Sertian Princess (15 page)

He did not stop to examine the effectiveness of his shot, although he judged it to have been a good one, and he continued to roll around the walls of the room, heading for the hole that had been blasted through from the corridor.  Flashes of violet energy punctured the space he had just been occupying and in the glare of the reflected light, he dimly saw the second attacker on the far side of the room, the twin of the first man if appearance was anything to go by.

Behind one of the chairs, he steadied himself and took a careful aim at his target, but even as he fired, he himself was hit full on by a blast from the third of the attackers.  Bruno died where he stood, but as David spun round desperately searching for the third gunman, he was hit again by another full power pulse and this time felt the overloaded circuits of his belt finally give up the struggle.   Defenceless now, he could not afford to take another hit.

He could hear movement in the room behind him, but the smoke now hampered him as much as it had been intended to hamper his assailants.  He decided that his best course of action was to make for the comparatively clearer air in the corridor outside and take a position to cover whoever followed him.  However, before he could move, the hairs prickled on the back of his neck and his senses told him that he had left it too late.  The third man was behind him and would fire before he could move.

He tensed himself, waiting for the inevitable pulse of laser energy, but when it came, it was fired from in front of him.  The bolt shot past his right shoulder and there was a scream of agony from behind him.  He span round in a crouch in time to see his third assailant crumple to the floor.  That it had been a woman he deduced from the shape of the body but her face had been completely obliterated by the laser blast.  Maddie Slatter died, no longer a beauty.

David rose to his feet and turned to see who had fired that saving shot.  Brianey was standing there, looking down at Marienna's mutilated body, with tears streaming down her face.  He put his arm round her and drew her head down onto his shoulder. 

After a while, when his breathing had returned to normal, he said gently, "I know she was your friend, Bri.  She was that, and more besides, to me.  We shall both miss Marie.  Go and get a sheet from the bedroom and let's cover her decently."

As Brianey disappeared into the bedroom, he knelt beside Marie's body and closed her eyes with his two fingers.  "Goodbye my love," he whispered and stooped to kiss her lips for the last time.

Brianey had come back with a sheet and between them, they arranged it over the corpse.  Brianey was still crying and David stood up and put his arm around her again.

"Let's go, Bri.  We shall take the time to mourn Marie, but not right now.  Our first priority is to the Princess.  We've got a job to do and we must save the tears for later.  The game is obviously underway, and I need all the players I can get on my team."

Brianey gradually stopped sobbing and made to brush the tears from her cheeks.  David took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted her face until her eyes met his.

"I don't know how you came to be here at the right time, Bri, but you were and you saved my life.  I shall not forget that.  Now, let's go and check with the others."

CHAPTER 15

Outside in the corridor, a young ship's officer and a couple of stewards were struggling valiantly to restrain a crowd of curious passengers.  Damage from the blast was confined to a very narrow band in the passageway, indicating that some sort of shaped explosive charge had been used.  Small electrical fires still smouldered where the blast had cut through cables buried in the walls and the ceiling, but there were no obvious casualties in sight.

Amid shouts of "Gangway", a fire crew pushed through the crowd, pulling behind them a cart laden with various types of extinguisher. Hard on their heels, two more of the crew were unreeling a hose from the nearest firepoint.  Seizing her opportunity, Zara, who had been trapped by the crowd, slipped quickly through the gap made by the fire crew, before it had a chance to close up again.

The young officer tried to intercept her but, with a glance that could have doused the fires all by itself, she dodged passed him and wrapped her arms around David.  Judging, therefore, that she was a relative of, or at least tolerably well acquainted with, the man who had emerged from the smoking ruin of the stateroom, he decided that it might be wiser to leave her alone and concentrate on organising the fire crew.

"David, quickly," she whispered, "before he comes over.  They've made their move.  They're holding the Princess in her cabin but we've got the doorway covered.  They can't move her."

As she was speaking, her eyes took in the devastation in the cabin and there was a touch of genuine anxiety in her voice as she continued, "Are you all right, David?"

"Yes yes, I'm fine.  Not even a scratch, thanks to Brianey here."

Zara looked at Brianey with a grateful smile which gradually died away as she looked round the corridor and through the hole in the stateroom wall, until with increasing alarm, she turned back towards David.

"David, where's Marie?  Where's Marienna?"

"She's dead.  Three of the bastards came after us and they took her out right at the start.  I was talking to Suzanne when they hit and I just couldn't react fast enough.  I don't know who the hell they were, but they were professionals."

Zara still had her arms loosely around him, but now she hugged him close again and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

"Oh David," she said quietly.  "I'm so sorry."

He reacted automatically to the hug, one of his arms encircling her waist, while the other hand absently stroked at her hair.

"She was a very special person, Zara.  She was so warm, so vibrant.  And now she's dead."

"You can't blame yourself for her death.  She was your bodyguard after all, and you said yourself they were professionals."

"Yes, but she wasn't ready for a mission like this.  Julia said as much, and I overruled her.  I thought I could look after Marie; break her in gently.  I was wrong."

"She knew the risks she was taking, David.  It's the one thing that Julia drums in to them right at the start.  All of your bodyguard are volunteers; you know that.  They know they may be putting their lives on the line for you.  It happened to be Marie, but it could have been any one of the others."

"In my mind I know you are right, my lady, even if my heart disagrees.  Now tell me about the situation with Neri.  Is Corin in control there?"

"Three men turned up and knocked on their door.  When the Lady Lynda opened it, they pushed their way in before we could intervene. They're still in there: they haven't

tried to come out yet.  Corin is there outside the door, with Tessa and Carly.  Cerys is still following Pulowski."

"You mean Pulowski wasn't one of them.  The opposition are certainly here in some strength.  So, two questions: the three men in the cabin may have got the Princess, but what do they intend to do with her now?  And just what in hell's name is Pulowski up to?

"Bri, check the remote monitor.  See if Jorgensen's still in his room."

"Zara, see if you can contact Cerys and find out where Pulowski is.  I'll calm down the deck officer here."

The young officer had been hovering around them, hopping agitatedly from one foot to the other and trying to catch David's eye. David went over to him and showed him a DEA identification disc, similar to the one Corin had used on Andes.

“Sorry about the mess.  Things got a little bit out of hand, I'm afraid."

"A little bit out of hand: I should think they did.  Just what is it that's been going on here?"

"There isn't time to give you the full story now, but we've been following a major drugs dealer and some of his mules for a few weeks. They're on board this ship.  It looks as though they decided we were pressing them too close and put out a contract on us.  Now I need your cooperation."

"Well," the young officer said doubtfully....

"Look, Lieutenant....?"

"Singh, sir."

"Lieutenant Singh, I'll take full responsibility and I'll clear it with Captain Wainwright later, but I don't have time right now to cut through a mass of red tape.  Will you help us?"

The young man's face cleared at the mention of Captain Wainwright's name.  "Yes, of course," he replied much more confidently. "What do you want us to do?"

"To start with, you could get some more men down here and seal off this entire corridor.  Then..." he paused as Brianey emerged through the shattered wall of the cabin.

"The remote surveillance is still operational," she reported. "And Jorgensen's still in his cabin."

"You're sure?"

"Positive.  I saw him there myself."

"Ok.  Zara, have you got through to Cerys yet?"

"Yes, she's still following Pulowski.  She's on A deck at the intersection of corridors A8 and C37."

David turned back to the officer.  "The intersection of A8 and C37.  What's down there?"

"Nothing.  Only the lifeboat station."

"The lifeboat, of course.  That's how they'll get her off."

"Get who off?" Singh asked puzzledly.

"We've got another group of them cornered but they've forced their way into one of the first class cabins and taken a couple of girls hostage.  They'll try to take the hostages with them when they leave. Now tell me, can the Bridge prevent the lifeboats being launched?"

"Yes, they're all under Central Control unless there's an emergency, in which case control is passed to the officer assigned to each of the boat stations."

"Good.  Contact the Bridge and make sure that Central Control is still in place.  They mustn't be allowed to launch that lifeboat.

"Brianey, use the emergency transmitter in the cabin there, to contact the Salamander.  Warn them to scan for a ship coming in to pick up the lifeboat.

"Zara, I want you to go after Cerys.  Pulowski's dangerous and we don't know for certain that he's on his own.  Even if he is, the others will be heading that way with the Princess."

"But they're still trapped in her cabin," Zara said.  “Corin would have said if they'd come out."

"Maybe...."

He broke off as the alarms sounded in the passageway.  In the distance he could hear them repeated down the length of the liner.  He spun round looking for the deck officer, who was standing by a communicator panel, desperately thumbing a switch and obviously getting no response.  After about 20 seconds the alarm bells switched off and an announcement came through all the communicators simultaneously.

"This is a drill.  Repeat, this is a drill.  All officers to Boat Stations.  All officers to Boat Stations.  Repeat, this is not an alert.  This is a drill."

In the sudden silence, they each looked at the other for an instant and then made a dash for the communicator.

"Get through to the Bridge," David said urgently.  "Get this drill cancelled.  They mustn't release their overall control."

"It's too late.  Central Control cuts out automatically when the alarms sound."

"Well, get them to put it back on again."

"It can't be done," Singh replied unhappily.  "Once Bridge Control has been switched off, each Boat Station is completely autonomous. They have to surrender their control to the Bridge at the end of the drill. It can't be taken away from them.  We're too late."

David looked round for Zara but she had already gone.  He could just see the back of her head as she pushed through the crowd at the corner.  Then Brianey came running.

"Salamander reports two unidentified ships at extreme range but closing rapidly.  Initial analysis indicates that at least one is a Frigate class vessel.  Salamander and Cleopatra are moving to intercept."

"Well, the Salamander will just have to cope.  We've got our own problems here.  If we can't prevent the lifeboat being launched, we'll have to stop them from reaching it.

"Lieutenant Singh, I want you to put out a security alert, but do it as quietly as you can.  There will be a group of three men and two women, trying to reach the lifeboat station at A8/C37.  They must be stopped at all costs, short of harming the women.  The men will be armed, dangerous and are expendable, but the women must not be injured. Can you organise that for us?"

"I'll do my best, sir.  Where will you be?"

"Come on, Bri: let's move it.

"We'll get over there now, Lieutenant, but by the time we get there, we'll probably be following behind them."

***

Nerissa and Lynda's cabin was at a T-junction in the complex of staterooms on the first class deck.  When David and Brianey got there, they found Corin stationed in the corridor directly opposite the cabin door, and Carly and Tessa covering the passageway to the left and right with needle lasers ready in their hands.  Brianey replaced Corin watching the door as David drew him aside.

"What's the situation, Corin?"

"It's a bit odd, my lord.  They went in there about 20 minutes ago and since then... nothing.  They haven't tried to leave but there's no sounds coming from inside."

"What, nothing at all?"

"Not a thing.  A few minutes ago I risked going up to the door and putting an 'ear' on it."  He indicated a small device about the size of a pack of cigarettes, attached to the outside of the door.

"That thing is so sensitive it'll pick up a heart murmur.  But there's nothing: no voices, no sounds of movement, nothing.  If I didn't know better, I'd swear there was nobody in there."

"There probably isn't.  They're almost certainly on their way to the lifeboat station by now."

"But how?  There's only one door and we're covering it.  They went in but they haven't come out."

"I think you'll find that these people don't regard walls as any sort of obstacle, Corin, judging by the mess they made of our cabin.  Get that door open and let's take a look."

The three girls covered them as David and Corin crossed to the door and flattened themselves against the wall on either side of it. Corin removed another small device from his tool kit and used it to jam the electronic lock.  There was a faint click as the bolts retracted. They waited again, listening for any sounds from inside the cabin, but there were none.

Cautiously David braced his shoulder against the door and, after a quick look at Corin and a nod in reply, burst into the room.  It was, as he expected, empty.  The lights were on but there was nobody in sight, and no signs of a struggle.  Corin and Brianey quickly followed him into the room while Tessa and Carly closed up to cover them from the doorway.

In the standard search routine which Julia had made them rehearse many times, David signalled to Corin and Brianey to go past him and search the bedroom and bathroom, while he covered them from his position in the lounge.  Corin disappeared from view into the bedroom but Brianey turned in the bathroom doorway and waved to him to come over.  The far wall of the bathroom had all but disintegrated, revealing a second bathroom beyond, identical in all respects to the one in which they stood, with the exception of the half-naked body of an elderly man lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

David paused briefly to examine the body but the man was comprehensively dead.  From the size of the wound, it appeared that this team were using the same high power blast weapons as the three who had attacked Marienna and himself, rather than the smaller and more precise needlers with which David's team were equipped.  They had brought some heavier weapons with them in the luggage of the Blue Star Streak Group, but they were too bulky to carry round on what had been until half an hour ago, a routine surveillance operation.

He stepped over the body and led the way into the lounge.  There was another body in there.  This time it was the slight frame of an elderly lady, presumably the wife of the man killed in the bathroom.  She had been attempting to get up from the settee when the killers had come through, and had fallen with her glass still in her hand, its contents spilt across the carpet.

Nothing else had been disturbed in the room and the door to the corridor was closed.  David opened it carefully and surveyed the passage outside.  The only person in view was a steward just disappearing round the far corner, completely oblivious to the carnage in the cabin behind him.  David turned back to the group.

"There's no-one in sight," he said.  "Now, we know where they're going, but we don't know the route they're taking, or how far they are ahead of us.  So we split up and head for the lifeboat station.  Cerys and Zara should already be there and will try to slow them down as we come up behind.  If you spot them, get on the air and ask for help.  Don't tackle them on your own.  If you can't get through on the communicator, attract attention in some other way.  Set a fire alarm off or something to tell us where you are."