"Slight change of plans," she muttered to the uncomprehending helmsman. "We're going for a little ride first."
Summer scanned the adjacent controls until spotting a pair of dials marked PORT THRUSTER FORE and PORT THRUSTER AFT. She reached over with her free hand and turned the dials down to zero. Almost simultaneously, a third burst erupted beneath them as the acoustic array was triggered again. The blast was good timing, Summer considered. The eruption masked the sound of the changing thrusters. With luck, the crew might not notice that the ship was now moving laterally across the cove. It would take only a few minutes until the ship would collide with the lava rocks lining the cove. The ensuing confusion ought to give her ample opportunity to escape.
"Back off," she barked at the nervous helmsman, who had crept closer to the controls. The young man jumped back from the helm, eyeing with fright the twisted look of agony on Bull Neck's face.
The drill ship moved quietly and smoothly across the cove, pushed evenly by the bank of starboard thrusters. Summer thought she heard a minor clunk near the waterline, but the ship continued on its sideways path through the dark, the black night offering little in the way of visibility. If she could just hold on a little longer, she thought, as her grip on the thug's hand grew weary.
She nervously counted the seconds, waiting for the grinding impact of the ship's hull against lava. But her heart sank when a different sound emerged from the open doorway. It was the sound of a man's voice.
"What is this, now?" the voice grumbled.
Turning with dread, she saw it was Tong. And in his hand, he held an automatic pistol aimed at Summer's heart.
-49-
THEY HAD KICKED and paddled the mastless catamaran to within a hundred yards of the drill ship, circling in toward the port bow in order to avoid the glaring spotlights that illuminated the stern deck. As they scanned the ship for nearby crewmen or lookouts, Dahlgren suddenly leaned toward Dirk and whispered. "Take a look at the bridge. Quick."
Dirk glanced up at the ship's forward superstructure. Through the open side wing door, he caught a brief glance of a person stepping by. A tall person with flowing red hair that fell beneath the shoulders.
"Summer."
"I'm sure it is her," Dahlgren said.
A wave of relief fell over Dirk at seeing his sister still alive. With renewed vigor, he kicked the catamaran harder toward the ship. "Let's get aboard and find out what's going on."
It was a task easier said than done. The ship's lowest deck was still ten feet above them. And with the ship held in position by its thrusters, there was no anchor line in the water. Dirk hoped there might be an imbedded steel ladder on the ship's stern, a feature not uncommon on utility vessels.
They reached the bow and were quietly paddling aft when the third detonation erupted below them. They could feel a minor vibration from the ship and noticed a few ripples in the water, but still no boiling torment of an underwater explosion. The lights around the moon pool illuminated the underside of the ship, and they could see a string of cables running down to the tripod device, which stood upright on the sea bottom.
They moved a few more feet down the ship's side when Dirk realized that the rumble of the nearby side thrusters had fallen silent. Before he knew what was happening, the ship's side hull smacked into the catamaran with a bang, then jerked the craft up on a building wave of water. The entire ship was moving laterally into them and quickly building speed. Sitting atop the side thrown high, Dirk could see that the catamaran was going to flip. The low surfboard was being pushed down and it was just a matter of seconds before the whole craft got sucked under the moving ship.
"Get off the board," Dirk yelled at Dahlgren.
He prepared to roll off the side himself when he caught sight of a line over his head. It was an unused mooring line that looped over the side of the ship, dangling down a few feet below the deck. With a desperate lunge, Dirk sprang up and off the twisting catamaran, barely grasping the rope with his left hand. Pulling his body around, he grabbed on with both ha
nds, the line dropping taut under his weight to within a yard of the water.
He looked back to see the catamaran tumble down and under the advancing ship, swallowed beneath its side. Dahlgren was farther back, riding atop the cresting wave and swimming like a madman.
"Over here. I've got a line," Dirk implored in a low voice, hoping not to draw attention to their plight.
It was loud enough for Dahlgren to hear. He fought his way toward Dirk at a frantic pace that both men knew he could not sustain for long. The water seemed to swirl in all directions off the flat side of the ship, tugging Dahlgren one way, then another. When he finally surged close, Dirk reached out and grabbed a handful of his wet suit and yanked with all his strength. He pulled him far enough out of the water that Dahlgren was able to hook an arm over the line. He hung limp for a minute, catching his breath from the exertion.
"That was exciting," he muttered.
"And also the second time today that I've had to fish you out of the water," Dirk said. "If this continues, I must insist that you go on a diet."
"Ah'll take that under advisement," Dahlgren panted.
Resting for a moment, they proceeded to climb up opposite ends of the rope, emerging on deck a few yards apart. Though faint voices told them that a few crew members were on the stern, they were able to regroup undetected on the port beam. Dirk took a quick glance toward the high wall of lava that was quickly approaching in the darkness. There was clearly something amiss in the wheelhouse, as the ship was on a collision course and nobody seemed to be aware of it.
"Let's move," Dirk whispered. "I have a feeling we're not long aboard this ship."
As they started to move forward, another deep rumble began to sound in the distance. This time, the noise came from the shore.
• • • •
Five thousand miles away, the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor of the NUMA headquarters building and a sleepy-eyed Hiram Yaeger eased toward his computer room toting a thermos of Sumatra-blend coffee. His eyes widened at the sight of Dr. McCammon seated at the console, an anxious look on his face. "You got the jump on me again, Phil?" Yaeger asked.