The Guardian's Wildchild (47 page)

“Keep in mind, Rhett, that any further insubordination on your part will be dealt with severely. Is that understood?”

Moon straightened his posture. “Yes. My apologies, sir.”

Sam took off his naval hat and coat. He laid them on a chair in what had been his office. He walked up to the admiral and shook his hand. “Goodbye, Admiral. Good luck.”

Without further ceremony, he and Sidney left the office and headed toward the admiral’s helicopter to retrieve his sons. Before they reached the upper deck, the sky became shadowed.

27. Madame’s Revenge

July 16, 1915 Hours, Aboard the Nonnah

Quiet rotors of stealth helicopters descended from the blue sky. Eight in number, with guns directed toward the
Nonnah
, the helicopters swirled around the ship’s decks in a menacing fashion. They bore no identifying markers nor did they send any signal of greeting or demands. Sam held Sidney close.

The admiral knew instantly that the choppers were Madame’s advance guard. “Moon,” he hollered “Red Alert!” The ship’s loud siren pierced the calm evening sky. Seamen scurried to man the gun turrets and took defensive positions along the decks. Sam and Sidney climbed a stairway to the uppermost deck where the admiral’s chopper sat waiting. Fifty feet away, Russell sat in the pilot’s seat gearing up the engine. A burst of gunfire cut Sam and Sidney off from their approach.

Sam motioned for Sidney to take cover in a corner out of view of the attackers, and he sprang forward. He took only two steps before the enemy fired upon the admiral’s chopper. It instantly burst into a fireball. Sam screamed in horror, his hands reaching out toward the burning bits on the deck as if to pull his sons from the wreckage. In seconds, little remained but the shell of the small craft. Sam scrambled along with seamen toward the flames. Carrying firefighting equipment, the men smothered the inferno.

Sam crumbled down to his knees as though in agony. Sidney grabbed hold of his shoulders as he screamed the names of his sons into the billowing black smoke.

The admiral watched the attack from the ship’s bridge. Moon gave orders for the seamen to fire warning shots toward the chopper. Carla announced, “There’s a call for you, sir. Says it’s ‘Madame.’”

“Admiral Garland here!” he shouted into the comlink to Madame’s chopper.

Madame’s voice was calm and detached. “Cease fire, Admiral. I can destroy your little ship in seconds.”

The admiral nodded to Moon. “Stand down.”

“John, you disappoint me. Just when we’re within days of resolving the energy crisis, you’re having second thoughts, and now it appears you’re letting two individuals go who know far more than they should and could be very useful to us. This isn’t acceptable.”

The admiral gritted his teeth. He’d been horrified to see the chopper carrying the Waterhouse boys explode into flames.

Bridges was suddenly at the admiral’s side. “Sir, the Waterhouse boys were transferred to Ryan’s chopper. They’re safe. I suggest we get them out of here quick.”

The admiral nodded. With his helicopter destroyed, it would impossible to get Sam and Sidney off his ship – unless they were able to commandeer another chopper.

“Madame, we’ll get nothing from Captain Waterhouse or the woman. You have no idea what I’ve been able to negotiate — I have something far better than those damn rocks,” he said.

“Not interested in your diversion tactics. I’m here to emphasize why you must comply with
my
plan. You’ve been misbehaving, Admiral. Once I’ve landed, I’ll reveal my demands to you. And you’re not leaving this ship until the scientists return to their labors. Is that clear?”

“Fine. One more thing. I have a medivac chopper on the stern ready to transport a critically ill sailor to the hospital. Let him go!”

“First show me that Captain Waterhouse and the woman are still on the ship.”

“Sam, do exactly as I say,” ordered the admiral into Sam’s earpiece. “Stand with Sidney out on the main deck. Do you copy?”

Sam struggled to his feet. “Copy, sir.” He trembled with rage and horror. Sidney stood beside him and grasped his hand.

They carried out the admiral’s instructions and stood beneath the helicopters circling just above them. They watched Ryan’s chopper climb from the ship’s stern and rush toward the northern horizon. At a command from the admiral, they made their way to the conference room where the admiral and Moon waited with six security men.

Bridges approached as Sam entered the room.

“Captain, your boys are fine. They’re in the other chopper heading north.”

Sam was trembling. He grabbed onto Bridges’ shoulders and shook him. “You’re sure? You transferred them to Ryan’s chopper?”

Bridges nodded and braced himself to suppress his emotions of having saved the life of the boys. “Danik and me, well we had a feeling that … ”

“Thank God!” the admiral and Sam responded. “By the way, where is Danik?” asked Sam.

“Right here” said Danik as he entered the room.

“All right,” the admiral said. “Looks like we’re going to have some difficulty getting all of you off the ship.” He turned to Moon, who had been simmering behind the scenes. “Commander, er, Captain Moon, I leave the tactical operations to you. Do whatever is necessary to save the
Nonnah
and her crew. I will deal with Sam and his team.”

Moon saluted, “Yes, sir.” As soon as his back was turned, he began barking orders to his officers and headed to the bridge.

“All right, this is what’s happening,” the admiral said, eying the security staff. “Madame is about to land on this ship. She’s aware of my defection from the crystal project. She’s against letting the two of you go. Figures you know too much. She’ll kill this entire ship’s crew to get Sidney, and you too, Sam. Now, I need some of those Guardian tricks. Can you defuse this situation? Danik, got any ideas? We don’t have much time.”

“Sir,” called out Lieutenant Bridges, “another helicopter is approaching and positioning to land on the stern helipad.”

“Fine. Captain Moon,” he called into his comlink, “allow only Madame’s chopper to land on the stern’s helipad. Make sure no others board this ship.”

Sidney looked to her brother. “Danik, you figure Sam and I could take on the choppers?”

“Piece of cake. We’ll let the Madame of Darkness land, and once she’s left her chopper, you and Sam give those flying evil raptors a piece of Guardian hospitality. Got your crystal, Sam?”

“Yes, right here,” Sam said, pulling it out of his pants pocket.

Danik grinned. “Good. Sidney will explain what to do with it. I’ll stay here with the admiral, make sure his uniform doesn’t even get wrinkled. I’ll meet up with you later at the stern helipad.”

Sam and Sidney slipped unnoticed to the main deck and vanished among the crates while the admiral watched Madame’s helicopter land. She jumped down onto the deck, along with six security personnel all armed with automatic weapons. Upon being greeted by a dozen sailors with side arms, Madame’s guards quickly disarmed the sailors who accompanied them to the conference room. The admiral’s security men received instructions from the admiral to wait outside the conference room. Madame and her men surrounded the admiral and Danik. The admiral greeted them coldly. “You owe me one chopper and one pilot.”

Madame approached the admiral. “Quit your whining. Where are the captain and Miss Davenport? And who’s this?” She motioned toward Danik.

The admiral remained firm in his stance. “My security.”

The woman chuckled. “Just one? You’re rather confident for an old man.” She stood in front of Danik. Staring into his eyes, she simultaneously ran one of her hands slowly over his body. “What, no weapons?” she asked with a sultry smile.

Danik leaned in close to her ear. “Sweetness, you haven’t checked in all the right places.” He winked at her.

She smiled. “Oh, you’re precious! We need to talk later.” She turned back to the admiral. “Okay, show time. You have five minutes to bring those two … misguided people in here. Clear?”

“Take a look out the window,” said Danik. “Your helicopters appear to be having trouble staying airborne. Gee, I wonder what could be causing that. Oops.” He barely managed to restrain a chuckle. “There goes another one.”

One by one the helicopters were losing power and slowly descending onto the surface of the ocean, just managing to stay upright in the waves. The woman watched out the window in disbelief. Only two helicopters remained airborne.

“Start firing, you idiots!” demanded the woman. The chopper pilots were occupied trying to avoiding crashing into the ocean. Some gunfire went wild, scattering bullets into the ocean or the steel wall of the ship.

The admiral heard Moon on his comlink, “Gunners, fire! Engine room, I want full power, now! Navigation room, head into port. Commander Bridges, call for air and naval support.”

The woman, seething with rage, turned to the admiral. “I’m through with you!” She pulled out her weapon from inside her blazer.

The admiral stepped back, fear written on his face. Madame’s security forces drew their guns and waited for orders. “Danik?” the admiral hollered, his voice trembling.

Danik patted the admiral on his shoulder. “Stay calm, admiral.”

“I’ll replace you by tomorrow morning.” She thrust her gun between the admiral’s eyes and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. “Shoot! Kill them!” she ordered. Her men attempted to fire their guns at the admiral and Danik. Again and again, their guns failed to fire.

“Security,” hollered the admiral. The sailors rushed into the room with their weapons drawn and began to muscle Madame’s men down onto the floor and place restraints on them.

Danik took the trembling admiral by the arm. “There’s more company coming.” He motioned toward the distant horizon at more of Madame’s approaching helicopters.

Madame’s look of shock was quickly replaced by rage. “You bastard!” she shouted and attempted to slap Danik’s face. His hand shot up in an instant and held onto her wrist. Her anger abruptly vanished. A look of surprise transformed her face. “The only way you could have disarmed our guns was with a crystal. You know how to make it work.” She was almost laughing. “Name your price, my dear. Whatever, it’s yours.” She attempted to wriggle free from Danik’s grasp.

“Some other time, my dear.” He turned her over to one of the seamen and turned to the admiral. “We’ll be in touch. You’ll be okay now.”

Danik darted out of the room to help Sam and Sidney. Once he reached them, the trio headed for Madame’s helicopter. The chopper’s armed guards attempted to fire their weapons, but found them useless. Bullets rained down onto the
Nonnah
, now traveling at almost full speed toward the New Seattle Harbor. The gunners of the
Nonnah
were firing back in a futile attempt to defend the ship from the more heavily armed choppers. One of the
Nonnah
’s guns exploded and three seamen lay bloody and lifeless on the deck.

Danik saw that they had a long distance to run out in the open to get to the helicopter. Their focus and energy was now entirely on getting to the chopper and away from the
Nonnah
. They had no time to disable the approaching enemy. Sam doubted this was Madame’s entire complement of attack choppers. The longer the three of them were on the
Nonnah
, the greater the risk to the rest of the crew. They had to get out of there fast.

Bullets were now being blasted into the ship from six more helicopters. Sam knew the airborne enemy wouldn’t disable their chopper on the helipad. It was the only means of escape for Madame’s group. If they could just get across that thirty-foot expanse, they’d have a chance. Sidney continued to focus on deactivating the weapons of the chopper’s two guards who were still trying to fire on them.

Danik watched the helicopters closely. His experience as a chopper pilot gave him some understanding of when their firing accuracy would be minimal. As long as they moved quickly across their path, they had a chance. Two aircraft came in, and not being able to get the targets clearly in their sights, fired blindly, creating gaping holes in the deck.

Danik yelled, “Now! Run!”

Danik, the faster runner, got to the first guard and threw him to the ground hard enough that he was stunned and slow to get up. The other surrendered when he saw Sam’s gun pointed in his direction. Sidney was just in front of Sam when the two guards hit the deck. Another group of helicopters flew overhead firing mercilessly in their direction. They were still several feet from the helicopter.

Danik yelled, “Sidney, run!”

From higher up on the ship, a lone man lay with his rifle to his shoulder. In his crosshairs was Sam’s head. He squeezed the trigger. Avoiding a spray of gunfire coming from the helicopters to his left, Sam tumbled to the deck, his gun falling from his hand and skidding across the deck. Sidney fell.

Danik grabbed her hand and hoisted her up into the chopper. So frantic to get Sam aboard, he failed to notice the blood stain on her shirt. He went back to Sam.

“Come on, buddy!”