“And how will we achieve this difficult task, you might ask? We shall first recognize the enemy’s strategy, to determine his weak and strong points. And if we still remain unable to determine his position, we shall feint an attack on the Akula, and cause our opponent to ultimately show his hand. And only then will we attack, with lethal force and an unsuspected manner.”
23
He found Annie Cooksey seated behind the camera console in the midst of an automatic scan of the ship’s public spaces. Annie was a former London bobby, who after a nasty divorce, decided that a complete change of lifestyles was in order. In the past year, she was invited by Robert Hartwell to join their staff. She had no ties to speak of locking her to land, so she readily accepted.
Tuff had the pier watch when Annie arrived in Southampton for her first day on the job. He liked her straight off. Attractive in a matronly way, she had a sparkling personality and had been an important part of their small security staff ever since.
Tuff took a quick look at the security-watch sheet, but when he handed it back to Annie, the edge sliced open her right index finger. She tried to stem the sudden flow of blood by sucking on her finger, but when this tried and-true method failed, she began a frantic search for a Kleenex.
The only handkerchief that Tuff could offer was the silken one that graced his tuxedo’s breast pocket. Annie wouldn’t hear of such a thing, and it was then she asked him if he’d mind holding down the fort for her, while she tried to track down a real bandage.
Being a proper gentleman, Tuff assented without hesitation. With Annie’s exit, he decided to pass the time manipulating those security cameras placed in and around the Queens Grill.
From a variety of angles he watched the first summiteers arrive, then spied on his boss and some of the other agents. Dinnertime was rapidly approaching, and with no Annie in sight, he checked out the ship’s Infirmary. Sure enough, that’s where he found his blonde associate.
Annie was helping one of the nurses attend to a steward who appeared to have been the recent victim of a twisted ankle. A close up showed that she already had her Band-Aid in place over her finger, and though Tuff could have called her on the phone to hurry her on, he decided that her efforts at the moment were more important than the high-calorie meal he’d most likely miss.
Annie was all apologies when she arrived back in security a good twenty minutes later. By the monitors Tuff saw that the diners had long since assembled, their appetizers already served. He was still debating whether to join them, when the entire wall of video screens suddenly went black.
He knew that this surely signaled the end of any formal dinner plans that he might have had. With a resolute sigh, he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and headed for the adjoining electrical panel to check the circuit breaker.
This panel was located in a cramped access space that was set into the bulkhead immediately behind the security room. A key was needed to open the elongated wall panel that lay to the right of the main video console. A wire ventilation grill was mounted in this panel that Tuff pulled open and closed behind him.
The narrow compartment he now found himself in was packed with dozens of snaking cables that led from the back of each monitor and extended into a central conduit. This main trunk eventually found its way to each of the security cameras located throughout the ship.
The electrical panel was locked, and Tuff had to return to Robert Hartwell’s office to get the proper key. Along the way, he tripped over an Astroturf putting carpet that the Scotsman had recently set up in the middle of his office. This in turn knocked over a large bucket of golf balls that went rolling in a hundred different directions, as diverted by the constant pitching of the deck.
It took another ten minutes to round up all the balls, and several more to find the right key and return to the monitor room. Annie, turning from the screens, appeared to have been enjoying his trials and tribulations, and he brushed aside her mocking offer to check the circuit breaker in his place.
As he reentered the stowage space, a large swell caused the access panel to slam shut. The overhead light flickered, and finally failed altogether. This forced him to pull out his trusty Maglite, which he always kept clipped to his belt beside his holstered Beretta.
Tuff located the electrical box on the opposite wall. With barely enough space in which to turn around, he inserted the key and opened up the panel, all the while shifting his weight to compensate for the pitching deck.
A cursory inspection found all the circuit breakers open. He double-checked each of them with his hand, and determined that this was going to be a job for the ship’s electrician.
It was as he shut the circuit breaker panel that he heard Annie in the adjoining security room arguing with another man.
Tuff didn’t like the man’s tone of voice. He shut off the Maglite, hunched over, and as quietly as possible, made his way over to the access panel’s ventilation grill.
What he saw there both shocked and sickened him. Standing in the middle of the room, in the process of binding Annie’s wrists together with electrical tape, were two hooded, black-clad individuals. Both of them were armed with Sterling submachine guns, and Tuff noted that the security monitors were somehow working once more.
His first hope was that this was nothing but a realistic drill, secretly planned and implemented by Robert Hart well to test their readiness.
Unfortunately, the rough manner in which they were treating Annie didn’t correspond to a mere drill. This fact was further proved when one of the intruders pulled off his mask.
Tuff took a look at the man’s slicked-back brown hair and narrow green eyes, and identified him as a new member of the ship’s Gym staff. While his associate taped Annie’s mouth shut, the lanky male sat down at the console and expertly addressed the keyboard. Tuff watched as he managed to fill each of the screens with a different view of the Queens Grill.
The diners were well into their entries, and seeing this seemed to spur the intruder into action. He stood and addressed his associate, totally unaware that he was being overheard by Tuff.
“I’ll take care of the bitch. I want you to work the console just like I taught you. Don’t be afraid to contact me on the two-way the moment that something doesn’t look right. Because like I said before, the first hour will be the most important.”
With this, he grabbed Annie roughly by the upper arm, and forcibly led her out of the room. Tuff fought the urge to pull out his pistol and go to Annie’s rescue, and he let his SBS training take over. He calmed himself with a series of breaths, and carefully weighed his options.
If what he was witnessing was indeed what it seemed, a carefully orchestrated takeover of the ship, he could very well be one of the only crew members in a position to do something about it. This was surely every security man’s greatest nightmare.
Tuff realized that it was too late to alert the heads of state. He decided instead to abandon the gun-blazing, lone hero, Hollywood approach, and do the obvious: get word of this unthinkable event to the outside world.
Since securing the QE2’s Radio Room would be one of the hijackers’ primary objectives, Tuffs next best alternative was to get to Doc Benedict’s ham radio set. By the good grace of God, and a desire to get better reception, Benedict had recently moved this set up to an auxiliary stowage space, beneath the funnel, up above the Signal Deck.