by Craig Reed
"Let my helo take the lead, your helo in the second slot. Less chance of confusion. We'll take the bow, you’re forward of the superstructure, and Javelins Two and Three take the stern. Any rules of engagement?"
Tanner stood. "The only ROEs are to treat everyone on the ship right now as an ICA member."
He could practically hear the SEAL commander's grin. “I like those ROEs."
"We all want the same thing. Getting credit is secondary. Let’s do this.”
* * *
It took Narsai, Musa and the rest of the bridge crew several minutes to make their way down the stairs. Most of the lights had gone out, leaving only the emergency floodlights. They took the stairs in silence, their faces grim with determination.
"Narsai to Masood," the ICA captain said into his radio when he reached the superstructure's lowest deck. "What is the launch status?"
"A few… more… minutes," Masood replied, his voice barely above a whisper. "What… just happened?"
"The infidels are coming. We can no longer run. I will be there in a minute. Get that missile ready to launch."
"But what—"
"We do not have time for explanations now! Make sure that missile is ready to fire!"
They stepped out onto the main deck just as Faisal and the rest of the Northstar's engineers emerged from belowdecks.
Faisal nodded to Narsai. "Engine room secured.”
Narsai put a hand on the engineer's shoulder. "How bad?" he asked softly.
"Very," the engineer reported. "The pumps are holding the water back for now, but if we lose power, this ship will sink."
"Take your team to the missiles. One of them is nearly ready. Help in any way you can, but get it ready to fire."
In the distance, Narsai could hear the deep thrum of approaching helicopters. He raised his radio. "Brothers!" he bellowed. "The infidels come! Be ready! Anti-aircraft teams, shoot them out of the sky!"
There was a hiss, and something struck the ship near the top of the superstructure with enough force to knock down many of the ICA warriors. Narsai managed to retain his balance, cursing the enemy as he hauled Faisal to his feet.
"I want the top of the containers and the decks barricaded with whatever items are at hand! Move! For the love of Allah, move!"
* * *
The lead HH-60H Seahawk fired two of its four AGM-114 Hellfire missiles at a range of four and half miles. The two projectiles ate up the distance in fifteen seconds, plunged through the still-thick smoke from the Harpoon strikes and slammed into the top of the superstructure, destroying the bridge, the two decks below it, and killing the eight ICA terrorists who had been stationed on the superstructure's roof. The bridge and the upper two decks started to burn.
The Seahawk, followed by OUTCAST’s Hip, swung to the left and increased speed. As soon as they came abreast of the container ship, both the Seahawk’s starboard gunner and Madar cut loose with their machine guns, 50 caliber and 12.7mm rounds punching into the deck, containers, superstructure, and any ICA gunmen who foolishly dared to stand their ground.
The helos swung toward the ship and now all four door gunners opened fire, laying down heavy streams of machine gun salvos from the bow to the superstructure, except for the area where the nukes were. Return fire from the ship was sporadic, mostly ineffectual and quickly eliminated by the helicopters' machine guns.
The choppers were now over the ship, the door gunners still firing at any target while repel lines dropped from open doors to the deck fifty feet below. In the Hip's cargo bay, Tanner stood in the port-side doorway and looked down at the ship below.
"All right, team…Three…two…one…Go!"
He dropped out the door, Naomi and Stephen a step behind. On the other side, Liam, Dante and Danielle were also on the ropes, dropping to the deck in what was basically a controlled fall. Above them, both of the Hip's door guns were blasting heavy barrages into the ship below.
Ten feet above the deck, Tanner caught a flash of light out of the corner of his right eye. Before he could turn his head to look, a rocket-propelled grenade shot through the air and struck the MI-8 just behind the port-side door.
The rope Tanner was holding suddenly went slack and he was falling, the deck rushing up to meet him.
CHAPTER FORTY
The drop was only ten feet, but Tanner had enough time to bring his feet together and bend his knees before he hit the deck, allowing his legs to absorb the landing. As soon as he hit, he dropped and rolled to his left. The severed rope landed on top of him like a live snake that threatened to entangle him.
He shoved the rope off and looked up to see the Hip, smoke pouring out of the crew compartment. The helicopter started to spin, losing altitude and gaining speed as it dropped — toward him.
Strong hands grabbed Tanner by the vest and dragged him toward the portside containers. After a couple of attempts, Tanner managed to get his feet under him and grab whoever had him to haul himself the rest of the way. Something clipped his heels, knocking him off balance again, but he quickly regained it. As he stood, he heard gunfire erupt from behind.
Sparks popped from the containers near Tanner's head. He ducked and spun, only to see Danielle and Dante open fire on an armed terrorist in the shadow of the superstructure, their MP5s’ flash suppressors cutting the muzzle flash to near nothing. Bloody from neck to groin, the terrorist toppled over.
"Move!" Tanner darted around Stephen and Liam. "Helo's coming down!" He glanced back in time to see the Hip's rotor blades strike the superstructure, sending sparks arcing across the semi-darkness. The helicopter's tail struck the container stack with enough force to crumple it, the sound reminding Tanner of an empty beer can being crushed. With a screech, the rotors began to disintegrate from the superstructure's contact, bits of rotor blades sheering off and becoming shrapnel.
With his team diving for cover, Tanner turned and ducked under a support beam and threw himself into the shadow of a steel box, making himself as small a target as possible. The sound of the Hip slamming into the deck overwhelmed all other noise. He felt the impact reverberate through the steel deck and then a rain of shrapnel peppered his cover.
Tanner rolled to his feet and found the team rising from cover into defensive crouches, their HKs covering both forward and aft.
Liam look over at him. "You okay?"
"So far. Everyone else?" Everyone chimed in they were unhurt.
He looked back at the wreckage. The Hip was on the deck only twenty feet away, its nose wedged at the base of the superstructure where it met the deck. The tail boom stuck straight up into the air, scraping the container sides and bending behind the cargo compartment. The rotors were ragged stumps slowly spinning down. Debris was everywhere, pieces of rotor buried in the superstructure, containers, the deck and everywhere else, including pieces that punched holes into the box he'd been hiding behind. A smoky haze settled over the dead aircraft.
Madar was slumped across his machine gun, blood dripping from the barrel. Tanner peered intently at the wreckage, but the smoke made it difficult to see either Axiam or Geedi.
Gunfire clapped from behind him and Tanner forgot about the helicopter and its occupants. Liam and Dante were already returning fire.
"OUTCAST to Javelin. We're down. Repeat, we are down.”
"Any casualties?" Javelin’s transmission included the thunder of gunfire in the background.
"Not among the ground team. Don't know the crew's status, though, and our transport's not going anywhere."
"Copy, OUTCAST." The bright flash and loud pop of a flash-bang grenade going off toward the bow marked Javelin's location. "Looks like we've got their attention. Can you move in on the eggs?"
"On our way. OUTCAST out."
Tanner stepped over to Dante and tapped him on the shoulder. The Former Secret Service man stepped back. Tanner moved forward and cautiously peered around the container. The NVGs showed him that the deck between the rail and the closest containers was dark and narrow, with more co
ntainers overhead giving the deck an enclosed feeling. There were several boxes and crates in the center of the deck, near the first opening by one of the missiles.
Through his night vision goggles, Tanner could see a group of ICA gunmen crouched behind the crates, and the bodies of a couple more sprawled much closer. He estimated a hundred and fifty feet between their position and that of the enemy, with limited cover and no space to duck and weave.
"That's a kill box," Liam said softly. "Rushing that would be suicide."
"Agreed." Tanner stepped back and observed the still smoking Hip. He noticed several cables on the ground. He traced the cables with his eyes — across the deck, up the side of the superstructure and into the smoke at the top of the superstructure. The other end of the cables lead into the container stack. He tapped Liam on the shoulder. "We're not going that way."
When the former SEAL turned, Tanner motioned to the cables. "We're going this way."
"What are we going to do?"
He motioned toward the stack of containers. "Take the high ground."
"Understood."
They crept across the open deck toward the smoldering Hip. As they reached the downed helicopter, someone dropped out of the cargo bay, staggered slightly and tried to raise an AK-47 at them.
Stephen reacted first. "Axiam — it's us!"
The pilot shook his head and lowered his weapon. His face was bloody from cuts and he moved stiffly. "What did I miss?"
"A nasty crash," Tanner answered. "Your cousins?"
"Dead. I'm in the mood for a few scalps."
"Can you climb?"
The Somali spat onto the deck. "Yeah."
Tanner motioned to the containers. "We need to get on top of these."
They assessed the large steel frame holding the containers in place. At length, Dante pointed at a ladder near the bent tail boom of the helicopter. "Over there. We can climb onto that shorter stack over on the starboard side."
Tanner led the way.
* * *
They followed the cables across the deck to the frame holding the containers in place. The frame was fitted with a catwalk accessible by ladder. Tanner climbed up first, followed by the rest of the team.
Liam stayed at the corner of the container stack. Every few seconds, he leaned around the corner and triggered a short burst in the direction of the ICA barricade. After the fourth time, he lobbed a smoke grenade at the barricade and fired one last sustained volley before turning and racing for the ladder. Gunfire erupted from behind him, but none of the bullets found their target.
The upper part of the superstructure was fully alight, looking in Tanner's mind like an ancient lighthouse shining a beacon on dark seas. The odor of smoke grew stronger while the firelight drove the darkness around it back. The catwalk hung twelve feet above the deck, making it even with the bottom of the second row of containers. Most of the stack was three and four containers high, but a single stack consisted of only two containers.
Using Axiam's AK-47 as a platform, Tanner and Axiam lifted Stephen high enough for him to climb onto the container's roof. Axiam and Dante followed by the same method, while Naomi and Danielle were lifted together by Liam and Tanner. Using the locking bars, the last two OUTCASTs climbed up high enough so they could be pulled onto the container's roof.
The cables ran along the top of the container and off to one side before rising up the side of another container in front of them and disappearing into the darkness of its shadow. The team moved quickly down to the next container. The rectangular metal boxes rose up on three sides, making the area even darker. The gunfire from the stern echoed among the stacks, mixing with explosions, shouts, and screams.
At the end of the container they repeated the process, but with Tanner taking the lead and Stephen and Liam lifting him up. As Tanner reached out for a handhold on the container's roof, movement out of the shadows caught his attention. He grabbed the container's locking bar with his left hand, his right gripping his HK SOCOM pistol. He ducked as a hail of bullets from an AK-47 ripped into the container above his head.
He rose high enough to see over the top of the container and fired twice, both rounds striking the enemy with enough force to knock him backwards.
Tanner hauled himself onto the roof, rolled to his left and came up on one knee, his pistol pointed at the other end of the container. He saw the first ICA thug ten feet in front of him and to his left, but there was a second terrorist only fifteen feet away and to his right. Both were swinging their weapons toward him.
Tanner fired first, two rounds into the closer target's central mass. The gunman rocked back, his AK-47 flying away. He spun into the side of a container and slid down.
Before Tanner could take aim at the second target, two more shots rang out. The second terrorist staggered but didn't go down. Tanner then fired twice more, until the man's legs folded and he fell over.
Naomi scrambled onto the container, her own pistol out. "Clear.”
"Thanks," Tanner said.
"De nada." She flashed him a smile.
Stephen was up next, then Danielle. Once Axiam arrived, Tanner started searching the bodies for extra magazines while Stephen scavenged a radio from one of the dead terrorists.
Ahead of them, Tanner could see another container beyond the one they were standing on and beyond that, the flapping of a tarp and a few lights that signaled the enemy's location.
"Think they heard us?" Liam asked in a low voice.
"Don't think so," Tanner said. "Too much gunfire going on.” He raised his radio to his lips.
“Javelin, status?"
"Slow," the SEAL commander returned. "They're dug in like ticks on a hound dog. But Javelin Two and Three say what's left of the stern is secured."
"We're near the first nuke. We have our bird's pilot with us. He's a Somali jarhead, and one of the good guys."
"A Somali jarhead?"
"Yeah. We'll keep him with us. Have Javelin Two and Three move up to support, but don't go inside the superstructure — it's full of smoke."
"Copy, OUTCAST. I'm sending Three portside and Two starboard. ETA, one minute."
"Copy Javelin. OUTCAST out."
Using hand signals, Tanner directed the team to start moving toward the other end of the container. They quick-walked the length of the transport structure, weapons up and ready. A four-foot gap separated one container from the next in line, and they could see light up ahead of them.
They leapt across the gap easily and pressed forward. Halfway along the new container, the radio Stephen had picked up came alive with rapid-fire Arabic. The three stopped and listened until Stephen translated for them.
"It's the man in charge. He's ordering his men to get clear of the blast zone and to hold the ‘infidels’ for another minute." His expression became grim. "He's going to fire one of the missiles.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Despite the dire situation they were in, Narsai couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement when Masood ran up to him and shouted, "It's ready to launch!"
The cacophony of battle from both the bow and stern told him that the enemy had them surrounded, but he knew that his men would fight as true soldiers of Allah would. In the meantime, he would launch the nuclear missile. Once airborne, the infidels would have a hard time tracking it, and there would be little chance of destroying it over the sea, especially at night.
To stay and fight would mean his life, because of the missile's back blast, but it was worth the sacrifice if he could kill hundreds of infidels.
He snapped at Faisal. "How much longer?"
The engineer and two of his men were splicing together a launch switch. The primary launch station had been in a cabin on the deck below the bridge, but it was lost in the inferno consuming the superstructure along with the three-man technician team. Fortunately, there was enough electrical equipment lying around for Faisal, with his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, to cobble together a switch to ignite the missile's engines an
d enable a launch.
"A minute!" Faisal did not look up from his technical work.
Narsai grabbed his radio. "Warriors of Allah!" he intoned. "The time of vengeance is at hand! Keep the enemy at bay, but stay clear of the missile's back blast! You have fifty seconds!"
Men were running everywhere, but Masood and a couple of his team stood there, looking confused. "What are we supposed to do?" the doctor asked. "We are not soldiers!"
"Now is the time to learn," Narsai said. "Or do you think the infidels will care if you are a soldier or not? They will kill us all to prevent us from completing our mission and future missions. It is best you try to kill them first."
Masood wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "Captain, we have no weapons."
Narsai shot him a cold glare. "Then find some!”
Faisal stood and shouted, "We are ready!"
The ICA captain ran over to the table and eyeballed the device sitting on it. The hastily constructed object consisted of two toggle switches and a button. They were surrounded by a mass of wires and two cables that led to the missiles.
Faisal pointed to the new components. "Throw both of these switches and push the button."
Narsai made eye contact with Faisal. "Are you certain this missile will launch?"
Faisal nodded. "I am sure of my work."
Another round of explosions from both sides of the ship was followed by intense gunfire. Narsai flipped the first switch. "Go. I will launch the missile."
Faisal picked up an AK-47. "I will stay with you sir.”
Narsai placed his hand on the engineer's shoulder. "Thank you, my brother. Guard my back."
"Captain!"
Narsai turned to look at Masood. "What?"
The Pakistani's expression was grim. "I will launch the missile," he said. "You are a soldier — lead your men. I will do my part."
Narsai stepped back and motioned toward the launch station. As Masood stepped forward, Narsai caught something out of the corner of his eye. He turned as the object bounced off the catwalk of the frame securing the containers, flew over the rail and fell to the deck. He experienced a brief flash of recognition before a blinding light and deafening sound overwhelmed his senses.
