Page 129 of Clive Cussler's Quantum Tempest

“We fired the Melara seventy-six-millimeter at her,” Eric said. “Airburst munitions. No damage we could ascertain. We assumed that meant she was capable of high-speed maneuvers to be able to clear the shrapnel area that quickly.”

“In short, that bucket is dangerous as all get-out,” Max said. “But nothing we can’t handle.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Cabrillo said. “We don’t know what she was holding back. We surprised her with our little charade. We might have won the battle, but my gut tells me she withdrew for other reasons. Next time we might not be so lucky.”

“My money’s on theOregon,” Max said. “Though I am a bit prejudiced, since I helped design her.”

“Well, add this to your calculation, old friend.” Cabrillo leaned on the desk, folding his hands to emphasize the point he was about to make. “Overholt has stated in no uncertain terms we are to acquire Project Q and its underlying AGI technology.”

“In other words, we can’t sink her,” Linda said. “We have to capture her.”

Max rolled his eyes. “That means we’re heading into a gunfight with a Nerf bat. Might as well try to put a saddle on a great white shark while we’re at it.”

“It’s a challenge, no doubt,” Cabrillo said. “And we know the Chinese will get in on the action.”

“We’ve tangled with Chinese gunboats before,” Max said. “So far, it’sOregon, one; Chicoms,bukpes.” Hanley was referring to theOregon’s sinking of the Chinese destroyerChengduyears before. The gun battle resulted in the partial loss of Cabrillo’s right leg.

Juan propped his prosthetic limb up on the conference table andpulled back the pant leg revealing Nixon’s handiwork of lifelike skin and fine blond hair. “C’mon, Max. You gotta give the Chinese at least a half point.”

Everyone around the table laughed, lowering the emotional temperature a few degrees.

But Eric Stone had worked long enough with Cabrillo to know his humor was masking something else.

“What aren’t you telling us, boss?”

Ross sighed. “Oh, Lord. Don’t tell me Overholt didn’t forbid us to fire on the Chinese, too?”

Cabrillo pulled his leg off the table and rolled his pant leg back down.

“I would love to tell you that, Ms.Ross, but like my mama used to say, lying is a sin, even if it’s for a good cause.”

“Why the order?”

“The Pentagon’s afraid of starting a shooting war with the Chinese. Taiwan is a tinderbox and we can’t be the match.”

Max’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? How are we supposed to fight both theBaktunand the Chinese without being able to sink either of them?”

“You remember that old kids’ game Operation?” Juan asked. “We just have to be very, very careful.”

“Yeah, except if we’re not careful, it’s more than our big red noses that will get lit up.”

Juan leaned back in his chair.

“And there’s one more thing.”

Everybody leaned forward.

“And that would be?” Max asked.

“Overholt said we can’t let the Chinese get that technology, no matter what.”

“So that puts even more pressure on us to succeed,” Eric said.

“But you just said we can’t fire any weapons at them,” Max said.

“All that means is we need to get to theBaktunfirst and grab that tech before the Chinese show up,” Linda said.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about theBaktun,” Eric said, almost as iftalking to himself. “It’s a high-tech vessel, which means they’ve got passive electromagnetic detection systems, most likely mil-spec. If we go in hot with radio and radar blazing, we’ll spook them and we’ll never find them again.”