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“You’re right. It would be satisfying in the short run, but I want you to live a long life with your failure. You failed to rescue Overholt when you had the chance. Your reputation is in tatters with the CIA and the U.S. government. What else do you have left?”
Tate paused for effect. And Juan realized what he meant.
Juan launched himself at Tate but was restrained by two of the men. “The Oregon? What have you done?”
“Nothing . . . yet. Come.”
Catcalls and curses rained down on Juan as he was shoved through the exit door behind Tate. They wound through the ship, and Juan knew exactly where they were going since the interior layout was identical to the Oregon’s. The sole difference was the lack of artwork adorning the corridors’ walls.
“You’re so unoriginal, Tate. You had to copy me?”
Tate shrugged. “I think of it more as an homage. Besides, a good idea is a good idea. As you know, I don’t mind stealing.”
They entered the op center, and the sense of déjà vu was even stronger for Juan. He had the urge to sit in the captain’s chair, but Tate settled into it.
“What would be your worst nightmare, Juan?” Tate asked casually. “The death of your crew? The sinking of your ship?”
Juan remained tight-lipped. He didn’t think Tate had the means to endanger the Oregon, especially with the Portland sitting in Buenos Aires.
“I can see that would be difficult for you,” Tate continued. “But wouldn’t it be worse if I took command of your beloved spy ship?”
Juan scoffed, but he didn’t like where this was going. “What are you babbling about now?”
“You didn’t think I’d send them to find the real Kansas City, did you?”
“Of course not.” But they had to risk going to the coordinates Tate gave them in case it was there.
“As I told your dear dead friend Overholt, I needed somewhere much closer than Algodoal for my purposes. I had to lure you with something tangible. And it worked.”
Tate nodded to a woman, and a video of the Oregon appeared on the main view screen. It was framed by the horizon and bright blue sky. No other ships were visible, and the image seemed to be filmed from far away.
“They’ll be ready for whatever you come at them with,” Juan said.
A smile curled on Tate’s lips. “Is that what you thought in Rio?”
Juan seethed. “I knew you were responsible for that.”
“I planned it from the very beginning. CIA officer Ballard here was instrumental in leaking the names of those agents. I knew Overholt would hire you to extract them.”
Juan was repulsed by how pleased Tate seemed with himself.
“How did you do it?” Juan demanded.
“I can’t give everything away to you. Let’s just say it involves a weapon that’s been lost for a hundred years. We’ve tweaked it, naturally, but the principles are virtually unchanged from when it was first developed.”
“It may have worked on our sub, but there’s no way it’ll work on a ship the size of the Oregon, whatever it is.”
“Oh, it has. Remember the Kansas City? Why do you think it went down in the first place?”
Juan was stunned. “You sank a U.S. nuclear sub just to prove you could do it?”
“Among other reasons,” Tate said. “But that’s not what I want to do to the Oregon. Imagine what I could do with another ship like the Portland. I think I’ll rechristen the Oregon as the Eugene.”
Juan gagged at the thought of Tate ever setting foot on his ship, let alone commanding her.
“They would die before letting you hijack the Oregon.”
Tate smiled and pointed at Juan. “Exactly. When my helicopter lands on the deck of your ship, there may be a few stragglers who haven’t died, but the assault team should be able to take care of that in short order. And guess what?”
