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“Ten people at most,” he said. “Officers only. Execute the rest.”
“I’ll take some charges along, just in case,” Li said. “That way, I can plant explosives to scuttle the ship.”
“How long will it take you to get over there?” Tate asked.
Ballard shrugged. “Ten minutes.”
Tate thought about that. The range on the chopper was three hundred miles, so there was no need for the Portland to hang around and wait for them. If Ballard saw the Deepwater try to make a run for it, Tate could always turn around and come back to intercept the ship. If not, he could take the Portland and continue searching for the Oregon.
“Okay,” he said. “You and Li assemble an assault team. Land on the Deepwater and take control of the ship and crew. They’re a bunch of scientists, so I don’t think you’ll encounter much resistance, but don’t hesitate to eliminate anyone who fights back. We don’t need all of them.”
“Understood,” Ballard said. “We’ll land, and then I’ll have the helicopter take off again and cover us while we commandeer the bridge.”
On the main view screen, Tate saw the helicopter pad rising from the aft hold. Its pilot was checking the weapons. Unlike the Oregon’s civilian chopper, Tate had sprung for the military version. It was equipped with twin 7.62mm mini-guns and two seven-shot rocket pods. The weaponry wasn’t enough to sink a ship of the Deepwater’s size, but the machine guns and rockets could take out anyone on deck who caused trouble.
Li left the op center, and Ballard was about to follow when Tate grabbed her arm and planted a kiss on her.
“What was that for?” she asked with a smile.
“Because I can,” Tate said. “Plus I love it when you say ‘commandeer.’”
As she pulled away, her hand trailed down his arm. She was still grinning as she went out the door.
Tate turned and caught Farouk smirking at him. The rest of the op center crew members were studiously averting their gazes.
“What are you looking at?” Tate sneered at Farouk as he returned to his chair.
“Nothing at all,” Farouk said, but he chuckled under his breath.
Tate made a mental note. Once he sank the Oregon and sold off the plans for the sonic disruptor for a hefty price, he’d have no more use for the Egyptian engineer.
When Ballard got back from her mission, she and Tate would have a lot of fun planning how to kill him.
63
Juan’s blood ran cold regarding Tate when word came back from the Deepwater that Gomez’s helicopter was shot down after he dropped off the team. He wished he could go in search of his friend and crewmate, but right now his responsibility was to the Oregon. The sonobuoy Hali had anchored near the other end of the fjord was picking up the humpback whale’s song, which meant the Chinese sub was approaching.
Even though clouds still passed over the tops of the mountains surrounding them at regular intervals, the water and air at the surface of the fjord were relatively calm. The tranquil conditions made Juan’s plan possible.
A magnified view of the fjord’s opposite end showed nothing.
“I’m picking up the signal rounding the U-bend,” Hali said. “If I’m reading this right, they’ll be completing the turn in a minute. Then they’ll have a straight shot at us.”
“Start up our sonic disruptor,” Juan ordered Murph.
“Starting her up,” Murph said, activating the crude version of the weapon that he had improvised.
“Let’s see what that does to their sensors,” Eric Stone said from his position at the helm.
“If it doesn’t work,” Murph said, “we’ll know soon enough.”
Too true, Juan thought. The sound of an explosion hitting the ship might be the first indication the submarine hadn’t been affected. The sub would fire torpedoes the second its commander saw the Oregon. The disruptor had diverted the Portland’s torpedoes, but that was no guarantee it would deflect the Chinese’s. In any case, the Oregon might not be able to survive even a near miss in her current state.
“Hali, trigger the fog generator.”
Juan had ordered Hali and Murph to leave one of the Zodiacs out there to hold a large remote-controlled smoke machine.
A white cloud began to belch from the Zodiac. Soon, it would cover a large section of the fjord. The generator would produce a good approximation of the fog they’d seen before, but it wouldn’t last long. If Juan had worked this out correctly, all they would need was a minute or two of the dense coverage.
