The Socotra Incident

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Ilyas kept his eyes on his prey as their speedboat tore through the waves. One hand gripped the stock of the AK-47 slung over his chest; the other held onto the splintered wood of the speedboat with white-knuckle intensity. The man at the engine, Guleed, gunned the engine and sent the speedboat through the top of a whitecap. The craft dropped through three feet of air and slammed into the sea.

“Take it easy, or we’re going to swim home!” Ogaal yelled over the roar of the engine and wind. Guleed shrugged and spat a glob of khat juice at Ogaal. Ogaal choked down a mouthful of bile and put his head between his legs.

Ilyas shook his head in disappointment at the seasick pirate. The two other armed Somalis inched away from Guleed as he dry heaved — not that they’d find much sanctuary on a boat that could barely hold five men.

Their target, a two-hundred-foot fishing boat, came in and out of view as the speedboat worked through the chop. Two large booms meant to trawl fishing nets from the boat’s sides remained visible over the surf, making Ilyas’s job as the spotter all too easy.

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