Marie called it in, and confirmed her suspicions. A spy satellite feed
showed that a small speedboat-like watercraft was moving at top speed from
the shores of Panama, while a fleet of larger ships were in pursuit. They
could have overcome it at pretty much any time. There must be a reason that
they want to maintain distance. The most likely explanation is that there is
something dangerous on board, like a bomb, or a deadly chemical. Leona and
Marie don’t want to teleport there if they don’t have to. According to
Ramses’ research, their ability to metabolize the Bermuda Triangle water is
diminishing. If they keep using it to reactivate their powers, it eventually
won’t work anymore. Theoretically, they can’t overdose on the stuff, but
also theoretically, they can. It’s here in case of an emergency, though, if
the pursuing ships change tactics, or if either party reacts to their
arrival. To be safe, by the time they make their interception, the SD6 team
will put on their hazmat suits, just in case that’s what the problem is.
It took the team a long time, but they’re here now. They have the boats in
their sights, and nothing has changed from the last satellite view that they
saw. The pursuing ships are still 900 meters from the speedboat. It’s been
on the water for so long, it has to be running out of power. It was going
all night, so it had to rely on its battery reserves, and those things are
not designed for overnight trips. The driver is running out of power, and it
will probably happen soon. When it does, that could be enough to cause the
ships to make bolder moves. The team has to get to it now, and figure this
out. They don’t know if they’re target is good or bad, dangerous or
harmless, so they’re not going to take any chances. Leona and Marie have
their immortality water boosters inside their hazmat suits, ready to take
the other three members of the team with them, plus the target, if
necessary. Then again, they’re still not close enough to know if there even
is only one person on the vessel. It’s the only one they can track using
Ramses’ scanner, but that doesn’t mean that person is alone.
Once the team breaks the 900-meter radius, that’s when the ships start to
change direction. They all move at the same time. “Oh, no,” Leona laments.
“They’re coming in to attack us. Get your auto-injector ready.”
“No,” Marie says with a shake of her head. “That’s not what they’re doing.
They’re leaving.” She’s right. They’re not getting into attack formation.
They’re turning. It’s going to take them a long time at their sizes, going
at their speeds, but they’re definitely turning away. From what, them? That
is even weirder. What are they so afraid of? Why did they spend all this
time and effort going after this little boat, only to bail when a three
crew-sized tactical amphibious vessel shows up? Surely they have their own
satellites, and would have seen them coming from literally miles away.
They’re not going to spend too much time dwelling on it. They get closer to
the speedboat, which is being maneuvered into parallel position. Once
they’re tied together, the hatch from the cabin opens. Bhulan Cargill climbs
out of it, except it’s not Bhulan. It’s Mateo’s once-sister, Aquila in
Bhulan’s body. “Why are you wearing those things?”
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Leona says. “This whole mission has been
bizarre. Why were they coming after you, and why are they giving up now?”
Aquila looks back at the fleet. “Oh, they weren’t coming after me. Those are
my escort ships. They were making sure no one attacked. We need to
talk...about Mateo.”
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