Читать книгу Satan’s Tail - Dale Brown - Страница 25

The mortar at the rear of the boat made a thick thump as it fired the projectile toward the superstructure of the merchant vessel. The rope whistled behind it as two of Ali’s sailors waited for the device it had fired to land. The mortar’s payload looked like a folded grappling hook, designed to open as it landed. As soon as the ropes stopped flying through the air, the men grabbed and pulled them taut, securing a connection with the ship. In a matter of seconds they had thrown themselves into the air, swinging across the space and climbing up the side of the vessel. This was the most dangerous moment for Ali’s teams as they boarded. Anyone on the other ship with a hatchet and an ounce of courage could sever the line, sending the heavily armed men into the water. To help lessen the chance of this, two of Ali’s team peppered the top rail with their machine guns. Ali himself had unfolded the metal stock of his AK-47, though he did not believe in wasting bullets without a target.

Smoke curled from the superstructure of the merchant ship. The fools! They’d gained nothing by calling for help.

Ali saw the first member of his team clamber over the deck, then the second and third. The other boats drew close; more men followed. There were shouts, gunfire. A swell pitched his small craft toward the merchant vessel. At the last second God intervened, pushing the boats apart.

A ladder, two ladders, were dropped off the side. His men were now firmly in control of the deck.

‘We monitored a message from some of our brothers in Yemen, Captain,’ said Bari, coming up from the radio area. ‘I thought it best to bring it to your attention.’

‘What?’

‘Two large American aircraft landed in southern Saudi Arabia this afternoon,’ said the mate, his black face blending into the growing darkness of the evening. ‘Perhaps they were the Orions you spoke of. The alert is being spread through Yemen and across the gulf to our other friends.’

A green flare shot from the deck of the merchant ship. His men had taken it over.

‘Thank you, Bari,’ he told his mate. ‘Keep me informed. In the meantime, take command here while I go aboard our new vessel.’

‘As you wish, Captain.’