Chapter 8 - The Iron Basin
Coughing through the acrid smoke, Adrian and Clara burst onto the open pier. Rain hammered the dark bay, churning the harbor into black foam. Tied to the end of the maintenance dock was a rusted tugboat, its diesel engine already sputtering on low idle—Adrian's emergency fail-safe.
"Get aboard! Below deck, now!" Adrian shouted over the gale.
Clara sprinted across the slippery gangway, shielding Sarah inside her zipped jacket. She scrambled down the steep iron ladder into the engine room, collapsing onto the greasy floor plates. Sarah was crying hysterically, the noise echoing off the metal hull.
On the deck above, Adrian cut the mooring lines with a single slash of his combat blade. Heavy automatic fire chewed through the tug’s wheelhouse, showering the deck with wood and shattered instruments. Adrian returned fire from behind the iron capstan, taking down two snipers stationed on the crane towers above the dock.
He dove into the wheelhouse, shoving the throttle levers forward with his forearm. The massive diesel engine roared, vibrating the entire vessel as it pulled away from the stone quay.
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Just as the boat surged into open water, a spotlight flared from a black cutter slicing through the swell fifty yards out. Over the vessel's exterior loudspeaker, Victor’s mocking voice cut through the storm.
"Did you really think the sea belonged to you, Adrian?"
