Coincidence - Alan May [75]
The anxious tedium of the past couple of days had been replaced with urgent preparations—and a complete change of plans. There’d be no chance now for Mac to cut the Coincidence adrift or for the doctor to knock Stefano out. Yesterday afternoon Phillip had appeared at the captain’s office door, demanding that he come to the first-aid room. Anika and Elliott were already there, along with Juan, who had looked even more malevolent than usual. Juan’s scowl had deepened by the minute as Phillip had laid out their scheme of taking off in the Coincidence with the two hostages, leaving the Inspiration in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no power and no communications systems.
But why, Anika had wanted to know, did they need two hostages? Wasn’t one enough “insurance”? Couldn’t they just take her and leave the doctor, in case any of the kids or staff needed medical help? Phillip had vetoed that, pointing out that Stefano, although considerably better, was not yet out of danger. No way were they going to risk anything happening to him.
How like Anika, the captain had thought, to be thinking about the kids and volunteering to put herself in harm’s way to keep them as safe as possible. He had been on the verge of asking why, in that case, they needed to take Anika, why not just the doctor, when Phillip cut him off.
“And you’re coming as, uh, supplemental insurance,” he had said to Anika.
The captain looked up sharply to see Phillip staring at Anika with eyes that were voracious and predatory.
Lukasz Marzynski had never felt so powerless in his life. The eldest of the eight Marzynski siblings, he had always possessed a natural authority that never veered off into harshness or insensitivity but took command of any situation that confronted him. A fifteen-year veteran with Blue Water Academy, twelve as captain of the Inspiration, he’d handled crises of many sorts, always keeping a cool head, earning the respect of students and staff on voyage after voyage.
He had nearly two hundred thousand miles of sailing experience under his belt—about as much as the legendary Captain Cook—but now he felt completely stymied. Anything he did to try to protect Anika would further endanger the students in his care. Yet to allow her to go as a hostage, to leave her in Phillip’s clutches—unthinkable.
She was a strong and resourceful person, true, and Dr. Williams would be with her, which was some comfort. But how could the two of them possibly defend themselves against six criminals? They would have no weapons, other than whatever medications the doctor might have in his bag. And after they had served their purpose as hostages, they would be nothing more than dangerous liabilities to dispense with.
Could Phillip’s obvious desire for Anika possibly override the need for eliminating her? Doubtful. Particularly if she somehow managed to ward off his advances. That would only infuriate him. And even if Phillip were disposed to keep her alive, there were the others—especially Juan. He was without doubt the most chilling man Luke had ever met, a man of no conscience or no humanity. A man who could snuff out the life of another human being as though he was swatting a fly.
Luke’s gaze had fixed on Juan as Phillip had finished outlining the plan, registering the way Juan’s glowering threatened to spill over into violence. There was something there, something in the relationship between the two men …
Phillip had stopped and was looking expectantly at Luke. Luke’s attention had been so focused