John Avery - Black Cobra

“Would you like for me to show you the way to the party?” he said. “Submarines can be very intimidating.”

Ashley looked back in the direction of the dock. “That’s very kind of you Aaron, but actually I’m waiting for someone.”

He could tell that she was extremely upset. Something had frightened her — and not that long ago. He wanted to take her away from there, but he knew that she would never leave with him — not yet, at least. He would have to figure out a way to get both Katya and his mother off the sub.

“Perhaps we’ll talk later,” he said. “It was nice meeting you, Martha.”

And with a little wave, he went below to find Katya.

Aaron climbed down the ladder to the Control Room and then ducked through the hatch into Compartment Two, making his way to the Captain’s Cabin. But when he got there the door was open and Katya was gone.

Damn it , he thought. I should never have left her alone .

Panic tugged at his heart as he turned to head back to the Control Room.

“ Pssst ,” a voice whispered from behind him.

He jumped, and then turned to see Brandy Fine waving to him from inside the hatch leading to the Forward Torpedo Room.

“ Brandy? ” he said. “What are you —”

“ Shhh ,” she said, gesturing for him to come. “ In here — I have Ekatarina .”

Jason had pulled himself together and returned to the Control Room. He would deal with the girls later.

Uri Ruden had just stepped off the ladder from the deck.

“Where’s Fagan?” Jason said to him.

“Oh, hi, Jason,” Uri said. “I haven’t seen him yet.”

Just then Fagan and his girlfriend came down the ladder. Jason did a double-take: it was the woman from the photo on Fagan’s mantel — and she was even more breathtaking in person.

Fagan straightened his naval officer’s dress uniform and shook Jason’s and Uri’s hands. “This is Martha,” he said, indicating Ashley. “Martha, I’d like you to meet my friends… Uri Ruden and Jason Souther.”

Ashley went cold. So you’re the infamous Jason Souther , she thought. His features looked unsettlingly familiar but she couldn’t recall why.

Jason was totally enamored of her.

Uri offered Ashley his hand, which she shook with a polite nod.

Jason held out his hand as well. “It’s pleasure to meet you,” he said.

But Ashley only stared back at him, her throat dry. There was no doubt in her mind that there was some sort of connection between him and her forgotten past, and it wasn’t good.

Fagan was focused on the mission. “I’m glad you’re both here,” he said to the men. “I’d like to meet for a few minutes before the party gets underway.”

Uri turned to Ashley. “Martha, if you wish, there are drinks in the galley.” He pointed in the direction of Compartment Four and repeated the familiar instructions: “Through that hatch and down the corridor on the right.”

He turned to the men. “I’ll meet you gentlemen in the officer’s Ward Room in five minutes,” he said, and then headed to the Forward Torpedo Room.

Fagan and Jason stepped into the Ward Room and closed the door.

Ashley looked around the cramped Control Room, feeling utterly alone. The combination of the suffocating closeness and an anatomical maze of pipes and wires made her feel as if she’d been swallowed by some sort of bionic whale.

She looked back on her meeting with Aaron up on deck and wondered why he had made such an impression on her. It was like she had known him for years… or maybe her whole life.

Her head hurt and she thought of trying to find the galley and mix herself a drink. But she hadn’t heard a word of Uri’s directions and the sub’s dim, cluttered interior was intimidating. Not knowing what else to do, she took a seat at the chart table and waited.

“Aaron!” Katya cried, giving him a big hug as he stepped through the hatch. “I’m so glad you’re all right. I was beginning to worry .”

Aaron saw that she’d been crying, and then he noticed the bruise. “What has happened to you?” he said.

Brandy glanced at Katya. “She asked me not to tell you this, Aaron, but Jason just tried to rape her.”

“Oh, my God,” Aaron said. He thought he knew Jason pretty well. “Are you certain?”

“I think I’d know when I’m about to be raped, Aaron ,” Katya said, her eyes filling with tears again.

He looked at her, feeling stupid. “You’re right. I am so sorry. Of course you would know.”

Brandy gave him a look that said, Good one, you idiot . “Ekatarina told me about the plot to kill the President,” she said.

“So you know,” Aaron said.

“I do,” Brandy said. “But I’m having trouble comprehending it.”

“There’s one other complication,” Aaron said.

The girls looked at him expectantly — as if they didn’t have enough to worry about.

“My Mom’s here,” Aaron said.

“ What? ” Katya said.

Brandy was unsure as to the real significance of this news, but she could tell that it hovered somewhere between really good and really bad.

Katya was incredulous. “But you said your mother was killed in the —”

“I know, Katya. That’s what I thought. Hell, that’s what the police put it in their damn report . They must have skipped the forensics investigation altogether and hauled the damn Aston Martin straight to the freakin’ scrap yard!” He paused. “All I know is she’s alive… and she’s on this damn submarine with us.”

Just then footsteps could be heard coming their way.

“Over here,” Aaron whispered. “Quickly.”

Aaron helped Katya and Brandy tuck in with him in the small, dark space behind the starboard torpedo rack, just as someone stepped in through the watertight hatch.

It was Uri Ruden.

The three held their breath.

Uri opened torpedo tube 5’s inner hatch cover and saw that the green torpedo was still loaded and ready. He jumped, when out of nowhere Commander Fagan stepped through the hatch.

“Oh, hello, Commander,” Uri said. “May I help you?”

“I thought I’d stop in and check out our torpedo,” Fagan said.

“Oh — yes, of course,” Uri said. “But I was just leaving to go to our meeting.”

“I’ll just be a minute,” Fagan said.

He checked the red torpedo hanging on the starboard torpedo rack, but could tell by its markings that it was the dummy. Then he saw a green torpedo loaded in tube 5 and walked over to take a look.

Uri knew that in a few seconds Fagan was going to be very unhappy. “We really should get to our meeting. The party has already started.”

“In a second,” Fagan said. He noticed the unusual shape of the tail and the guidance fins, and the special electronics connector. He checked the torpedo’s markings: VA-111 Shkval .

“Hold on just a second,” Fagan said, the hair on his neck standing up. “This is a damn Shkval. A supercavitating rocket propelled bomb. It’s a freakin’ nuke , Uri!”

Aaron and the girls couldn’t believe their ears. Things had just gone from terrible to horrifying.

“You are correct,” Uri said calmly, figuring the cat was out of the bag anyway. “The VA-111 Shkval. A solid-rocket propelled torpedo achieving a high velocity of 230 mph by producing an envelope of supercavitating bubbles which coat the entire weapon surface in a thin layer of gas, causing the metal skin of the weapon to avoid contact with the water, significantly reducing drag, and —.”