Chapter 146

Once we passed into the Gulf of Aden, the rule was one of us watching the radar screen at all times. If the captain objected, I had already decided to lock him in his cabin. The ship would run itself for a few days. If the 1'st mate, who was hired by Alex, couldn't handle the ship, I would hold a gun to the Captian's head until he docked us somewhere, so that we could find a new skipper.

It didn't turn out to be a problem at all. He was glad for the extra eyes, since the Gulf of Aden is a dangerous place. The first day passed with everyone on alert every time a fishing boat passed us. The captain though it was due to our fear of pirates grabbing out guns. Little did he know that the pirates were the whole reason for the trip.

We had been told pirates often engage ships at night, so sleep was hard to come by on our first night in the Gulf. On day two a blip on the radar turned into a small boat. The small boat had way too many men to be fishing, so everyone was on alert.

While the boat closed the distance, I pulled some boxes of Plumpy Nut near the rail. The reason was simple, I needed a place to use the sniper rifle and the boxes made a good platform for me. I had a great view with the 20x scope. I could see that the men were armed with automatic rifles.

"We are going hot, if Morris has the pictures," I said to Alex. Then I shouted, "Morris are you getting this?"

"Yes Ma'am, I am. They are all armed to the teeth," he replied.

"Stay on them, things are going to start popping soon," I informed him. Then I turned back to Alex. Do you want to do this?" I asked.

"You bet your ass I do." He climbed on the boxes and I took his glasses.

"Now Alex wait until one of them points an RPG at the ship, or something like that. Don't just start killing indiscriminately."

"I heard you before," he said quietly.

I watched through Alex's big Nikon Binoculars. The boat kept closing but they weren't close enough to start shooting at us. We, on the other hand, could have started to drop them at any time. That is if I weren't determined to walk away clean from it all.

"They are demanding we shut the engines down and surrender the ship," the Captain said.

"I'm coming," I replied.

"Who am I speaking with?" I asked once I got the radio in my hand.

"I am Captain Z of the Somalian Navy. You are in our sovereign waters and we intend to board you."

"I don't think so. But ya'll have a nice day now." I said.

"If you do not surrender your boat, we will sink you," he said.

"Well, I'm head of security for the company that leased this boat and you be advised we will defend this ship according to our rights under international law." I had no idea what bullshit I was slinging. I also didn't care, the shit was about to hit the fan regardless.

"I am going to surrender the ship," the Captain said.

"Put this man under arrest for interfering with a duly appointed security officer in performance of her duty. You captain are confined to your quarters." The reformed drunk led him away with a huge smile. It must have been like the good old days for him.

"Shut down your engines or we will fire," Captains Z said just before the crack of the Russian Sniper rifle.

"Alex?" I shouted out the door of the bridge.

"He pointed a RPG at the ship," Alex said.

"Morris?" I shouted.

"He is right," Morris answered.

"Then we are tactical and hot. You may defend yourselves." I shouted to anyone listening. The small boat turned tail and ran. I wanted to cheer, but I knew that it was too soon to celebrate.

"Here," Alex said handing me the sniper rifle. "I'm going to get a couple of LAWs (Light Ainttank Weapon) in case they decide to come back guns blazing.

"If they come back it will be under cover of night. So we watch the radar and the person on Deck watch uses night vision goggles. If they come, we can paint them with that fancy search light you brought along."

I was wrong, a high speed boat came out of nowhere. We got a good look at him trying to close on us. I saw the rpg before he slowed the boat to stabilize his aim. I put a 7,62x54R dead in his chest. His last reflex was to pull the trigger on the RPG. It took off into the air like a cheap piece of fireworks. There would be no question that the shot was in self defense.

Just for good measure I put a round in the boat's driver. He slumped over the wheel of the boat and it began turning in circles. "I thought he was going to ram us in a suicide attack," I said loud enough for everyone to hear. The circles got tighter until the boat flipped over and sank.

"You didn't let us get a shot," the sleazy car dealer said. I gave him a withering look.

"This isn't a game asshole, those were human beings." Of course it's a game, I thought, but I would never admit it. "What's the radar say," I shouted to the school teacher who was on the bridge.

"They are still out there and moving along with us." the teacher said.

I walked to the bridge and opened the frequency, we had been on. "You should know, we have called any Naval vessel in the area to come to our assistance," I said.

"No you haven't Christian whore. We have been monitoring your traffic. Also you do not want your ship searched. You won round one, but it is a long night ahead."

"Ah well that cuts both ways Muslim Son of a Whore," I said I turned to the Teacher, the car salesman and Alex who were all on the bridge. "Do you want to send a message that we are under attack?" I asked.