Darius didn't take much longer to enter. He then moved to the driver's seat and started up the sub slowly, making sure everything was a-okay. He smiled when he saw that the sub had a full fuel tank, but the max distance it could go was unfortunately 500 km.
While this was not enough for him to cross the long-distance home, he could use it to reach the nearby Napari Island to find shelter for the time being.
Darius detached the sub from under the yacht and switched its headlights on so he could see in the darkness of the water. It was nighttime, so visibility underwater was poor.
Darius maneuvered the sub around using its controls, raising the propeller speed to the maximum in the direction of the island. Since the sub came with a remote GPS and area sensor, he could continue to move despite the darkness.
He also avoided all obstacles as he stuck closer to the seabed in order to not alert the mercenaries with the mini-subs lights or noise. Deia sat beside him in utter silence, fearful and awed by the underwater world.
Very few people had the luck to see marine life in such close proximity, so it was natural that Deia was overwhelmed. Darius himself was quite moved, but had to focus more on his actions, lest he might kill them in a moment of distraction.
The submarine moved at a speed of 12 kilometers per hour underwater, which was about 6 knots. At this speed, it would take Darius almost 9 hours to reach the shores of Napari.
A few hours in, Deia had long since fallen asleep in her seat, snoring loudly much to Darius' irritation as he was also quite tired but too afraid to just stop. He did not stop here as he turned the sub to the left and continued moving.
6 hours into their journey, Deia finally woke up looking somewhat refreshed and stretched herself like a cat. Darius, whose eyes were slightly bloodshot due to fatigue, didn't even care to notice this.
Seeing her companion's current look, Deia was left speechless. Realizing how insolent she seemed as a passenger living off his benevolence, she quieted down but spoke gently.
"Where are we going?"
It took a bit before Darius registered her question, but then he answered slowly. "Fanning Island. I assume, it took them about an hour or two to find out about the mini-sub, so we should have a healthy lead on them."
"I'm afraid they might expect us to make a straight beeline for Fanning Island and I expect with their means they might even arrive before us. So if we surface where we had left off, they might already be there, cutting off our path of return."
"Even if we're lucky, Fanning Island isn't that big, so they could hunt us down within a week and capture us."
Darius continued while decreasing speed slightly so he could relax. Since it was daytime, he could see much better and didn't need to be so alert.
"Even if we're slightly clever to park a few kilometers away, it would still be for naught as they can spread out to search the shoreline. Within a few hours, the sub would be captured."
"They have two goals once they reach this island. To block our methods of escape and to capture us physically. As such, one team would likely be dispatched to search for whatever vehicle we used to get here while the second team would beach and chase after any trail we leave behind."
"As such, we are making a detour around the island. We'll beach exactly opposite where we would have if we took a straight beeline from the yacht, meaning that they would have to spend a few more hours to search and realize what we did."
Deia was left speechless. "Are you a trained mercenary or commander? Or did you learn tactics?"
Darius smiled thinly. "Neither. I just pictured what I would do if I was in their shoes, basically. It's the most efficient method I can think of."
Deia shook his head slowly. "Anyway, do you need help? You look sleepy. Does this thing have autopilot?"
Darius frowned. "Something like that. Take the wheel and watch out carefully for any obstacles or problems on the sonar. If you see anything you can't handle or we reach the destination I set on the GPS, wake me."
Deia nodded and the duo switched seats. Darius laid back into Deia's seat and quickly fell asleep as he had been holding back all this while. He didn't want to be tired when they reached their destination as fatigue was the main reason for failure in such scenarios, leading one to make foolish decisions.
Deia turned to gaze at the sleeping Darius and had a complex look in her eyes. "Handsome and intelligent for sure, but still a man at the end of the day..."
Deia turned to watch the sea in silence as she muttered to herself. "…And men are evil."
It would take approximately three more hours for the duo to reach their destination, so Deia leaned back into the seat and observed the sonar silently. The silent and repetitive beep made her feel entranced, and it wasn't until the GPS also beeped at a different frequency than they were half a kilometer away from their destination that she snapped out of it.
Patting her head for being so absent-minded, Deia observed the GPS as to where they were and turned to Darius who was quietly breathing as he slept. Since he had asked her to, Deia gently woke him up.
Darius was a light sleeper, so he quickly came to. With deeply bloodshot eyes that scared Deia, Darius rubbed his face and checked the GPS. He then smiled wryly and got up for the passenger seat.
Deia also left the driver's seat and returned to hers while Darius took the sub off auto mode. He then steered it closer to the surface as they had spent almost 15 hours underwater and the oxygen was thinning out.
The oxygen could only last 20 hours at best, so it was best that they surfaced. In truth, if Darius had enough fuel to re-fill the sub from within, he would have chosen to stay underwater 20 hours a day and only surface for a short while for the oxygen tanks to refill until help came.
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