The Inside Passage (Ted Higuera Series Book 1) (30 page)

Johnstone Straits, Canada – On board the
Defiant

9:16 am

Jack, Meagan and
Ted charged back up the companionway stairs to the cockpit.

“Look over there,”
Chris pointed to the east. “Just coming around Hanson Island. It’s that fishing
boat.”

“Head for them,
son. We’ve got to intercept them.”

Without hesitating
Chris spun the wheel. The
Defiant
twirled on her keel and headed towards
the fishing boat. Chris pushed the throttle all the way forward.

From out of nowhere,
Bon Jovi’s
Blaze of Glory
popped into Ted’s mind.

“What are we going
to do?” Meagan slid into the seat next to Chris.

Bon Jovi’s lyrics
flowed through Ted’s head.
Shot down, in a blaze of glory.

“There’s only one
thing we can do,” Chris answered. “Get your life jackets on.”

The passage was
narrow. There was less than two miles separating the
Defiant
from the
fishing boat.

“I see some guys
moving around.” Ted raised the binoculars to his eyes. Three men huddled around
the big steel box on the back of the boat. “I’m not sure what they’re doing. Uh
oh. They’ve spotted us.”

Chris raised his
hand to shield his eyes so he could see the distant boat.

“Dude.” A wave of
acceptance swept over Ted. “They’ve got guns.”

Two of the men on
the boat made their way to the bow.

“They’ve got the
missile in that box.” Ted held the binoculars to his eyes. “It’s some sort of
rocket launcher.”

Ted did the math
in his mind.
Two miles distant. They’re probably doing twelve knots, we’re
doing seven. We’re closing at about twenty miles an hour. That’s three minutes
to cover a mile. We’ll be up to them in six minutes.

Chris kept the
Defiant
on a collision course with the fishing boat. The men on the foredeck of the
fishing boat knelt behind the bulwarks and rested their rifles on the rail.

“Meagan, Ted, get
in the cabin,” Jack shouted, reaching for Winnie. “NOW! Lay down on the floor.”

Meagan and Ted
quickly dropped down the hatch. Meagan whimpered.

The terrorist
opened up beyond their range. They were still nearly a mile apart. Ted poked
his head out of the companionway hatch. Jack slipped down behind the cabin, his
Sten gun resting on the coach roof.

“Keep down, son,”
Jack said, then turned to Chris. “Try to keep the cabin between us and them.”

“The fiberglass
won’t stop a bullet,” Chris croaked.

Shot down, in a
blaze of glory.
The song continued to play in Ted’s head.

“No, but if they
canna see us, they’ll have a hard time hittin’ us.”

Time froze. It
seemed like hours. No one spoke. Ted waited for the next assault. The boats
closed the gap between them.

Shot down, in a
blaze of glory.

The second burst
of gunfire from the fishing boat was more accurate. Bits and pieces of fiberglass
and wood flew through the air. A bullet ricocheted off of the galley stove.

“Aren’t you going
to shoot back?” Chris shrieked.

“Not yet, Laddie,
‘twould be a waste of good ammunition. They’re out of m’ range. Old Winnie here
only is only good for about a hundred yards or so.”

The next burst was
devastating. The forward end of the cabin virtually disintegrated in the wither
of gunfire. The air in the cabin was filled with flying pieces of wood and
fiberglass.

“Jesus God, that’s
too close!” Ted looked up at Jack. “What do we do?”

Shot down, in a
blaze of glory.
The song repeated itself again and again.

“Hold yer course,
Chris.” Jack’s voice was as calm as Sunday morning. “We’re about to give a
little back.”

Jack pulled the
bolt back on his ancient sub-machine gun and pulled the trigger. With a roar,
he loosed a hail of fire towards the fishing boat. Ted could see wooden
splinters flying from the bulwarks. The two men on the bow dropped behind
cover.

Shot down in a
blaze of glory.
Beads of sweat ran down Ted’s brow.

“That should hold
those bastards for a while.” A grin broke across Jack’s wrinkled face.

A head popped up
behind the fishing boat’s rail and Jack let loose another burst of fire.

“Those lads’ve
probably never been under fire before.” Jack seemed to be enjoying the
exchange. “They’ve probably crapped their drawers.”

The two boats
closed with each other rapidly.

Shot down in a
blaze of glory.

Occasionally the
men on the fishing boat popped up and fired off a few rounds, but nothing came
remotely close. As their heads came out of cover, Jack expertly laid down a
fusillade at them.

“Jack! Look out!”
Ted spotted a third gunman on the after deck. It was an older man. He looked
somehow like he knew what he was doing. The distance between the boats narrowed
to less than fifty yards. The older man raised his rifle to his shoulder and
fired. Jack jerked like a puppet in the wind.

Ted felt warm
liquid spatter across his face.

****

“JACK!” 

Ted heard the
panic in Chris’ voice. He charged up the ladder with Meagan on his heels. “You
bastards!” he screamed. The old man lay in the cockpit, blood oozing from a
series of holes in his chest.

Ted grabbed Jack’s
gun and wildly pulled the trigger. Two rounds fired, then the gun stopped.

“What’s wrong? It
won’t fire.”

“It’s jammed,”
Meagan yelled. She reached behind her back for the automatic pistol.

Out of the corner
of his eye Ted saw Chris flung across the cockpit.

“CHRIS!” Meagan
shrieked. She was on him in a heartbeat. A circle of blood spread on his shirt.
She grabbed a seat cushion and pressed it over the hole. “Take the helm,” she
yelled at Ted.

Ted leapt to the
wheel. He squatted down and steered towards the fishing boat. The three men
fired down at them, but Meagan and Ted were concealed in the cockpit.

“Ted, look out!”

Ted looked up and
saw one of the terrorist, rifle in hand, climbing into the fishing boat’s
rigging.

Meagan leapt
across the cockpit and shoved Ted out of the way. 

He lay in the
corner of the cockpit with Meagan on top of him.

“Thanks,
chica
.
Now would you get offa me?”

Meagan didn’t
move. Ted felt something warm and sticky dripping down his face. He wiped it
away. Blood! He shoved her off of him.

****

9:12 am – On board the
Valkyrie

Ahmad, head down,
looked at the small black and white TV screen on the dashboard. He heard
Mohammed shout from outside the cabin.

“They’re back.
Look, it’s the sail boat.”

“What’re
they
doing here?” Hani stood at the big wooden wheel, steering the boat.

Ahmad heard the
tension in his voice.

The cruise ship
was right on schedule, coming out of the opening to the Johnstone Strait. It let out an angry blast on its horn.

The blue sailboat
crossed right in front of it. The people on the boat waved their arms and
shouted up at the ship.

Yasim, standing
next to Ahmad, put a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

“They have seen
us. The short one is pointing.” Yasim lowered the field glasses. “Mohammed,
Kalil, get rifles.” He shouted down to the deck. “Get up on front of boat. Be
prepared to keep them away from us.”

As Mohammed and
Kalil grabbed their AK-47s and ran towards the bow. The sailboat changed
course. It bore directly down on them.

Time slowed down.
Everything seemed like a dream. Somewhere, from far away, Ahmad heard Yasim
yell.

“Open fire,” Yasim
commanded. “Chase off boat.”

Mohammed fired a
long burst. It had no effect. They were still out of range.

“Why do they keep
coming?” Kalil shouted. “Can’t they see that we’re armed?”

“Fire again,”
Yasim yelled. “They are nearly in range now.”

Both men fired off
another burst. This time Ahmad could see bits and pieces flying where their
bullets hit home. Still the boat kept coming.

The next burst was
devastating. The forward end of the sailboat’s cabin virtually disintegrated in
the wither of fire.

“Ah-hah!” Kalil
shouted, leaping up and down. “Did you see that?”

Ahmad was
disgusted.
You’d think his team just scored a goal in a soccer match.
 

He saw an old
man’s white head pop up over the cabin roof, then the bulwark in front of
Mohammed and Kalil burst into splinters. Both men hit the deck.

“In Allah’s name,
what was that?” Ahmad yelled.

“They have an
assault rifle,” Kalil screamed. “And they know how to use it.”

“Old fool.” Yasim
flew down the stairs to the main deck. “He shooting back at us.”

Ahmad watched
Mohammed peer over the rail, but every time his head went up, the fire
commenced again. Both Mohammed and Kalil were pinned down on the foredeck.

“Kaffirs!” Yasim
shouted.

Ahmad watched
Yasim grab his AK-47 and work his way back to the after deck under cover from
the rocket launcher. No one on the sailboat had seen him yet. Yasim raised his
rifle and fired a short burst.

The old man went
down.

“Easier than
picking off Zionist on Yom Kippur!” Yasim shouted.

Ahmad saw the dark
young man pick up the gun and aim it towards them. He readied himself for the
hail of bullets that would take him to Allah. The gun barked twice, then
nothing.

Yasim fired off
another burst. The tall, blonde helmsman went down.

The short, dark
man disappeared into the cockpit. The sailboat returned to its course, aiming
directly for the fishing boat.

Both Kalil and
Mohammed blindly poured gunfire into the sailboat. It had no effect.

 “Kalil,” Yasim
shouted. “Climb up high where you can see.”

“Fire missile!”
Yasim yelled to Ahmad as he fired down at the enemy.

The sailboat was
only feet away. Ahmad had to fire the missile before they rammed the
Valkyrie
.
Who knows what damage they could cause?

Ahmad hesitated
over the fire button. He was totally devoted to his cause, but he had an image
in his mind of sinking a ship, fighting a machine. Pictures of the two
fishermen, their heads severed from their bodies came to his mind. It wasn’t
supposed to be like this. There were people on that ship. Thousands of people.
Could he really do it?

Kalil slung his
rifle over his shoulder and jumped into the rigging. He climbed the twisting
ratlines, until he was high enough to see down into the cockpit. He raised the
rifle to his shoulder and squeezed off a burst.

At that same
instant, the woman saw Kalil. She leapt towards the dark man. Ahmad could see,
in what seemed like slow motion, the bullets tearing at her body.

“Fire! NOW!” Yasim
let off another short burst.

Then came the
collision.

Johnstone Straits, Canada – On board the
Star of the
Northwest

9:14 am

Harry immediately
recognized the
Defiant
. He saw his son and friends waving their arms and
yelling at the ship. He saw Chris point to the east at the fishing boat. Then
the people on the
Defiant
donned their life jackets.
Four people? Who
was that old man?

“Candace,
something’s wrong. I’ve got to find an officer.”

Without waiting
for a reply, Harry ran up the nearest staircase. She was with him step for
step.

The officers were
sure to be on the bridge deck, forbidden territory for passengers. This was an
emergency.

Up the first
flight, Harry looked for the next staircase.

“There, on your
right,” Candace shouted.

Harry bolted up
the next staircase. Looking over his shoulder, he saw two men on the bow of the
fishing boat open fire on his son.

“Shit!” His speed
increased as he made his way up yet another set of stairs. At the top of the
stairs he spotted the flight of steps to the bridge deck. The way was blocked
by a chain. The sign said, “Authorized Personnel Only.” Harry jumped the chain.

“Sir,” a uniformed
man shouted. “Sir, you can’t go up there.”

“The hell I can’t.
They’re shooting at my son.” Harry pointed. The young officer followed his
finger, looking out at the scene below them.

“Jesus Christ,”
the officer gasped. “What’s happening?”

“Gimme those.”
Harry grabbed the binoculars from around the officer’s neck.

At that moment,
the forward section of the
Defiant’s
cabin dissolved in a hail of gun
fire. Then the old man behind the cabin popped up and began returning fire.

“What is God’s
name is going on?” Harry yelled.

“Mr. Hardwick.” A
tall man in an impeccable white uniform materialized out of the air. “We’re
very busy now. You can’t be up here.”

A klaxon alarm
went off all over the ship. Below him, crew members dashed about the deck.

“Call the Coast
Guard! Change course! There are men on that boat, shooting at my son. There’s
an old man on my boat shooting back.”

“Harry!” Candace
grabbed his arm. “Oh God!”

The old man jerked
off the deck and flew across the cockpit like a paper doll. In the next
instant, he saw Chris crumple.

“CHRIS!”

A man on the
fishing boat climbed into the rigging and began firing down into the cockpit,
then a roar of smoke and fire burst from the strange metal box on the fishing
boat’s deck.

“Jesus Christ.”
Harry shouted.

“It’s a missile,”
the captain yelled.

Harry saw the cloud
of white smoke burst from the metal box and the trail that followed the missile
as it left the launching pad and arched through the sky towards them.

****

On board the Valkyrie

9:21 am

In the instant
before the collision, Ahmad heard a metallic clank on the rail outside the
pilot house. He was thrown into the dashboard by the force of the impact. As he
recovered, he looked out to see grappling hooks latched onto the starboard
rail.  Below him, Yasim grabbed his AK-47 and scrambled to his feet.

It was too late.
Before he could raise his rifle, he was cut down by bursts of fire from two men
in wet suits climbing aboard.

From his vantage
point in the pilot house, Ahmad saw the frogmen board the
Valkyrie
. On
their left shoulders he saw the Canadian Maple Leaf and recognized the insignia
of a half globe separated from a half maple leaf by a dagger on their other
shoulder.

Three of the men
let loose a burst of fire. Kalil fell from the rigging.

Mohammed was cut
in two by gunfire before he had a chance to react.

Hani reached for
his rifle. The windows of the wheel house shattered. Hani was tossed across the
cabin.

The missile was
launched. Ahmad had to remain at the controls. He kept his hand on the joy
stick, riveted his attention back to the small black and white TV screen. He
could see the image of the cruise ship in the monitor. He made tiny motions to
keep the missile on track. It would only take seconds to reach its target.

A frogman burst
through the door and cut Ahmad down. 

****

On the after deck,
Yasim lay in a pool of his own blood. He reached into this pocket and retrieved
a small electronic device. He slowly, painfully, flipped a switch. A red light
came on. He pushed the button.

****

On board the
Defiant

9:22 am

The force of the collision
threw Meagan back on top of Ted. He gently lifted her free and felt for a
pulse. He didn’t have time to find it.

The world
exploded. A ball of fire erupted from the fishing boat. He felt weightless,
flying though the air, then he was in the water.

He hit the water
with such force that he plunged down, down. He felt a lump in his throat as he
tried to hold his breath. The CO
₂
cartridge in his life vest went
off. The two bladders filled with gas and lifted him toward the surface. He
looked up at the sun shining on the surface of the water above him. He could
hold out no longer. He gasped for breath. Then everything went dark.