Running Dark by Jamie Freveletti Page A

some military in Djibouti? Why not have a guy parachute onto the ship?” Banner said.
    “Our Djibouti team is training the African Union forces. When training’s done, it’s our hope that they will secure Mogadishu for the transitional government there.”
    “How much of Mogadishu does the transitional government control? I thought it was quite small,” Stromeyer said.
    “Three blocks,” Rickell replied. He sighed. “I know it sounds like an impossible task.”
    Stromeyer shook her head. “Three blocks is more than most have been able to accomplish. Somalia’s government was too failed for even bin Laden to control. He left within a month. And that guy thinks living out of a cave is normal.”
    “Where’s the cruise liner?” Banner said.
    “Their radar is out. We’re not able to pinpoint their current location, but we think they were driven into Somali waters one hour ago, so we can’t fly into that area.”
    Stromeyer’s head snapped up from the documentation in front of her. “Oh, yes, we can. We have a UN resolution that allows any rescue ship to continue pursuit into territorial waters. Somalia welcomed the help.”
    Banner kept quiet and let Stromeyer handle the conversation. His men on Gulf of Aden security details were ordered to apprehend any crews that attempted to take one of his clients’ ships no matter where they were. They relied on the resolution when they chased pirates into the zone. Banner wasn’t about to let the criminals off simply because they crossed some invisible line.
    Plower spoke up. “That was last month. Now the insurgents control entire swaths of Somalia. They just sent us a demand that the resolution be suspended. They’ve informed us that any ships crossing into their territory will be considered to be trespassers and fired upon.”
    Banner snorted. “Tell them to go to hell. Make them back off long enough to get us to the cruise liner. If they knew what’s on it…”
    “Under no circumstances must anyone in Somalia know what’s on that ship!” Rickell said. “If they did, it would be overrun with criminals all looking to get at the ricin. We must maintain complete silence on this and continue on as we would in any other similar situation. Follow usual channels.”
    “And if the pirates successfully take the ship hostage?”
    “Then we must guard the secret even more closely.”
    Banner saw Rickell’s point. There was a good chance that even ifthe pirates were successful, they might never give the vaccines a second look. Generally when attacking a ship, they took it to a nearby port, docked it, and offloaded the passengers. If the ship was still functioning, they used it until a ransom was paid. If not, they stripped it for parts and left it to rot. “What’s the name of the ship?” Banner slid a notepad closer to take the information. He’d break radio silence and let Sumner know to keep as far away as possible.
    “It’s the Kaiser Franz out of Hamburg.”
    This time Stromeyer stayed absolutely still. It was Banner who jerked in surprise.

14
    “GIVE ME ALL THE FACTS YOU HAVE,” BANNER SAID TO RICKELL.
    Rickell nodded at Plower. “Go ahead.”
    “About an hour ago, the pirates attempted a standoff attack on the Kaiser Franz with rocket-propelled grenades. They managed to hit the ship twice before they were repelled.”
    “Repelled? How?” Stromeyer had stopped messing with the paper in front of her and was writing notes on a nearby notepad.
    “That’s the funny part. The passengers heard sonic blasts coming from the upper decks. We assume that this was the sound of the Long Range Acoustic Device that’s part of the Kaiser Franz ’s security equipment. But another passenger called his father in England and claimed that he heard gunfire coming from the ship as well.”
    “Why is that strange?”
    “Guns are illegal on a cruise ship. It is unlikely that the Kaiser Franz has any.”
    “Could the passenger have mistaken the sound of the LRAD for