The sound of boots clattering against steel echoed through the deck. The pirates were aboard. Their shouts in a foreign tongue rang out, mingling with the crash of waves against the hull. Adam’s grip on the intercom tightened, but he forced his voice to remain firm, steady, commanding.
“All crew accounted for? Stay together. Lock the cafeteria doors from the inside. No heroics—let me handle this.”
He set the microphone down and exhaled slowly. His mind was already two steps ahead. He knew the ship inside and out: every hatch, every maintenance corridor, every blind corner. To the pirates, it was an opportunity. To Adam, it was a labyrinth designed for survival.
He slipped into a side passage and began moving toward the engine room. The thrum of the turbines grew louder with each step, a heartbeat beneath his feet. If he could cut power at just the right moment, he could strand the pirates in confusion long enough to trap them.
Through a porthole, Adam caught sight of one pirate prowling the deck with an AK-47, searching. Another pair barked orders while gesturing toward the superstructure. They thought they had already won.
“Not yet,” Adam muttered.
He reached the engine controls and made a rapid adjustment, shifting fuel flow and altering pressure valves. The ship shuddered violently, lights flickering as a low groan reverberated through the steel belly. To the untrained ear, it would sound like a catastrophic malfunction.
Right on cue, panicked shouting erupted above. The pirates had no idea the vessel was deliberately being thrown off balance.
Adam used the moment to slip into a maintenance shaft, emerging silently on the other side of the deck. Now, he was behind them.
The captain’s weathered face hardened with resolve. If he played his cards right, he could turn the hunters into the hunted.
Do you want me to keep pushing this toward a tense cat-and-mouse battle on the ship (Adam outsmarting the pirates one by one), or should I build it toward a larger standoff where external help—like naval forces—intervenes?