Transmigrant - Chapter 21
Copyright © 2024 Stephen B. Anthony
In the theater of war, strategy unfolds through two fundamental approaches: the overt and the covert. Who can claim to have exhausted the infinite potential of their interplay?
—Tiberius Voss, Tactical Advantage
CHAPTER 21
Ray sensed Kaylie’s anxiety as she hurried to his side, her voice tight with worry while she glanced at the screen. “Niruku?” she asked, her tone betraying her concern. He noticed the slight tremor in her hands as she reached for the control panel.
Ray nodded, his jaw set in determination. “Couldn’t really be anyone else,” he confirmed. “They must have tracked us somehow. But we’re in stealth, so I don’t know how they would have done that.”
“They must have found the coordinates,” Estia said. “They are already close enough to fire at us, but they haven’t locked onto the Shinobi. Maybe they don’t know we’re here.”
“They’ll be in visual range in less than two minutes,” Ray said. “I’m getting us out of here.”
He maneuvered the ship south, away from the mainland, remaining fifty meters below the ocean’s surface. He traveled thirty kilometers before daring to bring the ship back to the surface out of the frigid depths of the ocean, its sleek frame slicing through the waters like a silent predator.
Ray’s fingers danced across the control panel, his mind focused on their escape as they breached the surface, water cascading off the ship’s hull in shimmering torrents.
As they broke free from the ocean’s embrace, a chilling sight awaited them. Hovering ominously before them was another ship, identical to the Shinobi in every way, as if a reflection of their own vessel.