Operation Sea Mink by Addison Gunn Read Free Book Online Page B

rope attached to the rectangular crate. Taking hold, Morland and Hsiung pulled along behind him, with Morland at the tail end.
    The crate rose, the ropes groaning under the strain.
    Below, a brute appeared amongst the bodies of the crewmen. Lurching forward, the goliath bumped the crate, causing it to swing to the side and crash into another stack of crates.
    The rope slipped in Miller’s sweaty hands and dropped a foot before Morland howled and leaned back, stalling it before it completely slithered out of their grasps.
    “Trix?” Miller grunted.
    “Morland, watch your six!” du Trieux shouted.
    “What the...”
    The rope reeled from Miller’s grasp, slipping through his fingers. The crate dropped, but stopped just short of smashing to the floor.
    Gripping the rope tightly, his palms burning through his gloves, Miller heard Morland shriek and checked over his shoulder.
    A brute had climbed atop another stack of crates and bounded onto the center catwalk. Morland swung around and dodged the goliath’s first attempt to bite off his arm, but the beast swung its massive head back around and knocked Morland clean off the platform.
    Miller released the rope and reached for his hunting knife, but couldn’t reach the brute.
    The crate lurched to the floor, sending Hsiung, still holding the rope, into the air.
    Miller faced the goliath brute as it lurched forward, snapping the air in front of it. Swinging his blade, Miller caught the beast across the face, slicing a deep ribbon of flesh just under its tiny black eye.
    The creature roared in protest and backed off.
    Shots rang out.
    Below, Morland had regained his footing and fired upward, hitting the attacking brute in the face and sending it slipping over the edge.
    Just then, the hold was flooded with fluorescent light as the overhead fixtures illuminated the carnage.
    Brutes on all sides of the group, on each side of the walkway, roared and sprinted back into the depths of the hold in search of darkness.
    Du Trieux came up behind Miller and grabbed the rope. Together they pulled Hsiung down from the ceiling, where she was dangling like a worm on a hook and spitting what Miller could only guess were expletives in Chinese. When her feet finally reached the platform, she, Miller, and du Trieux wrenched up the cargo crate, Morland dangling precariously beside it.
     
     
    B ACK ON DECK, with the crate safely secured to the chopper, Miller waved to Smitty on the bridge, and waited with the others for the pilot to return.
    If all went as planned, they’d have a response to their distress signal and could bug out of there, take the crate back to the compound, and maybe sleep for a week or two.
    It was dark out now and the team was exhausted. The blazing sun had set and Miller took a moment to marvel at the depleted New York City skyline. It was all dark, save for a bright beacon of yellow in the distance which came from the Astoria Peninsula.
    Within minutes, Smitty arrived. He climbed into the cockpit and checked if their distress signal had received a response. There was none. When he exited the chopper, he eyed the crate they’d attached to the landing gear and scratched his head. “We don’t have enough fuel to fly back to the compound with that,” he informed them. “Even if we lost the additional man aboard. We spent too much circling the freighter trying to find a safe spot to land.”
    Miller ran his palm against the leg of his uniform. “Then we wait for rescue. In the meantime, we’d better secure the rest of the freighter.”
     
     
    B ACK UP ON the bridge, Miller watched as the first officer released the controls. He hadn’t been too keen on the idea to begin with, but after Miller had convinced him the freighter was a lost cause, he willingly dumped some of the ship’s fuel into the water.
    Miller glanced outside to the edge of the deck and could just make out du Trieux as she fired a flare into the slick. The oil burst into flames and set the water