PROLOGUE
TheVigilant.
US Coast Guard contract research vessel.
Classified mission off the Oregon Coast.
Footsteps.
Tapping along the metal corridor. Fast, but controlled. The kind that generally proceeded a raid. Stopping and starting, what sounded like rusted hinges echoing in the spaces between. As if they were checking every hatch — searching for something.
Someone.
Lieutenant Commander Saylor O’Conner staggered to her feet, clutching her head as pain pulsed through her temples, ricocheting across her skull and into her chest. She took a step, tripping against the wall when everything shifted — left and right until she thought she’d puke.
She palmed the handle of her weapon, her mind scratching at the emptiness where her memories should be. Some explanation as to why she’d entered the researcher’s storage room. Why the thought of those men opening the door sent a shiver down her spine when she suspected they were part of the crew. Teammates she’d worked with for the past week.
Another creak.
Closer. Maybe two rooms over. Barely enough distance to get it all straight in her head.
She drew herself up and pushed off the wall when that tone sounded again. The same one that had caused her to tumble onto the grated floor a moment ago. Louder, this time. Deeper. Rattling through her head, splintering any remaining thoughts. She took a breath, blacked out for a second, until those footsteps started up again.
The hatch to the room next to hers opened, the telltale screech of metal-on-metal making her eye twitch. She drew her gun, hands shaking, vision nothing more than a pinhole centered on the door when shouts erupted in the corridor.
Everything froze, an eerie silence weighing down the already thick air until it shifted — sped up. A lone reply, then gunfire boomed through the hallways, pinging off the metal walls, drowning out everything but that damn tone, echoing through the hull. Exploding inside her head like a frag grenade.
Men yelled outside the door. Footsteps raced down the corridor. The sounds all mixing together until theyfaded into the lingering strum vibrating through the walls. The underlying thrash of her pulse in her head.
Saylor blinked, rousing god knew how much later. Her ass once again planted on the metal grates. Her weapon resting against her palm. Hints of smoke and diesel hung in the air, a motor humming in the distance. She crawled to her feet, the floor still tilting beneath her as she pressed her ear against the hatch.
Nothing.
No murmurs, no tapping. Just the hull groaning against the surge of the ocean. The ship listing sharply to port.
She took a breath, then inched open the door. Deep shadows filled the corridor, the odd, dull emergency light glowing amidst the darkness.
Had they been attacked?
Suffered some sort of catastrophic failure from the inbound storm?
Or had she imagined everything? The voices. The sharp bursts of semi-automatic gunfire. The fear of being discovered.
TheVigilantrocked, slamming her against the wall. Pain sparked through her shoulder, clearing some of the fuzziness. She took a step, found her balance, then shuffled down the corridor. She glanced into the open rooms, frowning at strewn papers and abandoned tech. Drops of blood trailed along the metal floor, a bloody handprint smeared across the stairwell frame.
That helped her focus. Had her winding her way up the stairs to the next level. She’d check the crew’s quarters,first, then make her way to the bridge. Either the captain or the rear admiral would have the answers. She just needed to stay coherent long enough to sweep the ship.
Another pulse derailed those efforts. Had her bent over, her hip pressed against the wall, her hands braced on her knees. She concentrated on drawing air in, then pushing it out. Anything to keep the dots from eating up the rest of her vision. Dropping her where she stood.
The tone lasted longer than before, ringing through the hallway until it finally faded, only a deep vibration lingering in the air. Hovering just out of sight. She did her best to stumble the rest of the way, checking each room until she reached the far end. Distant voices traveled down the stairwell, the ghostly sounds mixing with that faint echo.
Another bloody handprint had her clearing the adjoining stairs before slowly climbing them. Dragging her shoulder along the wall in case the boat tilted — tumbled her over the rail.
Reaching the upper level without falling two flights seemed like a shining success until she tripped onto the deck — took stock. Thick, dark clouds filled the horizon, heavy rain cutting down the visibility to some ridiculously small margin. Thunder rumbled in the distance as lightning danced across the waves, each flicker providing a snapshot of the storm’s progression.
Another violent surge impacted the hull, tossing the massive ship amidst the towering swells. Water crashed across the bow, spreading the width of the deck, tumbling down the stairwell, then retreating over the edge.
She stumbled onto the walkway, gripping any available surface like a lifeline as she picked her way toward the bridge. She got halfway to the front stairwell when another deep pulse boomed beneath her. The force knocked her onto her ass as the ship’s lights surged, glowing twice as bright before exploding in a shower of glass and filaments — plunging theVigilantinto utter darkness.
