Part 6 (1/2)
”Is there a particular reason you want her there?” he asked.
”No, no, it's just...” The woman trailed off.
”Go on.”
”It's just that Major Stromeyer is so good at requisitions.”
Banner slid on a pair of pants and sat on the bed to put on his socks. ”Major Stromeyer is great at requisitions,” he said. ”I've often thought that Major Stromeyer could requisition a trip to the moon and do it in a way so that no one in the government would complain.”
The nervous a.s.sistant heaved a sigh. ”I always get my paperwork wrong.”
Banner felt sorry for the young woman. Especially since she probably wouldn't survive another month in the job.
”I'll bring Major Stromeyer.” He rang off and called Stromeyer. When she answered in a voice filled with sleep, he almost regretted his promise. ”Meeting at the DOD as soon as you can.”
She gave a small groan. ”Is my presence required?”
”The a.s.sistant asked for you specifically. I forget her name. The mousy one.”
”Susan Plower.”
By now Banner had his shoes on, and one sleeve of his s.h.i.+rt. He headed to the door with the rest of the s.h.i.+rt hanging off him. He snagged his car keys from a leather tray that sat on a credenza near the front door of his town house.
”She says she's bad at paperwork.”
”She's terrible at paperwork. We'll finish the meeting, and she'll get it wrong, and then Darkview won't get paid for an additional six months while I straighten it all out. I'll see you in twenty-five minutes.”
Banner walked into a DOD conference room populated with various personnel. They all looked relieved to see him, which should have made him feel good about himself but somehow only made him wary. Since Darkview specialized in missions to ”hot” spots around the world, he wished someone would tell him which area had blown up. He didn't have long to wait. He watched Stromeyer enter the room and, directly behind her, the new undersecretary for international security policy and procedure, Jonathan Rickell.
Banner didn't know much about Rickell except that he'd been hired when the new administration took office and that he had a degree in international studies from the same Ivy League school the president had attended. About fifty years old, fit and balding, with shrewd eyes and a reputation for having an explosive temper, Rickell had been polite but distant the few times Banner had met him. Banner couldn't get a handle on him.
Rickell waved them all into their seats. The Plower woman sat at his right. She glanced at Stromeyer before giving Banner a look filled with grat.i.tude.
Rickell cleared his throat. ”We've learned that the situation in Somalia has taken a sudden turn for the worse.”
Banner wanted to groan out loud. He hated Somalia. He currently had ten security contracts for s.h.i.+pping companies plying the Gulf of Aden trade route, but none for security within Somalia. It was one of the few places he tried to avoid sending Darkview personnel, despite the fact that Somali operations allowed for premium pricing based upon the extreme danger. There were two other companies in the contract security business that routinely handled matters there and made great profits doing so. Banner wondered why they weren't represented at this meeting.
”Banner, I understand that you've been hired to protect some of the s.h.i.+ps using the trade route and may have an operative in the Indian Ocean as we speak.”
Stromeyer gave a little jerk next to Banner, revealing her surprise. Banner held still, but he felt the dread rising in him. No one, not even Rickell, should have known that Sumner was in the Indian Ocean. Whoever was tapping them must have leaked the information.
”I'm surprised to hear you say that. Where did you hear this?” Banner responded.
Rickell shrugged and turned to Plower. ”Who told us that?”
Plower's face took on a frantic look while she shuffled through a stack of papers in front of her. After an awkward silence, when it became clear to everyone in the room that she was unable to divine the answer from the doc.u.mentation, Stromeyer reached across the table.
”Ms. Plower, why don't you hand me the forms and I'll look for the information while Secretary Rickell continues with the meeting.” Plower gave Stromeyer a relieved nod and shoved the papers at her.
”Well? Do you have an operative there?” Rickell asked.
”I may.” Banner wasn't prepared to tell Rickell everything until he knew what had occurred.
”You may? If you don't, I'll use Synocorp. Your company is far too controversial at the moment. Last thing I need is Cooley questioning my choices.”
Banner kept his voice neutral. ”Why don't you tell me what's happening, and I'll tell you if Darkview can help.”
Rickell looked annoyed. ”Here's what's happening: Three hours ago the USS Redoubtable answered a distress signal from a cruise s.h.i.+p headed to the Seych.e.l.les Islands. Seems they were under attack by pirates. While we are of course concerned about people on this s.h.i.+p, we are also deeply concerned about the international ramifications of intercepting the pirates without proper authority. As you know, the insurgents control most of Somalia as of last month, and they have inst.i.tuted patrols along the edge of Somali territorial waters.”
”Who owns the s.h.i.+p?” Banner asked.
”It's registered in Liberia, flies the Liberian flag, is operated by a German s.h.i.+pping conglomerate, and is owned by the Bermudan subsidiary of an American holding company. The pa.s.sengers are tourists from ten different countries, including the U.S.”
”So who's the lucky country that gets to intercept?”
Rickell shrugged. ”None, or all of the above. The UN coalition forces have taken over patrolling the Gulf of Aden trade route, so the UN is first in line.”
”What have they done?”
Ms. Plower spoke up. ”They've sent a strongly worded letter demanding the pirates cease and desist.”
”That'll work.” Banner's voice was dry.
”CTG 600 is in the area but under attack by another pirate cell, so it will be at least eighteen hours before they can address the problem.”
”Who insures the s.h.i.+p?” Stromeyer said.
”A Bermudan insurance company. They've indicated that they will pay a ransom immediately should the pirates successfully take the s.h.i.+p and pa.s.sengers. They feel quite strongly that the pirates should not be provoked into escalating violence. Deaths would only result in lawsuits. But we need to mount some action, because we're concerned about the cargo they're carrying.”
”I thought you said it was a cruise s.h.i.+p, not a cargo s.h.i.+p,” Banner said.
”It's both at the moment. It's carrying both tourists and cargo.”
Rickell hesitated. Banner could see that he was weighing how much to tell about the incident. Banner decided to nudge him along.
”So what's the cargo?”
Rickell sighed. ”It's carrying pharmaceutical supplies and vaccines.”
Stromeyer looked up from the paper in front of her. ”Sounds harmless enough.”
Rickell shook his head. ”We just received an intelligence report claiming that hidden within the boxes marked *vaccines' are two vials of ricin.”
Banner watched Plower's mouth drop open.
”Is that a bomb?” she asked.