The Isle of Devils HOLY WAR
Page 11
Storm whispered to Savage, “What was it they were doing?”
Savage replied, “It looked to me like they were messing with the area on the tanker where the tanker’s name might be.”
Storm added, “Well, we’ve got all night so let’s go take a look.” While they were moving towards the bow of the tanker Savage looked off the aft and had a sinking feeling. He could see the night lights that were dotted all over Bermuda were getting smaller by the minute. He realized then that he might never see his beloved Bermuda again.
After about ten minutes of crawling under the pipes that ran the length of the tanker they made it to the scaffolding. Both looked over the side, but neither of them could tell in the darkness what was being done.
Storm turned to Savage and said, ‘Well, the only way to see what they’ve been doing is to go over the side and have a look.”
Savage added, “Don’t you think that’s a bit dangerous? What if those bloody terrorists come back when we’re down there?”
Storm replied, “You just keep a lookout, and I’ll get clear in no time.”
Savage patted him on the back and nodded. Storm didn’t waste a minute as he jumped over the side of the tanker landing on the scaffolding. He looked up at Savage and said, “Quickly drop me the flashlight.” Savage dropped the flashlight right into his hands. Storm clicked it on and then cast the beam over the area where the terrorists had been working. He was shocked at what he saw. He looked up again at Savage and said, “These terrorists have peeled away the tankers name and underneath it is a new name.”
Savage whispered back, ‘What’s the new name?”
Storm replied, “It’s ‘The Liberty’.” Savage had been distracted just long enough. He had not heard the terrorists coming back until they were almost on him.
In a panic, Savage leaned over the rail and said, “The bloody bastards are back. Grab my arm quickly.”
Storm replied, “It’s too late. You’d better hide. I’ll think of something.”
Savage dropped down from the rail and quickly crawled under the piping. The three terrorists arrived within seconds. They grabbed the railing and one at a time jumped over it landing on the scaffolding. They continued cleaning up the area around the tanker’s new name. Savage was close enough to hear them talking in Arabic. Although he could not understand them, he was surprised that there was nothing to indicate they had seen Storm. What Savage didn’t know was that Storm had swung under the scaffolding and clung onto the rope that was looped around the end of the scaffold board. Storm was hanging on for dear life. A slip from either hand would result in a fall to his certain death. Storm was quickly running out of time. The thick rope was very hard to grip. Storm swung both his legs up from under the scaffold board and wrapped them around it. Before the terrorists could react, Storm started rocking the board violently from side to side. One of the terrorist fell instantly off the scaffold to his watery death. Storm next shoved the scaffold in one direction while he jerked the rope that was looped around the scaffold board in the opposite direction. The rope disengaged itself from the board causing the remaining two terrorists to fall to their deaths. The scaffold board was dangling and banging on the steel side of the tanker while Storm was barely hanging on to the loop of the other scaffold rope. He was also banging against the side of the tanker.
Savage had heard the screaming and now the banging. He quickly looked over the side and could see Storm dangling on the end of the rope. Savage yelled down to Storm, “Hang on, mate, I’ll pull you up.”
Storm yelled back up, “Ok, but I can’t hang on forever.” Savage pulled Storm back up to the railing in thirty seconds, but it seemed an eternity to Storm. Once to the railing Savage reached out and jerked Storm over the railing and onto the deck. The two lay there for a couple of minutes.
Breathlessly Savage said, “Once they’re done here they’ll be changing the name on the other side of the bow and the stern of the tanker.” Finally they got to their feet and looked for an open hatch to go below deck. The two darted through the hatch and closed it behind them. They found themselves on a small steel platform with a set of stairs leading further below.
Before they left the platform Savage said, “Storm, you alright? I thought I had lost you back on the scaffold.”
Storm replied, “I’m fine. It was touch and go for a bit, but it worked out.”
Savage asked, “I wonder why the bloody terrorists are changing the name of the tanker.”
Storm listened then said, “Two reasons I can think of. First, they must want to cover their tracks, leaving Bermuda as if they vanished into thin air. That would be hard for a huge tanker to do. Secondly, the element of secrecy and surprise. The authorities would be looking for the tanker ‘Sahara Gold’ not the tanker ‘The Liberty’.”
Savage added, “But if Krack also told the Commissioner about the speedboats on the deck of the tanker that would be another give away for the authorities.”
Storm replied, “Let’s just hope Krack made it back to Bermuda to tell someone.”
Savage was now shining the flashlight in all different directions around the platform. It was easy to tell that they were now standing above the tanker’s main oil tank. Savage said, “Holy Moses! Would you look at the size of this bloody tank we’re in! We could have several rugby matches going on in here at the same time. Let’s go down the steps and see what’s in here.”
Storm snapped back, “One thing for sure, Savage. I recommend not to light any matches.”
Savage replied, “Ok, smart ass, I won’t.” The two went on and stepped down about thirty steps.
At that point Storm said, “This tanker must be pretty low on oil, don’t you think?”
Savage looked around with the flashlight again and replied, “It looks like it’s only one-third full to me.” He then saw something floating on the oil and added, “What the bloody hell is that floating around in the middle of all this oil? It looks like an island to me.”
Storm grabbed the flashlight and said, “Let me take a look at that.” To the surprise of both of them they were looking at a floating barge twenty feet wide and at least one hundred feet long stacked at least twenty feet high with boxes and drums. They both continued on down the stairs to just above the level of the oil. The stairs descended deep into the black oil. On the last step of the stairs above the oil was a wood plank that connected the stairs to the barge. The two walked very carefully across the plank and onto the barge. They intertwined throughout the boxes and drums until they saw strings of flashing red lights.
Savage saw them first and said, “Something tells me that those flashing red lights don’t have anything to do with Christmas.”
Storm added, “You can bet your butt on that, Savage.” No sooner had Storm finished speaking than they heard the hatch up above open and several terrorists enter onto the platform. The two wasted no time in jumping one after the other onto the barge. There was a passageway between the boxes and drums, and the two made their way through it. Soon they were in the middle of the barge and out of sight.
Savage and Storm were both on their knees watching the terrorists up on the platform. Savage whispered to Storm, “Got a match, mate? This is the biggest floating bomb the world has ever seen. It would make one heck of a conflagration.”
Storm replied, “With all these explosives and millions of gallons of oil this ship of death could wipe any port city off the map.”
The terrorists didn’t even bother to go down and check out the explosives barge. After a few minutes of shining their flashlights around the perimeter of the tank area they left to check out other areas of the tanker.
Back on the deck, Imad was directing his fellow terrorists on the second phase of their cover up. The entire center deck of the tanker had ten high powered speedboats on blocks. An aluminum pole framework ten feet high had been constructed over the speedboats. Towards the stern of the tanker was a huge roll of what appeared to be gray canvas rolled up on a roller device tha
t was at least ten feet above the deck and as wide as the tankers deck. Imad pulled out a remote control device from his pocket and gave it a click. Steel cables connected to the canvas began unrolling it over the aluminum frame. Within minutes the entire framework was covered with the canvas. From deck level it appeared that the speedboats were now under a massive shade screen. The terrorists tied down all the sides of the canvas to the tanker’s rails making sure that adverse wind and weather would not damage the canvas or flood the speedboats.
Finding the needle in the haystack
The Commissioner was now in route to meet up with a United States Coast Guard helicopter. As soon as he left the hospital he had alerted the Director of the FBI and the United States Homeland Security Director. With the aid of U.S. spy satellites, every inch of the Atlantic Ocean was being photographed in a desperate search for the tanker. By the time the Commissioner arrived at the airport, the Coast Guard helicopter was waiting and had already refueled.
The Commissioner went out onto the tarmac to speak with the pilot of the helicopter. The pilot shook his hand and said, “Commissioner, I am Captain Scott, and this is my co-pilot, Lieutenant Smith.”
The Commissioner replied, “It’s nice to meet both of you. Have the satellites located the tanker yet?”
The lieutenant spoke up first, “Yes sir, we have a tanker spotted about one hundred fifty miles north, northwest of Bermuda. We thought we would check it out first.”
The captain added, “If this is our tanker the Air Force will dispatch F15’s to intercept, and we’ll send out Coast Guard cutters to board her.”
The Commissioner replied, “Very good, mates. Shall we go?” The three climbed into the helicopter and were airborne in a couple of minutes.
Within an hour, the helicopter had the tanker in their sights. The Commissioner asked, “Can either of you see the ship’s name yet?”
Captain Scott replied, “No, not yet, but soon we’ll be able to.”
Meanwhile on the tanker the approaching helicopter had been picked up on the tanker’s radar system. Imad was on the bridge and screamed out, “Sound the tanker’s warning sirens!” A few seconds later sirens were blasting throughout the tanker.
Below deck Storm and Savage heard the sirens blaring. Savage turned to Storm and said, “What the bloody hell are the sirens sounding for? Are we on fire?”
Storm replied, “It a warning alright, but my guess is that another ship might be approaching. If it stops quickly then I’m sure they’re anticipating company.” No sooner had Storm finished talking than the siren went dead.
Savage nudged Storm in the arm and said, “Well, mate, I think it’s time to get some fresh air and see what’s going on with our terrorist friends on deck.” The two climbed out of their hiding spot in the middle of the explosive filled barge.
As the two were climbing the stairs, Storm stopped to look back down at the explosives barge and tank partially filled will oil saying, “If this baby ever explodes the damage will be unbelievable. Furthermore, it will be an ecological nightmare.”
Savage added, “Well, mate, it’s up to us to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Just as the two were making their way to the platform where the hatch was located, it suddenly opened. A terrorist with his AK47 was standing in the hatchway, very startled to see Storm and Savage.
Storm said, “Oh hell!” He quickly grabbed the terrorist by the arm before he could react and threw him hard against one of the platform rails. While Storm was fighting with the terrorist, Savage ran over to the hatchway and quickly sealed the hatch closed before anyone else could see what was going on. Storm reached over to grab the terrorist while he was on one knee. The terrorist grabbed his AK47 off the platform deck and shoved the butt of the automatic weapon into Storm’s stomach. Storm grimaced in pain, but to the surprise of the terrorist, Storm flipped back around giving the terrorist’s arm that was holding on to the AK47 a karate chop. The terrorist dropped the weapon. Storm grabbed his other arm and quickly flipped the terrorist over the railing. The terrorist screamed as he dropped over fifty feet. Half way through the drop he struck some protruding pipes then flipped over and landed in the oil in the tank. With no sign of life, he simple sank out of sight. Storm turned to Savage and asked, “Do you think anyone on deck saw what just happened?”
Savage replied, “No, I got the hatch closed so quickly I think we’re fine.” Savage looked down at the platform and yelled out, “Oh hell! You busted that AK-47 to pieces when you knocked it out of the terrorist hand. Now we still only have one weapon”
Storm snapped back at Savage, “Next time I’ll just let him shoot you!”
Savage laughed and said, “Ok, get over it. I’m just kidding you, mate.” Savage picked up the pieces of the assault weapon and threw them down into the oil.
Storm walked over to the hatch saying, “Let me take a peek out the hatch door and see what all the commotion is about. “ He cracked open the hatch a couple of inches, but could not see anything except excited terrorists running all over the tanker.
Savage asked, “Storm, what is it?”
Storm replied, “I don’t see anything.” He hesitated before speaking again and then added, “Just a second. I hear something. It’s a chopper I hear.”
Savage added, “It must be a U.S. chopper of some sorts to cause Hooda to sound an alarm. We better get up on deck and signal them.” Storm agreed and the two of them crept through the hatch and up on the deck.
Meanwhile back on the Coast Guard helicopter Lieutenant Smith had his binoculars out trying to read the markings on the tanker. As they got closer the Commissioner asked, “Lieutenant, are you having any luck identifying the tanker?”
The Lieutenant replied, “Yes, I can almost make the name out. Yes, I can see it now.”
The Commissioner was impatient and asked, “Well mate, what is the name on the tanker?”
The Lieutenant said, “Commissioner, you’re not going to like this. It’s not the ‘Sahara Gold. The name on the tanker is ‘The Liberty’.”
The Commissioner asked, “May I see those binoculars?” The Lieutenant handed them to him. The Commissioner added, “Thanks.” He was now able to read the tanker’s name and confirm that it indeed was ‘The Liberty’.
The Captain asked, “Sir, what now? Do you want to turn back?”
The Commissioner thought for a second and said, “Krack told me that there were speedboats strapped on the tankers deck. Let’s check it out.”
The Captain replied, “Roger that.” The helicopter leaned forward and flew in a bee-line towards the tanker.
As the helicopter closed within a hundred yards of the tanker the Commissioner said, “I don’t see any speedboats on the deck of this tanker. Do you think they moved them below deck?”
The Captain was also looking and said, “On a tanker the only thing below deck is crude oil. We’ll buzz around the tanker much closer, and maybe if your men are aboard they will signal us.”
The Commissioner replied, “That’s a good idea, mate.” The Coast Guard helicopter was now hovering several hundred yards above the tanker hoping that Savage and Storm would signal them if they were aboard.
Hooda and Imad were in the bridge watching the helicopter. Imad asked Hooda, “They must be checking us out for something. Do you think its routine?”
Hooda replied, “You idiot. We’re in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Who in the hell would be making routine inspections here?”
Imad asked, “Do you think they’re tracking us from Bermuda? Do you want me to have one of our men take one of the shoulder rockets and shoot them down?”