Chapter 33 - climbing into the dark
They climbed the high-tension cable through freezing rain and spray, hauling themselves onto the recessed maintenance ledge of the cargo ship. The smell of raw crude, wet iron, and ozone hung thick in the air. Above them, alarms began to wail across the ship’s upper bridge, a shrill mechanical scream piercing the midnight wind.
Roman pulled Clara inside the narrow hatchway, slamming the iron dogs shut behind them to cut off the lake winds.
The interior of the *Valkyrie* was a labyrinth of echoing steel corridors and humming generators. Steam hissed from overhead pipes, casting long, shifting shadows across the grated deck. From the end of the corridor, heavy footsteps pounded toward them.
"Three men approaching," Roman whispered, his back pressed against the watertight frame. "They’re sweeping compartment by compartment."
"Let them come," Clara murmured.
She spotted the manual ballast control lever recessed into the bulkhead wall. As the lead contractor rounded the corner, rifle raised to shoulder level, Clara yanked the emergency pressure valve down with all her weight. A wall of scalding steam blasted into the narrow passageway, blinding the point man and forcing him into an agonizing scream.
Roman moved with terrifying, fluid violence. He stepped through the steam cloud like a phantom, disarming the first mercenary with a brutal strike to the throat, catching the dropped rifle in midair, and sweeping the legs out from under the second. The third man attempted to retreat down the ladder, but Vance had already cleared the rear hatch, leveling his sidearm at the contractor's forehead.
"Where is she?" Clara demanded, stepping through the dissipating steam, her eyes burning with an authority that left the mercenary pinned to the floor in trembling silence. "Where is Eleanor?"
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The wounded contractor swallowed hard, blood trickling from his split lip. "Bridge... she's in the command center. But you're too late... the navigation coordinates are locked to an offshore platform... and she’s scuttling the lower holds behind her."
Roman stepped over the fallen men, his eyes darkening. "She's not just escaping. She's sinking this vessel the moment she gets to the helipad."
