“Let’s take a look at the domed bridge before we get everyone aboard and flood the dock,” Renard said.
After slow, uncertain steps, Cahill felt his employer’s hand on his shoulder as he chuckled in his ear.
“Remind me before I would ever teach you the art of negotiation to first coach you in subtlety,” Renard said. “It was a noble effort, but ill timed and ill placed.”
“Sorry, mate. I just haven’t had me eye on a Sheila for years. She’s a beaut, and she caught me off guard.”
After a return climb up the basin’s stairway, a crossing of the brow that bridged the pier to the back of his starboard hull, and a memorized walk through the cargo ship’s innards, Cahill made his way to his familiar watch post.
Standing atop his ship restored his dignity, and he looked through the windows that interlaced steel bars stabilized. Water inundated the dock, and the Goliath’s commander watched ripples lap the underside of the port hull.
Liam Walker, his executive officer and a former sailor from an Anzac-class frigate, lifted his eyes from a status screen.
“I don’t like that makeshift port bow section, Terry. Not at all, I don’t.”
“Likewise, mate, but it beats no bow at all. We tried that by accident already, and it was miserable.”
“Forgive me for complaining, but I don’t like our Israeli riders either,” Walker said. “This is the first time we’ve had so many strangers aboard, and I really don’t like that they’re military types.”
“You can’t get involved in a civil war without getting chummy with fighters from one of the sides.”
“Good point. And I get the sense you wouldn’t mind getting chummy with their officer.”
Cahill frowned at his executive officer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You can’t take your eyes off Major Dahan.”
“Am I leering at her? Is it that obvious?”
“Sorry, mate,” Walker said. “I wish it were that simple. You’re not leering, you’re adoring. I think you’re suffering from an acute bout of infatuation.”
The revelation hit hard, and vulnerability diffused throughout his chest and limbs like a poison mist.
“Bloody hell, Liam. I’m screwed.”
With ironic timing, her voice issued from the loudspeaker.
“This is Major Dahan. I request permission to join you on the bridge, Mister Cahill.”
He panicked.
“I don’t know what to do. I don’t want her near me while I gather myself, but I can’t be rude.”
“Shall I handle it?” Walker asked.
“Please.”
His executive officer tapped buttons and aimed his voice above the duo’s heads.
“This is the executive officer, Liam Walker. Mister Cahill would be honored to have you as his guest on the bridge during our egress from Toulon. I’ve just unlocked the door, and we look forward to you joining us.”
The latch clicked open and shut, and footsteps echoed up the stairs. Without thinking, Cahill stepped to the handrail and spied the creature who tugged his emotions in every direction.
In this moment, she irritated him, and he glared at her, trying to make sense of her invasion into his world.
As she met his gaze, the effort backfired.
“Which part of my uniform impresses you the most?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re staring at me. Something must impress you about my uniform.”
“Um, the dark green part, I guess.”
“It’s all dark green. Are you most attracted to my chest, my buttocks, or my groin?”
The jolt woke him up.
“No need to be testy, major. I was merely offering a hand to help you up.”
He extended his arm, and she hesitated below him.
“Do you help all guests to the bridge, or just the ladies? I don’t want any special treatment other than you refraining from undressing me with your eyes.”
“Given that you’re the first lady to have ever boarded this ship, that’s an unfair question.”
She remained a statue, and he returned to his console.
“Suit yourself,” he said.
The space felt cramped as she moved between him and Walker. With folded arms, she aimed a strong voice at him.
“I’ve taught enough horny young Israeli soldiers lessons, and I won’t hesitate to use appropriate techniques to make sure your crew pays me the same courtesy. I’m a field-grade officer of the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate, not a Barbie Doll.”
She’d been on board less than thirty minutes, but he knew a sailor needed less than thirty seconds to offend a lady.
“I apologize if any of my men have been inappropriate with you. I will have Mister Walker investigate how my men have treated you thus far, and I will deal personally with any sailor who has wronged you.”
She stepped close to him and lowered her voice.
“Your crew has behaved as well as sailors can be expected. My problem is with you. Keep your eyes off my feminine parts.”
Petrified, he kept them glued forward at the basin’s rising waterline and forced a curt reply.
“Yes, ma’am. Of course.”
“You’re no longer military, and if you were, you’d still outrank me,” she said. “So don’t call me ‘ma’am’. It implies that I’m old, and that’s worse than objectifying me.”
He wanted to disappear and hoped for a rescue as his executive officer reached for his blinking screen.
“Pierre’s hailing us,” Walker said.
“Speak to him in private,” Cahill said. “Let him know Major Dahan is with us on the bridge.
Walker exchanged words with their boss.
“He says it’s okay to share the news with her.”
“Very well. Put him through.”
The Frenchman’s voice filled the dome.
“Dmitry has just contacted me with a one-way communications buoy on a thirty-minute delay. He’s barely cleared Port Said, and he’s already been harassed by an Israeli submarine. He managed to disable one, but then he stumbled upon another. This verifies Major Dahan’s prediction that the Israeli Navy is poised to defend potential interference from the Egyptians.”
“What’s his outlook on breaking through?”
“Not good. The Israelis have regrouped from his early moves.”
“I suppose that means I need to transport him through or around the problem.”
“Indeed,” Renard said. “Make haste. I’ll have you out of that dock in an hour.”
After the line went dead, Dahan spun around and headed for the staircase. Cahill called for her in hopes of salvaging a normal conversation.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To check on my team’s surveillance equipment.”
“You’re going to miss the exciting part where we get underway and accelerate to the open sea.”
She stopped at the top of the stairs, turned her head, and offered him a profile of her sleek jawline.
“I’ll be back when the time is right. And I’ll be the judge of what I consider exciting.”
After she left, Walker shook his head.
“She’s got you by your bloody wanker.”
“Do you have to remind me?”
“Maybe I do. This can’t be a good thing.”
“Well, don’t you think she’s a beaut?”
“I’m a married man.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Fine. I can’t deny that she’s attractive,” Walker said.
Cahill pondered a paranoid thought.
“Do you think Israeli intelligence somehow knew I’d find her attractive?”
“Now that’s a dangerous concept. That would mean she’s here to manipulate you and not just to help us.”
“Perhaps. Or maybe just to assure her bosses that I do what Pierre signed us up to do.”