Ghost Fleet (The Tide, #7)

by Anthony J. Melchiorri

The kind of ship that looked like a show pony instead of something that actually went to sea belonged to billionaires and yachtsmen who sailed from one pretentious port to the next, avoiding anything so contentious as a rainstorm. A real crew commanded a real ship into the great open frontier of the ocean and all the dangers it held. The Huntress was a real goddamn ship. After all, a ship in harbor is safe enough, but that’s not what a ship is for, Thomas thought, paraphrasing a favorite quote.

“We are back on deck and ready for pickup.” “Copy that,” Frank said. “BA coming in for our scheduled departure. ETA five minutes.” “BA? British Airways?” O’Neil asked. “Badass Airlines,” Frank corrected. “Operated by me, the badass supreme.” “Should’ve never asked,” Miguel muttered.

“Ladies and gentleman,” the man barked into a bullhorn. “Once again, you have failed to get into your shelters on time. Another drill, another failure. Do you realize what this means?” Everyone was smart enough now not to answer. “It means you’re all dead,” he continued. “And don’t you dare cover your children’s ears. This is the reality we live in now. As soon as a shipload of Skulls hits our shores, you’re all dead. I don’t care if your back hurts or you’ve got arthritis or you don’t know how to run. You know why I don’t care?” The people who had made it to the basements were trickling outside once more. “I don’t care because the Skulls don’t care,” the master sergeant continued. “We’re facing an enemy that doesn’t care if you’re a woman or a child. Doesn’t care if you’re disabled or sick. They are killers, and they do not stop. “So here is what you will do. People, help your neighbors. Parents, help your kids. Kids, help your parents and grandparents. Because if just one of you falls, if just one of you turns into a Skull, you risk the rest of this island. I will not tolerate failure. Is that understood?” Now it was time to speak. The crowd responded in a deafening, “Yes, sir!”

They wanted him to advance his work in the years after the war, to make the compound stronger and easier to transmit. He had created the compound to defend his own country, but America wanted to use it to defeat others. To make it so that their enemies would destroy themselves from the inside without the Americans having to expend a single one of their precious soldiers. They wanted to win wars without having to fight them. There was little honor in that.

“I have been imprisoned for so long,” he said, his voice gravelly and weak. “So many times. I do not know what I’ve done now. I have been a slave to anger and hatred. Forces beyond my control. Forces that controlled me.”

“What I’m trying to say is this: We make the best decisions we can at the time. We have no way of knowing until later how differently things might’ve turned out had we made another choice. That’s going to happen a lot in this war and in your life. You’re allowed to regret those decisions. What you aren’t allowed to do is let your mind rot from the inside out because you can’t let it go. You learn, you remember, and you do better next time.”

The future was unknown; the past was already gone. The most important moment of her life was always the present.

She traced her finger over the map Ronaldo had given her. Spitkovsky and the FGL were planning something. Sure, they might attack Washington, DC. But that wasn’t all they were up to. It couldn’t be.

Of course it isn't; there's still three whole books after this one.

“I don’t know about you, but I could use some shit coffee made by some guy who looks like he’s half dead.” “I didn’t think there were any Starbucks around.”

“I expect you to wait on my command,” Mokri said. “We will not destroy their drone, and we will not attack them head-on. That is foolish and suicidal.” “It is not suicide when you know you will defeat them,” Semenov said. “Your arrogance knows no bounds. When they infected you with that agent, did it give you claws but remove your common sense?” “I could tear out your heart right now,” Semenov said. The Hybrid’s words rang true. He could see those claws slicing through his flesh, those gray muscles powering Semenov’s fist through his ribs. A heavy weight pulled at his insides, something he hadn’t felt since Spitkovsky had first told him he’d “watch” over his family in Moscow. Mokri was afraid. “You will not do that,” Mokri said. “And why not?” “Because even though you could, you cannot command a ship like this. You would sink it before you’d even reach the Huntress. You and I both know, even if my heart were lying under your foot, I would not be the unluckiest person aboard this ship. That honor would go to you when Spitkovsky found out how you had screwed our directive.”

“Stay on the Karlstad. I just want you to be aware of our situation so you’re not waiting up late for me when I come home, old man.” “I gave up on a curfew for you long ago,” Thomas shot back. “You’re worse than the teenaged son I probably have in some distant port.” “Well, I hope Samantha and Chao aren’t getting bored of changing your adult diapers back there, because it looks like we’ll be busy for a while.” “I’m not much of a diaper changer,” Samantha said, hopping on the channel. “Never liked kids or old people.” “What are you going to do when you are one?” Thomas asked. “Already was a kid. Didn’t like myself then.” “I mean when you’re old and wrinkly and gray like me.” “Don’t plan on getting old,” Samantha said. “It’s why I do crazy shit like work on this crew. Pretty much guarantees I won’t end up like you. Speaking of my work, we still have no indication the Karlstad has spotted our drone.”

“As soon as we confirm this is an enemy vessel, we fire.” On the off chance this was some terrible coincidence, he couldn’t sink an innocent ship. For all he knew, it was a cruise ship full of evacuees. That was unlikely, but he had also once thought it unlikely that someday people would be turning into cannibalistic, half-skeleton monsters.

“This is no way to talk to a superior,” Mokri said. “You insolent son of a whore, you were designed to be a soldier, a follower. Leave the bridge and await my orders, or—” “Or what, you will run to Spitkovsky like a child? You will tell him we are misbehaving? No, you will tell him we did not destroy the Huntress because you refused to listen to me.” Heat flushed through Mokri hotter than the sun over Tehran. “You are nothing but an animal, an attack dog bred for a single purpose. You only know how to kill. You do not know how to win a war. When they made you this thing, did they lobotomize you as well? Or were you always this stupid?”

“Badass Airlines understands you have no choice when it comes to domestic and international air travel. You are stuck with us, and for that, we appreciate you. There will be no beverage service. But you’ve got the best goddamn pilot in the world. Thanks for flying with us, and thanks for kicking FGL ass.” Miguel gave Frank a thumbs-up. “I don’t need thanks. Kicking ass is its own reward.” “What he said,” O’Neil growled, raising his hands. “These claws will fit nicely in any FGL goon’s stomach.” “Gruesome,” Jenna said. “But entirely deserved.” “Humanity’s future is on the line,” Meredith said. “We’re facing extinction. O’Neil can disembowel as many of those bastards as he wants.”

“Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright. Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

“I am scared of them always, but that does not mean I am afraid to do what must be done.”

“Andris, spot me,” she whispered. “I will let you know before it stomps you.” “Very reassuring.”

Wolves are nothing but dogs when hunting alone. They are only wolves in a pack.

“The Hybrids have mutinied against the Iranians,” Dom said. “We’re in the middle of a civil war here.” “Ah,” Andris said. “The Titan is merely the cavalry for the Hybrids.” “Tell the cavalry to go home,” Jenna muttered. “I would,” O’Neil said over the comms. “But he’s not listening to me.”

there was no partial credit when dealing with nuclear-tipped missiles. It was either take them all out or welcome annihilation.

“The docs do know we aren’t sitting in this hospital forever, right?” Rachel finally asked. “They don’t, but I’m sure you’ll tell them.”