From Russia Without Love (16 page)

Chris joined Sonny and Hannah next to the port hatch out of the line of fire. There was Sideburns in a puddle of blood. “He told me I was
too late
,” Chris said.

The ship straightened its course, and the deck leveled off. They were less than two klicks away from the Shah Deniz Alpha oil rig now. Chris had read that the rig’s legs had to stretch a hundred meters below the water to touch bottom, and on top of those legs, thirteen meters above water, rested the platform that carried the drilling and production facilities with housing for well over a hundred crewmembers.

“Xander is on a direct collision course with Shah Deniz Alpha,” Chris said.

“That’s how he plans to interrupt the flow of gas through the South Caucasus Pipeline,” Hannah said. “And he’ll kill all the crewmembers onboard the Shan Deniz Alpha in the process.”

_______

M
oving in for the assault, Chris hurried to the nearest ladder, and Hannah and Sonny followed. When he aimed his weapon up at the port side of the bridge, there was no one there. Expecting the enemy to appear at any moment, he observed the hazard spots with his M4 as he climbed the ladder, but no one showed.

“Something’s wrong,” Chris whispered.

They ascended several levels until they reached the hatch leading to the bridge. Chris positioned himself next to the hatch with Hannah and Sonny forming the train behind him. He glanced back at Hannah, who had a flash-bang device at the ready so when Chris opened the hatch, she could toss it in and stun whoever was inside. He pulled on the handle, but it didn’t move, so he pulled harder. Still no luck. Then he used both hands to crank on it, but nothing changed. Then he heard it. From inside the bridge came a hissing sound.

“Sounds like they’re welding the hatches shut,” he said. “Let’s find another way in.”

Resuming point, Chris returned to the same ladder they had just climbed and went back down to the deck below where he found a hatch and opened it. He leaned into the opening with his eyes and his weapon, leaving the rest of his body behind the cover of the metal bulkhead. Xander and Animus were in the passageway. Chris trained his red dot on Xander, but before Xander turned and noticed Chris’s presence, Animus stepped in front of the man, as if to shield him from Chris’s fire. Chris squeezed, and Animus returned fire. Chris’s shot struck Animus’s flesh, and Animus’s shot harmlessly hit the metal bulkhead.

Chris followed up decisively with another round, striking Animus between the shoulders. He fell with a gasp, but Xander had disappeared.

Ron Hickok’s voice sounded in Chris’s memory.
Sometimes the enemy will play dead on you. Shoot him until he’s dead. Then you never have to worry about him surprising you—or worse—surprising your buddies.

Chris put a security round in Animus’s head, then stepped over his body to the spot where Xander had disappeared. The SEAL in Chris wanted to cheer, and the pastor in Chris wanted to say a prayer, but it was the SEAL who reasoned that he still had to get Xander. It looked like this passageway ran from starboard to port. Rather than present himself in the same upper location of the passageway, Chris dropped to a knee and leaned over. No one was there.

The sound of footsteps scampered away. Chris’s first impulse was to pursue, but maybe the footsteps were from one of Xander’s thugs and Xander was waiting around the corner to ambush Chris and his team.

Chris took a deep breath to calm himself, but it seemed to have little effect as he proceeded into the passageway. He didn’t hear Hannah and Sonny behind him, but somehow he sensed they were there.

The passageway provided little room to maneuver on either side, making Chris feel trapped. If a foe came at him, the only way to escape would be forward, through the foe. Adrenaline unloaded into his arteries and his vision became crisp as the red dot of his sight covered danger zones. He searched for trip wires in front or a pressure release mat on the deck that could trigger a booby trap, but there were none.

When he reached intersecting passageways at the centerline of the ship, he looked for Xander, but no luck. He looked through the passageway which led to a ladder that reached up to the rear hatch of the bridge. As much as he wanted to chase Xander, the ship had to be stopped. Chris swiftly closed the distance to the ladder and ascended.

On the bridge he discovered the bodies of men who appeared to be the captain and his crew. Nearby was Whiteface in a puddle of blood. If he was playing dead, he could surprise Chris, or worse, surprise Hannah and Sonny. Chris eliminated the possibility of surprises coming from Whiteface.

Then Chris peeled right, knowing Hannah would peel left and Sonny would take the center of the bridge. There was a bullet hole in the windshield where someone had fired at Chris minutes earlier. He searched for surviving enemies.

“Starboard hatch is welded shut.” Although Chris and his crew wouldn’t be able to exit through the starboard side, it also meant no one from the starboard side would be able to enter.

Hannah tried to open the port hatch. “This door is welded shut, too.”

Sonny jerked at the ship’s throttle, but it didn’t move. Then he attempted to turn the wheel, but it didn’t budge, either. “They welded the damn throttle and wheel, too. Now we can’t stop or steer the ship!”

Chris took a try at the throttle and wheel, just to make sure—not even a wiggle. The ship ran at a speed of ten knots, aimed at the Shah Deniz Alpha oil rig, one and a half klicks away. “Maybe we can’t stop the ship, but we can get Xander.”

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Hannah asked. “We need to get off now… before the ship crashes.”

“Can’t let him get away,” Chris said.

“Hannah is right,” Sonny said. “If Xander wants to go down with the ship, let him. If he surfaces, we’ll be waiting for him.”

Hannah’s chocolate-brown eyes had a soothing effect on him as she locked them on his. “What’s the best way to get off the ship?” she asked.

Chris could be reckless with his own life, but he couldn’t be reckless with theirs. Like Sonny had said, Xander would either go down with the ship, or they would catch him when he surfaced.

“We can jump off the fantail,” Chris said. He radioed Mikhail and told him they were coming and to contact the oil rig to inform them the ship was about to crash into them. “We only have about five minutes before the ship hits.”

Chris, Hannah, and Sonny moved tactically out of the bridge, down the ladder and then into the passageway they’d just come from. Chris was careful not to take Sonny and Hannah into an ambush, but he still had to hurry.

When they reached the fantail, Mikhail was still dutifully in the go-fast, following behind. Chris warned Mikhail they were about to jump before turning to Hannah. “Right before you leap, start inflating your vest so you don’t sink like a rock with all your gear when you hit the water.”

She nodded.

“Go,” he said.

She popped the CO2 cartridge in her vest and jumped, followed by Sonny.

As Chris turned and observed the deck, there was still no sign of Xander.

Where are you?

He ground his teeth and pulled his own cord, puncturing the CO2 cartridge to fill his vest with air, and he jumped. His mind cleared of everything except what he was doing, and he felt like a lead weight had been lifted. It was liberating.

Splash!
He sank underwater, but his submersion was only temporary and he floated toward the surface. The first thing he checked was whether Hannah was okay. She was. Sonny was afloat, too.

Mikhail brought the boat up alongside them and helped Sonny out of the water and onboard first. Then Sonny and Mikhail helped Hannah and Chris aboard.

The ship was less than five minutes away from hitting the oil rig.

Before Chris could ask Mikhail if he was able to contact someone on the rig to warn them, he noticed Mikhail’s face was pale. “Are you okay?” Chris asked.

“While you had your shootout, I ran into a little shootout of my own,” Mikhail said.

“What happened?” Hannah asked.

“A yacht started following the ship,” Mikhail said. “Then it rammed me and tried to knock me off course. I figured they were working for Xander. When I didn’t change course, a gunman started shooting. So I shot back and took out the gunman and the pilot, and now they’re both dead in the water.” Mikhail chuckled. “Ow, that rattles my stones to laugh.”

He turned awkwardly, and Chris didn’t understand what was going on until Mikhail collapsed on the deck. Chris dropped to his knees beside him and opened his assault vest. Hannah took the wheel while Sonny trained his weapon on the ship.

Between Mikhail’s neck and shoulder was a bloody mess. The round must’ve entered between his neck and the opening of the collar on his inflatable bullet-resistant vest. The whole front of his shirt was soaked with blood.

Chris pulled out Mikhail’s blowout kit, removed a QuickClot Combat Gauze packet, and unbuttoned Mikhail’s shirt to see exactly where the bullet entry was. There was a dark hole covered with blood, and Chris pressed part of his hand against it to stop the bleeding while using his fingers to open the packet. Then he removed the gauze and used his finger to poke it into the wound, applying direct pressure with his hand between pokes. Chris had similarly patched up a fallen Teammate in Iraq, who’d howled out in pain, but Mikhail made no sound. His eyes were open, but he didn’t speak.

Shit, I’m losing him.

“Mikhail, how you doing?” Chris asked.

After stuffing the hemostatic gauze as deep as it would go, packing the wound, he used his hand to apply direct pressure with the remaining gauze. He leaned over and put his cheek close to Mikhail’s lips to feel his breath, but there was none.

“Mikhail, talk to me. Talk to me, buddy.”

Clank, clank, clank!
It sounded like metal baseball bats striking the hull of the go-fast, but the sonic snap that sounded over Chris’s head confirmed they were bullets. Sonny leaned into his rifle, the barrel spitting hate up at one of Xander’s men on the tanker, who shrieked like a bird as he fired his AK down at them. Sonny muted him.

Chris maintained direct pressure for a couple of minutes until the bleeding stopped. Mikhail had closed his eyes. He’d lost a lot of blood and was still unresponsive. Chris reached into the blowout kit and pulled out a gray package containing an Israeli-designed military trauma bandage. He tore it open and pulled out the bandage, careful not to touch the sterile pad. After applying the pad to the gauze-packed wound, he wrapped the tail of the bandage around Mikhail’s torso and clipped the excess with the pressure applicator.

“Mikhail, wake up. Wake up and talk to me.” Chris wrapped in the opposite direction, tightening the bandage. Completing the wrap, he used the clip on the closure bar to secure it.

He flicked a glance at his watch. The ship was only about a minute away from impacting the oil rig.

Chris felt Mikhail’s neck for a pulse—nothing.

“Mikhail is dead,” Chris said, deflating like a punctured tire.

Hannah pounded her fist on the dash.

Sonny kicked the bench hard, making a loud
crack
before he dropped an f-bomb.

Chris had lost Teammates and mourned them, but he’d packed those feelings away in the tidy crates in his mind. Now those feelings of loss came tumbling out—loneliness, darkness, and a need to withdraw from the world. The guilt of botching the hostage rescue in Athens returned. Ironically the hostage’s name was Michael, too. Different spelling, same ending.

Why?
Chris turned his face to the sky.
Have I fallen out of favor with Thee?

It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility, he thought for a moment. Of course, he was unable to attend worship services. He’d brought his pocket-sized Bible with him, but it had stayed on the plane, and since leaving Dallas, he hadn’t cracked it open once. He didn’t pray as often as he did when he first became a pastor, not since returning to the world of black ops. This mission had worn on him, and he was too tired to read scriptures or pray—too tired in his body, mind, and spirit. Now Chris’s bag of tricks was empty, and he’d committed the frogman’s sin: allowing discouragement to creep in.

Crunch!
The
Binagadi
plowed into the oil rig, taking out a section of it. The rest of the platform groaned and twisted before fire and smoke bellowed out. Alarms went off on the rig, and someone spoke over a PA system. Chris didn’t have to understand Azeri to understand the gist of the speaker’s words. Soon a handful of the rig’s crew appeared, still strapping on their lifejackets, and launched lifeboats. Others donned firefighting gear and oxygen masks, but they seemed confused as to whether they should fight the fire or evacuate the rig.

The burning platform leaned into the sea. Another voice came over the PA system, and the firefighters disappeared back into the structure where they’d come from. More men wearing lifejackets emerged and headed to the lifeboats.

Chris tore his gaze from the horror, shifting to the ship. It had erupted in flames, too. It wasn’t clear if the fire had originated from the ship or if it had spread from the oil rig, but there was no sign of Xander.

“Drown, Xander, drown,” Chris muttered.

“I hope he shows, just so I have the satisfaction of plugging him,” Sonny said.

“Kill or capture,” Hannah reminded him. She stopped the go-fast and let it idle.

A stream of crewmembers evacuated the sinking oil platform, and Chris said a silent prayer the crew would make it out alive. He still hoped Xander would die, but he didn’t pray it.

Hannah eased the throttle forward and motored around the ship.

Chris spotted someone in the water. “Xander!”

“We have to get to him before he reaches one of the lifeboats,” Sonny said.

Hannah moved the boat in closer, and Chris and Sonny both aimed their weapons at him.

“Xander, surrender now, or we shoot you!” Chris said.

Sonny fired, but it missed. Chris didn’t know if the miss was intentional or not, but Xander stopped, treaded water with his legs, and raised his hands in the air. He lowered his hands to help him tread water, then raised them again. He appeared compliant.

Some crew members evacuating the rig in lifeboats stared, but Chris and his team carried on with their capture. Hannah pulled up next to Xander, and Chris heaved him out of the water. All the while, Sonny pointed his muzzle at him.

“I hope you do something stupid,” Sonny said.

“Bag and drag him, boys,” Hannah said.