Knight, E.E - Vampire Earth 11 - Baltic Gambit by Knight E.E

Author:Knight, E.E [Knight, E.E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101637951
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

The wind dispersed what little smoke the burning wreck of the patrol boat produced.

Most everyone instinctively made for the control room. Captain Ableyard did a quick head count and had his informal ship’s medic—he’d spent two years driving a hospital ambulance before seeking refuge at sea—attend to the wounded from the fight.

Duvalier had come up on deck. She needed air before dealing with the bodies of the Kurian boarding party. One of the crew suggested putting them on fish-ice for now, so they could at least be buried on land.

They had company. The crab boat that had come out of the harbor with them had turned their way and put on speed, digging its weighed-down nose into the Atlantic rollers, dumping the water that came on board in streams of spittle running from each side of the grinlike rail. It had obviously seen the explosion and moved to render assistance. A searchlight above her control room turned on.

From the opposite direction, another low gray shape powered toward the direction of the explosion, heeling as it made a swift turn. It had a swept-back superstructure that was similar to that of the burning patrol boat, but details were indistinct in the morning fog. Its color was that of a wet greyhound.

It made sense that the Kurians would want to cover several points of the compass out of sight of Halifax. One boat couldn’t do the job.

“This may be bad,” Ableyard said, unlocking a wooden case near the wheel. He extracted a pair of large naval binoculars and gently rocked his hips as he examined the new mystery boat.

Bet those are worth a bit, Duvalier thought. When she was operating in the KZ, she took every opportunity she could to steal binoculars or telescopes.

Ableyard’s big binoculars were so battered and worn that the black coating that had once covered the metal had all but rubbed off of the casing, leaving stainless steel shiny with the oil from various pairs of hands.

“Do you have another pair?” asked Valentine.

“Optics are family heirlooms in these parts,” Ableyard said. “I’ve a telescope; it’s a relic, not much better than a kid’s toy. It’s just above the chart table behind you.”

With that he fell silent, observing the boat running toward them. It would beat the crab boat, easily. “No,” Ableyard said, putting the silver binoculars to his face. “No! It’s definitely a patrol boat. New England Fleet. They’re burning a blue flare. That means we’re to slow the engine to just enough to hold a course, and assemble on deck, hands above heads.”

“We won’t be able to try the same trick twice,” Valentine said.

“If they even bother boarding us before sinking this pig,” Ableyard said. “That turret is manned. It’s aimed right at us. They’re probably just waiting for an order to fire.” His cheek twitched nervously.

“They might not know for sure what happened,” Ahn-Kha said. “The boat behind is now nearer the debris.”

“They must have our description,” Ableyard said. “A big crab boat, mistaken for us? Not likely.

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