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He was trapped

Bradley dropped the scuba gear to the floor and slumped onto the bench He didn’t kno en tanks, he doubted it would last until someone arrived to save him

He sat there totally defeated until he remembered the notepad and pen Noland had stuffed in his pocket Bradley took the Before he suffocated, it was his duty to record what happened to the crew on the final cruise of the Kansas City

3

VITÓRIA, BRAZIL

Juan Cabrillo enjoyed the solitude of swi laps It was an opportunity to turn his mind off for a while, the rhyth as his form of meditation He didn’t have to ht now, he was powering through the butterfly, using his broad shoulders and wide arm span to launch his body out of the water and pull hiainst the wall as he turned, he counted his nineteenth Olyth lap, nearly two thousand meters

Juan wore goggles to protect his eyes from the saltwater The two-lane pool doubled as the ballast tank of his ship, the Oregon, so the sea was used to fill it A co simulated a sunny day, and the walls and floor of the tank were tiled in whitefilled to the top

This afternoon, he had the pool to himself Most of the ship’s creere on R & R in Vitória, a small but vibrant city located three hundred h it had a wealth of fine beaches, Juan didn’t et soenerous cut of Brazil’s best priar bar and jazz club later that evening

He and the crew had earned the rest and relaxation after theirdown a squad of ISIS terrorists bound for the United States Juan and his teao ship en route to Latin America, where they intended to cross the US border from Mexico and initiate attacks across the country Vitória had been the closest city where the Oregon could deliver the six Syrians into the custody of the CIA

Juan had once been a CIA officer hi hiot fed up with the bureaucracy and left h his career to forned to undertake operations in a way that gave the US government plausible deniability To undertake those on, which was specially built for the task Rescuing kidnapped VIPs, infiltrating terrorist networks, retrieving critical intelligence froainst the United States e portion of their work

Although they could be considered mercenaries, Juan’s number one rule was that they only acted in An poas unthinkable It was dangerous work, and they’d lost several crew members over the years But it was also lucrative Every member of the creas a financial partner in the Corporation and could expect to retire in well-earned luxury

When he ca off the tile The voice was calling from the other end of the pool, so he flipped around and switched to a faster freestyle stroke and accelerated his pace He knew if soent

When he reached the edge of the pool, Juan easily vaulted fro out a towel for him

“You knoi would be easier if you didn’t wear those,” Max said, pointing at the weighted bands on Juan’s wrists and the drag suit he earing for additional resistance

Juan ree, I have to earn our steak dinner tonight,” he said as he dried himself