The Project 02 - The Lance

wheelhouse. Don't get behind that launcher. I may have to do some fancy turns and I need you to watch my back. We'll play it by ear until we know for sure they're hostile."
    She nodded and loaded her weapon. Cocked and locked and ready to go. She put on her sunglasses and stood calmly in the wind and sun looking out at the approaching boats, legs slightly apart and holding the MP-5 across her chest.
    Nick watched her. The sun gleamed off her weapon and framed her hair in a halo of light. She looked like an avenging Amazon from a new, modern myth of war. He felt something clench in his gut. He put it out of his mind.
    For the next few minutes nothing happened. The three boats fanned out in a widening arc, angling to come at them from the stern and sides. Nick looked through the binoculars again.
    " Armed. Looks like AKs. I guess they're not friendly."
    The sides of the boat offered some protection where they rose above the deck. It wasn't much. Ronnie and Lamont crouched behind a large metal fish locker near the stern. The lead boat closed and the passenger lifted his assault rifle and fired. Splinters flew from the fantail.
    Ronnie and Lam ont opened up. Two of the boats thundered by on each side of the wheelhouse. The roar of their engines blotted out the sound of AK's firing from the cockpits. Nick and Selena ducked.
    T he wooden frames of the wheelhouse turned to splinters. The windows shattered into a thousand bits of glass.
    Selena stood up when the boats had passed and fired after them. Nick gripped the wheel and pushed the throttles to the firewall. Two of the attackers veered off into another turn. The third boat crossed in front and raked the wheelhouse. What little glass that was left disappeared.
    Selena waited until it was past, then emptied her magazine. The bullets made a trail of spouts up to the stern of the speeding boat and into the rear. The gas tank exploded. The boat skewed left and stopped. Black smoke roiled skyward as the burning craft sank by the stern. The two men in the boat were screaming, engulfed in flame.
    Nick tried to ram one of the pursuers. The boat roared past. Aft, Lamont let off short, steady bursts. Ronnie picked up the launcher.
    The two remaining speedboats came in for another run. Bits of wood flew all around. Bullets smacked into the metal locker and whined away. Ronnie knelt with the launcher and fired.
    T he rocket shot from the tube in a trailing curl of white smoke. It passed over the lead boat and was swallowed in the water beyond.
    " Damn," Ronnie said. He loaded another. Selena slammed in another magazine. Lamont was firing. Nick spun the wheel to port and the boat heeled over. Ronnie lost his balance and slid across the deck. He recovered, stood up and zeroed in on one of the boats. This time the rocket went straight in. The boat disintegrated in a billowing black and orange fireball.
    The third boat turned and raced for shore.
    Ronnie took careful aim and fired another rocket. It streaked toward the last attacker and blew the craft out of the water. A body flew into the air and splashed into the waves. What was left of the boat sank in seconds. As they passed over the spot there was nothing to see but fragments of fiberglass and a slick of burning oil floating on the surface.
    Carter throttled down and headed for Mar del Plata. He kept one hand on the helm and looked around. Everything seemed lit with bright light.
    The railings of the boat were splintered and broken. The metal fish locker was holed and pocked from multiple hits. The deck was torn up in gouges where rounds had struck or ricocheted. All the glass was shot away from the wheelhouse and it was in bad shape. Only the corner posts still held the roof on.
    No one was wounded. That qualified as a minor miracle.
    "I don't think the guy that owns this boat is going to be happy," Lamont said. "What do we tell him?"
    " Pirates. We tell him pirates." Selena brushed hair away from her forehead. She looked angry.
    " Pirates off Argentina?"
    " Why not? They seem to be everywhere else. Why not here?"
    " We'll compensate him," Nick said. "We'll buy him a new boat. I've got ten grand right here." He patted a money belt strapped around his waist. "Hell, it's government money."
    " We were lucky." Lamont cleared his MP-5 and placed it back in the case.
    " Yeah, Lamont, it's been your lucky day."
    They entered the harbor by the southern breakwater, past a tall statue of Christ waiting with open arms to welcome sailors