Indiana Jones and the Secretof the Sphinx by Max McCoy Page A
Authors: Max McCoy
Tags: Indiana Jones
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green water toward them. Snark turned the ship hard to port, then bellowed orders down the voice tube to evacuate the engine room and close the aft compartments.
"They're trying to sink us," Faye blurted.
"No," Snark said. "But they might manage to. They want to cripple us, to damage the old girl's rudder and screws and prevent us from escaping. If they had wanted to sink us, they would have hit us amidships with both torpedoes. But they don't know what we're carrying in the aft hold.
"Brace for impact Snark commanded.
Then he closed his eyes.
The torpedo struck slightly off-center, with a dampened whomp! that washed the stern with foam and sent a sickening shudder down the ship's keel.
Snark opened his left eye.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Faye said after a moment.
"It's not over," Snark said as he tried the wheel. It was locked hard to port. "We have revolutions on one screw, but all we can do now is sail in a circle."
"What exactly are we carrying?" Indy asked.
"Chinese fireworks," Snark said.
"Fireworks?" Indy shot back. "And you call yourself a smuggler?"
"They're illegal," Snark said defensively. "And you know you could lose a finger with some of those things."
Black smoke belched from the stern.
The first mate spun the crank on an ancient mechanical siren to sound fire stations, and the half dozen crewmen who were still below emerged on deck. One of them was struggling with a Browning Automatic Rifle.
"Give me that," Snark said, taking the BAR away. "Do you want to start a war with the entire Imperial Army?"
A grease-stained mechanic burst onto the bridge.
"Anybody hurt?" Snark asked.
"No, Captain," he answered in Japanese.
"Then get down there and douse that fire," he barked.
"We can't, sir," the mechanic said. "The engine room is flooding, and the fuel oil is burning on top of the water."
"Is the aft hold secure?"
"Yes, sir," the mechanic said. "I think."
The shriek of a skyrocket and the machine-gun rattle of firecrackers ended his indecision.
"No, sir, apparently not."
"Damn," Snark said.
The Ki-10 that had released the torpedo had swung around to inspect the damage and was now flying low and slow over the Divine Wind —which was, at that moment, exactly the wrong place in the sky to be. A crate of fireworks exploded, engulfing the stern in a fiery blossom of red and green and peppering the wings of the Ki-10 with hundreds of flaming, buckshot-sized pellets. The bottom wing smoldered angrily for a few moments, then burst into flame.
"He's going to have to ditch," Indy said.
Snark cursed elaborately in Japanese.
"We've shot down one of the emperor's planes," he muttered to Indy in English. "With smuggled Chinese fireworks, while harboring a trio of Western fugitives."
"Congratulations," Indy said. "You're moving up in the world."
The pilot of the Ki-10 deftly guided the crippled plane toward the sea. It touched the surface two hundred yards off the starboard bow of the sinking cargo ship, tipping up on its nose in a great spray of water, then settling heavily back down.
Snark calmly gave the first mate the order to abandon ship.
"How much time do we have?" Indy asked.
"Twenty minutes," Snark said. "Half an hour, at most. The water won't douse the fireworks—they are chemically fueled, and they will burn a hole through the bottom of our hull. Then, we'll have flooded four compartments, which is one too many for us to stay afloat."
"How about going after that pilot?" Indy asked.
"He'll drown soon enough," Snark said, then smiled. "Funny, but this old girl had the last laugh, didn't she?"
"No, I mean to rescue."
"Not a bad idea," Snark said. He nodded toward the biplane still in the air. "Make a show of it, maybe save my neck if I ever get back home to Nagasaki. Mr. Bryce, take one of the boats and fish the emperor's chosen out of the sea."
"I'll go with you," Indy said.
"Be quick about it," Snark said. "It looks like the crew have claimed the other two boats. The rest of you,
"They're trying to sink us," Faye blurted.
"No," Snark said. "But they might manage to. They want to cripple us, to damage the old girl's rudder and screws and prevent us from escaping. If they had wanted to sink us, they would have hit us amidships with both torpedoes. But they don't know what we're carrying in the aft hold.
"Brace for impact Snark commanded.
Then he closed his eyes.
The torpedo struck slightly off-center, with a dampened whomp! that washed the stern with foam and sent a sickening shudder down the ship's keel.
Snark opened his left eye.
"Well, that wasn't so bad," Faye said after a moment.
"It's not over," Snark said as he tried the wheel. It was locked hard to port. "We have revolutions on one screw, but all we can do now is sail in a circle."
"What exactly are we carrying?" Indy asked.
"Chinese fireworks," Snark said.
"Fireworks?" Indy shot back. "And you call yourself a smuggler?"
"They're illegal," Snark said defensively. "And you know you could lose a finger with some of those things."
Black smoke belched from the stern.
The first mate spun the crank on an ancient mechanical siren to sound fire stations, and the half dozen crewmen who were still below emerged on deck. One of them was struggling with a Browning Automatic Rifle.
"Give me that," Snark said, taking the BAR away. "Do you want to start a war with the entire Imperial Army?"
A grease-stained mechanic burst onto the bridge.
"Anybody hurt?" Snark asked.
"No, Captain," he answered in Japanese.
"Then get down there and douse that fire," he barked.
"We can't, sir," the mechanic said. "The engine room is flooding, and the fuel oil is burning on top of the water."
"Is the aft hold secure?"
"Yes, sir," the mechanic said. "I think."
The shriek of a skyrocket and the machine-gun rattle of firecrackers ended his indecision.
"No, sir, apparently not."
"Damn," Snark said.
The Ki-10 that had released the torpedo had swung around to inspect the damage and was now flying low and slow over the Divine Wind —which was, at that moment, exactly the wrong place in the sky to be. A crate of fireworks exploded, engulfing the stern in a fiery blossom of red and green and peppering the wings of the Ki-10 with hundreds of flaming, buckshot-sized pellets. The bottom wing smoldered angrily for a few moments, then burst into flame.
"He's going to have to ditch," Indy said.
Snark cursed elaborately in Japanese.
"We've shot down one of the emperor's planes," he muttered to Indy in English. "With smuggled Chinese fireworks, while harboring a trio of Western fugitives."
"Congratulations," Indy said. "You're moving up in the world."
The pilot of the Ki-10 deftly guided the crippled plane toward the sea. It touched the surface two hundred yards off the starboard bow of the sinking cargo ship, tipping up on its nose in a great spray of water, then settling heavily back down.
Snark calmly gave the first mate the order to abandon ship.
"How much time do we have?" Indy asked.
"Twenty minutes," Snark said. "Half an hour, at most. The water won't douse the fireworks—they are chemically fueled, and they will burn a hole through the bottom of our hull. Then, we'll have flooded four compartments, which is one too many for us to stay afloat."
"How about going after that pilot?" Indy asked.
"He'll drown soon enough," Snark said, then smiled. "Funny, but this old girl had the last laugh, didn't she?"
"No, I mean to rescue."
"Not a bad idea," Snark said. He nodded toward the biplane still in the air. "Make a show of it, maybe save my neck if I ever get back home to Nagasaki. Mr. Bryce, take one of the boats and fish the emperor's chosen out of the sea."
"I'll go with you," Indy said.
"Be quick about it," Snark said. "It looks like the crew have claimed the other two boats. The rest of you,
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