Ocean: War of Independence by Brian Herbert, Jan Herbert Read Free Book Online Page A

hard at her, then at Jeff. “You shouldn’t have come. Neither of you.” He grimaced, held a newspaper up, and then slapped it down on his own lap. “There’s a front-page story here; the police are after both of you.”
    Speaking up, Alicia said, “Jeff killed the man in self-defense, and the warrant for me is unjustified. It’s a political matter, a Sea Warriors matter.”
    “The Sea Warriors have killed U.S. Navy personnel,” Preston said, “frogmen at Pearl Harbor, a helicopter crew, and more than six hundred sailors massacred on a guided-missile cruiser. Your organization is nothing but a gang of thugs, trying to keep people out of the water by terrorizing them.”
    “The frogmen and helicopter crew died in battle, while we were trying to protect the lives of whales and other animals in the sea barricade. As for the massacre, it was committed by two rogue members who have since been turned over to the U.S. government to face justice.”
    “And the authorities want the rest of you to face justice, too,” he said.
    “I can see that you’ll never understand,” Alicia said. She went to the door, looked back at him with a gentle expression. “But I am glad you’re getting better, Grandfather.”
    “So am I,” Jeff said. He joined her.
    Looking at Ealani, the Ellsworth patriarch smiled and said, “Thank you for what you did for me. I’m … I’m deeply sorry our families have had the misunderstandings.”
    “So am I,” she said.
    With her face full of emotion, Ealani turned away and hurried out into the corridor. She directed Alicia and Jeff to a back door, and they slipped out into the intense tropical sunlight. Taking a different route than the earlier one, the Hawaiian woman led the way behind buildings, saying she was going to show them a different trail. “I assume you wish to return to the sea?” she said, looking over her shoulder at Alicia.
    “Yes.” Alicia could not see the water from here, but knew which direction it was, beyond a thicket of jungle at the bottom of the gentle, grassy slope of the hospital grounds.
    “This will take us along the outskirts of Wanaao Park,” the older woman said. “I will show you the way.”
    Just then, Alicia saw a uniformed police officer on the trail. The three of them turned away, and walked quickly toward the parking lot, where Ealani said there was another way out.
    When they were almost to the lot, Alicia heard the officer shout from behind them, “Halt! Police!”
    A man was opening the door of a white pickup truck, and was about to step in when Jeff shoved him aside, saying, “I have a gun. Give me your keys!” He didn’t show any weapon, but the man handed over his keys nervously, then turned and ran.
    “Get in,” Jeff said to Alicia, as he started the truck.
    She hesitated, looked at Ealani. “You’d better go,” the Hawaiian woman said, looking back at the police officer, who was running toward them, shouting.
    Alicia jumped in the passenger seat, and Jeff accelerated out of the parking lot. Tires skidding, he turned onto the road and sped away from town. Alicia couldn’t find a seat belt, so she held onto a ceiling strap as Jeff skidded around turns, throwing up clouds of dust behind the truck.
    “I’m going to stop at the Okawa trailhead,” he said, pointing ahead. “Run down the trail and you’ll be in the ocean. I assume you know what to do from there.”
    “What about you?”
    “I’ll be fine; I know a side road that will take me to safety in the jungle. I love you!” He skidded to a stop. “Now go, Alicia! Go !”
    She kissed him on the cheek, then jumped out and ran down the rocky trail. Behind her, she heard the pickup accelerate, and saw it speed around a turn, with a police car chasing, its blue lights flashing and siren wailing.
    But just before jumping in the water, she heard gunshots, and then to her horror she saw the pickup truck plunge off a cliff and explode on rocks at the edge of the sea. A fireball rose