Jenny swiveled her chair to see the object of Ollie and Oarlen’s shocked gazes. A clean cut man in a crisp uniform walked slowly toward them. His piercing blue eyes appraised her before focusing on Ollie and Oarlen behind her.
“Hey Ollie, Oarlen,” he said.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” Oarlen asked.
“I’m captain of this sub.” He said with a smile.
“Yeah, but how come you are the one that rescued us from the lagoon?”
“Well... I happened to be assigned a patrol route that took me into the lagoon. Who are your friends?”
“Wait.” Jenny said, “How do you get a sub in to the lagoon?”
“That’s Jenny.” Ollie said.
“She and her brother saved our lives.” Oarlen added.
“I see. Well Jenny, thank you for saving my children. I can not answer your question specifically but I’ll give you a hint. Subs are capable of navigating underwater caves.”
“Oh. Makes sense.”
“And this is Eric.” Oarlen said, “his sister wasn’t found.”
“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that. Eric?”
Eric, who had been staring blankly at the wall, turned to face the captain.
“Yes sir.”
“We picked up the people whose beacons were still working. It’s possible that others survived like you did, but their beacons stopped working. I realize it’s a slim chance, but don’t give up hope. Believe she’s alive until proven otherwise ok?”
Eric looked unconvinced, but he nodded.
“Where are we going dad?”
“We are heading back to our undersea base. You will receive accommodations and we will coordinate with a surface vessel to get you back on land at the earliest opportunity.”
“Thank you sir.” Jenny said.
A small tablet strapped to the captain’s wrist lit up. He glanced at it and alarm spread across his face.
“What’s wrong dad?” Oarlen asked.
“An emergency has come up.” He looked up from the tablet at all of them, “Please stay in this room until I give you the all clear. Alright?”
“Yes sir.” Jenny said, assuming she was the primary one impacted by that request since the others were in bed.
After the captain left she asked, “Did he say his name?”
“He didn’t but it starts with an ‘O’ like ours.” Ollie then lowered his voice into an imitation of the coaster race announcer, “He’s Captain Orlando Thacker.”
Jenny smiled and asked, “What about your mom? Does her name start with an ‘O’?”
Ollie and Oarlen’s smiles became sad. Ollie answered,
“Her name was Olivia.”
“Oh.” Jenny could feel the pain in their eyes, “I’m so sorry. Do you have some favorite memories of her?”
The door behind Jenny opened and Ollie and Oarlen’s faces went from sad, to shocked and scared. Jenny swung her chair around and staired down the barrel of a pistol in the hands of...
“Tia?!”