Jean stood near the ramp that spanned the gap between the two vessels.Henri stood before him, one arm jabbing back toward the dock in urgent arcs, his words spilling fast and heated, swallowed by the noise of loading dock.
“We need to get you out of here,” Marie cut in, her voice slicing through like a knife’s edge, halting Jean mid-sentence as she closed the distance.
Jean shook his head.“What is going on?”
“We don’t know.”She gripped his elbow.“Security force of some sort.They’re about to take the loading dock.We already lost the armory, communications, and the cargo bay.”
Jean pressed his hands to the sides of his head, fingers threading through his hair as if to hold his skull intact against the fracturing of his world.“Daphnée is in the cargo bay.”
She stepped closer.“Jean.We have to go.”
“I can’t leave her!”The yell tore from him, raw and guttural, propelling him toward the ramp in a blind surge.
Julien lunged, arms wrapping around Jean’s waist in a vise, hauling him back with a grunt, their boots scuffling in a tangle of desperation.Marie’s voice lashed out.“Daphnée can take care of herself.She knows as well as I that you are the face of this movement.We need to get you to safety.If we lose you, the movement dies.”
She didn’t release her hold on his arm, steering them away from the cruise ship toward the lifeboat davits slung along the cargo ship’s rail—a bulky orange shell swaying gently on its falls.“We will regroup and save Daphnée,” she said as she wrestled the release pins free.
“What about Hao?”Henri asked, his voice suddenly small.“Shouldn’t he come with us?”
Marie’s stomach clenched as she pictured the blood pouring out of his head and Ming and Reginald Hall dragging him between the two of them.“Hao is deeply undercover,” she forced out.“We can’t risk that right now.As long as he is not compromised, he’ll be fine.”
She bundled them into the boat, Jean’s resistance crumbling into numb compliance as Julien and Henri clambered over the gunwales.Marie shoved off as Henri lowered the small engine into the water.The air filled with the smell of the small engine fuel as he started the engine.It made her stomach churn.
Just as the gap widened to safety’s illusion, an explosion erupted behind them, followed by the sound of yells, confusion, two more explosions, then the sound of gunfire.
Jerry and the team searched the crates, locating a crate of grenades and another crate of ammunition.They armed themselves and reloaded.
As Jerry pried up the heavy lid of a long crate, he felt a sudden sense of elation.The crate held what looked like about thirty QBU-202 sniper rifles.
He only needed one.
He unceremoniously set the shotgun down on the deck and retrieved one from the crate.As he examined it, he whispered, “Hello, gorgeous.You may not know it, but I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Jerry would have preferred to find a CS/LR4, the modern Chinese army’s long-range rifle, but this gorgeous piece of firearms history would suffice.It had a range of up to 1,800 meters, and the generous Chinese had even graciously equipped it with appropriate optics.The true beauty was that Jerry had fired about 600 rounds through one of these less than two years ago.
He held the rifle up and announced, “Listen up!I need to find the 8.6×70mm Lapua Magnum rounds.They have to be in here somewhere.”
Sanders, from across the aisle, immediately said, “I think I got ‘em.Look at that.One line.No waiting.”
As they stocked up and supplied, they discussed the plan.From here on the first deck, they needed to get up to the loading bay on the third deck.
“We could use the elevator again,” Sanders said.
Peña jerked his head in the direction of the elevator.“It’s full.They sent another load down.We have it locked so they can’t recall it.”
“Won’t be long until they realize it’s been too long,” Norton said.“We need to move.”
“Better to get into position there and wait.”Peña tapped the map.“We need to flank them again.”
Jerry said, “Sir.We have grenades, now.Team can stay intact.Frontal assault is much faster.”
“Fair point, Top,” Peña acknowledged.Jerry let the verbal promotion go without remark.“But a pincer is more effective.I don’t like this playing out under the watchful eye of that cargo ship, either.So, we breach here and here, simultaneously.Three-man teams.”They quickly went over the specific details of the plan.
“Once we start making noise up there, there’s going to be a problem for the prisoners on the island.”Ibrahim rolled his head on his neck.“That loading dock door is open.”
Peña nodded.“I don’t disagree.But we’re down to six.We can only do one thing at a time.Right now, that’s securing the ship.”
“Roger dodger,” Sanders said.“Let’s do this.”
