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“All those tugs you see are either police or Navy. They’ve surrounded the boat.”

“Well, what are the hijackers going to do? They could kill a lot of people.”

“I don’t think that’s the intent. They want something. That’s what we’re waiting for.”

“Shit, Jack. This is scary. How many seniors live on that thing?”

“Currently, twenty-five hundred.”

“Fuck. This is just great. Let me call Golden. Let me at least try to tell him this is under some kind of control. Our membership will go crazy. This goddamn country can’t protect them anymore.”

“Don’t make it worse than it is. There’s a good chance this will end peacefully.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got to go.” Jack disconnected and Paul switched his screen from one news outlet to the next. Everyone was covering this now. This was being seen worldwide.

* * *

Max and Louie had tied up the captain and three of his assistants. They waited until eight o’clock in the morning, when the ship was making its way on the short journey up the coast to its permanent berth. Four of them walked onto the bridge and it was easier than they had imagined it would be. These ships were not considered targets since they didn’t carry large amounts of cargo or money, so the crew wasn’t trained in combat. There was security on board and they had weapons, but they were caught off guard, and Max and the three others had no trouble subduing the men. They touched them with a sleep gun, which injected enough chemical to put down a horse but didn’t kill anyone.

Andre knew how to steer the ship, but they didn’t want to move it. All they did was stop and drop anchor. They waited a few minutes until they heard a controller ask what the problem was. Max turned off the video, deciding that he was going to communicate the old-fashioned way, just voice. “My name is Max Leonard. I have taken over as the captain of this ship.”

“I have no picture,” the controller said.

“I have disabled the picture. Voice communication will be sufficient.”

“Have you hijacked this ship?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I don’t want to take it anywhere. I want to talk to the President.”

“The President?”

“You heard me.”

While this conversation was going on, the remaining men in Max’s group had gathered all of the crew members and put them in five different rooms. They locked the doors and one of them stood guard. The residents didn’t know what was happening until many of them showed up for breakfast and nothing was prepared.

Max and his group had carefully thought through what would be done with the residents. They would all be assembled in the large dining room. This was the biggest single space on the ship and even though meals were staggered, it could hold everyone, if necessary.

So while Max and Andre remained on the bridge, the other four men, after locking up the crew, went from room to room and told everyone there was an emergency. They needed to come to the dining room immediately. Since Max’s group was wearing uniforms, the residents thought they were staff and did what they were told.

In less than thirty minutes, all of the rooms were empty and the dining room was filled to capacity. The residents, including Brad Miller and Walter Masters, sensed something was wrong. The very fact that there was no breakfast prepared told people that there was trouble.

There were not enough chairs in the dining room, so hundreds of people stood against the walls or sat on the floor. When everyone was assembled, Max addressed the residents over two large screens. He had rehearsed this moment very carefully, as he wanted as little panic as possible. “Hello. My name is Max Leonard and I am talking to you from the bridge. My men and I have taken over this ship for a short while as we wait to speak with the president of the United States.”

Several hundred people started to panic. Max had known that would happen. His associates, standing at the entrance to the dining room with automatic weapons, yelled for everyone to be quiet. Max continued. “Listen to me carefully. You will not be hurt. I repeat, you will not be hurt, unless you try to