“Send him up here, then.” A few minutes later, Luger escorted an older man in a business suit, along with an Egyptian naval officer and a female security guard, up on deck. Luger was carrying a metal briefcase, one that obviously belonged to the Egyptians. Patrick watched them approach with his all-aspect sensors but did not stop scanning the sea for any sign of intruders. “General Baris? Tasharrafna,.”

“Es salaem alekum. You are the one they call Castor, I presume?” Baris asked in halting but very good English.

Patrick did not answer “I am General Ahmad Baris, retired, adviser to the president of Egypt on national security affairs. This is my aide and my bodyguard.”

“It is very dangerous for all of you to be here,” Patrick said, his voice disguised by the electronic voice amplifier in the battle armor. “I assure you, the men on board this ship will not be harmed if they do exactly as I say. I intend on returning this vessel shortly, as soon as we collect enough intelligence information to proceed against the Libyans. Anything else?”

“Aywa, inshaallah” Baris responded. “My friend, president, and leader of our country, Dr. Kamal Ismail Salaam, along with his wife Susan, were assassinated yesterday in Cairo during celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday,” Baris said. “A suicide bomber, believed to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

“Yes. I had been told about that. I’m sorry,” Patrick said woodenly. After all the death he had seen in the last twenty-four hours, the news of Salaam’s death had absolutely no effect on him. “I know President Salaam was very well respected in the United States; his wife was a veteran of the United States Air Force, I believe.”

“Yes.” Interesting comment—Baris filed that away for future use. Could this “Castor” be a former American Air Force officer himself? “Our intelligence sources believe the Muslim Brotherhood, led by Jadallah Zuwayy of Libya, was responsible for the assassination. He of course would have also ordered the attacks on vessels in international waters as well, in retaliation for the attack on his base at Samah. May I assume that it was you and your men that conducted that raid on Samah?”

“General Baris, I allowed you and your aide on board only to reassure you that your men and your vessel are being well taken care of, and I promise it’ll stay that way until we depart, unless your men fail to follow my orders,” Patrick said sternly. “I did not allow you to come up here and interrogate me. Ma’as salaema, General.”

“I am told you were conducting a search of the waters near where the El Arish picked up you and your men,” Baris went on. “I assume, then, that you lost some men in the attack. I am sorry for your loss, sir.”