(near the lifeboats)

Captain Haddock was pacing around, biting his nails nervously. It had been a while since Tintin and Malina left him in charge of raising the alarm, should someone find him. Haddock was worrying himself sick. He was concerned that either Sakharine or Allan may have caught them. Growing more and more impatient, Haddock felt the sudden urge to grab another bottle and have a drink.

"Tintin!" Haddock cried out, almost like a whisper. "Tintin! Malina!" He needed to know if they were all right and not in some sort of danger.

Suddenly, Haddock heard a faint rustling within the tarp covering the lifeboat. Walking toward the lifeboat, Haddock lifted up the tarp. Inside, he found a thug seated in the lifeboat, with a gun already in hand.

"Hey!" The thug exclaimed, positioning his gun. "Put your hands up!"

Haddock obeyed and threw his hands up in the air. Luckily for him, he had been holding the rope that was holding the lifeboat. The minute he let go, the boat instantly fell. The thug also fell off, along with the lifeboat, as he screamed:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggghhh!"

As the boat landed in the ocean, the thug was left dangling near the side of the boat, his feet tied up by the rope.

Haddock smiled as he went to look at the unfortunate thug. "And let that be a lesson to ya!" He shouted.

The thug was left shouting, "Help me!" Having been satisfied with what happened, Haddock looked all around the deck, searching for another lifeboat. Since that lifeboat was already gone, he had to go find a new one for him and the others to escape in. Moving silently, Haddock searched for a new lifeboat.

(inside the radio room)

As Malina stood guard at the door, she often peered over her shoulder to check on Tintin's progress. Tintin was still busy sending out a distress signal, hoping to get a message out. Malina did a pretty good job keeping watch. She kept on peering out the window as she held a pocket knife in hand.

Suddenly, Malina could hear footsteps coming from outside. Her breath caught in her throat, Malina made her way to Tintin and began tapping his chest hard. "Tintin!" She whispered. "Tintin! Hurry it up! I can hear someone coming close!"

"Almost done with it!" Tintin told Malina. He pressed a few more buttons on the radio, trying to finish up. Malina heard the door handle jiggle. As she pressed her body toward the door, it pushed open, causing Malina to fall over. "Hey!" Malina shouted. Tintin turned around and gasped. It was Tom!

"In here!" Tom yelled as he pointed his gun at Tintin. "They're in here!"

...

Tom prepared to fire, until Snowy pounced from the table and sunk his teeth into Tom's arm, causing him to cry out in pain and miss his target, shooting the wall. Tintin then swung his arm forward and delivered a punch straight into Tom's face.

"Come on, Malina!" Tintin exclaimed as he grabbed the gun from Tom. "Let's go!" "Coming!" Malina said as she ran out of the radio room, with Tintin and Snowy in the lead. Allan then shoved himself inside, pushing Tom. "Where are they?!" He demanded. He then decided to pursue them himself.

Captain Haddock was still pacing around, waiting for the others to arrive. Unbeknownst to him, another sailor found Haddock. "Here! By the lifeboats!" He shouted as he pointed his gun directly at Haddock.

Meanwhile, Tintin, Malina, and Snowy were racing through the decks, as more and more sailors began appearing, all with guns in hand. Tintin began to pick up speed, while Malina picked up Snowy and held him in her arms.

"Get out of the way!" Allan shouted. "After them! Get them!"

As Tintin and Malina leapt over a railing and onto the floor, one sailor pulled out a rifle and began firing on to the two youths. "Watch out!" Malina shouted as she and Tintin dodged each new bullet that was fired at them. Tintin then pulled out the gun he obtained and began shooting in defense as he and Malina were racing to escape the bullets raining down on them. For Malina, this had been more than enough action for her to take in!

"Tintin, what did you say your job was, exactly?" Malina asked. "I'm a journalist!" Tintin shouted back in reply. "Why do you ask?" "Because I've never seen a journalist endure this much danger before!" Malina exclaimed. "I always assumed you were the stuck-up person with his nose stuck in a book and sitting at a typewriter everyday!" "Says you!" Tintin exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Snowy had finally made it to the lifeboat with Haddock. Barking crazily, Snowy pounced and landed inside the lifeboat just as Haddock was about to untie it. "Quick, you two!" Haddock screamed. "They're here!"

Running near the funnel, Tintin and Malina ran until they found another sailor with a gun. Swinging his arm, the sailor was about to punch Malina, but Tintin was quick to prevent the attack. Grabbing the sailor's arms, Tintin then delivered a kick, toppling the sailor to the ground. "Let's go!" Tintin exclaimed. But as Malina was a bout to follow, she felt an arm grabbing the collar of her jacket.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Malina was now screaming as a sailor wrapped his arm around her chest, dragging her away. "Tintin!" Malina screamed. "Quiet, girl!" The sailor shouted at her. "We've had enough of your tricks. You're stayin' here, as our trophy!" Tintin then ran back and punched the man clean in the face, grabbing Malina's hand and running away.

"Why, you little...!" The sailor then got to his feet as he opened fire on the youths. But they were quick on their feet as they were with their reflexes. The gun shots were now piercing the night sky.

Haddock and Snowy looked back as they heard the gunshots growing louder by the minute. Snowy whimpered; he was worried that his best friend would be hurt. At that moment, Haddock suddenly lost his balance as he tumbled into the lifeboat, accidentally loosening the ropes holding the boat. Haddock was able to grab the seat of boat, watching the whiskey bottles topple into the sea as he held Snowy by the tail.

Trying to avoid the bullets, Tintin slid onto the roof of the ship, dragging Malina as they slid. Landing near a staircase, the teens ran. Suddenly, the big sailor, Jumbo, had appeared, with another sailor. Whipping off her boot, Malina swung her boot hard across both sailors' faces. They cried out in pain as Malina put her boot back on and ran with Tintin. "They're up there!" A sailor shouted, pointing to the youths running. "Go!"

As Tintin and Malina kept on running, they managed to reach the lifeboats in time. Standing atop the stairs, Allan pulled out his gun, aiming it at the two. Seizing the chance, Tintin shot a bullet straight for the lever, causing the searchlight to break loose and shine the light brightly on the other thugs, blinding them. "Let's go!" Tintin told Malina as they finally raced toward the lifeboats.

"Don't let them get away!" Allan ordered, pointing to Tintin and Malina as they climbed aboard the lifeboat, with Haddock and Snowy in tow.

Tintin then raised his gun, and fired a bullet toward the rope suspending the lifeboat. The rope eventually snapped in half, and soon, the friends found themselves falling toward the ocean. As the boat began sailing away from the ship, Sakharine looked all around the deck and glared as he found the prisoners escape. Grabbing the oars, Tintin and Haddock began rowing farther away from the ship as the current pulled them farther.

"Turn this ship around!" Allan shouted. "Aye, sir!" A sailor said, saluting as he headed for the ship's main control room. Pulling a lever, the sailor took a hold of the wheel and began steering the ship. "Give me a flare," Allan growled. A crew member handed him a flare gun. Sliding down the stairway and stopping toward the edge of the deck, Allan raised the gun high and fired.

Tintin watched as a fiery red bullet sailed through the night sky. "Captain, get down!" Tintin exclaimed, pushing the captain down. "Malina! You get down too!" The three then laid down on the floor of the lifeboat. Cradling Snowy in his arms, Tintin wondered if they were soon to get them at any given point. "So much for a reporter," Malina whispered in awe.

Activating a searchlight, a sailor was trying to find the lifeboat. "There he is!" He shouted, pointing the beam toward the boat. "Get out of the way!" Allan screamed, pushing the sailor aside and grabbing the searchlight. Looking around, he eventually shoe the beam onto the lifeboat where the three escaped in.

"Now!" Tom yelled at the sailor in the control room. "Full speed! Full speed ahead!"

The sailor nodded. With a wicked grin, he pushed the lever at full speed. Now the Karaboudjan was rapidly picking up speed as it sailed forward toward the lifeboat. Allan smiled, his plan going according to plan. "I got you now," he sneered deviously.

Malina picked herself up from her position as she noticed the ship speeding toward them. "Stay down!" Tintin whispered as he gently put his hand on Malina's head and pushed her till she was lying back down. As the ship was rapidly picking speed, Haddock took Snowy from Tintin and hugged him tight. Tintin and Haddock then shut their eyes tight, already bracing for impact. Malina then shut her eyes as she hugged Tintin's arm tight. "Here it comes!" Malina whispered. "Here it is—!"

...

CRASH!

The sailors began to cheer, having successfully killed their escapees. But their celebration wasn't going to last that long.

Tom suddenly then found something in the ocean that caught his eye. Tugging at Allan's coat, Tom pointed to the ocean, exclaiming, "Look! Down there!"

Allan and the others neared the deck and gasped in a mix of shock and stunned anger. Grabbing a telescope, Allan looked to see what it was that Tom had found. He then found that the lifeboat they had rammed the ship with was completely empty! A lone whiskey bottle was bobbing up on the watery surface, amidst the wrecked lifeboat.

From afar, Tintin peeped from the floor of the lifeboat. That other lifeboat had spared their lives! Sighing with relief, Tintin was glad that the sailors were distracted by that other lifeboat. Nodding to Haddock, the three friends then grabbed the oars and began to slowly row away from the collateral damage, and onwards toward their destination.