“Somebody knows that we’re gone,” the captain said.
Soon they were turned and picked up speed as they headed northwest out of the port. Far back, Murdock could see lights coming toward them, could be a patrol boat. He went to the Motorola.
“Gunners on the EAR, how many shots do you have left on this charge?”
Bradford came on first. “I’d say six.”
Train answered next. “Near as I can tell I have seven left.”
“Good, both of you get on the Pomenade deck. One on each side as far forward as practical. We may have some company soon. I see one, now three sets of lights heading our way. We’ll wait until they get in range and listen to them order us back to the dock. When they are close enough and before they open fire, we hit them with one round of EAR. That should put them dead in the water.”
“That’s a roger,” Bradford said. “Weapons free?”
“No, on my command.”
“Roger,” Train said.
Captain Prestwick moved over by Murdock. “This is quite a team you have here. You really get things done.”
“Our job, Captain. I just hope we don’t have any major problems, like a Chinese destroyer or a frigate. Both could do serious damage to your bridge, which is where they would shoot with machine guns and rockets.”
The captain paled and Murdock hurried on.
“We have jet fighters for support if we need them. They will track any warship and fend it off well out of range. At least we hope they will. We can handle the smaller patrol and harbor boats.
“Patrol boat coming up fast on our stern,” one of the crew on the bridge said.
“Right. Steady as she goes. We need to get away from here as fast as we can.”
“What’s that, Captain, twenty knots?”
“We’re going twenty-two right now. We’ll see.”
“Coming up fast, Skipper,” Bradford said. “She looks to be about a forty footer.”
“Let her come by you both. EAR guns hold your position near the bow on the Pomenade. That’s where your shots will be from. The patrol craft will try hailing us first, I’m sure.”
“If not?” Train asked.
“If any shots are fired by the craft, you have weapons free to fire one round.”
“Confirmed,” Bradford and Train said almost at the same time.
“Patrol craft at three hundred yards astern, Captain,” the First Officer said.
“Noted.”
Murdock left the bridge, ran down the steps to the Promenade deck and hurried forward. He was on Train’s side. He spotted the SEAL about forty yards ahead of him. He could also see the first patrol boat jolting through the quiet waters at top speed and closing the gap between the boats.
Train turned as Murdock came up. “My side,” Train said. “He can’t be fifty yards off.”
Train held the EAR weapon tightly against his thigh to make it hard to see as the patrol craft caught the luxury liner and moved ahead toward the bow. It slowed opposite the high bridge and a loudspeaker sounded.
“Queen of the Seas, you are commanded to throttle back and take on boarders. I say again, throttle back to all stop and prepare to take on boarders.”
The big ship kept moving, turning away slightly from the patrol boat. The small craft matched the turn and gave the warning again. When there was no response to the command, a man hurried on the fore deck of the craft and sat at what looked like a machine gun.
“Fire, Train,” Murdock said. It took him a moment to refine his sight on the broad side of the ship and fired. The whoosh came and then almost at once the man on the machine gun fell off the seat and lay on the deck. The boat kept moving but Murdock figured there was no one conscious on board. Lam was still on the bridge.
“Lam, ask the captain to make a sharper turn, I think the patrol boat is on auto pilot. The personnel on board are taking a nap.”
Murdock saw the big boat swing more to the left. This time the patrol boat did not follow, it kept moving straight ahead and would, Murdock decided, until it ran out of diesel or was boarded by friendly forces.
He turned to look for the other patrol boats he’d seen before as lights. He found only one, and it was five minutes away.
“Anderson, find me on the forward Promenade deck with the SATCOM.” Two minutes later Murdock took the handset.
“Skyhigh, this is Queen, talk to me.”
“Queen, holding ten out. Any problems?
“We had one patrol boat that we took care of. Another set of lights coming but about the same size. How long does it take to get a Chinese destroyer up to power and moving after us?”
“I’d say three hours. Could have personnel problems. In two hours you’ll be well into international waters.”
“What about those channels and all the islands? Doesn’t that mean the international part is twenty beyond them?”
“Not sure, Queen. I’ll ask the professor.”
There was a lot of empty air. The boat behind them was gaining rapidly. It must be doing forty knots. Still two minutes away.
“Queen, nobody awake is sure. You’re hitting the West Lamma Channel, I’d bet. That puts you nine miles from the tip of the north end of Victoria and you’re past the last Chinese Island. That’s a half hour for you guys at twenty-two knots.”
“Sounds better. We have one small problem in that patrol boat. She’s almost here. Hold.”
Murdock still carried the Bull Pup. He worked aft to a good firing position and waited. He knew the Chinese patrol craft would be in radio contact with each other. When the lead boat went dead on the air, the back one wouldn’t take any chances. Its commander would open fire as soon as he was within range. Murdock checked the laser sighting on the boat and figured it was about a mile and a half away. In another half mile the patrol boat’s .50 caliber would be in range, and Murdock would bet the ranch that he would fire.
Time seemed to crawl by. Murdock checked the patrol rig twice a minute. That didn’t make it come any sooner. Now Murdock was following the boat with the scope and the laser. He could see someone onboard, on a .50-caliber machine gun. The man charged in a round. Do it now.
Murdock lasered on the boat and fired. The jolt to his shoulder as the 20mm round went off and spun out of the barrel was as usual; but it had been a while, and it surprised Murdock. He got on target with his scope again and saw the round explode in the small boat’s antenna. He worked the bolt and fired again, this time the round exploded on target slightly forward, smashing out the glass in the small bridge area and probably killing the driver.
The boat made a slow turn to the left and then went dead.
“Nice shooting, Skipper,” Train said. “That motherfucker was about ready to rake us with some fifties, wasn’t he?”
“He was.”
“Now what other problems can we try and stay away from?”
“Skipper,” Lam called.
“Go, Lam.”
“The captain wants you up here pronto. To the bridge.”
“I’m moving.”
Three minutes later, Murdock walked into the bridge and looked at Captain Prestwick who put down the phone and scowled. He shook his head and then saw Murdock.
“Our commo people have been monitoring Chinese radio in the port. The boys over there are mad as hell. They know they have lost two patrol boats and they are working on getting a frigate under way. The frigate was due to sail at six this morning which is just a little more than two hours from now. So she was getting steam up and going through pre-sailing procedures. They just compressed those and the frigate will be ready to sail in thirty minutes.
“We’ve turned around the tip of Victoria, and are on a heading almost due south, but we have about ten miles to sail to get out of the islands down there. So technically we’ll still be in Chinese water. In a half hour we should make it to the islands, but not out the twenty miles of territorial water that China claims. You better call in your big guys with the wings on them for some help.”