Running Dark

29

SUMNER FOUND CAPTAIN WAINWRIGHT ONCE AGAIN ON THE bridge. The ship continued to move, something Sumner considered to be a good sign. Wainwright waved him over to the ship’s console.

“We got the radar up long enough to see them moving away. It went down again right after, but they were here.” Wainwright pointed to a green blip that stayed frozen on the radar screen. “Do you think they’re done?” he asked.

“Not at all. I think they’re just heading back to get more grenades, crew members, or both. How long to Berbera?”

“Two days at least. More if the engines give out, which is a strong possibility. My real goal is not Berbera, but to go farther out from Somali territorial waters. The distance will give us a little more safety from the pirates and will allow foreign ships to come to our aid.”

“How long does it usually take for aid to reach a boat under these circumstances?”

“Eight hours is average.”

Sumner grimaced. “That’s a long time.”

“That’s an assumption. I have no way of guaranteeing even that. And none of it’s going to happen if we don’t get out of territorial waters. Tell me about the sentry duty.”

Sumner recapped the recent skirmish, leaving out Clutch’s craven retreat but giving Marina her due as the one to fire the deciding shot. He also told him about Schullmann’s cage idea.

“We’ve got a bunch of aluminum rods in one of the electrical rooms and steel supports for them. They’re railing replacements. Feel free to use them. Steel sheets will be harder to come by. I don’t know that we have any. Ask the mechanic if there’s anything he can cannibalize for the metal.”

“I also think we should arm the passengers,” Sumner said.

“With what? We don’t have arms for the crew, much less the passengers.”

“The crew should be given knives from the kitchen. The passengers—screwdrivers, ice picks, anything they can use to fight as the pirates board.”

Wainwright’s face hardened. “Absolutely not. These guys carry AK-47s, and they won’t hesitate to use them if they meet with resistance. Anyone fighting will be mowed down. I’d rather have the passengers taken hostage than risk a bloodbath.”

Sumner rubbed a tired hand over his face. “Listen, I was taken hostage once, and it’s not a situation I would wish on my worst enemy. These guys will drag the hostages to a deserted area and leave them in a pit. They’ll barely feed them. The ones who don’t die from the exertion and stress might die from starvation. It’s my advice that the passengers be allowed to fight back.”

“I appreciate your view on the subject, but I can’t allow the situation to escalate. The moment those pirates climb over the railing is the moment we surrender.”

Sumner could see that the subject was closed. “I understand. Then we’ll just have to do our best to ensure that they don’t board. How long can we continue?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Sumner headed down to the mechanical room. Schullmann stood next to an engineer and directed him in broken English. The engineer responded in broken German. They appeared to be progressing despite the language barrier. Schullmann’s sleeves were rolled to the elbows. He looked interested, less bored than he had in the casino. Sumner took this as a good sign. He went to the man’s side and told him about the railings.

“Is this steel the same as that which forms the ship’s railings?” Schullmann asked.

“It is.”

“The steel is soft, so I would not depend on it.”

“I understand. All I really need is to deflect the grenade.”

“It will do that, but not much more.”

Another mechanic stepped up carrying a blowtorch and wearing protective goggles.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Sumner said.

He headed to the deck to check on Block, whom he found looking morose.

“What’s the matter?” Sumner asked.

“I hate that they’re out there. I thought about what you said. They’re coming back, that’s for damn sure. And even if they kill two-thirds of us, they’ll still make a ton of money.”

“Don’t think about it. Never worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.”

Block gave Sumner a speculative look. “Tell me why you’re really on this ship. You ain’t no cruise-line employee, that’s for sure. And you’re a damn sight more competent than that loser head of security, Clutch.”

Sumner sat down next to Block and rested his back on the far wall. He gazed into the darkness. “I’m a security agent and work for the government. I’m supposed to be far from the site of my last location, in order to stop any retaliation.”

Block laughed a hearty laugh. His obvious pleasure at the irony of the situation made Sumner smile.

Block wiped his eyes and pointed a finger at Sumner. “You gotta be kidding me, right? What are you, some kinda shroud? You bring only bad luck.”

Sumner couldn’t help but agree with him. “It does appear that way, doesn’t it? I’m a member of the Southern Hemisphere Drug Defense Agency. We generally focus on Latin America, but I’ll go to whatever hot spot needs me. It’s my job to be in the front lines. I don’t relish the danger, but I do like the feeling that I’m doing something good for the world.”

“No wife? No kids?”

“No.”

Block looked relieved. “That’s good. Once you’ve got a family, you no longer feel so free with your life. Kids anchor you in more ways than one.”

Janklow’s voice pierced the darkness. “Sumner, come with me. We’ve got a problem.”

“I’ll be back.” Sumner placed a hand on Block’s shoulder.

They moved through the ship. The halls remained empty. It was two o’clock in the morning, and Sumner hoped that most passengers were able to sleep, although he doubted it. Janklow took him to a door marked PRIVATE. He punched a number into a keypad, and the door clicked open. They entered a large cargo bay. Rows and rows of pallets lined the walls. Most were filled with boxes shrink-wrapped in plastic. Words like “tissue” and “detergent” were marked in black stencil. Janklow ignored these pallets and headed to the rear of the long, rectangular room. At the far end was a large wooden box stamped with the manufacturer’s blue logo and covered in bold red with the words PERISHABLE, MEDICAL PRODUCTS. Janklow stopped in front of it.

“These were supposed to be vaccines and some sort of heart medication,” he said.

“Supposed?” Sumner said.

“We’ve gotten word that buried somewhere in this box are two vials of ricin.”

Sumner felt his mouth drop open. He prided himself on being the type of man who was rarely surprised, but now he was, and deeply so. He felt completely inadequate to address such an issue. The box in front of him was four feet high and wide. It could contain hundreds or even thousands of vials. From what he understood, ricin looked like any other clear liquid in any other vial. He wouldn’t be able to analyze any one to determine its contents.

“Who told you this?”

“A man named Banner. He said you should know right away.”

“We have a spare dish?”

“No. He sent an encrypted message on the computer right before they sheared off the satellite. He said to tell you that he’s sending a chemist to analyze the vials, but that under no circumstances must you reveal the ricin to anyone else. Only Wainwright and myself know about what’s in there.”

“Of course not. But how does he intend to get his chemist on board? We’re in the middle of a crisis and no one is coming to our aid, but a chemist will make it here? Doesn’t that sound a little strange to you?”

Janklow heaved a sigh. “Who knows if they’ll be successful? The chemist is coming with some operatives undercover in a small boat. They’re going to try to slip through the net without the pirates or anyone in Somalia being the wiser.”

“How will they find us? Wainwright switched off the tracking beam, and the radar’s gone.”

“Like I said, we had the radar up and running for a short while, and I sent out our coordinates then. We’ve continued to drift, but if they come soon, they may be able to locate us.”

“Who’s the chemist?” Sumner asked.

Janklow shook his head. “Someone from Darkview. They didn’t say.”

“Darkview employs security personnel, not chemists.”

“Guess this is a chemist Darkview knows.”

Sumner felt a feeling of inevitability wash over him. He shook it off and headed back to the deck to patrol. He’d learned long ago not to worry about things he could not change.