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the authorities began patrolling farther east. But he didn’t expect that to happen for at least another few months. In the meantime, he and his people would enjoy the fruits of their labors. And the profits from selling the box they’d recovered from the last boat should enable them to expand even more. It might even allow them to bribe someone inside the port authority to pass along information on desirable shipments. Inhaling another hit, Tony leaned back, letting his mind drift to fantasies of leading a pirate army to plunder the seas with impunity.
    His dreams of bigger and better things were interrupted by two sergeants, both grim-faced, entering his quarters. Between them was one of the lanun , holding a blood-soaked bandage to his thigh.
    “ Penambuh! Dajal-dajal hitam-bertopeng! ” the wounded man babbled in Malay.
    The mention of killers and black-masked devils, along with the creeping paranoia instilled by the drug, put Tony on high alert. Knocking the whore aside, he pulled up his pants and stood. “Might be special forces fucking with us. Radio the lookout ship and see if any suspicious boats are in the area.”
    “We’re trying, but cannot get a reply—”
    “ Taik! ” Tony punctuated the Malay profanity by spitting on the ground. “Goddamn Indonesians might be here already! Get everyone up and armed, now ! Get on the quad and shoot anyone out there that’s not us!” He pointed at his other sergeant. “You, get the boat ready!”
    As he spoke, the chatter of automatic weapons fire exploded in the compound. As his second sergeant ran out the door, Tony scrambled for the room behind his living space, dragging the prostitute with him. “Come on, whore!”
    In here was more loot from their heists—high-end electronics, from LCD televisions, Xboxes, and Playstations to a full-size arcade game, more designer clothes, and paintings, leather furniture, and artwork taken from luxury yachts. Ignoring all of it, the pirate leader grabbed a set of night vision goggles and put it on his forehead. He ran to an unmarked box, one meter long by half that deep and wide, that seemed to be a complete piece of smooth, olive-green metal with no seams, just two metal handles.
    Drawing a pistol from his waistband, Tony grabbed one end of the case and pointed the gun at the whore. “Pick it up, or you die!”
    The girl grabbed the other end and hauled ass after him. Tony left through a side opening, making sure he was in darkness before he positioned the goggles over his eyes and turned them on. He then headed down a dark, narrow trail into the jungle, tugging the box and the prostitute behind him.
    * * *
    Fifteen meters below the chattering AK-47, Vanel heard updates over his radio as the operation shifted into high gear.
    “All units, this is Mal. Engage enemy at will.”
    “—Team Jayne is moving to engage—”
    “—Inaras Two and Three have cleared lower level and are moving to support positions—”
    “Inara Eight—encountering moderate fire—moving to flank—”
    Yosif and he kept moving higher up the pirates’ base, taking out all targets of opportunity. It helped that the shooting was confusing most of the drunk or drugged pirates, making them easy prey.
    Covering each other’s advances, Vanel and Yosif mowed down three clusters of the enemy before they even knew what hit them. A brief transmission from Yosifs Two and Three, saying they were coming up behind the Leader and Four, made the two Keldara smile at the doubling of their firepower.
    The pair was heading for the next group of ramshackle buildings when bullets began chopping splinters from the wall next to Vanel. He ducked back around the corner, but not before taking two rounds in his body armor. The impact made him gasp, but a quick check showed the bullets hadn’t penetrated. The left side of his chest did feel like it had been hit with a hammer, though.
    Tracking the wild rounds back to their origin, Vanel gave the shooter another moment