Marauder

by Clive Cussler

  “How long until we’re in position to fire?” Juan asked.

  “The harbor entrance is one minute out,” Eric replied. “There isn’t much clearance between those headlands for us to get through. I need to swing out before we enter to get a straight course.”

  “Prepare to raise the rail gun, but stand by for my order.”

  Juan turned to Sylvia. “Are you ready to fire?”

  She looked nervous, but she nodded. She’d taken only a couple of practice shots out at sea to conserve the limited ammunition they had on board. According to Max, he thought he’d fixed the overheating problem they’d encountered in Bali. They were about to find out if he was right.

  “Remember,” Murph said to his sister, “no need to lead.”

  “I know,” Sylvia said.

  Normally, artillery cannons had to lead the target if it was moving. They had to be aimed at where the target was going to be. But the hypersonic rail gun shells were so fast that, at these distances, the rounds would reach the target nearly instantaneously.

  “We need Jin alive,” Juan reminded her. “Try to avoid completely destroying the ship if you can.”

  “I’ll target the plasma cannon turret,” Sylvia said. “But the Marauder is between us and the buildings where your team is. If I miss, the shell could hit them.”

  “Then hold your fire until you’re all the way in the harbor,” Juan said.

  “I’ve got the Marauder’s current position as a reference.”

  “Take her in quick.”

  * * *

  —

  Jin had already decimated half the buildings on the base when the man she’d sent out on the ATV called in on a video chat.

  “I’m at the end of the runway,” he said. “There’s a ship out there.”

  “Show me,” she said.

  He flipped the phone around. It showed the open ocean and the blue sky. The camera swung around until an object came into view.

  It was a ship all right, a break bulk freighter with four cranes, but it moved at the speed of a light craft.

  The camera shifted more, and land came into view. Jin recognized it as the headland of the harbor.

  She ran out to the bridge wing and looked toward the harbor entrance. At first she saw nothing. She squinted, flipping between the image on her phone screen and what was out her window. Suddenly, she saw the ship round the headlands and turn toward the harbor entrance.

  She ran back into the bridge and shouted at the XO, “We have an enemy at twelve o’clock. Turn us around and prepare to fire.”

  “What about me?” the man on the ATV asked.

  “Get back to the base and help the others finish off those intruders.” She hung up.

  “She’s not fully clear of the landscape,” the XO said. “I can’t get a firm lock just yet.”

  “Then we’ll have to aim manually,” Jin said. “I’ll do it myself.”

  * * *

  —

  They’re coming about,” Juan said.

  The nimble trimaran was turning quickly, as was the plasma cannon. It would now be a race to see who could fire first. The Oregon wasn’t in the right position yet to eliminate the threat of an errant shot hitting the building that Eddie and his team were in, but they couldn’t wait any longer.

  It was as if they were two World War I dreadnoughts about to stand off at point-blank range.

  Juan gave the order. “Sylvia, activate the rail gun.”

  “Activating,” she said.

  The rail gun rose into place on the forward deck, its menacing black barrel rotating as soon as it was clear of the hull.

  “Fire at will,” Juan said.

  “Weapon is charged,” Murph said.

  Juan could see the aiming reticle on the main screen. It was locked on the plasma cannon turret, which was now facing them dead-on.

  It launched a salvo a moment before Sylvia fired the rail gun.

  The plasma round hit the Oregon’s armored hull, its energy rocking the ship just enough that the rail gun shell missed the turret. Instead, it blew through the crew section of the ship, shattering every window on the trimaran, including the bridge.

  “Keep firing,” Juan said.

  Sylvia’s second shot grazed the turret and tore up the hillside behind the base, knocking down a dozen trees in the process.

  The Marauder fired again. This time the ball of plasma went right between two of the cranes, melting the paint as it went by.

  “Now I’ve got it,” Sylvia said as she loosed a third round.

  The tungsten projectile slammed into the turret, ripping a gaping hole in the metal. The plasma cannon’s barrel was torn free and catapulted into the water.

  Sylvia slumped in her chair, thinking that the battle was over. Eric reached over with his hand in the air, and she returned a weak high five. Murph’s voice box played the sound of a cheering crowd.

  “Good job,” Juan said to Sylvia. “But stay alert. The Marauder may try to ram us. That’s the only play they have left.”

  “Don’t worry,” Sylvia said. “I think I’ve got this thing figured out now. It won’t get any closer to us.”

  Juan used his armrest control to focus the external camera on the bridge of the Marauder. He wanted to see who he was up against.

  As the camera zoomed in, no one was visible. Then someone rose into view with a staggering motion.

  The person slowly turned toward the Oregon. It was April Jin. The left side of her face was covered in blood.

  “That’s her,” Sylvia said through clenched teeth. “That’s the woman who sank my ship and paralyzed Mark.”

  Juan turned to Hali. “Radio their ship. Tell Jin to surrender or we’ll destroy them.”

  SIXTY-TWO

  The last few stragglers on the base kept fighting, even one who showed up on an ATV. Eddie guessed there were three or four of them left, all of them concentrating their fire from behind the razed barracks.

  “Your ship has been defeated,” he yelled in Mandarin. “Put down your weapons.”

  No response except for the automatic fire that continued unabated. Eddie’s team was pinned down.

  “Sounds like they’re not interested in quitting,” Linc said. “And I’m out of grenades.”

  “Anyone else have any?” Eddie asked.

  They all shook their heads.

  MacD pointed at the wide expanse between them and the next closest building. “There’s an awful lot of ground to cross to circle around them.”

  “I wouldn’t advise charging them,” Raven said. “At least a couple of us are liable to get hit.”

  “We’ve already got the solution,” Linda said, nodding at the Oregon. “Let’s call in a strike.”

  “Good idea,” Eddie said. “Hali, we need some artillery support.”

  “What’s the target?” Hali asked.

  “Third pile of rubble from the north.”

  “There’s a lot of rubble over there. Sylvia doesn’t want to hit you. Can you mark your position?”

  Eddie took a smoke flare from his pack and popped it. Orange mist belched from the canister.

  “Do not,” he said, “repeat, do not shoot at the orange smoke. The hostiles are behind the debris of the building next to us on your right.”

  “Understood. Take cover.”

  “Get down,” Eddie said. “Open your mouths so your eardrums don’t rupture.”

  They hit the floor and put their hands over their heads.

  A massive shock wave shredded the air as a round traveling at Mach 7 went by. A deafening explosion seemed to occur simultaneously. Concrete particles fell on them like snow, and a cloud of dust mixed with the orange smoke.

  There was no more gunfire.

  Eddie sat up, his ears ringing but his hearing intact. As the dust
cleared, he could see that the ruins hiding Jin’s men had been scoured away as if by a broom.

  “That’s all of them,” Linc said, getting to his feet.

  “That rail gun is a nasty weapon,” Raven said.

  “Max, are you there?” Eddie said into his comm unit.

  “Loud and clear. Still on station where I dropped you off. Sounds like I missed the party. Is everyone okay over there?”

  “We all made it through, but I don’t think any of us feels like taking a walk right now. Why don’t you come and get us.”

  “On my way.”

  Eddie took a seat on a broken piece of concrete. “We might as well get comfortable and enjoy our front row tickets.”

  “Too bad we don’t have any popcorn,” MacD said as the rest of them joined him. “I can’t wait to see what Captain Jin is going to do.”

  * * *

  —

  Jin wiped her sleeve against her head, but all it did was smear the blood around. Everyone on the bridge had been sliced with glass when the windows shattered.

  A voice was calling from the radio.

  “I repeat, this is the Norego. You are ordered to surrender your vessel. Shut down your engines, come on to the deck with your hands in the air, and prepare to be boarded.”

  She picked up the microphone and said, “Acknowledged, Norego. Shutting down engines.”

  Jin initiated the shutdown procedure, then helped the XO to his feet. “Gather the men and take them out to the deck. I’ll join you in a minute. I have to make a phone call first.”

  The executive officer made a shipwide announcement to muster topside and then escorted the bridge crew outside.

  When she was alone, Jin took a deep breath and typed in some last commands into the control pad. After she was done, she took out her phone and called her husband.

  The phone rang four times and then went to voicemail.

  “Honey, it’s me. We’ve had some trouble here, and I think I’ll be late to Sydney. I wish I could be there to see the launch. You’ll do great, and I want you to know that I love you. Whatever happens, I know this will lead to a better life. Good-bye, my dear.”

  She hung up. It rang almost immediately, and she answered without looking at the number.

  “Darling,” Jin said.

  “I don’t think we’re to that stage of our relationship yet,” Juan Cabrillo said.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to come out on the deck like we asked.”

  “You were never planning to make a deal, were you?”

  “Sure I was. It’s just that the terms may not be to your liking.”

  “You’re either here to commandeer my ship and kill us,” Jin said, “or you’re going to take us all to prison. I told myself a long time ago that I was never going to set foot in prison again. I intend to keep that promise, Mr. Cabrillo.”

  She watched the needle on the temperature gauge for the plasma cannon’s power generator rising toward the redline. As soon as it reached the critical limit, the weapon would self-destruct, blowing the Marauder apart.

  SIXTY-THREE

  Even though it wasn’t dusk yet, the harbor was in the shadow of the island behind the Marauder, giving the scene an eerie cast.

  “What makes you think I want to send you to prison?” Juan said, getting out of his command chair. He took Hali’s headset and switched to its audio mic, but the entire op center could still hear Jin.

  Her crew was lined up on the deck outside, but she was sitting in her own high captain’s chair on the bridge, talking with the phone in her palm and watching the Oregon. The image was enlarged enough that he could see her hair blowing with the breeze through the broken windows. It seemed as if she were looking directly at him.

  “I’m glad to have someone to talk to at the end like this,” Jin said. “I wish I knew what you looked like. You have a nice voice.”

  “That sounds like a woman who doesn’t intend to be taken alive,” Eric said.

  Sylvia gasped. “Can you put that infrared video feed back up?”

  Juan nodded, and Eric switched the camera to the black and white image of the Marauder. The highlight at the stern was now fading as the engines cooled, but the center of the ship was almost white with heat.

  “I thought we destroyed the plasma cannon,” Hali said.

  “Just the gun,” Murph said.

  “The power generator underneath is what builds up the energy to launch the projectile,” Sylvia said. “She’s deliberately overheating it. When it reaches the redline, it’ll detonate.”

  “April,” Juan said, “it looks like you’re building to a generator overload. You need to power down now.”

  “I have to admit, you people are good,” Jin said. “Sorry. I’ve put the cycle on automatic. Nothing can stop that now.”

  Juan looked at Sylvia, who nodded in agreement. He mouthed “How long?”

  “Two or three minutes, max.”

  That didn’t leave them enough time to get aboard and evacuate Jin before the trimaran exploded.

  Juan put his hand over the mic and said, “Stoney, move us away from the Marauder.” He removed his hand. “April, there’s still time for you and your men to get off the ship.”

  “No one is getting off this ship. It would jeopardize my husband’s mission.”

  They wouldn’t be able to question anyone. Jin would go down with her ship, and they would be left no closer to finding out what the target of Polk’s mission was.

  Juan could keep her talking, but he’d never get the truth out of her, not without their tranquilizer darts like the ones Linc had . . .

  That thought gave him an idea. Linc was the best marksman in the crew.

  “Get me Linc on another line,” he told Hali.

  Juan had just come up with one of his infamous Plan Cs. This one was a literal longshot.

  * * *

  —

  When Juan called, Linc was sitting with his back against a concrete slab, drinking from his water bottle and arguing with MacD about how long the surrender would take.

  “Linc here, Chairman.”

  “Is your tranquilizer sniper rifle intact?”

  “Yes.”

  “I need you to use it immediately.”

  Linc frowned. “On who?”

  “On Jin. She’s on the bridge of the Marauder. Can you make the shot?”

  Linc didn’t ask the Chairman why. He snatched up the rifle, loaded a dart, and knelt behind the broken slab he’d been leaning against.

  He put the scope to his eye. At this range, the back of Jin’s head was a pinpoint.

  “She’s three hundred yards away,” Linc said. “That’s beyond the spec range of this rifle, but I can try.”

  “You’ll only get one attempt,” Juan said. “If she sees a stray dart fly by her, she’ll duck down, and you won’t get another shot.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I only have one dart left anyway.”

  “Then make it count. We don’t have much time.”

  “Understood.”

  Linc threw some dust in the air. The wind was blowing slightly right to left. He made an adjustment on the scope and lined up the shot.

  He held his breath and hoped that Jin didn’t move. He squeezed the trigger.

  The rifle bucked, and he saw Jin go down, but he couldn’t tell if it was because she was hit or missed.

  “I took the shot,” Linc said.

  “I saw,” the Chairman said. “I’ll let you know in a couple of minutes whether it got her to talk.”

  * * *

  —

  For a moment, the line to the Marauder was silent.

  “April, are you with me?” Juan asked.

  “I’m here,” she answered.

  At least she was still on the line.
Either the dart hit her or it didn’t.

  “What’s Angus Polk’s target on New Year’s Eve?”

  “Sydney,” Jin said, slurring the S. Linc’s aim had been right on the money.

  “Who in Sydney?”

  “The city.”

  “I know that’s a city,” Juan said, exasperated.

  “I think she means the whole city,” Sylvia said, blanching at the idea.

  “Do you actually mean you’re going to use the Enervum gas against the entire city of Sydney?” Juan asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “The global expansion of China. And money from my stepfather Lu Yang, nine hundred and eighty million dollars in a locked cryptocurrency account. Passcode Enervum143. Don’t have the account number memorized. Where’s Angus?”

  “He’s gone.”

  “Gone to Sydney,” Jin said as if just realizing it.

  “Yes. How will the attack happen?”

  “What attack?”

  “The attack on Sydney. Focus, April.”

  “Timer set to launch rockets at midnight. They explode all over Sydney. Millions paralyzed overnight. Ten major newspapers cover the story the next day. That unlocks the account and we get the money.”

  “Antidote,” Murph said.

  Juan nodded as he saw the white spot on the center of the Marauder growing brighter by the second.

  “April, do you have any of the Enervum antidote?”

  “Not in me.”

  “I mean, did you make any of the antidote?”

  “Yes. Enough for nine thousand people total. Half on the Marauder, half with Angus. Angus is in Sydney.”

  “Where does Angus have his batch of the antidote?”

  “On the cargo ship in Sydney.”

  “Where are the rockets?”

  “On the cargo ship in Sydney.”

  “Anytime now,” Sylvia said as she watched the overheating trimaran.