Typhoon Fury (Oregon Files 12)

“I see it,” Linda said, pointing the ROV at the hole ripped in the Pearsall’s side by the torpedo that sank her.

As Little Geek went inside the destroyer, she popped on its powerful LED lights. At the first room it reached, she saw a big X drawn on the open door.

“That looks new,” Linc said.

When Little Geek went past it to the next room and another X, Linda said, “They must have crossed off rooms as they searched them.”

MacD nodded. “No Typhoon cargo inside. Makes it easier for us.”

She kept going forward until she found the only door not marked. Little Geek went through and broadcast an image of a single sealed orange plastic barrel against the bulkhead. Another was overturned on the floor, its lid gone.

“Typhoon?” Linc asked.

“Only one way to find out,” she said. After circling the barrel and spotting no booby traps, she moved Little Geek forward and unfolded its small manipulator arm. Its claw reached out and gripped the lid. She tried lifting it up, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Must be pressure-sealed,” MacD said.

“In this case, brute force is a good solution.” Linda revved the motors to full speed and yanked the arm at the same time.

The lid popped off, and water rushed into the container. White cotton batting floated out. Linda angled the ROV so they could see the interior.

The pills were already dissolving in the seawater, sending a cloud of white powder roiling through the boatswain’s locker.

“No way there were two million pills inside these two barrels,” MacD said, who had been told about Overholt’s briefing about the Pearsall’s cargo and the implicit instructions to destroy the pills.

“Wait a minute,” Linc said. “Back up and pan down.”

“Did you see something?” Linda asked.

“Shapes on the floor.”

She moved Little Geek to give them a better view and saw what he meant.

Algae had grown around the bottom of the barrels where they met the floor. She counted the bare circles.

“Eighteen missing,” she said.

“That means one-point-eight million pills are gone,” MacD said.

“I’ll let the Oregon know,” Eddie said and radioed Hali.

“Tell them we’re done here and we’re heading their way as soon as we get Little Geek back,” Linda said.

Eddie nodded and told Hali. Linda maneuvered Little Geek back the way it had come. It was almost to the opening in the hull when a glint reflecting the ROV’s lights caught her eye.

She turned Little Geek into the room and immediately saw stacks of shells for the destroyer’s five-inch guns. Some of them had spilled onto the floor. But what had caught her eye was a shiny metallic object unsullied by years of corrosion.

She edged Little Geek closer until she got a good look at it. MacD must have recognized it at the same time she did because he said, “Uh, guys, that’s a bomb.”

“And it’s got an acoustic detonator attached to it,” Linc said.

At least six explosive devices were planted among the ammunition.

Linda swiveled Little Geek around and quickly set it to automatic guidance so that it would follow its original path, exit the ship, and head for the surface.

She yanked the fiber-optic cables from the controller and threw them over the side.

“Eddie, get us out of here now!”