To Hunt a Sub Read online

  That wasn’t quite true, but Al-Zahrawi wouldn’t find that out until too late.

  “If you kill my son, I kill myself. If you take me with you, I kill myself. The only way you get Otto is to leave me here and hope I survive long enough for you to complete your auction.”

  As though on cue, one of the wild dogs uttered a soft growl and fixed the humans with malevolent yellow eyes, teeth bared, tail stretched behind skinny bodies, hackles raised in menace. The pack leader bounced forward, hissed and snapped and withdrew, testing the courage of his prey. Borodnoi sprayed them with a submachine gun, grinning. Bullets tore into two of the animals and the pack skittered back, but didn’t flee. The Alpha growled, drooling white saliva.

  Kali stepped forward. Al-Zahrawi pulled back.

  “My apologies, Salah. I covered myself in feces to confuse the predators,” and she indicated the wild dogs, feral eyes fixed not on Kali but Al-Zahrawi and Sean. “I saw Lucy do it so often, it seemed right, but I forgot your predilection toward hygiene. It is half your deen.”

  While most people considered cleanliness desirable, Muslims believed it central to Islam. Worse, being around animal dung was a gross defilement. Kali denigrated Al-Zahrawi, his religion, and his jihad by standing so close to him.

  Al-Zahrawi wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You are dumb for a smart woman. With Zeke Rowe dead, I am your only escape.”

  “You are my prison, Salah.” Her words were harsh and clipped. “I choose the freedom to die on my own terms. Surely you respect that. Is this not the choice your mujahedeen make?” She shrugged. “But do not concern yourself. It will take me days to starve to death, plenty of time for you to complete your mission.”

  She chose her next words carefully, intended to demand action. “Taking this opportunity to stop your enemy is your duty. Maa shaa Allah. Sean is the price of my help. When he is out of danger, I give you Otto.”

  She planted her feet in the ground, bumped her chin up a notch and cocked her head as if to say, What’s there to think about? Before Al-Zahrawi could respond, Borodnoi tapped his watch. “Time to go!”

  Al-Zahrawi ignored Borodnoi, eyes fixed on Kali. “Prove your Otto works.”

  Kali stooped, snapped open the latch on the briefcase, and activated the AI. “Normally, he requires my fingerprint and geomagnetic signature to start, but to speed things up, I eliminated the former and programmed in the latter.”

  Otto gave an audible ‘Ready’ and Kali punched in a set of digits. Otto telescoped out and across the Pacific Ocean to somewhere between Japan and Hawaii, then panned in until a murky shape appeared. It was long and narrow with the identifiable conning tower and sonar array of an American submarine. She flipped the laptop to face Al-Zahrawi. “There. Satisfied?”

  “How do I know you are not tricking me?”

  She waved him forward. “Come. Enter any location, as long as it’s one I received. I assume you trust the agents you got them from?”

  Al-Zahrawi took a step closer and gagged. “You do it. Use the Chinese sub’s signature.”

  Kali had racked her brain for how this part of the negotiations would work. Al-Zahrawi would not select any of the Tridents because he couldn’t prove Otto had located them, but the man probably had the exact coordinates of the Han-class sub, which made it a logical choice to confirm Otto’s skills. Now everything depended upon Eitan Sun, whether he had done as she asked. If not, well, she didn’t intend to live out this day anyway.

  Otto flew up into the stratosphere, past the 7th Fleet, north to Jianggezhuang Submarine Base in Shandong province, and focused in on one dock.

  Al-Zahrawi smiled.

  “Hurry up!” Borodnoi barked. “Two minutes!”

  Al-Zahrawi motioned Sean forward, gun trained on Kali. When Sean reached her, she whispered, “Hide in the boulder bed,” without turning away from Al-Zahrawi.

  “But—”

  “I’ll be OK.” She spoke gently, but firmly. Sean scuttled out of sight.

  “Good decision, Salah. Otto is yours.” As she approached, he gagged, but held his ground. “If you bother my son anymore, or me, or force me on that copter, I’ll kill myself and you end up with nothing. Pray I live long enough for you to reverse engineer Otto. It took me only a few months, but surely, you’re faster than one infidel female.

  Aleksei shouted as the helicopter’s rotors started. “Salah, we have what we need. Let us go!” His tone was strident and anxious.

  Al-Zahrawi didn’t turn, eyes glued to Kali. “You are worthy of your namesake.”

  Kali didn’t understand. She wasn’t named for her mother. As though he read her mind, he continued.

  “Not your family, Ms. Delamagente. You do not know your name’s history? No wonder you pronounce ‘Kali’ wrong.” He used a long ‘a’. “In Sanskrit, it means ‘she who devours time’. The goddess Kali possessed four arms. Two held a sword and a severed head. Two were elevated in prayer to guide initiates into the hereafter.”

  He cackled like a maniac. “I never intended you die, just Zeke Rowe. I transferred one million dollars into your account and released your name as the genius behind this attack. When you go to prison, your FBI will think justice is done and leave me to organize my next attack, protected by western social democracies who allow Islam to rule itself.”

  Al-Zahrawi gave a courtly bow and tumbled into the helicopter as it took off.

  Kali’s plan was simple: Free Sean. Transmit his location to Eitan to be rescued. Destroy Otto by destroying herself.

  It was true, what she said about Otto requiring proof of life. What she didn’t say was he not only stopped working, he blew up. And Al-Zahrawi couldn’t guess that she had no fear of dying.

  But for her plan to work, she had to stop him after he sent the locations to the successful bidders and before he landed.

  Zeke tried to tell him he had a better solution, but Kali wouldn’t listen. Under his plans, she told him, Annie had been slaughtered, her son kidnapped, and Sandy died. This time, she’d do it her way.

  As the chopper lifted off, Kali sprinted up the scree slope to keep the helicopter in sight, give Otto a few more seconds to transmit the data to a waiting Eitan. Zeke yelled at Sean to stay behind the boulders and then raced after her. How Zeke survived being gunned down and left for dead would be a conversation for later. Zeke caught up with her at the top of the hill where she stood, eyes locked onto the chopper. There it hung, inches above the horizon.

  And then, before she could end her life, there was a puff of smoke and a muted explosion.

  Chapter 68

  Kali felt Sean’s ribs through the thin fabric of his shirt as she crushed him to her chest. She hadn’t trusted herself to hold him before, fearing it would melt her resolve. Now she would never let him go. When he rasped out he was choking, she released him. When she couldn’t stop her tears, Sean rested his head on her trembling shoulder.

  It took several minutes before either of them could speak. It was Sean who recovered first. “I thought you were dead, Dr. Rowe.”

  He ruffled Sean’s hair. “We only had one Kevlar vest. I wanted your mom to wear it, but she insisted they would never kill her. Guts seem to run in your family.”

  Sean fingered the embedded rounds. “Where’s all the blood from?”

  “That’s animal blood. I exploded a bladder of it when the helo started spraying us with bullets. They needed to think they killed me.”

  Sean was flushed, his body steaming in the late afternoon heat. Rowe dragged him to an overhang, the only shade available.

  “How did you stop Salah?”

  “Have you met your mom’s friend, Dr. Eitan Sun?” When Sean nodded, Rowe continued. “He persuaded the Navy to implant holographic digital files in buoys around the ocean, programmed to mimic a Trident sub right down to the magnetic signature. It’s experimental technology, but Dr. Sun is overseeing the work. The real subs hid in spots like Norway’s fjords where Earth’s natural magnetism overpowers anything coming from the b
oats.

  “I implanted explosives onto Otto’s motherboard which blew up after the chopper hit a pre-determined altitude. I gambled on the fact that he’d transmit the locations immediately after take-off. That gave Eitan time to grab the signals and find us before Otto destroyed himself.”

  Sean smiled. “I read about those fjords. They saved the Allies during WWII.”

  “So the holograms succeeded?”

  Sun bounced three times. “The lucky auction winners happily pinged the fake subs which activated a virus that swarmed their networks—including Al-Zahrawi’s—and gave us their locations and data. Each bidder was eager to be first among the many and most didn’t encrypt their communication, which made it even easier. We rounded them all up in hours.”

  Duck whistled. “Good. That’s good,” and then asked the million dollar question. “Where are Zero and Kali?”

  Sun hiccupped. “The helicopter exploded before Otto transmitted. All I have is a fifty-mile radius.”

  Duck sighed. “OK,” and left. SEALs never expected a plan to survive activation.

  Chapter 69

  “I couldn’t believe it, Mom!”

  Kali dabbed at Sean’s wounds with antiseptic from the first aid kit while Sean told his story. The gash on his forehead was healing with only a slight red ring around the jagged edges, thanks to Duck Peters aka Edik Vitolska. She owed him a lot for looking after her son.

  Sean was pasty despite the sunburn, but the tension had melted from his face—and then he remembered Sandy.

  “Sandy found me. He traveled over two hundred miles!” The boy’s eyes teared. “When they came to move me, Sandy started barking and growling. They clubbed him until he passed out.”

  Tears rolled down Sean’s cheeks. Kali hoped instead of vestal virgins, Muslims who beat a dog got the Gates of Hell.

  “He couldn’t walk after that, so he dragged himself after the car. Mom, do you think anyone found him? We can look for him, can’t we?”

  Kali nodded. “If any dog can make it, Sandy will.”

  Time for happier thoughts. “We wouldn’t have solved this without you, Sean.” Kali tried to finger-comb the boy’s hair, but it was matted and sticky with filth.

  Sean’s eyes met Kali’s in a shared understanding. “I knew you’d remember our code.”

  As they talked, the rain began, the drops sizzling as they hit the overheated ground. They used the downpour as a shower to wash the grime and dung from their bodies. When clean, Rowe picked out a smudge in the outcrop, partially hidden by brush.

  “Let’s shelter in that den.”

  When they arrived, Rowe blocked the way with his arm. “Those are wolf prints.” He bent closer, studying them. “They’re old. See the silt over them?” He waved everyone inside.

  The air was dusky, the ground littered with bone shards and piles of molted fur, but it was dry. The dense smell of urine and decay made Kali gag. She hurried to the rear where she found several tunnels, one pitch dark, but the other with a patch of light at the end. This would be the wolf’s escape route. Here, too, insects and rodent prints overlaid the canine’s. When she returned, Rowe had a fire going and Sean was building a briar barrier to keep out predators. The group hunched around the blaze as the storm turned the Rift canyon into a roaring river.

  They ate food Kali had scavenged, drank rainwater, and talked. Everywhere, life sought protection from Nature’s power. A row of birds crowded wing-to-sodden-wing in a euphorbia. An elephant herd huddled, heads together, as the rain poured in rivulets off their bodies. A wild dog scampered along the plateau’s edge, tail heavy with water and tucked between its legs, carrying a sodden rat in its mouth.

  “Put your head in my lap, Sean, and I’ll tell you how Lucy’s story ends. She escaped her own terrorists.”

  Across the Rift stood Lucy’s band, strong of body, heads high, faces expectant. She must warn them. She picked up her enemy’s spear, walked to the edge of the precipice, and lifted her arm. She felt the weight in her hand, the balance over her shoulder, the even placement of her feet, and flung the weapon forward into the abyss.

  It sailed through the air like Eagle. Her band watched, their faces following its arc until it crashed into the rocky scree below.

  They understood.

  Lucy drank in their shapes and burned them into her memory as one by one, they melted into the landscape. Now it was Lucy’s turn. Boah and Garv led, with Lucy behind. Voi placed a tiny trusting hand in hers. Ump leaned in to her side as though knowing she needed his support. Their steps turned northward.

  There, Lucy was sure, they would find safety.

  Epilogue

  True to his word, Al-Zahrawi left a trail that implicated Kali in his ruthless plot. When Duck found them two days later, the FBI arrested her for aiding and abetting terrorists. Rowe played the tape of Kali’s negotiations with Al-Zahrawi, but even James wasn’t convinced.

  Experts dug through the accusations. She spent hours with the investigators explaining every step of her involvement. Despite their acrimony, she insisted Dr. Wynton Fairgrove was not in league with Al-Zahrawi, simply misguided. His only crime was trying to highjack Kali’s research. As proof, she turned over Otto’s video of the scientist’s death.

  That brought them to a discussion of Otto. Kali went over DNA, geomagnetism, Special Relativity, in detail and multiple times, but lost every expert who tried to debrief her. Finally, James called Sun.

  “Kali may end up in prison because she can’t explain what happened in a language the interrogators understand.”

  By the time Sun finished explaining what Kali and Otto had done, they applauded her for her creativity in exposing a web of terrorists bent on destroying America.

  Cariole escorted her from the building. He’d become a staunch supporter of her innocence, and she appreciated his logic among the sometimes vicious investigators.

  As they stepped outside, he said, “The Monroe’s got ten years for their part in this.”

  Kali shook her head in confusion. “What makes a couple go off the deep end?”

  Cariole shrugged. “I have lots of answers, but never for that question.”

  Rowe’s phone interrupted them. “Mr. Whitetower?” He poked speaker.

  “Yes, Dr. Rowe. I don’t know if you remember me—”

  “Of course I do. I don’t think we could have found Sean without you.”

  “I think I have his dog, at least I rescued a badly injured Lab who responds to ‘Sandy’.”

  Kali gasped. “He’s alive?”

  “Very much so. He’s a great dog. You’re lucky to have him in your family.”

  “How did you find him?” Kali struggled to control her voice.

  “I went to the cabin, see if I missed anything. I found a blood trail that led me to what I first thought was a dead coyote. Until he shivered.

  “Most dogs are mean when they’re injured, but Sandy wagged his tail and licked my hand like he trusted me. He possesses the warrior spirit.”

  Kali’s throat closed and her eyes welled with tears. “I’ll come get him—”

  “No.” Felix cut her off. “I know you’re worried.” Whitetower paused and said, ‘Good boy, Sandy’. “Give me a week to get him healthy enough to travel, then we’ll negotiate my visitation rights. Oh, and thank you for the cameras. They will be put to good use.”

  As she hung up, she looked at Zeke, waiting.

  “The FBI shares camera phones with local police to build better relationships. Bobby shipped five to Whitetower.”

  Cariole tapped her on the shoulder. “Before I forget. When we went through Dr. Fairgrove’s home, we found this.”

  He handed her a white rag envelope sealed with wax. Kali was penned in ornate script on the front. According to the date, it was over twenty years old. Kali slipped it into her pocket.

  He patted her arm. “There remain several details I must wrap up. I may call you.”

  He smiled and walked across the street, hands in his po
ckets, whistling, like a man without a care in the world.

  Kali and Zeke got only five minutes with Sean before the nurse threw them out. The patient is dehydrated and sun sick. If you expect him home soon, he needs rest. Next, they went to intensive care where Cat remained in a coma. There, they sat for an hour, updating her, telling funny stories, and then just holding her cool, dry hand.

  James was waiting outside when they left. He had wrinkles that hadn’t been there a month ago.

  “Do you want to join us for a snack, Bobby?”

  “I’m going home. Just need a minute with Kali.” He glanced over their heads at the glorious evening. The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving a golden afterglow behind the buildings. Red and orange wisps of clouds clung to the dusky sky with the first scattering of stars twinkling in their midst.

  “The FBI would like a closer look at Otto, when you recover.”

  “Bobby, I decided to destroy Otto. How do I protect my family and others from terrorists who want him for their own nefarious reasons?”

  “Top secret projects go on all the time without endangering participants. You’ve been working with one of the contractors for quite some time.”

  Rowe jumped in. “Speaking of Dr. Sun, I was hoping to thank him, maybe meet his wife. We could all have coffee.” Kali gasped and Zeke asked, “What? Does she have two heads?”

  Kali started and stopped and finally spit out, “She died a year ago. In childbirth. I don’t know if I should be the one telling you this, but every time Eitan has to answer well-meaning questions, it sets him back.”

  Kali licked her lips and uncrossed then recrossed her arms over her chest. “There were complications. The doctors told Eitan they could save either the mother or children. Sun begged his wife, said they could have more babies, but she refused. They fought—the first time in their marriage—and then it was too late. All three died and Eitan’s never been the same.