Nir passed him down to Dima, who began assessing his injury. Meanwhile, Nir pulled the pins on a flashbang. Using a breaching tool, he smashed a window to his left. Gunfire erupted. Nir reached to the right, opened the door, and rolled in the grenade.

“Flashbang,” he said to Dima. They both closed their eyes tightly and opened their mouths to help offset the percussive slam.

Whoomp!

Nir pushed through the door, saw an IRGC soldier stumbling backward, and put him down. Two other men cowered on the bridge’s floor. One was wearing a captain’s uniform. The other was maybe a tech.

“Sitrep,” came Azoulai’s voice over the com.

“Upper aft cleared.”

“Upper bow cleared.”

“Garage cleared.” Nir recognized Yaron’s voice.

“Bridge cleared,” he reported. Then he watched as Dima carried Imri in and laid him down on the floor. Dima turned and gave Nir a thumbs-up.

Thank You, God.

“How many down?”

“Three.”

“Four.”

“Nil,” said Yaron.

“Two,” Nir said.

“With the six before, that gives us fifteen. So we have at least five more guns out there.”

Nir had a hunch. “Were all the dirties IRGC?”

All answered in the affirmative.

“I would bet the rest are with Ali Kamal. They’re his boys.” Turning toward the captain, he said, “Kamal’s suite. Give me a number.”

“It’s 305,” the man said with a shaky voice.

Nir pictured the schematic in his mind. “Third level. End of stern hall. Be careful. I’m guessing they’re all there. And there’s one more Quds guy around.”

“Root,” said Azoulai, then gave orders for taking the hallway.

Nir turned to the man next to the captain and spoke in Arabic. “You know where all the staff on this boat are hiding, don’t you?”

The man nodded quickly. Nir squatted and said, “Something very bad is about to happen on this yacht. I have boats to take you and the crew away from here before it does. I need you to gather them and take them to the garage. Do you understand me?”

Again, the man nodded.

“Listen, your instinct is to not trust me, but you know who I am, don’t you? You know I’m the one they had locked in that room?”

“I know that.”

“Good. One of you helped me. I’m here to give that help back. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I trust you.”

Nir put his hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Good. Now go save their lives.”

He scrambled to his feet and hurried out the door.

“I can help,” said the captain, standing.

“Sit down. I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you, which isn’t too far right now. You had to know all about what’s been going on here. You’ll get out of this alive—but only if you play your cards right.”