Chapter 8 - The Ticking Hull
The humid air inside the companionway instantly went cold. Nikolai stood over Dante’s shattered form, his chest heaving as the implication of the traitor's dying words settled into his bones.
""Where are the detonators?"" Nikolai demanded, his voice trembling with a terrifying vibration. He gripped Dante by the collar, hauling him off the blood-slicked deck.
Dante coughed, crimson bubbles bursting on his bruised lips. ""She has the remote... up on the bridge. Five minutes... maybe four. You can kill me, Nikolai... but you'll bury her with me.""
Nikolai didn't waste another word. With a single, devastating strike of his elbow to Dante's temple, he rendered the man unconscious and let him crumple like an empty sack to the floor.
He spun around, grappling with the heavy wheel of the watertight door. The iron groaned in protest as he unlocked it, throwing it open to the rain-slicked night. He stepped out onto the open deck, his boots splashing through puddles of sea spray.
""Sofia!"" he called out, his eyes darting frantically across the cluttered cargo deck.
From beneath a rusted tarpaulin draped over a stack of wooden crates, a small, tear-streaked face peered out. ""Daddy?""
Nikolai ran to her, sweeping her up into his arms with a fierceness that nearly took her breath away. He pressed his face against her damp curls, whispering broken prayers he hadn't spoken since childhood. ""I’ve got you, my heart. I’ve got you.""
""The lady ran up the stairs,"" Sofia sobbed, pointing a shaking finger toward the towering superstructure of the ship’s bridge. ""She had a little black box. It made beeping sounds.""
Nikolai looked up. Through the rain-streaked windows of the wheelhouse, four decks above, he caught a silhouette moving against the dim instrument panels. Vanessa.
He couldn't simply run down the gangway and flee. If the ship exploded while they were on the open pier, the concussive blast from an industrial hull packed with munitions would vaporize them both within a half-mile radius. There was no running away. The detonator had to be disabled at the source.
He set Sofia gently down inside an empty, heavy steel ventilation housing near the stern. ""Listen to me, Sofia. Look at my eyes.""
The little girl sniffled, locking her wide, fearful eyes onto his.
""Stay inside this box. Do not make a sound. Do not move, no matter what you hear. Daddy will be back in three minutes. Do you trust me?""
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Sofia nodded bravely, wiping her nose with her wet sleeve. ""I trust you, Daddy.""
Nikolai pulled the heavy hatch shut, leaving only a tiny crack for air, and drew his secondary pistol. Turning his back to his child, he charged up the exterior stairwell toward the bridge, the smell of cordite and impending doom heavy in the salt air.
