Pablo had fired the second RPG, and his aim was on the mark. The grenade burst through the shattered window just above Pitt’s head. Its high angle of entry sent it careening off the ceiling to the rear bulkhead, where it detonated. The entire structure shook from the explosion, which incinerated the bridge in a fiery cloud of smoke and flame.

Watching from the deck of the Salzburg, Pablo smiled to himself. No man could have survived the inferno.

Chapter 73

73

TWO THINGS SAVED PITT’S LIFE. FIRST WAS THE bounce of the grenade, which ricocheted off the rear bulkhead and detonated in front of an engineering console. The shrapnel blew up, around, and into the console—but not through it. Lying on the other side, Pitt was spared the lethal spray of exploding steel fragments.

His second salvation was the Hazmat suit. It shielded him from the flash fire that accompanied the explosion and engulfed the bridge. The blast rattled his senses, and he struggled to breathe, but he easily climbed to his feet once Dirk returned and dragged him clear of the carnage.

“Are you okay?” Dirk asked.

His ears ringing, Pitt barely heard the words. “Yes, thanks to Buck Rogers.”

Shaking off the effects of the blast, he staggered to a nearby window. “We should be about on her.” He had to yell to hear himself.

The words barely cleared his lips when a bang arose from the bow. Pitt and Dirk grabbed at the bulkhead as the ship shuddered to a halt.

Kicking the rudder to port when he fell had turned the Adelaide on an intercept course with the crossing Salzburg. Caught in the narrow channel, the Salzburg had to hold to its attempted U-turn and hope it could slip by the Adelaide. Pitt’s action had ensured it couldn’t.

Bolcke looked on in disbelief as the Adelaide, its bridge a charred ruin, turned toward them as if guided by an invisible hand. The Salzburg was halfway through her port turn when the Adelaide’s prow struck her amidships. Accompanied by the screech of steel grinding against steel, the charging bulk carrier cut nearly twenty feet into the Salzburg’s beam. Had the Salzburg been fully loaded, the pressure on her frame would have broken her in two. Still, the collision buckled hull plates all along her sides, allowing a rush of water to penetrate her interior.

On deck, the stacked cargo containers scattered like falling blocks. Several tumbled into the canal after smashing through the starboard rail. On the port rail side, a pair of the empty containers fell onto the ADS, flattening the dish and crushing its two operators. Pablo watched as another container rolled onto its side, pinning the leg of his fellow RPG launcher. The man screamed for Pablo to help, but there was nothing he could do, so he silently walked away.