Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

CHAPTER 44
GUNSLINGER FOUR-ONE
CENTRAL ARABIAN GULF (OFF THE COAST OF QATAR)
MONDAY; 21 MAY
0758 hours (7:58 AM)
TIME ZONE +3 ‘CHARLIE’
Lieutenant Vincent Brolan yawned hard enough to make his ears ring.
“I fucking hate dawn patrol,” he said, for about the eighth time that
morning. “I mean I really fucking hate it.”
“I know you do, Vince,” the copilot said. “And you really hate
spending all that flight pay that you get for flying it.”
Brolan eased his aircraft, Gunslinger Four-One, a little closer to the oil
platform. They were close enough to see the workers going about their
morning routines, doing whatever the hell it was that oil rig workers did.
A few of the workers turned at the sound of the helo’s rotor blades, and
some of them even waved. Most of them paid no attention whatsoever.
Helicopters were a dime a dozen in the gulf.
Lieutenant Brolan leaned his helmet against the port-side window and
felt the vibration of the engines resonating through his skull. “Lucky
Number Seven is a bust,” he said. “Let’s move on to our next contestant.”
The copilot, Lieutenant (junior grade) Enrico “Henry” Chavez, pointed
down at the platform. “Don’t you think we ought to swing around and
check out the back side?”
“It’s a waste of time, Henry. There’s nobody home.” Under his breath,
he said, “This whole thing is a waste of time.”
“We ought to do this by the numbers, Vince. That sub has got to be
hiding somewhere.”
“Yeah? Well if it ever was here, it’s long gone by now.”
“Come on, Vince. You know our orders.”
In the rear seat, the Sensor Operator, Aviation Warfare Systems
Operator Second Class Linda “Mojo” Haynes, listened to the exchange
and didn’t say a word. As the only enlisted member of the flight crew, she
made it her business to stay out of disagreements between the officers.
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