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where Phillips was asleep. Calling was the ship’s second mate on duty on the Alabama ’s bridge, the ship’s control center. “Cap, I think you better get up here.” “What is it?” “Somali pirates…they’re talking on the radio.” Phillips bounded out of

bed, ran into the passageway, and clambered up to the bridge. As he burst through the door, Phillips heard a voice on the radio calling, “This is Somali pirate…Somali pirate.” Phillips grabbed his binoc- ulars and looked across a dark sea partly illuminated by a full moon. He saw a large boat, possibly the pirates’ mother ship, about seven miles dis- tant, its lights cutting across the darkness. Phillips could also see a second, much smaller boat, tied to its stern, or backside.

Captain Richard Phillips of the Alabama found himself at the center of an inter- national hostage crisis.

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