Stabenow, Dana - Blindfold Game (v1

by Blindfold Game(lit)

  Sara said, a little impatiently, “Peter was a danger to them, Noortman wasnt?

  “Thats not it, Hugh said. “Or not all of it.

  The Agafia was riding their stern, under the command of Ensign Ryan and the prize crew. The Sunrise Warrior, after the spectacular maneuver that had so ably distracted the attention of the Agafias hijackers long enough for Ryans team to board and take control of the ship, was keeping pace off their starboard side. “Greenpeace is signaling us, XO, the chief said.

  “Tommy?

  Tommys lips moved as the light blinked.“ I am now in possession of one Get Out of Jail Free card. Agreed?“ At Saras look, Tommy said, Im just reading here, XO.“

  Sara gave a grudging nod. “Send Agreed.“

  “

  “Were heading back up to the line to continue our work. Good luck with yours, Sojourner Truth. “

  “Once a crusader, always a crusader, Chief Edelen said. “That was pretty slick back there. I wonder who their master is?

  “I dont know, and I dont want to know. Lets forget we ever saw them.

  “Forget who, XO?

  The Sunrise Warrior altered course and was almost immediately swallowed by the storm.

  “Maybe they didnt mean to kill him, Hugh said. “Peter, he said when Sara looked momentarily blank. “In Odessa. Maybe we were just supposed to think that they tried. The bomb went off in the middle of the night, long after everyone had gone home.

  Hugh was beginning to shiver. He was soaking wet from standing out on the bridge wing, trying to follow what was going on on the other ship. Sara made a sound of disgust. “Follow me, she said, and led him to her cabin. She muscled him into a chair. “You, she said to the first person she saw, “towels, lots of them, and find him some dry clothes.

  The towels came immediately; the clothes took a little longer. Halfway out of his shirt, Hugh said, “They didnt want us to find out what weapons they had bought. But they didnt mind if we knew what the target was.

  She was still angry, but she was listening. The Agafia had been commandeered by pirates, those pirates had fired on the Sojourner Truth with a machine gun that appeared to have been freshly mounted specifically for the purpose, and Sara knew there had to be more of a reason for that than that the Sojourner Truth had caught them with their nets in American waters. Especially since she hadnt.

  Besides, where was the Agafias crew? A three-hundred-and-forty-foot catcher-processor, between ships crew and fish handlers, could have upward of a hundred people on board. There was a cold feeling in her gut. “What did the survivors say about the processors crew?

  Hugh, as the only Korean-speaking person on board, had tried to talk to the pirates via Ryans handheld. “Nothing. Same thing they said about everything. Theyre not talking.

  Sara smiled, and he shivered again. “Maybe when it calms down enough to bring them over here, you will find them a little more forthcoming face-to-face.

  “Maybe.

  Someone had actually found a pair of pants that would cover Hughs long legs. He stood up to pull them on. He paused. “They had to know wed catch on.

  “Who? Who knew? And zip up your pants.

  For the first time since hed come on board he looked at her as Sara, his wife, instead of the executive officer of the Sojourner Truth. “Making you nervous, babe?

  Her brows snapped together. “Knock it off. This isnt the time or the place.

  “Youre right, it isnt. He stepped into sneakers that were only half a size too small and sat down again to tie them, returning to his line of thought as he did so. “The terrorists knew wed catch on.

  “What? Sara was a little bewildered at the rapid change of topic.

  “It is next to impossible to keep a secret in that world, Hugh said. “There is always somebody standing around with his ears wide open who is going to sell what he hears to the highest bidder. They knew that.

  “So?

  “So, he said, eyes bright with realization, “they set up a dummy to distract us.

  Sara caught on. “You mean they wanted us to catch the Agafia?

  “Sure, he said. “Why else choose a ship that has that high a profile with the U.S. Coast Guard? What did you call it, a High Interest Vessel? Youd already chased it back across the line on this patrol, and multiple times before.

  He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “And thats why they shot at us! They didnt mean to sink us, or even hurt us that badly.

  “Of course not, Sara said acidly. “I myself never mean to kill people I shoot at.

  Unheeding, he said, “What they wanted was to get and keep our attention for a nice long time. It was just their bad luck that their strafing us took out our communications. They wanted us to yell for help, Sara. They wanted everything weve got in the Bering, hell, in the North Pacific Ocean to come chasing after them.

  She already knew the answer, but he waited so expectantly for her to ask the question. “Why?

  “So that the ship with the weapon on it could slip through. He finished tying his shoes and sat back in the chair. “Noortman, you little shit, he said, sounding almost admiring. “And after all we meant to each other.

  He looked up and saw Saras startled gaze, and laughed out loud. “Its a long story. Dont worry, I survived, virtue intact. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Sara, has anything odd happened out here lately?

  “Odd? You mean, other than my ship coming under fire, my captain being killed, and me sending a boarding team to commandeer said ship in a helo with an aircrew of three I may have sent to their death? No. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing we dont run into every day out here, and twice on Sundays.

  “Before this, he said patiently. “Have you heard anything over the air, seen anything that didnt quite fit? He lifted his shoulders and spread his hands. “Maybe ship traffic where it shouldnt be?

  Before the words were all the way out of his mouth she was on her feet and headed up the ladder outside her stateroom, Hugh dogging her heels.

  “XO, Ops said. He and all five of his techs were jammed inside the comm room, looking like they wished they had hammers in their hands instead of tiny little screwdrivers and alligator clips. All the equipment had its faces off, revealing a colorful mass of wire and dials and digital readouts and computer boards. Mostly it looked like a mess. A nonfunctioning mess.

  “Anything yet? Sara said without hope.

  Ops shook his head. “We caught a stray bullet back here and it must have ricocheted around somehow. He displayed a misshapen piece of metal that looked entirely too small to have caused this much damage. “We dont even know what it hit yet, thats why were looking at everything. They took out our satellite dish. They must have nicked the antenna array, too. And I cant send anyone up there in this weather to fix it. Even if we had the parts.

  “Understood, she said. “How long before someone comes looking for us?

  “In this weather? He shook his head. “The Hercs will be patrolling, but we arent exactly keeping to the last route we filed with District before the e-mail went out, and right after that the comm got shot out. And were the only cutter in the Bering Sea at present. The Alex Hale/M be back in Kodiak by now. Theyll be looking for us, though.

  She nodded. “District hasnt heard from us in a while, and theyve probably got red flags up all over the place. Ops, you remember that freighter we saw up on the line? The one we all figured was lost?

  He blinked behind his glasses. “Yes, he said, although it was obvious that he was remembering the incident as if it had happened years ago instead of days ago.

  Sara didnt blame him. If shed had the luxury she would have felt like that herself. “What was its name, do you remember?

  He thought. “Star of Wonder? Star of Night?

  “Thats star of wonder, star of light, Ops, Sparks said.

  Ops snapped his fingers. “The Star of Bali. Sorry, XO, I must be a little out of it.

  “What was its last port of call?

  “Petropavlovsk.
/>
  Sara looked at Hugh.

  “Petropavlovsk, he said, “was where Noortmans partner, Fang, and his employers planned to board the ship Noortman found for them. It was also where the Agafia was sent for repairs and maintenance in November.

  The silence was heavy and long. At the end of it Sara said, “You think there were two ships.

  He nodded. “And one was a decoy.

  “The Agafia.

  “Yes, whose activities were designed to draw your attention away from the Star of Bali. Where was the Star of Bali headed? he said to Ops.

  “Seward.

  Hugh looked at Sara. “Sewards only a hundred miles from Anchorage and thats road miles, not as the crow flies. The range on the mobile missile launcher Peter sold them is

  “Two hundred miles, I remember, Sara said. “Which means they dont have to get to the dock to launch.

  He hadnt thought of that, but she was right. The terrorists could launch as soon as they were within range, which meant while they were still well out at sea.

  “Weve got to find them, Sara. Now.

  JANUARY

  BERING SEA

  W

  HEN DID WE PASS her?“

  “On the eighth, XO.

  “Six days. Damn, damn, damn.

  “What? Hugh said.

  “Shes slow but shes not that slow, Sara said.

  Hugh and Sara and Ops and Tommy and the chief were hunched over the chart table, staring at the Transas screen as Sara right-clicked and dragged and dropped them all the way up the Aleutian Chain and back down again.

  “You said they wouldnt want to draw attention, right, Hugh? Sara said. “My vote is for Unimak Pass. Its like the intersection of Main Street and First Avenue for the North Pacific maritime freight fleet. All the freighters on the great circle route between Asia and North America run for the lee of the Aleutian Islands. Most of them transit Unimak Pass. If the Star of Bali is trying to maintain a low profile, thats the way shed go.

  Hugh looked for flaws in her argument and found none. “Then thats the way we should go.

  “Yes, well, XO, theres another problem.

  “Of course there is, Sara said. “Serve it up, Ops.

  “We got weather coming straight at us.

  Sara sighed. “Ops, I though you said we had a problem. The ship lurched but everyone was already hanging on to something. “Its just another storm.

  Ops shook his head. “This ones worse, XO. The last Bering Sea offshore forecast we got before our comm got shot to hell was for sixteen hundred yesterday. Today were looking at a thirty-knot wind, eighteen-foot seas, rain and snow and freezing spray.

  “And?

  “Tonight the wind will be south to southeast, forty to forty-five knots, seas eighteen to twenty-one feet. And did I mention the rain and snow and freezing spray?

  Sara looked at him.

  He spread his hands. “Sorry, captain.

  There was a strained silence on the bridge, broken only by the faint whistling of wind as it forced its way between Plexiglas and bulkhead.

  “The captains dead, Ops, Sara said.

  “CapXOmaam, I

  “And I dont accept your apology for the weather. There is absolutely no excuse for it, and Ill expect you to do better in the future.

  There were a few smiles, lightening the tension. “Besides, Sara said, “theres no choice here. Weve got to go after the Star of Bali, and weve got to go now.

  “Try out the old girls sea legs, the chief said.

  Sara gave him an approving smile, which brought an answering grin, both witnessed by Hugh. There was a degree of intimacy there that raised his hackles.

  “Tommy, Sara said, unheeding, “plot us a course for Unimak Pass, best speed.

  “Aye aye, XO.

  They stood away from the plot table to let Tommy crunch numbers on the computer.

  “Its almost six hundred miles and shes got a six-day start on us, XO, Chief Edelen said. He looked at Hugh. “And this gentleman has already proved to us that hes just guessing here.

  Hugh met the chiefs eyes, saw how they shifted to Saras oblivious face, looked back at the chief, identified the expression there all too easily, and couldnt find it in himself to kick a man while he was down. “Thats right, I am. But Im thinking the Agafia offered herself up as bait for a reason. She fired on us, dont forget.

  “Not likely, the chief said with some sarcasm. “XO, why not just commandeer us the first freighter or tanker we see? Theyll have all the sat comm we need.

  Sara hooked a thumb at the storm. “Always supposing we find one in this slop, all weve got for ship-to-ship communications are the handhelds and the emergency radios from the life rafts. Whats the range, line of sight?

  He was silent.

  “Right, she said, “so we launch and row over. Probably wont lose more than half the boarding team.

  “Then lets make a run for Dutch Harbor and yell for help from there.

  “We could do that, Sara said. “And the Star of Bali could get close enough to shore to launch her weapon.

  “If she has a weapon.

  “If she does, Sara said.

  There was a heavy silence. Hugh broke it. “Im starving. Whens chow?

  She glanced up at the digital clock on the wall, forgetting that it had been shattered in the strafing. Ops followed her gaze and looked at his watch. “Lunch should be served in the wardroom shortly, XO.

  Sara felt suddenly and unutterably tired. “Can you find your own way there? she said to Hugh.

  “Sure, but what about you?

  “Im not hungry.

  He followed her out the door and down the ladder. They both heard “Captains below but neither chose to acknowledge it. “You should eat, Sara.

  When she didnt answer, he said to her back, “Theyre looking to you to lead them into battle and to get them home after. Hungry has never been your best mood. Eat.

  That expressive back stiffened, relaxed again, and her shoulders slumped a little. “All right.

  Again she deflected hints that she should sit at the head of the table, in the captains chair. Hugh sat next to her. Seaman Wooster began serving steak and potatoes. FSO Aman was pumping up everyones red blood cells. Sara was pretty sure the days menu had called for macaroni and cheese.

  Hugh piled her plate high and she ate. She even thought it was pretty good, although later on she couldnt for the life of her remember what she had put into her mouth. Hugh seemed pleased, and afterward he let her go to bed, which was all she wanted. She fell into her bunk fully clothed and sank into a deep, dark, dreamless sleep.

  Hugh stood in the doorway and watched the face of his dream girl, the cap she hadnt bothered to remove a little awry, mouth slightly open, maybe even drooling a little into her pillow. He stepped inside her stateroom long enough to ease her shoes from her feet and to cover her with her sleeping bag. Why the sleeping bag? he wondered, and then remembered how much she hated to make the bed.

  It was a very utilitarian shoebox of a room, desk and shelves on one side, two bunks on the other, but he would have known it was Saras room on sight. She had always had the ability to transform any living space into something uniquely her own, from her room when she was a kid in Seldovia, to the tent on the hill in back of her house the three of them had shared as a secret hideaway, to her dorm room in college, to the skankyKyle was right about thatapartments that had been all they could afford when they were together, and now here. Her clothes were neatly folded, there was a poster of Jimmy Buffett on one wall, and her walkaround coffee mug was a giveaway from the Kodiak public radio station.

  And the top bunk was, of course, filled with books. Books to do with the sea and sailors, naturally. Hugh was pretty certain that Sara owned a copy of every sea story ever written. She kept a fair representation on board, he saw now, one of the Hornblowers, one of the Aubrey-Maturins, a history of the Coast Guard, a biography of Frank Worsley, Walter Lords A Night to Remember, a book on knot tying, and a collection of sea shanti
es. Between How to Build a Wooden Boat and a one-volume collection of biographies of woman pirates he found Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz. He pulled it down and thumbed through it, to find that she had done her usual thorough job of reading, with massive amounts of underlining, highlighting, dog-earing, and marginal notations.

  “XO? Oh. Excuse me, Mr. Rincon.

  Hugh replaced the book and stepped into the passageway, closing Saras door firmly behind him. “Yes? he said to Ops.

  Ops looked uncertain. “I need to speak to the XO about something.

  “Listen, OpsWhat is your name anyway? No one has called you anything but Ops in my hearing since I came on board.

  Diverted, Ops smiled. “Yeah, Coastie custom. We call each other by our job title instead of our name. Ops. XO. Supply. EO. Like that. Probably due to the continuous rotation of crew. Easier than learning everyones names.

  “So what is your name?

  “Oh. Clifford Skulstad. Cliff.

  Hugh stuck out a hand. “Pleased to meet you, Cliff. Im Hugh Rincon.

  Ops took Hughs hand and felt himself being steered firmly away from the XOs cabin. He looked back over his shoulder at her door and said, “But I have to talk to the XO about

  “Tell me something, Cliff, Hugh said. “Whos third in command on board the Sojourner Truth?

  Ops looked startled. “Uh, I am.

  “I thought so. Your commanding officer needs some sleep if shes going to be worth a shit when we catch up to the Star of Bali. Why dont you see if you cant handle any problems that come up over the next six or eight hours?

  Ops looked horrified. “What if there is an emergency?

  “If there is an emergency, Hugh said gravely, “I think she would expect you to wake her up. However, he added, “just for today, why dont you set the gold standard for emergencies a little higher than usual?

  He smiled again when he said it, but Ops had the uncanny feeling he was speaking not to a pleasant man with an engaging manner, but a very alert Doberman with very sharp teeth. “Good idea, he said. “Ill just take care of any problems myself.

  “Excellent, Hugh said. “Heres your first. Where do I sleep?

  JANUARY