Chapter 27 - Battle on the High Seas
Before Kane could finish his sentence, the first heavy explosive round slammed into the starboard hull of the Vanguard, sending a violent shockwave rolling through the ship's superstructure. Alarms screamed louder, red emergency lights flooding the bridge with a hellish glow.
"They’re trying to sink us with the cargo still on board!" Miller shouted, rushing to the bridge windows. "Apex is cutting their losses!"
"Not on my watch," I growled, grabbing Kane by the collar of his suit jacket and slamming him hard against the steel navigation console. "Call off your patrol boats, Viktor. Right now."
Kane gasped for air, his smug composure completely shattered. "I... I don't have the codes! The automated strike protocols are managed directly by the central board in Zurich!"
I threw him aside into the arms of one of my security operatives. "Secure him in the hold. Miller, take the bridge controls and maneuver us into the shipping lane traffic between the commercial freighters. Make it impossible for their patrol boats to fire without hitting civilian vessels!"
"On it, boss!" Miller shouted, sliding into the pilot's seat and grabbing the massive brass steering throttle.
The giant container ship groaned in protest as Miller spun the wheel hard to port, sending the six-hundred-foot vessel surging directly toward a dense cluster of international cargo carriers heading down the strait.
Outside, explosive shells whistled past our superstructure, detonating harmlessly against the water as the patrol boats hesitated, unwilling to risk an international maritime incident in commercial shipping lanes.
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I stood on the bridge wing, the cold rain stinging my face, watching the chaos unfold. For five years, my enemies had tried to drown me in darkness, in isolation, in helplessness. But out here on the open sea, surrounded by the roaring wind and the vast expanse of the ocean, I felt more alive than I had ever been.
We had broken their West Coast hub, captured their regional director, and secured the digital ledgers that would drag the rest of the Apex board into the light.
