The Jagged Edge

by AJ Frazer

  “Please don’t go getting yourself kicked off the bloody ship just yet.”

  “Piss off. Actually, I mean it. Seriously, bugger off. I’m whacked and need to sleep.”

  “I’ll leave you to it.” Dominic started to back away from the bed. “I’ll come by tomorrow.”

  Dax waved feebly. “OK.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Petty Officer Taylor led Dominic back to his room. “The Osprey is scheduled to arrive soon,” she said. “Did you want to come up to the flight control room and watch it?”

  Dominic thought about his bed. He’d seen Ospreys land and it didn’t interest him in the slightest, but he was curious to see who got off the aircraft. “Sure. I’ve never been in the control room of an LHD.”

  “I’m impressed,” she said with a smile. “You know the difference between an aircraft carrier and a Landing Helicopter Dock.”

  “Once a Royal Marine, with Forty,” said Dominic, referring to 40 Commando, the unit in which he had served.

  Petty Officer Taylor raised her eyebrows. “Thought there was something military about you. The way you walk maybe. Come on, I’ll take you to the bridge, you can meet the old man.”

  Dominic followed her through the narrow passageways and stairs to the bridge. As they entered the dim quiet space, Taylor calmly walked over to the captain, who was sitting in his chair reading something on a clipboard. She said something quietly in his ear.

  The captain stood and lobbed the clipboard on his chair before coming over to Dominic who was loitering by the door. “Mr. Elliston, welcome aboard! I’m Captain O’Donnell,” he said in a strong Australian accent. He extended his hand and Dominic took it.

  “Thank you, Captain, it was nice of you to pick us up.”

  “The hotel Canberra is busy tonight. We have more guests arriving shortly. Turning into quite the party out here in the Indian Ocean.”

  “Yes, so I hear. So who are these CIA people?”

  “Not a clue. Comms are limited and slow. My only orders are to receive them and allow them full, unfettered access to Mr. Sagen.”

  “Right, yes. I must say, having the CIA on board doesn’t fill me with confidence regarding Mr. Sagen’s wellbeing.”

  Captain O’Donnell looked at Dominic as if he was an idiot. “Well, Mr. Sagen should have thought of that before he attacked the entire world in what is the largest-scale act of terrorism we’ve ever seen. Are you aware of the carnage and chaos that is occurring globally right now? It’s bedlam and people want answers. They want solutions and they want the perpetrators brought to justice.”

  “I somehow doubt that the CIA are here for justice,” said Dominic. He was seething.

  Captain O’Donnell looked unsure of how to take the comment; he stared at Dominic.

  “Mr. Elliston,” interrupted Petty Officer Taylor. “Perhaps you would like to see the Osprey? It’s coming in for final descent now.”

  Dominic held the captain’s stare briefly. “Sure. Thank you for your hospitality, Captain.”

  “Enjoy your stay, Mr. Elliston.”

  Dominic turned and walked over to the wide windows that overlooked the flight deck. There were a few people on the bridge; they all seemed efficient and calm.

  “Here it comes, sir,” said Petty Officer Taylor.

  Through the darkness, Dominic could make out red, white, and green navigation lights strobing brightly. The aircraft drew nearer to the rear of the ship. As it came over the stern, the ship’s deck lights illuminated the aircraft more clearly. Dominic could make out the two engines at the tips of the short wings. They were angled vertically, the propeller blades acting like helicopter rotors, providing copious downward thrust. The Osprey came down slowly, wobbling from side to side in the wind. Once it touched down on the flight deck, a sailor ran out to the rear door, which lowered slowly.

  Four men stepped out carrying large black duffel bags in each hand, shoulders hunched against the powerful wind and wash from the rotors. They dashed to the shelter of the island, directed by sailors.

  “So that’s a US Marines Osprey.” Dominic noted the markings on the side. “Where did it come from?”

  “Oh, the Marines have a base in the Northern Territory near Darwin.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since 2011, I think it was. Obama and Gillard agreed on it. It started out small—a few thousand troops—but in the last few years it’s grown substantially due to the volatility in the South China Sea.”

  “You know your history,” said Dominic, surprised.

  “I was a kid when they announced it and I thought it was awesome that the Marines were down here. It was also pretty cool that Julia Gillard, our first woman prime minister, made the call.”

  Dominic nodded. “So, can I meet these new guests?”

  Officer Taylor smiled and looked sideways toward the captain who was back in his chair. “Ah, I’m not sure the captain wants—”

  “I just want to say hello is all. The captain needn’t know.”

  Officer Taylor smiled conspiratorially. “We could always go the long way back to your quarters and happen to bump into them, I guess.”

  He inclined his head toward the door. “Shall we?”

  Taylor turned on her heels and headed out. He followed close behind.

  They hurried down a series of narrow corridors that had piping and electrical cabling running along the ceiling. There were a few steep flights of stairs and more tight corridors before they came to a room that had been requisitioned by the CIA agents.

  Taylor knocked sharply and entered.

  Four men were spread around the room, sifting through bags. Muscle-bound and dressed in black, they gave off a distinct air of menace. “We gave instructions not to be disturbed,” said one of them, without looking up.

  Petty Officer Taylor went to speak, but Dominic touched her arm gently. “I’m Dominic Elliston. I was with Victor Sagen at his compound earlier today.”

  The man stopped rummaging and turned around slowly. “Well, Mr. Elliston, I thought you would be in custody, or at the very least confined to quarters.”

  “On what grounds? I was trying to stop Sagen.”

  “So you say.” The man lifted his prominent chin in the air. He had short black hair, thick stubble, a cruel mouth, and dead brown eyes.

  Dominic had seen the type before, in the military and on assignment—the type who could kill without compunction. They all have the same look and the man he looked at now was an unequivocal killer. Scanning the room, Dominic could see they were all cut from the same cloth.

  “So say MI6—they will vouch for me.”

  “MI-fucking-6? Those amateurs are why we’re in this mess. If they’d done their jobs right in the first place, we wouldn’t be here.”

  The other men had stopped to watch the showdown. A couple of them sniggered.

  “Whoever your testosterone thinks is to blame, I can assure you that you’re wrong,” said Dominic. He didn’t actually know what the man was getting at, but he’d be damned if he’d let the arrogant bastard get away with a comment like that.

  The man sneered, baring his large, perfect white teeth. “I’ll want to speak to you later, Mr. Elliston, when I’m done chatting to Sagen. So don’t go too far.”

  “And what do you think you’ll achieve by speaking to Sagen?”

  “Well, for starters finding the goddamn off-button to this Biblical nightmare. People want their internet switched back on. How are they going to update their Ego-book profiles and watch their Netflix?”

  “You won’t get far. Biblical—which, by the way, is simply using a dormant worm virus your lot created—cannot be turned off. It can’t be found let alone destroyed.”

  “Look, Mr. Elliston,” said the man, who had still not introduced himself. “I just spent over ten excruciating hours levered into the jump seat of a Super Hornet. I have traveled over ten thousand godforsaken miles to get to Australia, capped off with a roller-coaster ride on an Osprey to get he
re—somewhere in the Indian Ocean. So, you’re gonna have to indulge me and let me get on with my job.”

  “I only want to know how you plan to do your job.” Dominic maintained his stare.

  The man raised his hand and pointed a finger at Dominic. “Fact is I don’t have to explain myself to you, or anyone on this ship. But just so you know. Any. Means. Necessary.” The man had punctuated each word by stabbing his finger at Dominic.

  Dominic shook his head slowly.

  The man turned to Petty Officer Taylor. “Sailor, get this man out of here and ensure that we are not disturbed again.”

  She looked pale and did not correct him as to her rank. “Mr. Elliston, I’ll take you back to your quarters.”

  “Sure.” Dominic stood firm, eyes boring into the depths of the man. “What’s your name?”

  “Mr. fucking nobody. Now get out, before I decide to question you more thoroughly.”

  Dominic shook his head.

  Taylor put her hand on Dominic’s arm. “Please.”

  The man smirked as they left.

  Walking down the corridor, Petty Officer Taylor looked back at Dominic. “Friendly guys. I think it’s best you leave them alone,” she said, with a slight air of authority.

  Dominic stopped in his tracks. “You do know they are going to torture Victor Sagen? With vigor. And this will take place on a Royal Australian Navy ship. Taylor, I think you need to check your morality and that of your government.”

  Taylor stopped and turned to face him. “I … I didn’t mean to condone that, but they’re here on orders and they’ve been given carte blanche over Sagen—and our ship, for that matter.” Her face was flushed.

  “Well, I want to speak to the British ambassador. Can that be arranged?”

  She shook her head. “I doubt it. Like I said, all normal comms channels are down. We’re virtually using Morse code to stay in contact.”

  “This is outrageous. I want to speak to the captain.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m bloody sure! Damned if I’ll sit around while a man is tortured a few hundred feet away.”

  “OK, I’ll take you back up. But I don’t know what good it will do. Particularly given the way you two hit it off before.”

  “I didn’t become a media magnate without learning a bit of diplomacy. Let’s go.”

  Back on the bridge, Taylor waited to speak to Captain O’Donnell, who was clearly stressed by the operational difficulties they were having, no doubt because of Biblical.

  The captain stood and walked over to Dominic. “You have some concerns for Mr. Sagen’s wellbeing, I hear?”

  “I do. Have you enquired as to the CIA operatives’ specific tactics?”

  “No, I have not. Nor will I be unless they place this ship in danger.”

  “Captain, I appreciate that Sagen is a criminal, and I in no way condone his actions, but he has rights. Are you comfortable with them likely torturing Sagen? On your ship.”

  “Mr. Elliston, frankly, this Sagen bloke has caused so much chaos, they can do what they want to him. If it means they get solid intel that will sort out this mess, then they’re welcome to do what they need to do.”

  Dominic knew how the CIA operated in extreme situations. As much as Dominic disagreed with Sagen’s actions, he had to admit that he liked the man and he was in awe of the scale of his achievement. “Captain, you do know who I am, don’t you?”

  The captain shrugged. “Some rich Pom who managed to get himself caught up in something he couldn’t handle.”

  Dominic smirked at the insult. “I own the only remaining news outlet that can publish anything on what’s left of the internet. Jagged Edge Media is, as of this morning, the only media outlet left in the world.”

  “Good for you.” The captain turned to leave.

  “Just think of the headlines when I break the story about a sovereign state, a member of the Geneva Convention, knowingly allowing the torture of another person. And of course, about a naval captain who allowed such heinous acts to be carried out on his ship. I will personally ensure your career and your reputation are just as tortured as Victor Sagen is while in your care.”

  Captain O’Donnell froze, seemingly lost for words. When he found them, they were a touch more conciliatory. “Mr. Elliston, look, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have even let those agents on my ship. But it’s not. In effect, this ship is now theirs. My orders are to relinquish all control over to them. Take them where they want, when they want, and give them all that they want.”

  Dominic’s eyes searched for a lie, an exaggeration, but found nothing.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Elliston, whilst we may be a Royal Australian ship in name, we’re far more a part of the US Pacific Command. We are all under their control now, so I suggest that you stay low and keep out of their way.”

  The captain turned and walked away, shoulders slumped. There was nothing the captain could or would do now. Which meant there was nothing Dominic himself could do. Sagen was on his own. Even though he was on the same ship, they might as well have been oceans apart.

  Chapter Thirty

  That night in his cabin, Dominic resolved to at least try to find where they were holding Sagen. Even though he knew Sagen was a criminal, he had come to respect and admire the madman. The CIA were hardly renowned for their fair and even-handed approach to questioning terrorists. Out here, there would be no one to look out for Sagen. He could easily disappear into a CIA black hole.

  He checked his watch. Nearly one in the morning. The ship should be quieter now with fewer people moving about. Testing the door handle, he was half-expecting it to be locked. It wasn’t. He put his head out of the door and checked the corridor both ways. It was lit harshly by fluorescent tubes running down its length. All was still, just the hum of the ship and a gentle creaking as it swayed on the ocean swell.

  Dominic took his chances and headed toward the main stairwell away from the bridge. Walking purposefully, he tried to look like he knew where he was going and that he belonged in the corridor of a navy ship so late at night. Projection was the best way to avoid confrontation, something he’d learned on war-torn streets many years before.

  He figured the CIA team would want privacy and somewhere soundproofed, which meant going down into the depths of the ship. Somewhere near the engine room would make sense. When he reached the bottom of a stairwell, he looked for another set of stairs and any sign that indicated the engineering levels. There were no people about, but he maintained his projection of belonging and certainty, just in case.

  At the end of one flight of stairs he came out into another narrow corridor that looked pretty much like all the others. As he rounded the corner, his heart quickened at the sight of the CIA man he’d confronted earlier walking toward him. The man hadn’t seen him yet as his head was down, staring at the floor. Dominic had to think quickly—confront him or about-turn as fast as possible? Avoiding confrontation had never been an option for Dominic and he wasn’t about to start now. Loose and aggressive.

  As he approached the agent, he still hadn’t noticed him. He was rubbing his temples with one hand as he walked. He looked exhausted and disheveled, though he was wearing a different, new-looking shirt that was untucked with the sleeves rolled up. It still had the creases from where it had been folded and packed.

  The agent was now less than eight feet away.

  “Where is he?” Dominic said. His voice booming down the narrow corridor like a bullet travelling down a barrel.

  The man looked up in surprise, an odd expression in his eyes. Shock? Disappointment? Guilt? Dominic couldn’t be sure but it didn’t last long—his eyes quickly narrowed and his face hardened.

  “You really don’t want to push me.” The man stopped and put his hands behind his back. It was a posture Dominic felt was incongruous with his aggressive tone.

  “Where’s Sagen?”

  “Get out of my way and get back to your quarters.”

  “Damn it, wh
ere is he?”

  The man closed in on Dominic, still with his hands behind his back. Dominic held his ground along with his stare.

  “You really have no idea what is happening right now, or what I’m capable of—not to mention the power I have over you. Because if you did, you would have jumped off this ship and taken your chances with the sharks. Better odds, trust me.”

  Dominic noticed blood smears on the man’s face and neck, the clumps of his short dark hair sticking together, the sweat on his brow. But mostly he noticed his eyes. They were unnerving and sickening.

  “I know what you lot are capable of and I know what you’re probably doing to Sagen. All in the name of apple pie, homeland security and the greater good; or some shit like that.”

  The man sneered at Dominic. “You’re going to stand here and lecture me? I’m doing what needs to be done. I am trying to save your world from oblivion. I am doing what you could not, what you failed to achieve, which is to stop whatever this terrorist has created.”

  Dominic did not back down. He held his nerve along with the man’s stare. He repeated himself slowly, “I want to see Victor Sagen.”

  The man stepped back slightly, looking away to the left, exasperated.

  “Victor Sagen has had no access to a lawyer or medical treatment—nothing. You, whoever you are, are breaking so many international laws that when I’m back on dry land, I will spend my last pounds—and that is a significant amount—paying lawyers to put you away forever.”

  The man threw his head back and laughed loudly. Then he looked at Dominic with a malicious grin. “You want to see Sagen? Really? Come with me, then.” The man grabbed Dominic by his shoulder and pushed him down the corridor. “Walk! I’ll take you to him. Let’s go.” He gave Dominic another push in the back.

  The man directed Dominic down more stairs and through a labyrinth of corridors. The noise of the engines was much louder. The stink of bilge water, oil, and machinery hung heavily in the cold, wet air.

  “Stop!” called the man at a white-painted steel door with a large metal handle.

  The man shouldered past him and knocked on the door three times and called out to be let in. He turned back to Dominic smiling. “Before we go in there, let me introduce myself, I’m Troy Stone.” The door opened, and Stone pushed Dominic inside. “Welcome to my world!”