“On my way.”
Gabriel kissed Antonia and told her to get dressed. She put on another black dress and Gabriel put his tux back on. Night had fallen and the ship was heading through the slightly choppy North Sea towards Norway when a sudden explosion made the ship judder and lean to one side. Antonia caught hold of Gabriel and held on to him to keep her balance. He pulled her tight into his chest and put in the earpiece that connected him to Vikktor and the rest of the United Global Defence team.
“We are being attacked from the sea,” Vikktor told him. “They are setting off suicide bombs and shooting indiscriminately. We are three men down.”
Gabriel went to the balcony with Antonia following close behind. He leaned over the rail. Explorer was being surrounded by a flotilla of small boats each one filled with men wearing balaclavas and armed to the teeth with grenades and Kalashnikovs. Some even wore explosives around their bodies and a lot were now on board the ship.
“How didn’t the captain see the boats coming?” Antonia demanded.
“The boats are small enough to get under the radar. They are attacking like Somali pirates. They will be on the other side of the ship as well.”
They watched the men throw up ropes with grappling hooks to enable them to climb over the rail onto the open-air deck where the lifeboats hung. Malinov went back into the cabin and pulled out the suit case full of weapons. He slung a compact Uzi machine gun around his shoulder on a strap and picked up a G36. Antonia stared at him when the sound of gunfire and screaming echoed outside the cabin door. Gabriel stared at the door and hardened his features when he heard a female voice begging a terrorist not to shoot.
There was a sound of a bullet piercing the air then silence. Only the thud of her dead body hitting the floor could be heard. Antonia jumped and covered her mouth stifling a gasp.
“Stay here,” Gabriel said pushing her back against the wall and handing her the G36.
He approached the door and pressed his ear to it listening to the tread of the gunman come close. His timing was perfect. The Russian agent swung the door open with force and stepped out in the corridor. He straddled the dead woman’s body spraying the Uzi sub machine gun’s bullets at the gunman. His body jumped and jerked as the bullets riddled holes in him.
Malinov spun around and went back into the cabin. He slammed the door shut listening to the Captain make a frantic announcement asking everyone to stay in their own cabins and lock the doors. Gabriel took Antonia upstairs and led her into the bathroom.
“Get in the bath and stay there. This is the safest place for you,” he told her. “Keep your head down and don’t come out until you hear my voice at the door. Lock it behind me.”
He took his standard weapon, the Glock 17 out of his suit jacket and gave it to her. “If any of them get in here, shoot them dead. Do you understand? If you don’t, they will kill you,” he said coldly. “I want you alive, safe and back in my bed as soon as possible.”
She nodded and gripped his hand.
“Be careful.”
He kissed her.
“I will. Do as I tell you.”
He gave her one last look and then shut the door behind him. He stayed by the door until he heard her lock it, then went back down the stairs to leave the cabin.
Malinov ran down the corridor towards the main stairs. The suite was located towards the middle of the ship and the terrorists were concentrating on the main heavily populated areas of cabins aft and forward as well as the entertainment decks.
He took the stairs two at a time to the lower decks and met Vikktor on the third with another agent. They were in the process of running to take out a small group of terrorists spraying bullets down the bottom end of the long narrow corridor housing a line of cabins. They chased after them watching the bodies fall shouting at people coming out of their cabins in fear to go back in and lock the door.
Vikktor aimed and pumped a bullet through one of the assailant’s head. He hit the floor quick, creating a space to get to the other two. At the bottom of the corridor a door led out to one of the open-air decks at the back and a restaurant. It swung open wildly behind the shooting men. Gabriel stopped and aimed the G36 to execute a precision shot before one of them got through the door but lowered his weapon when he saw it was a part of the UGD military team coming to their assistance. The terrorists fell dead apart from one. He’d grabbed hold of a man who had come out of one of the cabins and was dragging him back in. The young children and the mother screamed at somebody to help as they were pushed back into the cabin.
Gabriel ran down the corridor and the restricted space, feeling the walls close in on him. He continued to run full tilt to the cabin while Vikktor and the others dealt with one terrorist who was still alive and wearing a suicide vest. The door of the cabin was locked now and he could hear screaming and shouting inside. Gabriel stood back from the door and kicked it hard. It took him three kicks before it swung open.
A man in a balaclava was threatening the family with his Kalashnikov. He pointed it at each of them in turn and swung around when Malinov entered the room. The agent was about to take him out with the G36 when he grabbed one of the children and used her to shield himself. Gabriel lowered his weapon as the family cried in terror.
“I will kill her,” the man
