Dangerous Tides. Don Pendleton

hundred yards of the ship, depending on the wind.”

      “Deadly,” Bolan said.

      “That’s why the Saudis tried to put the genie back in the bottle,” Price said. “They executed the scientist who created it, in fact. That was largely believed to be for show. But they were serious about containing it, making sure it didn’t leave the country.”

      “Seems the Saudis didn’t want to become known as sponsors to the world’s terror organizations with this new weapon,” Aaron “The Bear” Kurtzman, head of the Stony Man cybernetics team, put in. “You know how tenuous their relationship with us has always been.”

      “Exactly,” Barbara Price confirmed. “U.S. Intelligence sources call it Theta-Seven, though none of our people are quite sure what the Saudi designation was, or is. Last we knew the existing supply had all been destroyed. At least, that’s what the Saudis told U.S. government officials through channels, at the time.”

      “Obviously some slipped through the cracks,” Bolan said, stopping as he entered the Deck 5 lounge. The passengers were shaken but appeared to be overcoming the effects of the explosion. The notion that perhaps their long nightmare was ending finally seemed to be dawning on them, at least in a few cases.

      “The pirates are neutralized,” Bolan said. “What about the tank in the water?”

      “Don’t eat the fish that’ll be floating around the boat,” Kurtzman said darkly, “but the acid is heavier than water. It would have descended. The hull might be scarred a little, or even damaged, based on the power of the explosive charge. But you’re not in danger of breathing any nerve gas clouds.”

      “All right,” Bolan said. “Get the authorities in on this. We need people aboard this ship. The cruise line will need to assign personnel. I don’t know how many of the crew are dead, but it’s probably a lot. We’ll need medical teams, too. I don’t know how many of these people were brutalized. And the ship will have to be searched from top to bottom. There could be some pirates or passengers hiding until this blows over.”

      “We’re going through the appropriate channels,” Price told him. “You should have more support on site than you can handle shortly.”

      “Good,” Bolan said. “Striker out.”

      The Executioner moved among the hostages, doing what he could to reassure them. Several of them thought the big black-clad warrior was another of the pirates, at first, despite what he’d done to those holding them. Bolan saw to it that some of the more responsible among the adults, those who admitted to having previous experience with firearms, were given weapons taken from the pirates. A few were officers from among the ship’s crew, Bolan was grateful to see.

      “Excuse me, sir?” a young woman’s voice called to him. Bolan turned to see someone he recognized from the briefing Stony Man had sent him electronically. It was Congressman Jim McAfferty’s daughter. The young woman’s mother was close by, looking shell-shocked.

      “Yes?” he asked.

      “Are you…are you with the government?”

      “I’m here to see to it everyone gets home safely,” Bolan told her.

      “Yes, we’re grateful for that, sir,” the young woman said. “Only…Could you come take a look at the observation deck? There’s a motorboat out there.”

      Bolan looked to the entrance to the Deck 5 observation area, beyond the lounge. He ran past the ornate doors, and felt the salty night air on his face as he made for the railing.