He had to find out. He located a sturdy steam pipe and climbed on top of it just under a deck brace. With much effort, he unscrewed the brace and gently let the plank it was holding fall down a bit.
He peeked through the opening and saw … nothing, except the bare feet of pirates on the deck above, lit by torches. Nolan returned that brace, unscrewed another and peeked through that opening, again, to no good end.
He unscrewed and replaced a dozen braces until he finally saw what he wanted to see. Another pair of bare feet on the deck, but definitely not belonging to any of the pirates.
It was Emma. She was bound to a crude wooden stool on the starboard side of the boat, next to the railing. She did not look bruised or cut, but she was very frightened and crying.
Even worse, she was not wearing the combat suit Nolan had last seen her in. Rather, she was clad in a very small woman’s bathing suit. And he could see many pirates were crowded around her, poking at her, laughing at her, but mostly ogling her. These brigands were getting inebriated as well; it was obvious by the way they were stumbling about.
Nolan replaced the brace and tightened it back up.
What would happen to Emma when the pirates really got drunk?
He didn’t want to know.
Just about that time he noticed the boat was beginning to rock. It was strange because since they’d left Gottabang in the old Taiwan Song, the sea conditions had been nothing but smooth and calm, almost too much so.
But now, with each passing second, he could tell the seas were getting rougher. Then he heard the sound of rain beginning to spatter on the deck above. Then came the sound of thunder, the crackling of lightning, and finally footsteps frantically running in all directions right over his head.
The wind began to screech and soon enough, waves were crashing violently against the side of the fishing boat.
The typhoon hit full force about a minute later.
* * *
IT HAD BLOWN up so quickly, Nolan could barely stay on his own two feet. Still, he climbed back up on the steam pipe, unscrewed the specific plank brace and looked up onto the deck. He saw that Emma was still bound to the seat, getting very wet, her hair blowing crazily in the wind. Meanwhile he could see the drunken pirates staggering around the deck not knowing what to do, even as the storm grew worse.
Now was the time for him to act. He went back to the engine, reached into the access panel and unplugged six of the eight spark plug wires, bringing the engine as close to a stall as possible without it actually going dead.
This brought the same two pirates back. Nolan barked at them as soon as they appeared: “You want to save that girl? You want to ransom her? Then get her down here. And give her a life jacket.”
The pirates seemed confused about his orders, but they didn’t question him. They were too scared.
One disappeared but returned a minute later, and Emma was with him.
Nolan pretended to be engrossed with the engine—and he yelled at the pirates: “Tell everyone up top to strap in and hold on tight. I’ll try my best to get this running again.”
The pirates didn’t hesitate an instant this time. They went back up the ladder as quickly as they could.
Once they were gone, Emma fell into his arms. Soaking wet and crying, she would not let him go.
The boat began bouncing around the wild sea. Water was splashing up top and draining into the engine room. It hit the hot pipes, caused them to steam, and before long the steam filled the small compartment. But she did not let go.
Nolan managed to free one hand and replace two of the disconnected spark plug wires. The engine surged and the boat started moving a little faster through the gale.
Still, she would not let go.
They were being thrown all over the engine room, and when they stumbled together, she just held on tighter.
Finally, still without a word between them, they both sank to the dirty, oily floor, to ride out the storm together.
* * *
THE SEA GREW even wilder, and the wind began to absolutely howl.
The stolen fishing boat was made primarily of wood and aluminum, meaning it bobbed in the rough water like a toy. Nolan could hear the pirates running around up