Free Devil's Due by Robert Stanek

around the Shepherd , it was over and there was no trace of the attackers.” Scott stopped, caught himself. “Wait, I think… No, I know. I saw one of the fishing boats when I came up. Far away and trailing smoke. Then I saw something, large, black giving chase. I assumed it was one of the NSW RIBs. But from what I heard earlier, both NSW RIBs were recovered in waters near the Shepherd .”
        Captain Howard reached for a large mug of coffee, which must have gone cold long ago. He swallowed the cold mud and then said, “Inflatables 1 and 2 were recovered near the Sea Shepherd . Recovery ops continues and we will keep search and rescue going until all missing are found.”
        “But you’ve only found six. Isn’t that right?” Scott said, only realizing the importance of his words as he said them.
        “Six…” Master Chief Roberts said, pausing to look to the Operations Commander. “That’s the service member recovery count. We’ve recovered twenty one: six servicemen, two from the Bardot , four from the Shepherd , and eight from the fishers.”
        “Living?” Scott asked. “In the infirmary?”
        “Not all aboard this ship. Not all living,” the master chief said.
        Scott paused, counted in his head. “That’s twenty, not twenty one.”
        Master Chief Roberts looked to Executive Commander Howard before he responded. “The other’s a… defense contractor… who was aboard the helicopter we lost this morning.”
        Scott noted the delays in the response and suspected the chief said “defense contractor” but meant operative. If so, the operative was most likely from the CIA. Intrigued, he asked, “The helicopter, was it attacked before or after the Bardot sank?”
        Master Chief Roberts said, “The SH-60B was on route to the Bardot when it went down and the reports of the Bardot came in at the same time.”
        Scott became agitated, animated. “Two coordinated attacks? One precision attack on both the Bardot and a combat patrol helicopter. A second precision attack on the Shepherd and two fully-manned inflatables.”
        Master Chief Roberts nodded and was about to say something when Scott said, “And four found from the Shepherd ?”
        Master Chief Roberts nodded again.
        Scott asked, “Where are they?”
        Master Chief Roberts said, “The infirmary will have that information. If not aboard, they’ll know which ship they’re on and the status.”
        “Status…” Scott said. “You mean whether they’re alive or dead?”
        Scott didn’t wait for an answer. He turned about, and called out for Midshipman Tinsdale.
        As he was leaving the situation room, the Operations Commander said, “Well, we’ve now wasted time that could have been better spent discussing tactical response. The strike force is assembled and ready below decks. Pilots not part of current ops are on crew rest. Planning cells are preparing and working through the most likely response scenarios, including beach assault, selective insertion, and amphibious engagement.”
        As much as he wanted to know the truth about Edie, Scott knew if he left now he’d never get back into the operations room, never be part of the planning or response. He turned around in the doorway, said, “Give me a satellite phone and we’ll see who’s wasting whose time.”
        The Operations Commander, a big, dumb grin on his face reached down, grabbed a satellite phone from his ready pack, and tossed it to Scott. “Knock yourself out… In the meantime, we’ll continue discussing tactical response and how to kick these jihadist bastards so hard they’ll go crawling back to their caves to die.”
     

 
    The story continues with Strike Force: The Cards in the Deck #2.
     
     
     
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About the Author
    Robert Stanek is author of the #1 bestselling RUIN