Page 35 of Clive Cussler Desolation Code

Joe was feeling along the wall. They passed the heavy construction of the bulkhead, climbing over a lip. Several seconds later Joe stopped. He’d found a door. A small amount of cool air was filtering through the gap underneath. “Let’s hope it’s not padlocked.”

He located the handle and leaned on it. Pushing it wide, he felt a wave of fresh air and rejoiced at the sight of the open hatchway and the dim, muddy world beyond.

Now he just needed to find a way for them to drop down into the mud below without getting stuck like a lawn dart or breaking their legs in the process. He found a cargo net, but there was nothing to hook it on.

As Joe and Five entered the compartment, Kurt glanced back down the hall. He could see the lights of their pursuers. They were moving slowly at first, but once they passed his discarded flashlight they began to pick up speed, bouncing and jumping as the men holding them began to sprint down the corridor.

He ducked in behind Joe and Five and quietly shut the door. “What’s the plan?”

Joe held up the net. “We have this, but no way to secure it.”

“Throw it over and climb on,” Kurt said, grabbing the end of the net.

With the top edge of the net in Kurt’s control, Joe helped Five get over the edge and lock his hands and feet into the webbing. “Are you sure you can hold us both?”

“No,” Kurt said. “But I’m going to let you down easy.”

“That’s what they all say,” Joe replied.

He grabbed the netting and swung his feet over the edge.

Feeling the weight, Kurt leaned back, but the deck was oily and there was little traction. He dropped to the deck and leaned hard on one hip. Perched this way, he slid across the compartment toward theopen hatch. Reaching it, he jammed his feet against the sill at the bottom of the opening.

He grunted with the strain and heard Joe holler up to him. “You call that easy?”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Kurt shouted. “And remind me to revisit your every-three-hours eating plan. You’ve gone up a weight class or two.”

A second later the strain vanished. Kurt fell back.

“We’re down,” Joe shouted.

Kurt had figured that part. Now he needed a way to get himself down.

He gathered the net up, pulling most of it in before the door flew open and Five’s cruel brothers stepped in.

Instead of attacking him, they spread out in a triangle formation with their lights aimed at his face. Another figure appeared. He stood in the doorway. Kurt couldn’t see his face, but once the man spoke he recognized both the voice and the overconfident tone.

“What’s the matter,” the man said. “Afraid of a little drop? I did five times that on Reunion.”

“Be my guest,” Kurt said, moving slightly to the side. “Less than three feet of water out there.”

The man didn’t take Kurt up on the offer. “Some other time,” he said, holding up the backpack Joe had used to defend himself. “I got what I came for.”

Kurt realized instantly that there was more to the homemade tracking beacon than met the eye. He considered reaching for it, but could see in the reflected light that the man had a pistol waiting and ready.

“Once again,” the man said. “I bid you adieu.” He turned his back on Kurt, much like he had done with Sharma, and spoke softly to his men. “Kill them,” he said. “Mord!”

The pack of cruel brothers rushed Kurt from all sides. But he was too quick for them. He heaved the edge of the cargo net up and covered them in it. With their arms and legs caught and tangled, he hurdled the sill and dropped over the edge, grabbing another rung of the net as he fell.

The cargo net slid several feet, dragging the three trapped men inside it to the edge of the hatch, and then stopping as they were pinned up against it. Kurt scrambled down, leaping from the net seven feet above the water. He hit with a splash, feeling his feet squish into the mud. He dove forward, swimming rather than running, as he tried to catch up with Joe and Five.

Five had recovered enough strength to stand now, and he and Joe were lumbering toward the bow of the freighter. Kurt joined them, hugging the steel wall of theSoufriere’s hull as shots rang out from the hatch.

Glancing back, Kurt saw their pursuers were coming down the cargo net. First the triplets, followed by their leader.

“They’re not giving up,” Kurt said. “Keep going.”

They raced to the bow of the ship, a slow-motion chase in the water and mud.

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