“Sorry,” Luke said. “C’mon in.”
There was a bruise on his cheekbone and two soldiers tied up on the floor. One of them was just being trussed by a very upset-looking scientist.
Inga’s gaze went immediately to the other people in the room. There were five civilians in total, and one of them she recognized.
“Dr. Moberly!”
“Inga Nilsson, isn’t it? Are you all right?” The gray-haired woman stepped forward and clasped Inga’s hand. “My dear, what happened to your clothes?”
“Long story,” Inga said, grasping the older woman’s hand in both of hers. Dr. Moberly had been a researcher on the ship during its previous trips in waters near Westerly Cove. “But it’s good to see you safe.” She glanced at the others. The one tying up the soldier was a marine biologist she vaguely recognized from last year’s research trip, an outdoorsy man in his thirties. The others were all women, two of them very young, probably students. “Is this all of you? Is anyone else on board other than Brockton and his men?”
“No, it’s just us,” Moberly said. “We had a skeleton staff because we were just starting the research season. They told the ship’s crew they were fired and replaced them with their own people, but took us with them.”
Inga felt that this was a stroke of luck. It meant there was no one else to rescue. They just needed to get these people out of here.
“Did that guy walk through the door?” one of the girls said.
“And where’d that dog come from?” said the other.
Inga didn’t bother answering, partly because she had no idea how to answer, and Luke seemed to feel likewise. “Is everyone well enough to travel?” he asked. “Anyone hurt?” He addressed the question primarily to Moberly, who was clearly senior.
“One of those assholes, pardon my French, broke Meredith’s wrist,” Moberly said. One of the girls had her arm clamped to her chest. “But we’re all right other than that. Can you get us off this ship?”
“We’re going to try,” Luke said. “Alternatively, if you want to lock yourself in somewhere and wait while we go for help, we can do that. But there’s no telling what these people are going to do when we leave.”
“We’re coming with you,” said the male biologist. There was a small chorus of agreement.
“Thought you’d feel that way.” Luke grinned. One of the girls was petting Rogue. “The dog’s name is Rogue. He’s on our side.”
“Well, of course he is,” the girl said. “All dogs are good at heart.”
“Maybe not every single dog, but this one certainly is.” Luke took the gun back from Inga.
“Say, I hate to ask this,” Inga said. “But is there anyone here who has feet about my size? I just need socks or something. My feet are freezing.”
The grateful hostages were all willing to give up footwear, and Inga ended up wearing Moberly’s shoes, which were just snug enough to fit comfortably without socks. She felt ridiculous in a raincoat and someone else’s shoes and nothing else, but the relief was immediate.
“Okay,” Luke said, gesturing the researchers together. “I’ll go in front, Inga behind, and the rest of you in the middle. We’re going to head straight for the deck and try to steal one of their boats. They can’t fly the helicopter in this weather, so all we really have to worry about are the guys with guns. Does anyone know how many there are?”
“Not very many, I don’t think,” Moberly said. “I couldn’t give you an exact head count, but I don’t get the impression that it’s a big operation. Whoarethey, anyway? Hijackers? What do they want?”
“The police will have to get it out of them,” Luke said, with a swift glance at Inga. “Come on, let’s go, quickly.”
As they began to file out, with Luke leading the way, Moberly asked Inga, “What did happen to your clothes, dear? Please tell me they didn’t try to?—”
“Oh, no,” Inga said quickly. “Nothing like that. Just a, uh, wardrobe malfunction. I had to swim.”
“Inthesewaters, at this time of year? You must be freezing!”
“I’ll just say that I hope I don’t have to do it again.” Inga urged Moberly ahead of her. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What’s the quickest way to the escape boats?” Luke called down the line of people.
Moberly moved to the front to direct him.
“We’re going to need a distraction,” Inga called up to him. “Even if there aren’t very many of them and we’ve already taken out some, it’s not like they’ll just stand around while we all troop over to a lifeboat.”
The by-now-familiar zipping sound came from behind her, and she turned to see that Rogue was gone.
