Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) (9 page)

“Every enemy I’ve made and every enemy Darren has made and every enemy my daughter and nephews have made,” Thorne laughed. “I am pretty fucking confident Darby’s made some enemies too. We all have enemies, Ballantine. So fucking what?”

“So fucking what?” Ballantine barked.

“So fucking what,” Thorne stated.

“So fucking what…” Ballantine muttered then smiled. “Yes. So fucking what? We have some of the most capable people on the planet on this ship. We’ve proven ourselves as a unit that can’t be taken down. We’ve fought governments and impossible monsters. We’ve dealt with cartels, traitors, and pirates.”

“Plus cannibal tribes,” Thorne grinned.

“Yes, those too!” Ballantine laughed. “That was something, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Thorne said, “and we’re still here.”

“We’ve also lost team members,” Ballantine said, “and some of us have been wounded permanently.”

“Company didn’t really help prevent any of that, did it?” Thorne asked.

“No, the company did not,” Ballantine agreed. “We probabl
y
ar
e
safer on our own.”

“Less variables.”

“Yes, less variables,” Ballantine said then slapped the table, but not in anger that time. “Thank you, Vincent. You have cleared the fog from my mind and shown me what we need to do.”

The lights in the briefing room went out and the constant hum of the ship died.

“Let’s clean house and begin our next chapter as rogues and malcontents,” Ballantine said as he stood and extended his hand.

Thorne stood as well and grasped Ballantine’s hand tightly.

“I think we’ve always had the malcontent part covered,” Thorne said. “You’ve met my nephews.”

***

“So we sit here and wait for the ships and the shark to catch us,” Lake said as he leaned against the dark control console on the B3’s bridge. “Just hang out in the ocean until we find a tracking device that we should have found a long time ago. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Not my call, Marty,” Darren said as he systematically waved the scanner over every inch of the bridge. “Carlos says we need the power off and Ballantine does what Carlos says when it comes to tech.”

“Anyone think to ask me or Cougher or Popeye?” Lake asked. “We’re the fucking professional sailors. Maybe we could have come up with a way to scan without stopping the ship.”

“Is there a way?” Darren asked, looking up from his work.

“Fuck if I know,” Lake shrugged. “What the fuck do I know about tracking devices?”

Darren grinned and got back to scanning.

“I hear ya,” Darren said. “You have to vent.”

“Fucking A right I do,” Lake grumbled. “I’m captain of this ship, not just a fucking chauffeur.”

“No one thinks you are,” Darren said. “Trust me. We all had your back when Ballantine broke the news.”

“There’s more to it than he’s telling us,” Lake stated.

“I know,” Darren agreed, “but Ballantine is used to juggling secrets. He’ll tell us when he’s good and ready.”

“He better,” Lake said, “or I’m turning this thing around and going home.”

“We don’t have a home anymore, Marty,” Darren said.

“Fuck!”

***

“There they are,” Bokeem smiled as he pointed at the satellite image on the screen by his chair. “Just where we were told they’d be.”

“Beacon is still working?” Tank Top asked as he moved around behind Bokeem for a better view.

“Still working,” Bokeem said. “Even though they’ve powered down the entire ship. Look at this reading. They don’t even have a coffee maker going.”

“Then what’s that?” Tank Top asked as he zoomed in on the image of the B3. “That looks like something has power.”

“That’s where the beacon is hidden,” Bokeem smiled. “What I want to know is why it took our ace so long to activate it?”

“Being a traitor on that ship can’t be easy,” Tank Top said. “You know how it is. The real question is how they don’t know the power source is active? That ship has tech we have wet dreams over at night, even with all our new gear.”

“I haven’t got a fucking clue,” Bokeem replied, “and I don’t really care. As long as we can catch up to them, then I’m happy.”

“Me too,” Tank Top said. “John Bill?”

“Yeah, Tank?” a short Indonesian man replied from the helm.

“How far out are we?” Tank Top asked.

“Eight hours at the most,” John Bill grinned. “They keep their engines down and it’ll be shorter than that.”

“Eight hours,” Tank Top sighed. “It’s like knowing you have a winning lottery ticket and 7 p.m. can’t come fast enough.”

“7 p.m.?” Bokeem asked.

“Yeah, you know, when they draw the lottery numbers,” Tank Top replied.

“They draw those at 11 in Kentucky,” Bokeem said.

“Kentucky?” John Bill asked. “I thought you were from Nigeria.”

“Do I fucking sound like I’m from Nigeria?” Bokeem snapped. “Who the fuck are you to talk? You’re Indonesian with an Irish accent.”

“I grew up in a Catholic orphanage,” John Bill shrugged. “It’s how I learned English.”

“A Catholic orphanage in the largest Muslim country in the world?” Tank Top laughed. “That had to be fun.”

“Loads,” John Bill frowned.

“How did we start talking about this?” Bokeem asked.

“The lottery,” Tank Top replied.

“Right,” Bokeem nodded, “the lottery.”

“A cool half a billion dollars,” Tank Top grinned. “Doesn’t get better than that.”

“Makes you wonder how much those dipshits are paying our employer if that’s our cut,” Bokeem said as he switched the view on his screen to the ships following behind the Monkey Balls. “Too bad we couldn’t cut out the middle man.”

“Not how we play the game,” Tank Top said. “The middle man keeps things honest.”

“Yeah, right,” Bokeem laughed deeply. “Honest!”

***

“We’ve been at this for hours,” Gunnar said as he walked down the passageway with Dr. Morganton, each with a scanner in their hands. “We have to have covered the whole ship at least twice.”

“We haven’t found the tracking device,” Dr. Morganton said. “Until we do, Ballantine won’t be satisfied. Not to mention Thorne.”

“It’s weird that Ballantine just found out there was a tracking device at all,” Gunnar said.

“He said it had just been activated,” Dr. Morganton replied.

“Yeah, but why now? And how?” Gunnar wondered. “Does that mean we have a traitor on the ship? Is someone working for the people coming after us?”

“I don’t know,” Dr. Morganton said.

“Hey!” Mike called as he turned a corner and hobbled up to them.

“How’s the leg?” Dr. Morganton asked. “Still glitching?”

“A little,” Mike said as he got up to them. “It’s like it has a skip in it.”

“A skip?” Gunnar asked.

“Yeah, every few seconds it just kicks out for no reason,” Mike replied. “It’s starting to piss me off.”

Mike’s leg twitched and he had to brace himself to keep his balance.

Both Gunnar’s and Dr. Morganton’s scanners beeped.

“Did you see that?” Gunnar asked as he checked the reading on his tablet. “We had the tracking device for a second there!”

“Yeah,” Dr. Morganton replied. “My scanner shows the same thing. It’s a weak signal, like it’s shielded.”

“How could a tracking device be shielded?” Mike asked. “Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose since someone wants the signal to get out?”

“No, actually,” Dr. Morganton replied, “if the device is shielded and only reveals itself when it transmits, then it wouldn’t need much power at all to send a signal, especially if it’s using some type of frequency other than radio waves.”

“High intensity microwaves?” Gunnar asked. “If it’s dialed in right to a receiving satellite then it’d have less of a footprint than a digital watch.”

“If that,” Dr. Morganton said. She turned around in a circle then started to walk up and down the passageway. “It’s gone.”

“Let’s check the rooms,” Gunnar said.

“I’ll go tell Thorne,” Mike said as he started to hobble away. His leg twitched again and he put his hand out against the wall to steady himself. “Fucking piece of crap!”

Gunnar’s and Dr. Morganton’s scanners beeped once more.

“Mike,” Gunnar said, “stop right there.” He looked over at Dr. Morganton and then down the passageway at Mike. “Actually, how about both of you stop right where you are.”

“Me? What for?” Dr. Morganton asked.

“Just stay there,” Gunnar said as he held his scanner up, his eyes going from Mike to the scanner to Dr. Morganton and back to the scanner.

Over and over again he watched the two other people in the passageway while also trying to keep his attention on the scanner. Then Mike’s leg twitched and the scanners beeped.

“You mother fucker,” Gunnar said as he looked right at Dr. Morganton. “You fucking traitorous piece of shit.”

“Excuse me?” Dr. Morganton snapped. “How dare you speak to me that way, Dr. Peterson!”

“How dare me?” Gunnar shouted. “How fucking dar
e
m
e
? Oh, right, because I’m the one that has been working and tweaking Mike’s prosthetics! In fact, it must have been me that decided today would be the day to put synthetic skin on his leg and jolt it with a taser. Was that really a taser, Doctor? Or was it what you needed to activate the tracking device?”

“Oh, shit,” Mike said as he looked down at his leg, “the fucking thing is in my leg?”

“Stay right there,” Gunnar snarled at Dr. Morganton then he sidestepped over to Mike. “Hold still.”

Gunnar knelt by Mike’s leg and waited. In just a couple of seconds, the leg twitched and the scanner beeped.

“Gunnar, listen, you can’t possibly think I had anything to do with that,” Dr. Morganton said. “I’m part of this team, part of this ship and crew. I’ve given up my life for Ballantine and the company! I died for them!”

“Bullshit,” Gunnar said. “I don’t know you for shit, lady. I know everyone else on this ship, but you. You’re a stranger that hitched a ride.”

“You really think you know everyone on this ship?” Dr. Morganton laughed. “You may know the crew, you may know the Thornes, the Reynolds, Darren Chambers, but do you really know Ballantine? Or Darby? Or Ingrid? Or Moshi? Or...Carlos?”

Her eyes went wide.

Gunnar started to argue, but he saw the disbelief and then realization dawn in her eyes.

“Shit,” Gunnar said, “you didn’t build those legs.”

“Carlos did,” Dr. Morganton responded.

“We have to get Thorne and Ballantine and the Team down to the Toyshop,” Gunnar said. “Carlos has all the weapons. He can take this ship at any time, if he wants.”

They both took off running, leaving Mike to hobble after them.

“Hey! Wait up, you fucks!” Mike shouted as his leg twitched. “I still have the fucking tracking device in my leg, morons!”

***

Thorne and Darren took point as they stepped into the pitch dark Toyshop, their M4 carbines to their shoulders and their game faces on. Kinsey and Darby were next with Lucy right behind. They stepped past the counter with the metal cage that was the entrance to the storage area of the armory and quietly made their way past each row of shelves until they came to a long work bench. Sweeping their heads back and forth, their NVGs turned the Toyshop into a glowing landscape in their eyes.

“Where is he?” Thorne snarled as Moshi looked up from the circuit board she was working on, a headlamp lit up on her forehead to make up for the lack of power to the lights.

The headlamp blinded Thorne and Darren rushed forward and yanked it from Moshi’s head. The small woman squeaked and fell off her stool then tried to crawl under the work bench, but Darren grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her out.

“Where is he?” Darren snapped.

“What the fuck is this?” Carlos asked as he came out from between two shelves, his own headlamp blindingly bright. “What the hell are you guys doing? Moshi? Are you all right? What the fuck, guys?”

“Get on the fucking ground!” Thorne yelled and rushed forward. “Get down now, you fucking traitor!”

Thorne grabbed Carlos by the shoulder then swept his legs out from under him. Carlos’s back hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of him. He lay there gasping, his hands up, his eyes wide with shock and terror.

“You think we wouldn’t figure it out?” Darren asked. “This ship is filled with trained minds, you idiot! How the fuck could you possibly think you’d get away with it?”

“Get away with what?” Carlos gasped. “I haven’t fucking done anything!”

“We found the tracking device in Mike’s leg,” Thorne said as he dropped quickly and planted his knee in Carlo’s solar plexus, making the man gasp even harder. “It was clever, I’ll give you that.”