John Avery - Black Cobra

She looked up at him and spoke in the calm voice. “People used to ask me why I was always attracted to the weird ones,” she said. “I never really knew how to answer that question.”

Jason did this , Aaron thought, and a rage unlike any he had ever known swelled in his breast.

She squeezed his hand. “I love you Aaron,” she said.

He looked at her for a long moment. “I love you, too, Brandy.”

“Katya told me about your ordeal with Johnny Souther,” she said, “and that answers a lot of my questions about you. But there’s something you need to know about me.” She turned and coughed into the blanket. “My name’s not really Brandy Fine. I-it’s Barbara Fischer. Johnny renamed me after we first met.”

“You know Johnny Souther? ” Aaron said.

“We were lovers,” Brandy said, gritting her teeth in pain. “We lived together until the day he died.”

Aaron was suddenly outside Sally’s Diner again as he and Willy pulled the triggers on their assault rifles and watched Johnny Souther die in a shower of glass.

“Th-there’s one more thing,” Brandy said. “Jason told me his last name isn’t Beckham. It’s Souther. He’s Johnny’s brother.”

Aaron’s brain nearly shut down. All the time he had spent with Jason, the weeks at sea, the bars, the cafés — the camaraderie . How could he have been so stupid?

“Jason told me Johnny was dead when he found him,” Brandy said, “but I think he’s the one who killed him.”

What? No, Aaron thought . I’m the one who killed him.

Then, with a rush, it all dawned on him: Jason was the one driving the black Hummer!

Brandy took hold of Aaron’s arm and looked him in the eye. “Promise me, Aaron,” she said. “If it’s the last thing you do on this earth…”

But then she was gone.

Rest easy my dear friend , he thought, touching her shoulder. That’s exactly what I’m planning to do.

He stood and went in search of Jason Souther.

The water was thigh high as Aaron splashed through the hatch into the Control Room. More icy water sprayed in on him from every direction, and footing was difficult and progress slow due to the now steeply sloping deck.

For a brief, terrifying moment, the lights went out, and when they blinked on again, Aaron saw, to his horror, that Jason had somehow gotten past him and was standing near the helm controls holding Ashley and Katya at gunpoint.

Jason’s back was turned, and with his free hand he was trying desperately to restart the electric motors. Aaron wanted to blow Jason’s brains out, but Ashley and Katya were too near to his line of fire.

The girls saw him and wanted to call out to him, but he shook his head and held a finger to his lips, and then moved slowly over and pointed his pistol at the back of Jason’s head.

“You and your brother are the reason I have no family!” Aaron said.

Jason froze for a long moment, and then suddenly he jerked to the side, grabbing Katya and backing off with his gun to her head. “What are you talking about?” he said. “Johnny’s dead .”

“ I’m the one who killed him, ” Aaron said.

Jason looked carefully at Aaron. “Wait a minute,” he said. “You were at Sally’s Diner that night. You left in an Aston Martin DBS.”

“And you’re the one that hit us and ran!” Aaron cried.

“What? I may have saved your life!” Jason said. “We were halfway to the hospital before the cops came and fucked everything up!”

Ashley Quinn’s hand went to her mouth and she stared at Aaron in disbelief. Tears filled her eyes as a flood of memories rocked her senses and she was overwhelmed with both sorrow and joy. She had wanted so badly to remember… She had wanted so badly to know who the young man named Aaron really was.

Aaron glanced at her and his heart stopped. Through her tears he could see the clear light of understanding in her eyes.

His mother was back.

Suddenly the submarine’s pressure hull thumped and squealed as another rusted bulkhead weld gave way to the pressure.

Jason shoved Katya aside and fired. Ashley screamed as the bullet grazed the thin flesh covering Aaron’s ribs. He staggered back and fired just as Jason ducked through the watertight hatch to Compartment Four.

“Head for the Forward Torpedo Room,” he told the girls. “I’ll meet you there.”

He went after Jason.

Ashley felt a rush of adrenaline as her motherly instincts returned with a vengeance. She spotted a large pipe wrench on a shelf and picked it up. It had a good weight to it.

“I’m going with him,” she said.

Katya hefted her own heavy piece of iron. “So am I. If we’re going to die tonight… it may as well be in a fight!”

Jason ran through Compartments 4, 5 and 6, all the way to the stern of the boat, Compartment Seven, the Aft Torpedo Room.

He climbed to the top of the compartment, frantically trying to get out through the escape hatch. But, to his dismay, instead of repairing it, the workmen had simply welded it shut.

Just then Aaron peered in through the watertight hatch.

Jason saw him and fired, the bullet ricocheting off the steel ring, inches from Aaron’s face.

Aaron fired back and missed.

Suddenly a large pressure valve blew, spraying water like a fireman’s hose, knocking Jason off his feet.

Aaron saw him go down and stepped inside the room with him. The water was waist deep now and spraying everywhere, making it difficult to move.

The lights blinked out again and then flickered back on.

Jason found his feet and spotted Aaron. He fired and missed.

Aaron had a clear shot and pulled the trigger, but his gun just clicked .

Jason knew it immediately and turned to fire.

Aaron dove underwater and came up catching him from behind. They tumbled into the water and Jason grabbed Aaron by the hair and held him down, leaning hard, using his full weight to shove him deeper underwater. Aaron kicked and twisted, unable to catch a breath, hair tearing from his scalp, but his opponent was too powerful.

Suddenly something struck Jason on the back of his skull, shattering his vision with a burst of blinding white light. Dazed, he lost his grip on Aaron and turned in time to see Katya taking another arcing swing at him with her heavy pipe. He caught the blow with his hand and wrenched the pipe from her grip, knocking her backward into the black, swirling water.

Aaron surfaced, sputtering and coughing, while behind him Jason raised the pipe high.

“ AARON! ” Ashley shouted through the din.

Aaron looked up just as his mother tossed the pipe wrench, catching it with one hand, while Jason’s blow glanced painfully off his shoulder. He spun around with all the force he could muster, smashing Jason high in the throat. Blood spewed from between Jason’s clenched teeth as reflex sent his hand to his crushed larynx. In disbelief he looked squarely at Aaron, then his eyes rolled up, and he fell face first into the rising water.

Katya and Ashley stood dazed, waist deep in bloody seawater, being hit from all sides by the relentless, freezing spray. Aaron gathered them into his arms and held them for a long moment.

Just then the lights went out. Katya screamed, cowering back in disgusted horror. Something in the dark water had bumped into her hip.

The lights blinked on again, and Aaron saw that it was Fagan’s dead body, its flesh gray and swollen. He tried to turn Katya away, but she saw it and screamed again, causing Ashley to scream as well.