Roger Ellis - AK-239

“I have just been given orders to stand down.”

Skull gets back on his boat as an MH-60R comes flying in low and hot (armed).

Racing right behind is the guided missile destroyer, USS Hoon.

I say, “This is probably a SEAL platoon. I’d bet anything they just spent the last ten minutes inbound looking over the schematics of your boat to thoroughly clear it.”

Vasili, “Good luck. This thing’s been retrofitted for the last five years. You have no schematics.”

I say with confidence,

“Don’t be so sure.”

Vasili says, “That’s what I love about you Americans. Absolute confidence.”

“We Russians, we overthink everything!”

I’m standing on the conn of TK-20 with Jen and Captain Vasili and fully expect to see SEALs repel down onto the hull of TK-20.

This helicopter is the newest Romeo model of the series with one top-secret exception:

There’s a giant round device under the cockpit area. I was told by senior Naval Intelligence not to write anything about this device.

However, based on my current status (See: Book Number Two) I have no choice but to warn you about this exotic and very deadly weapon system.

Skull shouts up to us, “I’ve been given an order: All of you must enter TK-20 immediately and await further instructions below.”

At that time I didn’t think anything was unusual about the order.

Captain Vasili salutes and disappears below. Jen follows him. I’m the last person off the conning tower when I remember we left our phone up there. I climb back up there and witness the most bizarre sight of my life.

These, for lack of a better word, ghosts, don’t repel but literally beam from the helicopter to TK-20’ s hull, in a sharp, tiny, blue, laser beam.

A small bright blue cloud gathers just outside the hull and grows larger. Once the cloud reaches the size of three distinct eight-foot tall ghosts, they look to be sucked right inside TK-20 ’s hull!

The ghosts act as if the ship’s hull wasn’t even there!

Their vapor trail looks only to be made up of ones and zeros.

It’s very difficult to describe them any further, so I’ll just show you a picture taken by a Russian sailor on his phone when confronting these “things.”

©Copyright 2016 Roger R. Ellis, Esq., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

3D Artist: Jose Ariel Limandri

That is an actual picture of the ghosts taken by a Russian sailor on TK-20.

One Russian sailor said,

“I see ghosts!”

Vasili’s crew already has a nickname for these guys:

TIM!

The Invisible Men (TIM)!

I had no idea about their weaponry or capabilities, at this time, but as every Russian sailor that confronted these things said:

“Uzhasayushchiy!” which means: “Terrifying!”

Another Russian inside said,

“I thought I was at a rock concert with lasers going in thousands of directions.”

“Then I saw them.”

“Terrifying!”

I am told this Top Secret system is called a: Ghost Protocol Generator (GPG). Again, the U.S. Navy asked me to not talk, write or say anything.

The reason I’m showing you this is:

My life is now in grave danger.

Apparently, because I saw:

“The ghosts!”

I don’t have any hesitation in telling you there are thousands of great, dedicated men and women serving in the armed forces of the United States of America and Russia. However, today, I question many of the motives of the politicians that are giving the admirals and generals their orders.

I yell down to Jen and Vasili, “Come up here, you’ve gotta see this!”

So Jen and Vasili climb back up to the conn with me.

No sooner does Vasili reach the conn than I look over his shoulder (to this day I don’t know why) and see something moving in the water. At first I think it’s a reflection, as I look closer it looks like a gun and it’s pointed right at us!

I yell, “Gun!” just as a shot goes off.

I shove Vasili to the deck of the conn. Jen hits the deck as well.

Automatic weapons begin firing from all directions. All three of us on the conn are unarmed. Fortunately, we are surrounded by the most reinforced steel part of the ship that is designed to punch through several meters of Arctic ice.

Vasili tries to peer over the conn but I pull him to the deck.

Good thing!

A couple of rounds go whizzing right where his head would have been.

Jen and I look at each other trying to plan our next move when the gunfire stops.

“Stay down,” I say to both of them as I peer my head over the conn.

When I stand, the MH60R is flying away!

Why?

And right behind them is the USS Chung-Hoon, both in full retreat.

They should’ve had at least one SEAL sniper on the helicopter! I think to myself.

No one was even manning the .50 cal.

As a former SEAL, I find all of these tactics really confusing and just plain weird.

However, my primary concern is the area of the sniper threat.

I see nothing but bubbles.

That’s a bad sign.

It’s likely the threat has on full SCUBA gear, including air.

A couple of Vasili’s men at the base of the conning tower are shooting wildly into the water. Other Russians are yelling all sorts of things as they exit the sub. I have no idea what is being said. All I see is Vasili, standing, yelling at them to calm down.

All of a sudden the Russian sailor is shot right in the heart and falls onto the hull.

Vasili goes nuts. He tries to head down the conn ladder but I grab Vasili’s hand and stop him.

“Wait!” I firmly tell the Captain.

He insists, “I’m going down there!”

“But they’re targeting you. They will kill you. Stay here.”

Vasili and I look each other, eye to eye. I can see he agrees.

Then I do the dumbest thing I might have ever done in my life (and I did some pretty crazy things as a teen). I jumped on top of the thick, ice breaking, top rail of the conn.

Jen yells as if I’m crazy, “What are you doing?”

I look back at them and say,

“Stay here! And close that hatch!”

With that I jumped off the side of the conning tower. As I’m falling I figure it’s only about twenty feet to a nice slick, black, gentle slope (SEE: TK-20 Photo on the front pages of this book). If I hit the bottom front of the conn just right I’ll miss the ICBM doors and slide right onto the side of the hull and into the water, just like a waterslide!

Well, that was the plan anyway.

What happened was a bit different.

I hit the bottom of the sloping conning tower sideways, which took out one of Vasili’s men, still firing at the water. I hit him and we both careen off the hull as his weapon wildly shoots bullets in every direction. We then flew another thirty feet before hitting the water.

I instantly see powerful rifle rounds shooting at me:

Underwater!

The bubbles generated from this are tremendous, which means just one of these rounds could put a really big hole in me and ruin my day!

I see exactly where the threat is because of the direct line of bubbles to the firing weapon.

The threat is smart.

He’s deep and out of eyesight.

I figure: If I can dive deeper, he won’t be able to see me as the light from above is giving away my position.

I start diving when I’m hit.

I don’t know how badly.

All I feel is excruciating pain in my left arm.

I pull up my arm to assess the damage when I realize it wasn’t a bullet that hit me. I see a threat in full SCUBA gear at my ‘6’ swinging again with his six-inch serrated knife!