Revolution

The dim yellow glow of the ship flashed around him; rather than falling, Da

The man looked as if he had a gun in his hand. As Da

Boston had already started lowering Sorina. The sling spun slowly as it descended, and though the journey wasn’t very long, Sorina looked dizzy when she stepped onto the deck. As soon as Da

Boston shot down the line after her, bouncing away from the rope as easily as if he were doing a dance routine. He had a small rucksack with him; inside were two MP5 submachine guns in waterproof plastic sacks.

Not that they should need them. But …

The sailor led them back toward the superstructure of the ship, located near the stern. The first mate was waiting on the starboard side, in front of a closed door.

“You have to stay outside,” he told Da

Da

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the crew had seen the Osprey hanging over the bow—but he was in no position to argue. The mate led them along the railing to a coiled rope ladder.

“When the signal is given, you can descend,” the mate told him. “We will be two kilometers from Istanbul.” The mate was Indian, and between the wind, the engines, and the retreating Osprey, his words were difficult to understand.

“How long?” asked Da

“Thirty minutes. Sometimes there are patrols,” added the mate. “If this happens, you must get off the ship immediately.”

Boston shot him a look that said no way. With assorted adjectives.

“Not a problem,” Da

The mate left them, walking around the front of the superstructure, perhaps to emphasize that the door nearby was locked. Da

“Why’d he say we had to jump?” Boston asked. “Are we being set up?”

“I don’t think so,” answered Da

“I don’t like this bullshit,” said Boston. “It’s cold, Cap.”

“Not too much I can do about the weather, Boston. Don’t tell me you haven’t had worse.”

“Oh, I’ve had worse.” He leaned on the rail. Sorina was standing a few feet away, gazing at the water. “I don’t trust her either, Cap. She’s got to be pla

“Like what?”

“Something.”

They’d run a metal detector around her back at Iasi before boarding the Osprey; she didn’t have any weapons.

“Maybe she has second thoughts,” said Boston. “I would if were her. And third and fourth. She’s giving up her own people.”

“Boston, shut your mouth,” said Da

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“Just sayin’ the truth, Cap.”

Da

There was a small Turkish warship tied up near the cliff; from this distance, it looked as if everyone aboard were asleep.

“You ready to talk?” Da

“At the train station.” Sorina continued to stare at the opposite bank.

“It’s going to take a while. Why don’t we just get it over with?”

“So you can arrest me?”

She flung her head around. Her eyes shone with fierce anger.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” Da

“I put myself on the train.”

“However you want to do it.”

She turned back to the water.

The ship had been alone on the Black Sea, but once in the strait, company was plentiful. Several ships sat just outside the navigation cha

“Another navy ship over there, Cap,” said Boston. “Moving.”

Da

“Think the Romanians sold us out?” asked Boston.

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“They don’t know where we are.”

Da

And the water would be very, very cold.

“Worse case, that’s a life raft up there,” said Boston, pointing to a rigid-sided inflatable raft lashed to the side of the superstructure a deck above them. “Or should we take that thing there?”

“That thing” was a lifeboat, which would have to be swung out on its davits. The raft would be easier and less noticeable.

Damn, Da

Damn. Who the hell gave us away?

A searchlight from the patrol boat cut across the waves, heading toward the hull of the tanker. Da

He’d use the tanker as a shield. Would the patrol boat come up alongside? Or would it put down its own boats to board them?

Not very long ago he had worked with a Navy boarding team. Da

The patrol boat continued toward them, its search beam growing stronger. There must be a place to hide inside the ship, he thought. But what sense would that make if the crew was ready to give them up?

Sorina stood near the rail, her expression as stoic as ever.

“How well do you swim?” Da

She shook her head.

“You understand the words?”

“I understand,” she told him. “I ca

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DALE BROWN’S DREAMLAND

The searchlight arced upward, sweeping the bow and then the superstructure.

“All right, get the raft,” Da

“This is part of your plan?” asked Sorina.

“We’re ad-libbing.”

Boston climbed up over the catwalk above them, examining the raft and how it was held to the ship.

“Don’t throw it over yet,” Da

He trotted aft, pla

The boat’s searchlight caught the corner of his eye as he cleared the end of the superstructure. It seemed brighter than any light he’d ever seen, a star exploding in his face.

The searchlight swung upward. Da

The patrol boat was headed toward that ship, not theirs.

Da

“All right. We don’t need the raft,” he yelled to Boston.