Chapter 12 - The Traitor Below Deck
Captain Cross locked down the Talon.
No one moved between compartments without escort.
The submarine carried ninety-seven sailors.
Any one of them could have transmitted the signal.
Hannah examined internal communication logs.
A burst transmission had occurred from the medical compartment.
The ship’s doctor denied sending it.
Three corpsmen had access.
One was missing.
They found him unconscious inside a supply locker.
His wrist communicator had been removed.
The traitor had used his access.
Hannah reviewed corridor footage.
One camera had looped the same six seconds repeatedly.
Nightglass was aboard.
Again.
Captain Cross looked at her.
“Did you bring the device?”
“No.”
The military police officer checked Hannah’s confiscated equipment.
Nothing.
Then Hannah remembered Pike’s watch.
The internal transmitter battery had been removed.
But its signal chip had been placed in the evidence bag attached to her file.
Calloway’s staff had sent the entire bag aboard.
Hannah opened it.
The chip was gone.
Someone removed it after the submarine launched.
Cross ordered a search.
The lights flickered.
Navigation screens changed.
The Talon’s depth reading suddenly showed a rapid descent.
Sailors reacted.
Hannah shouted, “Ignore the display.”
The submarine felt level.
No pressure changes.
No shift in gravity.
Another ghost signal.
Nightglass was attempting to create panic.
A crew member might order an emergency ascent, exposing the submarine to the cargo vessel.
Hannah closed her eyes.
She listened.
The propulsion vibration remained steady.
Water movement against the hull stayed consistent.
“Maintain course by mechanical gyro,” she ordered.
Cross followed.
The false alarms continued.
Hull breach.
Reactor instability.
Collision warning.
One by one, Hannah identified them as synthetic.
The traitor grew desperate.
A real valve opened in the aft ballast system.
The submarine tilted.
This time Hannah felt the floor shift.
“Real event,” she said.
Damage teams responded.
Security found a junior navigation officer beside the manual controls.
Lieutenant Eric Walsh.
He held Pike’s missing transmitter.
The military police officer restrained him.
Walsh struggled.
“You don’t understand. Sloane protects this country.”
Hannah looked at him.
“By kidnapping sailors?”
“By controlling wars before they begin.”
Walsh believed Nightglass could prevent conflict by manipulating enemy and allied signals.
Governments could be forced into decisions without knowing.
Lives could be saved.
Or entire militaries could be controlled.
Hannah stepped closer.
“You stopped seeing people.”
Walsh laughed.
“You survived because Sloane wanted your mind.”
“No.”
She looked toward the cargo vessel.
“I survived because my crew kept me human.”
Walsh bit down suddenly.
The military police officer caught his jaw before he could crush a hidden poison capsule.
Walsh remained alive.
And afraid.
Hannah asked where the prisoners were being held aboard the cargo vessel.
He refused to answer.
Then Cross announced that the ship ahead had stopped.
A small boat was lowering into the water.
Only one person stood inside it.
Captain Laura Vance.
Her hands were tied.
May you like
A weighted chain circled her waist.
👉 Sloane sent Hannah’s closest friend onto the ocean alone, knowing any rescue attempt could reveal the submarine.
