The Fathom rose slowly up underneath the gigantic hull of the Jal Mahal and into the large underbelly of the beast. Tucker noticed that the schematics of the ship were indeed correct and part of the middle of the vessel had access to the ocean below. Although Ishyan was already primed with his rifle there was nobody in the chamber.

 ‘Not surprising it’s unguarded,’ Sofia noted. ‘The air quality drops dramatically when the chamber is locked off,’ she added matter-of-factly toward Myron. ‘Just for your info.’

 ‘Lucky for us,’ Myron sighed. Beside him Ishyan stood ready to press the canopy release and begin the clamber out onto the metal grating of the chamber. McGivney took a few deep breaths to steady himself, clutching his stun gun tightly.

 ‘Stay behind me,’ Ishyan pointed out. ‘And don’t shoot unless you have to, and I’m also out of the way,’ he said seriously. ‘Stick to the plan and we’ll get through this.

And you two,’ Stölles continued as he looked back at Sofia and Jess still at the wheel of the hyper-sub. ‘Nothing heroic, we have two plans, if one goes horribly wrong then we go for the second and get the hell out.’

They all nodded. Ishyan then opened the Fathom’s canopy and quickly crept out and over to the ship’s control mechanism to engage the compartment pressurisation process that linked the chamber to the rest of the ship.

 ‘Here goes nothing,’ Myron sighed under his breath as he heard Tucker refasten the hyper subs canopy behind them.

Meanwhile, in London: 

As a convoy of security vehicles screamed to a halt outside the Fortuna headquarters, Reed’s officers led the government officials up to the penthouse suite. Reed awaited his guests, knowing full well that he and his team might be ordered out at any second. It was good whilst it lasted, he thought. As the lift doors opened the group approached him in front of the huge screen.

‘Chief Superintendent Reed,’ a smartly dressed man started. ‘Chalmers from MI6, this is Osborne from CIA, Laffal from MI5, Pritchard from the Home Office and Grutta from Interpol,’ he offered as the various men and women were introduced to him.

 ‘Evening all,’ Reed smiled.

 ‘We’re here to observe only,’ Chalmers began which brought an instant reaction from the police officer. ‘Everything that can be done is being done.’

 ‘Noted,’ Reed nodded. ‘That’s good to hear.’

 ‘The Jal Mahal,’ Chalmers began as he pointed to the screen and then looked over at his colleagues. ‘Reed’s tipoff meant we could raid the boatyard where it was built, and we found schematics on an email linked to one of the company’s employees. We think it has the capability of launching a modified intercontinental ballistic missile.’

 ‘With Ulrich Bessek as the ringleader,’ Grutta noted. ‘We have a codename Chameleon mentioned in the report, any update on this Reed? I have to apologise for my ignorance, as it seems uncertain as to whose side they are on.’

 ‘Yes,’ Reed muttered. ‘The Chameleon is a bit of an unknown entity, bordering on the edge of lawlessness.’

 ‘A national concern?’

 ‘Not at the moment,’ Reed answered. ‘Although I’ll be keeping my radar out for that one.’

 ‘Good,’ Chalmers said as he noticed something else on the screen. ‘Looks like the Dauntless is in position.’

 ‘We still have ten minutes until the agreed launch,’ Reed noted before looking over at the group. ‘There is still ten minutes, isn’t there?’

 ‘Of course,’ Chalmers smiled. ‘They can’t outrun us now. The Americans have an SR-72 unmanned fighter in the skies above Northern Africa. Bessek launches early and it’ll take it down. Launch after dusk and the Dauntless would have already sunk her. We have this all covered, Reed.’

 ‘And your rogue agent?’ Reed asked, not sure he liked government officials appearing too smug in his company.

 ‘I believe MI6 has had that responsibility already taken off their hands,’ Laffal said from the rear of the group, catching Reed’s eyes. Chalmers simply gritted his teeth in frustration.

And on the HMS Dauntless:

 ‘Fire when ready,’ the Captain ordered as the countdown reached two minutes. The crew looked out as they briefly saw the supercavitating torpedo fire from the side of the Dauntless and fly out into the ocean. It would no doubt show up on the enemy’s radar, but the captain knew that the projectile would easily navigate any countermeasures or ammunition that the Jal Mahal could throw at it. That was, after all, the reason why they were using this and not a traditional torpedo. There was no second attempt, it had to work...