, which made him smile. These were perfect, given the ugly weather approaching. He brought them out and hung them up where they would be easily available as he kept digging. He also found several pairs of gloves and boots. All good stuff.
Then he turned his attention to the weapons. If they weren’t fully loaded, they were useless when needed. He set them out and carefully checked them over, making sure everything was clean and operational. Afterward he loaded them and set them to one side and then worked on the handguns.
By the time midnight came, the lights flickered beside him. He felt the fatigue. Not that there was any help for it. His shift was next up. Leaving the weapons in order as he’d laid them out, he made his way topside with a hot mug of coffee, leaving the rest of the pot down below for Johan to consume.
Up above Johan was smiling as the waves built. “You’re in for a bitch of a ride,” he said. “If it gets too rough, I’ll come up. It’s easier to ride out when you’re on top.”
“You need sleep,” Vince said.
“Yeah? And how much did you get?”
Vince shook his head. “I didn’t. But the weapons are ready to go.”
Johan slapped him on the shoulder. “Now that’s what I like. Food and weapons. The only two things a man needs.”
Vince could think of something else that he’d like, but he wouldn’t bring it up now.
As soon as Johan made his way down below, Vince took over the wheel, feeling something inside him settle as he slowly got his sea legs in the small pilot room. Nothing but darkness was out there, except for the lights on the boat itself. The waves were battering them around pretty good. They were consuming a lot of fuel, still racing forward and fighting this storm as he headed down the path Johan had laid.
They were skirting the outside of the storm as much as possible, hoping to pick up speed by avoiding the bulk of the resistance. He smiled at the moon above. There was a lot to be said for being out on an ocean like this. He would prefer a better reason for it, but this night was still special. There was something magical about being in a boat in the middle of the ocean in the middle of the night, just feeling the waves crashing against the pieces of wood that held you back from the frigid cold waters of the deep ocean. The elements of Mother Nature were something to behold. And he knew he wouldn’t forget this night for a long time to come.
He just hoped Vanessa was in a position to find something good in this night to
o.
Chapter 4
Vanessa’s head rose at an odd sound. “Do you guys hear that?”
But the men were sound asleep.
She got up slowly and looked out the window. Nothing was there but calmer seas and a mild gray sky. It looked like the storm had passed. She patted the wall of the old vessel beside her affectionately. “I knew you could do it, girl. You’ve already seen many storms like that one, haven’t you?”
It had helped that they were on the outskirts of the storm, and so the boat hadn’t been in a direct line of its fury. She wasn’t sure that this old vessel would have handled that. It seemed like the boat had just spun endlessly, tossed in the water like a toy. Because of that, she was afraid no pilot at all was on board. And that just made her angry.
She checked the other windows but couldn’t see anything. With the men still sleeping, she walked back up the stairs and once again tested the hatch doors. Of course, they were still locked. She had to admit by now that her biggest nightmare was her fear that she would be left floating in the ocean until somebody found their corpses.
She and her team had already discussed the rationing of their stores of food—that they weren’t sharing with anybody above deck apparently—but that didn’t mean there was enough for them down here for long. Fresh water would become an issue soon too. She was still interested in opening one of the portholes somehow, even if breaking them. She’d do what she could to get out of here. If the portholes opened, all the better, but they didn’t look like it. The metal looked rusted shut.
She went back to the hatch and sat on the stairs. Only to straighten, straining to sort out the noises she heard again. Or thought she heard. Was that another boat arriving? She was sure another engine chugged alongside them. She raced from porthole to porthole, looking to see what vessel it was. Was it their captors returning? Or rescuers? At the last porthole, she saw a small research vessel coming toward them. She cried out in joy and woke the three men.
It took the men a few minutes to shake the sleep from their eyes and to understand. Then they were up, staring out of the windows with her.
When the boat came up alongside and threw a line to their boat, she was surprised when two men nimbly hopped across and tied the two boats so they bumped along together. She could hear somebody outside calling out if anybody was on board.
She pounded on the hatch; then Jasper pulled her back. “Hey, remember? We don’t know who these men are.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but they’re our only chance of getting out of here.”
He nodded and grabbed the frying pan they had planned to use as a weapon and banged it against the hatch door.
A voice called out, “We’re coming. Hang on.”
And suddenly the hinges were popped, and the latch was flung open wide. She made her way up the stairs, with the others coming along behind her.
She spun to look at their rescuers. “Is anybody else on board?”
The two men shook their heads. “It looks like it’s just you guys.”
She grinned, threw her arms around the man closest to her and hugged him tight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. We were kidnapped and moved into the bottom of this boat, and they locked the hatch on us. One of the captors is down below. We heard him before he came in one time. I guess the other took off. Although I have no idea where he went.” Confused, she walked to the front of the boat. “This is a really old boat. No wonder the portholes didn’t open.” She turned to look at the two strangers. “Did you come to rescue us?”
The men looked at her. The one she’d hugged asked, “Are you Vanessa Blanchard?”
Surprised, she nodded. “You did come to rescue us, didn’t you?”
He grinned. “Yeah. So far it’s been easier and faster than we expected. We just went to your ship’s last recorded location, and here you are.”
She smiled. “So you found our research ship?”
Vince shook his head. “Not yet. But we’re hoping it’s nearby.”
“And you’ll search for it?” she asked, looking from man to man.
“We will.”
“So, who sent you? Who knew we were in trouble? We didn’t even get a chance to send out SOS signals.”
“Your father,” Vince said, looking at everyone’s body language.
Her face lit up. “Well, doesn’t that figure. We spoke almost every day. I guess, when I missed a day’s call, he decided I was in trouble.” She grinned at the others. “This is a great day after all.” She looked at the small research vessel that had pulled up beside them. “So who are you guys besides the men my father sent?”
“We work for Legendary Security,” said the man she’d hugged. He held out his hand. “I’m Vince Manoj, and this is Johan Wagner.”
Everyone shook hands.
“We’d better get the man up from down below,” Johan said.
She led the way back down and pointed him out. “And we’re missing one of our team.”
Vince shot her a look, then said, “Let’s get the injured man first.”
The two men pulled him out from under the bunk, checking him over. They looked at her. “That head injury is bad. Not sure he’ll make it.”
She nodded grimly. “I wasn’t sure me and my team would make it either, but this really was life and death.”
The two men grabbed the kidnapper’s legs and shoulders and carefully carried him up to the deck. “He needs medical attention.”
She stared down at her captor. “He’s so young, isn’t he? I couldn’t see that down there.” She felt terrible.
“No reason for you to consider his age,” Vince said. “When you’re under attack like that, all you can do is defend yourselves and try to escape.”
“He wasn’t alone, so where is the other kidnapper? And where is Laura? We’re missing our fifth team member,” Vanessa said, looking up at him. “Dr. Laura Sanchez. The five of us were together on our research vessel. We were attacked. I was knocked unconscious, and, when I woke up, she was missing. I don’t know if anybody else saw what happened to her.” She glanced around at the others.
They all shook their heads.
“So what you’re saying is, the four of you were brought down here but not the fifth?”
“It’s possible they killed her,” Vanessa said. “I don’t know. She was always feisty, and they might have hit her a little too hard to stop her from fighting back.” The thought was so painful she’d refused to consider it earlier.
“Anything’s possible,” Jasper said. “But the rest of us are damn glad to see you. That storm caught us locked down below. With no pilot steering this thing, going through that storm tossed us around aimlessly, making for a bad night.”
“I hear you,” Vince said. “I skirted the storm, trying to get here as soon as possible. We’re stocked with supplies, but we’ll tow this vessel back if we can. Otherwise, she’ll end up as ocean debris.” Then again he knew it would slow them down. And might put them in trouble with fuel. He faced her. “Where were you on the research ship when you were taken?”
She ran her fingers through her hair, finding it drenched in saltwater and sticky with blood. She pulled her fingers back and winced. “We were working on board the research vessel. Dr. Sanchez had been on shore early that morning. When she got back in with the last of the day’s data and the last of the equipment, she said she wasn’t feeling well and went to lie down. I didn’t see her after that.”
“After she was on board, we moved deeper into the ocean’s waters to gather more underwater data and were just about done. I was working in the ship’s lab, the research bay. I remember turning around at a noise and found the kidnappers already there, holding rifles on me. I jumped to my feet, but they overpowered me.” Her voice trembled. She firmed up and continued, “When I woke up, we were in the hull of this old boat, tied up and gagged.”
The men were asked the same questions, but they all had variations of the same event. They hadn’t come prepared to fight so had bee
n easily taken.
In fact, as she thought about it, taking them captive had been easy—too easy.
*
Vince studied the four of them. “Any idea why Dr. Sanchez would have been separated from the rest of you?”
The others shook their heads.
“She was from a wealthy family,” Vanessa said. “If she was taken somewhere else and isn’t dead, then maybe …” She shrugged. “I don’t know if the kidnappers were trying to get a ransom for her or not. Honestly, as to our research vessel, the kidnappers probably would have done better trying to get ransom money for all of us and the ship from our government.”
“No,” Dr. Walker said. “The US has a history of not negotiating with pirates for hostages.”
Vanessa frowned at him. “That’s hardly fair,” she snapped.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s fair or not,” he said. “Bargaining for something like that has no end.”
Vince agreed, but that didn’t mean they would leave this other woman behind. Vince’s first priority was making sure Vanessa was fine. “Are you hurt or injured?”
She shook her head. “Jasper was conked over the head pretty hard. He was the last of us to wake up. The rest of us seem to be fine. We were locked in down there. The kitchen is there, so we had fresh water and food. Once we overwhelmed one attacker, the other one came down, but then he must have sensed something was wrong because he backed up, closed and locked the hatch door. We never heard anything more from him. But we didn’t see another boat either, so I don’t know what happened to him.”
“Do you think he would have jumped?” Johan asked. “Maybe he decided to leave you guys alone and just took his chances swimming to shore?”
The others all shook their heads.
“There was no point,” Vanessa stated. “He could have lifted the hatch door and opened fire, but he didn’t do that. As a matter of fact, I suspect he could have unloaded his machine gun into the floor of the deck above us and killed all of us without even knowing where we were. … That is a chilling thought. Why didn’t he do that?”