mere thought. It was well past time for him to mount a concerted attack against Darkview. He consulted his watch.
“Get the satellite phone. I mean to ask the European how the plans are proceeding on his end.” Mungabe looked at the sky. “It’s getting late. We attack again in the dark. We’ll see if those new night-vision goggles work. Just send two more boats. Get the ship to fire its weapons. I want to know what type of firepower they have and make them waste some more bullets.”
“Should we board her?”
“If you can. But don’t risk any men. Just keep them scared and put some more holes in the ship. Remember, though, we are not to sink it. We need the cargo intact. The European said he will not pay if we damage his precious medication. We will keep stinging them until the rest of the crews return. When they do, we’ll collect everyone and launch a final run. Until then keep me informed.”
Mungabe’s second assistant handed him the satellite phone. “It’s about our crew near the economic zones, the ones that were attacking the fishing trawlers. They’ve been taken captive.”
“By Japanese fishermen?” Mungabe said.
The assistant shook his head. ”They weren’t all Japanese fishermen. When the advance crew got closer, they said it looked like therewere mercenaries wandering among the crew. They opened fire and killed three in our advance line. The second boats pulled back.”
Mungabe’s legendary anger surged to the forefront. “Who did such a thing?”
The second assistant raised his eyebrows. “Who else? The American company. Darkview.”
10
BANNER STALKED OUT OF THE CONGRESSIONAL MEETING AND marched down the halls to the exit. He stepped into the sunlight and inhaled fresh air for the first time in six hours. He turned right to the Metro, jogged down the stairs, and boarded a train to Arlington, Virginia, where Darkview kept its offices.
The building that housed Darkview had a curved design, with green-tinted windows and fully grown landscaping. Darkview occupied the second-story corner suites, which accounted for 30 percent of the building’s available space. Banner hit the staircase door and jogged up one flight, emerging at the entrance to his offices. He flung open the frosted-glass doors. Cameras placed at advantageous angles in the ceiling monitored every visitor, so Banner was not surprised when his receptionist greeted him without looking up from her console.
“Hi, Mr. Banner.”
Alicia Compton was twenty years old and working her way through community college. She was diligent and friendly, and she sported short neon-red hair, double earrings in both ears, and heavy goth eyeliner. Banner was doubtful about the two small tattoos inked on her upper shoulders. One said PAX and the other VIRTUS . While Banner applauded the sentiments, he wasn’t a fan of tattoos on women. When he’d commented about them to his vice president, Carol Stromeyer, who was responsible for hiring the girl, Stromeyer had warned him to keep his mouth shut.
“It’s not appropriate to comment on them. She’s smart, industrious, and honest. Frankly, employees like her are hard to find. She could be covered with them and I’d still be thankful to have her.”
“She’s quite pretty. Why ink her body? Used to be only drunken sailors got tattoos.”
“You sound like you’re in your eighties, not your forties.”
“It’s the truth, though.”
“ I’m in my forties. What if I told you I had a tattoo somewhere?”
Banner had only grunted in reply. But later, alone, he’d spent quite a few nights wondering just where Stromeyer’s tattoo would be, and the fact that she might have one wasn’t off-putting at all.
Now he strode into her office to find her standing at her desk staring at a small machine placed there that blinked red in a silent, hysterical cadence. Her light brown hair streaked with blond flowed over her face, obscuring half of it. A crease lined her forehead as she frowned at
“Get the satellite phone. I mean to ask the European how the plans are proceeding on his end.” Mungabe looked at the sky. “It’s getting late. We attack again in the dark. We’ll see if those new night-vision goggles work. Just send two more boats. Get the ship to fire its weapons. I want to know what type of firepower they have and make them waste some more bullets.”
“Should we board her?”
“If you can. But don’t risk any men. Just keep them scared and put some more holes in the ship. Remember, though, we are not to sink it. We need the cargo intact. The European said he will not pay if we damage his precious medication. We will keep stinging them until the rest of the crews return. When they do, we’ll collect everyone and launch a final run. Until then keep me informed.”
Mungabe’s second assistant handed him the satellite phone. “It’s about our crew near the economic zones, the ones that were attacking the fishing trawlers. They’ve been taken captive.”
“By Japanese fishermen?” Mungabe said.
The assistant shook his head. ”They weren’t all Japanese fishermen. When the advance crew got closer, they said it looked like therewere mercenaries wandering among the crew. They opened fire and killed three in our advance line. The second boats pulled back.”
Mungabe’s legendary anger surged to the forefront. “Who did such a thing?”
The second assistant raised his eyebrows. “Who else? The American company. Darkview.”
10
BANNER STALKED OUT OF THE CONGRESSIONAL MEETING AND marched down the halls to the exit. He stepped into the sunlight and inhaled fresh air for the first time in six hours. He turned right to the Metro, jogged down the stairs, and boarded a train to Arlington, Virginia, where Darkview kept its offices.
The building that housed Darkview had a curved design, with green-tinted windows and fully grown landscaping. Darkview occupied the second-story corner suites, which accounted for 30 percent of the building’s available space. Banner hit the staircase door and jogged up one flight, emerging at the entrance to his offices. He flung open the frosted-glass doors. Cameras placed at advantageous angles in the ceiling monitored every visitor, so Banner was not surprised when his receptionist greeted him without looking up from her console.
“Hi, Mr. Banner.”
Alicia Compton was twenty years old and working her way through community college. She was diligent and friendly, and she sported short neon-red hair, double earrings in both ears, and heavy goth eyeliner. Banner was doubtful about the two small tattoos inked on her upper shoulders. One said PAX and the other VIRTUS . While Banner applauded the sentiments, he wasn’t a fan of tattoos on women. When he’d commented about them to his vice president, Carol Stromeyer, who was responsible for hiring the girl, Stromeyer had warned him to keep his mouth shut.
“It’s not appropriate to comment on them. She’s smart, industrious, and honest. Frankly, employees like her are hard to find. She could be covered with them and I’d still be thankful to have her.”
“She’s quite pretty. Why ink her body? Used to be only drunken sailors got tattoos.”
“You sound like you’re in your eighties, not your forties.”
“It’s the truth, though.”
“ I’m in my forties. What if I told you I had a tattoo somewhere?”
Banner had only grunted in reply. But later, alone, he’d spent quite a few nights wondering just where Stromeyer’s tattoo would be, and the fact that she might have one wasn’t off-putting at all.
Now he strode into her office to find her standing at her desk staring at a small machine placed there that blinked red in a silent, hysterical cadence. Her light brown hair streaked with blond flowed over her face, obscuring half of it. A crease lined her forehead as she frowned at
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