“And you want to scrub it on the basis of this?” Orr asked him. “Hallucinations? Delusions? Mental aberrations? C’mon, Chief. I’ll be the first one to admit there’s something bad about that city…there’s a power to it, but if we scrub because of this…shit, you know what’s going to happen. You’ve got a great record. Do you really want this going into your file?”

“I want to keep my people safe, sir.”

Orr was silent for a few moments, then he said, “They’ll toss you out of the DSU, Chief. You and your divers. Your career is over and so is theirs. That’s all I’m saying. I put this over the network and you’re done. They will be no going back.”

It was suicide and Bell knew it. But Javy, Hubbs, and Murph meant the world to him. Yet, he knew he had to proceed carefully now. It wasn’t just the brass of the DSU he had to worry about, but the spooks of ONI and the heavy thinkers of the ONR all the way up to the Vice Admiral of CENTCOM and the political dynamos and shadow players behind the NSF. There were a lot of hands in on this one and they were powerful hands that could crush careers and reputations in their bare fists. And Orr was warning him that he was about to tread in shark-infested waters.

He’s worried about us, but he’s also worried about himself, Bell thought. The lot of us are here by his recommendation. If we scrub or fail, he’ll never get the mud off his face.

But was that it? Was that really it? Orr always put his people’s safety first. He was solid and dependable. Bell felt guilty even thinking that his superior was playing politics. But there was something there. Even over the comm, he could sense it: something unsaid. An undercurrent of danger.

What is he saying without actually saying it?

Orr sighed. “Chief, you know I have your back. Tell me what you want me to do…just please consider it very carefully. The DSU can’t afford to lose you and your people.”

“I’m conflicted, sir.”

“You want my advice? Continue mission for a few more days. If, at that time, you’re still in this frame of mind, then we pull the plug.”

“Okay, sir. Let’s proceed with that.”

Bell had the most terrible feeling that he was letting his divers down, but what Orr was telegraphing him was that there was a lot more at stake here than careers, unless he was reading it completely wrong. But he’d been living by his instinct for so long by that point, that he didn’t think so.

“Tell me something,” Orr said. “You’ve been in the city. Have you seen anything unusual?”

Before he could say anything problematic, he quickly said, “Not a thing.”