Tom Grace - Spyder Web

‘Sure as hell beats the alternative,’ Kilkenny added, knowing from personal experience. ‘Andrei, there should be a first-aid kit in the bow. See what you can find to patch him up. Hang in there, Stone. You’ll be fine.’

Stone grimaced at Kilkenny, then cupped the hand from his good arm over his ear. ‘Could you ease up on the engines? I’m getting a signal from Looking Glass. They want us to back off.’

‘Back off? All right, but I hope they’ve got something in mind.’ Kilkenny brought Spitfire to a stop while Merlin continued its drive toward the sea. ‘Let me borrow that headset while Andrei cleans you up.’

Kilkenny helped Stone remove his communication gear and body armor. The chest plate had stopped several potentially lethal rounds, leaving only deep bruises on Stone’s chest. His arm, on the other hand, had been torn open. Stone would be fine as long as they could stop the bleeding. Yakushev returned with the first-aid kit and began tending Stone’s injuries.

‘All right, Mosley, what the hell is going on?’ Kilkenny shouted into the microphone.

‘Kilkenny, you dumb son of a bitch,’ Mosley growled back. ‘You really got yourself into it this time. How’s your crew doing?’

‘Stone took a couple rounds on the last pass.’ Kilkenny saw Stone grimace as Yakushev cleaned his wounds. ‘Other than that, we’re fine. The opposition is down to three. What’s the story? Why’d you pull us off?’

‘The river’s blocked about four kilometers ahead of your current position. Parnell’s not getting out that way. Axton’s people are set up to pounce on them as soon as they approach. We also closed the flood barrier you passed through about six kilometers upriver, in case they try to double back.’

Merlin was now a white foaming speck downriver from where Kilkenny stood. ‘Ten kilometers of river is still a lot of area to cover. He may head for shore.’

‘We’ll take our chances,’ Mosley replied, acknowledging the risk. ‘Axton orders you to sit tight and wait for his people to come and get you. You can’t return the boat you stole until they open the floodgates anyway.’

‘I’m deeply offended by your accusation. This vessel was officially commandeered by a legitimate representative of the British government. I merely came along for the ride.’

‘I’ll bet you did, smart-ass. Tell Stone to hang in there; help’s on the way. You guys did real good out there.’

‘Thanks.’

Kilkenny helped Yakushev dress Stone’s wounds. One bullet had left a deep gouge in his forearm, while another had passed through his biceps. Stone was in good spirits despite his pain, keeping a stiff upper lip in proper British fashion.

Downriver, Kang relaxed a little as Spitfire faded from view. He knew that he’d hit one of the snipers. Perhaps a lucky shot had found the driver of that devil boat. In any case, they had broken the pursuit and were now moving unopposed toward the ocean. Kang was just about to ask for Merlin ‘s ship-to-shore phone when Parnell eased back on the throttle.

‘Why are you slowing down?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Parnell replied as he looked downriver, ‘but it appears that the floodgates have been closed.’

Both sides of the shore were illuminated by scores of police lights. Parnell could only imagine that many of the small figures lining the embankments had weapons trained on them as they approached. A pair of river patrol boats began moving toward Merlin. Before anyone said a word, he turned the wheel around and pushed the accelerator forward, leaving the ambush behind.

‘What are you doing?’ Kang shouted as Parnell turned his boat around.

‘They’ve closed the river,’ Parnell shouted back, stifling Kang’s complaint. ‘I can outrun their patrol boats, but we have to get ashore before it’s too late. There’s an abandoned dockyard a few kilometers back that we can use. With any luck, the police are spread so thin that we can escape by land.’

The closure represented by the wall of concrete and steel that tamed the river’s floodwaters caused a brief sensation of panic that Kang quickly suppressed. Parnell was right: It was time to get off the river. ‘Go. If we can evade our pursuers, my people will get us out of the country.’

‘What about Roe? We can’t leave her behind.’

‘I agree,’ Kang replied icily.

Upriver from Parnell’s boat lay the idle Spitfire. Stone’s wounds were tended as well as Kilkenny’s training and the onboard supplies would allow, and the three men waited for further assistance.

Kilkenny was still wearing Stone’s headset, monitoring the British radio traffic, when Mosley called out, ‘Kilkenny, you still there?’

Kilkenny switched the headset back into the send/receive mode. ‘Yeah, Cal. What’s up?’

‘Parnell caught a whiff of us and turned tail; he’s heading back in your direction. The British have a chopper and a pair of patrol boats keeping an eye on him. I want you guys to lay low and let him pass. We’ve got him bottled up, Kilkenny, so no more heroics. Understand?’

‘Loud and clear.’ Kilkenny flipped the microphone off and slammed his fist into the ship’s deck in frustration.

‘What did you find out?’ Stone asked.

‘They reached the blockade and have turned back. They’re heading our way, and Axton wants us to stand aside while his people try to chase them down. If Kang and Parnell are as smart as everyone thinks, they’ll dump that boat and disappear onshore.’

‘Where are we?’ Stone asked as he tried to peer, uncomfortably, over the ship’s side.

Kilkenny stood up but found no landmarks that meant anything to him. ‘Hell if I know-I’m not from around here.’

‘I’m afraid I won’t be much help, either,’ Yakushev added.

With Yakushev and Kilkenny’s aid, Stone stood up and studied the shoreline carefully, trying to get his bearings. ‘We’re in Essex, east of London proper. There are some old docks about a kilometer back. Parnell’s a local lad, like me, so he’s probably familiar with the area. If he’s going to abandon ship, he’s going to do it there.’

‘And he’ll make land before your people can run them down,’ Kilkenny concluded. Other than Spitfire, Parnell had the fastest boat on the Thames. The spies would be safely inland before the authorities could put anything near them by land or river.

Over the short period of time they’d spent together, Stone had taken his measure of Nolan Kilkenny and he already knew what thoughts were going through his mind. ‘Orders or not, we can’t let that happen.’

‘I agree with him,’ Yakushev said in defiance of Axton’s order. ‘We must intervene.’

‘I hate sitting around anyway.’ Kilkenny surveyed the river for Parnell’s boat. ‘We don’t have much time. Let’s get into position.’

Kilkenny piloted Spitfire to the center of the river before turning her perpendicular to the river’s flow, with the port side facing downriver toward the approaching boat.

‘How’s your shooting arm?’

Stone stretched and flexed his right arm; it felt weak. ‘It’s a bit wobbly, but otherwise fine.’

‘Good, because we’ll need all the firepower we can muster if we’re going to offer effective harassment. The plan is the same as before. We’re not going to try to stop them, just slow them down and keep them on the river until help arrives. I hope everyone’s ready, because here they come.’

Merlin rounded the slight turn in the river and came into view with a prominent fan of water issuing from the speeding boat’s tail. Yakushev and Stone crouched and took aim on the approaching ship while Kilkenny eased the throttle into low gear. As Merlin approached, Kilkenny hoped his opponents would assume that the drifting craft offered them no threat.