D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

A quick look showed me that all three of the other Jakills had gotten their hooks up top and were pulling themselves out of the water. I felt like an idiot, but c’mon! I hadn’t practiced this! I was about to try again when I felt the cord being pulled out of my hand. It was Loque. He took the cord, swam back a few feet from the hull, wound up, and let it sail toward the rail. The hook shot straight up and landed on the deck. With a quick tug, Loque imbedded it into the wood. He pulled hard on the cord, making sure it was secure, then handed it to me. I didn’t take time to thank him. We were behind schedule.

The other Jakills were already halfway up the side of the ship. Was there still enough time to get up and onto the deck before the guards returned on their next lap? Waiting and wondering wouldn’t help things. I grabbed the cord, put my feet against the hull, and started to climb. I saw how the other Jakills did it, and copied them. With my feet against the side, I sort of walked up while moving hand over hand on the cord. The thin cord had several small knots along its length, so it was easy to grip. Climbing was tough at first, because the water created a suction, but once I muscled my way out of the water, it got easier. While gripping the wooden snorkel in my teeth like some soggy pirate, I inched up toward the deck.

I soon realized I wouldn’t have trouble making the climb, and my mind shot ahead to the next challenge, which was all about me. I had to get rid of the guards on deck. How was

I supposed to do that? I couldn’t just jump them and start wailing away with my wooden snorkel. That would be, like, barbaric. I’m telling you, fighting isn’t like what you see on TV. People don’t get dropped with one punch and conveniently fall asleep. Hitting somebody hurts. And it could hurt them, too. I couldn’t count on knocking them unconscious, so what was I supposed to do? As I climbed the last few feet to the edge of the railing, I decided that the best thing would be to get on deck, pull up the cord, and hope that I could take them on one at a time and tie them up with it. I figured there might even be someplace on board where I could lock them up. I didn’t know why Siry thought I could pull this off, because I wasn’t sure at all.

The other Jakills clung to their cords, each hanging about a foot below deck level.

I wondered why they didn’t climb up and over. Maybe they were waiting for me.

They weren’t. The one nearest to me held out his hand to signal “Stop!” He pointed above. I could guess what he meant. The guards had returned. The extra time I had taken to climb up had cost us. I figured we’d wait until they got to the bow, turned, and walked past us again. Trouble was, we couldn’t see up to the deck, so there was no way to know when it was safe to go.

Loque pulled himself up next to me. While still gripping the cord, he stuck out a finger to me as if to say, “Wait.” Cautiously he pulled himself up higher to peer over the rail. It was a risky move. For all he knew, the guards were right there. We watched him slowly rise and peek onto the ship. I can’t speak for anybody else, but I held my breath.

I didn’t know how long we’d been hanging there, but my arms were getting tired. Tired arms weren’t good in a fight. Finally Loque put one hand on the deck and used the other one to motion for me, and only me, to climb up on deck. It was time. There was no chance to think or reconsider or plan out a strategy. The show was about to begin, and I was the first one to step on stage. Hand over hand I climbed the rest of the way and scrambled onto the ship. I hit the deck and rolled back toward the wooden rail, hoping to make myself inconspicuous.

The deck was empty. No guards. No alarms. Nothing to alert anyone that a scabby commando was about to hijack their yellow ship. Though the ship was new, it looked to me like something out of olden times. The deck was made of long strips of wood. There was a wooden cabin structure near the bow that looked about the size of a large shed. Another larger cabin was to the rear. The ship had two heavy masts. I don’t know much about sailing ships, but I guess you’d call this thing a square-rigger, because it looked like the sails dropped down from horizontal poles that were positioned about halfway up the masts. A second, smaller horizontal pole was farther up each mast. There was a complicated tangle of lines everywhere. I hoped Siry was right when he said the Jakills knew how to sail this thing, because I sure didn’t.

The only sounds came from the roar of the ocean and the groaning ship as it pulled against the ropes that held it to the pier. For a fleeting instant I felt as if I had stepped into another world, and I was on an ancient pirate ship. Stranger still, I was the pirate.

Looking out from the deck, I saw the other nine ships at their piers. They were just as quiet. Just as empty. My confidence grew. I thought maybe the delay I had caused might have made this mission all the easier. It gave the guards the chance to do another lap back to the stern. If Siry and the others attacked with their silent blowguns, maybe all the guards were taken out at once, and my job was over. It was suddenly looking like a piece of cake. I was so confident that I stood up, leaned over the rail, and looked down to the other Jakills.

“All clear,” I whispered… an instant before I was jumped from behind.

“Ahhhh!” screamed the guard as he grabbed me and threw me to the deck. Where had he come from? He must have heard us climbing aboard and ducked into the wooden cabin near the bow to lie in wait. It was the only place he could have come from so quickly. It didn’t matter. The surprise was over. The guy was going Tasmanian on me. The battle for the yellow ship had begun.

I hit the deck on my back and saw I wasn’t being attacked by one guard, but two. The second guard was waiting for me, and I obliged him by landing right at his feet. He wound up to kick me. I rolled away. Both guards pounced. They were bigger than I was, but whatever advantage they had in muscle, they lacked in agility. And experience.

I realized that right away. They both charged like a couple of bulls. I was able to bounce to my feet and dodge them easily.

They didn’t give up. One guy charged again. I ducked him, but got speared by the second guard, who followed right behind. He drove me backward, slamming me into the wooden cabin. At the same time, he and wound up, ready to drive it into my ribs. He swung the weapon toward me. I blocked the downward thrust with my right arm, then whipped the same arm up to catch him across the cheek. He never saw it coming. I didn’t think these guys had ever been in a fight with somebody like me. I had learned from the best and practiced to fight against seasoned warriors. These two tropical guards may have been big and imposing, but they didn’t stand a chance. That was the good news.

Bad news was they were about to get help.

A loud horn sounded, tearing through the predawn quiet. Huge spotlights flashed on, bathing the ships in bright, white light. The surprise was really over. This was no longer about taking down a handful of guards. The entire security force that watched these ships would soon be headed our way.

I caught a glimpse of the other swimmers pulling themselves up and over the railing near the bow. I thought they were coming to help me. I thought wrong. They ran to the cabin and jumped inside, headed for I didn’t know where. The others spread out along the pier side of the ship and quickly began to cast off the lines. They weren’t coming to my rescue; their job was to get this ship under way. The guards were my problem.

It was going to be a race. The Jakills had to get the ship away from the pier and under way before the rest of the security force arrived. All I could do was keep the two guards who were already on the ship occupied, so the Jakills had a chance. I had sent the one guard reeling backward with my backhand punch. The second grabbed me from behind in a bear hug. I bent forward, lifted him up, pushed backward, and drove him into the mast. He barely grunted. I quickly crouched down and shot both my arms forward, which forced him to release his grip. I ducked and swept my leg backward, knocking him down.