Matthews was standing in the hall, still stooped a bit despite the higher ceilings. He was chewing on a toothpick or matchstick.
“Come in and I’ll tell you,” I said, sliding down the bench to make room.
“We really don’t have time for this, sir,” Matthews said, but Larsen waved him off.
“Is this something we need to hear, Myers?”
I nodded, and when Larsen saw Campbell’s troubled expression, he sat and motioned for Matthews to do the same. It took the taller officer several seconds to wedge himself into a place at the table.
“Talk to us,” Larsen said. For the first time I noticed a tiny scar by his left eye, the one that didn’t seem to open all the way.
I stacked the materials we had found in Lee’s and Yoon’s quarters in front of me. Pulling the folder from Campbell’s hands, I placed it, closed, on top of the stack of documents, then took a deep breath.
“I’ve found some things,” I said, looking into Larsen’s face, then Matthews’s. “First of all, Yoon and Lee were working together. If there was a mutiny, it wasn’t started by either of them. They had plans, but I don’t think they involved sabotage or betrayal. I’ll get to that in a moment.
“A more pressing matter is the deaths of your men. First Miller and Martin, and now the latest engine-room crew. Larsen, I’m trained to solve crimes. I analyze the situation and come up with an explanation that fits the evidence. And all the evidence pointed to Vazquez as the killer. No, I know what you’re going to say,” I said as Larsen held up his hand and opened his mouth. “Vazquez couldn’t have done it. Blah, blah, blah. Save your half-assed bullshit. I know you lied to me.”
The searing anger about the way I had been treated bubbled to the surface again. It was clear and certain, and I let it carry me.
“Don’t bother yelling at Campbell. I would have made you tell me if he hadn’t. But now, of course, Miller and Martin aren’t just missing— they’re dead. And so are Young and… wait, I can remember these names… Wilkes and Henderson. Right? Five of your men dead. The engines sabotaged. Seems like there’s someone trying to stop us, doesn’t it?
“Except that doesn’t fit with the fact that all of the sub’s original crew are accounted for and also deceased.”
I paused, took a breath. Campbell’s expression hadn’t changed, and
I expected one of the officers to interject something. But they waited for me to continue. Larsen’s poker face was perfect; Matthews’s was marred by a twitch under his left eye.
“I believe that the deaths of the Dragon's crew and the deaths of your men are connected. First, the Koreans. There was a massive battle and, essentially, a chemical attack on the lower deck. Two men made it out; one tried to surface the sub. One tried to kill the other to keep him from doing that.
“There’s more. See, Yoon gave Lee orders of some kind. Orders in respect to something called ‘the Serpent,’ and how it couldn’t be allowed to reach the shore. About how he had to do something unthinkable if its escape seemed imminent. Sounds like something that might precipitate the deliberate release of chlorine gas on a submarine, right?
“So they were fighting over the Serpent. But what is the Serpent? Well, we can guess that it has something to do with the weapons research this boat is carrying. The information that caused our government to send a SEAL team-minimally trained for such a mission-to take over a sub, and me to figure out what had gone down.”
Larsen lost it then.
“Myers, you better not have-”
“Larsen, shut up,” I said.
He looked like he was about to swing at me. I saw death in his eyes. But instead, he stood up and grabbed Matthews’s arm, halfway to hauling the taller man to his feet.
“Come on, Lieutenant, this cunt is wasting our time. Campbell, get out in the passageway. Keep the door closed. She is not to leave.”
“I can tell you exactly what you’re up against, Lieutenant Larsen. Is that a waste of your time?” I said as he walked out. Larsen spun around.
“Then tell me. But if you opened that locker, I’ll shoot you.” Although his voice was soft, there was no compassion or humor in it.
“I didn’t open anything. I told you I wouldn’t. I promised I wouldn’t. And you went and launched some dumb fool-the-bitch operation instead of taking me at my word.”
He sat back down and folded his hands on the table.
“Talk.”
“A file in the captain’s safe discusses the Serpent. It details a soldier in whom mortal wounds heal in hours. It talks about strength increases. Intelligence increases. And insanity. You know what the last entry in the report’s timeline says about the Serpent? It says ‘Serpent frozen for transportation.’”
I watched understanding flicker across Matthews’s face. The match-stick fell into his lap. Larsen still was fighting to defuse his emotions.
“The Serpent was in that biohazard freezer. It got loose. The crew fought back. Everyone died. And now we’re its next targets.”
For a few heartbeats, all was still, the scene a portrait depicted in stale air and severe lighting. I felt calm, again in control of the crime scene. The evidence had added up, as it always did.
“So we’re fighting the Serpent?” Campbell said.
“It appears so. It all fits,” I said, sliding further into my professional persona. “A massive amount of strength was required to inflict some of the wounds, both on the crew and on our people. The enemy is strong. Probably brilliant as well, which explains how he’s been able to avoid you so far. And if he were wounded or incapacitated in the fight against Yoon and his men, he’s fine now.”
“This… person… was frozen and then came back to life?” Larsen said. “Sounds like bullshit.”
“It should sound like bullshit,” I said. “Ice crystals form in human blood when it’s frozen, and they puncture the red blood cells. Not to mention the serious complications of depriving tissue of oxygen for long periods of time. But if you asked me yesterday, I’d tell you it was impossible to genetically modify a person like this, too.”
“Tell us more about this soldier,” Matthews said. He tried to lean his elbows on the table, but the proportions were all wrong, and he settled for crossing his arms across his chest.
“No, wait,” Larsen said. “Why do you think this Serpent was in the freezer, why do you think it killed all those Koreans, and why do you think it’s what we’re fighting now?”
I met his gaze. “Why am I suggesting it was in the freezer? Because we have several sets of orders here that discuss this sub picking up the Serpent from a floating laboratory. And then we have these specs that say it was frozen for shipment. Connect the dots.” I didn’t wait for him to get angry again. “Why do I think it was responsible for the crew’s death? Well, honestly, I don’t think it killed all of them. Many of those guys died of chlorine inhalation and complications from it. But there are a lot of really brutal wounds in the three compartments below us, and I didn’t see any bloody weapon lying around.
“Plus, the chlorine leak was in the compartment with the locker. One of the compartment’s doors was chained shut, which I have been told is not normal procedure. And finally, we have personal correspondence that discusses just such a horrific scenario if the Serpent were to get loose.
“Now, as for why I think it’s responsible for the deaths of your men… well, the only other suspect is exonerated by your idiotic prank. Yet something clearly has killed, by brute force, five SEALs. Does that cover everything?”
Larsen looked at Campbell. “What did you read about the Serpent?”