The Assumption (The Hypothesis of Giants Series, Book One)

Chapter 15: Safe Haven

Another bomb exploded and rattled the sides of the submarine as Aurora peered out the window, seeing the last remnants of Plymouth Tartarus plummeting toward the ocean floor. The beautiful glass ceiling and aqua marble walls that made up the castle were demolished, and an eerie emptiness took its place in the ocean. Too many people did not make it out alive, and Aurora felt a tear slide down her cheek thinking about Eileen.

Aurora stuffed the cross beneath her shirt, and it bulged out slightly over her heart. She wiped the tear away and turned toward Boreas, who was silent and looking very frail, the bandage still wrapped around his neck. The doctor had warned them not to move him too early, but there was no choice in the matter. It was either move him or he would have been buried underneath the rubble of Plymouth Tartarus.

The submarine sunk deeper into the dark ocean, and another bomb exploded, just missing them. It rattled above their heads, the aftershocks shaking them so that Aurora lost her balance and grabbed a seat next to Boreas. He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I hope Otus gets through this," he said slowly. The giant was out there avoiding these bombs like the rest of them. Otus had told her he had some tricks up his sleeve, but how was he, a thirty-foot giant, going to avoid these bombs? He was a direct target and didn't have metal protecting his body.

Another leak sprouted above them from the aftershock, and water started shooting into their submarine. Soaked and freezing, Aurora grabbed more duct tape and towels to patch up the leak and prevent the water from squirming through the hole. Fawn shouted out more orders through the intercom, instructing the other submarines to sink lower and to attack at full force.

"Hit them with everything we have! Attack in a fluid motion. There is only one of them. The planes can't hit us down here."

The nine submarines left began to congregate into battle motion. In unison they released their torpedoes, which soared through the ocean like a school of fish and kept their eye on the target. Fawn stared into the periscope, biting her lip as she watched the torpedoes sailing closer and closer to their end target. After what felt like hours, a huge explosion surmounted above them, sounding like rockets going off on the Independence Day of the Last Straw.

"A direct hit!" she cried out, closing the periscope shut and telling the captain to move at full speed toward the safe haven.

"We cannot wait for them to remobilize. Full speed ahead."

Aurora excitedly turned to hug Boreas, but he was already preoccupied with Babs, who had her arms wrapped around his fragile body. Aurora quickly turned away and marched to the front of the submarine, where she hugged Fawn.

"I knew you would get us out of there," she said still in her embrace.

"I am glad one of us did," Fawn replied, fixing her long hair into a ponytail, her forehead soaked with sweat.

Together they surveyed the damage and checked in with the other remaining nine submarines, but all were able to move forward to their destination, which was less than one hour away. They went dead on their transmission to prevent any radio frequency from being picked up, and all were advised to remain silent as they moved still as shadows through the deep waters.

It felt like an eternity, but finally the captain gave the nod that they were approaching their destination, and Fawn checked her compass necklace and gave the thumbs-up to him to proceed with caution. The captain pressed the button, but nothing happened. Instead of going upward, the submarine started to sink downward. The engine was dead. He pressed the button again more forcefully but still nothing happened.