May Day (The Erelong Trilogy Book II)

Firefight

Fassbinder and the three Americans on his team waited by the securely sealed cases and drums unloaded from the missile tubes on the USS Texas. They watched the escort from the JS Ikuchi appeared atop the submarine with the two Japanese scientists.

The two officers looking down from the sail watched Matsumoto and Ishida walk either side of their prisoners. Two members of the Japanese Delta Force stood on the deck in a state of readiness, their attention focused on the line of commandos below them.

The tension between the Japanese on the submarine and Australian soldiers on the wharf was palpable even from above in the sail where the Captain and the XO stood. The two men shifted their attention to the second combat boat pulling away from the side of the JS Ikuchi. Tindale counted seven more Delta Force inside.

"They don't mess about, do they?" He commented to his XO.

"Your friend is taking no more chances," O'Hara replied.

"I guess not," Tinsdale replied, and he lowered his binoculars and turned to O'Hara. "Good thing Japan's not at war with Australia."

"Not yet, they aren't," O'Hara replied. "Tomorrow—who knows?"

Tindale raised his eyebrows and reached for the megaphone switch. "Just in case—"

The two men stared in surprise at the Australians.

Like two licks of flame running along the dock, the commandos split into two groups. They re-assembled with one in front of the bow of the USS Texas and the other at the stern.

The two Japanese soldiers had dropped to one knee and brought their rifles to their shoulders. An automatic to cover a group of commandos. It was hardly balanced odds. Any hostile action was not going to last long.

There was a shout from the deck, and Tindale and O'Hara stared in horror as Lieutenant Carter leaped from an open hatch clutching a M4 carbine. Two more armed SEALs emerged close behind him.

"Oh, for pity's sake!" O'Hara exclaimed.

"The Japanese nationals work for the Australian government," Carter shouted to the Australians on the wharf. "Do not to let them be taken to the other sub!"

The Delta Force soldiers heard the second inflatable bump up against the side of the submarine. They swept the ends of their carbines to and fro across the SEALS, but their attention was also on the commandos. They had no chance of protecting the Commander and detective or their prisoners.

"What're we doing, Lieutenant?" Tindale bellowed down to Carter.

On the wharf, the commandos were finding the situation a little too fluid. "Hold your fire!" The Australian unit leader yelled to his troops.

One of the SEALs turned to the Australians and yelled his frustration. "Shoot the Japs!"

On the sail, Tindale and O'Hara knew the next move would have to up to them otherwise all hell was about to break loose. Tindale hollered into the bridge microphone. "Chief Petty Officer Seung, what's happening down there?"

"Sir, we have—"

But Seung's reply was cut short by a burst of gunfire below the deck.

"Take the SEALS out, Seung," Tindale shouted through the mic. "Take the SEALS out, and that's an order!"

He listened in dismay to the sounds of chaos below deck. "You better get down there," he told O'Hara.

"On my way," O'Hara said as he made for the ladder.

"No, wait," Tindale called out, and he switched on the megaphone. "Now hear this! This is Captain Tindale of the USS Texas. The Japanese party is to be allowed passage to their boat. Do not—I repeat—do not attempt to block the transfer of the Japanese nationals."

The two men ducked at the sharp twang of metal against metal as the lip of the sail was struck by a bullet. Another round whistled overhead and Tindale sank to his haunches.

"Cap'n," Chief Petty Officer called out white-faced at the hatchway. He clambered onto the bridge with an M4 in his hand.

"Get your head down, man!" O'Hara snapped at him.

"They've closed the tube hatch tight behind them," Seung said, dropping down beside Tindale. "We can't get at them. One SEAL's down—sir—we've lost Freckles and Woolington."

"Give me your weapon," Tindale rasped, and without waiting for an answer he snatched the short-barreled automatic from Seung's hands.

He took a deep breath and jumped to his feet. It took a moment for him to level the sights on Carter's head, and he didn't pull the trigger.

"Put the weapon down, Lieutenant Carter."

Carter gazed up at the man on the sail. "I'm doing my job, sir."

"Well, the only thing I see that's accomplished so far is to kill two of my crew and one of your own team. I am ordering you and your men to put down your weapons!"

"Can't do that, sir," Carter replied, and he fired a shot at the sail from his waist.

The hot metal whistled by Tindale's head and once more he ducked for cover.

"Frank, do you think he intended to miss me?" Tindale asked O'Hara.

"Consider yourself lucky, John," O'Hara replied.

"That's what I thought too," Tindale said with a sigh. "Well, Frank, this is as bad as I'm going to allow it to get."

Ishida and Matsumoto threw the two scientists to the deck and flattened themselves beside their prisoners. The transfer would have to wait. The two Delta Force had not received orders to fire, and because of that fact, and unfortunately for them, this mission would be their last.

Carter flicked his weapon onto automatic and swiveled on his feet. He squeezed the trigger the moment the two Japanese with their weapons aimed in his direction came into his periphery vision. He grunted with satisfaction when both of the dark blue uniforms crumpled to the deck. The SEALS ran to the edge of the submarine ready to engage the rest of the Delta Force, but the Japanese were already on the move, reacted the instant they heard the sound of automatic gunfire.

The second combat boat roared away from the sub and spun on the water. The weapons of the Delta Force blazed the moment the rubber inflatable straightened out of the spin. The bullets punched through the flesh and bone of the three SEALS, and the firestorm was over in seconds.

The commandos on shore could do nothing but watch the awful act play out. They had obeyed the unit leader's repeated call not to fire.

"Sir?" Seung called.

The captain lowered his weapon when he looked over his shoulder and saw his CPO crouched over O'Hara.

O'Hara was lying on his back with arms flung out wide. Seung pressed his palm down on O'Hara's chest.

"Frank?" Tindale cried out.

He set the M4 down on the deck and slid beside the mortally wounded O'Hara. His heart broke as he saw the amount of blood that seeped from the man's injury. His put his palm against O'Hara's cheek and saw his friend open his eyes to gazed up at him with a look of disbelief.

"Frank, hang in there," Tindale told him. "Seung, call the Medical Officer. For God's sake, hurry man. I've got him."

"Sir, I think he's gone," Seung said as he felt for the carotid artery in O'Hara's neck. He turned to look up at the Captain.

Tindale moaned. What had made him call the XO back? He couldn't for the life of him remember why. He bent over O'Hara and gently closed the man's surprised eyes.

"I got him, James," he said to Seung. "Go get yourself cleaned up."

"Sir?"

"Go on," Tindale told him.

Seung watched Tindale lift his old friend and hug him tightly. He turned back to the hatch and hurried down the ladder.