Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

"Damn it," he said, adjusting his position on the fly. He went all the way to the deck, rolled and came up firing. His first round was wide, but the second hit the security officer in the chest, driving him back into the computer console. His fingers squeezed the trigger spasmodically, and the rounds hit the metal plating on the floor and ricocheted several times around the room before stopping.

Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "With my luck lately, I'd have been killed by a ricochet." His handheld beeped and he glanced at it quickly. The screen read, "Download complete."

"Good enough for government work," he said. He looked down at the unconscious sailor on the floor. There was nothing he could do for him now. Ignoring the stinging pain in his left arm, Jason moved back to the hatch and peered into the hallway.

Sailors were running every which way, trying to figure out where the intruder was. The bodies of the others must have been found. Still, in this kind of confusion and chaos, it was possible he might have a chance to slip through unnoticed.

"Sorry, kid," he said, opening the door and stepping back into the hallway. He left it open and walked ten full paces before he reached into his pocket and pushed the button that would detonate the C-4. He had five minutes before the explosives would blow.

He moved quickly through the crowd, keeping his head down and using his fluent Russian to occasionally shout out responses to questions.

"Where is the intruder?" one sailor asked.

"I think he went up a deck," Jason replied. "Security needs all the help they can get!" He shoved the man in the direction of the nearest ladder.

In a time of crisis, Jason knew people often want to be told what to do, and this man was no exception.

Once, a security officer grabbed him and said, "Have you seen Vladimir?"

Jason nodded. "He went to the bridge to report something."

The security officer ran off, never looking back.

It took him the better part of four minutes by his count to reach the torpedo-room hatch. Glancing behind him and seeing no one following, he opened it and stepped inside, pulling it shut behind him.

He didn't see the massive fist that slammed into his already tender ribs, nor the one that followed it, which connected with his jaw and sent him flying to the deck. He grunted in pain as he hit, rolled and came up shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs.

The man in front of him looked just like Boris, but he had been given the benefit of a full head of hair.

"You must know Boris," Jason stated, stepping away from the giant. "They say that after a long time together, married people begin to look alike. Are you the husband or the wife?"

"I am Vladimir Ambros," the man said. "The Siberian Tiger." He spun the wheel on the hatch door, locking it closed. "My brother is Boris. I understand that you two have already met."

"Recently," Jason said. "Though he failed to mention you during our discussion. You must not be all that close."

"Boris and Feng Li send their regrets," he said, stepping closer. "They wanted to be here to see me kill you. They knew you would come. I knew you would come."

"You know, Boris already tried to kill me," Jason said. "He didn't do a very good job of it."

Vladimir laughed. "You are a foolish man, Mr. Siku," he said. "My brother was only playing with you. It was not his place to kill you, but Feng Li has given me that honor. Had you remained captive, he would have killed you himself."

Jason risked a glance at his watch. "I'd love to stay and visit, but things are going to get interesting in five."

"Five?"

"Four," Jason said.

"Four?"

Vladimir was obviously the slower one of the two.

"Three," Jason said.

Vladimir moved in, ignoring him, and Jason skipped away. "Two," he called, avoiding a sloppy but undoubtedly strong roundhouse.

"Why are you counting?" the Russian yelled.

"One," Jason said.

The explosives detonated on the far end of the sub, and the reverberations and noise could be felt all the way to the room they were standing in. "It's just something I like to do," Jason said, feeling the deck begin to pitch beneath his feet, "when an explosion is about to happen."

Vladimir roared like an angry bear and crossed the space between them in three quick steps, lunging to grasp him in a crushing hug.

Jason ducked beneath the swinging arms and threw a solid openhanded blow into the man's crotch. He heard him gasp in pain, then scream as Jason grabbed a handful and pulled, twisting at the same time.

Vladimir slammed both of his meaty arms into Jason's shoulders and for a moment, he wondered if his collarbones or his shoulders were broken…or both. As he scrambled away from the huge Russian, the sub lurched again, and Jason suspected that his plan had worked better than expected. There was a hull breach.

The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than the alarm began ringing again, and a voice ordered all hands to abandon ship. Only a few would make it, he knew. The icy waters of the Arctic would take the rest.

"You fight like a woman," Vladimir said, ignoring the call to abandon ship.

Knowing he was almost out of time, Jason got to his feet, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his ribs and his shoulders. "You're right," he said, stumbling a bit as the sub lurched yet again. He pulled the Glock. "But I shoot like a man."

He squeezed the trigger three times, driving Vladimir back against the rack of torpedoes and sending them crashing to the floor. The giant fell to the ground, sitting, and stared up at Jason with a look of surprise on his face. "A real man kills with his bare hands," he said, blood dribbling from his mouth and nose.

"Maybe," Jason admitted. "But while I'll go on being at least a pretend man, you'll be fish food." He turned away and felt the Russian grab his pant leg.

"Don't…leave me to die like this. To drown." The man's eyes were pleading.

Remembering the beating he'd taken at Boris's hands, Jason said, "Would you or your brother show the same mercy to me?"

"Yes," he said, nodding painfully. "We are not without honor."

"Bullshit," Jason said, "but who am I to argue?" He raised the Glock and put the man out of his misery.

The rushing sound of water could be heard in the hall behind him, along with the screams of sailors as the icy ocean took them. Most would die even before they reached the few escape pods. The submarine was on its way to being an underwater relic, and if he didn't get a move on, he'd be joining them.

He climbed into the torpedo tube and began to shimmy his way back to the Scorpion.

If everything was going according to plan, Jesse and Tina were already at the base camp and beginning their assault. His only sorrow in all this was that Feng Li and Boris weren't on board to go down with the ship.

But his gut told him he'd be seeing them both before this was over.

Jason slipped back into the Scorpion and blew the locks on the docking collar. He could feel the pull of the submarine as it sank lower into the icy black depths below as he fired up the engines. If the suction grew too great, he would be pulled down right along with it.

For a brief, panicked moment, he thought that was exactly what was going to happen as the Scorpion struggled against the underwater vacuum created by the massive, sinking submarine. He hit the engine boosters and breathed a sigh of relief as the small craft pulled away, leaving the sinking submarine and her crew to their fate.

He pushed the Scorpion to its limits, trying to get back to the underwater cavern where the minisubs had been loaded. Only half his mission had been accomplished, and Jesse and Tina by now had to be in position, if they weren't already fighting for their lives. The tide was coming in, which made the job of piloting his submersible more challenging as once more, chunks of ice flowed in closer to shore. The sun had gone down, so he was operating with only the lights of the Scorpion and radar to help him avoid obstacles.