[Author’s Note: so many of the events and predictions in my NOT SO DEAD Series have strangely happened as predicted or appeared later in the news. The world has been captivated for the last 2 weeks by the trials and tragedy of the Oceangate submersible. That very same Oceangate submersible model appears in my first in-the-series 2017 thriller NOT SO DEAD. I thought you might enjoy reading about how the Oceangate Cyclops 2 is deployed in Chapter 63 and meets its fate in Chapter 71.]

Chapter 63 — RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP

The Cub had ordered the RPG attack on the Take Down and felt the
impact of the hit to his Last Chance. He shouted, “Report!” to the
wheelhouse.

The speaker overhead clicked on. “We have taken extensive
damage up top. Our shooters are gone. The assholes are demanding
all hands on deck or they blow us out of the water in twenty seconds.”
The Cub, who was standing in the control room below, didn’t
hesitate. “Go, go!” he shouted to his young crew of computer hackers.
He pushed and shoved them to go up the ladder steps to the deck.

Then he turned to the one man in the room who had not been at a
computer and was dressed like a seaman. “Simpson, let’s go.”
While the computer kids hustled up the steps, Simpson and
the Cub, headed in the opposite direction to a door in the stern.

They opened the door and jumped in the Oceangate Cyclops 2
submersible sitting open on the launching deck that hung from
the stern. Without speaking, Simpson secured the hatch. The Cub
barked, “Let’s get out of here!” Simpson pushed a button and the
Cyclops dropped into the water hardly making a splash. In less than
five seconds, it went under with a small trail of bubbles rising and
then disappearing on the surface.

“Where to now?” Simpson asked.

“Bring up the GPS and Side-Scan SONAR.” After the two screens
lit up, the Cub pointed to a spot on the GPS about ten miles offshore.
They still had to get themselves down the East River and out to sea,
but they had the advantage of stealth. “As they say, run silent, run
deep and get us there.”

Simpson flipped a switch and the Cyclops dashboard went dim,
the dials hardly visible. The engine became silent although the
propellers continued to push them forward. They had a head start
but knew their lead wouldn’t last long once their pursuers figured
out what they were doing.

The Cub followed the green dot on the screen that represented
their submersible as it slowly moved down river to the harbor. The
red dot that represented the Take Down remained stationary. That
could mean one of three things. Either the Take Down was so
damaged they could not move, they knew about the Cyclops and
called in backup, or hopefully, they hadn’t figured it out yet. Just a
little more time and good fortune and they might actually get away.

Chapter 71 — THE CUB IS DEAD

Eskabar tapped another button on his keyboard and looked up from
his computer screen. “It is done,” he said in a low solemn voice.
“It had to be done,” the Leopard said. “My brother served Allah
and has been taken by him to heaven.”

Eskabar had known driven men and cold-hearted men in his fifty-six years.
However, he never met a man who held both such qualities
to such an extreme. He couldn’t help himself. “Sire, I mean only the
highest respect, but was there no other way to save him?”

“My dear Eskabar, this chess game is very complex and perhaps
several levels above your intelligence. Sometimes you have to sacrifice
a knight to capture a queen. My brother was a valiant knight, but I am
the chess master. I have to think several moves ahead. We could not
afford his being captured or compromised by our opponents. Besides,
with any luck, we may have taken out that pesky computer geek and his
partner. You wisely installed a destruction device in the submersible.

Part of me regrets losing my brother, whom I loved almost as much
as Allah. But unlike Abraham who brought his son Isaac into the tent
as a sacrifice to God, I had to carry out the deed.” LaSalam seemed
to be in some kind of trance as he explained his actions, but then his
face reddened and his hands began to shake. “And if you ever, ever
question my actions again, you will join my brother. Yet you will go
to a much darker place and your family will join you there.”

Eskabar’s face turned ashen for the second time that day. He felt
like he might throw up, but he choked it back. He would not risk a
third strike with this dangerous man. No, he must not.

“Meet me here tomorrow at 9:00 AM. Then we can plan our next
steps to destroy these bastards.” The Leopard turned and walked
out. As he left, without turning around, he raised his right hand in a
backhand wave. Eskabar silently wished he would never return.

-END-

Catch up on my original fast-paced thriller NOT SO DEAD and the Sam Sunborn Series They are available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com
If you like short reads you can really finish, grab a copy of my short story collections: The Last Appointment: 30 Collected Short Stories
Or my new children’s adventure book: Nougo and His Basketball.

And read for FREE some of Charles Levin’s short stories:

I’m Processing
Books Unread
Nora Delivers the Package
The Permission Slip
10 Life Lessons I Learned from Playing Poker
Missing the Ghost in the Palace Theater
Moon Landing Memories
Word Drunk

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