"Signal your shooters, Lieutenant," Rafael challenged, taking a slow step forward as the rain washed over his face. "Let us see whose orders they obey first."
Lieutenant Miller's eyes widened in sudden, raw panic as he raised his brass signaling whistle to his lips. He blew a sharp, piercing blast that cut through the roaring ocean storm.
High above on the massive iron cranes, the three red laser targeting dots quivered against Rafael's wet coat, but no shots echoed through the downpour.
"What are you waiting for?" Miller screamed toward the dark sky, his voice cracking with desperation. "Shoot him!"
Rafael pressed a tiny copper button on his sleeve terminal, sending a localized frequency jammer signal directly to the crane relays.
A sudden surge of blue electricity hummed from
