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The submarine’s sail still stuck out of the water, plying a slow circle a quarter mile off. It looked dejected and redundant. Beyond sending support troops, it was not needed. The LCAC and its complement of autonomous equipment had the yacht locked up tight. The AI-driven boat sat out there, crewed by maybe two or three. Its systems had clearly been designed to operate with minimal, if any, supervision.
Captain Stemm wandered over, drawing the eye of two commandos, but they quickly lost interest. The gunmen knew the handful on the bridge offered no threat. The passing hours had further dulled their attentiveness.
Stemm drew alongside Monk. “Radar is picking up a distant shadow to the west,” he mumbled under a fist as he feigned a yawn. “I know some Mandarin and overheard the bastards mention an LHD.”
A landing helicopter dock.
Monk bit off a groan and stared off to the dark skies to the west. Jagged bolts lanced through the low clouds, but the lightning failed to illuminate that threat.
It was still too far off.
“How long?” Monk asked.
“At its current speed, it’ll be here in an hour.”
Monk winced. He remembered the large V-shaped drone that had buzzed the yacht hours ago. It must have come from that larger ship. The Chinese were clearly not taking any chances. Whatever they were trying to hide or discover six miles under them had to be important.
Since commandeering the yacht, the Chinese had been brutally interrogating the researchers, trying to discern how much they knew. It was likely the only reason the yacht hadn’t already been sunk.
From his station, Monk could only watch impotently as the Chinese took control. He had flipped through the CCTV cameras that offered views into Science City. Bodies lay in the hallways, demonstrating the cost of resistance. Interrogators had beaten and maimed many others.
Monk had noted a Chinese woman who appeared to be orchestrating this line of inquiry. Beyond her gender, she stood out because of the deference shown to her and the fact that she was the only one not dressed in camo. She wore a navy jacket with prominent epaulets over a white shirt and tie.
Voices rose from the hallway.
A contingent pushed onto the bridge, led by that same woman. She was flanked by a hulking brute in helmet and armor. His knuckles were bleeding and torn, marking him as one of the interrogators. The three commandos on the bridge snapped to attention.
As Monk kept his gaze down, he heard her addressed, naming her and her rank.
“Haijun shang xiao Tse.”
He gritted his teeth.Captain Tse. She must be the leader of this task force. He watched her sidelong as she made the rounds across the bridge. She crossed to the front and stared out the forward window, surveying all that she had subdued.
Drones buzzed like gnats around the ship or sped by on fixed wings. The layers of ash on the water stirred with the tiny sails of her AUV and UUV weaponry. More patrolled deeper. She placed her hands on her hips, clearly satisfied with the view.
She turned back around. Even shadowed by the brim of her hat, her eyes glinted under a straight line of black bangs. Her hair had been close-cropped and oiled flat to the sides. Her suit and shirt remained as crisp as her manner. The only blemish was a spatter of blood on her collar.
Must’ve gotten too close to the handiwork of her bloody-knuckled interrogator.
She consulted with that same man before coming forward to confront Captain Stemm, who had returned to the helm upon her arrival.
She switched to English. “Captain Stemm, I understand that a submersible was launched shortly before our arrival. It was detected by our submarine and confirmed by those we spoke to aboard your ship.”
Stemm swallowed and nodded. “It was a scheduled dive. That’s all.”
“I don’t believe it was,” she said coldly, taking another step forward.
Stemm tried to retreat, but he was blocked by the bulk of her interrogator, who pressed a pistol into the captain’s back.
“According to the commander of our submarine,” the woman said coldly, “you all performed quite the noisy dance when it dropped—as if you were purposefully trying to mask its descent.”
Stemm clamped his lips, refusing to respond.
“I also heard of the discovery of a forest of giant coral and strange life down at the bottom of the trench where one of our boats sank. And rumor of a fissure opening up, swallowing that submarine and a large portion of the forest.”
Captain Tse’s eyes shone with malice. Clearly her interrogator had done his job, and she now enjoyed lording it over her new target. From her stiff spine and thrown-back shoulders, she was carrying a four-ton chip on her shoulders. As a woman in the PLA, she likely had to claw her way to her current position, to be harder willed, more callous and cunning than her counterparts.
Monk tried to find pity in his heart for her, but he pictured the bodies in the halls, the pummeled faces of the researchers.
