Page 4 of Finding Elodie
“What is it?” the admiral asked.
“We have communication from the Asaka Express.”
“Thank fuck,” Midas said.
“Can it be patched through?” the admiral asked.
“Yes, Sir. Just a moment.” The lieutenant disappeared from the doorway once more.
Mustang and his team waited impatiently for the connection to be made to the cargo ship. When the sophisticated radio in the middle of the table finally squawked, Mustang blinked in surprise at the voice on the other end.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Yes, ma’am, you’ve been connected. Please tell the admiral what you just told me.”
“Um…okay. I’m on the Asaka Express and there are pirates onboard. We need help.” The woman’s voice was shaking, she was obviously scared, but she was keeping her composure.
“This is Admiral Light, I’m in charge of the USS Paul Hamilton. We’re headed in your direction. What is your name?”
“El— Um…Rachel Walters.”
Mustang looked over at Jag, who raised an eyebrow at hearing her response. Most people didn’t stumble over their own name. Even in an extremely stressful situation like the one Ms. Walters had found herself in.
“And in what capacity do you work onboard?”
“My job? I’m the cook.”
It wasn’t unheard of to have females onboard the large cargo ships that constantly sailed through the waters in the Middle East, but it was still rare enough to be interesting.
“What can you tell us about the situation?” Admiral Light asked.
“Right, um, well, I can only tell you what I’ve heard. I—”
“What do you mean, you heard?” Mustang asked, interrupting her.
“Oh, uh…there’re more than just the admiral there?” she asked.
“Yes,” Mustang answered. “My SEAL team is here and we’re going to come help you, but we need as much information as you can give us before we do. How many pirates are onboard?”
“Here’s the thing,” Rachel said. “I haven’t actually seen any of them. They have pretty thick accents and it’s hard for me to understand them. Walter…er…Captain Conger told everyone onboard to hide, so that’s what I did. I’m in the galley…well, not the galley, but in one of the pantries nearby. I’ve got a radio, and one of the officers must’ve turned on a radio on the bridge, because it’s been broadcasting. I can hear everything that’s going on up there, but again, it’s hard to understand. I can’t see what’s happening.”
“How many crew are onboard?” Aleck asked.
“Twenty-two, including me,” Rachel answered without hesitation.
“What channel were you listening to the bridge on?” Pid asked.
“Ten.”
“And what channel are you on now?” Pid asked.
“Um…five, I think. I was just changing channels and seeing if anyone could hear me when you guys answered.”
Pid reached into his pack on the floor and started rummaging around. He was the team’s electronics expert, and Mustang knew he was going to try to tap into the radio frequency Rachel was using and listen to what was happening on the bridge of the Asaka Express himself.
“If you had to guess, how many men would you say boarded the ship?” the admiral asked.
Mustang heard Rachel sigh. “I don’t know,” she said. “We were all sleeping when it happened and woke when the captain made an announcement, telling us what was going on. But I think it’s more than just a handful. There was talk of searching the ship earlier, and I’m not sure they’d do that if they only had three or four people, but I’m not an expert on forcefully taking over a ship, so I don’t know for sure. They want money, and for the captain to open the containers. They said something about more men coming onboard when we got somewhere and that they didn’t want hostages.”
