03 Deluge of the Dead (33 page)

“Agreed,” Scott said. “I think you’ll have to sound the alert sometime tomorrow anyway. I’m just hoping they get lazy or overconfident enough to slow down or stop somewhere before then. Like I said, it’s about the only chance we have to catch up to them. If we’re lucky they’ll just decide to go ashore at some marina during the rain to get supplies. That might slow them down long enough for us to catch up. But they won’t do that if they know we’re chasing them already.”

“That makes sense,” Captain McCloud agreed. “Hold on… Okay, I think we found the record of them passing here about an hour and a half ago. It looked like one vessel on the radar as it went by at around 25 knots and we didn’t think anything of it at the time, what wish so many boats from the Flotilla out on rescue missions. However, it was moving fast and when my operator reviewed the radar recording he noticed that as the angle changed we registered two returns on the radar screen. They are running in close formation with your yacht on the seaward side of the ferry. That’s a smart tactic, Scott. The ferry was masking the radar return of the
Expiscator
to make it look like a single vessel in case we were already looking for both of them. These guys aren’t stupid.”

“Damn,” Scott muttered. “That’s all we need, pirates who are cruel, desperate
and
smart. Well at least we know what to expect now. Thanks for confirming their course, Captain. Please let us know if you get any further details on their location and heading. I’ll be going out in the helicopter soon, and I’ll check in by sat-phone, but even if we spot them we’ll try not to tip them off that we’re chasing them just yet.”

“Good plan, Commodore. I’ll keep you posted on developments,” Captain McCloud replied before saying good-bye.

*****

Stan Dawson couldn’t believe he was piloting an actual pirate ship, let alone a high tech version that could outrun almost any ship at sea. He certainly didn’t want this job. In fact he was sickened and terrified by what he had already been forced to do. Stan had bridled at the initial demand to pull up next the
Expiscator
and only complied when a pistol was pressed up to the side of his head. When he saw the bodies of Hector, Pedro and George being thrown over the side it had broken his soul. Seeing Billy at the helm of the yacht, albeit with a gun to his head too, had only been a slight relief to his torment. At least Billy was still alive, but it had been his responsibility to protect Scott’s family and everyone on the
Expiscator.
He had failed miserably.

Stan knew now that he was a coward. He could try to rationalize his actions by telling himself that he was just taking the bad guys away from the rest of the people he cared about in the Flotilla, but the fact was that he was simply doing whatever they asked just to stay alive. He piloted the ferry exactly as the man with a gun to his head directed. He knew they would kill him if he tried to activate a radio or distress signal, so he didn’t try. He knew they would kill him if he did anything to disable the ferry, so he didn’t try that either. He had become a slave and pawn to apocalyptic pirates. Stan wanted to puke.

After more than two hours of emotional torment Stan began to think strategically. What could he do that would slow these pirates down and help whoever was looking for them? The actual answer was obvious. He needed to reduce the rate of separation from any rescuers who might follow. He spent a few minutes thinking about how to do that. There were only two variables: speed and direction. He needed to reduce their speed and adjust their course from a straight line to some sort of zigzag. Both of those things would be much easier to do if he didn’t have another boat cruising in formation with him.

It took a while for him to realize that Billy was steering the other boat. If Stan changed course, or slowed down, Billy would match his moves without raising any alarm. He simply had to initiate the moves and the
Expiscator
would mirror his actions. They had passed Point Dume and were rounding Point Magu by then. It was a straight shot to Santa Barbara, but Stan wanted to stretch it out.

His minders on the bridge of the high tech ferry were composed of three gangsters who made sure that Stan didn’t touch the radio and kept the boat pointed in a generally “northward” direction. They almost shot him for veering west to avoid running into Point Dume and they clearly had no idea about how to actually pilot a vessel, especially through a storm. The simplest way to slow their progress without reducing speed was also the best way for the boats to travel through the storm swells, he changed heading slightly to head into the waves, instead of hitting them broadside. This would make for a smoother ride and take them off a direct course to Santa Barbara. It wouldn’t slow them down much, but he would try to think of more ways to slow their progress. Someone in the Flotilla would realize they were missing sooner or later and Stan had no doubt that they would come looking, if not for him then for Billy and Michelle.

*****

 Billy was almost caught off-guard when the ferry veered towards the yacht. It wasn’t an abrupt turn, but suddenly the big jet powered catamaran was cutting across his bow. Billy tried not to overreact. He didn’t want to attract the attention of the big black man who seemed to be his new watchdog. He made a minor course correction and realized that the ferry was turning into the swells. This would certainly improve the comfort level aboard the
Expiscator
as the motion of the boat transitioned to a rise and fall of the bow, instead of the sickening rolling back and forth that their previous course had produced. His guardian, Terrance, didn’t seem to notice. Billy thought the man had been close to puking, so the new course would probably agree with him.   

Michelle was still tied to the bed in the captain’s cabin of the
Expiscator
. She did notice the course change and felt the altered tempo and angle of their path through the swells. She had no idea what it meant, of course, but her senses were alive to everything as she waited to discover her fate. The men who had taken the yacht were obviously ruthless and cruel. She had no illusions about their intentions and capability for violence. Billy had gained her some time by agreeing to pilot the boat through the storm, in return for sparing her from rape or worse, but his usefulness would come to an end as soon as these “pirates” decided that they had learned enough to run the boat themselves.

Both Billy and Michelle knew that Scott would move heaven and earth to rescue them, if he could. However, both of them were also convinced that Scott was either close to dead or dead already. They knew he would never allow himself to become one of the undead. That left Captain Fisher and the newly appointed Guardians – Mick and Mark – to rescue them.  There might be others helping them, of course, but those were the men who had sworn to protect Scott’s family earlier that day and do whatever they could to live up to that pledge.

Scag didn’t notice the change of course. He was too busy rolling, rising and falling in his own sea of flesh. Down in the master stateroom his three new “old ladies” were proving their worth the hard way. Scag was careful not to unleash any of his sadistic cravings, not yet. This first encounter was all about their ability to give him pleasure, and him watching as he made them pleasure each other. There would be plenty of time to degrade and humiliate them into abject submission later. Tonight he was simply introducing these bitches to their new master and tearing down the social taboos that had ruled their previous existence. After he was done training these little sluts they would fuck anyone, or anything, he told them to.

Scag enjoyed receiving oral sex from “Mute Mindy,” as he called the silent blonde, while he watched and directed the activities of Paula and Susan who were naked in the 69 position at the foot of his new king size bed. Oh yes, it was good to be King, and this really should have been the highlight of his day, even if he would rather be pounding one of them in the ass, but his mind was drifting towards more pressing matters. Should they stop at the nearest marina while it was still raining to loot supplies and to grab more yachts and bitches for his men? Had the damned Flotilla realized that he had stolen the ferry and hijacked the Commodore’s yacht yet? He was almost having second thoughts about taking this awesome boat. They were bound to come after it, weren’t they? They might not have noticed, or even cared, if he had just taken the ferry and it would have been moving much faster on its own. Taking the
Expiscator
was not only slowing them down, it was sure to make the Commodore chase him, especially since Scag had taken the man’s wife and son too. Of course Scag wouldn’t have these three bitches to fuck if he hadn’t grabbed this yacht. There were always trade-offs in life. Scag would simply have to make the best of things and roll with the punches when they came. Those thoughts drifted away as he neared climax and said, “Paula, come up here and sit on
my
face now.” Yes, it was good to be King.

*****

Sergeant Major O’Hara left Nikki in the good hands of Dr. Greenburg and stopped by his own stateroom to make sure his wife and daughter were safe before calling his Marines to formation on the vehicle deck. One squad and their Amtrac had not made it back before they sailed, so the ship’s complement of Marines was down to twenty-three, including O’Hara and the Heavy Weapons Team. After O’Hara had filled them in on the current situation his Marines were ready to take on a thousand pirates.

“It would appear that the Commodore will survive the Zeke bite,” O’Hara told his incredulous Marines. “But his family has been taken hostage by some of the worst scum of the earth. I spent the last hour with a thirteen year old girl who was gang raped by these bastards and I intend to get some God damned payback. Do you hear me?”

“YES, SERGEANT MAJOR!” yelled his men.

“The
Sovereign Spirit
is chasing those bastards down and we
will
catch them. You
will
get your chance to save the Commodore’s family – the same way that he saved our families, our wives and loved ones who are safe on this ship right now. Now it’s payback time and payback is a
bitch
! Those fucking scum bags deserve every bullet and stab wound that you will inflict on their sorry asses. Do you hear me?

“YES, SERGEANT MAJOR!”

O’Hara continued to pump up his troopers for another five minutes. Then he assigned four Marines to man the two LAV-25s that were hanging from the ship’s lifeboat davits and explained that they would serve as the main armament in case of ship to ship engagements. O’Hara also handed out some special weapons from their stores, along a few from Scott’s secret cache. As far as O’Hara was concerned nothing would be held back on this mission. However, he stressed that this would be a hostage rescue mission with strict rules of engagement. There was no telling how long it would take to catch up to the pirates and there was no firm plan of attack when they did, but the Marines needed to be ready for anything. He instructed his men to get some rest before dismissing them with orders to be ready for deployment on ten minute notice.

*****

An hour later Scott asked Captain Fisher, O’Hara, Mick, Mark, Carl, Ralph Corrigan and his HRT leader to attend a strategy meeting in the conference room.  The
Sovereign Spirit
steamed passed Point Magu at full speed.  They were chasing the pirates and wouldn’t stop until they caught them, but what would they do then? How could they rescue Billy and Michelle without putting them in even more danger? Was there any way to take the pirates by surprise? Scott thought so, but he needed to pass it by the rest of his advisors.

“First, let me thank all of you for wanting to help,” Scott said. “As you know by now my wife and son, as well as George Hammer’s family, were aboard the
Expiscator
when it was taken by pirates. For those of you who haven’t heard yet, George Hammer is dead. However, he was able to tell us that he overheard them telling my son, Billy, to pilot the yacht north.  That course was confirmed by Coast Guard radar, so I’m confident that we are hot on their heels, so to speak.

“We also rescued a teenage girl who seems to be the sole survivor from the captives that this same gang had been abusing in the Aquarium of the Pacific. From what she’s told us, it seems likely that these animals will keep the women on the boat alive and will probably abuse them too.” Scott paused to control his emotions. Thoughts of Michelle being raped threatened to drive him over the edge of madness.

O’Hara stepped into the pause by saying, “We can hope that the leader of this gang of pirates is smart enough to know the value of his hostages.  The girl says his name is Scag and he spared her from abuse until a few days ago in order to get her father to keep the generator and other systems running at the aquarium. This Scag might have extorted Billy into driving the boat by threatening Michelle. In that case, they should both be safe, as long as they need Billy. If Scag knows they’re the Commodore’s wife and son, he should also see the wisdom of keeping them unharmed to exchange for ransom.”

“That’s what I’m hoping,” Scott agreed. “But the reason I called this meeting is to discuss our options for when we find them. We have a lot of firepower aboard the
Sovereign Spirit
, but I’m looking for the best way to actually rescue my family…and George’s of course. Any suggestions?”

“It will be difficult to take them by surprise in this ship, even at night,” FBI agent Corrigan said. “They’re bound to see us coming.”

“Actually,” Special Agent Slidell interjected. “From what I’ve seen of this ship, you might have a few stealth assets that could insert a covert rescue team.”

Scott was immediately impressed with her input and asked, “Would you care to be more specific?”

“Certainly,” Helen Slidell responded. “I noticed that you have lots of scuba gear and a submarine among that collection of toys downstairs.”

Scott smiled behind the surgical mask and said, “You’re quite observant. I was thinking of the same things when I formulated the question. We also have faster modes of transportation, including a helicopter and speed boats. But I agree that the submarine is the stealthiest option for approaching these pirates, if we can sneak up while they are stationary.”