Chapter 10 - Maritime Jurisdiction
The ferry drifted against the pier with a shuddering scrape of rusted steel. Over the ship’s loudspeakers, a stern, automated voice blared: ALL PASSENGERS REMAIN SEATED. THIS VESSEL IS UNDER IMMEDIATE QUARANTINE BY ORDER OF THE STATE SUPREME COURT.
Panicked murmurs spread among the commuter crowd. Heavily armed officers in black tactical vests began marching up the boarding ramps, checking identities against handheld scanners.
Elena Croft grabbed Clara’s arm, pulling her back from the stairway. “Sterling moved faster than I thought. He invoked emergency quarantine powers. They’re checking every passenger face by face.”
“There’s nowhere to run on a boat,” Clara whispered, watching the perimeter seal.
“We don't run across the boat,” Elena said, guiding her toward the lower vehicle hold where delivery trucks and freight vans sat bumper to bumper. “We go under.”
Elena led Clara to a narrow hatch marked BILGE ACCESS - CREW ONLY. She kicked the lock with the heel of her boot, breaking the corroded latch. They dropped into the damp, grease-coated crawlspace beneath the car deck, navigating narrow walkways hovering inches above sloshing bilge water.
Above their heads, boots thudded against the steel plating. Shouts echoed across the vehicle bay.
“Clear the lower deck! Search the delivery trucks!” Julian Vance’s voice cut through the commotion, shrill and frantic.
Clara froze. Julian had come personally. He was terrified of what she carried.
Elena pulled a heavy wrench from a tool rack along the bulkhead and moved toward an emergency sea-valve release. “When I turn this, the lower intake valve will flood the forward ballast tank. The ship will list to the port side, triggering the automated evacuation sirens. In the chaos, make for the crew ladder on the starboard stern.”
“What about you?” Clara asked.
“I’m the District Attorney, Clara. Julian can’t shoot me in front of fifty commuter witnesses without causing a national scandal. You’re the one they need to silence.” Elena gave the valve wheel three violent turns.
A deafening groan shuddered through the hull. High-pressure river water erupted into the lower hold with the force of a geyser. Alarms shrieked instantly, and the entire ferry began tilting noticeably to the left, cars grinding against each other with the crunch of bending sheet metal.
Screams erupted from the decks above.
Clara scrambled up the starboard ladder, bursting through an emergency hatch onto the stern deck. The morning fog was thick, and commuters were rushing toward the lifeboats.
May you like
She pushed through the crowd, heading toward the rear gangway, but a heavy hand seized her hair from behind, violently wrenching her backward onto the wet deck.
“Found you, you bitch,” Julian hissed into her ear, pressing the barrel of a snub-nosed revolver into her ribs.
