by John Ringo
"Why?" Britney asked, but she took her running shoes off, holding them in her hands as she boarded.
"They track up the deck," Mike said, pointing to the spotless white interior. "Don Jackson's a captain down here. Used to be in the tobacco trade, still dabbles in it. He's got two or three boats himself but he also knows all the local captains. A lot of good guys don't have the money for a boat. So he sort of brokers a group of them with guys who don't use their boats all the time. Like, for example, me. He manages the upkeep, sets up charters and banks the money. Some of it goes to keeping up the boat. I think I'm actually in the hole on the deal, but you'd have to ask my accountant. Hell, I could be making money."
Mike got the lines untied, the door to the front cabin unlocked and started the Cigarette, backing it out of the slot and turning to make his way out of the maze of the harbor. His previous slots, C-19 and C-20, had been right by the turning pool that led to the cut. D-43 was way back.
He had lost some of his skills but he kept the first rule of close-approach navigation in mind; there is no such thing as too slow.
Once out in the turning pool he started turning on electronics. There was no other traffic to worry about so he could handle the distraction. There was quite a bit of it. Don had upgraded the GPS and autopilot with a new, fully integrated system that put all the sensors, GPS, radar, three-D depthfinder, even satellite weather on a single display. The old one had been pretty good so Mike was looking forward to trying out this one.
Three-D depthfinder, trim tabs, oil and fuel pressure: Mike ran through the whole checklist. He had to stop to make the turns out of the cut and watch for other traffic. There were far too many assholes in the Keys with boats bigger than either their dicks or brains. He'd nearly been run down several times by cigs similar to his going like a bat out of hell down narrow cuts, barely making the turns and swinging wide as they did. Bigger boats than dicks or brains.
He was trying to figure out the new GPS, which was cool as shit but also complicated as a motherfucker, when he cleared the cut. He kept the speed down until he hit the edge of the no-wake zone, then cranked it up a tad, getting up on plane and swinging into the channel that led out past the reef.
"This is nice," Britney yelled, shucking her windbreaker. The shout was more necessary for the engine noise than the wind; this version of Cigarette's line had a large windscreen and a nice profile that spread that away from the front seats. In fact, it was a tad warm even with the slight chill; with no wind the area was heating up from the bright sun.
Mike pulled his off and opened up a dry box.
"In there," Mike said. "We might need them later."
Once they cleared the first reef Mike punched coordinates to the autonav and dug deeper into the GPS. The two systems were connected but as long as he didn't give commands he was fine checking it out. Finally, he found some of Don's waypoints and tracks. He picked out a better one for crossing the outer reef and then found some for the Bahamas. Don had been taking his little baby far. But, hell, the Bahamas were better fishing and less than an hour away in the Cig.
"Can this thing go all the way back to Nassau?" Britney asked.
"On one tank," Mike said. "It's got extended range tanks. We may tank along the way, just to be safe." He thought about that and shook his head. "Big fast boats have more range than this one, but they're gonna have to tank somewhere. I mean, if they're running down from north of the Bahamas to here, dropping something, then . . . I doubt they're going to run right back. Too obvious. They'll swing around, maybe through the Cut. They've got to tank and they've got to drop off their waypoints. They've got to pick up their next track, probably, as well."
"So . . . where?" Britney asked. "And should we be talking about this?"
"Well, the boat hasn't been swept," Mike said. "And my name is affiliated with it." He paused. "Hell, there could be a bomb on board for all I know."
"That's a great thing to say right now!" Britney snapped.
"Unlikely," Mike added. "Sol's pretty good in case you hadn't noticed. But, yeah, we should be able to talk fine. There's no way to remote listen on one of these things short of a bug; too much secondaries. Not the engine and stuff; that can be screened out. But the wind going by? That makes it impossible. Anyway, they've got to tank."
Mike pulled up the GPS map, which was on a screen the size of a medium laptop, and pulled up an overview of the Bahamas.
"You've got the north Bahamas up here," Mike said, pointing. "Grand Island. That's where Freeport is. Then you've got this big area of open water, the Providence Channel. But here's the kicker."
"Most of the stuff comes in through the Keys," Britney said, nodding. "Which is south of Providence Channel."
"Right," Mike said, zooming in. "So, we're making one hell of a lot of assumptions, but . . . They have to run south of Bimini. If they're picking up north of the Grands and Abacos, they're going to have to use the Cut. It's the only way across the Banks. Really fucking narrow at the entrance, but easy enough for a speed boat. But . . ."
"Where do they tank?" Britney said. "I've been over this before."
"DEA?" Mike asked.
"Yep," Britney said. "They asked the same questions. Took a month, but they asked them. I figure some of the agents were going as fast as you, but the stuff only gets distributed once somebody high enough is willing to put it out. Otherwise, if it turns out to be stupid, they get egg on their face."
"I can give a shit about egg," Mike said, pointing to the Cut. "What's their answer?"
"Different situation," Britney said. "The boats are going the opposite direction. They're coming up from the south, they're not sure where they're getting the drugs as I said, then swinging into Providence and tanking in Nassau or one of the harbors in the Andros area. Then south again. They get in the islands and disappear as a hard track. Then they appear again. DEA is sniffing around for their drop points. They figure that the drugs and the waypoints never cross paths, too."
"Yeah," Mike said. "The tracks might, but not the waypoints."
They crossed over the outer reef and the waves started to chop up, the big rollers from offshore peaking into near breakers as they crossed the reef. Mike gestured at Britney's seatbelt pointedly.
"You're going to want to put that on," he said, reaching down and sliding the four-point restraint on. It was much like a military helicopter's straps so Britney had no problems.
Then he kicked it.
The boat rose nose up for a moment, then settled back down, hit the first wave and went momentarily airborne, the engine screaming. Mike didn't bother to throttle down, though, since when it hit it stayed mostly down, jumping from wave-crest to wave-crest in a continuous series, the props rarely leaving the water.
"Where were we?" he yelled over the engine noise.
"Tracks and waypoints," Britney yelled back.
Mike keyed in the opening to the Bahamas Banks Cut and leaned back in his seat. The motion was much like the FAST boats he'd ridden in as a SEAL but the seats were much more comfortable. And he wasn't wearing a hundred pounds of gear. The day was clear and the sun was warm. He'd made sure they both put on sunblock before they even boarded the helo so they were good. He checked the estimated time. Fifty-three minutes to the next waypoint. Not too shabby.
"They're going to need another tank point," Mike said, bringing up the measuring system. He created an imaginary track, running a notional boat through the Cut, then having them refuel at Crossing Rocks. He ran them back around the Grand Islands then down the Florida Straits and shook his head. "They have a bunch of range, but not that much."
"So where?" Britney asked.
Mike fiddled with the system, checking ranges from various fuel points.
"Nothing," Mike said. "Unless they're tanking at Bimini just before their speed run."
"No way in hell," Britney said. "Bimini's DEA central. One boat and crew, once, maybe. Over and over? It's a small harbor. And they'd have the materials already onboard. All it
takes is the most cursory customs check."
"Yeah," Mike said, nodding. "That's the kicker. Once they've picked up or are even near their pickup, they're not going to hit land to tank. Unrep."
"Okay, that one's got me," Britney admitted. "What is . . ."
"Underway replenishment," Mike said. "They're tanking from somebody at sea. Probably a bigger ship to the north of the Grands. That's if we're not totally off base."
"But you don't think we are," Britney said.
"No, I don't," Mike replied. "And I don't think they're tanking in the Abacos. Or picking up their tracks, either."
"Where then?" Britney said.
"Nassau," Mike replied. "It's not that far out of their way. There's range for them to stop there then make a speed run up to the tanker up north. From there they go to pick up the materials. Then they do another speed run down south, drop the materials, come back through the Cut and head back down to Nassau."
"Why Nassau?"
"Katya's there," Mike said. "And if she's there, Jay's not far away."
"Who's Jay?"
"Who knows?" Mike said, grinning. "He's a freelance humint guy I hired. A spy in other words. Former CIA, got riffed during the Clinton administration. Very good. He's been training Katya. If he's sniffing around Gonzales, he has a reason. And Nassau's big. Offshore speed boats come and go all the time. There are lots of ways to do a drop there that would just disappear in the noise. You can't say the same about the Abacos; those towns are all tiny. They could be picking them up at a rendezvous at sea but even then. No, Nassau makes too much sense. Maybe too much sense but that's what my gut is telling me."
"Is that why you chose it?" Britney asked.
"No," Mike admitted. "I chose it because it was central in the Bahamas and there was a really fucking big yacht for rent. I needed a really fucking big yacht."
"Why?" Britney asked, chuckling.
"Because I've got nearly two hundred people packed in it belowdecks," Mike said. "Getting them all there, quietly, was hell. They flew in through Miami, then out to every damned airport in the Bahamas. Most of them came in through Nassau but others came in through everywhere from Andros to Freeport. Then we went out where we were reasonably out of sight and the Lynx went out to pick them up. That, by the way, was while I was getting established. Getting their gear in place is even harder. Most of it isn't here, yet."
"That was a big movement," Britney said, her eyes wide.
"Yep," Mike said. "And we did it in less than twenty hours from the go word. I've got good people."
"Like Gretchen?" Britney asked.
Mike hit the throttle and dropped the boat to a sudden stop, water splashing up over the bow as it slammed into a wave.
"Who the fuck told you about Gretchen?" Mike snarled.
"Friends of yours," Britney said. "People who care about you."
"If they care about me, they need to get their God-damned nose out of my private business," Mike snapped. "Jesus, I'm sick of this. I live under a fucking microscope."
"For living under a microscope, you don't talk about things much," Britney said. "Not important things."
"I talk about important things all the time," Mike replied, starting the boat back up. But he kept the speed down to idle. "Stopping a shipment of VX is very God-damned important."
"Yeah, but not about things that hurt you," Britney said. "Big boys don't cry, do they?"
"You'd be surprised," Mike said, his jaw flexing. "And who the hell am I going to talk to about it? Anastasia? Adams? Nielson? One of the damned harem girls?"
"The commander can't show his weakness," Britney said, nodding. "But from what I heard, he showed his ass instead."
"Yes, he did," Mike admitted. "But he's over it, thank you."
"Bullshit," Britney snapped. "I'm not 'over' Syria. I live with it every damned night. It's not as bad as it was, but it's still pretty damned bad. Not the bodies, not scavenging the ammo, not turning the fuckers over to pull the grenades off their belts. No, I just sit in that damned chair and one of them comes over, key in hand. I'm next."
"I can believe it," Mike said, looking over at her.
"I've had hours and hours of counseling," Britney said, undoing the straps and turning on the seat. "I took your advice. Now take mine. Talk. Now. Here. Talk to me, Bambi. Start at the beginning. Go to the end. Don't leave anything out."
Mike undid his own straps and went below. The ice machine was working and the small bar was, per his orders, stocked. He pulled out an untouched bottle of Elijah Craig, filled two glasses with ice and went back up on deck.
"Here," he said, pouring two drinks and handing Britney one.
"I'm not a straight whiskey drinker," Britney said.
"I quit drinking alone three days ago," Mike said, raising his glass. "Salut."
"Blood in your eye," Britney said, sipping the whiskey. "This is good. Smooth."
"Yes, it is," Mike said, taking a large gulp. "I've got twenty-three empty bottles to prove how smooth." He looked at the glass, then sighed. "Gretchen."
It took a while, about half the bottle.
"I wasn't there," Mike finished. He'd refilled his glass with ice twice and now the second reload was about gone. "I didn't see it. I couldn't do anything about it. But I had to look under the God-damned sheet. I had to see her one more time. She'd been cut in fucking half. Her spine was sticking out. Ribs. I remember thinking 'that's a spleen, right?' " He closed his eyes, his jaw working, and shook his head.
"She was just a Kardane girl," Mike said, grimacing, his eyes tight. "Just another duty of the fucking Kildar. Be a good stud. Do the mares and go on." He lowered his head and his body shook. "And then she was just fucking gone. I'm never going to see her again!"
Britney took the man in her arms and laid his head on her breast, stroking the back of his head as he cried.
"I mean she was going to marry Kiril," Mike said, sobbing. "I knew I couldn't have her. She wasn't mine. She never would be. But she'd be around, you know? I'd see her. And then Kiril gets wasted. It was all my fault! All of it . . ."
"Shhhh," Britney said. "You couldn't have done anything . . . ."
"Bullshit," Mike said, sitting up and turning away. "I was the fucking commander. I'm the God-damned Kildar! It is, de facto, my responsibility. And, what's worse, I knew the mission was fucked from the word go. I knew we were screwed. We had so many stupid fucking conditions put on us there was no way we were just going to ghost out. I should have thrown a shit fit when the Georgians refused us helo support. Let Markov take the fucking casualties! They're fucking mercenaries, that's what they're there for! And then the fucking Russians! Oh, did you hear about that BASTARD, Chechnik?"
"No," Britney said to the clearly enraged former SEAL.
"They knew," Mike said, snarling. "I can't prove it but they had to fucking know. If it had just been Bukara, well, that would have been one thing. We could have smoked him then smoked the defenses in the pass, somehow. Do what the girls did and bring up the mortars. Something. But Sadim? He was their fucking varsity! Nielson told the Russians we were picking up signals that looked like a moving unit. The Russians are masters of humint. There was no fucking way that they couldn't know Sadim was moving! That he was moving into the sector where the op was going down. Nielson and the girls had the intel way in advance, but they didn't know who was moving. They didn't know it was a fucking brigade. They didn't know it was Sadim! That was what fucked us. If I ever see Chechnik again, the motherfucker, I'm going to sit him on a short stake and eat my lunch in front of him! And fucking Vladimir had better watch out, too."
"I don't get it," Britney said, blanching at the very direct threat to the president of Russia. "Why didn't they tell you?"
"Because then I'd have aborted the op," Mike said, his face hard. "We had ghosted into deepest darkest Injun country. The intel was building when we were still in movement, we hadn't launched the op. We could've aborted and ghosted out. But that meant somebody else would have had to
stop the . . . package. And we had a deal. I did the mission, I didn't tell the U.S. what the package was. If ANV or Delta did an op in, say, Azerbaijan, then the U.S. would know what the deal was. They'd know what the Russians had really lost. They wanted me to stop the transfer even if it meant hanging us out to dry. Maybe especially if it meant I got smoked. Dead men tell no tales. The motherfuckers."
"What was the package?" Britney asked. "Shit, that's well above my clearance . . . . Forget I asked."
"It's okay," Mike said, taking another sip. "I'm not going to tell you anyway. Funny. They go and royally butt-fuck us and I'm still holding up my end of the fucking deal. Go figure."
"You're a good man," Britney said. "And I think I really don't want to know."
