"They're intercepting us front and rear!" Scotty yelled. "Look!"
The vintas on the ends of the line had moved rapidly, and the rest followed. The MTB would soon be surrounded! Rick spun the wheel and turned the big boat nearly in its own length, heeling far over. In the same instant a rifle slug splintered wood on the cabin roof overhead.
Scotty jumped for his rifle and started firing. Zircon hauled the automatic from his belt and yelled, "Gun it, Rick!"
Rick didn't need the advice. He straightened the MTB out and rammed the throttles to full speed. Slugs smacked into the hull or blossomed as stars on the glass of the pilothouse. He made the MTB dance through the water at top speed. His evasive action made it hard for Scotty and Zircon to fire accurately and they stopped.
In a few moments they were out of range of the vintas. Zircon called out a new course that would take them through another channel more to the west. It was longer, but safer.
The three remained silent while Rick got on the new course. Attack by vintas in open water was about the last thing any of them had expected.
Finally Zircon slipped the clip from his pistol, ejected the shell in the chamber, and reloaded. The scientist said severely, "Mr. Scott, on a certain occasion at Zamboanga yesterday, you were heard to make a remark to the effect that piracy has been dead for a century. In view of our recent experience, I believe it is only fair to offer an opportunity to correct the record."
Scotty bowed ceremoniously. "You are most kind, Dr. Zircon. It would perhaps be more accurate to state that piracy has not been dead for a century. My conclusion is entirely empirical, of course, but observation leads me to conclude that the vintas in the channel may indeed have been manned by pirates."
"Handsomely said, Mr. Scott. You have a comment, Mr. Brant?"
"I concur," Rick said gravely. "Would you care to hazard a surmise about the identity of these putative pirates?"