She knew she shouldn’t, but she had to surface the boat. Only the power of the Gator’s diesels gave them a chance to outrun it.
“Surfacing the boat!”
She pulled back on the yoke, and the sub breached the surface. Linda blew the ballast, and the Gator rose up on its hull.
Then, through the cupola windows, she saw her best chance of escaping those ravenous tentacles. It was a small boat cruising south of the Dragão. If she could get past it, the boat would become the squid’s meal instead of the Gator.
She fired up the diesels and gunned the throttle.
Gomez and Murph tumbled to the floor as she accelerated, but Linda didn’t care. She had to get away.
Murph pushed Gomez off him and hopped to his feet as if he’d taken a fall off his skateboard. He didn’t know where Linda was going, but he knew that fleeing wasn’t the answer. The enemy was on board.
He plucked a grenade from one of the containers and pulled the pin. In his haze, he couldn’t tell what kind it was. But it didn’t matter.
Just as he was about to throw the grenade toward the back of the sub, Gomez smashed into him and it flew from his hand.
It rolled into the cockpit, right behind Linda’s seat.
The grenade exploded, and Murph fell to his knees in blind agony.
* * *
—
Farouk was fascinated to see the submersible rise out of the water and turn toward the speedboat holding him and Li.
“They’re coming right at us!” Li yelled. “Was that part of the plan?”
Farouk wasn’t worried, but Li threw the throttle forward and took off at high speed to avoid a collision.
“Not exactly,” Farouk replied calmly. “The results of the sonic disruptor can be unpredictable.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“I think it’s time we ended the operation. We’ve accomplished what we intended.”
Farouk switched off the disruptor and input the recall coordinates, which would cause the drone carrying it to return to their ship on the far side of Guanabara Bay.
He made a call on his phone.
“Yes?” came the answer at the other end.
“We’re on our way back,” Farouk said. “The mission was a success.”
“I know,” the commander said. “I’ve been watching.” Then he let out an uproarious laugh. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”
* * *
—
Linda opened her eyes to find herself slouched over the Gator’s yoke. She’d passed out from a concussion, but she didn’t know how it had happened.
Even though she was extremely groggy, the gruesome image of tentacles that had tormented her was gone.
She leaned back and would have fallen out of her seat if she hadn’t been belted in. Her head throbbed in pain like it was being hit with a sledgehammer.
Before she could get her bearings, she felt hands unbuckling the belt and pulling her from her seat. Her vision was still fuzzy, but she could see Gomez and Murph talking to each other as they carried her to the rear of the sub. They laid her gently on the floor, and Murph put a blanket over her. He had tears in his eyes.