“Were you behind the power surge in the clinic earlier? If so, ye saved our arses.”
“That would be me,” she smiles maliciously, “I started with a couple of sump pump failures this morning, and when the engineering crew mopped that up, I moved on to random power outages around the ship. They may have put all the medical equipment on a separate backup generator, but the lights are still on the ship’s main grid.”
“Has anyone… They haven’t started operating yet, right? No one’s been…” My throat closes up. What if they’ve already started?
“No, don’t worry, not yet. The data your drive picked up is fucking incredible - all the patient’s names, procedures, schedules, who they’re matched with - we have to isolate today’s operations so we can hide those donors before they come for them.”
“The doctor brought in a couple of the medical orderlies in to loom over us,” I shudder. “Those bastards are built like tanks. They’re not there to handle bedpans.”
Her fingers freeze over her keyboard for a moment.
“What? What’s wrong?”
She turns to look at me, “Your friend Carol is scheduled for this afternoon.”
Naff - Scottish slang for tacky.
Chapter Thirty-Four
In which, as always with the MacTavishes, things do not go to plan.
Logan…
“We have to move up the schedule.”
“Why?” Kai’s voice sharpens, “What’s gone off?”
I’m in the lower engine room, using the metal bunker to block the transmission from getting picked up by anyone on the command deck.
“They’re starting the surgeries today,eightof them. Xenia’s going through the data, she got into the medical ward schedules with the information Bella and Mason brought back. They’re already prepping the operating rooms.” I’m gripping the satellite phone hard enough to crack the plastic casing. “One of the first donors is Bella’s friend, Carol. If I canna get the girl out, ya know my wife will go charging down there and try to do it herself.”
This is where my brother is his least irritating self.
“Of course,” he agrees instantly. “Tell Xenia to start the navigation shift, steering the ship in an arc now. I can call in a favor from the Toscano Mafia in Naples to get me the biggest helicopterThe Zephyr’slanding pad can handle. We’ll do a top and side attack. How many of the security force can ye take out before ye give the signal for us to board?”
“We’re certain we know of twenty. Xenia can loop the outside cameras and we’ll shoot ‘em and dump them overboard, no bodies to start a panic. That dinnae account for whoever they’ve got in the medical bay, though. I’m certain they’ve got their most experienced men in there.”
“This is what ye do best,” Kai says, his amusement clear, even through the static on the call. “Ye feck shite up. I’m thinking half the bastards on board will be dead by cocktail hour. Send Ian down to fetch Bella’s friend, tell her it’s for a preoperative massage or some shite. Get her out of her cabin.”
“I’ll do it myself. I’ll take her to Bella and Mason’s stateroom.” Checking my watch, “We’re moving everything up by five hours. I know that’s some serious scrambling on your part. Can ye do it?”
“Ye already know the answer. I’m calling Da and Uncle Lachlan now. Stay sharp, brother.”
“Ye as well.”
By the time I get to Carol’s cabin, she’s already gone.
“Fuuuck!”Xenia runs her hands through her hair, making the tidy bob stick up in every direction. “I’m still trying to break through the systems firewall in the OR. I have all the records but no way no way of knowing where they’ve put her.” Her hands are flying over her keyboard. “Okay, okay, okay… I can halt the water supply in that entire section of the boat. You can’t operate without water, right?”
I’ve never seen Xenia this manic.
“That’s good, that’s grand.” Catriona vigorously massages Xenia’s shoulders. “There’s a lot of medical machinery that’s water-cooled, aye? It’s not just for the medical team to wash up. How long can you delay them before the crew fixes it?”
“An hour, maybe less,” Xenia’s gaze is ping-ponging back and forth between the screens at a dizzying rate. “Maybe by then I can get into the system and shut down the equipment, I can fry some of those fuckers, no problem.” She glances up at me. “You better go kill a bunch of people. There’s no hiding this now. They’re gonna know there’s hostiles on board.”
These crew uniforms are itchy and uncomfortable, but with the dinner jacket on, I can fit in two guns, extra ammo clips and my knife strapped to my calf.
“We divide up, aye?” Ethan, Jack, Hamish, and Theo are crammed in my tiny servant’s cabin, loading up. “Ethan, you’re with me, we hit the command deck. Xenia’s ready to switch the controls to remote operation. We have to take out everyone from the captain to the navigator and disable the cameras.”
