right away that it was not a Bom-Kat boat; it was way too big. The crewman confirmed it; a major vessel heading in their direction.
Nolan started listening to the shortwave radio again. He zeroed in on another frequency. It, too, was filled with a mixture of Hindi and English chatter about the Bom-Kats, and mentions of a disabled freighter coming under attack by the pirates. But the cadence was different and those speaking were using proper maritime radio etiquette—all “rogers,” “overs” and “outs.” The four crewmen listened to the conversations with growing smiles.
“It’s the Indian Navy,” one said finally. “They’ve sent a warship to help us. That’s it—coming our way.”
* * *
THE SHIP WAS in visual range ten minutes later.
Emma remained in the mess hall; Nolan was hoping she was asleep. Gunner and the two wounded Senegals were in the ship’s galley, being cared for by the three less-wounded West Africans. Though he was excited about this development, Nolan did not want to disturb any of them—not until he knew what was really up with this warship.
He asked the Taiwan Song’s crewmen to bring the freighter to a stop. Then, with a fading flashlight, he made his way down to the bow to await the vessel’s approach.
Once the warship was within 100 feet of the freighter, Nolan used the flashlight to signal his location. Someone on the ship signaled back.
He then played his weak beam onto the stern of the vessel and, for the first time, saw the name of the warship.
INS Vidynut …
His heart sank to his feet. What were the chances of this?
The second real gig the newly formed Team Whiskey ever took on was to rescue an Indian Navy warship that had been hijacked by Somali pirates. This warship was a new, ultra-high-tech model, wholly designed by the Indian Navy, in hopes of exporting them to many other countries. The Somali pirates had been about to execute the Indian crew when Whiskey came upon the scene.
Nolan and company were able to save the crew, but only after a battle against the pirates that all but destroyed the new warship. The Indian Navy paid the team their hefty fee, but made it very clear they never wanted to have anything to do with Whiskey again.
That warship was the Vidynut, the vessel that was now pulling up alongside him.
The ship didn’t look much better than the last time Nolan saw it. It had been patched from bow to stern; blotches of new paint were evident all over. The massive deck-mounted rocket launchers that provided the vessel with its firepower were gone. Its futuristic bridge, which had been all but destroyed in the melee, had been cut down by at least ten feet and now looked as ordinary as could be.
Nolan could even hear the ship’s radically designed engines sputtering as it approached.
Captain Vasu Vandar was commander of the Vidynut during the violent hijacking; it had been Nolan who freed him and the rest of his crew during the rescue mission.
Now, Captain Vandar and a coterie of sailors walked to the deck to inspect the freighter. As soon as he saw Nolan, though, he let out a wail.
“Not you!” he bellowed. “Not again!”
Nolan tried to reason with him. “We’re in a bad situation here,” he yelled over to Vandar. “We’ve got refugees on board and we’re being attacked by pirates every two hours.”
“I don’t care,” Vandar yelled back, wagging his finger at Nolan. “You a very, very bad man. You almost sink my ship once—I will not allow you to try it again.”
“We saved your ship,” Nolan yelled back. “And your crew. And you.”
“And my life has been miserable ever since,” Vandar yelled back. “I want nothing to do with you.”
Nolan couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“At least take the refugees with you,” he yelled to the ship captain. “Save them at least.”
“Who are these people?” Vandar asked, voice dripping with disinterest.
Nolan explained who the refugees were—a mistake as it turned out, as Vandar almost immediately cut him off.
“These people are Untouchables,” he said. “We cannot have them on this vessel. End of story.”
Vandar signaled someone up on his bridge; the Vidynut started to pull away.
“Wait…” Nolan pleaded with him. “We have a very famous celebrity on board. A movie actress.”
“I’m sure you do!” Vandar yelled back with a laugh. His sailors laughed, too.
“It’s true,” Nolan pleaded with him. “And if you take her, then the pirates will leave us alone.”