“Let’s move then,” said Thatcher. “The sooner we’re off the boat, the safer I will feel. You know, unless Cyra has the ability to fly as well.”
Schwarzwalder sighed. “I’ve heard whisperings and rumors that there were scientists being rounded up to work on special projects for the Führer. Some of them sounded nightmarish. But they went anyway. Hitler seems to have taken advantage of the natural curiosity that drives a man of science to forget their humanity.”
“There’s nothing scientific about being a monster who creates another monster,” said Thatcher. “They could all be working for a greater good and instead they’re helping drive Hitler’s twisted agenda of racial purity. It’s disgraceful any way you try to cut it.”
“Give me one of your grenades.” Schwarzwalder took one from Thatcher and then led them out of the engine room. “We can discuss such things at a later time. Right now, we need to get out of here.”
Thatcher brought his pistol up as they left the engine room and carefully made their way up the stairs. The only noises remaining aboard the ship were those made by the engine as it continued to grind away, spinning the propeller shafts and other ambient noises. Thatcher had no doubt Cyra was anxiously searching for them. She would know who she had killed and who she had not. Neither Thatcher nor Schwarzwalder had stood before her since Thatcher’s run-in at the engine room the first time. Cyra would relentlessly scour the entire ship until she found them. The goal was simply to reach the lifeboats and lower them without being attacked.
Thatcher thought about heading for the bridge but disregarded it. His safety was paramount in his mind. Grabbing the cipher wheels would have been nice but they weren’t even part of the overall mission in the first place. Hewitt would have been overjoyed if he’d managed to grab them, of course, but as long as Thatcher fulfilled the other parameters of his mission, he didn’t think Hewitt would have such a problem with it. Hell, Thatcher didn’t even have to tell him that they were on board. After all, he hadn’t even been briefed about them.
Schwarzwalder brought them out on to the lower deck and the fresh air hitting his face felt like a massive relief to Thatcher even though they still had half a boat length to go to reach the life boats. The Captain kept his pistol up and ready to shoot while Thatcher did the same. Together they moved ever closer to where the life boats were kept, hanging on a simply pulley system that would allow anyone to drop them to the sea below.
Neither man said anything as they crept forward, but Thatcher’s heart raced at the thought of being able to finally get off the ship. Schwarzwalder reached the lifeboats first and tucked his pistol, away in his holster before checking the rigging on the pulley. He nodded for Thatcher to do the same at his end.
Thatcher reluctantly put his gun away. Then he looked at Schwarzwalder and nodded. It was an easy enough system. A simple release valve would allow the pulleys to start working and the life boat to descend. Schwarzwalder nodded once more and Thatcher released it, grabbing the ropes as he did so to ease the boat as gently as they could to the ocean below.
The fifteen foot wooden life boat eased down toward the churning waves far below and Thatcher’s heart again kicked up with adrenaline and excitement. They were close.
That was when the rope in his hand suddenly broke away from him and the life boat fell down at an angle as the bow tipped toward the waves while the stern still under Schwarzwalder’s control was still on a higher level than that.
“Shit,” said Thatcher before he could stop himself.
“Stand clear,” said Schwarzwalder then. He dropped the line in his hand and the life boat leveled out before finally hitting the waves with a grand splash. But the noise from the pulley reels had been louder than the surrounding night and Thatcher looked around worriedly half expecting Cyra to materialize out of the darkness and tear him apart.
The life boat bobbed in the surf below, the lines still attached to the side of Raider X, and started being dragged through the waves as Raider X continued to plow ahead. If they didn’t time their jumps correctly, they’d have to swim to reach the life boats or Raider X would simply tow the boats away from anyone who dove overboard.
“You first,” said Schwarzwalder checking his watch. “I’m the Captain, after all.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“That I’m the Captain?” Schwarzwalder grinned at him. “Yes, I’m absolutely-“
But even as he said the words, a dark form reared up behind him and grabbed him up in her claws. Cyra ripped Schwarzwalder’s left arm off, releasing a gout of blood that sprayed everywhere. Schwarzwalder screamed.
Thatcher yanked his pistol out and started firing at Cyra, even though he knew that it would do no good.
She had come for them at last.
CHAPTER 37
The bullets from Thatcher’s gun seemed to punch into Cyra right around her heart but they did little to affect her. She tossed Schwarzwalder’s body aside as she still gripped his arm in her other claw. This she tilted it toward her mouth and suckled at the tip of his humerus, creating an awful suckling sound that made Thatcher’s stomach lurch.
He had no idea if Schwarzwalder was dead or not, but the wound was grievous and he lay still on the deck as Cyra calmly finished her meal of marrow and tossed the arm over the side of the ship into the ocean below.
“Now that we’ve gotten everyone else out of the way,” she said. “How about you tell me the truth of why you’re here, Harrison?”
Thatcher frowned. He was out of bullets and the gun was useless anyway — the rounds had done nothing to affect Cyra.
“And what truth would that be?”
“You’re not a criminal. You’re here for another reason.”
Thatcher shook his head. “You’re mistaken. I am a criminal. I was in jail before my escape. If you don’t believe me, I don’t care. But that’s the truth.” And it was, just carefully edited. Thatcher had lied a great many times in his past and the thing that made people believe was by building them on a foundation of truth.
But he’d never lied to a creature like Cyra before and he didn’t know if she was as gullible as most humans were. Hell, was she even human anymore? Thatcher couldn’t figure it out. She looked more like a monster than the woman he’d slept with and even the image of that revolted him now. What in the world had he copulated with?
“We’ll see how much your lies hold up when the Gestapo get their hands on you.”
Thatcher frowned. “And what about you? You’ve been living a lie the entire time you knew me.”
Cyra shrugged. “I’m not bound by any code of decency. I do whatever it takes to get my assignment done. That is it.”
“You should have been honest with me,” said Thatcher. “I had no idea you were-“
“What? Something out of the realm of your nightmares?” She paused. “I must admit I was reluctant to share my essence with you because of it. What those scientists were able to do to my body is nothing short of amazing and I am proud to be their finest creation. But it is also a heavy weight to bear. I am only able to assume the form you made love for a short time before my appetite gets to be too much and my desire to reveal my true essence gets to be too overwhelming. I must both feast and be in my true form to be at peace.”
“How did they do that to you?”
“They are scientists. I make no claim to understand what they are doing in the Polish countryside. I was merely the beneficiary of their expertise. Or their horrible visions, one or the other.”
“And now what? You destroy the ship because of the cipher wheels on the bridge?”
Cyra shrugged. “I am a weapon to be used for whatever the Führer requires of me. That is my role in this world. I exist for no other purpose.”