Typhoon Fury

39

Juan heard them coming before he saw them. The two bullet-shaped watercraft were backlit by the lights at the dock. Their engines sounded like the sinister growls of attacking predators.

Once Linc was on the deck of the Gator, Juan pounded on the hull.

“Linda, purge the ballast tanks and get out of here!”

“Aye, Chairman,” she replied over the radio. “I see them.”

The Gator’s big diesel engines rumbled to life as the pumps emptied the tanks. The submarine-boat hybrid rose out of the water and shot forward. Salty spray washed over them as Linda weaved back and forth in evasive maneuvers, but she couldn’t shake the pursuing craft.

Juan gripped tight to one of the deck handholds so he wouldn’t be thrown off the slick deck and into the water. “Those must be a couple of the Kuyogs that the parts in the truck were for.”

“Which means they’re loaded with a good chunk of Semtex,” Linc said. “And they’re gaining on us.”

“I’m assuming those things aren’t friendly,” Linda said as she turned the Gator toward the open sea. “The Oregon is on its way to take them out with her Gatling guns.”

Juan looked forward but couldn’t see the Oregon. The distance between them and the Kuyogs chasing them was closing too fast.

“We won’t make it in time. Turn around.”

“Turn around?” Linda asked. “Did I hear that right?”

Juan eyed the supply ship still tied to the dock. “Yes. We’re going to give these things another target.”

Linda sounded dubious, but she said, “Aye, Chairman.” The Gator swung around in a wide turn and headed back the way they’d come. The Kuyogs nimbly banked with them, their hydrofoils knifing through the water.

“Refill the ballast tanks, but keep the Gator trimmed with the bow up.”

“Got it,” Linda said with obvious understanding of what he had planned. “Filling tanks. I’ll straighten out so you can come below.”

“Not yet. Come in on a parallel course to the supply ship. Stick with the evasive maneuvers until we’re within five hundred yards of her.”

“That’s cutting it close.”

Juan glanced at Linc, who gave him a thumbs-up. “I know. We’ll make it work. Tell Eddie to open the hatch as soon as you are level.”

“Will do,” she said.

“You really think this will work?” Linc asked. “As far as I know, this tactic wasn’t one we simulated during the Gator’s testing phase.”

Juan smiled and shrugged. “We never tested it because it was too risky. I’d say it’s worth the risk now.”

“Have to agree with you there,” Linc said over the menacing snarl of the gaining Kuyogs.

“Get ready, Chairman,” Linda said.

Juan watched the Gator’s hatch. “We’re ready. You first,” he said to Linc. “Just don’t get stuck.”

They tossed their guns away, but Juan kept his pack with the Kuyog imaging sensor inside.

The supply ship loomed ahead and the Gator suddenly straightened out. The hatch flew up, and Linc lunged for the opening. He neatly slid inside, and Juan quickly followed, tumbling down as his feet slipped on the metal hull. He tucked and landed in the cabin.

Eddie sprang up and slammed the hatch down, whirling the wheel to seal it. When it was tight, he said, “Buttoned-up.”

Linc pulled Juan to his feet. Juan went forward to the cockpit and said to Linda, “Now turn us toward the supply ship.”

She yanked the wheel to port, aiming the Gator in the direction of the supply ship’s stern while continuing her evasive maneuvers.

Juan stuck his head into the cupola and looked back. The Kuyogs were no more than twenty yards behind them.

“When should I dive?” Linda asked, her hands tight on the wheel.

Juan turned and pointed at the supply ship. “Get as close to her as you can.”

Tagaan watched with a grin as the strange vessel aimed straight for the supply ship on what seemed to be a suicide mission. He didn’t really care if they wanted to kill themselves, since the supply ship was no longer of any use to him with the Magellan Sun on the ocean floor. He was more excited to see the performance of the Kuyogs. So far, they had outdone even his lofty expectations.

Then his grin vanished when he saw the fleeing boat plunge beneath the surface like a diving dolphin. With a surge of white water, it disappeared, leaving the pursuing Kuyogs with no target.

No, they did have a target. The sensors were programmed to reacquire the target as quickly as possible if they lost their lock.

So the supply ship directly ahead of them became the target.

They reached the stern of the supply ship simultaneously, detonating just as Tagaan had designed them to do.

He flattened himself on the dock as a hail of debris fell around him. The stern of the supply ship erupted in a geyser of flames, its fuel tank ruptured and burning. The crew fled the bow superstructure as the ship began to sink.

Tagaan blinked and stood up. He searched the water for signs that the submarine-boat had been damaged or destroyed by the explosions, but he saw no telltale slick or debris, though he didn’t know if they’d be distinguishable from the remains of the supply ship. He had to assume that the daring maneuver had worked and they had got away.

But even if the sub hadn’t escaped disaster in the sudden dive, the mystery cargo ship speeding toward them was still a threat. If it had more missiles or other weaponry on board, it might use them on the trucks loaded with half the shipment he’d come to collect.

Only now he noticed his mechanic still cowering on the dock with his hands over his head.

“Get up, you imbecile,” he said.

The mechanic gingerly got to his feet and surveyed the supply ship that was now partially underwater. He smiled timidly at Tagaan. “At least the Kuyogs worked.”

Tagaan gave him a withering look and barked at him through clenched teeth, “We’re leaving. Now! Get the drivers to their trucks.”

“Yes, comrade.”

While his orders were being carried out, Tagaan checked the approaching cargo ship on the feed from his airborne drone, which was following her on autopilot. Now that she was closer to coming around the point of the bay, he could see how dilapidated the ship was. If she was equipped with a missile battery and carried a submarine, he wondered what other secrets she held. If only he had more Kuyogs with him, he’d test out her defensive capabilities.

The mechanic came running back to him.

“Comrade Tagaan, the lead truck’s radiator is damaged, and the fuel tank is punctured. It will take an hour to fix them enough to drive.”

“We don’t have time for that.”

“Should I move its cargo to another truck?”

Tagaan grabbed the mechanic’s shirt and screamed in his face, “I told you we’re leaving this minute!” Then he shoved the man away. He hated to leave so much of their precious cargo behind, but he couldn’t risk losing the entire shipment instead of just half. He’d also have to abandon the drone.

Tagaan took one last look at the unassuming cargo ship racing toward them and said, “Now, get me a lighter.”

Ten minutes later, the Oregon stopped just long enough for the Gator to surface inside the moon pool and to pluck Eddie, MacD, and Murph from the water. Juan was the first out and he made a beeline for the op center, with Murph tagging along behind, still turning the Kuyog imaging sensor over in his hands. He reclaimed his chair from Max, who returned to his customary position at the engineering station. Murph handed the sensor to Eric and sat at the weapons console, tapping away at the tablet holding the data from the Magellan Sun’s navigation system.

“What’s this?” Eric said, inspecting the object.

“That’s one of the items in the shipment,” Juan said.

“Imaging tech,” Murph added absently without looking up from his handheld computer. “Chinese-made. Can’t wait to take it apart and check out what they came up with.”

“Anything salvageable from the Magellan Sun?” Juan asked Max.

Max shook his head. “Went up like a Roman candle. Linda said you found Semtex on the truck. That must have been what cut it in half. Straight to Davy Jones’s locker.”

“Then that’s our only insight into the Kuyog’s design,” Juan said, first pointing at the sensor, then nodding at the big screen.

The feed from the deck camera showed the dock and road where he and Linc had infiltrated the truck. The supply ship was gone, and so were all but one of the trucks. The remaining truck, still parked near the end of the road, was ablaze. The Semtex wouldn’t be detonated by the fire, but it would probably burn brightly all through the night, reducing the truck and its contents to molten slag.

Max raised an eyebrow at Juan. “Please don’t tell me that’s the truck you planted the tracker on.”

“Okay, I won’t,” Juan said with a resigned look.

“But it is.”

Juan nodded. “So we have no way to follow where those trucks are going.”

“That’s a bigger problem than you think,” Max said.

“What do you mean?”

“Raven called a few minutes ago. She said Locsin kidnapped Beth Anders.”

While Max summed up what happened to Beth and Raven, Juan rubbed his temples, sick at the thought of what she must be going through.

“And now we have no way to find him,” Juan said.

Murph cleared his throat. “Actually, we might.”

“I like your timing,” Juan said, glad to get some good news.

“I was able to extract the GPS logs from the Magellan Sun and create a map of her shipping courses over the last month. We’re looking for an islet, right?”

Juan nodded. “Dr. Ocampo told us Locsin had a dig going on somewhere in the Philippines, but he didn’t know the exact location, just that it was a small island. There are thousands in the country that could fit that description.”

“Well, most of the Magellan Sun’s stops were either in Chinese or Filipino ports. Or right here, of course, when she was off-loading her illicit cargo. But there was one small island where she made multiple visits.”

“Put it up on the screen so we can see where we have to go,” Juan said.

“No need,” Murph said. “We saw the island just yesterday when we sailed out of Manila Bay. Locsin’s dig is on Corregidor.”