“Copy that,” said Touchdown. “Once more unto the breach.”
“You’re up on your Shakespeare,” said Hawkeye.
* Not many seem to be up on their Dante, now do they.
What a shame. *
Jealousy doesn’t become you. Pride is one of ths seven deadly sins.
***
Hawkeye tapped the high-tech chronometer he wore on his left wrist.
“Anything wrong?” asked Tank.
Hawkeye shook his head in puzzlement. “My watch has been reading 1:11 a.m. for the past ten minutes.”
“My watch has been reading that same time since our plane flew over Es Vedra,” said Gator.
“Maybe it’s the high magnetic content of the rock,” suggested Tank. “Plays hell with instruments, right?”
Dr. Madison pointed to a large digital clock above the main cafeteria doors. Green numerals read 1:11.
“We’ve been seeing that number, as well as 11:11, on instruments and clocks for weeks,” said Madison.
“Magnetic anomalies wouldn’t always produce the same incorrect time,” said Hawkeye.
Madison smiled. “Trust me, it’s more than magnetism. For now, I suspect we need to attend to more pressing matters.”
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
The Ops team had allowed themselves a few moments of relaxation as they listened to the discussion on Es Vedra. With Hawkeye’s latest announcement, there was renewed alertness at all stations. Keyboards were tapped and monitors flickered with new data streams.
Mrs. Caine paced nervously around the circular holographic platform in the center of the room. “Quiz, can you get a visual on the submarine bay? There should be at least one camera down there. If not for security, then for monitoring the loading or unloading of supplies.”
“Looking now,” said Quiz.
“Mrs. Caine,” said DJ, “I just heard a thump over my headset.”
“Meaning what?” said Caine. “Did it come from Titan Six?”
The former German operative swiveled in her chair, her long silky hair swinging behind her back. “Negative. I was doing a quick scan around the ship. Something just bumped against our hull.”
“Something?”
“Might be just a nosy porpoise,” said Ambergris. “Or even a right whale that’s lost its sonar capability. The kind that likes to beach itself.”
DJ shook her head. “Metal on metal is my interpretation.”
Everyone momentarily turned toward the confident DJ.
“Okay, people,” said Mrs. Caine. “Keep cool. DJ, deploy a three-man dive team immediately. And go to yellow alert in the troop quarters. I also want guards stationed at strategic points on the Main Deck. It may be nothing more than debris or a buoy that became untethered, but we’ll err on the side of caution.”
“Going to yellow alert now,” DJ said, pushing three buttons on her console in rapid succession.
“Visual on the sub complex,” Quiz chimed in.
Caine stood behind Quiz’s monitor. A large atomic submarine was floating in the three-berth subterranean base. Its nose resembled the end of a fat cigar. It rested in the berth nearest a narrow concrete dock. Two guards stood below the conning tower, both holding automatic weapons. The sub was tipped, front to back, at a fifteen degree angle.
“The base is below the ordinary cargo bay where ships unload containers,” explained Quiz. “When a sub enters or exits the base, the area you see onscreen is flooded with seawater to allow easy entrance and egress. Once docked, the water is pumped backed out past the outer double doors, leaving enough draft so that the boat can sit on the surface safely.”
“Can you pan the camera to get a look at the tail of the sub?” asked Caine.
“No problem,” said Quiz.
The submarine’s tail was almost completely submersed, having been clamped down by a large steel door.
“That third door is brought down for security measures,” Quiz said. It’s also acts as a final buffer against the waters of the Mediterranean. Plus it’s lowered when someone triggers a lockdown.”
“Keep that camera feed up indefinitely,” Caine instructed. “I want to detect any troop movement in or out of that sub.”
Quiz touched a key on his console and the image of the angled sub shifted to the monitor to his immediate right.
“Never a dull moment,” said Cruz.
“Not today,” said Caine. “Not today.”
“Mrs. Caine,” said Touchdown, “I’m wondering who lowered the South Portal door. Commander Childress triggered the lockdown. We reversed it by introducing anthrax into the ventilation system, but we also closed the North Portal door after Titan Six penetrated the mountain. I didn’t close the South Portal door.”
“I suspect,” said Caine, “that someone wants to retain the status quo for now. Why — I don’t know.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Titan Six stood at the door on the far side of the cafeteria. The fluorescent lights created an atmosphere in sharp contrast to the dim cargo bay and dark beach where Titan Six had landed. Triad employees had been ordered to stay in the corner of the room.
“You’ll be moving into a corridor, Hawkeye,” said Touchdown. “The theater is directly across from you. The other rooms on the level will be to your left.”
“Got it,” said Hawkeye. “Shooter, you take point. Tank, Dr. Madison, and I will follow. Gator and Pyro, take the rear and be on the lookout for anyone who might slide in behind us from a doorway.”
“Anybody waiting for us?” asked Hawkeye.
“Not that I can see,” said Touchdown, “but after that little surprise on the beach — the thermal shielding over the two Dragons — I take nothing for granted.”
“Agreed.”
Madison swiped his security badge through a keypad and the cafeteria door slid open.
Shooter moved into the hallway, looked left and right, then beckoned for the others to follow by curling her fingers inwards rapidly.
Hawkeye motioned with the barrel of his assault rifle toward the theater. It was empty.
Madison swiped his card next to the door of every room — gym, rec, clinic, and PX — but they were empty as well. It was in the chapel that Titan Six was brought to a halt.
“My God,” Tank groaned.
“Report,” said Caine.
“Dead bodies,” said Hawkeye. “Plenty of ‘em. Most are badly mutilated. Blood is smeared on the walls, and a woman’s body is lying across the altar in front. Somebody has a grim sense of humor. Some are Triad security, some are base staff. The doctor was right. It looks as if their bodies virtually exploded after being hit.”
“Proceed upwards to Level One,” said Caine. “This is regrettable, but the dead aren’t our priority.”
“Tell them to retrace their steps down the corridor,” Cruz said. “They should use the catwalk at the north end of the Mezzanine, right next to the cafeteria, to get to Level One.”
“Affirmative,” said Hawkeye.
“I show a warm body on the catwalk,” Touchdown said. “Probably not the kind you want in your bed on a cold night.”
“Understood,” said Hawkeye. He turned to Shooter but said nothing. She understood the nonverbal communication.
Titan Six moved toward the Mezzanine, Shooter on point.
Chapter 19
DIVE TEAM ALPHA, BENEATH THE ALAMIRANTA
Three divers, wearing black wet suits with similar telemetry and biometric data as Titan Six, swam beneath the expansive floating command and control center of Titan Global.
“We have the object in view,” Diver One said. “Round and metallic gray. Moving closer. Can you see, Ops Center?”
“We can see,” said DJ. “Your cam feed is operational.”
“It’s a submersible,” said Diver Two. “It has struts attached to the hull. Looks like a freakin’ crab.”
“Chinese,” said Diver Three.
“Instructions,” requested Diver One. “Do you want us t
o fire?”
DJ looked over her shoulder and shook her head vehemently.
“Retreat,” ordered Caine. “Anything powerful enough to dislodge it might cause a hull breach.”
“Very well, Ops. We’re re — ”
The sound of high-pitched screams filled the Ops Center. Gurgling noises followed and then all was silent. The feed from the underwater helmet cams showed bodies twisting out of control as the nearby water turned red. The bodies of the divers seemed to be enduring some form of severe spasm or convulsion.
“What in the hell just happened?” asked Cruz.
DJ pointed to her monitor. “EPDs. High speed underwater Electronic Pulse Darts. They penetrate the wet suits and bodies and then emit deadly electric shocks.”
“The underwater suits don’t have as much shielding as those of Titan Six,” Touchdown stated dispassionately, his eyes focused on his own monitor displays. “At least not enough to deflect a high speed EPD.”
“Go to red alert,” ordered Caine. “Troops on every deck! Now!”
“What’s that?” asked Cruz, pointing to a screen above another console.
Chinese paratroopers were landing on the deck of the Alamiranta.
“That’s a great deal of trouble,” declared Caine. “The submersible was a decoy.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Titan Six was still several yards from the catwalk.
“I don’t see anything above me, Ops.” Hawkeye spoke in a muted tone.
“Do you see the ladder leading to Level One?” asked Touchdown.
“Yes.”
“I’m picking up a red avatar fifteen yards to the left of where the ladder meets the catwalk above.”
“Friendly?”
“Can’t tell. Doubtful, though, if it’s just standing there. Probably a guard.”
“Any other way up?” Hawkeye asked Madison.
“There are two elevators on the other side of the Mezzanine, but they became non-operational when the facility went into lockdown.”
“Shooter,” Hawkeye whispered. “How quietly can you get up there?”
“You’ve seen me in Shotgun Alley in the Armory,” she said with a slight smile. “Just watch.”
Shooter handed her rifle and backpack to Hawkeye. Gripping a Glock, she advanced and placed her right foot on the first rung of the black steel ladder. Climbing with the stealth of a lizard mounting a trellis, she ascended the ladder silently until her head was just above the catwalk. Gripping the top rung with her left hand, she raised her right forearm and craned her neck up and over the steel mesh walkway. The “warm body” Touchdown had seen was a Dragon.
Shooter stepped one rung higher, her left hand now holding the last bar of the catwalk railing. Bringing her right arm down to a resting position on the catwalk, she sighted her target and fired two rapid shots, the silencer on the Glock muzzle keeping any noise to a low phfft, phfft, like two arrows leaving a bow. Both bullets caught the Dragon in the neck as he fell backwards, motionless and prostrate.
Shooter climbed onto the catwalk and looked to her right. “All clear.”
Titan Six and Madison climbed the ladder and stood next to Shooter. Hawkeye raised his arm and waved the team forward. Kneeling next to the dead Dragon, he saw blood pumping in spurts from the commando’s carotid. The warm red liquid ran over his body in small rivers. With drops of blood falling through the grating onto the floor below with loud splats, Hawkeye took a bandage from his first aid pack and wrapped it around the dead Dragon’s neck.
“Let’s get his body out of sight.”
Pyro and Gator dragged the body to the corridor straight ahead and placed it inside the first office with an open door. Exiting, they closed the door and stood in the hall.
Touchdown spoke next. “There are four more Dragons two offices away. On your right. I accessed Manticore, and two computers in the office are equipped with screen cameras for video conferencing. The computers are on, so I have a clear view of all four. They’re standing, two on either side of the doorway. They seem to be talking among themselves. All are holding assault rifles.”
“Ready for some barrel rolls?” Hawkeye asked Tank and Shooter.
Tank and Shooter were well rehearsed in their next maneuver.
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
“Seal off the Ops Center,” Caine said. “Then freeze the Ops elevator on our level.”
“Done,” said Quiz.
“Gunfire on the Main Deck,” said DJ. “Switching to visual.”
Two dozen paratroopers had landed on board, both fore and aft, as well as midship. They looked like small, dark puffs of smoke falling out of the night sky. Alamiranta security managed to take out three before they even hit the deck, but most had landed just as the ship’s security forces emerged from hatchways. The airborne commandos slipped effortlessly from their harnesses and began firing in one fluid motion. Hot steel ripped into Alamiranta security forces, small yellow flashes spitting from the Dragon assault rifles.
“We don’t have enough forces up there,” Caine said.
“Dragons have already entered four hatchways and are making their way below-decks,” said DJ. “They’re obviously familiar with the layout of the ship.”
“Evacuate and seal off Decks Two and Three,” Caine ordered. “Damn. We should have seen this coming.”
“How so?” asked Cruz.
“The Chinese have satellite imaging like every other military power. They obviously saw the Alamiranta sitting not far away from Es Vedra. They also know from the initial skirmishes on the beach that we already have a team inside Savage Bay and are coordinating their efforts.”
An explosion came through all speakers in the Ops Center.
“What the hell!” Cruz said.
“Fragmentation grenades,” said Quiz. “Standard Type 82-2S. I think they’re trying to take out our satellite dishes and all radio and electronics packages mounted high on the steel masting above the Main Deck.”
Machine gun fire was the next sound to erupt from the speakers in the Ops Center.
“Those are our forces returning fire,” DJ said.
“Eight commandoes on Decks Two and Three,” Quiz said. “I have a live feed from cameras on those decks. We already have two casualties below, several more on the Main Deck.”
Quiz’s main console screen showed two bodies lying in a corridor on Deck Two.
“Other Titan special teams are signaling that they have assembled and are armed,” Quiz said.
“Touchdown, do we still have contact with Titan Six?” asked Caine.
“For now, yes. For now.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Tank and Shooter stood in front of the office where four Dragons had assembled. Both members held a pistol firmly in each hand.
“Let’s rock and roll,” Hawkeye whispered. “Literally.”
Tank nodded as Madison swiped his card on the pad next to the chrome door handle. Tank and Shooter simultaneously dashed into the room, dropping to the floor and rolling once beneath the gaze of the startled Dragons. Before the Dragons could aim their rifles, Tank and Shooter both fired multiple shots upwards at the startled commandos, dropping them in a matter of seconds.
“Eye-eeeee!” one of the Dragons screamed as he tried to reach a radio transmitter mounted on his shoulder.
Shooter fired three more rounds, severing the Dragon’s hand.
“I think I saw John Wayne do a barrel roll in an old western,” Tank said, getting to his feet.
“If you recall, I did one in Libya last month,” Shooter proclaimed with a smile.
“Let’s reminisce later,” said Hawkeye, who had joined his team members in the room.
In the corridor, Gator fired his M249 at three more commandos, who had rounded a far corner. In such close quarters, the machine gun sounded like a jackhammer at a construction site as it pounded out its ammo. Pyro had grabbed Madison’s shoulder and pulled him to the floor. The Dragons spun around like freakish ballet
dancers. One, however, managed to fire a round from his assault rifle before he and his comrades crashed against the corridor walls. The round missed Madison’s shoulder by an inch. The head of one Dragon lolled to the side, hanging by tendons and a sliver of skin. The faces of the other two no longer had recognizable human features.
“We’ve got to find a room and regroup,” Hawkeye said. “We’ve just left our calling card.”
“Move forward until the corridor dead-ends to form a T-shape,” said Cruz. “Then hang a left and move to the end of that corridor as well, where there should be an office. I believe it has a secret entrance to a section of Savage Bay that isn’t listed on the schematics.”
Madison nodded his head slowly, as if retrieving forgotten information. “I think she’s right.”
OPS CENTER, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
“Evacuate Decks Four and Five and flood them with nerve gas,” Caine said. “Then secure Deck Six, which accesses the Ops elevator.”
“Safety doors sealed,” said DJ.
“No one can get through them without an RFID chip implant,” Caine continued.
“Surely there are quite a few air shafts and crawlways in a ship of this size,” Cruz countered.
“Indeed there are, but we’re looking to buy time.”
“Decks Four and Five are evacuated and being flooded with nasticine chloride,” Quiz said. “Off-duty Titan teams now stationed on Deck Six.”
“Mrs. Caine, we’ve got another problem,” said Touchdown. “The feed from Titan Six’s helmet cams is cutting in and out. Lots of static on the monitors.”
“Explain.”
“I think Chinese grenades knocked out some of our electronics and telemetry on the upper mast.”
“That can’t be good,” Cruz said. “What if we lose contact?”
Caine replied without taking her eyes from Touchdown’s screens. “Then Titan Six is on its own. Let’s hope Doctor Madison knows his facility as well as he knows DNA.”
TITAN SIX, SAVAGE BAY
Shooter and Tank raced into the office at the end of the corridor Cruz had directed them to, each executing another barrel roll, pistols in hand.
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