Chapter 16 - The Harbor in Flames
"Matteo! Emergency Protocol Zulu!" Silas shouted into his wrist radio as he knelt beside Cassian, tying his wrists with industrial zip-ties. "Find the signal relay on the shoreline! It’s somewhere near the lighthouse at Point Judith! Scramble the union tugboats!"
Through the storm, five miles out in the pitch-black bay, the silhouettes of the ghost freighter suddenly ignited with orange flares. They knew their vanguard team had failed. The sirens of the rogue vessel began to wail across the water—a deep, apocalyptic horn that signaled the automated launch of their engines.
"They’re turning the ship around," I said, pointing out at the sea from the bluffs. "They’re going to ram Berth Nine directly!"
"They want to trigger the impact manually," Silas gritted his teeth. He turned to me, cupping my face in his rain-slicked, bloodstained hands. "Clara needs to be taken inland to the state police garrison. You take Barnaby and the armored SUV."
"No," I defied him, looking straight into his ferocious eyes. "Clara is safe in the underground wine cellar with Matteo’s wife. But you cannot pilot the heavy tugs alone without the union grid codes. I have the terminal access on my tablet. If you go to the harbor to stop that freighter, I am steering the intercept."
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For two seconds, Silas Marcone stared at the former waitress he had rescued from the broken linoleum of that diner. He realized then that he hadn't just saved a woman—he had awakened a warrior queen.
"Get the keys to the harbor cutter," Silas ordered, his voice ringing with pride and lethal determination. "Tonight, we sink them in the channel."
