THREAT LEVEL - - Defeating Somali Pirates Takes Both Guts and Finesse
Excerpts:
“There is something down there,” remarked Tommy as he and Carol sagged over the rail, high above the dark sea. Almost immediately, the predawn dark around the two teens was ripped apart by a horrible, yellow red flash followed by a thunderous boom that made the whole ship shudder.
* * *
“Right, but don’t let that ‘pirates’ business confuse you. They’re not just a bunch of common thugs, they’re all dedicated radical Islamists who are determined to destroy the West. Remember, while most of them look like Africans, they’re also Moslems.”
* * *
He was convinced that the first Persian nuclear missile would be aimed at Tel Aviv and the second at Riyadh, even if the Saudis had financed the whole project. Recently they’d tried to work through the Pakistanis, who also had their own program and bombs—a reality that Saeed found embarrassing. Who were the Pakistanis to have a bomb when The Kingdom didn’t?
* * *
“Roger, Trident. We’ll be just like hobgoblins. What if we’re too far for them to hear us?”
“Show a light every now and then, that won’t tell them anything more than that you’re there.”
“Hobgoblins?” remarked Jerry Andrews, who was on the helm.
“Yes, make-believe goblins,” offered Ray Fuentes.
“I like it,” replied Chambers. “How does the Hobgoblin Force sound?”
* * *
“If you serve your brothers well, you will become rich men. If not, you will die. If it is necessary, it will be me who will kill you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ali, ecstatic at the thought of escaping Osman and not totally appreciating the truth behind Suleiman’s words.
* * *
The cat screamed forward, its wake erupting volcanically and rolling toward the Somali boats. At this range, with his night vision goggles, he could see the boats. And their crews. Most were hanging on for dear life as the boats were pounded and rolled. A few were shaking their fists.