Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
Somewhere in the Philippine Sea
The engine of the boat rumbled under him. Sweat ran down Noah’s chest, and with every inhale he tried not to breathe through his nose. But the smell in this cramped room was the least of his problems right now.
The others sat around the room as he did, leaning against the hot metal side of the ship, against the wall of the storage room, or against each other.
Jay had gone with Dan, so neither was in here.
But Ash and Adam, Steph, a number of the workers they’d been imprisoned with on the island, and that guy Adam knew were here.
Kai lay in the center, staring up at the ceiling with his ankles crossed and his fingers laced over his abdomen.
They’d been stripped to their underwear and relieved of anything they’d gathered on their way off the island, which hadn’t been much.
Marina shifted beside him, and he looked at her painted toenails, tipping his head toward her. “You okay?” He kept his voice to a whisper.
She shook her head.
“We’ll get out of here.”
“Yeah?” Kai turned only his head. “When? How?”
“Bro, you were imprisoned longer than all of us. I know you want out.”
Noah wasn’t the only one who had been in a situation like this before.
Little had he known that when he and Marina went to confront Earthnet about the team being targeted, they would wind up on an island near the Philippines, conscripted into mining rare earth minerals for the company to use in electronics manufacturing.
This whole conspiracy was a lot bigger than they’d thought. Earthnet had already launched more than one satellite into space. They had an intelligent program, Polaris. It would take time to unpack everything that had been the AI’s doing, and figure out how to neutralize the potential threat.
Whatever Earthnet was up to, whether it was a global network or not, they didn’t want anyone to stop them.
Which meant Noah was determined to do exactly that.
“False victory isn’t victory,” Ash muttered.
Kai twisted around, flipping over and sitting up. “None of your Phoenix Network pals knows where we are?” He looked between Ash and Kyle for a second, then pinned Noah with a stare. “Or your twin?”
Noah said, “We aren’t telepathic.”
Considering how they often felt each other’s strong emotions, Noah figured his brother knew something was wrong. But there was likely nothing Caleb could do about it.
“What about your buddy, Ice?” Kyle pointed out. “Where is he?”
“Enough.” Adam opened his eyes. “We aren’t going to get through this if we’re taking out our frustration on each other.”
“He’s right,” Noah said. “The whole point is to pit us against each other. To observe the team under stress and watch us fracture.” Noah sat forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Whatever we do, we do together.”
Marina’s fingers wrapped around the inside of his elbow and a second later he felt her touch the jagged patch of scars on his lower back.
He froze. “Don’t.”
She pulled her fingers away as if she’d touched something hot. “Sorry.”
He winced. “I wasn’t going to tell you.” Now he had no choice. It was out there for all to see.
Noah turned to her because while the others would hear the whole thing, he didn’t want to see their faces. “It’s why I quit the SEALs and left the navy.”
“He’ll use it against you.”
Noah looked at the guy. “Kyle, is it?”
The other man nodded.
“Anyone with eyes can see it.” And as far as Noah was concerned, it wasn’t even close to the worst thing Montrose could use against him. He looked at Marina. “It’s why I shouldn’t go on missions with the team.”
“Does it hurt?”
Noah lifted his hand and swiped the tear off her cheek. “Don’t cry for me, Marina.”
She sniffed, wincing and turning away. “Kai is right. We need to get out of here.”
“Finally, someone agrees with me.”
Noah leaned back against the wall, but whatever way he adjusted his position it hurt. He got up, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms above his head.
“Good idea.” Kyle stood as well, pedaling his knees as if he was getting ready to run.
Steph said, “I’m new to this whole ‘team’ thing, but if you guys have a plan, then I’m in for whatever it is.”
Marina grabbed his hand but didn’t tug on it. She got up without pulling on his arm. And she didn’t let go of his hand.
“What are we gonna do, jump over the side in the middle of the ocean?” Adam glanced around but didn’t get up. “We’re overpowered.”
Ash walked over to him. “So we overpower them right back.” He held out his hand, Adam took it, and he hauled the guy to his feet.
“That doesn’t even make sense.” Adam shook his head. “And Montrose is probably sitting in his office, listening to this whole thing while making notes on how to torment us and laughing his butt off.”
“What about Ice?” Kai seemed hesitant to point out the fact one member of the team wasn’t on this boat. “You think he’ll come in, guns blazing?”
“When—if—he does,” Noah said, “you wanna be in here feeling sorry for yourself, or working on an escape plan?”
Adam glanced at him. “Is this where we all chant all for one…?”
Noah caught the fear in Adam’s gaze. Added to the mass of old and new scars on his body, he could understand why Adam felt the way he did. “There’s a reason I chose each of you, and it wasn’t because you shoot first and ask questions later.”
Ash said, “Ice does.”
“Or because of Kai’s sparkling personality.”
Kai sputtered. “I bring…character to the team.”
Noah almost smiled. “I chose each of you because of who you are. You look out for each other and refuse to back down no matter what.” He glanced around.
“I didn’t even know half the truth of what you’ve been through, but I could see it.
I didn’t need to know your secrets. You showed me in what you do, and how you operate. ”
Kai sniffed, swiping a finger under his eye. “I love a good speech.”
Adam shoved Kai’s shoulder with one hand, the other tethered to Steph. Keeping each other anchored the way Marina had a hold on him. “Wait a second longer next time.”
Kai lifted his hands. “I’m not hugging it out when we’re all in our underwear.”
Ash chuckled. “Good call.”
The lock on the door clinked a second before it started to swing open. Kai rushed it first, pushing the door back against the first person through. There was a dull thud. He went for the door again.
“Down,” Noah ordered.
Kai dropped into a crouch and whipped the door open. The first gunshot went over his head, pinged off the metal side of the boat, and hit one of the workers who fell back onto the floor.
Ash followed Kai through the door, and Kyle ran through after him.
Noah and the rest of them bottlenecked in the doorway, trying to get out.
Another gunshot went off, this time angled to the floor. Ash elbowed the guy in the face, then brought the man’s chin down on his knee. Kyle punched his guy over and over. Someone else appeared at the end of the hall.
Kai dropped one of the men against the wall opposite the door, his face bloody.
Noah swiped up a gun that had been dropped and killed the man at the end of the hall. “Get what you can and let’s move.”
They flooded out of the room, down the hall. Kai said, “Ash and I are going to find Dan and Jay.”
Noah nodded. “We’ll go after Montrose.”
Kyle fired a shot, and a man collapsed at the end of the hall. Adam ran over and got a gun, passing another pistol to Steph and commenting, “Wouldn’t want you to steal mine.”
She grinned. “I always feel safer with a gun in my hand. Even if I’m in my underwear.”
“You are? I hadn’t noticed.”
Kyle snorted. “You guys are adorable. But we need to get off this boat.”
“Yes, we do,” Steph said. “Adam promised me a cheese plate.”
Marina tugged on Noah’s hand. The others moved off and started to disburse through the halls. Adam and Steph raced for the main deck, Kyle backing them up. Kai and Ash went to find the other Division Zero team members.
Noah and Marina had their own unspoken assignment. But something in her body language wasn’t quite ready to move, and he knew it. Because as much as he’d rather not have been able to read her, his awareness of her moods had let him know exactly how she felt about being kidnapped. “We should go.”
She hesitated, then lifted up and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
Noah nodded, not really sure he’d say the right thing even if he opened his mouth. Before he could respond, he heard gunshots elsewhere in the boat. On the main deck, or somewhere else?
They raced after the others, jumping over dead men on the way to the ladder at the end that would take them up to the deck.
Noah got a good enough look at one of the dead guys. “That’s the head of security we met in France.”
Marina slowed. She kicked the guy on the floor, rolling him to his back. “Petrice. Guess we don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“I’ll keep watch. Check him for a phone, or some other communication device.”
“Do we need to worry about Adam? If he finds Montrose, things could get ugly.” She knelt by the body and rummaged in his pockets. “I should steal his shirt.”
Noah watched both ends of the hall, spotted movement, and confirmed it was one of the guards before he fired. “I’m gonna run out of bullets if there are many more of them.”
“Cell phone.” Marina backed up from the body and looked at him.
Petrice’s eyes opened, and he grabbed her wrist, sitting up fast. Marina screamed and tried to drag her hand from his hold. She dropped the phone.
Noah lowered the weapon to the man’s temple and pulled the trigger.
She stumbled back, scrambling on the floor to get away. Noah pulled her up and into his arms, ignoring the blood on her. Don’t think about the lack of clothing. “You’re safe.”
She pulled in a shuddering breath and held on tight to him.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you safe.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, her breath a whisper against his collarbone.
Noah had to make sure she was safe still and not get distracted. But he needed to say, “You were captured.”
“So were you.”
“That’s not the point.” He shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder. Clear. “I should’ve kept you safe.”
She stepped out of his arms. “You can’t protect me from everything.”
“I can try.”
“We’re not talking about the illogic of that right now. We’re all in danger, and we will be until we get off this ship.” Marina retrieved the phone from the floor. “It’s an Earthnet cell.”
“Bring it. We could get intel off it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want this tech anywhere near my systems. It’s too risky.”
“What about the SIM card?”
Marina threw the phone down the hallway. “Not even on a firewalled computer.”
“Let’s go. We need to get to the bridge.” He looked at her. “But first we should find you a shirt.”