Fair Winds #3
Simo eyed the pair in the raft. “Just don’t do anything stupid. You sit up front and Effat back close to me. Tell your wife to remove her life vest so she will fit down the hatch, do it now.”
Simo nodded to a nervous-looking Effat as she removed her life vest. Simo lowered his pistol out of sight as he began kicking in the water.
Suddenly, Simo pulled Effat out of the raft and launched her far out into the water.
The woman began swimming toward the submarine.
With a sigh and a trembling hand, and hearing Iravani screaming ‘No’ at him, Simo closed his eyes and squeezed his trigger.
The bullet smashed into the woman’s back, killing her instantly.
In a fog, Simo began rapidly swimming them away from the sinking, dead body as Iravani began hitting him and howling epic Farsi obscenities at him.
As they approached the bow of the submarine, Effat’s body suddenly exploded, sending pieces of her all across the top of the submarine.
The Marines on deck were blown off their feet, and Navy crewmen scrambled up through the hatches to help.
Simo’s ears were ringing as he watched Iravani sitting motionless with bits of Effat all over him, as he stared open-mouthed where his wife’s body once was.
Navy crewmen swept in, grabbed Iravani, and pulled him off the raft and onto the submarine. Simo swam close and was helped up on deck. Two officers rushed forward; one took Iravani away as the other came up to Simo and said something to him.
Simo shook his head and pushed his fingers into his ears, trying to calm the ringing. The officer pulled him to an open hatch and pointed down. Simo nodded and squeezed his bulk through the hatch and down the short ladder. The officer soon followed and took him to sickbay.
As the submarine’s doctor began examining him, the ringing began to slowly subside.
“Can you hear me now?” the doctor whispered.
“Yeah…” Simo sighed. “Is the submarine damaged?”
“They are checking,” the doctor replied. “Can I help you get your gear off?”
Simo nodded wordlessly as he began stripping off his belt, harness, and wetsuit.
In minutes, Simo was naked, and the doctor examined him, then handed him a pair of Navy-issue boxers and a T-shirt.
Simo quietly slipped them on. “I have another man to check on. Stay here until the captain comes for you.”
Simo nodded and watched the doctor leave.
He looked about the small examination/surgical room and decided that he still hated submarines.
Then the memory of shooting the woman in the back stabbed at his conscience.
He knew what would have happened if she had made it to the submarine…
but still, he had killed a woman in cold blood.
Shot her in the back, no less. He was shaking his head at himself as he heard a knock on the metal doorframe.
“Captain Petras? I am Captain Phil Lancaster. Welcome aboard the USS Indiana. I have to ask… how in the hell did you know?”
Simo stood and shook the captain’s outstretched hand and replied quietly, “Iravani said his wife couldn’t swim…”
“Ah… I see. My thanks go out to you. Your quick actions spared my crew serious injury and damage to my submarine.” Captain Lancaster eyed Simo for a moment. “Captain Petras, are you unwell? The doc said with the exception of some transient ringing in your ears you were fine…”
“Just tired, Sir.”
“I understand… the intelligence officer will be here shortly. Care for any refreshments while you wait?”
“Thank you, Sir. I’m fine.”
Captain Lancaster shook Simo’s hand once more. “If it is any consolation, you saved a number of lives tonight. Thank you once more. With luck, we will be underway in a few moments. Get some rest, Captain.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Simo managed a quick smile.
When Captain Lancaster left the small room, Simo got back up on the examination table and laid back.
He put his arm over his eyes and tried to begin some deep-breathing exercises, but the visions of him aiming his gun at that woman’s back kept sneaking their way in.
A knock on the doorframe startled him from a restless sleep. He looked at the door, and a beefy, good-looking, black man in a Navy uniform was watching him.
“Sorry to disturb you, Simo…”
Simo sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Mike Booker…”
The man cleared his throat. “I am… Commander Smith.” The man paused, smiling. “Professor Iravani offers his apologies to you for attempting to attack you and for yelling obscenities at you. He spoke to the woman in our custody and confirmed that our team in Yemen retrieved the real Effat Iravani.”
“Good to hear.” Simo nodded.
“Captain Lancaster feels you are troubled… is it because you had to kill the woman?”
Simo nodded once. “You know that killing women is not listed on my resume… bad for business.”
Smith shut the door behind him and relaxed. “Hey, I understand. After our initial interview with Professor Iravani… I want to know how in the hell did you manage to get the fake Effat out of the sealed room?”
“Acetylene torch and an axe. I wasn’t given Effat’s description…
so I had to take Iravani’s word. I had no time to search her…
I should have figured something was up when she refused to get out of that outfit she was wearing.
I guess in the dark, the double looked and sounded so much like Effat that it even fooled Iravani. ”
“Yes…”
“We are even now, Mike or Smith… whatever,” Simo stated firmly.
“Ah, well, Simo, that is above my pay grade, but I will pass it along in my report.”
Simo grunted. “Did the Iranians buy the Somali Pirate act?”
Smith smiled and nodded. “I guess they don’t call you ‘The Hollywood Hitman’ for nothing.”
Simo rolled his eyes and shook his head at the faux Commander Smith.
“Initial chatter shows that yes, they are buying it. We… added additional debris and a few dead Somali pirates around the wreckage. Apparently, they were too close when the ship exploded.” Smith smiled.
“Hate it when that happens.”
“Yeah. Anything additional you want to add to my report to Langley?”
“I want to be left alone…”
“Simo…” Smith began, “Man to man, here. We’ve been through the shit together.
You know they will not let you off that easy.
We took command of that Predator Drone and did your bidding in the desert two years ago.
Attacking targets on home soil is a strict no-no…
” Smith held his hand up. “I will give a detailed description of all that you accomplished here tonight. I am sure ‘they’ will be appreciative; besides… you have Ari Ascher in your corner.”
Simo sighed. “Are you going to be my ‘handler’ from now on?”
“That is the idea since we have history.”
“Fuck me.” Simo sighed.
“Ah… speaking of that.” Mike Booker paused and smiled. “Uh, Jessie James will be officially graduating. Her op was successful...”
Simo’s heart felt like it stopped at hearing her name. “What of her?”
“Come on, Simo! We give Ari updates to give to you. I thought you might want to be there… I can arrange it.”
“Me? No way.”
Smith eyed Simo for a long moment. “She has no one coming to support her at graduation.”
“Mike, what the fuck?” Simo glared. “Since when does the CIA have graduations?”
“It’s a new thing. Hey, don’t get pissed at me, I was just offering…”
“Mike, you be there for her… you do that for me as payback for keeping your submarine undamaged.”
Smith nodded. “Fine. Want me to pass along a message to her?”
“No. The less women I have in my life the better.”
Booker chuckled. “Fine, fine!”
“Why are you laughing?”
“You just don’t get it. Jessie…”
“Stop! I don’t want to hear any more about her. It’s ancient history,” Simo replied a little too loudly.
“Fine, fine. We will end the reports to Ari as well.” Smith saw that his comment caught Simo off-guard. Booker kept his face straight as it took a moment longer than normal for Simo to reply.
“Good.”
With a nod, Booker returned to his military demeanor. “At 0100 tomorrow, we will make contact with the USS Carl Vinson. Under the cover of darkness, you and Professor Iravani will board the carrier and be taken to your destinations. Questions?”
“None.”
Mike Booker/Commander Smith outstretched his hand. Simo paused a moment, then shook it firmly. “Fair winds to you, Simo.”
Simo sighed, then nodded. “Thanks.”