The Wrecking Crew by Taylor Zajonc

Author:Taylor Zajonc
Language: spa
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Blank Slate Press
Published: 2016-04-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Dr. Nassiri stood on the fantail of the Horizon and stared off into the distance. It wouldn’t be long now; the experimental yacht had already begun to break apart in the gentle swell. One of the pontoons was nearly separated from the body of the ship and the flooding in the main cabin increased with every wave. She’d soon be on the bottom of the ocean, joining the Fool’s Errand and centuries of ill-fated ships. He released the mooring line, separating the Horizon and the Scorpion. The physical exertion felt good, especially in the fresh sea air and the still-cool early morning.

Fatima stepped up beside him, love and pride welling up into a powerful mixture of emotions she was not well-equipped to demonstrate. Her son had risked everything to save her—no, not her; he thought she was dead—but her legacy. He had willingly set his life aside to finish what she had started. How does one thank a son for that?

She looked up at him. Dark, unruly hair ruffled in the wind as he squinted into the vast emptiness, searching for any sign Jonah and Klea had survived the explosion. He was as handsome as his father had been. No wonder the American girl watched his every move. The girl tried to hide it, of course, but a mother could always sense a woman’s interest in her son. But a Texan? Not what she’d imagined for Hassan, but she wouldn’t interfere. Not after all this. Without thinking, she licked the palm of her hand and went to work trying to pack down an errant clump of hair.

“Mother!”

Alexis stuck her head over the lip of the conning tower, just as Dr. Nassiri batted his mother’s hand away from his head.

Alexis laughed and Dr. Nassiri turned and held his hand to his forehead, blocking the sunlight to get a better look. The morning light did the Texan more than justice, she was radiant. He swallowed hard and ignored his mother’s ministrations.

“Thought you should know—we’re getting incoming radar contacts,” shouted Alexis. “Looked like a flock of birds at first but they’re flying too straight and much too fast. Vitaly says they’re drones bearing in from Anconia Island. They’re fifteen minutes out on a direct intercept course.”

Dr. Nassiri frowned. A cluster of drones wasn’t a good sign. Just one might have been surveillance or on some unrelated mission. A cluster meant they were potentially armed and maybe even accompanied by a surface vessel. He held the mooring line fast as his mother gingerly stepped from the smoldering yacht to the submarine. She ascended the ladder to the conning tower and disappeared inside.

“Are they weaponized?” he shouted.

“Vitaly says yes. Air-to-ground missiles.”

Dr. Nassiri ably hopped from the yacht to the submarine and deftly untied the mooring line. Knots came easily to his surgeon’s muscle memory, even unfamiliar designs. It was his guess that a surveillance drone had picked up on the smoke column from the Horizon. Whether any of the drone operators had seen the Scorpion or not, he couldn’t guess.

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