Death Echo

it’s hot,” he said.
    She grabbed the overhead rail. “Yes.”
    The boat shifted as the wave it was climbing dropped. Lights shone through the rain and spray, filling up most of the view.
    â€œMac, that’s—”
    â€œA big bastard,” he said, looking away from her. “We’re in its radar shadow. Not close enough to worry the captain. Just finding a bit of shelter from the wind, now that it has backed around.”
    Mac’s voice sounded like a stranger’s, rough and blurred. He cracked his splint against the wheel, shuddered, and came into focus.
    The motion of Blackbird had changed. It was more of a continuous climb and push from the stern. They weren’t quite riding the freighter’s bow wave, but it felt a bit like it.
    â€œWhat—”
    â€œâ€¦vessel out of Tofino, heading…”
    The static made it almost impossible to understand.
    â€œThe Canadian Coasties didn’t spot us,” Mac said mechanically. “In a few minutes they’ll pass between the freighter and shore going north. We’re about half an hour from the border. If there’s anything you have to know about taking Blackbird home, ask now.”
    She could barely hear him. His voice was nothing but a harsh whisper.
    â€œI’m good,” she said, “but you—”
    Emma grabbed the wheel as Mac slumped back against the pilot seat. He kept on sliding, thumping down until he was stretched out on the wooden flooring between the sofa and dinette.
    Quickly she bent, found the pulse in his neck, yanked off a sofa cushion and wedged it beneath his feet. There was no time to do more. The motion of the ship had become erratic.
    Blackbird had fallen off the sweet spot.
    Clenching her teeth, she took the wheel and tried to hold the yacht on course. No matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t get the bow headed in the right direction at the right time. The ride became a brain-bashing, stomach-wringing, arm-yanking roll, lurch, climb, lurch, roll, fall, lurch, until the world was nothing but the scream of wind and hammering of waves.
    How did Mac do it with only one hand?
    Amphetamines were good, but not that good, especially when fighting injuries and blood loss. Mac had done what he had to so she could play Geiger games. Now he was paying the price.
    So was Emma. Even without the relentless throbbing of her headache, she simply didn’t have the skill to get enough speed out of Blackbird to cling to the freighter’s radar shadow longer than a few minutes. She turned up the volume on the radio and listened, listened, listened….
    The Coast Guard vessel she couldn’t see on the radar apparently couldn’t see her either. Nobody hailed her.
    Using every bit of her strength and concentration, she held to the freighter’s radar shadow as long as she could. Finally she was forced to cut speed a little, then a little more. It was the only way she could begin to control Blackbird ’s stubborn wheel.
    She thought about the joystick and discarded the idea as quickly as it came. If it would have worked, Mac would have used it.
    The big freighter pulled away, leaving Blackbird alone on a lightless sea.
    She fumbled her cell phone out. The screen was cracked and the battery was low. It would have to do. She couldn’t leave the wheel long enough to get Mac’s. The ride was easier now that she had cut back speed, but it wasn’t that easy.
    She punched a button.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Faroe’s voice demanded.
    â€œ Blackbird ’s hot, wired to blow,” she said tersely. “Mac is alive, but down. Amphetamine crash and blood loss. I’m going to head straight out to sea, deepest water I can find, and—”
    The sudden crackle of the radio overrode her words. “ Black Swan, Black Swan, switch to six-four.”
    The call repeated several times.
    â€œIt has to be Demidov,” she said to Faroe. “No one else knows about Blackbird ’s twin.”
    â€œFind out what he wants.”
    Numbly Emma fumbled with the radio until she had switched channels. “ Black Swan here. Who are you?”
    â€œSomeone who understands the radiant core of your problem,” Demidov said.
    Beautiful. Just fucking beautiful.
    She hissed out her breath between her teeth, then put an edge of hysteria in her voice.
    â€œYou do? Then help me! Mac slipped and knocked himself out and the water’s awful and I