“Saylor…”
“You were behind everything. The crime ring. The authorized extra duty assignments. That mission.” She staggered forward, barely kept her balance as she pointed at him. “You brought me there. You set off the sonar weapon. Watson was merely a pawn. A necessary partner to do your dirty work. But you were the man behind the curtain.”
Maddox blew out an exasperated breath, as if her uncovering the truth was a burden. Some heavy load he now needed to shoulder. “It’s not quite as simple as you make it out to be.”
“Really? Because you’re either a fucking traitor, or you’re not.” She groaned when that tone sounded, again. Not quite as devastating as before. As if her mind had figured out how to counter the worst of the effects. “I’ve known you my entire life. You were family. Like a second father. Then, you brought me here to die? Because of what?” She looked at Watson’s limp form. “Him?”
Maddox tsked, again. “I told you to let it go. That nothing good would come from pressing charges. Offered to give you any assignment you wanted, but you always had something to prove. Held everyone to some impossible standard.”
“He tried to rape me. Wanting him to be held accountable for that isn’t unreasonable.”
“Except where I asked you to let me handle it. I only needed him to finish this job, then I would have made sure he paid for his indiscretion.”
She laughed, falling against the bulkhead when everything went black for a moment. “Is that what you think it was? A poor judgement call?”
“Watson was always a bit of a pig. But he had connections and was one hell of a captain.”
“Which obviously meant more to you than family.” She sneered at him. “That’s what you said. That I was like a daughter to you.”
Maddox’s jaw clenched. “You remember.”
“Turns out, you’re the only trigger I needed for it all to just… reappear.”
She tripped onto one knee when the ship tilted violently, again, everything skidding across the floor. The hull groaned, a haunting echo ringing through the air as another pulse boomed around them.
Had they stopped moving?
She couldn’t tell. Could barely breathe past the crushing pressure, but she held on. Promised herself she’d make the bastard pay, no matter the cost.
Saylor pulled herself upright and braced her feet apart. If she kept Maddox talking a bit longer, the next massive swell might be the distraction she needed to go on the offensive. She’d likely get shot, but if she subdued him long enough to remove whatever ear protection was blocking the sonar, he’d be just as compromised as they were.
“You brought me onboard because you needed those charges to vanish, so Watson could keep running weapons for you. And what better way than to go down in a tragic accident.” She panted through the next loud burst. “You killed over twenty people, and for what? Money? Power?”
Maddox glared at her. “You brought this on yourself. I had no choice.”
“What about upholding your oath? Endeavoring to more? Being a decent human being?”
“And you wonder why I had to orchestrate this entire situation. You never would have understood. All the violence that goes unanswered. The wars that never get fought because some bureaucrat up in Washington can’t make some magic number appear on a spreadsheet.” Maddox tapped his chest. “I changed that. Ensured the people who needed those weapons got them. That evil didn’t go unanswered.” He shook his head. “You could have been part of it, but you never could see the gray areas.”
“Oh, I see plenty of gray, but this… This is pretty black and white.” She glanced back at Zain. He hadn’t moved, and the reality that she’d likely gotten him killed hit hard.
Maddox glanced past her at Zain. “They weren’t armor piercing, but two shots this close…” He whistled. “He might wake up before it’s all over. Just like your other friends. That one guy took three before he finally dropped. He’s definitely feeling it, now.”
Saylor swallowed, concentrated on keeping him talking because if she thought, for one second, she’dgotten half of Zain’s team killed… “Who are you selling the sonar weapon to? The North Koreans? Some faction in the Middle East? What were all those lives worth to you?”
“Don’t lecture me. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m just sorry you made yourself part of it.” He stepped back. “Ironic that we’re in the same situation. You, standing in my way. A storm raging across the ocean. I doubt you’ll survive another three days at sea.”
“So, that’s your master plan? Put me back in the Zodiac. Hope it sinks, this time?”
“It’s hard to pilot a boat when your mind’s broken. I won’t be relying on the Zodiac, though. You’ll go down with theNexus.”
“Why not shoot me, now? Save yourself any doubt.” She glanced behind him. “No backup, this time. Is that the issue? The line you won’t cross. Having me killed is fine, as long as you don’t have to pull the trigger?” She huffed. “I can’t believe I ever looked up to you. That I wanted to be just like you.”
Another pulse, the sheer immensity of this one dropping her to her knees. The room swam, tilting left and right as nausea roiled her stomach. She palmed the floor, every thought derailing before it formed. Nothing but that sound making it through.
Footsteps, drawing closer.
Maddox sighed. “Remarkable weapon, isn’t it? Vasquez was able to recreate everything but that damn panel. Didn’t know how to integrate it without having the original to go by. While this version is useful, it’s restrictive. Only affects the ship, which defeats the mainpurpose. But now that I found the integration panel…” He sighed. “I’ll need a new engineer, thanks to Watson’s inability to follow one simple order. But there’s always someone willing to toss their morals aside for the greater good. A lesson you could have learned.”
