Necessary Retribution

by Mike McNeff

  Emmett pointed to his eyes and then to his weapon.

  Rick nodded indicating he did see weapons.

  Emmett signaled that the team would go down the stairs fan out and take out all seven enemy. The other men understood, in a fan, left side takes out targets starting on the left, the center takes out targets in the middle and the right side takes out targets starting on the right. He held up three fingers and the others nodded. They readied themselves to go down the stairs.

  Rick held up three fingers and pulled one in…then another…then the third.

  Emmett saw Doug move to the left and followed Rick as he stopped in the center. Emmett saw seven men dressed in camouflage around two RIBs. They had the center cargo door halfway open. The man furthest to the left saw them coming and yelled as he reached for a weapon and Doug fired a burst into the man's torso spinning him around. Emmett focused on the man furthest on the right. He had a quizzical look on his face that disappeared as his head exploded from Emmett's 9mm rounds hitting it. Emmett swung his weapon to the left and targeted a man diving behind the closest RIB. Emmett fired a five round burst that tore through the boat and smashed into the terrorist's torso. Swinging his weapon further left he looked for more targets, but all seven men were down.

  ’ weapons. They pushed everything overboard after puncturing the air cells of the boats with their knives and. Emmett waved the men back to the stairwell and led the team down to the main cargo hold in the bottom of the ship. He peeked under the ledge there, but saw no one and led the team all the way down. They quickly fanned out, with Emmett going to the starboard seam in the middle of the ship, Doug to the port seam.

  Rick went to the engine room as Emmett and Doug started setting their charges, but Rick froze at the door. A man wearing dirty green coveralls stood inside. The man turned, saw Rick and reached for an AK47 leaning against a bulkhead. Rick had slung his MP5 and held the haversacks full of C4. The man grabbed the rifle by the barrel with his left hand and pulled it up and grabbed the trigger area with his right hand. At the same time, Rick dropped the haversacks and drew his pistol. Rick fired first hitting the man in the chest. The man started falling backward and his dying reflex pulled the trigger of his rifle firing a four round burst with the first round hitting the bulkhead to the left of Rick's leg, spraying it with shrapnel. The second round hit Rick's upper left leg, smashing into the thigh muscle and exited at an angle. The third round hit him in the right side of his stomach just under his vest, coming out the back of his right side, leaving a large hole. The last round hit the bulkhead just to the right of Rick's head, slamming shrapnel into the right side.

  Emmett had just set his charges for ten minutes and saw Doug finished his when he heard the shots. He looked to the engine room to see Rick crashing to the ground. Both Emmett and Doug ran to Rick. Emmett bent down over Rick.

  “Rick! Talk to me!”

  Rick tried to mouth words, but nothing came out.

  “Doug, cover while I check him out!”

  “We gotta go, Emmett! The charges are set! Let's get him outta here and work on him on the boat!”

  “Standby, dammit!”

  Emmett worked feverishly to stop all the bleeding he could and he gave Rick morphine. “Okay, let's go!”

  Doug set Rick's charge and threw it into the engine room. Emmett picked Rick up in his huge arms and cradled him like a baby. Doug led the way back to the stairs, MP5 at the ready. He stopped at the top and saw a man coming quickly down the stairs with a panicked look on his face and pointing an AK 47. Doug put his sights on the man's head and fired a burst, stitching up the man's torso. The man fell back and then started slipping down the stairs at Doug. Doug kicked him off the stairs so he wouldn't hit Emmett and Rick.

  HHe cleared the tween deck and motioned Emmett up. Doug led the way up the stairway to the weather deck. He stopped at the door and cleared the area.

  Doug scrambled up the ladder to the second deck of the super-structure and took a rope out of his pack. He held on to both ends and dropped the loop to Emmett who put it under Rick's arms. Doug pulled Rick up while Emmett helped by holding Rick enough to halve his weight on the rope. They got Rick to the deck and moved to the exhaust stack and over the incline. Then Emmett climbed down to the platform at the top of the rope ladder. He aimed his flashlight toward the rear of the ship and flashed three times. Immediately, Cái arrived at the stern with the RIB. Doug lowered Rick to Emmett and then climbed down to the platform. Emmett started down the ladder when an explosion rocked the boat…then another.

  Doug steadied himself and lowered Rick to Emmett and then together, they worked him down the ladder. The ship had slowed considerably and settled lower in the water. Emmett let Rick hang for a moment and stepped into the RIB. Then he grabbed Rick's feet and pulled him into the boat as gently as he could. Emmett waved for Doug to come down. Men were shouting on the boat now.

  Doug looked up at the superstructure. “Emmett! Get away from the ship! The engine room is going to blow!”

  “Get your ass down here, now!”

  Doug saluted Emmett and climbed back up the ladder and moved to the second deck. He cleared the area and went to the bridge. He looked through the window and saw a man screaming into a microphone. He had a pistol in the other hand. The man threw the microphone at the bridge console just as Doug entered the bridge. The man turned and Doug fired a burst into the man's chest and then his head. He fell backwards onto the bridge console and then hit the deck with a dull thud.

  The crewman they had hogtied still lay there with terrified eyes. Doug cut the plastic cuffs, waved to the man and ran out the door. Another explosion rocked the ship. He looked around and saw no one so he scrambled over the incline and climbed down to the platform at the top of the rope ladder. To his surprise, the crewman from the bridge followed him and when he landed on the platform, he raised his hands in a gesture to show he meant no harm and then indicated he wanted to come with Doug.

  The water splashed around the small deck and Doug grabbed the man, flashed his light three times out to sea and jumped into the water holding the terrified seaman. Moments later the man started shouting. Doug looked back and realized the crewman couldn't swim. He swam to the man and grabbed him. Turning him around, Doug put his left arm under the man's armpits and began a lifeguard carry away from the ship. Doug truly worried he couldn't swim fast enough away from the ship before it sank and took him down with its suction.

  He swam as hard as he could until he heard an outboard engine. He reached into the vest and pulled out a chemlite, lit it and held it up. His arms and legs ached and he didn't know how long he could hold the other man up. The outboard came closer and it bumped into him.

  “Emmett! I'm here!”

  The engine went into idle and Cái's face appeared over the side of the boat. “Emmett's back on the General's boat, working on Rick. Get in!”

  “Here, help this idiot get on board.” Cái flashed a surprised look and then reached over and pulled in the crewman. Doug then climbed on board and flopped down on the deck, his left shoulder throbbing. Cái jumped to the helm and gunned the engine, pulling the RIB in a tight turn away from the ship and back to David's boat. Doug sat up and watched as the ship broke up and sank into the sea. The man looked at him, put his hands together and bowed to Doug. He nodded back.

  As they approached David's boat, a helicopter flew away. Cái brought the RIB up to the stern and Doug scrambled onto the swim platform and secured the line. Cái took the crewman's arm and led him off the RIB. Doug and David pulled the RIB onto the boat then David went to the helm and headed the boat back to Hualien.

  “Is Rick on that chopper?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is he doing?”

  “Not good. Emmett had to restart his heart twice here. It's a good thing he is a medic or Rick would be dead.”

  Doug dropped into the seat next to David, his mind and stomach churning at the same time. A plan formed in his mind. “Where is the cho
pper taking Rick and Emmett?”

  “To the Navy hospital in Taipei.”

  “You still have one of our sat phones?”

  “Yes, it's over there,” David said pointing to a waterproof bag.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  ROBIN AND MARK WATCHED from their dark corner as two men talked at the door to the engine room. The men had come down a few minutes after Robin and Mark settled into their hiding space. Since then, one stayed there while the other kept going up the steps and coming back a few minutes later.

  The ship had been underway for almost an hour and it rolled and pitched in the storm. Robin figured they had a good hour, maybe even an hour and a half to take care of business and get off the ship before the charges blew. The ship wasn't large, so he figured it wouldn't take too long to find the nuke. Of course, they had to get by the tangos and the crew to find it…minor problem.

  The two men at the engine room headed for the stairs, still talking to each other. Robin could just hear enough to understand they had some kind of problem with the engine.

  Mark looked at Robin. “What's the plan, boss?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “You're not bolstering my confidence, Rob.”

  Robin smiled at Mark. “We have Ernie's plan, we're just going to have to adapt it to a two man team instead of a six man team.”

  Mark had a silent thinking moment. “Well, once on board the ship, his plan called for disabling the ship's communications.”

  “Right, but he counted on getting on the ship from the outside. We have to get to those antenna from the inside or blow the radios in the bridge with our grenades. Either way, my guess is we're going to have to fight to get there.”

  “That's what I figure, too.”

  “This time we can't ignore the communications because it could bring ships and planes out to the area when we are trying to get away.”

  Mark nodded.

  “Okay, so when we get to the weather deck, I want you to go up and take care of the communications. It'll be your call on how you do it. I'll start looking for the nuke. When we come across anyone, we try to take them out quietly. I know this isn't exactly how we're wired, but we take no prisoners. We see someone, they're history. Any other way and we won't get off here alive.”

  “Given what these fuckers are up to, I'm good to go.”

  Robin put his hand on his friend's shoulder. “You're amazing, Mark.”

  Mark grinned.

  Robin cuffed him on the chin. “Let's get ready.”

  Mark put his hand on Robin's arm. “I have a confession to make.”

  “What?”

  “I broke a major team rule and called Jessica Lanthrop awhile back.” Mark waited for Robin's reaction.

  “So, how did it turn out?”

  “We're engaged. If I don't…”

  “Stow it, Mark. We're both going to make it. Congratulations. Let's get this done and get home.”

  The two men checked their weapons and magazines. As they were finishing their preparation, one man came back to the engine room. When Robin saw Mark was ready, he nodded to him and Mark nodded back. They started moving to the engine room and into the dim light.

  Robin went to the starboard charge and looked at the timer. He was shocked to see they only had fifty more minutes. Time had gone by faster than he'd estimated and he cursed himself for not paying more attention to his watch.

  “We only have fifty minutes,” he whispered to Mark.

  Mark's face showed concern, but not panic. He had a hardened look of resolve and Robin thought he'd aged five years.

  As they moved closer to the engine room, the man came out, saw them and ran for the stairs. Robin fired a burst and the dull thump, thump of the silenced weapon knocked the man against the bulkhead and he collapsed to the deck. Robin went over and confirmed he was dead. They dragged the body back to the dark front of the hold. The two men moved up the stairs with Robin in the lead. As they got near the tween deck, Robin could hear several voices. He took a quick peek at the top of the stairs and saw five men around RIBs near the side cargo door, with weapons all over the area.

  He whispered to Mark. “Five tangos, many weapons near the side cargo door. The tangos are standing together. We'll take positions on either side of the stairwell and shoot from there. I'll take right, you got left.”

  Mark nodded.

  They moved to the stairwell with Robin standing on the right side and Mark going prone on the left. Bringing his MP5 to bear on the tango on the right, Robin figured he had to move fast and only needed to see his targets drop. The rolling of the ship caused him to take more time than he wanted, but he got a good sight picture, squeezed the trigger and the tango dropped with a two round burst to the upper chest. He heard Mark's weapon fire as he put another two round burst into the next tango he saw standing to the left, and that man dropped from Robin's vision. He moved the sights further left and shot a man running for the cargo door. The bullets ripped into the man's back. He slammed into the door and dropped to the deck. Sweeping further left showed Mark had dropped the other two. Robin cleared around him and saw nothing.

  “Clear!” He said in a hoarse whisper.

  “Clear!” Mark replied.

  They moved forward and checked the bodies. The first man Robin shot was still alive, so he put a round in his head.

  “These assholes never knew what hit them,” Mark whispered.

  “Let's hope we can keep it that way. These RIBs are our ticket out of here. When you disable the antenna, get down here and protect these babies. Let's move.”

  The two man team moved up the last flight of stairs to the door leading out to the weather deck. When they stepped out, the wind howled and sheets of rain pelted them. They moved to the ladder going to the second deck of the superstructure. The walkway to the crew quarters ran to the left of the ladder.

  Robin stopped and whispered to Mark. “Good luck, partner. If you get compromised, break radio silence. Otherwise, I'll see you on the tween deck.”

  “Good luck to you, too, Rob.”

  Robin saluted and headed down the walkway.

  Mark climbed the ladder and peeked over the top. He saw two men working on something by the ladder he needed to climb to get to the antenna. They were in foul weather gear and their backs were turned to him. He slowly put the muzzle of his weapon over the edge of the deck and rested it there so it moved with the roll of the ship and his intended targets. He pushed the selector switch to semi-auto and took careful aim on the head of the man on the left. He fired and the man dropped. He moved the sights to the right and the other man turned with a surprised look filling Mark's sights. The man died with that look and a bullet hole in his forehead.

  Keeping low, Mark stepped onto the deck and ghosted to the ladder to the communications antenna. He climbed the ladder, at times holding tight in the roll, which got worse the higher he went. He reached the upper deck and knelt on one knee while he surveyed the area. The ship had a pronounced roll at this level and he held on tight. He saw a communications satellite dish to his left. He decided to save it for last in case it was video the crew may be watching. He saw several antennas to his right, which looked easy to disable, but immediately in front of him stood a high mast with a long range antenna on it. The base of the antenna was a good twelve feet up the mast. Mark swallowed his pounding heart. This could be worse than a HALO jump!

  He raised off his knee and shuffled on the slippery deck over to the base of the mast to a metal ladder surrounded by circular braces running up it like a tube. Mark reached up and grabbed the bottom brace, pulling himself to the bottom rung. The horizontal rain stung his face and he climbed back down and knelt again, taking off his pack. He opened it, fished out his goggles and put them on. He unhooked a pack shoulder strap and looped it around a handhold. He started back up the ladder.

  Each rung was slippery and the roll of the ship made balance difficult, but he made it to the base of the antenna. He pulled
out a wire cutter from his vest, wiped his goggles and started cutting wires. He prayed the crew wouldn't transmit or he would get a good jolt. He finally cut through all the wires, put the cutters back in his vest, went down the ladder and retrieved his pack.

  Now Mark knew he had to move fast. Time was running out. He quickly crawled to the smaller antenna and disabled them. Then he crawled to the back of the deck and removed the transponder from the satellite dish. He started for the ladder to the second deck when gunfire erupted just below him.

  When Robin left Mark, he started down the walkway and stopped at the first porthole on the starboard side. He did a quick peek and saw four men sitting on bunk beds. He looked again and they seemed to be just discussing something. He ducked and went to the second porthole which looked into the same room from a different angle. He didn't see the nuke pack in either view.

  He moved to a causeway and could see it had four doors, two on either side. He figured they were entrances to cabins like the one in which he just looked. He moved back out to the second deck and to the next porthole on the starboard side and looked in, but it was dark. He went back to the causeway and as he passed the door of the rear port cabin, he saw two men arguing. He went around the corner and peeked in the porthole and saw the same man from the dock holding the nuke pack in front of him. Another man yelled at him. Robin went back to the door and tried the latch…it moved. He stepped back with the muzzle of his weapon at eye level and opened the door.

  The tango with the nuke yelled when he saw Robin, who immediately put a burst into the other man knocking him forward into the tango holding the nuke and then he fell to the deck. The man with the nuke hit his back against a bunk bed, but kept standing using the nuke as protection. He made a move for a pistol on a small table. Robin couldn't shoot because of the nuke, so he rushed forward and slammed into the man knocking him down and sending the pistol flying. Robin grabbed the nuke pack and pulled, but the man just came with it. Robin took a step backward to pull harder and stumbled over the body of the first man he shot and fell on his butt. He quickly rolled to a crouching position as the man rushed for the door swinging a metal bar. The bar hit Robin on the left side of his neck just under his jaw and against his larynx. He grabbed the hand with the bar, but he choked and struggled for breath. With all his might, he slammed the man's right arm against the metal end of the bunk bed frame and heard it snap. The man screamed and dropped the nuke. Robin smashed his fist into the middle of the man's face. The man fell backwards and crashed into the small table and hit the deck in a flurry of shattered wood and splinters. He rolled over and struggled to his feet.