Chapter 6 - Trapped in the HullThe heavy blast doors slammed shut with a thunderous CLANG, sealing the engine room off from the rest of the ship. The ventilation fans hummed down to a low whistle, causing the ambient heat from the operational turbines to rise instantly.
“Adrian!” I shouted, my voice calm despite the rising temperature. “Extrapolating a cover-up into unlawful confinement of federal officers carries a twenty-year sentence in Leavenworth!”
Adrian walked down the steel stairs slowly, flanked by the two Master-at-Arms officers, who looked noticeably uneasy about holding rifles in front of an IG team.
“You don't understand how power works in the Navy, Serena,” Adrian said, stopping five feet from me. “My father spoke to the CNO an hour ago. My deployment orders were signed off as top-secret national priority. Once this ship slips its moorings in three hours and enters international waters, federal civil warrants are suspended under operational combat commands.”
“You think you’re taking this ship out to sea with a cracked coolant line?” Agent Miller snapped, her hand hovering near her holster.
“I think the line will hold long enough for us to reach the Mediterranean,” Adrian said coldly. “And by the time we return in eight months, the maintenance logs will show that the crack occurred during deployment due to sea state stress—not negligence. As for you, Admiral...”
He took a step closer to me, his presence looming just as it had at the restaurant table.
“You and your team will remain in the ship’s holding cell until we clear territorial waters. A tragic administrative delay in your paperwork will explain why you couldn't leave before unmooring.”
I looked at the two young Master-at-Arms officers standing behind him. Both were sweating profusely—not just from the heat of the engine room, but from sheer terror. They knew that arresting a Rear Admiral was borderline treasonous without direct orders from the highest command levels.
“Sailors,” I said, shifting my gaze directly past Adrian to the two young guards. “What is your name and rank?”
“Petty Officer... Petty Officer Davis, Ma'am!” the guard on the left stammered, instantly snapping into a military posture despite his rifle.
“Petty Officer Davis,” I said, my voice echoing with absolute, unquestioned command authority. “Are you aware that obeying an illegal order from a officer attempting to evade federal arrest makes you an accessory to treason under Article 94 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice?”
Davis paled, his eyes darting frantically toward Adrian.
“Ignore her!” Adrian barked, turning on his heel. “I am your Executive Officer! Secure these people!”
“If you lay a hand on an Officer of the Department of Defense Inspector General,” I continued, stepping right past Adrian into Davis’s personal space, “you will face court-martial before the week is out. Stand down, Petty Officer. That is a direct order from a Flag Officer.”
Davis’s rifle lowered two inches. The second guard lowered his weapon completely.
“What are you doing?!” Adrian shouted, his composure shattering as his subordinates hesitated. “Raise your weapons!”
“They know the law, Commander,” I said, turning back to face him with a razor-sharp smile. “And more importantly, they know that unlike you... I don't bluff.”
May you like
Before Adrian could reach for his own sidearm, the red emergency lights in the ceiling began to flash violently. A loud klaxon horn pierced the air: BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The main blast doors slowly began to hiss open again, revealing a squad of armed Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents led by none other than Captain Marcus Vance.
