Wait, wait. I had to get some sanity into this. I could not leave behind my two-way-response radio, my money or my passports. The wastebasket had one of these liners they put in. They were waterproof. I dumped the perishable things in it, tied the top of the bag and lashed it firmly to my belt.
I was ready to swim for it.
Wait, wait. I wasn't armed.
I opened the drawer where I had thrown the guns I had brought aboard or purchased in ports. My hand went out instinctively to grasp the biggest caliber there. Then I recoiled. If I had to shoot the crew, the sound of shots might be heard for miles. A silenced gun, that was what I needed. But the only thing there that had a silencer was an old American International Model 180. I had bought it, as I am wont to do, in an idle moment from a furtive street peddler in Palermo only to discover later that it was only.22 caliber. Its virtue was that it was fully automatic, a machine gun. He had sold me the whole case, somewhat battered, that contained it. Anxiously I looked into the four drum magazines. Yes, they were loaded!
It was all disassembled. With shaking hands and many a slip and misfit, I got the ugly short thing assembled. I snapped a flat drum on top of its barrel. I slid the silencer in place. It would not make much impact but with 1200 rounds per minute rate of fire it could hold off a lot of men. I picked up the drums. I tried to find someplace to put them. A life jacket! I hurriedly cut a slit in one, tore out the stuffings and thrust the magazines in.
I flung the rifle over my shoulder and put on the life jacket. Then I had to take the life jacket off and free the rifle. I put the life jacket back on and put the sling back on....It was all too heavy! I would go down like a stone! What to do?
Suddenly I thought of Madison. I could not leave him aboard. If they seized the yacht, it would be in the papers. He might be mentioned. Krak would hear he was aboard, come over and interrogate him and then kill me! I could not leave him behind. He might drown swimming two miles.
A speedboat. I would force Bitts to land me in a speedboat!
I raced to Madison's cabin.
He was peacefully asleep.
I put my hand across his mouth so he would not cry out.
I must think. I had to tell him something.
"Madison," I said in a hoarse whisper, "don't scream. We have to flee for our lives. I have just discovered the Mafia bribed the captain to make eunuchs of us and sell us into slavery."
His eyes flared wide with terror. That was what I wanted.
"Get dressed! I've got to seize a speedboat and get ashore to a Greek island. Quick! Quick!"
"Oh, I knew it," wept Madison. "Ever since Palermo he has been laughing behind my back whenever he beats me at poker."
"Hurry, hurry. The slavers will be here in minutes."
He grabbed up clothes and began to stuff them into a grip.
"There is no time to pack," I whispered.
"I can't go naked!"
"Then put some clothes on!"
"That's what I'm doing."
"You're packing."
"I've got to pack. You can't give press conferences dressed like a bum. Not even to slavers."
I knew he would not change his mind. I unlimbered the rifle and stood at the door, listening in an agony of suspense for footsteps that might come.
He finished packing. Then he took an athletic suit out and put it on. He saw I was wearing a life jacket and got one from under the bed. He glanced out the port. It was black but he could see the rain on it. He grabbed a couple of raincoats out of the closet. He wrapped one around his grip and tied it tightly. He got into the other one and put on the life jacket over it. He was still looking around.
"Don't delay," I whispered urgently. "What are you looking for?"
"Something bulletproof to go over this," he said.
I hurried him out of the door. He dashed back and got his grip.
I pushed him to an upper deck. I whispered in his ear, "No matter what happens, stand here."
The rain was coming down.
Like a lethal cat, the machine gun ready, I mounted the bridge ladder.
There was no one there!
I heard voices above me.
The signal bridge!
I crept up the next ladder.
Captain Bitts and two sailors in oilskins were standing at the foot of a signal mast. They were trying to hoist lights up to its yardarm.
Signals! They had suspected I was trying to escape! Some lanterns were strung at intervals on a line going up. They were going to signal the shore!
"The God (bleep) block is jammed," said Bitts to a sailor. "See if you can free the other halyard. We can't flop around here all night dead in the water with no drifting lights." To the other one, he said, "Are you sure you told the electrician what panel was blown?"
"He said it's a short from the rain. He don't wanna go up there until morning."
"Then help free this God (bleeped) halyard!" said Bitts.
I spoiled their little game right there. I levelled the machine gun. "Hold it!" I said. "Stand right where you are or I'll blow you to pieces!"
"Jesus Christ!" said Bitts, staring at me.
"You got a right to be surprised," I said in a deadly voice. "You didn't know who you were dealing with! Get a speedboat in the water at once or get a bellyful of lead. You're going to land me, and right now!" I pointed toward where I had seen the dark bulk of shore.
He was standing there with the two sailors. Their hands were on the halyard. The lanterns suspended above them cast eerie pools of colored light around them. Bitts seemed to come awake. "NO!" he said. "It may seem flat calm here but a speedboat couldn't live in that surf over there! You'd drown!"
He thought he had me. He thought he could trap me aboard. But I had picked up a lot of knowledge strolling around this ship. "That won't work," I grated. "You've got rowing inflatables forward that can live in any surf. Throw one in the water and drop a ladder to it!"
"Listen..." said Bitts.
"Shut up! No arguing! One more word and I shoot!" I cocked the machine gun.
"Wait," said Bitts. "I think you ought to know..."
I lifted the muzzle of the machine gun to point over their heads.
I pressed the trigger.
The black powder of the.22s sprayed a fan of orange blaze! The deck flared with the light.
The staccato spits of the silenced weapon were hardly heard above the falling rain.
SNAP!
CRASH!
The bullets, fired high, had severed the lantern halyard!
The heavy-glassed lights came smashing down upon the men.
One hit Captain Bitts!
Even as he fell, a second and a third lamp hit from aloft. One burst into flame!
The two sailors, skidding on the deck, had leaped aside.
I knew they would flee and alert the ship.
"Freeze!" I cried, levelling the gun at them.
They froze, staring at me white-eyed, bathed in the oil fire's light.
A torrent of rain struck through the tableau.
The running rivulets of fire went out.
"Get an inflatable over the side!" I barked at them. "Move, or I'll fill you full of lead."
They moved but one hesitated over Bitts. He bent down. I knew he was looking for a gun.
I fired a second burst! The orange flame-fan arced above their heads.
They sped to the forward ladder and started down. I followed them. One was unwinding a pilot ladder from the gutter and dropping it over the side of the hull. The other one got a rowing inflatable out of a locker.
I looked anxiously through the rain. Was that craft coming back? I saw nothing but rain.
The sailor put a line on the inflatable.
"You can't fool me," I said in a deadly voice. "Put the oars in it."
"Don't you want the motor?" he said blankly.
I knew right then the motor wouldn't run. They were trying to trap me. And even if it did run they could follow the sound. "Oars!" I barked.