Read Online Rogue Angel 46: Treasure of Lima by Alex Archer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alex Archer
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the threat thereof to get what they wanted. Tactics was not something they were schooled in, something they proved by emptying their guns at the spot where Annja and Marcos had been hiding.
The pair were no longer there, however.
As the bullets whipped and whined overhead, Annja signaled that Marcos should follow her, and the two of them crawled on hands and knees about fifteen feet or so away from their last position, leaving Claire to continue controlling the water flow.
As soon as the shooting stopped, Claire hit the water controls, the duo popped up a second time and again hammered the pirates with a stream of high-powered water.
This time, they knocked the man off the roof of the wheelhouse and even managed to shatter the glass in the wheelhouse windows before the boats veered off a second time.
It was at that point that the pirates made what Annja hoped would prove to be a fatal mistake.
9
Annja heard one of the pirate boats rev its engines. Glancing over the side for a split second, she saw it race away from the other boat, headed toward the prow of the expedition ship. With the engines capable of producing almost three times as much horsepower as the Neptune’s Pride, the patrol boat was quickly able to match and then overcome the Pride ’s speed. It shot ahead of the larger vessel and then crossed over in front of it.
Come on, Vargas, run her down, Annja thought, but she knew there was no way the Neptune’s Pride could ever do such a thing. At a ponderous twelve knots, the expedition ship was practically standing still compared to the sixty-five to seventy knots that the patrol boat could manage. The smaller vessel would have to be practically still for the larger one to do what Annja was dreaming of.
Still, it never hurt to hope.
She realized that the pirates were splitting their forces, hoping to come at them from two sides. By doing so they might succeed in getting men aboard in one location or the other before Annja and her compatriots could stop them.
She wouldn’t let that happen.
“They’re headed for the opposite side,” she said to Marcos. “Can you hold them off here?”
“Provided they don’t get smart and coordinate their climbing and firing efforts, yeah. What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off on the other side. Hopefully by then the captain will have called in the coast guard or something.”
“Out here?” Marcos scoffed. “Good luck with that.”
Claire, who’d been listening to the conversation, broke in and asked, “Where is Vargas? Is he all right?”
Annja pointed to the bridge above them. “He was when I left him. Can’t say the same for one of the other guys, though.” The memory of the man falling before her, hands to his throat, flashed through her mind but she shoved it aside. She’d have time for regrets later. Right now she had to keep them from being boarded.
Staying as low as she could, she raced down the length of the boat until she came to one of the corridors that ran perpendicularly across the vessel. Bullets pinged off the door as she hauled it open, and she felt one of them burn its way across the back of her calf but then she was through, the heavy steel bulkhead door closing behind her as protection.
She ran pell-mell down the corridor, praying none of the crew suddenly showed up and opened a door in her path as she raced for the one at the far end. Thankfully, none did.
Reaching the other side, she hauled down on the lever to open the door but kept it from doing so with her other hand. She didn’t want to yank open the door and instantly give away her position to the pirates, who had no doubt reached this side of the ship by now, as well. Instead, she slowly opened the door a few inches, peering out through the crack.
The patrol boat was just now coming up alongside the ship, moving in the same direction as the larger vessel. Annja quickly realized that it must have swung across the Pride ’s bow and then come about in a wide circle
The pair were no longer there, however.
As the bullets whipped and whined overhead, Annja signaled that Marcos should follow her, and the two of them crawled on hands and knees about fifteen feet or so away from their last position, leaving Claire to continue controlling the water flow.
As soon as the shooting stopped, Claire hit the water controls, the duo popped up a second time and again hammered the pirates with a stream of high-powered water.
This time, they knocked the man off the roof of the wheelhouse and even managed to shatter the glass in the wheelhouse windows before the boats veered off a second time.
It was at that point that the pirates made what Annja hoped would prove to be a fatal mistake.
9
Annja heard one of the pirate boats rev its engines. Glancing over the side for a split second, she saw it race away from the other boat, headed toward the prow of the expedition ship. With the engines capable of producing almost three times as much horsepower as the Neptune’s Pride, the patrol boat was quickly able to match and then overcome the Pride ’s speed. It shot ahead of the larger vessel and then crossed over in front of it.
Come on, Vargas, run her down, Annja thought, but she knew there was no way the Neptune’s Pride could ever do such a thing. At a ponderous twelve knots, the expedition ship was practically standing still compared to the sixty-five to seventy knots that the patrol boat could manage. The smaller vessel would have to be practically still for the larger one to do what Annja was dreaming of.
Still, it never hurt to hope.
She realized that the pirates were splitting their forces, hoping to come at them from two sides. By doing so they might succeed in getting men aboard in one location or the other before Annja and her compatriots could stop them.
She wouldn’t let that happen.
“They’re headed for the opposite side,” she said to Marcos. “Can you hold them off here?”
“Provided they don’t get smart and coordinate their climbing and firing efforts, yeah. What about you?”
“I’ll hold them off on the other side. Hopefully by then the captain will have called in the coast guard or something.”
“Out here?” Marcos scoffed. “Good luck with that.”
Claire, who’d been listening to the conversation, broke in and asked, “Where is Vargas? Is he all right?”
Annja pointed to the bridge above them. “He was when I left him. Can’t say the same for one of the other guys, though.” The memory of the man falling before her, hands to his throat, flashed through her mind but she shoved it aside. She’d have time for regrets later. Right now she had to keep them from being boarded.
Staying as low as she could, she raced down the length of the boat until she came to one of the corridors that ran perpendicularly across the vessel. Bullets pinged off the door as she hauled it open, and she felt one of them burn its way across the back of her calf but then she was through, the heavy steel bulkhead door closing behind her as protection.
She ran pell-mell down the corridor, praying none of the crew suddenly showed up and opened a door in her path as she raced for the one at the far end. Thankfully, none did.
Reaching the other side, she hauled down on the lever to open the door but kept it from doing so with her other hand. She didn’t want to yank open the door and instantly give away her position to the pirates, who had no doubt reached this side of the ship by now, as well. Instead, she slowly opened the door a few inches, peering out through the crack.
The patrol boat was just now coming up alongside the ship, moving in the same direction as the larger vessel. Annja quickly realized that it must have swung across the Pride ’s bow and then come about in a wide circle
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