“We did great, Peace,” Nancy laughed, slapping Ed’s shoulder. “We worked our butts off today.”
“Kill anybody up in LA this weekend?” Ed asked, ignoring his wife’s sharp intake of breath.
“No, but Bull and I added one more episode in our on-going Twilight Zone. I wanted to call you while it was in progress, but Bull vetoed the idea,” Peace replied seriously. He related the incident with Eric in detail, including the role of Jill’s roommate in letting Eric know they were coming.
“I’m surprised he ain’t in Mexico by now,” Ed commented. “What’s Jill going to do about her roommate?”
“She was pissed,” Peace shrugged, “but she said she would get her side of the story.”
“Will that Eric guy keep hanging around?” Nancy asked.
“I think I convinced him it would be in his best interests to put this stalking business behind him. He knows Jill’s pregnant now, and he didn’t before.”
“C’mon, don’t hold out on us now,” Polasky said, leaning forward.
“What did you do to him?”
“That’s classified,” Peace replied, sipping his wine.
“Don’t make me have to hurt you, boy.”
Peace laughed, and with some hesitation told them simply what he had done to Eric, including the Band-Aid comment, and making him wave at Jill.
Nancy shook her head, with sharp intakes of air, as if in disapproval. In contrast, Ed laughed throughout Peace’s story.
“Hey, at least the guy didn’t do a sightseeing trip down to Mexico,” Polasky pointed out to his wife, who was still clucking halfheartedly about the details.
“I’m just afraid this Eric guy will go home and decide to do something bad,” Nancy said.
“I thought of that,” Peace nodded in agreement. “I went over in detail how much more observant Jill needed to be. I also bought her pepper spray, and a stun gun before we came back. If she even sees Eric other than passing by each other at the college, she promised to call me. He’s not a terrorist or a drug dealer. I’m hoping he got the message.”
“It will be bad if he didn’t,” Ed replied.
“Very bad,” Peace added solemnly.
__
“Okay, what’s going on here?” Dan asked, as he walked into the locker room at six in the morning. Peace and Bull sat together, doing equipment checks. “Did you two suddenly gain fortune telling powers?”
“Hello, Lieutenant Dan,” Peace looked up smiling with his best Forrest Gump expression.
“Answer the question, annoying one,” Dan sighed. “Jessup would have my ass if he thought there was a mission leak.”
“007 here gets his info directly from the source, Lieutenant,” Bull grinned. “I think he’s bypassing you too much lately. Pretty soon, we’ll…”
“You know, Chief,” Righter cut him off, “perhaps there has been a certain lack of discipline on the team. You being my second, and shit rolling downhill, I think…”
“Sorry, Sir, I’ve been hanging around with Beetle Bailey here all weekend, and I’ve been corrupted,” Bull explained. “Forgive my impertinence, please go on.”
Peace had begun chuckling right after being labeled Beetle Bailey, and the Lieutenant turned on him immediately.
“Start speaking, Petty Officer. On your feet, Peacenik!”
Peace jumped to his feet, with Bull close behind, stiffly at attention. “Hoo-ya!” Both men acknowledged in chorus.
“Very well, now that I have your attention, retards,” Dan said in clipped harsh tones as he peered into each of their faces. “Let the Lieutenant in on this joke, without the attitude. Chief Jenkins, you little groupie, shut up while I talk to your new commandant.”
Bull, stifled a laugh with difficulty before issuing a short, “Hooya.”
“Now then, Peacenik, let’s hear it.”
“We were waiting for you to come in, Sir,” Peace replied stiffly, his eyes straight ahead. “I received word we would be going on mission, and I know what mission. I felt it my duty to report to you before the others came in, so as to inform the Lieutenant of the danger potential of the mission, seeing as how we usually don’t get to know until it’s too late.”
Dan nodded. “Come on in my office, and let’s talk. Sorry about snapping at you two. Goodbyes are not my favorite thing, and Becky reads me like an old comic book.”
“Understood, Sir, I had a similar experience this morning,” Bull replied, following Dan into his office, with Peace closing the door behind him.
“Everyone in San Diego doesn’t know what we’re doing, do they?” Dan asked, sitting behind his desk.
“No, Sir,” Peace replied, as he and Bull sat down on the chairs in front of the desk.
“Okay, spill it. All I know is we move out ASAP to the Regan this morning.”
“We’ll be boarding a ship, loaded with what we fear to be bio or nuclear dirty bomb ingredients,” Peace answered. “It may be so dangerous, if the team can’t gain control quickly enough, the Regan will have orders to nuke the ship from orbit.”
“Jessup must not know yet,” Dan commented. “He’s not the kind to hold back on something like that. We should have been given the chance to prep for this with detailed plans of the ship, and the number of bad guys.”
“I think things must have changed too quickly for that to happen,” Peace continued. “They had the ship monitored ever since I gave them the info from Batiste’s place. They probably know what the crew eats for breakfast by now, and with the new photon emitters, incorporating carbon nanotube technology, they’ve probably detected the areas where the bad stuff is located.”
“Nano who?” Bull asked in confusion.
“They shoot out a tightly bound emission bandwidth, revealing the molecular makeup of any substance,” Peace explained. “They found Anthrax, small pox, and a virile nerve agent related to Sarin at Batiste’s place. It’s pretty certain, they’re transporting dirty nuke stuff too.”
“What kind of ship?” Dan asked.
“A tanker, under Iranian registry.”
“Shit, a tanker?!” Bull exclaimed, shaking his head. “Man, that really presents some problems. I hope we ain’t going in there playing Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood games. One misstep, and we’re toast.”
“No matter what the orders on civilians or combatants, we kill as we go until it’s done, understood?” Dan asked.
“Hoo-ya,” both men answered.
“I plan on seeing Becky, Danny, and Allie again if at all possible. I don’t foresee them tying our hands on this one, but we’ll cover our tracks if need be. Like the big guy said in Predator: my men are not expendable.”
“We’re with you, Lieutenant,” Bull stated. “The team won’t blink on this, but if it don’t work out, we’ll take the heat with you.”
“We won’t have to,” Peace reminded him. “We’ll be vapor if we screw this up.”
“This will call for a Bushmills and barbeque when we get back, my treat,” Dan smiled.
“Hoo-ya!” Bull and Peace chorused.
“Well, gentlemen, start your engines.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
New Techniques
“What do you think, Peace?” Dan asked as he and Seal Team Six floated in the darkness near the huge tanker’s anchor line. Their gear, wrapped in waterproof casing, bobbed on the surface next to them.
Peace looked up at the distance to board the ship, gauging the difficulty and time needed for the ascent. The team floated at a distance, which kept them out of the treacherous wash of the floating tanker.
“I’ll need fifteen minutes if I’m going to make sure I don’t slip,” Peace replied, looking back at Dan and the team. “Are you sure you guys can tread water that long?”
There was muffled laughter, in spite of their immediate danger.
Peace handed off his towed equipment to Bull, and slung the climbing gear he would haul up with him, his silenced machine pistol attached to the pack. He stripped off his fins, and divi
ng gear, allowing them to float by way of his buoyancy compensator. Peace approached the tanker carefully, gauging the flow and surge of the floating behemoth, saving his last swimming spurt to put him onto the anchor chain during an upswing of the ship. When he had gained a purchase at a safe distance up the chain, Peace began his arduous ascent upwards, using a specially made harnessing rig to fasten a solid climbing base as he ascended, for the rest of the team to follow.
Peace had only one bad moment, pulling up past the final stretch by grappling gear from the anchor port to the tanker’s deck. He hesitated at the deck level, pulling on his night-vision goggles, searching for any movement either on deck, or on the levels of the center island housing the bridge. The area was in complete darkness surrounding his chosen boarding point, without any movement of ship’s personnel. The glow of lighting from the bridge ports revealed no movement, which would impede his team’s boarding operation. Peace climbed on deck, crouching with his back to the safety railing.
Taking off the pack, he had dispensed the boarding harness from, Peace took out the lightweight pulley rig, reinforced roping. Next he removed the silenced machine pistol and clip bandolier from its casing, followed by his com link. Holding the machine pistol at the ready, Peace slipped off his night-vision goggles and then his wetsuit hood. He fastened the com link on, and put his night-vision goggles back in place.
“Clear,” Peace said over the com unit, as he attached the pulley rig to the deck railing, and allowed the harness for bringing the equipment packs to play out back to the surface of the water.
“Clear,” Dan repeated from the surface.
Peace put his back again to the railing, with machine pistol at the ready. Ten minutes later, he heard the first member of his team. Peace helped Bull over the railing, and stripped the huge pack he carried off his back. While Peace unpacked his sniper rifle from the pack, Bull stripped off his hood, put on his night-vision goggles and com unit. He waited with his own silenced MAC 10 aimed back across the deck until Peace set up to guard all approaches from a sniper’s crouch on the deck. Bull then turned to help the rest of his teammates as they came over the railing, spreading out as they reached the deck. Lieutenant Righter nodded at Bull when the last Seal was spaced out in position safely, weapon at the ready. The huge Seal pulled the rest of their equipment aboard by way of the pulley harness.
In seconds, the team prepared to secure the bridge. Just before the team moved out towards their objective, Peace fired a silenced round. Dan had been scanning the bridge while the rest of the team worked. Peace fired a second round immediately as Dan crouched near him. Two more rounds in rapid succession, and Dan motioned for the team to spread out.
“Two on patrol from starboard side, deck level,” Peace said into his com unit succinctly.
“Move out, Tracer,” Dan ordered instantly, fearing early discovery.
“Everyone else, two second intervals.”
Tracer Robards sprinted for the island, his teammates following at spaced intervals. Dan was last to go, leaving Peace in position. When Righter reached the two downed crewmembers, he quickly checked them for any form of communication gear, or papers of any kind. He took a deep breath, as he found nothing other than holstered 9mm handguns, which he stripped from them. Both had been shot through the head, probably double tapped, leaving very little of their skulls other than a pulpy mess. They were both Middle Eastern. Bull, along with Robards, dragged the dead sentries into the shadows of some cargo netting.
“Clear,” Dan said into his com unit. Seconds later, Peace was at his side.
“Did you see a place you liked, Peace?” Dan asked his sniper.
Peace shook his head negatively. “Won’t do you much good from anywhere out here until we secure the goods.”
“We’ll keep it simple then,” Dan nodded as Bull came up alongside. “We’ll take the team down, full bore. You watch the back door. We do for the greeting party. You greet any unannounced visitors.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace acknowledged, securing his sniper rifle, and drawing out his MAC 10.
The team entered the prearranged point where they could reach the lower part of the tanker, it had previously been decided, housed what they were searching for. Peace followed them through the narrow passageways, and down one deck, until they reached the hatch leading to the lower storage area. Peace took up position near the hatch, guarding the approaches to it. He knew from the plans of the ship the crew quarters were spread all around this deck level.
A few minutes later, Peace’s com unit crackled in his ear, just as he heard an outcry in Arabic over the loudspeakers, and alarms going off.
“Secured,” Dan said. “I’m sending more help for the back door right now. Cause some trouble till we get up there.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace said quietly, as figures began to emerge from the berthing areas. Peace killed five men before the crewmembers figured out how dangerous stepping out of the berthing areas was.
Jenkins, Robards, Chin, Brigham, and Doc Jameson moved silently up next to Peace. Peace held up his hand to them, and then stood up. In Arabic, he screamed orders for everyone in the berthing areas not to move or the Seals would lob grenades into the berthing area. He repeated the orders three times.
“I need the high ground to keep our backups safe as they’re landing,” Peace said simply. He related what he had warned the crewmembers in the berthing areas.
“Tony, if anyone else comes out, do exactly what Peace said,” Bull told Chin.
“Hoo-ya,” Chin answered, immediately getting into position, as the others fanned out, moving towards the ladder to the upper level, with Peace in the lead.
Before Peace could reach the ladder, four armed men started downwards with AK47’s. Peace and Robards killed them with two short silenced bursts, pulling them the rest of the way down as they fell. After they secured the upper hatch, Chief Jenkins, and Chief Jameson moved up behind them.
“Peace, you, JT, and Tracer go on up, while Doc and I take care of business here,” Bull told Peace. “If you can secure the bridge on the way to securing a sniper roost, great. If not, just get into position, and let the next teams in take the bridge.”
Peace nodded, and streaked quickly up the ladder to the upper level. The Seals moved with practiced ease, Peace and J.T. moving at point, with Tracer watching their backs. They killed six more men as they moved quickly upwards. When they reached the bridge level, no one moved around on the outside decking. They could hear angry shouts inside the closed bridge. Peace yelled for them to open the hatch and get on their knees, hands behind their heads. He repeated his directions once more, and then stepped back to allow Tracer to set a shaped charge on the hatch.
The three Seals retreated down one level after Tracer gave them ten seconds. The hatch blew inward, evoking surprised shouts, and screams of agony. The Seals reached the blown apart hatch, and lobbed in concussion grenades. Peace signaled he would go left, and for JT, and Tracer to go right. The second they signaled their understanding, Peace went through to the right, as JT and Tracer went to the left. There were nearly a dozen men lying around the bridge. Three lay dead near the blown hatch, while the rest were rocking on the deck, holding their ears, blood trickling out of noses, mouths, and ears. JT and Tracer, weapons at the ready, guarded for any hostile movement on the bridge or coming through the hatch. Peace hurried from one body to the next, pulling them face down, plastic tying their hands and feet, with an added tie joining their limbs painfully behind their backs in hogtied fashion. The prisoners were then dragged to a relatively empty corner of the bridge, where they were searched for papers, weapons, and rank.
“Bridge secured,” Peace said over his com unit.
“Copy that,” Bull said, his voice revealing he was firing as he talked. “Take the highroad, Wolvy, and give us a hand. We’re taking auto fire from starboard bow. Leave JT and Tracer to secure the Bridge.”
“Copy that,” Peace acknowledged, seeing both other Seals nod they had heard the
orders.
Peace made his way up towards the conning tower, his sniper rifle still cinched to his back. He could hear the AK47 fire, and see the muzzle flashes. The armed crewmembers were firing from amongst the cargo piled on the main deck. As he looked back to the open ladder going up, a burst of AK47 fire hit the metal ladder spewing sparks. Peace felt a tug at his ankle, and then searing pain. He scrambled the rest of the way to the conning tower, only to have a bearded man in a watch cap draw a bead on him from above his destination. Peace dodged to the left as the man fired, firing his own burst from his MAC 10, which stitched up the man’s chest, and across his head. Peace felt a burning in his shoulder, but kept moving upwards.
Peace encountered no more resistance, and gained the top of the conning tower with no further incidents. Only then did he assess the damage he had sustained on the way up. He was bleeding heavily from his left ankle, where a glancing shot had cut a deep groove. Using pieces of clothing torn from the man he had just killed, Peace tied the wound tightly. Peace quickly put his gear down and opened up his wetsuit top. He could see where a round had passed through the fleshy part of his shoulder. Using more of the downed man’s clothing, Peace stuffed makeshift bandages into each side of his shoulder, and then closed his wetsuit top over them.
“Wolvy, a little help here, buddy,” Bull repeated tightly.
“Ten seconds, Cap,” Peace replied, tearing his sniper rifle out, and painfully taking up position on the deck. “JT, you and Tracer make sure I don’t get approached with my weenie hanging out.”
“Will do, Peace,” Tracer replied, stifling laughter, as he and a grinning Brigham moved to cover the ascending ladder from the bridge hatch. “Weenie approach secured.”
“Gracias,” Peace said, as he sighted with his night scope, bringing targets into his crosshairs. Each squeeze of his trigger eliminated a crewmember until no one moved for fear of the unseen death raining down on them from above. Peace grimaced as he fired, his shoulder and leg throbbing.
“All yours, Cap.”
Peace - A Navy SEALS Novel (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 3) Page 43