The Oracle's Message (19 page)

Annja tested the ropes but they held fast. She struggled to get to her feet and nearly lost her footing as a wave rolled under the boat and it dipped to the left.

She twisted and tried to get a look at the knots, but she wasn’t nearly flexible enough to do that. Looking around the galley, she searched for anything sharp but saw nothing immediately available.

Without knowing how long she had before the bomb went off, Annja knew she had to get out of there in a hurry.

She concentrated and tried to manifest the sword in her hands. Nothing happened.

Suddenly she realized why. Her hands had been tied back to back so the palms didn’t face each other. She couldn’t grasp the sword between them.

She wondered if she could control the sword single-handed. Annja closed her eyes and concentrated on seeing the sword. Then she tried to feel the hilt only in her right hand. She felt her hand close around the hilt and then opened her eyes again.

She felt the sword’s weight in her hand and then allowed it to fall to the floor, embedding itself into the wood of the galley floor.

Annja leaned down carefully and felt the honed blade bite into the ropes. It slid through them like they weren’t even there. The ropes fell away and Annja massaged her wrists gratefully.

She pulled the sword out of the galley floor and ran for the upper deck, unsure what she would find there. The boat was indeed abandoned. As she looked around she spotted a pair of oxygen tanks, a regulator, a mask and fins discarded on the deck. I guess I know where I’m going now, she thought with a grin. She returned the sword to the otherwhere.

Now the question was how much time had Spier left on the bomb? Was it even worth looking for it and trying to disarm it?

The answer came to her quickly when she heard the beeping sound suddenly increase in tempo.

She grabbed the diving gear and ran hard for the stern, driving with her legs, churning and breathing hard, and then she launched herself into the air, gaining height and passing the apex of her dive as the boat behind her blew apart.

Annja hit the water as the debris from the explosion showered the sea around her. Shards of wood and metal speared through the water.

Annja swam deeper, trying to stay clear of the lethal fragmentation. Her lungs screamed for air and she was forced to ascend faster than she wanted to. There was no time to use the oxygen tanks. She could barely hold on to the gear and swim.

She broke the surface about a hundred feet away from the smoldering wreck. Flames danced over what remained of the boat, smoke billowing in the air. Around the boat, a pool of oil coated the surface of the water, already alight.

Bobbing in the surf, Annja strapped herself in the gear and looked at the coastline in front of her. It was tough picking out topographical features from the ocean, but she figured they must have been about five miles south of the German chancellor’s residence.

That meant Spier and his team were swimming north underwater.

She frowned. It made sense. They’d never be able to be detected underwater unless Vic had deployed a defensive string of divers in the area.

And that was highly unlikely.

Annja figured she could have waited for the Coast Guard to show up on scene of the flaming wreck, but what good would that do? Her heart ached as she thought about it, but in all likelihood, Vic was dead.

That meant someone else was now in charge. And the chances of that person taking any sort of advice from Annja were slim.

She’d have to do this on her own.

Annja thought briefly about Roux and George and how nice it would be to have some company along on this part of the trip. But she couldn’t contact them. She’d have to do what she could—alone.

Unaware of the depths she’d be diving at, Annja decided to swim farther out and try to cut her travel distance down to straight line shots up the coast.

It occurred to her that she was swimming in waters known for abundant numbers of great white sharks. And they were potentially far more dangerous than tiger sharks.

As long as they didn’t think of her as a seal, she ought to be relatively safe. But the sooner she got started, the better.

She tested the mouthpiece and got a good flow. The oxygen gauge showed full tanks.

It was time to start swimmng.

She heard a motor in the distance and saw the Coast Guard cutter bearing down on her location. She considered waiting but then disregarded the thought.

Instead, she turned and submerged herself, descending rapidly before the cutter’s propeller blades turned her into shark chum.

The visibility in the northern Atlantic was far worse than it had been in the Philippines. Annja could see maybe thirty feet in front of her. The level of sea life seemed far less, as well, but as she took herself deeper, she could make out more and see a little farther than she had closer to the surface.

On her bearing now, Annja set off at a good clip, figuring that Spier and his team had maybe fifteen minutes on her. She had to cut that down to nothing if she had any hope of defeating them.

She’d keep a lookout for oxygen bubble trails. With five of them swimming, they ought to be relatively easy to spot, provided she could find a way to catch up.

Despite her recent injuries, Annja felt strong as she swam through the ocean. Her breathing felt measured and confident. She willed herself to drive harder, faster, so she could cut down the distance.

She saw the wreck of an old fishing trawler lying on its side about fifty feet below her. She had the quickest flash of worry lance through her as she considered whether Spier would have left someone behind to ambush her just in case.

But no, that would have split his forces. And Spier no doubt had some sort of complicated escape plan all worked out. He’d need all his men with him in order to make sure this gambit paid off. Plus, he’d never believe she could have outsmarted him.

Annja swam on. She saw a dark shape glide past her some distance away and was sure it was a shark. But it paid her no attention and Annja calmed down her breathing and heart rate. It wouldn’t do her any good to get freaked out now. She’d burn through her oxygen in no time and then she’d really be in trouble.

Besides, she had her sword, and if it came to finishing off another shark, she wouldn’t hesitate to do it. If she didn’t stop Spier and his team, no one would be able to. Worse, if their bomb detonated, then the sea itself might be contaminated. And that would mean more sharks and other sea life would die.

Annja tried broadcasting that message out of her as if she could communicate telepathically with the ocean life. Don’t mess with me, she thought over and over. She knew it wouldn’t do anything but it gave her something to focus on as she swam ever harder.

She could feel the tug of the current on her body, but she ignored it and kept her legs churning behind her. She figured she’d covered a mile pretty quickly. A glance overhead showed no increase in boat traffic. In fact, there were no boats in the area at all.

I wonder if Vic established an exclusion zone? she thought. That would at least rule out the possibility that Spier had another boat.

Annja drove herself forward and altered her course as she checked her position against the coastline. She turned slightly to the right and kept swimming.

Her legs were starting to tire.

The realization that she’d have to ignore the pain and keep going made her breathe harder than she had been.

This isn’t good, she decided. She took a moment and pulled up, allowing herself to float in the water, semibuoyant. She closed her eyes and tried drawing on that inner well-spring of strength that she’d drawn on rarely in the past.

She searched inside herself and found the strength necessary to keep driving on. She reminded herself what was at stake and she felt the telltale surge of adrenaline in her bloodstream.

Annja pointed north and started kicking harder.

Her breathing, despite her energetic output, was measured and calm. She knew her muscles needed a ton of oxygen, but she felt no greater pull on her reserves than if she’d been casually diving.

Good, she thought.

A face zipped past her. Annja noticed the whiskers and the freckled face of the harbor seal and grinned. The seal wanted to play apparently.

Annja waved him off. Sorry, little pal, she directed to the seal. I can’t stop right now. Some other time, perhaps.

But the seal seemed determined to stay with Annja, zipping out in front of her and then falling behind. She watched its fins and how it jetted itself through the water as if there was nothing holding it back.

Of course, its body was much more streamlined than Annja’s. She smiled and thought, Sure, it’d be easy if I looked like you.

They covered the third mile keeping each other company and then the seal abruptly shot off into the darkness.

Annja frowned. I hope that’s not a bad omen, she mused.

When the sleek torpedo shape slid past her a moment later, Annja’s stomach plummeted. The seal hadn’t wanted to play, after all.

It had been using her for cover.

She saw the great white lazily flick its tail once and eyeball her as it slid past. With its mouth open to allow water to flow over its gills, she could see the serrated rows of teeth. Unlike the tiger shark, the great white’s teeth were especially designed for sawing through thick seal and whale blubber.

Or divers.

She estimated it ran about fourteen feet long.

A big fish.

Annja felt a twinge of annoyance at the seal for using her to shield itself from the massive predator. But then again, she thought, I might have done the same thing in its situation.

Annja kept swimming, hoping that the big fish wouldn’t take an interest in tasting her.

I don’t want to have to kill this thing, she thought.

She knew she could have her sword out and in front of her in a blink, however, as she swam on toward where she figured Spier and his team were heading.

The great white kept swimming around her, keeping its distance by perhaps forty feet. But she could see it wasn’t particularly interested in her. She knew that if the shark wasn’t searching for food, it would be unlikely to attack her. But she still fought to keep her heart rate and breathing under control.

The shark rolled past her again and she marveled at how it could simply propel itself with a tiny flick of its massive tail fin. She shook her head. Give me three hundred and fifty million years of living down here and I might be able to do that, too, she countered.

Annja kept her speed up, but the great white matched it easily. I may as well be running on a treadmill next to this big guy, she thought.

It wasn’t the first time she’d been face-to-face with a great white in the open ocean, but each time felt like the first, she decided.

If only there was some way to use this big guy to her advantage. She wanted to ask it if it’d do her a favor and take a bite of Spier and the boys while she disarmed the bomb.

But of course, how in the world was she going to do that?

Unless…

She frowned. No way. That was insane.

And when she’d seen it done before, she’d merely shaken her head and said, “That is absolutely nuts.”

But now in the open ocean with this massive predator nearby, Annja found herself thinking over its merits.

And it did have several.

Worse, before reason could prevail, Annja found herself doing exactly the opposite of what her instincts screamed at her.

She swam toward the great white shark.

It seemed to Annja that as she swam toward the massive beast that dwarfed her by almost three times, it had the ability to appear almost motionless, when in fact, it was moving at great speed.

Annja, for her part, was forced to swim harder than she had before, a crazy situation since she was trying to actually get closer to something that could kill her with a single bite.

But she drew near to it. For its part, the shark looked exactly like she thought it would when it realized what she might have been up to. It seemed to give her a distinct look as if to say, “Uh…you know what I’m capable of, right?” She couldn’t tell if there was a mixture of vague amusement in its eyes or if it was simply trying to size up how many calories it would get from devouring her.

Annja summoned the sword to her right hand and swam closer to the right side of the great white. It kept pace with her and Annja drew parallel to it, aware that if it simply chose to alter its course with a subtle direction change, she’d be seeing the business end of the rows of steak knives that inhabited its mouth.

But the shark didn’t change course.

And then Annja reached out with her left hand and grasped the great white’s massive dorsal fin.

She felt the instant tug on her, surprised at how much faster the great white moved than she had. It was slowing down to keep pace with her before. But now, unburdened by the puny human’s attempt to keep up, the great white seemed to shrug and say, “Okay, hang on.”

Annja hung on.

They coursed through the water and Annja let her legs rest, grateful for the reprieve. Of course, there was still a chance the shark would be irritated when Annja finally let go, but she could cover a lot more distance at that moment by hitching a ride.

If that poor seal could see me now, she thought. It would probably be horrified at what I’ve done. Then she thought about her friend Cole, from whom she’d learned this trick, and was grateful that his passion for sharks had taught her to respect and understand them.

Annja kept her head forward, willing the shark to stay on the northern route direction they’d both been following when she was swimming with it. If it veered away or looked as if it was heading toward open ocean, she would have no choice but to disembark.

She figured they covered two more miles within about five minutes of travel. For its part, the great white seemed utterly unfazed by the passenger it had acquired. Annja could sense the terrific power of the fish; it was supremely designed for hunting and patrolling the oceans as its apex predator. And it was truly an incredible sight to behold, let alone be hitching a ride with.

Annja’s heart rate kicked up and she tried hugging the body of the great white a little closer. Ahead of them, she’d spotted the oxygen trails of the five divers she’d come to do battle with. Within minutes she could see the divers themselves.

They were maybe a hundred yards ahead of Annja. And she could see the large dark bag that two of them towed.

The pearl.

Only now, it was a bomb.

What are the odds I can induce this fellow to take a chunk out of Spier? she wondered.

But at that moment, she felt the great white start to change direction.

Annja got the message. Thus endeth the ride.

Reluctantly, she released the massive dorsal fin and allowed herself to bob in the water, her sword ready to handle the shark, if necessary.

The great white continued on its course, not seeming to notice she was no longer attached. She watched for a moment as the great beast swam away.

She turned in the water and looked ahead. The oxygen bubbles drifted up toward the surface and she could see that the five divers were arrayed in a pentagon pattern in the water.

Worse, they all seemed to have spear guns.

She swam ahead, cutting the distance between them. Her legs, rested during the five-minute trip on the shark, came to life and they churned the water behind her.

As she swam, she considered her options of attack. They had no idea she was there.

Take out the bomb first, she decided. If they couldn’t use it, then Spier would have to call off the attack on the politicians. Stopping the attack was the primary goal, Annja thought.

Annja watched the two divers towing the bag. They were holding on to its straps.

She could surprise them and cut the straps before they knew she was there.

But what if it exploded when it dropped to the seabed?

Annja had no way of knowing how volatile the pearl would be. Would Spier have rigged it to explode if it was jostled? Or would they leave it on a timer to do its work?

I’ll have to take the chance that Spier has it on a timer, she decided. If it could explode that easily, then Spier and his team could have been killed if something went wrong while they swam.

Annja had no doubt that Spier intended to come out of this alive. With his money, he could easily run for office in Germany and win. And with the former chancellor out of the way, Spier would have little opposition to his bigoted views.

And the rest of the world would have a genuine problem on their hands. A revitalized Reichstadt under Spier and his ex-KSK commandos.

Annja had cut the distance down to under twenty feet now. She kept her eyes on the seafloor, aware that men as highly trained in combat as Spier’s team would have the ability to sense when someone dangerous was approaching.

She waited until the very last moment, and then she surged forward, reached out with her sword and made two quick cuts. One on each strap.

The reaction was stunned surprise as the pearl suddenly dropped and then disappeared somewhere beneath them.

Annja would have to worry about that later.

The divers turned and Annja saw she faced Heinkel and Mueller. Their facial reactions behind their masks were of surprise followed by rage.

She saw the spear guns come up at almost the same time. She pivoted and cut down, slicing into Mueller’s gun first. The spear shot wide as Annja cut the elastic band. She backhanded Mueller in the face with the pommel of the sword and his mask cracked.

She heard the swish and felt the barbed head of Heinkel’s spear lance her side, but it only grazed her. Still, she winced in pain and then cut back with the sword, coming down on Heinkel’s air hose, slicing it open.

Oxygen immediately flooded the area around them with a swarm of bubbles. Heinkel was forced to ascend or risk drowning.

Mueller, however, had pulled out his diver’s knife and now faced Annja, bobbing in the ocean.

Annja closed with him.

He jabbed straight out at her, trying to go for an immediate kill shot at her heart, but Annja brought her elbow inside to block the blow, sliding her own blade between them.

Mueller retreated and then came at her again with an overhead thrust aimed at impaling her head.

Annja allowed a sudden swell of current to lift her to the side and she cut down on Mueller from behind. She watched her blade bite into the oxygen tanks and Mueller shot off into the deep, unable to free himself from the explosion of pressurized oxygen.

She heard a swish and ducked as another spear went over her head.

The surprise, it seemed, was over.

Gottlieb bobbed in the swells about fifty feet away. He was desperately trying to reload another spear to shoot.

Annja swam through the water to reach him.

Another spear shot past her. Farther away, she could make out Hans aiming at her.

Spier had vanished somewhere.

Probably went after the bomb, Annja thought as she continued to churn across the distance between her and Gottlieb.

He managed to get another spear loaded. Annja watched as the gun came up, level with her face.

She was too far away.

The spear shot and Annja brought the sword up. The spear bounced off the flat of the blade and spun away toward the bottom.

Annja charged toward Gottlieb and he barely had time to raise his arms to ward off her attack. But it was too late. Annja plunged the blade through his wet suit and into his chest.

Gottlieb’s mouthpiece flew out as blood exploded from his chest and mouth at the same time.

Annja spun him around and used her feet to anchor her as she pulled her blade free of him. Gottlieb’s eyes had already gone black and he drifted away in the current, dead.

Annja had little time to appreciate the win. As she turned back, she felt something impale her leg. She glanced down and saw the horrifying image of a spear jutting out of her thigh.

Had she been on land, Annja might have screamed out in pain. But instead, she gritted her teeth and saw that the spear was nowhere close to her femoral artery. Yeah, it hurt like hell, but it wasn’t a fatal wound.

Annja wasn’t about to give Hans time to ready another spear, however. Despite the waves of pain flooding her body, she swam right at him, willing her legs to work and get her there as fast as possible.

Hans gave up on the spear gun and drew his own knife. It wasn’t a regular diving knife. It had an angle in its blade that aided its cutting ability. Underwater, she wasn’t sure what sort of advantage that would give Hans, but she certainly didn’t want to find out. Annja had seen that type of blade—a kukri knife like the kind the Nepali Gurkhas use—in action enough times to know it was indeed a formidable weapon.

So, this was how it was going to end, she thought with a frown. From lovers to haters.

Mortal enemies.

Annja held her sword in front of her as Hans eased himself closer to her with gentle kicks.

He’s trying to get closer so the sword isn’t as effective, Annja realized. She jabbed with the blade and kept him at bay.

Not this time, she thought. I might have liked you once. But that was a lifetime ago.

Hans smiled and then waved at her, trying his best to egg her on. Annja was having none of it. She held her position and waited for him to make his move.

When he did, it was so smooth Annja almost didn’t register it. But Hans came at her with a backhanded slash, aimed at slicing her neck wide open.

The leading edge of the blade slashed just millimeters from her. Annja jerked back and then shot her arms out.

Hans recoiled and let the kukri knock the sword off target. Then he cut back again, trying to score a line down the front of Annja’s body.

Again the kukri missed by a fractional distance. If they’d been on land, she might have met her match. Hans knew how to use that kukri, and the longer they sparred, the more dangerous it was going to get for her.

Time to end this, she thought.

Hans came in harder now, trying to stab her.

Annja waited until she was certain he’d committed himself and then brought her sword down following his arc. The blade bit into the tops of his arms and she simply let the blade bounce back up into his throat.

She heard the gasp even underwater as the sword cut his throat open.

Hans dropped the kukri and it flashed through the water as it sank.

Blood streamed away from Hans as he drifted away, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood from his neck.

Annja watched him for a moment longer before turning away to locate Spier.