Chapter 16 - THE CASTING OFF OF LINES
At 1800 hours, the sky above San Diego Harbor turned a deep, bruised purple.
The heavy moorings of the USS Sterett were cast off by shore crews on Pier 4. The massive Arleigh Burke-class destroyer slowly drifted away from the pier, its powerful twin screws churning the dark Pacific water into white, foaming trails.
High above the main deck, standing on the starboard wing of the ship’s bridge, Cassie Owens stood looking back at the shrinking coastline of California.
She wore her dark leather flight jacket now, the collar pulled up against the biting ocean wind. Her hands were tucked neatly into her pockets. Beside her stood Captain Marcus Thorne, his hand resting on the bridge railing as he monitored the navigation displays.
"We have cleared the harbor channel, Director," Captain Thorne reported over the whistle of the wind. "Speed is increasing to twenty-eight knots. Course set for international waters."
"Thank you, Captain," Cassie replied quietly, her gaze fixed on the glowing lights of the San Diego skyline fading into the dusk.
"Director," Thorne hesitated, looking at her side profile in the dim red tactical lighting of the bridge wing. "If I may speak freely, ma'am?"
"Granted."
"Your brother... he was still sitting in the security office when we pulled out," Thorne said gently. "The base commander reported that he looked... completely destroyed. Are you certain you don't wish to send a secure transmission before we lose land-line connectivity?"
Cassie turned her head slowly, looking at the young warship commander.
Her hazel eyes were vast, calm, and unfathomably deep—the eyes of a woman who had spent thirty-two years watching the dark, violent mechanisms of the world spin from behind closed doors.
"When a child looks at the sun through a telescope for the first time, Captain," Cassie said softly, "they are blinded not because the sun is cruel, but because their eyes were only built for the dark."
She looked back toward the fading shoreline.
"Brandon lived thirty-two years in a world where peace was guaranteed, where bills were the only hardship, and where his older sister was just a quiet woman who baked pies on Thanksgiving," she continued, her voice floating away on the sea breeze. "That was the gift I gave him. That was the life I protected for him. If that gift is broken now... it is not because he saw the sun. It is because he insisted on looking through the glass."
May you like
Captain Thorne went rigid, nodding once in profound respect. "Understood, Director."
"Engage the electronic countermeasures, Captain," Cassie commanded, stepping back through the bridge hatch into the dark, humming interior of the warship. "We have work to do."
