Pell’s feet made no sound at all in the sand and the light was in front of his kill. Behind Hooker he was invisible in the dark. He hastened his pace, careful not to trip over anything and make a sound that would alert his quarry. Out here there would be no witnesses. There would be no sound of him dragging a body to the water’s edge until he could get to the inflatable again. It was a nice night for a midnight spin.
Chana didn’t have far to go to Alley’s bar. At least she’d have Charlie to talk to, to help her shrug off the restless feeling she had. Chana hated premonitions. There was a basis of reality for some of them, some faint knowledge, not enough to draw conclusions but enough to make her expect danger. Something was going on, she could feel it. She knew it.
Up ahead was Alley’s bar and walking into its light she saw Mako Hooker. She slowed her walk so that she wouldn’t intercept him, then she saw the other figure behind him, walking strangely, with knees bent and arms pointed forward, and at the end of the arms was an elongated outline of an illegal weapon that was about to smash Hooker’s head into pieces.
She couldn’t yell a warning, she could only do the military thing she had trained so hard for: she snatched her gun from its holster, took a fraction of a second to aim and her finger touched the trigger. The bullet tore into Anthony Pallatzo’s skull and knocked him completely off his feet into the sand.
Almost simultaneously Hooker hit the ground, and Chana thought the assailant had fired too and made his hit. But Hooker had rolled and got to his feet, and swung around, taking in the action that had happened behind him. He saw the body on the ground, then the uniformed figure walked up to it but wasn’t looking down at the target. The uniform was looking at him.
“Chana,” he muttered incredulously.
“He was just about to kill you,” she told him.
“You sure waited until the last second, but thanks. Can I ask you a question?”
“No. I was aiming at him this time. Not you.”
“Thanks.”
“No trouble.”
Chana went to the body and turned the head over with her toe. The gaping wound made him almost unrecognizable. “Anthony Pell,” she said. “He doesn’t hate you anymore.”
“There’ll be an inquiry into all this,” Hooker suggested.
Chana was seeing her hopes of promotion going right down the drain. She nodded and let out a muttered curse.
“But you’re in luck this time, kid.”
“How? This guy was a big shot.”
“First, you have a reputable witness,” Mako said. “Me.” He bent down and took the weapon from Pell’s flaccid fingers and held it up. “Second, an illegal weapon being used by a felon.”
“What!”
“Later I’ll give you the rest of the picture. There’s a third part... we’re both military personnel on active duty and Uncle Sam will take care of this minor disturbance.”
“Damn, but you’re unscrupulous.”
“Realistic, baby. Now let’s get back to the Lotusland. We need some camera work done. Stills and some taped filming. Move it.”
Up ahead the doors of the bar swung open and a small group gathered on the porch. They knew what they had heard and their curiosity had gotten the better part of their trepidation.
Mako heard Alley call out, “Who’s that out there?”
“It’s me, fireman, Hooker.”
“Was that a shot we heard?”
“You’d better believe it.”
“Who got it, Mako?”
“Just one of the bad guys, pal. You want to take a look?”
It was Judy who brought the cameras down. Her face had paled and her tongue constantly tugged at her lips to keep them wet. There was a strained look on her face and Mako kept his arms around her shoulder to keep her from shaking. She had heard the shot and was immediately overcome with horror for the man she loved so much. She could see him as a deliberate killer, and her relief when she learned the shooter was Chana was like having ice put on a burn. A violent world had never been hers and to view it firsthand was a shock to her.
Lee Colbert made up the official report, then the body was wrapped in a plastic body bag and brought onto the Tellig, where it would be delivered for an official inquiry.
Charlie Berger nudged Mako and said, “There’s more to this than meets the eye, isn’t there?”
“Much more,” Mako said.
“Which we probably will never hear about, I imagine.”
“Oh, you might get wind of it, Charlie, but I don’t think many others will.”
“Mind telling me why... since we all seem to be in this together?”
“It’s got international overtones with very heavy domestic intrigue. Like murder, corruption and all that stuff.”
“And all that stuff,” Charlie repeated. “Please forget that I ever asked.”
It was Alley who grabbed Hooker’s arm and said, “Buddy, get on the CB.”
Mako almost knew what was wrong. “Those boats get hit?” His voice was low and anxious.
“No, but they got the thing spotted. They just came on the air yelling their heads off.”
“You get the message?”
“Not all of it. The set in the bar barely picked it up.”
The Lotusland was closest and Judy said, “Use the ship’s radio, Mako. We can pick up their signal with no trouble.”
“Good.” They got outside the crowd and raced down the planked walk. Once aboard Hooker got to the ship’s CB unit and sent out a call. He repeated it four times before Willie Pender came on and said, “She is out there! She is right out in front of us!”
“Willie, this is Mako Hooker.”
The sound of his voice seemed to calm Willie right down. He said, “Yes, sar, she be right close. I see she myself when she came right out of the sea, sar.”
“How far away?”
“I do not know how far. Maybe not far enough. What do we do?”
“What’s your fuel supply, Willie?”
There was a silence while Willie checked his gauges, then he said, “We got better than half full.”
“Good enough. Now here’s what you do. Turn ninety degrees to starboard for fifteen minutes, then pick up a new course directly back to Peolle.”
“But... the eater...”
“It doesn’t chase you, Willie. You have to come to it. Right now you can run your way out, so get moving. We have your position and I’m going to take the Clamdip out and escort you in. I can have miles under my keel before they can unberth these ships here.”
“You’re not foolin’, Mr. Hooker?”
“No fooling, Willie. Now get moving.”
Alley glanced at Judy and frowned, then to Mako he said, “Why are you going out?”
“How does a trapped fireman feel on a flaming rooftop when he sees a ladder and help coming his way?”
Alley’s mouth parted in a smile. “He feels great, but you don’t have a ladder, buddy. No torpedoes, no depth charges...”
“Moral support, pal. And right now they need all of that they can get.”
Judy laid her hand on Mako’s shoulder. He knew what she was going to ask and he shook his head. “You stay here and look after Billy, Judy. This is a solo trip and I won’t have time to look after anybody else. Please... do it my way.”
Her fingers squeezed her accord and she said, “Right, Mako man.”
Chapter Nineteen
Miles away in the west was the mild orange glow of a lightning strike. It was the front line of a weather system, but it wouldn’t be reaching Hooker’s area until a good twenty-four hours later. The darkness was so complete that only the cold light of the stars indicated which way was up. There was no discernible horizon and no indication of the islands that were just beyond the curvature of the earth.