“What kind of ‘complication?’” she said into the radio.
“Hart was doing a head count of the Ocean Star folks, and he thinks we might be, uh, missing a few, uh, heads.”
“Be more specific, Maddie.”
“Hart says a couple of the civilians are missing.”
Riley sat up straighter. It was a mistake, and he grimaced with pain from the sudden movement.
“Did he check the entire boat?” Lara said into the radio.
“Twice,” Maddie said. “All the civilians should have been on the Trident by now. The only ones that should still be on the Ocean Star with you are a few of Hart’s soldiers.”
“There’s an armory,” Riley said.
“I know; I had Hart put guards on it after you were shot,” she said. “The guns were the first things I had your people move over to the Trident. I know I said I didn’t need them before, but I didn’t see any point in leaving them behind when we go.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” he nodded.
“What are the chances some of the civilians might have snuck weapons onboard? Like Andy?”
“Pretty good. It wasn’t like we searched everyone. Or anyone, for that matter. There was no reason to.”
“Lara?” Maddie said through the radio.
“I’m here,” she answered. “Where is Hart now?”
“Doing a third head count.”
“That’s a waste of time,” Riley said. “They must have stayed onboard while you guys were shuttling people over. It wouldn’t make sense for them to go along only to sneak back here.”
Lara nodded, then walked over to the door and pushed the lock into place.
“Why did you do that?” Riley asked from behind her.
“Just in case,” she said and walked back to him. Then, into the radio: “Maddie, you said all the civilians except two are onboard?”
“That’s what Hart says,” Maddie said.
“I want you to pull anchor and take the yacht farther out.”
“How much farther?”
“At least another half mile.”
“Should I ask why?”
“Just in case.”
“Gotcha. But you know we’re not done with the supplies, right?”
“Doesn’t matter. We can finish it later. Right now, I want you to put some distance between the yacht and the platform.”
“What about you?”
“When you see Hart again, tell him to radio me on this frequency and we’ll coordinate what to do next. Your job right now — your only job — is to take care of the Trident and everyone onboard, understand?”
“Roger that,” Maddie said.
“Why the second ‘just in case?’” Riley asked when she put the radio away.
“Because I don’t know what those two missing crewmen will do. Best-case scenario is they’ll hide until we leave.”
“And the worst-case?”
“They use whatever guns they snuck onboard and finish what Andy started. And maybe they won’t stop with you. Maybe they’ll decide no one should be able to leave, either.”
Riley shook his head. “If you think they’ll blow up the Trident with all those people onboard, it’s not going to happen. They wouldn’t do that. I know everyone who served onboard the Ocean Star. None of them are capable of something that heinous.”
“You thought you knew Andy, too.”
He flinched. “Below the belt, Lara.”
“But true,” she said, and stared back at him.
“Goddammit, I know you’re right.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and leaned forward to gather his strength, even though those movements probably cost him more unnecessary pain. “I messed up,” he added quietly.
“Think of it this way,” she said, “you’re three out of forty-six. These days, if you’re batting over.500, I’d say you’re coming up ahead.”
He made an effort to smile, but she could tell he was far from convinced.
“They were in the comm room,” Hart said when Lara opened the sickbay door for him. “But they took off long before we showed up.”
“What were they doing in there?” Riley asked from his bed.
“I don’t know, but they didn’t go in there for their health, I’m guessing.”
“Who was it?”
“Ezekiel and Lang.”
Lara looked back at Riley. “Anything special about them?”
Riley shook his head. “Nothing that I can think of. Ezekiel’s one of the mechanics and Lang helped out in the galley.”
“A mechanic and a cook?”
“Basically.”
Lara turned back to Hart. “Any ideas where they’re hiding now?”
“Not a clue,” Hart said. “It’s a big place with a lot of nooks and crannies to hole up. Frankly, if they are hiding and waiting for us to leave, I’m not sure we should even bother looking for them.”
“I agree,” Lara said.
Riley nodded. He had looked stronger when he first woke up, but the last hour had drained some of that strength, and just sitting on the bed seemed to take a lot out of him. “The only thing to be concerned about is that they might have called for help. Given us away.”
“What’s the status on the supplies?” Lara asked Hart.
“About sixty percent are already onboard the Trident,” Hart said.
“The essentials first?”
“Just like you said.”
“Then that’s going to have to be enough.”
“You mean leave the rest behind?”
She nodded.
“That’s too much to abandon,” Riley said behind her. “We might need everything we can get when we reach the Bengal Islands.”
“I’m thinking about your people, Riley,” Lara said. “There’s a lot of space between the storage area and the top deck. A lot of rooms and doors and corners. Right now we don’t know if Ezekiel and Jones plan on doing anything. If they even have just one gun between them…”
Riley shook his head. He clearly didn’t like it, but he said anyway, “You’re right. It’s not worth risking one more man to this war.” Then to Hart, “We’ll leave the rest behind, like she said.”
“You’re going to have to help him topside,” Lara said to Hart.
Hart nodded and glanced back at two men in black tactical gear, weapons out, standing guard behind the open sickbay door. “Phil, give me a hand.”
One of the men turned around and stepped inside.
Hart walked over to Riley. “It’s going to hurt.”
Riley gritted his teeth. “I’ll try to keep the crying to a minimum.”
Hart chuckled, then with Phil, they flanked Riley and helped him up to his feet. Riley’s face turned red almost right away with the strain.
“We’ll have to move slow,” Lara said. “And give me that,” she added, reaching for Hart’s rifle.
“I’d ask if you knew how to use one, but that would be a stupid question, wouldn’t it?” Hart said.
She gave him a wry look.
“What about the prisoners in the brig below us?” Hart asked. “We never talked about what we were going to do with them.”
“They’re Lang and Ezekiel’s problem now,” Lara said.
Hart and Riley exchanged a look, but neither one protested.
She walked on ahead of them, stepped outside in the hallway, and stopped next to the remaining sentry. “What’s your name?”
“Jolly, ma’am,” the man (boy) said. He may or may not have been out of his teens — and if he was, then it was just barely — though he was at least a foot taller than her and big around the chest and shoulders.
“Jolly?” she smiled.
“It’s a nickname, ma’am,” Jolly said, and actually blushed.