“Remember when we asked her name and she stumbled over it?” Midas asked.
“She’s not who she says she is.” Aleck pointed out.
“But does that make her an accomplice to what’s going on now?” Jag asked.
“Can we please stop talking about her as if she’s in cahoots with the damn pirates?” Mustang asked in frustration.
“Look, none of us really think she helped set this up,” Aleck said reasonably. “But everything we’ve found so far leads us to believe she’s keeping some big secrets.”
“It would make sense that she took a job on a cargo ship if she’s trying to hide from someone,” Slate said.
“Like an abusive ex,” Midas threw out.
“She could’ve changed her name because she’s deep in debt,” Jag offered.
“Does any of this matter right now?” Mustang asked.
“No,” Midas said immediately. “As far as we’re concerned, at the moment, she’s as much a victim as anyone else on the ship. But that could change once we take control of the situation.”
Mustang sighed. He knew that. If she was on the run, or trying to hide from someone, this situation had made it very difficult for her to lie low. The authorities would want to interview her, the media might want her side of the story, not to mention the US Navy would need her statement as well.
“She seems to have taken a liking to you,” Midas said. “I’m thinking when we get onboard, you should be the one to track her down. If she trusts you, she might open up to you. Tell you what’s up.”
“And if we can help, we will,” Aleck added.
“I hate bullies,” Pid muttered. “If she’s hiding from one, I’m all for keeping her hidden.”
“Seems the last thing she’d want is a spotlight on her if she survives this,” Jag agreed.
“There’s no if about it,” Slate said. “If darkness would hurry the hell up already, we could end this shit.”
This was why Mustang loved working with these men. They were true champions of those who needed help. It was why they were all SEALs in the first place, to try to right the wrongs of the world no matter where they might be.
Mustang had no problem being the one to search for Rachel, ensuring her safety. Hell, just the thought of her relying on any of his friends was…unsettling. There was something about her that intrigued him. Made him want to get to know her better. Shield her from any danger on that cargo ship.
He didn’t know Rachel’s story, or if Rachel was even her real name, but he was curious to find out. He hadn’t known her very long, but he was a good judge of character, and how someone acted in the face of a true crisis said a lot about who they were as a person. And Rachel Walters seemed to have a spine of steel.
Mustang sat in the back of the Zodiac and held on as the pilot steered them closer and closer to the huge cargo ship.
Throughout the day, officials on the USS Paul Hamilton did their best to talk to the pirates, to no avail. They weren’t answering the hails from the various US Naval ships around them. They had to know they were screwed. They had to have seen on radar the armada of ships surrounding the cargo ship they’d taken over. But so far, they hadn’t communicated with anyone.
It looked like the Asaka Express was floating dead in the water. The current would eventually push the massive ship closer and closer to the shoreline of Djibouti. Government officials were contacted, but they refused to get involved, saying until the ship was officially in their jurisdiction, they weren’t willing to act.
It was frustrating and infuriating, but there was nothing Mustang, his team, or the US officials could do. If the pirates didn’t talk to them, give them some idea of what their plan was and what they wanted, there would be no way to negotiate for the lives of the employees onboard.
Now darkness had fallen, and the SEALs could finally make their move. There were indications that over a dozen small boats were making their way toward the stricken Asaka Express from the northern part of Djibouti. US intelligence experts assumed they were more pirates, coming to pilfer as many goods as they could from the cargo onboard the ship.
Mustang and his team were in a race to get there first. Once they had the cargo ship secured, the US Navy would bring their warships closer and protect the vessel until it could be made seaworthy once more. They were also going to intercept the smaller boats if possible. Prevent them from adding to the chaos onboard the Asaka Express.
The plan was simple. Get onboard, then play hide-and-go-seek with the pirates, taking them out one by one. They’d been given permission to shoot to kill anyone onboard the ship illegally. The Navy wasn’t fucking around.
The pilot of the Zodiac slowed the boat as they neared the eerily dark cargo ship. There were lights flickering in the bridge, but the team had approached from the port side, the side closest to the shore, undetected. Amazingly, the ladder the pirates had used to originally go aboard was still hanging from a railing.
“I’m sure that’s how they’re planning on the others getting onboard,” Midas said.
“Most likely,” Slate agreed. “We’ll ditch it once we’re on. No sense making it easy for more pirates to join the party.”
No one had even the slightest thought to use the ladder to get aboard themselves. It could be booby trapped or monitored. Mustang ordered the pilot to move fifty feet forward from where the ladder swung back and forth with the movement of the waves.
“You think they’ll be dumb enough to try to join their friends onboard?” the pilot asked.
“They’ll try,” Aleck said with a nod.
“Their only motivation is the bottom line,” Pid agreed. “But the Navy won’t let that happen if they can help it.”
“Less talk, more action,” Mustang said, looking up. They were lucky this cargo ship wasn’t any bigger. It wasn’t going to be easy to make their way up the side of the ship as it was. Jag moved to the side of the Zodiac and took a deep breath, then he was moving.
Using top-secret, super-spy type gear, Jag made it up the side of the ship within minutes. As they’d planned, he threw down a rope after securing it on the deck, and one by one, the team shimmied up onto the cargo ship. The Zodiac pulled away as silently as it had arrived the second Slate’s boots had left the bottom.
Mustang and his team plastered themselves to the side of the shipping containers, fading into the shadows. He gestured with his head to the aft of the ship, and Midas and Aleck quickly headed in that direction. Pid and Jag began the long walk toward the front of the ship. They’d gotten the specs and blueprints of the Asaka Express while on the USS Paul Hamilton. It was over three hundred feet long and would take three or so minutes walking at a normal speed to get from the back to the front.
There were also fifteen lashing bridges, five cargo holds, and the engine room was four decks deep. The captain had been right, there were innumerable places for the crew to hide, and Mustang prayed they’d all been able to do just that. They were obviously doing everything in their power to make things difficult for the pirates, dropping the watertight doors below decks, shutting off the engine, and cutting the lights.
Darkness might be a disadvantage for the pirates, but it wasn’t for the SEAL team. With their night-vision goggles, they could see almost as well as if it was daylight. Mustang and his team were on a hunt. They’d take out the pirates and hopefully this hijacking would be ended swiftly and with only one outcome— dead pirates.