EMP Sabotage, page 69
When they hit the floor, Stella felt the radio crack and crumble more in her hand, but she held on tightly. Dana struggled fiercely to get out from under her, but Stella grabbed her face with her free hand and pressed it to the hard floor.
“Get off me, you old-world pig,” Dana snarled.
Stella tried to headbutt her again, even though it had given her a ferocious headache. But suddenly, hands seized her from behind. They clamped down on both arms, on the back of her jacket, the belt of her pants, and she was hoisted off Dana as if she weighed nothing. Then she was pulled backward and pressed up against a wall beside the cabin door. Only then did she see the four burly AILS men surrounding her.
Dana sat up, sniffed loudly, and rose. She ran her hands down the sides of her shirt, as if brushing off dust. Then she sniffed again and faced Stella.
I didn’t split her lip, Stella thought. Pity.
The radio had broken into pieces, and most of them were on the floor. All Stella had left in her hand were a few wires, but she shoved them into her jacket pocket. Dana stood regarding her for a few seconds, eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring.
“Like I said, you already told us what we need to know,” Dana said. And then to the guards, “Get her out of here.”
22
John actually tried to take the helm, despite the fact that he was flushed and suffering. Ruth finally had to march him to the passenger seat at the back of the cabin and make him sit down.
“Didn’t I already sleep before?” he said, then proceeded to cough and moan.
“Hours ago,” Ruth said, easing him down onto his side. “Curtis, Kay, and I have got control of the boat. Let us handle it, my dear.” She bent down and kissed one burning-hot cheek.
This seemed to settle him, and Ruth rose. Curtis was standing beside the mast, with Kay at the starboard window, gazing back behind them. The rest of their passengers were huddled together on the aft deck, and they were also staring back behind the boat. The Blue Diamond was still anchored beside the overhanging rock. Fortunately, the lifeboats had continued off to the west and were quickly disappearing into the distance.
“Is it safe to raise anchor and follow them?” Ruth asked. But even as she asked it, she turned around to see what everyone was staring at.
“Definitely not safe,” Kay said.
An AILS ship. It had come around the northern side of the island, from the direction of the big fleet. It was some kind of retrofitted trawler, the hull painted black and gray, with makeshift sails guiding it. The sails were enormous.
“Do we try to outrun them?” Kay said. “Do we have a gunfight right here on the open water?”
But Ruth had another idea. She glanced at Curtis, and he nodded at her. He apparently had the same thought.
“Kay, we have to get John to the new camp,” Ruth said. “That’s all we can do for him. I know the journey will be rough, but it can’t be helped, and he can’t stay here on the island. That was a mistake on my part.”
“So full sail, then?” Kay said.
“Yes, but I’m going back ashore,” Ruth said. “AILS wants the island. I think they’ll prioritize clearing the island of interlopers over chasing boats. I’ll do what I can to make sure that happens. I’ll bait them and force their attention upon me.”
She heard John trying to get up, trying to protest, but Curtis came toward her. “I’m staying with you, too,” he said. “Kay, you’ve got the helm. Get my dad to the camp as fast as you can. Ruth and I will keep AILS focused on us.”
“You’re just going to stay here indefinitely?” Kay said.
“No, come back for us tonight,” Ruth said. “We’ll meet you right here under cover of darkness.”
Kay and John were still trying to protest when Ruth hopped the gap onto the rocky shelf. Curtis followed her. By the time she turned around, Kay was already directing Midori to raise anchor. John stared at her with wide, terrified eyes from the back seat, but he didn’t get up. She signaled for him to stay, then watched as the Blue Diamond headed off to the west.
“It was the right thing to do,” Curtis said, drawing his handgun. “I’d rather stay and fight these people anyway than run off and lick our wounds at some camp.”
“We’re not trying to get ourselves killed here,” Ruth said. “Remember that. Anyway, someone has to get close enough to set off the bombs.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. To be honest, I’m not all that concerned about self-preservation. Since we lost Stella, I’m mostly just focused on getting revenge.”
Ruth glanced at him and saw the deep wells of darkness in his eyes. “Hey, now, you still have your father to think about. He’d hate to lose you.”
“He’d hate to lose you, too,” he replied.
Ruth couldn’t argue with that. The AILS boats were turning to starboard, as if to pursue the Blue Diamond. Exactly what they did not want to happen. She raised her Glock and took careful aim at the trawler.
“This is a strange way to say, ‘Notice me,’” she muttered. And with that, she squeezed a shot.
Curtis went to one knee, took aim, and fired. It didn’t take long for the trawler to change course. They turned to port and headed for the rocky shoreline, exactly where Ruth and Curtis were standing.
“They took the bait,” Ruth said.
“They can’t resist,” Curtis said, and then he shouted, “Yeah, we’re on your island! Come and get us!”
The boat was definitely headed right for them now, and the Blue Diamond was heading due west at full sail, boosted by the nice, strong Caribbean wind. The enemy hadn’t returned fire yet, but Ruth was aware that she was standing out in the open. Crouching, she backed down the rocks toward the trees, taking another shot at the boat. Curtis came with her.
She could see people hunkered down on deck now, trying to find cover while also keeping their eyes on the shore. Once she reached the trees, she found cover of her own and kept firing at the AILS boat until the magazine was empty. Then she dug bullets out of her backpack and proceeded to reload.
“We have to make sure they stay focused on us,” she said.
“You think they’ll come ashore and give chase?” Curtis asked. He fired his last two shots and ejected the magazine.
“I guess we’ll see,” she replied.
The trawler was moving very close to the rocky shoreline now. Ruth had just pushed the magazine back into her Glock when she heard the crack of gunshots. She ducked behind the tree just as bullets began to hammer the branches above and around her. Curtis ducked back as well. Ruth stuck her arm around the trunk and took another shot at the boat.
She waited until the enemy stopped firing, then she dared to peek around the tree. The trawler had parked itself right beside the big rock outcropping, and it looked like they were pulling in the sails.
“Well, I think we were successful at keeping their focus,” she said, “but we’d better get out of here. Come on.”
She rose and headed off into the trees. Curtis came with her, firing a shot over his shoulder. They’d gone maybe twenty yards, heading up a slope, when the enemy returned fire again.
“I think we made them really mad,” Curtis said, laughing.
Ruth ran a short distance to a clearing near the base of the big hill that dominated the center of the island. She turned, breathing hard, and leaned against a tree. Aiming her gun back the way they’d come, she strained to hear any sound. After a moment, she thought she caught faint voices, some distant, angry shouting.
“They’re coming,” she said. “We just have to keep them busy and make sure we’re not caught until the Blue Diamond can come back and pick us up tonight.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Curtis replied. He turned, cupped a hand beside his mouth, and shouted, “Pick up the pace, weirdos! We’re getting bored!” And then he punctuated his words by taking a shot into the air.
It was answered by a barrage of gunfire that sounded a bit too close for comfort. Ruth beckoned Curtis and took off again, heading around the big hill toward the south side of the island. Of course, she didn’t want an endless chase across the island. She just needed to delay them long enough so the other boats could get away. But at some point, she would have to ditch her pursuers so she could meet up with the Blue Diamond again.
“Dad won’t stay at the camp,” Curtis said, as they headed south into a shallow gulley. “He won’t rest as long as he knows you’re here. If that boat comes back tonight, he’ll be at the helm. Mark my words.”
“If he keeps pushing himself, we’re going to lose him,” Ruth said. “Why won’t he listen?”
“Because he cares too much about us and not enough about himself.”
And after losing Stella, the thought of losing John was such a terrible thing that they just stopped talking. They headed south through the densest and most difficult terrain, taking occasional potshots to keep AILS pursuing them. From time to time, Ruth heard the sounds of their pursuers, but they were far behind them somewhere.
The gully eventually opened up onto a small clearing that was filled with debris, tree limbs, and even a couple of large fallen logs. The island’s central hill was off to their left now, and the trees were thinning out. Ruth waved Curtis to a stop so they could catch their breath. They’d crossed the island so many times today that she felt like she’d run a marathon. Her thighs were on fire, and her back was killing her.
“We need to shake them somehow,” Ruth said.
“Not sure we’ll be able to,” Curtis replied. “We might have to ambush them.”
Ruth glanced at him. By the steely look on his face, she could tell he was serious. “We’re vastly outnumbered and outgunned.”
He frowned at this but nodded. Ruth led him across the clearing. As best she could tell, the gully was drainage during the rainy season, and it all washed out here in this clearing. That made the ground beneath her feet very uneven and somewhat treacherous. She tried to pick her way carefully, but then the heel of her right boot came down on a log that was hidden under the debris. It shifted, which caused her foot to roll off and sink down.
Curtis reached for her, but he missed, and she fell, landing on her hands and knees. She felt a sharp stab of pain in her ankle. She gasped and rolled onto her back. Not wanting to be slowed down, she tried to rise, but when she put weight on the foot, the pain shot up her leg. She went right back down.
“Oh, great,” she muttered. “I think I sprained it.”
Curtis stood over her for a second, clearly frustrated. Finally, he holstered his gun and bent down. “Come on. We’ll find a place to hide.”
And with that, he hoisted her up. Curtis, like his father, was strong and had very well-developed shoulders and arms. He cradled Ruth like she was a child and bore her with ease, making his way across the clearing.
“Well, you may get your ambush, after all,” Ruth said with a sigh.
“That’s just fine with me,” he said. “I’ve been holding back long enough. We owe them blood for blood. Ricardo, Jorge, Stella.”
“Okay, but don’t do anything crazy,” Ruth said.
“The crazy people are the cultists,” he said. “Not me. I’m as clear-thinking as I’ve ever been.”
At the end of the clearing, they passed through another line of trees and entered a large field of broken rocks. The sea was in sight now. Ruth could see the glint of brown-blue water in the distance. The rocks here looked like enormous boulders that had tumbled down the central hill at some time in the past and broken into large pieces. That had created many shadowy spaces and crevices.
“Let’s hide among the rocks,” she said. “It’s our best bet.”
Curtis picked his way across the field of broken boulders until he found a wide crevice between two large rocks that had deep shadows. He slipped inside and gently set Ruth down on the ground beside him. From there, they could see all the way across the field of rocks to the open water. Ruth positioned her leg where her ankle hurt the least. Then she drew her Glock, resting her forearm on her knee, and listened.
She couldn’t hear their pursuers now. No gunshots, no voices. The island seemed to have gone quiet except for a constant sigh of wind blowing from east to west. She cursed her sprained ankle. That was going to make everything so much harder.
We have a few hours until sunset, she thought. Maybe it will heal enough by then that I can walk on it. Even if it pains me, I may have to walk on it anyway.
They waited in silence, both straining to hear. Minutes passed, and they heard no sound of their pursuers.
“Maybe we lost them,” Ruth suggested.
“Or they got lost on the island,” Curtis replied.
Minutes eventually became an hour, and still they heard nothing. Then Ruth spotted a boat on the water. It was circling around the island, sailing past a large finger of land on the southwest corner. They were tacking into the wind, moving at angles. It was the trawler. After a minute, she saw other boats coming from the east. A line of retrofitted black-and-gray fishing vessels.
“Seems like they’re circling the island,” Curtis said. “Looking for us. I guess they gave up the foot chase. Pity.”
“So long as we keep them here, close to the island,” Ruth said, “that’s what matters.”
23
Ruth watched as the trawler met up with the first of the AILS fishing vessels. They moved close to each other and came to a stop, and people on the decks seemed to be shouting back and forth. The other boats gradually arrayed around them. After a few minutes, Curtis rose and drew his gun, aiming toward the boats, but Ruth reached up and grabbed his arm, pulling it back down.
“Wait,” she said. “Let’s see what they’re going to do.”
Finally, the fishing boats began to move again. They turned and headed back to the east the way they’d come, once again forming a long line. The trawler stayed anchored where it was for a while. And then the trawler raised anchor and began to move again, but it cut a tight turn and headed west.
“Where are they going?” Curtis said. “Have they given up the chase?”
“Possibly,” Ruth replied. “Let’s draw their attention again.”
She fired into the air. Curtis aimed toward the boat, though it was an impossible distance away, and took a shot.
“Come on, you losers,” he snarled. “Turn around. Get back here and fight!”
But the trawler kept going, even picked up speed as it caught the strong wind. However, as they watched, it seemed like it wasn’t curving around the island but heading due west, as if to chase after the others.
“Damn it, they’re onto us,” Ruth said. She flung her backpack to the ground and unzipped the big pocket. “Curtis, chase after them as best you can. Try to get their attention. I’ll follow, but I won’t be able to keep up.”
She passed him the box of ammo, and he reloaded his gun’s magazine with furious, trembling hands. Once done, he gave her the box, rose, and stepped out of the crevice. He glanced back at Ruth, but she waved him on. With the gun thrust out in front of him, he went running across the field of broken rocks as fast as he could, heading southwest toward the shoreline. He began shooting almost immediately, taking shots at regular intervals directly at the boat.
Ruth picked herself up and tested her weight on her ankle. It still hurt. She couldn’t quite put her full weight on it, but she managed to limp out of the crevice. She put her backpack over her shoulders again and drew her Glock, then made her very slow progress across the rocky field. The AILS trawler finally took a slight turn to starboard and disappeared around the west side of the island. Curtis raced after them, and soon he was gone, leaving Ruth in the dust.
She dared to pick up the pace a little bit, fighting through the jolts of pain every time she stepped on her right foot. She heard gunshots in the distance for a while until Curtis finally ran out of bullets. She made her way back into the trees and then came in sight of the western shore. Here she found Curtis standing right at the water’s edge, his gun still pointed at the retreating boat. Ruth finally caught up to him, but then she had to drop down on the rocky shore to give her ankle a rest.
“The trawler is headed after Dad’s boat,” Curtis said. “And they’ve got much bigger sails and probably a lighter load.”
“Maybe we thinned out their ranks a bit,” Ruth said.
“At this distance? Unlikely.”
Ruth aimed her gun at the retreating trawler, but it was moving away fast now, leaving the island, and heading for the mainland. At that speed, it would catch up to John’s boat and the islanders in no time.
“There has to be something we can do,” Curtis said.
He was a bundle of nerves and a quaking ball of energy. Ruth didn’t doubt that he would have swum after the trawler if he’d thought it would do any good.
“We can’t help them,” Ruth said. “John and Kay and the others will have to deal with the trawler, and we’ll have to trust that they can handle it. Let’s return to our drop-off point and wait for the Blue Diamond to return.”
“And if they don’t come back? If they can’t?”
“No, but not all the lifeboats were used. We might be able to cobble one together enough to get us out of here,” Ruth said.
Curtis holstered his gun, then threw a few punches in the air. Cursing loudly, he turned away from the water. “I can’t tell you how much I hate them.”
Ruth understood the feeling. They’d bought John and the others some time, but it wouldn’t be enough. They wouldn’t reach the new campsite before the fast-moving trawler caught up with them. She felt helpless, even as she rose again and holstered her gun.
She took a few steps, but Curtis came up behind her and swept her off her feet. “You’ll make the ankle worse,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
