Chapter 22
An enormous rotor spun atop the chopper, interrupting the spray of rain like an umbrella.
The first mate stared disbelieving out the window of the bridge as the helicopter hovered in front of him.
His eyes fell to the green helipad below, illuminated by lights and clearly visible despite the weather.
Anger surged through his bloodstream. They had no right to board this ship. He moved to the controls. If he could slow the ship down enough at the right moment, they would miss the helipad and go over the bow, right under the ship if he was lucky.
He screamed in impotent frustration when the controls failed to respond to his touch. Of course, all control had been taken over by the second bridge, and the irony that he now needed that power back at the helm was not lost on him.
He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. “There is a chopper landing on the bow. Send two men to shoot it down, now. They must not be permitted to board the ship!”
The door to the bridge opened behind him and he spun around.
“What can I do?” asked Abby.
He exhaled with a huff. “Go to the dance club. They’ll need your help there.”
“But the chopper! These men are from HERO Force—”
“I will take care of them.”
She bowed her head and left the room. He turned back in time to watch his first man go down. His slammed his open hand on the console. He should be out there himself. No one else could be trusted to take out the men in the helicopter.
They were so close he could feel it. He looked at his watch.
Just over an hour until the first bombs went off. The passengers would panic and the damaged vessel would limp to the closest port, Nassau in the Bahamas, where thousands of tourists sat waiting on the beach, their cameras close at hand.
The destruction of the Gem of the Seas would go down in history forever as one of the most spectacular terrorist acts of all time.
“Kill them,” he said, peering through the rain to his man in the shadows below. No sooner had he thought the words than his second man fell to the ground, just as the other had done. “No!”
He pulled his weapon from his holster.
“Don’t shoot!”
The first mate’s head whipped around to see the captain standing in the open doorway. He swallowed hard, his gun pointed at the ceiling. “They are boarding us. A helicopter has landed on the bow and they are boarding us!”
The captain moved to the window. “It’s HERO Force. You knew they were coming.”
“They shot two of our men!”
“I don’t understand.” The captain picked up the microphone and reached for the intercom switch. “We have to warn the passengers and get help on the deck.”
The first mate flicked the captain’s hand away from the switch, unsure if the men had cut the intercom wires, too. “No. You can’t do that.”
“I am this ship’s captain and I will handle the situation as I see fit.” He flipped on the microphone and opened his mouth to speak.
The first mate opened fire, the gunshot echoing through the ship on the public address system as the captain fell to the floor.
“I am in charge now,” said the first mate. He looked back at the helicopter on the bow, several men standing on the helipad in the rain. HERO Force. They were not part of the plan. He’d worked hard to ensure the mainland didn’t know what was happening on the ship.
He pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Turn out the lights and all but the emergency generator. Set a course for Nassau, full speed ahead.” He pocketed the walkie-talkie and pulled the microphone from the captain’s unmoving hand and watched the ship go dark around him.
“Attention. This is your captain speaking. We have experienced the failure of our main generator. Not to worry, everything on the ship is mechanically sound, but we’ll be running on emergency power until we get the problem fixed in port.
This means emergency lighting in the hallways and staterooms. I ask that you stay confined to your cabins throughout the night.
We will be docking in Nassau in the morning for repairs. ”
He stepped over the captain’s body before turning in a slow circle for one last look at the bridge. “It’s hard to believe we can control all this from a disco.” He laughed, grabbing his hat, and walked out of the room.