Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

“Is necessary. I no see you before.” He began to dial, but Torkan put his hands up to stop him.

“Wait! You’re going to get me in trouble. Here, let me call my boss and you can speak to him. He can tell you I have complete authorization.”

The longshoreman looked at him dubiously, then nodded and pocketed his phone.

As he dialed the number, Torkan kept an eye on the dockworker climbing the crane. When he opened the door to the pulley housing, Torkan pressed the CALL button.

The detonators on the bombs all received the same cell phone call simultaneously. A massive explosion blew apart the housing, taking the dockworker with it. The cables holding up the crane’s boom were instantly severed, and it began falling toward the Colossus 5.

The boom was so large that the fall seemed to be happening in slow motion. The guards on the ship could only look on in horror or run for their lives as it plunged down between two of the wind-generating masts.

The crane’s hook hit the satellite dish dead center. It erupted in a shower of debris that rained down all over the ship’s deck. The sudden impact sheared the boom from its mounting, and the remainder of the lattice structure slammed into the dock, smashing the gate and crushing one unfortunate guard who didn’t get out of the way in time. The boom finally came to rest across the midpoint of the ship.

An emergency klaxon sounded, and men were shouting everywhere as they raced to see if any survivors were trapped in the debris.

The longshoreman gaped at the stunning scene of destruction that caused the death of his friend.

“I told you it was dangerous,” Torkan said, and pumped two bullets into the man’s chest. The man crumpled to the ground, a look of surprise on his face before he died. There was so much going on that no one would notice the gunshots, allowing Torkan to get rid of the last witness to his mission.

Amid the chaos and confusion, he disappeared into the shadows and was able to use his planned escape route over the perimeter fence. When he was safely outside the shipyard and walking back to his car, he made another phone call.

“Yes?” a man’s voice answered immediately.

“It’s done,” Torkan said. “The ship is temporarily out of commission.”

“Excellent work. That will set the Colossus Project back by two weeks. When can you reach Mumbai?”

Torkan checked his watch. Only one minute off his expected completion time.

“I’ve already got my boarding pass,” he said. “I’ll arrive at ten in the morning.”

“Good. I’ll have a helicopter bring you out to the launch platform when you get there. But don’t be late.”

“That’s really not up to me, is it?”

“If you think the flight is going to be significantly delayed, I wouldn’t get on if I were you,” the man on the other end warned him. “If everything goes according to plan, you won’t want to be on a plane tomorrow afternoon.”

THREE

THE WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN

Captain Keith Tao cursed when he saw smoke on the horizon, glowing red where it was backlit by the morning sun. It was directly in his ship’s path, and they didn’t have time to waste. He had a tight schedule to keep. But stopping to render aid to a ship in distress was required by the Law of the Sea. If his freighter was witnessed bypassing a sinking ship, it would raise questions he didn’t want to answer.

“Should we go around?” the executive officer asked.

To avoid being spotted by anyone aboard the stricken ship, they’d have to go at least two hours out of their way, and their timetable was already off because of their delayed departure from Mozambique.

Tao raised a pair of binoculars and could see the outline of a cargo ship coming into view. “Has there been any SOS sent from this area?”

“No, sir. I’ve checked the marine traffic website, and there aren’t supposed to be any other ships within a hundred miles.”

That was what Tao had been expecting. They were far off the main shipping lanes on purpose, so to encounter another ship out here in the middle of nowhere was bad luck.

Tao lowered the binoculars. He’d have to risk being seen to stay on schedule. “Maintain the current heading.”

“Aye, Captain.”

In another hour, the foundering ship was easily visible, and, based on its condition, Tao was surprised it remained afloat.