UnAlaska

25. Lights Out

Brian and Danilo sat in the crew mess hall, on either side of a white plastic table. They were slowly nursing paper cups of stewed coffee. Fluorescent lights above reflected off of the polished linoleum floor. Their guns were balanced on the edge of the table, muzzles pointed toward the ceiling. The walls were painted an institutional tan. They had been debating their next move, but had fallen into a minute of stuck silence.

To their left, two women from the spa were eating dinner after a long shift. They were still in gray uniforms. They were talking about a stubborn client with yellow nails. "They were like the color of butter, I'm not even kidding. I told her, you have foot fungus. I tried to be nice about it, you know? But it's gross as hell." She paused to tear a chunk from her dinner roll. "The old cow told me her toes always looked that way, so what's wrong with them? I can't believe some people." She rolled her eyes and pushed pasta sauce around on her plate with her roll.

To their right, a maintenance worker in a navy blue jumpsuit was eating the same meal, as a lunch break on his swing shift. His eyes were bleary. His face was covered in gray stubble. He had a plate of pasta and a cup of coffee.

Brian's phone buzzed in his front pocket. He was surprised he had reception in the metal recesses of the ship. He pulled it out and started to read the text message. His face dropped. "Shit."

Danilo leaned forward. "What? What happened?"

Brian said nothing. He continued staring at his phone.

Danilo swatted his shoulder. "Hey, tell me what's going on."

Brian set his phone down on the table with a small clunk. "The kidnappers just texted me ransom instructions. They threatened the rest of my family if I don't comply."

Danilo leaned forward. "Hesukristo. You OK?"

"No. How could I be?" He hung his head forward and leaned his forehead on his open palms. He rubbed his eyes, and then sat straight up. "It just... makes it more real. We both knew what was happening, but to get a message from the fuckers. I'm looking at words they typed, you know?" His face stiffened and his brows furrowed. "The nerve."

"What did they ask for?"

Brian blinked. "A hundred million. By wire transfer."

"Damn. I knew you were rich. I didn't know you were that rich."

"That's the thing. You didn't, but they did. They made a reference to my company in the message. They must have done the same for everyone. They tried to figure out what all of the passengers were worth before the kidnappings, and before the ransom." He pushed his coffee to the center of the table. "The amount of planning this took, and the amount of insider information. They knew exactly who would be there, and when."

"Can you even give them a hundred million?" The three employees around them had now whipped their heads around to listen, intently.

Brian shrugged. "Sure. But I would have to sell stock, and there are insider trading windows. It can't happen right away. It would be in a few weeks, after quarterly results come out. It has to be publicly disclosed, too." He shook his head and waved the thought away. "But, there's no way. Juni is still on the ship. We know where she is." He leaned closer and fixed Danilo in an iron stare. "We need to finish this."

Danilo smiled. "Sure. I was waiting for you to say that." He pushed his seat back with a scrape, and stood up.

Brian did the same. They leaned forward and picked up their shotguns by the straps and slung them over their shoulders. The maintenance worker stared blankly at them. He put his hands in the air and slowly scooted his chair away from their path.