“Hold her steady!” Ryan shouted, keeping a firm grip on the cannon with his good hand. The other was tucked into his shirt, the throbbing almost too painful to ignore. He had been wrong; he should have let Mildred stitch it shut in the fields.
J.B. yelled an answer, but it was lost in the rustling launch of the first rocket. The Firebird shot ahead of the craft and knifed into the ocean, detonating underwater. Another launched, then a third, the blasts churning the sea with their detonations as the boat raced for the coral reef.
“Slow!” Jak bellowed, as another Firebird launched, the supply rapidly dwindling.
“Only four left,” Krysty warned. “Too fast!”
“I know!” J.B. answered, wiggling the sword back and forth, making the speeding boat fishtail, its velocity decreasing imperceptibly.
But that was enough. The next-to-last Firebird slammed directly into the coral reef, violently blowing it apart, chunks of pink material flying into the air. The last rocket missed the reef completely as the boat shot through the boiling opening. There was a hard slam as they hit something, then the vessel was in the open sea and moving without hindrance.
“Damage report!” Ryan shouted down an air hole on the deck.
“We’re okay,” Mildred said, walking up the stairs. “No leaks in the hull. Dean got a bad knock, but nothing serious.”
“Dark night, it worked!” J.B. cried in triumph and immediately angled the boat to put as much land between them and the fighting as possible. The point was only a hundred yards away. In less than a minute, they would be out of the line of blasterfire and safe.
“LOOK, SIR!” a sailor shouted, brandishing a fist. “FT 53 is running away!”
“Cowards!” Thor growled, levering a fresh round into his Weatherby. “We’ll find them soon as this is done.”
“I saw the crew get chilled, fool,” Brandon retorted hotly, reloading his own blaster. “Must be some locals who stole the boat when it crashed on the shore.”
“Fisherman who can operate a steam engine?” the sergeant asked, pointing his longblaster at the departing boat. He tried to target the crew, but the two vessels were jostling too much for him to get a clear view. He fired twice, with no results.
“Well, it’s not locals, sir,” he reported. “I saw that much. They have rapidfire, and revolvers like us. But not the kind we carry.”
“New blasters?” Brandon frowned. “Shitfire, it might be Langford. Always thought he had some good blasters hidden away someplace. Either way, we can’t let them escape. Pilot, full speed.”
“Aye, sir!” Abruptly PT 264 changed course and headed after the runaway vessel.
Feeding a fresh belt of ammo into fifty, a sec man asked, “What about the pirates?” His face was smudged with black soot from the dirty exhaust of the black powder weapon.
“They’re dead. Signal the other boats to recce the pirates, make sure they’re anchored securely against the tide, then follow after us. Don’t like going into any battle without reserve troops.”
“Aye, aye, skipper.” Grabbing two flags, the corporal began stiffly moving his arms, relaying the orders to the other Peteys. Their flagman responded with an acknowledgment as the boats headed for the quiet pirate vessels.
“Already at the point, eh?” Brandon said in annoyance. “This boy is smart, all right. Best to not take any chances. How many left, Sergeant?”
“None in the pod, sir,” Thor replied. “But we can reload a full salvo.”
“Do it, and fast,” the officer snapped. “I want this bastard blown to Davey. Faster, pilot! Use the coal oil, if necessary. Lose them, and I’ll whip the flesh off your back myself. Move this crate!”
Skimming along the water at top speed, the pilot shouted orders down the tube, and soon the engine surged with power, its bow rising from the water as the craft hurtled along, smashing through the assorted wreckage and bobbing corpses blocking in its path.
ONCE PAST THE POINT, J.B. checked his pocket compass and headed due north, hoping for a break. If there was an undersea river running south, maybe there was another on this side of the island going north. They had to travel this direction anyway, so it couldn’t hurt. But there was no sign of fast water.