Land stopped struggling.
They looked at each other.
“You think maybe he’s ready to be untied now?” said Andre.
“I think so,” said Finn.
Moments later, Land was on his feet, looking sullen and rubbing his chafed wrists.
“Friends?” said Lucas, offering his hand.
Land grunted, then took his hand. And swung a haymaker at Lucas’s head. Lucas easily ducked underneath it and jabbed Land twice in the solar plexus, hard enough to sit him down on the floor, winded.
“You didn’t really think I was going to fall for that, did you?” Lucas said.
Land glared at him from the floor, then a smile spread over his face and he started to laugh. They all joined him.
“I should probably be thanking you,” he said. “I would’ve married the girl.”
“That’s okay,” said Lucas. “We all come down with temporary insanity every once in a while.”
Land sighed. “You’re right, for certain, it would have been a very foolish thing to do. Still, some things are worth being foolish over.” He shook his head. “She must have been waiting all night at the boat. What am I to tell her?”
“Tell her you were tied up,” said Lucas.
Land laughed and put his arm around Lucas, then quickly shifted his grip, caught him in a headlock and brought his fist down in a punishing hammerblow on top of his head. Lucas felt as if a gong had gone off inside his skull. He sat on the floor, palms pressed to his temples, rocking slightly.
“You fell for that one,” Land said. “Now I’m in the mood for breakfast.”
“Sacre bleu!” moaned Verne, from the floor. “I beg you, do not mention food!”
They took their leave of Jean Lafitte and rowed out to the Valkyrie, which sailed on the morning tide. In the early morning sun, with the wind blowing through their hair and the salty sea spray misting in over the decks, they all felt relaxed and invigorated. It was hard to imagine that in a short time, they would be involved in the most dangerous conflict of their careers.
Drakov was strangely silent as he stood by the helmsman, his gaze on the horizon. There was an air of tense anticipation among his crew.
“It’s almost as if they know there’s going to be a fight,” Lucas said softly to Finn as they stood on deck.
“You think they’re onto it?” said Finn.
“I don’t know,” said Lucas. “I sure as hell hope not. We need the advantage of surprise.”
“Maybe it’s just the thought of returning to the base,” said Andre. “If they know Drakov is ready to put whatever plan he’s made into action, that could account for it.”
“I’d feel a whole lot better if we had our warp discs,” Finn said.
“We’ll have to try to get some,” Lucas said. “Maybe Martingale can help. If not, we’ll have to take them from Drakov’s men.”
“We may not get that chance,” said Andre.
“I just wish we didn’t have to depend on Martingale to get the signal out,” said Finn. “Are you sure he’s straight on the fugue sequence program?”
“I showed him as best I could,” said Lucas. “He’ll be all right. He’s a pro.”
“If something goes wrong and he winds up in the dead zone, what happens then?” said Andre.
“Then nothing’s changed,” said Lucas. “It will still be up to us, just as it was in the beginning. One of us will have to try and get out to signal Forrester. The others will have to stay and destroy the sub. It will still leave a mess, but the sub has to be destroyed, no matter what. All Martingale and Dr. Darkness can do is improve our odds. We’ve still got to get the job done.”
“What about Verne and Land?” said Andre.