Jerry examined the cargo area.A Chinese man used a small forklift to carry a crate from the open dock door to the freight elevator.“I’m counting seventeen baddies just on this screen.”
Anderson flipped pages in the binder, then typed.Three screens filled with different angles of the loading dock.
Sanders whistled under his breath.“That’s enough firepower to wake the devil on a Sunday morning.”
Norton said, “I’d want all that under my Christmas tree if I were overthrowing a government.”
Crates and crates lined the loading dock as forklifts carried more to the cargo elevator.
“Whatever this is,” Peña said, “it was worth taking control of the island and this cruise ship.”Peña looked at Norton.“Thoughts?”
The latest crate contained familiar markings.“That’s definitely Semtex.And that crate is likely mines or grenades.Been awhile since I went through the recognition cards.”Norton sighed, then pursed his lips and crossed his arms.He stared at the activity in the loading dock.“We don’t have enough ammo.”
“No.”Peña rubbed the back of his neck.“And the longer our attackers above go without reporting in or escorting us wherever we ought to be going, the less likely we can maintain the element of surprise.”
Jerry stared at the cargo bay.“There’s ammo in there.”He pointed at the crates on the screen.
Peña turned fully in his direction.Jerry found it odd to talk like this out of their gear.They had no protection, no vests, no helmets, no gloves, no optics, no eyes in the sky, no backup, no solid intel keeping them informed in their ear—nothing.Not even boots.Peña wore a light pink collared shirt and navy pants.What made them think they could battle this small army?
“If we could secure you a weapon with a proper scope, what do you think about the island?”
Jerry looked at the screens again, knowing what his Captain asked him.Could he, as a sniper, find a perch on the ship and start taking out bad guys to help them secure the island?HHe noticed several uniformed crew members working in the cargo hold.
“I think the infiltration was deep,” he muttered.“We have no idea which crew were involved and which crew on the island are ignorant.”
Sanders raised an eyebrow.“What does that mean?”
He tilted his head.“To answer your direct question, I could definitely provide overwatch tactical fire support from a high perch on the ship.The beach is less than half a klick away.Even with iron sights, I could do a passable job.The chapel sun deck is actually ideal.
“However, once I go hot, we don’t know what will happen to the civilians on the island if we don’t know which crew members are involved.They could have explosives, grenades, or other fun toys.There is a risk of significant collateral damage and considerable potential political fallout.Your call.”
Peña stared at him for what felt like a long time, then said, “Understood.That’s a problem for future me.Right now, we need to get control of this vessel.Preferably without anyone on the island knowing.”
“What’s the plan?”Ibrahim asked.
“We need more firepower to get more firepower because we need more firepower.Deck five.Armory.”
Anderson typed, and a passageway appeared on the screen directly in front of him.Two armed Haitian men in crew uniforms stood on either side of the door, while a Chinese soldier, all in black, covered the entrance to the corridor nearest the elevator and stairwell door.
Peña looked at Anderson.“Work with Fisher.Get us comms.Coordinate with us from here.Get a message to DC any way you can.See if they can scare up some help ASAP.Then see what you can do to disable the bandit handheld radios.In that order.Clear?”
Anderson nodded his understanding.“On it.”
“After we leave, seal this room.No one in or out without the challenge and password.”
Anderson said, “On it, Jorge.Whatever you need.”
Back in the comms room, he said to Fisher, “Think you can at least get the ship’s Wi-Fi reestablished so we can communicate?”
“Affirmative.Working on it, sir.Minutes or seconds away.”
“Seal up behind us.Keep the Glocks and extra mags in case you have visitors.Give someone else those long guns.”Peña paused and added, “And between you and Heisman, get me that truck.”He pointed at the screen, which displayed the casino on the promenade deck.
“Yes, sir,” Fisher said.
“Right.Let’s move,” Peña said.
Jerry smiled as he followed Peña out of the room.The Tesla Cybertruck was both silent and fairly bulletproof.It would get them most of the way down the wide-open promenade, which happened to be on the same deck as the armory.
