Tiger by the Tail Read Online Free PDF Page B

one another, while the dock area was a mass of skiffs, crude rafts, and even bright blue chemical barrels, all lashed together to make a slowly undulating platform. Raucous Asian dance music blared over the water, and bright lights illuminated crude balconies where the pirates smoked, snorted, or shot dope and enjoyed the attention of local hookers. “Usually pirates are hit-and-run, with no fixed HQ. These guys must be pretty goddamn confident to build all this out here.”
    “Yeah.” Mike focused on the blue barrels dotting the dock area. “Hopefully those barrels are either empty or still sealed. Don’t need any of our guys exposed to any chemicals in the water.”
    “You want to change the insertion?” Adams asked, finger on the transmit button of his radio.
    “No, they should be all right. It is part of the night’s work, after all. Just make sure everyone cleans up really well afterward—no telling what they might catch in or out of the water.”
    Adams grunted agreement. “Too damn bad we couldn’t get a girl on the inside. I know Katya was practically begging to get out there for recon.”
    “Yeah, but as a round-eye, she would attract way too much attention. Even with her capabilities, it would have been too risky for her to feed us any intel. Also, it would have been too difficult to school her in the not-so-niceties of Southeast Asian prostitution quickly. That said, it does make me wonder about the possibility of acquiring some Asian women for future jobs on this side of the world. Our talent, while very good, just doesn’t blend in well enough here.”
    “Of course, sometimes that can be an advantage, too,” Adams pointed out.
    “Yeah, maybe in the cities, but not out here.”
    The radio clicked, and Mike answered.
    “Go for Mal.”
    “Simon here,” Vanner replied. “Team Jayne is in position.”
    “Roger that.” Mike scanned the pirate base one last time, spotting a strange conglomeration of heavier metal, what looked like welded steel plates on a high point above the base, overlooking the entire small harbor. Near as he could tell, it looked almost like a small bunker. What the hell is that? His senses twitched, that feeling that something wasn’t quite right kicking in. He clicked his transmit button. “Order all teams to switch to AP ammo. Team Jayne to begin flanking assault in five minutes from my mark. Team Inara, deploy to secure dock area.”
    “Roger.”
    “Gonna be a bitch and a half to clear all those damn little rooms and cubbies,” Adams remarked.
    “Yeah, but it makes for excellent close-quarters and broken terrain training,” Mike said. “Besides, these fucks shouldn’t prove to be that much of a challenge. Ideally, they will all be too drunk, stoned, fucked, or any combination of the three to mount an effective defense in the first place.”
    Adams grinned mirthlessly. “Well, that is why we let them party before moving in, isn’t it?”
    * * *
    His rebreather and fins back on, Vanel and the rest of Team Yosif had debarked from the trawler to the Zodiac. When the go order came, they had all swapped out their magazines as ordered, entered the water again, and headed for what passed for the dock area.
    Three minutes later, Vanel’s head broke the surface, which was covered by a thin film of oil and other noxious chemicals. Wiping his facemask with a gloved hand, he decided to keep breathing from his tank while scanning the floating material for tangos. He had already removed his night vision goggles to avoid being blinded by the ambient light.
    The next few seconds were the most critical part of establishing their beachhead. Six of the swimmers were on the left side of the dock area, with the other six inserting on the right. If any were spotted, they risked being caught on open, unstable ground between the pirates and the water.
    Vanel shucked his rebreather and fins again, grimacing at the acrid, chemical taste of the air around him. Slowly, silently, he hauled