Operation Sea Ghost ph-3

by Mack Maloney

  “The CIA figured the Z-box would be opened somewhere in Hanoi, a tightly packed city of 1.5 million people at the time. There would be an explosion, which again wouldn’t be very big, but the flash would be tremendous. The Agency figured, while only a hundred or so would be killed in the actual blast — more than seven hundred thousand attracted by the noise of the blast would be blinded forever by the flash.

  “Can you imagine the crisis that would cause? Three quarters of a million people suddenly and permanently without sight? All in one city? The effect would have been so paralyzing that the North Vietnamese government would have collapsed. No matter how much aid Russia and China poured in, this thing would have ruined them.

  “And it probably would have won the war for the U.S., too — but we would have been morally bankrupt in the eyes of the world, or even more so than we are today.”

  He pointed to the DVD, still showing the hundreds of blind animals in confused agony, stumbling about. Then he said: “Gentlemen, that’s what’s in the Z-box.…”

  A stunned silence descended on the room. It lasted for a long minute.

  “But how did they expect it to get into the hands of the NVA?” Batman finally asked.

  “Like I said,” Murphy replied. “The CIA knew if it were found by NVA or Viet Cong troops, it would eventually get to Hanoi, where they would try to open it. But the Agency didn’t want to be obvious about it, like leaving it behind on a battlefield or in the backseat of a car.

  “So they tried to fake an airplane crash with the Z-box on board, along with four already-dead bodies dressed up like the crew, hoping the box and the key would be found and immediately taken to Hanoi as ordered. But the plane was shot down long before it got where the Agency wanted it to go and it wound up being lost in this rice paddy that was covered over with water and mud for years afterward.”

  “Man, the Agency was goofy even back then,” Twitch said. “I mean did they just expect it to work, just like that?”

  “Yes, they did,” Murphy nodded. “Because they kept it simple. You open the box with the key, and the first few layers contain what look to be classified documents. But once you get down to the bottom layer, like a VC spinning mine, it starts ticking down and it’s impossible to stop. Unless, you turn the key again, and shut it off. And you have exactly one minute to do that. After those sixty seconds, the bomb goes off fifteen seconds later.”

  Another silence came over the room.

  Then Murphy said, “Now, can you imagine such a weapon being detonated in a large American city? With millions of people in the affected area? It would make 9/11 seem like a tea party.”

  The hostel shook again with the loud noise coming from the harbor.

  Murphy continued to pull on his tie nervously; at times he seemed like an intensely shy man. “I guess I always hoped this thing was just a box of feathers,” he went on. “Or LBJ’s stained pajamas or something. Because then, it really would have been a game, getting it back, trying to block everyone else out, just to save the Agency some bad press.

  “But now that I know what it is, it’s frightening that I thought so cavalierly about it.”

  He fumbled with his tie some more. Then he added: “And I swear to you on my life, I thought the gagnant prize was the box — and not just a key.”

  “Well, you fucked that up, genius,” Twitch roared at him again. “And now that key is out there on the loose, and so is the Z-box.”

  Batman raised his hands as a request for calm. Then he said, “Look, we all fucked up here in some way, shape or form. And pointing fingers won’t solve anything. What we’ve got to do now is figure out how these Jihad Brothers are planning to get the key out of Monte Carlo and bring it to wherever the box is.”

  “The only people who know that must be the ex-Stazi guys,” Murphy said. “They were the brokers; they’re the ones who handled all this.”

  Batman said, “Then I suggest we go back up to that Palace and beat the piss out of everyone we see. One of them has got to know where these Stazi guys are.”

  Murphy nodded, but then replied, “Normally, I would say that’s not a bad idea. But I really doubt the Stazi guys were ever even here in MC. They’re too smart for that and I doubt we can ever catch them. As for the Palace, they’re just doing what every other European royal family is doing these days: They’re strapped for funds and have a lot of debt and they just made themselves a quarter of a billion dollars for doing nothing more than hosting a card game. For all we know, they were told the players were vying for an antique or a precious art collection. Far worse things have been done inside those four walls, I’m sure.”

  “But here’s what’s bothering me,” Twitch said. “If the game was just for the key, then why would those people even play in it? Why would they put up fifty million if they don’t even know where the box is?”

  “The answer is simple,” Murphy replied. “Everyone in that game does know where the box is—but us. Don’t you see? You two guys and my beauty queen were the only ones not in on it. We were late arrivals. My proxy was in just under the wire and then you guys walk in uninvited. We were the only good guys there. The rest of them were crooks or terrorists or a little bit of both. They all had to know where the box was already and that the key was super-important. We were just left out in the cold.”

  “Then let’s face it,” Batman said glumly. “There’s only one guy in MC who definitely knows where the box is — and that’s the guy who just stole the key. Like I said, we got to find him before he slips out of town.”

  “I agree,” Murphy said. “But he’s too smart to try to get out by plane. Or bus or train or car because he’ll know, or the person pulling his strings will know, that the Agency or all their PSO guys will have all those places sealed by now. I’m sure your friend Audette is doing that as we speak.

  “Now we all know those Jihad Brothers are smart — or at least smart enough and brutal enough to get the one thing a lot of other people in this town wanted. What we have to do immediately is figure out the real way they’re going to get out of town.”

  The building shook yet again. The noise from the harbor was even louder than before.

  That’s when it came to Batman. He suddenly realized he might know how the Jihad Brotherhood was planning to escape.

  He signaled Twitch and they both began climbing out of their mismatched tuxes and into their old Versace clothes.

  “We’ve got to go right now,” Batman said. “The three of us…”

  “Where are we going?” Murphy asked him anxiously.

  “To the harbor,” Batman replied. “Of course…”

  24

  It all came down to traffic.

  It was now almost 5:00 A.M. and it was still dark. Yet Monte Carlo’s winding streets were crowded, bumper to bumper. The traffic was made up almost exclusively of taxis and limousines carrying race drivers, race officials and the glitterati. Because it was just a few hours away from the beginning of the Formula One Grand Prix, there was a mad rush to get to the race staging point before the sun came up and the crowds descended on to Avenue Albert I.

  Batman, Twitch and Murphy stood on the corner near their apartment building for fifteen minutes trying to hail a cab, but none were available. They finally walked out onto Avenue des Beaux-Arts, their goal being the harborside roadway of JFK Drive. But even though they could see the waterfront, despite the glare of all the headlights, it seemed like a hundred miles way.

  Through it all, Murphy was trying to call his people on his cell phone, but with no luck. He seemed legitimately concerned as he went through a litany of numbers, dialing then redialing them all, but not connecting with any of them. He was muttering that he never stayed out of touch this long with his PSO group, and he was clearly worried that his people might have been trying to get in touch with him.

  They finally gave up trying to find an empty cab. They would have to go down to the harbor on foot, though they’d be slowed by Twitch’s lack of mobility. He’d hastil
y fashioned a temporary prosthetic out of the umbrella stem and shoelaces and it worked surprisingly well. But he could not move fast with it.

  In the end it didn’t matter. For the entire trip down to the harbor side, they kept hearing the same distinctive and tremendous roar; Batman and Twitch had been hearing it since they’d arrived in Monte Carlo, always on the periphery of everything else that was happening in the glittering city.

  Mechanical, powerful, and very loud. It was not a race car; it had nothing to do with Formula One. It was a gas turbine engine, not too unlike those used in jet fighters. Two gas turbines, in fact.

  Power plants attached to a pair of the fastest yachts in the world.

  Two yachts that were racing each other to New York City.

  * * *

  The powerful racing yachts were gone by the time they reached the waterfront.

  Unlike the beginning of the Grand Prix, there was no crowd on hand, no fanfare for the start of the waterborne high-speed race.

  The two vessels had to leave on the tide — and the tide had started going out at 5:00 A.M.

  Batman, Twitch and Murphy began walking down the pier nevertheless, heading to where the two yachts had been housed. Murphy still had his cell phone out, was still furiously dialing his people; it was crucial they knew where he was and what he was up to. But he just couldn’t connect.

  He was getting frantic … until suddenly he slapped himself upside the head.

  He stopped Batman and Twitch in their tracks.

  “Are you guys still carrying those platinum cards my girl gave you?” he asked them.

  Twitch meekly took out his card. Batman showed his too — with the dent made by the terrorist’s bullet.

  “A lot of good they did us,” Twitch said. Then he looked at Batman’s, and added: “Except for saving his ass.”

  Murphy took both cards and immediately tossed them in the water.

  “Those are EIDs,” he said as Batman and Twitch watched them sink into the harbor. “Electronic interference devices. You guys haven’t been able to make phone calls, use ATMs and so on? Those things were the reason why. It was all part of our plan to isolate you. Sorry…”

  Twitch just looked at Batman and shrugged. “Now he tells us?”

  By that point they had reached the support shack for one of the two racing yachts, the vessel dubbed Numero Two.

  The building was actually a substantial structure about the size of a one-story house, built onto the dock itself. Its support crew was sitting outside, relaxing after a hectic few days. There were six of them — mechanics, electricians, computer techs. They were drinking mimosas under a string of party lights.

  Murphy struck up a conversation with them, as Batman and Twitch, ever aware of their prostheses, hung back. The support crew were all Italian; their yacht had been designed in Pisa and built in Milan. This would be its first race across the Atlantic.

  At Murphy’s folksy prompting, the support crew explained they’d spent the last forty-eight hours getting all the provisions onto the Numero Two in time, making sure it was mechanically in tune and getting its drivers ready for the trans-Atlantic contest. Each turbine-powered racing yacht had a two-man crew, a pilot and an engineer, though either man could pilot the boat if necessary. Ninety-nine percent of the work was done by computer anyway, with all of the steering done by GPS.

  Their own particular launch had gone off like clockwork, the pit crew said. No problems. No drama. Now that their work was done, they could relax and enjoy Monte Carlo for a change.

  “And how did the other entry get off?” Murphy asked them, nonchalantly.

  The Italians shrugged as one. “Chiedere loro,” one said. “Go ask them, if they can still speak…”

  By Murphy’s expression, they knew he didn’t understand.

  “Even before the race begin, they have drug dealers and hooker on a visit to them,” one man explained. “Must have been big party, premature.”

  Murphy bade the support crew good luck. Then on his cue, the three of them continued strolling down the pier to the support shack for the second racing yacht.

  “Drug dealers and a hooker?” Twitch said, once they were out of earshot. “That’s an odd way to say ‘bon voyage.’”

  The second vessel was named Smoke-Lar. A twist on the Dutch word for “Smuggler,” it was built at the famous shipyard at Oss, Holland. Its support shack was located at the end of the isolated dock, away from just about everything else.

  But there was no partying pit crew here. It was all very quiet; the shack and its dock seemed deserted.

  “No one is around?” Batman said. “That’s a bit suspicious.”

  “If the Jihad Brothers stole this yacht,” Murphy said. “Then they would have had to whack the support crew and the guys on the boat.”

  “Well, we know they’re not averse to whacking people,” Batman said.

  The door to the support shack was locked. Murphy used a small knife to pick the lock and they piled inside.

  The interior looked like a typical suburban house garage. Lots of tools, fuel cans, electric cables running everywhere. Technically, it was a wet dock, meaning one section of the base had no floor. This allowed the yacht to float in and get serviced while staying in the water.

  “No drug dealers, no hooker,” Twitch announced after a quick look around. “No party…”

  He was right. Nothing was out of the ordinary inside the building. The place looked so normal, it was more likely that the support crew had simply gone into town after their yacht departed.

  But then Murphy spotted something. Floating in the water of the wet dock was a handful of small brass-colored items; they looked like thimbles. Murphy reached down and scooped them up.

  They were shell casings that had failed to sink.

  Batman examined one and said, “They might be from an Uzi. Maybe recently fired.”

  Then Twitch found something even better. He pointed to the shack’s fiberglass ceiling. Each corner had a tiny security camera hanging from it.

  They found the small operations room in back and Twitch was soon pulling up the video feeds of the last few hours. At first they saw the yacht’s crew hurrying through some last-minute work on the bullet-shaped racing vessel. But then, about 4:30 A.M., two dark-skinned men entered the support shack, guns drawn.

  “Are those our ‘drug dealers?’” Murphy asked.

  The video was blurry at this point as the yacht’s power plant was turned on and massive vibrations from its turbine engine were shaking everything inside the structure, including the cameras. But the tape was clear enough to show the intruders murdering the support crew, one at a time, and then putting their bodies on the boat.

  The video went a little crazy at that point. It almost looked like a third person was suddenly with the terrorists, forced into the boat but not killed. It looked like a woman, though she had a coat pulled over her head.

  “And could that be our ‘hooker?’” Batman asked

  The video showed the vessel then leaving the wet dock. The vibrations calmed down and the camera went back to simply recording the static scene.

  “So they killed the crew here,” Murphy said after the video ended. “And obviously the racket from that freaking engine was enough to mask the sound of the gunshots.”

  “And they’ll probably dump the bodies at sea, once they’re under way,” Twitch added. “I mean, that’s what I’d do.”

  “The question is, what do we do now?” Batman asked.

  “Call the Monte Carlo police?” Twitch offered. “Or the Monaco military? Does Monaco even have a military?”

  Batman shook his head. “If not, we can call the French military, I guess?”

  But Murphy vigorously disagreed. “You want to call someone and lose everything?”

  “But someone’s got to stop that yacht,” Twitch said.

  “I agree,” Murphy said. “But if we call in the French military now — or any military for that matter, this thing will blow
sky high. God, especially involving the Frogs, it will be headlines inside the hour. Remember, this isn’t just a WMD that might be heading to the US. This is a WMD designed and built for the CIA for God’s sake. If it goes off, that whole ‘9/11 was an inside job thing’ will erupt again and that could tear the country apart.”

  He paused a moment, then added, “Besides, didn’t Audette tell you guys that you couldn’t ask for any help from anyone in this thing?”

  “But that was before we know what the freaking box was,” Batman replied harshly. “Those mooks stole that yacht for two reasons: It was a way to get out of Monte Carlo with no one looking and it was a way to get to the U.S. again without anyone being the wiser, at least until they got there.

  “So the box must be in the U.S. — I mean, if the key is going there, then the box has to be there, too. And the way that yacht can travel, it’s already a hundred miles away from here by now and once it gets out in the open ocean, it could really go anywhere, Florida to Maine. The way I see, we got no choice but to call for help.”

  But Murphy was still shaking his head no.

  “What do you propose we do, then?” Batman asked him.

  “How about this?” he replied. “What if we were able to sink that yacht somehow? And the key went down with it? That would be almost as good as sending the box to the bottom of the Java Trench, right? If that thing works the way we think it works and you need the key, then eliminate the key and you eliminate the immediate threat. Then we can tell the Agency what we know about the Z-box — after they pay us, that is. Then they can track down everyone else who was at that card game, waterboard them and go find it. Make sense?”

  Twitch said, “What do you mean ‘pay us?’”

  “I mean will you cut me in for a percentage if this works out?” Murphy replied.

  Twitch rolled his eyes. “I knew it,” he said. “It’s always about the money with you. Stealing it. Conning it. A half hour ago, you said you didn’t care about the money.”

  “I said it was farther down on my list.” Murphy corrected him calmly. “But my goal had always been to continue the work my group and I started right after 9/11. To do that, we need money, and this will be a way to make a tidy sum, courtesy of the Agency, and get rid of this horrible thing.”