Rogue State (covert action series Book 4) by Ross Sidor

Author:Ross Sidor [Sidor, Ross]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unknown
Published: 2020-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

THE GULF OF OMAN

“Wake up, Chief. It’s almost time.”

Laying on his back on his narrow cot, Kozar’s eyes shot open.

The American contractors, about half of whom were present, had their own compartment aboard the Imani, separate from the respective quarters billeting the small Pakistani contingent and the ship’s crew. Each party kept mostly to themselves, with little interaction between the Americans and the Pakistanis beyond the initial security briefing.

This was their first night at sea since departing from Gwadar ten hours ago. Pakistan was already some two-hundred-fifty miles back. The ship’s hull creaked and groaned. The Imani was small enough and the waves just rough enough to roll the deck.

Kozar stuffed his feet into his boots and slipped his plate carrier on over his black T-shirt. Then he reached under his cot for the metal case containing the rest of his kit. He removed the weapons from the foam inserts and carefully press-checked the Heckler & Koch MP5SD and SIG P226.

A lightweight, compact submachine gun chambered for subsonic 9mm and featuring a stubby, 5.7-inch barrel and minimal recoil, the MP5 was well suited for the close quarters of a ship and remained a favorite weapon of maritime operators.

Kozar unfolded the retractable metal stock, inserted a magazine of thirty rounds into the receiver well, worked the charging handle, tested the laser sight, and shifted the selector switch to single shot.

One of his SEALs was posted near the hatch, dressed in aqua camouflage pants, tank top, and chest rig, his suppressed MP5 held in low-ready as he peered out down the narrow corridor.

Presently, the Imani was just less than halfway through the Gulf of Oman, somewhere between the nations of Iran and Oman. The route took them outside of the gulf’s normal shipping lanes, slightly closer to the Omani coast on the south of the gulf and further away from the Iranian coast on the north.

Given the escalating spate of attacks and ship seizures taking place between the Gulf Arabs and Iran, the Saudis did not want to risk the Iranians damaging or sinking the Imani, or worse, boarding the ship.

The Imani would be vulnerable as it was when passing through the narrow Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf, where Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces had aggressively amped up their patrols, so there was no reason to extend the danger through the Gulf of Oman.

The Iranians remained the least of Kozar’s worries, though. He never planned to come anywhere near the Strait of Hormuz.

His biggest concerns were the Saudi navy ships in the Persian and Oman Gulfs. In addition to keeping the Iranians in check, these ships currently tracked the Imani, checking in regularly with Kozar’s men, always in position to react to an emergency.

The Saudi navy ships, some of which carried helos with fast response teams, were positioned so that help was always less than forty minutes away from the Imani. The second that the Imani went dark or failed to respond to hails, the Saudis would suspect something was wrong and come investigate.

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