Devious Intentions
By JSRobertson
Seaview didn’t have any missions scheduled for a few weeks so
there was plenty of time to go over some items that needed to be addressed
regarding her personnel. Seaview’s Executive
Officer, Chip Morton, was in the office of Lee Crane, Seaview’s captain, discussing these issues. Chip was in charge of all personnel and any
issues that came up on Seaview involving them.
Some of the men needed to
have their annual physicals so Chip would set up times and dates with Dr. Will
Jamieson, the chief medical officer of the institute, so they could get them
completed before the next mission. As
stated in Seaview’s regulations, the
command staff also needed to have a physical every year. Lee’s wife, Janet, though not considered command
staff would need a physical too. Jamie
had made arrangements to take care of them today. None of them were looking forward to it but
if they didn’t do it they wouldn’t be able to sail on the next mission. When it came to anything medical, Jamie was
in charge and no one could get around him even the admiral was at his mercy.
Janet would be the first one
to go today. She really liked Jamie and
could confide in him about anything and everything.
“Wish me luck,” she said
going into Lee’s office to let him know she was leaving.
“I’m sure everything will be
fine,” Lee winked at her.
“You better hope so, or you’re
both are in trouble. You might have to do all your own paperwork again,” she
said grinning as she walked out of the office and drove to
“She better pass,” Chip said
seriously. “I don’t miss doing the
paperwork. I can’t believe all the work
she has taken off my desk.”
“I agree with you. She has freed up a lot of my time for other
duties too. I’m sure glad we hired her,”
Lee smiled with a gleam in his eye.
“You get a lot more fringe
benefits than I do,” Chip said laughing.
“You bet I do,” Lee smirked.
((()))
They only had one other issue
to discuss and that was scuba diving re-certification on a few of the men. Chip looked over the list of crewmen that
needed to be re-certified. “Since our
next trip is a restocking mission to one of the laboratories, why don’t we re-certify
half the men on our way out and the other half on the way back? This way we won’t be too delayed getting to
the lab.”
Lee also looked at the list,
“That’s sounds like a good idea since most of these men are not new divers, it
shouldn’t take very long.”
But Lee and Chip knew there was one bigger problem, Janet didn’t
know how to scuba dive. The admiral had
approached Chip earlier in the week regarding the fact the she didn’t know how
to dive. It was a regulation on Seaview that all crew members had to know how to dive. She was considered a
crew member and would have to follow the regulations. Lee realized he had let
it slide for too long. If there was
ever an emergency on the boat, she wouldn’t be able to get away. He would have to teach her before the next
mission or she wouldn’t be allowed to go.
The only problem was telling and teaching her.
Chip
looked at Lee’s face and knew what he thinking. “Do you want me to tell her?”
Chip volunteered.
“No,
I better. I know she’s going to be
afraid,” Lee replied rubbing his hand on his forehead. “But do you think you could help me teach
her?”
“Sure,
between the two of us we should be able to teach her,” Chip stated. “Maybe Kowalski could help too. He teaches
the new crew members and she gets along with him.”
“That
might be a good idea,” Lee agreed. “I
might lose my patience.”
“If
you did you would be in big trouble,” Chip said laughing. Lee nodded his head in agreement.
Lee,
Chip, Kowalski and the admiral were all master divers. They all liked to dive but didn’t get much
chance unless the mission they were on needed those skills. Chip, Lee and Janet would go out on Chip’s
motor boat or Lee’s sailboat on the weekends if they were home and had the time
but Janet had to stay on the boat while they went diving. Once she learned to scuba dive she would be
able to join them. Lee decided to tell
her after she got back from her physical.
((()))
When
Janet returned from her physical, she went to Lee’s office to let him know she
was back. She sat down on the couch in
Lee’s office. He got up from his desk
and sat down next to her. “Everything go
okay?” he asked anxiously as she didn’t look to happy.
“Yes,
I’m fine, just too thin,” she replied.
“I need to eat more just like a certain captain I know.”
Smiling,
“We’ll just have to work on fattening you up,” he teased kissing her cheek.
“Just
me?” she responded with a grin standing up ready to walk out the door when he gently
grabbed her hand.
“Sweetie,
there is something I need to talk to you about,” he said softly.
“What’s
wrong? Not an ONI mission?” she asked worriedly sitting back down next to him.
“No
not that,” he answered sighing, “You need to learn to scuba dive. It’s a regulation on Seaview and it’s my fault I
haven’t taught you sooner. But you are
going to have to learn before we leave on the next mission. Chip and I will teach you and maybe Kowalski
too if he’s available.”
He
saw her face go pale and was afraid she would pass out. “It’s not that hard to learn so please don’t
panic. You only need to learn the basics
right now,” he told her as he rubbed her hand.
“I
knew this day would come. I’m surprised
it hasn’t come up before.” Taking a deep
breath, “Okay when do we start?”
“Start
what,” the admiral asked as he came into Lee’s office.
“I
have to teach Janet how to scuba dive.”
“Oh
that. I’ll help too,” he offered. He thought of Janet like a daughter and would
do anything for her or Lee.
“Thank
you, sir,” Janet replied.
((()))
Chip
came back from his physical which he passed with flying colors and went to
Lee’s office. He saw Janet sitting on
the couch not looking very happy along with Lee as the admiral stood in front
of them. He figured Lee told her about
the scuba diving.
“It
won’t be that bad,” he told her encouragingly.
“I
know,” Janet sighed.
Chip
turned to face the admiral, “Admiral we do have one problem though. None of the scuba suits we have will fit
her. They are all for men and even the
small size will be far too big for her.”
“Well
just order what you need,” he said as he left the office shaking his head
thinking she will probably want a pink one.
“Chip
when you order one for Seaview order another set and have them put it on my
account,” Lee asked him. “She’ll need
one on our boat for when we go out diving,”
“Sure,
no problem. Janet, it looks like you got
two whole new outfits today,” Chip teased.
Janet
took a piece of paper wadded it up and threw it at him. The three of them laughed as it narrowly
missed his head.
Lee
stood up. “My turn to face Jamie,” Lee said as he left to go have his physical
leaving Chip and Janet alone.
“What
color do you want?” he asked, “A nice bright pink one?”
“I
don’t care. How about black its very
slimming,” she said quietly.
“You’ll
be fine,” he reassured her patting her on the hand.
“I
know I’ve got the best teachers,” she replied as they both stood up.
She
and Chip left Lee’s office to go do some work.
She had plenty of work to keep her busy until Lee got back from his
physical. Lee came back a half hour
later and stopped at Janet’s door. “I
passed too but I’m underweight as usual,” he said smiling. She returned his smile as she continued
typing. “I guess we both need to eat
more.”
About
three hours later Lee went to Janet’s office.
“Let’s go to dinner,” he said to her as she was shutting down her
computer for the day. “How about a nice
juicy steak, french fries and a salad?”
“Trying
to fatten me up,” she laughed as she took her purse out of her drawer. Lee went to the closet, got her jacket and
helped her put it on.
Chip
was closing the door to his office and saw Lee in Janet’s office getting ready
to leave. “Are you going out to dinner...can I come too?” Chip asked hungrily.
“Of
course,” Janet replied, “We were going to ask you anyway. Where to do you want to go?”
The
three of them walked to the elevator and took it down to the lobby. As they walked to the car, Lee asked them,
“How
about we try that new steak house downtown? I heard the steaks are very good.”
Chip
and Janet agreed and they got into Lee’s car. The place was crowded but they
managed to get a table after waiting only a few minutes. They ordered steaks, fries and salads. Chip ate his meal plus some of Janet’s as she
couldn’t finish it all. Janet was still
amazed at all the food he eats and never gains weight.
Janet
had been very quiet all through dinner and the ride home. As soon as they got home they went upstairs
to get ready for bed. “Sweetheart,
you’ve been very quiet. What’s wrong?”
Lee asked as he put his arms around her waist and drew her close.
“Just
nervous about learning how to dive,” she answered resting her head on his
chest.
“Please
don’t worry about it. I know you’ll do
fine,” he replied as they climbed into bed and Lee wrapped his arm around her.
((()))
The
next day the admiral called Lee, Chip and Janet into his office to discuss the
results of their physicals with them.
“I’m
very happy that all three of you passed your physicals,” he smirked as he
looked at the three of them. “That means
I don’t have to hire a new captain, lt. commander or secretary. As usual Lee you are underweight but now
Janet has joined you as she is also underweight. Please eat a little more to make Jamie
happy,” he said with a grin.
“Yes,
sir,” they answered grinning back.
“How
are the scuba lessons going?”
“We’re
going to begin this weekend,” Lee replied.
“If
you need help, I’ll be available this weekend,” the admiral said.
“Thank
you, sir,” Chip responded as the three of them left the admiral’s office.
((()))
When
the weekend came Chip, Lee and Janet had no commitments or work to do so they
would start Janet’s scuba diving lessons.
Lee thought it would be easier on Janet if Chip was the main instructor.
He figured it would be less stressful if she knew he wasn’t watching everything
she did. He trusted Chip with Janet’s
life just he as he trusted him with his.
During
the week Janet watched the DVD’s on the academic part of the course. She passed the written exam with an A+.
Lee
was very impressed but he knew the next phase would be harder for her. Actually putting on the equipment and getting
into the water.
((()))
The
weather was beautiful on Saturday as they walked down to the beach from their
house. They wouldn’t have to go too far
off the beach before the water was deep enough for them to dive.
Lee
and Janet put their wet suits on at home before going down to the beach. Chip ordered Janet a black wet suit with hot
pink accents. Lee had to admit she
looked pretty hot in her wet suit. Chip
was already there laying out the equipment by the time they got there.
“This
is all the equipment you will need for diving,” Chip explained. “Right now I will help you put it all on and
tell you what it does and how it is used.
Eventually you will do this yourself.
But the first few times I will help you.”
“I
have to wear all of that,” she said taking a deep breath as she looked at all
the gear lying on the beach, “Okay let’s go.”
“Before
I put on your equipment here are a few tips,” he told her. “Don’t make the mask too tight the water
pressure will make a seal. If you make
it too tight it could be painful and cause other problems. Just breathe normally and the air will come
out at your normal rate. Please don’t
hold your breathe. One more thing, you
will have to equalize the pressure in your ears.” He explained to her how to do that.
He
put on her weight belt, the buoyancy compensator, regulator, dive boots and
finally the mask. He would adjust her BC
to control her buoyancy during the dive. He told her to hold on to the fins until they
got into the water.
“Okay
so far,” he asked after she had on all her gear.
“Scared,”
she told him honestly.
“Don’t
be I’ll be right along side of you and so will Lee. You’ll do fine,” he said smiling. “If you have problem or need to surface, just
make a crisscross with your hands. That
will be our signal that you need help.”
They
walked to the water and waded in until they were chest deep. Chip showed her how to put the fins on. They gently submerged into the water with
Chip ahead of her and Lee behind her. As
they went under the water she started to panic because she couldn’t get the
hang of the regulator. Lee could see it
in her body movement; he swam up to her and just looked at her with his
eyes. She calmed down and got the hang
of breathing.
Chip
adjusted her buoyancy so she was even with them. They moved around letting her get use to the
reg. and the fins to control her movement.
Chip checked her air supply after awhile and realized they had been down
for about thirty minutes so Chip signaled they needed to go up. Janet followed them out of the water taking
off her fins once she was out of the deep water and on the shore.
“How
did I do?” she asked Chip as Lee helped her take off her equipment. “I’m sorry I held my breathe at the
beginning,”
“You
did very well,” Chip told her smiling.
“Don’t worry about holding your breathe. A lot of beginner divers do it.”
“Sweetie,
that was very good,” Lee said giving her a kiss.
It
was late afternoon by the time they were finished with Janet’s lesson. They were hungry so they decided to go out to
eat. They collected their equipment and
walked up to their houses. When they
reached Chip’s house, they helped him rinse off the equipment and put it on the
deck to dry. Lee and Janet would remove
their wet suits at home, rinse them off there and let them dry on their patio. It was a nice to live on the beach and be
able to go scuba diving right outside your back door.
Before
Lee and Janet walked up to their house, Chip said, “I’ll be at your house in an
hour.”
“Okay,”
Lee replied as he and Janet continued on to their house.
Lee
removed his wet suit leaving on the pair of swim trunks he had on underneath
the suit. He helped Janet remove her wet
suit and the bathing suit she had on underneath. She walked into the bathroom to turn on the
shower when Lee grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom. Grinning she climbed in bed while Lee removed
his trunks and threw them on the floor and joined her beneath the covers. She looked into his beautiful eyes as he
lowered his head down and gave her a deep passionate kiss. She felt the warmth of his body against her
as they joined. They lay there for a few
minutes wrapped in each others arms before Lee got out of bed and turned on the
shower.
“Sweetheart,
you did a good job today. Was it as bad
as you thought?” he asked her as they got dressed.
“No,
but I was sure scared at the beginning when I couldn’t breathe. Thanks for helping me,” she said softly. “I was worried you would be mad at me.”
“I
wouldn’t be mad at you. This is
something you have never done. I’m there
to help you and make sure you are safe,” he replied kissing her forehead.
The
doorbell rang exactly one hour after they left Chip. “Is he ever late?” Janet asked as she hurried
to finish getting ready.
“No,
he’s never late just like us,” Lee replied going downstairs to answer the
door. “Chip, dinner is on me
tonight. You get to pick the
restaurant,” Lee said after he let Chip in.
“Hmmm,
Giovanni’s. I’m looking forward to some lasagna,” Chip replied hungrily. “Teaching someone to dive is hard work. I’ve worked up an appetite.”
“Chip,
you can work up an appetite doing nothing,” Janet told him grinning as she came
downstairs. She took her jacket out of
the closet and followed Chip out while Lee locked the door.
They
went to Giovanni’s and had a wonderful dinner.
Chip was right diving does make you very hungry, Janet thought as she took
a bite of the cheesecake she ordered for dessert while Lee and Chip both had
chocolate cake.
As
they were driving home Chip remarked, “I won’t be able to go diving
tomorrow. I’m meeting a friend from high
school who happens to be in town. We’re
going out to lunch.”
“No
problem,” Lee replied smiling at Chip.
“Male or female friend,” Janet asked
inquisitively.
“Male
and you sure are nosy,” Chip laughed.
“But if we get home early enough during the week we will go out again,”
he told Janet.
“Sorry,
I guess I was nosy,” Janet said softly.
“And it’s none of my business.”
He
looked at Janet fondly, “You’re like a sister to me and sisters ask questions so
don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks,
Chip,” Janet responded as they pulled into the driveway. Chip gave Janet a kiss on the cheek and
walked down to his house. Lee and Janet
went into the house and immediately up to their bedroom as they both were
tired.
((()))
The
admiral, Lee and Chip had meetings scheduled all week going over the plans for
the renovations the admiral was considering for some of the buildings at NIMR. Lee knew they would run late into the evening
but Janet was eager to continue her diving lessons. Lee checked the schedule and saw that
Kowalski was due back from shore leave so he called him into his office on
Wednesday morning.
“Ski,
can I ask you a favor,” Lee asked tapping his pencil on his desk.
“Sure,
skipper what is it?”
“Are
you free later this afternoon? Mr.
Morton and I are teaching Janet to scuba dive.
We aren’t available today or the rest of the week. Would you be able to teach her today?”
“No
problem. What time and where?”
“Say
around 1700 hours and the beach by our house.
Take a scuba suit from Seaview if you don’t have one of your own.”
“Okay,
I’ll be there.”
“Thanks,
Ski, I really appreciate your help.” Lee
called Chip into his office and had him explain to Kowalski what Janet’s next
lesson involved. Kowalski understood and
would have no problem taking over for today.
Kowalski was always Lee’s diving buddy when they went out, so he would
trust him to take care of Janet.
After
hanging up with Kowalski, Lee called Janet office, “Janet can you come into my
office please.”
“I’ll
be right there,” Janet replied as she stopped what she was doing wondering what
Lee wanted her for.
“Yes
Lee,” she said not realizing Kowalski was there.
“Oh
hi Ski, how are you today?”
“Fine
Mrs. C.”
“Ski
is going to be your scuba instructor today.
Neither Chip nor I can get away until after 1900 hours tonight or the
rest of the week so I asked Kowalski to help us out. Okay?”
“Fine
with me, as along as he doesn’t mind a beginner.”
“Not
at all Mrs. C. I teach the new crewmen
to dive on Seaview so don’t worry about it. I will
see you at 1700 at your house.”
Janet
left the office at 1630 and headed for home.
She was a little nervous about Kowalski being the instructor today.
((()))
Kowalski
was at Janet’s house at 1700. They took
the equipment down to the beach. Since she already had her wet suit on she
proceeded to put on all her own equipment including her tank. He let her get used to breathing and showed
her what Chip wanted to do in today’s lesson.
They stayed underwater for about forty five minutes. He was impressed that she was able to put on
all her own equipment and how well she did on the lesson. They brought the gear
up the house and washed it off.
“Mrs.
C. you did a great job. The skipper and
Mr. Morton would be proud of you. If you
ever need an instructor again, I would be happy to fill in.”
“Thanks
Ski, I appreciate you giving up your time.
I was a little nervous at first but you made very comfortable in the
water. Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“No,
Mrs. C. I have plans. How about a rain check?”
“Anytime.”
After
Kowalski left she started dinner. Lee and Chip got home about 1900 and they ate
as soon as they got in. Janet could tell
they both were tired as Chip left right after he finished dinner. Lee and Janet went to bed soon after he left. Chip called Kowalski when he got home to find
out how Janet did. He was happy with
what Kowalski told him.
((()))
Janet’s
next lesson would involve getting into the water from a boat. They were going to take Chip’s motor boat
over the weekend. The weather was a
little cooler and the surf a little rougher but not too bad. She put on all her
own equipment with no problems. Chip and Lee showed her how to enter the water
with the giant stride entry, backward roll entry and controlled seated
entry. She had no problem with giant
stride or backward roll but the controlled seated entry gave her a
problem. She also caught on to the
exiting methods pretty quick too. After
practicing the controlled seated entry a few times she finally got it. They had been out for about three hours and
she was exhausted. As they were heading
home she fell asleep in the front of the boat.
“I’m
sorry I guess I worked her a little too hard today,” Chip said to Lee as they
watched her sleep.
“Don’t forget we only did one of the entry
methods one time, she must have done them at least three to four times
each. I know she did the controlled seat
entry at least five times before she got the hang of it, no wonder she’s tired.”
Lee told him.
“I
forgot how tiring this could be,” Chip answered back. “She’s doing a great job. She should be ready to do the required four
dives in a couple of weeks.”
Janet
woke up before they docked the boat. As
they secured the boat, she grabbed her gear along with some of theirs and
walked back to the car.
“I’m
beat,” she said yawning. “How about
pizza for dinner?”
“You
took a nap and you’re still tired.” Lee said a little worried. “Are you feeling
okay?”
”Yes, just not used to all the physical exercise.”
“Pizza
sounds good to me,” Chip replied eagerly.
Lee
and Chip were enjoying a beer while Janet had a glass of wine on Chip’s deck
while they waited for the pizza.
“Janet,
you’ll be ready for your test dives in a couple of weeks. As you know there are four of them. All you need is a little more practice.”
“Okay,
Chip. When do we dive again?” Janet
asked taking a bite of her pizza.
“We’ll
go out again tomorrow,” Chip replied looking for confirmation from Lee.
“No
problem.” Le answered taking a swig of
beer.
They
finished up their pizza and went home where Janet fell asleep before Lee even
got in bed.
((()))
On
Monday morning the admiral called Lee and Chip in his office to talk to them
about the routine supply restocking mission to the underwater research
laboratory.
“We
will be bringing Dr. Belinda Barry back with us from the laboratory. She’s needed at the home base to help out on
a new research project.”
“Belinda?”
Lee asked curiously. “I didn’t know she
was at the undersea laboratory. We
didn’t bring her so how did she get there?”
“She
was in
“Will
that be a problem, Lee? I know you went
out with her for awhile,” the admiral asked raising his eyebrows.
“No,
we didn’t exactly part as friends, but I have no issue with her being on
board,” he replied. “But I wonder if she knows I’m married,” he said worriedly.
“I
don’t know but I guess she will find out when we pick her up. That will be all,” the admiral said as he
dismissed them and went back to looking at the blueprints for the renovations.
“Yes,
sir,” they replied as they left the admiral’s office.
As
they walked out of the admiral office Chip said, “I think you do have a
problem. If I remember correctly she was
pretty possessive, isn’t that why you broke up with her.”
“Yes. I also have another problem. I never told Janet about her.”
“Well
you better tell her before we pick her up,” Chip chuckled. “I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. You could have one too many women after you.”
“I
better tell her now,” Lee said as he ran his hand through his hair and walked
to Janet’s office.
Janet
wasn’t in her office when he went to talk to her. She was getting a snack from the
cafeteria. She brought back some donuts,
one for her, Chip and Lee. She went to
Chip’s office and gave him the donut which he was happy to get. Then she went to Lee’s office not only with
the donut but coffee as well.
“I
brought you a donut and coffee,” she said as she put the donut and coffee on
his desk. He was sitting there tapping
his pencil rapidly on his desk. “Is
everything alright?”
He
stopped tapping the pencil and looked at his wife. “I need to tell you
something,” he said taking a sip of the coffee but left the donut.
“Okay,
what’s up,” she asked as she took his donut off the desk and ate it after
eating hers.
He
watched her eat the donut and smiled, “Trying to gain some weight?”
Licking
her fingers she replied, “Yes, I wish I had another one. They’re exceptionally good today.”
“As
you know, we’ll be leaving on a routine stocking mission next week Monday but I
just found out we will be bringing back a scientist from the laboratory.”
“I
knew we had the mission but I didn’t know about bringing back anyone. I’ll make sure everything is in order for
them when they come aboard.”
Taking
a deep breath Lee said, “The scientist’s name is Dr. Belinda Barry and we used
to date a few years ago.”
“Oh,
I see,” Janet replied softly.
Lee
continued, “When we broke up, let’s just say it wasn’t pleasant. She got a little too possessive and wanted to
get married. I didn’t want to settle
down at that time as I had just taken over the command on Seaview.”
“Okay,
I can handle it. I’ll put my claws away
for this mission,” Janet said grinning. “I will still make sure everything is
in order.”
“Sweetie,
I know you will be professional,” he grinned back.
Janet
went back to her office. She really did
need another donut after that conversation.
She knew Lee had gone out with a few women before they were married but
she was the second one that wanted to marry him. I wonder how many more are out there that wanted to marry
him, she thought.
((()))
The admiral had meeting with
the
”Yes, sir. We’ll be there in thirty
minutes,” Lee answered.
He grabbed the plans from the
corner of his office and headed for Chip’s.
“Chip, the admiral needs us at city hall with these plans and to answer
some questions.”
“No problem,” Chip responded
turning off his computer. He went to the
closet, grabbed his uniform jacket, cover and stopped abruptly by the
door. “Lee, if I drive how will Janet get home?
I was supposed to run some errands after work today so that’s why we
took separate cars. I’m sorry I haven’t
had a chance to get a new one after mine was totaled with the Diana debacle.”*
Sighing deeply he answered,
“I’ll have Janet take the Cobra home. I
don’t want to take it downtown.”
Lee went to Janet’s
office. She was typing on the computer
and looked up to see Lee and Chip walk in.
She noticed Lee wasn’t very happy.
“Sweetie, I need you to take the Cobra home after work today. Chip and I have to go downtown and meet with
the admiral regarding the renovations.
I’m not sure when we’ll be back.”
Janet looked at her husband
and Chip with a huge grin on her face. “So that means I can take her out for a
spin to downtown
“No please don’t take her to
a car show. I’ll have men drooling all
over my car and my wife,” he said seriously rubbing his finger on his lip.
The car was his ‘baby’, a red
Shelby AC Cobra 427 convertible.** They didn’t normally take that car to work
but since Chip needed a car they drove it today. He loved that car almost as much as Janet and
Seaview. It was a very valuable
car as there weren’t too many original ones left.
Pouting she replied, “You
sure know how to spoil a girl’s night out.
But honey, you are going to have to give me the keys so I can
take her home,” Janet said eagerly.
He reluctantly took them out of
his pant’s pocket, “Right home, right,” he said as he put the keys in the palm
of her out stretched hand. He was
surprised to learn that she could drive a stick shift as there weren’t too many
people who knew how to drive a manual transmission.
Closing her hand on the keys,
“Of course, I promise no detours,” she said with a gleam in her eye.
Chip stood in the doorway
listening to the exchange between his best friend and his wife. He knew Lee would be worried about her
driving the car and would probably call to check up on her later on as he
didn’t let her drive the car very often.
((()))
When Chip and Lee arrived at
city hall the admiral was there waiting for them. He could see a worried look on Lee’s face.
“Problem Lee?”
Chip piped up, “No sir. He’s just worried about his ‘baby’. Janet’s driving the Cobra home from work and
she mentioned something about taking it to the car show downtown.”
“Lee you know she wouldn’t do
that if you asked her not too,” the admiral smirked. “We better go in; they should be ready for
us.”
The three officers went into
city hall to face the building department.
Lee and Chip were able to answer their questions they had regarding the
renovation so the commissioners told the admiral they would have a decision on
the renovations in a couple of weeks.
The three men left city hall at 1900 hours.
“How about we go to dinner,”
Chip asked hungrily.
“No Chip, let’s just go
home,” Lee said as he was anxious to get home and make sure Janet got home
safely with the car that he didn’t even want to stop for dinner.
The admiral had made plans to
meet a friend of his at Giovanni’s in an hour.
“I think I’m going to stay downtown for awhile and see what kind of cars
are at the car show. Maybe I can find a
red Shelby Cobra 427,” the admiral joked as he walked down the street.
“He better not find a red Cobra
at the car show or my wife is going to be in big trouble,” Lee stated
matter-of-factly.
“I’m positive she’s at
home. Probably watching “Dancing with
the Stars,” Chip snickered as they drove away from city hall. Lee still wasn’t so sure and hoped Chip was
right.
((()))
While Lee and Chip were
downtown with the admiral, Janet worked until 1700 hours. She took the keys to the Cobra out of her
pocket. She was a little nervous about
driving the car home as she knew Lee really loved that car. She would never take it downtown to the car
show but the look on her husband’s face when she mentioned it was priceless. She got in the car, started it up and drove
straight home and parked it in the garage.
She patted the hood, “Lee will be very happy you made it home without a
scratch.”
She made herself a quick
dinner and went to her office to look for a book. When she couldn’t find it she went out to the
garage as some her books were still in a box from when she moved. She opened a box she thought was hers and
found pictures of Lee when he was at
((()))
Chip dropped Lee off at his
front door. “Better check the garage to
make sure your car is there,” he chuckled driving away before Lee could say
anything as he still needed their car for his errands which he would have to do
tomorrow.
Lee unlocked the door and
checked the garage. Sure enough his
‘baby’ was there. He felt the hood and
it was cold so she didn’t take it to the car show. He walked in the house, hung up his jacket
and put his cover on the shelf in the closet and noticed all the lights were
off. There were a few candles lit in the
living room and kitchen. If he didn’t
know better he would think there was a problem with the electricity. What’s Janet up to, he thought
mischievously.
He walked into the kitchen,
turned on the light and saw the pictures sitting on the counter. “Sweetheart,” he called as flipped through
the pictures. Janet came downstairs
wearing a nightgown that left nothing to the imagination. He lustfully ogled her. “That’s quite some wel....” he started to say
when she came over to him and gently kissed his lips gradually deepening her
kiss with more passion. She undid his
tie, unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands down his chest. He was surprised at what had come over his
wife not that he didn’t like it but he wondered what was up. As she started to undo the belt on his pants
he looked over her shoulder and saw the picture of him sitting on the Mustang
Cobra.
Oh boy, he thought as
looked at the picture. She’s going to
want to know who ‘B’ is. By this time she had undone the button on his
pants. “Who’s ‘B’?” she asked nibbling
his ear. Moaning softly as her hand had
made its way to the lower half of his body, “You do know I love you and only,”
he said lovingly pressing her body up against his. She looked at him and shook her head
yes. “It’s Belinda Barry,” he answered
as she continued to work him over.
“Sweetie,” he said breathlessly as he got more aroused. Looking at him
seductively she blew out the candles, took his hand and led him upstairs to
their bedroom where she finished undressing him lingering a little longer in
some areas on his body than others. He
quickly removed her nightgown dropping it on the floor. They climbed under the
blankets and pleasured each other for the next hour.
As they laid there close to
each other catching their breath, Lee asked, “How did you find that picture?”
“I was looking for a book and
saw the box and thought it was one of mine.
I didn’t see that picture right away. It fell out on the floor,” she
answered truthfully. “Honey, why were you
sitting on the Mustang Cobra?” Janet asked softly playing with the hair on his
chest.
He knew he was going to have
to tell her as they promised each other they would have no secrets after he
didn’t tell her about being a spy.
Sighing deeply Lee leaned up on one elbow and looked his wife in the eye,
“Belinda said she wanted to take my picture sitting on the car but didn’t tell
me she bought it for me until after the picture was taken. She didn’t like the old Cobra so she bought
me the new Mustang Cobra assuming once I saw it and drove it I would like it
better and get rid of the old Cobra. I
told her she could keep the new Cobra as I would never get rid of the old one.”
“Okay, no problem,” she
responded unemotionally as she got out of bed, went to the closet, got her robe
and put it on. Lee furrowed his eyebrows
a bit confused by her actions and laid back down on the bed.
Janet walked back over to the
bed, “Are you hungry?” she asked not sure if he had eaten dinner.
“For what,” Lee replied
deviously.
Giggling Janet answered,
“Dinner of course.”
Sitting up in bed, Lee
grabbed her hand, undid the belt on her robe, letting it fall to floor and
pulled her back into bed where he showed her several more times just how much
he loved her. Lee never did get dinner and
they both were exhausted by the time they fell asleep.
((()))
The
rest of the week passed very quickly as they prepared to leave on Monday for
the restocking mission. Chip and Janet
made sure they had all the items the laboratory requested. She was in Chip’s office on Thursday before
they left for the day double checking the requests.
“Chip,
this Dr. Barry we’re bringing back, was she that possessive as Lee said she
was?” Janet inquired and told Chip about the picture she found in the box.
Chip
looked at her before answering. “Did you
ask Lee about her?”
“No,”
Janet admitted. “Would you please tell
me about her? He’s worried I’ll get
jealous or something. I know he loves me
but I just need to know,” she said honestly.
“Yes,
she was that possessive. He couldn’t
make a move without telling her. I don’t
know why he even dated her for as long as he did.”
“How
did they meet?” she asked sitting down in the chair in front of his desk.
He
got up from behind his desk and sat on the edge facing her, “We brought her back
to NIMR on one mission. She took a
liking to him so he asked her out when we got back to
“Thanks
for the information,” she said as she stood up getting ready to leave.
Before
she could leave, Lee stopped by Chip’s office looking for Janet so they could
go home. It had been a long week and he
was looking forward to eating dinner and going home to relax. “What
are we doing for dinner?” he asked Janet.
“How
about Chinese food?” Janet replied and turned to look at Chip, “Chip you want
to come?”
“Sure
Chinese food sounds good.”
The
three of them left the institute and headed for their favorite Chinese
restaurant. Lee and Janet had beef with
broccoli and Chip had chicken chow mien.
They finished their dinners and were reading their fortunes.
Lee
read his, “You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved.” “That is very true,” he said looking lovingly
at his wife.
“Expect
smooth sailing in your love life,” Janet read hers laughing. “I hope there’s smooth sailing but it sure
could get interesting.”
Chip
grinned as he read his, “You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.”
“Isn’t
that the truth,” Lee remarked as Janet shook her head in agreement.
They
left the restaurant still laughing at their fortunes.
((()))
Janet
had been practicing her scuba diving for the last couple of weeks. If Lee or Chip weren’t available, Kowalski
was there to take her out. She was doing
very well and ready to take her tests.
On
the Friday afternoon before they left on the restocking mission, Chip went into
Janet’s office. “I think you’re ready
for your test dives,” he told her. “How about we go out tomorrow and Sunday? I
want to be able to test you leaving Seaview on this mission as there are several crewmen that
also needed to be tested. This way
everyone will be done.” Lee walked into
her office just as Chip was telling Janet about the test dives.
“If
you say so,” she replied nervously.
“You’ll
do fine,” Chip reassured her. Turning to
Lee Chip asked, “Just one more thing, Lee could you please stay in the boat while
we do the dives?”
“Sure. I know I could make her nervous so I have no
problem with that,” Lee answered. “I’ll
pace the boat waiting for the results,” he kidded.
((()))
On
Saturday the weather was a little cooler than it had been and overcast. They were going to use Lee’s sailboat for the
four test dives. Chip came up to the
house to ask Janet if she still wanted to do it.
“Are
we still on for today?” Chip asked.
“If
you are, I guess I’m ready,” Janet said hesitantly.
“You
will pass with flying colors,” Lee reassured her.
They
drove down to the dock and got on the sailboat.
It was not very windy so they had to use the motor to get to the area
Chip wanted to use for the dives. It
would take about thirty minutes to get there.
Janet was a little nervous and just didn’t feel right but she wanted to
get the dives over with. Lee threw the anchor over while Chip and
Janet got ready to dive. He gave her a
kiss for good luck and saw she was shaking.
“Sweetie,
are you alright? Don’t be nervous.”
“I’m
fine.”
Chip
had her enter the water using the controlled seat entry. She had a little trouble doing it. She also had some problems doing a couple of
the other requirements. He figured she was nervous so they waited a couple of
hours before doing the second dive. He
made her enter the water this time using the giant stride entry which she did
just fine. She had more problems on some of the other elements Chip knew she
never had problems with before. Chip
couldn’t understand what was wrong with her today and was a little upset with
her.
“Janet,
what’s wrong with you today? You were
very shaky on some of the elements I know you knew how to do,” he said tensely.
“Chip,
I don’t know what happened,” she said near tears.
“I’m
sorry I didn’t mean to upset you, but you better have it together tomorrow or
you won’t pass.”
Lee
didn’t say anything. He knew Chip would
never get angry at Janet unless he had a reason. He could tell something wasn’t right with her
today. They pulled up anchor and went
back to the harbor. She took all her equipment
rinsed them off and went to the car.
As
Chip and Lee secured the boat, Lee asked with concern, “What happened out
there?”
“Lee, she was very shaky on her controlled
seat entry and other elements that I know she knew how to do perfectly. I just don’t understand why.” Lee understood and agreed with him. They met Janet back at the car and drove home
in silence.
“Chip,
I’m sorry. I will be better tomorrow,”
Janet said guiltily when they got back home.
“Don’t
worry about it, I know you will have no problems tomorrow,” he said as he
squeezed her hand.
Chip
had plans for the evening so he went home while Lee and Janet went to their
house. “Sweetheart, what happened out
there? You were very nervous and
tense. Are you feeling okay?” Lee asked
her gently taking her in his arms.
“Lee,
I don’t know. I’m very tired, could we
not talk about it,” she said softly looking him in the eyes.
Lee
made dinner for them and after dinner they sat out on the deck for a little
while. Janet was very quiet and Lee was
worried about her. They went to bed
early and she fell asleep right away.
((()))
Janet
and Lee woke up early the next morning.
Lee could tell Janet was in a better mood, not as nervous or tense as
yesterday. Chip was at their door by 0700. They were going to take his boat out for the
last two dives today instead of Lee’s.
He even noticed Janet seemed better today.
They
went to the same area they were at yesterday.
After they completed the surface skills which she aced with no problems,
they started the first of two dives she had to do today. She passed the first one with no problems. After waiting a while, she did the last dive
and did everything required perfectly. Chip
made her repeat the elements she had trouble on yesterday and she was perfect
on every one of them.
“What
a difference from yesterday. Everything
was perfect today. You are now a
certified scuba diver,” Chip told her giving her a hug. “I’ll fill out the paperwork and you’ll get
your c-card. There is one more
requirement though, you will have to leave Seaview through the escape hatch
and swim around her to fulfill the regulation on Seaview. We will do that on the way back from the
restocking mission.”
“Thank
you, Chip, for your patience. I don’t
know what happened yesterday,” she said relieved she passed.
“Congratulations,
sweetheart,” Lee told her as he gave her a kiss. “It wasn’t that bad, was it?”
”No, you were right, it wasn’t that bad,” she replied as she returned his kiss.
“Let’s
celebrate. How about we head for home
and I will barbecue some chicken for dinner.”
“Sounds
good to me,” Chip said grinning. “I’m
hungry.”
They
packed up their equipment and headed for the harbor. They docked Chip’s boat and left for home. Lee barbecued as promised. Chip didn’t stay too late because they had to
be on Seaview early on Monday. Lee and Janet went to bed and after some
celebratory lovemaking they fell asleep.
((()))
Seaview left on the tide first thing early Monday morning.
Standing on the bridge with Chip, Lee slowly and carefully backed Seaview out of her pen and into
the channel. He looked at Chip as he once again didn’t scratch the paint. They both had gotten so good at getting her
in and out of the sub pen they had to find something else to bet on as neither
one of them had to buy dinner in a long time.
The new bet was Chip would get to drive the Cobra and Lee would pick a
day when Chip didn’t get any desserts, coffee and no second helpings of
food. So far, neither one of them had to
pay the bet.
Once
they cleared the channel, they would dive staying at two hundred feet. Since it would take them
three days to get to the laboratory, they would stop about half way to there so
Chip and Lee could take out some of the men that needed to be re-certified in
diving. The rest of the men and Janet
would be checked out on the voyage back to NIMR.
After
they had been at sea for a few hours, the admiral called Janet into his office,
he needed her help on a project he was working on. “How are your scuba lessons going?” he asked
her.
“They’re
finished and I passed,” she told him proudly. “Lee, Chip and Kowalski sure had
a lot of patience with me. I just have
to go out the escape hatch and swim around Seaview to complete my regulation.”
“Congratulations,”
he told her giving her a hug. He gave
Janet the notes he needed typed up, so she went to her office to begin typing
up the notes. The admiral went down to
the Control Room to talk to Lee and Chip.
“I heard Janet passed her scuba diving classes. Good work, gentlemen,” he told them as he
patted them both on the back. He walked
over to Kowalski at the sonar station and patted him on the back too for
helping out.
((()))
Lee
and Chip took out the three men that needed to be re-certified, Cummings,
Bailey and Lawrence. Cummings and Bailey
were both seasoned divers and had been on Seaview for a few years working on
the Beta watch.
Seaview continued on to the laboratory and would be there
tomorrow afternoon. When they got to the
laboratory, Chief Sharkey and Kowalski would bring supplies to the laboratory
and bring back Dr. Barry. Janet was in
her office the day they arrived at the laboratory. She was still typing up the admiral’s notes
on a new torpedo launching system.
They
delivered the first load of supplies and brought back Dr. Barry on the return
trip. Lee and Chip were in the control
room when they returned. They went to the observation nose and Chip un-dogged
the hatch as soon as he heard the docking doors close. Kowalski was at the top of the hatch waiting
for him. He handed up Dr. Barry’s
suitcase and then helped her up the ladder as Chip helped her up into the observation
nose where she laid eyes on Lee. She
walked over to him and gave him a very passionate kiss just as Janet was
walking down the spiral staircase. She
stopped on the staircase to watch them.
She could tell he was very embarrassed that Belinda was kissing him in front
of everyone. Seeing Janet on the staircase, he gently pushed Belinda away while
Janet came into the observation nose.
Chief
Sharkey and Kowalski were standing next to Chip as Belinda kissed Lee and saw
Janet on the staircase.
“This
should be interesting,” Sharkey mumbled under his breath.
“Now
Chief,” Chip muttered to him.
“What’s
wrong dear, not happy to see me,” she pouted as she had her back to Janet and
didn’t see her. “Well I’m sure happy to
see you,” she said giving him a hug and another kiss.
Belinda
caught sight of Janet as she walked up next to Lee. “Belinda, I’d like you to meet my wife,
Janet,” Lee said taking Janet’s hand and giving it a squeeze.
“Your
wife?” Belinda replied with a surprised look on her face. “Did you say your wife?” she repeated again
stunned that Lee was married.
“Nice
to meet you Dr. Barry,” Janet said pleasantly reaching out to shake her hand. “Captain, would you like me to show Dr. Barry
to her cabin?”
“No,”
Lee said abruptly, “Mr. Morton would you please take Dr. Barry to Cabin Three?”
“Aye
sir,” Chip responded quickly as he could see Lee was uncomfortable at what had
taken place in the control room.
“We’re going to have lunch in the wardroom in
ten minutes while they unload the rest of the supplies to the laboratory, if
you would like to join us,” Lee told her.
“Yes,
thank you, I will be there,” Belinda mumbled still in shock at what Lee just
told her.
Chip
picked up her luggage and followed her up the staircase. None of them saw the scowl on her face.
Lee
went back to the control room and stood at the charting table as Janet stayed
in the observation nose staring out the windows. Lee watched her as she stood there not sure
what she was thinking after seeing Belinda kiss and hug him. I’ll talk to her later about it, he thought. Janet walked into the control room a few
minutes later and the two of them went out the aft hatch for lunch after Lee
turned over the command to O’Brien.
((()))
Chip
opened the door to the cabin Belinda had been assigned and could tell she was
not happy.
“How
long have they been married,” she asked irritably. “And is she always on Seaview?”
“They’ve
been married just over three years. If
you want any more information, you will have to ask them,” Chip replied bluntly
as he put her luggage down. “And yes,
she is on Seaview for every mission as she is a member of the crew. Do you remember where the wardroom is?”
“Yes,
I do. I will be there shortly,” she
replied curtly.
Chip
left and made his way to the wardroom. The
admiral, Lee and Janet were already there getting their lunch. Cookie had roast beef and turkey sandwiches with
potato salad. Chip grabbed one of each
sandwich and a generous portion of potato salad and sat down with them.
“Where’s
Belinda?” the admiral inquired.
“She’ll
be here shortly,” Chip replied taking a bite out of his turkey sandwich.
Belinda
entered the wardroom, went to the side board where Cookie put a turkey sandwich
on her plate. She shook her head no to
the potato salad. The admiral was glad
to see her and stood up to give her a hug.
“How are you, Belinda? You’re looking good.”
“I’m
fine Harry. You don’t look too bad
yourself,” she answered staring at Lee. They
chatted about the research laboratory and the new project she was starting when
she returned home while the other three ate their lunch in silence.
Taking
a sip of his coffee, the admiral asked, “Chip, Lee, now that Janet has passed
her scuba test, when will you be certifying her per Seaview’s regulations?”
“The
day after tomorrow. We still have a few
crew members that need to be re-certified.
Once they’re finished, Chip is going to take her out,” Lee replied
looking over his coffee cup at the admiral.
“Good,
let me know. I want to watch her swim
past the windows.”
Janet
didn’t say anything, she just smiled.
She was a little nervous sitting at the table with one of Lee’s
ex-girlfriends. She could tell Belinda
still had feelings for him after seeing her kiss him in the control room. Belinda didn’t say much either, she just
stared at Lee and Janet. She was
surprised that Janet had just learned to scuba dive being that she has been on Seaview for three years. She was also a master diver. Being assigned to underwater laboratories
around the world it was a necessity for her to know how to dive.
Janet
had finished her lunch and excused herself so she could finish typing up the
notes for the admiral. Chip and Lee also
excused themselves to they could get ready to take out the crew men. Lee gave Janet a kiss and hug outside the
wardroom door which Belinda saw. She was
upset as she hoped Lee was still available as she hadn’t heard that he was
married.
((()))
Once
Seaview had unloaded the supplies,
she
left the
laboratory and was a day and half out of
In
the missile room, Kowalski and Lawrence were in charge of making sure Janet’s
and Chip’s equipment was ready to go. They checked and doubled checked the regulators,
BC’s, weight belts, masks and fins.
Kowalski knew how much weight to put on Janet’s weight belt from the
lessons he taught her.
“No
matter what she does, she’s going to pass,”
Kowalski
had all he could do to keep from decking him.
“Watch it buddy. First of all she can dive and you better not let anyone
hear you talk like that about the skipper’s wife or you’ll be cleaning the bilge
tanks for the rest of your stay on Seaview,” Kowalski told him seriously.
Chip’s
and Janet’s dive gear was ready to go when they were ready to dive. Kowalski and Lawrence left the missile room
and went back to their duties.
((()))
Before
Chip and Janet got ready to dive he met her in the passageway near their
cabins. He explained to her what they would
do when they left the boat. “First,
follow me out when we leave the boat.
We’re going to start from the starboard side, swim to the front around
the nose and then down the port side, around the back and then back to the
hatch.” Smiling, “Second, don’t be
nervous. You know how to dive,” he
reassured her.
Taking
a deep breath, “I know but I’m still nervous,” she answered quietly nervous
above using the escape hatch.
Janet
went into her cabin and put her wet suit on and would meet Chip in the missile
room. By the time Janet got there Chip
was already putting on his equipment.
Lee, Kowalski, Lawrence, Patterson and Chief Sharkey were in the missile
room too. Lee helped Janet put on her
equipment and could tell she was a little nervous but knew she would be okay
once she left the boat. He would watch
them for the observation nose along with the admiral and Belinda. The rest of the men would stay in the missile
room until they came back aboard.
“Good
luck, sweetheart,” he said gently giving her kiss.
“Thanks,
Lee,” Janet replied nervously.
“How
about me, don’t I get any luck,” Chip said grinning.
“Good
luck, bro. Take care of her or else,”
Lee told him patting him on the back and left the missile room making his way
to the observation nose.
They
entered the escape hatch and waited for it to fill. Chip explained to Janet how to get out as she
had never exited through the escape hatch. She followed him out with no
problems. He gave her the thumbs up once she was clear of the hatch. She swam a little behind him on their way to
the front. They got about 100 feet from
the front when Janet saw him crisscross his hands; she knew he was having
trouble breathing as there were no air bubbles.
She swam to help him but she had no air coming out of her reg. either. She grabbed Chip’s arm before he sank to the
bottom as he was unconscious and swam to the front of the boat towing Chip with
her. She saw Lee and crisscrossed her
hands before she passed out.
Lee
knew immediately that they were in trouble.
Grabbing the mic in the observation nose he yelled.
“Missile
room, get two divers out now,” he said frantically. “Mr. Morton and Janet are in trouble in front
of the boat.”
He
threw the mic down and ran to the missile room with the admiral and Belinda
following. Jamie heard Lee over the
intercom so he and John, the corpsman on duty, grabbed some oxygen masks and
tanks, a stretcher and also ran to the missile room.
Kowalski
and Patterson with the help of Lawrence and Sharkey put their diving suits on
and went out the hatch a few minutes after Lee called. They found Chip and Janet on the bottom right
in front of the boat. Kowalski grabbed
Janet while Patterson grabbed Chip. They
pulled the defective regulators out of Chip’s and Janet’s mouths and gently
inserted the octopus regs attached to their gear in their place. Ski and Pat let loose a relieved sigh when
both stricken divers started to draw on them and resume breathing. They quickly grabbed their diver around the
chest then began swimming back to Seaview as fast as they could.
Sharkey
cracked the escape hatch as soon as the water drained out. He took Chip from Patterson while Lee grabbed
Janet from Kowalski. Jamie already in
the missile room was by their sides as soon as they were laid on the deck. They
quickly removed their wet suit hoods and Jamie placed the oxygen mask on Chip
while John put one on Janet. Lee was by Janet’s side so he took over holding
the mask in place when she started to come around after a few minutes.
“Chip,
is he alright?” she asked weakly pushing away the oxygen mask.
“Relax
sweetie, Jamie is working on him,” Lee reassured her putting the oxygen mask
back on her.
Janet
looked over at Chip and saw he wasn’t moving.
She started to cry.
“Please
calm down. He’ll be okay,” Lee told her again.
“We
need to get him to sick bay,” Jamie said to Lee as they put Chip on a
stretcher. “She needs to come too.” Patterson and John carried Chip to
“Kowalski,
Lawrence,” the admiral bellowed, “check out every piece of equipment they used
especially those regulators. How could
they both fail?”
“Yes
sir,” the two men replied crisply as they started looking over the equipment.
The
admiral and Belinda left the missile room for sick bay. Belinda could see the worried look on the
Admiral’s face.
((()))
When
Jamie, John and Patterson got Chip to sick bay they took off his wet suit. Jamie was still giving him oxygen and he was
finally starting to coming around.
“John,
keep giving him oxygen,” Jamie directed as he went over to Janet as Lee had put
the oxygen mask back on her as soon as they got to
“Lee
does she have...” Jamie asked before he took off her wet suit.
“Bathing
suit,” he told him worriedly as he helped Jamie take off her wet suit. After a couple of minutes she also started to
come around again. She woke to Lee and
Jamie staring at her.
“Welcome
back, sweetie,” Lee said gently brushing her wet hair off her face.
“Chip”
she asked with tears in her eyes.
“He’s
going to be okay,” he told her while he wiped away her tears.
Chip
was conscious but Jamie still had him on oxygen. He pushed the mask away and started to get up.
“Janet,”
he asked as John pushed him back down and put the oxygen mask back on him.
“She’s
okay,” Jamie told him as he walked over to him.
“Just lay back down, you’ll be here for awhile and so will she.”
Lee
was holding Janet’s hand as the admiral and Belinda walked in. The admiral was relieved to see both of them
awake.
“Lee
what happened out there,” he demanded.
“Kowalski and Lawrence are checking out their equipment.”
“Admiral
I don’t know but I’m going to find out as soon as they’re feeling better.”
“Let
me know when you do,” he said tersely.
“I’ll be waiting in the observation nose,”
The
admiral and Belinda left sick bay and went back to the observation nose. Lee went over to Chip to check on him.
“Chip,
what the hell happened out there,” Lee asked tensely.
“Sorry
Lee, something went wrong with my reg.,” he said running his hand through his
hair.
“Lee,
please come here,” Janet called softy, “please don’t blame Chip something
happened to my regulator too. I saw he
was having a problem so I grabbed his arm.
I knew if I held my breath I could swim to the front of Seaview and if I gave you the
signal you would know we were in trouble.
I held it as long as I could, but I couldn’t swim back. I’m sorry.”
“You
held your breath?” he exclaimed in dismay, “thank god you did or you both might
be dead.”
Chip
and Janet stayed in sick bay for another two hours before Jamie released them
to their cabins and were off duty until tomorrow.
((()))
As
soon as Lee knew Chip and Janet would be alright, he stormed down the missile
room where Kowalski, Lawrence and Patterson were checking out all Chip’s and
Janet’s equipment. “Chief, who was in charge of the gear Mr. Morton and Mrs.
Crane used today,” he asked angrily.
“Kowalski
and Lawrence, sir,” Chief responded quickly seeing how mad Lee was.
“Kowalski,”
Lee yelled to him.
“Yes
sir,” Kowalski replied quickly walking over to him.
“Were
you in charge of checking out the equipment Mr. Morton and Mrs. Crane used
today?”
Kowalski
rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, “Yes sir. Skipper, Lawrence and I checked out
everything before they dived and everything was in perfect order. After they came back in, the admiral ordered
us to check it again and we found someone tampered with their regulators.
“You’re
telling me someone purposely tried to kill them?” Lee said furiously. He was irate that someone on his boat, a crew
member, would try to kill his wife and Seaview’s executive officer.
“Looks
that way, skipper. We’re really sorry
they had a problem,”
Lee
was still very angry but realized that if it weren’t for Kowalski and Patterson
going out to get them as quickly as they did, they both would be dead.
“Thank
you for going out there and bringing in Mr. Morton and Mrs. Crane,” Lee told
Patterson and Kowalski as he patted them on the shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone get into a
wet suit faster than you two.”
“No
problem skipper. We’re glad they’re going
to be alright,” Kowalski said.
Both
Kowalski and Lawrence were upset at what happened to their equipment. Patterson was glad he was assigned to the
missile room watch that afternoon and was able to help out.
((()))
Lee
returned to the control room as he left no one in command when he ran to the
missile room. He entered the control
room to find
“Thanks
“No
problem, sir,”
O’Brien
took over command after Lee ordered him to set a course and speed for
“Lee,
could you please come here,” the admiral asked curtly.
“Yes
sir,” he replied walking to the observation nose.
“How
are Chip and Janet?” he asked with concern but still angry as he paced up and
down the nose while Belinda sat down and looked out the windows.
Taking
a deep breath Lee answered, “They both will be fine. Chip will be back on duty tomorrow morning.”
“What
the hell happened,” he asked sharply.
Rubbing
his forehead, “Someone sabotaged their regulators,” Lee said. “Kowalski, Lawrence and Patterson checked out
their gear and found it.”
“Who
on this boat would want to hurt either one of them?” the admiral questioned.
“I
don’t know Admiral, but I will find out.
Whoever it is will be severely dealt with,” Lee replied heatedly.
Belinda
got up from her chair, went over to Lee and gave him a hug, “I’m glad they’re
going to be okay.”
Lee
just pushed her away not wanting to deal with her and went back to the control
room. She was angry that he pushed her away.
((()))
Once
Lee knew Seaview was on course and at
speed, he returned to sick bay just as
Jamie was releasing Chip and Janet.
“Are
you sure they’re okay?” Lee asked looking at them noticing they looked at
little pale and tired.
Sighing,
“Lee, you know I wouldn’t let them out of my sight if I didn’t think they were
alright,” Jamie told him, “They just need to rest and should be fine by
tomorrow. But they were lucky. Had they
been out any longer....” Jamie didn’t finish his
sentence.
“I
know,” he replied seeing the grim look on Jamie’s face and shuddered at the
thought of what would have happened to them. He held Janet’s hand as they
walked to their cabin. “It’s a good
thing Janet held her breath,” Chip said when they got to Lee’s cabin. “Or we wouldn’t be here.”
Lee,
Chip and Janet were going to have dinner together in the Crane’s cabin. Lee called the wardroom and had Cookie send
up three dinners. Lee made Janet climb
in their bunk as soon as they got there.
“Oh good dinner in bed,” Janet remarked sarcastically. “What fun.” Lee looked at her and grinned as Chip sat at
his desk. Cookie himself brought up
their dinner of chicken, noodles, corn and of course a plate of brownies with a
pot of coffee.
“Any
idea who did this,” Chip asked Lee as he took a bite of his chicken.
“None
so far, but I will get to the bottom of this,” Lee answered as he paced his
cabin. He wasn’t hungry but did grab a
cup of coffee.
He
explained to them that Kowalski and Lawrence had checked out their gear before
they dove and nothing was wrong with it.
But when they checked out the gear when they came back it has been
sabotaged. Janet sat there listening to
them talk just pushing her food around her plate. She wasn’t very hungry. Chip
stayed a little longer and then left for his cabin. Lee walked with him making sure he got there
safely. When he returned, he called a mess specialist to remove their trays and
noticed that Janet ate very little of her dinner. When Lee left to walk Chip back to his cabin,
Janet laid down in the bunk and pulled up the covers. She was dozing by the
time Lee was ready for bed.
He
climbed in the bunk with her and held her close. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her kissing her
temple.
“It’s
not your fault,” she replied back softly waking up when he climbed in the bunk,
“but did I pass?”
“Yes
sweetie you did with flying colors,” he answered kissing her again.
“Good,”
she said as she fell back to sleep.
((()))
Lee
and Janet woke up the next morning and Janet was feeling fine. They met Chip on their way to breakfast and
he was fine also. The admiral, Belinda
and Jamie came in a few minutes after they got their breakfast. They were glad to see neither one of them had
any lingering effects from yesterday’s adventure.
After
they finished up and put their trays in the container, Lee and Chip would head
to the control room. The admiral went to
his lab and Belinda was going to return to her cabin to work on some notes for
her new assignment. Janet was going to
her office to update her inventory sheets before she finished typing up the
admiral’s notes and the duty rosters. As
she was entering the figures into the computer, one of the counts on a valve
didn’t seem right as she knew they shouldn’t have that many of them so she
would go to the storage room on “C” deck where they kept that valve and double checked the inventory. She could have asked one of the crewmen to do
it but they were busy and she knew exactly where they were located. She made her way down to “C” deck and went
into the storage room leaving the door open.
She didn’t notice that someone had followed her. They watched her as she went into the room. She found the container she was looking for
and counted the valves. I knew the
count was wrong, she thought. Before she could
turn around to leave someone hit her on the back of her head, she fell to the
floor. They shut the door and locked it
leaving her lay there unconscious.
((()))
It
was early afternoon and the admiral wanted to read over the notes Janet had
typed up so he went to her office to ask her for them and she wasn’t
there. He checked their cabin and he
didn’t find her there either. He knocked on the door of Belinda’s cabin to see
if she had seen Janet but he got no answer. As he made his way down to the
control room, he stopped in the wardroom and Cookie hadn’t seen her since
breakfast. He went to sick bay. “Jamie, have you seen Janet?” the admiral
asked.
“No
sir. I haven’t seen her since breakfast,”
Jamie replied. “Is there something
wrong?”
“No
I don’t think so,” the admiral said.
“I’ll check the control room as she’s probably there bringing Chip the
duty rosters to look over before she posts them.” As he walked out of sick bay, Jamie stood
there noticing he looked a little concerned.
The
admiral entered the control room through the aft hatch and didn’t see Janet
there or in the observation nose. He
walked over to Lee and Chip who were at the charting table. “Have you seen Janet?” he asked them now
worried that she wasn’t there either. “I
can’t seem to find her.”
Lee
looked at him and saw the worried look on his face. “No sir.
We haven’t seen her since we left the wardroom after breakfast. Did you check her office?”
“Yes,
I checked there, your cabin, the wardroom and sick bay and no one has seen
her,” the admiral answered. “I even
knocked on Belinda’s door to see if she had seen her and got no answer.”
“I’ll
do an all call over the intercom and have her contact the control room so she
can let us know where she is,” Lee said anxiously.
“Mrs.
Crane, please call the control room,” Lee announced over the intercom. They waited a few minutes and she didn’t
answer the call.
Lee
picked up the mic again, “Janet, please call the control room,” he said
nervously. She still didn’t answer his
call. As he made the second call Belinda came down the spiral staircase and
into the control room. The admiral
asked, “Have you seen Janet?”
No
Harry, not since breakfast,” she replied calmly. Looking at Lee, “Is there a problem?” she
asked smugly.
“Chief
Sharkey, call the control room,” Lee ordered ignoring Belinda’s question.
“Yes
sir,” Sharkey reported immediately.
“Have
you seen Mrs. Crane this afternoon?”
“No
sir. I haven’t seen her all day,” he
answered.
“Chief
I need you to organize two search parties,” Lee told him running his hand
through his hair. “I want this boat
searched from top to bottom...every cabin, storage room, every inch of this
boat searched. I’ll take Kowalski and
Patterson with me,” Lee said worriedly. “We’ll take “A” deck. Kowalski and Patterson left their stations
and
“Aye,
aye, sir,” Chief responded. He was in the missile room along with Riley,
Bailey, and Edwards. He assigned Bailey
and Edwards to “B” deck. He and Riley
would take “C” deck. They left to search
their areas.
“Chip,
take over the conn and report to me if she shows up,” Lee told him frantically.
“Yes
sir,” Chip replied. “Lee, she’s got to
be on board somewhere. They’ll find
her,” he reassured him seeing the troubled look on his face as he and the men
went up the spiral staircase.
Lee,
Patterson and Kowalski searched every cabin and storage area on “A” deck and
didn’t find her. Bailey and Edwards
reported to Lee that they didn’t find her on “B” deck. Chief Sharkey and Riley were still searching
“C” deck so Lee went down there to join them in searching for her.
((()))
Janet
came to and was lying on the floor. She
had a terrible headache. She rubbed the
back of her head and found a large bump.
She started to get up but sat right back down as the room was
spinning. She waited a few minutes
before trying to get up again. She
slowly got up and got her bearings. She went over to the door only to discover
it was locked from the outside and there wasn’t a mic in the room. She knocked on the door, “Please help me. I can’t get out,” she yelled. She waited a few minutes but no one answered.
She tried a few more times before giving up.
I could be down here a long time, she thought, no one knows I’m down here. Hopefully
someone will miss me. She found a crate to sit on,
leaned against the bulkhead and fell asleep.
((()))
Lee
met Sharkey and Riley in the aft section of “C” deck. “No luck?” Lee asked desperately.
“Sorry
skipper, nothing so far,” Sharkey replied.
“I’ll
go forward and check the storage rooms.
You and Riley continue searching the bilge control room and gyro room,”
Lee said nervously. He checked the first
of the six storage rooms and didn’t find her.
He worked his way through the other two on the port side before starting
on the starboard side. After looking in
the first one, she wasn’t there. He was
starting to panic as they were running out of placing to search. He tried the door on the second room and
found it was locked. Unless they had
cargo that needed to be secured the doors weren’t supposed to be locked. Reaching into his pocket, fumbling he pulled out
his keys and unlocked the door. He found
Janet sitting on a crate. He didn’t know if she was unconscious or sleeping.
Running
into the passageway Lee yelled, “Chief, get Dr. Jamieson down here right now.”
“Aye,
skipper.” Sharkey ran to the nearest mic
and call sick bay as Lee returned to the storage room with Riley right behind
him. “Janet,” Lee said as he knelt down
next to her. “Janet,” he said again as
she didn’t respond to him.
She
slowly opened her eyes and saw Lee’s amber ones looking at her. “Lee,” she answered as she started to get up
but stopped when the room started spinning.
“Sorry, just a little dizzy.”
“Sweetheart,
just stay seated, Jamie will be here shortly” Lee told her putting his hands on
her shoulders gently pushing her back down.
“I’m
okay...I just get a little dizzy if I move too fast...and I have a headache,”
she replied. Lee sat down next to her on
the crate and she leaned against him. He
was checking her over and felt the back of her head. “Ow,” she said when he
touched the bump.
“Sweetie,
you have a pretty large bump back there.
What happened and what were you doing down here?” he asked tenderly.
“I
came down to check the inventory on one of the valves. I knew the count was wrong and I knew where
they were located so I came down to check it out. I found the box, counted them and went to
leave when the lights went out and I woke up on the floor. I know I left the door open but it was locked
after I woke up. I yelled for help
but...”
“You
shouldn’t have come down here by yourself.
We have crewmen to check those things out,” Lee chastised her. “Next time get a crewman to check it out or
let someone know where you are going,” he insisted. “We searched the whole boat for you.”
“Yes
sir,” Janet replied guiltily. “I’m
sorry.”
Kissing
her gently, “I’m not mad just worried when you didn’t answer my call and we
couldn’t find you.”
Jamie
showed up with the admiral and Belinda in tow.
Jamie went into the storage room to see Janet sitting on a crate. Before Jamie could even examine her, Lee
said, “Jamie she has a nice sized bump on her head. She was a little dizzy and has a headache.”
Janet
looked at Lee and sighed, “I can talk for myself. I’m not dizzy anymore but I do have a
headache,” she admitted.
“Let’s
get her to sick bay and I’ll check to make sure she doesn’t have a concussion
and then she
can tell me what happened,” Jamie told them as he looked directly at Lee. Lee helped his wife up from the crate and
wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked to the nearest stairway. He walked behind her as she went up the
stairway to sick bay making sure she wouldn’t fall backwards.
((()))
Once
in sick bay, Lee helped her get on the gurney. Jamie checked the back of her
head. “Lee’s right you do have a nice size
bump back there. How did you get that
bump?” he asked Janet after he went to the cabinet and got her an ice pack to
put on it.
“As
I told Lee I went to check the count on a valve. I didn’t need to climb on a ladder so I
didn’t fall. Someone must have followed
me down there and clobbered me when my back was turned. I woke up on the floor and when I first got
up I was dizzy but that went away. I
just have a headache right now.”
“Let’s
take you for an x-ray just as a precaution,” he told her as he made her lay
down on the gurney and wheeled her away. He didn’t think she had a concussion
but wanted to take no chances.
While
they waited for Janet to return, the admiral asked, “Lee, what was she doing
down there?”
“Checking
inventory on a valve,” he replied sighing deeply. “I’ve already told her to let a crewman check
or at least tell someone where’s she’s going.”
Since Belinda was there, Lee hesitated before saying anything more. Jamie brought Janet back a few minutes later
and gave her some acetaminophen for her headache. After a few minutes, John gave him the x-ray
and it showed no concussion.
“Well,
no concussion but I still want you to stay here just until your headache goes
away,” Jamie told Janet who groaned at the news.
“Jamie
can I talk to you, privately,” he asked looking at Belinda who took the hint
and left sick bay.
“Whoa,
if you’re going to be talking about me I want to hear what you’re saying, Lee,”
Janet insisted.
“Janet,
please just give me a minute,” Lee said softly giving her hand a squeezed. “Okay” she replied.
Surprised
at the request, Jamie nodded and left Janet alone with John while he joined Lee
and the admiral in his office area.
“What’s
wrong, Lee,” the admiral asked noticing the concerned look on his face.
“Admiral
we have a big problem. You heard her say
someone hit her from behind purposely knocking her out and left her there. Someone is obviously after her.”
“What
are you going to do? Have someone follow
her around...post a guard?” the admiral asked.
Rubbing
his forehead, “I don’t know. She’ll be
pissed if I do that but someone is out to hurt her and I’m afraid they may go
too far and kill her.”
“Lee,
if it will make you feel better, I’ll make her stay here for a couple of
hours. So she’ll be safe until you can
figure out what to do,” Jamie remarked.
“Thanks
Jamie,” Lee sighed.
The
three of them went back to the examination room, “I’ll make you a deal. Stay here for a couple of hours and then you
can go to your cabin,” Jamie bargained.
“Just until your bump goes down and your headache goes away.”
“Okay,”
Janet replied unhappily looking at the faces on the three of them and knew she
wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
“Sweetie,
I need to go back to the control room.
I’ll come back when I’m off duty,” Lee told her giving her a kiss on the
forehead.
“See
you later,” she answered as he walked out of sick bay and Jamie helped her into
a bunk. She was tired so she snuggled
under the blanket and fell asleep.
Sighing Jamie returned to his office, those two are going to make me bald, he thought as he sat down
at his desk to finish up his paperwork.
((()))
Lee
returned to the control room where Chip was anxiously waiting for a report on
Janet. Lee told him where they found her
and that someone had knocked her out and left her there.
“Obviously
someone is trying to hurt her or maybe kill her...but who and why? I can’t believe that a crew member would want
to hurt her and the only new person on board is Belinda,” Lee commented. “She wasn’t in her cabin when the admiral
knocked on her door and only came down when we were looking for Janet.”
“Lee,
come on. You don’t honestly think
Belinda is behind this incident and the sabotaging of the regulators,” Chip
replied doubtfully.
“Do
you have any other explanation,” Lee asked impatiently. Chip
shook his head no.
Lee
and Chip finished their watch and went to sick bay to pick up Janet for
dinner. Lee smiled when he walked in
noticing she was awake and helping Jamie with his filing. “I thought you were going to rest,” he said.
“I
told Jamie I would stay until you came but I had to do something. I was going crazy just sitting there and
Jamie sure had a lot of filing to do. We
sure keep him busy with all our injuries,” Janet snickered holding a file of
papers.
“Let’s
go to dinner,” Lee said taking her hand.
“Jamie, I’m sure you could use a break.”
Jamie
put down his pen, stood up and stretched, “Yes I could use a break.” The four of them left for the wardroom and
Cookie’s dinner of lasagna and salad.
They were joined a little while later by the admiral and Belinda.
They
sat down at the table with the other group.
“How are you feeling?” Belinda asked indifferently taking a drink of her
coffee.
“I’m
just fine. Thanks for asking,” Janet
acknowledged as she took a forkful of lasagna. When they were finished, a mess
specialist removed their dishes while Cookie gave everyone a plate with a
brownie on it and put a fresh pot of coffee on the table. He stood behind the admiral staring at Janet and
made sure she ate the brownie as he had gotten word that she was underweight
and needed to eat more. She noticed him
standing there and took a bite out of the brownie. He walked away with a smile on his face. The group finished up their desserts and retired
to their cabins for the night. Lee did
his usual walk around the boat to check things out and think of a way he could
protect Janet without her knowing. She
was asleep by the time he returned. He
climbed into the bunk with her and held her close.
((()))
The
next morning when Jamie got to
It
was a little before
As
she walked in sick bay she asked, “Jamie, can I get you a cup...” She didn’t
finish her sentence because Belinda was in there alone. Neither Jamie nor John
were anywhere around. “Can I help you
with something Dr. Barry?” Janet asked politely.
“No,
I’m just looking for a bandage for my finger,” she replied hastily. “I don’t want to bleed all over my notes.”
She
was standing by the large cabinet where Jamie kept all the drugs. Normally it
was always locked, but today because he was doing inventory it was unlocked but
Janet didn’t notice. He had a smaller
cabinet right next to the larger one where he put out bandages and other first
aid items in case someone needed them.
You could see them right on top.
“Oh,
I see them,” she said as she quickly picked up a bandage.
As
she un-wrapped the bandage and put it on her finger she said to Janet, “Chip
told me you’ve been married for three years.
Did you date very long before you got married?”
“We
only dated three months before we got married,” Janet replied cautiously.
“Well,
you do know Lee and I dated for awhile. It was getting quite serious,” she said
arrogantly.
“Yes,
he told me. We don’t keep secrets from
each other. If you’ll excuse me I’m going
to get some coffee. I’ll see you later.”
Janet
left
((()))
Janet
got a pot of coffee and went back to her office to finish typing up the
admiral’s notes. She was having trouble
reading some of the handwriting so she went to the laboratory where the admiral
was working. She left the door to her
office open as she would only be gone a few minutes. Someone watched her leave and went into the
cabin. They were only in there a couple
of minutes before they left.
Lee
managed to get a break before 1400 hours so he went to Janet’s office to get her
for lunch. He saw the pot of coffee and
poured himself a cup. He took a drink of the coffee while reading the notes on
the torpedo systems. This tastes
funny, he
thought, I bet she put some sugar substitute in it. All of
a sudden he was having hard time breathing.
He was breaking out in hives and his heart rate was slowing down. He knew he was having an allergic reaction to
morphine and needed to get to
“Help,
can’t breath,” he said before he collapsed dropping the mug of coffee to the
floor.
The
whole boat heard him but didn’t know where he was calling from. Janet and the admiral ran out of the lab on
their way to the control room but when they passed by Janet’s office, they saw
him lying on the floor. Rushing into the office, they could see he was barely
breathing.
Pulling
the mic off the wall, pressing the button twice, “Jamie, get to Janet’s office
on the double,” the admiral said frantically.
“Bring oxygen.”
Janet
was by Lee’s side making sure he was still breathing. She had tears running
down her cheeks because she knew he was in deep trouble. Jamie arrived with the oxygen and put the
mask on him. John followed him with a
stretcher and with Jamie’s help gently put Lee on it. By this time Chip was running down the
passageway towards Janet’s office. He
helped John carry Lee down to sick bay.
Once
in sick bay, Jamie let Janet, Chip and the admiral stay with Lee. Janet was holding her husband’s hand as he
lay on the gurney gasping for breath even with the oxygen mask. Jamie had John start an IV so he could put
any drugs that were needed in faster.
“Jamie
what’s wrong with him,” the admiral asked concerned etched deeply on his face.
“He’s
in anaphylactic shock. The only thing
he’s allergic to is morphine,” Jamie told them. “But where would he get that? I’m
going to give him some epinephrine. It will help him breath and raise his heart
rate.” He gave him the shot in the IV
and within two minutes his breathing was a little better and his heart rate was
returning to normal.
“Janet,
what did you have in your office?” Jamie asked urgently.
“I
just got a pot of coffee but I didn’t get a chance to drink it because I went
to talk to the Admiral. Maybe he drank
some of it. I only put some sugar in it,”
Janet replied tearfully.
“Chip,
bring that pot down here immediately,” Jamie told him tensely. “I have to test it to see if it does have
morphine in it.”
Chip
ran to Janet’s office, found the pot and brought back to
“Admiral,
this coffee is full of morphine.
Somebody wanted to make sure whoever drank this coffee would get
sick. Who would put morphine in the
coffee to hurt him?”
Chip
piped up immediately, “Jamie that coffee wasn’t meant for him. Janet was supposed to drink it. Lee went to get Janet for lunch and stopped
in her office because he knew she would be there. You know he likes his coffee so he drank it.”
“So
whoever put it in there had no idea he would drink it and only four people know
Lee is allergic to morphine, me, Janet, the admiral and you,” Jamie stated.
“Jamie
how would someone get the morphine anyway?
It’s locked up and only you or the corpsmen have the key,” the admiral asked.
Jamie
visibly upset said, “The cabinet was left open this morning while we were doing
inventory.” The three of them walked over to the drug cabinet and Jamie noticed
a vial of morphine was missing. “While
John and I were doing inventory someone must have come in and taken the vial.”
“Admiral,” Lee said queasily as he was getting
very nauseous. He knew this was one of
the side effects of the epinephrine.
“What
is it Lee?” Janet asked him softly pushing his hair off his forehead as he was
starting to sweat.
“Please
get the admiral and Chip over here,” he said agitated and tried to get up.
“Okay
honey, just relax. I will get them,” she
replied gently pushing him back down as she walked over to the men.
“Admiral,
Chip, Lee wants to talk to you.” They
quickly went to the gurney where Lee was laying. He removed the oxygen mask.
“Someone
is trying to kill Janet, we have to protect her,” Lee managed to get out.
“I
agree with you, but any idea who?” Chip asked rubbing his forehead.
“I
found Belinda in here earlier, she was looking for a bandage,” Janet said
innocently.
“I
don’t like this at all,” the admiral said very irritated. “We need to find out who and why?”
((()))
Someone
was standing outside the door to sick bay and heard the conversation inside.
“Damn, damn, damn. He wasn’t
suppose to drink the coffee, she was. I didn’t
know he was allergic to morphine.
They
left when they heard voices coming down the passageway.
((()))
Belinda
heard what happened to Lee and ran down to sick bay. She went over to the gurney and grabbed his
hand and started rubbing it. “Oh Lee, I hope you’re going to be okay,” she
said tenderly. “If there’s anything I
can do, please let me know.”
Lee
pulled his hand away. “Please don’t. I’m
married so leave me alone,” Lee said harshly.
Taken
aback by his actions and tone she left sick bay in a huff. “I’m sorry,” Lee said to Janet as he grabbed
her hand, “she just won’t let go.”
”I understand she’s worried about you,” Janet replied as she held on to Lee’s
hand a little tighter.
((()))
Laying
on the gurney, Lee knew they needed to flush out the killer before Seaview reached port. He also realized the killer knew that
too. He would have to make a move
tonight because once Seaview docked tomorrow it would be too difficult to find
out who wanted to hurt or kill Janet.
Chip knew Lee would never let whoever is trying to kill his wife get
away.
“We
need to set a trap to catch him or her,” Lee decided.
“Him
or her,” Chip questioned.
“Chip,
ever since Belinda came aboard, she has not been very subtle about the fact she
still cares for me.”
“Lee,
I don’t think she would try and kill Janet to get to you. She knows you would never go back to her if
you found out she was the one who tried to kill her,” the admiral replied
rationally.
“Sir,
who else could it be? She’s the only
person who has not been on Seaview until this mission.”
“What
do we need to do?” he conceded. He knew
Lee was right but was having a hard time accepting that Belinda would do this.
“We
need to set a trap for them. We going to
let it out that Janet will be alone in our cabin tonight. I’ll be hiding in the cabin and wait for them
to strike.”
“No
skipper, you will not be in that cabin.
You will be in sick bay for the rest of the day and night until I can
make sure you have no more reactions to the morphine or epinephrine,” Jamie
stated emphatically.
“Jamie,
I have to be there,” Lee pleaded.
“Lee,
I will stay in the cabin myself,” Janet said, “If we are trying to trap
Belinda, I can handle her. We are about
the same size. Chip can be in his
cabin. He can watch from the door to see
when she goes in.”
“I
don’t know about that,” Lee said running his hand through his hair. “What if she is armed? She could kill you before Chip even got
there.”
“Lee,
let me hide in your cabin with Janet.
She or he won’t know if anyone else is in there,” Chip volunteered.
“Chip,
I can’t let you put yourself in danger,” Lee protested.
“You
would do it for me with no questions asked, let me help you out this time,”
Chip insisted.
Sighing
deeply, “Okay,” Lee said reluctantly as they mapped out a plan.
((()))
Janet
and Lee had dinner together in
“Aren’t
Lee and Janet joining us?” Belinda asked seeing only three places set at the
table.
“No
Lee will be in
“I
see. Will Lee be alright?” she inquired.
“Yes,
he will be back on duty tomorrow morning.
This is just a precaution,” the admiral replied as he ate his salad
before eating dinner. After dinner, Chip
excused himself for the evening and went to
Before
Chip left the observation nose the admiral told him, “Tell Lee I’ll stop by after
Janet leaves before turning in for the night to check on him.”
“Yes
sir,” Chip replied knowing that everyone in the control room heard their
conversation. He walked out the aft
hatch and made his way to
((()))
The
admiral and Belinda stayed in the observation nose a little while longer. “Does this happen a lot on Seaview,” she asked. “I mean are people always getting into
trouble.”
“No,
this is very unusual,” the admiral replied as he stood up.
“Good
night Harry. I’ll see you in the morning,” Belinda said as she made her way up
the spiral staircase heels clicking on the metal stairs as she went up.
After
she was out of sight, the admiral went to
“Yes
sir,” they both replied and left for Janet and Lee’s cabin.
Once
in the cabin, Janet put Lee’s desk light on low which barely lit the room and
sat on the bunk while Chip sat on the chair behind the door. They had no idea how long it would be before
the person made their move. Janet was
really tired and had a hard time staying awake.
She laid down on the bunk and fell asleep. Chip watched her and chuckled, she would
make a great spy on a surveillance mission.
((()))
In
“I
thought you were going to your cabin,” the admiral asked quickly glancing at
Lee.
“Yes,
I was there but I wanted to see how Lee was doing and apologize for my
behavior. I was a little jealous of him
and Janet but I realized after seeing the two of them together that he really
loves her.”
“Haven’t
you been trying to kill Janet?” Lee said bluntly.
“Kill
her. Why would I do that? I may love you my dear but don’t flatter
yourself by thinking that I would go that far for you. Why?”
“Shit,”
Lee said as he got up from the bunk and ran up the stairs to his cabin followed
by the admiral and Jamie who grabbed his bag on the way out the door. Belinda wasn’t too far behind.
((()))
Just
as Chip was starting to fall asleep, he heard someone turn the knob on the
door. Janet woke up immediately and
stared at Chip. He put his finger to his
lips to let her know to be quiet. She lay
back down and pretended to be asleep.
She could hardly keep from shaking.
The person outside opened the door, came in and locked the door. They walked over to the bunk where Janet was
lying.
“He
killed my brother. He shouldn’t have let
him go into the cave. He came out alive
why didn’t Tommy? He just left him to
die,” the man’s voice said. “I tampered
with both your regulators. I knocked you
out in the storage room and I put the morphine in your coffee. I didn’t know the skipper was allergic to
it. But now you’re by yourself no one
will get in my way this time. He will
know how it feels to lose someone he loves.”
He
pulled out a knife and was ready to stab Janet when Chip turned on the overhead
light and was surprised to find
“What
the hell is going on,” he said to Chip as he lunged at him with the knife and
caught Chip on the forearm leaving a deep, long, jagged gash that bled
profusely.
“You
set me up you bitch,” he yelled at Janet holding the knife on her. “You’ll be sorry.”
Afraid
of what he might do Janet said calmly, “I’m sorry
“Stop,
don’t go any farther. I will stab you if
you take another step,” he bellowed as he waved the knife inches from her face. “I don’t care what you say, he killed my
brother,” he shouted as he brought down the knife on Janet’s chest tearing her
shirt.
Lee
had unlocked the door and quietly opened it.
“He
needs to get to
Jamie
and Belinda walked Chip down to
Pressing
the button three times on the intercom Lee called, “Master at arms, this is the
Captain.”
“Yes
sir,” the MAA answered quickly.
“Please
send someone up to my cabin immediately.”
“Aye
sir.”
When
the MAA was at the cabin door Lee said, “Put him in the brig until we dock.
We’ll turn him over to the authorities after everyone has left the boat.” The MAA put a pair of handcuffs on
((()))
Lee
went over to his wife who was sitting on their bunk. He could see she was still
shaking so he held her in his arms and kissed her.
“Sweetie,
are you hurt?” he asked looking her over to make sure she wasn’t stabbed and
didn’t know it after seeing the tear in her shirt.
“No,”
she replied looking at Lee. “What did he
mean when he said you killed his brother, Tommy?”
Sighing
deeply he told her what happened on a mission a few years ago. “We were on a
mission to explore some caves looking for a new mineral. There were two other divers on the team
besides me, Tommy and Bailey. We were
exploring a cave when an underground quake hit with no warning. The cave collapsed around us. I was able to pull out Bailey but Tommy was
already dead when I went back for him. A
wall of rock had fallen on him. He was
in the wrong place when the quake hit. We managed to get his body of there with
the help of another diving team.” Lee
hesitated before continuing, “He was only twenty-one but an excellent diver and
crewman. The admiral, Chip and I went to
his house to tell his family what had taken place.
“Lee,
it wasn’t your fault. I know you would
never leave anyone behind. I think
“Let
me call maintenance first and have this cleaned up before we return for the
night,” Lee replied picking up the phone on his desk and called maintenance.
((()))
By
the time they got to
“I’m
sorry Chip. I didn’t want you to get hurt,” Lee apologized patting Chip on his
good shoulder. “I should have been there
not you.”
“It’s
alright as long as Janet isn’t hurt,” he asked with concern.
“Thanks
to you, I’m fine. I’m sorry too I wasn’t much help,” Janet said sheepishly.
“Don’t
worry about it now we’re even,” he told her with a smile. She smiled back and gave him a hug.
“Belinda,”
Lee said contritely, “I’m sorry I suspected you of trying to kill my wife.”
“Don’t
worry about it. I might have been a
little suspicious of me too by my actions,” she replied patting his arm as she
left
((()))
So
much for Jamie’s easy night, as he now had the two most unwilling patients in
“Both
of you will be staying here tonight,” Jamie stated. “No pleading or begging will get you out. So
just grin and bear it.”
They
both opened their mouths to speak but shut them right away when Jamie stared
them down. Janet grabbed a chair and put
it between the two bunks. She would stay
in
Once
the admiral knew Lee and Chip were going to be fine he told them, “Lee, Chip,
Janet, I’ll see the three of you tomorrow.”
“Yes
sir,” Lee responded with a yawn.
They
all fell asleep a few minutes after Jamie turned the lights down. He looked at the three of them and shook his
head. They were a very close group and
he hoped nothing would ever change that.
The
admiral walked into his cabin, turned on the globe light on his desk. He sat down and opened his bottom
drawer. He took out a glass and a bottle
of golden amber liquid and poured himself a healthy shot. He drank it down in one gulp and poured
another one. This one he drank slowly
savoring every sip his took. He got
ready for bed and climbed in his bunk where he promptly fell asleep.
((()))
The
next morning all three of them woke up and were waiting for Jamie to release
Lee and Chip from
“How
are the two of you feeling today?” asked the admiral.
“We
are cleared for duty,” Lee replied with a smile.
“Good,”
the admiral returned the smile.
When
they finished their breakfast Lee and Chip would go to the control room. Janet would go back to her office to finish
the typing up the notes. Belinda and the
admiral would return to the lab to finish up what they were working on.
((()))
When
Lee and Chip got to the control room everything was running smoothly. Lee took over command from Howard and was at
the plotting table tapping his pencil nervously.
“Chip,
I’m thinking of taking Janet off Seaview. I never
thought she would be in danger here on Seaview but after what happened
I’m not sure.”
“What,”
Chip asked surprised, “does she know this?”
“No,
not yet. I was hoping to get your
feelings before I said anything to her.”
“Lee,
you know she will be pissed. She loves
working on Seaview. How will she be in any less
danger working at NIMR? She will always be
in danger wherever she is with you working for ONI. Are you quitting ONI to keep her out of
danger?” Chip told him.
“No,
but at NIMR there is security to keep her safe,” Lee replied still tapping his
pencil.
“This
was an unusual situation,” Chip insisted.
“I
know but .....” Lee tried to continue but Chip cut him off mid sentence, “Lee
there is no but. She is going to be very
angry.”
Chip
walked away from him and went to the sonar station before he said something he
shouldn’t as he was angry at Lee.
((()))
Seaview docked early in the evening. Everyone had left the boat except the
admiral, Lee, Chip, Janet and Belinda.
Before
she left the boat she gave Lee a quick kiss.
“You’re one lucky woman,” Belinda told Janet as she stood next to him.
Janet
smiled at her and then looked at Lee replying, “I know.”
Kowalski
took Belinda’s bag up the ladder as the admiral helped her up and out of the
sail hatch. She and the admiral walked
down the gangway to the admiral’s car that was waiting for them.
Janet
was just getting ready to start up the ladder when Lee stopped her. She turned around to face him.
“Sweetie,
I’m thinking of taking you off of Seaview,” Lee said hesitantly.
“What!! Why? You
can’t without the admiral’s approval,” she said frantically.
“I’m
thinking of your safety after what happened on this mission. What if
“Chip,
please talk to him, don’t let him take me off Seaview,” she begged with tears in
her eyes.
“It’s
out of my hands. It’s up to Lee and the
admiral,” Chip told her sadly.
“Lee,
please don’t, please,” she pleaded.
“We’ll
see,” he replied sharply.
Janet
went up the ladder and out the sail hatch before Lee or Chip left the boat. Chip
had a difficult time going up the ladder with one hand as Jamie insisted his
arm stay in the sling for another couple of days. Before
they walked down the gangway they saluted the colors while Janet waited for
them at the bottom. Chip and Lee stopped
at the bottom of the gangway to talk to the security detail but Janet kept
walking to the parking lot with her gear.
Lee had both his gear and Chip’s so it took him awhile to get to the
car. She waited for Lee to unlock car
and threw her gear in the back. She
didn’t say one word to him. She climbed
in the back seat of the car and sat there while Lee loaded the rest of the gear. Chip drove with them to the dock and knew it
wasn’t going to be a pleasant ride home.
Luckily for him it was a short drive.
The
End.
Author’s
Notes:
*
See story, When Obsession Takes Over
**
This is the car Lee Crane drove in the Season Four episode “Man of Many Faces”
airdate of
*** The car in the Challenge Picture for “Lee’s New Toy” is a Mustang Shelby GT500 Cobra. While I don’t know if the car in the picture challenge is a 2014 the car pictured on the website is very similar. Here is the link to the Ford website showing that the car in the picture is a Mustang.