The Secret of Excalibur

Nina pulled Chase aside as a bolt hit the controls, blowing the machinery to pieces. The platform plunged back down in a column of fire, scattering debris in all directions.

More explosions shook the hold. ‘Are you okay, Eddie?’

He spat out blood. ‘Right as rain.’ A siren wailed, echoing through the vast space. ‘I think we should be fucking off home about now.’

‘No arguments there.’ As Chase stood, Nina saw Excalibur lying amongst the smoking remains of the platform. The blade lit up again as she lifted it and shook off a lump of what looked horribly like barbecued ribs.

Chase put an arm round her waist to support her. ‘Let’s go!’

More energy stabbed at the walls as they made their way back down the hold. The few people still alive in the control room had gone; the siren was apparently an evacuation warning. One of the magnetic rings behind them tore from its supports and fell to the floor with enough force to shake the entire room. Other components blew apart, sections of the supporting framework collapsing.

An especially bright flash was followed by an ominous creak of metal. ‘Oh, that can’t be good,’ said Nina, looking back at a molten spray spitting from a gash down one side of the hold.

Chase held her more tightly as he increased his pace towards the exit. ‘I think we’re about to get wet.’

‘Not again!’

The gash burst open, metal peeling back like tin foil as seawater spewed into the hold, thousands of gallons of freezing Arctic water rushing through the widening gap. The air filled with explosions of sparks as the generator shorted out.

Fire above, water below, a wave surging along the hold after Chase and Nina as they raced for the exit. Pain stabbed through Nina’s leg with every step, but she forced herself onwards. She could hear it thundering towards them like a tsunami, about to sweep them away—

They reached the hatch. Chase flung Nina through just as the wave hit, a chill spray biting at them as the water dashed against the bulkhead. He braced himself and pushed his back against the hatch to force it shut against the force of the flood. It clunked against the frame; Nina dragged herself up and pulled the lever to secure it. She slumped to the deck, panting.

‘Sorry, love,’ said Chase, taking her by the waist again and leading her along the corridor, ‘but we can’t hang about.’ He nodded at the sword. ‘Why don’t you leave that thing, let it go down with the boat?’

‘They could still find it if they salvage the ship.’

‘Fair enough. But how about I keep hold of it? That way I don’t have to worry about you accidentally chopping off my leg.’

She handed the sword to him as they reached a flight of stairs leading upwards. Despite her best efforts to keep the weight off her injured leg, Nina still winced in pain at every step. ‘Ow, oh, ow! Son of a - oh, if Jack wasn’t dead I’d kill him again!’

‘I didn’t say thanks for that, by the way,’ said Chase.

‘You don’t need to.’

‘Yeah, I do! You saving my life isn’t something I ever want to get all blase about.’

‘In which case, thank you for saving me - again! What’s that, ten times now?’

‘Altogether, or just this time?’

‘Y’know, most couples don’t actually lose count of that kind of thing . . .’

They kept climbing. More creaks echoed through the ship, distant thumps of explosions still rolling up from the hold. And there was another noise, an engine . . .

‘Fuck!’ said Chase. ‘There goes the chopper.’

‘Well, it’s not as though we could have flown it. And hijacking it might have been a problem without any guns.’

‘I’ve got a bloody sword! Just hope there’s some boats left.’

They finally reached the level of the main deck. By now it was clear the ship was beginning to sink, tipping down at the bow. Chase opened a hatch and stepped out into the cold wind, leaving Nina leaning against the bulkhead. ‘Shit!’ The lifeboat davit was empty, cables hanging limply down to the water. Below, a large orange boat bobbed away from the freighter, a strobe light blinking on its fibreglass roof.

He hurried across the deck to check the opposite side. The other boat was still on its cables, almost in the water. He could have jumped on to the nearest cable and shinned down into the boat, but Nina couldn’t, not with her leg.

‘What is it?’ Nina asked as he ran back to her.

‘You saw Titanic, right?’

‘Oh . . .’

They both lurched as the Aurora shuddered. The tilt of the deck was now more apparent, and increasing.

‘Okay, okay,’ said Nina, thinking out loud, ‘we’re on a ship, with no lifeboats. There must be something else that floats. What floats?’

‘A witch,’ Chase answered. Nina gave him a surprised look. ‘What? I never said I didn’t watch any Monty Python.’

‘Great, but unless you’ve actually got a witch, and preferably her broomstick, that doesn’t help much!’

‘No broomsticks,’ said Chase with sudden hope, ‘but I know where there’s something that can fly. Wait here!’ He dropped Excalibur at her feet and ran back into the ship, sliding down the stairs on the banisters.

‘Eddie, where are you - Eddie!’ Nina shouted, but he had already gone. Frustrated, she waited for him to return. After a minute, Excalibur slowly slid along the deck to clink against the forward bulkhead.

‘Two sinking ships in three days,’ she muttered as she awkwardly bent to retrieve the sword. ‘Eddie! Whatever you’re doing, now would be a good time!’

Chase ran back up the stairs. ‘Yeah, I’m coming!’

Nina saw he was carrying what looked like a large suitcase with a harness attached. ‘What’s that?’

‘Our way off. Maybe. Come on, we need to get to the top deck.’

Five more painful flights, and Nina slumped with relief against a bulkhead - only to realise she was standing at an angle. A nearby porthole gave her a view of the antenna array, silver flowers picked out by spotlights . . . and beyond them, waves crashing over the top of the mock containers at the bow. It was the Typhoon all over again - only this time they weren’t even close to shore.

She looked back at Chase, who was fastening the harness round his body. ‘What is that thing? A parachute?’

‘More like a jetpack.’

‘A jetpack?’

‘It’s how Jack got to Vaskovich’s - I just hope it’s as easy to fly as he said. If you’re bringing the sword, there’s a compartment in the back - stick it in there. But don’t poke any holes in it!’

Nina limped to him and found the compartment’s cover, opening it and gingerly dropping Excalibur inside. The glow disappeared as she let go, the blade clanking harmlessly against the polycarbonate interior. She closed the cover as Chase secured the harness. The ship shuddered again, a mournful metallic moan running through the hull. ‘Okay,’ he said, indicating an exterior hatch, ‘get outside.’

Nina still wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but limped through it to find herself on the ship’s port wing bridge, extending out over the side of the hull. Far below, she saw one of the lifeboats moving away, an orange lozenge picked out by a flashing beacon. Ahead, the sea continued its advance over the containers. The Aurora’s stern was out of the water and rising higher, the huge freighter being dragged nose first under the black ocean.

Chase held up a length of rope. ‘Wrap this round me, and then round you. Do it a couple of times and tie it as tight as you can. Trust me,’ he added, seeing her expression.

‘Okay,’ she said dubiously, threading the rope between his lower back and the case as he fastened a small