End of Chapter 11
Indiana looked up to the throne room where the dead chief engineer sat with Andrew?s limp body draped over one shoulder. In a seeming gesture of futility, Andrews?s gun arm still pointed out with the dead open hand barely holding the .45. Nora stepped up, took the pistol and rummaged for several extra clips. ?You?re going to need these.? She offered the gun and clips to Indy. ?I?ll raise Manila on the radio while we?re still airborne.?
Indiana tucked the weapon in his belt and stopped just as he started to slide down the ladder step railings. He pointed at Grieves and said, ?You ? once we land dump as many bodies as you can into the sea. We need to lighten our load in case we have to move. You can start with your buddy Yang.?
In the Galley Indy shrugged past a dazed Lucien Lake and began rummaging through the cabinets, throwing open doors and knocking through the stores. When he came across the liquor he started to rifle through the bottles.
?And here I thought Lake was the only passenger likely to raid my liquor,? said a weak Andy Solemn from his seat in the Lounge.
Indy grinned as he inspected the bottles. ?Don?t worry, my needs are very specific.?
?I?m guessing that you need more than liquor.?
Indiana stopped searching and turned to look at the wounded porter. The still deathly pale old man pointed at the cabinet at Indy?s feet. ?Look there.?
Indiana crouched down, opened the door and pushed aside a stack of table clothes. He pulled out a battered canvas backpack. Confused, Indy said, ?My pack.?
?No. That?s my pack,? chuckled Solemn. ?I made it myself on the Golden State. Go on, look inside.?
Indy lifted the flap and found a waterproof bag filled with heavy, waxen sticks of dynamite and thick fuses. Indy grinned, ?So it was you that stole the explosives.?
Solemn beamed, ?We flew the dynamite into Wake on the Clipper?s first flight ? the whole time we were in the air all I could think of was what a way to start a new job. After you said that we might not make it to Manila, I figured you had fixed on someone coming after the Clipper. So I got enough to blow the plane.?
Indiana hefted the bag and laughed. ?Four times, at least.?
?I had no problem helping myself from the storage shed and getting it aboard ? since I was onboard before the stuff was found missing no one thought to search my kit. . . .?
?Listen,? said Indiana cutting off the Steward. ?We may get shot up pretty bad. You have to be moved forward.?
Indiana went into the cargo hold and feverishly re-arranged the heavy mailbags. Indiana then carried the wounded steward to the middle of a tight horseshoe shaped space that he had created among the canvas bags. ?Not exactly a bunker ? but it?s the best I can do,? said Indy. ?You?ve got at least six feet of protection.?
Indiana then retrieved the drugged Madam Sinn. As he made his way forward, he was struck by her stillness. She had strong, broad shoulders, perfect skin and a regal profile. Indiana thought of her baby and how the child?s abduction had paralyzed this formidable, near legendary starlet. Moments later, as Indiana placed a sleeping Gwen Grieves in Solemn?s care, he braced himself against the mailbags. The plane skimmed the water and came to a stop. At a portal Indiana saw three skiffs from the unflagged freighter rowing hard toward the Clipper. Indy shouted for everyone to get to the Cargo Hold. Stopping only to grab Solemn?s pack, Indy headed for the starboard hatch and stepped out onto the sea wing.
Each of the skiffs was manned by at least eight men dressed in the rag-tag irregular dress of poor merchant sailors. This thin subterfuge was betrayed however by the sailors? telltale hard sustained rowing ? a result achieved only through military discipline. When the boats closed to forty yards, Indiana lit the fuse to a stick of dynamite. He cooked it for a second and then heaved the stick hard at the nearest target. It landed square in the boat and gave off a tremendous explosion. Bodies and splinters erupted across the water. Without command, several sailors on the other two crafts gave up their oars for rifles. As they opened fire Indiana ? standing upright in the line of fire -- lit another fuse and hurled the stick. The charge missed the boats and detonated in the water.
The boats continued to close. As Indy lit another fuse, Nora came out on to the sea wing. She immediately raised her gun ? though her targets were well outside the effective range of her weapon ? and fired toward the attackers as she walked determinedly to the edge of the sea wing to stand next to Indiana. Nonplussed by the few sailors firing rifles from the bobbing boats, Indy said, ?We?re in luck. They weren?t expecting much of a fight.?
?I got through to Manila,? said Nora. ?They were already looking for us after we missed our last radio check. Planes should be here within the hour.?
As Nora reloaded and Indy threw another stick toward the second craft, the first damaged boat ? with its three unmolested survivors -- gained the sea wing. While a fatal explosion erupted on the second craft, the three attackers screamed and leapt toward Indy. Indiana quickly slung the pack up on his right shoulder and raised his gun toward his assailants. Sidestepping his first attacker, Indy shot the second man point blank in the abdomen. Indy then punched the third in the face as Nora shot the first attacker in the back as the man lunged toward Indy. Leaving the third man to Nora, Indy shrugged the pack off his shoulder and pulled out another stick of dynamite.
Slowed by the damaged but still floating hulls of the first two boats, the last skiff was forced to slow and maneuver so the sailors could gain the wing. Indy took full advantage of the delay and lobbed another stick into the boat. Another fantastic explosion sent bodies flying. Stone faced, Indy and Nora together dispatched the remaining able sailors who refused to surrender.
?The freighter was only transport,? said Indiana as he looked up at the huge gantry on the mid-deck of the freighter where four or five men scrambled about. ?Unarmed and without much of a crew, I don?t think that she is much of a threat . . .?
Nora had turned away from the freighter. ?Well what about that??
Indy looked to where Nora pointed. Five hundred yards from the nose of the Clipper a submarine had surfaced. On deck, men scrambled to ready the deck gun.
Indiana turned to Nora, ?I bet that?s the same sub that retrieved Yang?s photos of Pearl Harbor. I need to get over there.?
?I?ll get Grieves.?
Nora nodded and ducked back into the plane. After a moment, the Clipper?s engines choked alive, and the plane began to move across the water. The Clipper turned toward the submarine. Clutching a wing strut, Indiana shouldered the pack backwards ? with the pack tight against his chest ? and braced himself as the plane picked up speed. As the Clipper cut toward the sub, sailor?s scrambled on the deck of the sub and several opened fire with small arms. When the plane passed the sub, Indiana crossed his arms over the pack and stepped off the sea wing into the rushing water.
As the Clipper continued on, the Japanese sailors ran the length of the submarine deck, firing at the plane as they ran. Indiana surfaced next to the rear of the sub. He reached into the pack and pulled Andrew?s .45 from the waterproof bag. He placed it up on the deck and then he readied a charge which he dropped into a ballast intake. He jumped up on deck and ran toward the conning tower. Seconds later an explosion knocked Indy to the deck. The sailors at the nose turned and came running back toward Indiana. Indy stood and opened fire ? causing the sailors to stop and use the deck gun for cover. Shielding himself behind the tower, Indy readied two charges; dropping the first into a ballast intake and lobbing the second up onto the tower. As the explosions rocked the sub, Indy reloaded his gun and lit yet another stick of dynamite. He glimpsed around the tower, took a deep breath and ran around the corner toward the nose screaming, ?Arrrrghhhhhh!?
As Indy charged, he opened fire. Panicked the sailors looked at each other and jumped into the sea. Indy stopped and dropped the last stick into yet another ballast intake and dove off the far side of the submarine. As Indy swam toward the rear of the sub, the Clipper came roaring back to the sub. Indiana pulled up next to the rudder and wedged his last stick of dynamite in the rudder. He lit it and turned to swim to the Clipper. Swimming hard, he went under when the last charge exploded. He surfaced and then continued on to the Clipper. Grinning broadly, Indiana pulled himself back on to the sea wing.
Concerned, Nora said ?You couldn?t sink the sub??
Indiana shook water from his arms and paused before he entered the Clipper. ?I damaged the starboard ballast tanks. The sub can?t submerge now ? and I?m pretty sure I damaged the rudder with that last charge. We just have to tell whoever picks us up they have two easy targets.?
?I?ll have Greives burn whatever fumes this plane has left so that we can put some distance between us and our friends.?
Overhead, Marine planes equipped with torpedoes took a low pass and dipped their wings in salute as Indy waived to the pilots. ?Good idea. The further the better.?