Plague Ship

“Hali, anything on sonar?”

“Except for the noise from eight ships within range that the computer’s already scrubbed, there’s nothing out here but us i

Juan saw his frown and said, “Tell me. No matter how small.”

“About a minute after communications from Bandar Abbas went dead, there was a burst of transmission from the naval base at Chah Bahar.”

“Have you heard it since?”

Hali shook his head. “Just that one time.”

Juan wasn’t sure what to do with that piece of information, so he let it go for the moment. “What about aircraft or helos?”

“An ASW plane off the carrier to our south did a pass an hour ago, but nothing from our friends to the north.”

Cabrillo relaxed slightly, and was begi

It was just as that thought entered his mind that Hali shouted, “Sonar contact! Bearing ninety-five degrees, seven thousand yards. Torpedo in the water. Damnit, he was waiting to ambush us, with his bow doors open and his tubes flooded.”

There was more than five miles separating the ship from the incoming torpedo, so Juan knew he had more than enough time to get the Oregon out of danger. His voice remained calm. “Track it, Hali. Let’s make sure we know where it’s going before we react.”

“Sonar contact!” Kasim cried again. “Second torpedo in the water, same bearing and range. I’m getting target extrapolation off the computer. The first fish is heading for the containership. I have her identified as the Saga, and she left Bandar Abbas twenty minutes before we did.” The tactical picture went from bad to worse.

“We’re getting a warning from the carrier battle group,” Hali called out. “They heard the shots and are launching aircraft.”

“This is turning into a hell of a fur ball,” Max said sardonically.

“Tell me about it,” Juan muttered.

“Come on!” Hali shouted. “New contact. They launched a third torpedo. It’s looking like a spread pattern targeting us, the Saga , and the tanker behind us, a Petromax Oil ULCC named the Aggie Johnston.”

Had there been just the one torpedo tracking the Oregon, Cabrillo could have handled it. Maybe even two, if he could put his vessel between the second one and the ship it had targeted, but with three fish in the water his options had quickly run out. Either the Saga or the Aggie Johnston was going to take a direct hit. And with a full load of two hundred thousand tons of Gulf crude, there was no way he would let it be the supertanker.

“They just launched another,” Hali said with disbelief in his voice. “That’s four fish in the water. Range between the Saga and the first is down to six thousand yards. This last fish is going much slower than the others.”

“It’s lurking to see what the others miss,” Max said. “And will go in to finish it off.” If one of the first three torpedoes missed or failed to detonate, this reserve salvo would be in position to destroy its intended target. Cabrillo was familiar with the tactic. He also had no defense against it. He was now thinking they would be lucky to get out of the Sea of Oman alive.

CHAPTER 4

MV GOLDEN DAWN

INDIAN OCEAN

THE MUGGER’S HAND WAS LIKE A VISE AROUND Ja

She had seconds before unconsciousness overcame her, but there was nothing she could do. It was like drowning, the most terror-filled death she could ever imagine, only it wasn’t a cold water’s embrace that would take her life but the hands of a stranger.

Ja

She came awake with a wet gasp, her head and shoulders lifting from the bed only to be dragged back by the sheets and blankets covering her. The clear plastic ca

Filled with the chilling aftereffects of the nightmare that always accompanied an attack when she was asleep, Ja

As the medicine relaxed her restricted airways, Ja

This was her third day in the dispensary, the third day of being alone for hours on end, bored out of her mind and cursing her lungs’ weakness. Her friends had stopped by regularly, but she knew none of them wanted to stay. Not that she blamed them. Watching her gasp like a fish and suck on her inhaler wasn’t a pretty sight. She hadn’t even had the strength to let the lone nurse change her sheets and could imagine what her body smelled like.

The curtain around her bed was suddenly drawn back. Dr. Passman moved so softly that Ja

“I heard you cry out,” he said, looking at the monitors rather than his patient. “Are you okay?”

“Just another attack.” Ja

“I will be the one making that determination,” he said, finally looking at her. There was concern in his eyes. “You’re as blue as a berry. My daughter has chronic asthma, but not like you.”

“I’m used to it,” Ja

“I’ve been meaning to ask, are there other members of your family who have it?”

“I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and neither of my parents had it, though my mother told me her mother had it when she was a little girl.”

Passman nodded. “It tends to run in families. I would have thought being at sea and away from pollution would have reduced your symptoms.”

“I had hoped so, too,” Ja

Well, that and to get out of a small town with nothing to do but watch fishing boats come in and out of the harbor.”

“You must miss your parents.”

“I lost them two years ago.” A shadow passed behind her dark eyes. “Car accident.”

“I am sorry. Your color’s coming back,” Passman said to change the subject. “And your breathing seems to be getting easier.”

“Does that mean I can leave?” Ja

" ’Fraid not, my dear. Your oxygen saturation level is still below what I would like to see.”

“I suppose it doesn’t matter to you that today is the crew’s social,” she said with a trace of disappointment. According to the clock on the far wall, the party was only a few hours away.