Part 6 (2/2)
”It's poison derived from the beans of a castor plant. Introduce it into the food supply and thousands could die.”
”And the boxes marked *pharmaceuticals'?” Stromeyer's voice was shocked.
Rickell s.h.i.+fted in his seat. ”We're told they contain something more dangerous than ricin, but we were not informed of the exact nature of what's inside. Seems no one, not even our source, is sure what's in there.”
”Which company manufactured the vaccines?”
”Price Pharmaceuticals,” Plower said.
”Can they get us any closer? Is it chemical, mineral, explosive?” Banner asked.
”We think chemical. After all, chemical weapons are the future-everybody knows this.”
Banner was already planning the rescue. ”You said the Redoubtable received the call. Can they intervene?”
Rickell shook his head. ”They're under attack from a small group of militants. I say small, but they're well armed. The Redoubtable is holding its own, of course, but there's no time to fight this battle and then get to the cruise s.h.i.+p.”
”Don't you have some military in Djibouti? Why not have a guy parachute onto the s.h.i.+p?” Banner said.
”Our Djibouti team is training the African Union forces. When training's done, it's our hope that they will secure Mogadishu for the transitional government there.”
”How much of Mogadishu does the transitional government control? I thought it was quite small,” Stromeyer said.
”Three blocks,” Rickell replied. He sighed. ”I know it sounds like an impossible task.”
Stromeyer shook her head. ”Three blocks is more than most have been able to accomplish. Somalia's government was too failed for even bin Laden to control. He left within a month. And that guy thinks living out of a cave is normal.”
”Where's the cruise liner?” Banner said.
”Their radar is out. We're not able to pinpoint their current location, but we think they were driven into Somali waters one hour ago, so we can't fly into that area.”
Stromeyer's head snapped up from the doc.u.mentation in front of her. ”Oh, yes, we can. We have a UN resolution that allows any rescue s.h.i.+p to continue pursuit into territorial waters. Somalia welcomed the help.”
Banner kept quiet and let Stromeyer handle the conversation. His men on Gulf of Aden security details were ordered to apprehend any crews that attempted to take one of his clients' s.h.i.+ps no matter where they were. They relied on the resolution when they chased pirates into the zone. Banner wasn't about to let the criminals off simply because they crossed some invisible line.
Plower spoke up. ”That was last month. Now the insurgents control entire swaths of Somalia. They just sent us a demand that the resolution be suspended. They've informed us that any s.h.i.+ps crossing into their territory will be considered to be trespa.s.sers and fired upon.”
Banner snorted. ”Tell them to go to h.e.l.l. Make them back off long enough to get us to the cruise liner. If they knew what's on it...”
”Under no circ.u.mstances must anyone in Somalia know what's on that s.h.i.+p!” Rickell said. ”If they did, it would be overrun with criminals all looking to get at the ricin. We must maintain complete silence on this and continue on as we would in any other similar situation. Follow usual channels.”
”And if the pirates successfully take the s.h.i.+p hostage?”
”Then we must guard the secret even more closely.”
Banner saw Rickell's point. There was a good chance that even if the pirates were successful, they might never give the vaccines a second look. Generally when attacking a s.h.i.+p, they took it to a nearby port, docked it, and offloaded the pa.s.sengers. If the s.h.i.+p was still functioning, they used it until a ransom was paid. If not, they stripped it for parts and left it to rot. ”What's the name of the s.h.i.+p?” Banner slid a notepad closer to take the information. He'd break radio silence and let Sumner know to keep as far away as possible.
”It's the Kaiser Franz out of Hamburg.”
This time Stromeyer stayed absolutely still. It was Banner who jerked in surprise.
14.
”GIVE ME ALL THE FACTS YOU HAVE,” BANNER SAID TO RICKELL.
Rickell nodded at Plower. ”Go ahead.”
”About an hour ago, the pirates attempted a standoff attack on the Kaiser Franz with rocket-propelled grenades. They managed to hit the s.h.i.+p twice before they were repelled.”
”Repelled? How?” Stromeyer had stopped messing with the paper in front of her and was writing notes on a nearby notepad.
”That's the funny part. The pa.s.sengers heard sonic blasts coming from the upper decks. We a.s.sume that this was the sound of the Long Range Acoustic Device that's part of the Kaiser Franz's security equipment. But another pa.s.senger called his father in England and claimed that he heard gunfire coming from the s.h.i.+p as well.”
”Why is that strange?”
”Guns are illegal on a cruise s.h.i.+p. It is unlikely that the Kaiser Franz has any.”
”Could the pa.s.senger have mistaken the sound of the LRAD for gunfire?” Banner said.
Plower shook her head. ”I thought that, too, but after the explosions erupted, the pa.s.senger said that the pirates manning the s.h.i.+ps sustained obvious bullet wounds. They turned away immediately.”
Banner kept quiet. He had a sneaking suspicion who was responsible for the shots. It was all he could do not to glance at Stromeyer. She took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Plower continued.
”Apparently the pa.s.senger's father spent some time in the English Royal Navy. He told the son that only a highly trained sniper could have delivered such accurate hits. I checked with our experts here, and they agree. We immediately pulled the manifest.”
”May I see it?” Banner kept his voice mild.
Plower slid a piece of paper across to him. The manifest listed all the pa.s.sengers in alphabetical order. Sumner wasn't on it. Banner moved the list over to Stromeyer, who scanned it as well. She said nothing as she handed it back to Plower.
”Does it matter, really? Whatever was done saved the pa.s.sengers and crew.”
Rickell waved a hand in the air. ”It matters a lot to the insurgents. They're claiming that the boat is a decoy for the U.S.”
”Decoy for what?” Banner said.
”They believe that the boat is actually dumping nuclear waste into the waters off Somalia.”
Banner rubbed his forehead. ”Oh, great.”
”Relax, Banner, we're not dumping nuclear waste. Although some countries are, and that's another problem we'll have to address soon. Whatever is in that hold is far more dangerous than some nuclear waste. We need to save that s.h.i.+p, and soon.”
”Any aircraft carriers in the area? You could arrange for air surveillance and security while the s.h.i.+p heads to port.”
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