PULAU MATI (17 page)

Keegan asked if the pistol would have enough range to reach the boat and Gray said it would although accuracy was limited at that distance.  The young man said he would like to go up the peak and fire from there.  Gray did not think there was much point in firing the 9mm but knew the young man wanted to get some revenge and with shots coming from more than one location it would dilute fire from the boat.  He said that was fine if Keegan would slide back out of harms way if bullets started coming his way.  The young man ran east around the peak so he could scramble up out of sight of the men on the boat.

The motorboat came around the rocks at the north end of the island and turned in toward the beach and slowed exactly as it had done earlier.  There were five men in the boat this time and Gray’s stomach was jumping.  More adrenaline was pumping into his bloodstream than when the two men on the trail had come into the twenty five yard range.  These men had their weapons at ready and were alert.

The
motorboat came in as far as depth allowed, turned parallel to the beach and idled past the ledge.  When they had a hundred feet remaining before reaching the target rocks on the beach, Gray yelled, “Fire!”

He
began a steady aim, fire, aim, fire, aim, fire at the orange Hawaiian shirt behind the machine gun.  The firing beside him was irregular, out of rhythm like dissonance in music, but effective.  The rear most man slumped forward just before the man in the orange shirt dropped to his knees pulling the mounted gun skyward.  The man at the helm grabbed his rifle but never got it up before he sagged and dropped it.  He struggled up to the throttle and pushed it forward.  A man fell overboard as the boat turned abruptly and accelerated.  Gray continued firing until his shots began falling short and he yelled, “Cease fire!”

The man who had fallen overboard was on his feet in three feet of water and struggling to reach shore.  Gray fired twice and the man
dropped face first into the water.  A dark stain spread around the body, growing rhythmically with each wave.

The
motorboat arced far out to the west and then came around to head north.  Gray hollered, “Reload and let’s get going.”

Keegan came sliding down the side of the peak.

Shinobu grabbed Gray’s arm.  “Do you need me there?”

That the old man would ask to stay
at the cave told Gray he was exhausted from keeping up with them the last few days.  Another rifle would be comforting at the clearing but Shinobu could not get there as fast as the rest.  Dayah and Keegan had no experience with a rifle but at least they were armed.  “Shinobu, my friend, we did very well today and yesterday with your help.  I think there are no more than two or three uninjured men on that boat and we will have the benefit of surprise.”

Shinobu looked relieved.  Gray said, “
Take this radio and we will contact you if possible.  Stay up here or go to the shelter if you wish.”  He hugged the old man before turning and saying to the others, “We need to move fast right now.  They may simply leave the island and take Melanie with them for ransom or whatever.”

Anna
and Dayah quickly shifted some of the food and water from Shinobu’s pile to their bags.  Anna slung her rifle over one shoulder and a Claymore bandolier and a cloth bag over the other.  Keegan and Dayah picked up their bags and followed Gray around the peak and into the jungle. Once out of the thickest of the vegetation, they started a steady jog.

Gasping for breath t
hey reached the northwest corner of the clearing in about ten minutes.  The motorboat was not in sight and Gray was hit with the first sense of elation he had felt since coming to the island.  The ship was still there as was Melanie. Still catching their breath they crossed the trail and kept to cover until they were behind the hut.  Gray instructed the others to watch the clearing and the bay while he worked up close to the hut.  When he was behind the hut he paused and listened, hearing nothing but the sound of the breeze and the birds.  He moved around to the corner and peered over the lip of the low wall which with the added height of the stilts was about five feet off the ground.  If there was anyone in the hut they were lying down.  He brought his rifle up to ready and kicked the floor of the hut with his foot.  No reaction.  He signaled the others to join him.

Keegan said, “
I should go and start cutting the shackles.”

Gray grabbed his arm.  “Start cuttin
g the shackles but if you hear the boat’s motor do not hesitate, run to the nearest cover.  If you get the shackles cut through, ask her to stay there and you take cover.”

“Ohhh, god man,
I cannot do that.”

“If she is conscious tell her we love her and we need the pirates to come to the dock if we are to get the ship and get out of here.”

The young man sighed deeply and took off at a run with the hack saw in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.  Dayah asked, “I go too?”

“Yes, tell her we love her.  Dayah, do not let her have a gun.”

The young Malay’s eyes widened in understanding and she turned and ran after Keegan.

Gray had not wanted Melanie to know they were there and setting up an ambush for fear she could inadvertently
give them away but he could not resist letting her know rescue was so close.  He led Anna toward the pool and then east along the stream that trickled the short distance down to the flat before the ocean.  The land sloped down to the beach and there was an embankment along the edge between it and the flat.  A line of heavy jungle grew here and provided cover both from the dock and from behind on the remote chance the motorboat came around the south end of the island.  Gray and Anna knelt behind the embankment with a clear shot at the dock through the foliage.

They could see Keegan sawing madly on the shackles.  Dayah was holding Melanie in her arms.  The sun had reached the saddle and was sending beams across to the ship turning its black paint to gold.

The sound of a laboring motor came from the north.  It looked like Keegan had not cut through the shackles but he said something to Melanie and he and Dayah rose and ran behind the hut.  Melanie rolled to her side with her back to the dock.

It seemed to take a long time before the boat came into view and when it did the reason was evident.  It road
so low in the water its speed must have been quartered.  One man was at the helm and two were bailing furiously.  The motorboat was headed toward the ship.  Using the binoculars Gray scanned the ship closely as the boat approached.  No one appeared on deck to receive the motorboat.  He had not noticed before but where a ship’s name is usually written near the bow, a long strip of red paint covered the area and behind it was the name KESEMPATAN written in the same red paint.  He would have to ask Dayah if she knew what that meant.

The
motorboat pulled along side the ship in the golden light and one of the men climbed up a ladder to the deck.  The man at the helm took over bailing but it looked like it was difficult for him to do so.  On deck the man pulled the boom of a small crane out over the motorboat and lowered a cable and harness.  The helmsman struggled to attach one line to the bow while the other man attached one on each side of the stern.  The man on deck started a winch that was taking the slack out of the cable.  The ship listed slightly when the slack came out and the boom bowed.

The two men continued bailing but the helmsman faltered,
almost surely wounded badly.  The boat slowly came up in the water and finally broke clear.  Golden streams of water drizzled from a dozen or more holes.

After hanging close to the water for a few minutes, t
he motorboat rose faster and was winched over the deck and lowered.  The man in the boat lifted the helmsman up and the other man helped lower him to the deck. No sign of the number two man.  They must have thrown orange shirt overboard or he was lying out of sight in the bottom of the boat.  The two men disappeared for fifteen or twenty minutes and Gray’s hopes fell although he would be happy just to be rid of the pirates.

A moment after Gray began thinking about whether they should attempt to get Melanie to the other side of the island or stay here for the night, a
Zodiac raft rose above the deck and swung out over the water.  When it was in the water beside the ship, one man climbed down carrying a rifle and stepped into the raft.  He unhooked the winch harness and started the outboard engine.  The raft turned away from the ship and headed across the still water toward the dock.  The man on deck disappeared.

‘Oh, crap,” Gray said.
  He had hoped all of the able bodied men would come to shore.  The man in the raft looked like the leader and Gray wanted to kill the man but maybe a change of plans was necessary.  “Anna, I’m going to try to capture the bastard.  If I fail do not hesitate to shoot him.”

In the dimming light her eyes widened
but she nodded.  When the raft was two thirds of the way to the dock, Gray slipped to the left until the work counter by the dock was between him and the raft.  Not worrying about noise he might make because the Zodiac’s motor would cover it, Gray pushed through the foliage and duck walked almost to the dock and waited.

The
motor quit and the raft bumped against the dock.  Using his momentum the man stepped onto the dock with a practiced motion, a rifle in one hand, a mooring line in the other.  He wrapped the line around a cleat and rose to walk off the dock.  Gray was standing five feet away at the end of the dock and motioned the man to keep coming.

The man grunted in surprise and momentarily froze.  Gray stepped back from the dock and motioned again and then put both hands back on his rifle.  The man came forward until he was on land. 
He was much shorter than Gray but robust for an Indonesian.  Gray motioned for him to drop the rifle.  The man’s teeth were grinding and he was obviously reluctant to part with the rifle but he did with a snarl.  The thrumming of the ship’s engines drifted across the water.  The man must have expected it because he did not flinch or turn.  Gray motioned the man to move toward the hut.  When the man went by, Gray stepped behind him and was tempted to grab the man’s pony tail and prod him along with the rifle but stayed about four feet back.

Pistol in hand,
Keegan came running from behind the hut.  “Disarm him but be careful,” Gray said.  Keegan came at the man from the side with his own pistol in close to his body and slipped the pistol from the pirate’s holster.

Gray prodded the man to the
south side of the hut where view from the ship was cut off by foliage.  There he kicked the man’s legs from under him and yanked him to the ground using his pony tail.  A large bandage covered a seeping wound by the man’s neck and another bandage was wrapped around his right thigh.  So he did not escape the hail of bullets while in the boat.  “Do you speak English?” Gray asked.  When no response came, he kicked the man in the ribs and heard a satisfying crack and a groan.

“Dayah,” Gray hollered.

“Yes,” she said, already close by.

“Do you speak this man’s language?”

She rattled off a question to the man and received a response.

“He speak Indonesian.  Is some like Malayu.”

“Ask him where the key is for Melanie’s shackle.  Anna, bring me the bag with the wire.”

Dayah asked and
with little hesitation the man reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.  Keegan picked them up and started to run but Gray hollered for him to stop.  “Cover him while I tie him up.”

Gray wired the man’s hands behind his back, unconcerned as to whether he was twisting the wire too tightly.  Then he pulled the man’s legs up, bound the ankles and wired them to the hands.  He nodded to Keegan but again told him to hold it.
The clearing was in shadow now so the warning might be unnecessary but he said, “Keegan, there’s one man on the ship that can man that machine gun.  Be prepared to run for cover.”  The young Irishman took off.

Keegan unlocked the shackle from around Melanie’s leg and then he and
Anna helped her move out of view of the ship and lowered her back onto the ground.  She was silent but recent tears had streaked her filthy face.  Even in the dim light it was clear she had been beaten.  Welts and bruises covered much of her face and her arms were bruised, especially around the wrists.  Gray knelt and examined her limbs, head and torso.  She smelled terrible and was as passive as a limp doll, neither helping nor resisting.  Her dark eyes came up to his and he gazed into them, looking for a spark but there was nothing in them.  He framed her face and dropped his head to hers.  “We love you Melanie.  You did nothing wrong.  You did not deserve this.”

Still no response and he asked, “Can you walk?”

Gray did not see a response but Anna nodded to Dayah and they helped Melanie to her feet.  Anna said, “Gray, find the shampoo that was in the hut and bring it to the pool.  Keegan, bring the blankets we brought and one of the fruit drinks.”

Anna and Dayah led Melanie to the pool and
stripped the rags from her.  They stripped themselves and helped her into the pool.  Gray found the shampoo and remembering something he had promised, chucked the bottle to Keegan and went back to the bound up pirate.  He found a two way radio clipped to the man’s belt.  He turned it on and pushed the talk button.

“Shinobu, are you there?”