Binary: An Encrypted to Cipher Bridge Short Story Read Online Free Page B

on her strap.
    And now, looking ahead, the end of the cord was pulling away from the post. If it came undone, they would be riding a live wire. Not a good thing. The ends sparked as they came unmoored.
    Ronnie released the strap, hoping that Zach followed suit, just as the cord split from the post. She fell into the harbor as the end of the cord became an electrical snake. Zach fell near her as the cord flailed back and forth above them, powered by 230 Kv of electricity. Forget her little light show back at the office. This high voltage would fry them both in an instant.
    She dove into the water, swimming under the nearest boat, and she didn’t surface until she had the boat between her and the cord.
    Zach splashed up right beside her, blowing out a breath.
    “Now what?” he asked.
    She pointed to the large yacht at the end of the pier. Swimming like their lives depended on it—which, of course, they did—they struck out for the yacht.
    Finally, Ronnie’s hand caught the stainless steel rung that led up a ladder on the aft side of the yacht. Clambering up, Ronnie’s very wet shoes hit the deck. She didn’t need to worry about slipping, since all walkable surfaces on the yacht were covered in either state-of-the-art high grip flooring or carpeting. You had to love the super-rich. Carpeting on a boat.
    She hit the deck at a run, racing past the large party pit at the front of the boat. There were numerous coaches that surrounded two, not one, but two Jacuzzis, along with a fully stocked bar. Climbing the short set of stairs up to the bridge level, she opened the door and headed toward the controls.
    Zach headed down the stairs to check below deck.
    Surprisingly for such a fancy yacht, the thing still had a turn-key start. She easily broke through the resin to grab the two wires and tapped them together to start the engine. From there, she powered up the rest of the controls.
    “Um, I think we stole the Triad’s yacht,” Zach said as he joined her.
    “What makes you think that?”
    “There were crates of weapons. Did you know there are five state rooms on this boat?”
    “It’s the Zeus, after all,” Ronnie said.
    “And they seem intent on re-securing it,” Zach said at the six gunmen running down the dock toward them. “They must have been guarding the boat at the gate.”
    They must not have expected anyone to slide down a power line and swim to the yacht. Imagine that.
    “Ronnie, are you stealing a Mangusta Zeus 165 super yacht?” Quirk asked in her ear.
    “Yes.”
    “Is it as magnificent as it looked in the catalog?”
    “Surprisingly, the bridge is lined in plastic, fake wooden paneling.”
    “No!” Quirk exclaimed.
    “ Yes .”
    “Well, we can only hope they didn’t skimp in other areas.”
    “Exactly.”
    “What are you talking about?” Zach asked as Ronnie got the engines running and pulled the yacht out of the slip.
    “You’ll see,” Ronnie said.
    “I thought this thing was fast?” Zach said as they inched forward.
    “We need to work up the speed,” Ronnie explained.
    He put his hand on the bridge’s door. “I better get out there to lay down some cover fire, then.”
    “No,” Ronnie said, putting her hand on his.
    “But if I don’t back them off, they are going to spray this boat with bullets.”
    “Remember when I said the Zeus was pirate proof? Well, we’re going to test that theory right now.”
    * * *
    The rattle of automatic weapon’s fire filled the bridge. Ronnie watched a bullet bounce off the windshield, and it didn’t even leave a scratch. Glad to see the glass was not just bullet resistant, but bullet proof .
    “They weren’t kidding,” Zach said, putting a finger out to touch where the bullet glanced off.
    Even so, Ronnie pushed the engines, milking as much speed as possible out of the yacht.
    “How long until we rendezvous with Interpol?” Zach asked.
    “Should be out there in eight minutes,” Ronnie answered.
    “What? That fast?” Zach said.
    “I