Running Dark by Jamie Freveletti Page B

gunfire?” Banner said.
    Plower shook her head. “I thought that, too, but after the explosions erupted, the passenger said that the pirates manning the ships sustained obvious bullet wounds. They turned away immediately.”
    Banner kept quiet. He had a sneaking suspicion who was responsible for the shots. It was all he could do not to glance at Stromeyer. She took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Plower continued.
    “Apparently the passenger’s father spent some time in the EnglishRoyal Navy. He told the son that only a highly trained sniper could have delivered such accurate hits. I checked with our experts here, and they agree. We immediately pulled the manifest.”
    “May I see it?” Banner kept his voice mild.
    Plower slid a piece of paper across to him. The manifest listed all the passengers in alphabetical order. Sumner wasn’t on it. Banner moved the list over to Stromeyer, who scanned it as well. She said nothing as she handed it back to Plower.
    “Does it matter, really? Whatever was done saved the passengers and crew.”
    Rickell waved a hand in the air. “It matters a lot to the insurgents. They’re claiming that the boat is a decoy for the U.S.”
    “Decoy for what?” Banner said.
    “They believe that the boat is actually dumping nuclear waste into the waters off Somalia.”
    Banner rubbed his forehead. “Oh, great.”
    “Relax, Banner, we’re not dumping nuclear waste. Although some countries are, and that’s another problem we’ll have to address soon. Whatever is in that hold is far more dangerous than some nuclear waste. We need to save that ship, and soon.”
    “Any aircraft carriers in the area? You could arrange for air surveillance and security while the ship heads to port.”
    “Not going to happen. The insurgents guarding the economic zone would fire on them in a heartbeat. This administration will not have another Black Hawk Down disaster.”
    Stromeyer put up a hand. “Wait a minute. I know about the territorial limits, but what’s the economic zone?”
    Plower visibly brightened, and Rickell nodded for her to answer. “It’s the zone that only the Somalis can fish. The waters off Somalia are filled with tuna, and the big companies were taking boatloads of it, leaving the Somali fishermen starving. To address this problem, most foreign ships are not allowed to fish within a two-hundred-mile nautical range off the coast.”
    “Well, we’re not going to fish, we’re saving people. Tell them to make an exception in this case.” Banner couldn’t keep the annoyance out of his voice.
    Rickell nodded. “The transitional government granted the request but warned us that the insurgents currently control the area.”
    “How long will it take for the Redoubtable to get near?”
    “Assuming the Redoubtable finishes up with its own security issues in the next sixty minutes—eight hours to three days.”
    “Three days. Why so long?” Stromeyer asked.
    “They’re far away. You have to understand, we’re talking over a million square miles of ocean. They can’t be everywhere. They focus their efforts on the most likely areas of piracy. And those areas have been the trade routes.”
    “So no real help there,” Banner said.
    Stromeyer started gathering her papers together. “To recap: We’ve got one stranded cruise ship with hundreds of civilians and one, maybe two chemical weapons either lost or sitting within the territorial zone of one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and the U.S. can’t, or won’t”—Stromeyer gave Rickell a pointed look—“enter the area to help them.”
    Rickell nodded. “Can’t. And yes, that’s it.”
    Stromeyer looked at Banner. He caught the look but was planning the steps he would take to board the ship and the price he would charge to do so. He finished up and laid the number on Rickell. Who exploded.
    “That’s highway robbery! Darkview has a contract with us. Standard rates in that contract should