You really need to read Insignificant

If you haven't already read Insignificant by Mike Morgan, then you really need to. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3G7BWBZ

How about a little tease...

As she stole through the yacht’s passageways, she came to appreciate how many people were aboard. True, the vessel was ten stories tall. Even so, it struck her as crammed with more crew than it needed. She heard the running footsteps of children, the distant barking of dogs. There were families here. She wondered if they hated the incessant Christmas music as much as she did. At the moment, some ancient diva was shrieking about how all she wanted for Christmas was you, whoever ‘you’ was. Valerie felt like her ears were bleeding.

Five days until her mission was aborted and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were sent in anyway. Her recon was primarily about providing intelligence for that assault. If she found nothing on Castillo before time ran out, her team would rake through the ashes and locate what they needed anyway. She doubted Castillo was innocent. He was hiding something. She was convinced of it.

For a moment, Valerie thought of Margot and the families on the ominously named Clean Sweep. The children weren’t guilty of anything and if Margot had secrets, she would have blurted them out before finishing her first bowl of ice cream. In Valerie’s estimation, they were simply caught up in events. There was nothing she could do about that. The guilty often surrounded themselves with a shield of the innocent.

Reaching the entrance hatch to the room with the moon pool, Valerie heard Castillo’s voice. She glanced through the opening. The businessperson was standing near the pool, talking with Ernesto and Rain. A fourth figure stood near them. A drone swung clear of the pool’s high walls on a chain, dripping water.

Valerie crept into the chamber, not making a sound. She moved through the room, finding cover behind a row of crates, until she had a clear view of the drone being opened.

“I know you’re tired of dropping hints.” Castillo’s voice. “We can’t simply tell her. She wouldn’t believe us. She’s been brought up to believe facts are lies. We have to ease her into what’s happening gently. Show her we’re not crazy.”

“I mentioned the plankton. Walked her through how they respond to pollution.” That was Ernesto. She could smell his cigar stench.

“I know you did. We brought it up as well, in the context of warming waters. Not very subtly, I suspect.”

Rain’s voice now. “We don’t have time for these games. They threatened to murder us.”

Castillo sounded tired and irritated in equal measure. “Now really isn’t the time for impatience, Emma.” To the fourth person he said. “Go ahead, Anton,” and the figure stepped over to the robot submersible. Valerie recognized him as the head waiter from the dining hall. He had dark skin and a thin, meticulously trimmed moustache. He reached through the drone’s open panel and pulled free a heavy wooden box wrapped in plastic. Valerie watched as he tore open the outer layer.

So much for the drones cleaning the ocean.

“You can come out,” remarked Castillo. “We know you’re there. Margot told us about your nocturnal activities.”

Of course she had.

He continued, “There’s no reason for you not to get a close-up look. I want you to see this.”

Valerie drew her sidearm and stepped clear of the crates. The time for pretense had passed.