Roger Ellis - AK-239

We struggle as bullets continue to fly at us through the water.

I’m able to grab the arm of the threat with the knife and stop him from swinging again. However, his free hand tries to grab my throat. I have to use my other free hand to fight that.

I realize that the crazy Russian kids on TK-20 are now shooting at me too!

I have threats coming from me in at least four directions: Two human arms, and two people shooting: One underwater and at least one on the surface. That roughly translates to my ‘3’ ‘6’ ‘9’ and ’12’ o’clock. In other words, I’m being attacked from all four directions!

A nightmare scenario.

As we fight, I try to turn my body away from the bullets and put my immediate threat in the line of fire. Then I realize my ‘6’ is to the boat and I’m likely to be hit by one of the kids AKs on the sub.

I’m also quickly running out of air and feel the need to breathe. Again, I go back to my SEAL training. We had days and days of this and I hated every minute of it!

But, now, glad I did every minute of it as all the training once again comes rushing back.

I position my body so that the kids on the sub shooting are at my ‘9.’ That way my center mass is “slightly” less likely to be hit. This means the underwater shooter is at my ‘3.” Trouble is: It’s also slightly less body mass for my knife wielding opponent to be hit. As we struggle, I open myself up again to that SPP-1, a very powerful underwater rifle.

I’m finally able to free one of my hands and punch him in the throat. This stuns him long enough for me to rip off his mask. To my surprise, he doesn’t panic in the least but continues fighting. Clearly, he’s been well trained too.

I’m looking for any dirty, cheating thing I can do to get the advantage when I somehow dislodge the knife in his hand. As I do, I see a beautiful gold ring with a very specific crest. As the knife slowly sinks I think: Do I go after that?

That thought was quickly banished, as I would need to turn my back on this guy and dive for it.

Impossible!

He now kicks me and I wince in pain. I’m forced to retreat.

I think he’s coming for me. However, when I look around: He’s swimming away! My instinct is to follow but then I suddenly realize: I need air!

So I come flying up to the surface trying to yell,

“Don’t shoot!” but nothing comes out.

My lungs scream in pain for air.

My ears are ringing.

My vision looks partially black as if I’m in a tunnel.

I then experience that exhilarating feeling the rush of oxygen as your body tries to recover.

Four Russian sailors with AK47s pointed at me are yelling.

Vasili is now on the hull yelling,

“Ostanovit’! Nestrelyat’!

Roughly translated is also what I’m trying to say:

“Stop! Don’t shoot!”

Vasili is holding a young, dead, sailor in his arms as two Russians quickly put their guns down and jump in the water. Skull is racing toward me in his small boat.

Skull drags me as the Russians push, and pull me into the inflatable boat.

Exhausted I say, “They got away!”

Skull looks up to two other boats saying,

“No they didn’t!”

“I need to ask Vasili something,” I tell Skull.

“You take it easy right here with me, soldier.” says Skull.

Thank God that round to your head was an SPP-1 and not an ASM-DT, says Skull.

I answer, “You think it was an SPP? All I saw was a gun and pulled the captain to the deck.”

“Skull says looking into the water, “You’re lucky. You both could’ve been killed!”

I’m looking into the water and all that comes out is:

“Ya.”

Skull is listening to his headset as gunfire goes off in the distance.

“Gotta go,” says Skull.

“Wait!” I say, trying to listen to Vasili.

“Four guys went out the hatch,” Vasili yells to me. “Three got away. Nikolai Alexi is my second in command and two other officers.”

I yell, “Does he have a gold ring on his little finger of a snake and cross?”

Yes!” says Vasili.

“Come on. Let’s go,” I say.

Skull looks at me long and hard, making a determination if I can still fight or not.

Apparently he thought: Affirmative!

As he hit the gas!

I found out later Vasili ordered his soldiers to stop shooting into the water or I likely would’ve been killed.

Skull said his men are using a new sonar gadget to track the three fugitives in the water. He said, it’s so secret that he couldn’t even tell me about it. Then he proceeded to tell me about it: “It” can track any human underwater. “It” can differentiate between a dolphin and a person.

Suddenly, the FBI boat takes a couple of rounds of fire from the Russians underwater.

Although, apparently, “it” cannot defend “it”self yet.

By the time we get there the boat is sinking and so are the wounded guys in the boat. We’re down to two boats.

A medic jumps into the damaged boat to attend to the wounded.

The boat with “it” on it is barely floating in the water. Apparently, no one had thought of what might happen if “it” got really wet.

The wounded were taken off the boat and head for a medical team on the USS Hoon just outside the mouth of the bay.

The last boat, besides us, breaks off searching the water for any sign of movement. Skull hands me a Dräger closed circuit oxygen rebreather and a gun.

“A…nd go!”

We both fall back into the water and head for the bubble trails.

It’s hard for me to see beneath the surface as there appears to be glowing phytoplankton that light themselves and make it hard for us to see anything.

After searching the entire area and finding nothing, we give up the search.

We climb back into our small, inflatable boat empty handed.

Skull tells me,

“SEALs inbound.”

“They’ll take it from here.”

“Our orders are to escort TK-20 out of here ASAP.”

I see four SH-60s inbound as we head back to TK-20.

As I’m climbing onto the hull of the sub I look back and witness another beautiful sight:

A SEAL platoon from Team 7 in full tactical gear jumping into the water from those four choppers to search for the three remaining Russians.

“If anybody can get ‘em those guys can!” says Skull.

Then I say, “Get me back to the sub.”

Skull heads me back to TK-20 .

The last FBI inflatable boat breaks off from us and gets on the front side of TK-20 and escorts her out of Kendrick Bay.

Prince of Wales Island

Southern most point

A couple in rag-tag clothing is huddled along the shoreline. A small fishing boat putts up to the shoreline and the captain shouts out from his small boat,

“You guys okay?”

Ruddy and Katrina wade out to the water and are helped onto the fishing boat. Ruddy is helped on last. As the captain pulls Katrina aboard, in her other arm is one of those black nuke suitcases which Ruddy makes sure is aboard with his one good arm.

As soon as they board Ruddy looks around and suspiciously asks, “So what have you heard on the two-way?”

Captain, “Funny thing. The radio went out last night and I thought I was gonna die. So I see you guys this morning and said,

“Hey, I’m still alive!”

“I gotta pay it forward!”

Ruddy and Katrina look at each other as the boat putts away from Bokan Mountain, smoldering in the background.

TK-20

On the conn Captain Vasili, Jennifer and I chit chat when a bizarre looking helicopter with no windows, flies near us.

Vasili sees this and says, “Should I be worried?”

I say, “I’ve seen pictures of an MQ-8 but never one up close. It’s unmanned. It likely has radiation detection equipment on it.”