Cruise Vacation Gone Awry
By JSRobertson
Dear Diary,
Whew!
What a couple months it’s been. First
Lee almost divorced me and then I went to Las Vegas and got into trouble. I did get out of doing latrine duty after
seducing Lee that night but he warned me if I went on another mission without his
written permission, there would be hell to pay.
There would be no getting out of cleaning the bilge tanks or latrine
duty and I would also have to clean out the torpedo tubes (I didn’t even know
they did that) no matter what I did to change his mind. Then the admiral and Lee went to Washington
to meet with the Navy to discuss a new missile detection system they want Seaview
to test. It’s been very hectic.
Seaview will be in port for about a month. They are installing that new sonar system
they were testing on the last mission.
So, the Admiral gave Lee and me a ten day leave. The admiral told us to get away from NIMR. He strongly suggested we get away...as
go on a vacation...maybe a cruise. A
cruise sounded like a good idea. Be on a
ship where my husband won’t have to worry about rogue submarines, sea
monsters, alien takeovers or counting seals.
Just relax and drink pina coladas.
Sure, like that’s going to happen.
******
Dear Diary,
We decided to take a cruise
to
Chip flew us on FS1 to
“Welcome aboard Captain and
Mrs. Crane,” the ship’s cruise director said as we were checking in. “Captain Stewart would like to meet you,
Captain Crane, as soon as we have cleared the harbor. He is very pleased to have you aboard. He would like to give you a tour of the
bridge and engine room and show you how an ocean liner operates versus a
submarine. Your wife is also invited to come.”
“Thank you for the
invitation. We would be happy to meet
him,” Lee told her.
“He will send for you when he
is ready.”
We located our cabin and found
that it had a balcony that overlooked the ocean. What a different view from above the ocean. It was beautiful and calming to look at but I
would have to wait and see if I liked it better than being under the ocean.
The captain sent a crew
member for us after our life boat drill. We were taken to the bridge and given
a personal tour by Captain Stewart. It
sure was different from Seaview.
I think it had even more instruments and dials than Seaview. Lee was impressed by the bridge, but I could
tell that he still preferred the control room in his submarine. After the tour of the bridge, the Captain and
Lee were going to look at the engine room.
I decided I would go to the cabin and unpack. I haven’t even seen Seaview’s engines.
It would take two days to get
to Puerto Vallarta so we had time to relax and just do nothing.
After Lee’s tour of the
engine room we took a walk around the ship to see what it had to offer. We found many restaurants, pools, lounges and
various activities to do.
Since it was close to lunch
we decided to grab a quick bite to eat at one of the more casual restaurants. There was a lot of food to choose from and it
was very good. We went swimming later and
drank pina coladas by the pool. I had to keep close to my husband as all the
ladies were eyeing him in his Spandex trunks.
We stayed at the pool for a couple of hours before returning to our
cabin to get ready for dinner.
We’ve been invited to sit at
the captain’s table for dinner tonight.
It will be a dress up affair. Lee
brought along a black tuxedo and I have a rather low cut and short
black dress. My heels aren’t comfortable, but worth it to make the ensemble
complete.
“Sweetheart, are you sure you
want to go to dinner?’ Lee asked, ogling me. “I can think of better things to do than eat
dinner!” he added with a smirk.
“Not really, but we don’t
want to be rude, do we?”
“I gues not.
We’ll go to dinner, but after, no lingering.”
******
Dear Diary,
I actually got Lee to sleep
in. Sort of. Not bad considering neither of us
actually got to sleep until after 5:00 this morning. He set his alarm to 7:00 as he wanted to try out the swim-against-the-current lap
pool. It sounded like too much work for
me so I went for a walk around the deck.
I almost bumped into a gentlemen standing at the rail.
“Sorry,” I told him, “ I wasn’t watching where I was going, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It would take a lot more than running into me
knock me over,” he said laughing. “I’m Steven Arnold and you are?”
“Janet Crane. Mrs. Crane,” I added. For some reason he
gave me the creeps.
“Nice to meet you, I hope to
see you around,” he said and left.
After Lee got
back from his swim we went for breakfast.
“Lee, honey, you look like
you’re a thousand miles away,” I said over my grapefruit.
“Just thinking about Seaview and the sonar installation,” he replied,
having eaten exactly one bite of toast. At least he’d slathered peanut butter
and jelly on it, so I had to content myself with the fact that he got a little protein.
“Do you want to check in?” I asked.
“Yes, sweetheart, do you
mind?”
“No, go ahead
and make your call, ” I answered
with a smile. Sometimes it was really
hard being second fiddle to a submarine.
But I knew that when I married him and I
wouldn’t have it any other way.
****
“Hi Chip, it’s Lee,” Crane said through his
cell phone’s speaker function, “how are things going?”
“Just fine. Why are you calling, don’t trust me to get it done
right?” Chip laughed.
“No, just checking in.”
“How is your trip so far?”
“It’s been great just to be
together. This ship is huge. We got to meet the captain, see the bridge and the engine room. As big as they are, I still prefer to be on my own boat, with
limited space. ”
“Well don’t worry about the
installation. Everything is on
schedule. Just relax and have fun.”
“Okay, Chip. I’ll talk to you soon,” Lee hung up the phone
and returned to the dining room.
***
Dear Diary,
We almost had a little tiff
when Lee rejoined me and took another bite of his now cold hard toast. He had
that far away look in his eyes again.
“Would you rather not be here?” I asked him, stirring my
coffee.
“It’s not that I don’t want
to be with you. You know I do. I’ve enjoyed our time together immensely... but
I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with my boat,” he sighed running his
hand through his hair.
“Well,” I licked my spoon
rather suggestively, “I can think of a few things that might distract you...”
I don’t think I have to put
to pen just how I distracted him a few minutes later in our cabin.
***
Dear Diary,
We went for dinner at one of
the very exclusive restaurants aboard.
The food and service were fantastic.
Then we went dancing in one of the night clubs and had a nightcap each. But I had to keep my eye on him all night. Most of the women kept staring at him. Some of them were even bold enough to ask him
to dance! Of course, he declined and
winked at me. We decided on an early night.
The ‘do not disturb’ sign is
on the door again.
******
Dear Diary,
We docked in Puerto Vallarta
this morning. It’s a pretty town, but I could
tell Lee really didn’t want to be there. Or on this cruise. He was still having a hard time not being in control. Call it some kind of separation anxiety from
Seaview. Even though the admiral practically banned us from going to work, I didn’t
think Lee would be able to stay away much longer without going stir crazy.
“How about we jump ship?” I
asked Lee.
“What do you mean?”
“Sweetheart, I know you don’t
want to be on this cruise,” I kissed him, “we can stay in the town for a couple
of days, just enough to humor the admiral, then fly back home.”
“You sure you don’t mind?” he
asked like a little boy keeping his fingers crossed for the answer he wanted.
“No, sweetie, I don’t mind,”
I gave him a really long hug and kiss.
We packed up our belongings rather
quickly, and were headed toward the gangplank, when the perky cruise director
spotted us.
“Is there something wrong?” she
asked.
“Not at
all. But something’s come up
requiring my attention at work,” Lee said.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear
that. I hope you will sail with us again.”
“Thank you,” I said, “It’s
been delightful,” I lied.
In minutes we hailed a cab
and were standing at the counter of a Holiday Inn. It was difficult not to hit
the desk clerk for gaping at Lee as she welcomed us to Puerto Vallarta.
“We would like an ocean front
room for the next two days,” Lee asked.
“No problem,” she said
smiling. “Please sign here,” handing Lee
a registration form.
Lee signed the form and gave
her his credit card.
“Have a wonderful stay, Mr.
and Mrs. Crane,” she said her eyes never leaving Lee’s face.
“Well, she sure is smitten
with you,” I said laughing. “I’d better
watch out for her.”
Lee just smiled, took my hand
and together we walked to the elevator.
As I unpacked our luggage,
Lee was sitting on the balcony looking out over the ocean.
“Sweetie, you sure you
don’t mind not finishing the cruise?” Lee asked me again as he watched the
cruise ship sail out of the harbor.Joining him on the
balcony, putting my arms around him I said laughing, “Well, honey, I think it’s
a little late to change our minds.”
“Why don’t we get some lunch
and look around the boardwalk?”
“Okay, let’s go,” I grabbed
his hand and we headed out the door.
******
Dear Diary,
We had a nice lunch and did
some shopping on the boardwalk. I bought
a pair of sandals and a necklace.
Lee called the airline and
made reservations for us to fly home in two days.
So much for
a long relaxing vacation. I wondered what the admiral was going to say
when he saw we were back. He would
probably be pissed because we did not get away for very long. We had been putting in many long hours at
NIMR and Lee also needed a break from Seaview after some of the
dangerous missions we’ve had recently.
After we took a nap, a real
one, Lee decided to go downstairs to ask the front desk clerk about a
restaurant for dinner. He forgot to take
his cell phone as it was on the charger.
It’s a nifty phone, and has a GPS tracker. Lee had always had one, thanks to ONI, but NIMR
put one on mine after I went to Las Vegas and went missing. If we were in trouble, we could activate it
and NIMR would know where we were.
“Lee,” I called after him
when I realized he didn’t have his phone, but it was too late. The elevator
doors were already closed. He’s only
going to the lobby, how much trouble can he get into?
Plenty, I thought. So I ran to catch the next elevator with my
phone.
******
Lee got off the elevator in
the lobby and was walking to the front desk when someone came up behind him and
put a gun in his back.
“Don’t turn around,” he
commanded. “Make like there is nothing
wrong and walk out the door.”
“Who the hell are you,” Lee
muttered under his breath.
“That doesn’t matter, but
I’ve been tailing you ever since you boarded the ship. A bit short for a cruise,
don’t you think? Now, walk straight to car over there and get in,” he shoved
the gun a little deeper in his back.
Lee did what he was told. When he was in the car, a cloth with
chloroform was put over his face and he was unconscious by the time they drove
away.
There was a cab driver in
front of the hotel waiting for a fare and saw Lee get into the car.
******
Dear Diary,
By the time I got down to the
lobby, I couldn’t see him anywhere. I
went up to the front desk where the same woman I saw this morning was still working.
“Excuse me, I’m Janet Crane
did my husband come here to ask about a restaurant?” I asked, a bit frantic.
“No, Mrs. Crane, he never
stopped here but I saw him walk out with another man,” she answered.
“Another
man?” If he were an old friend,
Lee would have brought him up to meet me. This was bad. I ran outside to see if
I could him anywhere on the street. He
was nowhere to be seen and there were no cars in sight either, except for a
cab.
“Do you need a ride?” the
driver asked from his open window.
“Did you see a tall, dark
haired man come out of the hotel? Just a few minutes ago...”
“Yeah, lady,
he was with another guy. They got
into a blue car and drove away,” he told me.
“Can you follow it?”
“I guess, but...”
“Try, please,” I got into the
cab.
We were lucky. The car hadn’t
gone very far when my driver spotted it.
“No, don’t honk...just follow
it wherever it goes,” I pleaded, “don’t let on you’re
tailing it.”
“Like the cops?”
“Yes...please...he’s my
husband.”
We followed the car to a
warehouse located on the outskirts of town.
“Don’t stop too close, ” I told the cab driver.
“I don’t want them to see us.”
The cab driver parked the cab
a few doors down from the warehouse.
“Is he with another woman?”
he asked.
“No, I think he’s been
kidnapped.”
“Cheesh,
lady...you want me to call the cops?”
Before I could reply, Lee was
dragged car unconscious and into the building.
I activated the GPS tracker
and called Chip on his cell phone.
“Hi Janet, what’s wrong?” he
asked.
“Chip, Lee’s been kidnapped,”
I cried.
“What? I thought you were on
a cruise!?”
“We decided to jump ship and
stay in Puerto Vallarta for a couple of days. We were going stir crazy, Chip.
We want to come home. “He forgot his
phone. I was too late. The front desk and a cabbie told me was
with a man, and got into a car. My cab driver saw it...we’ve followed it. Chip, they dragged him out, unconscious. I
want to sneak in....”
”NO, DO NOT go
in,” Chip ordered.
“But, I can’t just leave him
there...they might kill him!” I protested.
“Let us handle it Janet.
Understood? Just stay there...report anything you see
outside of the wharehouse. Janet? Mrs. Crane,
respond!”
“All right, all right, keep
your pants on,” I ended the call.
“You gonna’
listen to him, lady?”
“I’m not sure,” I said, trying to decide
what to do.
******
“Damn. Can’t they go anywhere and not get in
trouble?” Nelson said
sharply from his office at NIMR.
“We’ve got to get down there,”
Chip said, studying a map, “Chief, get the flying sub ready to launch, yesterday! We need to leave now if we’re going to rescue the Skipper.
You’ll be co pilot.”
“No,” Nelson said, “You stay here and
supervise the rest of the sonar installation.”
“But sir...”
“And Chief,” Chip said, “ tell Jamie we need him. Full kit.
“
***
As FS1 was leaving Seaview,
Chip explained to Jamie what was happening.
The admiral, Chip and Jamie
left ten minutes after Janet’s call.
They would be in
“Hi Chip, what can I do for
you?” Angie asked.
“The admiral, Jamie and I are
flying down to
“Oh no.” she cried. “Please be careful and let us know what is
happening.”
“Okay, will do.”
“Janet, are you still in the
cab?” Morton called Janet back.
“Yes, for now.”
“The admiral, Jamie and I are
on our way down. We will be there in
about two hours. Stay in that
cab. Once we get closer to
“I heard you. I will stay in the cab,” she said tersely.
“For now,” she muttered hoping Chip didn’t hear her.
“Damn, I bet she doesn’t stay
in the cab,” Chip told the admiral shaking his head.
******
Lee came to and found he was
securely tied to a chair. He had no idea
who had taken him and why they wanted him. He didn’t know where he was or why
there were three men with their guns aimed at him.
“Who are you and what do you
want from me?” Lee asked still groggy. “How did you find me?”
“I’m Steven Arnold. I’ve been
watching and following you and your wife since you boarded the cruise ship in
“You must know I won’t tell
you anything!” Lee snapped.
“Give me the information,”
Arnold demanded punching him in the stomach.
“Never,” Lee spat.
The men began to punch him in the ribs again, but now also used the
gun butt. When it looked as if he was still uncooperative, they began to use
the butts to strike
his head.
“Careful, don’t smash his
skull in,” Arnold said. “We don’t want him dead...yet.”
Lee felt a couple of ribs break as the battering
continued. It was getting hard to
breathe and he wasn’t sure if his lungs hadn’t been punctured. He was sure he had a concussion and it was
getting difficult to stay alert.
“Enough for
now men. I know how to make you
talk, Commander. I will bring your wife
here.”
Lee looked at him with hatred . He didn’t
want Janet to get hurt, but he could not reveal anything about the missile
detection system. At least Janet would understand that...but how could he
possibly let anything happen to her?
******
Dear Diary,
The cab driver and I were still
outside the warehouse. I was going to get out of the cab when the driver
grabbed my arm.
“No you don’t, lady, you
heard that Chip guy!” he pleaded.
“I have to find my
husband. They could kill him! I don’t
care what Morton said. I have to find
him!” I hissed. “ Now,
will you help me or not? You’ll be paid
for your helpI’m desperate! Lee could be dead by the
time Chip gets here! Do you want that?”
“Not really...okay, I’ll
help, but let me call my brother. He’s always fancied himself as a cop... and he has a strong arm...”
“Tell him to hurry,” I interrupted,
handing him my phone which was a far cry better to use than the taxi’s dispatch
radio.
***
“Janet, are you still in the cab?” Chip asked
nervously as he called again.
“Yes, for now,” she replied,
a tremor in her voice.
“We will be there in an hour
and...what’s that noise? Is that vehicle moving? I
told you to sit tight! Janet? Janet, answer me! Damn it!”
“Did she hang up on you?”
Nelson asked.
“Looks like it.”
***
The driver, Simon by name,
had indeed reached his brother Seymour, who had quickly arrived in a rather decrepit
truck. After a quick conference Janet told Seymour to wait in the rear of the
building, keeping watch while she and Simon kept an eye out from where they
were. It wasn’t long before a man emerged from the front and drove away, Janet
and Simon having ducked down out of sight.
“I know I’ve seen that man
someplace,” Janet said as she got out of the cab.
“Wait. Maybe you’d better let
me go in first...”
“No, Lee’s my husband,” she said, determined and in
seconds they found themselves in the warehouse’s deserted lobby. Then they heard a groan from behind a
partially closed office door along with some evil laughter.
“We gotta’ scram before they
see us!” Simon hissed as he grabbed Janet’s arm.
“No, you run to the rear of the building,” she
whispered. “Have Seymour help you distract whoever’s with Lee from there.
Somehow I’ll get him out and into our cab.”
“Heck,
Lady, how? They probably have
guns. We don’t. And we ain’t cops. Are you?”
“Well, no, but...”
“Look, we’ll do what we can
for you, make some racket and stuff, but you call the cops first, okay?”
“Lee could be dead by then!”
“Do it or Seymour and I are
outta’ here.”
***
The admiral landed FS1 in Las
Caletas, a secluded cove off Banderas Bay, accessible
only by boat. With a remote control he pressed a button and FS1 sank to the
bottom of the cove where no one would find it.
After taking a raft to the beach,
the men walked to
the boat launch where a boat would take them to downtown Puerto Vallarta. They hailed a cab after getting to town and
drove to the address they got off GPS tracker.
It would take them about fifteen minutes to get there.
***
Janet opened the door
slightly when she heard the guards talking about the commotion going on in the
back of the warehouse. When they emerged
and headed away, she snuck into the room.
“Lee!” she whispered, “it’s me. Honey, wake up! We’ve got to get out of here.”
“Jan...Janet? What the hell
are you doing here? Don’t bother with me! Get out. Get away, before Arnold
comes back!” “Not without you,” she untied his feet.
“Too late, Captain,” Arnold
said grinning as he pointed his gun at Janet.
“Where the hell are Tommy and Benny?”
“You...”Janet said,
realization setting in, “you were on the cruise....”
“Very good,
Mrs. Crane. Now,” he waved his gun, “move away from him.”
“Leave her alone,” Lee shouted,
“she doesn’t know anything.”
“Oh, I know that...so you tell
me what I want to know or I’ll kill her....after I have a little fun of
course.”
“You
bastard! Janet...I...I can’t...protect
you,” he lowered his eyes hoping she’d get the message about his unbound feet.
“You would actually let me kill your wife rather than reveal the
information on the missile detection system?” Arnold laughed. “I’ve heard all
about your fine sense of duty, but don’t you think that’s taking things too
far?”
“I’d do the same,” Janet glared at their captor then, “I understand,
sweetie,” Janet whispered to Lee, moving behind the chair where Lee was
sitting.
“Good grief, enough with the hearts and
flowers...it’ll be a real pleasure killing your wife. But perhaps maiming her
first would be a better idea...yeah...might bring that hero complex down a
bit...” Arnold moved in. Suddenly Lee kicked his feet out from under him.
Arnold’s gun went flying as he
fell. But before Janet could get away,
he managed to get up and grab her. But he hadn’t counted on the special self defense training Crane had enrolled her in the Santa
Barbara Police Dept.
“Man, that hurt!” she fondled
her sore hand as Arnold was apparently down for the count.
“Sweetheart, you punched him
like a girl, still...whatever works,” Lee said with slight grin.
“Well, in case you didn’t
notice, I am a girl,” she began to
untie Lee.
“You okay?” Simon and Seymour
rushed in.
“Janet, who
are these men?”
“Simon’s my cab driver.
Seymour’s his brother. I was in Simon’s
cab and we followed you here. They
distracted Arnold’s guards, so I could get you out of here.”
Simon took the discarded
rope, and tied up the unconscious man.
“Did you call the admiral and
Chip to let them know what was happening?”
“Yes, she did,” the admiral
answered walking in the door with Chip and Jamie.
It wasn’t long before Jamie confirmed
that Crane had a couple of broken ribs but didn’t think his lungs had been
punctured. The cut on his cheek would need
a couple of stitches and he was not sure if he had a concussion. He would check him out more thoroughly when
they get back to FS1.
“Don’t you ever listen?” Chip
hissed at Janet, “I ordered you
to stay put until we got here. Would it have been too difficult to just stay in
the damn cab?”
“First of all, Mr. Morton,
unless I’m working
aboard Seaview or at the institute,
no one orders me to do anything. Secondly, circumstances dictated that I get
to Lee when the opportunity presented itself. Surely you wouldn’t want me to
wait and risk him being murdered!” she began to hyperventilate and cry.
“Belay those tears, Mrs.
Crane,” Nelson said, “I’m sure Mr. Morton didn’t mean it like that...we were
simply worried about you too, you know. Lee, why were kidnapped anyway?” the
admiral asked.
“Simon? Seymour, would you
mind waiting outside?” Lee asked pointedly.
“Sure, sure, if you gotta’
talk top secret stuff, ” Simon said, “but no ducking out of what your lady
promised us, in addition to the fare.”
“You’ll be more than
adequately recompensed,” Nelson said.
As soon as the drivers had
vanished, Lee sighed, “Arnold and his goons wanted information on the new
missile detection system. There had to have been a leak on the Navy’s part.”
“How did they know you were
on the cruise ship?”
“Arnold said he was watching
and following us ever since we boarded the ship,” Janet said, “so someone must
have let them know. The only people who
knew we were going on vacation were NIMR staff and the travel agent.
“We’ll certainly check
everyone out,” Chip said.
“There are two more men in
the back,” Janet said. “ And I already called the cops
about a couple of suspicious men lurking around here.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go
into much detail with them,” Nelson said, “International relations and all
that. But NCIS is already headed in to take charge of the criminals. Um..just how much do I owe Simon
and Seymour?”
“Well, the meter was
running...and of course they did put themselves in danger...about $400. I
think.”
“That’s not bad,” Nelson
began to fumble with his wallet.
“Each.”
“Oh...Lee? Chip? Jaimie? You have any extra
cash on you?”
***
Dear
Diary,
Chip
and I returned to the hotel and helped me pack up our luggage and check out of
the hotel while Nelson and Jaimie took him to the
flying sub. Simon was waiting at the
front.
“Thank you again for all your
help,” I told him.
“No problem. Come back and see us again,” he took the
luggage.
“Um...I’m not sure we have
the fare to the boat launch.”
“Perhaps next time you’re
here.”
As we pulled up, there was already
a boat waiting
to take us to the cove on Las Caletas. The admiral was waiting there with the raft so
we could board FS1.
Lee was already in the bunk
when we got there. Jamie had put a
couple of stitches in his cheek, wrapped his ribs and confirmed had a concussion.
Jamie looked at my hand and didn’t think
anything was broken, but it would have to be x-rayed when we got back to Med
Bay. For the time being he wrapped it up and
put a cold pack on it.
It sure had been a long day.
Chip was piloting and I was
glad that we’d be home in a few hours. Chip radioed the Institute to let Angie
know what happened.
“So much
for a quiet, peaceful and restful vacation, right Admiral?” Lee said from his bunk.
“Remind me never to make
you take a vacation. You two can find
trouble anywhere,” Nelson said grinning too.
******
Dear Diary,
We’re finally home. Lee has
to stay in Med Bay overnight and he’ll have plenty of time to recover, but I
think he’ll make a point of visiting the other lady in his life as soon as
possible.
There aren’t any broken bones
in my hand but it is severely bruised and wrapped up.
Lee and I decided if
we ever go on vacation again, we would not leave our house. How much trouble can we get into at home?
The End.