Chapter 38
"Okay," I said. “You win. We'll come in through the moon pool and turn over everything we’ve got.”
"That's what I like to hear. It will be a win-win for everybody.”
"These guys are never gonna let us go," Jack muttered.
He was right about that, and we all knew it.
"Flynn, is there another way into the habitat, apart from the moon pool?"
"There's another wet porch on the south side of the Oceanus," Flynn said. “There’s also a lockout on the north side.”
"He has no idea how many of us are aboard this sub," I said.
Flynn's eyes lit up. "I like where you’re going with this.”
“Jack, navigate the sub back to the moon pool. Flynn and I will slip out and swim underneath the habitat. Flynn, you take the south wet porch. I’ll take the north lockout.”
"What do you want me to do when I get in the moon pool?" JD asked.
"Stall them. I'll take the quantum nodes and the CPM. That way we've got a bargaining chip."
I had my pistol. I would have preferred an assault rifle.
“From what I saw, there are four of them,” JD said. “But there may be more.”
"Piece of cake," Flynn said.
"This isn’t a movie," I cautioned.
"I know.”
To Flynn, everything was a movie. The only difference was sometimes the cameras weren't rolling.
I pulled on the cold, damp wetsuit and prepped for yet another dive.
Jack navigated the Neptune underneath the habitat, out of view.
Flynn and I entered the lockout and sealed the hatch. Flynn had grabbed a spear gun. It was better than nothing. We gave each other a look, then I opened the bottom hatch. We donned masks and fins, filled our lungs, then plunged into the frigid water. I had barely warmed up from the last time.
Flynn followed. I finned toward the north, and he to the south. With the nodes in my satchel, along with the CPM, I swam to the lockout. I left the satchel on the sea floor, not far away, and took one of the nodes with me.
I found the bottom hatch. It took a good bit of muscle to get it open.
I tried to be as quiet about it as I could.
I climbed into the lockout, the water dripping from my wetsuit.
I pulled off my fins and dripped for a moment, then hovered by the hatch that led to the rest of the habitat.
I drew my pistol and drained the water from the barrel before cracking open the hatch with caution.
The hallway was empty.
I slipped out of the lockout and moved forward. Like a ninja cat, I crept down the corridor and stashed the quantum node in an empty compartment.
The habitat hummed with the sound of electronics and the drone of the ocean. Commotion in the control room filtered throughout.
I ducked into a berthing compartment as footsteps approached.
A goon marched down the corridor, rifle in the ready position. They were expecting us through the moon pool and had already secured the habitat. This was a routine patrol.
With the hatch to the bunk room slightly ajar, I watched him pass. I holstered my weapon and drew my K-bar. I slipped into the corridor behind him, stalking him like a panther. With a quick strike, I had my hand over his mouth and my knife in his neck before he could make a sound.
I brought him down and pulled him into the bunk room as warm blood spurted from his carotid. Crimson dripped onto the grated deck, then flowed toward the subfloor drains. Hopefully, no one would notice if they came this way.
Now I had a rifle.