1 GO CRUISING WITH EXPLOSIVES

The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car.

Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't supposed

to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and

my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach

on the South Shore and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.

Now I know you're thinking, Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah,

blah, blah, but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and

leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few

hundred metres wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.

Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's

red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her

swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered

jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.

'Oh, pull up right there!'she told me.

We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my

favourite places, but today it was especially nice – glittery green and smooth as

glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.

My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.

'So.' Rachel smiled at me. 'About that invitation.'

'Oh … right.' I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's

vacation house on St Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that.

My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on

Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here

Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.

Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of

my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.

Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was 'on call' for

a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this prophecy that

said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.

'Percy,' Rachel said, 'I know the timing is bad. But it's always bad for you,

right?'

She had a point.

'I really want to go,' I promised. 'It's just –'

'The war.'

I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals,

she could see through the Mist – the magic veil that distorts human vision. She'd

seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the

Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up

Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my

permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.

She put her hand on my arm. 'Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a

couple of days. My dad …' Her voice faltered.

'Is he giving you a hard time?' I asked.

Rachel shook her head in disgust. 'He's trying to be nice to me, which is

almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies' Academy in the autumn.'

'The school where your mom went?'

'It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire.

Can you see me in finishing school?'

I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects

and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to 'Save the Endangered

Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker' and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a

dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.

She sighed. 'He thinks if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty

and give in.'

'Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?'

'Yes … but, Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favour. It would be so much

better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk –' She

stopped abruptly.

'Something you want to talk about?' I asked. 'You mean … so serious we'd

have to go to St Thomas to talk about it?'

She pursed her lips. 'Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple

of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's

nice to be together.'

I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The

sunlight made her hair look like fire.

We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that

way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to

call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind

myself the mortal world was still out here, away from all the monsters using me

as their personal punching bag.

'Okay,' I said. 'Just a normal afternoon and two normal people.'

She nodded. 'And so … hypothetically, if these two people liked each other,

what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?'

'Oh …' I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows – slow, dumb and bright red.

'Um …'

I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be

around than … well, than some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or

watch what I said, or wrack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking.

Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.

I'm not sure what I would've done next, but I was so distracted I didn't notice

the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on

the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH!

Hey, boss, a voice said in my head. Nice car!

Blackjack the pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too

annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood, but I didn't think Paul Blofis

would be real stoked.

'Blackjack,' I sighed. 'What are you –'

Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a

lot more complicated.

''Sup, Percy.'

Charles Beckendorf, senior counsellor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make

most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped muscles from

working in the forges every summer. He was two years older than me and one of

the camp's best armour-smiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical

stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek fire bomb in the bathroom of a tour

bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took

out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went flush.

Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war

helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag

was slung over his shoulder.

'Time?' I asked.

He nodded grimly.

A lump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning

it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.

Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. 'Hi.'

'Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me … uh, I mean

he mentioned you.'

Rachel raised an eyebrow. 'Really? Good.' She glanced at Blackjack, who was

clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. 'So I guess you guys have to

go save the world now.'

'Pretty much,' Beckendorf agreed.

I looked at Rachel helplessly. 'Would you tell my mom –'

'I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood.'

I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his

car.

'Good luck.' Rachel kissed me before I could even react. 'Now get going,

half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me.'

My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms

crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf

and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and

whether I'd live long enough to find out.

'So,' Beckendorf said. 'I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little

scene to Annabeth.'

'Oh, gods,' I muttered. 'Don't even think about it.'

Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.

It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda

glowed on the horizon – a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white. From a

distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan

lord. Then, as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead – a darkhaired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her

face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to

carry.

Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the

Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.

'You know what to do?' Beckendorf yelled over the wind.

I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using

abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also

knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.

'Blackjack,' I said, 'set us down on the lowest stern deck.'

Gotcha, boss, he said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.

Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda

until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd

rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.

'Don't wait for us,' I told him.

But, boss –

'Trust me,' I said. 'We'll get out by ourselves.'

Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted towards the boat like a black

comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks

of the ship – dracaenae snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid

sea-lion demons known as telkhines – but we zipped by so fast none of them

raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat and Blackjack spread his

wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling

queasy.

Good luck, boss, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horsemeat!

With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my

pocket, uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size – one metre of deadly

celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.

Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or

something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light –

the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. They'd started

going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, 'Duh, you guys like

each other!' Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier

this summer than I'd ever seen him.

'We'll make it back to camp,' I promised.

For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.

'You bet,' he said. 'Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces.'

Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell,

just like we'd practised, but we froze when we heard noises above us.

'I don't care what your nose says!' snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a

telkhine. 'The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meatloaf

sandwich!'

'Meatloaf sandwiches are good!' a second voice snarled. 'But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!'

'Bah, your brain isn't on board!'

They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended

as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to

fade.

Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words, Engine

room.

It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and

split the bolt like it was made of butter.

Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed.

Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was

hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work he didn't notice

us. He was about a metre and a half tall, with slick black sea-lion fur and stubby

little feet. He had the head of a Dobermann, but his clawed hands were almost

human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was

messaging his friends on uglyface.com.

I stepped forward and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He

leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He

hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide and he exploded into dust.

'One down,' Beckendorf said. 'About five thousand to go.' He tossed me a jar

of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances

in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool of demigod heroes – duct

tape.

'Slap that one on the console,' he said. 'I'll get the turbines.'

We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were

drenched in sweat.

The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have

perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19˚

north, 71.90˚ west, making eighteen knots an hour, which meant the ship would

arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it.

I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I

heard the pounding of feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the

stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign.

I locked eyes with Beckendorf. 'How much longer?'

'Too long.' He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. 'I

still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least.'

Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds.

'I'll distract them,' I said. 'Meet you at the rendezvous point.'

'Percy –'

'Wish me luck.'

He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out

without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise.

'Good luck,' he said.

I charged out of the door.

Half a dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with

Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine who

was so startled he dropped his Li'l Demons lunchbox. I left him alive – partly

because his lunchbox was cool, partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully

get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.

I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted

hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster

occupation the wallpaper, carpet and stateroom doors had been clawed up and

slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and, yes, unfortunately I

speak from experience).

Back on my first visit to the Princess Andromeda, my old enemy Luke had

kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't

realize they were on a monster-infested ship. Now, I didn't see any sign of

tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted

they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.

I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle

of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain.

And in the fountain squatted a giant crab.

I'm not talking 'giant' like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm

talking 'giant' like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose over three metres

out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my

body.

If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and

snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to

billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in

them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win

me any points with Mr Crabby.

'FFFFfffffff,' it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming

off it was like a garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all

week.

Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep

moving.

'Hey, crabby.' I inched around the edge of the courtyard. 'I'm just gonna scoot

around you so –'

The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came

straight at me, pincers snapping. I dived into a gift shop, ploughing through a

rack of T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across

the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr Crabby turned and

followed.

'There!' a voice said from a balcony above me. 'Intruder!'

If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I

wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the centre of the ship, I was crab chow.

The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip

of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.

I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this

thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules

crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was

slightly bigger than my Reeboks.

Then a weird thought came to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought

Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul

had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things he'd

shown me how crabs have a chink in their armour, right in the middle of their

ugly bellies.

The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.

I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling

crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain

exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies

and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved

water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it,

screaming, 'AHHHHHHH!'

Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet

marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven-ton

armoured vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it

realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armour, let go

of the hilt and pushed myself out the back side.

The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright

red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive

heap.

I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while

all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their

weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket

sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the

crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.

In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae slithered across my

path. From the waist up, they were women with green scaly skin, yellow eyes

and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead

of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they

could use them.

'What isss thisss?' one said. 'A prize for Kronosss!'

I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand

with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. I ripped the model off

the pedestal and hurled it at the first dracaena. The boat smacked her in the face

and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear

and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator and I kept running towards

the front of the ship.

'Get him!'she screamed.

Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and

impaled itself in the mahogany-panelled wall of the stairwell.

I didn't care – as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and

gave Beckendorf more time.

As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd

just woken up from a nap. His armour was half on. He drew his sword and

yelled, 'Kronos!' but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been

more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp

Half-Blood.

That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate

the gods and lash out because he'd been born half-Olympian. Kronos was using

him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.

No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped

inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword

clattered out of his hand.

Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely

jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it.

'If you want to live,' I told him, 'get off this ship now. Tell the other

demigods.' Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next

floor.

I kept climbing.

Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half-brother

Tyson and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit.

I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening

from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with

more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily

deserted.

All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase

down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck,

Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers

would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter of a mile

away.

I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze.

'You're late, Percy.'

Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore

jeans, a white T-shirt and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-aged guy,

but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.

'We've been expecting you for days.' At first he sounded normal, like Luke.

But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body like he'd just

drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient and powerful –

the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a

knife blade. 'Come, bow before me.'

'Yeah, that'll happen,' I muttered.

Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd

been waiting for a cue. Each was two and a half metres tall with tattooed arms,

leather armour and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above

Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at

me. Within seconds, I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've got

into position so fast unless they knew I was coming.

I looked up at Luke and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's

consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice

had changed … or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told

myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos

possessed him.

A voice in my head said: I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?

According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or

destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why

not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could

end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and

gods before.

As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was Kronos. I had to

remember that.

'Come forward,' he said, 'if you dare.'

The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I

was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my

pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it and Riptide grew into a sword.

Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a two-metre-long scythe, half

celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn

to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind I charged.

Time slowed down. I mean literally slowed down, because Kronos had that

power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy I could

barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and

waiting for me to creep towards my death.

I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of

my power. I'd got better at channelling it over the years, but now nothing

seemed to happen.

I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. Dracaenae hissed with

laughter.

Hey, ocean, I pleaded. Any day now would be good.

Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched

sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water

surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the

deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.

I struck at Kronos but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his

face – Luke's face, a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it

was hard to kill him.

Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped

back and the evil blade missed by a millimetre, cutting a gash in the deck right

between my feet.

I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backwards, but he was heavier than

Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.

Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was

so powerful my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my

shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the

entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea-demon had

once said about Kronos's scythe: Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will

sever your soul from your body. Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just

losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.

I stumbled backwards, switched my sword to my left hand and lunged

desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his

stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived

that.

Kronos laughed. 'A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were

never his match at swordplay.'

My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time. 'Luke had a big

head,' I said. 'But at least it was his head.'

'A shame to kill you now,' Kronos mused, 'before the final plan unfolds. I

would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy

Olympus.'

'You'll never get this boat to Manhattan.' My arm was throbbing. Black spots

danced in my eyes.

'And why would that be?' Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's

face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power.

'Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?'

He looked down at the pool and called, 'Nakamura!'

A teenage guy in full Greek armour pushed through the crowd. His left eye

was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son

of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer and, in return, the

little punk helped Kronos come back to life.

'Success, my lord,' Ethan called. 'We found him just as we were told.'

He clapped his hands and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles

Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen

eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armour was gone and his shirt was

nearly torn off.

'No!' I yelled.

Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me

something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was

it possible the explosives were armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled

them right away.

'We found him amidships,' one of the giants said, 'trying to sneak to the

engine room. Can we eat him now?'

'Soon.' Kronos scowled at Ethan. 'Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?'

'He was going towards the engine room, my lord.'

'How do you know that?'

'Er …' Ethan shifted uncomfortably. 'He was heading in that direction. And

he told us. His bag is still full of explosives.'

Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd

realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going

the other way. He'd convinced 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

backwards. 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 towards 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 – towards 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 his 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 – towards the water thirty metres

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 –

fifty metres, a hundred metres.

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 towards the bottom of the sea.