Rick Riordan The Last Olympian - 05
them he hadn ' t made it to the engine room yet . The Greek fire might still be primed ! But that didn ' t do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it . Kronos hesitated . Buy the story , I prayed . The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand . " Open his bag ," Kronos ordered . One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf ' s shoulders . He peered inside , grunted , and turned it upside down . Panicked monsters surged backward . If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars , we would ' ve all blown up . But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches . I could hear Kronos breathing , trying to control his anger . " Did you , perhaps ," he said , " capture this demigod near the galley ?" Ethan turned pale . " Um —" " And did you , perhaps , send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM ?" Ethan scrambled back in terror , then turned on his heels and ran . I cursed silently . Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed . I caught
Beckendorf ' s eyes again and asked a silent question , hoping he would understand : How long ?
He cupped his fingers and thumb , making a circle . Zero . There was no delay on the timer at all . If he managed to press the detonator button , the ship would blow at once . We ' d never be able to get far enough away before using it . The monsters would kill us first , or disarm the explosives , or both .
Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile . " You ' ll have to excuse my incompetent help , Percy Jackson . But it doesn ' t matter . We have you now . We ' ve known you were coming for weeks ."
He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm — the Titan lord ' s symbol .
The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think , but I muttered , " Communication device . . . spy at camp ."
Kronos chuckled . " You can ' t count on friends . They will always let you down . Luke learned that lesson the hard way . Now drop your sword and surrender to me , or your friend dies ."
I swallowed . One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf ' s neck . I was in no shape to rescue him , and even if I tried , he would die before I got there . We both would . Beckendorf mouthed one word : Go . I shook my head . I couldn ' t just leave him . The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans , which meant Beckendorf ' s left arm was free . He raised it slowly — toward the watch on his right wrist . I wanted to scream , NO ! Then down by the swimming pool , one of the dracaenae hissed , " What isss he doing ? What isss that on hisss wrissst ?" Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch . I had no choice . I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos . It bounced harmlessly off his chest , but it did startle him . I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship — toward the water a hundred feet below .
I heard rumbling deep in the ship . Monsters yelled at me from above . A spear sailed past my ear . An arrow pierced my thigh , but I barely had time to register the pain . I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far , far away — a hundred yards , two hundred yards .
Even from that distance , the explosion shook the world . Heat seared the back of my head . The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides , a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky , consuming everything . Beckendorf , I thought . Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea .
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Chapter Two
I Meet Some Fishy Relatives