Shadow Tyrants (Oregon Files 13)

“I don’t care if you have to sink the whole ship!” Mallik screamed. “Just shut them down!”

Torkan looked at the damaged helicopter. They had been planning to take it up to intercept the incoming boat before it disappeared from radar.

“Is the observation window in the mission control room bulletproof?” he asked Mallik.

“It’s reinforced safety glass, but it’s not bulletproof.”

“Then I’ll destroy it from the outside.”

“How?”

“I put an RPG launcher on the helicopter when we thought we were going to take out that incoming boat.”

“But you said the helicopter is nonfunctional.”

“Trust me, Romir,” Torkan said.

“I do, Asad.”

Torkan instructed the rest of his security team to give him suppressing fire while he ran toward the disabled Huey. He snatched the RPG launcher and a spare rocket from the open passenger compartment.

Then he called for one of his men to join him. They sprinted to the stairway leading down the command ship’s floating dock and the speedboat that had returned from the satellite launch platform.

* * *

—

From his position crouched behind a deck crane support, Juan saw Torkan and another man run down the stairs.

“He got an RPG from the Huey,” Juan said to Eddie between shots.

“Gomez told us there was a speedboat tied up down there. What’s he doing?”

Juan thought about the big picture window in the mission control room.

“He’s going to attack from the outside . . . Linda, where are you?”

“Idling on the starboard side of the ship by the superstructure. I just saw two men jump into a speedboat.”

She was only a hundred feet away from Juan’s position. “Prepare to pick me up.”

He said, “Eddie, cover me.”

Juan dropped his weapon and his gear and dashed toward the edge of the ship. Bullets ricocheted around him as he ran, pinging against the deck plating and bulkheads. Without breaking his stride, he dived over the railing and into the sea below.

SIXTY-SEVEN

“Eric, two fish in the water!” Max radioed from the fake bridge of the Oregon. “Give me thrusters in reverse.”

“Thrusters full reverse,” Eric replied.

The Oregon crawled backward. Max willed her to move faster, but there was nothing else he could do.

The torpedoes sped by, missing the bow by just a few yards.

The captain of the Kalinga was a good shot. Next time, he might not miss. The Oregon was already sitting low in the water from the flooding caused by the last torpedo. Another one could sink her, especially because she wouldn’t be able to correct any list by filling ballast tanks.

“Hali,” Max called, “tell Murph that we need that satellite disabled or we’re dead.”