Freedom

Chapter 27

The flare was high overhead, and we could see clearly, for the moment. Velvet started off, and the rest of us hurried to catch up. I remembered what she'd said about following her exactly – but I didn't get her meaning until she ran out onto the water. Well, she didn't really run onto it – there was something about a foot underneath that she was running on. The Biker splashed down after her, and so did Sagaris. The sisters held up for the same reason I did. The Merc was behind us, and he gave me an encouraging shove.

I grabbed Purple by the shoulder and stepped down, bringing her with me. By the feel, I thought we were walking on some kind of pier. It didn't feel very stable, but we were falling behind. The older sister was making her way ahead of us, and I wasn't going to let her show me up. I started forward at a hesitant trot. The light from the flare was starting to fade. We'd already given ourselves away – where was the harm? I hit my light, which lit up the others almost immediately in front of us. I skidded to a stop, nearly losing my footing. We were probably forty meters out into the channel. The shape of the ship was still quite a ways off.

The Biker was hauling on a rope.

"It's still here," he said, looking over his shoulder. "Turn that off." I did so. My night vision went with it. For a moment I couldn't hear anything, just the faint sloshing of whatever the Biker was doing. Purple was holding my hand. I was feeling a little lost myself, so I let her.

"Something's wrong," the Biker was saying in Russian, probably to Velvet. "He would have seen that. Can't he at least put a light on?"

"Maybe he's asleep."

"Not likely."

"Hey, watch it."

"Nobody shot at us when he had his light on."

"You know, I think I saw somebody moving around on the deck while the flare was up."

"Are you sure? Who was it?"

"How should I know? Look how far away we are," I replied.

"Maybe he's powering up the generator."

"Do you need some help?"

"I've got it. Is somebody watching the back?"

"Naturally," the Merc rumbled.

"It's almost here."

"If there is something in this water, this is not the best place to be," Sagaris said worriedly. I could hear him turning left and right, trying to watch both directions at once.

"If it's as big as they say it is, it won't matter if you see it coming," Velvet said. I swear, she's got a cruel streak. Sagaris started swearing under his breath. Maybe he really had seen something.

There was a clatter. "Let's go."

I followed the others into – something. It was so dark that I couldn't really see what it was, but I'd gotten the idea. It was a sort of ferry, roped to the distant ship with a pulley and a couple of lines. Its floor was beneath the water, and our weight sank it further. It seemed to be roughly pyramid shaped, but with all the sides opened. Once we were all in, the Biker began to pull us along. It was slow going.

Gradually, my night vision was beginning to return. I could see the ship looming ahead, and the black channel all around us.

"I always like a good on rails sequence," I said. Purple turned and looked up at me, then shook her head. "Just trying to make conversation." She let go of me, so maybe I'd put her at ease. There was still a long way to the ship, but it was looking bigger and bigger. I dug through my pouch for my binoculars, and scanned the upper deck. It was too dark to see much, but nothing appeared to be moving. It was very quiet.

It took a full ten minutes to reach the ship. If there was a channel monster, it decided to let us off, because nothing happened. The Biker tied off the ferry, then started up a ladder on the side of the hull. Velvet followed, and Sagaris went after her. I told the girls to go next, and the Merc and I were last.

The ship rested at a slight angle, but the deck was dry. Velvet was looking back over the side. "Everybody?"

The Merc clambered over, nodding confirmation. She did a quick count, and seeing that we were all there, turned to look up at the wheelhouse.

"Something's definitely wrong," the Biker said, moving to the opposite rail and peering down.

"Let's check it out. Biker, Mist, with me. You two mind the deck, keep an eye on them," she said, pointing at the girls. "I'm on point, Biker on me, Mist, hold it together."

I didn't even get to reply. Velvet started up the steps, and the Biker was right behind her. She exchanged her MPL for his shotgun, and they headed in. I followed, eying the wheelhouse. It would be tight in there. I drew my Glock and checked the chamber.

It was as cramped as I feared. I considered the wisdom of having Velvet out front – she was, after all, the brains of the operation. But she was also the smallest, and easiest to cover. We all turned on our lights. With the Biker's cruiser raised, Velvet moved at a pretty brisk pace.

Black stairwells led down into the ship, but she passed those, leading us to stairs that took us up. She barely paused at the second deck, but stopped on the landing, cupping her hand to her mouth.

"Friendlies," she called in Russian. Her voice echoed through the metal halls. The ship groaned and shifted beneath our feet. I eased back down the steps and shone my light down the nearest stairwell. It was a mess down there. The Biker was poised at the top of the stairs, the MPL in one hand, his Pernach in the other.

Velvet swore. "Let's go." I hurried up.

The room was quite spacious, and had obviously been used as a living area. There was a cot, trunk, and other amenities. In the daytime, this room at the top of the wheelhouse would have had a very nice view of the channel, and the shore on either side.

But there was nobody there. Velvet panned her light around, frowning. "Anybody see blood, casings? Watch the hall, Mist."

I left the room and listened to them talking inside.

"Nothing." The Biker picked up an AK from the floor, giving it a quick check. "Looks okay – it hasn't been sitting out like this for more than a few days." He raised an eyebrow. "Old age?"

"If he left, he left without his weapon. I don't know how likely that is." Velvet came back out into the corridor, looked in either direction, ignored me, and went back inside. "What could have happened to him?"

"Maybe the channel monster got him."

"Be serious."

"He left his money? Can we take it?"

"Not until we know he's dead. We need his help, remember?"

"Good point. Where are the charts?"

"I found some over here, but I can't read them."

"Figures."

"There's some water in his shaving bowl, but it's freezing."

"Does he even have a heat source?"

"Last time I was here he had a little stove. It's probably in another room."

There were sounds of rummaging. "What's this?"

"How would I know? Is it an artifact?"

"My detector's not getting anything from it. Put it back."

"Sorry. I have Viking ancestry. I like to pillage."

A laugh. "Well, do we need to search the ship?"

"I'd rather not. You know how big this thing is?"

"Yeah."

"We'll move around the first level, call out to him, make some noise – if that doesn't draw him out, then something must have happened to him."

"Yeah."

"Then we'll pillage."

"Yeah, but then we're also kind of screwed, right?" Velvet and the Biker came back into the corridor. Once again, ignoring me completely, they started back down the stairs.

"It's not ideal," Velvet said. "But we'll have to just go. I guess we should probably stay here for the night."

"And if it rains and the water level rises?"

"Then we'll use one of the boats."

"I forgot about those. Can we all fit?"

"Probably. Me and the girls are small."

"Yeah, but the Merc's big."

"It's not even raining yet."

Half convinced that I'd become invisible, I followed them back down to the others. We spent about a quarter of an hour doing what Velvet had suggested. In pairs, we moved around the main deck, calling out to someone – I still didn't know who – and searching for any signs of what might have happened to him. We didn't find much, but we didn't cover a lot of ground. The ship was a wreck, claustrophobic and dark.

But as big as it was, sound carried. If this guy was aboard, whoever he was, he could not have failed to notice us. Velvet even let off a blast from the Biker's shotgun, which echoed off the bulkheads for at least ten seconds.

The guy was just gone.