Operation Sea Ghost (24 page)

All at once, everyone fighting the pirates on deck pulled back, retreating to the forward cargo hatch. This was a ten-foot raised section of the ship located right behind the bridge. It had a stout safety railing around it and it gave an almost 360-degree view of the deck. It was a perfect fallback position to defend—though to Nolan’s mind, it was a little too much like the Alamo.

Only after all of the deck defenders had climbed up onto the forward hatch, did Nolan realize he was the only one among them who wasn’t wounded. Gunner had the huge gash in his shoulder and two of the Senegals were bleeding from stab wounds to their legs. Two other Senegals had head wounds, the fifth was bleeding from his chest. Even the four Korean crewmen had sustained wounds to their arms and legs, plus their hands had been burned from handling the hot hydraulic fluid.

The pirates were pouring over the railings now and heading for the small clutch of defenders atop the cargo hatch. Nolan had the Senegals kneel down and form a firing line. Then he and Gunner stood behind them. Nolan was now armed with Gunner’s Beretta pistol; it had just four rounds left. Unarmed and defenseless, the Korean sailors took cover behind him.

The first line of pirates advanced on the cargo hatch.

“On my call!” Nolan yelled above the din. “Acquire target—one shot only. Fire!”

The Senegals’ five M4s exploded at once, hitting five pirates closest to them.

“On my call!” Nolan yelled again. “Acquire—aim—fire!”

Again, another barrage spewed out from the M4s.

Five more pirates went down.

“Acquire! Aim! Fire!”

Another barrage came—then another and another. It went on like this for more than a minute. Every shot counted; every shot either killed or wounded a pirate.

But they still kept coming.

*   *   *

TWO OF THE pirates had avoided the chaos on deck and found their way below.

Both were veterans of the Bom-Kat gang. Though they’d been on ships like the
Taiwan Song
before, they’d never been part of such a huge seaborne assault as this. And unlike the recruits fighting up top, they were carrying AK-47s.

They were here for one prize only. Nothing on this bucket was of any value, except the blond beauty that Commander Kalish had spotted earlier. All the pirates, old-timers and newcomers, had been promised a hefty fee for capturing her and bringing her to Kalish.

Few of the Bom-Kats believed that it was actually Emma Simms on board, even though weird things
did
happen in this part of the world. But the most famous actress on the planet, being on a ship that looked like it was just minutes away from being cracked?

It didn’t make sense.

But the promise of a lot of money was hard to resist, especially for bandits like them who were used to being paid as little as $100 a month.

So, they pressed forward through the lower decks, looking everywhere, all the while aware of the sounds of fierce fighting going on just above them.

They came to a series of passageways where the lights were out. The pirates suspected a trap and started to reverse direction. But then they heard something that did not jive with the normal noises found on a ship or of the battle happening one level away.

It was a child crying.

Both men smiled darkly. If the famous blond
was
on this ship, and if this ship
was also
carrying other civilians, then it made sense that these noncombatants would all be hidden away in one place together.

The pirates ventured into the dark passageway, concentrating on the muffled wails. Creeping forward carefully, they eventually found themselves outside the ship’s mess hall. The plaintive cries were coming from within.

The pirates checked their weapons, then kicked the door in. It was dark inside, but they found the lights. Though dim, they provided enough illumination for the pirates to see a group of about a hundred people, huddled in one corner of the hall. Women and children mostly, they were all crying and shaking with fear.

And in the middle of them was the most famous actress in the world.

The pirates would have known her anywhere. Both had seen her movies, albeit on crudely copied bootlegged DVDs. And though she was ruffled and devoid of makeup or styling, she looked more beautiful now than ever.

One of the pirates spoke a little English. Still not quite believing this was Emma Simms sitting in the smelly mess hall of the worst ship afloat, he said: “Princess, come with us, or everyone dies.…”

Emma didn’t hesitate. She knew she was the reason everyone was fighting. And logic said, if she were removed from the equation, then the pirates might stop attacking the ship and maybe leave everyone else alone.

But … was this a logical situation? She didn’t know.

Nevertheless, she disentangled herself from the hands and arms of the people who didn’t want her to go, and walked toward the pirates.

Despite the surreal circumstances, the two brigands were in awe of her. Her beauty, her grace, even in this repugnant place. It was remarkable.

The pirates briefly considered sexually assaulting her. When would they have this chance again? But Commander Kalish was positively obsessed with this goddess and he would have them painfully killed if he found out that they had touched her before he had. So they dismissed the idea quickly.

Instead they told her to put up her hands and continue walking slowly toward them. One pirate removed his belt, ready to tie her hands behind her. They both took a deep sniff and smelled her perfume.

Yes, they had seen her movies. The love stories, the serious Shakespeare role and the action flicks. But as beautiful and graceful as she seemed, Emma Simms had another thing going for her. While she rarely did her own stunts, she’d seen plenty of real stunt people in action. Plus she’d been training, taking jiujitsu, karate, sambu and even some kung fu, so that someday, she wouldn’t need any body doubles.

That’s why neither pirate knew what hit him. One moment they were about to make her their prisoner, the next they were being hit in the face, the stomach, the groin. She was suddenly not the graceful, helpless American blonde anymore. Instead she was a whirling dervish of fists, knees and feet.

Both men were immediately knocked to the deck, losing their weapons in the process. Emma stood over them, as surprised as they. Then two more kicks, one to each man’s temple, and they were out for good.

Emma retrieved their weapons. She gave one to the most able male in the group and told him to stay put, and protect the others if any more pirates came to the mess hall.

Then, she slipped out the open door, alone.

*   *   *

ALPHA SQUAD WAS almost out of ammunition.

The Senegals’ firing line had delivered twenty-two fusillades, killing and wounding so many pirates, their bodies were stacked like cordwood atop the raised cargo hatch.

Using Gunner’s Berretta, Nolan had added to the systematic barrage. But now, with each Senegal only having a few rounds left, they were all firing at will and making sure their last few bullets went where they counted.

As all this was happening, Nolan and Gunner spotted a third
dhoni
coming close to the freighter’s port side. No words were needed this time. Gunner immediately aimed his bloodstained weapon over the mass of pirates and fired his last shell. The
dhoni
was so close he couldn’t miss. The projectile passed through the boat’s exhaust pipe and into its power plant. Once again, there was a spectacular explosion. The engine split in two and the boat’s fuel tank caught fire. The
dhoni
was instantly engulfed in flames, sinking quickly under a massive cloud of steam.

It was hard for Nolan and Gunner to tell whether it was because they might have finally iced the Bom-Kats command ship or that the Bom-Cats were simply switching tactics, but as soon as the third
dhoni
went down, the number of pirates coming over the railing stopped.

The Bom-Kats’ plan now seemed to be to let their new recruits finish off the ship’s defenders and then let their gunmen, the majority of whom were still on the speedboats, take over the ship at their leisure.

The Senegals expended the last of their ammo when a large group of pirates charged the Alpha position. The advance was stopped in its tracks, but that was it—all of Alpha’s ammunition was gone. Gunner and the Senegals began battering the pirates with the butts of their assault weapons. The fight spilled off the cargo hatch and onto the deck just below the bridge on the starboard side. Here, the hand-to-hand combat quickly became vicious.

Nolan put the last bullet from the borrowed Beretta into the chest of a pirate who had climbed the stern cargo mast with ideas of swinging down on the firing line. Nolan then reached into the box of galley knives, pulling one out that looked like an old-fashioned cutlass. He cut a cargo rope and used it to swing down onto the deck, landing on top of the mass of Bom-Kats who were fighting Gunner and the Senegals. He knocked over the pirates like bowling pins.

While the attackers were temporarily sprawled on the deck, Nolan had time to push the Korean crewmen up onto the bridge. With their horribly burned hands and other wounds, they could not help any longer. Two of the Senegals were also badly wounded; they, too, were hoisted up onto the bridge.

That left just Nolan, Gunner and the three lesser-injured Senegals battling for their lives.

About two dozen pirates were still fighting. They were jammed on the starboard deck; Alpha Squad was holding their ground just to the left of the bridge ladder. The pirates’ goal was the bridge itself; everyone knew once they seized it, this little war would be over.

The pirates were charging the defenders in fits and starts, trying to slash at the squad members who beat them back with their rifle butts, or stabbed them with the galley knives. Particularly ghastly was the way those pirates unlucky enough to go down near Gunner were dispatched. The big man was still armed with his meat cleaver and he was slashing away at anything that came close to him.

It was brutal and barbaric and endless, and by far, the worst combat Nolan had ever been in. His hands were covered in blood; some of it was his, and some of it belonging to the pirates he’d stabbed. His muscles ached so much from swinging the heavy cutlasslike knife, he was reaching his breaking point. The big knife felt like it weighed a ton.

Making the situation even worse, while the Koreans had abandoned using the burning hydraulic fluid as a weapon, one last pail had been left over the fire barrel. It was sending out billows of acrid smoke, saturating the deck area, making it hard to see and even harder to breath.

Nolan actually thought:
Maybe I shouldn’t have lit that fire on board.
It had been nothing but bad luck ever since.

It was inevitable, but the tide of this desperate battle finally turned in the pirates’ favor. Nolan could barely lift his arms. Gunner and the three Senegals were struggling just to stay on their feet. Out of the corner of his good eye, Nolan saw two pirates break off from the main group and disappear from sight. They were obviously sneaking around to attack the squad from the rear, but there was nothing Alpha could do to stop them.

Nolan summoned up one last burst of energy and slashed three pirates enough to push them back. Gunner joined in the thrust and the remaining dozen or so pirates were momentarily stopped from advancing.

But then Nolan heard cries from behind them. He looked over his shoulder to see that, sure enough, two pirates were coming at them from the other direction.

Two things went through his mind at that moment. He was sure the toxic fumes were making him delusional, because he found himself thinking back to when he’d brushed the tear from Emma’s cheek. It seemed like a million years ago. He could still smell her light perfume as well. And for some reason, these two things made him want to just lie down right there and go to sleep.

Then a voice in his head whispered: “You’ll sleep for a long time soon enough.”

So now he just waited for the blow. A knife to his back or to his chest. It didn’t make much of a difference. This was where it was all going to end—defending a bunch of dying refugees on the worst ship afloat, somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

But … that grim fate was not to be. Because, as it turned out, a guardian angel was watching over him.

Nolan turned to confront the pirates coming up in back of him—a last ditch attempt to simply face his killers—when he saw them stop in their tracks and look down at their chests. Bubbles of blood had appeared all over them.

The next thing Nolan knew, Gunner had slammed him to the deck. He hit hard, and the three Senegals fell on top of him; he felt like they were crushing every vertebra in his back. But in all the confusion, Nolan was still able to see the remaining pirates they’d been battling in front dropping to the deck as well. They, too, were bleeding. They’d all been shot dead. But who was doing the shooting?

Nolan’s head was spinning. His lungs were full of toxic smoke. His hands were splattered with blood and he felt half dead already.

But he somehow mustered the strength to turn his head and look behind him again.

That’s when he saw Emma Simms standing up on the bridge, a smoking AK-47 in her hands.

17

THERE
WAS
A bad part of town in Monte Carlo.

It was tucked into a corner near the east end of the city; a single block lost in the shadows of the tallest luxury buildings.

The block was comprised of a few elderly apartment buildings, a handful of open-air cafés and what passed for a variety store in this part of the world. An alley snaked through the small neighborhood and down this alley, after a few twists and turns, was a tiny hostel.

It had seven minuscule rooms, stacked one on top of another. Batman and Twitch were now occupying the top floor.

They had no money and they’d exhausted every way they knew of to get any. Their debit card simply did not work. Nor could they figure out how to successfully make a phone call.