Nir heard a groan and saw Imri rolling onto his side. The young man threw up, then grimaced.

“Dude, you’re polishing my boots,” Dima said, stepping back from the mess.

“Hey, achi, you look worse than I do,” Nir said with a smile.

“Impossible.” A trickle of blood trailed sideways down Imri’s forehead. “Israeli-made armor. I’m a fan.”

“Good. Rest a minute, then we’ll hopefully have a date in the salon.”

A long burst of muffled gunfire erupted from somewhere down below. It was followed by an explosive blast, then a second. After that the gunfire grew more sporadic.

“Third deck cleared. All dirties are down.”

Azoulai said, “We’ve got three in custody. We’re ready for our mystery guest.”

“On our way,” Nir responded.

Dima helped Imri to his feet, and the three walked down the stairs to the salon. Only once did Dima make a comment about how pitiful the two of them were.

By the time they arrived at the door, Nir could hardly walk. He was exhausted and leaned heavily on the Russian. His shirt was soaked, and he smelled like sweat and blood.

“You good?” Imri asked.

“I’m good.” Nir let go of Dima, stood to his full height.

Fake it until you make it.

He walked in.

Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

00:03 / 12:03 A.M. IDT

Saad Salim, General Arash Mousavi, and Ali Kamal all sat on separate chairs, hands and feet bound. Nir noticed the surprise register on each when they saw him come in.

Nir snapped his fingers and turned to Azoulai, who was standing by the bar. “That reminds me. One of the staff is dressed like a doctor and will probably say he’s the ship’s medic. He’s not. I wouldn’t mind having a word with him.”

“Root.” Azoulai whispered something to one of his men, who hustled out the door.

“You boys look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Nir said.

“Just kill us and die, Jew,” said Mousavi.

Kamal’s eyes widened even more.

“You don’t look ready to be killed,” Nir said to him.

“No. Please. I am so sorry for what I did. It was these two. They forced me to do it—to try to extract information from you.”

“You know, that’s what I was figuring, Ali. You’re just caught up in this bad situation, right? Well, don’t worry. I’m really here for the general. He’s a very bad man.”

Kamal nodded. “He is. If you only knew the things he’s done. In fact, I can tell you all about them. Take me with you, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Mousavi was turning red with rage.

Maybe I should let Mousavi loose so he can kill Kamal. Cage match. That could be fun.

But that wasn’t why he was here.