Gone (28 page)

The boat was rocking against the barrier, fifty feet away. He heard the distinct snap and
pff
as Astrid popped open a Coke for Little Pete, Quinn sat o:i the bow tending the rope, and Edilio was still looking as if he might heave up a part of his liver.

Sam swam to the boat, taking his time, enjoying the water on his skin too much to feel disappointed that he hadn't found a way out of the FAYZ.

He heard the sound of the engine and the smack-on-wave impact long before he saw the boat. He kicked hard to lift his head above the water far enough to see. * Hey" he yelled.

Quinn had heard the engine a: the same time. "Boat coming. Fast," Quinn yelled.

"Where?"

"From town," Quinn reported. "Fast," he repeated.

126 HOURS, 10 MINUTES

SAM SWAM AT full speed and soon had his hand on the gunwale of ihe Boston Whaler. Quinn hauled him aboard. Up and over, falling and rolling onto the deck.

He was on his feet in a (lash and saw the big speedboat, the kind they called a cigarette boat, bearing down on them, not a quarter mile away The boat threw out a huge bow wave. At the wheel was a kid Sam couldn't recognize from this distance. Standing like they were holding on for dear life were Howard and Ore. No Drake.

"We can't outrun them" Quinn said.

Adrenaline seemed to have steadied Edilio's stomach. "Maybe, man, but we don't know till we try"

"No,Quinn's right "Sam said."Astrid, hold on to Little Pete."

Edilio reeled up the slack in the rope, both hands flying. They couldn't leave it trailing in the water or it would foul the propeller.

As soon as the rope was aboard. Sam gunned the throttle and quickly picked up speed ruining along the barrier. Ore's boat veered to follow.

AStrid, clutching her little brother, peeked over the side and yelled* "He's chasing, not aiming to intercept us"

It took Sam a second to understand what she meant. The cigarette boat could have set an intercept angle and easily cut them off. But the driver hadn't thought of that.

Almost too late, the speedboat's driver veered right, trying to drop in behind Sam, but the turn was sloppy and the speed too great. The cigarette boat slid sideways into the barrier with a surprisingly loud, bass-drum smack. Then, when the props bit again, the cigarette boat surged forward and shot past the Whaler.

"Hold on " Sam warned..

The wave from the cigarette boat's turn washed over the Whaler and slammed the smaller boat against the barrier Sam rocked but held on, his bare feet fighting the crazily tilting deck for traction.

The Boston Whaler stayed upright, and as the propeller found water again, it gained speed. They shot to the right of the cigarette boat, close enough that Sam could have stuck his arm out and high-fived Howard.

Now the Whaler was going ail out, bouncing from wave top to wave top with the barrier Hying by on the left, heading farther from land.

But the speedboat was much faster, and now that the driver had recovered, he came roaring after Sam and was soon churning Sam's wake.

"Pull oven moron " Ore bellowed at Sam.

Sam ignored the demand. His mind was racing. How could he gel away? His boat was slower. It was more nimble, but il was definitely slower And the speedboat was so much bigger, so much heavier, that it could run right over the Boston Whaler.

"Pull over or well run you down," Ore shouted again.

"Don't be stupid, Sammy" Howard yelled in a smaller voice, barely audible over the roar of engines and rush of water.

Astrid was suddenly at his side. "Sam. Can you do anything?"

"Maybe. I have an idea."

In a tight whisper she said, "Are you talking about.. r

"I don't know how to do that, Astrid, it just happens. And this isn't exactly the time for me to consult Yoda on how to use my power."

Edilio was with them now. "You got a plan, Sam?"

"Not a good one."

Sam picked up ihe radio handset beside the throttle. He keyed the button. "This is Sam, are you guys receiving? Over"

Glancing back, he saw the surprise on Howard's face. Yes, they were receiving. Howard lifted his handset and frowned at it.

Sam keyed his radio. "You hold down the button, Howard " Sam said. "Then when youVe done, you say 'over' and let go of the button. Over."

"You have to pull over," Howard said, his voice harshened by the tinny receiver. "Oh, over"

"I don't think we're going to do that, Howard. Drake tried to kill Astrid. You and Ore almost killed me. Over."

That occupied Howard for a minute while he thought up a good lie. "It's okay, Sammy, Caine changed his mind. He says if you behave yourselves, he'll let you all go free. Over-"

"Yeah. I absolutely believe you," Sam said,

Sam edged his boat still closer to the barrier. It was so close now, he could have touched it.

He depressed the send button again. "You try to run me down, you may run into the barrier," Sam warned. "Over."

There was a silence. Then, a new voice, faint but audible. It had to be coming from a radio onshore. "Get him " the voice commanded, "Get him or don't tome back "

Caine, He was using the radio he used to stay in contact with Drake and the day care and the fire station.

Howard said, "Hey, Caine, they have Astrid and the retard, too. And Quinn"

"What? Say again: Astrid is with them?"

It was Sam who answered him. relishing the moment, even though the triumph was likely to be short-lived. "That's right, Caine. Your pet psycho failed you-"

"Get them all," Caine ordered.

"What if they use the power?" Howard whined.

"If they could use the power, they'd already have done so" Caine said with a smirk that carried across the airwaves. "No excuses: take them down. Caine out."

Astrid said, "Sam, if you can do it, you need to do it"

"Do what?" Edilio demanded. "Oh. The thing?"

The radio crackled to life again. Howard said, "You have till I count ten, Sammy. Then we hit it and run you down. Doesn't have to be like that, but we have no choice. So ... ten."

"Edilio, you and Astrid and Little Pete, down on the deck. Quinn,you with them" "Nine/'

Edilio pulled Astrid down beside him and lay flat on the deck with Little Fete between them.

"Eight"

"This better be a good plan, brah," Quinn said. But he went and crouched with Astrid.

"Seven. Six."

The bow of the cigarette boat towered above the stern of the Whaler, a huge red cleaver, bouncing up and down, chopping its way toward them. The roar of all three engines bounced off the barrier, twisting and amplifying the sound-

"Five."

He had a plan. But ihe plan was suicide.

"Four*

"Everyone ready?" "Ready for what?" "Three."

"He's going to hit us."

"That's your plan?" Quinn shrilled.

"Two?

"Pretty much" Sam said.

"One."

Sam heard the twin engines ot the cigarette boat ramp up. The red meat cleaver bow leaped forward. It was like someone had strapped a rocket to the back.

Sam shoved the throttle of the Whaler into neutral and steered to scrape the left side of the boat into the FAYZ walk

The Whaler slowed very suddenly

"Hang on!"

He dropped into a low crouch, kneeling on the wet deck, clutching the wheel with one hand and yanked it to the right, then steadied it. He covered his head with his free arm, shouting to keep his nerve up.

The Boston Whaler slowed.

The speedboat did not.

The talk dagger-sharp prow ran up over the left halt'of ihe Boston Whaler's stern.

There was a screech of shattered fiberglass. The impact knocked Sam away from the wheel. The back end of the Whaler plunged, and the five of them and the entire boat were suddenly underwater. Sam was yelling into water, yelling and lighting to avoid being sucked up into the propellers that tornadoed the water a millimetei above his head.

The speedboat blocked out the sun. deep red and death white, a knife drawn across the smaller boat. The big twin outboard engines screamed.

But the cigarette boat didn't entirely crush the smaller boat. Instead, hitting the Whaler at an angle, the cigarette boat went airborne like a stunt car hitting a ramp. It rolled in midair and smashed its topside into the barrier, shattering its windshield and crumpling its railings.

The cigarette boat hit ihe water hard on its side twenty teel ahead of the Boston Whaler. It landed in a sideways belly flop, plowed so deep, Sam thought it might stay under, but then it wallowed back up like a surfacing submarine and righted itself

The Whaler had taken a bad beating. The stern was crushed, the railings on the left side were gone, the black-cowled engine was askew but still attached. There was a big divot smashed out of the fiberglass on the bow. Two feet of water sloshed on the deck. The command console was bent forward and to the side so that the steering wheel was askew and the throttle handle was out of ts slot and hanging loose. The engine had been swamped and had sputtered out.

But Sam was not hurt.

"Astrid!" he yelled, terrified when he didn't see her immediately. Little Pete was alone, staring, almost as if this at least had really penetrated his consciousness.

Quinn and Edilio jumped up and leaned over the back. They had spotted Astrid's slender hand holding the railing. They pulled her aboard, half drowned and bleeding from a gash in her leg.

"Is she okay?"

Edilio nodded, too waterlogged to answer,

Sam turned the key and hoped. The big Mercury motor roared. The throttle was stiff, jammed, but by pushing with all his might he could shift it forward. The crooked wheel still turned.

The cigarette boat was just ahead, stalled. Ore was in the water, yelling in fury. Howard scampered around looking for a life jacket while the driver tried to restart the engines. Unfortunately the engines did not appear to be damaged.

It was now or never.

With frantic fingers Sam untied the rope from his ankle and took the loose end in his teeth. He jumped into the water and plowed through the few feet of water separating the Whaler from the speedboat.

"He's swimming over here. His boat is sinking," the speedboat driver yelled, misunderstanding.

But Howard knew better. "He*s up to something."

Sam dove down under the water. It had to be now, before the driver got the engines started, it those props started turning it would be too late, and there was a very good chance that Sam would lose his fingers or even a whole hand,

Fighting his own buoyancy Sam stayed under, peering through the churn, fingers trying to make sense of, . . there. That was one propeller.

He looped the nylon rope around the rightward prop and twisted it as tight as he could. Then he jetted to his left, blowing out the last of his air so he could stay submerged.

He heard the ignition click, the key being turned over. One twist of the boat driver's fingers and ...

The engine gave a start. Sam pushed back in panic.

Both props jerked and churned. Then the right prop seized and the left spun and stopped.

With the last of his strength Sim wound the rope around the left propeller, kicked off from the stern, and surfaced a few feet away for a quick gasp of air.

He heard the engines turn over again, and stall again.

The cigarette boat's driver now realized what had happened, and Howard was at the steri shouting angry threats.

Sam twisted and started swimming hard for the Whaler, which was bouncing against the barrier.

"Sam" It was Astrid shouting."Behind you "

The blow came out of nowhere.

Sam's head spun. His eyes wouldn't focus, The muscles in his limbs were all slack.

He'd been here before. It was just like when he'd fallen off his surtboard and it had come back and hit him. A corner of his mind knew what to do: avoid panic, take a few seconds to let his head clean

Only this wasn't a surfboard. A second impact hit just beside him, missing his head and hitting his collarbone.

The sharp pain helped Sam focus.

He saw Howard raise the long aluminum boathook for a third blow, and now Sam avoided it easily. As the boathook slapped the water, Sam lunged, bringing all his weight onto it.

Howard lost his balance, and Sam yanked. Howard let go of the boathook and slammed chest first onto one of the engines.

Again Sam turned toward the Whaler, but too late. Ore was on him now, and while one giant hand grabbed for a purchase on Sam's neck, the other pounded at him.

Ore's fist hit water before it hit Sam's nose, so it was slowed down, but still the impact was shocking.

Sam curled into a ball and drove both his legs as hard as he could into Ore's solar plexus. His blow too, was slowed by the jrag of the water, but it pushed Sam forward and Ore back.

Sam was the better swimmer, but Ore was stronger. As Sam tried to escape, Ore grabbed the waist of Sam's shorts and held him firmly.

Howard was on his feet now. shouting encouragement and praise for Ore. The fight was directly beneath the Whaler's crunched bow. Sam somersaulted backward, slammed his bare feet against the hull, and pushed himself down under the water. He hoped when Ore's riead submerged, he'd panic and let go. It worked, and Sam was free. Free but trapped in a tight corner between the FAYZ wall and the boat's bow.

Ore's face was a fright mask of rage. He came straight at Sam, and Sam had no choice at all. He waited for Ore, grabbed his shirt as he came in range, twisted and, using Ore's own momentum, drove the bully face first into the FAYZ walk

Ore screamed. He Hailed madly and screamed again.

Sam kicked away using Ore's body as a launchpad. The kick drove Ore sidewavs into the barrier and he bellowed like a dying bull.

Sam swam, snagged the starboard gunwale, and held on. "Edilio. Go."

Edilio threw the throttle forward as Sam, with a hand from Astrid and Quinn, pulled himself aboard.

Ore was yelling incoherent, holf-drowned curses from the water. Howard was reaching down to him, and the boat's driver was shell-shocked, not sure what to do.