Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Keep ahead of them if you can!”
I knew if they got alongside us, we’d find ourselves in a heavy firefight, taking rounds from all sides and all of us surviving that was dicey.
“I’ll try!”
The boat hurtled upriver at full power. The gunboats swung wildly to the port of the sport craft at first, then flanked us on both sides and fired on us at the same instant. I threw myself on the deck, Garland and Nam prone as well, but Jing, again, could only hunch over the wheel and ride out the deadly assault as bullets gouged the bow and foredeck, shattering the windshield, bits and pieces of fiberglass debris bursting all around us. I would have taken over for her, but I couldn’t drive as well as she could, and our chances of survival were far better with her at the wheel.
Jing yanked the throttles back, lurching the powerboat’s bow deep into the water. The speed fell off so quickly, I was thrown forward against the cockpit counter before slumping to the deck. The gunboats overshot us, sending their shells whistling harmlessly over the bow.
Jing was leaning forward over the wheel, and I had a jolt of terror before I reached her. She turned to look at me, and I exhaled sharply.
“You scared the fuck outta me,” I barked at her, frightened and shaking. I realized then, suddenly, all at once, the real reason I couldn’t be in the field anymore—I cared.
I was over the place in my life where people could be sacrificed for the greater good. I couldn’t send soldiers up hills anymore as decoys so the bulk of the contingent could make it through a pass and capture an enemy stronghold. I had to save everyone now. I wasn’t a military man anymore. I wasn’t an intelligence asset anymore. I couldn’t lose anybody I cared about. Not Owen, not Jing, no innocents, no one. I had to do everything within my power to save everyone.
There was no time, but still, I grabbed Jing and clutched her to me.
“Aww, boss,” she teased me hoarsely, pressing her face to my chest. “You were worried about me.”
I was beyond that. I’d been terrified and had an epiphany all at the same time. It was overwhelming.
“Guys?” Garland interjected gently.
Miraculously, none of us had been struck by the shells.
Nam was giving me a wan smile. “No offense, but I really hate this.”
“You and me both, kid,” I agreed, releasing Jing in time to see the gunboats completing their turn, the little powerhouses closing in again for the kill.
“We’re gonna die here if we’re sitting still,” Garland said flatly.
He was a rock under pressure. I would need to remember to tell Dante.
Jing took a deep breath, collected herself, said, “Hold on to something,” then shoved the twin throttles to full. The craft propelled through the water like we’d been shot from a cannon. She steered the powerboat in the direction of the gunboats on a collision course. “Stay down!” she yelled, as the gunmen opened fire, rounds hammering against the hull in a relentless staccato.
It was clear she intended to use the sheer size of our boat to her advantage, continuing at full speed, closing the distance. The powerboat’s bow came out of the water as it rammed into the front-running gunboat. I held on and gritted my teeth as the speedboat catapulted over the smaller vessel, launching into the air.
“Shit!” Nam screamed from behind me.
The gunboat exploded, and ours hit the water hard, the recoil knocking me, Nam, and Garland to the deck. When I checked on Jing, she was smiling, so that was good.
The last gunboat overshot us again, the craft forced to slow to complete its turn, then resume pursuit.
Jing shoved the throttles to the wall, and we were off again. The move gained us only a few seconds before the gunboat was on us, guns tracking. Bullets shot across the water, breaking the surface with dozens of jabbing spurts.
“At fifty meters they’ll be able to put shots in us,” Garland yelled.
“How good a shot are you?” I returned.
“Better than most.”
“Better than that estimation, I hope. Now is not the time for downplaying your strengths.”
“You put it in front of me, I can hit it, sir.”
Rushing to the bag Garland had been digging around in earlier, I pulled off my polo and wrapped four concussion grenades in it, then turned to Garland.
“They’ll need to be pretty close,” Garland said, understanding my plan.
“Not too close. I can’t die today.”
Garland nodded.
“Go, Jing!”
She savagely cranked the wheel, feinting to starboard, then cut sharply to port to throw off the gunners as she swerved the powerboat around the gunboat’s bow, buzzing them with less than five meters between us. The sport boat’s wash pitched the gunboat into a rolling motion that threw off the aim of the gunners. Holding the rifle with my left hand, I aimed at the bow gunner and fired. The round caught the gunman in the face, throwing him back into the second shooter. With my right hand, I tossed the bomb at the deck of the gunboat, and Garland aimed his smaller MK-10 at the bundle and fired. Jing steered the boat away just as the grenades exploded. The force of the explosion was like a sledgehammer against the powerboat, nearly capsizing us, knocking us all off our feet as the boat exploded and rained debris in the water and over us.