“I can’t help that, but rest assured that the intended consequences of our effort have been taking shape since you struck the pipeline.”
“How so?”
“A coup,” Renard said. “The man we expected to take power under the duress of our attacks is preparing to announce his control of the government and invoke temporary martial law to restore order to the chaos that’s already erupting.”
The Frenchman’s access to intelligence impressed Cahill by reaching farther and wider than his imagination could consider.
“Do I dare ask how you know this?”
“Best that you don’t, my friend. Just keep the Goliath in one piece and find a way out of this mess alive.”
CHAPTER 10
Nicos Floros jammed the secure telephone’s receiver into its cradle. He’d spent ten minutes developing a plan with his boss, and as he freed his mind from tactics, the day’s emotions escaped.
“Incredible,” he said.
“What’s the news, sir?” the Hydra’s commander asked.
“Both the Revythousa re-gasification terminal and the Interconnector Pipeline are destroyed.”
“Obviously coordinated with the attacks against the tankers.”
“It gets worse,” Floros said.
Then he reconsidered the epic speed at which his nation underwent transformation.
“Or it gets better, depending on your political perspective,” he said. “Senator Daskalakis is claiming rule over the nation.”
The Hydra’s commander scoffed.
“The speaker of our parliament? I can’t say I dislike the man when compared to the countless worse politicians, and the fortitude to boldly claim rule is admirable.”
The gravity of his nation’s victimhood sank into his being as Floros reflected upon the news Vice Admiral Agathocleous had conveyed a minute earlier.
“You may consider him bold, but the evidence suggests puppetry,” he said. “This attack on our natural gas infrastructure… it appears backed by our so-called allies.”
“Conspiracy theories are always enticing to believe, but what’s the evidence?”
“The ship that attacked the homeland is the same that attacked the Russians in Crimea — the mercenary vessel, Goliath.”
“The Goliath?” he asked. “You’re certain?”
“Based upon the intelligence, who else could it be? The only other ship capable of a sea-based railgun attack is an American Zumwalt-class destroyer.”
“I had half-considered the Goliath a myth, despite the reconnaissance photos. It just doesn’t look like a proper warship. It’s a vigilante abomination.”
Implications of the mercenary attack sloshed throughout Floros’ mind — those that the vice admiral had shared and the hauntings of his imagination.
“That abomination is changing your life and mine,” he said. “For starters, Daskalakis is calling for a diplomatic solution to this oil rig we’ve been defending. He’s offering to pay the Turks for letting us use it unchallenged.”
“After all we’ve been through defending it?”
“We’ll retain the task force, but the rules of engagement will be tightened on both sides to preclude hostility.”
“He’s already giving orders? Daskalakis?”
“Apparently so.”
“And our admirals are obeying?”
“Yes,” Floros said. “As are the army generals, enforcing his call for martial law. Troops are moving to protect the people and to keep our new energy shortage from escalating into a civil war.”
“All this because of kinks in our natural gas supply.”
Floros turned his head, scolded, and lowered his gaze at the Hydra’s commander.
“We get twenty percent of our total energy from gas, and a solitary ship just choked out half of that in two hours. Emergency repairs will take weeks. Make no mistake. This is a crisis.”
“And Daskalakis is our supposed savior?”
“He’s being well received by many heads of state,” Floros said. “Too quickly and too enthusiastically to be random.”
“I see what you mean by puppetry, but who’s pulling the strings?”
“Germany. Italy. France. Turkey. Any mix of them. I don’t give a damn who it is, but I’m sure it’s a conspiracy. The tanker attacks draw our assets away from the Aegean to free up the Goliath against the pipeline and Revythousa, and then an ambitious senator with a readymade reaction plan steps in with international backing to dethrone our prime minister.”
“It does stink of conspiracy. But why?”
“Regime change. Pushing us out of the European Union. I’m no diplomat, but I assume such talks will take place in immediate response to this crisis.”
“But since you’re no diplomat, you don’t care.”
“No, I don’t. Not at all. Putting the Goliath’s cracked hull on the bottom of the Aegean is my new purpose.”
The Hydra commander squinted.
“You’re supposed to be defending the oil rig.”
Floros slid his buttocks down the captain’s seat and placed his boots on the deck plates.
“Not anymore,” he said. “The Salamis will replace the Hydra as the flagship of Task Force October Eighteen One in eight hours,” Floros said. “Since peace has supposedly broken out around the oil rig, according to Daskalakis, we can use a less seasoned captain to take my place and let a frigate with a more junior crew be his flagship.”
“Then I assume we’re taking my ship after the Goliath, sir. I’ll ready a battle plan.”
“It’s already done. I hashed it out with the vice admiral. I’m taking the Hydra and four of the helicopters with us.”
The commander swallowed.
“Four, sir? That would leave the oil rig at risk. Part of maintaining peace is deterrence.”
“The Turks will stay at bay while Senator Daskalakis preaches appeasement. Task Force October Eighteen One can get by with what I’m leaving it. Yes, we’re taking four.”
“You intend to take a solitary frigate and four helicopters against a warship that gave the Russians fits?”
“Initially, but I’ll get us some help.”
“From our air force?”
Floros scoffed as he considered his nation’s turmoil.
“Allowing this attack was a naval failure,” he said. “We should’ve been protecting our home, but we became vengeful against a submarine that sank our tankers. In retrospect, we walked into a trap by following a diversion.”
“Still, the defense of the nation is on the shoulders of every military professional.”
“Yes, and our ground forces are doing their duty by preserving the peace at home. We’re doing our duty of hunting those who attacked us. But our air force apparently sees no need to intervene while its generals jockey for favor with Daskalakis.”
The Hydra’s commander shrugged.
“Then we’re facing difficult odds. The Goliath can strike us before our helicopters could reach it.”
“The Goliath can strike us right now where we stand,” Floros said. “I respect that ship as much as I hate it, which is why I’m going to use numbers to defeat it. I’m recalling the surface combatants from Task Force October Eighteen Two.”
“You’re giving up on the submarine that sank our tanker?”
“Nobody gives a damn about a tanker anymore compared against crippling explosions on our home soil.”
“I keep forgetting that nobody respects violence at sea except those who live at sea.”