Chapter 57 - Hull to Hull
We descended into the belly of the leviathan.
Instead of the cramped, pipe-choked corridors of an American submarine, the interior of the *Aegis-Null* was a surreal nightmare of brutalist luxury and automated technology. The bulkheads were matte black carbon fiber, illuminated by strips of cool, recessed LED lights. There were no sailors scurrying between bulkheads, no voices calling out depth checks.
The entire vessel was running on automated cybernetics, crewed only by a handful of corporate mercenaries and black-market technicians.
"Movement, hallway three!" Jackson whispered.
Two private military contractors in unmarked tactical armor emerged around the bulkhead corner, their submachine guns coming up. Jackson and my lead operator didn't hesitate; two sharp, suppressed double-taps echoed through the corridor, dropping both men before they could shout an alert.
"Clear," Jackson muttered, stepping over the fallen guards. "Captain, this isn't a military vessel. It's a mobile fortress. Look at these server banks."
Behind reinforced acrylic glass along the corridor walls stood racks upon racks of quantum processing units, their cooling lines pulsing with liquefied neon. This wasn't just a submarine—it was a floating command center designed to seize control of naval strategic satellites, nuclear launch corridors, and global communications lines.
And my mother sat at the center of the web.
"Eleanor," her voice suddenly resonated from hidden speakers overhead, calm and conversational. "Did you really think a few naval security guards could intimidate me? You’ve inherited your father’s naivety after all."
"Arthur wasn't naive," I said, walking steadily down the central spinal corridor toward the command dome. "He was a terrified hostage who spent thirty years watching a monster sleep in his bed."
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"Arthur was an idiot who thought a promotion in Dayton would buy his peace," Martha snapped through the speaker. "He broke protocol. He went to Vance behind my back when you received your transfer orders. He tried to save you from this. And where did it get him? Handcuffed on Pier 12, facing life in Leavenworth."
"He chose the Navy," I said, kicking open the double blast doors leading into the main command deck. "And so did I."
