Final Option (The Oregon Files, Band 14) - Hardcover

Buch 14 von 19: The Oregon Files

Cussler, Clive; Morrison, Boyd

 
9780525541813: Final Option (The Oregon Files, Band 14)
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0525541810 ISBN 13: 9780525541813
Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019

Inhaltsangabe

In Final Option, Juan Cabrillo fights the worst enemy from his past to the terrifying and unexpected ending created by the Grand Master of Adventure, Clive Cussler, in the latest action-packed thriller in his #1 New York Times-bestselling series.

When the CIA realizes the identities of three American spies in Brazil have been compromised, they turn to Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon to rescue the agents. What seems a routine operation turns out to be a trap designed by Juan Cabrillo's greatest enemy, a man driven by hate to seek the ultimate revenge. At the heart of the plot is a state-of-the-art ship that is identical to the Oregon: same weaponry, same technology, same ability to evade capture. The only thing it doesn't have is Cabrillo and his talented crew. But will they be enough to go up against the one ship that rivals their own?

The crew of the Oregon must piece together a series of disturbing events, including the mysterious sinking of a nuclear attack submarine and the possible discovery of a WWII-era weapon that was thought to be lost in the jungles of Brazil, in the ultimate game of cat and mouse.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Clive Cussler is the author or coauthor of more than seventy previous books in five best-selling series, including Dirk Pitt, NUMA Files, Oregon Files, Isaac Bell, and Sam and Remi Fargo. His life nearly parallels that of his hero Dirk Pitt. Whether searching for lost aircraft or leading expeditions to find famous shipwrecks, he and his NUMA crew of volunteers have discovered more than seventy-five lost ships of historic significance, including the long-lost Confederate submarine Hunley, which was raised in 2000 with much press publicity. Like Pitt, Cussler collects classic automobiles. His collection features more than eighty examples of custom coachwork. Cussler lives in Arizona.

Boyd Morrison is the coauthor with Cussler of the Oregon Files novels Piranha, The Emperor's Revenge, Typhoon Fury, and Shadow Tyrants, and the author of six other books. He is also an actor and engineer, with a doctorate in engineering from Virginia Tech, who has worked on NASA's space station project at Johnson Space Center and developed several patents at Thomson/RCA. In 2003, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by becoming a Jeopardy! Champion. He lives in Seattle.

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1

The Atlantic Ocean

Present Day

Jack Perry stared in amazement at the approaching cargo ship. He wondered not only how it had made the voyage thousands of miles from South Africa, but also how it stayed afloat in the first place.

With the afternoon sun behind him, Perry had a good view of the decrepit vessel. The peeling hull was painted in so many different hideous shades of green that it looked like a collage of rotting avocados. Gaps in the deck railing were patched together by rusty chains, and the five cranes were so dilapidated that they seemed capable of collapsing at any moment. The bridge windows on the dingy white superstructure set two-thirds of the way toward the stern were so caked with dust that Perry couldn't see the crew inside.

He shook his head in disgust at the ancient steamer called the Portland. Why his employers back in Virginia would trust such an important operation to this rickety ship was far above his pay grade. When he had the freight safely transferred over to his own container carrier, he'd breathe much easier.

The Mant’cora wasn't a fancy ship by any means, but she had to be fifty years newer than the Portland. The bridge where Perry was standing was set near the bow, and she was smaller. Designed as a containership for smaller ports, the Mant’cora had two recently overhauled cranes.

Perry turned to the captain and said in Spanish, "Make sure we lift the containers aboard using our cranes, not theirs."

"S’, se–or," the captain replied as he eyed the Portland with contempt. "I wouldn't trust those cranes to carry a feather pillow."

"How long will the transfer take?"

The captain looked at the bridge clock, which read 14:17. "Once you complete the transaction with the Portland's captain, it shouldn't take more than an hour to haul four containers over and secure them."

"And when will we arrive in Nicaragua?"

"There's no significant weather expected along the route to slow us down, so less than a week."

"Good. Then let's get this over with."

Perry left the bridge and climbed a rope ladder down to the lifeboat that had been lowered into the water. The Portland was now stationary two hundred yards off the starboard bow of the Mant’cora. Perry couldn't be sure, but he thought the creaky ship was listing slightly. He didn't relish getting on her, but he had to check the cargo to make sure they were getting what they'd ordered.

When the lifeboat reached the Portland, he climbed aboard and was greeted by a man in his fifties with thinning gray hair tied back in a ponytail and a gut that threatened to pop the buttons on his Hawaiian shirt. His khaki pants were stained with grease, oil coated his boots, and he hadn't shaved in days.

The man stuck out a hand and smiled. "Chester Knight is my name. I'm the master of this fine ship." His New England accent made him sound like he was straight off a Gloucester swordfish boat.

Perry nearly recoiled, not wanting to get his clean clothes anywhere near the man, but he shook it anyway. The man's grip was surprisingly strong.

"Jack Perry. Can I see the cargo?"

"You don't waste time on chitchat, do you?" Knight asked with a laugh. "Come on, then."

He led Perry to four shipping containers lined up on the Portland's deck. Knight nodded to a crewman, who opened the first container. It was full of crates marked stellenbosch precision flanges.

"It's all here just like you ordered," Knight said, and handed Perry a crowbar. "See for yourself."

"I will," Perry replied. He climbed up and pried the top off one of the crates.

Inside, carefully packed in Styrofoam, were a dozen South African-made Vektor R5 assault rifles. He checked another crate and confirmed that it also held rifles.

He climbed down and had them open the next container. This one held Denel Y3 AGLs, Automatic Grenade Launchers.

The last two containers contained the other weapons that were promised.

"You got enough in there to start your own little war," Knight said.

In fact, they were destined for Nicaraguan rebels who were going to use them in fighting the corrupt socialist government that was allowing the drug cartels to run wild.

"What they'll be used for doesn't concern you," Perry said.

"Not at all. Not as long as we get paid what we're owed."

"Do you have somewhere we can complete the purchase?"

"My office should do nicely," Knight said. He waved for Perry to follow him into the superstructure.

The interior was even worse than the exterior. Cracked linoleum covered the floor, the walls were covered in grime, and the flickering fluorescent lights gave the corridor a sickly glow.

Knight limped slightly while he walked, and he coughed from exertion as they climbed a flight of stairs. Perry wondered who would be the first to go under, Knight or the Portland.

They walked into the captain's office, and Perry was assaulted by a putrid stench that nearly knocked him over.

Knight noticed his expression and closed the door to the bathroom. "Gotta get that toilet fixed." He gestured to the teetering metal chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Perry perched on the edge of the chair. He'd have to toss his clothes overboard after he returned to the Mant’cora.

Knight plopped himself into his seat and heaved his right leg up on the desk. He pulled the pant leg up to reveal a scuffed prosthetic limb grasping his leg just below the knee. He scratched at the edge of it and said with a grin, "I'll find that white whale one of these days."

"Captain Knight, can we conclude this transaction?" Perry asked. "We have a schedule to keep."

"Of course. I'm only too happy to get paid."

Perry took out his phone. "Please tell me the account number and I'll have the money transferred."

"We don't have WiFi on board the Portland."

"I'm connected to the Mant’cora's router."

"Someday we got to get one of those." Knight picked up a scrap of paper and read off a string of numbers.

For a moment, Perry wondered if he could get away with simply faking the transfer of ten million dollars, but he thought better of it and keyed in the instructions. When the transfer was complete, he told Knight. The grizzled captain picked up the battered phone sitting on his desk and called the radio room to confirm.

After a lengthy delay, he smiled and nodded before hanging up the phone.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a sale," Knight said. Perry was relieved that he didn't offer to shake hands again.

"Then I'll let the captain of the Mant’cora know that we can start moving the containers."

"That sounds fine. Why don't you watch from the bridge with me?"

"All right."

They walked up to the bridge, where they were met by three crewmen. The bridge was just as revolting as the rest of the ship. Discarded cans and cigarette butts littered the floor. The glass dials on several of the instruments were cracked. One of the windows had been blown out, was now covered with plywood and duct tape.

One of the crew said, "The captain of the Mant’cora has asked for permission to pull alongside so they can start lifting the containers."

"Permission denied," Knight said, his accent suddenly gone.

Perry whipped his head around. "What are you talking about?"

"We got what we came for."

"You're backing out on the deal?" Perry asked in shock.

"Why not? The money is sitting safely in our account now. We've got better things to do with those weapons than let them be used in some private war of yours in Nicaragua."

Perry's mouth hung open. "How did you . . . ?"

"We have people everywhere."

"You've made a big mistake. There is a squad of commandos...

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Verlag
G.P. Putnam's Sons
Erscheinungsdatum
2019
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0525541810
ISBN 13 
9780525541813
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Auflage
1
Anzahl der Seiten
400
Kontakt zum Hersteller
G.P. Putnam's Sons
https://www.penguin.com/putnam/

1745 BROADWAY Attn: Madison Forsander
NEW YORK
NY
10019
USA
Verantwortliche Person
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