by A.D. Winch
Chapter 17 - Reporting Back
It was dark in the Persian Gulf. The moon was barely a crescent, and the slim strip of light was swallowed up by thick mist. Two large, search lights operating from the deck of the ‘Gulf Steam,' crisscrossed the open water. Apart from the occasional plastic, drinks bottle they found nothing. There were no remains of the yacht, ‘Queen of Hearts’, and no survivors. The crew had been searching without any luck for two hours, and their search had also been conducted in near silence. If they could not see anyone in the water then they hoped they would still be able to hear them. They heard nothing except the waves lapping against the hull of the ship.
The ship’s loudspeaker broke the silence. It seemed far too loud and disrespectful given the circumstances.
“This is Captain Sharma. The Dubai coast guard will be here soon with an international team led by the Americans. We have been thanked for our efforts and asked to continue toward our destination. Please turn off the searchlights and return to your stations. We shall resume our journey in five minutes.”
The crew did as they were asked. With the searchlights off, it was as if a black shroud had suddenly wrapped itself around the ship. Clinks and rattles echoed across the water and with a low roar the ship’s engines started up. Painfully slowly, the ship sailed away from the site of the explosion. Their rescue mission had failed.
Just above the sea level and attached to the hull with magnetic grips, were six large figures dressed in all black wet suits and with blacked out faces. They were almost invisible; white barnacles beside them were easier to spot despite being a fraction of the size.
“This is Team Omega reporting in,” said one of the black figures.
“Please report,” said Agent Hoover, from the comfort of his air-conditioned observation room.
“Target has been destroyed but no sign of the boy. I repeat no sign of the boy.”
Agent Hoover picked up the phone and relayed this information to his boss.
Agent Angel was furious, “The boy’s DNA matches our one and only sample. He is a danger to our way of life. This is not acceptable.” Suddenly he exploded and roared, “Search every port, every shipping record, flight reservations, immigration lists, border crossing reports, passport control data! Put out a warrant. Use Interpol. Do what it takes, but FIND THAT BOY!”
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