Page 18 of Clive Cussler Ghost Soldier

“Are you kidding me? I’m afraid anything I ever order again from one of those swanky restaurants will taste like cat food.” She turned to Max. “No problems securing theSpook Fishand my support equipment?”

“Everything arrived on time and was inventoried at the dock before I took possession, as per your instructions,” Max said.

Callie surveyed the huge wall displays again. A Panamax oil tanker was steaming south a few miles to port. She turned around, her eyes wide with amazement. Astern she caught a glimpse of the contrails of a high-flying airliner streaking north.

“I feel like I’m standing on theOregon’s bridge even though we’re belowdecks.”

“We run everything from down here in the op center because we’re protected by armor plating. The bridge in the superstructure you saw when you boarded is fully functional. We use it when the operation calls for it.”

Max pointed a thick finger at each of the workstations as he called them out. “We have comms, navigation, sonar, radar, weapons—”

“Weapons? I thought you were an intelligence-gathering operation,” Callie said.

“That’s our primary function,” Juan said. “But not everybody appreciates us snooping around in their dirty laundry. We have to be able to defend ourselves when the need arises.”

“I’m surprised. I didn’t see any guns when I came aboard.”

“We keep them under wraps. Besides, our best defense is anonymity. By appearing to be just another ordinary cargo ship, we can slip in and out of ports all over the world without attracting attention.”

“Sort of like the old Q-ships from the world wars,” Max added.

“That helps explain your need for theOregon’s incredible speed,” Callie said. She turned to Max. “Your engines are a miracle of engineering. I’d love a personal tour sometime before I leave.”

Max beamed with pride. “I’d be happy to.” His attention was snatched away by a flashing light on the arm of the Kirk Chair. The voice of Hali Kasim, theOregon’s chief communications officer, reverberated in the armrest speaker. He was in the hangar assisting a comms upgrade on the AW tilt-rotor.

“What is it, Hali?”

“Langston Overholt IV, on a secure line.”

Juan frowned. It wasn’t like his former CIA handler to call him out of the blue unless something was up.

“Tell him to hold.” Juan turned to Callie. “This sounds urgent. If you don’t mind…”

“No, of course not.”

“Linda, would you please show Callie to her quarters while I get this? I’ll brief you later.”

“Aye, Chairman.” Linda tugged on Callie’s elbow and they headed for the exit. When they were clear, Juan fell into the Kirk Chair, fingered the touchscreen, and took the call.

8

“Juan, my dear boy. I was growing concerned. Everything copacetic on your end?”

Overholt’s concern was genuine. He had been Juan’s trusted field handler when Cabrillo was a CIA agent. In fact, he had recruited Juan straight out of the Caltech ROTC program, where the young Cabrillo was double-majoring in political science and mechanical engineering. Despite his age, Overholt’s octogenarian voice rang clear and true on the overhead speakers.

“About to test some new equipment. What can I do for you, Lang? By the way, Max Hanley is on the call.”

“Mr. Hanley, I trust you are hale and hearty?”

“Fit as a fiddle,” Max said. “Yourself?”

“I’ll be defending my title as senior club champion again at next week’s handball tournament. Thank you for asking. Now, all pleasantries aside, gentlemen, I have an urgent mission I’d like you to consider undertaking.”

“Shoot,” Juan said.

“As I’m sure you’re well aware, this morning’s presidential daily brief reported that a few days ago an elite Nigerian Army unit, the 1st Expeditionary Force of Niger, was ambushed, presumably by jihadis. Over ninety officers and men were slaughtered.”

The briefing was only distributed to the President, the Vice President, the Director of National Intelligence, and a select handful of top security and intelligence executives with “need-to-know” credentials, including Langston Overholt IV. Cabrillo maintained his top secret clearances, which allowed Langston to provide him access to the briefing and any number of other security documents and emergency alerts.