Apocalypse

57

‘I thought we were going to be sneaking up on Joaquin?’ Ethan Warner had to shout at Jarvis, even though he was wearing earphones against the noise from the MH-60S Sea Hawk’s twin turboshaft engines. The helicopter was flying low over the ocean, skimming the waves that Ethan could see glittering with gold through the open fuselage door. The door was guarded by a serious-looking marine wearing wraparound sunglasses and manning an M-60D machine gun, the last glow of the setting sun glinting off the metal barrel.

‘The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is heading off for operations in the Pacific,’ Jarvis explained. ‘Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6 here are conducting work-up exercises in this area before deploying with the carrier wing. Perfect cover to get you and Lopez into position, right where we need you.’

Beside Ethan sat Katherine, her features drawn and tired. Lopez, her long black hair trembling with the engine vibrations and the wind blowing in through the open door, gestured to the six marines checking their weapons at the back of the helicopter.

‘Don’t suppose there’s any chance we could have a detachment of troops drop down there with us? Joaquin’s likely to have protection and he probably knows that we’re coming.’

Jarvis shook his head.

‘The fewer people know about this, the better. We’re cleared to use the marines to get us aboard Joaquin’s yacht using reasonable force, but beyond that we’re on our own. A major military dive operation wouldn’t go unnoticed, but a quick insertion onto the yacht should be simple enough. You said that none of the Event Horizon’s crew appeared armed.’

‘Not the last time we were there,’ Ethan said. ‘And there were definitely submersibles aboard, large ones.’

‘Okay,’ Jarvis said. ‘This is how it goes down. This helicopter will make a tactical descent and drop a platoon of marines aboard the Event Horizon to overpower the crew, whilst the helicopter jams any communications using the onboard ALQ-144 Infrared Jammer. You’ll go aboard with the marines, who’ll hold the yacht until you’ve done your job.’

‘Which will be what?’ Ethan asked.

‘To get down there, find out what Joaquin Abell is doing and put a stop to it. Your primary mission is the recovery of the camera that Charles Purcell carried with him before he died. Your secondary mission is to find solid, court-admissible proof that Joaquin Abell is guilty of the crimes he’s committed, and bring him to justice.’

Katherine Abell looked up.

‘I don’t want him to be hurt,’ she said, speaking for the first time since they’d taken off. ‘He’s innocent until proven guilty.’

‘He’s a criminal, ma’am,’ Jarvis replied. ‘We already have proof that he’s guilty, but it’s not the kind that can be brought into the public sphere, due to national security. Ethan and Nicola are capable of taking Joaquin into custody if he is willing to go quietly.’

‘And if he resists?’ Katherine asked.

Jarvis reached out to a metal lock-up box beside him, opened it and retrieved two Sig 9mm pistols and four flash-bang grenades. He shared them out to Ethan and Lopez, along with two spare magazines each.

Katherine watched the exchange and then closed her eyes, but she said nothing.

‘You haven’t got anything with a little more punch?’ Lopez asked.

‘We’re not sure how the facility that Joaquin has built is pressurized,’ Jarvis explained. ‘You go in there with heavy weapons, you might end up taking yourselves down.’

Ethan checked the mechanism on his pistol and set the safety catch before slipping the weapon into the shoulder holster he’d been given earlier. The holster lay beneath a harness that he wore, which was connected to metal clasps and thick rappel wires hooked to the helicopter’s metal-plated floor. Lopez did the same, and they both watched as a red light began flashing in the interior of the helicopter. One of the marines pulled open another fuselage door and windblast buffeted through the interior.

‘Ten seconds,’ Jarvis shouted.

The marines all hooked their clasps up to the rappel lines and took up positions either side of the fuselage. Ethan and Lopez got to their feet and each joined the end of a queue. The Sea Hawk’s attitude changed as it slowed and pitched up, and the thumping rotors hammered the air outside as the sea churned with spray beneath them.

All at once Ethan saw the elegant yacht hove into view beneath them and glimpsed a pair of crewmen staring up and pointing at the gray helicopter as it thundered overhead. Suddenly the machine slowed to a hover above the yacht’s fantail.

Instantly the marines leapt one after the other and spiraled down the wires with their rifles aiming below them, ready to fire at anybody attempting to oppose their boarding of the yacht.

Ethan followed the last marine out, his gloved hands guiding him down the rappel line. Opposite, he saw Lopez matching his descent with her customary gusto, as though she too had done this a dozen times before in war zones. They thumped down onto the deck as the platoon lieutenant shouted orders to stunned crewmen standing with their hands in the air nearby.

‘Get down! Down, down, down!’

Bodies dropped as though shot, the men totally overwhelmed by the noise, speed and force of the marines’ entry. Ethan followed at a run as the marines swept through the ship toward the bridge, his pistol in his hands but held low to avoid an unintentional discharge. Plastic cuffs were hastily wrapped around shell-shocked crewmen’s wrists and ankles, the gaping staff left prone where they lay until they could be dealt with later. Neutralized.

The marines burst onto the bridge to corner the yacht’s officers, stopping the captain in mid-protest with the muzzle of an M-16 in his face. Ethan and Lopez stepped onto the bridge even as the marine lieutenant was barking orders to his men while standing over a cowering officer.

‘Secure the fore and aft quarters, in pairs! Report in when clear!’

Ethan looked at the elderly, tall, bearded man bearing the shoulder insignia of a captain, who was standing upright with his chin raised. He stared defiantly down the barrel of the marine’s M-16.

‘Where is Joaquin Abell?’ Ethan asked, hoping against hope that he was aboard.

The captain’s eyes narrowed, refusing to be intimidated by the soldiers.

‘Who the hell are you?’

The platoon lieutenant stepped in for Ethan.

‘United States Marines, sir, and this vessel has been seized under the authority of the Admiral of the United States Pacific Fleet.’

The captain looked down in confusion at the officer.

‘This is a private vessel, on humanitarian and conservation duties. What on earth would the admiralty want with us?’

Ethan judged the man’s disbelief to be genuine.

‘We think that IRIS’s humanitarian activities are a shield for criminal enterprise,’ he explained. ‘We require yourself and your crew to stand down and let us investigate. I take it that you possess the coordinates to Joaquin Abell’s facility on the seafloor?’

The captain frowned.

‘Yes, but it’s just a coral-reef observation hub,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing much down there. I’ve seen it.’

Ethan smiled grimly.

‘I doubt very much that the place you were taken to was the same one that Joaquin has been concealing from the eyes of the world.’

‘Who the hell do you think you are?’ the captain demanded.

Ethan was about to answer when Katherine Abell strode into the bridge.

‘They’re with me,’ she said. ‘And what they’re telling you is true.’

The captain’s eyes flickered in surprise. He stared at Katherine and then Ethan and Lopez in turn before making his decision. He turned to a subaltern.

‘The marines have the bridge,’ he said. ‘Provide them with whatever assistance they require.’

The subaltern dashed away, accompanied by a soldier, and the captain turned to Katherine.

‘Neither the crew nor I know anything about a second facility,’ he said. ‘But Mr. Abell’s armed escort went down with him this morning, with a scientist by the name of Dennis Aubrey.’

Katherine nodded.

‘I only learned of this myself today,’ she assured him. ‘You won’t be detained for long, I’m sure.’

As the captain and his crew were escorted to their quarters by the marines, Lopez gently took Katherine’s arm.

‘Make sure you stay behind us at all times,’ Lopez warned her.

‘I’m not an invalid.’

‘Nobody’s saying that you are,’ Ethan said. ‘But Joaquin’s already tried to kill you once. This might sound harsh, but you’re our only bargaining chip down there.’

Katherine glared at Ethan.

‘If there’s one thing I’ve realized since all of this began, it’s that my husband is a coward. He isn’t capable of killing for himself so he sends others to do it for him, or uses machines. I doubt very much that he’ll have the cojones to kill me when I’m standing right in front of him. And maybe, if he harbors anything remotely human in that wasted soul of his, I might be able to get him to surrender without a firefight.’

Jarvis stepped onto the bridge, and looked at Ethan and Lopez.

‘The Miami-Dade police gained access to a safety-deposit box registered to Charles Purcell at the First National Bank in Miami,’ he reported.

‘Did they find the documents?’ Lopez asked.

‘All of them,’ Jarvis confirmed. ‘Joaquin Abell is now officially wanted for fraud, and the trail of evidence will likely lead to charges of conspiracy, blackmail and murder one. If you can get him out of his lair his next stop will be jail, and after that he’ll be on trial.’