Battlecraft (2006)

Hildegard?'

'I cannot find my friend Franziska.'

The sheikh shrugged. 'She is not on board for this trip.'

'Yes, she is!' Hildegard insisted. 'I saw her come out on the boat with Olga and Adelaida.'

'Then she must have gotten off before we sailed,' the sheikh said.

'Olga and Adlaida said she did not get off,' Hildegard insisted.

The sheikh stood up. 'I told you Franziska is not on board. Now get back with the others! You have interrupted me in an important meeting.'

Hildegard stood her ground. 'What happened to her?'

'You infidel whore!' the sheikh yelled so loudly that everyone turned to look at him. He slapped Hildegard across the face with such violence that she staggered sideways against the deck railing. 'If you bother me again I shall give you to Alif, Baa, and Taa. Do you want that? And after those big chaps have finished with you, they will pass you belowdecks to the crew. Those are some pretty crude fellows down there. They would have a party with you that would last three or four days before you succumbed.'

Hildegard, rubbing her bruised face, fearfully stumbled away. The sheikh sat back down, glancing over at Mahamat. 'I apologize for the slut's behavior.'

'I understand,' the commodore said.

'Her friend Franziska was pregnant with a child she said was mine. An Arab child of the Faithful cannot be allowed to grow in the godless body of a European slut.' He chuckled. 'And I told Hildegard the truth. Franziska is not on board. At least not anymore.'

Mahamat grinned back at him. 'Problem solved, lae?' He eyed the other women, who now were subdued and nervous.

'Take your pick, Commodore,' the Sheikh invited. 'Rut all you want in their unclean bodies. Allah does not consider such fornication a sin when done to an infidel woman. They are below sacred consideration.'

'Shokran--thank you, Sheikh Omar,' Mahamat replied. He wondered if Allah really did not look upon sex with such women as fornication. He decided to put the question to his cleric. Meanwhile, he would take his host's word for it.

The sheikh took a final swallow of his fruit juice. 'When you've finished, I must see you before you return to your flagship. I have the fourth-quarter funds for your squadron.'

'Of course,' Commodore Mahamat said.'Shokran, Sheikh Omar.'

He stood up and walked toward a plumpish redhead.

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USS DAN DALY

THE USS Dan Daly LHX-1 was the newest vessel in the United States Navy's amphibious assault inventory. The ship and the concept that spawned her was so new and untried, the Navy couldn't decide whether to put an 'A' for general purpose or a 'D' for multipurpose on her designation. Thus a temporary classification of 'X' for test and evaluation was used.

Her homeport was Norfolk, Virginia, and she was a one of a kind in her job line; a compact, fully functional ship that, although limited in her ability to participate in large, complex operations because of her size, was better than her big sisters when it came to SPECOPS such as raids and other hit-and-run missions. She also had the significant potential of being a dandy flagship for a busy Naval admiral or Marine general in multiship amphibious situations.

The USS Dan Daly's length was 390 feet, beam fifty-five feet, displacement twenty thousand tons, speed thirty knots, and the ship's company numbered five officers and 450 enlisted men. She boasted a floodable docking well that could accommodate one LCM-6 landing craft at a time--she carried a pair of these--and had parking space for eighty track and wheeled vehicles. A full battalion of Marines could be accommodated within her hull, though the environment would be rather crowded.

She protected herself and dealt out punishment with a radar-guided 20-millimeter cannon system to take on incoming enemy missiles. Additionally, the Dan Daly sported two eight-tube Sea Sparrow missile launchers, a pair of five-inch MK-45 guns, and lastly an impressive and devastating Phalanx Close-In Weapons system. Because of her petite configuration, she was not designed for fixed-wing takeoff and landing operations, but her flight deck could accommodate up to a dozen CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The USS Dan Daly was run from a CDC in her island structure with satellite communications gear and state-of-the-art command and control apparatus to direct all operations. She also had a dispensary of hundred and fifty beds for the treatment of casualties. Medical personnel beyond those normally allotted to a small crew were only available when the ship carried troops.

The ship was aptly named after another pint-sized warrior. Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly was a five-foot-six- inch-tall United States Marine dynamo who won two Medals of Honor. The first during the Boxer Rebellion in Peking, China, and the second in operations in Haiti.

During the night of 15-16 July 1900, in the Boxer Rebellion, Private Daly and his commanding officer went on a reconnaissance patrol to pick a spot to erect an advanced fortified position to the front of the Tartar Wall of the Foreign Legation Quarter. The two Marines expected others to show up to build that barricade, but nobody appeared on the scene. Daly volunteered to remain in the dangerous area while the C. O. returned to see what had happened. Daly was alone in the area all through the night. He came under constant attack by the Chinese, and the little guy methodically shot them down, successfully holding the position until relieved the next morning. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery.

Fifteen years later, in October of 1915, Gunnery Sergeant Daly retrieved a machine gun lost during a hasty retrograde movement. He swam a river and took the weapon off a dead packhorse, swimming back to his patrol under intense enemy fire from hundreds of Caco rebel bandits. He received his second Medal of Honor in recognition of the deed.

Although he never received another Medal of Honor, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery in the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I. The little gunny won this medal at a time when the Marines hit stiff resistance from well-entrenched Germans and the Americans' forward movement was stymied. Daly suddenly jumped to his feet, shouting to his men, 'Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?'

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SPACE COAST, FLORIDA

VICINITY OF 20deg NORTH AND 80deg WEST

15 SEPTEMBER

1500 HOURS LOCAL

THE Battlecraft emerged from the Canaveral Locks with Paul Watkins in firm control. As the vehicle skimmed across the Atlantic Ocean, the skipper, Lieutenant Bill Brannigan, sat in his slightly elevated position overlooking Watkins and Lieutenant Veronica Rivers on the weapons systems. Brannigan had already gotten into the habit of referring to the control area as 'the office.'

Bobby Lee Atwill sat with his beloved Poder-Ventaja gas-turbine engine in his small compartment just aft in the cabin. He monitored the instrumentation like a mother caring for her infant. The technician made minute adjustments when his ears picked up even the faintest out-of-tune sounds that betrayed rough spots in the power plant's operation.

Lieutenant Jim Cruiser and Senior Chief Petty Officer Buford Dawkins sat in the small space between the power plant and the space they jokingly referred to as the wardroom. Here were the refrigerator, microwave, table, and benches for eating and relaxing.

Veronica Rivers spoke into the intercom to the skipper. 'Sir, I'm in contact with the Dan Daly. She's ready to receive us in her well. ETA is twenty minutes.'

'All right, Lieutenant,' Brannigan replied. 'Helmsman, steady on course.'

'Steady on course, aye, sir,' Watkins replied.

The short voyage continued in silence as the Space Coast of Florida quickly faded from view off the stern. Watkins, holding to the course set by Veronica, had the throttle on two-thirds speed, and the ACV whipped along above the water at a steady sixty-two miles an hour. The ride was smooth with some gentle buffeting. During trials when the throttle was opened to flank speed, the