Two technicians were zooming in on the burning plague barge, a.s.sessing the damage and rate of disintegration, trying to decide whether they needed to hit it again.

On the screen, explosions blew out one side of the ship. An Immari soldier dragged a woman through the flames and threw her onto the deck below. She curled into a ball, then the soldier stood her up again.

David froze. Her hair was dark... but he knew her face. It was impossible. Yet, there Kate was. Or had David finally cracked? The pressure of the battle, of his choice, finally shattering reality. Was he seeing what he wanted to see?

He watched Kate fight with the Immari soldier, then he threw her into the water below, likely to her death.

David raced to the tech's station. "Rewind that feed."

The frames zoomed back.

"Stop."

David leaned closer. He was sure of it now. It was Kate. And a soon-to-be-dead Immari soldier that had tossed her about like a rag doll and thrown her from the ship.

He spun around and said to the chief, "You're in command until I return. Do not fire on that plague barge. No matter what."

He was out of the control station and down the first flight of stairs in seconds.

Kamau called down to him. "David! You want some help?"

CHAPTER 55.

Former Immari Operations Base at Ceuta

Northern Morocco

At the harbor, David surveyed the boats. There were a slew of fishing boats, but only a few motor yachts. David tried to think. What was the priority? Range or speed? He needed both, but how much of each? There was a Sunseeker 80 yacht. He tried to remember the specs. He had looked at buying one two years ago. It was twenty-four and a half meters long, cruised at twenty-four knots and could do thirty, he thought. The range was maybe three hundred fifty nautical miles. But there was a monstrosity on the end, a forty-meter Sunseeker. With luck, it would have a submersible on the back dock. He nodded to it. "We'll take the larger motor yacht," he said to Kamau.

A few minutes later, the forty-meter yacht was cruising out into the Mediterranean, toward the cruise ship burning in the night.

Kate's arms and legs were tiring. She could barely keep her head above the water. The ship continued to spew smoke into the air and spit splintered pieces of wreckage into the water, almost taking her under every few seconds.

But they had nowhere to go: a wide wall of fire burned over the water, a ring that trapped them in a small area of water close to the ship.

Her body ached all over and her lungs hurt just to breathe.

Shaw was swimming for something-a piece of wreckage. He towed it back to her and the three men. "Grab on. We'll have to wait the fire out, then try to swim to sh.o.r.e-"

David surveyed the listless cruise ship. It burned like a wildfire on the water. The ship was collapsing in on itself, and periodically, explosions erupted from random places. The gas tanks that fueled the turbine engines had ruptured at some point and the gas burned over the water in a stunning half-ring of fire around the ship. People jumped from all decks, some no doubt to their deaths. They disappeared into the water beyond the wall of fire. David didn't see how they could get out. They certainly couldn't swim through the fire, and the field of flames was too wide to dive under.

His only hope was that Kate had survived the fall and was waiting there for him.

David went belowdecks and checked the submersible. He opened it and checked the controls. Out of oxygen. What did that leave? Waiting for the flames to die? What if she was injured?

"David, what do you need?"

"Oxygen."

Kate caught a glimpse of something beneath the water a split second before it grabbed Shaw and pulled him under.

At first Kate thought it was a shark or some other sea creature, but Shaw surfaced, flailing his arms desperately. He reached back, felt the end of the floating wreckage, and clawed his way up onto it. The thing rose out of the water, pummeling Shaw's body, slamming him into the wreckage. It was a man, Kate saw that now, and he was unbelievably powerful. His muscles were huge. He wore scuba gear and several tanks on his back. Shaw fought bravely, swinging with his last bit of strength, but the monster was too powerful. One of his blows connected with Shaw's face, forcing his head into the hard surface below. Shaw fell limp against the wreckage, and the man grabbed him and began receding into the water.

Kate made for them, throwing herself into the fray. She pushed against the scuba diver's face mask. She gripped Shaw with her other hand, trying to free him.

The monster ripped his face mask off. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

David.

Kate froze. A flood of emotions overwhelmed her. She felt her limbs go numb and she gulped a mouthful of seawater.

David released Shaw and reached for her. He looked into her eyes for a moment, then opened his mouth to say something. Shaw's fist connected square with David's face, sending him below the water. Shaw dived after him, but Kate regained her composure and fought her way between them.

"Boys, boys!" She pushed at each of them, putting herself between them.

"You're protecting him?!" David spat.

"He saved my life," Kate said.

"He threw you off the ship."

"It's uh, it's... complicated."

David stared at her. "Whatever. We're getting out of here." He unslung one of the tanks from his back and pushed it toward Kate. "Take this."

Kate motioned to Martin, Chang, and the other scientist. "What about them?"

"What about 'em?"

"They're coming with us," Kate insisted.

David shook his head. He started putting the tank straps around Kate's shoulders.

She pulled away from him and swam to the men. "This is Martin Grey, my father."

David floated there for a moment. "I... thought Patrick Pierce, or... Tom Warner was your father."

Kate nodded. "He is. Martin's my adoptive... It's... complicated, okay?"

"What's not complicated around here? All right, the three of you," he glanced back at Shaw coldly, "four of you can share a tank."

"Kate, I need to speak with you. It's urgent," Martin said. He could barely keep his head above water.

The European scientist spoke up. "I will not need to share the oxygen. I can cross alone."

All heads turned to him.

"I am an extremely strong swimmer," he said, explaining.

David tossed the other tank to Shaw. "Right, well you all have a committee meeting to sort it out. We're going." He took Kate by the arm.

"Wait," she said. "Martin has been injured. He's sick. You take him, David."

"No." He swam to her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not again."

She heard Shaw groan in the background, but time seemed to stand still. She felt herself nod.

"For G.o.d's sake," Shaw said. "I'll take Martin. You all take the Chinaman; he won't take much oxygen anyway." He motioned to the European scientist. "And you... can swim strongly I suppose."

The European ducked under the water. Martin protested, but Shaw had him and they were under, then David put the face mask on Kate and took her hand and they dove. He put the mouthpiece in her mouth, but she stopped. She fought to get to the surface.

"What?" David asked.

"Chang."

David looked over.

Dr. Chang was treading water. "I thought you were going to leave me."

He saved Martin's life, Kate thought. "We're not going to leave you." She motioned to David. "Take his hand."

"You overestimate my comfort zone."

"Oh please!" She grabbed Chang's hand, tightened her grip on David's, and the three of them dove.

Kate took the first turn with the oxygen, then Chang. David seemed to need less than the two of them.

Kate couldn't see Shaw and Martin, or the other man. The s.p.a.ce below the fire seemed to stretch on forever. Through the mask, she looked up. The fire above the water was beautiful, like nothing she had ever seen. A flower of orange and red, blooming at the top of the water, expanding, receding, like a time-lapse photo.

Chang paddled beside her. His eyes were closed. There must have been gas in the water.

David led them on. He wore fins on his feet and his powerful legs propelled them through the water.

Finally, the field of fire ended, and Kate saw the black night above the water. David guided them upward, and he and Chang gasped for air as they broke the surface.

Kate held an arm up to block the bright lights that blinded her. Another ship floated just past the fire. A white yacht with black windows. It was three stories tall. She knew there was probably some nautical term for "three stories," but that's what it looked like to her: a three-story white condo building with telescoping decks at the front and back.

David pulled her and Chang toward it. A towering black man stood at the back of the boat. He reached into the water, grabbed both of Kate's arms, and pulled her into the boat like she was a toy he was jerking out of a kiddie pool.

Kate peeled the backpack off as the African lifted Chang up by one arm and deposited him beside her.

David began climbing up the ladder. "Are we the first?"

The African nodded.

David stopped, grabbed the face mask from Kate, and was halfway back down the ladder when a head popped out of the water.

The European scientist.

"Did you see the other two?" David called to him.

"No." He wiped the water from his face. "My eyes were closed. There is gas in the water."

Kate thought he was barely winded. She desperately wanted to talk to David, but he was gone, back into the black water.

Seconds pa.s.sed that felt like hours.

"I'm Kamau."

Kate turned to him. "Kate Warner."

His eyebrows rose quickly.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." She turned back to the water.

Another head surfaced. Shaw. Martin wasn't with him. Kate walked to the rail. "Where's Martin?"

"He's not here?" Shaw spun himself in the water. "He freaked out, thought he was drowning. I thought he swam ahead of me. I couldn't see a b.l.o.o.d.y thing." He dove back below the surface.

Kate stared at the wall of flames. If Martin had come up in the middle...

She waited. She felt a blanket being wrapped around her shoulders. She murmured her thanks without turning to see who had placed it.

Two heads broke the water, and one man pulled the other to the boat: David-leading Martin.

Martin's head was badly burned and he was almost unconscious.

David carried Martin aboard and laid him on a white leather couch in the saloon. Chang raced over to Martin and began a.s.sessing his wounds. Kamau set a first-aid kit down, and Kate began rifling through it.

The water parted again. "Do you have him?" Shaw called.

"Yes!" Kate shouted.