Thanks to Kate for being a wonderful beta as
usual.
BUCCANEER’S FOLLY
By Sea Spinner
Lieutenant
Commander Chip Morton made sure nobody saw him as he slipped out of the NIMR
functions room. Officers and sailors
alike had been requested to attend by the President of Tahiti after saving his
daughter from a stricken submersible. It
was a request that had been more of a command.
Chip had purposely not eaten as he had promised Lola that he would have
a late dinner with her. Seaview was scheduled to depart at 0600
hours the next day and he wanted to spend time with her before he left. One last look assured him that both Admiral
Nelson and his friend and commanding officer Lee Crane were deep in
conversation with dignitaries and wouldn’t notice his departure.
He pulled
his mobile phone from his dress jacket pocket and speed dialed Lola’s
number. “I’m on my way.”
“I can’t
wait,” came the happy reply. “Where are
we going?”
He
grinned. “Somewhere special, just meet
me at the dock.”
“I’ll see
you there.”
It would
be fun to show what a full moon looked like from the deck of the Seaview.
A bottle of champagne and the special picnic dinner he’d ordered from
the mess earlier would set the scene nicely.
After he picked up the hamper, he made his way slowly down towards the
submarine.
He checked
his watch. It was still early, 2100
hours to be exact, plenty of time to enjoy his new girlfriend’s company before
he had to hit his rack. Chip saw her
leave the administration building.
“Lola,
over here.” He strode over to her, not
wanting to waste a minute and gave her a hug and a tender kiss. “I’m glad you could make it, I know you had
other plans tonight.”
Her eyes
sparkled in the moonlight. “You know I
can never resist a moonlight picnic, Chip.”
Chip
clasped her hand tightly as they headed towards the gangway leading onto the
majestic submarine.
“She’s beautiful in the moonlight,” she
whispered almost reverently, enthralled by the sight of Seaview silhouetted against the shimmering ocean.
“Yes, she
is,” he agreed proudly. “Let’s go to the
front.” Chip stood to one side to allow
Lola to walk across the gangplank in front of him.
She
watched as he set down a blanket and then helped him to lay the food on
it. “Oh, Chip, this really is
wonderful. I’m glad I didn’t have
anything to eat.”
Chip made
a mental note to pass on his thanks to the head chef at the mess. The banquet was fit for a king rather than a
simple evening meal. There were devilled
oysters for starters, fish in white sauce with baby potatoes, asparagus sprouts
and honeyed carrots for the main course and crème caramel for dessert.
Lola eyed
the cheese and biscuits. “Somehow I
don’t think I’ll need those.”
Chip
laughed. “Me neither.”
Lola served
them dinner while Chip opened the bottle of champagne and poured it into two
champagne glasses.
“I think
it’s my turn for a toast,” she murmured.
“Go
ahead.”
“Here’s to
a smooth voyage for you and all the crew.”
As they both sipped at the champagne, Lola nestled closer to him. “Be careful this cruise, Chip.”
He
frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I
just…it’s nothing.”
Chip held
her chin up to his. “I’m always
careful. Besides, I’ve got someone to
come back to now.”
Their lips
met beneath the silver shade of light, gentle and caring as the night drew
closer.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
“Morning
Chip, I didn’t see you much last night,” said Lee as his XO made an appearance
in the control room.
“I kept a
low profile,” he hedged. “You know what
I think of those receptions.”
“Hmm,
about the same as me,” Lee smiled, then grimaced and put a hand to his
forehead.
“What’s
wrong?”
Lee looked
up. “It’s nothing, just a bit of a
headache.”
“I can
handle things here if you want to go see Jamie.” One look at Lee’s face made him regret his
words. “I’m just saying if you need some
painkillers…um, forget I said anything.”
“I’m fine,”
he insisted tersely. “Make preparations
to get underway. The sooner this
mission’s over the better.”
Lee’s
irritation made Chip wonder just how bad his friend’s headache really was.
“Yes,
Skipper.”
Seaview had taken on a scientific survey of the waters
surrounding a seismic anomaly off the coast of
Things
started out smoothly as Seaview eased
out of her berth and headed towards the open sea. A few miles out, Chip began to realize that
things weren’t going to be as simple as predicted. He was talking to Curley when the Chief
groaned and held his head.
“What’s
wrong, Chief?”
Curley
tried to shake it off. “Nothing, Sir,
just a headache.”
Chip
looked around at the rest of the crew.
Suddenly all of them began to hold their heads. Without hesitation he picked up the
microphone.
“Sickbay,
this is Morton.”
“Sickbay
here,” answered Jamie.
“Doc, can
you come up to the control room?”
“I’ll…”
A strange
buzzing noise vibrated through Seaview
before Jamison could answer. Chip
watched in stunned fascination as every man including Lee, clutched at their
heads and writhed in agony. Cries of
pain came from all of them then they dropped in unison where they stood or sat. He quickly knelt beside Lee and pressed his
fingers into his neck with shaking hands.
He was relieved when he felt a steady but slow pulse.
“Lee, can
you hear me?” Chip patted him on the
cheek, but there was no response.
He grabbed
at the microphone again and called sickbay.
There was no answer.
“Morton to
anyone who can hear me.”
Chip
strained his ears for the slightest sound, but none came. At least they were still on the surface and
hadn’t dived. He had to get a message
out to the Institute. Before he could
move to the radio shack he heard the hatch opening. Something inside Chip told him to take cover
until he could figure out what had happened.
With a heavy heart he removed Lee’s missile key, then with a last look
at his friend, he quickly went into the nose.
He decided to wait at the top of the spiral staircase. Not a moment too soon was he in position when
a familiar figure stepped into the observation nose.
“Ah, the
last time I was here holds no happy memories for me, Hans. To think I was so close to the Mona Lisa,
then to lose her…”
The man
Chip cringed as he saw Hans deliver a brutal
kick to Lee’s ribs. There was no
reaction from the unconscious man.
Hans
nodded and made for the stairs. Chip
moved quickly and quietly down the corridor to Nelson’s cabin. He had to get the Admiral’s missile key as
well. His next task was to hide both of
them where nobody would think to look.
Chip stepped through the partly opened door and found the Admiral
unconscious next to it. He took the key from
around his neck then tore off the grate to the ventilation shaft before hauling
himself into it. There was just time to
close it before Hans walked into Nelson’s cabin. He forced himself to slow his breathing
down. Through the grating he watched as
the man hoisted the Admiral easily over his shoulders and took him forward. Chip moved further into the ventilation
system then leaned back against the side and wiped some sweat from his
brow. The keys in his hand felt heavy
and hot, almost burning. What was he
going to do with them? How did
He closed
his eyes to gather his thoughts. There
were too many questions and not enough answers.
If only Lee was awake, or someone else, anyone he could work with to stop what was happening.
But there isn’t!
There’s only me. Seaview,
everyone, I’m the only one who can save them!
With that
thought, Chip’s eyes snapped open and suddenly the keys felt lighter and cooler
against his skin.
He moved as
fast as he could through the ducts, almost wishing he’d spent as much time in
them as Lee. His hands and knees were
already aching with the constant pounding through the metal tunnels. Finally he made it to the laboratory. One of the Admiral’s last deep sea specimens
was particularly nasty, and had been close to biting Nelson on at least one
occasion. Chip grabbed a pair of long tongs
and eased the keys beneath the Angler Fish’s dark lair then replaced the
cover. He doubted anyone would be game
to stick their hand in there, even if they had some idea the keys were in it.
Once that
had been done, he got back into the vent and eased his way back to a place
where he could see what was going on in the observation nose.
“It’s
time. Professor Cates, wake them
up. Crane first.”
A short
plump man walked into Chip’s field of vision carrying a dark brown
satchel. Something about the man seemed
familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Chip watched as the professor took a bulky
hand held device out of a bag and pointed it at Lee. The device emitted the same buzzing noise
he’d heard before the crew had collapsed.
Lee slowly came around. Chip
could see that his friend was in pain.
Lee looked
groggy and appeared to have trouble focusing on Logan, his head kept lolling
around until Logan grabbed it between his hands.
“L…Logan?”
“I’m
sorry, Mister Logan, the nanites haven’t quite been perfected, but that will
come with time,” commented the Professor.
Chip felt
cold fear take hold. Nanites!
No wonder everyone had fallen at exactly the same time, but when had
Logan been able to put the nanites into their systems? Then he remembered why the short man looked
so familiar. He had been at the
reception with the rest of the dignitaries.
Since Chip appeared to be the only one unaffected, it had to have been
something in the food or drink.
Lee was
sitting straighter now, and appeared to be more alert. “What do you hope to achieve by taking Seaview again?”
“What are
you talking about?”
“Come now,
Captain, surely you are aware of the new undersea vault. Treasures from all around the world have been
stored there. They are ripe for the
picking.”
“Plundering,
you mean,” snapped Lee.
Lee gave
him an angry look. “What makes you think
you’re any different,
Chip
cringed as Hans backhanded Lee across the mouth, then let out a slow breath when
he eventually moved his head.
“Like my
previous captain, Hans is very protective of me. I would suggest you keep your insults to
yourself if you wish to stay relatively healthy.”
“Looks
like I hit a nerve,” Lee continued to taunt.
“Am I too close to the truth for comfort, Logan?”
“Do you
have any idea what prison is to a man like me, Captain,” he spat. “I died a thousand deaths. Now I’m going to use you and whoever and
whatever else I need, to find my life again.”
Lee glared
at him. “Even prison was too good for
you, Logan.”
“You will
be very sorry you said that, Captain.”
He nodded at Hans who clubbed him across the back of the head.
“Leave him
where he is. We have to make headway to
the vault. Once we’re there you can wake
both of them up. I want to see their
faces when we take the treasure and set them adrift while Seaview becomes another of my prizes.” He grabbed a handful of Lee’s hair and pulled
his face up. “Perhaps Seaview’s Captain can become one of them
as well. My very first living prize. Then perhaps he will understand what I went
through when my freedom was taken
from me.”
Hans
nodded and went back to the control room.
Meanwhile Chip watched as the professor returned the device to its
satchel and left it on the table in the observation nose. He had to get his hands on it so he could
wake up the rest of the crew. At least Curley
and Kowalski along with Patterson would be a big help. Then he had to find out how many men
Now to
create that distraction! It had worked
the last time
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Lee’s head
pounded so much he almost wished he was unconscious again. He gingerly turned to look at the Admiral,
who was still oblivious to the whole situation.
Once again he tested his bonds, not even the tiniest bit of give in the
ropes. Damn! Just as he was about
to give it one more try the submarine began pitching violently from one side to
the other, throwing both his and the Admiral’s chairs off balance and onto the
deck. Lee threw his leg out under
Nelson’s head and broke his fall, but felt his own head slam into the deck
sending spots before his eyes. Something
must have happened to the gyro, at least that’s what it felt like to Lee. He saw some movement in front of him. Was it his imagination, or was the hatch from
the FS1 opening? He stayed quiet as
Chip’s blonde hair showed through the small crack, then the rest of his XO appeared
through the hatch moving quickly towards him.
He figured that he must have gone through the cargo hold. There was no other way Chip could have gotten
there without Logan seeing him.
“I’m going
to get you out of here, Lee. I just need
to get the device first so I can wake the crew up.”
“Leave me! Get the rest of the crew then you can re-take the boat.
That’s an order.”
He thought
Chip was going to argue, but instead he nodded.
Lee watched anxiously as he crawled his way towards the chart
table. He reached up to grab a satchel,
slipping the strap over his head as he neared Lee.
“Sorry,
Lee, I’ll be back as soon as I can, buddy,” he whispered.
Lee forced
a smile. “I know you will, Chip. Be careful.”
Then he
was gone as if he’d never been there in the first place.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
While he
tapped his finger against his lips he wondered what he was missing. Someone had caused the submarine to behave
like that. Who was it? Everyone was accounted for. He thought back to his last dealings with
Nelson and Crane, then it hit him. His
head snapped up – Morton! Where was the
blonde XO? He hadn’t paid much attention
to him the last time he’d taken Seaview. He’d thought of him as a spare wheel who
would pose no threat. Of all the stupid
things, first he’d underestimated Crane, now the XO. Logan slammed his hand against the chart
table.
He stepped
closer and reached inside Crane’s shirt looking for the missile key. Lee attempted to struggle away from him but
bound as he was his movements were limited. Nothing!
“Captain,
where is Commander Morton?”
Lee stared
at
“Really,
Captain, must we play these games,” Logan said impatiently. “Hans, come here for a moment, Captain Crane
needs some convincing.”
Hans moved
towards Lee and stopped beside him, his right hand reaching towards Lee’s
elbow. Lee grunted as he pressed his
thumb into a sensitive pressure point on Lee’s forearm.
“I’m
sorry, Captain, but that wasn’t the answer I was looking for,” said
He watched
as Hans applied more pressure to his arm and with some satisfaction saw the
pain in Crane’s face.
“He’s not
onboard,” Lee answered through clenched teeth.
Logan tore
his shirt open to the waist. “Then where
are your missile keys? Neither you or
the Admiral have them,” he shouted, his patience wearing thin.
“I’ve been
unconscious for most of this trip. Do
you really think I had the opportunity to figure out that we were being boarded
and then hide my missile key?” Lee asked
tiredly.
Hans moved
in to strike him again but
“I told
you, he didn’t make it onboard before we sailed.”
“Hans, ask
Professor Cates to wake Admiral Nelson up.
Perhaps I can reason with him, gentleman to gentleman.”
“It’s
gone,” cried the Professor almost hysterically.
“What’s
gone?” snapped
Cates
gestured agitatedly at the chart table.
“The device, it’s gone. It was
right here…on the table.”
“No, no, I
didn’t. It was right here.” Cates shuffled the charts on the table as if
expecting the satchel to be under one. “I
know it was…right here.”
“Lost
something?” taunted Lee.
Lee shook
his head. “Nope, it’s none of my
business if you can’t keep tabs on your property.”
“Hans,
find out what he knows, I’ll be in Nelson’s cabin,” he ordered coldly. “And have the boat searched for Lieutenant Commander
Morton immediately, from top to bottom.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
At that
very moment, Chip was facing his own challenge.
There were guards inside but none outside of the missile room. He hoped his plan would work. There were three of them, and although he
could hold his own in a brawl, he didn’t want to take a chance that he might
lose. The Seaview, Lee and all the crew needed him to be clever enough to get
them out of this and he wouldn’t let them down.
He fumbled
and almost dropped the gas canister he’d taken from the FS1. One sound, one wrong move and it would be all
over. His throat felt dry as he edged
closer to the missile room vent outlet.
The gas mask slipped as he hooked his fingers through the grate. Chip let out a breath he didn’t know he’d
been holding as the noise seemed to reverberate around him. For
God’s sake, pull yourself together, he thought irritably.
None of
the guards had moved or looked towards the vent. He slipped the mask on, pushed the grate open
and jumped to the deck. At the same time
he threw the gas canister and ducked for cover a little too late. One of the guards got off a shot, winging him
in the left arm. He was thrown backwards
but was satisfied to see all of them collapse onto the deck. Ignoring the burning pain in his arm he ran
to the hatch and rammed a crowbar home, effectively cutting himself and the
crew off from the other guards.
Without
wasting any time he pulled out the nanite neutralizer, as he’d affectionately dubbed
it. There were three switches on
it. One appeared to turn on the power;
the second altered the power setting and the third…if he had to make a guess, some
sort of wavelength regulator. He hadn’t
seen Cates touch the other two settings after he’d used it on Lee, and was
pretty sure they were still in the same position. Chip held his breath as he turned it on and
pointed it towards Chief Jones. His finger
hovered over the button then he closed his eyes and pressed it. When he opened them again he was relieved to
see Curley move.
He quickly
found Kowalski and Patterson. By the
time he’d used it on Patterson, Curley was sitting up asking him what had
happened.
“Chief,
I’ll tell you later, right now all you need to know is that Logan’s back and
he’s taken over Seaview.”
Curley
looked confused. “Who?
“Never
mind that now. Here,” he shoved the
device into Curley’s hands. “Point and
press. Don’t mess with the settings.”
Chip heard
Kowalski and Patterson shuffle to their feet.
“You two, you’re with me. We have
to rescue Admiral Nelson and Captain Crane, they’re being held in the
observation nose.”
Patterson
looked down at Chip’s arm. “But, Sir,
you’re hurt. You’re losing a lot of
blood.”
Chip
hadn’t realized how much his arm was bleeding.
“It’ll wait. Right now we have to
free them and stop
“The
vaults, but that’s impossible, there are mines and…”
“I know,
Ski, but
Kowalski
looked around him at the rest of the crew, most of them still lying unconscious
on the deck. “What do you want Pat and
me to do, Sir?”
“We’re
almost at the vault. Once we’re close to
docking, I want you and Patterson to gear up and come with me. There’s an airlock around the other side, we’ll
be able to access it from there. I’ve
made a call to the authorities from the backup radio. They’ve given me the combination.” Chip looked at Curley. “That’ll give you and the remainder of the
crew enough time to re-take the control room.
Enter the FS1 from the cargo hatch and use the munitions from there to
take out the guards stationed at the armory.”
“Aye,
Sir. What about the Skipper and the
Admiral?”
“I’m
sorry, Chief, they’ll have to wait until we’re ready,” Chip said
reluctantly. “I know how you feel, but
if we show our hand too soon…”
“Yes Sir,
Mister Morton. You can count on us,” Curley
assured him.
Chip
slapped him on the back. “I know I can,
Curley. Now, I’m going to see how far we
are from reaching the vault. I’ll be
back as soon as I can. If I don’t make
it, here’s the combination.”
He handed
Kowalski a piece of paper with numbers on it.
“It’s a keypad entry. Just put
the numbers in using this sequence.”
Kowalski
nodded. “Be careful, Mister Morton.”
“I
will. Now get moving and gear up.”
Chip took
one last look and saw that Curley was making good progress. He pulled himself up into the ventilation
shaft and disappeared into the darkness.
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
To his
dismay, the Seaview was closer than Chip had anticipated.
Logan and Hans were getting ready to dock and disembark with Lee who was
held between two men, barely conscious.
A quiet curse left his lips. It
looked like Lee was in much worse condition than before. Chip made his
way aft to the missile room as quickly as he could and was relieved to find the
preparations well underway under Curley’s guidance.
“We’ve got
about five minutes and there’s been a change of plan,” Chip said breathlessly
as he tore off his uniform, taking a wetsuit from Patterson. He caught his shoulder as stabs of pain rippled down his arm. “Soon as I’ve suited up, I’ll leave through
the moon pool or they’ll see the light go on in the control room. Kowalski, Patterson, wait here with the Chief
and give him a hand. They’re after the
missile keys so they’ll need me to show them where I put them. I’ll enter the vault and draw them back onto Seaview.
Just make sure you’re ready to take them when I walk through the door,
and get a move on. It’s a wonder they
haven’t been down here to check yet.”
“We’re all
ready, Mister Morton,” said Curley, surrounded by the rest of the crew. “You be careful, Sir.”
“I will,
Chief.” Chip picked up his tanks and
gear. “Right, you all know what to
do. The Admiral and the Skipper are
counting on us.”
He
carefully made his way to the moon pool, ducking into a storage closet once
when some of
Chip pushed
himself to swim as hard as he could to the other side of the complex. The emergency entry point was set into the
seabed between the domes. He quickly
located the keypad and entered the number sequence. For a short time nothing happened. His finger moved towards the keypad again
when he heard a hiss and the doorway opened to reveal an airlock. Inside the airlock he easily located the
button that closed it and expunged the water.
He waited impatiently until the light turned green and the inner door
swung open automatically.
His torch
chose that moment to flicker out. With
no light he was working blind. He flung
off his diving gear, and still in his wetsuit stepped through the door into
nothing. A cry escaped his lips as he
slipped into the dark void. Flailing
about with his arms he managed to hook the injured one through what seemed to
be the rung of a ladder. The pain almost
made him pass out, it was unbearable. He
bit his lip and forced his other arm up, just managing to get a grip on the
ladder. He hung there for a moment,
breathing hard while his feet found the rungs.
That one mistake could have been costly for everyone. The pain eventually subsided to the point
where he was able to climb down the without his head spinning.
Without
warning he touched solid concrete and gave a sigh of welcome relief. He felt around for the gun he dropped but
only found some wide metal grating. It
must have dropped down there, he thought belatedly. Still, it didn’t make any difference. After all, he was aiming to be caught by
Light
shone into his eyes, almost blinding him.
He half closed them to give his pupils time to adjust to the
brightness. The vault was spacious
horizontally, but the ceilings were only a foot above him. None of
“Ah,
Mister Morton, how good of you to finally join us,” said
“What have
you done with Captain Crane?”
“Why, he’s
right over there.” Logan pointed to a
dark corner.
Chip’s
heart missed a couple of beats when he saw Lee.
He was leaning against the wall, his chin resting against his chest. Blood was dripping from a fresh facial wound onto
what was left of his shirt, spreading into an increasing large red stain. Professor Cates was standing nearby as was
Hans, with a pistol trained on Chip.
“What did
you do to him?” he snarled.
Hans
stepped forward from behind Chip, his pistol trained on the XO’s chest. “Where are the missile keys?”
Chip shook
his head. “I have no idea what you’re
talking about.”
Hans stepped
back and pushed Lee’s head up. Chip felt
his anger rising when he saw the damage to his friend’s face.
“Would you
like your Captain to be able to eat solid food again?”
He
nodded. “Yes.”
He let
Lee’s head fall down and reached into his pocket with his spare hand. Chip stared disgustedly at the instrument he
pulled out. “You used those on him?”
Hans slid
the knuckle dusters onto his fingers, flexing them to make sure they were in place. “He wasn’t talking. It would have been easier for him just to
tell Logan what he wanted.”
Chip shook
his head as Hans drew his fist back, ready to hit Lee. “Wait, I’ll show you where the keys are,
“What
about my machine?” whined Cates.
“I…” he
looked at Lee again, just for long enough to convince them that he was
reluctant to help them. “That too.”
“I’m glad
you’re finally co-operating Mister Morton.
Hans, escort our final guest back to the submarine,” ordered Logan. “I’ll finish supervising here.”
“Will you
be alright?” Hans asked.
Chip
wanted to pound
“How long
have you worked for Logan?” asked Chip as they made their way up the escalator.
“Shut up.”
Chip knew
he wasn’t going to get very far with the hired help, so he began to take more
notice of the vault. It was huge, bigger
than he’d expected. On one occasion he’d
been on board when Seaview had
dropped supplies into the vault, but he’d never been inside. From what the Admiral had told him, all of
the walls were re-enforced steel plating with five inches of tungsten carbide
on either side.
Obviously the external safeguards didn’t take into account someone
getting inside help.
He thought
about what was going to happen next. By
now Curley and the others would have taken back Seaview. Hans would get a
one way trip to the brig, then he would go back with reinforcements to rescue
Lee and stop
“How much
is he paying you? I’m sure the Admiral
would be willing to pay you more to let us go,” said Chip, trying to distract
him from seeing how uptight he was.
“Stop!”
ordered Hans.
He pushed
Chip against the side of the airlock before taking a quick look inside the
submarine. For one horrible moment Chip
thought his plan had failed and Seaview
was still under outside control. Hans grabbed
his shirt and pushed him into the boat.
As he did, the men who were manning the controls turned around. Chip almost laughed with relief as he noticed
that they were all his own crew. They
had merely been disguised in the dark garb of Logan’s men.
“Get down,
Mister Morton,” yelled Curley.
Chip threw
himself onto the deck while Hans brought his pistol up ready to shoot. It was the last action he would take. Kowalski had him in his sights and delivered
a kill shot.
Ski ran up
to Chip. “Are you alright, Sir? I’m sorry.
The Admiral told us how they treated the Skipper, I…”
Chip took
his hand as the rating helped him up from the deck. “Ski, it’s okay. You did the right thing. He was a dangerous man. I’m sure he would have killed someone if you
hadn’t taken him out.”
Kowalski
nodded. “Thank you, Sir. What about the Skipper?”
“
“Yes,
Mister Morton. It got a bit cozy in the
brig, but I’m sure they would have treated us with the same respect,” he
replied sarcastically.
“Right,
“Here,
Chip. I’ve
got the plans to the vault,” said Nelson, hurrying down the spiral staircase
with the plans in his hand. “Show me
where
Nelson
laid the plans out on the chart table where Chip pointed out their
location.
He looked
up at the XO, a small smile on his face.
“Well, Chip, this is your show. What
do you want us to do next?”
Chip
suddenly felt uncomfortable as every eye in the room fell on him. “Uh, I suggest a pincer movement. There are two tunnels here and here. They both meet where Lee is being held. I’ll take four men with me, if you take
another four with you we can meet in the middle. We can take them from both sides.”
Nelson
gazed intensely at the plans and nodded.
“Yes, that’s a good plan. Choose
your men.”
“I’ll take
Kowalski, Patterson, O’Brien and Baker.
Oh, and Jamie can bring up the rear, Lee will need him,” he said as an
afterthought.
Nelson
nodded to Chip’s arm where a small trickle of blood slowly dripped out from
beneath his wetsuit. “Looks like you’ll
need him yourself, Mister Morton.”
“I’ll be
fine until then, Sir.”
The
Admiral quickly chose Curley, Riley and two other crewmen, each of whom were already armed.
“Right,
let’s get going.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Lee
watched as
“Well,
Captain, it’s time for us to leave. I
think you will enjoy your new home,”
Over
He tried
to draw himself up straighter. “It would
take a better man than you to hold me, Logan.”
“You think
so, do you, Captain? Even during my
brief incarceration, I was able to keep my precious collection safe from those
who would seek to take it from me. I
have it hidden in secret locations throughout the world. What makes you think you would be any
different?” he bragged.
“Because
you won’t escape again,” snapped Chip.
“Step away from Captain Crane and put your hands in the air, all of
you. Kowalski, get their weapons.”
“Chip,
look out,” cried Lee as one of
Logan’s
foot lashed out at Lee, knocking him down as two shots rang out. One struck Chip high on the right leg. The other was fired by Nelson and found its
mark. The shooter fell to the ground
clutching his arm as his weapon flew out of his hand.
Chip
limped towards Lee as Kowalski, Patterson and Curley began the process of
rounding up the remaining hijackers.
“Lee, it’s
Chip. Hey, buddy, I’m just going to
untie your hands. It’s gonna hurt, I’m
sorry.”
“L…Looks
like it’ll hurt you as much as it’ll hurt m…me,” replied Lee hoarsely.
Chip
managed a small grin as he went to work on the knots. “Least mine won’t show when I’m trying to get
another date with Lola,” he quipped, wincing as the wounds in his leg and arm
gave him a simultaneous shot of pain.
“Your ugly mug, on the other hand…”
He finally
managed to release Lee’s hands and helped him to sit up. Only then did he let himself slide down on
the floor beside him to wait for Jamie.
Chip knew there was no escape from sickbay this time for either of
them.
Lee
reached out to him and tugged at his sleeve, his movements stiff and painful. “Thanks, you saved my life.”
“Yeah, strike
one against the many times you’ve done it,” he grumbled.
Lee slowly
raised his head to look Chip in the eyes.
“When it counted, you were there for me, for all of us. For Seaview,”
he added quietly.
Chip felt
his face turn a deep shade of red. “Uh,
it was nothing, Lee.” He looked at Lee
and realized that he’d lost consciousness.
“That’s
not what I heard,” said Jamie, setting his bag down beside the two
friends. “I heard you saved the day,
Chip.”
“That he
did, Doctor,” came Nelson’s voice. “How
are you feeling, Chip?”
“I’m fi…” Chip saw the expression on Jamie’s face and abruptly
revised his response. “I guess I might
need some patching up.”
“Jamie,
what about Lee?”
Jamie finished
bandaging Chip’s leg and nodded at Lee. “I
think he’ll be alright, he might need some stitches in his head. I’ll be able to tell you more once I’ve given
him the usual set of x-rays.”
Two
stretchers arrived to carry the injured men back to Seaview.
“But Jamie,
I can walk,” Chip protested.
“Not this
time, Commander. I just stopped your
bleeding. I would be very unhappy if it started up again.”
Chip
stifled another argument as Nelson raised his eyebrows and gave the required
response. “Yes, Jamie.”
“What about
the nanites?” queried Nelson.
Jamie
looked grim. “I think that’s more your
field than mine, Admiral. I’ll do the
usual blood screening and analysis, but ultimately I think you’ll have to
figure out if they really have broken down.”
“Hmm,
alright, send what you have to the lab and I’ll get to work on it as soon as
we’ve cleaned this mess up and handed them over the authorities.”
Nelson
watched as Lee and Chip were stretchered off.
“Kowalski, we’ll have to keep those items as exhibits for the police.”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll have Patterson give me a hand to
catalogue them.”
“Very
good. I’ll be on board.” Nelson left the vault and made it to Seaview before he received the bad news.
“Admiral,”
called O’Brien. “
“What!” cried Nelson. “How?”
“We’re not
sure, Sir. Chief Jones found the Master
At Arms just outside the brig. He was
dead, shot in the back.”
“In the
back?” he growled.
“Yes,
Sir.”
“Damn,”
muttered Nelson. “Get in touch with the
Coast Guard cutter and inform them. Organize
a search party to go through Seaview
before we undock.”
“Aye,
Sir.”
Nelson
stormed down towards the sickbay. How
could he have escaped? Probably the same
way he had gained inside knowledge about Seaview’s
movements and the undersea vault. When he
walked in Frank was just wheeling Chip into surgery while Jamie worked on Lee.
“Well?”
“The
Skipper’s got a concussion, he’ll need stitches in two cuts on his head and
face, and he’s got two cracked ribs. Add
to that deep bruising and he’ll be pretty sore for a while.”
Jamie
looked at the Admiral more closely.
“What’s the matter, Harry?”
“We have a
problem.
“What?”
gasped Chip, as the color drained from his face. “How is that possible? I saw him handcuffed and taken to the brig by
the Master At Arms.”
Nelson’s
expression became grim. “I regret to say
that the Master At Arms was found dead, not far from the brig.”
They all
looked up as Curley ran around the corner.
“Admiral, there’s two sets of diving gear missing from the missile
room.”
“Two? Are you sure?”
“Yes,
Sir. I double checked myself.”
“Thank
you, Chief. That’ll be all.”
“Aren’t we
going to search for him?” asked Chip.
Nelson
shook his head. “It looks like he’s left
the submarine. If so, it would be like
looking for a needle in a haystack.” He grabbed
the microphone. “Nelson to O’Brien.”
“O’Brien
here, Sir.”
“Do you
have anything on sonar, any contacts at all, no matter how brief?”
“There was
one. Kowalski reported a contact so intermittent
that he thought the equipment must have been malfunctioning.”
“I’d say
he had a submersible standing by as a backup plan,” Nelson said, looking about
as happy as Chip felt.
“I’ve got
a feeling we haven’t seen the last of him, Admiral.”
Nelson
nodded to his XO. “So have I, Chip. Well, now that’s over, just where did you put
the missile keys?”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
“Admiral,
you need to stay still so I can have a look at the damage,” Jamie said
impatiently.
“What
happened,” asked Chip, still sluggish from the anesthetic.
Nelson
pursed his lips and threw Chip a stormy look.
“The Angler Fish happened!”
“Oh,” Chip
looked sheepishly at the Admiral’s hastily bandaged fingers. “I could have sworn I left the long tongs
next to the tank.”
Nelson
glared at him and held his hand closer to his chest. “Yes, well, I was in a hurry and didn’t stop
to think. Next time perhaps you could
find another place to hide them.”
“Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir,” he mumbled before his eyes
closed.
“Don’t be
too hard on him, Harry. He did a good
job.”
Nelson let
out a long sigh. “Yes, Will, he
did. I shudder to think what would have
become of us if he’d ingested Cates’ nanites at the
reception.”
“Has there
been any news of
“No,”
Nelson ran a hand through his hair. “Not
a thing. It’s as if he never even existed.”
“If I ever
see him again it’ll be too soon.”
“That it
will be,” replied Nelson, deep in thought.
He glanced
at Lee and Chip as Jamie gave him yet another shot. Oh well, he thought, if nothing else it would
give him an excuse to stay in sick bay until the two of them woke up. He closed his eyes and let Jamie go to work
on his hand, wondering when they would have to face Logan again.
The End –
or is it?