Read He Who Dares: Book Three for Free Online Page B

the gravity pulling at his body feeling like a giant hand, pressing him down into the jell-pak mattress. Mike simply let the pod do what it was programmed for, but no sooner had it cleared the atmosphere when a tractor beam reached out and snatched the pod from its course. Immediately, the pod shut down its drive, as programmed and waited for retrieval. Through the armor-glass port, Mike saw the Titan and the Queen Ann emerge from the thin atmosphere like some leviathan from the deep as the life pod was heading for a docking with the Titan . To Mike it felt like they were adding insult to injury. The pod docked with a loud thud, and the hatch light turn from red to green, signaling air equalizing on both sides. The moment the hatch opened, Mike dived out, roughly pushing the deckhand out of the way, as he raced for the bridge.
    “You money grubbing son-of-a-bitch!” He yelled at Jenkins as he stormed onto the Titan’ s bridge.
    “Mike… I…”
    “Break off the tow, the Queen Ann is safe now, go get the Prometheus !” He yelled.
    “I can’t!”
    “You son-of- bitch!” Without even thinking, Mike stormed across the deck, fist clenched, ready to swing at Jenkins. Rock Hanson jumped in between, grabbing Mike by the upper arms to push him back.
    “Get your dirty hands off me!”
    Rock gave him a nasty grin and let Mike move in whipping his knee up to catch him in the crotch. Instead of Mike doubling over as expected, Rock yelled out in pain, his knee hitting something solid. He let go and grabbed his leg, and Mike simply pushed him out of the way. He lunged for Jenkins but before he could lay a hand on him, two deckhands grabbed him from behind. Both were older and tougher, and they jerked him back to slam against the bulkhead.
    “Mike! I can’t go down and get, Gramps!”
    “Why the hell not!” Mike yelled back, struggling with the two men.
    “Because, Gramps ordered me not to.” His face had taken on the look of stone, motionless.
    “Like hell! Since when did you start taking orders from Gramps!”
    “Since before you were born, Mike.”
    “What?!” He asked in confusion. Just then, the screen came to life, Gramps face behind the fuzzy image.
    “Captain Jenkins!”
    “Yes, sir,” Jenkins snapped back turning to face the screen.
    “You will take the Queen Ann to safe harbor.”
    “Aye aye, Sir.”
    “Gramps! Order him to come and get you!” Mike pleaded.
    “Too late for the, Mike. The forward compartments have already collapsed. The heavy, overhead cross bracing supporting the Samson post, is about all that’s holding the engine room together.”
    “We can still get you!”
    “Too deep for that.”
    “I’ll come and get you if this son-of-a-bitch is too scared to.”
    “No you won’t. Captain Jenkins, you will ignore any orders from my grandson to do anything other than what I have ordered you to do.”
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    “Good.” For a minute, the static got worse, then cleared.
    “Attention on the bridge,” Jenkins snapped, squaring his battered cap on his head. “Admiral on deck!” He came to attention and saluted the screen. Even Rock struggled to his feet, and for a moment looked at the other crewmen, then came to attention and saluted with them.
    “Thank you, Captain Jenkins, you always were a first rate officer.” Gramps painfully stood to attention and returned the salute.
    “Goodbye, son. God’s speed.”
    “Gramps!” But he was gone. Mike's eyes flicked to the main viewer, seeing the dull red blip of the Prometheus bloom for a moment. The pressure had finally crushed the remainder of the old tug. Air and water turned to ice, doubling the size of the radar return before it was swept away in the jet stream as if it had never been.
    “Gramps!” Mike whispered, seeing nothing but a black void in front of him without his grandfather there beside him. For a moment, he teetered on the edge of the void, about to fall into it and never come back out. He couldn’t imagine