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“Maybe, but I wouldn’t have any idea what to do when I got there.”
“Maria could tell you over the radio how to turn off the ballast drains.”
“No, I have to do it,” Maria said. “It will take too long to talk MacD through the procedure.”
She added, “This is my ship. I’m not going to let Ruiz sink her.”
Linc grudgingly relented. “Okay. They don’t have a good angle on the lower level, but even with our covering fire you’ll be too exposed to use the stairs from the catwalk. They’ll pick you off before you get fifteen feet.” He pointedly looked down at the pool of water and Maria understood what he meant. Instead of using the stairs to get down there, she was going to have to dive over the railing directly into the water.
“I can make it,” she said more confidently than she felt.
“We’ve got another problem,” MacD said. “I’m down to my last magazine.”
“Me too. Make every shot count. Ready?”
Maria took a deep breath and nodded.
Linc said, “On my mark. Three, two, one . . . Go!”
MacD and Linc snapped up and shot three-round bursts in rapid succession. Maria didn’t wait to see if the suppressing fire worked. She jumped to her feet, pivoted around the ventilation duct, and launched herself over the railing, praying that the water was as deep as she thought it was.
She plunged into the pool feetfirst and stopped herself against the deck. There was just enough light to see the steps ahead of her, but the oil in the water stung her eyes.
Maria had the impulse to close her eyes and surface, but the less exposure to the gunmen, the better. She used a dolphin stroke to propel herself all the way across underwater. Her lungs were screaming for air by the time she reached the stairs to the engineering station.
She lunged out of the water, half expecting a bullet through her brain as soon as she hit the air, but the fire was still concentrated at the other end of the engine room. She sucked in a breath and heaved herself up the stairs. Those three steps were the longest of her life, but the moment she flung the door open and dived inside she nearly let out a victory cry. The door shut behind her, blocking out the sounds of the engine and gunshots.
Maria raced over to the terminal and tapped on the keyboard to bring up the ballast controls. She was so intent on shutting down the draining tanks that the reappearance of the noise from the engine room barely registered. Someone had opened the door.
Maria didn’t bother to see who it was, but she didn’t need to when she heard the man yell, “¡Alto!”
She ignored him and tapped on the mouse. The screen confirmed that the tanks were closed, and then the display exploded in a hail of bullets.
She closed her eyes and prepared for her own end, but the death blow never came. She turned to see the gunman staring blankly, a bloody third eye drilled through his forehead. The rest of his body knew he was dead a second later and slumped to the floor. Behind him, a neat hole had penetrated the glass, and Linc stood beyond it with his pistol raised.
He charged through the door and made sure the man was dead.
“Are you hurt?” he asked her.
“No. I was able to shut off the ballast tanks before he destroyed the terminal.”
“Good. This guy went after you, so I came after him. MacD took out the last guy, but he’s clearing the rest of the engine room to be sure.”
The dead man’s radio squawked. Linc picked it up. He listened but shook his head.
“I don’t know Spanish,” he said, and handed it to Maria.
She translated as she listened. “A ship has arrived. It’s traveling at a fantastic rate of speed.”
“The Oregon.”
The discussion went on, and she went rigid when she heard the next sentence.
Linc tensed as well. “What?”
“He said the subs are charged and ready to attack. But they’re not aimed at the Ciudad Bolívar. Lieutenant Dominguez has some kind of controller. He’s sending them to sink your ship.”
—
