“As we’ve been reporting—and keep in mind, this is breaking news and the situation is fluid—the Mexican navy has released a statement that an American-based cruise ship, the Victory Casino Cruise operating out of Galveston, Texas, has come under siege.
“In an apparent pirate attack carried out by several armed men from as many as two boats, the cruise ship is no longer in control of its crew. Initially, no demand for ransom had been made, but we’re told in the last two hours that situation has changed, with details to follow.
“The southern Gulf of Mexico has seen an increasing number of pirate attacks on oil platforms and boats in recent years. Last spring, the Italian-flagged Romulus was boarded by heavily armed assailants reputed to be part of Mexican drug cartels. Two Italian crew members were killed before the ransom was paid to the hostage takers.
“The demands for ransom represent an escalation in the piracy activity in the Gulf. For years, oil and diesel stealing has been an accepted risk for doing business in the Gulf. Of late, as many as two million barrels of oil are stolen per day, bringing millions of dollars into the coffers of Mexican criminal organizations.
“Also, from time to time, pleasure craft have been robbed. The Mexican navy has pledged in the past to monitor these waters through increased patrols, but analysts claim the problem has only worsened as the pirates become emboldened by their successes.
“Now, for an update on a complication that is floating around on social media, let’s go to our Los Angeles newsroom and—”
Ghost furrowed his brow and ordered the volume to be turned off. He turned to the new arrivals and gruffly ordered, “My office.”
They dutifully followed Ghost. Gunner and Cam exchanged looks of concern. They’d handled many operations since the Gray Fox team had come together following the asteroid mission. But Gunner had never seen this level of concern on their boss’s face.
Ghost stepped aside to allow the three operatives to enter his office first. “Jackal!” he barked. “Join us.”
The bespectacled young woman scampered out of her station and hustled into the office just as Ghost was closing the door. Theodora “Teddy” Cuccinelli was the lead analyst of the Gray Fox team. During an operation while the team was on the ground, Jackal, a nickname bestowed upon her because of her information technology expertise, acted as the eyes and ears for the team. She would monitor satellite feeds, radio chatter, and provide data to Gunner, Cam and Bear in real time to assist them on their missions.
Ghost, whose real name was Gregory Smith, was formerly a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He’d trained Gunner at the Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Florida, years ago. After a distinguished career, he was pulled into the world of black ops by the Department of Defense. His skillful handling of Gunner and his team during the asteroid crisis had earned him the opportunity to reconstitute the Gray Fox unit under the umbrella of the Activity.
Formed half a century ago during the Iranian hostage crisis, the Activity was a highly secretive intelligence unit rumored to handle self-contained, off-the-books missions. Its secretive nature was designed to do the types of things the law wouldn’t allow and to shield politicians from the ramifications if an operation went bad.
The first Gray Fox unit had operated in Afghanistan and was well-known for its abilities to aggravate the Taliban. Its operatives were absorbed into other units within the Activity after the U.S. began to pull its troops from Afghanistan, leaving the unit empty until Gunner and company were offered the opportunity to resurrect it.
“Sir, I gather there’s more to this than a hostages-for-money swap,” began Cam.
Ghost was pacing the floor with his hands shoved in his pocket. His face revealed his concern.
“That’s right. We know more than the news networks do at this point. I wanted to discuss it with you before we go out in the ops center to formulate a rescue plan.”
“Sir, may I interrupt with an update in that regard?” asked Jackal.
“Please do.”
“Everyone, one of the passengers on the ship is the daughter of Congressman Michael Larkin from Houston. He sits on the House Appropriations Committee.”
Gunner interrupted. “I know the chairman of that committee. Good guy. Has the congressman been notified of his daughter’s abduction?”
“Yes,” replied Jackal. “His daughter, college age, was locked in her cabin along with her aunt, the congressman’s sister, and her cousin. She had the presence of mind to fire off a series of emails to her contact list. Then she took it a step forward and began to post live video from her stateroom to Facebook and Instagram.”
“Brave girl,” said Bear.
Jackal nodded. “Well, and this is speculation, but she was discovered somehow either through a review of the ship’s passenger list or the monitoring of social media. Either way, we believe the pirates’ goals changed from robbing a casino cruise and the passengers of any valuables to a very large ransom demand.”
“How much?” asked Gunner.
“Fifty million,” Jackal replied as she rubbed her temples.
“Jesus,” muttered Cam. “So what’s the plan? Are we going in?”
Ghost took the floor. “We need to assess our options, but there are several factors in play. For one, Lloyd’s of London has asked the Mexican government to stand down while they determine whether they’re going to pay the ransom.”
“Yeah, sure,” groaned Bean. “Y’all take your time, okay? I mean, those pirates got nothing better to do except wait for your dumb asses.”
“I tend to agree, Bear, and so does the congressman,” interjected Ghost.
“Sir, you said Mexican government. Where does Washington stand in all of this?”
Ghost grimaced. “Currently, the Victory is adrift in the Gulf about a hundred miles east-southeast of Brownsville. Technically, it’s in Mexico’s territorial waters.”
“Who gives a shit?” asked Cam. “That’s never stopped us before.”
“Which is why we’re all here,” answered Ghost.
