Page 58 of Clive Cussler Desolation Code

Paul leaned against the door, weary and tired.Now what?

The bridge was a long way off, longer still now that he’d gone aft. But that was the only option he could think of. He began trudging toward the bow, bracing himself against the tilt of the deck and waving the flare in front of him to clear a path.

The ship was completing another circle, coming back around to the east. Paul now realized why the fourth dip was always the worst. With the other three they were crossing the waves from behind or at an angle. As they turned east, they went into the wave and came over the top more suddenly.

The latest dip was the worst yet, sharp enough that Paul nearly lost his footing. One boot slid out from under him. The other threatenedto follow. Paul grasped one of the support struts at the footing of the crane and held on.

The ship rolled hard, its list reaching thirty degrees. It ran like that for several seconds, and then slowly began to right itself.

Another lap around the circuit and they’d capsize for sure, Paul thought. There was no time to go for the bridge. He had to get the layer of insects off the superstructure before it was too late. He looked around in all directions and then up.

Earlier he’d agreed with Chantel that using a hammer against the insects wasn’t the greatest of ideas. But he realized now that might depend on the size of the hammer.

Chapter 34

Paul climbed into the crane’s control cab, waving the flare about and then discarding it as it sputtered and died. It was a tight squeeze for a man his size, but once he got into the seat he was fairly comfortable. The clinging insects had mostly abandoned him and the few that fluttered around inside the plexiglass box were of little concern at this point.

With the flick of several switches he brought the crane to life. Lights flared in the dark. The swarm of insects surged toward them.

Raising the boom launched another throng of the angry insects. Rotating the crane to the right did likewise. At this point, Paul could see almost nothing beyond the small cab he occupied, but that didn’t much matter anymore. He had no intention of being careful. In fact his plan was to cause as much chaos as possible without damaging the ship.

He extended the boom and let out some cable, lowering the hook. With a short turn to one side the hook swung around and clanged against the hull of the ship. The reverberation echoed with the sound of a hundred drums. A flock of the insects thick enough to walk on launched themselves from the stern.

Pivoting around, Paul swung the hook in the other direction. He missed everything, let out more line, and then tried again. This time the hook smashed through the ship’s rail and slammed against the superstructure.

Another epic bang rang out.

Paul couldn’t tell, but he was winning the battle.

He brought the boom back across the top of the superstructure, knocking things over in the process. This swipe took out the radar mast and the collection of antennae atop the high point of the superstructure.

Despite the unintended destruction, this hit brought the first true sign that his plan was working. A pair of high-intensity lights ahead of the radar housing were unveiled as the coating of pests fled from the pounding assault. Light filtered through the swarm, enough for Paul to aim his next strike. He centered the crane and raised it over the top of the wheelhouse. Reeling in some cable and then releasing it allowed the hook to drop like an anchor. It thudded onto the roof of the wheelhouse, causing an exodus from inside the bridge.

He made a second bombing run and then a third, working his way back until he was poised to hammer the science compartment. He hoped Gamay and Chantel would be smart enough to cover their ears.

He swung the boom to the left and then let the two-hundred-pound weight drop. It pounded on the hull plating, leaving a visible dent.

He could feel the ship handling better, cresting the waves without threatening to turn.I could do this all night, Paul thought. He swung the crane out to the left and then flipped the joystick back to the right, but, instead of moving back, the boom remained suspended over the port side of the ship. He jiggled the controls and heard a whining sound, but neither saw nor felt any movement.

He glanced down at the panel through his smeared goggles. It wasa jumble of yellow and red lights. One was a hydraulic pressure warning light. Others were labeled in writing too worn for him to read through his distorted lens.

The lights in the cab flickered.

“Come on,” he said to the crane. “Don’t fail me now.”

He tried to move the boom incrementally, but after a few brief shunts it froze once again. The lights in the cab went dark. The insects had chewed through the lines.

The crane was dead. And, Paul worried, so were they.

He couldn’t tell in which direction the ship was pointing at the moment, but he had no doubt about its fate. As soon as theIsabellaswung around again, she would roll over.

—

The pounding on the hull reverberated through the science bay, even before the direct hit shook the compartment to its core.

“What the hell is he doing?” Gamay wondered aloud as a huge dent appeared in the overhead.

She ran to the door. Looking out the window, she could see that the deck was mostly cleared. The piles of insects had been forced into the air. “I think I owe him an apology,” she said. “This insanity seems to be working.”

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