Having lifted weights before dinner, Jake remained hungry, but he lowered his fork and listened as his boss continued.
“I believe we’ve spent enough time in Karachi. Given what has happened to us, it’s taken me time to admit that our ships can survive without us again, but it’s time for us to head home.”
Watching the dry dock repairs to the Goliath had been interesting for the first couple days, but Jake missed his wife and welcomed the freedom. “You’re sure?”
“No, I’m not. But I can’t keep you here forever, and I need to trust my hired technical and security teams again. So, as of tomorrow, I recommend you all get as far from here as possible and forget about your ships until our next mission.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll say where or when that is.”
“Have I ever? But you can be assured it will be at least a month. The Goliath’s new bow section’s two weeks late, and I don’t see the ship being ready until late January.”
Cahill sounded upbeat. “This is great news. Ariella wants to meet in Mumbai for some holiday time.”
Renard frowned. “I suggested getting far away. That’s practically around the corner.”
The Australian shrugged. “A ship needs its father. I’m planning on checking in on it every so often.”
“Pride of ownership, I see, even when I technically own your ship.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“It is indeed your ship, too, Terry. I don’t suppose I can stop you.”
“No, sir. I’m already starting to miss it.”
The Frenchman placed his elbows on the table. “I’d like to share news I received earlier today. Apparently, Lieutenant Colonel Raja reached his breaking point at a very early hour this morning.”
Jake snorted. “The poor bastard probably hasn’t slept in days.”
“That poor bastard is getting no less than he deserves. He stole my ship, killed my security personnel, and on top of it, he tried to bluff his way out of my grasp by lying about planting explosives.”
“At least I got to have fun beaching me ship.”
“And I needed to request one more favor from the Omanis to pull you back into the sea. These favors aren’t free.”
Jake believed his boss would repay his debt to the Omanis with a mix of cash and armaments the Frenchman could broker through his connections to military suppliers. “It’s not going to set you back, too bad, is it?”
“No, it’s never that bad, especially compared to the cost of losing the Goliath. I hate spending money, but I remind myself that every dollar I spend on relationships with local navies is an investment.”
“I sent us on a tangent, mates. Let’s get back to the news.”
“Yes, of course. Raja finally confessed his plan, and I find it disturbing.” The Frenchman leaned back, arranging his thoughts. “There was a powerful financial motivation for each man who joined Raja, but I believe that was only half their rationale to participate. More interestingly, Raja compelled fifteen men to join him in what amounts to an act of vengeance targeted at me, personally.”
Jake recalled the hijacking team roster, which photographs and fingerprints had identified days ago. Raja was the only active duty military man, and one special forces retiree had joined him. Six younger commando veterans had participated, two of whom had perished while taking the Goliath. A retired Agosta submarine commander had helped, as had a veteran sonar operator. Six military veterans with specific technical skills, including two translators, had rounded out the team. “We knew it was a decent sized conspiracy. I just figured it was for money.”
“Let’s address that angle. The obvious connection turns out to be true. Raja was planning to sell the Goliath to the Iranians. Rather, that’s what he’s admitting to under duress.”
“Not a surprise, but it still stings. The idea of me ship in their hands is terrifying.”
Speaking through his translator, the Russian interjected. “Dmitry says he trained the Iranians earlier in his career during the Kilo-class exchange. He respected their eagerness to learn and found them capable students.”
Cahill raised a palm. “Wow, and here I was getting ready to keep rambling on about how evil they all were.”
“They aren’t all crazy men.”
“Dmitry didn’t say that, did he?”
The translator shook his head. “No, that was my personal opinion. I thought you could tell the difference by now between Dmitry and myself. I’ve dealt with the Iranians, as well. Their submarine warriors are capable men.”
Jake tried to play the peacemaker. “But the point stands. We can’t let anyone hostile to the United States take the Goliath.” As the lone American, he realized his unshared patriotism. “I mean hostile to any nation we’d all agree is worthy of protection.”
Renard recommenced his update. “You were right, Jake. The target was the United States. Raja admitted the Iranians stated their intent was to hide the Goliath in Iranian waters and use its railguns against the Fifth Fleet.”
Cahill shook his head. “Again, not a surprise, but it stings to think how close we were to screwing up.”
Jake found the explanation suspicious. “Isn’t that too obvious? Isn’t it possible that Raja spewed that story to make people stop torturing him?”
“I thought that as well. But Olivia has corroborating evidence.”
“But you said Olivia couldn’t find anything suspicious about Iran.”
“That changed when she received the hijackers’ names. It took some digging, but she discovered that each man on Raja’s team received payments from Iranian shell companies in crude oil futures. The payments are all but worthless without a jump in oil prices, but if prices had gone up in the days after their attack, each man would be a multi-millionaire.”
Jake missed a connection. “I’m not following.”
The Frenchman became animated, slicing the air with his hand while talking. “Olivia’s discovery aligns with the next piece of Raja’s confession. He was going to demonstrate the Goliath’s abilities by destroying the Saudi Aramco oil-processing facilities at Abqaiq from deep within Iranian waters. That’s a vital facility for the world’s largest oil producer. Hitting vulnerable targets at that facility would have crippled it, driven up oil prices, and pushed demand to Iran.”
The explanation became complete per Jake’s reckoning. “Raja gets rich, his minions get rich, and the Iranians make enough money to cover the cost of the Goliath.”
“And then some. The financial implications would have been global. And, of course, the absolute brilliance of it is that the chain of evidence behind the whole affair would have started with us. We’d be in the ugly position of defending ourselves from an outraged world, and I know it would have ruined us.”
The news helped Jake understand the enormity of the Goliath’s true reach. “But there’s more to the story. You mentioned vengeance.”
“Indeed, I did. Raja holds me responsible for killing his brother.”
During a cold silence, Jake stared at his boss and then probed deeper. “That’s a serious accusation. Do you know why he’s holding you responsible?”
“Yes. Because I killed him.”
“Shit, Pierre. Seriously? Did you at least have a good reason for it?”
“Indeed, I did. And so did you. You helped me.”
The accusation became a clue in Jake’s mind, and he recalled his first mission a decade earlier with Renard’s French veterans. “The Hamza.”
“Yes.”
“I knew you blokes had a sordid past, but bloody hell. The Hamza’s submarine lore. It’s a case study on avoiding underwater mountains.”