The call logs, once I found them, were not helpful. They were little more than strings of numbers representing the frequency used. However, in my searching and looking over the radio equipment I found that it had a satellite function, meaning I could call anyone I wanted. I didn’t know Sandra McHalis’ number but I did have my dad’s number memorized.

I typed it in, hands a little unsteady, and waited as it rang.

“Hello?” my dad picked up after the third ring.

“Dad? It’s me. It’s Misha.”

“Misha!” There was obvious panic mixed with relief in his voice and he spoke in a rush. “Are you alright? Are they letting you go? What’s going on?”

“I’m okay,” I assured him even though I knew what I was about to tell him would contradict it. “They tried to drown my by dropping my cell into the ocean. I managed to get to the rig and I’ve taken control of it for now. I need you to contact Sandra McHalis and–

“Here, let me just add her to the call,” he interrupted.

I was surprised my dad even knew how to join calls together since he usually didn’t do much with technology. I waited and soon a familiar voice chimed in.

“Hello, Mr Nayak, what can I do for you?”

“I have my daughter on the line,” my dad said. “She says they tried to kill her.”

There was a brief pause.

“I’m recording this,” she said. “Now did I hear you right? They tried to kill her?”

“Yes,” I said. “They dropped my pod into the ocean because I’m too dense to float and they hoped I would drown.” I quickly relayed to her everything that had happened ever since I was called on the mission to rescue the kidnapped supers all the way up to the present time. “I need you to get the word out about what they’re doing and get me away from here. All I want is to go home and be left alone. Please.”

I’d spoken all of it in a rush and I was sure Sandra would have a dozen questions to clarify what I’d said, and indeed she did. She questioned me for close to half an hour, going over the details with me until she had a clear picture of what had happened.

“Alright, Misha,” Sandra said at last, “I’ll get to work on this. Are you sure you’re safe for now?”

“No one here can hurt me,” I replied, “but if they send reinforcements, I don’t know. If they can knock me out then they can just throw me overboard. And they know what I’ve done. Colonel Trenton could order a strike team to come here and do just that.”

“From what I understand,” Sandra said, “Fort Henniger is quite a ways away from land, so unless there’s an aircraft carrier nearby you should have at least a few hours before anyone could reach you. My recommendation would be to stay near the phone so I can reach you again if needed, and call me if anything else happens.”

She gave me her number and she left the call to get to work on getting the word out.

“It’s going to be okay,” my dad, who had been silent throughout the interview, spoke up now that it was just the two of us.

“Are you sure?” I asked, finally feeling the weight of fear and anxiety from everything I’d been through. “They want to kill me, just because I won’t do awful things for them. They already tried to kill me. They’re probably sending people right now to come and finish me off.”

“Listen to me, Misha,” my dad cut in. “That’s not going to happen. Sandra is letting the world know what you’ve gone through. Colonel Trenton and the others will be stopped and soon you’ll be home and this will all be over.”

“Are you sure?” I asked through a tightening throat as tears ran down my cheeks.

“I’m positive. Once this gets out, there’s no way they’ll be able to hurt you.”

“How long do you think it’ll take Sandra?”

“She knows how important this is, she’ll get it done quickly.”

Slowly, my breathing relaxed and I wiped the tears from my face.

“Okay,” I said and managed a smile even though my dad couldn’t see it, I hoped he could at least hear it in my voice.

I was about to say more but at that moment something caught my attention. In the corner of my eye something orange was moving. I turned to see what it was and for a moment wasn’t sure what I was looking at. Then, all at once I recognized it.

“Dad,” I said in a tight voice. “There are life rafts in the water.”

“What?” he sounded confused.

“There’s life rafts in the water,” I repeated. “I never checked to make sure the supers here had obeyed me and actually went to their quarters. I think they’ve abandoned ship, and I think I know why.”

I didn’t need to say it.

My dad gasped before he said, “Get to the rafts. I’ll call Sandra and let her know.”

I didn’t bother hanging up the phone. I just ran. The first explosion rocked the rig even before I could reach the end of the control room. Strong as I may be, I still lost my balance as the floor tilted with the rig. Another explosion went off and the rig began to fall out from beneath my feet.

The rafts were already a hundred yards away from the rig. If I had solid ground beneath me I could easily jump that distance but with the sinking rig would never provide me with enough resistance to get more than half way.

I pushed my way out of the control room, climbing on my hands and knees as the rig pitched over. I made my way to the railing and used it like a ladder to stay ahead of the rising water. My mind raced as I tried to think of a way out of this, a way to survive. Briefly I thought of the other supers locked up in their cells with no escape but had no time to help any of them. I just hoped the majority of the cells were empty. They didn’t deserve this. None of us did. This was just Colonel Trenton and his insane vendetta against me.

The rig was sinking incredibly fast. I expected it would take a few minutes but it seemed like that wasn’t the case. Already I only had a few dozen feet between me and the water. In just a few seconds I’d be getting wet and then I’d begin drowning. It didn’t matter if Sandra got the word out or not. I was going to be dead before any sort of help or rescue could be arranged.

In a last ditch effort to save myself, I wrenched a steel panel off a nearby wall and bent it around my foot like a comically oversized flipper. I grabbed a second panel and did the same for my other foot just as I hit the water. I kicked slowly to keep from breaking the steel panels and was relieved when the added surface area was sufficient to keep my head above water.

The last of the rig sank beneath the surface as I bobbed there, treading water and looking over towards the life rafts. They thought they could sink me. Well, they wouldn’t have put out into their rafts unless they knew rescue was coming for them. I just hoped they hadn’t seen what I’d done and notified anyone because I certainly couldn’t just stay here in the middle of the ocean and hope to be found. Those rafts would have beacons, maybe even a radio.

I turned and began swimming towards the rafts as fast as I could. I hadn’t decided yet on what I would do to those on board the rafts. I didn’t want to make that decision even though I knew I’d have to in very short order. They’d tried to kill me twice now, not to mention the supers in the other cells who were now drowning for no good reason. But did they know the full story? Did it matter?

I hated everything about this.