Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“Syria was a mess: lots of different factions fighting. We’ve got troops there, trying to sort things out and help out the groups we support. Problem is, the Russians are doing the same, with the groups they support, and we both have troops and ships there, all within a few miles of each other.”
“We’re on patrol off the coast, in a little inflatable boat called an RIB, and I see something in the distance. It’s a boat—just a raft, really—full of refugees, trying to get across the bay to flee the fighting. Except the sea’s rougher than they planned for and the raft’s breaking up. They’re going under.” He sucked in his breath. “So I get on the radio and ask for permission to go get them. But they say no, they’re in waters controlled by the Russians, the Russians will have to get them: they’ve got a destroyer nearby.”
“So we wait, and watch, but either the message doesn’t get through to the Russian captain or he doesn’t react to it. We can see the destroyer and it doesn’t move. And meanwhile this raft’s going down fast. I’m looking at it through binoculars and I can see it’s a family on board. Kids. I get on the radio, tell them we have to go get these people. But the brass are terrified that something’s going to happen with the Russians that’ll lead to World War III. So they tell me no, under no circumstances are we allowed to enter Russian waters. But by now there are people in the water. Kids of five or six. So…”
“You went in anyway,” I breathed.
He lifted his head from the bars and looked at me. “As soon as we cross that line on the map, all hell breaks loose. The destroyer turns and heads for us and starts firing warning shots. A Russian helicopter starts buzzing us. And meanwhile, we’re trying to get to the people in the water.” He shook his head. “To this day, I don’t know if that Russian captain didn’t know what was going on, or if he was using the whole thing to score political points with Moscow. But the Russians claimed we’d knowingly entered their territory, that it was an act of war, etcetera, etcetera. We were surrounded by Russian boats and had to let ourselves be taken. We spent a full day as ‘guests’ of the Russians before Washington managed to smooth things over and get us released.”
“And the refugees?” I asked.
“We saved them,” he said with pride. “Every one of them.”
I stared at him. I’d been worried that he’d committed some huge crime. “That’s why they dishonorably discharged you?” I asked, aghast. “For saving lives?”
“Something that big happens, someone has to take the fall for it.” He shrugged. “I disobeyed a direct order and nearly started a war.” But I could see the pain in his eyes. He’d lost something, that day, something he loved. He was born to be a Marine and he’d had that ripped away from him, just for trying to do the right thing.
I understood now. He’d always been cunning, he’d always been about bending the rules, ever since he was a kid. But the Marines had let him use those skills for good. Then they’d taken all that away from him and he’d turned to crime, instead.
A metal boom made us both jump. The sound of a door banging shut, below us. I looked down, through the mesh floor of the walkway. Oh God! A guard had just entered the block, beginning his patrol! And as I watched, he headed towards the stairs. He was coming up to this level, and when he did, he’d see me.
Gabriel squeezed my hands. “Go over there,” he whispered urgently, nodding to the right. “Wait in the shadows. It’s Earl, he always goes to the left first. When he does, go down the stairs behind him.”
I stared at him. Of course he knew which guards patrolled when. Of course he’d memorized their patrol routes. This was Gabriel. I nodded quickly but I couldn’t let go of the bars. I was frozen in fear.
Below us, I heard Earl start to climb the stairs.
“You can do it,” whispered Gabriel. He looked right into my eyes and—
I believed him. I pushed the fear down inside me and went, scurrying off to the right and then ducking down in the shadows. Seconds later, the guard appeared at the top of the stairs. It was Earl. But which way would he turn?
Earl paused for a moment, hitched his pants a little higher on his beer belly…and wandered off to the left. I let out the breath I’d been holding. When he was halfway along the walkway, I crept to the stairs and hurried down, then retraced my steps back to the door and out of the cell block.