“What do you think, Butch?” Eddie said.
“Not looking good, Sundance,” Linc replied with a wry grin.
“I’ll take the three on the left, you take the ones on the right.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Six against two weren’t the best odds they’d ever had, but they weren’t the worst, either. They were about to rush out when a flashbang grenade skittered under the truck and came to rest just a few feet away.
Eddie made an attempt to kick it, but it went off before he could reach it. The ultra-bright light and deafening sound dazed them both, and it was in that moment Linc knew they wouldn’t make it.
He plucked the tiny comm unit from his ear and tossed it away, hoping it would end up under the trailer and out of sight.
The SUVs skidded to a stop as the six running guards rounded the corner of the truck. Linc’s blurry vision started to come back into focus, and he saw a lithe woman step from the front seat of the lead SUV, an assault rifle cradled in her arms. It was Natalie Taylor.
“Drop your weapons or I’ll kill you both right now.”
Linc looked at Eddie, who was still shaking out the cobwebs. When he could finally see, he looked at Linc and nodded. Live to fight another day was a better plan than going out in a blaze of glory.
They both let their guns fall to the ground.
“Good boys,” she said with a smile, plucking the comm unit from Eddie’s ear. “Now, what are we going to do with you?”
* * *
—
By this time, the deck of the Colossus 5 was a hive of activity. Guards were stationed all around the ship in anticipation of further attack.
Juan felt helpless as he heard Eddie and Linc being taken prisoner.
“Get them up,” a woman said. It had to be Natalie Taylor.
Then there was a scuffing sound, and then Taylor’s voice much louder. “Torkan, if you’re still listening, your attack didn’t work this time.”
She must have been speaking into a mic that she’d taken from Linc or Eddie’s ear, because there was a crunching sound right before it went off-line. Juan could still hear her voice, this time muffled and distant.
“Take them to the ship,” she ordered.
She said “them,” so at least that meant they were both alive.
“What do we do now?” MacD asked.
Juan peered over the edge, and the deck was still swarming with guards. In fact, one was approaching their position.
“Drop,” he said.
MacD did as ordered, falling to the water below.
“We can’t leave them,” Raven said.
“We’re not,” Juan said, his eyes boring into her. “Drop now.”
Without another word, she detached her magnets and plunged down. Juan went right after her, tapering so he’d enter the water with a minimal splash.
When he was under, he let go of his magnetic climbers and swam away from the bow. He made it fifty yards along the dock before he had to come up for air.
MacD and Raven were waiting for him. The guard who’d been right above them was still looking to where he must have heard them hit the water. He took a final cursory glance around the area, then shrugged and disappeared.