Vortex of Evil (29 page)

“Or they may think we are just women.  That would be worse.  Especially if they have been at sea a long time.  But they don’t realize we have assault rifles with us.  I can probably hit anything on the deck of that ship from here.  I am guessing that will cool their interest in us.”

The officers on the ship wore tri-corner hats and blue coats with red vests and pants.  She held up her hand and waved at the officer who was training his spyglass on her.  He turned to the man standing next to him who then took the spyglass and looked for himself.  Megan waved again.  This was followed by activity to launch one of the boats.

Megan decided it was too risky to let these guys think they could come ashore.  She waved both hands over her head and then with her right hand tried to signal them to move on.  Repeatedly.  But it was clear they were ignoring her suggestions, even though they were still watching.

She held up the rifle for them to see and then sat down on the beach to adjust the sights like Tom had shown her.  She didn’t want to start a war, but she needed to impress them that they were outgunned by the woman and girl on the beach.  Several men were lowering a longboat with two pulleys.  It was about halfway to the water when Megan decided to put a hole in it.  She aimed for the center of the wooden craft then fired, striking it about ten inches below the railing where the oar holders attached.  The high velocity rifle bullet far outpaced the sound of the rifle and the sudden shower of woodchips and splinters caused quite an effect on the men lowering the long boat.  The right hand crew abandoned their positions altogether and their rope made a quick trip through the pulley, dropping the one end of the wooden boat straight into the water so it now hung from the other pulley vertically.

“Ally, go climb up into that crack in the rocks.  I think they may lob a cannon shell our way next.”  Megan headed the other direction and waved again for them to move on.

It was not more than a minute when they opened one of the gun ports and rolled out one of the twelve pound cannon.  They fired the first shot for effect without really sighting it very effectively.  The ball fell about fifty yards short of the shore and made an impressive splash.  Megan decided to approach the decision-makers in the drama and fired a shot at the ship’s wheel on the quarterdeck where the officers were standing.  She hit the housing of the wheel and again sent a shower of wood on all those around, causing the officers to dive in all directions.  But these were intrepid sailors, unlikely to go down to defeat easily.  A second shot from the cannon sailed long and thumped into the cliffs above where Megan had stood for her second shot.

She again moved, this time to the right. She aimed right at the cannon that fired and managed to put a shot through the gun port.  Although she was trying to avoid casualties, her third shot struck  one of the sailors, causing a commotion on deck.  At that point, several other gun ports were opened and the frigate prepared to fire a broadside.  Suddenly, Megan heard a loud whooshing sound behind her and watched as the rocket-propelled grenade arched towards the ship.  It struck amidships, just above the level of the gun ports and exploded in a large fireball.  There was a gaping hole in the side of the ship and a number of the guns and their crews were permanently out of action.

Megan turned around and looked back at Alannah in shock.  Her ‘niece’ was preparing another grenade, but it turned out that one was enough for the French captain.  He decided that this engagement wasn’t going his way since the range, accuracy and firepower of his cannon wasn’t sufficient to engage these well-armed natives.  He had six guns knocked out of commission, many dead and wounded, and a fire onboard.  Time to move out of range and rethink his strategy.  He ordered the crew to set sails and the frigate was soon underway.

Megan and Alannah stood there and watched in disbelief as their first naval engagement ended in victory.  Megan could tell that there had been some carnage from the exploding grenade, but it seemed that military force was all these people understood.  She had tried to demonstrate her superior technology in less harmful ways, but they persisted in preparing to come after her and Alannah.

Alannah put her arm around Megan.  “Dad always believed it was best that if these ships give this island a wide birth.  He would have done the same thing if he had been here.  They needed to be impressed by the danger of coming here.”

Megan was sorry for the loss of life, but she realized that Alannah was probably right.  “Thanks for saving us.  I wouldn’t have been so bold.”

 “Do you think they will leave us alone now?”  Ally stared after the still smoldering ship as it slowly moved to the south and out of view.

“No.  I imagine they will be back again.  And with reinforcements.  More of the people who try to solve things with guns, axes and explosions.”

“Sounds like what we just did, Aunt Megan.”  Ally smiled at Megan’s surprised look and then resumed climbing over the rock outcropping.  “Sometimes guns, axes and explosions are what’s  needed.”

Chapter 32 

Tom was halfway back to the camp to check on the gunfire there when he heard a shot from behind him, back on the beach.  It was Megan firing at the ship off-shore.  He quickly turned back, trying in his mind to work out the priorities between the people at the camp, and Megan and Alannah back on the beach.  He decided that Rin and Doug could probably handle things at the camp, so he headed back to the beach.  There was another rifle shot, followed a minute later by what sounded like a couple of old style cannon shots.  Shit, he thought to himself.  Are we being attacked on multiple fronts at once? 

He reached the cliffs above the beach in time to stare in amazement as Alannah’s RPG caused a large explosion on the port side of the navy frigate.  Tom felt completely stunned as he watched the two women standing there holding their weapons and watching their vanquished opponent sail away.  They are fine, he thought to himself.  Back to the camp to help there.  But then he saw it.  There was a flash of orange light and the future people’s boat suddenly appeared about two miles off shore.  He wanted to go to Megan and Alannah, but from his vantage point he had to see what the new arrivals were up to.  The two remaining antiaircraft missiles were back at the camp, so if the hover vehicle came after them, he would have no defense.  And they would surely see him if tried to cross the open beach.

The damaged frigate continued south as the crew worked to put out the fire caused by the explosion.  When they suddenly saw the strange new boat appear, the frigate came about and set a course that would bring their starboard guns into alignment with this new threat.  The frigate fired a warning shot at the futuristic boat, ordering it to stop.  That was probably a mistake, Tom thought to himself.  He watched with considerable interest as the hover vehicle lifted off and quickly approached the ancient sailing warship.  Since the people on the sailing ship were in their own time and space, he wondered if they would be attacked by the future people.  He didn’t have to wonder for long.  A bright orange pulse emitted from the hover vehicle and hit the wooden ship, shattering it into a swirling mass of wood chips, metal and human flesh.  Within seconds, there was just a lot of debris floating in white, churning foam where the ship had been a moment earlier. 

“Threat to future people gone,” Tom thought to himself.  He had seen enough.  He ran as fast as he could towards the camp and the antiaircraft missiles that might provide some defense.  Megan and Allanah should have some shelter from the hover vehicle if they were in the cave. He wanted to go to help the women, but getting captured now, or killed, would not help any of them.  He had to warn Doug and the rest of them at the camp and get the missiles ready for action.  This might be their chance to fight back.

High above on the ridge that led to the mountaintop, Rin heard the two shots and immediately knew it was Katelyn.  “It’s our warning signal, Doug.  Katy’s in trouble.”

“You have a warning signal?  Right, so the girls could get your attention if you were away from the camp.  That makes sense.”

“Doug told them that they should fire two warning shots, then hide.  Rather than shoot at targets they may not be sure about.  He didn’t want the girls to shoot one of us by accident.”  Rin felt her adrenalin spiking as she quickly climbed down the rocks by the view deck with Doug close behind.

“It must be tough raising children in an environment like this.  I guess my older version has good ideas about self-preservation.”  Both he and Rin noticed he used ‘has’ instead of had.  So he must believe my Doug is still alive, she thought to herself as she tried not to stumble while moving quickly through the steep, brush-covered hillside.

They had reached the main trail by the burned-out cave when they heard more shooting and then the same ancient cannon fire that Tom had heard.  But it seemed far away to the west, near the beach.  Doug had a sinking feeling that all hell was breaking loose and he wasn’t there to help restore order.  Rin just wanted to get back to her girls.  She swore to herself that she would never let either of them out of her sight again. “What was I thinking?” kept running through her head as she raced down the hill.

Tom managed to get to the camp about two minutes before Doug and Rin.  After seeing the future people, he wasn’t focused on what the original warning shots may have meant.  He was operating at maximum adrenalin level intensity and failed to notice that five of the remaining North Korean pirates, their nemesis on this island, were searching the area near the entrance of the camp.  They apparently hadn’t discovered it but the warning shot tipped them off that there was somebody in the area and they were determined to find out who it was.

As Tom ran headlong into their midst, there was a tangible pause as everyone looked up in surprise, including Tom.  But it was followed by immediate attempts by everyone to dive for cover while trying to shoot at something.  Tom’s momentum carried him through the group and he hit the man straight in front of him across the face with his weapon, knocking him down.  He quickly turned and fired at the pirate to his right, striking him square in the chest.  Two down.

When Katelyn saw that Tom was fighting with the pirates, she poked the muzzle of her rifle through the firing slot on the front door, took careful aim at one of the pirates and fired, striking him in the shoulder.  The fourth pirate was better prepared and he was able to tackle Tom before he could fire again.  The two of them fell to the ground while the final pirate tried to pick a target from the two rolling men.  He hesitated a second too long and Rin arrived on the scene, firing her machine pistol on full automatic and hitting him in the shoulder, chest and face.  He was dead before he hit the ground.  She continued on the run into the midst of everything and shot the man that Katelyn wounded who was trying to get to his feet.  She fired half the clip into him before she looked up to check on Tom.

Doug was right behind Rin and he ran straight past her and delivered a savage kick to the face of the pirate fighting with Tom.  It knocked the pirate backward, but he rolled over quickly, pulling out a pistol from a holster on his waist.  Doug was ready and fired before he could get off a shot.  The pirate fell in a heap with part of his forehead missing. 

Doug turned quickly to Tom.  “Are you ok?”  Doug glanced rapidly around to ensure that all the attackers were down when he saw that the man Tom had hit in the face had regained his feet and was preparing to fire his machine gun at Doug and Tom.  Doug dove sideways and knocked Tom out of the way as the bullets flew by, just missing them.  Rin was protected by a tree between her and the shooter but they were all in trouble. 

The pirate was using a huge tree for cover and had the three of them pinned down.  Doug was crouching behind some bushes, about to charge out and start shooting when he heard a single shot that didn’t sound like it came from the Pirate’s AK-47.  The man stood up and staggered out from behind his tree before falling on his face, dead from a gunshot to the back of his head.  It was then that Yin emerged from the bushes holding her machine pistol and staring intently at the dead man she had just shot.

Doug ran over to her as Rin and Tom went to check on Katelyn.  “You saved us, Ying.”

“I hope so, Doug.  I have never killed anyone before, but he seemed sure to kill you and Tom and Rin.  I went out the back door and came around through the woods.  He didn’t see me.”

“You did great.  Thanks for being a hero.”

Ying had tears in her eyes.  “I don’t feel much like a hero.  Especially since he was a man I have known well for the past two years.  I did not bear him ill will, but I had to stop him.  It is just that I can’t feel good about it.”

Doug hadn’t considered that Ying might know these men that were attacking them.  From her comments, she never indicated that they were anything but a bunch of hired thugs who would kill you at the drop of a hat.  But at that moment, Doug realized that she also knew them as people with names, hobbies, likes and dislikes.  All the personal details you learn about people you spend time with.  And now she had killed one of those people whose names and personal details she was familiar with.  She understood she had to do it to protect the people she cared about, but it was going to haunt her from now on.  And Doug could understand that as well.  He had been there and done that.

Tom was winded but managed to get Doug’s attention.  “Get the missiles.  The hover vehicle is here.  The guys who took Erin are back.”

Doug barely heard the last part of what Tom was saying.  He had quickly patted Ying on the back and was already heading for the shelter and the two remaining shoulder-fired missiles.  This time, Doug thought to himself.  This time we’ll get them.  Rin was right behind him.