Chapter 52 Arctic Waters, 64° 57′ 0″ N, 19° 0′ 0″ W Hantaa 05 Ship

Andalas managed to get the boat close to the left hull of Hantaa 05 in the midst of water cannon bursts and intense gunfire. A rope ladder had been lowered. Akiko held onto the ladder while Andalas kept trying to stabilize the boat.

While holding onto the rope for Cecilia to board the ship, Akiko rained down on the speedboats trying to get close with her AK 47. The speedboat was forced to maneuver back and forth because the shot was followed by a loud explosion. Akiko threw a hand grenade. It didn't hit the target but at least the speedboat stayed away until Cecilia reached the edge of the ship.

"Climb up Akiko! I'll protect you!" Andalas shouted amidst the chaos. She jumped swiftly up the swaying rope.

As soon as Akiko started climbing, Andalas moved away from Hantaa 05 to lure the two speedboats to chase him. From his position, he saw that the large ship wasn't an ordinary ship, it was destroyer type warship. There was no flag of any country on the mast of the destroyer.

It was like a mini war. Judging from everything they saw, it could be the Organization at work.

A loud explosion nearly destroyed his rubber boat. Andalas was surprised. The destroyer's cannon was aiming at him! He had to move away from Hantaa 05 and approached the destroyer.

At full speed, the inflatable boat parted the freezing Arctic Ocean. Speeding toward destroyer as its cannon was spinning ready to fire.

Behind him, two speedboats were closing at high speed. The Bell helicopter stopped circling around Hantaa 05 and banked to attack.

Cecilia and Akiko stood on the bridge and watched the chase with their hearts pounding. Andalas was able to keep the attackers away from Hantaa 05. Cecilia and Akiko took the chance to check each of the crew on the bridge using a pathogen detector. Including Captain Shinji and First mate Yoshido who were surprised but excited to see Akiko's sudden arrival.

Nothing! Everything was safe. Akiko asked First mate Yoshido and First mate Ichiro to accompany her to check the rest of Hantaa 05 crews.

Done! Akiko and Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief. None of them contracted the Mollivirus sibericum virus. Now they had to convince Captain Shinji Akira and Yoshido to come with them.

But how? At that moment their chance of surviving the attack was slim.

"Shinji san, Yoshido san. This is an emergency. We need your favor. Would you help us?" Akiko then told the long story about everything except the parts that were classified.

"So where should Yoshido and I go with you?" Captain Shinji asked after contemplating. It turned out the Hantaa 01 tragic end had left unsolved problems.

"Geneva, Captain." Cecilia answered briefly. It was Akiko who explained why they had to go to Geneva. Captain Shinji nodded in understanding. They agreed to come along. But first, they had to survive from the attack.

Everyone's focus shifted to the inflatable boat that continued to maneuver in the ocean. A small explosion occurred twice on the deck of the destroyer. Andalas threw hand grenades after performing a dangerous maneuver approaching the ship.

The two speedboats continued to rain shots at the rubber boats. So did the crew of the destroyer on deck. The cannon was useless because the rubber boat was in proximity.

The cat-and-mouse battle went on for some time until the invaders were getting farther and farther away from Hantaa 05's position. Akiko asked Captain Hikaru to use the ship's top speed to get away. Captain Hikaru directed Hantaa 05 to the nearest port in Iceland. If the destroyer belonged to a certain country, and Hantaa 05 reached the boundary of Iceland controlled zone, then they would be safe.

Fortunately, the destroyer was not equipped with guided missiles. The range of their cannons couldn't reach Hantaa 05 which continued to sail away.

Cecilia mentioned her concern about Andalas's safety to Akiko. They were escaping to the safe zone, but on the other hand, Andalas would continue to be the target of the attackers.

Akiko comforted Cecilia by saying Andalas was very tough to overcome all that. It was better for them to get away as quickly as possible from the battle arena in the Arctic Sea.

But inside, Akiko felt the same anxiety. Maybe even bigger. Hers was compounded by the fear of losing someone very important in her life.

While Hantaa 05 continued to cruise at full speed away from the battle zone, Andalas began to get overwhelmed. The two speedboat raids were very tiring. So did sporadic gunfire from helicopters coming and going.

Andalas still had time to watch Hantaa 05 cruised away. This is it! Andalas spurred his rubber boat toward the north to the opposite direction of Hantaa 05.

He only managed to inflict minor damage to the destroyer's deck. Because while driving at high speed, none of the shots hit the attackers on the two speedboats.

It was time to escape. He recorded the coordinates of the abandoned amphibious plane while estimating the ocean current drif.

The current was moving southward. Andalas was sure that in less than a few minutes he would see the plane.

Sure enough. From a distance he saw the plane bobbing with the waves. Andalas looked back. The speedboats clearly did not give up chasing him yet. The destroyer was nowhere to be seen and the helicopter was probably refueling. This rubber boat had a huge supply of fuel because the hose was directly connected to several gasoline jerry cans which were tightly tied at the front.

Fortunately, no shots hit the jerry cans earlier.

Just as he finished those thoughts, a barrage of gunfire from the speedboat whizzed against the rim of the rubber boat. One of the bullets hit a gasoline jerry can.

There was a loud explosion as the rubber boat burst into flames.

Andalas jumped just before the boat exploded. His eyes still had time to see the amphibious plane not far in front of him.

But the extremely cold Arctic sea made it impossible for him to move his arms to swim. Like a lump of ice, his body was slowly sinking.