In my opinion I believe I might be writing a little differently than in the earlier chapters. If so I apologize, but I think that it might be better this way. Enjoy this next update.
Also, Happy Newyear to you all!
Chapter 13
The dark shape of the hull of The Russian Jewel grew larger as their boat was cruised towards it. More than before, Alan thought the ship was not only filled with villainous people, the colouration itself also exerted a certain hostility. They were moving as fast as possible. Nobody wanted to risk staying out on the water for too long after having seen the Mosasaur in action. Alan noticed that The Russian Jewel itself was also moving, yet not at high velocity.
"How did they find us?" Arie asked.
Nobody had been able to give anything close to an explanation. All around him Alan saw the same thing on the faces of each of the men and women. Anger and surprise. He could relate to those emotions as he himself was stunned that they were found by Pavel's men again. Ian and Arie sat beside him with similar thoughts. The three of them all felt somewhat cheated by the abrupt takeover after believing rescue by InGen's Navy vessel was imminent.
Even this Owen Grady seemed rather downhearted. What Alan didn't know is that Owen, despite appearances, had not given up yet. He only pretended to be so that they would pay less attention to him. He was thinking hard of ways to delay the potential departure of the Ukrainians. He had spotted the crane already in motion, indicating that they would probably load the transports. This combined with The Russian Jewel cruising through the water was enough evidence to suspect that the raiders might head home soon. Everyone may have forgotten about the frigate, he himself certainly hadn't. He was brooding on a plan to escape and/or cause enough delay for the Navy vessel to arrive.
It took about an three hours for everyone and everything to be aboard The Russian Jewel. It was not the way there that took long, nor the boarding of the prisoners which went rather organized and quickly for such a large group. It was the loading of the transports. The crane on the deck was slow and securing the attachments of both of the two remaining boats took much time. Not to mention the fact that the giant cargo ship was still cruising, creating waves on both sides. This made it difficult for the transport raft to stay close for long. It was merely that the Ukrainians had done it so often already that they managed to do everything successfully within relatively little time. Not that Pavel was ever satisfied.
"Finally, you are here. What took you so long?" he asked Ivan.
The man opened his mouth to speak, but Pavel already continued.
"It doesn't matter now. I see you've returned me my friends. How good of you to join me again." he said cynically.
"Yea, we missed your warm personal-.."
Ian's reply was cut off by the businessman's clenched fist hitting him at speed. The mercenaries around them smiled or laughed contentedly. They were all glad that for once they were not the victim of their boss's aggression. Apart from that, Ian had also not been able to make a lot of friends among the crew with his sarcastic behaviour. Arie thought that he was probably the least-liked person of all the captives.
"Now then..." Pavel continued, shaking his hand as it hurt a little the resistance Malcolm's face had provided. "I believe most of you are wondering how we managed to find you on such short notice."
As he detected that many of his enemies exchanged glances that confirmed said matter had indeed been on their minds for the past two hours, he smirked. Alan had already said to Arie that he reckoned Pavel to enjoy being the centre of attention. The show he was putting up now was a confirmation of that statement. The Dutchman rolled his eyes upon hearing the speech.
"Well, that is quite simply really. You see, this ship is equipped with the most modern technology possible. We have…"
As the man continued his monologue, Owen hid a smile behind his hands. That's right, keep on talking. The longer your story takes, the sooner that frigate is here.
"… one of these pieces of equipment allows us to intercept nearby radio transmissions. And lucky for us, you were so kind as to send one."
The muttering amongst the prisoners increased, much to the pleasure of the rich Russian.
"Now, if you'd all follow my associate here. He'll lead you below decks where you'll spend the rest of your time here."
Owen cursed under his breath. He had to drag out this conversation. Not that he would be able to stretch it up to nine hours, but ever bit helps, not to mention that the twelve hours Claire had mentioned was an approximation.
"Wait. How did you get here so fast?"
Owen praised himself for thinking of this question. It was a reasonable one to ask as the time that had passed since their first transmission and the arrival of Ivan at station Gamma was too short for the huge ship to have moved already. Hopefully it would even trigger another anecdote.
"Interesting that you should ask. Fate had it that we were passing by your station when we intercepted your signal."
"So it was just dumb luck?" Ian said.
He was getting pulled back on his feet by two other prisoners. Whereas others would think twice before speaking afterwards, the punch he took was no reason for him to be less talkative.
"If you want to put it in those words, then yes." Pavel spoke, showing a slight irritation.
Ian smiled internally. He had chosen those words exactly to disabuse the Russian businessman, who had been bragging and acting haughtily for quite some time now. The remark, however, disrupted the long-winded story Owen had been hoping for.
"Now mister Propov will escort you to the belly of the ship."
He gestured Ivan, who copied the gesture to the rest of the men.
"Wait!" Owen called, "Why were you sailing by station Gamma in the first place?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
He was forcefully brought in line with the rest who were all about to be brought below decks when an alarm rang. Almost simultaneously a door swung open and a man came running towards Pavel. The Eastern-European language was incomprehensible, yet from the faces of the men Owen read the news he was hoping for.
"What's going on?" someone called.
"They're here? Already?" Alan asked softly, standing next to him.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Something definitely caught their attention."
"But that woman said twelve hours, those haven't passed right?" Arie said.
Owen shook his head lightly. At exactly the same time, Pavel's eyes crossed his. The man gestured madly to the soldiers to bring take them away. The three academics were left behind. Downstairs, the intercom of the ship echoed various commands throughout the ship. On their way down, they were passed multiple times by men rushing. Urging themselves to the designated station. It wasn't long before they got to the place Pavel had intended for his prisoners. It was a divided section of the cargo hold. It was cold and damp. Stacked against the sides, there were ropes, chains and crates. And before Owen could ask what was going on, the hatch slammed shut and they were locked up.
.
On the bow, Pavel stood with a couple of his men next to a huge cannon. The men were armed with heavy weaponry. Most had sniper rifles, some had machine guns. The cannon was filled with a large iron bar that had a small, but sharp triangle on the end. A harpoon. Next to it, a short man sat in a chair. Through his glasses, he stared at a green gridded screen on the laptop on his lap. Pavel, to appease his clear need for attention, had allowed his three original guests to watch.
"Alright, I guess you're wondering what I plan to do with this."
He didn't expect a reply, neither did he get one.
"I'm going to kill that enormous creature that lurks in these waters."
"You mean the Mosasaurus?" Arie corrected him unintentionally.
"That's the one. My guy here..." he said, patting the man on his shoulder, "spotted him on the radar a few hours ago and we've been tracking him ever since. It's funny how it eventually lead us right by your hiding place."
He laughed at his own joke and the surrounding men joined. Although they probably did not know why, it was always wise to pretend that one appreciates the boss's sense of humour. Specifically with the short-tempered Mister Jacobson, with whom you might end up with a bullet in your skull if you didn't.
"I thought you only hunted to acquire intact skeletons? With that harpoon you'll be shattering it's bones!" the marine palaeontologist pointed out.
"True, but this one I will kill solely for my own satisfaction. In my cargo hold I already have something of greater value than I had planned for." he smirked diabolically when he thought of it. "The problem is however, that the Mosasaur has been avoiding us. Each time we see him on radar, we weren't able to keep up with him."
He looked at the men in front of him, waiting for a reaction. This time, he stayed silent until one of them answered.
"And what do you want us to do about that?" Alan asked.
"Good that you ask." he said joyfully.
Pavel whistled to a nearby soldier, who went below deck. It was evident that he had been waiting for this question. Alan figured the businessman was even a greater lover of drama than Malcolm was. After ten minutes, the soldier returned with one of the InGen employees. It turned out to be the wrong person, agitating Pavel not by the least.
"No-no-no, you brought the wrong one you idiot. I asked you for the captain of the group!"
The confused mercenary jabbered something in a foreign tongue, subsequently pointing at the stars on the man's shoulders. It was pure coincidence that the man's shirt had a pattern similar to that of captain's rank in the army. Pavel slapped himself with the palm of his hand.
"Oh, never mind." he said annoyed by the miscommunication, "Then we'll use this one."
"Use him? What for?" Ian asked.
Pavel sniggered delighted and his good mood was resurrected.
"Any of you ever been on a hunt?"
They looked at each other, but all shook their heads.
"No? Well, then I'll explain. Whenever your prey is always eluding you, you have to find a way to lure it in. Make it come to you, so to say."
"And how do you do that?" Alan asked, although he feared he already knew the answer.
The Russian man laughed again, this time far more evil than before.
"Oh naïve Doctor Grant, with bait of course!"
End of chapter.