Rev's Odyssey - R. R. Kaufman (booksvooks txt) 📗

Chloe’s pocketknife and stuck the small blade in the heavy-duty lock.

It flicked open. She swung the door open and her mother’s eyes penetrated the darkness.

Rev crawled inside and hugged her mother.

 

Rev

We don’t have much time, mother.

 

Rev led the way down as she helped her mother reach the deck.

 

Rev

I can’t explain right now, mother, but this ship is going down. This is Hiro. He’s here to help. We need to get off immediately.

 

Hiro

I’ll get some rope. The hawse pipe is too small for your mother to fit through.

 

Hiro grabbed some rope from the mooring bow close by. He returned and began to secure the rope on the railing. He pointed ashore to a distant cliff.

 

Hiro      

See that cliff in the distance. That’s our destination. A small opening leads to some hidden steps that will take us to the top where I hid some supplies. From there we head to Crows Nest Crossing, follow the river to Gianthead Landing and rendezvous with professor Mars at Eagle Bluff.

 

Hiro dropped the rope to the water. When he reached for Cyna’s hand to help her down the rope he felt an aching pain in the back of his neck.

Someone tossed him to the ground.

Bright lights lit up the entire deck.

Rev and Cyna turned around to witness Razor standing over Hiro with her foot on his neck. One of her bodyguards stood next to her. Another stood beside Rev and her mother.

 

Razor

Take this traitor back to his quarters and lock him in. I’ll deal with him later. And tie both of these up.

 

One of her bodyguards led Hiro away while the other brought up the dangling rope over the railing and separately bound Cyna and Rev. She led them back to the bridge. The bodyguard operated a nearby loading crane and attached a round metal fastener to Rev’s ropes on her ankles. He hooked a steel cable to the fastener, raised Rev high in the air and swung the crane over the water. Rev hung upside down. The rope bound her upper body and her hands were tied behind her.

Then he dragged Cyna by her ropes and tied her to the railing so she could see Rev suspended high up over the water. With one foot resting on the railing’s bar, Razor stood beside Cyna. Smiling and feeling empowered Razor shouted to Rev.

 

Razor

I told you little girl, the next time we meet that I would kill you. Well here we are. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

Rev

If you do, you’ll never get the gold chip back.

 

Razor

When you’re dead at the bottom of the ocean I won’t need it.

 

Cyna

Please, I beg of you, let my daughter live. We promise to leave this planet and never return.

 

Razor

Well if it’s any comfort, I’m the one leaving this planet. You and the professor will be staying on Earth forever and Rev will be dead. You people should have never messed with me.

 

Rev

Liar! You are the one who messed with us. Why do you think we are here?

 

Razor

Yet here you are again balancing high up over water, between life and death. Of course, there is one option that can save your life. I’ll leave that up to your mother. We’ll see how much she really loves you, Rev.

 

Rev was more angry than scared. Whatever diabolical idea Razor had in mind, Rev knew she was going down into the deep water. The longer she could stall Razor, the more she could loosen her hands.

She had learned a trick by reading a book. The character in the novel inhaled extremely hard when the criminal wrapped her upper body with rope. Later when she exhaled, the rope was looser and eventually she wiggled out of her bondage.

It wasn’t much but Rev prepared herself for the inevitable. But the downside of stalling Razor was that she and her mother were running out of time. Monique’s crew was already in the process of attaching the three bombs to the hull on the other side of the ship. The last time Rev looked at her watch was when Hiro threw the rope overboard. At that time it read thirty-four minutes to detonation of the explosives. Now it was even less.

 

Razor

Here’s the deal, Cyna. I’ll let your daughter live if you swear on her life that you promise me something.

 

Cyna

Anything.

 

Razor

That I take possession of Rev. In other words I become her legal guardian.

 

Cyna remained stunned and speechless.

Rev kept loosening her hands from the rope. She believed she needed another two to three minutes to completely free her hands. She could hold her breath for almost two minutes. But the other clock was ticking. The bombs set to go off. She called Razor’s bluff.

 

Rev

Don’t listen to Razor. She’s going to kill me no matter what you say, mom. Go ahead and drop me, Razor. I dare you.

 

That was too much for Razor. Nobody dares her. She motioned to her bodyguard. Rev heard the click of the fastener being released above her. She took a deep breath as she plunged headfirst into the deep.

 

Chapter 54

 

 

Rev shattered the moon’s tranquil reflection on the water as she accelerated like a torpedo to the bottom of the ocean. She arched her back and paddled with her bound feet to direct herself in an upright position, coming to a gradual floating state.

She slowly exhaled and in doing so slightly loosened the ropes around her arms and body. Now it was a race to get her hands free while holding her breath. When Razor’s henchman had tied her hands behind her back, Rev had put her knuckles together and her elbows bent outwards as much as she could. This created a space between her wrists that provided some slack to wiggle her hands and wrists back and forth.

Rev exhaled a bit more and kept twisting and pulling her wrists apart as hard as she could.

She needed her breather. The longest she had ever held her breath was two minutes and that time was closing in on her. That desperate compulsive desire to take a breath started to overwhelm her.

Two minutes had passed. A sharp pain in her diaphragm warned her to breathe now.

One last strand of rope still bound her wrists.

Feeling a little lightheaded Rev imagined her father standing over her as a child instructing her to hold on just a little longer.

Suddenly her hands were free.

She thrashed her arms back and forth and shook loose the body ropes. At the same time as she flung them over her head she reached for her breather and took a breath.

She cut the ankle ropes with her pocketknife. Feeling exhausted Rev could barely swim back to the Vulgaris. Out of the darkness two dolphins circled around her and offered Rev a ride back. She clung on to them as they took her back to the anchor chain.

Still underwater, in the distance, Rev noticed a faint trail of bubbles. She just made out the slowly moving figures of Chloe, Allie and Zhen, swimming to shore. The explosives were set.

Rev frantically checked her watch. No. Only four minutes left until the ship blows.

She swiftly climbed the chain, went through the hawse pipe and crouched down behind the chain winch on the deck. She took a quick peek and saw her mother still tied up to the deck about halfway down the ship. Her head was drooped. She seemed motionless.

She reached her mother and gently touched her.

 

Cyna

Oh Rev! I thought you were dead. I feel so weak.

 

Rev cut her ropes.

 

Rev

Mom, we’ve got to jump overboard. Now!

 

Rev helped her mother to her feet. Someone was yelling across the other side by the deck railing. Razor’s back was facing them.

She must have spotted the girls coming ashore, Rev thought.

 

Without warning, Razor turned around and started screaming.

Three loud bangs from the hull drowned her out.

Razor started to race across the hatch towards them.

But the Vulgaris started to tilt towards Razor. Cyna lost her grip on the railing and slid across the hatch towards her.

Razor grabbed Cyna. She stared up at Rev, who was still clinging to the railing.

 

Razor

You witch. What kind of demon are you? You’re supposed to be dead. If I can’t kill you, then I’ll kill your mother instead.

 

A loud creaking sound tilted the ship further and sent Rev flying towards her mother and Razor. She bounced off Razor and grabbed hold of her mother at the same time, as they continued to slide towards the railing. They stood up just as Razor got airborne and smashed into both of them. All three sailed through the air, plummeting into the water.

 

Chapter 55

 

 

Rev reached for her breather and put it on. She panicked, not for herself but for her mother. Rev knew her mother was not a good swimmer, certainly not underwater.

She looked around in the dark water. Nothing. She turned on her flashlight and flicked it off and on. She twirled around just in time to see Razor thrusting towards her with an outstretched knife.

Rev wasn’t fast enough and felt the knife slash her lower arm. A stream of blood drifted through the water towards the surface.

Out of the corner of her eye Rev saw her mother floating lifeless near the surface. She propelled her body upwards but Razor grabbed her legs and pulled her down.

The water was enough to slow the force of the knife that was coming straight at Rev’s throat. Rev lifted her arm in defense and took another slash. More blood leaked out and dispersed in the water. She pulled out her flexion and lunged towards Razor. She extended the flexion’s tubes just as she rammed it into Razor’s solar plexus.

As Razor’s mouth opened Rev finished by stabbing her in the eye. That was enough for Razor as she struggled to the surface.

Rev hurried to help her mom. She grabbed hold of her and brought her to the surface. Cyna coughed up water.

The Vulgaris continued to teeter. Cargo containers were cascading overboard and narrowly missing them. The water surrounding the ship became turbulent and a giant whirlpool formed close to them. Rev knew they could be pulled into the turbulence. She held her mother under her arms and swam ashore.

The wind picked up and a heavy rain fell hard, pelleting and stinging their faces. Rev looked back at the Vulgaris as it continued to sink. Everything was a blur. No sight of Razor. She hoped that Hiro was safe.

The waves were too high to fight on the surface. Rev attached the breather to her mother’s face. They dove underwater. The salt water stung Rev’s cuts in her arm as they dove deeper to find quieter waters. But the tide had started to go out and gave them more resistance as the current pulled them back.

Finally, Rev and her mother felt the bottom as they leaned forward, surfaced and walked ashore.

They were close to the inlet that Hiro had mentioned. The sand was wet and muddy as they made their way to the small entrance to the hidden steps. The rain became more intense. They were relieved to reach the inside of the cliff and find shelter and safety.

They climbed the winding steps to a small cave opening near the top of