Brother’s Lost at Sea, I Stay Calm

The captain from the rescue center came looking for Cyrus Selden just as someone shook me awake from sleep. "Lucas! Trouble! Your brother Aidan's submarine, the Abyss Explorer, has lost contact at 35,000 feet in the Mariana Trench! There was an unidentified undersea quake—communication's completely down, and their chances of survival are… slim!"

I blinked the sleep from my eyes and looked at him dully. "So?" I asked, my tone flat.

Cyrus froze, as if he hadn't expected that kind of reaction. "We need you!" he blurted. "You're the only person in the world who's ever pulled off a successful rescue at that depth. You're their only hope!"

I lay back down, turned over, and pulled the blanket up. "Sorry," I murmured, "can't help you."

"What?"

"I said I can't help." My voice stayed as calm as if the ones trapped down there were my enemies.

"Lucas Sullivan! Are you out of your mind? Your brother's still down there! Along with twenty other crew members! Their oxygen won't last more than 72 hours!"

"Look for my wife, Elara," I cut him off. "She was the chief commander during the last rescue. She's more experienced than I am—you should be talking to her."

Cyrus grabbed me by the collar, furious. "What the hell are you talking about? You think we didn't try reaching Chief Zimri?! But she's not even in the country!"

I chuckled softly. "I know." With that, I pulled the blanket over my head and ignored him. He swore under his breath and stormed out of the holding cell.

Peace at last.

A few minutes later, the ringtone I assigned to my father, Theron Sullivan, went off. I answered.

"Lucas! Why did you refuse the rescue mission? Your brother's still trapped down there!" His voice came out sharp and heavy with suppressed rage.

"Dad, I told you already—call Elara. She's the one you need."

"I can't reach her! Her satellite phone's turned off!" His tone rose, laced with panic.

I laughed quietly. "That's normal. Because she's aboard the Abyss Explorer right now."

Theron's breathing stopped short on the other end. Then came the storm. "What kind of nonsense is that?! I personally assigned Elara to the Arctic for Project Aurora last month—she's not due back for another four weeks! How the hell could she be on the Abyss Explorer?"

"Is that so?" I sounded genuinely surprised. "My memory must've betrayed me then."

"You—"

I hung up before he could finish.

The phone rang again almost instantly. This time it was my stepmother, Claudia Linton. Her voice trembled, thick with tears. "Lucas, please, I'm begging you—go save your brother…"

Leaning back in the chair, I closed my eyes and listened to her sobs in silence.

"Also, half the research crew on that submarine were your students. Are you really going to just sit there and watch them die at the bottom of the ocean? Will you be able to live with yourself?"