Arctic Fire

CHAPTER 16

“You got them all?” Tombstone said into the hand-held radio.

“Yes, sir. Nasty bit of work. You’ve got two injured up here, one pretty seriously. The corpsmen are already here — first impression is that they’ll make it,” Sikes replied. “You’ve got the bridge of your ship back, Admiral. And four nasty characters in custody.”

“Good work. And just for the record, it’s not my ship for much longer. About ten seconds, I’d say.” Tombstone glanced across the room at Batman, who was pacing back and forth in the admiral’s cabin. His own cabin, Tombstone reminded himself, not mine. Not anymore — and never again. This one last brief command of the carrier group had been a fluke.

“You ready to relieve me?” Tombstone asked Batman. “If you’re going to wear out that strip of carpet, you might as well be the one who has to explain it to the shipyard.”

“You bet! For a moment there, I was afraid you wouldn’t give her back.”

“The thought crossed my mind. But I’ve had my tour — Jefferson is all yours.” Tombstone paused as a thought suddenly occurred to him. A cold, distant shadow flitted across his face. “Almost. There’s one last thing I have to take care of.”

“What? You’re not pissed about the JAST bird going sneakers up, are you?” Seeing the look on Tombstone’s face, Batman added hastily, “Not that I really care. Being project manager for JAST was last tour, not now.”

“No, nothing to do with your baby at all. It’s just I’ve cleaned up the mess I left in your cabin — I ought to finish the job.” Tombstone reached for the telephone, then paused. “Can you wait another five minutes? No longer — and you’ll be glad you did.”

“Wha-?”

Tombstone cut him off. “I just remembered another little mess I left on your ship. And I’m going to need the lawyers to straighten it out.”

“You’re sure?” The JAG officer looked doubtful, then shook his head. “Washington’s going to scream bloody murder over this one.”

“Let them scream,” Tombstone answered coldly. “Those people endangered the safe operation of this ship with their stupid stunt. I want criminal charges brought against all of them — and I want my name on the charge sheet. How long will it take you to get moving on it?” He glanced over at Batman. “My relief’s chomping at the bit.”

The JAG held out the manila envelope he’d been carrying in his left hand. “Admiral, after our last conversation — well, I took the liberty of — I thought you might be asking for this at some point. I think you’ll find everything in order.”

Something softened slightly in Tombstone’s eyes. “Why, Captain. By any chance have you anticipated my desires in this matter?”

The lawyer nodded. “I like to be prepared for anything, Admiral.”

“And what, may I ask, is in the other folder?” Batman broke in. “Commendations for all of them?”

The lawyer looked faintly alarmed. “if I’d thought of it, there would be. No, the only other option I’ve prepared is an airlift request — with and without armed guards.”

Tombstone nodded. “You get those armed guards ready to go. I think I’m going to need them.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tombstone watched from Vulture’s Row as four civilians wearing flight deck cranials paraded across the flight deck toward the waiting COD. Two master-at-arms carrying sidearms flanked them. Each of the civilians had his or her hands clasped behind the back in a peculiarly uniform-looking arrangement. From the 0-10 level, the handcuffs were invisible.

“Pamela’s going to be damned pissed at you for a long, long time, Stoney,” Batman remarked. “Though I do admit the handcuffs were a nice touch. Something in your personal life you want to share with your old wingman?”

Tombstone shot him a wry look. “You got it all backward. If you think Pamela’s going to stay mad at me, then you know nothing about the media and reporters. Hell, I’ve just put her on the top of every news show in the world. Can’t you see the headlines — Journalist Imprisoned on U.S. ship? And ACN is going to have an exclusive.”

Batman looked doubtful. “I don’t know about that. She looked pretty damned mad when you had that petty officer search her.”

“it wasn’t even a strip search — though now that you mention it …” Tombstone looked thoughtful.

“I don’t think you ought to press your luck on this one,” Batman said hastily. “Besides, it’s my ship now.”

Tombstone slapped him on the back. “Damned sure is. Now you see why I made you wait that extra five minutes?”

“I do — and thank you. I wouldn’t have had the nerve — and I wouldn’t have missed the expression on her face for anything.”

The two men fell silent, too tired to try to talk over the noise of the COD taking the cat shot. Finally, as the rugged little C2 started to gain altitude and veer away from the boat, Batman asked, “So what about the rest of this mess? The Cossacks, I mean.”

Tombstone shrugged. “Above my pay-grade. I imagine the State Department’s going to want a whack at them, along with every intelligence organization in the country. They’re not going anywhere, not after sinking that Greenpeace boat. The rest of the business will be written off to a misunderstanding, to engineering casualties and such. Nobody’s going to want to give up the peace dividend over the Aleutian Islands.”

Batman gazed off at the horizon. “The Cossacks — who would have thought a splinter group like that would almost start another Russian-U.S. conflict? Just a tiny group of extremists, when you think about it. Good thing we don’t have that kind of ethnic conflict in the States.”

Tombstone looked sober. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Think of the damage some of these white supremacist groups could do to our national interests. They’ve already managed to commit one atrocity, the Oklahoma City bombing. They’re there, and they’re dangerous.”

“Too bad the military can’t do anything about domestic terrorism,” Batman said thoughtfully.

Tombstone snorted. “I think we’ve got enough to do already, don’t you?”