Page 147 of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier

“Eddie—go!” Juan said.

The wiry operator bolted from behind the shelter of the mini sub and onto the rocky ledge, heading for the larger pier. Cabrillo and the other Gundogs laid down enough sustained fire to open up a clear path for Eddie. He took a giant leap and hit theGhost Sworddeck with a thud.

“Kill him!” the Vendor shouted in the distance, backpedaling away from the mayhem, and pointing at Eddie.

The Vendor’s shouts caught Juan’s attention. He saw the beefy Asian dash for a hidden door suddenly sliding open. Cabrillo’s gut told him the Vendor was making his escape.

Not this time. Juan bolted out from behind the safety of the mini sub. He tossed flash-bangs far ahead of him, hoping to knock out anyone crouched behind the rocky outcrop framing the elevator entrance. He saw Eddie on his knees on the submerging deck of theGhost Swordfixing a C4 charge to a hatch as water began washing over it.

A machine-gun blast from behind the rocky outcrop spanged on the hatch. One of those rounds hit the C4 charge just as Eddie turned to run away. The resulting blast catapulted him into the air. He tumbled into the water with a dead man’s splash.

MacD instantly dove into the lagoon, swimming deep to avoid getting shot. He swam furiously toward his friend’s sinking body.

Juan knelt down and swapped out another mag, his adrenalized vision narrowed on the Vendor’s figure flinging open a steel door and dashing into the blackened gloom of an escape exit.

“Juan! Juan! The submarine net opened!” Callie cried out over the comms. “What do you want me to do?”

Juan glanced at the vanishing wake from the sub. There was no rush of air bubbles breaking the surface. The C4 charge had failed to breach the hatch and the vessel was making its way out to sea.

“Find a way to stop it!”

“How?”

“Figure it out!” He called to the others, “Linc, Murph—cover me!”

Cabrillo didn’t wait for a response. Filled with a berserker’s rage, he ran for the escape door.

The Vendor’s goons hiding in the rock crevices took aim, but Linc and Murph kept them pinned down long enough for Cabrillo to race past them, arms and legs pumping like an Olympic sprinter.

What Cabrillo didn’t realize was that he was running through the targeting reticle of the fallen auto machine gun, still whirring and jerking on the ground on the far side of the lagoon. As soon as Juan entered into the reticle, the onboard computer calculated his directional speed, the ambient air temperature, and a dozen other critical variables. It also determined he wasn’t wearing a shot prohibition tag. And it did all of this in less than a heartbeat.

The machine gun unleashed a burst of three rounds that caught Cabrillo in the side just below the armpit. The bullets sledgehammering his ribs should have killed him, but the new lightweight Kevlar wraparound body armor the whole team wore saved his life. The forceof the hammer blows cracked bones and stole away his breath. He stumbled forward and nearly fell, but in so doing advanced beyond the range of the gun’s targeting reticle. He finally recovered his balance and raced for the open door just yards away.

He knew the gauntlet run had been an insanely risky move that nearly got him killed, and whatever lay beyond the door probably would. But Juan was determined to catch the Vendor or die trying.

?

Aboard theSpook Fish

The image of the sleekGhost Swordpushing past the opened sub net filled theSpook Fish’s bulbous acrylic viewing sphere. Callie didn’t have any weapons and the big sub could easily brush her aside. There was no way for her to stop it. What could she do?

Callie’s heart raced. She could hear the Gundogs shouting and the sounds of gunfire and explosions in her comms. The entire team was under fire. She also heard the reports that both Murph and Eddie had been wounded, and maybe even killed. Clearly they needed help. Everything told her to dash inside.

But Cabrillo told her to stop the sub.

“Oregon, this isSpook Fish. Do you copy?”

“Copy,Spook Fish. This isOregon,” Hali replied. “You are on speaker.”

“Oregon, be advised the Vendor’s sub is underway. Repeat, the Vendor’s sub is underway. Suggest you hit her with a torpedo.”

“Callie, Eric here. I’ve got a fix onSpook Fish. Where is the other vessel?”

“Twenty yards ahead of me and closing at three knots.”

“She’s a ghost on my sonar.”

“Callie, Linda here. I’m acting weapons officer. I can’t fire a torpedo if we don’t have a sonar fix on its position.”