Jaap Roodt felt that same jolt of insult again. He poured them two more glasses, planning to get drunk enough not to care about his Katrina’s fate tonight. Passing Don another glass, Jaap sighed.
“How could you be disappointed in me?” he asked his secretary. “I am already making sure the world suffers the greatest ethnic cleansing in existence! Something as common as killing off a bunch of old bastards for power over the Black Sun is so… so… insignificant,” he ranted, his voice rising and falling in exasperation and impatience.
“That is true, sir. That is very true, I admit,” Don said, raising his glass. “Now, do you want me to escort you when you return to Italy, or shall I hold the fort in Rotterdam?”
“No, I won’t be needing you anymore,” Jaap said.
“How do you mean? You will need someone to take care of your arrangements for ARK. But you would have to tell me where it is, otherwise I will not be able to join you when Renatus unleashes the Longinus,” Don said, as he swallowed the rest of his whisky.
Jaap looked out the window in silence, twirling the liquid in the glass as if it hypnotized him. Lost in the circular movement, he considered what Don had said.
“You will never know where ARK is, Donovan. You are not included on the list of desirables, you see? And I wish I could say I was sorry, but like I said before, I have to tie up loose ends and leave behind all shackles so that I can start afresh when the old gods return,” he explained to Don. Don frowned, clearly upset. He dropped his glass and it shattered at his feet.
“Oh, don’t take it so hard,” Jaap smiled. “You work for a powerful, smart, and high-ranking man who controls the most iniquitous organization this world has ever seen… and you are surprised?”
“I don’t feel well,” Don snorted, as he stumbled backward, holding his chest.
“I know. Your blood will begin boiling soon as your body tries to combat the toxin,” Jaap described the process patiently, ignoring the young man’s cries of agony.
Donovan’s fingers entered his shirt where he could feel the wire pinching on his sweaty skin. He screamed loudly, indifferent to the situation and concerned more for the fact that his heart rate was hitting the roof.
“Remember when you warned me that all this whisky was going to kill me?” Jaap laughed, “Imagine how ironic this must be for you!”
Slowly the secretary started to crawl across the floor to get to the door, hoping for his colleagues in MI6 to rescue him soon. Jaap heard the screeching tires and doors slamming outside on his driveway.
“You treacherous son of a bitch!” he screamed at Donovan, breaking his own glass in the young man’s face.
“I learned from the best, Jaap,” Don groaned hysterically. “Fifteen years under an impotent fascist has taught me well!”
Jaap Roodt landed a hefty kick to the dying MI6 operative’s ribs before fleeing to the bathroom where there was a hidden exterior door to make his escape. The flimsy, thin tap wire taped to Don’s chest began to melt, the copper dissolving into his flesh as his blood began to boil from another of Alfred Meiner’s arsenal of biological death potions. The agents stormed into the house, looking for Jaap Roodt. But he had already sped from the house on his way to the cabin he kept with Katrina.
It was a perfect place to hide, because it happened to be the very “nursery” he had referred to for his wife to be brought to later that night. After he killed her, he planned to head straight for Poveglia and force Renatus to deliver the Longinus, completed. Once he had it activated, Dave Purdue was next on his death list, so that he, Jaap Roodt, could ascend as Renatus, just in time for the crossing.
Chapter 37
“Collect your thoughts,” Dr. Richard Philips told the bristling Gretchen who was readying to give him a second wallop for the danger he had dropped her and her friend into by summoning the very thing that was now attacking the Second World War submarine they were trapped in.
“You are insane!” she shouted.
“You did not think me insane when I delivered my theses on this very possibility, Gretchen,” he retorted calmly, although his brow was glistening with nervous perspiration. “You believed it was possible and you were fascinated by it!”
“I was fascinated by you, you idiot! Your genius and your ability to foresee the plausible and possible routes ahead of others was what attracted me to your lectures! Just because you know something can be done, does not mean you actually have to initiate it!” she fought back, only held from him by Nina’s firm hands. “You are actually bringing these fucking monsters out of other dimensions to have a free-for-all buffet with the population of this planet? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“Come,” Nina coaxed her, tugging her away,” come and get us to a port, Gretch. This damned thing is getting closer again, and you are the only one who knows vaguely how to maneuver this submarine. Sam needs urgent medical attention, and he is going to die if you don’t get us out of the deep!” She grabbed Gretchen’s reddened face and cradled it in her palms. “Hey! Are you listening?”
“Yes, yes,” Gretchen moaned, shooting one more deadly look at Richard. “How are we going to get rid of this thing?”
“We are close to the Faroe Islands,” Nina jested. “Hey, we’ll lure the fucker up there and the Faroese will see it as a perfect time for some grindadráp action. They’ll make quick work of it.”
“Geez, wouldn’t want to eat that, though,” Gretch winked, a bit more like herself now. “It’s cool. They’ll give it to the Sea Shepherd tourists,” Nina laughed.
But before they could share a good laugh another devastating blow ripped through the tail end of the submarine. The lights flickered profusely as the women fell painfully against the levers and knobs of the panel.
“Gretchen, we have to do something! Can you radio?” Nina shouted, cringing in pain and fright.
“We have no radio contact, doll. We’re fucked!” her friend replied, scuttling up to check the bearings.
“Where are we now?” Nina panted, falling against Gretchen as the thing shrieked through the water again, shaking the vessel with such intense vibration that Sam woke from his unconsciousness.
“I think we are just past Cruden Bay!”
“Where the fuck is Cruden Bay?” Nina bellowed over the bludgeoning taking place at the bow around the companionway of the vessel.
“Just off the coast of Aberdeen, round about!” Gretchen reported.
The entire front of the submarine was being crushed like a discarded beer can and the clank of it was unlike anything the occupants had ever heard. It sounded like a plane crash right in front of them, sending panic through all four of them.
“Jesus Christ! We’re going to die!” Nina screamed, nearly falling, as she trudged her way to Sam. “Sam! Wake up! We have to bail, I don’t care how!”
“That is preposterous, Nina!” Richard shouted.
“The whole fucking boat is coming apart, Richard! Now, you are welcome to go Free Willy with your own bloody monster, but we are getting out of here before it crushes us to death and we drown!” she barked.
“And how are we going to get to the coast without being caught by the creature?” he asked, reminding Nina that it was hardly a stone’s throw from the deep sea to the coast.
“I’ll take my chances,” Nina said, helping Sam to sit up. “Sam! Sam, can you hear me?”
He nodded, but his skin was on fire from the fever, his brain burning with disorientation. Gretchen stumbled toward them, “Come! Aft!”
“Sam?” Nina said in his ear. “Are you strong enough to come with us? Can you walk?”
He nodded, and she was elated to feel his fingers locking over her forearm. With much trouble he blinked to stretch his eyes enough to guide him along with Nina and Gretchen.