Honor Under Siege

Cam didnt think shed ever been so cold. It was the kind of cold that

went so deep it was an ache inside of her. She didnt think about the pain

but just swam arm over arm in the direction where shed seen the

dinghy. Valerie had been in it, she knew that shed been in it. Henry was

dead. Shed ordered him shot. Valerie was the only one who could have

launched the dinghy.

Her clothes were sheets of ice dragging her down. Her arms and

legs were heavy. It was hard to move. So much smoke. Black acrid

stinging smoke that singed her already swol en throat and clouded

her eyes with tears and salt. Cold.

Her hand struck an object and she tried to grab it, but it floated

away. She rubbed her face against her frozen sleeve. The dinghy. A

wave crashed over her head and she went under. It was a relief to be out

of the smoke. Her throat felt momentarily soothed until she reflexively

took a breath and water flooded her lungs. She gagged, vomited, then

clawed her way to the surface. She broke through and sucked in a

lungful of tainted air. Coughing, she tried to swim and managed only to

keep her head above water. Then she saw it again. The dinghy. From

somewhere deep inside, she found another ounce of energy. Valerie was

there, she knew she was there. Valerie had launched the dinghy.

Cam pushed herself toward it. She had sent Valerie out here alone. She

would not let her die alone. She found the nylon rope that circled the

dinghy and tried to hold on to it with frozen fingers. When it popped

away from her she gave up trying and sluggishly circled it, her muscles

slowly turning to lead.

For an instant, she thought she imagined the white form floating next

to the dinghy. When she reached out, her fingers were too stif to grasp

the ghostlike figure. Closer now, she could make out Valeries wrist

wedged underneath the encircling rope on the rubber life raft. She had

tethered herself to it somehow.

“Valerie, Cam croaked. She got a mouthful of water and spat it out

angrily. “Valerie!

Cam struggled to release Valeries wrist from the twisted lines. The

instant Valeries arm slid free, she started to sink beneath the surface.

Cam couldnt grip her clothing, but she managed to get an arm around

her waist and pul ed her against her body.

“Valerie, its Cam. Swim. You have to swim.

Cam couldnt tell if she was breathing or not, and for a fraction of

a second she felt the way she had when Blair had been exposed

to a potential y deadly toxin. The floodgates she kept securely

locked against loss and despair broke open and the pain was so

crippling she was momentarily paralyzed. They went under

together, Valerie clasped in Cams arms.

* * * * *

“Command One, do you read, Felicias voice fil ed the

room. “Felicia, Mac cried. “Status. Status report. Are you

“ engaged in search and rescue. Any sign of

incoming?

“Negative. Mac switched channels and the original wide-

angle view came into focus. “Advise evacuate area as soon as

possible.

“Roger, as soon as rescue is complete. Do you have

visual?

Mac turned to Paula who was staring at the speakers as if

she were trying to see through them to Felicia and the others.

“Felicia, this is Stark. We have debris from two

vesselsno

survivors identified.

“Thermal scans? Felicia asked sharply.

“Nothing, Mac said, “but if Valeries in the water, shes

probably too cold already.

“We have two in the water. Do you read?

Two. “Who? Paula inquired urgently.

Blair didnt need to hear the answer. She already knew.

* * * * *

Cam didnt have the energy to fight. The cold in her bones

had dissipated, and so had the pain. Her body was strangely

heavy, yet weightless at the same time. She couldnt see, but the

sharp smoky sting in the air was gone. She wasnt in the

air. She was underwater.

She was underwater, and Valerie was with her. Valerie

wasnt moving. What had Blair said to her? Shed made her

promise something. Cam was so tired and it was so hard to think.

Promise me. Promise me you wont sacrifice yourself for

her.

Thats right. She had promised Blair. Promised her not to die

for

Valerie.

A surge of adrenaline shot through Cam, electrifying her.

Shed promised not to die for Valerie, but she hadnt promised to

let her die. What had she said? No one was going to die. She

tightened her grip on Valerie and kicked. The surface seemed very

far away.

And then she felt itValerie was kicking too. Neither one of

them was going to give up without a fight.

* * * * *

“Macs got a thermal body pattern in the water, Felicia announced,

hurrying from the cabin to join Savard on deck.

Renée strained to see through the smoke, arcing the floodlights

back and forth. “Over theretwo in the water, twenty yards off