Chapters 17 and 18 Summary

Juan grabs Sloane and the satellite phone in its waterproof bag and jumps overboard, swimming as far from the lifeboat as possible before the missile hit. The shock wave sends debris flying and they are left with no option but to head for Papa Heinrick's snake. About a thousand feet long, the structure is actually a flexible pipe thirty feet in diameter. The metal is warm to the touch and as they climb out Sloane sees his prosthesis for the first time. He quietly explains that their situation won't allow him to take prisoners, making sure she understands the implications of what he's saying. He began with the clone of the boat that had chased them earlier, which was tied up to the pipe. In the firefight that follows, Sloane has a bullet graze a two inch trench into her torso...