Piranha (Oregon Files 10)

Juan charged forward and threw himself at Bazin, catching the mercenary’s arm before he could tumble out. Bazin teetered on the edge.

“Not before I get this,” Juan said, and plunged his hand into Bazin’s coat. His fingers grasped the edge of the thesis and he pulled it free.

Except Bazin also grabbed part of the bound document, opening it wide. He leaned out and the weight was too much for Juan to hold with one hand. Bazin fell, still gripping the back half of the thesis, which tore right down the binding, leaving Juan holding the other half.

He watched the nimble Bazin roll through the snow and then spring to his feet before running toward a side street. Juan ran into the cockpit of the tram, kicked the bag off the pedal, and slapped a large red button that he hoped was the emergency stop.

The brakes squealed and the tram lurched and skidded on the rails. It slowed to twenty miles an hour when it reached the curve. It leaned to one side but didn’t derail and then came to a stop halfway through the intersection.

Juan opened the passenger door to see Eric pull up in the Audi.

“Are you okay?” Eric asked as Juan got in.

“I’m fine,” Juan said, disgusted, “but Bazin got away.”

“With the thesis?”

“Half of it.” He showed Eric the ripped document.

“I can start translating that on the plane. Hopefully, it’s still enough to figure out what Kensit has been working on.”

“Let’s get back to the airport before we have the entire Berlin police department asking us questions.”

Eric drove away as the wail of sirens echoed off the buildings.

Martinique

“The sub is one hundred feet from the bow of the Roraima,” Linda said, reading the scan from the passive sonar.

“What about our divers?”

“All recovered in the moon pool,” Hali said. “MacD said he spotted what could have been a corner of the metal photo tin, but his air was exhausted before he could dig it up.”

“What about grabbing it with Little Geek?”

“He said Little Geek won’t fit where he saw it. It was a corner he had to reach his arm into. He said he told Eddie where it was when he passed them on the way up.” The full face masks they were wearing let them communicate up close underwater.

“Where are Eddie and Linc now?” Max asked Murph, who was still operating Little Geek.

“Camera shows them inside the portable underwater habitat,” Murph said. “They should be out of the sub’s view.” The PUH was an inflatable fabric dome that was anchored to the Roraima and contained an air bubble inside to allow the divers who were wearing regulators to rest, converse about the dive, or even get a drink of water.

Max knew curiosity about why they were down there was killing Murph, but he was glad Murph understood enough not to ask questions when he shouldn’t.

The front of the sub was about to pass over the disintegrating Roraima twenty feet above its prow. Max couldn’t wait any longer. It was the closest the sub would get to the Oregon before they started dumping the barrels of explosives.

“Linda, get ready to send a single ping.”

All eyes whipsawed to Max. Linda was shocked by the command. “But Eddie and Linc—”

“Will be safe inside the PUH”—I hope, he thought, but didn’t say. “It’s the only thing I could think of to save the hostages. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you all before, but if our security has in fact been compromised, I didn’t want any eavesdroppers to know what I was planning.”

Linda nodded her understanding and raised her finger over the button that would activate a sonar ping.

Passive sonar detects submarines underwater using the noise generated by the sub itself. Active sonar sends out sound signals that bounce back to give a picture of the object, much like the clicks dolphins use to find fish. Dolphins are also thought to employ these clicking sounds to stun fish. At 220 decibels, their echolocation emanations are among the loudest noises emitted by any animal.

The active ping of the Oregon’s sonar registered at 240 decibels. If a diver were unlucky enough to be swimming next to the transmitter when a ping was sent, his internal organs would be jellied, killing him instantly. The sub was three hundred yards away, so the ping would only stun the divers, as if they had been hit by a flashbang grenade. Eddie and Linc would be protected inside the PUH because their lungs and ears would be above the water level and the sound pressure would be lessened by its transition from water to air. The

hostages would be safe for the same reason. Eddie and Linc would have a few minutes to attack the dazed divers on the sub.