AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We had approximately one hour to secure a dive boat along with scuba gear and wetsuits. In the meantime, I’d confer with Kodiak on explosives disarmament.
“Where is Z?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t noticed him leave the room.
“He said he had an errand to run and he’d be back as quickly as he could,” said Nem.
“Did you say anerrand?”
“His word, Cayman, not mine.”
I shook my head and motioned for Kodiak to join me. Moments later, Z returned.
“I come bearing a gift,” he said, setting an MDX-940 on the table in front of me.
“Where in God’s name did you get this?” I’d been lamenting our lack of a handheld explosives detector. While not infallible, it gave us an added tool in our underwater search.
“Our friends at the UK embassy.”
“Why didn’t you say where you were going?” Nem asked.
“I didn’t want to get Cayman’s hopes up.”
“Much appreciated, Z,” I said, looking up at him. “Very much.”
“Glad I could be of service.”
“Our challenge will be detecting color underwater and at night,” said Kodiak.
“Actually, it works opposite to what you might think. In order to detect color while using NVGs underwater, a loss of light is required.” I pulled up the details of how to adjust the unit to work the way we’d need it to and asked Kodiak to review the documentation with Tank, Blackjack, and Ares.
While he did, I approached Z and Nemesis.
“You feel confident in this approach?” Z asked.
“It’s the first logical approach. If we don’t find devices on the boat’s bottom—thanks to the MDX-940—we should be able to detect one or more on board.”
“And if there are no explosives?”
“Whether there are or not, a second team should be on standby to deploy and board the vessel, sir,” I responded to Z at the same time there was a knock on the door.
“Outstanding timing,” Z said, walking over and opening it. “Welcome, Fucile and Sognatrice,” he said, motioning them inside. “Nemesis, I believe you’re acquainted with our friends from theAgenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna.”
As was I. Mateo “Fucile” Casavetti and Carina “Sognatrice” Cesare were agents with AISE, the Italian equivalent of SIS and the CIA. Not only had we worked past missions together, but Poseidon had informed me prior to our leaving Gozo that he had requested Nem’s permission to add both agents to the Maltese task force.
“Ciao, Cayman,” said Sognatrice, whose code name translated to Dreamer.
“Sogna, how good to see you.”
“Fucile and I heard you needed our help.”
Mateo, whose code name meant Rifle, approached me after saying hello to Nem. “We were already on our way after receiving a request for assistance from Poseidon yesterday.”
“When did he contact you?”
“As he was departing Malta to travel to Sharm el-Sheikh. When we didn’t receive a response after alerting him of our arrival here, we became concerned. We’d just arrived at the UK embassy when Z showed up.”
“You have no idea how much we need your help.”
“Z told us some,” said Sogna.
