Nugar wrote:
> Her thumb frantically stabbed at her radio. "EXOCET!" she screamed,
> her free gun back in its holster in an instant as she vaulted the rail
> closest to her, taking steps four at a time as she fled. "EXOCET!
> STARBOARD!"
Kind of expensive ordnance to sink a freighter. And having Revy ID the
missile by make at one glance seems... unlikely. But maybe she's just
(ab)using 'Exocet' as a common noun, the way people use 'Xerox' these days.
> "Revy!" Rock called, glancing up where the woman was vaulting down the
> stairs.
>
> Dutch was sprinting for the bridge of the Black Lagoon as soon as the
> word registered, but fortunately, he was already on board, gesturing
> with the barrel of his shotgun as the two probably Triad deckhands
> unhooked the cargo net from the crane hook. The French made antiship
> missile would fly just above the water's surface, then dip down at the
> last second to impact somewhere near the waterline. At least the
> target wasn't the Lagoon, Exocets used radar guidance and it would
> have to be heading for The Grace of God, but the Lagoon was right
> there at the port side, and an Exocet could very well punch all the
> way through.
>
> "Dutch! Incoming missiles!" Benny called over the radio. "We have a
> second launch!"
I gotta wonder how her can tell, with the bulk of the freighter
squarely between his instruments and the missile. I'm sure many modern
navies would also be very interested. :)
> He had to move.
>
> But there wasn't time.
>
>
> The Exocet was doing right at the speed of sound about fifteen feet
> above the water when its guidance fins twitched. The resulting sharp,
> last second dip put it on the freighter two feet above the water line,
> right at her engine room. The tremendous speed, coupled with the over
> half ton weight of the missile, punched through the unarmed skin of
Unarmored, ITYM.
> He didn't know what it was made of, some sort of plastic, or maybe
> just really strong styrofoam, but it didn't crumble when he grabbed
> it, and it didn't buckle when he kick-dragged Revy's unconscious body
> on top of it. It was barely wider than she was, shorter by a foot
> and a calf,
<snicker> Was that a typo for "foot and a half," or were you being
clever? It's funny, either way.
>
> Armed and dangerous, he boldly strode to the ocean.
>
> The shark was nowhere to be found.
Of course. Everyone knows that sharks are agents of Murphy.
> "HEY! COME ON YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH!" he cried, kicking fiercely
> at the water and sending a spray into the air. "COME ON! I'M RIGHT
> HERE! EAT ME!" He knelt and slapped the water with his hand hard
> enough to make his palm sting.
Shark: "Like heck -- I saw that movie too."
> The next day, he woke up with a grim expression.
>
> Today was the day he was going to get that fucking shark.
And this is why humans define the top of the food chain. Other
creatures are just trying to eat. We take this stuff *personally.*
> The shot rang out almost as a surprise to him, his finger finally on
> the trigger and the barrel inches from the shark's head. It quivered,
> whole body tremors as the huge shark went through its death throes.
>
> Rock collapsed to the sand, breathing heavily.
>
> He'd won.
"'Ultimate ocean predator,' and 'around for millions of years'... eh,
you aren't so tough."
>
> Revy was sitting against a palm tree, watching him silently as he
> approached.
For how long, I wonder? :D
> "Revy!" he gasped, dropping the shark's tail and running forward.
>
> Weakened, with a pounding headache and a throat that burned with
> thirst, Revy didn't protest as he fell to his knees and gave her a
> fierce hug.
>
> "Oh, Revy! I thought you'd never wake up!" he babbled, sitting back
> on his heels. "You took a nasty hit to the head and you've been
> unconscious for days! How are you feeling?!"
>
> Revy shrugged slightly and grunted. Weakly, she wiped blood off her
> upper arm with one shaking hand and held it up, looking at him
> questioningly. "Yours?" she asked, her voice raspy and uneven.
>
> Rock shrugged modestly. "Just fishing."
>
> Revy let her hand fall. "Fishing?" She glanced at the shark.
>
> He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, well, you should
> have seen the one that got away."
R!O!T!F!L!M!A!O!
> Revy seemed to slump. "Oh, and Rock?"
>
> "Yeah?"
>
> "I think I pissed myself."
Ah. *That* long. It was probably the sound of gunfire that woke her
up -- he should have tried shooting something sooner.
> "And don't let it go to your head. That was a really damned little
> shark." But there was a smile tugging at her lips.
Yes, Revy, we know, you would have taken out Jaws himself with a .22
plinker and a pocket knife. Now stop ruining the afterglow.
> "Damn it, Dutch, did you have to take a fucking month to find us?"
> Revy raged, though she cut her tirade off abruptly when he pressed a
> cold Heineken into her hands. Then she was too busy gulping the brew
> to bitch.
Somehow, that old standard romance-novel line comes back to me here:
"He silenced her the only way a wise man could."
> Benny waved greeting, then handed a beer to Rock.
>
> Rock accepted it with considerably more decorum, tapping the top a
> couple times before he cracked the seal and took a drink. "So were
> you able to save the cargo?" he asked, concerned. "Last I saw it was
> still hooked to the crane."
Thank God for Japanese salarymen -- they don't forget the *important*
details.
> Revy finished her beer with a theatrical sigh, then just pressed the
> cool can against her forehead for a moment.
>
> Dutch nodded and leaned back in his chair aboard the bridge of the
> Lagoon, ignoring the activity off to the side as the greasy fishing
> boat cast off lines. "Yeah, they had just gotten it unhooked. We
> nearly lost it overboard during the getaway and avoiding the patrol
> boat that was just over the horizon, but Fei Won, one of the guys who
> was lucky enough to be on my boat when it all went down, got a cable
> around it, and he and Huan got it secured enough we didn't lose it.
> Chang was tickled pink."
>
> "Tickled enough to take a god damned month to find us?" Revy snarled
> before Benny handed her another beer.
That's right, Benny, keep her hands too full to reach for a gun. :)
> "Fishermen have to make a living, too," Benny replied. "And the
> Lagoon doesn't have enough range to search the whole ocean. There
> were over two hundred thousand square miles you could have been in."
>
> Dutch nodded. "We actually owe Chang one, he wanted to give up after a
> week."
>
> Rock nodded seriously, then drained half his beer. Pulling favors
> like having a quarter of the northwest Philippine fishing fleet, a
> loose collection of individualists if ever there were any, search each
> island in person had to have been expensive.
>
> "I hope you enjoyed your tropical vacation," Dutch continued. "We've
> got another job."
>
> "Another job?" Revy asked incredulously. "Already? Dammit, Dutch,
> can't I at least get a shower and a decent meal?"
>
> "Beanie weenies in the galley, hose on the deck," he replied,
BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!! Of course, given their circumstances, I know he's not
kidding.
> deadpan. "But I don't expect you to rough it completely." He tapped
> a cardboard box, and two cigarettes leapt out like an invitation.
...oh dear.
> Revy shook her head firmly. "Oh hell no, running out of cigarettes
> on that damned island was the worst thing that's ever happened to me.
> I don't ever want to go through that again."
>
> "If we start again, we might have to quit again," Rock admitted, as
> if it was a private terror.
>
> Dutch raised one eyebrow.
>
> "…GIVE!" they both cried at once, fighting for a smoke.
<eyeroll> nicotine addicts.
> Eh? Eh? Why don't you anti tobacco people stick THAT in your pipe
> and smoke it? ^_^ Now I'm gonna go have a cigar and a beer on my
> back porch and listen to the crickets.
<primly> I'm not anti-tobacco, I'm pro-breathing. :)
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