Read Online World of Water by James Lovegrove - Free Book Online

ample quantity of spare ammo clips.
    “Don’t these things have a tendency to jam?” he said. “Fragments of rupture disc get stuck in the high pressure coupling.”
    “Only on the old models,” said Francis. “That there is the HK HVP Mark Two. The rupture discs are programmable plastic now, rather than stainless steel. Under pressure they disperse into a cloud of particles that gets vented out of the muzzle behind the round.”
    “I believe Mr Harmer knew that already,” said Sigursdottir. “He was just trying to show he’s not an amateur. He wants us to know he’s got game.”
    “In a tactful way,” Dev said.
    “Tact’s wasted on me,” said Francis.
    “And me,” said Blunt. “Blunt by name, blunt by nature.”
    “Well then, in the spirit of bluntness, I don’t suppose it’ll matter if I mention the words ‘all-woman team,’” said Dev.
    “Depends what you mean by it,” said Milgrom. “If you mean ‘I’m not working with a bunch of girls,’ then I’d be correcting that opinion sharpish if I were you. Otherwise you could end up like that redback back there, only not as pretty-looking.”
    “No. All I meant was, Sigursdottir told me she would be sending men aboard.”
    “I should have specified their gender?” said the lieutenant. “I use the word men as shorthand. For your information, everyone on board this boat is female. My entire team – ladies. Girls. With boobs and everything. Is that going to be an issue?”
    “Not in the slightest.”
    “Good. Because if it was going to be an issue, it would be your issue, if you get my drift.”
    “Noted,” said Dev. “I’ve adjusted my attitude accordingly. Please no one cut my balls off.”
    “Oh, we wouldn’t touch your balls,” said Milgrom, leaning in so close to Dev that he could smell the chewing gum on her breath and see the stippling of fine dark hairs on her top lip. “It wouldn’t be worth our while trying to find them.”
    Blunt and Francis both chortled. Sigursdottir smirked.
    Dev just smiled. “Are we done hazing the newbie? That ship over there may be sinking. Unless you’ve a few more insults to unload, perhaps we should focus on searching it while we still can. Yes?”
    Milgrom grunted, then nodded. “I’ve not begun insulting you, fish-face. But sure, let’s save that for later. Meantime, we’ve got a ghost ship to explore.”

 
    14
     
     
    T HE A DMIRAL W INTERBROOK hove to at the Egersund ’s stern, adjacent to the ramp. Milgrom and Blunt fired grappling guns. The hooks arced to the top of the ramp, trailing lengths of synthetic spider-silk rope behind them and fastened electromagnetically to the metalwork. Milgrom gave the rope on hers an experimental tug to establish that it was secure. Then, with the end of the rope wrapped around her upper arm, she took a running jump and leapt from the catamaran to the whaler.
    Blunt alighted beside her a moment later, and the two Marines hauled themselves hand over hand up the ramp. At the top, they launched hoverdrones from wristlets in their forearms. The micro aircraft unfurled rotors and rose to five metres, sporting four-way camera arrays that transmitted images to their commplants.
    Eyes in the sky. Eyes in the backs of their heads.
    Coilgun rifles unshouldered, Milgrom and Blunt performed a sweep of the aft deck, right and left, mirroring each other. The hoverdrones accompanied them like kites on invisible strings.
    Once the all-clear was given, Sigursdottir and Francis sprang onto the ramp and clambered up to join them.
    Dev went last. Catching the grappling hook rope as he landed, he clambered up the steep, slimy slope, the smears of old blood making the steel slippery. Unlike the Marines, he didn’t have grip-soled boots.
    The Marines were already on the move, heading forward in two-by-two formation. Milgrom’s and Blunt’s hoverdrones whispered obediently along overhead.
    The central section of the Egersund ’s deck was a kind of industrialised outdoor