Surprise Melody Flintkote. Part Two
Copyright© 2019 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 35
The bastard HIT me. I don’t know how he managed. I suppose it was surprise ... I wasn’t expecting ... this was supposed to be a courtesy call and maybe an apology for ramming my boat. I sure wasn’t expecting a roundhouse blow. But ... he struck me ... he wasn’t going to get a second chance.
Somehow I had his Tokarev pistol in my hand ... so I shot him ... in the belly. Pained surprise, shock and disbelief ... that was me ... I don’t know what he was thinking.
That 7.62x25 bottleneck cartridge is a high-powered round ... and not Russian Navy issue. Armed Piracy on the high seas. If I had it I must have taken it away ... that means he had drawn it from a toggle secured flapped holster. That, in itself, is intent to commit bodily harm. There was no way I could have removed it from one of those damn holsters myself. International waters and interfering in rescue work? I was in the clear.
His boat crew ... well. They didn’t know where to look or what to do. Pretty damn quick one of them began wagging his arms at the conning tower work crew. The echo of the shot ... those Tokarev pistols are LOUD ... had the periscope repair bunch looking ... and one of them began waving back. Messaging. Signalmen. They were hand talking without flags ... and they were FAST. I don’t know English flag talk ... I surely don’t know Russian. They were waving back and forth ... like they were arranging to meet onshore and discussing which bar the party was at. By the time the circumstances were passed ... the bastard croaked. Dead men tell no tales ... my version was the only story ... and the rapidly developing black eye. Ouch.
Fairly soon a second inflatable was tied up to the Flint. This one was the Captain’s Barge.
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