by Jake Bible
Mike lowered himself inside. Moshi waited until the hatch was closed then double-checked the seam and looked up at Ballantine, giving another thumbs up. Everyone was silent in the bay, even Darren since Gunnar finally let him hug him. Then after a couple of minutes, Ballantine clapped and gave a huge grin.
“That enough video, Moshi?” Ballantine asked.
Moshi tapped at her tablet then looked up and nodded.
“Perfect,” he said. “Let’s load the cargo and we’ll be done in here for a long while.”
The cargo hatch at the other end of the catwalk opened and Thorne looked in. “Ready for us?”
“Your timing is impeccable,” Ballantine said. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m actually having fun.”
“Bummer guy be fucked in the head, yo,” Darren said.
“No shit,” Gunnar laughed.
***
“Getting close,” Kinsey said. “We should be seeing Darby’s mini-sub any second.”
“Time to get our mustaches on,” Shane said.
“You are such a hipster,” Max responded.
“Dude, don’t make me shoot you.”
“No one’s getting shot,” Kinsey said. “Knock on wood or something. It’s game time. Heads straight, eyes on the prize.”
“Good speech, coach,” Shane said, tapping his eye patch. “But I only have one eye on the prize. Does that mean I can only score half as many points?”
“Just put your mustache on,” Kinsey smiled. “We’re here.”
Shane and Max settled their mustaches, both gagging as the tubes extended into their nostrils, while Kinsey stopped the mini-sub, shot the bolts below, and anchored it into place. She held out her hand and Max handed her a mustache. She set it, gagging as well, and then opened the bottom hatch.
The three nodded to each other, made sure they had their box rifles, and dropped into the water.
***
“He’s calling again,” Ingrid said. “You can’t hold him off anymore.”
“I know, I know,” Ballantine said. “I just want to give Kinsey and the Reynolds more time.”
“I’m sure he knows we’re stalling as it is,” Ingrid replied. “It’s almost an hour.”
“I know.”
“And for every minute over he’ll cut off one of Darby’s fingers.”
“I know.”
“Darby likes her fingers.”
Ballantine turned to Ingrid and glared. “You are not helping.”
“Then answer the com,” Ingrid said.
“Fine,” Ballantine replied. He took a deep breath and activated his com.
***
“I thought you had forgotten me,” Espanoza said as he stared out of the bridge windows towards the Beowulf III. “You didn’t forget about me, did you Ballantine?”
“How could I, Ricardo?” Ballantine responded over the com.
“Are you ready to give me what’s mine?” Espanoza asked. “I hope so for Just Darby’s sake.”
“Our power is still down,” Ballantine said. “We can’t open the bay to release the sub until we have power.”
“Bullshit,” Espanoza said. “You have a very capable crew on that ship. I am sure they figured out how to reroute the power by now. Send me my sub, my product, and my brother!”
“Ricardo, if you’ll give-”
“I’m giving you nothing!” Espanoza shouted. “Launch the sub in the next minute or I give the order for Darby to die!”
“Then I kill your brother,” Ballantine said.
“No, you won’t,” Espanoza laughed. “Because I have every gun on this ship aimed at the Beowulf. You’ve never been in a position to bargain, Ballantine. I’ve humored you because we have history and because I don’t want my brother to die. I may be forced to mourn my brother, but I’ll do it alive. You won’t even get to mourn your Just Darby.”
“Fine,” Ballantine said. “I’m sending your sub out to you.”
“Good,” Espanoza said. “I’ll be waiting.”
***
“Go time,” Ballantine said. “Tell Cougher we’re ready.”
“Cougher?” Ingrid said into her com. “Turn the lights back on.”
There was a brief pause then the familiar hum of the engines returned followed by the lights. Cheers could be heard from below as Ballantine stood on the upper deck and looked out at Espanoza’s ship.
“Launch the sub,” Ballantine said. “Make sure Mike and Thorne are set.”
“They are,” Ingrid replied.
“Everyone ready to abandon ship in the lifeboats if my plan completely fails?” Ballantine asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ingrid said then frowned. “Um, am I like your assistant now or something?”
“No,” Ballantine replied. “I don’t need an assistant. I just enjoy your capable company, Ingrid.”
“Oh...cool.”
“Yes, it is.”
Ingrid listened to her com and grinned. “Popeye says the whale sub is deployed.”
“Perfect.”
***
The shadow could smell the prey ahead of it and it shot forward.
Then everything changed. It didn’t want the prey it had been following anymore; it wanted what was back the way it came. A sound reached its senses; a call, a siren. The call said to hurry, to return to the big, long thing, to go and get what it really hungered for.
The massive shark whipped about and raced through the water, heading directly for the Beowulf III.
***
Kinsey, Shane and Max slowly surfaced, well away from the marina hangar. They watched as guards walked back and forth on the dock. Although all three knew they could make the shots, there was no way for them to take the guards quietly with the rifles they had.
Shane pulled a knife from his belt, held it up out of the water, and pointed at the guards. Max shrugged and Kinsey nodded. They quietly slid back under the surface of the water.
***
“Show me video,” Espanoza ordered over the com.
“My tech has sent you the feeds,” Ballantine replied into his com, winking at Ingrid. “You should see one of the cargo hold which has your product and your brother. We did have to sedate him in order to get him into the sub since he was less than cooperative.”
“I can believe that,” Espanoza said. “Even wounded he is formidable.”
Ballantine waited patiently for Espanoza to respond.
“I see my brother and my product,” Espanoza said. “Ah, and there is the crippled SEAL piloting the sub. How fortunate that half a man can be useful today. I’ll take good care of him, Ballantine, don’t you worry. At least until I train a different monkey to pilot the sub.”
“You come from small people, Ricardo,” Ballantine said. “I’m sure you can find a cousin or nephew to pilot it for you.”
“Be very careful, Ballantine,” Espanoza snarled. “Insulting my family will get Just Darby killed.”
“They’re here,” Ingrid smiled.
“Excellent,” Ballantine said. “Have the sub surface between the ships.”
The water between the two ships began to bubble and the sub slowly came up to the surface, its body so remarkably like an adolescent blue whale.
“Ballantine? What are you doing?” Espanoza asked. “Send that sub over to me now! One call and Darby dies!”
“I don’t think so,” Ballantine replied, hoping he was right. “In fact, you may want to get into a boat right now and join your brother in that sub. It might be your only chance to escape.” Ballantine grinned wide as he looked over at Espanoza’s ship. “How about this, Ricardo? You let Darby go and once I confirm she is safe, then I let you go. You hop in that sub with your brother and you can swim off to wherever you want. Sound good?”
“You’ve either gone mad or no longer care for your life or the lives of anyone around you!” Espanoza shouted. “I am now giving the order for Darby to die! You hear me, Ballantine? Your Darby dies now!”
“Hey, Ballantine,” Lake s
aid over the com. “You were right. There was a fourth. Jesus, here it comes!”
“Of course I was right,” Ballantine said. “Are Thorne and Mr. Pearlman in place?”
“They are,” Lake said.
“Good,” Ballantine said. “Ricardo? Last chance. Join your brother or end up in prison the rest of your life.”
“What? Prison?” Espanoza laughed. “You have gone mad!”
***
Espanoza put his cell phone to his ear. “Kill her.”
The ensign looked over at him then turned away quickly, not wanting the Devil to meet his eye and steal his soul.
***
The first guard went down quietly as Kinsey grabbed him from behind with one hand, while reaching around and stabbing him up under the ribs with her other. The knife punctured his lung, leaving him unable to cry out as she pulled out the knife and slashed his throat. She eased him down to the dock, her eyes on the next guard.
Slowly, she crouch walked over to him, but the second guard turned just as she stood up to attack.
“Aye-” he cried out as Kinsey opened his throat.
“Well, fuck quiet,” Max said as he stepped around Kinsey and snapped his box rifle open, he put it to his shoulder and opened fire.
Shane was right behind him with Kinsey pulling up the rear. The three operators sent each guard falling to the deck, their chests and heads ripped open. They rushed to the hangar door and Max grabbed the knob, looked to the others then opened it.
Kinsey took point with Shane right behind her. They stepped into the hangar and began to cut down Espanoza’s men with surgical precision. They didn’t worry about wasting time going for the headshots; each man received two rounds in the chest, dropping them instantly.
“Clear!” Kinsey yelled then looked towards the office. “There!”
She jumped over corpses as she raced to the office, hoping she wasn’t too late. Their messy entry meant Darby could have been killed seconds after the first shot was fired.
But that wasn’t the case as Kinsey moved into the office and trained her rifle on McCarthy that stood with a gun pressed to Darby’s head.
“I’ll fucking shoot her!” McCarthy yelled. “You get the fuck out of my way or I shoot her!”
“I have you,” Kinsey said softly, but saw Darby shake her head just enough to catch her attention.
“You won’t get a shot off in time!” McCarthy shouted. “Get out of my way or she dies!”
Kinsey and Darby locked eyes then Kinsey lowered her weapon slightly and stepped aside.
“Out!” McCarthy ordered as he moved forward towards the door. “Out there with your buddies! You walk to the far end of the dock and set your weapons down!”
Kinsey backed out of the office and looked at Max and Shane.
“Yeah, we heard,” Max said.
He and his brother stepped over and between the corpses to the far end of the dock. Kinsey followed and they all squatted and placed their rifles down then stood and held up their hands. McCarthy cautiously walked Darby from the office, making sure her body was between him and the three operators of Team Grendel.
“I’m leaving,” McCarthy said. “She’s coming with. When I’m far enough away, I’ll let her go. Don’t even think of following me!”
“Dude, why should we believe you?” Max asked. “You get out that door and you’ll just blow her head off and run.”
“Are you fucking kidding?” McCarthy laughed nervously. “I know who this chick is. Now I kill her and that Ballantine guy will hunt me down and skin me alive. I’m not fucking joking. He’ll skin me!”
“He will,” Darby said, not offering any resistance.
“So I leave and she lives,” McCarthy said as he got to the hangar door. He opened it with his free hand and grabbed Darby’s arm as soon as the door was open, yanking her out onto the dock outside.
The second the door closed, Kinsey, Max and Shane picked up their rifles and sprinted towards the door. Just as they reached it, it swung open and Kinsey almost put two rounds into Darby.
“Fuck!” Kinsey snapped. “You have a death wish?”
“Where’d he go?” Max asked, stepping out onto the dock, his rifle sweeping back and forth as he searched the night for McCarthy.
“He got away,” Darby said as she walked past them and back to the office. “Oh, well.”
She bent down, picked up a cell phone, and dialed a number.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Kinsey asked.
Darby held up a finger as the person on the other end of the phone answered.
***
“Is it done?” Espanoza asked.
“No,” Darby replied. “But you are. Better run, Espanoza, because I am coming for you.”
Espanoza’s blood ran cold and he turned to the ensign that was by his side suddenly. “Fire on that ship,” he growled. “Blast it out of the fucking water!”
The ensign lifted a pistol at Espanoza and shook his head.
“No, sir, I don’t think so,” he said. “By orders of the Mexican Naval Command, you are relieved of your commission and under arrest for murder, drug trafficking, and corruption of duty as a naval officer. Everything you have said and done has been recorded and transmitted. You are done.”
“What’s wrong, Espanoza?” Darby asked over the phone. “Things didn’t work out how you thought?”
Espanoza looked at the gun in the ensign’s hand then slammed the phone into the young man’s face. The gun fired, but Espanoza had stepped aside. He grabbed the ensign’s arm and wrenched the pistol free, turning it on the young man and shooting him in the belly.
As the ensign crumpled, Espanoza raced around him and out of the bridge. Men were running at him from every direction. He fired over and over and the men hit the deck or ducked into hatchways. He sprinted away from the bridge and hurried down to the upper deck. Someone shouted and he spun and fired, shooting the man in the chest.
Espanoza quickly realized there was nowhere for him to go. He had to get off the ship. But where? Then, as he got to the rail, he saw the sub waiting there between the ships. He looked down at the dark water below, climbed over the railing, then jumped, holding his legs closed and arms to his sides.
He felt the impact of the water all the way up his legs and into his hips, but he knew he didn’t break anything when he was able to start swimming towards the sub.
***
“And he’s in the water,” Ballantine said. “Ingrid, bring the com back online. Full encryption protocols. No more of this open, sometimes snooped on, cat and mouse crap.”
“Yes, sir,” Ingrid said.
“Lake? Where is it?” Ballantine asked.
“Closing fast,” Lake said. “It’ll be a race between it and Espanoza as to which one gets to the sub first.”
“Com is secure, sir,” Ingrid said.
“Good,” Ballantine said. “Darby?”
***
“All is as it should be,” Darby said into her com.
“Whoa,” Shane said. “Com’s on? I thought we were staying quiet?”
“And the package?” Ballantine asked.
“Wrapped and ready for delivery,” Darby said, walking over to Dr. Morganton’s body. She knelt down and gave the corpse a nudge.
But it wasn’t a corpse.
Dr. Morganton stirred then opened her eyes and looked over at Kinsey, Max, and Shane who stood by the door.
“Who are they?” Dr. Morganton asked, sitting up.
“Team Grendel,” Darby said.
“Ah, Ballantine’s crew,” Dr. Morganton nodded as Darby helped her to her feet. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to play dead? I’ll be working out the kinks for weeks. Good thing I do yoga daily.” She stepped forward and offered her hand. “Dr. Lisa Morganton. It’s good to meet you.”
“Uh, you too,” Shane said as he shook her hand.
“Gonna need some answers, Darby,” Kinsey said.
“In good time,” Ballantine said
over the com. “For now you stay quiet and get the package safely back here. Understood?”
“You’re the boss,” Kinsey said.
“Yes, he is,” Darby said. “Let’s go.”
***
Most of the crew of the Beowulf III stood at the railing of the upper deck and watched as spotlights illuminated Espanoza swimming frenziedly towards the sub.
“It’s kind of sad,” Ingrid said. “He has no idea what’s about to happen.”
“Screw him,” Gunnar said. “He killed Beau.”
Everyone looked over at him and nodded.
“Here it comes!” Lake shouted from the bridge.
Espanoza reached the sub and grabbed onto the faux skin. It took him a minute, but the sub was low enough in the water that he was able to get himself up onto the back. He looked around for a second and then pounded where he thought the cargo hatch was.
“I can’t look,” Ingrid said and turned away.
“Not missing this for anything,” Popeye said.
“Me neither,” Cougher said.
Espanoza raised both hands up over his head and brought them down hard onto the cargo hatch one more time.
Then the water exploded around him and the sub was lifted into the air, clutched in the jaws of a sixty foot shark. The shark took the sub twenty feet into the air before twisting around and bringing it back to the water. Espanoza’s screams could be heard all the way to the Beowulf III.
“Oh, shit!”
“Damn!”
“Holy fuck!”
“Awesome!”
“What’s happening? Guys? Tell me!”
“Open your eyes!”
“Moshi,” Ballantine said to the woman at his elbow. “If you’ll do the honors.”
Moshi swiped at her tablet, and the controls she had been remotely piloting the sub with disappeared, replaced by a single red button.
