by K. T. Tomb
Passing the gun over to Savannah to keep an eye on Singh, he helped get the boat pushed back into the water and then leapt in. The gunmen were closing rapidly. They looked to be Chinese, but Travis wasn’t worrying much over that.
“Weapons?” Travis asked Captain Singh.
“An assault rifle and three full clips.” He waved a hand toward the bow.
Travis scrambled in the direction that he indicated and found an M-16 with a full clip in the magazine and two more in a belt beside it. He snatched it up and headed for the stern. He needed to even the odds. If he could just get them to keep their heads down, it might buy them enough time to get away from the beach and out of range.
He was surprised at the full auto burst that launched from the weapon as he pulled the trigger. He’d meant to fire a short burst, but unloaded nearly half the clip into the sand in front of the oncoming men before he retained control again. It helped slow them down, but they were getting closer and were starting to fan out and take better firing positions.
Breathing hard from the running and pushing the boat back from the beach, Travis tried to steady himself and keep up a steady barrage of short bursts at each of the advancing men to slow them down. If they got much closer, they could take their time and pick them off or disable the engine with a well-placed shot.
One man in particular had settled in, taken careful aim and sent a round that grazed the rim of the boat very close to him. Forgetting about short bursts, Travis walked a string of bullets up into him and saw him drop the gun and fall just as the magazine was empty. The distance was growing, in spite of the power of the waves fighting against the motor and bucking them up and down inside the boat as they made their dash out to sea.
Travis snapped a fresh clip into the magazine and again started in with the short bursts of fire to keep them pinned down. With the one man dead, the others were a bit more cautious. It would take a lucky shot to be able to hit the bobbing boat to begin with, but Travis didn’t intend to allow them to get comfortable enough to take their time and zero in on them.
After a few moments, they all seemed to turn together and look back along the beach toward the shed where he had left Mayer. In a few moments, they left off firing at the boat and started in that direction. No doubt they had been called off by whoever was commanding them. Whoever it was had, more than likely, already discovered Mayer. Would Mayer betray them? Travis knew that the answer depended upon whether betraying them gave him the advantage or not.
Captain Singh navigated the boat out to the waiting yacht and expertly brought it into the carrier that would lift it out of the water and place it inside the vessel.
“We’ve got to get underway fastest, Captain,” Travis ordered.
“But Mayer…” he started to protest.
“Forget about Mayer and get this boat moving!” He leveled the M-16 at the captain’s chest.
Captain Singh started on his way toward the bridge and Travis waved Savannah after him. “Keep an eye on him. Make sure he gets us moving.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Somebody has to weigh anchor,” he replied. “We can’t very well get out of here if we’re still dragging anchor.”
Evidently they had eliminated everyone that had been left aboard the vessel when they shot the last two men in the hold and when Savannah and her guide had initially come aboard. Travis had hoped to find at least one and set him to the task of weighing anchor at gunpoint. Failing a crew member to take care of the task, Travis would be forced to do it himself.
“Mr. Monahan.” The captain spoke up, overhearing the conversation between Travis and Savannah and stopping to turn back toward them. “There is no need for someone to weigh anchor. That is all taken care of electronically from the bridge.”
“Seriously? Show me. You better not be pulling a fast one on me. I want this boat moving in under five minutes.”
“I’ll have it moving in three,” the captain replied confidently.
Once on the bridge, the captain made a special point to show Travis the joystick controller at the helm that was clearly marked anchor. He pressed a switch and Travis could make out the whirring of a motor somewhere in the bowels of the yacht, carrying out the task of raising the anchor.
Captain Singh engaged another series of buttons and the large diesel motors of the yacht began to rumble beneath them.
“Heading?” Singh asked.
“Port. Get us away from this beach and we’ll figure things out from there.” Travis didn’t know if the Tigers had any shoulder fired missiles or other equipment for doing long range damage, but he assumed that the further they were away from the beach, the better off their chances of survival. If they had helicopters, it would make little difference.
“Captain, do you have a sat phone aboard?” Savannah asked.
The captain indicated a phone next to the helm. “It’s not secure.”
“That’s not an issue at the moment.”
She noticed the question portrayed on Travis’ face.
“Thyri has assets moving toward us. She just needs coordinates to zero them in.”
Maybe he’d been wrong about the whole thing, Savannah and Thyri had arranged a contingency plan. Though he was severely upset about Savannah teaming up with the woman who had shot him twice, he was beginning to regret the harsh words that he’d spoken to her on the beach. The sudden thought of Chen, placed another possibility in his mind. They were far from being safe, even on the yacht. Chen had helicopters and two assault teams.
Once she discovered that the diamonds were not in the possession of either Mayer or the Tigers, she would mount an assault on the yacht. He and Savannah would have absolutely no chance in holding them off. He listened as Savannah made contact on the sat phone with Thyri.
“Our coordinates, Captain?” she asked.
The captain rattled off the coordinates and Savannah repeated them and then listened.
“That’s correct, ma’am. It’s just Travis, myself and the captain. We’re on a yacht heading north away from Point Pedro.” She paused a moment longer. “Captain, your instructions are to continue on our current heading until we are instructed otherwise. Set frequency to 156.425 MHz.”
“Understood,” he said. He reached toward the radio and turned the dial to the requested frequency.
“He is in compliance. Thank you, ma’am. Yes, we are fine. We’ll be waiting.” She returned the handset to the receiver beside the helm. “They are between 10 and 15 minutes out. The extraction team will be in radio contact with the captain for further instructions in a few moments.”
Almost on cue, the radio beside the helm squawked to life. “Easter Ecliptic, maintain current heading, we are inbound 13 minutes.”
“Affirmative,” the captain said, picking up the radio microphone and giving his compliance.
“We have you on radar. Stand by.”
“Roger.”
Thirteen minutes was an awfully long time to have to wait and Travis wasn’t sure if it was enough. Chen would have already figured out that Mayer didn’t have the diamonds and depending upon what methods they used and what was to his advantage, they might already be on their way toward them. Even if Alpha arrived in thirteen minutes, he and Savannah might be dead inside of ten. What could they do about it?
Epilogue
“Mr. Monahan, we are indeed grateful that you and your Alpha team were able to recover the smuggled diamonds. It is only a portion of all that has been stolen, but at least it is a major portion of our losses and they are not in the hands of the Tiger Terrorists.”
Travis was in a hotel room in Melbourne, Australia, presenting their recovery to the rightful owners. Savannah had waved off and allowed him to do it alone. She hadn’t spoken more than a dozen words to him since they had been extracted from the Easter Ecliptic.
The attack that Travis had expected to come from Chen and her team at Point Pedro had never developed, which was a lucky break for them, because they ha
d been dangerously exposed within a five minute striking distance by helicopter from the beach. He wasn’t sure if Chen had simply been uninterested in having the diamonds for herself, whether Mayer had kept their whereabouts secret, or if Chen’s team had simply been wiped out by Tiger Terrorists. Once the Alpha Adventures extraction team had arrived, it had made little difference.
“I’m afraid that I wasn’t able to deliver those responsible to the authorities. I apologize for that,” Travis responded, bringing his thoughts back to the meeting.
“Now that we know who is responsible, we’ll be able to place certain safeguards in place,” the representative replied. “Mr. Mayer is likely in the wind.”
“It’s difficult to tell. He’s a very resourceful man and an excellent poker player.” Travis truly regretted not having been able to know whether Mayer had made it out alive or not. The man had chosen his own course, what came out of it was up to Mayer alone.
“I’m not sure what his skill at cards has to do with it, but we’ll certainly be on alert if he should surface in the region again.” The representative had a broad smile. It was hard not to be delighted about the recovery of billions of dollars of diamonds.
“Is there anything else you need from me or Alpha Adventures at this time?” It sounded like he was a sales clerk at a department store, but he wasn’t sure how else to begin to make his departure and that seemed to be the most graceful way. He rose to his feet.
“There is nothing else at this time, Mr. Monahan.” The representative stood with him and extended his hand. “We are very grateful to you and your team.”
“The team should take most of the credit on this one,” he replied, suddenly aware that he was very uncomfortable about the fact that Savannah was not there to receive the thanks along with him. Passing their appreciation in her direction made him feel a little better, but not much.
“Very well then, please take care of yourself, Mr. Monahan.” The representative opened the door for him and allowed him to pass through.
“That’s not as easy as it sounds,” Travis chuckled.
“Again, thank you,” the man said before pushing the door closed behind him and leaving him alone in the quiet hallway.
Travis followed the corridor to the bank of elevators. His mind was already rehearsing the words of apology that he meant to use when he got back to the suite where he and Savannah were staying. It had been extremely uncomfortable to reside together, especially when it was necessary for them to pass each other or when it was time to eat. The tension from their argument on the beach had lingered between them and neither had offered a solution to it up until that point.
He’d been much too harsh with her. She had followed her instincts and actually worked outside the very solid rules that she often employed in every situation. Thyri had advised it, of course, but Savannah had carried it out, even in the face of all of the possible dangers that might have been involved not only working with Chen, but the considerable risks she had taken to come to his rescue. She was not trained for such a mission. The fact that she had carried it out, spoke volumes of her focus and dedication to him. That was the one point that had gnawed at him the most and the one that had him rehearsing his apology.
When the elevator car arrived on the floor where their suite was located, the butterflies began to dance in his stomach. He wasn’t sure why he ought to be so nervous about setting things right with Savannah, but what he felt was at least a dozen times worse than when he had been preparing for his escape from the Easter Ecliptic. What if she didn’t accept his apology and turned him away flat? Had he gone so far that their relationship was completely destroyed? He wasn’t sure, but he was certain that he owed her a great deal of thanks and needed to be very contrite before she would even entertain the idea of forgiving him.
He left the elevator and walked slowly down the hall toward the door to their suite. Once in front of the door, he paused, took a deep breath, put the keycard into the slot and turned the handle. When he entered, he noticed that Savannah was sitting on the sofa in the living room area. However, the moment she saw him she stood and started toward her bedroom door.
“Wait,” he called out.
Savannah turned and glared at him. “I assume that you’ve returned the diamonds to the rightful owner?”
“I have.”
“Then, what more is there to talk about?” There was no mistaking the frozen tone in her voice.
“I owe you a great deal of thanks for rescuing me…”
“You’re welcome,” she interrupted, turning back toward the door and grasping the handle.
“I also have an apology to make.” He hurried forward with the words before she was able to open the door and walk away from him.
She turned back and crossed her arms as she waited. Nothing in the expression upon her face told him that an apology would have any effect on the deep hurt, anger, betrayal and whatever other feeling his harsh words had caused.
“I was wrong for saying what I did for you. You did exactly what needed to be done. You made the plan, you faced the dangers and you made it work. I apologize for not believing in you. I also apologize for everything that I said. I’m not only glad that you did what needed to be done and got me out of there, but I’m also proud of you for carrying it out with great success.”
“Apology accepted.” With tears building up in her eyes, she turned away, went inside the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
The incredible silence that followed those two words and the sound of the door latch as it clicked into place assaulted him with deadly force. Unsure of what to do, he turned toward the door of his own bedroom. He had turned the handle and started to push it open when Savannah’s door suddenly swung open.
“I was afraid that I was going to lose you. You and your damned wild goose chases!” Tears were streaming down her face. “I didn’t want to go to Chen. I hate the bitch even more than you do, but she was my only option. She talked down to me and humiliated me the entire time, but I stayed focused on getting to you, rescuing you and bringing you out to safety. It was like being stabbed in the heart when you turned on me. It took the breath out of me, but what hurt even more than that was the fact that you were right. Chen would have taken the diamonds and she might have even shot you and in spite of the fact that you are an arrogant ass and damned hard to live with at times, I would have been devastated if that had happened.”
“Ah, Sav,” he sighed, crossing the space between them with tears of his own threatening to spill over the rims. “I can only imagine the type of humiliation that bitch put you through and the risks that you took, but believe me when I tell you that I can’t think of anyone that I would count on more to have my back.”
“You’re a damned sorry liar, Travis Monahan,” she blubbered.
“No, I mean every word of it,” he said, taking her into his arms for a strong embrace. “Listen, Sav, the only reason that I can go off on those wild goose chases is because I know that you’ve got me grounded and that you’ll have my back if I get into trouble.”
“And that scares the shit out of me.” She broke away from the embrace so that she could look into his eyes. “What if I screw up? What if I don’t have your back? I damned near lost you twice before because I didn’t have your back when it counted.”
Travis was instantly aware of something that had been eluding him since he’d seen Chen in Colombo. He was terrified of Chen. In both situations, he had thought that he was in control and in both of those situations he had been wrong. He hadn’t been able to really face his own fears concerning what had happened, but he had certainly not even considered the fact that Savannah might harbor fears that were even worse than his own. In that moment, it had become clear.
“Sav,” he said, finally. “No matter what the outcome of any situation is, I still trust you with my life. I never doubt my faith in you and I know that you’ll move heaven and earth and even make a deal with the devil in order to have my back. Nothing else mat
ters as far as I’m concerned.”
The end.
The Alpha Adventures returns in:
“E” is for Emerald
An Alpha Adventure #5
Coming soon!
~~~~~
Also available:
Curse of the Coins
An adventure novel
by K.T. Tomb
(read on for a sample)
Prologue
“As they sat there in the synagogue that afternoon before Jesus began to speak, there was just one great mystery, just one supreme question, in the minds of all. Both his friends and his foes pondered just one thought, and that was: ‘Why did he himself so deliberately and effectively turn back the tide of popular enthusiasm?’ And it was immediately before and immediately after this sermon that the doubts and disappointments of his disgruntled adherents grew into unconscious opposition and eventually turned into actual hatred. It was after this sermon in the synagogue that Judas Iscariot entertained his first conscious thought of deserting. But he did, for the time being, effectively master all such inclinations.” –The Urantia Book 153:1.5
Professor Jonathan Grindlay pushed aside a half-charred two by four that the cleaning crew had left behind. He glanced around at the rubble, most of it having been cleared out already, but a few bones of the structure, a shadow of what had once been, still remained. It was a shame, really. It had been a beautiful church, over three hundred years old, and a landmark in the neighborhood. Other churches, larger and more ornate than this one, had been erected over the years, some of them bearing over the squat building, but none had the history and the worth that this one had had. He was saddened by thoughts of the fire that had ravaged through, but smiled a bit, subconsciously, at the prospect of the treasures that had been hidden and forgotten within the walls.
Everything within the walls above ground had been lost in the flame, save a few artifacts that refused to melt down without temperatures much higher than what had been produced here. They required fires that had to be coerced and force fed, and a simple structure fire just wasn’t going to cut it. He was hoping that the same could be said for the contents below the surface. The kids – in his mind, they would always be kids, no matter their age – followed closely behind. Most had done excavations with him before. This was Boston and old structure fires were relatively common.
