I yelled at Dom: 'Take the other one!' and threw the camcorder at Box-cutter. It bounced off his shoulder.
I dived at him as the weapon came up, slammed into him and made a grab for his arm. His roar echoed around the hull as we hit the deck.
I had two hands on his bicep, trying to force his hand down at the same time as he tried to bend his arm to shoot.
The weapon went off.
I dropped my head and sank my teeth into his cheek.
He screamed and bucked like a wild animal, shook his head left and right. His whole body arched, desperate to throw me off.
His left hand swung round and grabbed my hair and wrenched me off his face.
The weapon clattered onto the steel and spun away into the shadows.
I scrambled towards it, kicking and punching behind me as his arms closed round my leg.
Then Tallulah shouted: 'Run! Run! Run!'
A small pair of legs rushed across my field of view, heading for the door.
The sudden pain was excruciating; sharp, deep, intense; exploding outwards from the top of my thigh.
It got even worse as the Stanley knife plunged in again and this time carved its way down the back of my leg.
120
I twisted and thrashed to escape the blade.
I had to get to the pistol.
The blade dug in again. I squirmed and it gouged its way out. I half turned and saw it raised once more.
That blade was my whole world now. I grabbed his wrist with both hands and wrenched it towards my face. I twisted it until the back of his hand was against my mouth. I opened my teeth and bit into taut skin and tendon.
He screamed as he pulled his other hand free and hammered his fist on the back of my neck.
I butted him with the back of my head, again and again, yelling like a madman. I found a bit of extra strength and jerked both my hands clockwise. There was a crack as his wrist snapped.
The blade dropped free.
I let go of his wrist and it flapped like a broken wing. I grabbed the blade and punched hard into the back of his neck, and pulled.
There was a gush of air and a wobbling, rasping sound from the hole in his windpipe.
121
The two women were all over Mairead, fists flailing as anger poured out of them and into her curled-up figure. Primal forces were driving Tallulah; what she was doing was beyond her control.
Dom staggered to his feet. He was a big lad but so was the Russian who now lay motionless on the floor. It must have been quite a battle.
I took a couple of laboured steps towards them. I was aware of what was happening but the software was taking too long to kick in.
Tallulah looked up. 'Find Ruby! For God's sake find Ruby!'
122
I turned left along the corridor, following the line of det cord. I needed to know how she planned to detonate the Semtex before going on to find Ruby.
The cord ran up the wall next to a set of steep metal steps. I saw what I was looking for: a TPU just like Daddy used to make.
I clambered upwards.
I could hear sobbing. Ruby was on the bridge.
A sliding door opened onto the deck. She was tugging uselessly at the handle in an uncontrolled frenzy. Whether it was because the door was locked or too heavy, she couldn't budge it no matter how frantically she tried.
I ran over to her. 'Ruby! It's me, it's me.'
She was still fumbling at the door.
