Day 6, Saturday
Alpena City Marina
"Uncle Ryan?"
"Hi, sport!"
"What are you doing here?" Curtis demanded, staring at his Uncle – the last person that the kid expected to see in the salon of the 'Salty Swallow', first thing in the morning.
"Can't a man come aboard to check on his daughter and nephew?"
"Not buying it!" Curtis continued, scowling.
"You always were a bright kid, Curtis."
Curtis looked a little too smug for my liking.
"Curtis, lay off the Commander – he's here on Fusion business," I announced from the Galley.
"Morning, Commander Ryan, Sir."
"Morning, young Joshua," Ryan laughed at Josh's formality. "Considering that my daughter is not pregnant; you are either firing blanks or you have been taking the relevant precautions. Assuming the latter, then I think you have proved yourself to be responsible, Joshua and you may call me Ryan."
"Thanks, err, Ryan."
"Mind you, I hope it isn't the former; as I would like grandkids, one day!"
Chloe had just appeared and had caught the conversation between Josh and her father. She went bright red and her mouth dropped open.
"Morning, Chloe!" Ryan called over, oblivious to his daughter's embarrassment. "The red does not quite cover the blue!"
I had to physically, move Chloe out of the way, as she seemed to have lost the ability to move as well as to talk. She was also still slightly blue from the cool-aid.
"You are evil, Ryan!" I said.
"That's what my crew say; can't think why!"
After breakfast, we got down to business.
Firstly, we, that was Dave, Ryan and I, took 'Always Wet' out to view our potential quarry. In this case, our quarry was a large merchant ship, which was currently moored about a mile up the coast at a large commercial dock facility that serviced an enormous cement factory and the world's largest limestone quarry.
The ship in question was the 'Calumet', a one hundred and ninety-two metre, Self-Discharging Bulk Carrier. Apparently, the Coast Guards of both the U.S.A. and of Canada had suspicions concerning the vessel, which while plying a legal trade throughout the Great Lakes, seemed to be serving a secondary purpose.
Unfortunately, as was often the case, there was not enough evidence to do much more than a cursory 'safety inspection', which the vessel always passed.
She was currently loading ten-thousand tonnes of cement and would be getting underway in another day or two. We viewed the ship through powerful binoculars from a distance.
"So, why are we staring at a rusty old freighter this morning?" I asked.
"Because, I need you and your team to assault that vessel and hopefully release the people who we believe to be held onboard. They are people who have gone missing recently, along with their yachts – the Coast Guard has been keeping in under wraps rather than cause a panic on The Great Lakes."
"Are we taking prisoners?" I asked.
Ryan turned to me, looking very serious.
"I would be very disappointed if you did."
I looked at Dave and then back at Ryan.
"You are as nutty as your daughter!" I commented, making Ryan laugh.
"Sorry, Cathy is the only one with her feet firmly on the ground in this family!" Ryan admitted.
"We are on vacation, Ryan – this would need preparation, not to mention equipment and stuff!" I exclaimed.
"You telling me, Hit Girl goes on vacation without a single weapon? She takes her team on vacation without any equipment?" Ryan asked rhetorically.
I felt myself blushing – he was bang on as usual; I had weapons, I had armour, I had masks.
Once back aboard, I gathered the team together.
"We have a mission!" I said.
"Cool!" Megan announced.
"You, young lady are not going anywhere!" I replied and I saw Megan scowl. "However, you and Neptune will be onboard the 'Salty Swallow', holding position off the port. I trust you remember how to use a gun, Wildcat?"
The look I received from Wildcat told me that she did!
"Now, once this little charade is over; we will need to get away from Alpena, sharpish and head for Lake Michigan at best speed. What that means, is that we will be using 'Always Wet' to make the attack. It will be dark, which should hide us. We have weapons; not your usual weapons, I know; yet I know you will all adapt. I have masks for all of you and communications gear. You need to spend today learning the plans of the 'Calumet', as provided by Neptune. Kick-Ass, Shadow and Jackal, along with myself will be the main attack party. Mist and Trojan will keep overwatch from the outside, on the pier."
Once it was dark, Neptune conned the 'Salty Swallow' out of the port and to a position four miles southeast of the 'Calumet' on a bearing of one-two-five degrees. 'Always Wet' had no radar, only GPS, to help navigate through the darkness and the 'Salty Swallow' would be fully blacked out with all her defensive systems activated.
Although nobody had a combat suit, we all wore duplicate masks, communications and body armour. Everybody, including Neptune, were wearing inflatable assault vests. We tested our communications and checked our weapons. We were all using the Heckler & Koch MP5SD6 suppressed sub-machine gun for the attack. Stealth would be imperative for the initial phase of the assault.
"Don't fuck up my boat, Commander!" I had growled, as we went our own way, half a mile from the main port.
"Aye, aye, skipper!" Neptune had called down, quietly, from the flying bridge.
Through the green glow of my NVGs, I could see our target.
I really did not need the NVGs, as the ship was bathed in the glow of bright lights from the docks. However, for the approach, it would help us spot any problems, not to mention that there would be a minor electrical issue in a few minutes!
..._...
As we approached the arc of bright illumination that surrounded the ship, we were suddenly plunged into darkness. Apparently, the power cut had been arranged for us, and it had worked! We closed and Dave cut the engine of 'Always Wet' allowing us to drift silently, against the pilings, beneath the bow of the 'Calumet' and then against a steel ladder that ran from the water to the dock, quite a few feet above us.
We could hear voices from up on the deck of the ship, mostly showing annoyance at the darkness on the dock. There were, however, lights onboard the ship, so we kept to the shadows, close to the hull as we moved aft towards the gangway. There was a young man, of about nineteen at the base of the gangway. He was obviously there to intercept anybody wanting to gain access to the ship. He was not armed and that had been expected and anticipated.
Kick-Ass ran up, grabbed the man around the neck and pulled him down to the dock; the man struggled before losing consciousness, as Kick-Ass restricted his breathing. Mist secured the man's wrists and ankles, and then stuck tape over the man's mouth, leaving him on the dock. There at the top of the gangway, was another man and this one was armed with a CZ Scorpion EVO III assault rifle.
Unfortunately, for him, that made him a target. I dropped him with a single-shot, from ten-feet away as I ran up the gangway. Jackal and Shadow went towards the bow to secure any crewmembers down there. We were all silent in our movements.
Kick-Ass headed in the direction of the stern, down the port side, followed by myself.
There was nobody else on deck, so we made our way to the hatch that led into the aft superstructure.
There were no crewmembers visible, so we took a gangway down into the bowels of the ship. We had removed our NVGs as the interior of the 'Calumet' was well lit. There was a constant vibration coming from the deck plates below our feet; this was an active vessel with diesel generators running in the engine room. We searched each compartment, checking for any hostages.
Then our luck ran out and a man saw us. He looked shocked, but rapidly sorted himself out and drew an automatic pistol. Kick-Ass dropped him just as the man fired a single, unsuppressed shot. Another man appeared from a doorway, immediately to the right and Kick-Ass punched him hard, before kicking open the door. We found six crewmembers seated around a table and another two reaching for weapons. They both died.
..._...
"Now, who is the next cunt to do something stupid?"
"What the fuck are you two supposed to be?"
"Err, that's Kick-Ass and Hit Girl – we're in shit!" Another man stated.
"Now, I am going to ask one question, only once!" I growled. "Where are they?"
"Who..."
That man received a bullet in his left shoulder and he screamed. It was cruel; nevertheless, it worked...
"Deck below, behind a false bulkhead..."
"You are coming with us!"
We secured the remaining men and then Kick-Ass frogmarched the man who had 'volunteered', out into the passageway and we forced him to lead us to the captives.
One deck down, the man pointed beyond a closed hatchway.
"Two men, guarding them. They will shoot you as soon as you enter the compartment," The man explained. "Beyond them is a bare wall, however if you remove two large magnets from the desk, they can be used to remove the plate, it's about two feet from the port bulkhead."
"Thank you for your co-operation," I growled, and then Kick-Ass spun the locking wheel on the hatch while I prepared a flashbang grenade.
..._...
One the hatch was open just a crack, I threw in the grenade and Kick-Ass slammed the hatch. There was a muffled bang and a pair of screams, then nothing.
I secured the man's hands with plastic ties and then secured him to the hatch once we had swung it open. Two men were on the deck, both were out cold. Kick-Ass grabbed two large u-shaped devices from the desk and went over to the area advised by the man.
I moved a wooden desk out of the way and then Kick-Ass placed the two magnets in place and heaved.
The plate slid to one side, smoothly, as if it were on rails, which indeed it appeared to be!
Behind the plate, we found a large space about twelve-foot by fifteen-foot. Slumped down by the bulkheads were eighteen people that included men, women and children. I was appalled; the smell was disturbing, not to mention the heat and almost complete lack of ventilation.
"You are safe!" I growled.
There were exclamations of gratitude as the abducted people pushed their way out of the hidden compartment.
"Thank you, Hit Girl and you Kick-Ass!" A young boy of about nine, said.
We ushered the captives up to the main deck where they were immensely pleased to encounter fresh air, not to mention the bottles of water that we had found in the ships galley.
Jackal and Shadow were waiting for us, two neatly secured packages at their feet.
It was time to leave.
Kick-Ass called in the ship to the Alpena Police Department and we headed down the gangway towards our tender. Once we were all safely underway and proceeding south at twenty knots, I radioed the 'Salty Swallow'.
"Neptune, this is Fusion, we are clear and the hostages are safe!"
"Copy, we are intercepting Alpena PD comms and they are in route," Neptune replied. "See you in ten."
It was another eight or so minutes before I saw my pride and joy emerge out of the darkness.
Not a single light was showing, but I could hear her diesels at idle and I could make out Neptune at the wheel, on the flying bridge and Wildcat ready to catch our painter at the stern.
Once 'Always Wet' was stowed, Neptune advanced the throttles to full and the 'Salty Swallow' leapt forward like the thoroughbred that she was.
Within minutes, she was soon zipping across the waves at over thirty knots.
