The Night Stalkers were still en route, but due to the limited time frame it had been decided to launch the rescue without air support. The location of the hideout precluded close naval support too, and there was no way that the Ranger battalion was going to be on-site in time.
Cole had been amazed, but impressed; air, naval and ground support was always nice, but it was the icing on the cake. The warriors of SEAL Team Six were trained to do things without support of any kind, and were good enough to succeed without it, too. But normally, politicians were wary of sending in men without backup, just in case things went wrong and there were congressional hearings to deal with as a result.
But, he remembered, Ellen Abrams was one tough bitch; if she wanted DEVGRU to go in now, then that’s what would happen.
Cole just hoped he would be able to help.
6
Jake Navarone slipped into the slow-moving, warm waters of the riverine channel which cut through the small island; the unnamed island which held the pirates, the hostages, and the Fu Yu Shan.
Tag Johnson deflated the boat and swam down to secure it underwater, marking the spot which a small electronic buoy in case they needed to return to it later.
Navarone and Johnson and ten more men submerged themselves and swam for the cavern entrance, using Draeger rebreathable tanks which recirculated the air and therefore didn’t leave any bubbles.
Another troop would be approaching from the other side, and another was infiltrating overland. A fourth element, an ad-hoc group made up of men from the normal three troops and led by Ike Treyborne, was stationed on the opposite bank to provide reconnaissance and covering fire, plus reinforcements if needed. It was planned that Treyborne and whoever had been providing on-site intel would link up, but Navarone didn’t know whether that had happened or not; he had his own tasks to concern himself with.
The water was dark and murky, but Navarone didn’t have to see further than his low-light compass to know where he was going, and the twelve men of Red Squadron’s Bravo Troop made steady progress towards the cave.
He couldn’t put his finger on why, but Arief Suprapto had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. And as a man who always trusted his instincts, he decided to act sooner rather than later.
He had put the crew back on board the Fu Yu Shan as a precautionary measure, knowing that Chinese or US forces would be extremely unlikely to attack the vessel with hostages onboard, and was prepared to make sail in the vessel at a moment’s notice. The engines were up and running, it was fully fuelled, and crewed by his own men.
But he still wasn’t happy, and got on his radio to Panggabean, asking for Captain Yang Yaobang to be brought to him immediately.
And then he went to make sure that his beloved Liang Dao Ming was ready and waiting for him.
Cole waited patiently in the thick, dense underbrush, his eyes never leaving the pirate cave across the river from him.
The Fu Yu Shan hadn’t set sail, but the engines were on, and it looked like it had a full complement of crew members. Cole was feeding information back to JSOC on a regular basis, who in turn were briefing the SEAL squadron in real-time. He had already described the dispositions and armaments of the pirate gang, and knew his hidden cameras were also providing much needed information.
He checked his watch — 0150, just minutes before all hell would break loose.
He was expecting the command and control SEAL troop to be here any second, ready to set up shop and provide fire support for the assault elements. He would hand over all of his equipment, and let them run the show.
He’d done enough.
But then he saw a man being dragged off the Fu Yu Shan, and brought to the pirate he’d previously identified as probably being Arief Suprapto, who stood on the dockside.
And then he watched in disbelief as first the hostage, and then Suprapto himself, were lowered down into another vessel, hidden in the water between the dock pilings. Cole zoomed his night-vision binoculars in as far as they would go, and confirmed his fears.
It was a mini-submarine.
How the hell had he missed it?
In an instant, he considered his options — notify JSOC and let them make the decision; wait for the SEAL troop to arrive and explain the situation to its commander, and let them handle it; or option number three.
As the mini-sub’s hatches were closed and it sank beneath the calm waters of the cavern, Cole decided in a heartbeat on option three.
Jump in the river and follow the damn thing himself.
‘Where in the hell is he?’ Ike Treyborne asked as his group came across the site that had been used by the recon operative. All of his things seemed to still be there, but no sign of the man himself.
Maybe he’d heard them coming and had decided to make himself scarce? Maybe he didn’t want to be identified, even by DEVGRU?
But then Treyborne’s earpiece cackled to life, his direct line to JSOC. ‘Our asset has identified a small submersible leaving the dock,’ came the voice of Lieutenant General Miley Cooper, ‘possibly containing one hostage and Arief Suprapto, the pirate leader.’
Damn! Treyborne wondered how he’d known they were coming.
‘He’s pursuing the submersible himself, so as not to interfere with the planned operation,’ Cooper advised him. ‘You are therefore to continue as planned.’
‘Yes sir,’ Treyborne said as he looked at his watch, checking down the line to verify that his men had strung themselves out in proper formation. It was 0159, and his SEALs had their weapons trained on the pirate hideout. Next to them, two liaison officers from China’s Special Operations Command scanned the opposite bank and reported back to their own commander, who had based himself at Sembawang.
Treyborne wished the unknown agent luck with the submarine, but he had his own job to do.
And there was just one minute left until it began.
Cole had managed to strap on his SCUBA gear and was in hot pursuit of the mini-sub as it accelerated slowly away down the channel towards the river-mouth and the open water beyond.
The vehicle was easy to follow, the pilot using lights to illuminate the dark waters ahead. Cole wondered what the SEAL troop coming this way up the river would think.
Cole swam as quickly as he could; the sub was going slowly for now, Suprapto being careful in the narrow channel, but as soon as it left the mouth of the river and entered the open water, it would be able to disappear instantly.
Cole recognized the model as a Triton two-man submersible, primarily designed for use by the owners of luxurious super-yachts. The two adjacent seats were entirely exposed by a large Plexiglas bubble, situated in a bright yellow horse-shoe. It had a top speed of only three knots, but that would be more than enough to lose a lone swimmer if it opened up.
They were getting close to the river mouth now, and Cole knew he would have to make his move soon or risk losing them forever.
He felt reverberations through the water then, and realized that DEVGRU’s assault had begun in earnest. Cole knew that they would rescue the ten hostages aboard the Fu Yu Shan.
Cole grimaced as he increased speed; he would just have to make damn sure that he rescued the eleventh.
The assault on the Fu Yu Shan went so smoothly that Jake Navarone was immensely grateful for the hours of rehearsal they’d put in. The fact was that — compared to the highly-trained SEALs of Team Four who’d been playing the enemy back in Subic Bay — the pirate gang was no match for them.