Under Vanishing Skies (30 page)

I felt my stomach tighten. If those fanatics made it to Mars, they’d kill William and everyone else up there.

“
What did he plan to do with the rest of his army?” I asked.

She looked at me like I was an idiot. “We plan to use this place as a base camp so we can launch missions across the equatorial zone.”

“
That’s why you want the satellite, isn’t it? You want to use it to see where other people are.”

A hint of that evil smile returned and she said, “You’re not as dumb as I thought. With the satellite, we’ll be able to crush the other bands of pirates and we won’t have to search for resources like a needle in a hay stack anymore.”

“
Well, you’re not getting the satellite or anything else from me. You’re finished…all of you.”

She laughed and said, “You’re so cute when you’re trying to save mankind. But it’s too late, Aron. Even if we don’t get the salellite, we’ll take the islands in a few weeks. We have the list, remember? We know where everyone lives and who they are. And we have a few men inside the MDF, which you already know. So when the MDF responds to the attacks, we’ll be waiting for them.”

If not everyone in the MDF worked for the pirates, we still had a chance.

“
Tell me who they are…the ones in the MDF,” I said.

“
I don’t know. Viyaja was taking care of that part.” She laughed. “The dumb bastard actually thinks that he’s going to become their supreme leader on Mars. They’ll kill him on the trip out there, I guarantee it.”

I had to get back to the boat so I could warn everyone. But how? If I left her here, she’d warn the pirates. Anand’s ship was fast, but it couldn’t outrun their fast attack boats. And I couldn’t kill her… not in front of her daughter. Goddammit!

I glanced down and saw the curtain cord still coiled up in Nika’s hand. Keeping my eye on Shannon, I squatted and picked up the cable.

“
I’m getting out of here,” I said. “So turn around.”

“
You’re never going to get off this island.”

“
You let me worry about that. You just do as I say and you'll get your daughter back.”

She sneered and then turned around. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, Aron. I’m going to take my time and savor every second that you suffer.”

“
Shut up and put your hands behind your back!”

She did as I demanded. Now the tricky part.

I walked over, stopping a foot from her. “If you move, your daughter’s death is on your hands…not mine.”

I set the girl on the floor and then grabbed Shannon’s arms at the wrist. She tensed, but didn’t struggle. The girl clung to Shannon’s leg, crying. I slid the knife into my belt. Then just as I started to wrap the cord around her wrists, she spun around and I lost my grip. One of her arms swept out and hit me in the head. The room began to go dark. I took a step back, but she was already on me.

Her daughter screamed and fell backwards. Shannon let out a roar like a mother bear whose cub was under attack. She grabbed for the knife in my belt. My hands wrapped over hers, but she managed to pull it free. We struggled. Then I felt a sharp pain in my side.

I looked down and saw the blade. The top two or three inches were in my side and she was trying to push it in deeper.

Drawing on a reserve of strength I didn’t know that I had, I pulled the knife out. I brought my knee up, slamming it into her arm. I heard the snap of her bone. The knife dropped. She screamed and punched me with her other hand. I brought up my elbow and clocked her in the side of her head. She took a step back. Then I watched her eyes roll up into her head just before she fell on to the floor. Her daughter crawled to her and called out, “Mama, mama, mama.”

I headed to the door, holding my side. I felt the sticky warmth of my blood on my hand. When I reached the door, I turned. I looked at the little girl. I thought about my own daughters.

“
Mama! Mama!”

The room began to spin. I thought about saving the girl, but knew I had to get out of there. I turned and left.

Somehow, I found my way beneath the boardwalk and called out for Michio. My legs were getting shaky. I sensed that I didn’t have much time before I passed out.

“
Michio,” I called out again.

“
Aron, over here.”

I looked, but it was too dark.

“
I need help. Come here.”

A few seconds later, Michio appeared.

He must have seen how I was holding my side. “You’re hurt. Come on. We’ll get you back to the boat. Where’s Kamish?”

Shaking my head, I said, “Dead. But we can’t go back, not without Jin.”

“
What are you talking about?”

“
They have Jin in the hut, the second one on the boardwalk. You need to get him.”

Yoshirou ran over to us. “Come on, father. We must go.”

“
Get Aron to the boat, but leave two boards behind. I will join you soon.”

I saw the concern on Yoshirou’s face, but he nodded and led me to the water.

Chapter 19

I don’t remember how I got to Anand’s boat, whether I swam on my own or Yoshirou towed me. Everything was a blur. I remembered being helped onto the boat and seeing the scared faces of the kids we had saved. And I remembered hearing the distant crack of gun fire. But that was it. The next thing I knew I was looking up into Nisha’s eyes as she wiped my face with a cloth. I tried to talk, but I could only manage a groan.

“
Shhh, Aron. It’s all right.” Nisha then looked over at someone, and I followed her gaze. I was in a cabin on the boat, Anand’s cabin. The portal on the wall was opened, allowing the cool, early morning breeze to flow inside. It felt good. Over by the door was one of Anand’s kids, a small boy about seven years old. I tried to remember his name, but the my head felt like it was going implode, so I stopped trying.

“
Go and get your father. Tell him that Mr. Atherton is awake.”

The boy left and I looked up at Nisha again. She lifted the back of my head and held a glass of water to my lips. I took a sip, but started coughing. Each cough sent a sharp pain into my side.

She lowered my head to the pillow and said, “That’s enough for now.” She smiled. “You gave us all a scare, Aron. But you are going to be fine. We are almost there.”

“
Where?” I managed a croak. 

“
Lohifushi. Mohamed is waiting for you and will fix you right up.”

I reached for my side and felt the bandages that covered the wound. 

Anand and Michio came in and walked over to the bed. Michio spoke first. “It is good to see you awake.”

I grunted.

“
I know that you are in pain, but can you tell me what happened?”

“
Lying bitch!” I coughed words out and it triggered another coughing fit. The pain was so bad I thought I would pass out. When the coughing stopped, Nisha held the glass to my lips again. I took a sip. This time I didn’t cough.

Anand and Michio looked at each other. I knew that look. It was the same look that I saw on Kelly’s face when we found her mom wandering around the front yard in a nightgown, talking to her dead brother. They thought I had lost it.

“
Aron, I don’t understand,” Anand said.

“
She is one of them…the pirates,” I said, feeling tears begin to well up in my eyes.

They looked at me in disbelief.

“
She was behind it…all of it…Rick, Senil, Lanka, Kamish, Jin.”

I suddenly remembered what Shannon said about Jin being in the next hut.

“
Jin! Did you find him?”

Michio nodded. “He is in the other cabin. I am afraid that he is not well. They…they tortured him. He is missing all of the fingers on one hand and he is badly beaten up.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists. If I ever saw her again, I’d do to her what she did to Jin.

Anand asked, “Are you sure?  I thought she was abducted?”

I shook my head and opened my eyes. “No. She was part of the raid. She told me that she had been with Jamal for three years. She thought they were the winning team, so she switched sides.”

I saw the look of disbelief on their faces.

“
She’s still alive. I couldn’t kill her.” More tears fell. “She had a young daughter. I couldn’t kill her in front of her daughter.”

“
It is okay, Aron,” Nisha said. “You did the right thing.”

“
Did I?” I asked. “Everyone is now at risk and I put them there. She said she was going to pay us a visit. I think she’s planning to attack Lohifushi.”

 “
They could not attack Lohifushi without going past Male,” Anand said. “If they tried that, the MDF would stop them.”

I shook my head. “They have people on the inside. Spies who are in the MDF.” I looked at Michio. “She’s coming for us…for me…for William. We have to evacuate everyone off of Lohifushi.”

Michio studied my face and then said, “How many people are on the island?”

“
Less than a hundred and fifty,” I answered.

“
Anand,” Michio said. “Can we fit everyone from the island onto your boat?”

Anand thought about it for a second and then said, “Yes. We should be able to handle the load. But where would we take them?”

“
Male,” Michio said.

“
No!” I said. “Viyaja is mixed up with them too. Male isn’t safe.”

“
Then where?” Michio asked.

I looked at them through a tunnel of blackness. I tried to answer, but the tunnel closed in on me.

*** 

When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange hut lying in bed.

Helen was sitting in the chair next to me. She smiled.

“
Well, then. Mohamed said that you’d be asleep for a while, but I was beginning to get worried. You’ve been asleep for a whole day.”

My tongue felt like fly paper. “Water,” I said.

“
Let’s get you comfortable first. I’m going to put a couple pillows behind your head, okay?”

She placed a hand under my shoulder and helped me sit up. My side still hurt, but the pain wasn’t anywhere close to what it had been on the boat. With her free hand, she placed two pillows under my back and gently lowered me onto them. Then she handed me a glass. Her hand hovered near mine as I drank.

The water tasted amazing. I tried to drink the whole glass, but Helen took it away from me. “I know you’re thirsty, but drink slowly. Okay?”

I nodded and took the glass back. Then I sipped the water more slowly.

Mohamed entered the hut and said, “It looks like my patient is awake and doing well. How do you feel?”

“
Like I lost a bull fight.”

Mohamed laughed.

The memory of the rescue mission was like a fading bad dream, but it hung around the edges of my memory.

“
So do you feel like having visitors?” Mohamed asked. “There is a very anxious young man out here who would like to see you.”

I nodded and Mohamed opened the door the rest of the way. William stood on the front deck. He started to come in, but hesitated when he saw me. I must have really looked like shit.

“
Come on, William. I feel much better than I look.”

Tentatively, he entered the room and walked over to the other bed. He sat cross-legged and stared at me.

“
Come on, Helen,” Mohamed said. “Let’s leave these two alone for a while.” Then, looking at me, Mohamed added, “No roughhousing, okay?”

I smiled and said, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

They left and I looked at William. I had almost forgotten that he was only a ten-year-old boy. All the work that we had done to decrypt the messages made me think that he was older.

“
I told you that I wouldn’t get myself killed,” I said.

“
But you got stabbed.” I saw the fear in his eyes. “Did it hurt?”

“
Yeah. It hurt a lot.” I saw the concern in his eyes and added, “But it doesn’t hurt too much now. Well, a little.”