Above them against the shimmering surface of the ocean, Ethan glimpsed the shape of a hammerhead shark as it coasted into the cloud of blood swirling near the surface, two more joining it as they closed in on the unconscious pilot’s body.
Ethan dove after the descending harpoon and managed to snatch it in his hand as he turned back towards the remaining undamaged jet-ski. From the corner of his eyes he saw Jest’s anchor being pulled up and he knew that Lucy must now be safely aboard. The remaining jet-ski turned towards him once more, the pilot’s harpoon again reloaded as he accelerated towards Ethan at maximum velocity.
Ethan glanced at the damaged jet-ski and saw that the pilot had shut down the blocked turbine and was now turning back towards the fight. Ethan looked at the boat above and decided to take his chance. The onrushing vehicle loomed in his vision and Ethan knew that the pilot was seeking merely to maintain his attention so that his companion could close in for the kill.
Ethan held onto the controls as lightly as he could and waited. The onrushing machine loomed up and he saw the pilot’s eyes widen in shock as he realized that Ethan was not going to break off. The pilot yanked his controls to one side but Ethan simply turned to match his attacker’s course, and at the last moment Ethan pushed up and away from the jet-ski and let go of the controls. Freed of his body weight and with the passing water now dragging Ethan away, the jet-ski continued on its course for a split second before it smashed into the other machine with a cracking sound of crumpling plastic and metal as the two vehicles collided at near maximum velocity.
The pilot doubled over as the two machines spun and smashed together, the bow of Ethan’s jet-ski plunging into the pilot’s side and smashing him from his seat. The pilot’s oxygen mouthpiece and mask were ripped from his face by the force of the impact and he tumbled helplessly in the abyss, a spiralling trail of glistening bubbles behind him.
Ethan looked up and saw the sharks now tearing in a frenzy at the injured pilot’s body, a rapidly expanding crimson cloud reducing visibility at the surface. Ethan kicked off as hard as he could toward the murky shape of Jest’s hull. He reached down once again and unclipped his oxygen tank as he looked down and to his right and saw the damaged jet-ski struggling to climb towards him, its weight and that of its driver too much for the single engine. Ethan shrugged off his oxygen tank, took a last deep breath from its contents, then pulled the mouthpiece out and shoved the oxygen tank in the direction of the pursuing machine.
Freed of the extra weight Ethan began ascending rapidly towards the surface of the nearby boat, and he looked down to see the damage jet-ski swerve to avoid the tumbling oxygen tank, slowed further by the obstacle in its path before it vanished as Ethan ascended through the gruesome cloud of blood tainting the water.
To his right he saw the hammerheads thrashing around the corpse of the diver, now a shredded mess of rubber, blood and bone, the sharks entirely consumed by their feeding frenzy. Ethan looked up and saw Jest looming above him and moments later he burst onto the surface and kicked away for the boat.
‘Ethan!’
He heard Lucy cry out as he swam towards the boat and heard its engine growling as it moved toward him. Ishira was at the controls as Michael reached out with one hand toward Ethan. Ethan swam as close to the boat as he dared in the crashing waves and reached out to grab Michael’s hand as with the other he grasped the side of the boat and began hauling himself aboard.
Lucy helped as Ethan rolled onto the deck and pulled off his mask.
‘Get us out of here,’ Ethan grasped as he fought to remove his flippers.
‘It’s not just divers,’ Michael said as he pointed out across the ocean.
Ethan looked to his right and saw a speedboat rushing toward them, the sleek hull crashing through the waves.
‘Who the hell are these people?’
‘How about we have this chat later and concentrate on staying alive?!’ Michael suggested as he turned and grabbed a rifle from its case and handed it to Ethan.
‘Incoming!’ Ishira yelled.
Ethan saw the speedboat rushing toward their port hull at full throttle, two men with rifles hanging over the hull and aiming in his direction.
‘Get down!’
Ethan hurled himself flat onto the deck, his fingers instinctively finding the rifle’s safety catch and trigger in unison with the same fluidity he had once possessed as a Marine fighting in Afghanistan’s Tora Bora caves. The weapon came up into his shoulder even as he saw the first burst of muzzle flash from their attackers’ weapons as they sprayed a lethal hail of automatic fire across the boat’s deck. Ethan, enveloped in a bubble of adrenalin fuelled silence, ignored the bullets that zipped and tore into the deck around him as he breathed slowly and took aim. A Marine instructor’s words drifted unbidden through his mind.
All the automatic fire in the world is useless against one well-placed round. Shoot slow son, and you’ll shoot sure.
The shooter raked the deck as the speedboat turned away at the last moment amid crashing surf and shining metal. Ethan’s breathing stopped for a single second as he squeezed the trigger once.
The round hit the shooter low in his belly as the speedboat raced past and bounced on the churning waves. Ethan saw the man’s mouth gape open in shock as he folded over at the waist, his legs crumpling beneath him as he collapsed onto the speedboat’s deck.
Ethan looked over the barrel of the rifle and saw at least three other men in the rear of the speedboat. He stood up and rushed to the bridge, keeping one eye on the speedboat as it circled out for another pass. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins now like a freight train powering through the night as he leapt up the steps two at a time and pointed at their attackers.
‘Turn the boat around,’ he ordered Ishira. ‘Head straight for them.’
‘We can’t fight them!’
‘We sure as hell can’t outrun them,’ Ethan snapped back. He glanced out of the bridge windows to see the speedboat racing toward them again. ‘Take them down the left side!’ Ethan shouted as he jumped back down to the deck.
Ethan ran low to the stern of the boat, sliding onto his belly and aiming across the port stern. A crackle of gunfire snapped across the wind as Ethan slowed his breathing. The speedboat soared past, two men firing their weapons from the hip with aimless abandon in the hopes of catching a lucky hit. A salvo of bullets splintered Jest’s hull close to Ethan’s shoulder and showered him with debris.
As the boat thundered by Ethan aimed at one of the shooters, taking advantage of the low aspect movement now that the speedboat was moving almost directly away from him. Despite the pitching of the boats across the waves, the target was easier to track. Ethan held his breath and fired two rounds, double-tapping the trigger as he aimed for the man’s torso.
The first round missed, hitting the deck low and to the man’s left, but the second round hit him straight through the neck, a fine mist of blood spraying into the wind as the man was hurled backwards to sprawl on the deck in a tangle of limbs and spilled blood.
Ethan rolled over and shouted to Michael above the wind.
‘Turn her around!’
Michael responded without argument this time, the boat wheeling around on the churning surface of the ocean as she chugged her way back toward their attackers.