Chapter 6 - Blake Was Locked Below Deck
The chamber door opened after maintenance cut power to the magnetic
lock.
Aaron Blake collapsed forward.
He was dehydrated, bruised, and furious.
But alive.
Medical personnel took over.
Claire did not question him.
Neither did investigators until doctors cleared him.
Hours later, Blake gave his account.
He had followed Commander Cole after discovering the forged maintenance
records.
Cole confronted him in the aft corridor.
They argued.
Blake accused him of manipulating the equipment contract.
Cole denied it.
Then the supposed civilian technician—“Lucas Vance”—appeared.
Blake recognized him.
His real name was Peter Vale.
A former Navy maintenance specialist fired six years earlier for
falsifying inspection records.
Vale struck Blake from behind.
Cole shouted at him to stop.
That detail mattered.
Blake remembered Cole saying:
“What the hell are you doing?”
Vale dragged Blake into the old chamber.
Cole did not help.
But he also did not free Blake.
He stood there.
Then he left.
Cowardice became complicity.
Blake survived because the chamber had an emergency oxygen reserve Vale
apparently did not know still functioned.
He used the distress knocks whenever he heard movement.
Nobody heard until Torres remembered.
Investigators issued an alert for Peter Vale.
He had left the ship using forged contractor credentials shortly after
1100.
Reed finally agreed to provide information through counsel.
He admitted manipulating drills.
He admitted removing the safety tag.
He admitted ordering the wrong release assembly kept in service.
But he claimed Cole pressured him.
Cole, in turn, claimed Vale had pressured both of them using evidence of
earlier procurement misconduct.
Three men.
Three versions.
Claire asked Agent Brooks:
“Who’s telling the truth?”
Brooks answered:
“Probably pieces of all of them.”
That was less satisfying than a clean villain.
It was also more realistic.
Then Blake remembered something else.
Vale had said:
“Once Dawson fails, the report is complete.”
Claire stared.
“My name?”
Blake nodded.
“You weren’t randomly assigned to Tank Three.”
Claire felt the room narrow.
“Why me?”
Blake looked toward Captain Ellis.
“Because you filed the complaint at Norfolk.”
Claire had filed one safety complaint two years earlier.
Against a different training program.
Someone had chosen her because she already had a reputation for
challenging unsafe procedures.
If she failed publicly, her credibility could be destroyed.
If she succeeded under sabotaged conditions, Reed could claim the old
equipment was dangerously inconsistent.
Either outcome helped them.
May you like
Claire had not been a trainee.
She had been data.
