ECHO

By R. L. Keller

A glint of light ever so briefly flashed across his eyes, blinding him for that split second, but he couldn’t look away. The sparkle was a reflection off the very large, very sharp, hypodermic needle inching its way toward his bare arm. He tried to move away from it but couldn’t. Belatedly he remembered why – he was strapped, very securely, into the chair he was sitting in. It was a sturdy wooden chair, bolted firmly to the floor. Where the floor was, he actually had no idea. But the image of the sturdy chair included sturdy leather straps holding him tightly in place, allowing almost no movement. Even his head was held immobile.

“No,” crept out, despite his best efforts to remain silent as the needle moved closer. He clamped his lips tight and tried to glare at whoever was holding the needle. But there didn’t seem to be a body attached to the hand as it slowly moved ever closer. He struggled to pull further away, even knowing as he did that any movement was hopeless. As the point of the needle touched his skin he couldn’t stop a small whimper from escaping.

Something hit his stomach. Not hard, just surprising. A pillow? He was expecting the sharp sting of the needle penetrating his bare shoulder and instead… “Lee!” seemed to echo inside his head and he struggled once more, amazed to find that he could move. “Open your eyes,” was the next order.

“Huh?” Who was talking inside his head? Nothing was making sense.

“I said,” came in a voice Lee knew that he should recognize but didn’t, “wake up and open your eyes. You’re dreaming.”

Slowly Lee tried to obey. The needle disappeared, along with the disembodied hand that had been holding it, and was replaced by the bulkheads that enclosed three sides of his bunk aboard the submarine Seaview. He took in a long slow breath, let it out even more slowly, and turned in the fourth direction, tucking the pillow back under his head as he did so. Standing a few feet away, out of reach after another time he’d awakened Lee from one of his infrequent nightmares, was his best friend, and Lee smiled softly.

“You awake now?” Chip muttered.

“Think so,” Lee told him. “Sorry I woke you.”

The blond shrugged it off with a grin that suddenly made Lee nervous. “You didn’t,” Chip all but smirked. Lee belatedly realized that Chip was fully dressed. “When you didn’t show up for breakfast I came looking for you.”

Lee glanced at the chronometer on his desk, uttered a word he almost never used, scrambled out of his bunk, and headed for his shower. Chip snickered and headed for the Conn.

The smile that had stayed on Chip’s face broadened as he practically skipped down the spiral stairs and found Admiral Nelson in the Observation Nose. “He’s fine,” Chip told his boss, almost hiccupped burying the snort use of that line caused, and tried again. “Overslept,” he clarified. Nelson nodded with a grin of his own and walked through the Conn to exit out the aft hatch. Chip assumed that he was headed to update Jamie, otherwise known as Seaview’s CMO, Dr. Will Jamison. The three had spent the time eating their breakfast pondering why their Skipper hadn’t joined them, as was the norm, and Chip had volunteered to check Lee’s cabin. He’d gotten no argument from the other two – it was also the norm to let one deal with the other until or unless circumstances warranted a different set of actions. The two men had been friends since their days together at Annapolis and could practically read each other’s mind. They were also perfectly safe to turn loose on each other, neither having issues with giving or taking harassment from the other.

It didn’t take long for Lee to complete his morning ablutions and scurry down the spiral stairs. His eyes automatically scanned the Conn but all was as it should be, as Seaview completed the last sixty or so nautical miles back to her home at NIMR. It wouldn’t be a long stay in Santa Barbara – Nelson had a small group of college graduate students, along with their faculty advisor, going out for five days to collect samples for use in their chosen fields of study. Nelson encouraged on-the-job lab work, as it were, as they prepared for their dissertations. It gave him the opportunity for some casual observations in case he wanted to raid the ranks for new members to NIMR’s staff of scientists and researchers.

Chip took the opportunity, as Lee glanced around, to take another small pot shot at Lee. “Everything green across the board, Skipper. You’ve got plenty of time to get some breakfast. Before Cookie starts looking for you,” he added too low for others in the Conn to hear, but with a definite smirk both on his face and in his voice.

Lee threatened to backhand his insolent XO, thought better of it no matter that there wasn’t a soul on board who’d call him on the transgression of striking a fellow officer, and headed aft. If nothing else he needed coffee!

He smiled and nodded to the crewmen he met on the way to the Officers’ Wardroom, and stopped briefly to have a few words with a couple of them. He caught a few quick grins – it didn’t take long for information to get around no matter how large Seaview was, and Lee had no problem accepting that he was no doubt the brunt of a few jokes this morning. It was part of why he kept such a great rapport with the crew – while they would never tease him outright like Chip could, and did, they all knew that he easily accepted his own occasional small oops.

He did keep a carefully respectful expression on his face as he entered the Wardroom. It was always a wise move to not tick off Seaview’s temperamental chef no matter who you were. “Sorry I’m late for breakfast, Cookie,” he called out as he poured himself a large mug of coffee.

“Not a problem, Skipper,” Seaview’s cook – and back-up nuclear reactor specialist – answered. “I made sure I saved plenty for you.”

Lee finished the first mug of coffee in one long drag and poured a second. “You mean, no fourths for Mr. Morton?” he teased.

Cookie grinned at the familiar jab at Seaview’s XO. “He didn’t leave hungry,” he assured Lee. “Wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Of course not,” Lee told him seriously and then cracked another broad smile.

He did cringe inwardly at the tray of food Cookie brought out to him moments later, loaded way more heavily than Lee would have normally served himself. But Cookie seemed pleased with the major dent Lee managed to make and Lee headed back to the Conn.

Chip sent Lee a couple of raised eyebrows during the time it took for Seaview to reach home but Lee merely shrugged and smiled softly, not wanting to explain the nightmare, and Chip knew better than to push. Once home they released the crew. Some would report the next morning, getting Seaview ready to head out again, but most would have forty-eight hours’ leave. With the short turnaround it was all that could be managed this time. However, everyone knew that, once back from the upcoming cruise, Seaview wasn’t scheduled out again for slightly over two weeks so everyone would have a long shore leave. Admiral Nelson considered it a bit of a coup that he managed to chase both Chip and Lee off base until the following morning – both had professed interest in attacking whatever paperwork had accumulated in their respective offices. A long look from their boss convinced both younger men to not argue the point, and Nelson chalked one up for his side as he grinned at their backs. He, on the other hand, spent the rest of the day in his own office and had to be chased out just after 6 pm by his PA, Angie. He scowled at her but quickly nodded and left. Not, however, before he’d stuffed his briefcase with at least a dozen reports he had every intention of dealing with that evening.

* * * *

Once again the needle moved slowly, menacingly, in his direction. And again he was powerless to stop it. He struggled nonetheless, trying to throw himself away from the shiny instrument, and abruptly woke up when his body hit the floor. It only took him a few seconds to recognize the bedroom in his house. He took a few deep breaths as he listened to waves gently hitting the sandy beach not far away. Geesh, Crane. Get it together, he muttered as he picked himself up and headed for his shower. That was nearly a year ago. Get over it!

The incident in question, where he’d been kidnapped for a long weekend and almost brainwashed into sabotaging Seaview’s critical next mission and killing Admiral Nelson,* had left its share of scars – both physical and mental. But he’d gotten past it with the help of friends, and a couple of carefully chosen professionals, and he’d not been bothered by the memories for months. He had no idea why they had suddenly reared their ugly little heads now but he sure wished they’d crawl back into their hole!

He took a few minutes longer than he usually did in the shower but he still hit his office shortly before 0700, tackling the mounds of paperwork that always seemed to grow disproportionately to the amount of time he had to work on them.

“Anything earth-shattering?” Chip poked his head through Lee’s open office door at one point and asked.

Lee sent his best friend a grin that was half grimace as he sat back in his chair. “Same ol’, same ol’,” he muttered.

“In that case, drag your six out of your chair. It’s lunchtime.”

Lee glanced at his watch and all but shuddered. He could swear that he’d barely sat down and yet it was nearly 1245 hours. He shot Chip a look as he stood up. “You mean, you lasted this long before harassing me?” he asked.

Chip frowned. “Got my own overflowing ‘In’ basket and just came up for air.”

The pair headed downstairs to the cafeteria kibitzing about what each was dealing with, and catching each other up on current issues. They were just about to turn the last corner and enter the main door of the large, almost restaurant-like area on NIMR’s Administration building ground floor when Chip pushed Lee back, gave him a ‘shushing’ motion with his finger, and carefully poked his head just enough around the corner to be able to see into the cafeteria.

“What…” Lee started.

“Quiet,” Chip hissed with a glare. Lee took a deep breath. Sometimes Chip could be a royal pain! It took a good twenty seconds but Chip finally sighed. “Okay, the coast is clear,” he told Lee and started to walk into the cafeteria.

Lee didn’t budge. He crossed his arms over his chest and sent a glare of his own. “Mr. Morton,” he growled, “explain yourself.”

Chip turned and faced his friend – and superior officer – with a small shiver. “Doc was just headed out the side door. I didn’t want him to see me.”

“Why?” Lee demanded. Not that both men didn’t have their on-going ‘arguments’ with Dr. Jamison. But it wasn’t anything actually serious. Jamie, as they usually called him, was an excellent Internist/Emergency Medicine specialist and a great asset to both Seaview’s Sick Bay and NIMR’s Med Bay. But both – especially Lee – tried very hard to stay out of what they referred to as ‘Jamie’s clutches.’ The doctor took no guff from anyone on medical matters, up to and including Admiral Nelson. But as far as Lee knew there wasn’t any current reason to be avoiding the doctor.

“Don’t you read your e-mails?” Chip asked. He motioned Lee to follow him and he headed inside the large room.

Lee shot the blond a look but complied. “You know I do,” he still grumbled, but it finally dawned on him what Chip’s problem was.

During this last cruise Jamison had sent out a reminder that as soon as he was back in Med Bay he would be updating flu shots for all NIMR staff, including spouses and dependants. The previous year had been the doctor’s first year at NIMR, and the first year that the preventative vaccine had been mandatory unless underlying medical issues made it ill-advised. The doctor had been studying illness patterns for employees, as well as family members, and had noticed a disturbing pattern. About four weeks after children started back to school in the fall the various germs that they’d managed to collect over the summer mixed with germs from all the other kids and all were promptly brought home to the rest of the family. Even employees without kids were infected by the employees who did. Jamie couldn’t manage the entire problem, but one thing he could do was make sure that as many people as possible were up-to-date on vaccinations, including flu shots.

Unfortunately, no one knew at the time that Chip sometimes had weird reactions to medications. He’d managed to stay relatively healthy so far in his time at Annapolis, the regular Navy, and now at NIMR. Chip himself didn’t realize that there was a problem. He simply, within ten hours of getting his shot, started complaining that the new doctor’s shot worked just fine – that he, Chip, now had a raging case of the flu!

The next few days hadn’t been pleasant – for anyone. Chip was promptly incarcerated in Med Bay – which he hated. Jamison was totally frustrated that everything he used to try and alleviate Chip’s symptoms either didn’t work or actually made Chip worse. Lee ran himself ragged trying to cover both his and Chip’s workloads and still spend time with Chip.

Lee’s own attitude toward medical personnel was to simply ignore them as much as possible. Jamison would mutter whenever he found Lee in Chip’s room but Lee didn’t care. He knew that his presence, keeping Chip as up-to-date with NIMR’s goings on as he could comprehend through his worsening condition, was actually helping Chip cope with the confinement. And it was almost worse once Chip’s fever finally broke. The flu bug had left him weak and dizzy, unable to take care of himself but angry when others tried to help. Lee saw Jamison in conference with Admiral Nelson the morning after Chip’s fever subsided and assumed that Nelson was merely being briefed about his XO’s current condition. He continued through Med Bay to where Chip had been and discovered that the blond was being moved from the private room he’d been in to one with two beds. As he demanded answers to why Chip was being demoted, as it were, he found Admiral Nelson at his elbow.

“We decided,” his boss told him with an almost smile, and Lee saw Jamison standing a few feet away, “that since you spend so much time here anyway we’d supply you with a bed so that maybe, just maybe, you’d get some rest and not end up in worse shape than Chip.” Sufficiently chastised, Lee had wisely shut up. It hadn’t helped that Chip heard the explanation as well, and razzed Lee about it as only such close friends could get away with.

But that whole episode did explain to Lee why, now, Chip was avoiding the CMO. “You can’t hide forever,” Lee told him with a grin. “Jamie said that you couldn’t have gotten that sick, that fast, from the shot; you must have already been exposed and it was merely unfortunate timing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chip waved off the explanation as the pair made their way through the room to pick up what they wanted for lunch. “Heard it all before.” He stopped, turned, and glared at Lee. “And since when did you start believing a word medical staff told you? Even Jamie.”

Lee cringed ever so slightly. It had taken time, but NIMR’s new CMO had slowly been able to break through most of Lee’s defensiveness. The pair still locked horns on a regular basis. But Lee was finally starting to let himself relax around Jamison more than he ever had around any other doctor he’d been forced to deal with. Now he sent Chip a sheepish grin but said nothing.

“Harrumph,” Chip growled a pretty good rendition of Nelson’s standard grumble. “And you, of course, have already volunteered to take your flu shot.” Lee gave him his through-the-lashes look that always indicated to his friends that they’d nailed him dead to rights about ‘something.’ Chip snorted and headed for the food line, with Lee trailing silently behind.

* * * *

Lee kept busy the next couple of days and gave no more thought to Chip’s dilemma. The pair saw little of each other as they scrambled to get Seaview ready for her upcoming cruise. Lee continued to have disturbing visions of the almost disastrous mission so many months before but refused to allow them to interfere with current duties. From a couple of quick looks Chip gave him as they stood in Seaview’s Conn, preparing to depart, Lee figured that his XO read some of the tension that betrayed a lack of sleep. But Chip knew better than to challenge Lee openly, especially in the close confines of the sub’s Control Room. Lee had no doubt that he’d have to, at some point, explain why he appeared so tired. Chip always said that it was an XO’s job to look after his CO. Lee frequently referred to it as just Chip being a pain in the six!

A rather determined look briefly crossed Chip’s face before being replaced by a more correct “XO on Duty” one as Admiral Nelson came down the spiral stairs with Dr. Calvin Richards, head of the Microbiology Department at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Richards was a regular aboard and Lee sent both men a nod. But he also decided that a small pre-emptive strike on Chip might not be a bad idea. “Jamie ever catch you?” he asked softly.

Chip didn’t look up from the clipboard he was scribbling notes on. “No,” came out flatly. “And I’ll thank you kindly not to remind him.” Chip did look up at that and ever so briefly sent Lee a glare.

Lee grinned, knowing that it would needle the blond. “No reason to. At the moment,” he added, with just the hint of a threat in his voice.

“Harrumph,” came back, although very softly, and the pair continued their departure routines.

Seaview had just cleared the channel into open water, and her course set for the Islas Revillagigedo, south-southwest of the tip of Baha California where Dr. Richards’ students would be doing their specimen collections and research data reports, when there was a call from Ballast Control. A small glitch was showing on one of the boards but nothing showed a problem in the Conn. Lee headed back to see if he could help the crew on duty figure out what the problem was – if there was, indeed, a problem – and ended up staying for the next several hours until a short in a secondary back-up control box was finally tracked down and fixed. He headed back to the Conn, but Chip was getting ready to turn Duty over to Lt. O’Brien for “C” watch, 2000 hours to 0200 hours, and Lee switched course for the Wardroom.

“Late, again,” Lee called out amiably to Cookie as he made a beeline for the coffee urn.

A smile split the chef’s craggy face. “No problem, Skipper. Meatloaf, mushroom gravy, corn, green beans, fruit salad, and fresh whole wheat rolls?”

Lee grinned back. “Sounds grand. I’m a little frazzled from tracking down a wiring short but I think I missed lunch.”

“Extra everything,” Cookie told him happily, and headed through the open door into the Galley. Lee shook his head, downed the first mug of coffee and poured more, and took a seat.

He was about halfway through the huge amount of food Cookie had delivered with a relish, and beginning to keep watch for the cook to see if he could sneak some of what was left into the garbage without getting caught, when Dr. Jamison walked into the Wardroom. Chip’s ‘issue’ instantly hit Lee’s brain and he choked on the bite of food he’d just taken, trying to bury the snort that wanted to get out.

“Skipper?” came worriedly from the doctor.

Lee waved him off. “Just swallowed wrong,” he said once he could talk again. Jamison pointed an eyebrow at Lee, causing him to grin. “Guess my mind was on something else,” he added, trying to sidetrack the doctor.

“Humm.” The doctor looked skeptical but chose not to pursue the topic. “I gather we’re no longer in imminent danger of sinking.”

Lee grinned broadly. “I thought that you’d finally gotten past your fear of being underwater,” he teased. All of Jamie’s previous posts had either been on land or surface ships.

“Harrumph,” the doctor almost matched Nelson’s version for emphasizing displeasure, and Lee chuckled softly at that thought. Jamison dropped the scowl that had appeared. “Actually, I thought that I had as well,” he admitted, pouring coffee for himself and sitting down across the table from Lee. “But then Chip started explaining that the ballast controls were all screwed up, which no one noticed until we’d left port, and you couldn’t seem to find the problem, and…”

Lee held up a hand, barely able to keep from bursting out laughing. “Let me guess – the Admiral wasn’t within earshot of this conversation?”

Jamie sent him a puzzled look. “Actually, no,” he told Lee. “I was late getting here and the Admiral had already eaten and left.” He frowned. “Chip said that he was late getting here because he had to stay in the Conn – that you’d gone to help find the problem and he wasn’t comfortable leaving Lt. James in charge alone, and Lt. O’Brien had his own issues with the engines.”

Lee barely kept himself from roaring with laughter. He knew exactly what Chip had done. His usually so under control XO had wanted to stay out of Jamie’s way as much as possible, had made up some excuse to stay in the Conn, and come down later for supper. But because Jamie was also late getting to the Wardroom Chip’s ploy had backfired, and he’d quickly strung together the half-truths to sidetrack the doctor from bringing up the fact that Chip still hadn’t gotten his flu shot. “And you haven’t learned yet not to believe a word Chip says, given certain situations?” Lee once more teased.

There was a long pause. “I’ve been had,” Jamison growled at last.

“By an expert,” Lee told him honestly, but still couldn’t control his smile. He noticed Cookie looking at his plate and glanced down – somehow, while Lee was distracted with Chip’s little subterfuge, he’d cleaned his tray down to the last kernel of corn.

“Ready for dessert, Skipper?” the cook asked, delight showing on his face that Lee, usually a light eater – much to Cookie’s disapproval – had eaten the entire amount.

Lee groaned – carefully because he didn’t want to tick off the man. “Stuffed to the gills,” he admitted. “Filled up on the rest of your excellent meal. Sorry.”

“Your favorite, Skipper,” Cookie tried to tempt him. “Peach cobbler.”

“Couldn’t eat another bite,” Lee told him, trying to figure out how he could possibly have finished everything Cookie had originally brought him.

“I’ll set a piece back, where XO Morton can’t find it,” Cookie promised him with a grin.

Lee laughed, but it had more to do with the decidedly determined look that crossed Jamie’s face than it did with the old joke about Chip liking to raid Cookie’s walk-in fridge when he got a case of the munchies. “Sounds like a plan,” he nonetheless contributed to Cookie’s deception, and once more grinned at the doctor as he stood up to leave. “I’d appreciate you not totally annihilating my XO,” he told Jamie. “He does have his uses.”

“Harrumph,” Jamie once more growled. Lee chuckled and left.

* * * *

Despite the relaxing and humorous interlude at dinner, Lee had difficulty falling asleep when he finally crashed just after 2300 hours. Once he’d left the Wardroom he tracked Admiral Nelson to the Marine lab aboard where his boss was giving a mini-lecture to Dr. Richards’ students. Assured by Nelson that all was well there, Lee walked through the boat checking all the various departments. That was a normal evening activity for Lee when things were quiet. Sometimes even when things weren’t so quiet, despite each department head alerting the Conn if there was the least sign of trouble. He had no idea where Chip was hiding. He wasn’t in the Conn when Lee meandered through about 2100, and Lee hadn’t seen him anywhere else. Nor was he in his cabin – Lee checked before entering his own, intending to tease his XO about what the blond had done to Jamison. Lee spent some time dealing with the reports that constantly filled his ‘In’ basket no matter how quiet a cruise they were having and finally got ready for bed, but then lay there wide awake. He blamed it on the late, and overly large, dinner he’d managed to put away, and laughed again at the conversation. He had a feeling Chip had reached the end of his tether with Seaview’s CMO. The submarine was big but not that big. That thought making him chuckle, he finally fell asleep.

Only to be awakened abruptly at 0215 hours but with no idea why. No claxons were clanging. No emergency lights were glaring. Seaview felt smooth as she cruised to their destination. He wondered briefly if he’d had another nightmare but no hint of one lingered in his mind, as had always happened before. He almost got up, dressed, and walked through his beloved boat – that always helped to settle his nerves. But instead he tried to lay quietly, hoping that by some miracle he’d manage to fall back to sleep and catch up a bit from what he’d lost while at home the last few days.

He must have because the next time he glanced at the chronometer on his desk it read 0545 hours; a little earlier than he usually got up but not that much. He showered, shaved, and dressed in no particular hurry, and made his way to the Conn without having heard his XO moving about in his own cabin next door. Lt. Keeter was as usual in command as “D” watch had taken over from “C” at 0200 hours, and all was quiet. Lee kibitzed with Keeter for a few minutes, going over Seaview’s quiet overnight journey, and then headed for the Wardroom. He wasn’t hungry, still full from his huge dinner. But he knew that he needed to eat at least a little, and was definitely in need of coffee. Somehow he wasn’t surprised to find Chip already there, and sent the blond a huge grin. “Figure that you’d eat early and Doc won’t have the guts to drag you out of the Conn?” he asked amiably.

Chip sent him a glare but it morphed fairly quickly into sheepish acknowledgement. “Can’t hurt to try,” he admitted.

Lee chuckled. “Yeah. Heard about what you pulled last night.”

The glare returned. “You didn’t…”

Lee held up a hand. “Didn’t say a word about why you were avoiding him. Promise.” He chuckled again, and once more Chip looked worried. “He figured out you conned him about the ballast problem all on his own. He was not happy, the last time I saw him, that you harassed him about not liking to be underwater.”

“Help,” Chip said softly, and started eating what he’d taken for his own breakfast even faster.

Lee chuckled again, poured himself a mug full of coffee, and glanced at what Cookie had prepared for breakfast. He caught the chef watching him and grinned. “Still full from last night,” he admitted.

Cookie also grinned. “Want that piece of cobbler now?” he asked.

Lee chuckled as he sent a glance at Chip, who had picked up his head at the comment. “Probably not,” Lee admitted, and sent the chef a grin as Chip looked disappointed. Instead, Lee settled for a small helping of scrambled eggs, a slice of ham, and toast with blackberry jam. As he sat down, Chip shoveled the last bite of his meal into his mouth and stood up.

But he wasn’t fast enough. Just as he put his tray into the bin for dirty dishes Dr. Jamison walked in. “Ah, Mr. Morton,” he said easily. But there was no hiding the determined glint in his eye. “Just the person I was looking for.” Chip visibly cringed. “And apparently,” Jamie continued, “perfect timing. Suppose you let me give you that flu shot while it’s quiet.”

“I need to get to the Conn…” Chip tried to sidestep the doctor and get to the door.

Lee couldn’t resist. “Just came from there,” he said easily. “Keeter has everything under control.”

Chip tried a glare but Lee ignored it. There was a momentary standoff as no one said anything. But Chip finally admitted defeat and meekly headed for Sick Bay, followed closely by the doctor.

They’d barely left when Admiral Nelson walked in. He jabbed a thumb in the direction that the two men had taken. “Chip okay?” he asked Lee.

Lee grinned. “That remains to be seen,” and he told his boss what was going on.

Nelson laughed out loud. “I’d forgotten about last year’s vaccinations,” he admitted.

“Chip hasn’t.” Lee told him.

“Will told me that he was positive that it wasn’t from the shot.”

Lee nodded. “Heard the same thing. But you know Chip.” He grinned again but the grin turned sheepish at Nelson’s next line.

“He’s almost as bad as you.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee admitted.

At that point Dr. Richards and his students joined them, and Lee merely listened as details of the research was discussed. He didn’t understand more than about 20% of the conversation. But then, he didn’t have to. What he did understand was Seaview’s part in the project and he had that firmly under control.

Seaview would arrive at their destination early that afternoon. The boat’s COB, Chief Sharkey, had control of the dive schedules necessary for collections. Chief Hauck, Seaview’s MAA, would assign as many ‘watchdog’ divers to the group as he felt he needed, just to keep control of any possible issues that might occur. Lee knew that Chip had the master list of dive assignments – it was on the chart table in the Conn. Lee had glanced at it the day before as they were preparing to leave port but nothing needed more than his initialed approval. It was one of the things Lee so enjoyed about commanding Seaview – he had an extremely well trained, handpicked crew and an ultra-competent XO to oversee the day-to-day tasks. Lee grinned. Well, he’d have his XO if his CMO didn’t kill him first, after yesterday’s little episode.

Nelson caught the smile that Lee didn’t quite get buried behind his coffee mug and raised an eyebrow. “Better head for the Conn,” was, however, all Lee said. Nelson nodded and Lee headed forward. He met Lt. Chris James just coming into the Wardroom as Lee was headed out, and smiled again as the young lieutenant glanced nervously at his watch. He was fairly new to Seaview, served as Chip’s second in the Conn most “A” watches, and was still learning his way. “Relax,” Lee told him. “You’re not late. Enjoy your breakfast. I’m just headed for the Conn, and Mr. Morton will be along shortly.” I hope, he added under his breath, and another smile broke through that he knew James had no idea of its cause.

“Yes, sir,” James told him crisply, started to salute but remembered just in time that Lee’s command style was much more relaxed and didn’t require the gesture under everyday situations, nodded instead, and swiftly headed to pick up his meal. Lee sent another quick grin at the young lieutenant’s back, refilled his coffee mug, and ambled forward.

He was just starting to officially take Command from Lt. Keeter, releasing him a bit early as was often the case since either Chip or Lee, and usually both, were often in the Conn prior to 0800 hours, when Chip came through the aft hatch. On spotting Lee he sent his CO a very politically incorrect glare and rubbed his shoulder. But he finally smiled ever so softly as Lee sent him a broad grin. Keeter looked between the two, a slightly worried expression on his face. While he was used to the easy sniping that often went on between the two old friends he was not comfortable being caught in the middle of it. Lee noticed Keeter’s momentary discomfort and his grin spread as Chip finished walking up to the chart table. “You appear to still be alive,” Lee teased the blond.

“For the moment,” Chip grumbled. Apparently he, also, noticed Keeter’s unease. “I have the Conn,” he told the lieutenant in his usual XO voice.

“Aye, sir. XO has the Conn,” Keeter repeated officially, as if the entire Conn crew didn’t already have that figured out. It caused Lee to grin again at Keeter’s strict correctness. Chip, too, finally caught on, and grinned as well.

Once Keeter left Lee pointed an eyebrow at Chip. The blond had gone back to almost a scowl. Chip finally looked up at him. “Might as well get as much work done as I can before you’re stuck with it all when I get sick.”

Lee shook his head almost sadly. “If you get sick it won’t be from the shot,” he assured his XO.

“Yeah, right,” Chip all but growled, his head back down and his eyes focused on the clipboard that held the cruise parameters. “Heard it all before.”

Lee was contemplating a response when multiple steps on the spiral stairs turned his attention that direction. He walked forward as Admiral Nelson led Dr. Richards and his five students into the Observation Nose, mostly closing the crash doors as he came forward and leaving only an opening big enough to walk through. He wasn’t so much worried that the guests would cause a problem as it was merely a precaution; two of the three female students were extremely attractive and his crew were normal healthy males. That thought caused his grin to increase and Admiral Nelson sent him a pointed eyebrow as Lee took the last few steps to stand next to his boss. “I’m surprised that this is the first time you’ve brought everyone forward,” was, however, Lee’s only response.

Whatever Nelson had been about to say was cut off by one of the male students. “The Admiral has been keeping us busy in the lab.” He sent a look at Dr. Richards. “Sort of glad that I didn’t have him as an instructor at Scripps.” There were a combination of snickers, grins, and grimaces from the other four. Richards sent them all a frown but Nelson grinned.

Lee did as well. “You’re getting off easy. I had him off and on all four years at Annapolis.”

“Harrumph,” Nelson grumbled softly, but his eyes were sparkling and his grin made an almost instant return.

“You can’t have badgered him too badly, Harriman,” it was Richards’ turn to interrupt whatever Nelson was about to say. “I seem to recall that Cdr. Crane graduated first in his class.”

“I do not badger my students,” Nelson assured Richards firmly. “And trust me, Lee not only managed to handle Annapolis just fine he, along with his chosen little band of cohorts, got in their share of retaliatory strikes against the command structure at the Academy.” He sent a bit of a glare at Lee but his eyes were still sparkling.

Lee pulled himself up to Attention. “Whatever do you mean, sir? We did nothing more than put into action strategies that you and the other instructors taught us.”

“I don’t recall any lessons having to do with snowballs,” Nelson grumbled with an obviously faux glare. **

“Not precisely, sir. But there was ever so many lessons in adapting to the conditions at hand.” Nelson threatened to backhand him before they both cracked up.

“Snowballs?” Richards asked. Nelson and Lee shared a chuckle before Nelson answered.

“Sort of a long story,” he told the professor. “ETA Islas Revillagigedo,” he asked Lee, trying to get back to business. But Lee easily read the delight that stayed in Nelson’s expressive eyes at the memory of that bit of hijinks.

“1300 hours, sir.” Lee told him, having his own trouble keeping a straight face. “Cookie is planning on serving a slightly early lunch so that dives can begin as soon as we get Seaview settled in place.”

“Excellent,” Nelson told him. He glanced toward the small opening in the crash doors. “How’s Chip?”

Lee took a second to answer. “Perturbed,” he finally settled on, but he was still smiling softly. “If you don’t need anything further…” He left the slight question open.

“By all means,” Nelson interpreted correctly, “go make sure your crew is protected.” His voice was firm but he was still barely able to contain a chuckle. Lee nodded to Dr. Richards and returned to the Conn.

He tried to control his grin as he came to stand once more by his XO next to the chart table. He actually wasn’t worried that Chip would take his frustrations out on any of the crewmen – he was far too professional for that. Lee, on the other hand, was fair game, especially under present circumstances on a relaxed cruise. Lee realized that he obviously didn’t have his face under enough control when Chip sent him a vicious glare, and Lee held up a hand. “Easy, Chip. The Admiral and I were reminiscing about a certain snowball fight.”

Chip snorted softly but his face relaxed. “We’re headed into warm waters and you two are talking snow?”

Lee shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” he said with another grin, and explained the comment that had precipitated the old story. Chip’s face broke into a broad smile and Lee nudged his shoulder.

Peace once more restored – at least on his face – Chip gave himself over to the cruise. Deep down he knew that last year’s fiasco over the flu vaccination had been a fluke. But he was also stubborn enough to make the fuss he felt necessary to get at least a bit of revenge on Jamie. He got so few chances to needle the CMO that it was too good an opportunity to pass up. He did have a reputation to uphold, after all!

Belatedly he took a quick glance at his new second in the Conn most “A” watches, young Lt. Chris James. Shortly after Lee had taken command of Seaview he’d started a quiet, unnoticed by most of the crew, campaign to get the unilaterally disliked Lt. Bishop, Seaview’s Second Officer, to transfer back to the regular Navy. Chip had to quickly bury a smirk at how Lee had so carefully handled the maneuver that Bishop actually thought that it was his idea to request the transfer. Then there began a serious search for someone with the required training along with the necessary people skills to fit Seaview’s unique blend of military and civilian personnel. Although young, James’ exemplary navigation skills carried him past most of the other applicants and his easy leadership style blended with the boat’s crew ever so much better than the brusque by-the-book military style and abrasive superiority attitude that Bishop had displayed. Both Lee and Chip were extremely pleased with the lieutenant, and Chip had seen Admiral Nelson nod his approval a few times as James worked hard to learn the extra duties service on Seaview required of him.

Now Chip noticed James trying hard to control what appeared to be a broad grin threatening to break through and he cleared his throat. “Yes, Lieutenant?” he asked with half a growl in his voice, although he suspected he knew the reason for James’ sudden lack of composure.

James coughed, attempting to cover his discomfort at having been caught, and did his best to answer with correct respect. “Sorry, sir. Just remembering something I heard while I was at Annapolis, sir.”

Chip chuckled softly despite his best efforts not to. “About a certain snow bomb exploding on the Commandant?” he guessed correctly. “Not to mention then Captain Nelson?” and he shared a grin with Lee, who had wandered around the Control Room and just come back to the chart table.

James openly stared at him. “You don’t mean our Admiral, sir.”

“That part didn’t make it into the legend? I think I’m hurt,” Chip admitted. “He was more the target than Johnstone.”

It took James an extra second but he finally realized that his usually no nonsense XO was actually teasing him. And then he didn’t quite know how to respond.

Lee sent a glance between the two. “Mr. Morton,” he faux-growled, “what are you harassing Mr. James about?” He’d actually heard the bit of conversation between the other two, and knew that Chip knew that he had.

“Me?” Chip started, indignation plain in his voice just to keep the bit of silliness going. “I’ve just been informed that one of our better exploits at the Academy has been grossly misreported.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m outraged,” he declared.

Lee wasn’t the only one in the Conn who had heard most of the previous conversation. A badly covered snicker, its owner unidentified, set Lee off and he couldn’t bury a burst of laughter. That undid Chip as well and he snickered as his hands dropped back to the chart table. Lt. James, still too new to be totally comfortable with the hijinks, decided that busying himself with the navigation charts was his best option. Lee and Chip shared a grin over his back, and everyone settled into their usual routine.

* * * *

Chip kept his face under tight control for the next couple of hours, as Seaview continued her steady way south. He was extremely pleased that he’d been able to pull off his attempt to sidetrack Lee from whatever was causing his recent bout of nerves. He’d amazed even himself when he’d managed to feed off of Lee’s little bit of silly with Admiral Nelson and turn it into a whole lot of silly that included the entire Control Room. While Lee was hiding it well, Chip was all too adept at reading the constant tension Lee was under for some reason. Chip figured that it had something to do with the nightmares his friend was having, but knew that Lee would never mention it even if asked so Chip outwardly stayed quiet. But he’d been keeping as close an eye on Lee as he could without ticking Lee off, and took full advantage of this morning’s opportunity. Chip wasn’t holding his breath that Lee didn’t understand what Chip was up to – it was extremely hard to get anything past his all-too-tuned-in friend. But for now Lee was meandering around the Conn, kibitzing with the crew in the relaxed style he had, and Chip would take what he could get.

At 1100 hours Chip turned the Conn over to Lt. James, corralled Lee, and pointed him toward the Wardroom for Cookie’s early lunch. Lee put up a minimal argument, pointing out that since he wasn’t going out on at least this first dive he didn’t have to worry about waiting the prerequisite time between eating and diving. Chip countered the argument by pointing out that if he waited any longer, Seaview would be close enough to their destination that Lee wouldn’t want to leave the Conn until the giant submarine was safely settled into place. They were headed just west of Isla Clarion, the most westward of the group of islands that made up the National Protected Area governed by Mexico. It was a fairly remote spot, well known for sport diving, but both NIMR and Dr. Richards had procured the necessary documents that allowed them access so no one expected any problems. Unable to counter Chip’s logic, since that’s exactly what Lee had been planning to do, he allowed himself to be pointed aft.

They were both back well before time to settle Seaview where they’d been given permission, two hundred yards west of Isla Clarion’s coastline but still within the protected area. Lee and Chip shared a small grin at Lt. James’ quickly covered look of relief at their return. Lee had been thinking that he might let James give the commands to maneuver the submarine into her parking position. But after that look he merely smiled softly as Chip re-took command and released James for his own meal.

Chip did wonder, while he started preparations to park Seaview in the spot selected by the Admiral and Dr. Richards, why Lee had chosen not to dive, at least this first one. Lee loved to dive and rarely passed up the opportunity. As Lee stood by the chart table, watching out Seaview’s unique front windows, Chip broached the subject.

Lee sent the blond a quick grin. “Most of the really fun dives are around Isla Socorro. Mostly here, around Isla Clarion, you see reef sharks. I can do without that, thank you.”

Chip was just opening his mouth to challenge that comment, since Lee never backed down from a few sharks without a good reason, when he was interrupted. “Lee,” came from Admiral Nelson as he entered the aft hatch, “I didn’t see your name on the first dive list. Problems?” Chip buried his head in the first clipboard he could lay his hands on and watched surreptitiously as Lee sighed.

“I was just explaining to Chip,” Lee answered as Nelson stopped between the periscope island and the chart table, “that I’ll let you go play with sharks and I’ll stay safely inside, thank you.”

There was an ever so slight pause on Nelson’s part before he chuckled softly and looked at Chip. “Commander Crane being cautious? What’s wrong with this picture?”

Chip couldn’t stop the snicker that bubbled out, but a glance at Lee caused his own moment of caution. “Don’t think I want to tackle that question, sir. Sorry.”

It caused Nelson to chuckle a bit louder as it was Lee’s turn to pull himself up and cross his arms over his chest. “You have to admit, Lee,” Nelson teased his captain, “you do have a certain reputation around here.”

Something undecipherable came out of Lee’s mouth. “Yes, sir,” came out a bit louder and he dropped his arms back to his side.

Nelson took the several steps necessary to stand by Lee, and he reached out a hand and lightly cuffed the younger man’s shoulder. “Well, I for one am perfectly happy letting the watchdog divers keep track of the fauna and I’m going to concentrate on collecting some flora samples.”

Lee finally smiled. “Enjoy yourself, sir.”

“Oh, I plan to,” Nelson assured him. “I’ve not dived in this area before,” and he headed up the spiral stairs. With women aboard, changing would be done in the cabins instead of the Missile Room.

Chip gave a quick grin when Lee announced that he was headed to the Missile Room to see the divers off – it was a totally typical ‘Lee’ thing to do. Lee saw the grin and sent one back. He knew that he’d be putting himself on both Chip and Nelson’s sonar for the unusual action of not going out on the dive. But he was also willing to admit that with his recent lack of sleep he just wasn’t up to a dive today. He allowed himself a wry grin as he headed aft – he knew that neither Chip nor the Admiral would believe him if he actually used that as an excuse. Nelson was right – he had a reputation for ignoring any and all infirmities if there was work to be done. But today, with the students and Nelson merely collecting samples, Lee decided that he’d stay inside and enjoy the relaxed cruise. He did admit that if he had gone for a dive, maybe the extra exercise would allow him to sleep tonight. But there was to be another dive later – he’d play it by ear whether or not he went out on that one.

Seaview’s divers were almost ready to go out as Lee entered the Missile Room. He kibitzed with Chief Sharkey as he watched the men finish their final prep, and a slightly evil grin was just forming when Admiral Nelson walked through the hatch. Sharkey immediately went to help the Admiral on with his gear but Nelson hesitated.

“Lee,” he asked, “something wrong?”

Lee ducked his head as he joined his boss. He figured Nelson must have seen at least part of the grin and wasn’t interpreting it correctly. He let a more natural grin show as he answered. “Just getting a little reminder of why it’s such a pleasure serving aboard Seaview, sir.”

The enigmatic answer only piqued Nelson’s interest and he brushed away Sharkey’s attempt to help him on with his scuba tanks. “Yes?” he encouraged Lee to continue.

A bit of the original grin hit Lee’s face. He lowered his voice so that only the three of them could hear and asked, “Notice any similarities in who Chief Hauck assigned watchdog duty to?”

Nelson frowned but carefully looked around, as did Sharkey. While the COB only looked confused, Nelson caught on just as Dr. Richards and his students entered the room. “Humm, I see your point.” While the MAA had the option of pulling just about anyone he needed for a specific assignment, in this case he had chosen only mature members of the crew – men who were either happily married or in a committed relationship. Nelson’s eyes started to twinkle. “So that’s why you chose not to dive – decided you couldn’t concentrate on anything other than our female guests.”

Lee drew himself up. “Hardly, sir. A little young for me.” He took the time to glance around as the students got into their gear – and being given some appreciative looks by the Missile Room crew as they helped. “Although…” A soft snicker was his only ending to the sentence.

Nelson laughed out loud, causing everyone else in the room to at least glance at him. Sharkey finally caught on and grinned broadly as Nelson let the COB help him on with his tanks.

“Safe dive,” Lee said loud enough to include everyone. Nelson sent him another quick grin as the watchdogs nodded his way. They went out first, followed in two groups by everyone else, and Lee headed back to the Conn.

Some of the smile stayed on Lee’s face all the way forward, returned by the crewmen he ran into. Although they had no idea what was causing it they were just happy to see their Skipper in such a good mood. The smile was still in evidence as Lee walked through the Conn and up to the chart table. Chip raised an eyebrow, but Lee didn’t accept the invitation to explain and continued forward into the nose where he could see some of what the divers were doing in the relatively clear waters. He flipped on the nose camera as well, and hit the button for the dive channel so that he could hear the various conversations.

Lee wasn’t anticipating any problems on any of the dives. There was always the chance of the unexpected happening – such was the nature of Seaview’s missions that the whole crew was used to adapting to pretty much whatever got tossed their way. Another chalk mark for being able to handpick the crew. Lee never took that for granted. From his first days aboard, as bad as the situation started and then turned even worse, as much as he tried to make himself disliked to get the crew to focus on him and not their loss of Capt. Phillips,*** he’d appreciated the crew’s dedication to their duties. He liked the balance that Phillips and Nelson had established, knew that Chip had had a say as well in some of the staffing, and quickly came to depend on his old friend’s abilities to maintain calm order in whatever chaos might be happening at any given moment. He still shook his head at how Bishop had ever been allowed on board in the first place, let alone allowed to stay as long as he had. When asked, Chip would just shrug and remind Lee that he had been, after all, a good officer, knowledgeable and well trained. Lee would also shrug and let it drop – when Chip didn’t want to discuss something there was no pushing him. Lee wasn’t about to ask Nelson – some things were better left alone. And now that Bishop was gone it didn’t really matter that much anyway.

A huge Manta ray ‘flew’ past Seaview’s windows, causing Lee to grin as he watched it. There were a few comments as well on the dive channel as the first one was joined by several others. They didn’t ‘play’ with the divers, as dolphins and sea lions often seemingly enjoyed doing. But neither were they afraid, and sailed calmly back and forth looking like they were just keeping an eye on things. Lee didn’t notice Chip approaching until his voice said softly at Lee’s shoulder, “Sure you don’t want to go out and play with your friend?”

Lee chuckled. “Maybe later,” he told the blond. “They are, actually, fun to swim with.”

“These are huge,” Chip commented as one particularly large one glided past the window.”

“But relatively harmless,” Lee reminded him. “They’re fun to grab hold of, one hand on each wing just outside of the mandibles, and let them take you for a ride.” He sent Chip a sheepish grin. “Even though it’s not good to harass the wildlife,” he admitted.

Several different shapes passed under Seaview’s nose and both men shuddered ever so slightly. “It would appear,” Chip observed, “that even as we send out watchdog divers, the rays have their own bodyguards.” Both men watched the handful of white-tipped reef sharks meander around, apparently looking for a stray snack. The dive channel once again announced a warning, although all voices were calm. Reef sharks as a whole were fairly easy to be around if not provoked. The white-tipped variety was a tad more aggressive than the gray but caused no immediate panic in Seaview’s experienced divers, merely a heightened sense of awareness. From the dive channel, the sharks didn’t overly upset Dr. Richards and his students either. It was usually the inexperienced diver who could cause a problem on an otherwise under control dive so Lee knew that his divers would appreciate the business-as-usual way the students were handling their new audience.

Footsteps on the spiral stairs caused both Lee and Chip to turn. When the person who appeared turned out to be Dr. Jamison, Chip’s smile turned into a fierce scowl and he stomped back to the chart table. It was all Lee could do not to burst out laughing at the act – for he knew that’s what it was – and he greeted the CMO amiably. “What’s up, Doc?” He recognized the old cartoon crack too late to stop it coming out and did burst out laughing at that – along with snickers here and there around the Conn.

The doctor just shook his head but Lee still caught the quick grin. “Just thought that I’d come check out why everyone was so excited at lunch to be diving here,” he managed to get out fairly normally. The students had kept up a constant chatter at the early meal about everything they should see, and what they wanted to accomplish on the trip.

“At the moment, sharks and rays,” Lee told him, turning back to the window. “I can’t offer much help with the flora part. When I dive I prefer to concentrate on the fauna.” He sent the doctor a broad grin. “I like my plant life in gardens. And salads,” he added with a soft chuckle.

Will returned it. He liked seeing Lee this relaxed – it didn’t happen nearly enough, to his way of thinking. Lee was a very intense man, very focused on his job of keeping Seaview and her crew safe. Will knew that Chip could needle Lee around most of the rough spots that happened way too frequently. But it was still good to see Lee apparently relaxed all on his own – for the most part. From Chip’s reaction on seeing him, Will suspected that Lee was doing his own fair share of needling the blond over the flu shot.

Which was actually what had prompted Will’s visit forward – Lee still hadn’t gotten his vaccination. Will had thought to get that minor detail taken care of while everything was quiet. But seeing Lee being slightly silly, Will decided that it could wait for now. He, too, stood quietly, watching out Seaview’s unique windows. Chip hadn’t been the only one who’d noticed Lee being a bit ‘off’ toward the end of the last cruise. He hadn’t said anything – even to Admiral Nelson. Sometimes Lee just…had things on his mind, for want of a better way to phrase it. Will wasn’t pleased when he caught Lee under undo stress, but he also knew that there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about it. Will had a few avenues he could pursue if it went on for too long. One of which was to kick Lee off NIMR grounds for a few days’ vacation – the man simply didn’t seem to know the meaning of the concept “get some rest away from work!” But Will tried not to push Lee too far – he’d had a hard enough time earning the man’s trust and respect. Somewhere during his life Lee had learned to simply ignore any and all medical personnel he came in contact with. Will was not used to being ignored and there had been fireworks in those early months. Still is, Will told himself with a grin, and then realized that his extremely perceptive CO had seen the grin and a raised eyebrow was inviting an explanation. There was no way Will was touching that subject out loud no matter how amiable Lee seemed to be at the moment. “Just enjoying watching the rays,” he lied.

Lee’s grin spread. “They’re even more fun up close and personal. No reason you can’t go diving with them.”

Will glared, but Lee just laughed at him and he finally let a small smile show. He hated being underwater unless there was a submarine around him – it was an old joke between the officers, and to Will was another example of Lee’s good mood that he’d resort to it now. “So,” he asked casually, “why aren’t you out playing with them?” as one of the rays once more sailed past the window. Beside him he felt more than saw Lee stiffen. He instantly wished that he’d kept his mouth shut, and yet had no idea why the comment had caused such a reaction in a man who normally took great pleasure in the activity.

Lee knew that he’d reacted badly to the simple question and hoped that Jamie hadn’t caught it. Bad enough that Chip and Nelson were already suspicious. “No biggy,” he forced himself to relax and get out casually. “We’ll be here for several days – I’ll get my share of exercise.”

Will might have actually believed the answer if he’d not noticed how Lee’s body had instinctively reacted to the question. He didn’t push. Something was going on with the man, for sure, and just as surely there was no way to get Lee to talk about it until he was good and ready – if ever. Will gave himself a mental kick in the six to watch his tongue and then sent Lee another smile. “Just kindly don’t invite any of your ‘friends’ inside, please?”

“You’re no fun, Jamie,” Lee told him good-naturedly, back under control.

“You like your flora in a garden,” Will told him seriously. “I like my fauna on a platter,” and then grinned broadly as Lee laughed out loud.

“No hunting in the Preserve,” the brunet told him, “or I’d offer to bring back dinner. Should be plenty of rockfish with this many sharks around.”

Will was happy to go along with the misdirection. “Ah, yes, rockfish. Some make even better ‘fish ‘n chips’ than the standard cod or haddock.”

Lee nodded. “Agree with you there, Jamie. Different, but really, really good.”

“Maybe you can talk the Admiral into a little side trip for FS1 outside the Preserve?” He thought for a second. “Humm – better clear that with Cookie first.”

Lee chuckled again. “See what I can do,” he told the CMO, and they both went back to watching, silently, out the window.

All too soon, at least for the divers from their comments over the dive channel, it was time for them to come back aboard. Lee headed for the Missile Room as Will headed back up the staircase.

Lee couldn’t stop the grin that appeared as he watched a totally enthralled Admiral Nelson exit the dive hatch, his collection pouch bulging. Lately Nelson had been letting other divers bring him samples of whatever he was working on at the moment. He and Sharkey were enjoying taking out Nelson’s new toy, FS1, if what he wanted was too deep for normal dives, but other than that he tended to hole up in his lab. Lee thought to himself that maybe this trip would remind Nelson of how much pleasure the activity created, and how much healthier it was for him than stuck in the lab surrounded by his own cigarette smoke. Jamie would have loved to make NIMR smoke-free, but he didn’t even bother bringing it up since Nelson refused to give up the habit. “Enjoy yourself, sir?” he now asked as Nelson sat down and started unbuckling his tanks.

“Breathtaking,” Nelson told him. “Oh, I know that we’ve dived in what some would think more attractive places; more corals, more colorful fishes. But….” He didn’t finish but there was no mistaking the excited sparkle in his eyes.

“Understood, sir,” Lee told him, and meant it. A few years ago Lee would have preferred coral reefs to places like this. Being around Nelson had taught him to appreciate the ocean in all of its varied corners. “I was watching the Mantas play out the windows,” he continued. “We don’t see those just anywhere.”

“And not even a cross look from the sharks,” Nelson continued the tease from that morning. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about them when you go out.”

Lee didn’t miss the ever so slight emphasis on the ‘when’ and smiled sheepishly. “No, sir,” he agreed. “Although, you weren’t after their dinner. Jamie wants rockfish one night. I reminded him about no hunting in the Preserve but he thought we could send FS1 on a little fishing trip.” He grinned as Nelson pointed an eyebrow at him, trying to decide if he was joking. “We decided,” Lee continued, “that we might want to run that past Cookie first.”

“Harrumph,” Nelson muttered, still not sure what Lee was up to. But he finally shrugged. With Lee there was no telling what was going on; he was just happy to see the naturally intense young man being this relaxed, and even somewhat silly. “Since you seem to have things well-planned,” his voice was brusque but he knew that he wasn’t even coming close to controlling his expression – and if truth were told, wasn’t trying all that hard – “I’ll leave you to make the necessary arrangements.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee told him, just as seriously but with eyes just as sparkling. “Just another one of the myriad details so different at NIMR than in the regular Navy.”

Nelson snorted. “If that’s your way of telling me you’re about to ask for a transfer, kindly wait until we get home. Seaview would never survive your XO’s explosion.”

At that Lee surrendered and laughed out loud. It was always such fun when things were quiet enough to have a little fun. But there were limits. While he might have carried on even further with Chip, Nelson was a whole different kettle of fish – and Lee had to bury a snort of his own at that thought. “You mentioned another dive today, sir?” he got back to business.

Nelson glanced at his watch. “1430 hours now.” He looked over at Dr. Richards. “Cal, about 1600 hours for the next dive? Ah…” he amended as Richards started to do the calculations, “4 pm?”

Richards nodded. “Sounds perfect. This was a simple dive. No problems going out again that soon, and then we’ll have plenty to keep us all happy until morning.” Nelson looked back at Lee.

“Shouldn’t be an issue,” he agreed. “COB, Chief Hauck?” he asked both men, who’d been listening.

“No problems here,” Sharkey confirmed.

“Got it covered,” Hauck told him.

“1600 it is,” Lee told Nelson. “I’ll go notify the Conn.” He headed for the hatch.

“Oh, and Lee,” Nelson stopped his captain’s exit and Lee turned around expectantly, “if you could postpone the CMO’s fishing trip I’d appreciate your help with my next set of sample collections.”

Lee buried a grin – almost – and knew that Nelson caught his quick cover. “Yes, sir,” he nodded. “Understood.” At that he headed forward.

Lee wasn’t sure why he still bothered to try and cover up when something was troubling him. Chip knew. From Jamie’s coming forward earlier, he knew. Nelson obviously knew, and his way of pushing the subject without tackling Lee head on was to ‘request’ Lee accompany him out on the dive and see what Lee’s reaction was. If Lee flat refused, he was sunk – the other three would demand to know what was going on. Lee not actively involved in the diving he so loved was cause for major concern. As long as Lee went out they’d back off, assume that there wasn’t anything they should be seriously concerned about, and let Lee deal with whatever was going on until or unless there were more issues. Lee honestly appreciated their concern. It did frustrate him somewhat, if he were totally honest. But he knew that they cared about him as a friend and that alleviated 98% of the frustration. The thought put a smile back on his face and lightened his step.

It also allowed him to ignore the slight smirk that hit Chip’s face when Lee informed him of the next dive’s details. He considered telling Chip to inform Jamie that the fishing trip would have to be postponed, knowing that Chip wouldn’t have a clue what he was talking about and having a pretty good idea that the doctor would be perverse enough not to explain either. But in the end he decided to keep quiet. It would bug Chip even more when he discovered – which he no doubt would at some point – that Lee and Jamie were keeping a secret from him. Instead, he told his XO that he was headed for his cabin to deal with paperwork until time to get ready – it was what Lee would frequently do anyway during Seaview’s afternoon so wouldn’t draw undo attention.

And he did, actually, sit down at his desk and place a report open in front of him. But instead of working on it he leaned back against the tall headrest of his chair and closed his eyes. He wasn’t worried about going out diving; he wasn’t that tired. He’d have preferred not to, although in the back of his mind was the thought from earlier about getting tired enough that he’d actually sleep tonight. And if not, it won’t be any worse than it’s already been the last couple of weeks, he muttered to himself, and tried to relax.

A light knock on his door snapped his eyes open and bounced his head forward. “Come,” he called out as he glanced at his watch. Apparently some of the surprise he felt as he realized that nearly an hour had passed was still on his face; it caused Seaman Riley, carrying Lee’s wetsuit – which usually stayed in the Missile Room – to stop dead. Lee chuckled and waved him the rest of the way in. “Had my thoughts somewhere else,” he told the younger man which was, in fact, the truth. “Thanks for bringing that up. Just toss it on the bunk.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” Riley visibly relaxed but still hurried to comply. He’d not been aboard Seaview very long and, as much as he liked the Skipper, was still a bit nervous around him. He was one of the civilian technicians, not former military, and hadn’t quite found his ‘nitch’ yet although he was really starting to enjoy the job. An extremely perceptive man, he had a subtle feeling that he’d interrupted Crane in the middle of ‘something’. But he sure wasn’t about to ask!

Lee’s easy grin stayed in place as he continued. “That would be Chief Sharkey’s reminder that it’s time to get ready for the dive?” His grin spread as Riley finally sent him a small one.

“He just didn’t want you to have to come down for it, sir.”

Lee nodded. “Thank him for me, please. Got lost in a report and wasn’t watching the time.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Riley repeated and beat a not quite hasty retreat. Sometimes he just didn’t quite know how to take Crane.

Lee smiled at the closed door, then shook his head and started to change. He was surprised, but pleased, that he’d actually slept – even that little bit – dream-free. Now, if I could just keep it that way, he gave another mutter. He made a quick call down to Chip to make sure all was well – even though he knew that it was, simply from the fact that he would have already been notified if it wasn’t – and headed for the Missile Room. Admiral Nelson was just exiting his cabin as Lee passed and the pair walked aft together, Nelson expounding on what he’d seen on the earlier dive and what he expected to do and see on this one. Lee let him talk – there was no stopping the scientist part of Nelson in the first place, and Lee enjoyed seeing the excitement in Nelson that these kinds of cruises brought out. It was why Nelson had built NIMR and Seaview – to explore, catalog, and protect and defend the two-thirds of the earth’s surface that lay underwater. Without oceans the land inhabitants, including humans, couldn’t survive. Nelson would get so angry at times that there were people who simply could not understand that concept. Lee much preferred the Admiral this way – a seriously ticked off Nelson was not a pretty sight!

The pair had only been in the Missile Room a few minutes when Dr. Richards and his students arrived. Nelson was chatting with Chief Sharkey and Lee with the watchdogs for this dive. Lee smiled when he saw some of the same excitement on the students’ faces that had been on Nelson’s earlier. The thought flashed through his mind that the world was in good hands as long as there were people this dedicated to protecting it. Oh, he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the fact that there were also those people in the world who seemed dedicated only to blowing it up! But he still had faith that the good ones outweighed the bad.

And this dive went a long way to renewing that faith. The seas were fairly calm and clear, and the sharks that gathered stayed non-threatening. Lee actually enjoyed watching them – the hunter in him enjoyed their easy movement in the water; no wasted motion, watchful yet curious in their own slightly devious way. Lee as well as the watchdogs never lost sight of the fact that a good percentage of that curiosity was directed toward keeping a lookout for their next meal. But Lee appreciated that they allowed him to play in what was essentially their world without major protest, and wished that more ‘species’ on land could be that tolerant!

Lee kept having to remind himself that he was supposed to be keeping an eye on Admiral Nelson, and helping him with the occasional collection of this small rock or that species of anemone, but he was constantly getting sidetracked. A school of golden-bodied Crosshatch Triggerfish would wander past, catching his eye. Or bright orange Clarion Angelfish would skitter to and fro. Even Nelson would stop to watch, and he and Lee share a smile and perhaps a comment. The Mantas were still around, gliding through the area. Lee didn’t often get so lost on a dive – he was too aware of what disasters could befall a diver who failed to pay attention. But he still felt a good bit of tension that had built over the last couple of weeks start to fall away. He chided himself for not going out on the first dive; he knew that so often in the past this one activity could make him forget – even if only for an hour or so – whatever was troubling him. And it wasn’t a hard dive. The currents kept you remembering where you were but Lee wasn’t overly exhausted when it was time to come back inside. A bit of a sheepish smile crossed his mind as he sat to take his tanks off. Apparently it crossed his face as well as Nelson gave him a curious look. He sent his boss an honest one. “Just reminding myself how fortunate I am to work for you,” he told Nelson.

There was, as earlier in the Conn, a moment where Nelson seemed to consider the comment before responding. “I consider myself the fortunate one for having hijacked you out of Jiggs’ clutches,” he finally said, referring to Admiral Jiggs Stark, ComSubPac as well as one of Nelson’s oldest, closest friends.

“Whatever,” Lee told him with a grin. “It works.”

Nelson laughed. “Indeed, it does,” he agreed. He glanced at his watch. “Just time to clean up before supper. I seem to have worked up a tremendous appetite.”

“Yes, sir.” Lee had absolutely no problem translating that unsubtle message – ‘don’t be avoiding the meal’ came through Nelson’s comment loud and clear! Nelson nodded and walked over to where Dr. Richards was standing and Lee headed for his cabin.

By habit Lee’s first stop after changing was the Conn. Chip’s easy smile was once more about half smirk when Lee first came down the stairs. But the blond quickly caught Lee up on the few odds and ends that needed reporting and then turned the Conn over to Lt. O’Brien before the pair headed for the Wardroom.

Doc followed them in and Lee apologized for not having time to go fishing. Chip stopped filling his tray and sent them both a questioning look. They merely smiled, and Chip frowned but turned his back. He was slowly learning that, if Lee and Jamie were teasing each other about something it wasn’t wise to get caught in the middle. Those two shared a quick grin and started filling their own plates. Nelson came in just as the three were sitting down, but Dr. Richards and his students were right behind and Nelson chose to sit with them at a different table. The others didn’t mind – Nelson talking science didn’t always blend well with eating.

The evening stayed quiet – as expected, since Seaview was sitting quietly with just the top of her conning tower showing above water to let the sport diving boats that might wander close know that she was there. Lee did his usual, casual, evening stroll through the boat. The crew was used to the little habit by now and actually enjoyed the chance to visit with their Skipper in this quiet way. He wandered through the Conn about 2000 hours, and listened as Chip gave O’Brien a few last minute details before both CO and XO headed for their cabins. This would usually be when Chip would do his daily share of paperwork not already attended to and tonight, since Lee hadn’t gotten to it earlier, also had a few reports to deal with. He was still totally relaxed when he crashed just after 2230 hours, and happily fell asleep in his usual three minutes from the time his head hit the pillow.

And came violently, wildly, awake forty-five minutes later! Soaked with sweat, shaking badly from the old memories that had once more invaded his quiet sleep, he sat for a few minutes on the edge of his bunk getting himself back under control. He half-expected Chip to come storming through his cabin door demanding to know what the heck was going on. Chip’s cabin was on the other side of the bulkhead next to Lee’s bunk. But apparently, for all of its insidious maliciousness, Lee’s dream had been carried out in silence for there was no sign of it having awakened the blond. For which Lee was grateful. He had no idea why the memories were attacking him after all this time, and definitely no wish to try and explain it to Chip.

It took Lee nearly ten minutes before he felt safe enough to stand up and strip off his soaking PJ’s. He didn’t risk a shower, knowing that for sure at this hour Chip would hear. Instead, he used a wet washcloth to wipe off the rest of the sweat and then grabbed his robe. He was still a little shaky and didn’t want to risk one of his 0-dark-30 ‘walkaboats,’ as the crew had started calling them, so he sat at his desk and worked on the details for a couple of requests NIMR had received for Seaview’s services. Nelson had come to depend on Lee’s input regarding cruise parameters, any extra crew needed aboard to handle multiple dives if necessary, and just a general overview of what Seaview would be asked to do. Lee took a different tact when dealing with these kinds of details than Nelson did. Not that Nelson would deliberately put Seaview and her crew in danger. He just tended to get caught up in the research and forget what he’d be asking everyone else to handle. Lee took no such angle; Seaview and her crew got first priority! Lee would do his best to accommodate Nelson – and his paying passengers. But… There were limits. Nelson didn’t always appreciate Lee’s caution. But he’d come to depend on his chosen captain’s ability to get everyone home in one piece!

Focus on this type of work actually helped calm Lee’s mind and he was able, about 0330, to once more lie down. He didn’t sleep, but at least could close his eyes without the threat of what he’d ‘see.’ He got up again only a little earlier than normal, took a slightly longer shower than normal, and headed for the Conn to check in with Lt. Keeter before hitting the wardroom for some much-needed coffee.

He was the only one in the Wardroom when he entered. He didn’t even see Cookie through the pass-through into the Galley. The first full mug of the chef’s powerful brew went down in about four swallows. The second went down almost as fast. The third went more slowly, and he was just pouring his fourth when he spotted Cookie eying him carefully from the far corner of the Galley, and grinned. “I’m safe to approach, Cookie,” he called out. “The only one I’m ticked at is myself.”

The chef grunted softly but there was a small smile on his face when he got to the doorway. “Wasn’t sure there for a second, Skipper.”

Lee chuckled. “Me, either,” he admitted. Cookie finally sent him an open smile. “I see I’m a bit early,” Lee continued as he glanced at the mostly empty serving trays.

“Couple of minutes; I got a slow start this morning,” the chef admitted.

“Problems?” Lee was always trying to keep Seaview running smoothly.

“Just my own clumsiness. Dropped the first pan of baked French toast and had to start over.”

“There are days, and then there are days,” Lee told him with feeling, downed the last of that mug of coffee and poured another. “Somehow we get through them.”

“Aye, sir,” Cookie told him. Lee saw him give the coffee urn a glance before heading back into the Galley and he chuckled as he leaned against one of the tables, finally taking the time to actually taste what he was chugging down. He had a feeling that the chef would be checking the level in the urn the instant the rest of the meal was out.

Lee was about halfway through his slice of French toast, two sausage links, and small portion of scrambled eggs when Chip walked in. He eyed Lee’s skimpy plate, shook his head, and loaded his own tray with triple what Lee had taken before sitting down next to Lee. “I swear I don’t know how you stay alive, what little you eat,” the blond complained before stuffing his mouth full.

Lee chuckled at the old joke. “And one of these days your metabolism is going to fail and you’ll balloon up to three hundred pounds in a week,” Lee continued the familiar banter. It caused both men to grin.

“And just what are you two plotting?” Nelson faux-grumbled as he walked through the door in time to catch the grin. Both men sent him innocent looks.

“Help!” Doc muttered, following Nelson in, and the other three finally laughed out loud.

Once the older men had filled their trays, both about halfway between what the two younger men had taken, and settled down on the other side of the table from them – their usual seating arrangement – Nelson asked Lee if he’d had a chance to look at a specific cruise request. It was, actually, one of the two Lee had spent the night working on and they discussed several of the details. Chip listened carefully – he’d eventually be responsible for Seaview’s day-to-day operations during the cruise.

Will, however, spent the time casually eating but surreptitiously observing Lee. While Seaview’s young captain looked and sounded fine there was…something…just that little bit off about him. Will had learned early on that Lee seemed to think that it was his job to take on the ‘weight of the world’ when it came to Seaview and her crew, and often failed to pay attention to how he took care of himself. Will had finally surrendered tackling Lee over his eating habits – or lack thereof – only because he realized that Cookie was already doing everything he could think of to keep his Skipper well-nourished. Will knew that Chip also helped every way he could to keep tabs on his friend. There wasn’t anything overt this time that Will could put his finger on. And Chip’s and Lee’s nattering as he and Nelson walked in spoke to Lee’s normally easy-going nature being firmly in place. And yet… Will would keep his eyes and ears open.

If Will had only known, Admiral Nelson was thinking much the same thing. Lee seemed fine – mostly. The two kicked half a dozen different scenarios for the proposed cruise around while casually eating breakfast. Nelson glanced at Chip several times – mostly to make sure that his XO was included even though he wasn’t a contributor to the conversation, but also to see if the blond seemed even mildly unsettled by anything Lee said or did. As far as Nelson could tell, all seemed okay there. Both he and Seaview’s CMO had come to depend on Chip to keep close watch over his CO – and friend.

As Nelson and Lee pretty much reached an end to their discussion of the proposed trip, both in perfect agreement of what was needed, and all four men were done eating, Nelson asked casually if Lee would be diving again today.

“Did you need me for something else, sir?” Lee asked. He was actually hoping Nelson would say yes. The lack of sleep had him especially drained this morning and he was having to work hard to cover it.

Unfortunately for Lee, Nelson didn’t give him that out. “Not particularly. Cal’s requesting a night dive so I thought that we’d do one this morning, work the rest of the day in the lab, and then go out about 2100 hours. It will give everyone a breather after the two dives so close together yesterday.”

“Sounds like a plan, sir,” Lee agreed. If he could maybe get a catnap at his desk during the afternoon, as he had accidentally done the day before, he’d be just fine. He’d rather not go out on the morning dive but that, apparently, wasn’t going to be an option. He gave himself a mental shrug and headed to the Conn with Chip to make sure all was well with his boat while waiting the hour or so before having to change. Yesterday’s dive had been a piece of cake. He had no reason to think this one would be any different.

And for the most part it wasn’t. The ocean currents were running a little stronger, the sharks were a little more…not aggressive, but nosier for sure and needed to be watched a little closer. One of the students nearly got bitten by a ticked off Moray eel but no one was sure what had perturbed it. There was just enough going on that Lee couldn’t totally relax and enjoy the dive. Even Nelson wasn’t helping by insisting on venturing further away than was originally planned, expressing a wish to “just check that out while we’re right here. Dr. Richards wants the night dive to be on the south side of the island.” There was never any arguing with the Admiral without good reason. Lee ordered the watchdogs to stay with the others and he kept a careful eye on his boss until it was time to head back to the boat.

They hadn’t been back half an hour before Lee realized that it was going to be one of ‘those’ days for sure. First there was a glitch in the A/C unit. Turned out to be minor, but Lee kept watch until the problem was found and fixed. He was just deciding that he’d better go get a bite of lunch before Chip came looking for him when Chip did, actually, come looking for him. He grinned, Chip muttered something under his breath, and the pair headed for the Wardroom only slightly later than usual.

They’d barely finished when there was a slightly frantic call from Lt. James in the Conn that they had company. It turned into nothing more than letting the sport diving boat that had shown up know that they were there, but moving slightly south and wouldn’t interfere with the boat company’s paying customers. Lee stayed in the Conn until Seaview was settled into her new location, and was just headed for his cabin when Engineering reported a small issue. Lee almost, once the problem had been identified, left the repairs for Lt. O’Brien to oversee. But that was such a totally un-Lee thing to do that he hung around and chatted with the lieutenant and crew until everything was again running smoothly for fear of arousing unwanted attention. Then Nelson wanted to run half a dozen things past him so he spent the next hour in the lab with his boss. By that time it was nearly 1730 hours. Lee gave himself another internal shrug, checked in with Chip in the Conn, and the pair headed for dinner.

Lee thought that he’d done a fairly good job of covering the couple of yawns that tried to sneak up on him over the course of the meal but he should have known better. After the second time it happened Chip asked Nelson casually if perhaps he might want to take a different diving partner out tonight, that ten minutes out and Lee would be curled up on the nearest rock taking a nap. Lee sent the blond a withering glare, totally ignored because it wasn’t work-related, while Nelson and Jamie unsuccessfully buried soft chuckles.

“Lee?” Nelson got himself under enough control to question the younger man. With Chip breaking the ice, so to speak, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

“I’m fine, sir,” Lee gave his stock answer to any question related to his health. He turned to his boss, realized belatedly that the glare he’d directed at Chip was still present on his face, and put a more correct one in its place. “For some reason I didn’t sleep all that well last night.” Well, he wasn’t lying. He simply saw no need to say anything about the last couple of weeks. “We won’t be out all that late. No biggy.” He hesitated. “But of course, if you’d rather take someone else…”

That got a grin out of the Admiral. For as confident a man as Lee was, sometimes he seemed to lack knowledge of his own abilities. There was no one Nelson would rather have as a dive partner than Lee. While lately it was most often Sharkey in that role, it was more a matter of the COB simply assuming that was part of his job and doing it, and nobody telling him otherwise. Nelson usually didn’t argue – he’d known Sharkey during his time in the regular Navy, before ‘retiring’ to build NIMR, and got along with him just fine. But this trip Lee had assigned Sharkey control of the dives and it made no sense to scramble that for this one occasion. “You know I enjoy nothing more than having you watch my back,” he now told his captain. “As long as you’re fit,” he found it necessary to add. He knew ‘something’ was going on with Lee. And he was sure that it went back further than the previous night. But without evidence to back it up he also knew that it would be useless to bring it up.

“I’m fine,” Lee repeated. There was a mutter from his right and an elbow nailed his insolent XO. Nelson and Jamie shared a look and then just shook their heads, and the rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence.

Once back in the Conn after the meal Lee and Chip continued to natter at each other. The crew hadn’t at first, when Lee took permanent command of Seaview, known how to take the new attitude in their XO. Under Phillips he’d been straight-laced, dedicated, calm under pressure, and ran a controlled Conn. He was still that. But with he and Crane having known each other so long, sometimes when things were quiet… Well, the civilians aboard hadn’t had much of a problem adjusting, but anyone who had any military background wasn’t so sure. It hadn’t taken all that long for everyone to figure out that normal chain of command was firmly in place and Mr. Morton was still their most excellent XO in every way. Just, every so often… Well, now they tried to keep their grins and chuckles at what their senior officers came up with under control. Even if it was, sometimes, with only minimal success.

Eventually Lee headed for his cabin to change. Everyone knew that Chip would stay in the Conn, no matter that Lt. O’Brien had the Duty, until the dive was over. O’Brien in no way took offence at his XO’s presence – it was just how things were done on Seaview. Chip did head down to the Missile Room about 2045 hours, and stayed until the diving party was out and starting their scouting and collecting. Lee’s voice over the dive channel reminded everyone to keep an eye out for any more ticked off Moray eels; that this was, after all, their normal hunting time. Chip and Sharkey shared a half-grin, half-grimace – Moray’s could be nasty – and Chip headed back to the Conn.

It was a bit eerie diving at night, but nothing anyone hadn’t done before. The watchdog divers carried special lighting units, as if they were filming the dive, to help them watch for anything unfriendly. Everyone else carried smaller units on their face shields to illuminate where they were looking. It made it easy to know where everyone was.

Once more Nelson angled slightly away from where Dr. Richards and his students were, and Lee followed close behind. Apparently something had been said to Chief Hauck about the earlier dive because there was an extra watchdog assigned to stay with the pair. When the Admiral caught on he sent a glare Lee’s way. “Not my doing, Admiral,” he said with a shrug.

Nelson looked once more at the watchdog, gliding easily about twenty feet above them, and then back to Lee. “Harrumph,” came loud and clear, and Lee didn’t quite get a chuckle buried when there was a choked off snort that sounded suspiciously like Chief Sharkey. Happily Nelson surrendered peacefully and went back to studying whatever it was he’d focused on at the moment. Lee didn’t particularly want to know – he was just along to play packhorse, offer assistance, and mostly make sure that Nelson didn’t wander off by himself. When the Admiral was on a marine prowl he tended to forget everything, and everyone, else!

The waters were relatively warm, everyone had either full air tanks or were using high-capacity rebreathers, so it was nearing 2200 hours before there was a call to remind everyone that they needed to wrap up what they were doing and head back toward Seaview. Nelson had marked a section on the rocks one foot square and was counting mussels within that specific spot as a health check on the area in general. A shadow, caused by something passing between the watchdog diver, Evans, and Lee slightly startled Lee and he looked up. “Wow,” came out before he could stop it, followed by a chuckle from Nelson. Evans followed the gliding shape with his lights – it was one of the largest Mantas Lee had ever seen. Focused on that, Lee was turning in the water and not paying attention to anything else when suddenly he felt something bite him near his left ankle. He let out a startled yelp and almost instantly felt Nelson, who was still directly below him, brush something away with a gloved hand. “What…?” Lee started.

“You’re okay, Lee. You must have disturbed a passing Moray and it tried to take a nibble. Looks like he barely penetrated your wet suit.”

“Make that ‘she’, Admiral,” Chip’s voice broke into the dive channel. “You know Lee only attracts the female wildlife around him.” The channel was instantly filled with snorts, giggles, and chuckles, the most recognizable one being from Admiral Nelson. Lee just hung his head.

Nelson tapped his leg. “Time to head back anyway, Lee. Let Doc take a quick look at that – Moray bites can carry a nasty set of germs.”

“Then can I go smack a certain blond?” Lee finally decided that the best way to fight blonds was with their own brand of humor.

Nelson chuckled again. “By all means,” he agreed. “I don’t think I remind you enough what an excellent job of maintaining order aboard Seaview you do,” and again there was snickers and snorts over the dive channel, with one exception – there was silence this time from the afore-mentioned blond. Lee sent Nelson a nod and the trio headed back.

Lee had no idea that he, Nelson and Evans had swam so far until it took them so long to get back. They were also fighting some current so by the time the three of them made the swim they were the last to enter the diving hatch. Lee frowned when the door opened and he saw Jamie standing, waiting. But once more Nelson chuckled and Lee surrendered to the inevitable. He didn’t, however, realize that he was so tired until he sat down, rather ungracefully, on the bench to remove his dive gear. The doctor frowned but said nothing, merely bending down to take a quick look at the tear in Lee’s wet suit. “I’d rather you came down to Sick Bay and let me clean that up than have to drag half my first aid gear up to your cabin,” Will looked Lee straight in the eye.

Lee started to open his mouth, was interrupted by Nelson loudly clearing his throat, and surrendered. “Yes, sir,” he told the doctor.

Will pointed an eyebrow at Lee. He knew Lee had to be addressing Nelson. Will carried the rank of Lt. Commander but as a full Commander Lee would never ‘sir’ an officer of lesser rank. Deciding that he didn’t really want to figure that one out at the moment he stood up and offered Lee a hand. He was surprised when Lee actually accepted it although he then stood up quite easily, if still looking extremely tired, and accompanied the doctor back to his domain.

Once in Sick Bay’s confines Will helped Lee remove his wet suit. Lee glanced around – one of Seaview’s two corpsmen was always on Duty. Will saw the look and smiled. “Sent John to work in the supply room – you still scare him.” Lee sent the doctor a glare, however useless it was, and finished stripping off the gear.

Still wearing swim trunks, Lee sat on the edge of the exam table and put his left leg up for Jamie to fuss over. The eel’s teeth, as Nelson had intimated, barely made it through the light material of the summer-weight suit, but Lee also knew the hidden dangers of something even this seemingly insignificant. Oh, if he’d been on his own he’d have simply cleaned it as best he could, slathered antibiotic cream on it, and not even bother with a bandage. The saltwater that got to the small wound through the teeth marks in the suit had already made it stop what little bleeding there had been. But Lee leaned back on his arms placed slightly behind him on the table and relaxed as the doctor used almost the same techniques. Lee hadn’t realized that he’d closed his eyes until he heard Jamie say ‘something.’ His eyes popped open and he glared at the doctor.

“I said, why don’t you just lay back for a few minutes while I finish this,” Will enunciated clearly and slowly, realizing that Lee hadn’t heard what he’d said. It was quickly becoming evident to Will that, for whatever reason, Lee was totally exhausted. He got the glare from the younger man that he was expecting, kept the benign half-smile on his face because he also knew that it was what Lee was expecting, and waited patiently for what both knew would be the eventual outcome – Lee brought his other leg up and stretched out fully on the exam table. Once his eyes again closed, Will grinned broadly.

Learning to deal with his new Skipper had nearly been the end of Will’s career. Lee was stubborn, willful (and Will nearly snickered at that terrible pun), and committed to keeping his boat and his crew safe even if it meant killing himself to do it. Shaking his head softly, Will headed to one of the cabinets to grab a small roll of gauze. The bite was small enough that it didn’t really require a bandage. But Will was pretty sure that the first thing Lee would do when he got back to his cabin would be take a shower. A couple layers of gauze and some waterproof tape would keep Lee from washing off all the antibiotic salve that Will had spread on the area of the bite to combat any lasting effects from where the eel had taken its last meal.

It did puzzle Will why Lee seemed to be so tired. Normally the man had boundless energy. Enough so to drive Will a little crazy at how little rest the man seemed to thrive on. Will took a second to really look at Lee. He didn’t seem ill or in pain. He hadn’t lost weight – something that could happen all too easily since eating was not high on Lee’s priority list if there were issues he deemed more pressing. Will shook his head as he put the last piece of tape in place. “Skipper, since you’re here already, how about I do your flu shot and get that out of the way?” Lee didn’t open his eyes but there was an ever so soft mumble. Will took that to mean yes and he went to prepare the injection.

~

Nelson stowed his collections from the dive safely in the Marine lab, checked to see if Dr. Richards needed anything, and headed to change in his cabin before making sure his boat – and mainly his two senior officers – were safely settled in for the night. After the last bit of calls on the dive channel there was no telling what the pair would get into before they both finally crashed. Some of their more ‘interesting’ antics putting a broad smile on his face, he came down the spiral stairs into the Conn. He half expected to find Lee there but only Chip was in evidence, discussing something with Lt. O’Brien. Both stopped talking and looked at Nelson expectantly. “Just making sure both you and Lee were through sniping at each other and settled in for the night before I crash,” he told his XO firmly.

O’Brien decided his head needed to be buried behind the handiest clipboard. Chip frowned but answered easily. “Haven’t seen hide nor hair of the Skipper,” he told his boss, before the hint of a smile broke through. “Figured Jamie must have tied him to one of Sick Bay’s bunks.”

Nelson chuckled but added firmly, “If that happened, better plan on getting a new CMO – the current one wouldn’t survive if he tried that for something as simple as Lee’s injury was.”

“True,” Chip agreed. “But Lee hasn’t shown up here. Yet,” he added with another grin. “I’ll go see where he’s decided to get sidetracked.” He started to take a step toward the aft hatch.

“And I’ll go along to make sure you don’t get sidetracked as well,” Nelson told him, a meaningful look in his eyes.

Chip sent him a quick, sheepish, grin. “Aye, sir,” he acquiesced, and they both headed aft.

~

The glint of the needle coming closer nearly paralyzed Lee with fear. He knew what that needle meant – the pain, the terror it brought with it, the insidious voice telling him that he was now an agent for the People’s Republic and ordering him to kill Nelson and sabotage the mission. He knew that he couldn’t stop the needle’s advance, he was too firmly strapped into the bolted-down chair. And yet he couldn’t, wouldn’t, give up. Not ever! Every fiber of his being was screaming “NO! I won’t do it! You can’t make me!” And yet the needle would force his compliance if it reached him. If it touched him. If the tip once more entered his body. Lee couldn’t let that happen. Not again. This time he knew that he’d no longer be able to fight it. He called on every muscle in his body to make one last effort to break free…

~

Nelson opened Sick Bay’s door and took one step in, Chip on his heels. He was just registering Lee stretched out on the exam table and Will prepping an injection site on Lee’s bare shoulder with an alcohol swab in his left hand and a hypodermic needle in his right when Lee exploded off the table. Nelson had no other word for what happened so suddenly that both he and Chip were momentarily stunned. They were powerless to stop Doc’s body being slammed back against one of his cabinets, his head smacking the metal surface with a solid ‘thunk.’ Lee, once upright, seemed to crumple and he fell so hard his head bounced off the deck. It was over just that fast. Nelson, finally able to move, knelt down next to Will. The doctor seemed shaken, slightly stunned, but otherwise unhurt as Nelson helped him to sit up. Chip did much the same for Lee, who obviously was a little fuzzier around the edges than the doctor but also starting to look around with a bit more clarity in his eyes.

“What the hell just happened?” Nelson thundered now that both men seemed coherent.

“Don’t ask me,” Will all but growled. His ears were ringing from the smack his head had taken on the metal cabinet and he was mad enough to spit nails. He was just about to start yelling himself when he realized that his chosen target, Lee, was staring at the hypodermic needle. It had flown from Will’s hand when Lee hit him and was now laying several feet away on the deck. Lee seemed mesmerized by it, sitting perfectly still as Chip held him close, both sitting on the deck next to the firmly bolted down exam table. “Skipper?” Will’s voice was actually fairly soft as he started to calm down. When Lee’s attention stayed totally on the needle Will spoke a little more firmly. “Commander.” Will saw Lee’s lips move but whatever he said was so low that from Chip’s reaction even he didn’t hear it clearly, sitting right next to him.

“Lee?” the blond tried. Lee’s eyes wouldn’t leave the needle.

“Lee!” Nelson took his turn, his voice still strong with rage. And not a little worry, if truth were told.

“That damn memo,” came out of Lee’s mouth. Will, Nelson, and Chip all exchanged totally puzzled looks.

“What?” Chip took another shot at getting through to his friend. Lee had yet to move a muscle beyond Chip helping him to sit up on the deck.

“That…memo,” and Lee’s voice left no doubt about what he’d left out of the description. Lee almost never swore, but those two words held intense venom!

“Lee, what are you talking about?” Nelson demanded.

Lee finally took his eyes off the needle, looked at the three faces focused on him, and sighed heavily. “Jamie, are you okay?”

Several answers swam rapidly through the doctor’s mind but he managed, barely, to keep them to himself. He had a feeling Lee saw them nonetheless, from the sheepish expression that the younger man’s face morphed into. “I’ll live,” he finally settled on. “What memo?” it was his turn to ask.

Lee gave his head a shake. He tried to stand up but Chip held him firmly, and Lee sent him some of the sheepish grin. “The memo about the flu shots. You know what it did to Chip.” There was a mutter from the blond but quick grins from both Nelson and Will. “What you don’t know…” He sighed heavily again. “What I didn’t realize until right now. It triggered nightmares. Every time I closed my eyes all I’d see was that…needle…” He looked at Nelson. “When I was brainwashed and almost killed you,” he finished so softly that he wasn’t sure if his boss heard.

But Nelson had. “You did not try to kill me. You couldn’t. They couldn’t make you.”

“Not for lack of trying,” Lee insisted. “Anyway, I kept seeing that needle, always shiny, always coming closer and closer…” He shrugged. Chip finally turned loose of him but continued to sit next to him on the deck. “I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what had made the nightmares come back.” He looked at Jamie, apology written plainly across his face. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t hear what you said. I must have dozed off…”

“Because you weren’t getting any sleep,” Chip’s voice held no accusation. “That’s why you’ve been so tired; so reluctant to go diving.”

“And then I basically made you go.” It was Nelson who now sounded apologetic.

Lee started shaking his head even before Nelson finished the sentence. “My own fault, sir. I could have said something.” He looked at Jamie. “Should have said something…” His voice trailed off.

“Superman, admitting he’s fallible?” Chip muttered, and got an elbow in his ribs for the comment.

“And when I did open my eyes,” Lee continued to the doctor, “all I saw was the needle, and…”

“We got the rest,” Chip muttered, and prepared to defend himself from another elbow.

Lee was considering it when Nelson cleared his throat. Three pairs of eyes instantly met his. “How about we all get some sleep?” he suggested. “You,” he pointed to Chip, “go put your CO to bed.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” He looked at Lee. “Coming, junior?” It was an old joke between the two, one they didn’t use in public although Nelson and Will had heard the blond use it a time or two. Lee frowned but it quickly turned into a grin and they both rose and headed for their respective cabins.

Once the door was closed Nelson turned back to Will. “No memo next year?” A word slipped out of the doctor’s mouth that Nelson had never heard him use and he laughed out loud.

“But point taken,” Will finally agreed. He sent Nelson a look as they both finally stood up. “Not sure I’d survive another one.” It was their turn to head toward the door. Will did stop long enough to leave a quick note for his corpsman – who Nelson had no idea why he wasn’t around, and Will didn’t bother to explain – why he’d find a bit of a mess when he got back and to just clean it up please and he’d explain in the morning. He did explain to Nelson that his head was still pounding. Nelson pointed an eyebrow. Will shook his head carefully and said no, he was fine. At that line Nelson couldn’t quite get a snicker buried. Will grumbled something under his breath and they finally headed for their own cabins.

But they’d only gone half a dozen steps when Will stopped dead. The same word he’d used in Sick Bay snuck out again, although a good deal more softly.

Nelson hadn’t been ready for Will’s sudden stop, had taken another step, and now turned back to his CMO. “Will, what’s wrong?”

The doctor glared at him. “And Lee still hasn’t had his flu shot!” Nelson’s laughter filled the submarine’s corridors.

* see episode “The saboteur”

** see “Sneak Attack” by R. L. Keller

*** see “TAD” by R. L. Keller