Ocean Blue (Sea Lab Book 1)

CHAPTER 64

That's when bright lights shined down, illuminating the top deck. Jake recoiled as an army of men materialized from the shadows, gun barrels aiming at them from every direction.

Jake looked up at the bridge. There was Roland Zanderthal... with Sarah next to him. A white dress clung to her lean figure. Five men of Asian descent stood off to the side. Jake and Tony now held only one card that could provide them leverage.

The backup plan.

Footsteps thudded behind Jake. He turned to see Takeshi Ishikawa with a huge grin on his face. "I found the C4 charges you set and tossed them overboard."

Tony gazed at Jake in defeat.

"Are you sure you found them all?" Zanderthal asked from above on the rear balcony of the bridge wing.

"Yes," Ishikawa said. "All five of them."

Jake didn't dare look at Tony. He knew there was still one more charge somewhere on the ship's port side. He also knew the C4 pack was powerful enough to blow a big hole in the hull. The charges contained four separate sets of explosives wired together. Each level would fill with water until the vessel sank. He determined the extra firepower necessary to compromise the reinforced hull of the icebreaker. They also found the engine room and disabled the controls that operated the ship's watertight compartment doors.

Now, Jake suspected the sound they heard in the lower corridor was that of Ishikawa spying on them. How the big man missed the last pack of C4 was not clear, but regardless, it meant they still had a chance.

Zanderthal peered down at Jake and Tony. "I knew you two would turn up, eventually. Of course," he surveyed Sarah's reaction, "I could have my men kill the both of you, but what would be the fun in that?"

He nodded to his guards, and they patted Jake and Tony down and relieved  them of their weapons.

"They don't have the detonator," Ishikawa said.

Zanderthal glared at his security chief. "It's hid somewhere on the ship. It doesn't matter since you tossed the charges into the ocean." He looked at Jake in particular. "I have a proposition for you."

"And what might that be?"

"A fight, similar to the one you saw in my arena."

Jake craned his neck back at Ishikawa.

"Oh, no," Zanderthal said. "Not him, me. In hand-to-hand combat. If you win, I will allow all three of you to go free. But if I win," he hesitated for the next point, "then I keep Sarah and Cruze dies."

"And me?"

"And you die too," Zanderthal said. "Because we'll be fighting to the death." He hissed the word 'death' for emphasis.

"Fine." Jake nodded. "But Sarah comes down here with us. She can stand by Tony, just as insurance if I win."

"Granted. I have no fears of you escaping. And you have my word, an order to my men, that if you win, they will free all of you in a lifeboat."

It sounded good enough, but Jake felt like he could throw Zanderthal farther than he could trust him. The Ocean Blue CEO allowed Sarah to slip by his dinner guests and bound down the stairwell, where she crossed over and ran into Jake's arms.

She kissed him on the cheek, her breath tickling his ear. "Those men are with the Chinese military. The oldest one wants me for his bride."

"I'll do everything I can to keep that from happening." His gaze combed over Sarah's solemn face, and then he nudged her aside. "Go. I have unfinished business."

As she left his side and joined Tony on the starboard rail, Jake wondered where his friend stashed the detonator to the C4 charges.

Out of necessity, his focus shifted from Sarah and Tony to Zanderthal. The chairman removed his dinner jacket and tie, loosened his top button and rolled up his shirt sleeves, and, with an icy glare, trotted down the steps to center stage.

Jake overheard Tony speaking to Sarah. "Be ready," he said.

"For what?"

"You'll see."