Angel of the Abyss: A Novel of the Great Tribulation (The Days of Elijah Book 3)

by Mark Goodwin

  Everett pressed the barrel to the door and unleashed another barrage into the man’s sternum.

  “Two more peacekeepers left.” Courtney looked distressed.

  Everett grunted, “And two possible rooms where they could be.

  “Wherever they are, I’m sure they know we’re here by now.” Sarah changed magazines.

  Everett pulled the punctured door open, then peered into the hallway. “We’ve gotta keep moving.”

  Everett took the keys from Courtney. “I’ll stick the keys in the door. You two give me cover fire. Courtney, you fire at the door I’m going in, and Sarah, you fire at the one across the hall.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” Courtney quizzed.

  “Door knobs on the left, you shoot on the right.” He started out the door.

  “What if I accidentally shoot you?” Courtney sounded perplexed.

  “Just don’t.” Everett’s eyes were wide with anxiety. Keep your rifles close to the door. When I say now, stop shooting until I push the door open.”

  “I don’t like this plan.” Courtney’s voice was high pitched and hushed.

  “Me either, but we’re going with it.” Everett led the way to the next room.

  His hands shook as he held the keys by the lock. “Go!”

  Sarah and Courtney opened fire at the two doors from point blank range. Everett shoved the key in the lock, turned, and pushed it open. Courtney and Sarah rushed past him with rifles leveled.

  Everett didn’t hear shooting as he followed them in.

  “It’s clear.” Sarah returned from checking the bathroom.

  Everett paused to catch his breath. “The pea has to be under the last shell.”

  “They’re ready for us.” Sarah’s eyes showed her concern.

  “Maybe not.” Everett thought quickly. “This time, you two go into E5 and spray rifle fire into the walls toward E7. Drywall won’t even slow down green-tipped 5.56. I’ll go to the door and unlock it. Then, we’ll go in and clean up. Start firing for five seconds on my mark. Sarah, you pull out after five seconds. Courtney, you lay down another five seconds of cover fire. When we hear you cease fire, we’ll go in.”

  Sarah nodded. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  Everett gave the girls two seconds to get into position, then yelled, “Go!”

  “RATATATAT! The Vektors barked out an even flow of ammunition.

  Everett held his breath as he turned the key. “Four, five.”

  He kicked the door open and leveled his rifle at the inside of the cabin. Rifle fire erupted from inside the room, spraying erratically at the walls and toward the door. Everett knew if he waited for Courtney, she’d go in first, so he took aim at the general direction of the gunfire inside the room and rushed towards it.

  He squeezed the trigger and continued to fire until his bolt locked open. He pulled the trigger several times, but nothing happened.

  Courtney’s rifle fired once more from behind him, and Sarah’s gun, twice more.

  “Clear.” Sarah lowered her weapon and changed magazines.

  Everett was in a daze. He looked at the bullet-riddled wall to his left, then around the room. One peacekeeper was dead on the floor behind him, and the other lay prostrate at his feet, eyes still open. Everett twitched and stepped back from the corpse.

  “Change your magazine, Everett.” Courtney switched out her mag, tossing the empty one on the floor and refilling the pouch on her vest with a magazine from the tactical vest of one of the hostiles on the bed.

  Everett also salvaged a magazine from the load bearing vest on the bed. He checked the ammo. “Green tip. We’re good to go.”

  Sarah leaned against the wall to let Everett resume the lead. “Next time, we say we’re Canadian.”

  “Agreed.” Courtney fell in line behind Everett.

  “Where to next, boss?” Sarah asked.

  Everett hustled to the stairwell. “We need to get to the engineer maintenance room. We need those zip ties and duct tape. We need a way to restrain the crew.”

  “Little chance that no one heard all of that.” Courtney followed him down the stairs.

  Everett looked through the window in the hallway of F Deck as they passed it. He looked again as they descended past G Deck. “Not a creature is stirring.” And again, when they reached H Deck. “Not even a mouse.”

  Chief Engineer Lars Andersen met them coming up from the ground level. “What is all that racket you people are making?” His Scandinavian accent was thick.

  Everett took a deep breath. “Training. Don’t blame us. Lieutenant Baard insisted because our two squads have never worked together before.”

  “But this is a ship. You can’t train with live ammunition inside a ship! If you need to target practice, you take it out on the aft deck and shoot over the stern.” Andersen took a deep drag from his cigarette, then threw it on the floor.

  “You’ll have to talk to Baard.” Everett shrugged as if there were nothing he could do about it. “He actually sent us to ask you for some duct tape and zip ties.”

  “What for?” He scowled.

  “Couple of the men’s gear is loose.”

  “That’s not my problem.” Lars started to push past them.

  “It will be if we get hit at Gibraltar.” Sarah stepped aside as if she were going to let him walk by.

  He paused and looked at her. “Okay. I’ll get them after lunch.”

  Courtney curled one side of her lip. “We need them now. Baard isn’t going to break for lunch until we get these guys tightened up. And if the crew doesn’t wait for him to eat, he’ll pitch a fit. That’ll create a bad atmosphere for the rest of the trip.”

  “Let’s get it over with then.” Lars turned back.

  Everett followed him into the engineering maintenance room and waited for him to scrounge up the materials.

  Lars handed the requested items to Everett.

  Everett didn’t take them. “Just set them on the table, then go ahead and place a couple zip ties on your feet.”

  Lars shook his finger. “No, no. You’ll not get way with this.”

  “You may be right, but you’re not going to be the one who stops me.” Everett leveled his rifle at Lars and took two steps back.

  “I’m the engineer. You won’t make it to Gibraltar without me. Go ahead. Shoot me. I dare you.”

  Everett took aim at Lars’ forehead. “Like you said, we probably won’t get away with it anyway, so why should it matter if we have an engineer or not? The only question is, will you still be alive to see us when we get caught, or will you be fish food at the bottom of the Atlantic?”

  “Grrff,” Lars grunted, picked up a pair of zip ties, sat on the chair in the corner of the room and tightened them around his feet.

  “Courtney, get his hands.” Everett kept his rifle trained on the burly fellow.

  Seconds later, the team had the needed supplies. With Lars detained on the floor, they headed off to the galley.

  CHAPTER 10

  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.

  Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

  Once the team had reached the landing of the third flight of stairs, Everett checked his watch. “Twelve oh five. Let’s hope everyone is in the mess room. We’ll speak calmly. If we’re calm, they’ll be calm. But, if someone steps out of line, we have to take them out.”

  “Roger that.” Sarah stacked up behind Everett.

  Courtney stood behind Sarah with her rifle at a low-ready position. “We need to keep some people alive. I don’t know how to drive a container ship.”

  “Agreed. But the most important people to keep alive is us.” Everett took a deep breath and opened the door to the hallway of F Deck.

  The team stayed close as they approached the galley. Everett walked in first. Most of the cre
w were sitting down, but they seemed concerned.

  Ana, the chief cook approached Everett as he walked in the room. “Have you seen Lui? He’s never late for his shift, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Lui’s fine.”

  Captain Petrov stood from his seat. He held a pump action shotgun in his hand but did not point it at Everett or the girls. “What about Lars?” His thick Eastern European accent added to his menacing scowl. He checked his watch. “He’s always on time for lunch. And where are other security personnel? Some of the crew told me they heard gunshots. If you are training with live ammunition, I need to be made aware of it beforehand.”

  “Lars is fine also.” Everett nodded in an unruffled manner. “But I am going to ask you to relinquish your weapon, Captain Petrov.”

  Petrov put his other hand on the shotgun’s pump. “No. This will not happen. This is my ship, and I will maintain control. You put it down your weapons.”

  Everett quickly took aim at Petrov’s head before he had a chance to raise the shotgun. “Captain, you can’t win this one. Drop your weapon.”

  “If you kill me. You never make it to shore.”

  Everett spoke to the girls. “Secure the door. No one leaves.”

  As Courtney and Sarah stepped in front of the doorway and lifted their rifles, the atmosphere grew tense. The rest of the crew froze like a room full of ice sculptures.

  Everett continued to try reasoning with the man. He knew if he took him out, the entire situation would quickly deteriorate. This was the man the rest of the crew looked to for leadership. “Captain, I’m going to ask you one more time to put your weapon down. These people need you. You’ll make a bad situation much worse if you force me to kill you.”

  “No. You make already situation worse. I don’t play this game. I am leaving; going back to bridge. If you want shoot me, just do it. But you have to shoot me in back, right in front of whole crew. If you do this, they never help you get anywhere.” Petrov walked to the kitchen, intending to bypass the door being blocked by Courtney and Sarah.

  “If you walk through that door, I’ll drop you before your foot crosses the threshold!” Everett commanded.

  Whether Petrov thought Everett was bluffing, or whether he had a death wish, Everett did not know. The one thing Everett did know, was that Petrov was right about the effect shooting him in the back would have on the rest of the crew.

  “So just do it and shut up about it.” Petrov continued through the door.

  Everett gritted his teeth as he squeezed the trigger. The bullet made a clean hole in the back of the captain’s head, and the man toppled like a tree, face first into the kitchen.

  Everett spun around to face the screaming and horrified crew. He pointed the gun at Second Mate Nate Williams, the next highest-ranking officer in the mess room. “Do you want to live or die? I need an answer right now.”

  Williams stammered. “Live.”

  “Then instruct these people to calm down right now. Tell them to lie face down on the floor with their hands on the back of their heads. Their lives are in your hands at this extremely volatile moment.”

  In his distinctly British accent, he said, “Do what the man says.” Williams slowly got down on the floor.

  Everett pointed to a deckhand and the messmate. “You two. Get up, get the zip ties from the ladies at the door, then secure the rest of the crew. Make sure it’s tight. If you intentionally leave them loose, you’ll be viewed as a problem to me. In the given situation, I only have one recourse for dealing with problems. Do you understand?”

  They both mumbled, “Yes, sir.” The two men kept their heads low and proceeded to get the materials as instructed.

  Everett shouted, “Look at me! I need to know that you hear me perfectly. This is literally life and death for you two gentlemen.”

  They stopped and turned to Everett shaking in fear.

  Everett repeated his question. “Do you understand?”

  It seemed to be all they could do to look Everett in the eyes. “Yes, sir,” both said firmly, and almost in unison.

  “Second Mate Williams.” Everett wanted to establish to the crew that some semblance of their world still existed by showing the ship’s command hierarchy remained in place, even if only as a puppet regime ultimately commanded by himself. He needed them to continue functioning in their assigned roles for the ship to cross the Atlantic. “Explain to your crew that all is well and that we’ll all live through this less-than-ideal experience, as long as we play by the new rules.”

  Williams kept his head low but looked up around the room. “Everything will be okay. Just do what the man tells you.”

  Everett personally tested the zip ties of each crew member. He looked at the name tag of the messmate. “Mr. Fernandez. What’s your first name?”

  “Juan,” he answered plainly.

  “Good. Juan, I need you to come with me. We need to go make sure the chief officer is going to be okay with the new arrangement.” Everett instructed Juan to get some zip ties, then led the way up to the bridge.

  Everett nodded to Sarah as he walked out of the room. “Watch the crew. Courtney, come with me. We’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll be here,” Sarah said.

  Everett and Courtney followed Juan up to the bridge. Juan walked in.

  Chief Officer Maria Lopez turned to him “Que paso, Juan?”

  “English please.” Everett smiled politely.

  Juan spoke nervously. “The man wants me to put the zip ties on jour hand and jour feet.”

  “Whatever for?” She turned to Everett. “What’s the meaning of this? I’ve done nothing wrong!”

  “We’ve had some issues. I’ll explain everything once it’s all straightened out, but for now, we need you to let Juan secure you. It’s for your own safety.”

  “For my safety, please. Don’t insult me, Lieutenant.”

  Everett offered a faint smile as he nodded to Juan to begin restraining her. “I assure you, my safety is not the one in jeopardy here. Trust me when I tell you, it truly is for your safety.”

  Juan placed the ties on her hands as she held them out reluctantly. “Where is the captain? Does he know about all of this?”

  Everett waited for Juan to finish securing her before answering. “The captain made some bad choices. You’re now the commanding officer of the Madison, so the lives of your crew are your responsibility. If anything happens to them, the blame rests on your shoulders.”

  “No, no, no! You killed Vasily? What have you done? What is going on? I demand that you tell me right now!”

  Everett motioned to Courtney. “Go back downstairs. Cut the restraints off the second mate’s feet so he can walk, and bring him up here. She’s not going to be the one to help us get where we’re going.”

  Courtney looked at him. “Don’t kill her. She’s not threatening us.”

  Everett lowered his eyebrows, disappointed Courtney would think that he’d kill the woman simply to get rid of her. “I won’t. Bring the messmate with you when you come back. We’ll have him and Juan take her downstairs.”

  “Who are you people?” Lopez asked.

  Everett looked at her hand where the Mark had been implanted. “Who we are doesn’t matter. The only thing you need to be concerned with is whether you’re going to do things the easy way or the hard way. Yes, we need help to get across the ocean, but we’ll get it from someone. Team players are going to have a much better experience than those who resist.”

  Everett looked out over the stacks of containers at the vast Atlantic. The trip wasn’t going to be the relaxing pleasure cruise he’d originally hoped for.

  Minutes later, Courtney arrived with Nate Williams, the messmate, and the deckhand. Everett looked at the messmate’s name badge. “Hill, what’s your first name?”

  “Clark.”

  “Good. Clark, you and Juan need to get Mrs. Lopez down to the galley with the rest of the crew.”

  “Miss.” She snapped her head. “
It's Ms. Lopez.”

  “Thank you for bringing that to my attention.” Everett made another mental note for his naughty and nice lists. “Courtney, leave Clark and Juan with Sarah, then bring Lui up to the bridge. You can cut the restraints on his feet so he can walk. I don’t think he’ll hurt you.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She escorted the messmate and deckhand as they carried Lopez down to the mess room.

  “And grab some walkies from the peacekeepers quarters on E Deck. We’re gonna have to split up, but at least we can stay in radio contact.”

  Everett looked over the control panels, then turned to Nate Williams, the new captain. “Explain to me what I’m looking at.”

  “You’ve got the radars, and the ECDIS, or electronic chart display information system, which serves as our all-in-one-chart. Then the AIS, or automatic identification system, is what broadcasts our identification to other passing ships and eventually the port. The navigational controls that steer the ship and determine speed and direction.”

  Williams nodded to the comms unit. “That’s the radio, obviously. Then you have a gyrocompass, magnetic compass, tachometer, which functions like the RPM gauge in an automobile, and an echo sounder to measure the depth, and watch out for obstructions in shallow water.”

  Everett nodded. It was a thorough answer. He took it as a sign that Nate Williams saw the wisdom in doing things the easy way.

  Courtney returned with Lui and the walkie talkies in roughly fifteen minutes.

  Everett took a radio, then cut Lui’s hands loose. “Lui, we’re gonna need your help.” He nodded as he spoke to let Lui know that his statement was being phrased as a request, but really was more of a directive. “Captain Williams here, has been promoted. You’ll essentially be the first officer. He’s going to teach you the basics of navigation. Teach you what you need to do to keep us on course, and how to know if something is wrong. I’m hoping the two of you will be our go-to-guys for getting us safely to port.”

  “I try Lieutenant, but dock ship take years of experience.” Lui seemed eager to help but overwhelmed by the task before him.