Chapter 131

I finished out the morning going over the State of the Union speech with Adam Pierce – revising, reading and changing again. He left before lunch to make corrections and load it on the teleprompter.

The calm was broken by a series of emergency messages from Andy and a request for MTAC.

Moments later General Ingram and the Chief of Naval Operations were standing at my door.

“We have an incident taking place in the Indian Ocean,” the General said just as the MTAC screen went live.

“The Somalia pirates were trying to hijack another cargo ship this morning only to run into twelve of our coastal patrol ships as they were exiting the Red Sea into the Arabian Sea - Indian Ocean area,” Andy said.

They were the new ships destined for the Strait.

“The cargo ship ‘Tariq Sultan’ is a Pakistani flagged freighter which was unusual. Normally the hijackers go after tankers because the ship itself was so much more expensive because of international regulations requiring double hulls and the millions of dollars of oil on board. The owners are more likely to pay a big ransom,” Andy said. “Something does not make sense there.”

“Another thing that set off flags was it was a Pakistan flagged ship which means it is a member of the Muslim community. Usually they go after European, South American or East Asia flagged ships,” Andy said.

“The cargo ship captain was calling for help on non-international channels but with low output, meaning the call only went a few miles when it should have went hundreds,” Andy added.

“When the JBG fast ships were within sight, the outboard stairs that went down the side of the ship to the deck was filled with men. There were eight pirate boats along the freighter and the ship’s crane was being used. The pirate ships were of the larger ocean clam boats, eighty to one hundred feet long,” he said.

“The two Blackhawks with the weapons pods full of rockets and missiles and two AT802s assigned to Mirbat also responded to calls for backup from our escort ships.”

“The two pirate ships departed the freighter headed for shore at full speed. The two 802s did a low fly over them. The pirate ships each had a large crated missile that came from the freighter on the deck,” Andy said.

“Edgar Arnold - the JBG commander at Mirbat - was monitoring the radios and ordered the pirates ships destroyed,” Andy said.

Edgar was well aware of the political climate in the area. First he was former Special Forces and had spent years in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Then he went to work for Black Bear as a soldier of fortune in East Africa, primarily Ethiopia and Somalia. Andy and I were initially reluctant to put him in a command position.

Our interview with him changed our minds. He was like us - determined to fight terrorism and would put up with no bull from his men. He knew how the world worked in this area.

He called it our interview, “If you are running your company based on a PC culture I want no part of it. Leaders lead and the rest follow orders, regardless of their personal opinion.”

“The 802s were fired upon by small arms from the deck of the two fleeing pirate boats. The boats were no match for the Hellfire missiles sent their way. They were soon disabled, burning and exploded when the missiles went off.”

“One of the Blackhawks flew alongside the freighter- the hatches to the hold were opened. The pilot was able see the hold contained more missiles and other military hardware and reported the observation to Edgar,” Andy said.

“The pirate ships that were next to the freighter tried to make a run for it. None of them made it. They were no match for the JBG fast ships,” Andy said.

“The freighter decided it was time to run. Edgar wanted the ship investigated by the US Navy,” Andy said.

The Navy had the authority by UN decree and was charged to stop weapons from reaching the civil war torn east Africa.

“Edgar sent orders to the fast boats and Blackhawks to stop the freighter from moving,” Andy said.

“Edgar contacted the US command ship for the area. The USS Boxer was one hundred and fifty miles away. He explained what had just transpired and requested an inspection,” Andy said.

“The commanders on the ‘Boxer’ wanted the freighter stopped as well. The freighter refused to stop saying it had perishables on board. Edgar ordered the ship’s bridge raked with one of the mini-guns from a great distance,” Andy said.

The plan being from the distance the bullets wouldn’t penetrate the steel but the noise would be enough to convince the crew the end was here - or damn close - if they didn’t obey the command to stop. One of the Blackhawks could hover and carry out the plan.

“It took three fifteen second bursts from the mini-gun bullets bouncing off the steel bridge but it worked,” Andy said.

“Edgar ordered one Blackhawk and one 802 to return to base to refuel and then return so the group could maintain continuous air surveillance until the Navy arrived. The twelve JBG fast ships were to stay as well. Six of them were sent to look for survivors of the pirate boats,” Andy said.

“The Boxer is sending four helicopters of Seals to take control of the freighter until the Boxer arrives itself,” the Chief of Naval Operations added.

“Thanks Andy, inform me when the Navy arrives,” I said.

With the Boxer still an hour away, I closed the screen.

I replied to text messages from Vicky, Jenny and Marcy before turning my full attention to General Ingram.

“OK gentlemen, what have you got for me?” I asked.

“The CV67 is being dredged free today at Philadelphia and will be towed to Newport News Ship Building. It can be ready in the time frame you want,” the Chief of Naval Operations said.

“What you are really saying is Newport News Ship Building is willing to do anything to stop the pressure on the Fordson class and prevent the cancellation of the last two ships. That and the engineers have no idea how to correct the problems in a hurry,” I said.