Andy McNab - Brute force

Dom staggered to his feet. He was a big lad but so was the Russian who now lay motionless on the floor. It must have been quite a battle.

I took a couple of laboured steps towards them. I was aware of what was happening but the software was taking too long to kick in.

Tallulah looked up. 'Find Ruby! For God's sake find Ruby!'

I turned left along the corridor, following the line of det cord. I needed to know how she planned to detonate the Semtex before going on to find Ruby.

The cord ran up the wall next to a set of steep metal steps. I saw what I was looking for: a TPU just like Daddy used to make.

I clambered upwards.

I could hear sobbing. Ruby was on the bridge.

A sliding door opened onto the deck. She was tugging uselessly at the handle in an uncontrolled frenzy. Whether it was because the door was locked or too heavy, she couldn't budge it no matter how frantically she tried.

I ran over to her. 'Ruby! It's me, it's me.'

She was still fumbling at the door.

'Ruby! It's OK. It's me, Nick.'

She wasn't listening; she was in a blind panic.

I put a hand on her shoulder.

Finally, she turned, and the moment she saw me her body went rigid. She screamed at the top of her voice.

'It's me… it's Nick…'

Then I realized: my head, face and hair were covered in blood. The deck was reddening round my feet.

I didn't know what to do. Did I just pick her up, or what?

'It's OK, Ruby. Everything's going to be all right. Calm down, please, it's all right.'

I started throwing open drawers looking for a first-aid kit. There should be a good one on a boat this size. But all I could find was a sort of wooden shoe box with a couple of bandages and bottle of cough mixture inside. It would have to do.

Looking out of the bridge window, I could see a four-seat fibreglass powerboat bobbing alongside us in the swell. We couldn't be that far out to sea.

The door had a weather latch on the top. I threw it. There was no way she was getting out. 'Just stay there, darling – I'll go and get Tally.'

I hobbled back down the stairs. There was nothing more I could do for her right now.

The hold looked like a battlefield.

Mairead lay in the corner where I'd first seen the four of them. There was no movement from her. The two Russians lay where they'd died.

Tallulah ran up to me. 'Where is she?'

My leg hurt big-time. 'Upstairs. Go and talk to her. Go look after her.'

She looked down. 'Oh my God, Nick!' She put her arms out, whether to hold me or help me, I wasn't sure. Her breath clouded around us.

'I'm OK. She's up on the bridge. Keep her up there. I haven't finished down here yet.'

Dom hugged Siobhan under the arc lights. I pointed. 'Go with her, help her. Then wait up there for me, OK?'

I dropped the medical box and I followed it onto the deck. Dom let go of his wife and ran over to me.

'Pressure, mate. I need pressure on the wound.'

He didn't need any second bidding. He knelt down and tipped the contents onto the floor.

I looked over at Mairead. 'She dead?'

'Nearly.' He shook his head. 'But not nearly enough.'

He started bandaging my leg tightly to stop the leaks.

I leant back, my hands flat on the steel. I suddenly became aware of how cold I was. Dom shivered as he tied off the bandage.

I gripped his forearm. 'Check through their gear. They've got to have some clothing here somewhere. Get some warm stuff on. There's a boat parked up next to this thing. Get the girls wrapped up, get them all in it.' I nodded over to Mairead. 'I'm going to sort her out and then let's fuck off. Have a look at the nav gear; find out where land is.'

Her legs moved.

'Go – get everything sorted and I'll be up there to meet you.'

He tucked in the last of the bandage just above my knee. 'Are you going to kill her?'

I didn't answer.

He stood up and held out a hand. I pulled myself up.

We grabbed an arm each and started dragging her out, just the same as the Russians had dragged me. She bounced over the threshold and into the corridor, then along the red lino and over the cabin threshold.

I ripped off her duvet jacket, checked the pockets and lobbed it at Dom. 'Get this on Ruby.'

I leant down and gave her a couple of slaps to bring her round. 'Come on!' I wanted her to be fully aware.

I felt in her jeans pocket for the knife or whatever it was she'd been going to unscrew the TPU lid with.

I found a stubby flat-head screwdriver.

'Come on, wake up.'

She was sort of there. I sat on the bunk with her at my feet.

Next door, the engines idled. I was getting warm again. My ears and hands stung as they came back to life.

I stared down at her. Her mass of hair glistened with blood and was matted against her head.

I didn't blame her for being pissed off with me. If I'd been close to my dad I'd have felt the same. And I understood, too, why she'd want to know the traitor who gave up the ship to the British in the first place. I didn't even have a problem with the car device, now that I knew that it was just a ploy. In fact, I admired her for not giving up. I'd admired her dad for the same reason. They might have been the enemy, but they were solid.

The only reason I was still sitting here and she was on the floor was that she'd brought the other four into it, and they had nothing to do with the world that she and I moved in. They were real people, and none of them would be safe unless I put an end to this.

She'd also killed Lynn. He died doing his job, even though it wasn't his job any more. He was one of the old school. We needed more like him. I would make a point of contacting his kids and telling them what had happened. They needed to know how the man they despised had met his end.

She began to come round.

I eased myself off the bed. The pain in my right thigh had begun to register in my brain. It seemed that these deep, clean cuts really were every bit as painful as any other kind. Blood oozed from the dressings. It was going to be hospital time very soon. I'd have to go in and complain about these drugged-up muggers who not only took all my cash, but also seemed to take pleasure in slicing me up.

I couldn't kneel because of the pain. I had to stoop, one hand on the edge of the steel frame of the bunk as I leant down.

I pulled open an eyelid. The pupil reacted. She could hear me all right.

'It was Richard Isham.'

She took a big, involuntary breath and sobbed.

'Yeah, you know, the one who's always been up for the cause, the local hero, ready to fight to the death. But you know what, he was on the make, just like everybody else.' I leant a bit closer so she didn't miss a word. 'He saw what was coming and made sure he was one of the survivors. What would your dad think of that? But he can't think anything, can he? Because while Richard is sitting behind a big fat desk with an expense account to match, your old man is dead.'

She kicked out her legs.

'It's a fucker, isn't it? But you know what? I agree with you. A traitor is a traitor, in anyone's book, including mine. I have more respect for you than I do for him.'

She was still sobbing but it wasn't from pain or fear of dying. She was a player; she had more bollocks than that. She was grieving.

She should have spent five minutes with me over a brew some time. I could have put her straight: never trust those fuckers, and don't waste your faith in them. They're always in it for their own ends, no matter what side of the fence they're on.

'But the problem is, you're the enemy.' I pushed myself up using the side of the bunk. 'Regardless of what I think of you, we both know what that means.'