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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Maden, Mike, author. | Cussler, Clive.

  Title: Hellburner: a novel of the Oregon files / Mike Maden.

  Other titles: Title appears on item as: Clive Cussler’s Hellburner

  Description: New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, [2022] | Series: Oregon files

  Identifiers: LCCN 2022019007 (print) | LCCN 2022019008 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593540640 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593540657 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Cabrillo, Juan (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Ship captains—Fiction. | LCGFT: Thrillers (Graphic works) | Novels.

  Classification: LCC PS3613.A284327 H45 2022 (print) | LCC PS3613.A284327 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23/eng/20220427

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019007

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022019008

  Cover illustration: Mike Heath

  Book design by Pauline Neuwirth, adapted for ebook by Maggie Hunt

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  pid_prh_6.0_140825327_c0_r0

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Titles by Clive Cussler

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

 
Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  About the Authors

  CAST OF CHARACTERS

  THE CORPORATION

  Juan Cabrillo—Chairman of the Corporation and captain of the Oregon.

  Max Hanley—President of the Corporation, Juan’s second-in-command and the Oregon’s chief engineer. U.S. Navy and Vietnam swift boat veteran.

  Linda Ross—Vice President, Operations. Retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer.

  Eddie Seng—Director, Shore Operations. Former CIA agent.

  Franklin “Linc” Lincoln—Operations. Former U.S. Navy SEAL sniper.

  Marion MacDougal “MacD” Lawless—Operations. Former U.S. Army Ranger.

  Raven Malloy—Operations. Former U.S. Army Military Police investigator.

  Tom Reyes—Operations. Former U.S. Army, 82nd Airborne Division.

  Eric Stone—Chief helmsman on the Oregon. Former U.S. Navy officer, weapons research and development.

  Dr. Mark “Murph” Murphy—Chief weapons officer on the Oregon. Former civilian weapons designer.

  Dr. Eric Littleton—Director of the Oregon’s biophysical laboratory.

  Mike Lavin—Chief armorer on the Oregon. Retired U.S. Army armament/fire control maintenance supervisor.

  Bill McDonald—Senior armorer on the Oregon. Former CIA paramilitary operator.

  George “Gomez” Adams—Helicopter pilot and chief aerial drone operator on the Oregon. U.S. Army veteran.

  Hali Kasim—Chief communications officer on the Oregon.

  Dr. Julia Huxley—Chief medical officer on the Oregon. U.S. Navy veteran.

  Kevin Nixon—Chief of the Oregon’s Magic Shop.

  Maurice—Chief steward on the Oregon. British Royal Navy veteran.

  THE PIPELINE

  GREECE

  Sokratis Katrakis—Founder of Katrakis Maritime, co-founder of the Pipeline.

  Alexandros Katrakis—Sokratis’ son, CEO of Katrakis Maritime.

  Archytas Katrakis—Son, captain of the Mountain Star.

  Stephanos Katrakis—Son, general manager of Katrakis Maritime’s shipyard.

  MEXICO

  Víctor Herrera—Head of the Herrera Cartel, son of Hugo Herrera, Mexico’s “King of Meth.”

  Lado Zazueta—Assassin employed by the cartel.

  REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

  David Hakobyan—Co-founder of the Pipeline. Naturalized American citizen.

  REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

  Cedvet Bayur—Regional mercenary commander in Libya. Former Turkish Army intelligence officer. Member of the Gray Wolves.

  Yusuf Toprak—President of the Republic of Turkey.

  Meliha Öztürk—Independent journalist and human rights activist, daughter of Dr. Kemal Öztürk.

  UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

  Alyssa Grainger—President of the United States (POTUS).

  Langston Overholt IV—The Corporation’s CIA liaison.

  1

  THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

  180 MILES OFF THE COAST OF SURINAME

  That’s his third course correction, sir,” Santos said. “There’s no doubt he’s chasing us.”

  Captain Calvera heard the tension in his first officer’s voice. They were both hovering over a military-grade electronics suite—something his commercial fishing trawler El Valiente shouldn’t have but did.

  Calvera stood scratching his beard, a nervous habit. It didn’t make any sense. According to the automated identification signal, they were being chased by an Indonesian-flagged vessel, the Sungu Barat, a 590-foot break-bulk carrier scheduled to arrive in Caracas in two days. Santos had examined its shipping records. The unremarkable cargo ship had been built in 1971 and had exchanged ownership at least thirteen times over the decades, most recently a month ago. Judging by its Vesseltracker photo, it was a floating wreck. Its hull, bridge and cranes were streaked with rust and grime. It was better suited for a trip to the breaker yard than sailing the open water.

  The slow-moving vessel hadn’t caught anyone’s attention over the last few days, but Santos had programmed their search radar to pick up on behavioral anomalies. Three hours ago, the Sungu Barat triggered an alarm and Calvera initiated course corrections to see if the radar’s warning software had made a mistake.

  It hadn’t.

  Stranger still, the Sungu Barat was over twice the length and double the weight of El Valiente and yet the broken-down cargo ship not only kept pace but was actually gaining on them. Now it was just a little over two kilometers behind and closing in.

  “Who do you think it is?” Santos asked.

  “Your guess is as good as mine. If anything, I’d say it might be pirates.” But even as he said it, Calvera shook his head in disbelief. “But sailing an old rust bucket like that? I doubt it.”

  “What do you want to do, sir?”

  Calvera frowned, thinking. There were only three choices ever available to a captain in his position: run, hide or fight. El Valiente was indeed a commercial fishing vessel, but it had been modified to function as a covert smuggler. He and his crew had spent years perfecting the art of hiding in plain sight, plying the fishing waters and port cities of the Atlantic and Mediterranean for over half a decade. Not being noticed was their first and best defense.

  Apparently, the Sungu Barat had breached that first defense. Now the options were either to run or fight. His eyes quickly scanned the radar screen again. They were the only two ships within five hundred kilometers, which meant they had this patch of the ocean all to themselves. A gun battle wouldn’t be noticed.

  Calvera’s inclination was to attack, but as his grandfather taught him, it was always better to defeat an enemy without actually fighting him. It was a lesson the old man learned as a young guerrilla alongside Che and Fidel in the Sierra Maestra mountains over sixty years ago. While they may be far out at sea, there was always the chance that if Calvera overplayed his hand, the authorities might be alerted. Better to play it safe.

  He turned to the ship’s helmsman. “Rico, full speed ahead.”

  “A la orden, mi capitán.”

  Th
e helmsman advanced the throttle. The ship’s massive diesel engine roared to life. While the trawler normally cruised at eleven knots, its top speed was rated at seventeen. But with the specially modified engine fitted for just such an occasion, El Valiente accelerated to an incredible thirty. The entire vessel thrummed with the vibrations of the racing pistons now hammering belowdecks.

  The sudden increase in speed brought a smile to everyone on the bridge, including Santos, still hovering over the radarscope. Calvera knew that showing such speed ruined the illusion that El Valiente was a mere fishing trawler, but shaking off this biting tick from the back of his neck was worth it.

  “Captain, we caught her flat-footed,” Santos said. “We’re pulling away.”

  “Excellent.”

  Calvera crossed over to Rico and clapped a hand on his shoulder. The young helmsman was grinning ear to ear with pride in his vessel and his captain. They would put plenty of distance between themselves and the old junker within minutes.

  “Captain. She’s closing on us—fast.”

  Calvera charged back over to the radar station. He couldn’t believe his eyes. The Sungu Barat was making over sixty knots.

  Sixty knots!

  “Check your radar, Santos. There must be something wrong with it.”

  “I ran a complete diagnostic earlier. Everything is in working condition.”

  “It’s not possible.” Calvera’s face darkened. “And yet, there it is.”

  The two men exchanged worried glances.

  “You know what’s at stake.”

  Santos nodded.

  A vein throbbed on Calvera’s forehead. He had a young wife and several children. So did Santos and the other officers. It was one of the reasons they had been recruited into the organization. If they were boarded and their cargo seized, not only would they be killed but their entire families would be wiped out.

  Failure was not an option.

  Santos saw the flashing comms light. He pulled on his earphones and tapped a button. A moment later, he glanced up at Calvera.

  “Captain, we’re receiving a message from the Sungu Barat. Their captain wants to speak with you.”