V4 Vengeance

by Nigel Seed

  The figures on the watches reduced to zero and the grenades were thrown. Three landed inside the bridge, four went up each of the outer stairways, two going forward and two going aft. Another four went into the upper deck saloon. As the grenades exploded with vicious noise and incredibly bright flashes, the SEALs leapt up the stairways with their weapons at the ready, moving at a speed that startled Jim and his companions. They spread out quickly ready for any movement.

  On the bridge the grenades had been extremely effective in the enclosed space. The four men in there were shocked and dazed and offered no resistance as they were grabbed, thrown to the deck and restrained with plastic wrist ties. The SEALs in the bridge then moved outside to the wings of the bridge to provide fire support onto the side decks if required.

  The effect in the deck saloon had been similarly shocking and in that enclosed space the SEALs found eight dazed and confused men who had dropped their weapons and one man who had been blown into the swimming pool with his weapon on top of him. As he struggled to the surface his eyes cleared to find the barrel of an MP5 in front of his nose. All of the men were restrained and pushed down hard to the deck to await disposal later.

  The side decks were a different matter. The grenades had less effect out here and although the men on the machine guns were surprised, they were recovering fast. The heavy weapons swung round on their mounting pintles toward the SEALs coming up the stairway. They were fast, but with the element of surprise in their favor, the attackers were faster still. The MP5s spewed their 9 millimeter rounds in a hail along the deck and on both sides of the ship the machine gunners were cut down before they could do any damage.

  Forward of the bridge, the promenade deck curved round in a semi- circle with a waist height safety bulkhead around it. Six men had been crouching behind this with rifles, waiting for a chance to cut down the men inside the cave mouth. There had been no way to drop any disorientating grenades on these and so they were a serious danger. One made the mistake of standing up to look back through the bridge windows after the flash bangs went off and received two bullets in the back for his trouble, from two sides of the cave. The rest learned fast and stayed low. They moved left and right to attempt to reach the side decks, but as they appeared around the corner of the bridge, they found themselves facing the steady barrels of submachine guns from the side deck and from the wings of the bridge above them. With nowhere to go they dropped their rifles and slowly put their hands behind their heads as they sank to their knees.

  Inside the bridge, three of the group of SEALs moved to secure the communication room. As they entered the room the wireless operator made the mistake of turning toward the door with a pistol in his hand. The short burst from the silenced MP5 threw him back onto his radio equipment and removed any threat he might have been.

  Moving aft the team emerged onto the top deck where the RIBs and other boats were stored. They spread to each side and using the cover available moved cautiously to deal with the last machine gun. As they emerged from behind the boats and looked down onto the sunbathing deck they found that the machine gunner had no intention of dying as a hero. He was on his knees facing them with his hands already behind his neck. Two SEALs came from the saloon on that deck, picked him up almost gently and secured his hands behind his back, before shepherding him into the main deck saloon to sit by the pool. By the time he arrived, most of the surviving crew of the yacht had been rounded up and were sitting in a row along the starboard side, guarded by the SEALs.

  Martinez stepped in front of the group of prisoners and said, “So which one of you is Romanov?” Nobody answered and nobody moved. “Come on. I don’t have time for games. Where is Romanov?” Again he got no answer. Even in this situation none of these men were prepared to cross the Mafia boss. Martinez turned to Andrei. “Which one is he?”

  Andrei ran his eye along the line of bedraggled and subdued men. “None of these.”

  The door to the bridge opened and the four men who had been in there during the attack staggered in as they were pushed through, all with their hands firmly secured behind them.

  “That’s Romanov,” said Andrei, pointing at the second of the four.

  He was quickly pulled to one side as the other three joined the line of prisoners.

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Romanov,” said Martinez. “You have an appointment with our justice system back in the States.”

  Romanov laughed. “Your so called Justice system cannot touch me. I was nowhere near New York and had no knowledge that the Arabs in my crews would hijack the U-Boats for a terrorist attack on the city. You on the other hand will be charged with piracy for attacking my boat.”

  “Mr. Romanov…” Martinez began, but Andrei stepped up beside him.

  “I think you should let me speak to Mr Romanov, as one Russian to another. And if you look over there you will see that I am not the only surviving witness to what you did.”

  Romanov’s eyes widened and his jaw sagged a little as he recognized the servant he had ordered to be killed, but he said nothing. He looked at Jim and the other two Britons and shrugged. Martinez stepped back and watched as Andrei led Romanov to a chair at the far end of the room. The difference in size between the two men was marked, but somehow Andrei had the more commanding presence. He sat Romanov down and then pulled another chair across to face him. Andrei leaned forward and spoke very intensely to his prisoner.

  Jim looked at Ivan and said, “So was all that training at Beaconsfield any use? Can you tell what they are saying?”

  Ivan nodded. “It’s very fast Russian, but I am getting the drift. At the moment Andrei is calling him a number of extremely rude Russian names, he seems quite upset that Romanov tried to have him drowned. He is now saying that the Americans are a just and honorable people and do not understand what a low life and scumbag Romanov is. Now that’s interesting. He is also saying that they do not understand what is being said so they can do a deal. Romanov has perked up and is interested in the deal. Andrei is saying that if he tells him where the bearer bonds are he will help him get away and they can split the profits. He is also demanding a senior position in Romanov’s organization back in Russia. He also wants to know if there are any more Russian art treasures on board. Romanov wants to know what his alternative is and Andrei has offered to blow his kneecap off to show him. I think Romanov believes him. Yes, he is telling Andrei where they are. Didn’t catch that bit.”

  Andrei glanced toward Jim and Ivan then turned back and spoke to Romanov again.

  Ivan turned away from the two Russians and whispered to Jim, “The bearer bonds are in the safe hidden behind the paneling in the wardrobes in his state room downstairs and the best Russian paintings and icons are in the other wardrobe behind the clothes. Andrei has told Romanov they need to go outside to work out their escape plan. I think we need to secure those bonds, boss.”

  Leaving Ivan to keep an eye on the two Russians, in case Andrei needed help, Jim slipped out of the upper saloon and went down to the lounge area with the impressive bar and the glorious religious artifact. Geordie followed him. They moved forward to the main state room and checked in the wardrobes. They slid the paneling to one side and found the safe was there and locked. The glorious icons and painting were pushed into the other wardrobe in an untidy pile. They could not open the safe, but Romanov had said it was full of bearer bonds. They could not guess what that safe was worth at that point, but it was a big one and could clearly hold an awful lot of paper certificates. Geordie was left to check the artworks and to pack them somewhere more suitable. Jim returned to the saloon where the prisoners were being held. As he entered he nodded slightly at Andrei who acknowledged with an odd smile.

  Jim walked to Ivan and said, “How is it going?”

  “Andrei has been stringing him along, negotiating the size of his cut and trying to work out a way for them to get away from us. He has been pretty convincing. Just now he demanded the safe combination as a sign of good faith and Romanov cracked
and gave it to him.”

  Andrei spoke again to Romanov and told him to stand. Romanov did as he was told and Andrei took him by the arm and steered him out onto the sunbathing deck. As they stepped out onto the deck Romanov looked across at Jim with a smug smile. Together the two Russians walked to the safety rail and Romanov leaned against it smiling down at Andrei. Clearly he was feeling relaxed and confident. Martinez was watching all this and came across to Jim.

  “What is going on with those two?”

  Jim shook his head “Not sure yet. Romanov thinks he has an escape deal with Andrei but he doesn’t know that Ivan speaks Russian and heard it all.”

  “Does Andrei know about Ivan’s skill?”

  “Oh yes. We spoke about lots of things to try and keep ourselves awake during our days and nights in that damned dinghy. We even had Russian singing lessons. I now know more Russian folk songs than I know English ones, a lot of them seem to be quite sad.”

  “So why are they out there?”

  Jim shrugged. “Andrei will have his reasons, I have no doubt.”

  As he spoke, Andrei stepped away from Romanov raised the MP5 and fired half a magazine into the Mafia man’s chest. The impact at such short range lifted Romanov over the rail and dumped him on the helideck below.

  Martinez sighed, “Oh hell, the President issued instructions for us to take him alive.”

  “No,” said Jim, “he said alive if possible. Andrei had no choice when Romanov made a grab for that machine gun.”

  “What grab? He was nowhere near the machine gun!” Martinez looked at Jim for a moment then said “Oh, I see. Yes. We are probably lucky Andrei was so fast or we could have lost some people.”

  Andrei came back into the saloon. Jim and Martinez walked across to meet him.

  “Do you want to explain that to me?” Jim said. Andrei nodded and wearily sank into the chair Romanov had recently sat in.

  “Romanov was right about the American justice system,” he said. “He could have carried on running his empire from a jail cell and lawyers in the USA are very clever about manipulating the law no matter what crime the animal has committed. It was necessary to send a message to the Mafia in Moscow in a form they will respect and understand, or you would have seen more of these attacks on innocent civilians in the future. No city in America or Europe would have been safe.”

  He leaned forward and handed his weapon to Jim. “I surrender to you. I am ready to face the courts for what I have done. I have no regrets.”

  Jim handed the weapon back. “Martinez and I watched the whole thing. When Romanov made that grab for the machine gun on the pedestal out there he could have done a lot of damage. You saved our lives.”

  Andrei looked puzzled. “But Romanov’s hands were secured behind his back he could not have …”

  Jim smiled. “They aren’t bound anymore. Ivan has just gone down to check, but I am pretty sure we will find that he had slipped out of the restraints without you noticing.”

  “That is good and there is something you should know. The last word that the animal heard in this life was Tatiana. I have made our revenge for her life.”

  At that moment Jim saw Martinez spin toward the rear of the saloon. He looked in the same direction as the SEAL and saw Smith scrambling up from behind an armchair in the corner that had been his hiding place throughout the action.

  “You bastard Wilson! The payoff from this job would have set me up for life and you ruined it!”

  Smith’s hands came into view from behind the chair. He was holding a folding stock AK-47 assault rifle and was fumbling to cock it while turning it toward Jim and the others. With a speed that beggared belief, Martinez raised his weapon and fired a burst of three rounds across the saloon. Smith staggered back against the bulkhead and looked down at the spreading red stain across his chest. For a second he looked at Jim and then slid down the wall and back into his hiding place. The closest SEAL stepped to the chair and looked over the back. He straightened and turned to the others shaking his head.

  Martinez looked across the saloon. “Major,” he said, “any chance you and your two boys could get those engines running? It would be nice to take this boat back home without some regular Navy pogue getting all the credit. And Andrei, thanks for the assist back there, it could have been nasty.”

  “No sooner said than done,” said Jim, “if you could send a man down to open the safe in the main state room and start sorting out the bearer bonds in there. Geordie can come and help me. Ivan! Andrei! Stop sitting about, we have work to do!”

  As with most modern yachts the engine system was largely automated so starting up presented little difficulty with Andrei translating the labeling on the control consoles. They found the internal controls and closed the outer doors to the moon pool and then went back up on deck to help where they could. The two HALO jumpers had now come aboard and the lines securing the yacht within the cave were released. The SEALs proved to be expert boat handlers and eased the large vessel around the bend in the cave using the bow thruster to control the turn, then slowly nosed the yacht out to sea. As they emerged from the cave into the early dawn they found there were a number of large gray ships waiting for them. As a small celebration one of the SEALs attached a large US Flag at the stern post and when it unfurled in the morning breeze the ships saluted with deafening fog horn blasts, as a flight of USMC Harrier jets flew low overhead.

  Chapter 54

  The voyage back to the mainland was uneventful with calm seas for most of the way and an escorting frigate on each side. The prisoners were confined in the crew quarters with a pair of vigilant SEALs on watch at all times. For the rest they took great delight in trying the very fine array of food that Romanov had provided for himself. The supply of wine was also of a very high quality and there was also a case of Macallan 12 with most of the bottles unopened.

  Jim said, “I guess that is how he rumbled your little game with the whisky, Andrei. So that must be why he tried to drown you with us.”

  Andrei sipped from his cut glass tumbler. “I think I told you he was not a nice person. He did not deserve such a fine whisky in the first place, but I suspect I also knew too much for him to risk me staying alive. That is probably why he had Tatiana killed as well. I think he was just cleaning house. I think the men he left on the island as a distraction were also intended to die.”

  The yacht approached Melbourne in Florida and slipped into the Indian River south of the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. They made their way north up the broad waterway, with the British team and Andrei standing at the rail for most of the way watching the dolphins and the pelicans pass them by. The vessel passed under the Pineda Causeway and turned slowly right into a small marina. Standing on the deck they were surprised to see a large airfield beyond it. They all turned as Martinez came out on deck.

  “What is this place?” asked Ivan. “It looks military.”

  “It is. That’s Patrick Air Force Base and this is the marina that belongs to the base. It was the nearest military base where we could be secure, but where a boat like this would attract no attention. Plus with those long runways it’s very handy for catching a flight to anywhere you want.”

  As the yacht came alongside the wharf in the Patrick Marina they saw three very shiny green and white helicopters swoop across the river to land on a broad area of grass. They carried on securing the boat without paying much attention. The prisoners were taken down the gangplank and handed over to a platoon of US Marines who were very quick to ensure that there would be no trouble from them. The bodies of Romanov’s men killed in the securing of the yacht were taken off next and thrown, none too gently, into ambulances. The man who had been blown over the side had not been recovered and had been left in the cave for the fishes to explore when they next came out of their holes.

  M113 Armored Personnel Carriers drew up along the quay with a cordon of Humvees around them, all with heavy machine guns mounted on the roof and alert gunners behind them. They were there to c
ollect the material stolen from the bank vaults.

  Before they could come aboard to start unloading it, a column of black Chevy Suburbans with smoked glass windows pulled up and disgorged their passengers. A very tall man with white hair strode purposefully through the cordon followed by a group of civilians and military officers who seemed to be having trouble keeping up. From the deck Jim and Martinez watched the soldiers in the security cordon move forward to stop them and immediately slam to a rigid attention and salute.

  “Somebody important?” asked Jim.

  “You could say that,” said Martinez, “it looks like we are having a visit from the President of the United States and all sorts of other people I don’t know.”

  As they came closer Jim said, “I can help you with one of them. That’s David Orwell the British Prime Minister on the left.”

  “And the one at the right is the one and only Evgeny Zhukov, the President of Russia,” said Andrei from behind them.

  “Hmm, now we find out how much trouble we are in, I suspect, Andrei,” said Jim.

  “It does not matter, my friend. Romanov is dead and the Mafia did not succeed. They will get the message. Everything else is beneath notice.”

  The three men went down to the main lounge area to greet their distinguished visitors.

  The Secret Service men accompanying the President rushed to disarm the three men as they came into the lounge. The President stopped them.

  “When the Commander-in-Chief has to be protected from US Navy SEALs and our close allies, it will be a very sad day,” he said, in that famous rumbling voice. He stepped forward and shook hands with the three men. “No speeches needed today,” he said. “A fine job, gentlemen. A shame about Romanov, but I have read Lieutenant Commander Martinez’s preliminary email report and it told me there was no choice.”

  Martinez coughed. “Sorry, sir, but that’s Lieutenant.”

  “Don’t correct your Commander-in-Chief, son. Hand me the box,” the President said, holding out his hand. A Naval officer stepped forward and placed a small blue box into his outstretched hand. He passed it to Martinez “Your new rank badges. There will be the customary pinning ceremony later, but I wanted to be the one that handed those to you.”