pieces?’ said Condor, the eternal optimist. ‘You want to tell me exactly how you’re planning on managing that?’
‘Son, it might as well be on Mars,’ Gerber said. ‘You’d never make it.’
Jude rubbed his chin and thought hard for a few moments. An idea was growing in his mind, and the more it grew the more he believed it could work. ‘Diesel,’ he said. ‘This is the engine room, yes?’
‘Last time I looked,’ Diesel said, sweeping an arm back at the blue-painted mass of iron machinery, pipes and control equipment behind him.
‘So we have control over the ship’s power and they can’t override us from the bridge in any way?’
If the answer was no, Jude’s germ of a plan was dead before it was even born.
‘Sure, we can throw the master switches on everything right here. Engine power, electrics, hydraulics, air, emergency generator, the works,’ Diesel said, still staring at him, as were the others, apart from Scagnetti who had wandered off on his own to light a roll-up and pollute the unbreathable air of the engine room still further.
‘What about the radar?’ Jude asked.
‘Uh-huh,’ Diesel said, uncertain where Jude was going with this. ‘We can knock that out along with every other instrument in the conning station. So?’
Jude could feel a smile spreading over his face as his confidence in his plan grew stronger. ‘And if we cut the engines, the ship will stop moving and stay pretty much put?’
‘As long as the sea’s calm, sure,’ Diesel replied. ‘We’ll drift, but not by more than a few points, depending on the currents. Cut to the chase, kid. What the hell is this about?’
‘Listen,’ Jude said.
Chapter 15
Jude’s brainwave caused a lot of disagreement among the others. Condor thought he must be nuts to contemplate taking such a risk, with pirates almost certainly scouring every inch of the ship to murder each and every one of them. Gerber declared he had some balls on him and reckoned, on consideration, that it was worth a try. Nobody denied that Jude was the quickest and knew his way around the ship as well as any of them.
‘It’ll work,’ Jude kept saying.
Scagnetti was sitting on a duct pipe, swinging his legs and puffing his roll-up. ‘Who you gonna call in, Limey Boy?’ he called out with a grin. ‘Friggin’ Double O Seven?’
‘Shut it, Scagnetti,’ Gerber warned him.
‘Never thought I’d say it, but Scagnetti has a point,’ Hercules said. ‘You wanna take this kind of crazy-ass risk to send a lousy email? To who?’
‘I have an idea about that,’ Jude said. ‘Trust me, okay?’
‘It’s not going to work,’ Diesel said. ‘The moment you shut down the power, the pirates will know something’s up. These guys ain’t stupid. They’re sailors. They know ships. We cut the juice and engine power just like that, it’ll give us away for sure. Like waving a big flag saying “Here we are!” They’ll be all over us in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’
‘I thought you said it’d take a rocket to get through that hatch,’ Condor said.
‘It would. But none of us wants to be out there with ten fuckin’ Somalis blocking the way back with AK-47s.’
‘We don’t cut the power right away,’ Jude said. ‘I’ll need it for the satellite hookup. Fifteen minutes, that’s all I need, then throw the switch.’
‘Then you have another problem,’ Diesel said. ‘We have to assume the pirates are all over the bridge, right? Which means that if the power’s still on they’ll be able to monitor the watertight door indicator. The panel of lights will show them exactly which doors and hatches are opening and closing below. It’ll give your position away from the moment you start moving.’
Jude wasn’t put off. ‘I’ll take my chances with the indicator panel. They probably won’t even notice.’
‘It’s nuts.’
‘Maybe so, but it’s the only way,’ Jude said. ‘I’m going for it. Exactly quarter of an hour after I step out
‘Son, it might as well be on Mars,’ Gerber said. ‘You’d never make it.’
Jude rubbed his chin and thought hard for a few moments. An idea was growing in his mind, and the more it grew the more he believed it could work. ‘Diesel,’ he said. ‘This is the engine room, yes?’
‘Last time I looked,’ Diesel said, sweeping an arm back at the blue-painted mass of iron machinery, pipes and control equipment behind him.
‘So we have control over the ship’s power and they can’t override us from the bridge in any way?’
If the answer was no, Jude’s germ of a plan was dead before it was even born.
‘Sure, we can throw the master switches on everything right here. Engine power, electrics, hydraulics, air, emergency generator, the works,’ Diesel said, still staring at him, as were the others, apart from Scagnetti who had wandered off on his own to light a roll-up and pollute the unbreathable air of the engine room still further.
‘What about the radar?’ Jude asked.
‘Uh-huh,’ Diesel said, uncertain where Jude was going with this. ‘We can knock that out along with every other instrument in the conning station. So?’
Jude could feel a smile spreading over his face as his confidence in his plan grew stronger. ‘And if we cut the engines, the ship will stop moving and stay pretty much put?’
‘As long as the sea’s calm, sure,’ Diesel replied. ‘We’ll drift, but not by more than a few points, depending on the currents. Cut to the chase, kid. What the hell is this about?’
‘Listen,’ Jude said.
Chapter 15
Jude’s brainwave caused a lot of disagreement among the others. Condor thought he must be nuts to contemplate taking such a risk, with pirates almost certainly scouring every inch of the ship to murder each and every one of them. Gerber declared he had some balls on him and reckoned, on consideration, that it was worth a try. Nobody denied that Jude was the quickest and knew his way around the ship as well as any of them.
‘It’ll work,’ Jude kept saying.
Scagnetti was sitting on a duct pipe, swinging his legs and puffing his roll-up. ‘Who you gonna call in, Limey Boy?’ he called out with a grin. ‘Friggin’ Double O Seven?’
‘Shut it, Scagnetti,’ Gerber warned him.
‘Never thought I’d say it, but Scagnetti has a point,’ Hercules said. ‘You wanna take this kind of crazy-ass risk to send a lousy email? To who?’
‘I have an idea about that,’ Jude said. ‘Trust me, okay?’
‘It’s not going to work,’ Diesel said. ‘The moment you shut down the power, the pirates will know something’s up. These guys ain’t stupid. They’re sailors. They know ships. We cut the juice and engine power just like that, it’ll give us away for sure. Like waving a big flag saying “Here we are!” They’ll be all over us in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’
‘I thought you said it’d take a rocket to get through that hatch,’ Condor said.
‘It would. But none of us wants to be out there with ten fuckin’ Somalis blocking the way back with AK-47s.’
‘We don’t cut the power right away,’ Jude said. ‘I’ll need it for the satellite hookup. Fifteen minutes, that’s all I need, then throw the switch.’
‘Then you have another problem,’ Diesel said. ‘We have to assume the pirates are all over the bridge, right? Which means that if the power’s still on they’ll be able to monitor the watertight door indicator. The panel of lights will show them exactly which doors and hatches are opening and closing below. It’ll give your position away from the moment you start moving.’
Jude wasn’t put off. ‘I’ll take my chances with the indicator panel. They probably won’t even notice.’
‘It’s nuts.’
‘Maybe so, but it’s the only way,’ Jude said. ‘I’m going for it. Exactly quarter of an hour after I step out
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