The Lost Power: VanOps, Book 1 by Avanti Centrae

Author:Avanti Centrae
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Opal Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 45

The Mediterranean Sea, July 9, 8:25 p.m.:

On the ferry, following a dreadful meal with the twins, Bear excused himself with a sweet tea “to go,” grabbed a sweatshirt against the coming chill, and went on a self-guided tour of the ship to make sure they hadn’t been followed on board.

Bear reviewed the last twenty-four hours, considering if someone could have tailed their movements. After spending the night at a youth hostel in Old Jerusalem, he and the twins had taken a bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and then purchased ferry tickets to Athens at a dockside kiosk.

To throw off their pursuers, they were heading to Greece by boat and then would take a train through Europe to Vilnius. Their ferry, Zeus’s Pride, had departed with the afternoon tide. Now the shadows of night were beginning to cling to dark corners of the ship. He hadn’t seen anyone following them, figured they were in the clear, but wanted to check out the ferry to be sure.

There was not much to see. The vessel was intended to ferry tourists from Europe to the Holy Land and, as such, was nowhere near a luxury cruise liner. Not that he’d ever been on a cruise, but he’d heard tales. There was no swimming pool, no movie theater, no delicious all-you-can-eat buffet. But what he cared about and, best of all, there was no burned Russian or minion of Prince Carlos.

Most of their fellow travelers carried backpacks and were planning to sleep the night under the stars on lounge chairs. Bear passed the rows of their budget beds and soon found himself at the front of the ship, where he paused to watch the sunset.

The sea gave off that exceptional, intoxicating scent that was unique to salty bodies of water. Bear loved the smell. Although moved by the aromatic textures as he watched the clouds slow dance through the colors of the rainbow, a battle raged inside him.

Am I doing the right thing?

On one hand, he always wanted to work as an undercover agent. The cat-and-mouse game of international espionage got his blood moving. It was his lifelong ambition.

Fighting with the marines over the last decade had held an appeal for a time. He had enjoyed piloting helicopters, gathering tactical intelligence, and it was an awesome feeling to lead a unit. At least until everything went to hell on that mountaintop. That was the side of war that his dead father had known and wanted him to experience: the guns-blazing, bloody, kick-ass side of war.

But since he was young, he had yearned for the covert, stealthy side of war. From studying history, he knew where conflicts were often won: off the battlefield, not on it, in the shadows and streets, through the hearts and minds of lone wolves like him. And in many ways, covert ops were often more dangerous than just being shot at. With no parachute, you had to use your body and your mind as a spy.

Perhaps he should have

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