Chapter 10

The helicopter touches down on the deck of the USS Downley just as the sun is beginning to set on the horizon. The beauty of it is stolen by the battle waging over the ocean. Captain Briggs waves and wishes both the agents good luck as they exit the helicopter. The rotors never stop as the two dismount, and just as they step off onto the deck, the craft is already lifting off.

“Guess they are in a hurry,” Samantha comments, her voice barely audible over the roar of the helicopter.

Spencer is about to reply to that when Admiral Russel Pellington steps out onto the deck, making his way toward them. He is flanked by several heavily armed men, all with grim determination set in their expressions. The admiral reaches the two quickly with his escort on his heels. Once he reaches them, the escort spreads out in a circle, covering the group with a three-sixty degree of coverage. “I’m Admiral Russell Pellington,” the man says, extending his hand.

Spencer shakes it first, followed by his partner. They make their introductions. “Admiral, may I ask why we are here?” Spencer questions.

“I would gladly explain the situation once we are inside,” the Navy man answers, pointing toward the door he initially came from. “It is much safer this way.”

“Very well, Admiral,” Spencer says. “Lead the way.”

The two agents are taken below deck to a small conference room. The room itself is mostly taken up by the table, which is surrounded by six chairs. Pellington posts two of the guards in the room with the group, the remainder just outside the door.

“Are all the guards really necessary?” Samantha inquires.

“Believe it or not, it is,” Pellington says. “This ship has fallen under attack by someone or something. It may be a man or one of these Goji things you all hunt. All my efforts to find this saboteur have proved useless. Just before you arrived, I lost three squads.”

“So we were called in to take out the threat,” Spencer remarks, pointing out the obvious.

“You were the closet assets near to here that can handle a threat like this,” the man explains. “I have been through many battle situations and in my experience, whatever this is isn’t human. It can’t be.”

Samantha and Spencer look at each other, locking eyes briefly. Then she looks at the admiral. “Most likely it is a Goji. We’ll need you to recall your squads and get you someplace that can be defended without hindrance.”

“The best place will be the bridge then,” Pellington informs them.

“Good,” Spencer agrees, standing up. He walks over to the two guards at the door. “I need your headsets.”

The two guards look at Pellington for confirmation. “Go ahead.”

The two men pull their headsets off and hand them over to Spencer. “Here,” he says, handing Samantha a set. “I’ll track it down. You keep guard over the admiral.”

“Like hell I will,” she argues. “I’m the better armed one here.” She glares at Spencer, the look on her face saying that she isn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Alright,” he concedes. “You just be careful.”

“I will,” she promises. She heads for the door. But before she can reach it, Spencer reaches out and grabs her, spinning her around to face him. Their eyes lock with one another’s.

He reaches in and kisses her deeply. “You had better make it back alive,” he says pulling away before plunging back in again.

Then without another word, she leaves the room. “Women,” Pellington says.

“Sam, do you copy?” Spencer says into the headset. He is sitting on the bridge with Pellington, along with the almost every guard assigned to the admiral. Those that are not there are guarding the other important stations located at various parts of the ship.

“I copy.”

“Good,” he says letting his body relax. He isn’t sure why he is so apprehensive. Samantha can take care of herself. She certainly isn’t new to this and she has proven herself countless times before now. “Pellington pulled all the squads back and has a standing order for the crew to stay where they are, so the corridors should be clear.”

“All except for me and our special guest,” she says.

“Exactly,” he concurs. “The squads set up motion detectors throughout the ship and we are monitoring them. The moment something pops up, we’ll direct you to it.”

“Got ya,” she says. “Going silent.” She traverses lightly through the corridor, carrying only Kotetsu and her pistol. The ship is eerily quiet except for the miscellaneous sounds any ship this size makes. Her footfalls echo through the empty corridors. The sound carries softly, mixing with the rest of the sounds echoing throughout. She focuses on her breathing to control her emotion and to deepen her senses. Her focus takes her back to the years of learning martial arts. Endless drills and hours spent learning to hone her other senses, other than her eyes. She is glad to have had that training now.

It has been almost two hours now and three deck levels and she has found no evidence of a saboteur or a Goji. The motion detectors set up throughout the ship haven’t picked up anything, but that doesn’t mean much. Such devices can malfunction or be disabled or if one knows what to look for, avoided. Samantha pushes the thoughts to the back of her mind. Worrying about such trivial things is irrelevant to her mission and her focus has to be centers on her task.

She suddenly finds herself standing before a doorway leading to the final set of stairs that leads down further into the ship.
The sign labeled Deck Four looms above her head. The only parts of the ship that lay below are the most vital parts: the engine and pump rooms and the ship’s gunnery storage. She stops to think her next steps. Why stay on the lower deck? Why disable the engines but not do anything else? Then it hits her like a ton of bricks. “You’re going to blow up the ship,” she whispers out loud. Tapping the headset, she speaks into it. “Spence, I know what he has planned. The ship needs to be evacuated.” She now knows where to look, and it becomes a race against time.

“Sam? What’s going on? Sam?” Dead silence is all of a sudden all he hears.

“Sir,” a crewman says to Spencer. “Her comm link has been cut off.”

“Damn!” Spencer yells throwing the headset off onto the console in front of him.

“We can’t evacuate this ship,” Pellington protests. “There’s a battle going on out there.”

Spencer turns toward the admiral. The battle or the crew isn’t on his mind. The situation with his partner is now his focus. “What’s on the lowest deck?”

“The engine room, gunnery storage...”

“That explains why the ship needs evacuation,” Spencer says looking down at the deck. He looks up abruptly catching Pellington’s eye. “The ship is going to be blown up. Get it evacuated.”

Spencer picks up the headset and puts it on as he runs to the door where the guards are standing. “I’m going to need this,” he says grabbing the assault rifle from the guard’s hands and heads out the door.

“Hey!” the guard yells after him.

“It’s fine,” Pellington says. “Agent Reeds, what are you planning to do?”

“Save this ship and my partner,” he yells over his shoulder. And with that he is out the door.

Pellington turns to his communications officer. “Open a line to the rest of the crew.”

“Yes sir.” The officer pushes several buttons then turns back to the admiral. “It’s ready sir.”

Pellington picks up the microphone and speaks into it, “Attention crew, this is Admiral Pellington. I am addressing you this evening because of an important matter that has come up. Right now as I speak two special agents are hunting down the saboteur. However, this ship is in danger of being sent to the bottom of the sea. That is if these two agents are not successful. Now I am not asking any of you to stay, you are more than welcome to evacuate the ship. I plan to stay with any of you that wish to also. We are at war gentlemen and if this ship falls it could mean the loss of this battle. We may be crippled but we are the lifeblood, the heart of the fleet and I will not give up. Let your immediate commander know your intentions so that we can secure your evacuation.” Pellington sets down the microphone and waits. Within just a few minutes the commanders of each crew throughout the ship replies that none of the men are going to leave and plan to see the battle to its end. No matter how the end comes. He smiles at the bravery and loyalty of the men and women to both him and their country. “God help us all,” he says low under his breath. “God help us all.”

“Sam? Do you copy?” he says into the headset. “Damn it. Sam if you hear me, I’m headed your way.” Spencer races through the ship as fast as his legs will carry him. Each footfall rings through the corridor almost as loudly as the motion detectors. The noise doesn’t concern him at the moment. If anything he hopes the noise will draw the Goji to him rather than Samantha. It is now just a matter of getting to her before the Goji does.