James Axler – Watersleep

With Brosnan’s knowledge and talents, and Posei­don’s drive and ambition, they decided to rebuild the base from the ground up. A decade had passed, and Brosnan had watched as the older man’s desire for power started to turn him in the direction of cruelty and dominance. But what could he do? Poseidon was the undisputed leader, and Brosnan was a man of books in a world of violence.

At Kings Point, Brosnan had his place. From time to time, he might have to assist in a bit of unpleas­antness, but that was the cost for his position—along with the loss of his once close friendship with Posei­don. Oh, Brosnan was still the Admiral’s confidant. Poseidon trusted no one more. However, now he shut the younger man out of his schemes until they were ready to unfold. Poseidon’s dark plans were his own.

Brosnan found that suited him fine.

“I love games! I love to win! Nobody wanted me to be ‘it,’ because I was always able to track down each and every one of my friends,” Poseidon contin­ued.

“Really?” Brosnan said, tuning back in on the conversation.

Poseidon paused for effect. “Track them one by one.”

“Track?” Brosnan laughed. “Strong words for a child’s game.”

“Even then I played to win, Commander. My childhood wasn’t easy. There were only a few of us in that spacious enclave. Two girls, three boys. I was the youngest. I grew up behind glass with my father and mother observing me as intently as they might have looked at one of their own freakish experi­ments.” Poseidon paused, lost in memory. “At times,” he said softly, “I wonder if that was the only reason my dear mother consented to becoming preg­nant in the first place.”

Brosnan tried to shield his expression. Rarely had Poseidon offered a tidbit like this from his past even when they were at their closest, and to open up in front of the enlisted men was even more unusual.

“You are surprised at my candor?”

“Aye, sir. Yes.”

“In war, men act differently, Mr. Brosnan. Make no mistake about it. At this moment, we are at war. When we left, the base was in flames. Under attack. We may have to run silent and deep for a long time before returning home.”

Brosnan didn’t answer.

“This is what being a submariner entails. The com­plete and utter mastery of a child’s pastime. Hide and seek, seek and hide. You keep your vessel hidden while trying to find theirs. It’s all laid out in the man­uals. I’ve done my research and so have you. The finest manuscripts that I’ve been able to buy or steal. Many of them captured on discs of shining gold, and I was lucky enough to possess the computer hardware needed to access their information. I own the finest in fiction and nonfiction, including all of the known works of the master statistician, the great Clancy him­self.”

“I know, sir. I’ve read them.” Brosnan paused for a second. “All of them.”

“Not all, Commander. I also have two of his first editions, one inscribed in the author’s own hand,” Poseidon said. “A man has to keep some secrets, Commander. You read second editions, but his words of cursive were for me alone.”

“Aye, sir.” Brosnan was starting to become wor­ried. Poseidon was talking of trivial matters at a time when the fate of the Raleigh was at stake.

“You may restart the engines now. Maintain course, Mr. Brosnan. I have an errand.”

“Where are you headed, Admiral?”

“To rid ourselves of a barnacle,” Poseidon mur­mured. “A particularly insistent one.”

“Cawdor?”

“Aye.”

“We could go ahead and start a search. He can’t hide for long.”

Poseidon glanced around the control room. The two men at various stations weren’t expendable. Neither was Brosnan. His knowledge of the operations of the submarine was only second to that of Poseidon him­self, and if the Admiral intended to go gunning per­sonally for Ryan Cawdor, then one of them had to remain behind.

“I can handle this alone. Don’t look so resigned, Brosnan,” Poseidon said as he stepped from the room. “I’ll be back. Stout fellow!”

RYAN STEPPED into the sub’s reactor room. The com­partment was big—in fact, the room was surprisingly large. This had to be the widest open space in the entire submarine. As Ryan glanced at the mammoth reactor pulsing within, he understood why. Oversize circle-shaped rad detectors were hanging in all of the corners of the room, both fore and aft.