Page 60 of Clive Cussler's Quantum Tempest

“Then she can stay however long it takes—but the sooner she’s off this ship, the better. She’s already seen the tilt-rotor. She doesn’t need to know about the rest of our toys.”

“Agreed.”

“In the meantime, I need you to get back to work. You read the two after-action reports I sent you?”

“Yeah. Crazy stuff. I’ve got a few ideas about that cloaking device I want to check out.”

“Good. After you get your girlfriend squared away, come find me in the conference room. We’ve got a mission to plan.” Juan sniffed the air. “After you take a shower.”

Murph smiled. “Aye.” He headed for the serving window.

Juan turned to Eddie, lowering his voice.

“Thoughts?”

“Cute girl.”

“Besides the obvious.”

“Not sure. I usually read people as friend or foe.”

“And?”

Eddie glanced at Murph and Linlin laughing and chatting like they were still lovers in university together.

“I don’t know yet.”

“When you have some time, see what you can find out about Murph’s pretty little birdie—but don’t let Murph know. I’ll send you what I have.”

“You got it, boss.”

32

Juan and his team had put together a simple plan for tonight’s mission.

Simple, but not easy.

TheOregonteam never got the chance to board theGolden Lotus. The Chinese vessel had docked and unloaded in record time, its container cargo warehoused under padlock.

The first part of theOregon’s mission now was to find the contraband container—a needle in a haystack if there ever was one. The container storage area for the Port of Acajutla currently covered over fifty-seven thousand square yards with a capacity for over thirty-four hundred containers. The storage yard was bursting to capacity in both the open areas and nearly spilling out of several warehouses.

The good news was that one of those warehouses was owned, operated, and secured by a Chinese firm fronting an MSS operation—with civilian-garbed MSS guards patrolling the place. Since theGolden Lotuswas known to be owned by an MSS cutout company, it was highly likely the container would be stored inside the Chinese warehouse.

The better news was the container’s identification number had been provided by Overholt’s contact. Unfortunately, it was still unclear what was inside the container. The suspicion was either guns or drugs. The extremely high-value contraband shipment was handled at the Chinese docks by a third-party intermediary, a notorious triad organization with long association with the Chinese Communist Party.

This was nothing new. Mao had partnered with criminal gangseven before the 1949 Revolution; in fact, those gangs had helped facilitate the Communists’ victory over the Chinese Nationalist forces. Lacking the necessary resources for international operations during the early part of their regime, China’s security services relied heavily on the triads to carry out various global operations including money laundering and even primitive wet work.

Juan had heard firsthand from some of the old-timers the CIA had similar associations with American criminal gangs, though for what reasons was never made clear.

The other challenges Juan and his team faced were getting inside of that container, determining what was inside, and documenting it. With that documentation, Overholt could supply the U.S. State Department with the necessary evidence to sever China’s predatory trade treaty with El Salvador.

Of course, all of this had to be done without a direct confrontation with Chinese nationals nor could theOregonor its personnel be identified with the operation. The last thing the United States needed was an international incident given the current state of high tensions over the Taiwan situation. Overholt didn’t want an obscure operation in El Salvador to become the Sarajevo event igniting World War III.

Local port authorities and law enforcement provided minimal but decent security around the port facility. The container storage areas were fenced, well-lit, and covered by security cameras.

TheOregon’s long-range optical sensors along with a few discreet drone flybys revealed six armed MSS guards at the Chinese warehouse: two patrolling outside and four inside. The Chinese warehouse itself was a newly refurbished building with concrete walls and a roof that was peppered with vents, but had stairwell access as well. It stood some distance from the other warehouses, giving the patrolling guards clear lines of sight. Though the port was a twenty-four/seven operation, the Chinese warehouse had shut and padlocked its doors for added security.

It was a tough nut to crack, but Cabrillo had shelled quite a few in his day. This one hopefully would be no different.