Fair Game (41 page)

Blue grabbed the ladder with his left hand and adjusted the strap of his AK-47 with the other, then started to climb. He was heavier than Marlboro and not as nimble but he was soon at the top, though his arms and legs burned as if they were on fire and his knuckles were bleeding from where he’d scraped them against the hull. He rolled over the rail and his bare feet slapped on the deck. He shouted for the rest of the men to climb up and he swung his AK-47 around so that the butt was snug against his hip.

One by one the pirates climbed the ladder and assembled behind Blue. As the last one came up, the tillerman edged his skiff away from the ship and accelerated away, back towards the mother ship, now just visible on the horizon. The second skiff moved in to take its place.

‘Right,’ shouted Blue, pointing at three men in quick succession. ‘You go up to the bridge on the starboard side. Don’t shoot unless they give you a problem. I’ll come with the rest up the port side. Go!’

The three men raced along the deck to the superstructure, cradling their weapons. Blue shouted down at the men in the second skiff, telling them to get a move on.

Shepherd jogged along the Upper Deck, his bag against his chest. He knew that no one could see him from above as the deck was hidden by the containers, but if either of the skiffs was to come around the port side it would probably spot him. With the engine stopped the ship was being buffeted by the waves so every few steps he banged against the railing. He slowed to a fast walk, looking over his shoulder. There was no sign of the skiffs; he guessed that they would be coming up to the stern. Now that the propeller was no longer turning it would be the easiest and safest place to board.

He reached the metal ladder that led up to the passageway and he climbed up quickly then jogged along to the middle. He reached up and opened the container he’d already picked out, threw in his bag and then crawled in after it. He pulled the doors shut behind him and sat with his back to the wall of the container, breathing slowly and trying to steady his heart rate. The adrenalin was coursing through his system, the flight-or-fight response, but it was wasted because he wasn’t in a position to do either. All he could do now was wait.

‘There, look!’ shouted Tomasz. He pointed at the starboard exterior bridge where a black man in a Nike vest and baggy khaki shorts had appeared, an AK-47 in his hands. He had a red bandana tied around his neck. He waved the weapon and screamed at them. A second pirate appeared behind him, older but with a similar Kalashnikov.

‘Everybody lie down on the floor!’ shouted Dominik. ‘Lie face down and put your hands behind your neck.’

One by one the Filipinos dropped down on to the floor and did as Dominik said. Hainrich looked over at him. ‘Are you sure about this?’

‘It’s procedure,’ said Dominik, getting to his knees. ‘We cooperate, we comply, we assist. We do nothing to antagonise them.’

Hainrich got down, as did Tomasz and the rest of the Poles.

The port door opened and two pirates rushed in waving AK-47s and shouting. One of them was wearing a mesh vest and cut-off jeans. ‘Which one captain?’ he shouted, revealing two gold teeth at the front of his mouth.

The seamen flinched as the starboard door was flung open and more pirates flooded in. One took a machete from his waistband and waved it around.

‘Which one captain?’ shouted the man in the mesh vest again. He had a thick scar running across his neck and what looked like an old burn on his left calf.

Half the heads swivelled to look at Dominik. He got to his feet as the pirate walked towards him. He jabbed the barrel of his Kalashnikov into Dominik’s chest, so hard that the captain gasped and took a step back. ‘Safe?’ said the pirate. ‘Where is safe?’

‘The admin office,’ said Dominik. He pointed at the floor. ‘G-Deck. Look, there’s no need to hurt anyone, we’ll do whatever you want.’

‘If you do not, you die.’

Dominik nodded. ‘It’s not a problem. I just work for the company, I don’t care what you do with the ship.’ He tapped his chest. ‘My name’s Dominik. What’s your name?’

‘Blue.’

Dominik held out his hand. ‘We can be friends, Blue. We don’t have to fight.’

Blue ignored the outstretched hand. ‘You radio the Americans already?’

‘We put out a mayday call, yes.’

Blue nodded. ‘Go on radio now, tell them if they try to board the crew will die.’

Dominik knew that there was no point in arguing. He picked up the radio and broadcast a brief message.

‘Now turn off AIS,’ said Blue.

Again the captain did as he was told.

‘Which one chief officer?’ Blue asked.

‘That’s me,’ said Hainrich.

‘Get up,’ said Blue.

Hainrich got to his feet. ‘You stay on bridge,’ Blue shouted at him. He turned to Marlboro, who was waving his machete at the terrified seamen. ‘Watch him.’ Blue pointed his gun at Hainrich. ‘You do anything, we kill you,’ he said. He pointed at Marlboro. ‘He kill you good. Maybe with gun, maybe with knife, but he kill you for sure.’

Hainrich raised his hands. ‘Whatever you want,’ he said. ‘You’re in charge.’

Blue nodded. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Do not forget that. If you do as we say, you will be OK and soon back with your family.’ He prodded Hainrich’s chest with the AK-47. ‘But you try anything, you die.’

‘I understand,’ said Hainrich.

Blue stared menacingly at the Filipinos, who were huddled together like frightened sheep. ‘All of you, understand this. We do not want to hurt you, we want only money. Money not worth dying for. Be calm, be quiet, do as we say and everything will be OK.’ He gestured with his AK-47. ‘But you cause any problem, you try to do anything, we shoot you for sure.’

Blue saw the list of officers and crew on the wall and he ripped it out of its perspex frame. He quickly counted the photographs, then did a head count of his prisoners before waving the list in Dominik’s face. ‘Two missing,’ he said. ‘Where?’

‘The engine room,’ said Dominik. ‘We have a problem with the engine, that’s why we stopped. The ship can’t go anywhere.’

‘Both in engine room?’

Dominik nodded.

Blue waved over two of the pirates. ‘Go down to the engine room and bring the engineers up,’ he told them in Somali. ‘Any problems, hurt them.’

The two pirates nodded eagerly and headed for the stairs.

Blue jabbed Dominik in the chest with his AK-47. ‘Show me safe.’

‘Whatever you want,’ said Dominik. ‘But you don’t have to keep pushing me with that thing. We’ll do whatever you want.’

Blue pushed the captain out of the bridge and down the stairs. ‘It’s down here,’ said Dominik, pointing at G-Deck. ‘The office and my cabin.’

‘OK, go,’ said Blue. Dominik took him along to his cabin. The safe was in the outer working area, next to his desk. A door led to his cabin and from there another door opened into his bathroom.

Blue gestured at the safe with his AK-47. ‘Open it but don’t reach inside. Just open it and then step away.’

‘You don’t have to worry, there are no guns on the ship,’ said Dominik.

‘I’m not worried, just do as you’re told,’ said Blue.

‘OK, whatever you say,’ said Dominik, kneeling down in front of the safe. There was a numeric pad next to the opening lever and he tapped in the six-digit combination. He twisted the lever and then stood up and moved away. ‘It’s done,’ he said.

‘Sit down, over there,’ said Blue, nodding at the blue corner unit beneath the portholes at the far end of the cabin. He waited until the captain had done as he was told and then he opened the safe. There was a bulky envelope carrying the papers and passports of the crew and he tossed that on the desk. Underneath the envelope were half a dozen bundles of dollar bills. Blue grinned as he examined one of the bundles. All the notes were hundreds and it contained ten thousand dollars. Another of the bundles was also hundred-dollar bills and four were twenty-dollar bills in bundles of five thousand dollars. He stacked the bundles on the desk. In all there was forty thousand dollars.

‘Is there more?’ Blue asked, turning to look at the captain. ‘More money?’

Dominik pointed to his desk. ‘Top drawer on the right,’ he said.

Blue pulled open the drawer and took out a bundle of notes. ‘Bag?’ he said.

Dominik pointed at a cupboard. Blue opened it and took out a grubby white holdall. He put the money in it then threw in the envelope and zipped it up. He tossed the bag at Dominik. ‘Carry for me,’ he said, and waved for the captain to go out into the corridor. On the other side of the corridor was a door with a sign saying ‘Chief Engineer’. Blue opened it. The cabin was large with a bathroom and three windows looking out over the containers at the front of the ship. Only one of the windows could be opened but Blue could see that there was no way anyone could escape through it. There was a telephone on a desk and Blue ripped it out and threw it into the corridor, then told Dominik to go back to the bridge.

By the time they got there, Tomasz and Konrad were there, with Feliks and the Filipino second engineer. They looked over at the captain but he shook his head, warning them to keep quiet.

‘Can I say something, Blue?’ asked Dominik, placing the holdall on the chart desk.

‘What?’

Dominik pointed at the controls. ‘The engine’s not working,’ he said. ‘You can’t move the ship.’

‘We can move it,’ said Blue.

‘The engine’s stopped,’ said Konrad. ‘You need us to fix it. If the engine’s not fixed we’re not going anywhere.’

‘The engine is OK,’ said Blue. ‘Working soon.’

Konrad laughed harshly. ‘So now you’re an engineer and a pirate?’

Blue took three quick steps towards Konrad, raised his AK-47 and brought the butt crashing down on to the engineer’s nose. The cartilage splintered, blood spurted and Konrad collapsed on to the floor, sobbing. Blue glared at Dominik. ‘You see? You see what happens?’

‘OK, OK,’ said Dominik. ‘We’ll do whatever you say, whatever you want.’ He went to help Konrad but Blue blocked his way and pushed him back with the point of his gun. ‘Stay away from him.’

‘He’s hurt,’ said Dominik.

‘He’s hurt because he didn’t do what he was told,’ said Blue. He raised the butt of his Kalashnikov and jabbed it at Dominik’s face. ‘You want the same?’

Dominik put his hands up. ‘None of us want to give you any problems,’ he said, speaking slowly and calmly. ‘Whatever you want us to do, just tell us.’

‘I want you all to do as you’re told!’ screamed Blue. He turned and pointed his gun at the crew. ‘If you do not do what we say, we will kill you all,’ he shouted. He turned to five of his men who were standing with their guns trained on the Filipinos. ‘Take them to the deck below,’ he said in Somali. ‘Deck G. Take them to the chief engineer’s cabin and lock them up. And make sure there’s nothing they can use. Check them for weapons, for knives, for everything.’

He pointed at Dominik. ‘The captain stays on the bridge but everyone else stays in the cabin. Nobody leaves. And always have two men outside the door. Every hour, every minute, two men outside.’ He nodded at Marlboro. ‘You make sure, OK?’

The five pirates moved towards the crew and herded them off the bridge and down the stairs.

‘I know you don’t want to hear this, but this ship can’t go anywhere,’ said Dominik.

Blue looked up at the clock. ‘Twenty more minutes and the engine will work,’ he said. ‘You have called your company already?’

Dominik nodded. ‘Before you boarded us. It’s policy.’

‘Where is the sat-phone?’

Dominik pointed to the sat-phone receiver, near the door. Through the side window of the bridge he saw the two skiffs heading back the way they’d come.

Crazy Boy was using his shotgun to blow out the windows of a bar when his mobile rang. He paused the video game and took the call. It was Blue. ‘Everything is good,’ said his uncle. ‘We are on the ship.’

‘Excellent,’ said Crazy Boy. He looked at his watch. ‘And you are ready to move?’

‘Yes,’ said Blue. ‘I am waiting for the company to call.’

‘It won’t be long, I’m sure.’

‘I could call them first.’

‘No, brother of my father. Let them do the chasing. Just make sure that the ship is moving, as we planned.’ He ended the call and grabbed a handful of khat leaves from the crystal bowl by his side.

Two Knives walked in. ‘OK, brother?’ he asked.

‘Perfect,’ said Crazy Boy.

Shepherd felt the ship begin to vibrate and slowly move forward. He crawled out of the container and looked left and right down the passageway. He could just about see the waves off the port side; the ship was definitely moving. That didn’t make any sense at all. He crawled back into the container. He wanted to phone Charlotte Button but he didn’t want to risk it during the day in case one of the pirates decided to come out on to the deck.

He hadn’t heard any gunshots after the pirates had boarded the ship and he’d taken that as a good sign, but he would not know any more about what was happening until he was able to call Button.

The man whom the shipping company had sent to handle the negotiations was a former London detective who now headed up their security section. His name was Chris Thatcher and he was wearing an expensive suit with a sombre tie and a perfectly starched white shirt and gold cufflinks, which Button thought was actually overdressed considering they didn’t know how long they’d be stuck in the operations room. He was tall, in his early sixties with a close-cropped grey beard, and he looked at her over the top of his spectacles before offering a well-manicured hand. He had a gentle but firm grip when she shook it. With him was a portly black man in a tweed jacket and grey flannel trousers. ‘This is Omar Yusuf,’ said Thatcher by way of introduction. ‘Omar was born in Puntland, he’s a consultant with our company.’

Button shook hands with the Somali. ‘Thank you for coming,’ she said.

‘I am more than happy to be of assistance,’ he said, in accented English.

Thatcher looked around the room and nodded appreciatively. ‘Well, this beats the hell out of our operations room,’ he said, taking off his jacket and hanging it on the back of one of the chairs.

‘We try to please,’ said Button. She had arranged to use a briefing room in MI6’s headquarters at Vauxhall Cross, on the Albert Embankment overlooking the Thames. It had been the high-profile headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it was more commonly known, since 1995 and had become one of the most famous landmarks in the city, partly because the Real IRA had once fired a ground-to-air missile at it and blown a big chunk of masonry to dust, though doing little in the way of serious damage.