Burning Angels

92

Jaeger cast around for a weapon. There was nothing in the life raft, and Narov’s MP7 had to be somewhere at the bottom of the sea.

Then he spied it. Strapped in her chest sheath, as always: Narov’s distinctive commando knife, the one that had been a gift to her from his grandfather. With its razor-sharp seven-inch blade it was perfect for what Jaeger had in mind.

He reached across and unfastened the sheath, strapping it around himself. In response to her enquiring look, he leaned close.

‘Stay here. Keep still. Something I’ve got to deal with.’

With that he raised himself on to the side of the craft and dropped backwards into the sea.

Once in the water, Jaeger took a moment to orientate himself on the sound of the voices that drifted to him through the haze of smoke clinging to the waves.

He set off with long, powerful strokes, only his head showing above the surface. Shortly, the smoke swallowed him. He used his ears alone to navigate now. One voice in particular – the coarse but strident tones of Jones – drew him onwards.

The Sunseeker’s life raft was a large inflatable contraption, hexagonal in design and enclosed within a rain cover. Jones and his three fellow survivors were inside it, the flap open, going through the craft’s supplies.

Jones must have seen his shot hit Narov; seen her blasted into the sea. Not one to give up or give in, he would know he had a job to finish.

It was time for Jaeger to end this.

He had to cut the head off the snake.

The life raft was far more visible than a lone swimmer, one keeping low in the sea. When Jaeger reached its rear, he stopped and began to tread water, his eyes and nose barely above the waves. He composed himself for a second, then took a massive gulp of air and slipped beneath the surface.

He dived deep under the craft, surfacing silently at the point where the flap lay open. He could see the massive form of Jones weighing down the side of the raft. He kicked up powerfully, rising from the sea directly behind his target, and in one lightning move snaked his right arm around the man’s neck in a savage chokehold, jerking his chin upwards and to the right.

Simultaneously, his left arm came around in a powerful thrust, sinking the blade of the knife down through the man’s clavicle, driving it towards his black heart. Seconds later, their combined weight pulled them from the vessel, and they sank as one.

It was hard to kill a man with a knife. And with an adversary as powerful and as experienced as this one, doubly so.

As they sank into the ocean depths, the two men twisted, writhed and fought, Jones struggling to break free from Jaeger’s death grip. For long seconds he clawed, elbowed and gouged, desperately trying to break free. In spite of his wound, he was immensely – unbelievably – powerful.

Jaeger couldn’t believe how strong he was: it was like being tethered to a rhino. Just as Jaeger figured he could hold him no longer, a sleek, arrow-headed form flashed across his peripheral vision, its sharp V-shaped fin cutting through the water.

Shark. Drawn here by the smell of blood. Steve Jones’s blood. Jaeger glanced in the shark’s direction and realised with a jolt that there were a dozen or more circling them.

He gathered his strength, released his grip and kicked away from Jones as powerfully as he could. The big man spun around, muscled arms groping for Jaeger in the half-light.

But it was then that Jones must have sensed its presence. Their presence. Sharks.

Jaeger saw his eyes go wide with fear.

Jones’s wound was pumping a cloud of blood into the water. As Jaeger kicked further away, he saw the first shark bump Jones aggressively with its nose. Jones tried to fight back, punching it in the eye, but the animal had the taste of his blood now.

As Jaeger made a desperate surge towards the surface, he lost sight of Jones’s form within a sea of writhing bodies.

He was painfully short of breath now, but he knew what was waiting above: gunmen, scanning the sea. With a last burst of energy, he swam beneath the raft, using Narov’s blade to slice open the entire length of its underside.

The bottom of the vessel collapsed, the three figures inside it plummeting into the water. As they fell, one of them kicked out and caught Jaeger in the head. His eyes rolled, and for a moment Jaeger felt himself black out. Moment’s later his hand caught the torn edge of the craft where it was spilling air, and he pulled himself upwards.

He thrust his head and shoulders through the breech, grabbed a few lungfuls of oxygen, and dived again. As he kicked deep, he noticed that Narov’s blade was gone from his grasp. He would worry about that later… if he ever got out of this alive.

He struck out in the direction of his own life raft. The gunmen in the water might well have seen him, but their thoughts would be all for their own survival now. There would be life vests in their stricken craft, and even now they would be trying to save themselves. Jaeger would leave them to the sea and the sharks. He was done here. He needed to get away, and get Narov safe.

Minutes later, Jaeger heaved his sodden form into the Airlander’s life raft. As he lay back, panting exhaustedly, he saw Narov try to rouse herself so she could take up the oars, and he had to physically restrain her from doing so.

He got in position and began to row, heading away from the carnage and for the coastline. As he worked at the oars, he glanced at Narov. She was overcome with exhaustion, the shock kicking in big time now. He needed her to remain conscious, to keep rehydrating and to stay warm, and they would both need energy as the adrenalin began to wear off.

‘See what’s in the stores. The emergency rations. We’ve got a long row ahead and you need to keep drinking and to eat. I’ll do the work, but only if you promise to live.’

‘I promise,’ Narov murmured, her voice sounding close to delirious. She reached to investigate with her one good arm. ‘After all, you came back for me.’

Jaeger shrugged. ‘You’re on my crew.’

‘You had your wife on that aircraft – dying. Me in the sea – dying. You came back for me.’

‘My wife has got a team of medics caring for her. As for you… well, we’re a honeymooning couple, remember?’

She smiled absent mindedly. ‘Schwachkopf.’

Jaeger needed to keep her talking and to keep her focused. ‘How’s the pain? The shoulder?’

Narov tried to shrug. The movement made her grimace. ‘I’ll live.’

Good for you, Jaeger thought. Unyielding, blunt and honest to the end.

‘Better sit back and enjoy the ride then, while I row you home.’