Said knew that was unlikely to happen—he also knew it was perfectly possible that one of the man’s own people had, accidentally or on purpose, done the damage.

  It was also possible that there was nothing at all wrong with the yacht’s engines. Said had been warned that the ship was not fast—just reliable and comfortable.

  Comfortable! He looked around at the dirty cabin he was stuck in. That had become a joke!

  He wondered what the "captain" would do if nobody claimed responsibility for the supposed sabotage.

  And he wondered what he would do if the man’s wrath should come to be directed in his direction.

  ***

  Flame never got to bed that night—something that brought him a sense of relief. I can sleep on the plane, he told himself. I always sleep well on planes.

  He, Dana and Bivens spent the night in the office working up various scenarios for the mission at hand. All of them were contingent upon Flame and his team boarding the yacht without being detected, something he was certain he and Fixer could manage without too many difficulties.

  “We’ll slip aboard at night,” he told Dana when she questioned him about the problem. “When their guard is down.” He shook his head. “It’s not like a naval vessel—they won’t have 24-hour watches. Most of the crew will be asleep. We’ll just have the pilot and perhaps one other deck hand.” He shrugged. “And the two of us are more than capable of handling that.”

  Dana wasn’t convinced but was forced to concede the point—there was no other way to plan the mission.

  By the time oh-four-hundred rolled around, both Dana and Flame were fairly certain that the plan they had conceived would work—as long as no one screwed up too badly.

  “You’re sure Aesop can handle his end?” Dana asked for the fourth time. “I mean, he does have an artificial leg.”

  “He and that artificial leg rowed across the entire Black Sea not that long ago,” Flame reminded her. “He’ll be okay as long as we don’t have to depend on his agility.”

  “And Fixer?”

  “He’s Marine Recon—he might not be as good at killing people as I am, but he can do his share well enough.” Flame shrugged. “If he can’t do this, neither can Aesop…” He smiled. “Or me.”

  “I guess that covers it.” Dana stood and stretched. “C’mon, I’ll take you out to Dulles.”

  With no traffic, the drive to the airport took less than twenty minutes. They pulled up to the charter terminal just after four-thirty—a few moments after Aesop arrived.

  “Morning.” He nodded at the others. “I hope there’s coffee on the plane.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Flame yawned. “I was planning on getting some sleep.”

  “There’s Fixer.” Dana nodded toward the Recon Marine’s car as it pulled into the lot. “Let’s get out to the plane, and make sure all the equipment we need is aboard.”

  They cleared the terminal with no trouble. The TSA agents on duty didn’t even look at the side arms everyone brought through the security checkpoint—they’d been warned what to expect.

  “Which plane is ours?” Aesop asked, looking over the three aircraft on the tarmac.

  “I don’t know.” Dana glanced at her phone, checking for messages. “Nobody notified me…”

  “That one,” Flame said, and pointed at a Hawker 800 to their right.

  “How can you tell?” Aesop moved up and looked.

  “See who’s in the door.” Flame nodded. “I guess he’s going with us.”

  Marmor picked that moment to wave and hurry down the stairs. “Everything you asked for is aboard,” he announced as he approached the little group. “We’ll refuel in Los Angeles and again in Hawaii. The pilot says we’ll be in Australia in seventeen hours.”

  “Let’s go then.” Flame motioned the others forward. “We need all the time we can get on site.” He turned to Dana. “Get some rest. I’ll contact you via satellite from Hawaii—Bivens might have more info for us by then.”

  “Okay.” Dana nodded. “You get some sleep too—it’s been what, three days?” She put a hand on his upper arm. “You’ve got to be ready when you get to the target.”

  “I’ll be ready.” Flame nodded and smiled. “I’m always ready for that kind of action.” He turned and headed for the plane. “See you soon.”

  “Soon.” Dana watched as the four men entered the plane, then turned away and headed for her car. She would get some sleep—but she had a lot to do over the next few days, not all of it involving the mission at hand.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Flame slept through the first leg of the flight—soundly, without the slightest hint of a dream, good or bad. He woke briefly when they landed in Los Angeles, leaving the plane to use the bathroom while it was refueled. The Hawker had a very nice toilet but, like those in most aircraft, it was rather small for the six foot four ex-SEAL.

  The second leg took them out over the Pacific. Flame soon dozed off again, but this time, he did suffer through a dream—a very odd one…

  Kimberly was there, as was Dana. All of them were in some kind of hot tub. Flame tried to ask why they were together but he was cut off when Kimberly bent over to kiss him before sliding down his chest, licking and kissing every inch.

  At that same moment, Dana leaned in from the other side—and planted an equally tender kiss on Flame’s mouth. He stared at her for a long moment, and then reached out an arm to pull her close just as Kimberly began to play with the parts of him that were under water.

  This is wrong, he realized. Wrong on so many levels. With an effort of will, he forced himself awake moments before he would have embarrassed himself—and quickly stepped into the Hawker’s stern head to wash and cool down.

  Twenty minutes later, they were approaching Hawaii.

  “Ever hear how the early Hawaiians explained the creation of their home?” Aesop asked Marmor as they looked out the windows. “They attribute everything to Pele.” He smiled as he clarified, “The fire goddess— not the soccer player. They say she fell in love with a man named Lohi’au that she saw in a dream. Pele sent her sister Hi'iaka to fetch Lohi'au who was chief on the island of Kaua’i and bring him to Hawai'i. She gave her sister forty days to accomplish the task. If she failed,” Aesop said as he raised an eyebrow, “Pele would hurt Hi'iaka's girlfriend Hopoe.”

  “Girlfriend?” Francis asked.

  “The ancient Hawaiians were very modern in some ways.” Aesop grinned. “Anyway, upon reaching Kaua'i—apparently it was quite a long trip —Hi'iaka found Lohi'au dead. She didn’t give up on him, however, and rubbed his body with magical herbs as she chanted to the gods for help.” Aesop smiled again. “They answered her prayers and brought the young chief back to life. Grateful to once again be alive, he agreed to accompany Hi’iaka back to the Big Island.

  “However, by that time more than forty days had passed and Pele, who was a bit of a bitch, suspected that Hi'iaka and Lohi'au had fallen in love and were not going to return. In revenge, she caused a volcanic eruption which turned Hopoe into stone.

  “Later, when she returned to Hawai'i with Lohi'au, Hi'iaka found her lover turned into a statue. Angry, she decided to take revenge and led Lohi'au to the edge of the Halema'uma'u crater and embraced Lohi'au where Pele couldn’t help but see it.” Aesop grinned. “That’s how the story goes but I sorta think there might have been a little more than a simple embrace—if you know what I mean!

  “Anyway, she got her revenge—Pele saw the ‘embrace,’ was furious and covered Lohi'au with lava and flames.

  “Afterwards, the two sisters grew remorseful—one had lost a friend, the other a potential lover. Pele, sure that Loh’iau would choose her, brought him back to life and asked him to choose which sister he would love.”

  Aesop smiled. “Lohi'au chose Hi'iaka and Pele, accepting his decision, gave the two lovers her blessing as they sailed back to Kaua'i.”

  He looked down. “Pele still lives on Hawai'i where she rules as the fire goddess of the volcanoes. The smell of sulphur reminds the natives that she is still there in her home, and Halema'uma'u is right out there,” he pointed to the south. “A new island, still submerged, named Loahi.”

  “Quite a story.” Marmor chuckled. “Where did you find it?”

  “I read a lot.” Aesop shrugged. “It helps pass the time on flights like this one.”

  “Aesop spends too much of his time reading,” Flame noted. “He’s got a story about almost anything you can think of, don’t you?”

  “Not quite everything…” Aesop smiled. “But I’m working on that!”

  Flame laughed as the plane touched down.

  ***

  Things had changed on the East Wind. The self-appointed Somali captain had discovered that only one of the engines was turning the propellers while the other was devoted to generating electricity to maintain the air conditioning and other amenities. He ordered his men to make the appropriate changes, which they hurried to do.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t really understand the East Wind’s equipment and while they managed to detach the electrical generator, they failed to reattach it to the propellers, leaving them moving as slow as before—but now much less comfortably.

  Edward Said considered getting the original ship’s engineer—who was in his cabin—to fix the problem but decided to wait. He might need a bargaining chip and the engineer could fit the bill.

  For the moment, he just stayed in his bunk as the sweat ran down his chest and flanks. He was used to the heat. Electrical outages were common enough in the Palestinian territories. I wonder how Moshe is handling the heat, he thought. He has lived in cities for a very long time…

  He smiled as he pictured his counterpart’s discomfort before recalling that the other man had spent a number of years in the Israeli army. He’s okay. The heat probably brings back pleasant memories of his heroics on the battlefield.

  Said wondered what kind of hero he would prove to be if the captain realized who he was and sold him to some of the factions in Somalia. Perhaps we’ll find out, he thought. It all depends on how things progress.

  Said would rather not be forced to take that particular path, but if his own survival depended upon it…

  He put his hands under his head and tried to get some sleep—it was the easiest way to handle the heat.

  ***

  “Next stop, Perth.” Marmor announced as they lifted off from Honolulu airport. “A helicopter with navy markings is waiting there to take you and your gear to a ship in the Indian Ocean.” He smiled. “It’s within range of the East Wind.”

  “Good enough.” Flame pulled an iPad out of his bag. “Let’s see if Dana and Bivens have come up with anything new.” He brought up Skype and set it up to call the office.

  “You know what time it is back there, right?” Fixer put in.

  Flame thought about it for a moment, then: “It’s about midnight.” He started the call. “One of them will be there.”

  They both were. Bivens picked up the call on the first ring and put the Flame's face up on the office's big screen. For the moment, the picture was sharp but it would degrade as they moved further from the islands.

  “Got anything for us?” Flame asked.

  “Found a satellite we can use for recon and commo,” Bivens told him. “I’ll send all the data ahead to Perth—it’ll be waiting for you there.”

  “Good.” Flame leaned forward. “How about the East Wind?”

  “Still moving slowly toward Somalia.” Bivens shrugged. “From what I can make out, they’re limping along on one engine.”

  “Interesting.” Flame looked at Marmor who produced a shrug of his own. “I guess we’ll find out why that’s happening when we get there.”

  “Mr. Marmor’s office says to tell you that the helicopter is waiting and that both the Palestinians and the Israelis have approved the mission plan.”

  “Good to know.” Flame grinned. “Odd that Mr. Marmor hadn’t mentioned that he had asked them.”

  “I knew they would approve.” Marmor’s face was set in his usual poker face. “They really have no choice.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Bivens put in from the screen. “I’ve gleaned some intel from NSA sources that says the Israeli military has been going over plans to raid whichever Somalian port the East Wind docks.”

  “That would be foolish.”

  “They already have a commando team doing exercises.”

  “That’s bad.” Marmor stood and headed to the pilot’s compartment. “I’ll need to make a few calls.” He looked at the others. “Be ready as soon as we land in Perth—it appears that time will now be a factor.”

  “It always is,” Flame thanked Bivens, waved goodnight and cut the Skype connection. Now, he knew, would be a good time to get some more sleep.

  ***

  The transfer from plane to helicopter in Perth went like clockwork. Men in unmarked coveralls moved the gear from the jet’s cargo bay into the helicopter’s—and then disappeared back into the hanger area.

  Flame and his team took a long moment to stretch and do some simple exercises to get cramped muscles working properly before they too crossed to the helicopter and were just about to climb aboard when Aesop stopped them with a raised hand.

  “Step easy, boys,” he announced. “This is a NH90 and if I remember correctly, the cabin floor is prone to damage.” He smiled. “I remember reading a report that said one of them was damaged by dirty combat boots!” He turned to their companion. “Best you could do, Mr. Marmor?”

  “This is the only vehicle we could find locally that was capable of carrying the team and all its gear.” Marmor shrugged. “I didn’t think we wanted to take multiple trips.”

  “We didn’t,” Flame said. “But, we should, as Aesop pointed out, be very careful how we step into this thing.”

  Fixer, first to reach the chopper, chuckled and climbed aboard, tossing his duffel into the cargo space between the seats. Aesop followed, then Marmor who was very careful where he placed his feet.

  Flame took a look into the cargo bay. He signaled the crewman working there that it was clear and that he should button up, then climbed aboard.

  The chopper lifted seconds later, turning over the ocean as it picked up speed.

  “How long to our final destination?” Flame asked through the headphones each of the men had been given.

  “Three hours,” the pilot replied. “We’ll be getting low on fuel about then.”

  “Nice to know.” Flame leaned back. “Wake me when we get there.”

  ***

  “They’re almost there,” Bivens told Dana. “I put a tracker in with their gear and it’s within a few miles of the rendezvous point.” He turned toward her. “I’ve got to tell you, the ship they’re heading for is definitely not a Coast Guard Cutter!”

  “Show me.” Dana leaned into her console, eyes on her computer screen.

  “Here’s the ship.” Bivens passed an enhanced and enlarged satellite image to Dana’s screen. “As you can see, it’s way too big to be a cutter. I think it’s a frigate—one of the new ones—Anzac-class maybe.” He put a mark on the screen. “The chopper is too small to see but I make it less than ten miles out.”

  “Do we know where the East Wind is?”

  “It’s still moving slow—about twenty miles from the ship and maybe twice that from shore.”

  “Twenty miles.” Dana shook her head. “I hope that ship, whatever it is, can get them closer—it’ll take far too long to cover that kind of distance any other way.”

  “It’s about three in the morning there,” Bivens said. “Once the chopper is aboard, the captain is supposed to close in on the East Wind.” He looked at Dana. “That’s the plan, at least.”

  “Stay on them.” She stood up. “Let me know when they go into the water.”

  “Where’re you going?”

  “I’ve got something else to take care of. Something that I think is pretty important.” She held up her cell. “Contact me if anything big comes up.”

  Then she was gone, leaving Bivens to monitor events on the other side of the globe.

  ***

  Aesop nudged Flame awake as the chopper came in sight of its brightly lit destination. “Have a look at this, man. That’s not like any Coast Guard Cutter I’ve ever seen!”

  “I’m afraid the Australian Coast Guard didn’t have anything large enough to handle our mission,” Marmor answered over the phones. “That is the HMASToowoomba which was already in the area.”

  “Good sized ship.”

  “I hope the landing deck will hold this thing.” Fixer smiled as the chopper started down. “I mean, I know they carry the Seahawk for normal operations but we’re just a little bit bigger…”

  “It’ll be okay.” Flame grinned. “The captain wouldn’t dare screw this mission up now—would he, Mr. Marmor?”

  “I would hope not.” Marmor tightened his seat belt. “Still, it never hurts to be properly prepared.”

  As it happened, there was enough room for the NH90 and, moments after it touched down, crewmembers were swarming over it, tying the chopper down and unloading the team’s gear.

  “We’re picking up speed,” Aesop noted. “Good, that means that the captain is following the mission plan.”

  “This way.” Marmor led them into the hanger at the back of the landing pad. “Let’s see just how far we have to go to reach our quarry.”

  “I hope we can reach it while it still dark,” Flame told the other man. “Trying to board after sunrise…” He shook his head.

  The ship turned slightly as the four men entered the hanger. A young lieutenant was waiting for them there. “Captain’s compliments and is there anything you gentlemen require.”

  “What’s our position in regard to our target?”

  “About thirty-five kilometers.” The man turned to Marmor. “We should reach the drop zone in less than two hours.”

  “Suits us.” Flame looked at his team, received nods from each. “Can we get our gear unloaded in here? We can set up and push off as soon as we’re in range.”