Hard Case VII - Red Waves (John Harding Series Book 7) (9 page)

“It’s a small matter, brother,” Nick told him. “They know enough now to understand how this works. We’ll let them drink in the ambience of the room while we go take care of the Isis boatmen. Let’s get them settled in, John.”

Nick, Gus, and John then strapped Gordon, Emir, and Bibi onto the gurneys. The gurneys could be locked down into the cement floor so they were unmovable. Restraints on the gurneys incorporated both heavy gauge straps and steel clamps. Bibi became coherent enough to realize she resided at least temporarily in a manmade hell, soon to become permanent, and began to scream. We let her. Work on the high seas awaited. Nick motioned for us to exit his interrogation facility. I saw Denny shaking his head as we left. Denny was a master at interrogation, second only to Crue, but I could tell he was impressed.

“You are a very bad man, Nick,” Denny stated as we cleared the camouflaged exit.

“Thank you,” Nick replied. “Can we talk about my request? I want us to attack this Falak like you guys did the Isis compounds with ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ playing.”

We started laughing, especially Lucas. He was ecstatic.

“Damn, boot-camp, you’re alright! We have just the thing if the sound system on the boat you want to use as an assault craft is really good,” Lucas explained, giving the grinning Nick a shoulder hug.

“It can shatter glass at a hundred yards,” Gus said. “John and I installed a surround sound system on board my Lucky Lady capable of projection you will not believe without hearing it.”

“That’s outstanding, Gus.” Lucas turned to Clint. “You have our sounds from the Sea Wolf attack craft, right?”

“I have it,” Clint confirmed. “I can plug it right in on their vessel.”

“Oh my,” Lynn said happily. “You boys sure know how to show a girl a good time. Let’s talk turkey. What kind of weaponry do you have on board the Lady, Gus?”

“Muerto blackmailed the CIA Director into giving him a state of the art electronic pulse weapon. We also have a mount for our hidden M2 .50 caliber machine gun and an XM307 25mm grenade launcher. Muerto designed the mounts on the Lady so we can use both on an intended target from observation deck. The Lady is shielded from EMP attack too by way of Faraday Cages around all electronics.”

“I did not blackmail Paul, Payaso,” Nick complained. “We have a full armory here if there’s anything special you want. I have my M107 .50 caliber sniper rifle on board too. We have enough weaponry to blow the Falak to bits. Paul explained you want me because of my experience hitting targets from moving vessels for the Starlight op, Denny. If you guys are up for a little adventure, how about we pick off pieces from the Falak so far away they’ll need range finders to spot us. We’ll swoop in with the EMP weapon, make them dead in the water, then go out to a half mile and beyond. We can have some fun shooting the shit out of their boat. When we get them in a position where confusion reigns, we’ll swoop in on the wings of ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ and obliterate the Falak.”

Denny immediately jabbed a finger in Nick’s chest. “You are a very bad man. I’m in. Let’s do it. What do you think, Cheese?”

“I think those boys out on the Falak better start doing their midday prayers, complete with rugs, Kufi skull caps, and robes. Divine intervention will be their only hope. I don’t like their chances.”

“Damn, boys! Less talk and more action,” Lynn said, yanking Clint toward the van. “I get to shoot the M107 first before you weasels make me look bad.”

“Lynn! Do you think I can take a shot too,” Cala called out.

“I guarantee it. We’ll make Muerto give us a demonstration first.”

“You do understand this will be without digital programming, right?”

“Yes, Muerto,” Lynn said while opening the ready van. “I’ve fired at targets from the deck of a ship. Like you said, we’re having a little fun. The fate of the world won’t rest on our shots.”

“You’re assuming they don’t have a long range weapon like the XM307 with an over 2,000 yard accurate range, and over 3,000 yards maximum, firing 250 rounds per minute. We can’t kill that with an EMP weapon. I’m not saying they have anything, but they could have shoulder fired rockets or anything similar,” Nick cautioned. “We’ll need a spotter to be prepared to call out targets if we get guys on deck with unexpected weapons. Anyone who wants to play can take turns with the M107 on board. I’ll bring my personal M107. With Lucas spotting next to me and Gus ready to move the Lady, I should be able to protect against the unexpected. If they do have an unexpected weapon like an XM307, we’ll have to make a run for it until we can blast them.”

“Are you trying to ruin this afternoon cruise, Muerto?” Lynn was not pleased with the hesitant looks we other adventurers were exchanging. Nick had accurately assessed the dangers.

“We’ll leave it in the air for now until we get out to sea,” I suggested. “If it doesn’t look good for a little fun we’ll do the assault without playing around. We don’t need to overthink this right now.”

“Like Cheese said,” Denny added. “I’d like to have a little fun with these murderers but I don’t want any of us killed doing it. One thing is clear, the Falak must go down. We can’t let the boat reach shore. That would open an entirely different set of circumstances. I’ll feel better about the attempt at a little fun once Nick makes the boat dead in the water. He has an M2. We could kill everything on board with it in one sweep, then cruise to target practice range.”

“What the hell fun would that be,” Lynn retorted. “I want to see Muerto in action against targets at sea from extreme range. I’ve done some. I’ve seen Cheese, Casey, Clint, and Lucas do it. If Muerto’s been picked as the best, let’s see what he’s got.”

“He’ll be on top of the skyscraper firing down at bobbing targets,” Lucas said. “Firing downward makes the shots extremely difficult. I schooled these guys for the CIA, but they were already accomplished snipers with many kills. One of my duties was making sure they could fire from a helicopter. This bunch here are the best I ever trained. I’d trust any of them on top of the Starlight.”

“Dead Boy was the best at tracking though,” Clint said. “I trained with Casey and Nick. Casey and I were okay at tracking from above, but Dead boy was like a damn robot. Cheese is very close. I know he uses tracking more than trapping.”

“What the hell’s this tracking and trapping stuff,” Lynn asked.

“Trapping is when you allow the target to bob into the sniper’s sights which is the way I started you out at sea,” Lucas answered. “Tracking is much more difficult because the sniper is moving the crosshairs with the target. Clint’s right. Nick does shots from above on a moving platform better than anyone, although Recon’s skill level comes closest to matching Nick’s. I don’t want anyone getting a big head. I already have to put up with ‘Nightshot’ Casey.”

“Nightshot?”

“Yeah, Dead Boy. Casey hit targets in the dark to save Cheese’s bacon from a football field away with an MP5,” Clint said. “He’s never let us forget it, especially Lucas.”

“I noticed you guys using silenced MP5’s,” Nick said. “Good choice. Is that in honor of my buddy, Nightshot?”

“Hell no!” Lucas pointed warningly at Nick. “Don’t you start calling that spoiled little brat Casey ‘Nightshot’, Dead Boy. His head’s swelled quite enough. You damn Delta punks finally hit something and suddenly we have to declare it a national holiday.”

“Like Lynn said – no more talk,” Nick replied. “We’ll show you our small armory here in case you see anything you like. Maybe we’ll catch these guys napping.”

* * *

I rode with Gus and Lucas as Gus showed off The Lucky Lady. It was an impressive cruiser very much like The Sea Wolf in size and bulk.

“That’s the bridge tour, Lucas,” Gus said, steering out of the harbor. “Would you like to take us out? I’ve already programmed the course heading.”

“I sure would, brother. This is a fine looking lady,” Lucas replied, taking control of The Lucky Lady. “I’m surprised you allow landlubbers like Recon on your bridge.”

Gus chuckled as I took Lucas’s verbal shot with a smile. “Thanks, Ahab. I only came forward to get a time check to target.”

“Five minutes, Recon,” Lucas answered, glancing at the GPS digital relay. “Is Muerto ready with the EMP weapon?”

“He’s all set.”

“Good. Gus suggested we don’t even do a pass. I agree. Let’s assault this boat on the first pass with the sound system, slow to a creep, and Nick hits it. While they’re scrambling to figure out what happened we’ll circle them. Anyone coming out on deck to fire something impressive gets dusted.”

“Agreed. What do you think of giving our cohorts a taste of the Jaws/Ride of the Valkyries assault ship approach while we’re heading towards the bandits? We’ll keep range finders on them. My guess is they’ll come out on deck to be counted.”

“I like it, Recon! They will surely do just as you suggest and prance on deck to check our sound system. We’ll get a head count and do our business.” Lucas relinquished control of the Lady. “Full speed ahead, Gus. Get Clint to crank up the sound, Recon.”

“On it.” I hurried down to the main deck where everyone was locking and loading. We might not need any cover fire, but it damn well was good tactics to have it. Our big guns were on deck ready to be mounted when needed, completely checked out. Clint looked at me right away. “Assault theme please, Mr. Dostiene!”

“Hit it, John,” Clint told El Kabong.

Moments later we steamed full speed directly at the Falak’s position. I can guarantee they could hear our mounting assault approach even from their sea position. The spaced combination of the theme from Jaws followed by The Ride of the Valkyries caused jubilant chaos. John and Cala with MP5’s strapped at their backs edged along starboard side with faces smiling into the wind while pumping fists. Clint and Lynn had the port side with taking over networking duties while enjoying the show. Nick waved from his position atop the Lucky Lady, comically doing a ‘Top Gun’ flight deck slicing hand motion for takeoff. It was all good to me. I climbed to the observation deck with Nick.

“We’re doing our assault approach all the way, brother,” I told him, explaining Gus and Lucas’s suggestion intermingled with my head count suggestion with the assault theme.

“This is incredible! The entire boat began vibrating the moment Kabong started the music. That Jaws theme intermingled makes the hairs on the back of my head stand up. I heard from Clint you came up with the idea originally. Outstanding!”

“Thanks.” I had my own MP5 slung on my back.

I gripped the observation deck railing as Nick did with intense appreciation as the Jaws theme shifted into The Ride of the Valkyries for an extended time with John in charge of the music by remote. The wind blew stiffly into our faces with the tang of salt sea air. The waves chopped to our sides with the Lucky Lady cutting through them with force of its diesel engines gradually increasing speed. Nick clutched my arm for a moment of understanding beyond reality. We would be killing and destroying without mercy. George Orwell’s quote seeped into the threaded music theme into my brain. ‘People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf’. We were indeed rough men and women ready to do violence beyond regular citizens’ understanding. That we would do so without hesitation or compassion probably redefined us from ‘rough’ to ‘monstrous’. So be it.

“Target ahead, Cheese!”

“Thanks Lynn.” I moved my range finders into position for a head count.

I could tell immediately my head count would be a no brainer. A half dozen men appeared in addition to a captain and copilot on the bridge I could see. Their confused faces made me grin. “They have no idea, Muerto. There’s eight of them. Denny! Network check.”

“Loud and clear, Cheese,” Denny answered. “Check in!”

Each one of our crew checked in with professional detachment. Nick took position to fire the EMP weapon. We agreed before launching we would slow while approaching the bow. Gus slowed with smooth precision into a sweeping round pointing the Lady into escape position after completing the approach. Nick fired the weapon. That’s when unintended consequences took over. They didn’t panic because nothing happened. They fired the engines into running mode while Clint climbed with the M2 .50 caliber machine gun for mounting on the observation deck mounting. I gripped the gun and mounted it. We had the ammunition ready on deck. Nick and I readied the M2 without a word. I didn’t need prompting as our target began to accelerate away. I took out the entire bridge with Nick feeding the M2. When I stopped firing there wasn’t much question as to whether the Falak would be moving anywhere. It drifted with men scurrying to bring weapons into position.

Clint spotted the man bringing a rocket launcher into a position where he could fire. Clint relieved him of his head and made the launcher into a paperweight with bursts from his MP5. Gus speeded off to a distance of about two thousand yards. Nick and I exchanged puzzled looks before Lucas spoke in our ears.

“Target practice, boot-camps! Gus will trawl the area in a slow circle from this distance. Lynn goes first. Pick a target, Crue.”

Nick had his M107 ready for action with him. He made ready for backing our target practice with it in seconds. “I’m ready, Lucas. Why not leave Cheese with me for spotting? You stay down with our shooters for instruction.”

“On it. They must have had their own Farraday Cages protecting the Falak.”