Chapter 6 - THE SOLDIERS WHO CAME BACK
The boarding operation began before sunrise.
Federal agents stormed the upper decks.
My former Marine team secured the lower corridors.
For several minutes, the ship became a maze of alarms, shouting, and locked doors.
Then I found Captain Reynolds.
He stared at me.
“Sarah?”
I almost couldn't recognize him.
His hair had turned gray.
But his eyes were the same.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He smiled.
“Not officially.”
We hugged quickly.
Then he handed me a tablet.
“Your mission wasn't a failure.”
“I know.”
“Voss captured us.”
“Why?”
“To make us build the maritime network.”
I looked at the women being escorted from Cabin 714.
“Those women?”
“Witnesses.”
“And the ledger?”
“Proof.”
I looked at the screen.
Every payment.
Every name.
Every ship.
Every government official who had funded the operation.
The scale was enormous.
Then I saw one name.
David Davis.
I looked at him.
“You were listed.”
His face went pale.
“I told you.”
“You were involved.”
“I was seventeen.”
The next page showed his father's signature.
And beneath it:
SUCCESSOR DESIGNATE: DAVID DAVIS.
David looked sick.
“I never agreed to this.”
“I believe you.”
Then Captain Reynolds spoke.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The women aren't the only prisoners.”
“Who else?”
He pointed downward.
“Children.”
My heart stopped.
“How many?”
“Twenty.”
David stared at me.
“My father…”
We ran.
The lower deck was locked behind reinforced doors.
I found the access panel.
“Stand back.”
I forced it open.
Inside were small rooms.
Children.
Terrified.
Alive.
One little boy ran toward David.
“Mr. David?”
David dropped to his knees.
“Who are you?”
“My mom said you would save us.”
David's eyes filled with tears.
I looked at him.
“This is what your father built.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
Then footsteps approached.
Voss.
He stood at the end of the corridor.
He held no weapon.
He didn't need one.
“You've always misunderstood me, Sarah.”
I stepped forward.
“You kidnapped children.”
“I protected them.”
“From what?”
“Their parents.”
I stared.
“What?”
Voss smiled.
“Every child here is connected to someone who wanted to expose the network.”
David stepped forward.
“You murdered innocent people.”
“No.”
Voss looked at him.
“I gave them new lives.”
“You stole their lives.”
Voss sighed.
“You've become sentimental.”
Then he looked at me.
“Come with me.”
“No.”
“I can give you the truth.”
“I already know enough.”
“You don't.”
He pointed downward.
“The ledger isn't the real evidence.”
I froze.
“What is?”
Voss smiled.
“The people.”
Then he pressed a button.
Every camera on the ship turned toward us.
And one by one, faces appeared.
Presidents.
Generals.
Business leaders.
Judges.
The most powerful people in America.
May you like
Voss whispered:
“Now ask yourself who ordered the network in the first place.”
