Topside on the Nausicaa ’s bridge, Deker and his captive Myers watched as the crew emerged from their escape hatches and cast off in dinghies. There was no sign of von Berg or Aphrodite.
Myers said, “You’re wasting your time, Andros. Von Berg won’t come up here. You’ll have to go after him.”
Deker pressed the Schmeisser harder against Myers’s back. “You go join the others now, while you still have a chance. Remember, I can shoot you all from up here at any time I choose.”
Reluctantly, Myers descended the ladder outside the conning tower to the deck and joined the last dinghy before it cast off.
Deker watched the tide take care of the rest, pulling the dinghies toward shore. Satisfied that they were far enough away, he climbed down the hatch and dropped into the control room.
Blue lights flashed eerily, and music filled the empty compartment. Deker scanned the unmanned banks of instruments to his port and starboard sides. Behind him clacked the abandoned engine room. He glanced about to make sure everything was clear and stepped into the fore-and-aft passageway.
When he reached the captain’s quarters, he tore open the green curtain. The oak-paneled compartment was empty, but the Baron made his eerie presence felt through the crackling intercom.
“Welcome aboard, Herr Andros,” said von Berg’s voice. “Are you looking for someone in particular?”
Deker stepped outside into the cramped fore-and-aft passageway, Schmeisser at the ready. He briskly made his way along the corridor toward the galley. A creeping claustrophobia came over him as the bulkhead seemed to close in. Straight ahead was the hatch leading to the forward torpedo room.
At the end of the passageway, Aphrodite appeared.
“Aphrodite!” he called.
“No, Christos!”
Deker started toward her when he saw the barrel of a Luger at her head; then von Berg stepped into view.
“Stay right where you are, Herr Andros.” Von Berg put the semiautomatic next to Aphrodite’s ear. “Now, drop that Schmeisser or she gets it in the head.”
Deker hesitated, and von Berg yanked Aphrodite’s long black hair until she cried out in pain.
“Now or never, Herr Andros.”
Deker lowered the Schmeisser and stepped forward.
“I said drop it!” von Berg called.
Deker stood still and dropped the submachine gun. It fell to the metal floor with a dull clank that echoed through the fore-and-aft passageway.
“Step into the shaft of light where I can see you.”
Deker stepped beneath the galley’s overhead hatch, glimpsing the circle of daylight overhead.
“Very good,” said von Berg, coming toward him.
They were only a few feet apart, and Deker could see the manic look in von Berg’s eyes, like that of an animal trapped in a snare, willing to bite off its own leg to get free. He kept a tight hold on Aphrodite, who struggled against him.
Deker said, “Let her go, von Berg.”
“As soon as you’re good and dead, Herr Andros.”
Von Berg aimed the Luger at him and pulled the trigger. Deker moved to the side, but it was too late. Aphrodite screamed as the bullet plowed into his shoulder and spun him to the floor. Dazed, he clutched his bloody arm and looked up to see von Berg move forward to finish him off. “For you, the war is over, Herr Andros.”
Von Berg raised his Luger when Aphrodite lunged toward them, screaming, “No, Ludwig!”
Von Berg half turned toward her as Deker fingered Andros’s father’s dagger and hurled it into his side. Von Berg cried out in pain, dropped the Luger, and rolled off into the shadows.
Aphrodite ran to Deker as he struggled to stand in the shaft of light. “Christos,” she said.
“Later,” he replied, and gently pushed her in front of him. “Come now, up the ladder and out the hatch. We don’t have much time.”
He helped her mount the ladder. When he saw her legs disappear through the hatch, he began to pull himself up after her with his right arm, his left dangling uselessly. He had entered the dark tunnel of the bulkhead when he felt a tug at his legs. He looked down to see the bloody hands and angry face of von Berg pulling him back.
“Christos, hurry!” Aphrodite called from above.
Deker looked up to see her face in a circle of blue sky. She reached down to help him up through the hatch while he tried to shake von Berg.
Their fingers touched briefly. But then a violent explosion rocked the submarine. Deker’s hand slipped, and he fell back down.
“Christos!” Aphrodite screamed as the great metal hulk rolled, throwing her off into the sea, and all at once Deker felt himself sinking with the Nausicaa into the deep.