CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

 

The ‘Miss T’ continued plying the oceans, and Karl and Olga and I had managed to come to an understanding, of sorts.

 

Karl had tried to tell Julie, Tanya, and Dean that everything was all right, that I was not some kind of supernatural organism, but he couldn’t go into enough details regarding OCTAVIUS to really allay their fears.

 

Olga apparently gave zero fucks if I were a witch, zombie or space alien, just so long as we could make love as much as possible.

 

—————

 

Bone, Stephan, Karl and I shared our thoughts about the Melding, which seemed odd, since we’d all participated.

 

There was something each of us had done at the compound, but we couldn’t piece it together.

 

Not here, outside of the Melding phenomenon, or state, or whatever it was called.

 

It was like watching television or a show, in a sense.

 

Everyone experienced the same program, but we all took away different things.

 

I distinctly remember feeling close to my stepbrothers, with an intimacy so intense that it surpassed the physical.

 

I could see their feelings, taste their emotions, hear their thoughts.

 

But, when we aren’t Melded, we seem to either block out or forget the things that allowed us to connect so tightly.

 

Don’t get me wrong, there is an underlying aftertaste, I suppose.

 

We’re all more solidly aware of our feelings for each other.

 

And, oddly enough, the boys also have some competitive nature that also is subsumed by Melding.

 

It’s other-worldly.

—————

 

“Rachel, Karl needs you in the radio room, please,” says Julie, as I am coming out of my shower.

 

I am happy she’s bold enough to come into my berth, again, and not afraid of my tattoo and Bone’s reappearance.

 

Then, it hits me.

 

“Julie, did you know about Bone, and the storm, I mean?” I say.

 

She acts as if she is caught in a trap.

 

“Well, Miss Bloomberg,” she starts to say.

 

I give her a look, standing there, dripping water falling off my ample bosom and ass.

 

“It’s Rachel, Julie, it’s always going to be Rachel, okay?” I say, a bit exasperated with the whole thing.

 

“I’m sorry, Rachel, it’s just so weird and scary!” she cries.

 

“Do you think I don’t know that? I really needed a friend, Julie, and it really hurt how you’ve been treating me when I thought you were one!” I say, feeling my tears are close.

 

I sit down heavily on the bed, not caring if the sheets are soaked by my wetly showered ass or not.

 

I sob because all of this has been so unfair to me.

 

I’m a freak, all because I loved too much!

 

Julie comes over next to me and tries to put her hand on my shoulder.

 

She hesitates, then finally, reluctantly places it on my cool skin.

 

Her hand is warm, and just then, I think of something.

 

I think about how much I loved being with her and Tanya, and to my surprise, a tear falls from her eye, down her cheek.

 

“I miss you, Rachel!” she cries.

 

“But, I am so afraid!” she says.

 

I take her and sit her down next to me on the bed.

 

“Shhh. Don’t be. I’m still me, Julie,” I tell her.

 

I stroke her long hair, and nuzzle her neck as she weeps.

 

Hugging her to me, I know that she’ll come through this, that we all will.

 

“Oh!” she says, getting up and wiping her nose and face with her hands.

 

“The radio!” Julie says and then walks out from my cabin.

 

—————

 

I pull on a bikini bottom and a tee, then walk up to the radio room, where Karl, Stephan, and Olga are waiting.

 

“Where’s Bone?” I ask, expecting to see him.

 

“Getting ready for a dive,” says Stephan, focusing on the sonar.

 

“Rachel, can you get the Old Man on the horn for me, please?” asks Karl.

 

He’s looking at the screen with Stephan.

 

Olga is standing next to him, touching his leg with hers, her need for him palpable.

 

She looks at me, I can see her longing, how miserable she is that he is not inside her, that her mouth is not full of him.

 

Her lust for his mastery of her soul is tangible.

 

I’ve never seen anyone so in thrall before.

 

It’s fascinating.

 

“Life gifs us many mirrors, Rachel,” she tells me.

 

She pushes against Karl, who absent-mindedly puts his arm around her waist.

 

I don’t think he hears her small moan, her cry of want because it’s so quiet.

 

But I do…

 

—————

 

I try getting the Admiral, but instead, I get routed to the Secretary of the Navy.

 

“Stephan, there’s something wrong,” I say.

 

He and Karl look over to me.

 

“Listen,” I say, putting the feed onto the loudspeakers.

 

“This is SecNav Richard Dawber, am I speaking to the captain of the ‘Miss T’?” comes a gruff voice.

 

“Yes, this is Captain Karl Jaeger,” Karl responds.

 

“Captain, you and your crew are hereby ordered to Guam, and will be held for questioning until we have concluded our investigation into the murder of Admiral Reginald Decker,” says the SecNav.

 

We all look at each other in shock.

 

The Old Man, dead?

 

Why hadn’t Alpha Team contacted us? Or Brett? Or Kim or Megan?

 

“Are you certain that…” Stephan begins to say.

 

“Mr. Jaeger, Captain, and whomever else you may have on deck listening, this is a serious matter. We will be sending a Coast Guard escort to meet you in four hours, and you will follow it to Guam,” says the SecNav.

 

“Do you understand? Failure to comply will mean that we will assume you are parties to this crime, or accessories after the fact,” he says.

 

“We will be expecting your vessel, and cooperate fully Mr. Secretary,” says Karl.

 

“They will be meeting you at latitude 13.4443° N, longitude144.7937° E. Do you understand?” asks the SecNav.

 

“Affirmative, ‘Miss T’ out,” says Karl.

 

He viciously flips the radio off, disconnecting the signal.

 

“Dean!” he shouts.

 

“Sir!” responds Dean.

 

“Set a course for Guam, use the GPS to get us four miles off the western coast, near the Fort. You know where I mean?” says Karl.

 

“Our Lady of Solitude, yes, sir!” Dean says.

 

“Good man, and don’t spare the horses, we’ve got to get there in four hours,” says Karl.

 

Turning to me, he’s obviously upset.

 

Olga has gone to find Julie and Tanya, and Bone comes onto the bridge.

 

He’s wearing full scuba gear, and two tanks, and an octopus regulator in addition to his normal one.

 

He’s carrying his flippers and a satellite telephone.

 

He looks at all of us, in turn.

 

His face is speaking volumes of dread.

 

“I’ve just gotten a satphone call from Derek, and it’s as bad as it gets,” says Bone.

 

“What did he say, Bone?” asks Stephan.

 

“Ted Ghent is dead,” Bone replies.

 

I cry out and gasp.

 

“No! How? When?” I cry.

 

“It happened yesterday, near the airport,” he says.

 

“They were attacked, again, by Mandarin forces, according to Derek,” he looks at Karl.

 

“Brett, Kady, and Sarah are all under arrest for the murder of the Old Man,” he tells him, looking then to Stephan.

 

Then, Bone looks at me.

 

“The Admiral was found dead in the parking lot at Pecker. He was shot once in the left temple with a .22 caliber,” he says.

 

My eyes are suddenly blinded by my tears, and I sob, my breath catching as the pain comes.

 

“Two of Black Dogs’ armored sedans and Brett’s Maybach came under rocket fire as they were heading to the airport. They were getting ready to fly out to Singapore, to meet up with Om,” he finished.

 

“What’s going on, Stephan, Karl?” he asks.

 

“Shit just got real,” Karl replies.

 

Stephan looks at Bone.

 

“We’re being escorted to Guam, under orders of the Secretary of the US Navy,” he says.

 

“In four hours we’re meeting a Coast Guard cutter, and then…” he trails off.

 

Stephan, Karl, and Bone stand there for a moment.

 

I finally really become aware that Bone is rigged for a dive.

 

“What’s going on, Bone?” I ask.

 

“Bone was supposed to meet up with the USS Betsy Ross in about forty-five minutes, but we’ve not heard from Captain Rodgers. That’s not according to schedule,” says Stephan.

 

“We’d been given orders by The Old Man, and…” he’s saying.

 

Then, I go off on them!

 

“Again! And you couldn’t tell me?” I yell at them.

 

Assholes!

 

When are they going to learn?

 

“Rachel, this is different!” Bone says, trying to calm me down.

 

“Bullshit!” I spit.

 

“No, he’s right, Rachel,” Stephan says.

 

“This was supposed to be a routine mission. We’ve got Moms ring, and were just going to give it to Captain Rodgers to copy and transmit to the Old Man,” he says.

 

“What? Didn’t Moms give it to him after we’d left the compound? I thought that was the most important thing, after Om and her, of course?” I asked, stifling my tears.

 

I wiped my face.

 

“The Old Man told Om and Moms that he thought the situation was still too volatile, and to retain it until he could contact Captain Rodgers,” Karl says.

 

“So, our ‘getting away’ cruise was just an excuse, too?” I say.

 

I am just so pissed off about all of this!

 

These men are still treating me like I’m this little girl, even after Melding!

 

Even after all we’ve shared!

 

“You know something, guys?” I say, my anger fully aroused by now.

 

“Fuck all of you!” I yell.

 

“The Old Man is dead, all because of these fucking mind games you all are wrapped up in! Fuck  you, fuck the Mandarin fuckers!” I scream.

 

Karl walks away, I suppose to help Dean and Tanya, and I hate him.

 

Stephan tries to get closer to me, but I just spin away from his outstretched hand.

 

“Get away from me, Stephan!” I hiss.

 

I storm off to the stern, seething at all the lies and subterfuge these men still are pushing onto me.

 

They think I’m just a silly, horny girl.

 

A kid sister.

 

Julie comes walking up, along with Bone.

 

Bone looks funny, and I struggle not to giggle as he waddles down the deck to where I am leaning against the rail.

 

“Rachel, can we talk?” asks Bone.

 

“About what? About how you didn’t tell me you’re going deep sea diving again? About how you and your brothers don’t trust me? What’s it going to take, Bone?” I shout.

 

“And you, Julie, I thought you were my friend but you, Tanya, Dean, and even that cunt Sylvia, you’re all in on this!” I fume.

 

“Everyone knows the score except me, is that it? Poor, dumb, stupid Rachel!”

 

I am so angry that I can’t even see straight.

 

My head hurts, and I look out into the ocean, and suddenly there is a sharp pain, and a bright light and my tattoo is glowing so bright, it seems like I am on fire.

 

I feel like I am going to throw up.

 

I scream my anger from the back of the boat, my frustration of these people, how they are taking advantage of me, how they take me for granted, and then off the stern, suddenly the water behind the ‘Miss T’ erupts into a huge geyser of foam and bubbles, almost four hundred feet high.

 

“Rachel! Stop it!” yells Bone.

 

He’s glowing, too.

 

Julie is staring at both of us, terrified.

 

Bone grabs my arms, and suddenly we’re Melding.

 

There is another explosive wave of water, twice as big as the first one, and close enough to rock the ‘Miss T’.

 

“What the hell?” shouts Stephan, as he runs up to us from the starboard deck.

 

Karl comes running around the port side, sliding on the wet deck, and almost falls.

 

He catches himself on the railing and watches the waters roiling.

 

“What is that?” he shouts.

 

“Look!” Stephan points off the starboard side.

 

There are three jets approaching, firing rockets!

 

“Stephan! Karl! Now!” shouts Bone.

 

The three men circle me as rockets slam into the bow of the ‘Miss T’.

 

—————

 

We float in the water, a small group of humans, in the midst of the great Pacific ocean.

 

Somehow, a life raft survived the destruction of the ‘Miss T’.

 

We are crowded into it, shivering, bleeding and all alone.

 

—————

 

I am crying, the men are trying to tend to their wounds.

 

The blast threw us off the stern, and we managed to remain undetected as the jets came by and strafed the wreckage, taking turns using Bone’s octopus to stay underwater until they’d left.

 

There was no sign of the others.

—————

 

Stephan and Bone are looking after Karl, who was hit by shrapnel in his leg.

 

The nanos are working their magic on all of us, but even after a Melding, there was only so much that could be repaired.

 

Karl’s leg looks like it was stabbed with a pitchfork.

 

Stephan and Bone have dressed it as well as they could, using fabric from Stephan’s shirt, and some of the hoses from Bone’s dive gear.

 

It looks really bad.

—————

 

Olga.

 

Dean.

 

Tanya.

 

Julie.

 

They’re all gone.

 

—————

 

We’re floating in the ocean, and a Navy Destroyer finally finds us.

 

It’s been fourteen hours since the ‘Miss T’ was sent to the bottom.

 

I’m exhausted.

 

Karl is in severe pain, and shock.

 

Bone, Stephan and I tried to Meld with him, but it didn’t help.

 

He needs to be taken to the Facility.

 

He needs OCTAVIUS treatments.

 

—————

 

We’re being brought aboard the ship, and Karl has passed out, thankfully.

 

“Stephan Jaeger, Captain Karl Jaeger, Drake Jaeger and Rachel Bloomberg, you are all under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, and the homicide of Admiral Reginald Decker,” says the Captain of the destroyer.

 

“My brother, Karl, is unconscious, as you can see, Captain,” Stephan says.

 

“Take him to sickbay, and keep him under armed guard, and cuff him,” says the Captain.

 

We watch as Karl is put on a cot and carried off.

 

“We’re taking no chances, Mr. Jaeger, sir,” he tells Stephan.

 

“We’re citizens of the United States, Captain, and as such, we have certain rights,” says Stephan.

 

“With all due respect, you are all guests on my boat, and since my orders are to treat you as dangerous fugitives until otherwise instructed, you will be quartered in the brig,” he tells us, sternly.

 

“Hose them down, give them some duds, grub, and then put them in the brig, under armed guard. Chains, and shackles,” he says.

 

“S.O.P., sailors!” he shouts to his men.

 

They salute as he leaves, then go about their work, unceremoniously.

 

—————

 

We’re stripped, told to shower, and given fresh clothing, all under armed guard.

 

We’re fed, and given some coffee.

 

Then, we’re locked up.

 

—————

 

“Bone, what’s going to happen to us?” I whisper.

 

The brig is just six small cells, with restraints welded to the floor.

 

Each of us is chained to a restraint.

 

If we need to use the head, we’re escorted under armed guard, and when we’ve finished doing our business, returned to the cell and chained back up.

 

There’s no way to get away.

 

Nowhere to run.

 

Even if we managed to free ourselves, we’re surrounded by miles of ocean.

 

—————

 

The next four days are a nightmare.

 

It’s the same dull routine, as the ship goes on about whatever Navy destroyers do while waiting to offload prisoners.

 

Stephan tries to get information or allowed to use the satphone, or the radio, to call Martin, or Brett.

 

When he’s finally allowed to speak to someone, it’s the JAG from DSO Guam.

 

The three of us are taken in front of a severe-looking Lt. General, named Loretta Fisher.

 

She tells us that the Alpha Team has been ordered to stand down and that Black Dog security has been raided by the FBI.

 

Captain David Spalding is in custody, and the majority of his agents have been let go and ordered not to travel far.

 

Brian Cox and Kim Wilder have disappeared.

 

We hear that their house was burnt down, but no bodies recovered.

 

I pray that little R.B. and Kim’s unborn child, are unhurt.

 

Meghan White is also missing.

 

The Ghents have been allowed to go under house arrest, but their security is now under the auspices of the FBI.

 

I am in total despair.

 

There’s no word of Moms or Om.

 

I cry and try to sleep.

 

It’s no use.