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Zavalaout his hand

“In that case,” he said, “I’ll take that vodka you offered me”

The man handed the bottle over, and Zavala took a tentative sip He felt the fiery liquor trickle down his throat, but it did little to alleviate the throbbing in his head He put his hand to his head and felt a bandage wrapped around it like a turban He still had the bruises on his scalp from his B3 adventure

“Your head was bleeding,” the man said “It was the best we could do”

“Thanks for the first aid Who are you guys?” Zavala asked

“I am Captain Mehdev and these are my officers You are on a nuclear-powered Akula missile submarine We are what you Americans know as the P

roject 941 Typhoon, the biggest class submarine in the world I am the commander”

“Nice tothe captain’s hand “My name is Joe Zavala I’ency You’ve probably heard of it”

Mehdev reached into a pocket of his windbreaker and produced Zavala’s laminated NUMA ID with his picture on it

“Anyone who goes to sea is fareat work of NUMA,” Mehdev said “Your beautiful ships are known around the world”

Zavala took the ID and tucked it into his shirt pocket, grabbed the blanket from the bunk, and wrapped it around him to soak up moisture from his clothes He took another sip from the bottle and handed it back One of the officers went over to a sink and got hilass of water Zavala washed away the vodka taste with it, and touched his head bandage again

“No offense, Captain, but you should pay ht under me and my helicopter”

Mehdev did another translation that his officers found hilarious, but when he turned back to Zavala he had a somber expression on his face

“My apologies,” the captain said “I was ordered to take the vessel to the surface and bring you aboard Even for so a six-hundred-foot-long vessel with any degree of precision You were floating in the water We brought you on board I am sorry too for the loss of your helicopter”

“Who told you to take me prisoner?”