Goodness Triumphs Over Evil
By JSRobertson
Seaview was
on a mission in the Philippine Sea currently stationed between Guam and the
Philippines checking out the damage to the coral beds from overfishing. Harry was in the lab examining the samples of
coral he removed from one of the beds before they moved on to the next
sector. After analyzing the coral, he
found these beds weren’t in too bad of shape considering the traffic that traversed
this area. He looked at his watch and
realized he’d been sitting there for over two hours. No
wonder I’m a little stiff, he thought as he stood up from the stool,
stretched and then rubbed the back of his neck.
As he took his notes from the lab table and brought them over to the
desk, there was a knock on the door.
“Come,” Harry replied testily. He had left orders that he wasn’t to be
disturb so he was a little upset with the interruption.
“Admiral, Cookie thought you
might like some lunch,” one of the mess specialist responded and set the tray
down on his desk.
“Thanks,” Harry
answered. The soup smelled good and the
sandwich was piled high with tuna salad.
He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he saw the food so he sat
down to eat while he looked over his notes before entering them into the
computer.
()()()()()()()
Lee and Chip were in the
control room plotting the course to the next sector Harry wanted to inspect. Janet
was in her office working on the duty rosters and inventory so she would have
to wait to eat lunch even though she was hungry. It was a couple of hours later when she
ventured down to the control room with the duty rosters for Lee and Chip to
look over. She saw them studying a map on the plotting table. Both men looked up when she entered the aft
hatch.
“Sorry I took so long to get
you the duty rosters but my computer froze and I had to redo everything,” she
explained as she knew they wanted them an hour ago.
“Everything okay with the
computer now?” Chip asked as he was the technology guru on board.
“Yes, just a freak thing,”
she reassured him. “Can you break away
for lunch, I’m starving.”
Janet handed Chip the clip
board with the duty rosters to check out.
“This looks fine,” he responded and handed her back the clip board after
initialing the rosters.
“I’ll post these now,” Janet
replied.
Lee knew Harry wanted the
course plotted so they were ready to sail as soon as he was finished so they
had to wait to eat.
“Post them after lunch,” Lee
replied. “We’re done plotting the
course to the next sector, so now is a good time to get some lunch.”
The three of them left for
the wardroom but not before Chip’s stomach rumbled.
()()()()()()()
They entered the wardroom and
grabbed a sandwich and soup from the counter.
“Cookie, do you know if the
admiral has had lunch?” Lee asked.
“Yes sir. I sent a tray up to him about an hour ago.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied and sat
down next to Janet.
After enjoying their lunch,
they were headed out the door when Sparks came over the intercom.
“Captain Crane.”
Lee picked up the mic by the
door, “Yes, Sparks, what is it?”
“Skipper, I have a message
for you in your personal code,” he replied.
Sighing deeply, Lee answered,
“I’ll be right there.” He shipped the
mic and looked at Chip and Janet who just shook their heads.
Before they left, another
call came through the intercom, “Lee, what’s the message?” Harry asked.
Lee picked up the mic, “I’m
going to check on it now, sir.”
“Let me know as soon as you
find out,” he answered.
“Aye sir.” Lee stowed the mic and left for the radio
shack.
()()()()()()()
When they entered the control
room, Chip continued on to the plotting table and relieved Bobby while Lee and
Janet headed for the radio shack.
“Thanks,” Lee responded as
Sparks handed him the message. He
looked at Janet, “You may as well come with me while I decode it as you’ll
eventually find out what it says.”
“Chip, take over the con
until I get back,” Lee said as he and Janet headed to the stairs.
“Aye, sir,” Chip replied
Lee let Janet go up the
stairs first and when they got to the top Lee was tapping the message on his
fingers.
“You know it could just be
some information,” Lee stated as they continued on to their cabin.
Janet put her hand on his arm
to stop him, “Lee Crane, do you really believe that?” she exclaimed. “When have you ever received a message from
ONI with just information?”
“Okay, never,” Lee conceded
as they reached their cabin.
He opened the door and Janet
walked in. He sat down at his desk
while Janet pulled up a chair and sat in front as he took his code book out of
the safe. He’d already deciphered some
of the code but needed it for the rest of the information. As he decoded the message, Janet started
tapping her foot, a habit she had when she was nervous. Lee looked up.
“I’m sorry,” Janet said, “Do
you want me to leave.”
“No sweetie, I’m almost
done,” he answered and went back to decoding the message.
She sat on her foot to keep
from tapping it. A few minutes later,
Lee looked up from the message and closed the book.
Janet put her foot on the
floor, rested her elbows on the front of Lee’s desk, put her chin on her hands,
and looked into his gorgeous amber eyes.
“Okay, what’s the WWH?” she asked.
Lee rested his elbows on the
desk and looked at her with a confused look on his face, “The WWH, what’s
that?”
Janet took a deep breath, “It’s
code for…when…where…how long?”
Lee grinned slightly. “In about two hours…People’s Republic…twenty-four
hours.”
Janet furrowed her brow. “One day?
They only want you for twenty-four hours. Are you sure you didn’t decode it wrong?”
“No, I didn’t,” he replied as
he stood up, walked to the wall safe, returned the book and secured the
door. He then returned to the desk,
helped Janet up from her chair and put an arm around her waist and drew her
close. He gently lifted her chin up with
his other hand and gave her a long passionate kiss.
“That’s going to have to last
you one day,” he teased. “I better
inform the admiral of ONI’s message as Seaview
will be an intricate part of the operation.”
()()()()()()()
Lee and Janet walked down to
the lab. He turned the wheel on the
hatch and opened it. Harry had just
finished his project and was securing the samples when they walked in. He looked at Lee’s face and knew something
was up.
“What’s the message?” Harry
asked irritably.
“It was from ONI. They need us to help them out with a mission,”
Lee answered.
“Us…as in Seaview besides you?”
“Let me explain the mission,”
Lee said. “Joey Caldwell is in the city
of Kolenovo. He’s there to pick up some
intel on the missile’s the PR’s been launching and when they’re going to be
placing missiles on the islands they’ve built up in the South China Sea. He’s run into some trouble with his
extraction so they want me to pick him up and since Seaview is in the area, they want Seaview or more specifically FS-1 to drop me off. It’s only for one day as Joey should have the
intel by tomorrow. I need to check the
map but I believe Kolenovo is a port city actually not too far from where we
are now. FS-1 could have me there in a
couple of hours. I’ll have to check and
see what the area looks like and how we can get me in there without them seeing
FS-1. Once I’m there, I’ll meet up with
Joey and retrieve the intel. FS-1 will
pick us up, return to Seaview for the
night and leave first thing in the morning for Hawaii so Joey can drop off the
intel.”
“That sounds really easy on
paper just as all ONI missions do,” Harry replied sarcastically. “Let’s check out the maps. Maybe we can also get some satellite photos
of the area.”
The three of them left the
lab and made their way to the control room.
()()()()()()()
Chip looked up from the
plotting table as Harry, Lee and Janet entered the control room through the aft
hatch. He knew Harry well enough to
know he wasn’t happy and it probably had something to do with the message Lee
received.
Once at the plotting table,
Lee said, “Chip, I’ve been assigned a mission.”
After he explained what the mission entailed, he directed Chip to gather
any charts and maps they had for the People’s Republic especially on the
western coast and bring them to the observation nose.
Chip nodded, and reached
under the table, pulled out all the maps, sorted through them, quickly locating
the ones Lee was looking for. He then
grabbed the chart on the plotting table and followed the others into the nose. He unfurled the charts, placed them on the
table and they all secured the corners with coffee cups to hold the papers
flat.
“Let’s see what we have,” Lee said. Using his finger, he slowly scanned the
coastline until he found Kolenovo, the town he was looking for. “See it’s not too far from where we are
stationed right now. Admiral, could we
get those satellite photos you suggested of the area. Maybe we could bring in FS-1 submerged and I
could swim into the dock if they have one.”
“Sounds like a good idea,”
Harry replied giving Lee permission to use his code to get the pictures.
Lee went to the radio shack,
“Sparks, I need detailed pictures of the town of Kolenovo in the People’s
Republic; specifically, any docks or beaches where we could bring in FS-1,” he
told him.
“Aye sir,” Sparks
replied. “Give me a few minutes to
locate a satellite and see where they are.”
Lee returned to the nose
where Harry, Chip and Janet stood looking very unhappy.
“It’s only one day,” Lee
stressed. “Easy in and out. Joey’s already there, he just needs a way
out.”
Harry smirked, Janet rolled
her eyes and Chip just stared at Lee after he finished talking.
“You’ve never had an easy in
and out mission,” Janet refuted causing Harry and Chip to smile knowing she was
right.
“Skipper, I have some of the
pictures you wanted,” Sparks said as he walked over to the table and handed Lee
a few photographs.
“Thanks, Sparks,” Lee replied
as he took the pictures.
Harry, Lee and Chip
scrutinized the pictures looking for a place where FS-1 would be able to drop
Lee off.
“The marina is fairly large,”
Chip remarked, “but Lee, how do you get from the flying sub to the dock without
getting wet or being seen?”
Lee picked up a pencil and
tapped it on the table. “I need more
detailed pictures of that marina. There
has to be a way to get in there; sight unseen and dry.”
Lee started towards the radio
shack when Sparks met him by the plotting table and handed him some more
pictures.
As he returned to the nose,
he scanned through the pictures and stopped at one in particular. “This is just what I’m looking for,” he said
as he laid a picture of the marina on the table. It showed quite a few large yachts moored
there. “Obviously, the channel to the
marina is deep enough for those boats to make it so the flying sub will have no
problems.”
“Lee, how does that help you
get on the dock,” Janet asked curiously as she looked over the picture.
Lee pointed to an extremely
large yacht on the picture. “That yacht has an end slip, with a dock on the
opposite side. The flying sub can
surface right next to the yacht and unless there are people on board, no one
will know she’s there. I’ll go out the
aft hatch, climb on the back platform of the yacht and then jump on the dock.”
“And if there’re people on
board the yacht?” Chip asked realistically.
“What’ll you do then?”
“If you look at the pictures
of the marina, there’s not one empty slip and most of the large yachts have end
slips. If the one I’m aiming for is
occupied, I’ll look for another one and do the same thing. Let’s hope no one is looking into the marina
and sees the sub.”
Harry studied the other
pictures, “That does look like your best option,” he agreed.
“Chip, prepare the flying sub
for take-off in an hour. I need to get
some more information from Admiral Johnson, fill him in on how I’m getting into
the city and where Joey is staying so I can meet up with him.”
“Aye sir,” Chip replied and
headed for the control room stopping first at Kowalski’s console and tapped him
on the shoulder. “Prepare the flying
sub for launch,” he ordered.
“Aye, aye, sir,” Ski replied
and handed his headset to Patterson who had just walked in the control room. He
picked up the clip board with the flying sub check off list and headed forward.
Chip made his way over to
Chief Sharkey who was by the vertical planner.
“Chief, help Kowalski prepare the flying sub for launch and I want you
and him to take the Skipper into a marina.”
“Aye, aye sir,” Sharkey answered
and walked into the observation nose where Kowalski had already opened the
hatch and was heading down the ladder.
Sharkey joined him in the little sub as they prepared it for take-off.
()()()()()()()
While Lee and Harry continued
to look at the pictures, Janet removed the coffee mugs and let the map roll up
as she picked up the chart. She put the
chart back on the plotting table and put the map in the holder. As she walked back to the nose, she heard
Harry and Lee talking.
“Lee, something just doesn’t
add up,” Harry said. “ONI must have
known we were in the Philippine Sea.”
“Sir, I was wondering about that
too, Lee replied. “They might have
checked with NIMR and found out where we were.
Something must have gone wrong with Joey’s original extraction plan.”
Janet walked up to the two
men, “I heard what you were talking about.
Would they have left Joey stranded there if we weren’t in the area?” she
said seriously as she picked up the pictures that she would place in the
mission packet.
“No, I’m sure they would’ve
found a way to get him out as they must be desperate for that intel,” Harry
responded.
“Come on, help me pack,” Lee
answered as he started up the staircase with Janet following behind as Harry
returned to the control room.
()()()()()()()
“I need to call Admiral
Johnson,” Lee said when they reached their cabin door. Janet knew that Admiral
Johnson wouldn’t approve of her listening in on the conversation so she would
wait until Lee was finished with him before returning to the cabin.
“I’ll get my computer and see
if I can get some information on the town of Kolenovo. Let me know when I can
return.”
“Okay,” Lee replied entering
the cabin, walked over to his desk and pushed the button down on the
intercom. “Sparks, get me Admiral
Johnson.”
“Aye,
sir,” the communication’s specialist responded.
Janet
continued on to her office. She knew Lee would be talking to Admiral Johnson
for some time, so she made up the mission packet and slid the pictures in it. She then turned on her computer and searched
for the town of Kolenovo. She wanted to see if she could find out any
information about the city that would help Lee.
()()()()()()()
Lee
sat down at his desk and waited for his call from Admiral Johnson. He picked up
the phone as soon as it rang, “What can I do for you Commander,” Johnson asked
knowing Lee was on the line and didn’t give him a chance to say anything.
“Admiral,
I need a little more information regarding the mission?”
“Such
as?” Johnson answered.
“When
and where is Joey supposed to pick up the intel? I’m assuming he isn’t using his real name
and where is he staying so I know how to contact him.”
“I
don’t know what arrangements he’s made regarding the intel…I left that up to
him. He’s using the name Ryan Gabriel
and he’s staying at The Beseda.”
“Thank
you, sir. What happened with Joey’s
original extraction plans?”
“The
submarine we sent to pick him up was detoured to another boat in trouble near
the islands where the PR is building up with missile sites. The airport is also too risky…we got word
it’s being watched. Just get him and
the intel on Seaview.”
“Yes,
sir,” Lee answered and heard Johnson sever the connection.
Lee
hung up the phone. I guess Joey’s lucky we were in the area to pick him up. Sighing deeply, he sat back in his chair
remembering the first time he worked with Joey.
It was on a mission where they needed his expertise in technology. He ended up saving Lee’s life when he had to
return to the country of Venenzia.* He’d
also heard from other operatives that he was turning into a very good agent.
()()()()()()()
In
the meantime, Janet found out that the weather in Kolenovo would be warm and
dry. She also found that there was a
huge celebration taking place. It was
the town’s hundredth-birthday and they were having a huge celebration in the
center of the city. I wonder if that’s good or bad, Janet
thought. She scrolled through the rest
of the information they had but didn’t know if any of it would help Lee. She left the site up, unplugged the computer
and went to their cabin. She opened the
door and poked her head in to see if Lee was still on the phone. He was still talking but waved her in when
he saw her. She put the computer on his
desk and quietly sat down as Lee finished talking with Johnson. He didn’t look happy after he hung up the
phone.
“Everything
okay?” Janet asked cautiously. Even
though she hated when he went on missions, she learned to accept them as she
didn’t want anything stopping Lee from completing his missions and returning
home safely.
“Nothing
to worry about,” he assured her. “What
did you find out?”
She turned the computer
around so he could see the screen. She
got up and stood behind him placing her hands on his shoulders as he looked at
the information. “The weather there is
in the 60’s so you won’t need a jacket,” Janet reported. Lee was always warm anyway so he would only
need some long sleeve shirts.
“Will
it help or hinder you, that there’s a huge festival going on celebrating the
town’s hundredth-birthday?” Janet asked.
“I’m
not sure,” he declared as he looked over the rest of the site. He found a street map of the downtown
section and a map of the channel. Before
he closed the computer, he printed out both maps as they may come in handy.
“I better get ready to
leave,” he told Janet as he undid his tie and started to unbutton his shirt. “Would you please bring back the printouts
when you return?”
“Sure”,
Janet said as she picked up the computer so she could put it in her office
because if she stayed while Lee changed, he might never make the mission on
time.
Lee
smiled as she left the office and changed into his civvies. He took his worn black backpack out of the
closet and checked to make sure he had what he would need for the mission. He added a few more items, his toiletries
from the head, put them in the backpack and zipped it up. Now that he was finished packing, he had to
get his ID. He opened the safe and was
thumbing through his ONI ID’s picking out one he hadn’t used in a while when
Janet returned to the cabin.
“Who
are you this time?” Janet asked wondering how he kept it all straight.
“Marty
Warren,” Lee replied as he put an ID card and passport into his pocket.
“All
ready?” she asked looking him over in his jeans, black turtleneck and denim
shirt. “You look mighty nice,” Janet
purred as she ran her hands down his chest.
“Maybe Marty Warren would like to stay for some extra-curricular
activities?”
Grinning, “It’s sure is
tempting but I need to get going,” He gave her a long deep kiss and pushed
himself away before he succumbed to his desires.
“All
set,” he answered. “Remember, I’ll be
back in a day.”
“I
know,” she replied, returned his kiss and handed him the printouts. She knew
once he was assigned a mission that was all he could concentrate on.
They
exited the cabin and made their way to the observation nose where Harry, Chip,
Sharkey and Kowalski were waiting. Lee
handed his backpack to Kowalski and walked over to the radio shack where he got
a transponder from Sparks. If needed,
Sparks could also monitor the signal from Lee’s ONI transponder so he linked it
up with his equipment.
Kowalski
headed down the ladder into the sub followed by Sharkey.
“Good
luck,” Harry said as he patted him on the shoulder before Lee started down the
ladder.
“Thank
you, sir,” Lee answered, winking at Janet and headed into the sub.
Chip
closed and dogged the hatch then walked over to the launching panel.
Sharkey
took the pilot’s seat with Lee riding as a passenger. Sharkey started the engines and attached the
throat mike as he waited for them to warm up.
“FS-1
to Seaview,” he said over the mike.
“Ready to launch?”
“All
green, launching,” Chip replied over the mic.
They
felt the docking bay doors opening, and the sub disengage from the clamps.
Harry and Janet watched as the sub went by the front windows as Chip watched
from the control room. They would run
submerged and surface when they were in the channel.
“I’ll
be in the lab if you need me,” Harry told Chip as he ascended the
staircase.
“Aye,
sir,” Chip replied.
“I’ll
be in my office,” Janet responded before Chip could ask and left the control
room.
Chip
stood at the plotting table and looked over the maps. There was nothing for him to worry about as Seaview was at a dead stop just waiting
for Lee’s return. Hopefully, it will be a boring night, Chip
thought.
()()()()()()()
While
Sharkey piloted FS-1, Lee looked over the map of the downtown area he’d printed
out. He wanted to make sure he knew how
to get there from the marina. He also
needed to locate the hotel where Joey was staying. After studying the map, Lee put it on the
floor of the sub.
“Chief,
Kowalski, I have few instructions when you return to pick us up. Be back here in twenty-four hours. We’ll know more once we get into the channel
and marina on how to retrieve us. If
possible, pick up the same way you dropped me off. Kowalski, I want you on the dock pretending
to fish. This way Sharkey can hide the
sub in case we’re late getting there.
If for some reason, I’m not with Joey, you’re to take him back to Seaview.”
“Skipper,
what do you mean if you’re not with him?” Sharkey asked.
“Just
in case something goes wrong, he’ll have the intel on him and he needs to get it
to ONI.”
“Skipper,
how about I accompany you, this way you’ll have backup in case there is a
problem?” Kowalski volunteered.
“Thanks
Ski, but no,” Lee replied firmly. “Joey
will have orders he needs to follow so just get him back to the boat.”
“How
will we know who Joey is?” Sharkey inquired.
“He’s
my height with blond hair. You’ll know
it’s him because when he comes on the dock, he’s going to ask you the question,
‘Have you caught any yellow tuna? Your response will be ‘No, only blue gills.’”
“Aye,
sir,” both men replied unhappily.
Lee
looked at his watch and knew they should be getting close to the channel
entrance. “Let me check out the map of
the channel before we get there so we know where to go.”
Lee
pulled out the map of the channel he got off the website. It wasn’t as detailed as he would like but it
did show some of the area. As he
perused the printout, he noticed the channel was narrow but deep and it was
shaped like a horseshoe. The boats
entered from the west and sailed out on the east. The marina was at the top of the horseshoe
with several large docking areas for the larger boats and a small area for the
smaller ones. He knew FS-1 would have no
problems getting in or out of the channel but was worried if his plan of
pulling next to the yacht would work.
Sharkey
continued to navigate the little sub towards the channel entrance. Kowalski was watching sonar for any large
opening.
Lee
looked out the viewports, “We should be approaching the entrance shortly. Keep a sharp look-out.”
They
hadn’t travelled too much farther when Kowalski spied a huge opening. “Skipper, look, I bet that’s the entrance to
the channel.”
“According
to the charts, it’s the only entrance around here. Chief, turn in and follow it for a mile or
so.”
“Aye
sir,’ Sharkey replied and moved the joy stick to the right and entered the
channel.
“Close
the viewports as we don’t want to be seen until we’re on the surface. Once on the surface, if someone is watching,
they could mistake us for a boat looking for a place to dock.”
“Aye,
sir,” Kowalski said and hit the switch closing the viewports.
After
they had gone about a mile into the channel, “Let’s surface and see where we’re
at,” Lee commanded.
Sharkey
slowly surfaced the sub. It was very dark along the channel; the banks were
steep and lined with quite a few trees so it would be difficult for someone to
spot them while on the surface. As they
looked out the viewports, they knew they were in the right place as they could
see a few lights up ahead.
“Let’s
hope that’s the marina,” Lee told them as they continued on. When they reached the docking area, Lee
noticed the yacht he was hoping to use as a stepping off point was gone.
“Damn,
the yacht isn’t there,” Lee mumbled.
“Chief, get as close to the dock as you can without hitting it.”
“Aye
sir,” Sharkey responded and maneuvered the little sub close to the dock with no
problems.
“Nice
job,” Lee said with a smile. “I’ll go
out the aft hatch and onto the dock.
Submerge as soon as I’m off.”
“Aye,
aye, sir,” Sharkey answered.
Lee
and Kowalski unstrapped their harnesses, Lee picked up his backpack while Ski
un-dogged the hatch.
“Sir,
you sure you don’t want me to go with you,” Kowalski asked as Lee got ready to
leave the sub.
“I’m
sure,” he replied patting the rating on the back. “Just be back here in twenty-four hours.”
“Yes
sir,” the men answered.
As
Lee jumped from the sub to the dock, he heard Kowalski latch the hatch and
watched as FS-1 slowly sank into the murky water.
Lee
put his backpack over his right shoulder and headed down the dock towards the
town. As he walked down the dock, he
didn’t meet or see anyone. When he
reached the street, you could hear the music and people celebrating even though
the center of town was two miles away.
Well, may as well join the party, Lee thought as he made his way to town.
FS-1
had no problems returning to Seaview. The two men docked the sub and reported to
Harry and Chip that Lee was dropped off at the dock instead of the yacht as
planned and they were to return in twenty-four hours.
()()()()()()()
Lee
walked into town and noticed that the main street was blocked off to motor
traffic and was filled with people celebrating the town’s birthday. He knew from the map of the downtown area
that the hotel he was looking for was at the far end of the street. Since the weather was so nice, most of the
bars and restaurants had outdoor seating.
He managed to make his way through the crowds and found the hotel. The two-story hotel wasn’t very large but
had a new looking white façade with tan trimmed windows. The entrance was in
the center with a bar on his right and a restaurant on his left. He walked into
the lobby and noticed it had a mahogany check-in desk and marble floors. He
made his way to the registration desk where a gentleman offered to help him.
“Hello,
I’m Marko, how can I help you?”
“Could
you please ring the room of Mr. Gabriel?” Lee asked knowing they wouldn’t give
him his room number.
“Yes,
sir,” Marko replied.
He
dialed the room number which Lee tried to see but the phone was out of his sight. He let it ring a few times and Joey didn’t
answer.
“I’m sorry, sir, but there’s no answer.
Can I take a message?”
“No,
thank you,” Lee replied. “I’ll check
out the bar and wait for him to return.”
“When
he does return, would you like me to tell him you were looking for him?”
“No,
I’m surprising him,” Lee answered, left the desk and entered the bar.
The
bar wasn’t very crowded for all the partying taking place, but he figured as it
was at the end of the main street not many people ventured that far down the
road. As Lee glanced around the bar
looking for Joey, he noticed the bar was nicely decorated. The high tables had red tops, the chairs were
covered to match and tiffany styled lights hung above the tables. The bar had
dark wooden panels with a dark wood top.
The back bar had wooden shelves with a curved top. He turned to leave the bar just as a couple
of young women came in. They looked him
over and invited him to join them which he declined. He returned to the lobby and sat down in the
seating area near the door so he could see when Joey came in. There was a woman at the counter helping
another customer but noticed Lee sitting there. She had seen Lee at the desk earlier, so she
went over to Marko.
“See
that man sitting by the door, I noticed he came to the desk a little while
ago. Do you know what he’s doing here?”
“He’s
looking for Mr. Gabriel. He didn’t want
to leave his name as he wants to surprise him,” Marko told her.
“Thanks,”
the woman replied.
Lee
caught the woman staring at him, smiled at her and continued to wait for Joey.
()()()()()()()
Lee
sat in the lobby observing the people coming and going, he didn’t have to wait
very long when he saw Joey walk in the hotel.
He quickly met him as soon as he cleared the door.
“Ryan,
it’s about time you got here,” Lee said as he patted him on the back. “It’s good to see you.”
Lee
caught Joey off guard but played along with him, “Hi buddy, I’m so happy you
could make it. Were you waiting long?”
“No,
just a few minutes. Why don’t we go
into the bar, get a drink and catch up,” Lee suggested as he didn’t want to
talk in the lobby.
The
two men made their way into the bar and found a table in the back corner near
the windows. Lee took the seat facing
the door as he always tried to avoid having his back to the door. As soon as they were seated a waitress
appeared at their table.
“What
can I get for you?” she asked checking out the two good looking men.
“We’ll
have a couple of beers,” Lee said.
“I’ll
have those for you shortly.”
“Why
are you here?” Joey asked as soon as they were alone.
“Marty
Warren,” Lee answered knowing Joey would need his name. “I’m your way out of here. Johnson called and told me I was to meet up
with you and bring you back with me to Seaview.”
“Seaview’s in this neck of the woods?”
Joey asked surprised.
“Well,
sort of. We’re in the Philippine Sea,”
Lee responded. “I got the information from
Johnson, that your extraction plan ran into a problem.”
“You
got that right,” Joey said. “I was
wondering how the hell I was going to get out of here.”
Lee
saw the waitress approaching and nodded his head letting Joey know to change
the subject before she brought them their beers.
“How’s
Janet?” Joey asked as the waitress set down his beer after serving Lee.
“She’s
fine,” Lee answered taking a long swig of his beer. “Still working hard.”
“Any
prospects?”
“Yeah,
I think so,” Joey replied with a smile.
The
waitress left the bill on the table and didn’t look too happy realizing both
men were taken and took one last glance at the two good-looking men.
“Let’s
go to my room where we can talk,” Joey suggested.
“Sounds
good.”
They
finished up their beers, Joey picked up the bill and left some money on the
table with a nice tip. As they made
their way to the elevator, Lee caught the woman at the desk staring at them. Joey’s room was on the second floor and at
the back of the hotel. When they reached
his room, he checked the door before opening it making sure the thin wire he
attached was still intact. Lee smiled
as he watched as he would have done the same thing. The wire was still attached, so Joey opened
the door and the two men went inside.
He closed, locked the door and took out a small black scanning device
checking for bugs and cameras. As Lee
waited for Joey, he looked around the room.
The bathroom was on the left with a small closet on the right. Straight ahead was a decent sized room with
two beds, a chest with a television on it and a table with two chairs by the
window. He couldn’t tell if it had a
balcony as Joey had closed the drapes.
“The
room is clean,” Joey said. “Do you have
a place to stay?”
“No,
I was going to ask for a room here but I overheard the woman at the desk say
there were full.”
“You
can stay here. I only need one bed.”
“Thanks,”
Lee responded and put his backpack on the bed closest to the window. He removed his shirt and hung in on the back
of the chair as the room was a little warm.
The two men sat down at the table.
“First,
who is that woman at the desk in the lobby?” Lee asked. “She kept staring at me while I waited for
you and then again when we got on the elevator.”
“Her
name is Anna and she’s my connection to the intel,” Joey remarked.
“Okay,
how do you know?” Lee asked wanting to make sure she was the correct contact. Lee knew Joey had been working with other
agents at ONI but since he was still a rookie, he wanted to make sure they had
the right person.
Joey
smiled at Lee. He had worked with Lee
before and knew he had to know every detail of any mission he was on. “When I left, Johnson gave me this credit
card and told me I had to use it when I checked into the hotel. I asked if the contact was a man or woman and
he said he didn’t know but whoever it was would recognize the card and get in
contact with me.”
Joey
took his wallet out of his pocket, removed the credit card and handed it to
Lee.
Lee
looked it over, “I’ve never seen a card like this,” he admitted and gave it
back to Joey. The card was light green
and embossed with the name of ‘Wolf Express’, which he assumed was a phony
company but what caught his attention was in each of the four corners of the
card was a symbol. The upper left
corner had a circle filled in red, the upper right a square filled in blue, the
bottom left there was a triangle in yellow and the bottom right a pyramid in
purple.
“I
know,” Joey agreed. “When I checked in at the desk, Anna was there. She had my information in the computer and
asked how I wanted to pay, so I handed her the card. She looked at me and then the card. She processed the card and gave it back to
me. She then told me that I wouldn’t be
able to get into the room for another thirty minutes. I told her I would wait in the restaurant and
grab a bite to eat. I left the desk,
went to the restaurant and ordered lunch.
I was just finishing up when, Anna came over to the table and told me I
forgot my receipt and accidently left my credit card with her. She handed me the receipt and a card looking
exactly like the one in my wallet. She
also had written a note on the receipt telling me to meet her for dinner
tomorrow at 6:00 at ‘The Ordina’. I
thanked her for the card and agreed to meet her. She told me my room was ready and left. After I paid my bill, I saw she was back at
the front counter.”
Lee
listened intently to Joey’s story. He’d
never met a contact like that before and hoped they weren’t being set up. “So, I guess we meet her for dinner
tomorrow.”
“I
researched the restaurant and found it is one of the best in the city. After I checked in I also looked around the
downtown section as I just wanted to get some of idea of how the city was laid
out.”
Lee
was impressed with what Joey had done.
“Looks like you’ve done your homework.”
“Thanks,
Lee,” Joey answered. “I’m like you; I
want to know as much as I can about where I am.”
Lee
looked at his watch and didn’t realize it was already 2300 hours. “Why don’t we hit the sack before you give
me the layout of the city? It’s been a
long day,” he said trying to stifle a yawn.
Joey
checked his watch and was surprised at how late it was. “No wonder I’m tired,” he told Lee with a
grin.
Both
men hit the sack about twenty minutes later.
()()()()()()()
Janet
awoke at 0500, the normal time Lee would get up and begin his day. She didn’t sleep very well because he was
gone. She didn’t feel the thrum of Seaview’s engines so she figured they
hadn’t changed positions to the next sector Harry wanted to examine. She laid there for another thirty minutes
before deciding to start her day. She
took care of her ablutions and was just about to leave for the wardroom when
there was a knock on the door. She
opened the door to find Chip standing there.
“Good,
I see you’re ready to go. Let’s go get
some breakfast,” he said knowing she might blow off breakfast since Lee was
gone.
“I
was just leaving,” Janet replied and closed the door to the cabin as they
walked down the ladder to the wardroom.
Once
in the wardroom, they picked up trays and made their way through the breakfast
line. Chip as usual piled his plate with
food while Janet took only a couple pieces of toast, some fruit and
coffee. Just as they sat down, Harry
and Jamie entered, got their food and joined them at the table.
“Chip,
why don’t we move to the next sector so we can check out the coral beds in the
South China Sea?”
“Aye,
sir. I’ll get us underway as soon as I’m
done here,” Chip replied.
“There’s
no hurry. We have all day,” Harry
answered. “I’ll take out a diving
party; let’s say 1300 hours.”
“I’ll
assign Patterson and Riley to go with you,” Chip responded.
“That’ll
be fine.’’ Harry looked over at Janet who hadn’t said two words since he sat
down. “Everything okay?” he asked as she
lingered over her coffee.
“Just
fine, sir,” she replied. “Do you need
me to help you with your notes on the coral?”
“No,
but thanks for offering…looking to keep busy?” Harry inquired with a smile.
“Yes,
you could say that. I do have work to do
but was looking for a back-up job to do when I was finished.”
“I
have plenty of filing to do,” Jamie volunteered looking over his coffee cup.
“I’ll
be there when I’m done.” Janet stood up,
stowed her dishes in the bin and left for her office.
Harry
and Jamie finished up their breakfast and left for the lab and sick bay.
()()()()()()()
Lee
woke up at 0500, quickly showered and dressed.
It would be warmer today than yesterday so he donned only his denim
shirt, grabbed the key card Joey left on the table and went looking for some coffee. The restaurant wasn’t open yet but he found
an alcove with vending machines. He put
some money in the coffee machine and got two cups of coffee. When he returned, Joey was up and dressed for
the day.
“This
is all I could find,” Lee said as he handed Joey a cup. “The restaurant doesn’t open until 6:00. So,
this will have to do until we get breakfast.”
“Thanks,”
Joey answered and took a drink of the stuff and made a face. “Boy, this stuff is terrible.”
Lee
took a drink, “Well it’s not bad for vending machine coffee.”
Joey
laughed. “You always did like your
coffee strong.”
Lee
nodded with a smile. “How about you
give me the layout of the city. I
printed a map off the computer before I left.
It’s pretty detailed as it was with the information on the big
celebration and shows where all the attractions and venues are located.”
Lee
put the map on the table and Joey looked it over.
“Yes,
most of the attractions are on Karpovo Street which is the main street through
town. The street is almost two miles
long and packed with hotels, bars, restaurants, a museum, and shops,” Joey said
as he pointed to that area on the map.
“The back of the hotel faces east and there’s nothing back there but
farmland.”
Lee
pulled the curtain aside and looked out…there was only a window, no
balcony. “I see that,” he replied
noticing that the parking lot was there as he closed the curtain.
“To
the north of Karpovo St, is Tupik Avenue. “It has quite a few stores, bars and
restaurants along with some other shops.
It was pretty busy when I scoped it out. Now south of Karpovo St. is Moscuz St.,”
Joey said as he pointed it out on the map.
“There’s nothing but some small industrial buildings and it was pretty
deserted when I checked it out as most of the places were closed due to the
celebration. I do believe that it runs
all the way to the marina. It seems the
whole town is basically shut down. Noveye Way is the only street that runs
north and south. It begins at Karpovo,
crosses Moscuz and dead ends with a cul-du-sac on the south end. I looked around in there but didn’t see too
many stores only a couple of bars and one storefront had shades pulled down on
the front windows and door so I couldn’t see what was in there. But I did notice it was only open from 9:00 pm
until 6:00 am. The only area I didn’t
get to check out was the marina.”
Lee
looked over the map at the various streets Joey had pointed out. “Good job and don’t worry about the marina
as I’ve scoped that out. Why don’t we
get some breakfast and then I’ll go over how we’re going to get out of here
once we have the intel.”
“Sounds
good to me. I sure hope their coffee is
better than this,” Joey laughed as he poured his coffee down the sink. Lee finished his up and tossed the cup into
the garbage can.
The
two men stood up from the table, Joey took the key card and put it in his
pocket. When they left the room, Joey
replaced the wire he had from the day before and they headed for the elevator.
()()()()()()()
Chip
had already plotted their course to the next sector, so when he returned to the
control room, he gave maneuvering and engine room their orders and got Seaview underway. Chip was happy to see the sector they were
going to was closer to where they would pick up Lee and Joey but he had to make
sure they stayed at least one hundred miles off the coast of the PR or they
might be spotted.
It
was late morning when Janet ventured into the control room. Her hands were full of folders and the duty
rosters for the trip back to NIMR for Chip to look over before signing off on
them. When she arrived, Harry and Chip
were standing at the plotting table.
They were looking at the map of the area where Harry would take out the
diving team and get samples of the coral.
“How
far off the coast are we?” Harry asked.
Chip
looked the map, “Right now we’re one hundred and fifty miles off their
coast. I don’t want to take her in any
closer so we aren’t spotted,” he replied.
Harry
looked at his watch and saw it was 1200 hours.
“I’m going to go out now and get the samples of the coral. Why wait another hour. I’ll have more time to analyze them,” Harry
told him.
“Aye,
aye, sir,” Chip answered and picked up the mic. “Patterson and Riley, report to the missile
room for diving detail.”
“Thanks,
Chip. I’ll see you in a little while,”
Harry said and walked out the aft hatch.
“Chip,
when you have time, could you please look over these folders and rosters,”
Janet asked setting them down on the plotting table as soon as the admiral
left.
“I’ll
get to them as soon as the admiral is back aboard,” he responded.
“Thanks,”
Janet answered. “If you need anything,
I’ll be in Sick Bay helping Jamie with his filing.”
Chip
nodded his acknowledgement then moved to the observation nose and watched as
the diving party gathered samples of the coral from several different
beds. He noticed these beds didn’t look
too bad as they were still very colorful.
He wouldn’t have minded going out to help Harry but felt he needed to
stay on the boat in case there was a problem.
The diving party waved a flashlight in front of the windows signaling
they were returning to the boat. Chip
left Bobby in charge of the con while he went to the missile room to meet
Harry.
()()()()()()()
Lee
and Joey walked through the lobby heading for the restaurant to have
breakfast. As soon as they left the
elevator, Lee saw Anna working at the registration desk. She noticed the two men and nodded to Joey.
The
restaurant only had a few patrons, so they were able to sit in the back away
from the door and the rest of the people.
Lee again sat facing the door.
Joey
sat down with a smile on his face, “I notice you always take the seat facing
the door.”
“I
want to see who’s coming in so I’m prepared in case I have to leave in a
hurry,” Lee responded. Joey sat down
next to him instead of across so he too would be able to see the door.
The
same waitress that served them yesterday handed them menus. “Coffee?”
“Yes,
please,” Lee responded as the waitress poured the coffee. He took a large gulp
as he looked over the menu. He was
quite hungry as the last meal he had eaten was lunch on the boat.
“This
coffee is definitely better,” Joey said as he grabbed a sip and studied the
menu.
The
waitress returned to take their orders and refilled their cups. Both men decided on scrambled eggs, bacon
and toast. When the waitress left, Lee
checked the area around them making sure no one was close enough to hear what
they were talking about. There were
only a couple of tables with patrons and they were near the entrance to the
restaurant.
“The
marina is about two miles due west on Karpovo St. It’s fairly large and quite a
few large yachts along with smaller boats moored there.” Lee looked at his
watch, “I’ve made arrangements for FS-1 to pick us up in approximately fifteen
hours at the end of the dock. If for some reason, I’m not with you, one of my
men will be posing as a fisherman. His
name is Kowalski. You’re to ask him if
he’s caught any yellow tuna. He will
reply, no, only blue gills.”
“Why
wouldn’t you be with me,” Joey asked.
“Are you expecting trouble?”
“No but I’ve learned nothing is a sure thing,” Lee replied and stopped talking
as the waitress brought over their breakfast and poured more coffee into their
empty cups.
As
they dug into their food, Lee continued, “Once you’re aboard Seaview you’ll report to Admiral
Nelson. Tell him you’re to complete the
mission as ordered and implement Plan B.”
“Plan
B?” Joey questioned.
“Yes,
the admiral knows what Plan B is,” Lee said as he wiped his mouth with the
napkin. “Understand the instructions? This breakfast is delicious.”
“Yes,
Lee but let’s hope everything goes according to plan and I won’t be returning
alone,” Joey countered and finished eating his breakfast.
The
waitress removed their plates when they were finished, poured them some more
coffee and left the bill which Lee paid.
They finished up their rest of the coffee and walked out of the
restaurant.
“I
know you looked around but if you don’t mind, I’d like to look around so I know
where to go just in case there is a problem.”
“Okay,
why don’t we start here at the hotel and work our way down Karpovo St. and then
over to Tupik and check out what venues and attractions are there.”
By
the time the men left the hotel, the sun was shining dispelling the morning
chill. They walked down the almost
deserted street.
“Looks
like most of the people are still sleeping,” Joey laughed as they scoped out
the shops. “Probably too much partying.”
Lee
stopped at one of the stores, looked in the window and saw bracelet he knew
Janet would like.
“Mind
if we go in? I know Janet would love
that bracelet in the window,” Lee asked.
“No,
not at all.”
They
entered the thrift store and Lee looked around to see if there was any other
bracelets Janet might like but he only found the one in the window. He purchased the bracelet and watched as the
shopkeeper put it in a black velvet bag and then into a box. They then finished walking up and down the
two main streets. They made their way
west on Karpovo St. to the marina. Both
Lee and Joey wanted to check it out in daylight. They walked down to the end of the dock where
Joey would find Kowalski fishing if Lee wasn’t with him. The large yacht Lee hoped would be there
last night was moored there this morning. To kill time, they checked out some
of the other yachts and boats at the marina.
They walked back down the main street and noticed it was getting more crowded
as this was the last day of the celebration.
They were stopped a few times by several nice-looking women and asked to
join their parties but both men declined.
Since they had time before they needed to get ready for dinner, they
decided to check out some of the attractions the city had to offer. They stopped at the museum that showed the
history of the town, along with some of the famous people that lived there. After the museum, they stopped for a late lunch
and then continued checking out the rest of the sites on the map. It was late
in the afternoon when they arrived at the hotel and noticed Anna wasn’t working.
Joey
walked up to the counter, “Hi Marko,” he said reading his name badge. “Is Anna around…she was going to give me
some information on ‘The Odina’ restaurant.
Did she leave the information with you?”
“I
don’t see anything but she’s gone for the day…do you want me to leave her a
note?”
“No,
that’s okay,” Joey responded and walked back to where Lee was waiting. “She’s gone for the day,” he reported.
“I
hope that’s a good sign,” Lee replied positively.
It
was late afternoon when the two men boarded the elevator. They had about an
hour before they needed to get ready for dinner. Joey checked the wire and found it
undisturbed. They entered the room,
where Joey scanned it again and as expected found nothing. Lee put the bracelet he bought for Janet in
his backpack for safe keeping.
()()()()()()()
Once
the divers returned to the boat, Sharkey helped Harry off with his diving gear,
while Chip grabbed the bag of samples and took them to the lab. He knew Harry would be parked in the lab for
the rest of the afternoon checking out the samples. He returned to the control room and resumed
command. He made a circuit around the
room checking in with every man, station and console. Everything was in order
as expected. He saw the folders with the
reports and duty rosters Janet had left on the plotting table.
“Mr.
O’Brien, you have the con,” Chip said.
“I’ll be in sick bay and then my office for a while before heading to
the wardroom for lunch.
“Aye,
sir,” O’Brien replied.
Chip
picked up the folders and walked out the aft hatch heading for sick bay. He wanted to check with Janet to let her
know he would have the reports for her in a little while. He entered sick bay to find Jamie sitting at
his desk.
“Something
wrong?” Jamie asked worriedly looking up from his file. Like Lee, Chip never voluntarily came to
sick bay unless there was a problem or Lee was in a bunk from another injury.
“Where’s
Janet?” he asked looking around.
“She
went back to her office when she finished up in here. Said something about needing to finish a
report.”
Chip
noticed Frank was stocking the medical cabinet.
“Stocking up for when the skipper returns,” he deadpanned.
Breaking
into a slight grin, Jamie replied, “No, he’s doing our routine inventory on the
supplies in sick bay. John and Janet
took care of the medical stores room.
And let’s hope we don’t need to use any of those supplies.”
“What
are the chances that’s not going to happen,” Chip ventured. “Did she say anything about lunch?”
“No
but I told her she had an hour to finish her work and report to the wardroom
for lunch…that was about fifteen minutes ago.”
“I
have some work to finish so I’ll make sure she gets there.”
“I’ll
see you later,” Jamie answered and returned to his desk as Chip left sick bay.
()()()()()()()
Chip
entered his office, put the folders on his desk, loosened his tie and sat
down. He opened one of the folders
filled with reports. He read them over
and signed off on them before tackling the next two folders and the duty
rosters. He made a couple of changes on the duty rosters before he closed that
folder and stacked them with the other ones. He checked his watch realizing
that it had been almost an hour and he was hungry. When he was in sick bay, whatever Cookie was
preparing for lunch sure smelled good.
He picked up the folders, redid his tie and left his office. He walked the short distance to Janet’s
office and saw she was still there entering data into the computer.
“Here
are the reports and duty rosters. I
made a couple of changes to the rosters.”
“Thanks,
Chip,” Janet replied and handed him another folder. “Forgot to include this one in with the rest
of them.”
Chip
sat down on the bunk in the office, read over the report and signed off on
it. He handed the folder back to
Janet. “Lunch time,” he said.
“Okay,
I am a little hungry,” Janet replied as she turned off the computer and left
with Chip for lunch.
They
made their way down to the wardroom where Jamie was already enjoying Cookie’s
lunch of beef barley soup and bread.
Cookie motioned them to sit down and he brought over their lunch. They just started eating when Harry entered
and sat down next to Jamie. One of the
mess specialists quickly brought him over some soup and bread.
“When
are we picking up Lee?” Harry asked taking a bite of his bread.
“Around
2100 hours. Sharkey and Kowalski will
leave at 2000 hours. I don’t think it
will take them an hour to get there but I think it wouldn’t hurt to be early
just in case Lee and Joey are there waiting.
“Sounds
like a plan,” Harry answered.
When
they finished lunch, Harry headed back to the lab, Jamie sick bay, Chip to the
control room and Janet back to her office to fix the duty rosters before
posting them. It was going to be a long
afternoon and evening for all of them.
()()()()()()()
When
it was time to get ready, Lee trimmed his beard as it was getting a little to
scruffy for him. He hated having a beard
but the picture on his ID and passport showed him with one and he didn’t want
any problems in case his ID was checked, so he was stuck with the beard. After washing up, he put on a black shirt
rolling up sleeves part way up his forearm.
Joey also donned a black shirt but left his sleeves button.
“I
assume we’ll return back to the hotel once we have the intel and pick up our
gear,” Joey said to Lee.
“Yes,
we should have time between dinner and the extraction time. We don’t want to make it too obvious we’re
leaving town,” Lee confirmed. “Our
extraction time is around 2100 hours.
Even if we’re late, my men will wait until we get there.”
Lee
checked his watch, “It’s almost 1750, why don’t we head over to the restaurant
and scope it out.”
“Okay,”
Joey replied and headed for the door with Lee following behind. Joey redid his wire and they took the stairs
down to the lobby. Joey glanced over to
the desk checking to see if Anna was there but two new people were at the
desk. The men left the hotel and walked
the short distance to the restaurant.
()()()()()()()
The
two men entered ‘The Odina’ and were surprised at how elegantly it was
decorated. Light wood parquet floors and
pale green walls with sconces gave the restaurant a very homey feel. The windows were heavily curtained with white
valances, pale green drapes and white sheers.
There were round tables with green tablecloths and white napkins tucked
in the glasses. The wooden chairs had
brocade seats.
Joey
walked up to the hostess and smiled, “I’m Mr. Gabriel and I have a reservation
for 6:00.”
“Yes,
for two people,” she replied checking her book for the reservation.
“Would
it be a problem if I made it for three…my friend decided to join me.”
Joey
watched as the hostess looked over Lee from head to toe, “That’s no problem,
Mr. Gabriel. Your table is ready…would
you like to be seated?”
“Yes,
thank you,” Joey replied and followed the young woman to the back corner of the
restaurant. Lee took the seat facing the
door and Joey sat next to him so Anna would see him when she entered the
restaurant.
Once
they were seated, the hostess handed them menus. “Enjoy your meal,” she said.
“Thanks,”
Lee replied giving her his special smile.
“Still
have a way with women,” Joey chuckled.
Smiling,
“I just stood there,” Lee responded.
As
they perused the menu, their waitress came over to the table, “Hi, I’m Oleta. Can I get you a drink?”
“I’ll
have a vodka tonic,” Lee answered.
“Same
for me,” Joey seconded.
“I’ll
have those for you shortly. Here’s a
list of our specials.”
Joey
glanced at the specials and handed the list to Lee who also looked them
over.
“Maybe
we should ask Anna what she would recommend,” Joey suggested.
“That
sounds like an excellent idea as I have no idea what these dishes are.”
Oleta
returned putting a small napkin on the table before setting down their drinks. “Would you like to order?” she asked.
“Not
right now, we’re waiting for someone,” Joey remarked.
“No
problem, I’ll be back in a little while.”
As
they waited for Anna, Lee asked, “Joey, do you like doing this type of work or
would you rather stay in the IT department?
“I
really like doing this but miss the technology part. I don’t know if Johnson thinks I’m good
enough to be a full-time operative,” Joey lamented.
“He
must think you’re good enough or he wouldn’t have sent you here alone. From what I’ve heard you’re doing a great
job…don’t ever second guess yourself.”
“Thanks,
Lee,” Joey said. “I’m glad you have
confidence in me.”
The
two men took a sip of the drinks and looked at the entrance to the
restaurant. Lee spotted Anna first.
“Anna
just walked in,” Lee remarked.
Both
men stood up when she approached their table.
()()()()()()()
As
Lee and Joey walked by the bar, a gentleman seated in there saw them pass and
broke out in a huge grin.
“Something
wrong, Boss?” the man seated with him asked.
“No,
something is very right,” the man replied to Andre, his bodyguard. What
the hell is Lee Crane doing here, he thought. I
thought I would never lay my eyes on him again.
“Andre,
go to the men’s room. As you pass by the
table with two men sitting at it, take notice of the dark haired one.”
“Yes,
sir,” Andre replied and left for the men’s room quickly glancing at Lee.
“Okay,
I saw him. What about him?” Andre asked
when he returned from the men’s room.
“I
want you to bring him to me…I’ll be waiting in the car. I don’t care how you do it, if he’s conscious
or unconscious but I want him,” the man ordered. “Just don’t hurt him too much.”
“Yes,
sir, but who is he and what do you need him for?”
“That’s
none of your business. You’re paid to follow my orders.”
“Yes,
sir,” Andre replied. “I’ll follow him
when they leave the restaurant.”
The
boss man was very happy and ordered another round of drinks for himself and
Andre to celebrate finding Lee. He
couldn’t wait to get his hands on him.
()()()()()()()
As
Anna walked towards them, Lee noticed that she was about Janet’s height and
weight. If Lee didn’t know better, she
and Joey could be related, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked very nice in a Navy-blue dress. When
Anna arrived at the table, she went over to Joey and gave him a hug.
“Cousin
Ryan, I’m so happy you could visit,” Anna exclaimed after she finished hugging
Joey.
“Sorry
it’s been awhile,” Joey answered going along with her.
“Yes,
it’s been far too long,” she replied poking in him the chest with her index
finger near the pocket on his shirt. As
she poked him, she dropped the flash drive into his pocket.
“Sorry
Anna, but I’ve been very busy,” Joey said knowing she had just given him the
intel.
“Who’s
your friend?” she asked looking at Lee and recognized him from the hotel.
“This
is my buddy, Marty Warren. He decided
to join me on this trip. I hope you
don’t mind I invited him to dine with us?”
“No
problem at all,” Anna answered looking Lee over and decided he was an operative
too. I might just want to defect if all spies look like these two, she
thought.
“Nice
to meet you, Anna,” Lee said shaking her hand and waited until she was seated
before he sat down.
As
soon as they sat down, Oleta came over, “Hi Anna, can I get you something to
drink?”
“Yes,
a vodka tonic.”
Oleta
looked at Lee and Joey, both men opted for another drink knowing they would
have dinner soon.
“What
brings you to Kolenovo?” Anna asked Lee after Oleta left.
“Just
checking out the town. I’m a travel
agent and my clients are always looking for new places to visit. Before I make any recommendations, I like to
visit the area. This city is very nice
and has a lot to offer visitors so I’ll be recommending it to my clients.”
“Thanks
for the high marks,” Anna grinned. “We can always use more tourists.”
Oleta
returned with their drinks and after taking the suggestions Anna offered they
ordered dinner.
“We’ve
seen most of the town but there is anything more around here that visitors
would like to see?” Lee asked taking a sip of his drink.
“A
few miles out of town there’s a small winery along with a nice beach area.”
“We
went down to the marina but didn’t see any beaches,” Joey remarked.
“No,
it’s a little further south of the marina,” Anna answered.
Oleta
brought their meals and Lee and Joey were pleased with the suggestions Anna
made. After talking a little longer over
coffee and a form of apple pie for dessert, it was time for Lee and Joey to get
moving. Oleta brought the check, Joey
charged it and the three of them left the restaurant.
“It
was nice meeting you, Marty,” Anna said as they stood outside the
restaurant. “Maybe you’ll return with
some of your clients.”
“You
never know,” Lee replied with a grin.
They
watched as Anna walked down the busy street talking to people as she went
along. Lee and Joey made their way back
to the hotel where Joey stopped at the counter and let the clerk know they were
checking out. Neither of them noticed
the man that followed them out of the restaurant and into the hotel lobby. They returned to their room and grabbed their
gear. Before leaving the hotel, Joey
took the flash drive out of his pocket.
“Pretty
clever way to plant the intel,” Joey commented.
“She’s
a pro. She knew what she was going to do
the minute she saw your ID at the hotel,” Lee answered. He had excellent instincts when it comes to
spotting operatives. It was something
he’d acquired over time and knew Joey would get those instincts the more
missions he went on.
Joey
put the flash drive in his front pants’ pocket and picked up his backpack. Lee
picked up his, slung it over his shoulder and walked out the door with Joey
following him.
()()()()()()()
The two men in the bar
watched the door of the restaurant. They had finished up their meal, paid for
it and were just lingering at the bar waiting for the trio to leave. They
quickly left the bar following Anna, Lee and Joey out of the restaurant.
“You follow them and don’t
let them out of your sight,” the Boss told Andre as he walked back to his car
and would wait for Andre to contact him with where to pick up the two men.
“Yes sir,” Andre replied and
followed Joey and Lee as they made their way back to the hotel. He followed them into the hotel lingering
near the front desk where he heard Joey tell the clerk that they were checking
out. Once Andre knew they were leaving,
he would wait outside the hotel as it was very crowded in the lobby. Even if they took the back door, they would
have to walk by him to get to Karpovo St.
He stood at the only empty table the hotel had set up outside for people
to eat and drink. He didn’t have to
wait too long before he saw Joey and Lee exited the side door and walk right by
him.
()()()()()()()
Andre was getting frustrated
trying to follow Joey and Lee as Karpovo St. was very congested. He finally got a break when he saw them turn
left onto Noveye Way. He also figured since
they turned left and not right they were heading to the marina as the airport
was to the north of the city. Once on
Noveye Way, the two men walked to the short distance to Moscuz St. There weren’t very many people on the street
and though it was dimly light, a few people were visible in the distance. The street was lined with houses about a mile
down the road and before reaching the marina.
Lee and Joey crossed over to the south side of Moscuz St. and continued
walking west. Andre looked around; now
was his best chance to take down the dark-haired man. He removed his gun from his shoulder holster
under his jacket. He dug in his pocket,
pulled out the silencer and screwed it to the barrel. As Lee and Joey walked, Andre stopped, using
his night laser, drew a bead on Lee’s arm.
He fired but hit Joey instead as Lee unexpectedly moved to his
left. Damn, he muttered as he watched the men quickly duck into one of
the doorways. He was too far away to see
which one but he quickly found a place to hide in knowing the men would be
looking back to see who was shooting at them.
He put his gun in his jacket pocket in case he got the chance to use it
again. He waited a few minutes before
ducking his head out of the doorway. He
caught both men exiting the doorway and running down the street. When he saw them leave, he left his hiding
place and continued to follow them. As
they ran under a street light, he noticed the light-haired man continue on
Moscuz while the dark-haired took a turn down a service alley. He would catch up to the dark-haired man as
the only way out from that alley was Noveye Way.
()()()()()()()
Lee
and Joey left the hotel and walked down Karpovo St. but it was too crowded to
make any decent time. Once they came to
Noveye Way, they turned left and continued on to Moscuz St. They had only gone a block when Lee felt a bullet
whizz by his shoulder and heard Joey yell out in pain. Lee quickly pulled him into a recessed
doorway so they could check out where he was hit. It was dark in the doorway but neither man
wanted to risk taking out their flashlight as they didn’t want to give their
position away to the person following them.
“Shit,”
Joey said under his breath.
“You okay?” Lee asked
worriedly.
“Damn, it’s not too bad, just
a graze wound,” he replied after checking out his arm and putting a
handkerchief on it to stop the bleeding.
“I’m sorry Lee. I didn’t hear or
see anyone.”
“Don’t feel bad, I didn’t
notice we were being followed either,” Lee grumbled.
The two men stood quietly in
the doorway for a few minutes. Lee
cautiously stuck his head part way out of the door and didn’t see anyone on the
dimly light street.
“Come on, Joey,” Lee
said. “It’s now or never.”
The two men left the doorway
and started for the marina. They hadn’t
gone very far when another shot whizzed by them missing both men but forced
them into another doorway.
“This intel is too important
for us not get back to the States,” Lee stated. “You continue on to the
extraction point and I’ll create a diversion for whomever is tailing us.”
“Lee, you take the intel
back,” Joey insisted. “You have more at
stake than I do.”
“No, you’ll take the intel back,”
Lee ordered him. “Remember to use the
code words when you get to the dock and tell my men to follow the orders I gave
them. Once you’re aboard Seaview, tell Admiral Nelson to continue
with the mission and implement Plan B.”
“Lee…,” Joey started to say
but was cut-off.
“Joey, that’s an order,” Lee
stated adamantly.
“Yes, sir,” Joey responded
reluctantly even though this was his mission, Lee being the senior operative,
had no choice but to follow his orders.
The men left the safety of
the doorway and proceeded down the street.
They were almost to the end of the industrial section of the street
before it turned into a residential neighborhood. They came across a service alley that led to
the cul-du-sac.
“I’ll turn here and double
back to Noveye Way and then to Karpovo St.
I hope who’s ever following us will trail me and not you.”
“How will you get out of here?”
Joey asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get out.”
“Good luck, Lee,” Joey said
as Lee turned down the service alley and he kept walking until he reached the
marina.
Lee continued down the short
alley and into the cul-du-sac. He
walked quickly down the street hoping to get to Noveye Way before whoever was
tailing them would find him.
()()()()()()()
Andre had hidden in a doorway
a several doors down from Joey and Lee.
He slowly peeked out of the doorway and saw that the two men were
walking quickly down the street. He darted out of his doorway, pulled his gun
out of his jacket and took a shot.
“Damn,” he said when he
missed hitting either man. This part of
the street was dark as there were few street lights but once in the residential
area there were more lights so it would be harder to catch them without being
spotted. He caught a glimpse of them
when they were near the service alley and under a street light. He saw only Lee turn down the alley. He picked up his pace hoping to catch up
with Lee before he got to Noveye Way and Karpovo St. He knew he would have no chance to get him if
he got to the main street with all the people.
He finally reached the alley and made his way to the end but not before
he stumbled into a garbage can creating a huge noise. He swore under his breath and looked down
the street only to see no one in it. Where the hell did he go?” Andre
thought. He couldn’t have gotten to Karpovo already. He knew there was only one place open on
Noveye Way and made his way over there.
()()()()()()()
Harry put down his pen and
looked over the notes he’d written after analyzing the coral they harvested
this morning. He sat back in his chair
and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He
opened them and took a look at his watch…it was 1900 hours. No
wonder I’m tired and hungry, he thought.
I’ve been at this for the last six
hours. He decided he’d head for the
wardroom for dinner before grabbing some reports to read in the observation
nose while they waited to pick up Lee and Joey. He stretched as he stood up and left the lab
making sure everything was secure for the night. He made his way to the wardroom and was
surprised to find Chip and Janet there finishing up dinner. When Cookie saw him enter, he quickly had a
mess specialist make him a plate and take it to the table where he sat across
from Chip and Janet.
“You’re here late,” Harry
said as the mess specialist set his plate down.
“I got hung up in the control
room,” Chip replied.
“Problems?” Harry inquired.
“No sir, just making sure
FS-1 was ready for the pick-up.”
“Janet, what kept you from
eating earlier?”
“I was helping Jamie and had
to finish a couple of reports. Do you
need me to help you with your notes on the new samples?”
“No, that’s done,” Harry
answered twirling some spaghetti on his fork.
“What time are Sharkey and Kowalski leaving to retrieve Lee and Joey?”
“They should be leaving in an
hour,” Chip responded after looking at his watch. “They’re going to get there a little earlier
in case they’re there waiting.”
“Sounds good. Do you have course plotted for home?” Harry
asked knowing Chip would more than likely have one done but he wanted to make
sure so they could get out of the area as soon as Lee and Joey were aboard.
“Yes, sir. We’re ready to head for home as soon as you
give the word. I know there’s another
sector you wanted to check out from our original area. We can stop there as we head for home; it’s
on the way,” Chip replied looking over the rim of his mug.
“No need. After checking out this batch of coral and
the previous ones, I think we’re good to head home. The coral beds are in better shape than I
thought they would be with all the traffic through the area. So, no need to stop. We’ll head for home while Lee and Joey take
FS-1 to Hawaii. They can drop off the
intel, do their debriefing and catch up with us.”
Chip finished his coffee and
stood up, “I’ll make sure we’re in position to leave as soon as FS-1 returns.”
Janet stayed with Harry while
he finished his dinner so he wouldn’t be alone. When he was finished, they left the
wardroom.
“I’ll meet you in the
observation nose,” Harry told her noticing she had her reader with her and knew
she liked to read in the nose.
“Yes sir,” she replied and
walked to the nose while Harry took the ladder to Officer’s Country.
()()()()()()()
Chip stood at the plotting
table, going over the course for home with Bobby. Janet sat down at the table in the nose. As she looked out into the black water, she
hoped Lee and Joey would both be alright.
She started reading her book.
She really preferred holding a book but they took up a lot of space and
with the reader she could take more books with her. Before long she heard Sharkey and Kowalski
talking to Chip.
“Sir, I think we should leave
to get the Skipper,” Sharkey said. “He
might get to the dock earlier than scheduled.”
“I agree. Get ready to head out,” Chip replied as Ski handed
over his headset to Ron.
As they made their way to the
nose, they heard the clicking of heels on the steps of the staircase and saw
that Harry was on the steps.
“Good, I’m glad I caught you
before you left,” Harry said to his men.
“I want you to stay there until they show up. Keep in contact with the boat.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Sharkey
replied as Kowalski opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. Sharkey followed him down and they donned
their leather jackets. While Sharkey
warmed up the engines, Ski secured the ladder and sat down. Sharkey put on the throat mike and flipped
the radio switch.
“FS-1 ready to launch.”
“All green,” Chip answered
and gave the order to launch the small sub
Harry, Chip and Janet watched
as they cleared the front of the sub. Chip returned to the plotting table while
Harry sat in one of the loungers perusing a report while Janet sat at the table
reading her book.
()()()()()()()
Janet looked at her watch and
saw the FS-1 had been gone only an hour.
She started drumming her fingers on the table while Chip was in the
control room, tapping his pencil on the plotting table.
Harry looked up from his
reports, “You two would be a nice addition to a percussion band,” he said as
Chip stopped tapping his pencil and looked sheepishly at Harry.
“Sorry sir,” Janet replied
apologetically. “I’m just nervous. I can’t concentrate on reading. I think I’ve read the same page at least
twice.”
Harry gently patted her hand,
“I know what you mean, I think I’ve read the same sentence that many times,” he
stated and returned to reading his reports.
Seaview’s
spotlight had been left on when FS-1 was launched so Janet looked out the
viewports. There weren’t too many fish
swimming by but just looking at the sea was calming. Chip made a circuit around
the control room checking in with the crew making sure that everything was
running smoothly.
Cookie entered the nose
through the aft hatch, “I thought you might need some fresh coffee,” he said as
he replaced the old carafe with fresh pot of hot coffee and a plate of cookies.
“Thanks, Cookie,” Janet
replied. She poured Harry a mug of
coffee and set it down next to him. He
nodded thanks for the coffee but shook his head on the cookies when Janet
offered him a couple.
After briefing Scott Taper on
the orders for the night and noting the changes in the log book, Chip wandered
into the nose when he smelled the coffee.
Janet poured him a mug and passed him a couple of cookies.
“Thanks, I think we’re going
to need a lot of coffee as I have hunch it’s going to be a long night,” Chip
stated taking a sip of coffee and then ate one of the cookies.
Janet looked at Chip uneasily
as she knew his hunches were always right on the money. She didn’t normally have coffee this late
but poured herself a mug and took a couple of cookies.
()()()()()()()
Joey walked down Moscuz St.
until he reached the marina. The lights
on the docks were far and few between but he could still find the one Lee had pointed
out to him. He noticed several of the
yachts had their lights on as he made his way down the pier. The end of the dock was illuminated and when
he reached it, there was a man in a red jumpsuit standing there fishing.
Kowalski heard someone coming
down the dock but didn’t turn around and waited for whomever it was to approach
him.
“How’s the fishing?” Joey
asked as he stood next to Kowalski. “Have you caught any yellow tuna?”
“No, only blue gills,”
Kowalski replied unhappily and turned to look at Joey. Damn,
he’s alone.
“Hi, Kowalski, Joey
Caldwell,” Joey responded and reached out the shake his hand. “Commander Crane
said you’d be waiting here.”
“Where is Commander Crane…how
come he’s not with you?”
“We ran into unexpected
trouble and he ordered me to continue on and to tell you you’re to follow the
orders he left with you. Commander Crane
took another route so I wouldn’t be followed.”
“Yes, sir,” Ski said
reluctantly and pulled a radio out of his jacket. “Sharkey, bring her up.”
“Okay, Ski.”
Before long Joey saw bubbles
on top of the water and a bright yellow sub surface not too far from the
dock. Sharkey maneuvered the little sub
close to the edge of the dock where Kowalski unlatched the rear hatch and
helped Joey aboard grabbing his arm before he fell into the water. Joey let out a yelp of pain.
“Sorry, sir,” Ski said. “How’d you hurt your arm?”
“Someone took a shot at us
while we were returning to the dock.”
“Is the skipper okay?” Ski
asked quickly.
“Yes, he was fine when I left
him.”
“Once you’re aboard Seaview, Doctor
Jamieson will check you out,” Kowalski assured him.
“Thanks, Kowalski,” Joey
answered as Ski closed and dogged the hatch and showed Joey were to sit.
Sharkey saw Joey board alone. “What happened to the skipper…we better go
get him.” Sharkey said starting to remove his harness.
“No, he ordered me to tell
you that you’re to take me directly to Seaview,”
Joey reminded Lee’s men but could see they were extremely annoyed that they had
to leave without him.
Sharkey looked at Kowalski
and nodded his head. “We have to follow
the Skipper’s orders.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sharkey
responded unwillingly as he slowly submerged the sub under the water and
returned to the boat.
()()()()()()()
Harry glanced at his watch
and noticed that FS-1 had been gone almost three hours. They all knew Sharkey and Kowalski should
have made contact with Lee and Joey and be on their way back to the boat. The only noise they heard was the beeping and
pinging of the equipment needed to keep the boat running. Everyone jumped with they heard Sharkey’s
voice on the radio.
“FS-1 to Seaview,” Sharkey called.
“Come in Seaview.”
“This is Seaview,” the duty Sparks replied as Harry, Chip and Janet ran into
the radio shack.
Harry took the extra mic from
the holder. “Chief, are you on your way
back….do you have Captain Crane and Mr. Caldwell?”
Hesitating slightly,
“Negative, sir. Returning with only Mr.
Caldwell.”
“Damn,” Janet mumbled under
her breath causing Harry and Chip to stare at her.
“Mr. Caldwell will explain
when we return. We should be docking in
forty-five minutes.”
“Very well, Chief,” Harry
replied and stowed the mic.
“I guess you were right,
Chip,” Harry said rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. “It’s going to be a long night.”
He headed for the nose
followed by Chip and Janet. Chip poured
them each another mug of coffee and called the galley for another pot.
()()()()()()()
“FS-1
to Seaview,” Sharkey called forty
minutes later, “Ready to dock.”
“Okay Chief,” Chip replied
and motioned to Ron to open the docking bay doors.
Once they heard the clamps
engage, securing the sub in place, he shut the doors. Chip made his way into the observation nose
and to the hatch.
While Sharkey was completing
the shut-down procedures, Kowalski unlatch the ladder and set it in place. He climbed up the ladder while Chip un-dogged
the hatch and stared down at him. Chip
could tell Kowalski was not to happy they had to leave without Lee. He stepped onto the deck and reached down to
help up Joey careful not to grab his bad arm.
When he cleared the hatch, Sharkey quickly followed him out.
“Hi Joey,” Harry said once
all the men were aboard. “What
happened…where’s Lee?”
“Hello, Admiral, Mr. Morton,
Mrs. Crane,” Joey replied. “I tried to
get Lee to take the intel but he ordered me to bring it back. He told me you’re supposed to finish the
mission and implement plan B.” Joey
removed the flash drive from his pants’ pocket and handed it to Harry.
Harry, Chip and Janet looked
at Joey with confused looks on their faces.
Joey immediately recognized the look.
Sighing deeply, “I assume
there is no plan B,” Joey said unhappily.
Harry shook his head, “You’re
right, there is no plan B.”
“I’m sorry sir, but…” Joey
tried to say but Harry cut him off.
“I know, Lee can be very persuasive
when he needs to be.”
“Joey are you okay?” Janet
asked noticing the sleeve on his shirt looked wet.
“No, we were shot at, they
just winged me but Lee was fine when I left him. Let me tell you what happened.”
Harry piped up, “Sick bay
first so Doctor Jamieson can check out your arm and then you can tell us.”
“Yes, sir,” Joey answered as
Chip and Janet escorted him to sick bay.
()()()()()()()
When they arrived in sick
bay, Jamie looked at Joey, Chip and Janet.
“Where’s Lee?”
“He’s still there but
uninjured so far,” Janet told him.
“Seems Joey got hurt.”
“Let me look at it,” Jamie
said as he helped Joey remove his shirt.
“Not too bad, just a
graze. I’ll have you patched up in few
minutes.”
“Thank you, Doctor Jamieson,”
Joey replied and sat down on the gurney while John grabbed the items Jamie would
need.
Jamie cleansed and bandaged
the wound and gave him a shot of antibiotics.
Chip being the same size as Joey, returned to his cabin and brought him
a shirt to wear until his could be laundered.
()()()()()()()
The three of them returned to
the nose where Harry was standing in the observation nose looking out the
viewports.
“You better tell us what went
wrong and why Lee is still there,” Harry said as they sat down at the
table. Janet poured coffee for all of
them and sat next Joey while Harry and Chip sat across from him.
“We had dinner with the woman
who had the intel. She gave it to me and
we left the restaurant, checked out of the hotel and were walking to the
marina. The town was having a huge
celebration on the main street, so we made our way to a less crowded street so
we would make the rendezvous on time. As
we were walking, someone took a shot at us.
We didn’t know which one of us they were shooting at but it caught my
arm. We ducked into a doorway and waited
a few minutes before continuing on. We
were fired on again so Lee decided that we needed to split up with me taking
the intel and him acting as the diversion for whoever was shooting at us. He ran into a service alley that would take
him back to the main street. He said not
to worry that he’d get out.”
“He did have a transponder,”
Harry reminded them. “So, hopefully he’ll be able to signal us when he’s
ready. Chip why don’t you show Joey to a
cabin where he can rest.”
“If it’s okay with you, I
rather stay here and wait.”
Harry smiled at Joey, “No
problem.”
Joey had never been on Seaview before and looked around the
control room and the view out the windows.
No wonder Lee doesn’t want to be a
full-time agent, Joey thought. This boat is magnificent.”
Chip poured more coffee and
sat down with the rest of them to wait for Lee’s signal.
()()()()()()()
Lee quickly ran down the service
alley and turned right onto Noveye Way. He heard the crash of the trash cans
and knew whoever was following him wasn’t too far behind him. He turned around and made out the silhouette
of a man that had just entered the cul-du-sac from the alley. Damn, he thought as he ran down the
street. He needed to find a place to hide very quickly when a bullet whizzed
past him. The only light he saw was a
shop about eight doors down from the alley. He was too far away from Karpovo
St. where he could blend into the crowd so he ran down the street and entered
the store. He noticed there was a beautiful woman with brown hair and green
eyes at a tall counter.
“Can you help me?” Lee asked
as he walked over to her.
“Yes sir. That’s what we’re here for. I’m Suzy,” the woman purred. She looked Lee over from head to toe and
liked what she saw. A strikingly
handsome man in tight black jeans and black shirt. Maybe
I’ll take care of him myself, she thought.
“Someone’s chasing me, is
there a place I can hid?” Lee asked
giving her his special smile.
“Sure,” Suzy answered without
hesitation. She was a good judge of men
and felt Lee wouldn’t hurt her. “Come behind
the counter, there’s an empty space, you can hide in there.”
Lee went behind the counter
and squeezed into the empty space where he had a view of Suzy’s very nice-looking
legs. He had just gotten in place when
he heard to the door open.
“Andre, what do you want?”
Suzy said curtly.
“Did a man come in here?”
Andre asked looking around.
Rolling her eyes, she
replied, “Of course, a man came in here, a lot of men come in here…it’s a
brothel.”
Lee groaned silently as he
hid beneath the counter. Of all places to hide, he thought.
Andre walked over to the
counter, grabbed Suzy by the wrist and twisted it causing her to yell in pain.
“Don’t be a smart ass, I mean
just now.”
“You better let go of me,”
Suzy hissed. “You don’t want me to tell
the Boss you damaged the goods.”
Andre released her
wrist. Lee looked up and could see her
rubbing it. He had to stop himself from
coming out of the hiding place and decking Andre for hurting Suzy. He couldn’t stand it when a man used his
strength against a woman.
“If I find out you’re holding
out on me, you’ll be sorry,” Andre threatened.
“Get out of here,” Suzy snapped.
Andre left the brothel not
very pleased. He crossed the street and
walked down a few doors before he squeezed himself into a small gap between two
buildings. He could see the entrance to
the brothel and would wait for the dark-haired man to leave as that was the
only place he could have hidden.
()()()()()()()
Lee crawled out from his
hiding place. “Thank you very much for
your help,” he said to Suzy as she stood a few feet from him.
“I know how you can thank
me,” Suzy replied as she put her arms around Lee’s neck.
“Sorry but I’m a happily
married man,” Lee answered as he gently removed her arms.
“Somehow, I knew that,” she
frowned. “Be careful, Andre is no one
to mess with.”
“Thanks again.” Lee walked to
the front door, opened it up and looked outside. He noticed that there were no
recessed doorways so there was no place for someone to hide. He didn’t see anyone and walked down Noveye
Way to Karpovo St. before heading for the pier.
He knew Joey would have been picked up by now but he would find a place
to hid knowing Harry would come looking for him once he activated his tracer.
As Lee walked down the
street, Andre saw him and recognized him as he crossed the street. He would have to walk right by him to get to
Karpovo St. He stayed hidden in the gap
and pulled out his gun. As Lee walked
by, he clubbed him on the back of the head with the gun.
Lee groaned and fell to the
ground never seeing who clobbered him.
Andre pulled out his phone
and dialed the Boss. “I’ve got
him. Meet me on Noveye Way.”
“I’ll be right there,” the
Boss answered. He was parked at the
far eastern end of Moscuz St. He started
the car and sped to Noveye Way.
Andre put his arms around
Lee’s waist and threw Lee’s arm over his shoulder to make it look like Lee was
drunk and he was holding him up.
“Need help?” Several people
asked as they walked by Andre and Lee.
“No thanks. He just partied a little too much,” Andre
replied. “My friend is coming with his
car to take him home.” The Boss pulled
up next to Andre. He shoved Lee in the
car, sat down next to him and quickly closed the door as the Boss took off
heading west on Moscuz St. all the way to the marina where he turned down a secluded
street and into a private driveway. He activated the garage door and parked the
car.
()()()()()()()
The Boss turned off the car
and helped Andre get Lee out of the car.
They carried him into a small room with nothing but a chair and
table. Andre propped Lee up in the
chair as the Boss left the room. He
wasn’t gone to long but Lee was starting to come to by the time he
returned. He had two syringes in his
hand. He quickly rolled up the right
sleeve on Lee’s shirt and injected a quick-acting mild sedative into his
arm. He didn’t want him coming to
before he injected his left arm. Lee
tried to lift his head but he was so tired, he just let it fall onto his
chest. The Boss rolled up this other
sleeve and injected another shot into that arm.
Andre watched his boss and wondered what the dark-haired man had done to
deserve the harsh treatment. He knew
better than to ask afraid of what he would do to him. He’d found out the hard way the Boss was no
one to mess with. When the Boss was
done, he rolled down his sleeve.
“Take him back to where you
found him. Make it look like he was the
victim of a robbery,” the Boss ordered.
“Return back here as soon as you’re finished.”
“Yes sir,” Andre replied and
picked up Lee dragging him by his armpits back to the car.
The Boss picked up Lee’s backpack from the floor of the garage and rifled
through it. He found the bracelet Lee
had bought for Janet. Good taste, the Boss thought, I’ll keep this as it might come in
handy. When Andre finished shoving
Lee into the front seat, the Boss handed him the backpack. He turned around and went up the stairs to
his den where he poured himself a cognac.
He stood there savoring his drink and looked over his secluded and
private marina. You’ll never know what
hit you, the Boss sneered with an evil look on his face.
()()()()()()()
Andre brought Lee back to the
service alley on Noveye Way. He looked
around and saw that there was no one nearby.
He left the car running, went to the passenger side and dragged Lee out
of the car. Before he propped Lee up
against the building, he punched him in the face splitting his lip. As he fell to the ground, he knocked his head
on the building. Andre pushed him
against the building kicking him in the ribs before he left. That’ll
teach you to hide from me, Andre muttered.
He returned to the car and drove back to the Boss’s house.
“I put him in the cul-du-sac
on Noveye Way out of sight so it’ll be awhile before someone spots him,” Andre
reported.
“Good job,” The Boss
said. “I don’t need you anymore this
evening. You’re free to do what you
want.”
“Thank you, sir,” Andre
responded and left the house.
()()()()()()()
Lee gradually regained
consciousness and was temporarily confused as to where he was. After getting his bearings, he realized he
was near the service alley on Noveye Way.
How did I get here, he
wondered as he touched his lip when he tasted the saltiness of his blood and
knew his lip was split. His head was
throbbing and his ribs were killing him.
He rubbed his hand over his head and felt a bump on his forehead and
another one on the back of his head. He also felt blood on his hand and figured
he had a few scrapes. The last thing I remember was walking to
Karpovo St., he thought. The street
was dimly lit so he pushed the button on his watch lighting the dial and couldn’t
believe he’d left Joey a little more than an hour ago. What
the hell happened to me? He saw his
backpack sitting next to him and noticed it was open. He reached around inside and discovered the
only item missing was the bracelet he bought for Janet. “Damn, how am I going to explain this, Lee
Crane, super spy was mugged,” he muttered out loud.
He slowly stood up using the
building for support. Whew, that hurts, he thought as his ribs
protested his movement. He eased away
from the building and gingerly walked past several doors on Noveye Way. Just as he rounded the corner on Karpovo
St., someone ran into him. He winced in
pain as he grabbed the person’s arm to keep both of them from falling to the
ground.
“I’m so sorry,” the voice of
a woman said as they stood under the street light on the corner.
“It’s my fault; I wasn’t
looking where I was going,” Lee replied recognizing the woman as Suzy from the
brothel.
Suzy looked up at Lee, “Oh
my, are you okay?” she asked realizing he was the man from earlier this
evening.
“I’m fine. Sorry about your
drink,” he responded noticing the cup she was carrying had fallen to the ground
and broke open. “Let me buy you another.”
“Don’t worry about the
drink…you need help…come with me,” Suzy insisted and gently put her arm around
Lee’s waist causing him to grimace in pain.
She picked up Lee’s backpack and hoisted it over her shoulder.
They slowly walked down the
few doors to the brothel where Suzy led Lee into the back and her room. She helped him sit down in a chair while she
gathered up the supplies she would need to treat his injuries. Lee looked around the room noticing it was
tastefully decorated…not what he’d expected in a brothel. It didn’t take Suzy too long to return with
a basin of water, towels and bandages.
“I can do it,” Lee said
trying to take the towel from Suzy.
“No, let me do it…,” she
replied dunking the towel in the basin and gently wiping Lee’s lip and the
scrapes on his face.
“Marty,” Lee answered.
“Okay, Marty…can you tell me
what happened?”
“I have no idea. I walked out the door when I left here heading
for Karpovo when everything went black.
I guess I was mugged.”
Suzy frowned as she looked at
the bump on the back of Lee’s head and forehead. “You might have a concussion,” she said as
she left the room.
Lee could hear her grabbing
some ice from the freezer. When she
returned, she had two new towels filled with ice. “Here, put one on the back of your head and
one your forehead. I’ll be right back.”
Suzy left the room before Lee
could answer leaving the door open. He could hear her talking to someone at the
counter. She returned a few minutes
later shutting the door.
“Let me check out your ribs,”
she said as she started to unbutton Lee’s shirt.
‘I’m really fine,” Lee
replied removing the towels and tried to stand up. Suzy saw a look of pain cross Lee’s face.
“I promise I’m not going to
try anything. I just want to help you,”
she responded softly.
“Thank you,” Lee answered as
she stooped down and let her undo the buttons.
“You have some really nasty
looking bruises. Let me take you to the
hospital.”
“No, I can call some friends
to come and get me. They’ll make sure I
get taken care of.”
Suzy looked at Lee’s battered
face and knew he wasn’t going to go to the hospital. “All right.”
“Can you get me some water?”
Lee asked so he could find his transponder and activate it while she was gone.
“Yes, of course,” she said as
she left the room.
Lee groaned in pain as he
picked up the backpack that was on the floor next to the chair. He put his hand into the side pocket and
retrieved the small black transponder. If I was mugged, they sure did a poor job of
searching my pack, Lee thought surprised the transponder was still
there. He pushed the button and watched
as it flashed green letting the boat know where he was located.
Suzy returned with a large
glass of water and some Tylenol. “I
thought this might help as I’m sure you must have a whopping headache.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied popping
the Tylenol in his mouth and took a large gulp of water.
“Did you get in touch with
your friends?”
“Yes, they should be here
shortly. I’ll get out of your way,” Lee
said as he eased himself up from the chair.
“Just stay here until your
friends arrive.”
“I don’t want to take
advantage of your hospitality. I’m sure
you have a lot of work to take care of.”
Grinning Suzy looked at her
watch, “Not for at least another hour.”
Lee knew it would take an
hour for the men from Seaview to
arrive. “Okay, I’ll stay only for an
hour. I told my friends I’d meet them on
Noveye Way and Muscuz St.”
“I have to see how things are
out front but I’ll be back shortly to check on you,” Suzy told him as she
opened the door.
She stopped at the door and
noticed Lee had already closed his eyes.
He’s a mighty fine-looking man. Too bad
he’s married, Suzy thought as she returned to the front counter.
()()()()()()()
Jamie had finished his last
report and was concerned when he hadn’t received word that they had heard from
Lee. After filing his report, he
wandered down to the control room. When
he entered through the aft hatch, he saw Harry, Chip and Joey sitting in the
nose staring out the viewports while Janet paced back and forth. He made his way over to them.
“Mind if I join you?” he
asked standing behind the table. “I
assume we haven’t heard anything?”
“Not yet,” Harry replied
worriedly.
Jamie noticed the coffee pot
on the table, picked it up and found it was empty. “How many pots have you gone through?”
“Too many,” Chip admitted.
Jamie took a seat next to
Joey and looked out the viewports as several schools of fish swam by.
He hadn’t been sitting there
too long when Travis, the duty sparks, yelled, “Mr. Morton, I’ve got a signal.”
Chip, Harry, Janet, Jamie and
Joey all ran to the radio shack.
“Where’s it coming from?” Chip asked quickly.
“Looks like from where he was
with Mr. Caldwell.”
Harry spoke up, “Chip, I want
you and …,” he stopped and looked around the control room. It was manned by the delta watch and none of
them had ever been off the boat on a rescue mission.
“Admiral,” Chip said seeing
the expression on his face. “Chief
Sharkey and Kowalski volunteered to retrieve the skipper when the time came.”
“Thanks Chip. Round them up and head out. Dress in civvies so you’ll blend in.”
“Sir,” Joey said, “Let me
come too…I know the area and we’ll find Captain Crane that much faster.”
“Thanks, Joey,” Harry
answered without hesitation.
Chip walked over to the
plotting table. “Mr. Taper, have the
flying sub ready to launch in ten minutes.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” he responded
and took the clipboard from the charting table, gave it to Simpson and Daniels and
ordered them to ready the little sub for launch.
()()()()()()()
Chip hustled out of the
control room and headed for the crew’s mess looking for Chief Sharkey and Kowalski. He opened the door to the mess and saw
Sharkey and Kowalski sitting there along with Patterson and Riley.
They all stood up when Chip
entered. “Chief, Kowalski, we received
a signal from the skipper. We’re leaving
in ten minutes. Put on your civvies and
meet in the observation nose in seven minutes.”
“Aye, aye sir,” the two men
responded and quickly left the mess for their quarters.
“Do you need any more men?”
Riley asked.
“No, thanks Riley, we should
be fine,” Chip answered and left the mess and headed up the ladder to his
quarters undoing his tie as he walked.
He changed into a black pair
of jeans and black shirt, grabbed his leather jacket and headed to the
observation nose. He descended the
spiral staircase and saw that Sharkey and Kowalski had just arrived. Mr. Taper stood by the table and handed Chip
the checklist from the sub to initial.
Chip quickly signed the form and handed it back to Scott.
“Be careful and call us when
you’ve have Lee and are returning to the boat,” Harry commanded.
“Yes, sir,” Chip replied as
he waited for the other men to board FS-1.
Once he went down the ladder, Scott closed and dogged the hatch and
returned to the launching panel over the sonar station.
“Chief, since you know the
way to the marina, you’ll take us there,” Chip told the men as he settled into
the co-pilot’s seat. “Once we’re in position, Kowalski, you’ll stay with the
sub,” he ordered.
Kowalski wasn’t happy as he
would’ve liked to accompany them to find Lee but he knew someone had to stay
with FS-1 and bring it up when they had Lee.
Everyone strapped on their
harnesses, Sharkey connected the throat mike and radioed the boat to launch
FS-1. He slowly lowered down the sub
from the bottom of the boat, made his way to the front of Seaview and headed for the marina. Harry, Jamie and Janet watched
as she sailed by nose. Janet looked at
her watch and noted it was 2400 hours.
She knew it would take the flying sub at least forty-five minutes to get
to the marina and who knows how long to locate Lee. We’re
in for a long night, she thought as she sat down next to Harry. She gave him a weak smile when he patted her
hand.
()()()()()()()
Sharkey had no trouble
finding the entrance to the marina. He
stayed submerged until they were a mile from the dock and then he surfaced the
flying sub. When they got to the dock,
the yacht was moored at the end slip but they noticed it was dark so they would
be able to bring the sub to the end of the pier. Since the yacht was parked
there it made it harder to bring the sub close to the dock so the men could get
out without falling in the water. Sharkey maneuvered the sub into position. Once
he had the sub where he wanted her, he switched positions with Kowalski.
“Submerge as soon as we’re
off,” Chip instructed Ski. “I’ll radio
you to surface when we’re back. I don’t
want anyone to see us.”
“Aye, sir,” Ski replied
disappointed he couldn’t go on the rescue but he didn’t let Chip see it.
Sharkey un-dogged the rear
hatch and slowly made his way out. He
looked around to see if anyone was on the dock. Chip and Joey quietly exited the sub and
waited while Sharkey dogged the hatch. They stayed until FS-1 submerged before
leaving the dock.
Chip turned on the
transponder and honed in on Lee’s signal.
“Looks like it’s coming from that direction,” he said pointing to the
east of the marina.
“Follow me,” Joey whispered
to Chip and Sharkey as they headed down the pier unto Moscuz St. “We only have to walk a couple of miles to reach
the center of town. Hopefully, Lee is near the service alley where I left him
as it would be extremely difficult to find him if he’s somewhere on Karpovo as
I’m sure it’s packed with people. The first mile is a residential section and
there’s really no place to hide around there.
When we get closer to town there’re more places where he could hide.”
After walking through the
residential area and not seeing anyone, they came upon the service alley.
“This is where I left Lee,”
he whispered and turned into the alley and headed to Noveye Way.
The transponder was still
picking up Lee’s signal but it still wasn’t showing exactly where he was
located. “Is there any other way out of
here,” Chip asked frustrated that they couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.
“No, the cul-du-sac is the
end of the street. The only way out is
Noveye Way to Muscuz St. or Karpovo St.
He has to be here somewhere.”
“There aren’t too many places
open around here,” Sharkey mentioned.
“Most of the businesses were
closed when we checked out the area.
Only one place was open and that was from 9:00 PM until 6:00 AM,” Joey
told Chip and Sharkey.
“Those are some weird hours,”
Sharkey stated.
“Since most of the businesses
are closed, that might be an advantageous a place to hide,” Chip mused.
“Let’s head down Noveye Way
and see what reaction we get from the transponder. If the signal doesn’t get any stronger, we’ll
head over to Karpovo,” Joey suggested.
The three men continued down
Noveye Way heading for Karpovo. They
had only walked past a few businesses when Chip noticed the light was flashing
faster.
“We’re on the right track,”
Chip told the men as they continued down the dimly light street.
When they approached the only place with
lights on, the light on the transponder stopped flashing.
“I think Lee’s in there,”
Chip said excitedly.
The three men stood off to
the side of the storefront observing who was entering and leaving. They only saw a couple of men come out and
one go in.
“Mr. Morton, what store only
has hours from 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and only men going in and out? I’d say that place is a brothel,” Sharkey
surmised.
“And you know that how?” Chip
questioned.
“Well…” Sharkey stammered.
“Never mind,” Chip
replied. “Let’s go check it out.”
The men walked up to the
storefront and looked in the side window and were surprised at what they saw.
()()()()()()()
Lee slowly opened his
eyes. His head didn’t hurt as much
thanks to the Tylenol but his lips and ribs were still sore and his eye was
swollen closed. He looked at his watch
and couldn’t believe he’d been sleeping for over an hour. He still felt like he could sleep for a few
more hours. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was drugged,” Lee thought as
he rubbed his temples. He eased himself
up from the chair grimacing as he stood up.
He leaned over and retrieved his backpack from the floor. He started to walk to the door when Suzy
entered the room.
“Where are you going?” she
asked.
“I have to meet my
friends…they’ll be looking for me,” Lee said.
“I don’t want them to find me here.”
“Afraid they might get the
wrong idea.”
“You could say that.”
“Come on I’ll show you the
way out,” Suzy answered and took the backpack from his hand.
They walked slowly to the
front of the building. When they
reached the front, Suzy put her arms around Lee’s waist, gently hugged him and
kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks for all your help,”
Lee said lightly kissing her on the cheek and hugging her back.
“You’re welcome,” she replied
and handed him his backpack.
Lee turned around and headed
for the door.
()()()()()()()
“Mr. Morton, why is the
skipper letting the woman hug and kiss him?” Sharkey asked. “What about Mrs. C.”
“Chief, I’m sure there’s an
explanation as to why,” Chip replied as he was wondering the same thing.
Joey stood there just as
surprised as the other two men.
Just as they were going to
enter the building, Lee turned around and the three men were shocked at Lee’s
battered face. He walked slowly towards
the door carrying his backpack by the hook on the top rather than over his
shoulder.
Chip stopped them from
entering the building and motioned them to wait by the building next store.
“Wow,” Joey stated. “What the hell happened to him?”
“I don’t know but I’m sure
he’ll tell us,” Chip replied. “Stay
here, I’ll go get him.”
Chip waited until Lee was out
of the building before he sidled over to him.
“Lee, over here,” he said quietly.
“Chip, I’m glad to see you,”
Lee answered recognizing his voice.
“Did you just get here?”
“No,” Chip answered
honestly. “We saw you and the woman.”
Lee ran his hand through his
hair, “It’s not what you think. Let’s
get the hell out of here…you’re not alone are you?”
“No Sharkey and Joey are with
me. They’re waiting at the next store. Of all places to hole up in…a brothel… care
you tell us why you chose that place.”
Lee and Chip made their way
over to where Sharkey and Joey were standing.
Sharkey took the backpack from Lee’s hand.
Before they started to walk
to the marina, Lee needed to clear the air as to what they saw in the brothel. “I know what you saw, but I swear nothing
happened…the brothel was the only place to hide.”
“Never a doubt, Skipper,” Sharkey
responded confidently.
“Joey, you made it back
okay?” Lee asked as they walked down Noveye Way to the service alley.
“No problems at all and your
men were waiting.”
()()()()()()()
The four men walked slowly
back to the marina. Lee had to stop a
few times to catch his breath as his ribs were starting to bother him. When they arrived at the dock, there were
quite a few people milling around so Chip couldn’t radio Kowalski to surface
the sub. Lee leaned up against the
light pole at the end of the dock.
“Damn,” Chip muttered as he
stood next to Lee. He could see he was
fading fast and needed to get to the boat and Jamie’s care. A group of men were walking back from the
end of the dock and noticed Lee resting against the pole.
“Your friend okay?” one of the
men asked.
“Yeah, he’s fine,” Sharkey
answered. “Just overdid it a bit.”
“I’ll say,” another man
responded.
They walked over to another
pier and boarded a yacht close to shore.
Chip quickly took out his
radio, “Morton to FS-1, come in FS-1.”
“FS-1,” Kowalski replied
immediately.
“Surface and be prepared to
dive as soon as we’re aboard. There’s a
lot of foot traffic around.”
“Aye, aye sir,” Ski responded
and slowly surface the small sub.
By the time FS-1 was on the
surface, the men had walked to the end of the pier. Sharkey un-dogged the rear hatch and swiftly
helped Lee board putting him in the bunk.
Joey and Chip followed with Chip dogging the hatch. Once the other two men were on board,
Kowalski submerged the sub leaving it on the bottom until everyone was buckled
in.
“Sharkey, get us out of
here. Kowalski, check over the skipper
and report to Jamie so he knows what he’s facing when we get to the boat.”
Sharkey and Kowalski switched
positions. Joey put on his harness
while Chip and Kowalski took care of Lee.
“Hi Skipper,” Kowalski said
looking over Lee. “I sure hope the
other guy looks worse than you.”
“Ski, the other guy got away
scot free as I never saw who clobbered me.”
Kowalski unbuttoned Lee’s
shirt and saw the bruises by his ribs, he felt the back of his head and found a
small bump. He could see a bump on his
forehead, his split lip and bruised jaw along with some scrapes and
abrasions. He also noticed that most of
them had been attended to but didn’t say anything. He helped Lee lie down on the bunk, strapped
him in and went over to Chip who was waiting by the rear hatch.
“Mr. Morton, what happened he’s
beat up pretty badly?”
“He hasn’t told us how he got
this way. Report to Doctor Jamieson
over the radio while we get underway.”
“Yes, sir,” Kowalski
responded as he headed for the co-pilot’s seat, buckled his harness and put on
the throat mic. He relayed his
assessment to Jamie who asked him a few questions which Kowalski answered and
assured them that they’d be ready for Lee when they arrived.
Sharkey fired up the engines
and lifted the sub off the bottom and headed for Seaview.
Lee was lying on his side
facing away from Chip but he could tell by Lee’s breathing that he had fallen
asleep. He’d seen Lee beaten up a lot
worse but for some reason this one seemed to take a toll on him so he was glad
it was a short trip to the boat.
Harry, Jamie and Janet
breathed a sigh of relief that they had found Lee and had him aboard the sub
but were still worried about his injuries.
Harry returned to the control room where he watched FS-1 on sonar while Jamie
and Janet remained in the observation nose.
()()()()()()()
“FS-1 to Seaview,” Sharkey called over the mic forty-five minutes
later. “Come in, Seaview.”
“This is Seaview,” Travis replied.
“We should be docking in five
minutes,” Sharkey reported.
“We’ve got you on sonar,”
Harry replied. “Docking bay doors are
opening now.” Harry motioned to the man
on sonar to open the doors.
Sharkey skillfully maneuvered
the sub into position and waited for the clamps to secure her in place before
he shut off the engines. Once the
engines were shut down, they heard to docking bay doors close.
While Sharkey and Kowalski
completed the shut-down procedures, Chip and Joey unbuckled their harnesses and
went over to the bunk where Lee was still sleeping. Chip gently patted his leg as he didn’t want
to startle him causing him to move unnecessarily.
“That was a smooth ride…I
didn’t wake up once.” Lee quipped. “And
I feel a little better. I swear who ever
attacked me must have given me something.”
Chip and Joey helped Lee out
of the bunk as Kowalski unhinged the ladder and headed up to un-dog the
hatch. Kowalski climbed out of FS-1 and
was waiting to help Lee up.
“Where’s Lee?” Jamie asked
impatiently as Chip and Joey headed up the ladder before Lee.
“Sharkey’s helping him up,”
Chip responded.
()()()()()()()
The men heard the hatch open
and Kowalski left the flying sub and waited at the top so he could help Lee
out. He was surprised to see Joey and
Chip come up first. Sharkey grabbed
Lee’s backpack and waited while he slowly made his way up the ladder. When Lee reached the top, Kowalski took Lee
by the arm and eased him out of the sub.
He was blocking Harry’s, Jamie’s and Janet’s view so they couldn’t see
him until he was on the deck and Ski moved out of the way. They were shocked at his appearance.
“Oh Lee,” Janet murmured
under her breath when she saw him, grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He gently squeezed back.
“I’m fine,” Lee said as Jamie
looked him over. “I just want to go to
my cabin, take a shower and hit my bunk.”
“Skipper, you know the
rules,” Jamie replied. “Sick bay now.”
Before Lee left the
observation nose, he looked at Sharkey and Kowalski. “You’re off duty as of now. Go hit the rack as I believe you’re both on
duty this morning. Thanks,” Lee added
and walked slowly through the control room and out the aft hatch with Janet and
Jamie behind him. Sharkey and Kowalski
followed them out and headed for their quarters as both were dog tired.
“We’ll be there shortly,”
Harry said as he and Chip entered the control room.
“He’s pretty beat up. Did he tell you what happened?”
“No sir,” Chip replied.
“Chip, get us underway…head
for home,” Harry ordered.
“Aye, aye, sir,” he replied
and walked over to the charting table where he’d already plotted the
course. He gave the order to the engine
room and maneuvering. Chip heard the
engines engage and Seaview slowly
pick up speed as she started for home.
“If you need me, I’ll be in
sick bay and then my quarters,” Chip told Scott.
“Yes, sir,” he replied as
Harry and Chip left the control room and headed for sick bay.
()()()()()()()
Frank was waiting for them when
Lee arrived with Jamie and Janet. He
had a tray of bandages, antiseptic cream, a syringe loaded with antibiotics and
ice packs ready for Jamie. Lee slowly
climbed on the gurney. Jamie gave him a
quick once over before he started asking questions noting most of his injuries
had been taken care off.
“Care to tell us what
happened?” Jamie asked just as Harry and Chip entered sick bay and joined the
rest of them by the gurney.
“After I left Joey, I ran
down a service alley hoping I could make it back to the main street where I
could blend into the crowd. This guy
was fast and I knew he was still following me when a bullet whizzed by my
head. I ran into the only place that had
lights on it turned out to be a brothel. There was a woman standing at the
counter and I asked if there was somewhere I could hide so she showed me a
place behind the counter.”
As Janet sat there listening
to Lee explain where he hid, she couldn’t help thinking, first of all only Lee would
find a brothel to hide in and secondly, he probably turned on his charm and
gave her his special smile so she would let a strange man hide behind her
counter. She knew that look and smile
as she had fallen victim to it many times.
Lee looked at Janet and
noticed a far way look on her face.
“Sweetie, you okay?”
Janet looked back at Lee,
“Yes, just letting my mind wander.”
Lee continued, “While I was
hiding, a man called Andre came in asked if I had come in and that’s how I
found out it was a brothel when she told him of course men came in as it was a
brothel. He wasn’t happy with her smart
remark and told her she’d be sorry if he found out I was hiding there. I don’t think she felt threatened as she
told him the Boss wouldn’t like it if he hurt her. When he left, I climbed out from behind the
counter, thanked her for her help and left.
I looked around and didn’t see anyone but the area was quite dark. I walked passed a building and the next thing
I knew I’m waking up over an hour later propped up in front of a store near the
service alley. I never saw the person
who clobbered me. I think whoever hit me
injected me with a sedative or something.
Jamie, I feel the same way I do after you give me one of your ‘special
coffee’s’.”
Joey piped up, “Andre must
have been watching and saw you leave the brothel. I don’t remember seeing anywhere to hide when
we walked in there but we may have missed it as we weren’t looking for places
to hide.”
“I guess so,” Lee said. “After I woke propped in front of a building,
I had no idea how I was injured. I got
up and made my way down Noveye Way but ran into the Suzy again.”
“Suzy?” Janet asked. “Who’s Suzy?”
“She’s the woman at the
brothel,” Lee explained and went on with his story. “I went around the corner and I almost
knocked her down. She saw I was injured
and walked me back to the brothel and took care of my injuries. Someone did rifle through my backpack but all
they took was a bracelet I bought for Janet.”
He looked at Janet, “Sorry sweetie,” Lee said unhappily.
“It’s okay, Lee…as long as I
got you back that’s all I care about,” she answered and took his hand into
hers.
“When I tried to leave, Suzy
insisted I stay until you rescued me.
When she left to check things out front, I fell asleep and when I woke
up I knew someone would be arriving to get me so I left the brothel and ran
into Chip who was outside the door.”
“Suzy did a nice job of
cleaning up your scrapes and abrasions.
I’m going to do my examination, so all of you can wait outside until I’m
finished. Better yet, why don’t the
rest of you hit the rack,” Jamie suggested.
“He’s more than likely going to be staying in sick bay tonight.”
“Jamie, I’m fine. I just want to take a shower, change and I
promise I’ll go right to bed,” Lee stated.
“We’ll see what the blood
test and x-rays show,” Jamie replied as the group left the exam room and moved
into his office to await the results of Jamie’s exam.
“I’ll be right back,” Janet told them. “I’m going to get Lee some pajamas.”
She left sick bay and
returned to their cabin. She quickly used the head, then grabbed a clean pair
of pajamas and headed back out the door.
By the time she returned to sick bay, Jamie had opened the pleated
curtain separating the exam room from his office.
“It looks like his ribs are
only bruised but we’ll know more when Frank develops the x-rays and checks his
blood for a sedative or anything else unusual,” Jamie reported.
“Can I see him?” I’m sure
he’ll want these,” Janet asked holding the pajamas.
“Yes, you can all see him and
say goodnight. He’s still very tired.”
The group walked back into
the exam room where Janet handed Frank the pajamas.
“Jamie will Lee be able to
fly to Hawaii tomorrow?” Harry asked.
“He and Joey are to report to Admiral Pickerson with the intel and be
debriefed.”
“He should be able to go but
I won’t clear him to fly so he’ll have to go as the co-pilot.”
Harry looked at Chip. “How about another excursion off the
boat? You can take Lee and Joey to
Hawaii.”
“Yes, sir,” Chip replied
eagerly as it had been some time since he flew FS-1.
“I’ll be ready to leave a
0800,” Lee said easing off the gurney.
Jamie looked at him with
grin, “No, you’ll leave at 1100 hours.
You need to sleep off the rest of that sedative and if there’s still too
much in your blood stream you may not go at all,” he said emphatically.
“But that’s too late but the
time we get there and back most of the day will be over,” Lee replied yawning.
Jamie looked at his
watch. “It’s already 0200 hours, all of
us need a good night’s rest. No earlier
than 1000 hours and I don’t want to see the rest of you in the control room or
wardroom before 0800. I’m sure who’s
ever on duty can take care of running the boat.”
Just as Jamie finished, Frank
returned with the results of the x-rays and blood work and handed them to Jamie
who looked them over.
“Your ribs aren’t cracked or
broken, just bruised. You do have a
small amount of sedative in your blood.
I’m sure not what type but enough that you’ll stay here so we can
monitor you.”
“At least I feel better that
I was drugged and not mugged,” Lee replied with a grin. “It would be a little embarrassing trying to
explain to Admiral Pickerson that one of ONI’s top agents was mugged.”
They all broke out into
smiles.
“Now that we know Lee’s going
to be fine, you can all leave,” Jamie stated.
“Yes sir,” they all responded
and bid goodnight to Lee.
“Jamie, I need to talk to
Janet before she leaves.”
“She can stay for a few
minutes after you shower and change,” Jamie answered and left Frank to help Lee
as he was still a little unsteady on his feet.
Frank helped Lee to the head
just outside the exam room while Janet helped Jamie clean up.
“You sure he’s going to be
okay?” Janet asked. “Nothing else in his
blood?”
“Yes, he should be fine by
tomorrow. It usually takes a good
twenty-four hours for the body to get rid of the sedative. He wasn’t given a large amount, just enough
to incapacitate for him for a while.”
Frowning, “Thanks, Jamie.”
Janet replied as Lee and Frank returned to the exam room and Frank helped Lee
into a bunk. Why would someone need to drug Lee?
They knocked him out so they could’ve looked in his backpack or search
him for the intel and why move him.
Something doesn’t seem right, she thought.
Once Lee was settled, Frank
and Jamie left them alone so Jamie could give Frank the instructions for the
night. Janet sat on the edge of the bar
that surrounded the bunk and pulled the blanket up over his chest.
“Comfortable?” she asked.
“Yes, thanks sweetie,” Lee
replied, “but I do need to tell you something that happened at the brothel.”
Lee removed his hand from
under the blanket and took Janet’s into his.
“Before I left, Suzy gave me a hug and kiss…I returned the hug and kiss. Chip, Sharkey and Joey were staring in the
window and saw what took place. Nothing
else happened while I was there. I fell
asleep and woke up in the same place and position I was in when I fell asleep. I just wanted you know everything.”
“I know you wouldn’t do
anything,” Janet answered. She knew Lee
would never cheat on her…only if his life depended on it. When Janet found out Lee worked for ONI and
he told her about some of the situations he got himself into, she understood he
might have to do something drastic. She didn’t like the fact he might have to
sleep with someone to stay alive but she’d rather have that then have him dead.
He rubbed his thumb over her
hand but he could tell she was upset.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lee, it doesn’t make sense
that someone would go through all the trouble of drugging you to get the intel
when they clobbered you over the head and knocked you out… it just doesn’t add
up.”
“I know and I agree with you
but that’s the only thing anyone could have wanted was the intel. Maybe they weren’t pros and were afraid I’d
come too and get away before they got the intel. Please don’t worry about it. I’ll report my suspicions to Admiral
Pickerson.”
“Okay…I better go or Jamie
will be in here to shoo me out. She
kissed his forehead just as Jamie entered the room.
“I’m leaving now,” she said
and walked out as Jamie turned down the lights.
“I’ll walk with you,” Jamie
offered as they both left sick bay.
They walked in silence until
they arrived in officer’s country and Jamie’s cabin.
“You okay?” Jamie asked noticing
how quiet Janet was. “He’s going to be
all right…he got off lightly this time.”
“I’m fine,” Janet laughed
using Lee’s favorite line. “I’m
extremely thankful he got off lightly and will be okay. I’ll see you in the morning…but not before
0800.”
Jamie grinned and entered his
cabin as Janet continued the short distance down the passageway to her cabin.
()()()()()()()
Janet entered her cabin and
sat down on the bunk. Even though it was
awfully early in the morning and she needed to sleep, she was wide awake from
all the coffee she drank while waiting for Lee.
She was relieved Lee’s injuries weren’t too severe but pissed that as
usual this wasn’t an easy in and out mission.
She knew Lee would want to
change into his uniform when he woke up so she took a shirt and pair of pants
from the closet, gathered up the rest of the items he would need including his
razor. She put them in a bag and would
bring them to sick bay when she went to see him. She would return for his
service jacket and cover before he left on the flying sub for Hawaii. She
changed into her pajamas and climbed in the bunk. She tossed and turned for another hour. Since
Lee and Chip would be gone most of the day, maybe I can sneak in a nap before
they return from Hawaii, she thought before she finally fell asleep.
()()()()()()()
Jamie returned to sick bay a
little after 0800 hours the next morning.
He wasn’t surprised to see John sitting at the desk instead of Frank
since they changed watches at 0700.
“Morning, John,” Jamie said
when he stood by his desk where John was sitting. “How’s the Skipper this morning?”
“Good morning, Doc. I just checked on him and he’s still
asleep. I was reading over Frank’s
notes and it looks like he had a peaceful night.”
“Nice to know,” Jamie replied
and picked up the file and scanned it over before he quietly opened the pleated
curtain between his office and the bunk area.
Even though Lee was sleeping, Jamie did a quick assessment of his bumps,
bruises and scrapes. Janet walked in
carrying a hanger and bag with Lee’s uniform and other essentials he would need
to get dressed just as Jamie finished making some notations in his chart.
“Hi Jamie…how’s Lee this
morning…can I see him?” she asked urgently.
“He’s still sleeping but you
can sit with him until he wakes up,” Jamie replied.
Janet walked into the bunk
area, hung Lee’s uniform on one of the other upper bunks, put the bag on the
floor and pulled up a chair so she could sit by his bunk. She could tell by his breathing that he was
in a deep sleep.
As Janet sat there she heard
the familiar voice of Chip asking Jamie how Lee was. Before long, she heard Harry’s voice and then
Joey’s. Jamie let them take a peek at
Lee.
Janet quietly stood up and
returned to the office area. “Good
morning,” she whispered.
After they answered back,
Harry asked, “Jamie, will Lee be able to fly today to Hawaii?”
“I’ll steal some more blood
and test it to see if there’s any trace of the sedative. He might be a little
sore but after a quick look at him, the bump on his forehead is gone, there is
only a bruise. His lip is still a little
swollen but not nearly as bad as last night.
His scrapes will have to heal.
The only area I didn’t check were his ribs which I’ll do after he wakes
up. If his blood work checks out and he feels up to it, I don’t see why he
can’t go but he won’t be able to fly the sub.”
“That’s good news,” Harry
replied taking a quick glance back at Lee.
“Why don’t the three of you
go to breakfast,” Jamie suggested. “As
soon as he wakes up, I’ll take the sample, he can shower, get dressed and join
you for breakfast. I want to make sure
he eats something before he leaves so Janet and I will come down with him.”
“I need to check in with the
control room,” Chip answered, “so I’ll be there in a little while.
“Okay, Joey, that leaves you
and me to get breakfast,” Harry grinned.
“Yes, sir,” Joey replied and
walked out with Harry and Chip.
Janet went back to Lee’s bunk
and sat down. Why did they drug you?” Janet wondered as it was still bothering
her. Something else is going on, she thought.
Jamie sat down at his desk as
John inventoried the supplies they would need to replace the ones they used to
treat Lee. He made the list and went to
the medical stores while Jamie waited for Lee to wake up.
()()()()()()()
It was 0900 when Lee finally
started to stir. He opened his eyes,
looked around and saw Janet sitting by his bunk.
“Good morning, sweetie,” he
said sitting up on his elbow.
“Hi Lee,” Janet replied
kneeling down next the bunk. As much as she wanted to kiss him on the lips, she
didn’t want to hurt him so she kissed his forehead. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better. A little sore but nothing I can’t handle,” he
answered then looked at his watch. “I
can’t believe I slept that long.”
“You obviously needed the
rest.”
Lee put his legs over the
rail that surrounded the bunk and gingerly eased himself up. Since he was so tall, he always had a hard
time getting out of the bunks. He saw
his uniform hanging on the other bunk.
“Thanks.”
Jamie heard them talking and
walked over to Lee just as he finishing climbing out of the bunk. “Good morning, Skipper.”
“Hi Jamie,” Lee replied. “When can I get out of here?”
“Just as soon as I check out
your ribs and take another blood sample.
I want to make sure all the sedative is out of your bloodstream. You know the routine.”
Lee laid down and Jamie
unbuttoned his pajama top. He pressed
around the area making sure there was no other damage to any of his internal
organs. Lee winced when Jamie pressed
lightly on his left side. “There’s quite
a bit of bruising on your left side where someone kicked you but everything
else seems to be okay. When you finish
showering, get dressed and come back here so I can draw some blood.”
While Lee showered, John set
up the items Jamie would need to draw the blood. Jamie waited by the door of the small head
and dressing area making sure Lee had no problems.
Before he showered, he shaved
the best he could and was not happy he had to leave a small amount of stubble
on his face but he didn’t want to remove the scabs that had formed on his
scrapes. He took a Navy two-minute
shower, put on his uniform and sat down on the bench to tie his shoes. He slowly got up and walked back to the exam
room where Jamie was waiting along with John.
“Where’s Janet?” Lee asked
not seeing her.
“In my office, she hates when
I have to draw blood, so she’s waiting in there until we’re done. I told the admiral, Chip and Joey we’d meet
them for breakfast. If your blood test
doesn’t show any sign of the sedative and you feel up to it, I told them I
would clear you to fly to Hawaii but you’re not to do the flying.”
“I’ll agree to that and I
feel fine,” Lee replied with a grin. “And
hurry up, I’m hungry.”
Jamie broke out in a
smile. He was happy to see that Lee was
hungry as he didn’t usually feel like eating after spending the night in sick
bay. He quickly drew a couple vials of
blood and handed them to John for processing.
He put a bandage on his arm and Lee rolled down his sleeve and buttoned
it up. He eased himself off the gurney
and walked into the office area where Janet was waiting.
“All set…let’s go eat,” Lee
said taking Janet’s hand.
Jamie gave John instructions
on what he wanted Lee’s blood tested for and left with them for the wardroom.
“How’s my boat and what’s our
status,” Lee asked when they met Chip on the way to the wardroom.
“Nice to see you up, Lee,” he remarked as they
walked into the wardroom. “Your boat is
fine and we’re at standard speed heading for home. We should be there in three days.”
“Thanks, Chip,” Lee responded
patting him on the shoulder. “Home
sounds pretty good right now.”
Harry and Joey were still
there waiting for the rest of them. Harry broke out in a huge grin when he saw
Lee.
“It’s great to see you,
Lee…how are you feeling?” he said as Lee sat down at the end of the table
instead of his usual place as it would be easier for him to get in and out.
“It nice to see you too,
Admiral, and I’m feeling good,” Lee answered.
“Sorry if I kept you waiting for breakfast.”
“No worries,” Harry
replied. “I’m sure Cookie will have
plenty of food for us.”
On cue, Cookie and a mess
specialist arrived at the table with plates of pancakes, sausages and
fruit. He poured coffee for everyone but
Janet. She didn’t want any coffee so
Cookie brought her over some tea.
As they ate breakfast, Harry
asked, “Jamie, will Lee be able to go?”
“I’m pretty sure, he’ll be
able to go, I’m just waiting for the results of his blood test. If it’s clear, he can go. I’ll know by the time we’re finished with
breakfast.”
The group finished eating and
they all returned to sick bay where John had the results they were waiting for.
Jamie looked over the paper
and smiled. “There’s no trace of the
sedative or anything else unusual in your blood so you’re clear to go but as I
stated earlier…no flying just a passenger.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Lee answered
and looked at Chip. “How soon can we
leave?”
“I had Sharkey and Kowalski
check her out while we were eating so she should be ready to go as soon as we
are.”
“Let’s go,” Lee said. “Joey, you ready to leave?”
“Yes, Lee, I’m packed, the intel is in my pocket so I’m ready whenever you
are.”
“Let me get my coat and cover
and I’ll meet you in the observation nose,” Lee told them as he headed for the
ladder up to officer’s country. Janet
followed behind while the rest of them headed forward to the observation nose.
()()()()()()()
As soon as Lee and Janet
entered the cabin, Lee took Janet in his arms and gently kissed her on the
lips. “We should be back by early
evening. You look tired, so you better
take a nap as I have plans for you tonight,” Lee said mischievously.
“I am tired and as long as
the Admiral doesn’t have any work for me, I’ll make sure to sneak one in,”
Janet laughed as she ran her fingers down the side of his scruffy cheek. “I
can’t wait to see what you have planned.”
Lee gave her another kiss
before easing into his leather flying jacket as Janet picked up his service coat
threw it over her arm and grabbed his cover.
He opened the door and they headed for the observation nose. Chip and Joey were waiting for him in their
leather jackets.
“All checked out Mr. Morton,”
Sharkey said as he handed Chip the check-off list to initial.
“Thanks, Chief,” Chip replied
and handed it back to him.
Kowalski took Lee’s service
coat and cover from Janet and put them on the bunk in FS-1 next to Chip’s.
Lee headed down the ladder
followed by Joey and then Chip.
“Joey, since I can’t fly her,
why don’t you sit in the co-pilot’s seat so you can enjoy the view,” Lee
suggested as he strapped into the rear seat.
“Okay, I’ll take you up on
that,” Joey replied eagerly as he put on the harness.
Chip strapped on his harness,
attached the throat mic and turned on the engines. When he was ready to launch, he slowly
dropped her out of the bottom of Seaview. He sailed past the viewports as they headed
for the surface. It would take them
about four hours to get to Hawaii.
()()()()()()()
Once they were over a hundred
miles from any land, Chip turned around and looked at Lee who nodded his
head. Chip brought the little sub up to
Mach 1. Even though Lee would’ve liked
to be flying his ‘baby’, he got a new perspective on how she was handling. She was having no problems with the speed and
floated through the air. After they’d
been flying for a couple of hours, Lee had been observing Joey who was watching
out the viewports and what Chip was doing.
“Joey, would you like to try
flying her?” Lee asked.
“Could I,” Joey responded
enthusiastically.
“You have a pilot’s license,
don’t you?”
“Yes, I can fly almost any
kind of aircraft.”
“Chip, show him how she
works,” Lee said with a smile.
“Okay, Lee,” he replied and
explained to Joey how the joy sticks worked.
Joey was very excited and
after a small problem with the joy sticks, he caught on right away. Lee and Chip grinned as he was handling her
like a pro. Chip let him fly her for
thirty minutes before he took over the controls as he had to reduce their speed
since they were approaching an area with more air traffic.
“Thanks,” Joey exclaimed. “That was so much fun.”
“No problem,” Lee replied. “What are you going to do after we’re
finished with Admiral Pickerson? Are
you heading back to the mainland?”
“No, I made arrangements with
Admiral Johnson for some time off. I’m
meeting a friend and we’re going to stay in Honolulu for a couple of days
before checking out the other islands.
I haven’t been here in ages and she’s never been here.”
“How about you two?” Joey
asked.
“When we get home, we have
shore leave for a couple of days before we need to prepare for another mission
to Antarctica to check on some moss,” Chip replied. “I don’t know about Lee and Janet but I’m
looking forward to just vegging out with Julie who also has a few days off.”
“We’ll probably do the same,”
Lee remarked noting they hadn’t made any plans for their shore leave.
The men talked about the
Academy the rest of the way to Hawaii before Chip was given clearance to land
at Hickam field. When FS-1 was on the
ground, the men removed their leather jackets.
Chip and Lee donned their service coats and picked up their covers. After exiting the sub, Chip secured her with
his numeric fob. A white sedan was waiting for them to take them to the
Admiral’s office. The driver opened the
doors for the men; Lee and Chip climbed in the back while Joey sat in the
front.
“Good morning sirs,” the
ensign said to the men. “Admiral Pickerson
is waiting for you.” He put the car in
gear and drove them to the Admiral’s office.
When he opened the doors he
said, “I’ll be waiting to take you back to your vehicle when you’re ready to
leave.”
“Thank you,” Chip replied as
he and Lee tucked their covers under their arms and entered the building where
they took the elevator to the third floor.
()()()()()()()
They left the elevator and
entered the office of the Admiral. His
administrative assistant sat at her desk typing on the computer but stopped
when the three men came in.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “I’ll let the Admiral know you’re here. Please have a seat.”
She stood up, walked over to
the door, knocked and then went in as Chip and Joey sat down. Lee was a little stiff from sitting so long
so he decided to stay standing. He
looked out the window at the airstrip watching the Air Force jets take off
along with the commercial planes as they shared the runways.
The door to the admiral’s
door opened and the assistant returned to her office. “Admiral Pickerson will
be with you shortly. Can I get you
something to drink?” she offered.
“No, thank you,” Lee replied
as he leaned up against the wall.
A few minutes later, Admiral
Pickerson came out to the office, only Lee and Chip saluted the admiral when he
approached them as Joey was dressed in civvies.
He saluted back and said, “Oh, my assistant said there were three men
here so I assumed one of them was Admiral Nelson. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Sorry sir,” Lee
answered. “We left him in charge of Seaview.
This is Lt. Commander Morton.”
“Nice to meet you,
Commander. We’ll only be a little while
so have a seat. If you need anything,
just let Haley know.”
“Yes sir,” Chip responded and
sat back down in his chair. Haley smiled
at him and returned to her computer.
The Admiral, Lee and Joey
proceeded into the office where Lee and Joey took the chairs in front of the
admiral’s desk.
Joey removed the disk from
his pocket and handed it to the admiral.
“I hope this has all the information you’re looking for,” Joey
said.
“Me too,” Pickerson
replied. “Since you’ve been gone,
things have escalated in the area with the People’s Republic launching several
more missiles. Luckily none of them
have reached their targets.
“Commander Crane, you look
like a little worse for wear, was there a problem getting the information?”
“Getting the information was
no problem,” Lee reported. “Anna, the
woman used for the exchange was very discreet in passing us the intel but we
ran into trouble on the way to the extraction point. I don’t know how anyone
would have known we had the information unless Anna was caught and gave it
up. We were shot at as we were returning
to the extraction point, so I sent Lt. Commander Caldwell on and used myself as
a decoy. I managed to get away from the shooter
but needed a place to hide so I ran into the only building open on the street
and it turned out to be a brothel. The
man entered the brothel and Suzy, the woman who hid me knew him by name. She said his name, Andre. She told him to leave and I assumed he must
be the one who knocked me out. I was
also drugged which was confirmed by Doctor Jamieson on Seaview. Sir, I lost over
an hour from the time I left Joey and woke up.
As I tried to get back to the
main street, I ran into the woman from the brothel who brought me back there
and took care of my injuries until I was able to activate my transponder. Lt. Commander’s Morton and Caldwell along
with members of the Seaview brought
me out.”
“I see,” Pickerson responded
thoughtfully. “You ran into the same
woman twice…quite a coincidence…any chance she was part of the set-up?”
“No sir, I don’t think so…I
got the impression she didn’t like this man, Andre and I don’t think she was
acting. He grabbed her wrist and
twisted it. She told him the Boss
wouldn’t like him damaging the goods.
So, there’s somebody else involved called the Boss, but I have no idea
who he is or this man, Andre. I didn’t
see Andre’s face when I was in the brothel.
If he is the one who knocked me out and drugged me, the only item he
removed from my backpack was a bracelet I bought for my wife.”
“There were no reports of a
breach in security. As far as the woman
at the brothel, our intel said nothing of a brothel involved or a man named
Andre,” Pickerson replied. “I’ll have
Admiral Johnson check out your story and see if the woman at the brothel has
any connections to the PR.”
“Lt. Commander Caldwell, what
is your report on the events that took place?”
“Sir, as Commander Crane
stated, we were walking to the extraction point and I was hit by a bullet in
the arm. Commander Crane ordered me to
the extraction point where his men were waiting to take me to the Seaview.
Once on board, I gave the intel to Admiral Nelson. I offered my assistance to retrieve Commander
Crane as I was familiar with the area.
We located him and return him to the boat.”
The Admiral sat there for a
few minutes before he continued. “I’ll
forward the intel to Admiral Johnson and send him a report explaining what
you’ve told me but he’ll want a written report from both of you so send him one
as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir,” both men
replied.
When the admiral stood up, Lee
and Joey followed suit and shook hands.
“Thank you for retrieving the information and I’m sorry you both were
injured in the process. Commander
Crane, please give my best to Admiral Nelson.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Lee answered
as he placed his cover beneath his arm.
They waited for him to open
the door before exiting. Chip stood up
when the admiral left his office with Lee and Joey behind.
“Have a safe trip back to the
mainland,” Pickerson told the men and returned to his office.
“Thank you,” Joey said to
Haley as Chip opened the door and they walked out to the elevators.
“That didn’t take too long,”
Chip remarked. “How about we go to the
Officer’s Club for lunch before we leave.
I’m starving.”
“Sounds good,” Joey
replied. “I’m kind of hungry.”
“I could eat too,” Lee said
as they made their way out of the building to the waiting car.
“Take us to the Officer’s
Club,” Lee said politely.
“Yes, sir,” the ensign
replied as he opened the doors for the men, shut them when they were seated and
drove them to the club. “I’ll be
waiting for you.”
The three men entered the
club and were seated immediately as it was a little late for the lunch
crowd. Lee was anxious to get back to Seaview as he wanted to do to his walk
around the boat as soon as they returned.
()()()()()()()
Once the men were finished
with lunch, they went outside and the ensign was there waiting for them.
“Do you want a ride, Joey?”
Lee asked.
“No thanks, Lee, it’s a
beautiful day and the terminal building isn’t that far away so I think I’ll
walk over to meet Sally. She brought me
a suitcase so I didn’t have to wear jeans and denim shirts while we’re
here. I hope we can work together
again.”
“Me too, Joey,” Lee responded
shaking his hand. “Have a nice
vacation.”
“You too,” he answered and
headed towards the terminal building where he would wait in the baggage pickup
area for his friend.
“Where too?” the ensign asked
once Lee and Chip were seated in the car.
“I believe we’re done here,
so back to the Air Force terminal,” Chip said looking at Lee for confirmation.
“Yes, let’s go home.”
The ensign put the car in
drive and had them back at the terminal where FS-1 was parked.
“Thanks,” Lee said.
“Yes, sirs. Have a safe trip back,” he replied and drove
off.
Lee and Chip headed into the
terminal and back to the tarmac where they had left FS-1. Chip unsecured hatch with his code and they entered
the little sub through the aft hatch.
Lee secured the hatch as Chip removed his service jacket, laid it on the
bunk and put on the leather one. He sat
down in the pilot’s seat, put on his harness, attached the throat mic and
started the engines while Lee slowly took off his jacket, laid it next to
Chip’s, donned his leather jacket and sat in the co-pilot’s seat and buckled
in. They had to wait in line to
take-off as the airport was quite busy that afternoon. Once he was cleared for take-off, Chip
quickly got her up and out of the traffic pattern and headed out over the
ocean.
()()()()()()()
An hour into their four-hour
flight back to Seaview, Lee remarked,
“How about we test out the upgrades we did to FS-1. We were going to do them on our way back home
after the mission so why not do them now, there’s nothing better to do.”
“Sounds good,” Chip replied.
Lee had put a list of items
he wanted to test in one of the sub’s storage lockers before they left Santa
Barbara.
When they decided to test out the upgrades, Lee retrieved the clipboard from
the locker. Lee gave Chip the items he
wanted him to do at Mach speed so Chip brought the little sub up to speed and did
the various maneuvers checking out the new steering system. As he completed each item Lee checked it off
the list. He watched Chip intently
taking notes if he noticed any problems.
He was hoping to do the tests but he trusted Chip to give him an honest
answer on how she was handling. After
an hour at Mach 1, they brought her down to a normal cruising speed and
performed the same tests plus a few more.
“She handled like a dream,”
Chip said as they finished up the tests.
“We better stop we don’t want to get on Seaview’s radar and make them think we’re having a problem.”
Lee checked his watch and
noticed they were about ninety minutes away from docking. “We might have waited too long to stop
testing. I’m sure they’ve got us on
radar,” Lee cringed. “I better check in
with them and let them know we’re okay and to send us a homing signal.”
“We better be good all the
way back or the admiral might ban us from flying,” Chip smirked.
()()()()()()()
Patterson was just finishing
up his watch on radar when he picked up the flying sub on his screen. “Mr.
O’Brien, I have something on radar. I’m
almost positive it’s the flying sub.
She looks to be in trouble.”
O’Brien quickly ran over to
the radar console and looked at the screen.
“That sure does look like the flying sub. We better check in and make sure she’s
okay.”
O’Brien left the console
going over to the radio shack when Harry entered the aft hatch and heard the
conversation.
“It’s okay, men,” he said
knowingly. “They’re testing out the
upgrades we installed but they should’ve have let us know before they started
the tests. I’ll check in with them just
to be sure.”
Harry headed for the radio
shack but before he could make his call, Lee’s voice came over the radio.
“FS-1 to Seaview, come in Seaview.”
Sparks flipped the switch to
receive Lee’s call but before he could reply, Harry took the mic.
“This is Seaview,” Harry answered. “Are you boys done playing? You had the men in the control room worried
there was something wrong with the flying sub.”
“Sorry sir, we should have
stopped the testing sooner before we appeared on radar,” Lee replied
contritely.
As Lee was talking to the
admiral, Janet came down the staircase and quickly walked over to the radio
shack. She looked worriedly at
Harry. He patted her hand assuring her
that everything was okay.
“How did the testing
go?”
“Everything was great. We’ll give you a detailed report when we’re
back on board which should be in approximately ninety minutes. Have Sparks send us a homing signal.”
“Will do, Lee, see you
soon. Seaview out.” Harry responded and handed the mic to Sparks who’d
already sent out the signal.
Harry checked his watch. “They should be back around 2000 hours.” He returned to the charting table where Bobby
was standing with Jenkins. “Bobby, I’ll
be in my cabin if you need me. Radio me
when FS-1 is ready to dock.”
“Aye, sir,” Bobby replied and
made a note in the log book. He would
stay on duty until FS-1 returned and then he would turn over command to Scott
Taper and David Morgan.
David Morgan was an up and
coming junior officer. Lee and Chip
both thought he was ready to assume command in the control room on the delta
watch. Jenkins was taking a leave of
absence to care for his ailing mother so this was his last mission. They
were sad to see him leave but understood that family comes first and made sure
he knew he could return when he was able.
David Morgan had been in the control room a few times with Taper or
Jenkins when they found out about Jenkins.
Chip felt he needed a couple more missions under his belt before they
would leave him alone.
()()()()()()()
Janet returned to the
observation nose after leaving the radio shack. She’d completed all of her reports, logged
in the inventory and documented what had been written in the log book. She would log in the rest of the information
once they were docked. She even managed
to sneak in a nap. She sat down and
looked out the windows watching as Seaview
plowed through the water…it still amazed her how the windows didn’t crack under
the pressure. Janet looked back into
the control room as the men changed watches.
They still had another couple of days at sea before they returned to
NIMR. Even though the mission hadn’t
been too long, they were quite a distance from home and she knew the men would
be happy once they docked. Unfortunately,
they wouldn’t get too much time off as they had to prepare for another mission. This one too was a good distance from Santa
Barbara. They were taking some
scientists to Antarctica to check on some moss.
Since they were returning on Wednesday, Lee, Chip and Janet would finish
out the work week before taking off a couple of days off the following week
before leaving on the next mission. I wonder if Lee has made any plans for our
time off, Janet thought before she took out her reader and continued
reading her mystery story.
()()()()()()()
Janet jumped at the sound of
Chip’s voice. She hadn’t realized that
ninety minutes had passed and FS-1 would be docking soon.
“FS-1 to Seaview,” Chip called.
“This is Seaview,” Jones replied.
“We’ll be docking in ten
minutes,” Chip said. “Open the docking
bay doors.”
“Yes, sir,” Jones answered
noting that O’Brien had heard the message.
He picked up the mic. “Engine room, all stop.”
“All stop,” they responded.
Bobby doubled clicked the
mic, “Admiral, the flying sub will be docking in ten minutes.” He then told Carlson on sonar to open the
doors before shipping the mic. Scott
and David had reported for their duty and watched as Bobby directed the boat
and men.
“I’ll be right there,” Harry
said and put down the report he was reading and made his way to the observation
nose.
Janet looked away from the
windows when she heard the click of his heels on the staircase. He walked over to her. “Right on time.”
“Would you expect anything
else from your Captain,” Janet quipped.
Breaking out in a smile, “No,
I guess not.”
They watched as FS-1
approached them head on before ducking underneath the sub. Chip slowly raised her up and in place. As soon as she was secured, the docking bay
doors were closed. Bobby went over to
the hatch and waited for Lee and Chip to come out of the sub.
While Chip completed the
shut-down procedures, Lee unsecured the ladder and locked it in place. He grabbed both their jackets and
covers. He handed Chip his while he
went up the ladder. He un-dogged the
hatch and waited while one of crew lifted the hatch up. He saw Bobby at the top.
“Welcome back, Skipper,”
Bobby said as he took Lee’s jacket and cover and handed them to Janet who had
reached out for them.
“Thanks. Good evening, Admiral, Janet,” Lee replied
with a smile. “How’s my boat?”
“Your boat is fine…we’re on
course and should be docking on schedule,” Bobby answered and took Chip’s gear
from him as he climbed out of the hatch and handed it to Janet. Bobby secured the hatch after answering
Lee’s question while a crew-man relieved Janet of the men’s gear and would take
it to their cabins.
“Glad to hear,” Lee said
taking Janet’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“How did everything go in
Hawaii?” Harry asked.
“Why don’t we tell you about
it over dinner,” Lee suggested. “I’m
hungry and I knew Chip is as I heard his stomach growl a few times on the way
home.”
“Works for me,” Harry replied. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
The four of them left the
control room and headed aft to the wardroom.
Bobby ordered the engine room to standard speed so they could resume
their course for home. He signed off the
change of command over to Scott and David.
He was beat as it had been a long day and was looking forward to hitting
his bunk.
()()()()()()()
When the group arrived in the
wardroom, Cookie motioned them to sit and brought them their dinners. The mess specialist poured coffee for all of
them.
Harry spoke up as they ate
dinner. “How did the meeting go with
Admiral Pickerson?”
“We reported what had taken
place and he hadn’t heard of any breach in security. He was going to talk to Admiral Johnson
about it. Admiral Pickerson was a little
disappointed you didn’t come with.”
Harry smiled, “It’s been
awhile since I’ve talked to or seen him.
Maybe next time we’re out this way I’ll stop in and see him. Just one
other item, I know you said the upgrades to FS-1 were good but what else can
you report?”
Chip replied, “She had more
maneuverability and a tighter turn range at both Mach 1 and normal speeds. It was
definitely worth the cost of the upgrades.”
“Lee, I know you would like
to take her out but I’m glad we made the tests anyway,” Harry responded knowing
he was looking forward to testing his ‘baby’.
“It’s okay, Admiral. I trust Chip’s judgement and I was able to
make some mental notes on how she handled,” Lee said. “I’ll get my turn soon enough,” he said with
smile.
When they finished eating,
Cookie and a mess specialist removed their plates.
“Great meal,” Lee told Cookie
as they stood up to leave.
“Thanks, Skipper,” he
replied.
The four of them left the wardroom
and headed out to the passageway.
“I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m
beat,” Harry replied barely stifling a yawn.
“It’s been a long day.”
“Same here,” Chip answered
and Janet nodded her head in agreement.
“I’m going to do a quick
walk-around,” Lee told them giving Janet a wink.
“See you in the morning,”
Harry answered and headed up the ladder to his cabin.
Chip and Janet stood with Lee
in the passageway.
“I’m going to do a quick
check in the control room,” Chip said.
“I’m want to see how David is doing.”
He turned and headed down the corridor leaving Lee and Janet in the
passageway.
“I won’t be long,” Lee told
Janet giving her a quick kiss.
“You better not as I’m going
to hold you to your promised plans,” she whispered.
Grinning, Lee watched her go
up the ladder and then headed for the missile room where he would start his
walk-around.
()()()()()()()
Janet entered their cabin,
turned on the light on Lee’s desk and sat down on the chair where she removed
her shoes and tucked them under the chair.
Even with a nap she was tired but would try and stay awake until Lee
returned from his walk. As she got ready
for bed she thought about the comment Lee made regarding no breach of security
regarding the mission. Then why would someone knock him out, prop
him up in front of a building and leave him there. “It just doesn’t make sense,” she said
out loud. “Something else is going on.”
She climbed in the bunk,
turned on the light over the bunk and took out her reader. Maybe
I can finish this before Lee returns.
She had only read a few pages before she dozed off.
()()()()()()()
Lee entered the missile room
and greeted the men who were on duty.
He talked to them for a few minutes before moving onto the engine room, reactor
room and a few other departments before he made his last stop in the control
room. He knew Chip had stopped in to
check on the men but wanted to find out how Morgan was doing. He entered the aft hatch and saw Taper at
the charting table watching Morgan make the rounds checking on each of the
consoles and stations.
“How’s he doing?” Lee asked
as he walked over to Scott.
“He’s doing a good job,”
Scott replied. “A little nervous at
first but he’s settling down.”
“Good to hear,” Lee responded
as David finished his rounds and returned to the charting table.
“Evening Skipper,” Morgan
said to Lee.
“Evening Mr. Morgan. I hear you’re doing a good job. Keep up the good work,” Lee told him.
“Thank you, sir,” David
answered. “I really appreciate you
giving me the chance to work up here.”
Lee nodded his head. “If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” the men
replied.
()()()()()()()
Lee took a quick look out the
windows and trotted up the spiral staircase.
He loosened his tie as he headed for his cabin. I
wonder if Janet’s still awake, he chuckled as he’d been gone for over an
hour and he noticed she did look tired.
He opened the door to the cabin and saw the desk light was still lit as
was the bunk light but Janet was sleeping.
He removed the reader from her hand and turned off the bunk light. He went to the head and turned on that light
so he could turn off the desk light. He
was very familiar with his cabin but in total darkness that was another
story. He sat down on the chair,
removed his shoes and put them next to Janet’s.
He stripped off the rest of his clothing and took care of his business
in the head. When he went to turn off
the light in the head, he kicked the doorway with his foot.
“Damn,” he said a little too
loudly and woke up Janet.
She saw the silhouette of her
naked husband just as he turned off the light.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, sorry I woke you,” Lee
apologized.
“I’m glad you did,” Janet
replied sitting up on her elbow.
Lee made his way over to the
bunk and gave her a deep long kiss. “I
sure missed that,” Lee murmured.
“Me too,” Janet answered as
she scooted down into the bunk and pulled the covers back so Lee could slip in.
Once Lee was in the bunk, he
pulled her close. “You don’t need
this,” he said as he removed her pajama top and tossed it on the deck. He gave her another lingering kiss, rolled
her on her back and put his body on hers and they made passionate love. Both were exhausted as Janet nestled in the
crook of Lee’s arm and placed her hand on his chest. “Love you,” she said softly before she fell
asleep.
“Love you too,” Lee replied
kissing the top of her head and dozed off.
()()()()()()()
Across the Pacific Ocean, in
the town of Kolenovo, the Boss was in his study sitting at the mahogany desk
looking out over the ocean. He looked
down at the date on his calendar while fingering the bracelet he removed from
Lee’s backpack. He broke out in a grin,
“It’s time,” he said out loud. He
placed the bracelet back in the black velvet bag and puts that into another
box. He made sure the box lid is secure
before placing it in a FedEx shipping container. He looked at the label already affixed to
the front. Admiral Harriman Nelson, C/O Nelson Institute of Marine Research.
He rechecked the rest of address and sealed up the box. He’d take it to Lutsino for mailing as it’s a
bigger town and has a FedEx store.
“Andre,” he called loudly.
“Yes sir,” Andre replied as
he entered the study.
“Bring the car around. I’m going to Lutsino today.”
“Do you want me to drive
you?” Andre asked hoping he’d say no.
“No, I want to enjoy the
beautiful day. I’m going to have lunch
there so I’ll be back later this afternoon.”
Yes, sir,” Andre responded
and left the study to bring the car to the front of the house.
The Boss picked up the box
and walked out of the study through foyer and out the front door. It’s
going to be a glorious day, he thought as he walked to the driver’s side of
the car where Andre had the door open for him.
“Have a good afternoon,”
Andre told him as he shut the door.
The Boss drove down the
winding driveway to the street and headed for Lutsino.
()()()()()()()
It was only a thirty-minute
drive to Lutsino. His first stop was
the FedEx store where he dropped off the package. The man at counter looked
over the information and collected the fee.
It was expensive but he knew it was worth every penny.
“You’re sure it will be there
by Thursday?” the Boss asked.
“Yes, sir, it will arrive
Thursday afternoon,” the man assured him.
“You’ll get a confirmation via email when it arrives.”
“Perfect, thank you very
much,” the Boss said and left the store. He made his way over to his favorite
restaurant where a tall blond was waiting for him at his table. He ordered a bottle of wine and celebrated.
()()()()()()()
It was 0500 on Wednesday
morning when Janet awoke. When she sat
up, she heard Lee snoring softly and knew he was sound asleep. She was glad they would be docking later that
afternoon as she’d found him awake the previous two nights. The first night she found him typing his AAR
to Admiral Johnson. The second night she
discovered he was awake when she tried to snuggle up to him because she was
cold and found him sitting at his desk reading a report. When she asked him to come back to bed, he
said he would but it was a couple of hours later. She knew when he did return
to bed, he would just lay there not sleeping afraid to move so he wouldn’t wake
her. He had dark circles under eyes and
was starting to look a little haggard.
Janet was worried about him, so she decided to let him sleep for a
couple more hours. She laid down and
fell back to asleep also.
“Shit,” Lee said loudly
waking up Janet.
“Lee, what’s wrong?” she
asked still groggy. “Is something wrong
with the boat…I didn’t hear any klaxons.”
“No, I overslept. I’m going to be late,” he said as he quickly
got out of the bunk and headed for the head.
“I can’t believe I overslept.”
“I let you oversleep,” Janet
confessed. “I was awake at 0500, you
were sound asleep so I didn’t wake you.”
“YOU let me oversleep,” Lee shouted angrily. “What the hell were you thinking…you know
better…I always report early when I’ve been gone.”
“Lee, calm down,” Janet
shouted back before she realized she was shouting and softened her tone. “I’m worried about you. You look tired and have dark circles under
your eyes. You haven’t slept through the
night since you got back from Hawaii. Besides, Chip will take over, it’s not
like there’s no one else to run the boat.”
Lee glared at her as he
ducked into the head, took a quick shower, dressed and left the cabin slamming
the door.
“Damn, that went well,” Janet
sighed. She showered, dressed and
headed for the wardroom.
()()()()()()()
Harry
and Jamie were in the wardroom when Janet arrived and had just gotten their
breakfast. She took some toast, eggs and
coffee and sat down to join them.
“Where’s
Lee?” Harry asked before he took a gulp of coffee.
“In
the control room. I let him sleep in
because he’s been up the last few nights.
He hasn’t slept well since he returned from Hawaii. He wasn’t very happy with me but I’m worried
about him. I was hoping I could talk
him into seeing you, Jamie, but he was so angry with me, I let it pass.”
“He
knows Chip or Bobby will be in the control room to relieve the men on duty,”
Harry said. “I’ll have to remind him
he’s not the only officer on board.”
“Thank
you, sir but you know he feels responsible for everyone and everything,” Janet
replied after taking a nibble of her toast.
“Let
me talk to him,” Jamie said. “I’ll try
and convince him that I need to do a recheck on his blood work.”
“Jamie,
I’d appreciate that but I’m not going to hold my breath he’s going to let you.”
The three of them finished
their breakfast in silence. When they
were done, Harry and Janet headed to the control room and Jamie to sick bay. He decided he would talk to Lee later.
()()()()()()(
Lee ran down the spiral
staircase and entered the control room.
He noticed Chip was not there and Bobby was just entering through the
aft hatch as he made his way over to the chart table.
“You’re relieved of duty,”
Lee told Taper and Morgan.
“Aye sir,” they replied and
headed for the aft hatch. Lee picked up the log book and noticed that there
were a few entries missing.
“Taper, Morgan, get back here
on the double,” Lee ordered.
Both men turned around and
headed for the chart table just as Chip was coming into the control room.
Lee held up the log book, “Aren’t
you forgetting something,” he snapped.
“You didn’t note the change in command.
Looks like a few other entries are missing too. Mr. Taper you should know better,” Lee
ranted. “I just might to rethink your
new position Mr. Morgan.
Dismissed.” The two men quickly
high tailed it out of the control room.
Chip hurried over to the
charting table. He had a contrite look
on his face…his blue eyes wide open.
“Captain,” he said urgently.
“It’s not their fault about the entry in the log book. I relieved them and told them I would log it
in but none of the pens worked, so I ran to get a couple.”
“Why didn’t they say
something?” Lee asked calmly.
“You didn’t give them a
chance to say anything before you took their heads off,” Chip replied confused
at the change in Lee’s demeanor.
Lee rubbed his hand over his
head, “I better go talk to them,” he responded and took off out the aft hatch
and almost ran over Harry and Janet.
Lee knew Scott liked to get
breakfast before he hit the sack so he made his way to the wardroom hoping to
catch the two men before they retired to their quarters.
“What the heck is going on?”
Harry asked Chip when he walked over to the charting table. “Lee ran out of here like a bat out of hell.”
“Mr. O’Brien, you have the
con,” Chip said motioning Harry and Janet to the observation nose.
“Aye, sir,” O’Brien replied
and was going to note the change in the log book.
“I’ll take care of it,” Chip
told him and joined Harry and Janet.
He explained to them what had
taken place in the control room.
“Lee, would never dress down
a crew member in front of the men,” Harry said perplexed.
Janet sighed deeply. “It’s my fault. I let him sleep in since he hasn’t been
sleeping and he took my head off because I did,” she told Chip. “I never thought he would take it out on the
crew. I’ll apologize to the men. I just thought you or O’Brien would be here.”
“I was here, he just didn’t
know it but what worries me is he was pissed one minute and back to himself the
next.”
“I’ll make sure Jamie checks
him out,” Harry replied worriedly. “I’m
assuming he went in search of Taper and Morgan?”
“I guess so,” Chip responded
and looked around the control room and could see the men were shaken at what
had taken place. “Okay men, back to
work, we still have a boat to run.”
“What’s gotten into the
Skipper?” Kowalski whispered to Patterson.
“I’ve never seen him do that before.”
“I don’t know but he’s sure
in a bad mood.”
The men returned to
monitoring their stations and consoles wondering what had gotten into their
skipper.
()()()()()()()
Lee ran into the wardroom
pleased to see Scott and David sitting at a table eating breakfast. Both men immediately stood at attention when
Lee entered.
“At ease men,” Lee told them
and sat down. He motioned to Cookie to
bring him a cup of coffee.
Cookie knew Lee hadn’t eaten
breakfast so he brought him over a plate.
He set the plate down in front of Lee who nodded thanks.
“Go ahead and eat,” Lee said
to the men. He took a forkful of eggs
before he continued. “I need to
apologize to you for the way I acted earlier.
Mr. Morton explained the situation to me. I should have asked why the log entry was
missing before I dressed you down in front of the crew. It’ll never happen again.”
“Yes, sir,” both men replied.
“You’re both doing a good job
and I appreciate the hard work you put in,” Lee said. “I’ll let you finish eating so you can hit
the rack.” Lee took a large gulp of
coffee, left his plate of food and walked out of the wardroom.
Scott and David looked at
each other not knowing what to say. They
finished their breakfast and made their way to their quarters as they were
tired and confused at the way the captain was acting but both knew strange
things took place on Seaview.
()()()()()()()
Harry, Chip and Janet were
still in the observation nose when Lee returned to the control room. He hesitated slightly at the aft hatch
before he made his way to them.
“Chip, sorry I lost my head,”
Lee said rubbing his hand on his forehead.
“I was late and just snapped.”
“No problem, Lee,” he
answered. “It was just a
misunderstanding but you do look tired.”
“I’m fine,” Lee responded and
looked at Janet. “I shouldn’t have
yelled at you either. I know you were
just trying to help.”
“It’s okay,” Janet replied giving
his hand a squeeze. He quickly pulled
his hand away from hers. Janet was caught
off guard as Lee never pulled his hand away.
“Lee, before we dock, I want
Jamie to take a look at you,” Harry stated.
“I’ll make it an order if I have too.”
“Yes, sir,” Lee
conceded. “I’ll go in a little while.”
“Good,” Harry said and patted
Lee on the shoulder. Janet noticed Lee flinched when Harry touched him. “If you
need me, I’ll be in the lab packing up the samples and gathering my notes.”
“Do you need help?” Janet
asked.
“No, thanks,” Harry replied
and started up the staircase.
Lee, Chip and Janet walked
over to the chart table where Chip pulled out the log book and made the entries
while Lee looked on.
“I’ll be in my office after I
stop in the crew’s quarters to get the inventory tickets,” Janet volunteered.
“Lunch at 1300 hours?” Lee
asked before she left.
“Aye, aye, sir,” she replied
with a smile and made her way out the aft hatch. She stopped briefly after exiting the
control room to turn around and look at Lee.
Something is definitely
wrong…hopefully Jamie will have some answers, Janet thought and continued
down the passageway.
()()()()()()()
Janet
had no intentions of stopping in the crew’s quarters, she just used that as an
excuse. She was going to stop and talk
to Jamie. When she arrived at sick bay,
Jamie was sitting at his desk reading a report.
“What
brings you to Sick Bay…are you sick?”
Jamie asked. He could see by the
look on Janet’s face that something was bothering her. He’d already heard the scuttlebutt of what
took place in the control room.
“No,
I’m not sick just worried,” she replied and sat down in the chair in the front
of Jamie’s desk. “I suppose you heard
what happened in the control room.”
“Yes,
you know not too much is kept secret on the boat,” Jamie answered.
“Jamie,
there’s something wrong with him,” Janet said vehemently. “He bit my head off this morning because I
let him sleep in. He hasn’t slept the
entire night for the past three nights.
I know he doesn’t need a lot of sleep but I can see its starting to take
a toll on him.”
“I’ll
make sure he stops and sees me before we dock,” Jamie assured her.
“You
don’t have to worry about that as the admiral ordered him to see you before we
dock,” Janet responded. “One minute he’s
like Dr. Jekyll and the next Mr. Hyde.
He also grabbed his hand away from mine when I went to squeeze and he
flinched when the admiral patted him on the arm.”
“I’ll
check out his blood again but run more in-depth tests when I get back to Med Bay. Maybe I missed something,” Jamie
answered. “Try not to worry we’ll get
to the bottom of the problem.”
“Thanks, but please don’t tell him I was here,” Janet
asked.
“Don’t
worry, I won’t let on,” Jamie said and patted her hand.
Janet
stood up and left sick bay. Jamie sat
at his desk wondering what was going on but would have to wait for Lee to come
to him. He returned to reading his
report.
()()()()()()()
At
1300 hours Lee and Chip turned over the control room to Bobby and went to the
wardroom for lunch. Janet and Harry came
in shortly after they had sat down with their plates.
“When
will we be docking?” Harry asked. “I
want to let Angie know so she makes sure the docking crew and maintenance know
when to arrive.”
“Around
1700 hours,” Lee answered before taking a bite of his sandwich. “I’m waiting for the latest weather report
from Sparks. When I checked earlier it
wasn’t looking too good.”
“Let
me know if there’s a problem,” Harry said.
“Have you seen Jamie yet?”
Lee
looked up from his plate, “No, not yet,” he replied impatiently. “I’ll do it right after lunch.”
When
they finished their lunch, Janet and Lee headed to Sick Bay, Chip back to the
control room, and Harry went to his cabin to call Angie.
()()()()()()()
Jamie
and Frank were doing inventory when Lee and Janet entered. Jamie put down his clipboard and walked over
to them.
“How
are you feeling?” he asked innocently.
“Fine,
just following orders…seems my not sleeping and wanting rules followed is a
problem,” Lee replied testily as he sat down on the gurney and rolled up his
sleeve.
Surprised
that he was cooperating Jamie wasted no time drawing a few vials of blood but
noticed Lee flinch when he touched his arm and put the needle in for the
blood…it never had bothered him before.
“I’m
going to run some quick tests to see if there’s something I missed the first
time,” Jamie said as he noted Lee did look tired and haggard. “I’ll run more complex tests at Med Bay just
in case I don’t find anything here.”
Rolling
down his sleeve, “Am I done, I have a boat to get into port?” Lee asked curtly.
“Yes,
sir, you can go,” Jamie answered. “I’ll
have the results in an hour or so.”
Lee
was already out the door and didn’t hear Jamie’s response. Janet looked at Jamie. "Sorry.”
“It’s
okay,” Jamie said seriously. “But I do
agree something is wrong. Let’s hope
these tests will help us find out.”
Janet
left sick bay and returned to her office where she packed up what she needed to
take back to the institute. Once that
was completed, she went to the cabin and packed up their duffle bags.
()()()()()()()
When
Lee returned to the control room, he headed over to the charting table. Lee resumed command of the boat so Bobby
could get some lunch. He filled out the
log book and headed over to the radio shack.
Leaning
on the radio, he asked, “What’s the latest weather report?”
“Not
too good Skipper. The winds are gusting
at fifty miles per hour and there are eight-foot waves. There’s a storm heading in,” Sparks replied
handing Lee the weather report.
Lee
returned to the charting table, picked up a pencil and tapped it on the table. “Weather’s not looking good,” he told
Chip. “We’re going to have to stay
submerged almost to her berth. It sure
would be nice if we could take her to the underground pen.”
“That
would be a lot easier but the last I heard they were still working on the new
dock,” Chip replied.
Lee
looked at Chip with a huge smile. “Maybe
I should let you take her in. I might be
able to collect on our bet. It’s been
awhile.”
Chip
looked at Lee and returned his grin, “No problem, Skipper,” he joked surprised
at the good mood Lee was in.
()()()()()()()
As
soon as Lee left, Jamie took a couple of the vials of blood he took from Lee
and began to run some tests. He wasn’t
sure what he was looking for but hoped something would turn up. He also kept a couple in reserve to run more
extensive tests at Med Bay than he could on the boat. He and Frank finished up the inventory
making notes on what they would need to restock before the next cruise.
()()()()()()()
At 1600 hours, Seaview had reached the channel and was
still submerged. Normally Lee would
surface the boat and bring her into the berth but after he checked the weather
report again, it was still too choppy.
Submarines weren’t made to be on the surface in choppy seas and Seaview was no exception. Lee didn’t want the crew to get seasick
before they docked and with winds still gusting at over forty miles and waves
at ten to twelve feet he would have to surface just before they reached her
berth.
“Chip, make sure the deck
detail is ready to tie her down as soon as we dock. The weather is still too bad so, we’ll surface
right before I’m ready to dock her.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Chip
responded glad he wasn’t going to have to do it.
“Engine room, all ahead dead
slow,” Lee ordered.
“Engine room, aye,” they
replied as Seaview slowed down.
When they were two hundred
yards from her berth, Lee ordered her to surface.
Sharkey handed Lee and Chip
their raincoats as they headed up the ladder.
The boat was already rocking by the time they reached the bridge. Lee slowly and skillfully maneuvered her
into the berth. The dock crew was
standing by with the lines ready to tie her down as soon as the deck crew
emerged on the deck. The deck crew was
having a hard time standing but managed to tie her down. They placed bumpers along the side so that
she wouldn’t crash into the dock.
Even though it was chilly
out, Lee was sweating by the time he returned to the control room where the men
were shutting down their consoles and stations.
“That sure wasn’t easy,” Lee
said to Chip as Harry and Janet descended down the staircase.
Even though the boat was tied
down, she was still rocking. Harry
looked out the viewports and saw how bad the weather was.
“Nice job, Captain,” he
remarked.
“Thank you, sir. Chip, crack the hatch so the men can leave.”
“Yes, sir,” he responded and
gave the order.
The hatch was opened and the
men started going up the ladder and out the sail door. After all the men had left, Jamie and Frank
walked into the control room. Frank was
carrying the container that held the extra vials of Lee’s blood.
“Well, did you find anything?”
Lee asked irritably.
“No, nothing but I’ll run
some more tests,” Jamie answered surprised at Lee’s tone. “I’ll let you know sometime tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing wrong with
me. I just need a little sleep and I’ll
be fine.”
“Good bye,” Jamie said and
headed up the ladder right after Frank.
()()()()()()()
Jamie and Frank walked down
the gangplank and to the parking lot.
“Frank, I’ll take the
container to Med Bay. I’m going to
start running the tests of the Skipper’s blood as some of them take twenty-four
hours to get the results. I think we’re
going to need the information as soon as possible. The skipper’s mood isn’t very good and maybe
the results can shed some light on why.”
“I’ll go with and help you
set it up. My wife’s out of town until
tomorrow so there’s no one at home,” Frank told Jamie as they got into their
cars and headed for Med Bay.
When they arrived, Hazel was
on duty and surprised to see Jamie and Frank.
“Is everything okay…are we
getting a patient?” she asked urgently.
“No, I just want to run some
blood tests on Captain Crane’s blood and I want the results as soon as
possible,” Jamie said.
“I’ll help as there are no
patients. It’s been very quiet since
you’ve been gone.”
“That’s good to know,” Jamie
acknowledged as they walked to the lab.
Jamie instructed them on
which tests he wanted to run as these were different than the ones he did on
the boat. They looked at him strangely
as some of these tests are not normally included in routine blood tests.
“I know what you’re thinking
but I don’t want to leave a chance of missing something. I can’t prove it but I
suspect there’s something in the Captain’s blood and I want to know what it
is. We have five vials of blood so that
should be enough.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied and
set up the tests.
It only took an hour for them
to set up the tests. When they were finished, they walked out of the lab and
Jamie turned off the lights. The three
of them stood in the hallway, “Thanks for your help. It would’ve taken me a couple of hours to do
all that set-up. Hazel, I’ll be in
around noon tomorrow as I’m working at the free clinic in the morning. Just leave everything as is, I’ll check it
when I come in. Since we have no
patients, you can go home,” Jamie said to Hazel.
“Thank you, sir,” she
responded and went to turn off the lights at the nurse’s station. She grabbed her jacket and umbrella.
As they made their way out of
Med Bay, Frank noticed the wind had increased.
“We’re going to be in for a bad storm so be careful going home.”
“You too,” Jamie and Hazel
answered as they reached their cars and headed home.
()()()()()()()
Harry, Lee, Chip and Janet
were still on the boat as Jamie and Frank headed for Med Bay. They were waiting for stewards to take their
bags up the ladder and place them in their cars. One went up the ladder as the other ones
handed him the duffle bags and briefcases.
Once everything was on deck, the other two headed up after securing the
keys to the cars.
“The wind must have picked up
as she’s rocking more than before, so let’s leave before we all get seasick,”
Harry suggested.
He went up the ladder,
followed by Chip, Janet and then Lee.
They carefully walked on the quarterdeck and down the gangplank happy to
be on solid ground.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,”
Harry said. “I want to talk to you about
the next mission. Angie told me she
received the list of items the scientists were bringing on board. Lee, I had her put a copy on your desk.”
“Yes, sir,” Lee and Chip
responded.
As they stood on the dock, Lee looked around
for the maintenance crew.
“Where the hell is
maintenance?” Lee snapped. “Chip, get
on the phone and find out where they are.”
“Yes sir,” Chip replied as he
took out his phone and dialed Jeremy Higgins, the man in charge of the
maintenance crew.
“They’re on the way,” Chip
answered cautiously.
“They’re supposed to be here
when we dock. I don’t want to have to
wait for them,” Lee said angrily.
The maintenance crew pulled
on the dock a few minutes after Chip called.
“Sorry sirs,” Jeremy
said. “You came in an hour earlier than
we were told.”
“That’s no excuse. Next time be here on time,” Lee fumed. “I want the whole boat scrubbed down. She’s looking a little dirty. And it needs to be done by Monday.”
Jeremy looked at Lee then
Chip. “Yes, sir,” he replied nervously
as a total scrubbing was normally done when the boat was in port for a couple
of weeks.
Chip felt sorry for Jeremy as
Lee was in no mood for him to say something.
He looked at Jeremy and discreetly pointed to his phone. Jeremy nodded knowing the Chip would call
him later.
“Let’s get out of here,” Lee
snarled and started walking down the dock.
As the three of them walked
towards the parking lot, they ran into Julie who’d come to pick up Chip as he’d
driven with Lee and Janet.
“Hi guys,” she said
cheerfully walking over to Chip and giving him a quick kiss.
“Hi,” Lee grunted and kept on
walking.
Julie looked at Janet,
“Sorry. He’s in a bad mood. I’ll talk to you later. Bye Chip.”
“Bye,” Chip replied
worriedly.
“Was the mission that bad?”
Julie asked with concern.
“No, I’ll tell you about it
later. Thanks for coming to get me,”
Chip said happily. “I really missed
you.”
“Me too and I’ll show you how
much when we get home,” she replied linking her arm in his.
Lee and Janet walked up to
the SUV and found it unlocked and the keys on the front seat where the steward
had left them after he took Lee’s briefcase and duffle bags off the boat.
“They left the car unlocked,”
Lee said crabbily.
“Lee, they always do. Who’s going to take anything?” Janet answered
warily as she noticed Lee’s attitude was getting worse. She climbed in the car and looked out the
window. I sure hope Jamie’s tests reveal what’s wrong with him.
()()()()()()()
Lee and Janet rode the short
distance to their house on institute grounds in silence. Lee parked the car in the driveway and sat
there for a few minutes.
“You okay?” Janet asked
cautiously afraid she might set him off.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Lee grumbled
and pushed the button to open the tailgate.
They exited the car and
walked to the back so they could retrieve their bags. Lee picked up his duffle and when he picked
up Janet’s, he winced in pain causing him to drop it.
“Sorry,” he said. “I just couldn’t hold on to it.”
“I’ll take in... it’s not
that heavy.” Janet picked up her duffle
and Lee’s briefcase.
Lee unlocked the door and set
down the duffle by the door. Janet
followed him in and put his briefcase by the chair. She deposited her duffle in the laundry room
and went back to get Lee’s as he sat down on the couch. Janet noticed he looked more tired than
before. She put his duffle with hers
and would deal with them later.
“Are you hungry?” Janet asked
as she walked past him into the kitchen.
“There’s probably not a lot to choose from but I’m sure I can find
something.”
Lee got up from the couch and
sat down at the counter. “Whatever you
make is fine with me.”
As Janet looked for something
to eat, Lee removed his tie, unbuttoned the top button on his shirt, rolled up
his sleeves and rested his arms on the counter.
“How does peanut butter and jelly
sound?”
“That’s okay,” Lee responded
tiredly.
Janet defrosted the bread in
the microwave, made the sandwich and set it down in front of Lee. He took a bite. “I haven’t had one of these in a long time,”
he commented and finished it up.
“Would you like some coffee
and another sandwich?”
“No to both, just some water,
please.”
Janet gave him a glass of
water and picked up her sandwich. “This does taste good.”
Lee looked at Janet as she
licked the peanut butter off her fingers.
“I sure had a short temper today,” he remarked softly.
Janet returned his look, “Yes,
you were a little testy today.”
“I just don’t know what came
over me,” he replied uneasily. “One
minute I’m biting someone’s head off and the next minute I’m back to normal. Why did the little stuff bother me?”
“I don’t know, honey. You’re the calmest person I know. Not much bothers you but today everything
did. Maybe the lack of sleep is catching
up with you. I know it’s still early but
why don’t you go to bed,” Janet suggested as she put her hands over his. He quickly pulled his hands out from under
hers and got up from the stool.
Janet was surprised at his
actions but didn’t say anything as she saw him grimace when she touched him.
“That sounds like a good
idea,” Lee answered as he rubbed his hands where Janet had placed hers.
“I’ll be up soon,” Janet said
as she watched him climb the stairs.
()()()()()()()
Lee
plodded up the stairs. When he got to the bedroom, he was so tired he could
barely get undressed and left his clothes in a heap on the floor. He decided to forego his shower and take one
in the morning. He climbed into bed and
moved away from the spot he and Janet always slept. He didn’t want to be touched. Why
am I snapping at everyone…why I don’t want to sleep next to my wife…why does it
hurt when someone touches me…What the
hell is wrong with me? Lee thought as he drifted off to sleep.
()()()()()()()
After cleaning up the
kitchen, sorting out the clothes in the duffle bags, it was an hour later by
the time Janet went upstairs. Normally
Lee would wake up when she came into the room but he was sound asleep. Before Janet got ready for bed, she took out
her clothes for tomorrow. Since she
always wore pants on the boat, she was looking forward to dressing up. By the time Janet slipped into bed, the storm
that had been threatening all night had finally arrived with vivid lightening
and loud claps of thunder that shook the house. She noticed Lee was sleeping on
the far side of the bed. Frightened by
the severity of the storm, she scooted over to him and put her arm around
him.
“Not now,” he said gruffly
and pushed her arm off.
“Okay,” Janet answered
quietly and moved back to her side of the bed. Hopefully Lee will be back to normal after a good night’s sleep,
she thought before she dozed off.
()()()()()()()
Janet
woke up at 0100 and found Lee staring out the window. Even though the storm had
passed, it was still very windy. He’s
probably checking on Seaview.
“How
long have you been up?” she asked sitting up on her elbow.
“A
couple of hours,” he said impatiently.
“What’s it to you anyway?”
Surprised
at his tone, Janet responded calmly, “Lee, I’m worried about you. I thought when you got home you’d be able to
sleep as I know the bunk on the boat isn’t very comfortable for two
people. I guess I was wrong.”
“I’ll
be back in bed soon…just leave me alone,” he said curtly and continued to stare
outside.
Janet
laid back down and waited for him to return to bed. It was
0300 when he finally slipped back into the bed and resumed his spot as far away
from her as possible.
There’s more wrong with Lee than just
lack of sleep. He hasn’t been the same
since he returned from the mission in Kolenovo.
Something had to have happened while he was knocked out, Janet thought.
I have a feeling it’s going to be
a long day. She finally fell back to
sleep only to be jostled awake when Lee got up.
()()()()()()()
Even
though Lee was exhausted, he only managed to sleep a few of hours before he
woke up again. He noticed the storm was
over but it was still quite windy so he got out of the bed hoping he wouldn’t
wake up Janet. He stood at the window
watching Seaview bob in her pen. The water was still pretty rough but she was
handling it with no problems. He gazed
out over the ocean watching the lightening as the storm headed out to sea. He heard Janet ask if he was okay. I don’t
know what’s wrong so I wish she would just leave me alone, Lee thought. I
really shouldn’t have snapped at her but I don’t want to deal with her right
now. Lee stood there a few more
minutes waiting for Janet to go back to sleep.
He returned to bed and laid there until 0400 before deciding to get up. He’d look over the reports he brought back
until it was time to go to work. He
quickly got out of bed not caring if he woke up Janet or not.
()()()()()()()
Lee
turned on the water in the shower. He
was looking forward to taking a nice long leisurely one. Janet heard the water running and looked at
the clock noticing it was 0400. She
quickly got out of bed not wanting to miss their shower together when they’re
home. Lee was in the shower by the time
she got there. She opened the door and
went to get in.
“What
do you want…can’t I take a shower in peace,” Lee snarled.
Janet
closed the shower door and went back into the bedroom. She knew he didn’t mean what he said but it
still hurt anyway. Jamie, please find something wrong with him so we can take care of him.
As
Lee stood in the shower, the water felt like needles on his skin. It was worse than when someone touched him
so he quickly finished bathing. As he
dressed, he could barely tolerate the clothing against his skin. He took a deep breath waiting for the pain to
pass before he headed for the kitchen and made the coffee. The thought of food turned his stomach so he
only had some coffee. While he waited for Janet to get ready, he
located his briefcase and took out the report he wanted to read.
()()()()()()()
Janet took her shower and
dressed. She’d eat before she put on her
make-up since she had plenty of time to kill as it was 0500. She made her way downstairs and found Lee
reading a report. She poured a cup of
coffee and refilled Lee’s.
“Do you want breakfast…I think
there’re some waffles?”
“No,” Lee responded not even
looking at her as he continued to read the report.
Janet made some toast and sat
down next to Lee. She didn’t touch him
or even talk to him. She quickly
finished up and headed up the stairs to finished getting ready. He didn’t even notice she was gone.
When Lee finished the report,
he refilled his coffee cup and headed outside.
Even though the wind had died down, it was still cool and he felt
chilled so he returned to the house and looked at his watch.
“Janet, hurry up,” he shouted
as he stood by the stairs. He returned
to the kitchen and cleaned up while he waited.
Janet looked at her watch and
sighed…0600. What’s his hurry? She was
almost ready, she put on her shoes and sweater. She made her way downstairs and found Lee
waiting by the door. She grabbed her
purse from the chair and went out the door as Lee stood there holding it
open. He’d put on his service coat and
had his cover in his hand along with his briefcase.
()()()()()()()
They drove to the institute
in silence. Lee parked the SUV in his
parking place and got out. He would
normally come around an open the door for Janet but today he didn’t. It was too early for Howard to be there so
Lee had to use his key to open the front door.
He located the log-in book that was on the shelf under the top of the
desk and signed them in. Neither one said anything as they got into the
elevator and took it to the second floor. Once in the office, Janet made the coffee
before she retreated to her office. She
sighed as she looked at her desk covered in mail. I
guess it was good we came in early, Janet mused as she removed her sweater,
hung it on the back of the chair and put her purse in the drawer taking out her
cell phone which she put on the desk.
She had almost all the mail
sorted by the time Chip arrived at 0800.
He noticed they had signed in at 0630.
He stopped at Janet’s office before heading for his.
He looked at all the
mail. “That’s the one bad part about
being away, all the mail to go through.”
“Yes, for some reason there’s
a ton of it,” Janet replied with a grin.
“Almost done. Looks like you’re
going to get most of it this time.”
“Thanks a lot,” Chip remarked. “You sure came in early this morning. Everything alright?”
“No,” Janet said honestly. “Lee was up most of the night...I think
there’s something more going on than the lack of sleep.”
“Sorry to hear that but if you need anything,
just call,” Chip responded as he left her office and headed to Lee’s.
He found him sitting at his
desk reading a sheet of paper, “Good morning, Lee,” Chip said noticing he still
looked tired.
“Have you seen this list of
items those scientists need to bring aboard for the mission to
Antarctica?” Lee asked sharply. “It’s ridiculous.”
“No, I haven’t seen it. Let me look at it,” Chip replied holding out
his hand for Lee to hand him the list.
Lee thrust it into his hand
but Chip didn’t quite catch it and it dropped on the floor causing Lee to sigh
heavily.
Chip quickly perused the
list. “I don’t think there’re that many
items. We’ve had them bring a lot more
aboard.”
“Figures you’d side with
them,” Lee hissed. “Do you have the
information on the new communications upgrades?”
“No, not yet. I was working on them when we left to check
out the reefs and I never got back to them when we had to rescue you from
Kolenovo. I’ll work on them today. Hopefully I’ll have all the information by
tomorrow.”
“Make it later today,” Lee said
nastily. “You can go now.”
Chip took a deep breath
before he said something he’d regret later.
He turned tail and left Lee’s office and headed to his own.
What the hell was that all about, he wondered as he hung up his
jacket and put his cover in the closet.
()()()()()()()
Chip put his briefcase on the
desk and took out the information Lee wanted.
He had to go to the boat and check on something before he could finish
the report. He would then call the
company once he found out the information.
Janet came into his office
with an armful of mail. “I’ve taken out
everything I can handle. This is what
you need to look over.”
“I’ll check it out
later. I have to finish something for
Lee before I can do anything. What did
you give him for breakfast? He’s sure in
a bad mood…he practically bit my head off.”
“Tell me about it. He hasn’t spoken a civil word to me since we
got home last night. I’m hoping Jamie
will have some answers.”
Lee heard them talking and
walked into Chip’s office. “Maybe if
you’d stop talking about me, you could get some work done,” Lee said testily.
“Yes sir,” Chip answered
tensely. “I need to go to the boat to
check on something for your report, I’ll be right back.” Chip brushed by Lee and headed for the
elevators.
“Don’t YOU have something to do?” he asked glaring at Janet.
“Yes sir, I have to deliver
your mail,” she replied and left Chip’s office. That’s
not Lee, she thought. It may look like him but that’s not him.
Lee stopped to get a cup of
coffee, returned to his office and sat down at his desk. He turned on the computer to check his e-mails.
By the time Janet entered her
office and picked up the mail, Wanda and Angie were just walking in. She wished them a good morning and continued on
to Lee’s office. She walked in and put
the mail on the desk.
He looked away from the
computer at the mail and then at her, “Can’t you take care of any of this?” he
asked somewhat civil.
“I’ve only given you the
items I can’t handle. I’ll take care of
everything else,” she replied quietly and turned to leave. As she walked out the door, Harry was coming
down the hall.
“Good morning, Janet,” he
said pleasantly. “Is Lee in there?”
“Good morning, sir,” Janet
replied. “Yes, he’s in there but….” Harry entered Lee’s office and didn’t hear
the rest of what Janet said. “you might
want to give him a few minutes.”
Janet turned and headed back
to her office just as Harry was saying good morning to Lee.
()()()()()()()
“Good morning, sir,” Lee
answered.
“That was some storm last
night. Have you checked on the boat?”
Harry asked standing in front of Lee’s desk.
“I looked at her last night
and everything looked in good shape.
Chip’s down there now so if there’s anything wrong, I’m sure he’ll let
us know,” Lee replied annoyingly.
His tone didn’t get by Harry
nor the fact the Lee didn’t go down to the dock and check on Seaview himself. He also noticed that Lee still looked very
tired and on edge. “I want to have a
meeting at 1300 hours to discuss our mission to Antarctica.”
“Yes, sir,” Lee replied
indifferently. “I’ll let Chip know.”
Harry walked out of Lee’s
office and wondered what was wrong with him.
He sure isn’t himself today,
Harry thought.
Harry said good morning to
Angie and continued in to his office where he placed his briefcase on the desk
and took out his papers. Lee’s attitude
was really bothering him so he picked up the phone and called Med Bay.
“Good morning, Med Bay,”
Hazel answered politely.
“Good morning, Hazel,” Harry
replied, “this is Admiral Nelson, is Doctor Jamieson in?”
“No sir, I’m sorry he won’t
be in until after noon. It’s his day to
help out at the free clinic.”
“Have him call me as soon as
he arrives,” Harry instructed.
“Yes, sir.”
Harry hung up the phone. “Damn,” he said out loud as he wanted to get
to the bottom of Lee’s problem.
He sat down at his desk, read
over all his messages and mail that had come in will he was gone.
()()()()()()()
It was 1100 hours by the time
Chip returned from the boat. It had
taken him longer than expected to get the information he needed as he had to
find some paperwork regarding the existing radio. He then placed the phone call to the company
supplying the upgrades. He was told they had run into a problem and didn’t want
to give him some bad data but the assured him they would have it tomorrow
morning. He knew he better tell Lee
right away so he left his office and walked over to Lee’s.
“Lee,” Chip said. “There’s…” was all Chip could get out before
Lee cut him off.
“The admiral’s having a meeting
at 1300 hours regarding the mission to Antarctica. Don’t know what’s on the agenda, I’m just
letting you know. What about the report
on the communications upgrade…is it done?”
“No, that’s why I came in
here. I just called the company and
they have a problem and won’t have the information until tomorrow morning.”
Lee stood up and looked Chip
in the eye. “Can’t you do anything
right,” he yelled. “All of this should
have been done BEFORE we left for
the Philippine Sea. Are you that
incompetent?”
“I don’t know what the hell
your problem is, but don’t take it out on me,” Chip hollered back. “If we didn’t have to get your six out of
trouble, I would’ve had it done.”
Janet came running out of her
office when she heard to the two men arguing.
The door to Angie’s office was closed so she or Harry didn’t hear them
but Wanda did and followed Janet into Lee’s office.
Surprised by their actions,
“Lee, Chip, calm down,” Janet pleaded desperately. “Please stop.” She was afraid they would come
to blows.
Chip looked at Janet and
could see how frightened she was and left Lee’s office before he said or did
anything more. Wanda followed Chip out
and returned to her desk.
Janet stared at Lee as she couldn’t
believe he was that angry over a report.
“Lee, let’s go to Med Bay. There’s something wrong with you. Please.”
“Get out of here,” he
snarled. “Leave me alone.” He took her by the elbow, shoved her out the
door and slammed it closed.
She stood outside the door to
Lee’s office for a few minutes trying to assess what had just happened before
heading in Chip’s.
“You do know that man in
there is not Lee,” Janet said to Chip anxiously.
“Yes, and I should have let
it go but he just pushed my buttons one time to many today,” Chip sighed.
“I don’t know what’s wrong
with him…he won’t go to Med Bay…what should I do?”
“Just let him calm down but I
think we should tell the admiral what just occurred. He can order him to Med
Bay.”
“I guess you’re right,” Janet
agreed as the two of them walked to Harry’s office.
“Angie, is the admiral
available?” Chip asked worriedly.
“No, he’s on the phone with
one of the scientists from the mission,” she replied. She could see by the looks on Chip’s and
Janet’s faces that something was terribly wrong.
Janet replied urgently. “We have to see him at once…it’s about Lee.”
Angie quickly got up from her
desk and knocked on the door to Harry’s office.
She didn’t wait for his reply before she opened the door.
“What is it…I’m busy,” Harry grumbled
upset that Angie would barge right in.
“Sir,” Janet said following
Angie in. “It’s Lee…there’s something
wrong with him…I need your help,” she said distraughtly.
Harry took one look at Janet
and then Chip, who’d also entered the office, and knew there was a problem.
“Something’s come up, let me
call you back,” Harry told the scientist and hung up.
“What’s wrong…what about
Lee…is he hurt?” Harry asked nervously.
“No, not yet. He and Chip almost came to blows over a
report. Can you make him go to Med Bay?”
Janet asked frantically. “The man in his
office is not Lee. He hasn’t been the
same since he returned from Kolenovo.”
“I suspected that. He’s been pretty testy since he came
back. Let me talk to him,” Harry
responded giving Janet a pat on the arm seeing how upset she was and walked to
Lee’s office.
()()()()()()()
Lee sat in his office
seething over what had happened between him and Chip. The irritation from his clothes was getting
worse so he undid his tie, threw it on the desk before he unbuttoned his top
button and rolled up his sleeves. I can’t believe Chip was that insubordinate. I’ll see that it gets put in his file,
Lee thought angrily. I’m going to have Harry reprimand him.
Lee stood up from his desk
and walked over to the door just as Harry was opening it. Janet and Chip were with him.
“Have you come to apologize
for your actions, Mr. Morton?” Lee asked snidely.
“Lee,” Harry said
calmly. “Let’s go to Med Bay and see if
Jamie has the results of the blood tests.
Obviously, there’s something wrong.”
As Harry went to put his hand
on Lee’s arm, he batted it away almost knocking Harry to the ground. “Get your hands off me,” Lee growled.
Chip managed to grab Harry
before he fell to the floor. Janet stood
there stunned at Lee’s actions.
“Please, Lee, go to Med Bay,”
Janet begged.
Lee watched in horror as Chip
stopped Harry from falling. What IS
wrong with me…I’d never put a hand on the admiral. I’ve got to get out of here before I hurt
somebody. Lee started for the door
but Chip grabbed his arm to stop him.
Lee screamed in pain, shook Chip’s hand loose, and ran for the elevator
which was stopped at their floor.
Janet ran after him using the stairs hoping to meet the elevator. She knew if she waited for the elevator, Lee
would be gone. Chip and Harry weren’t
too far behind her.
When she got to the ground
floor, Lee was just exiting the building.
He unlocked the SUV and hopped in.
As he was driving away, Janet grabbed the door, opened it and hauled
herself in.
“Get out,” Lee spat. “I don’t want you here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,”
Janet shouted back. “We’re in this
together.”
While Lee barreled down the
street towards the entrance, Chip ran back into the building, picked up the
phone on Howard’s desk and called security at the front gate.
“Commander Crane is trying to
leave the complex. Stop him,” Chip
ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Ben, the security
guard on duty, replied. He walked out
of the security hut and saw Lee’s SUV heading for the gate. He also knew that Lee had no intentions of
stopping to check out. He crashed
through the gate and continued down NIMR Drive.
Ben called the administrative
building where Chip answered the phone.
“I’m sorry sir but he left
the complex. He crashed right through
the gate.”
“Okay, Ben. Get the gate repaired,” Chip said
despondently.
“Well?” Harry asked urgently.
“He crashed through the gate
at security.”
“Damn,” Harry replied. “Let’s go back upstairs so we can figure out
what to do next.
Chip and Harry boarded the
elevator and rode up in silence to the second floor. When they arrived, Wanda saw it was only the
two of them and knew Lee and Janet were gone.
When they entered Harry’s
office, the phone was ringing and Angie quickly answered it.
“Yes, he’s right here,” Angie
said and handed Harry the phone.
“Harry, its Jamie. I just arrived at Med Bay and checked on Lee’s
blood test. There’s definitely an
abnormal substance in his blood.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is and can’t locate any record of
it anywhere. Get him over here right
away. He’s going to have to be
monitored.”
“Too late, Jamie. He and Janet just drove off the
grounds. We’re going to contact security
to track him.”
“Shit,” Jamie replied. “I have a feeling whatever is in his system
is going to get worse instead of better.
We better find him pretty quickly.
I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks,” Harry answered and
replaced the receiver on the phone.
“Jamie, found something but
he doesn’t know what it is and feels Lee’s going to get worse before it’s
over,” Harry remarked tensely.
()()()()()()()
Lee continued driving at a
high rate of speed down NIMR Drive before turning right on Eagle Drive.
“Lee, please slow down,
you’re going to kill us,” Janet pleaded.
“You shouldn’t have come
along,” Lee replied curtly.
Lee slowed down as they drove
down a secluded road Janet had never been on before but knew they were heading
away from Santa Barbara. As they drove
along, Janet looked over at Lee and could see he was in pain but she had no
idea what was causing it. Lee drove a
few more miles before pulling over to the side of the road that had a large
shoulder and a shallow valley next to it.
He got out of the car, taking the keys with him and walked to the
back. Janet turned around to see what
he was doing but lost sight of him. She
figured he was going to remove the tracking device from the car. She knew there was one attached but didn’t
know where it was.
Lee bent down, reached his
hand under the bumper and pulled off the tracking device that was on the car
and threw it over the side of the road into the valley. He had NIMR security put one on the car in
case they had a problem, the car could be located. He pulled out his cell phone and turned off
the tracking device app that was installed and also turned off the phone. He had one more item to take care of and opened
the back hatch of the car. Janet heard
the hatch open and tried to see what Lee was doing but the seats were in the
way. Before she could get out of the
car, she heard Lee scream in pain. She quickly left the car and ran to the back
to find Lee standing there with a pair of scissor and blood running down his
arm that sported a deep cut.
“Damn, Lee,” Janet murmured as
she knew he had removed the ONI tracking device that he had in his arm under
his skin.
Janet ran over to him as he
was trying to bandage his arm and not having much success.
“Let me do it,” she told him
as she reached for the first aid kit they had in the car. She looked in the kit and knew Jamie must
have packed it as it had everything anyone would need for an emergency.
She found some gauze patches
and bandages along with some antiseptic cream. She put pressure on the wound with some of the
gauze hoping to stop the bleeding. She
knew she was hurting Lee by the agonizing look on his face but didn’t know what
else to do. After the bleeding slowed
down, she doubled-up the gauze patches, applied some cream to them and put them
on the cut. She wrapped a gauze strip
several times around the patches and finally put an elastic wrap around that
hoping it would stop the bleeding.
“Thank you,” he murmured
looking at her with his amber eyes filled with pain.
Those are Lee’s eyes, Janet thought. I have no idea how to help him.
He looked away from her, shut
the back hatch, removed the keys from his pocket and went to the front of the
car. Before Janet climbed in the car,
she discreetly took one of the bloody cloths and threw it under the car. She
knew that NIMR would track them and hoped they would find it. It would at least let them know they had been
there. She made her way to the front and hopped in the car. Lee
unbuttoned the rest of the buttons on his shirt before he slowly got into the
car. Janet realized that his clothing
must be bothering him as he would never drive with his shirt undone. He started the car and pulled away from the
shoulder and onto the pavement.
“Where are we going?” Janet
asked softly.
“None of your business,” he
replied harshly.
They continued driving for
another hour before Lee pulled into a fast food restaurant where he ordered
hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries, salads, soft drinks and
water. Janet hoped he would use his
credit card so they would have a way to track him but he paid with cash. He put the food in the back and drove
off. He drove a couple of miles before
he stopped at a vacant building and pulled behind it so no one would see
them. He handed Janet one of the salads
and a drink and took one for himself.
“Thanks,” she said and
started to eat it but wondered what he was going to do with the rest of the
food.
Janet was hungry and managed
to eat her salad but Lee took a couple of bites before putting the lid back on
it. He hadn’t eaten very much but
looked like he was going to be sick. He
took a couple of sips from one of the soft drinks and put the cup in the
holder. He started the car and headed
back on the road.
Janet tried to stay awake but
not getting much sleep the night before nodded off shortly after they stopped
for lunch. Lee look over at her and
shook his head disgustingly. I wish she hadn’t come.
()()()()()()()
While Harry was talking on
the phone to Jamie, Chip tried called Lee’s phone but it went directly to voice
mail so he tried the tracking device they had installed on all their phones and
it showed nothing. Damn, he must have turned off his phone, he thought. He then dialed Janet’s phone and heard it
ringing only it was coming from her office.
Harry finished his
conversation with Jamie and saw Chip walking back from Janet’s office.
“Did you try Lee’s
phone...Janet’s?”
“Yes, Lee’s goes directly to
voice mail and he must have turned off the tracking device and phone as I’m not
getting anything. Janet’s phone was on
her desk,” he replied dejectedly standing there with her phone in his hand.
“Call Hank Rivers, he should
be able to track where they are,” Harry said tensely.
Chip dialed Hank Rivers, NIMR
head of security, and he picked it up on the first ring.
“Hi Chip,” Hank answered. “I know why you’re calling. I heard what happened at the gate and I’ve
tracked down Lee’s car.”
“Aren’t you tracking it
now…what’s going on?”
“It’s stopped about five
miles from here heading away from the city.
I’ve got Steve and Paul heading out there to see if there’s a
problem. They should be reporting in
shortly. I’ll call you as soon as I
hear from them.”
Harry was listening to Chip
and wanted to know what was going on so Chip explained what Hank just told him.
“Have him come over
here. I want to talk to the men directly
when they find Lee’s car,” Harry told Chip.
“Hank, the admiral wants you
here now.”
“I’m on my way,” Hank
replied. He grabbed his cell phone and
headed over to the administrative building.
He ran into Jamie who was
just entering the building. The two men
signed in and headed for the elevator just as Larry was bringing in the
mail. They held the elevator for him so
he wouldn’t have to wait as he was loaded with mail. They exited the elevator and walked down to
Harry’s office. Larry stopped at
Angie’s desk and dropped off the mail.
There was a small box addressed to the admiral on top.
()()()()()()()
Jamie, Hank, Chip and Harry
sat in Harry’s office waiting for Steve and Paul to report in.
“Jamie, have you any idea what’s in Lee’s blood?” Harry
asked.
“No, I have no clue. I’ve sent samples to all the agencies I know
to see if they’ve ever run across this substance. So far, no one knows what it is but I’m still
waiting for a few more responses,” Jamie replied. “Whatever it is, it’s not good and I don’t
know how to treat it if and when we find Lee.”
Just as Jamie finished,
Hank’s phone rang. He put it on speaker
so they all could hear what the men had to say.
“Mr. Rivers, this is
Paul. We’ve found the area where the
SUV was parked but it’s not here now.
We’re still receiving a signal from the tracker so I’m assuming
Commander Crane removed it from the car and threw it into a valley right off
the road. We’ve checked the valley and
there’s no sign of his SUV down there.
We also found a bloody cloth on the road. We’ll bring it back with us.”
“Thanks, Paul,” Hank answered
and looked at Harry who nodded his head.
“Come on back and bring the cloth directly to Med Bay.”
“Yes, sir,” Paul responded as
Steve went to the truck of their car, pulled on some rubber gloves, picked up
the bloody cloth and put it in a baggie.
He removed his gloves and put them in a bag, shut the trunk and climbed
in the car.
“I wonder who and how Lee or
Janet was injured,” Jamie said worriedly.
“Lee’s been like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
“Unfortunately, he’s been
more Mr. Hyde lately,” Chip commented anxiously.
“Tell me how is was reacting
before he left and why did he leave,” Jamie questioned.
“He was in a foul mood this
morning and from what Janet told me he was like that last night as well,” Chip
said. “We went into his office to try
and get him to go to Med Bay. The
admiral reached out to take his arm and Lee batted it away almost knocking the
admiral to the ground then started to run out the door.”
“I was shocked at what he did
but I think he was too. I could see it
in his eyes,” Harry added.
“I went to grab his arm and
he let out a scream I’ve never heard before,” Chip continued.
“We all know Lee has a high
tolerance for pain so it must be pretty severe if he screamed like that,” Jamie
declared.
“He ran out of the office,
took the elevator down and left the building.
Janet ran down the stairs after him and caught up with him as he started
to drive away. She climbed in the car as
it was moving and it headed out,” Harry continued.
“Well, we know he must be in
terrible pain and obviously capable of violence. I hope he doesn’t snap and hurt Janet,” Jamie
said.
“Is there anything more I can
do? I’m assuming you tried his phone and
now with his tracker removed from his vehicle, there’s nothing more we can do,”
Hank lamented.
“Yes, we have one more
option,” Harry declared as he picked up the phone and dialed a number from
memory.
“Gerald, its Harry…I need
your help.”
“What can I do for you?”
Gerald Johnson, head of ONI, replied.
“Lee’s missing. He hasn’t been right since he returned from
Kolenovo. Doctor Jamieson found an
abnormal substance in his blood. He took
off early this afternoon when he realized he was getting worse. We know he’s turned off the tracking device
on his phone and removed the one from his car.
I know he has one implanted on him from ONI. Would you please see if you’re getting a
signal from it? He’s extremely agitated
bordering on violent. We need to find
him and make sure he’s okay along with Janet.”
“Sorry to hear that
Harry. Nothing was mentioned in his
report or Mr. Caldwell’s that he was having a problem.”
“Doctor Jamieson checked him
out when he returned from the mission and his blood was clean accept for a
small amount of sedative. We only found
the substance when we checked his blood today.
Doctor Jamieson has no idea what it is and is hoping to get some answers
from other sources,” Harry explained.
Taking a deep breath, Johnson
replied, “Let me check on it and I’ll get back to you in ten minutes.”
“Thanks, Gerald,” Harry said
and hung up the phone. “He’ll let me
know in ten minutes,” he reported to the other men.
()()()()()()()
Harry had left the door open
to his office and Angie heard everything that was going on. She was very worried about Lee and
Janet. While they waited for Johnson to
call back, she sorted out the mail.
After putting the items she would handle in a pile, she came across the
box. She knew it was safe to open as all
boxes or packages that arrive at the institute are x-rayed before they’re
delivered. She opened the end of the box
and shook out another box. It was long
and skinny. She undid the lid on that
box and found a black velvet bag. When
she undid the tie at the end of the bag, a bracelet fell out. Whoever sent the bracelet had excellent
taste as it was a beautiful gold and silver bracelet. She was going to show it to the admiral when
his phone rang. She left the bracelet on
the front of her desk.
“Hello,” Harry said quickly.
“Harry,” Johnson
answered. “I’m sorry but we can’t find
him. We traced him out of the institute
for a short distance before we lost all contact. I don’t know what to tell you…I hope they’re
okay…keep me informed.”
“Thanks, Gerald and I’ll keep
in touch.” Harry slammed down the
phone. “Damn, I bet he removed the
tracer and the bloody cloth will have his blood on it.”
“I’ll check it out once I get
the cloth,” Jamie assured him.
Sighing deeply, Harry said,
“Chip, do you know where he might go?”
“No sir. He never mentioned anywhere else except your
cabin and we know he’d wouldn’t go there as he knows it would be the first
place we’d look.”
“I’m going to have Earl, the
caretaker, check it out anyway. I’m out
of ideas,” Harry replied running his hand through his hair before calling the
caretaker at his cabin. The caretaker
assured him he would check it out and let him know.
“Sir, I might have one more
source that could possibly look for him,” Chip suggested.
“Whatever it is, go with it,”
Harry said desperately.
Chip took out his cell phone
and pushed the number one button on his phone.
()()()()()()()
Julie Morton was sitting at
her desk looking over a report when her cell phone rang. She saw it was Chip calling so she picked it
up immediately.
“Hi Chip…is everything
okay…you never call me at work,” she asked nervously.
“Hi honey, we need your
help. Can you come to the institute
right away?”
“Sure, I can be there in
twenty minutes,” she replied looking at her watch. “Is this official business?”
“Yes,” Chip answered
seriously.
“I’m leaving now…I’ll bring
Aaron with me.”
“Thanks, Julie,” Chip
responded, “I’ll see you soon.” He
disconnected his phone.
“She and Aaron will be here
in twenty minutes,” Chip told Harry. “I don’t know if they can help but it’s
worth a try.”
“Chip, at this point, I’ll
try anything to find Lee and Janet,” Harry stated.
Chip called security at the
front gate and told them to let Julie and Aaron in when they arrived.
()()()()()()()
As Julie and Aaron drove to
the institute, Aaron asked, “Did Chip give you any idea why they needed us?”
“No, but he sounded very
worried,” she replied.
They arrived at the NIMR
security gate fifteen minutes later and were cleared to enter. Ben called the administrative building and
let Howard know they were on their way.
He then called Wanda and let her know.
She was surprised to learn they were coming as no one told her to expect
them but she knew that they had lost all contact with Lee and Janet so it made
sense to call in the police. She was
looking forward to seeing Aaron again this morning.
She greeted them when the
elevator doors opened. Aaron managed to
squeeze her hand before they walked down the hall to Harry’s office. Julie noticed the bracelet sitting on
Angie’s desk as she walked by.
“Angie, what a beautiful
bracket,” she commented. “Someone has
fantastic taste.”
“Oh my gosh, I got so
involved answering the phones, I forgot to give it to the admiral…it was
addressed to him,” she exclaimed and quickly went into Harry’s office with the
bracelet followed by Julie and Aaron.
“I’m so sorry sir,” Angie
said softly. “I forgot to give this to
you. It came in the mail today.”
“It’s okay, Angie, I know
things have been a little hectic,” Harry responded and took the bracelet from
her. He had a puzzled look on this
face.
Chip stood up when Julie and
Aaron came in after Angie. He went over
to his wife and gave her a quick kiss.
“Thanks for coming,” Chip
said as Harry looked over the bracelet.
“Who sent it…where did it
come from?” Harry wondered. “Hi Julie,
Aaron.”
“I’ll get the box,” Angie
replied and went to her desk and returned with the box and handed it to Harry.
“Admiral, didn’t Lee say he
bought a bracelet for Janet when he was in Kolenovo and that was the only item
missing out of his backpack when he checked it out,” Chip said.
“Yes, you’re right,” Harry
agreed and took the box from Angie.
“The return address is from Kolenovo so whoever had Lee must have taken
it.” He handed the box to Julie to look
over.
“Admiral, Chip, who had
Lee…you better explain what’s going on,” Julie suggested as she and Aaron sat
down in front of Harry’s desk while Chip perched on the corner as Will and Hank
stood off to the side.
“Sorry, I guess we better
start at the beginning,” Harry replied and explained to them about Lee’s
mission to Kolenovo leaving out why he was sent there only letting them know it
involved national security.
When Harry was finished Chip
picked up telling them how Lee’s attitude kept getting worse. “He was just like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,”
he explained. “He’d be his normal self
and the next minute bite your head off.”
Jamie chimed in, “I did
another blood test on his blood yesterday and today I found a foreign substance
in it. I have no idea what it is and I’m
hoping I can get some answers from some outside sources.”
Aaron took notes as they both
listened to them.
“I remember when you returned
from the mission,” Julie volunteered, “He really seemed out of sorts so I
assume he got worse?”
“Yes, today I went to grab
his arm and he batted it away almost knocking me to the floor,” Harry
said. “He realized what he’d done and
just ran out of the building with Janet following him. They just drove off. We traced the car to a spot on one of the
roads about five miles out of town but he’d removed the tracking device on the
car and his phone is turned off so we can’t track him. Right now, we have no idea where they
are. I’m waiting for the caretaker at
my cabin to let me know if they’re there but I don’t think he’d go there as it
would be too easy to find him,” Harry continued.
“What is it you want us to
do?” Julie asked cautiously looking over at Chip.
“Can you put a trace on his
credit cards…put out an APB on the car…or whatever else you do to find
someone?” Chip asked desperately.
“We don’t put out APB’s
anymore we use BOLO, be on the lookout,” Aaron told them. “We’ll file a missing person’s report for
both of them. You don’t have to wait
twenty-fours to report them missing. We
can track his credit card transactions but we’ll have to get a warrant but I’m
thinking if he’s taken all these measures not to be found, I don’t think he’s
going to use a credit card. I’m sure he
knows they can be tracked.”
“You’re right,” Harry
agreed.
“We’ll need the license plate
and make of the car so we can get it to our officers. We’ll also issue the information to the
surrounding counties,” Julie said. “You
can give us the address on the box and we’ll see if we can get some information
from FedEx on who sent it but you may want to contact a government agency to check
out the address,” she added.
“Thank you,’ Harry said
gratefully.
“No problem, sir,” Aaron
answered as he and Julie stood up both of them shaking hands with Harry.
“We’ll get right on it as
soon as we get back to the station,” Julie replied and followed Chip to his
office where she wrote down the information on Lee’s car while Aaron got the
information from Angie on the box.
“Thanks, honey,” Chip said
give her a quick hug and kiss. “I’m not
sure when I’ll be home.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be
waiting. If you need me, just call,” she
whispered kissing and hugging him back.
She walked out the door and
went to the front office where Aaron was saying goodbye to Wanda.
()()()()()()()
Harry picked up the phone and
called Admiral Johnson. He was waiting
for him to answer when Chip returned from seeing out Julie and Adam. He waited with Jamie and Hank to see what Johnson
would have to say.
“Gerald, I have some more
information regarding Lee. I just
received a box from Kolenovo that contained a bracelet Lee purchased for
Janet. Can you send someone to the
address to check it out? There’s no name
only an address.”
“Give me the address and I’ll
get in contact with the agent who helped us get the intel. Maybe she can check it out…I’ll need some
time though.”
“Thanks Gerald,” Harry
replied and gave him the address.
“I’ll be in touch.” The men heard Gerald hang up the phone.
“He’ll get back to us,” Harry
said dejectedly not hoping for much success.
()()()()()()()
Harry sat at his desk holding
the bracelet in his hands hoping Lee would walk through the door with Janet,
take the bracelet from him and put it on her wrist.
“I’m sure the men are back by
now,” Hank stated. “Let me make sure they
get the cloth to Med Bay and I’ll see if they have any new information.
“Thanks, Hank,” Harry replied
somberly.
Chip walked with Hank to the
elevators. “Call me if they have
anything new,” Chip said patting him on the shoulder.
“I’ll check in with you later,” he told Chip.
“Let me know if you need any men to look for Lee and Janet.”
“Okay, Hank,” Chip replied
and headed back to Angie’s office.
He noticed Angie was on the
phone and could tell by the tone of her voice whoever she was talking to was
giving her a hard time.
“The admiral is very busy
now,” she explained with frustration.
“Please give me your name and I’ll have him return your call.”
“No, I need to talk to him
now,” the man insisted. “Tell him I have
information on Commander Crane.”
“Just a minute,” Angie
replied and put the call on hold.
“Chip, he says he’s calling regarding Lee.”
Chip quickly ran into Harry’s
office. “Admiral, there’s a man on the
phone with information on Lee.”
“Put the call through,” he
yelled to Angie.
“Admiral Nelson,” Harry said
as soon as the phone rang putting the call on speaker so Chip and Jamie could
hear what the caller was saying.
“Hello, Admiral. How is Commander Crane doing?” The man asked nonchalantly.
“How do know about Commander
Crane,” Harry replied irritated wondering how someone found out about Lee as he
was sure no one at the institute would’ve have said anything.
“Did you get the gold and
silver bracelet…he has very nice taste…I hope his wife enjoys wearing it.”
“What’s your name…how did you
get the bracelet…what did you do to Crane?” Harry demanded.
“You’re in no position to
make demands but I’ll give you the information you want,” the man responded
snidely. “My name is Ghag Huchay**, also
known as ‘the boss’. Maybe Crane
mentioned it when he returned to your boat.
I know he was hiding in the brothel in Kolenovo as my man saw him leave
so he heard the conversation between my man and Suzy.”
Chip wrote on a piece of
paper that he remembered Lee mentioning something about the boss and Andre but
shook his head on the name Ghag Huchay.
“How do you know Crane?”
Harry asked as he wrote ‘trace call’ on the paper. Chip quietly slipped from Harry’s office
into Angie’s where he called communications to have them trace the call. He returned and nodded his head acknowledging
they were going to try and trace it.
“Let’s just say we go way
back. I’m the former head of security
for the PR. I’ve had many run-ins with
Crane …too many as he cost me my head job of security but the last one was
extremely painful.”
“The last one…where did you
meet him?”
“In the PR at Hai Phong’s
house. I was one of the men you were
avoiding when Ms. Phong killed herself.
I believe I shot one of your men as you were removing Crane from the
house. I’ve never forgotten how YOU caused her death,” Huchay said
bitterly.
Harry ran his hand through
his hair as he recalled that day. “What
have you given Crane?”
“A drug that causes enormous
pain and personality changes that could make him turn violent. Has he reached that stage yet? He should be pretty close to it,” Huchay
said hatefully. “Oh, how I wish I could
be there to see him suffer.”
Harry took a deep breath,
“How did you administer the drug?”
“When he left the brothel, my
man knocked him out and brought him to my house where I injected the drug. I knew it would take four days for it to
incapacitate him. I removed the bracelet
from his backpack as proof that I had taken him. He dumped him back where he found him making
it look like he had too much to drink.
Did you have to lock him up so he wouldn’t hurt anyone?”
Jamie stood there wanting to
know more about the drug but couldn’t say anything. He wrote on a piece of paper ‘antidote’.
“Is there an antidote for
this drug, if so how do we get it?” Harry asked urgently.
Huchay burst out
laughing. “Antidote! No, Ms. Phong didn’t have a chance to develop
one. I’m not even sure how bad the
reactions are going to be with drug.
Maybe it will kill him or maybe not.”
Harry was losing his
patience. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing at all Admiral. Just the satisfaction of you watching someone
you care for suffer or die. Now if
you’re trying to trace this call, it won’t do you any good as I’m using a
non-traceable phone and if you’ve given the box I sent the bracelet in to ONI,
they won’t find me at that address as I left Kolenovo. Maybe we’ll meet again.”
“Huchay,” Harry yelled but to
no avail as he had disconnected the call.
Harry slammed the receiver onto the phone.
Ghag Huchay walked down
Karpovo St. and tossed the phone in the garbage can. He had a huge smile on his face as he entered
his car and headed for his new address.
()()()()()()()
Harry, Chip and Jamie sat in
Harry’s office, none of them knew what to say until Jamie piped up.
“Lee’s in real trouble. That
guy didn’t even know how bad Lee’s reactions are going to be. Harry, we have to find them.”
“I know Jamie but how…I don’t
even know where to begin to look,” Harry replied discouraged. He was afraid the man he considered his son
was going to die…at least he wasn’t alone.
“I’ll go back to Med
Bay. Maybe I’ve gotten some answers on
the drug or I can develop an antidote,” Jamie said disheartened.
Harry’s phone rang before the
two men left. “Nelson,” Harry said
quickly.
“Admiral, we were unable to
trace the call,” Trish in communications reported. “Sorry sir.”
“Thanks for trying,” Harry
answered. “No luck on the trace.”
“I’ll check in with you
later,” Jamie said and left Harry’s office for Med Bay. Chip lingered a little longer.
()()()()()()()
Harry no sooner hung up the
phone when it rang again. “What,” he
yelled.
“Harry, it’s Gerald. “I was able to get in touch with the
undercover agent in Kolenovo. She agreed
to check out the address. Everything was
gone…totally vacant and cleaned from top to bottom. She could smell the bleach.”
“Damn,” Harry replied. “I got a call from the man who drugged
Lee. His name is Ghag Huchay. Ever hear of him?”
“Yes, he was head of PR
security a few years back but retired a couple of years ago. Didn’t know he was back on the job.”
“It seems he was sent to
bring Lee back to the PR’s security base when Lee was sent on the mission to
get information on the long-range missiles and was kidnapped by Hai Phong.”
“I’m really sorry Harry, I
know how close you are to Lee and Janet.
If I get any more information, I’ll let you know…keep in touch.”
“Thanks, Gerald,” Harry
replied and hung up the phone.
“He had the address checked
out and the place was clean,” Harry told Chip.
“Shit,” Chip said under his
breath but not soft enough that Harry didn’t hear.
“My sediments exactly.”
“Let me call Julie, maybe
someone has spotted their car,” Chip remarked and left Harry’s office.
Harry got up from his desk,
walked over to the window and looked out at Seaview
bobbing in her pen.
Angie entered his office
after Jamie and Chip left. “Sir, Earl
called and said Lee and Janet aren’t there.”
“Okay Angie,” Harry
muttered.
Angie left Harry alone. After
she left his office, he picked up the bracelet. Please
Lee, let us know where you are.
()()()()()()()
Chip returned to his office
and called his wife.
Julie answered immediately,
“Hi Chip.”
“Anyone spot them,” he asked
hopefully.
“Sorry Chip, nothing so far. We’ve checked with the other counties and no
one has seen a car matching that description.”
“We got a phone call from the
man who sent the box. He said we
wouldn’t be able to trace the phone and there would be no one at the address on
the box. We had NIMR communications try
and trace the call and they came up with nothing. They sent someone to the house and it was
cleaned out.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,”
Julie responded sympathetically. “We’ll
keep looking.”
“Thanks, honey.” I’ll talk to you later,” Chip responded
disappointedly.
()()()()()()()
Janet woke up, checked her
watch and saw that she’d been sleeping for almost an hour. She glanced over at Lee and he looked worse
than before. He was sweating profusely
even though the air conditioning in the car was running full blast. She could
tell his pain had increased as he grimaced every time they hit a bump in the
road and the wound on his arm was still bleeding as it was starting to seep
through the bandages. She noticed the
weather had also turned. The sky was
covered in dark clouds threatening to rain at any moment.
“Lee, do you want me to take
over the driving. You look very tired…I
promise I’ll take us to where you want to go,” Janet volunteered.
“No, we’re almost there,” he
growled.
Janet looked out her window
and saw they were entering the town of Frazier Park. She’d never heard of it and had no idea
where it was. They traveled a few miles
before Lee made a left-hand turn onto a gravel road. As they drove down the road, Janet noticed
several log cabins tucked into the woods.
They had cleared some of the woods away from the road so the cabins
could be seen. As they travelled further
on the road, there were no cabins and the woods became denser. They were almost at the end when Lee stopped
and backed up. He’d missed the turn he
was looking for as it was overgrown but clear enough to see a driveway.
Looks like Lee’s been here before…I wonder who owns it, Janet thought, and
it’s a good thing we have the SUV since
the driveway is covered with long grass, small bushes and brush.
They hadn’t travelled too far
in the driveway before a small log cabin came into view. It wasn’t as large as the ones Janet had
seen but it still looked nice. Lee
stopped the car in front, turned off the engine and pocketed the keys. He grimaced as he reached over for his phone
and got out of the car. He opened the
back door and removed the extra food he’d bought.
“Lee, could you please open
the back tailgate?” Janet asked as she stepped out of the car.
“What for?” he snapped.
Taking a deep breath, that isn’t Lee, Janet thought and
replied, “I want to get the first aid kit.
Your wound has bled right through the bandages…I’m going to have to put
on a new one.”
He went to the back of the
car, opened the tailgate and Janet removed the first aid kit. As she closed the hatch, Lee walked up to
the front porch, reached into the light, grabbed the key and unlocked the front
door. He walked in and put the food on
the counter in the kitchen as Janet followed him in.
The cabin wasn’t very large
and was very masculine in the decorations.
To the left of the front door was a large great room with a fireplace
constructed of river rock and flanked by windows on each side. To the right of the door was a bedroom with a
large window. Straight ahead and up
three stairs was the eating area and then the kitchen where Janet set down the
first aid kit on the counter. To the
right was a bathroom and next to that was a room Lee had entered so Janet
followed him. She watched as he went
over to the electrical panel and flipped a switch. He then went over to a small counter and
opened the doors underneath where there was pump. He removed a large blue ball-looking thing,
took a large container of water and poured it down the hole. He waited a few minutes and did it
again. He returned to the kitchen and
turned on the water letting it run for a few minutes. It came out rusty at first but eventually ran
clear. Janet heard the pump start to run
so she knew they had water.
“You can use the bathroom
now, if you need to,” Lee stated indifferently. “Just flush it first before using it.”
“Thanks,” Janet said and used
the facilities.
When she left the bathroom,
she saw Lee was leaning against the counter with his eyes closed. She could see the pain etched on his face.
“Lee, remove your shirt,”
Janet said.
“What the hell for?” he snarled.
“I want to re-bandage your
arm and cut off the sleeves so they don’t rub on your arms. Maybe it will help with the pain.”
He took off his shirt and
threw it at her. She opened the first
aid kit, found the scissors and cut off the sleeves. He gasped in pain as she cut away the elastic
bandage that had stuck to his skin.
“I’m sorry, honey, but I have
to clean it up,” Janet said softly.
“This is going to hurt like hell but the cut already looks
infected. She found a bottle of saline
solution in the kit and poured it on the cut.
Lee let out a loud scream that shook her to the bone. She took a deep breath trying hard not to
cry as she continued to dab the wound.
She put on new gauze patches with cream, wrapped the patches with gauze
and used an elastic bandage to hold it all in place. By the time she was finished, Lee had tears in
his eyes from the pain. Janet helped him
put on his shirt.
“Do you want me to cut-off
some of your pant legs,” she inquired hoping that would help with pain.
“No, thanks anyway,” Lee
replied curtly.
Lee moved away from the
counter and went to the bathroom where he slammed the door. He stood there taking deep breaths praying
the pain would subside before using the facilities. He returned to the eating area where Janet
was waiting for him. She had her back to
the stairs going down to the great room.
“Lee, please let’s go back
home…your pain is getting worse…Jamie can help you…I can’t stand to see you in
this much pain,” Janet begged.
“You shouldn’t have come along
if you didn’t want to see me like this,” Lee spat. As he headed towards the
great room, he brushed into her causing her to fall down the stairs.
Lee stood there staring as
she laid on the floor not moving; a pool of blood forming next to her head. Oh my
god, I’ve hurt her, Lee thought. What
have I done…please be alright. Forgetting his pain, he stooped down to help
her up.
()()()()()()()
Janet laid on the floor
stunned for a few minutes. She suddenly
felt Lee’s hands gently picking her up.
She looked in his eyes and saw the eyes of her caring husband and not
the raging man he’d become. She wiped
away the blood that was running down her face from the gash she got when she
hit the metal table next to the stairs.
“I’ve got to go before I hurt
you again,” Lee said as he fumbled in his pocket for his phone. He placed it next to her and ran out of the
cabin.
Janet quickly followed him
out the door and watched as he went around to the left side of the cabin.
“Lee, stop, please come
back,” she yelled chasing after him but lost sight of him in the woods. She knew she would need help finding him so
she returned to the cabin. By the time
she reached the door, there was a bright flash of lightening and a huge clap of
thunder and it was pouring rain. She
ran to the phone on the floor.
“Please let it be charged,”
she said as she turned it on. It lit up
and there was enough power for her to call for help. She was having a hard time seeing as the
blood ran into her eyes. She wiped it
away and pressed the number two button.
It rang three times before it was answered.
()()()()()()()
Chip was sitting at his desk
with his phone right in front of him.
He tried to do some work but he couldn’t concentrate on any of it. He just wanted the phone to ring. He looked at his watch and saw that Lee and
Janet had been gone for three and a half hours.
Please call,
he thought as he checked the phone for the hundredth time. He left to get a cup of coffee when he heard
the phone ring. He raced back into his
office forgetting the coffee. He saw it
was a call from Lee’s phone.
“Hello, Lee,” Chip said
urgently.
“No Chip, its Janet, please
help us. He’s gone…he left the cabin.”
“Cabin…where are you?” Chip
asked as Harry, Angie and Wanda came running into the office. Angie was just leaving the admiral’s office
when she saw Chip run into his. She told
the admiral, so they all ran into his office wanting to know what was going on.
“Frazier Park, in a
cabin. That’s all I know. Please come and help me find Lee,” Janet pleaded
frantically. “I don’t have much power
left in the phone.”
“Find Lee…where is he?”
“He ran into the woods…I’m
going to look for him.”
“Can you find and turn on the
app that tracks where you are?” Chip asked as he knew she had the same app on
her phone.
“I’ll turn it on when I get off
with you,” she answered weakly.
“Janet, are you hurt?” Chip inquired as she sounded funny.
“I hit my head…little
dizzy…cut on my forehead,” she responded softly. “I better go, not much power left.”
“Janet, stay where you
are…we’ll be there shortly to look for him,” Chip insisted.
She disconnected the call,
turned on the app and left the phone on but she knew it wouldn’t last much
longer. Hopefully, they can find us, Janet thought.
Chip, Harry, Angie and Wanda
waited impatiently for Janet to turn on the app. What seemed to take minutes actually took a
few seconds when their location was shown on the map.
“They’re in a town called
Frazier Park. It’s a small community in
the Los Padres National Forest. What or
who does Lee know there,” Chip wondered.
“We better let Jamie know so he can pack up what he’s going to need. I’ll see if Sharkey, Kowalski, Patterson and
Riley are available to help find Lee.”
“Where did he go?” Harry
asked impatiently.
Chip ran his hand through his hair, “Janet
doesn’t know where he is…he ran out of the cabin.”
“I’ll notify Jamie, while you
call the men. We’ll meet in front as
soon as possible. We’ll take your SUV,”
Harry stated and left Chip’s office heading for his.
Chip quickly called Julie and
told her what was happening. “We’ve
found them. The admiral and I along with
some crew-men are going to look for him.”
“Do you want me to come
along?”
“No, thanks, honey, just stay
here and I’ll call and let you know when we find them,” Chip replied.
“I’ll inform the police as to
what’s taking place so they can be on the look-out for Lee,” Julie added. “Please be careful.”
“Thanks, I will,” Chip
replied and hung up the phone. He
quickly called the men and everyone was able to come except Riley as he was out
of town.
Hang on Lee,
we’re coming, Chip thought grabbing
his raincoat as it looked like it was going to rain.
()()()()()()()
Chip drove to Med Bay to pick
up Jamie. When he arrived, Jamie was
waiting in front with all the supplies he thought he would need.
“You’ve got quite a haul here,”
Chip remarked as he loaded up the back.
“I have no idea what to
expect so I want to be prepared,” Jamie answered and closed the hatch.
They both climbed in the SUV
and headed back to the main building where they would pick up Harry and wait
for the other men to arrive.
Chip checked his phone and
still had a signal coming from Lee’s phone.
He hoped it would last until they found the cabin. When they arrived back at the main building,
Kowalski and Patterson were there with Patterson’s pick-up truck. Sharkey pulled up in front of the building a
few minutes later. They decided to take
Pat’s truck in addition to Chip’s SUV.
Harry climbed in the passenger seat of the SUV while Jamie headed for
the back. The six men left for the front
gate where Hank would meet them.
“Good luck,” he said as he
handed them radios so they could communicate with one another.
“Thanks,” Harry responded as
they drove through the gate and started on their two-hour journey.
()()()()()()()
Lee ran out the front door,
turned left and headed for the dense woods at the back of the cabin. He ran a
few hundred feet through the woods as fast as he could before turning to see if
Janet was following him. He caught a
glimpse of her heading towards the back of the cabin. He kept on running as he didn’t want her to
catch up with him; afraid he would hurt her again. As he ran low hanging
branches scratched his face. His arms
were being scraped by tall bushes and brush.
He cried out in pain with each scratch and scrape. He stopped briefly to wipe the rain from his
face and catch his breath. The pain had
increased with every step he took. He
looked back again to see if Janet was still following him but he didn’t see
her. Good she must have gone back to the cabin, Lee thought so he resorted
to walking as the pain wasn’t as bad as when he ran. He tripped on a root and fell hard on the
ground causing him to cry out. As he
staggered deeper into the woods he saw an old dilapidated shed with a sagging
roof a few hundred yards away. Once at
the shed, he didn’t know if it would fall in on him but at this point he really
didn’t care as his pain was escalating with every breath he took. He had never experienced such pain
before. Even when he was tortured it was
never like this. He entered the shed and
collapsed in a heap in the corner shivering from the cold rain and the pain now
wracking every inch of his body. As he
laid there, he shrieked at the top of his lungs from the excruciating pain
thankful the thunder would hide his cries.
Tears ran down his face as he tried to cope.
“Please stop, please stop the
pain,” he wailed desperately.
He continued to scream out
until his voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper. Finally, the pain had become so intense he
couldn’t fight it anymore so he curled up in a ball and mercifully passed out.
()()()()()()()
After Janet finished talking
to Chip, she turned on the app on the phone and put it on the sofa. She wiped the blood from the wound off her
face and headed out the door. She ran
around the side of the house and looked to see if she could see Lee.
“Lee, stop running…I’ve
called for help,” Janet yelled in the pouring rain.
She headed into the woods
running straight back from the cabin hopefully following the same path Lee
took. She ran a couple hundred feet
before she tripped over an exposed root and fell twisting her ankle knocking
her breathless. She laid there for a
couple seconds trying to catch her breath.
She sat up when she caught her breath and wiped the mud and blood off
her face. She tried to stand but found
she couldn’t put any weight on her ankle.
“Lee, please come
back…please,” she shouted again but knew he’d never hear her over the thunder
and rain. She tried to crawl back to the
house but it was too far away. She found
a tall bush, crawled under it hoping it would keep the rain off her and closed
her eyes.
()()()()()()()()
Harry, Chip and Jamie along
with Sharkey, Kowalski and Patterson had finally entered the city limits of
Frazier Park.
“We should be almost there,”
Chip mentioned as he tracked the location on the phone. “Damn,” he shouted unexpectedly and slammed
his hand on the steering wheel.
“What’s wrong?” Harry yelled.
“The phone died…I’ve lost the
signal,” Chip replied pissed.
“Why the hell didn’t she charge
the phone,” Harry declared. “I’m sure
they have a charger in the car.”
“What if the car is locked
and she doesn’t have the keys. If Lee
took off, he might have the keys with him,” Chip responded. “You know he’s not thinking clearly.”
“Or she couldn’t,” Jamie
added solemnly.
“You’re both right. I’m just so worried, I guess I’m not thinking
straight. Now what do we do?” Harry
asked.
“When I checked where we
were, I’m almost positive we should make a left on the next street we come to,”
Chip remarked looking at Harry and then back at Jamie.
“We’ve got nothing to lose by
not turning. Go for it,” Harry answered
as he returned to looking out the window hoping to spot the Crane’s SUV.
They drove another three
miles before coming upon a street where they could make a left turn. Chip looked at Harry who nodded yes. Chip made the turn as the men in the other vehicle
followed.
()()()()()()()()()
The two cars drove down the
gravel road that had now turned into a muddy mess from the rain. They looked from side to side hoping to spot
the Crane’s SUV in one of the driveways.
As they drove further down
the road, the radio came life. “Sir,”
Sharkey called. “Are you sure this is
the road we’re supposed to take?”
Harry picked up his radio and
pressed the key, “Chief, we’re not sure as the phone died a few minutes
ago. But Mr. Morton was pretty sure this
was the road they were on. Just keep
looking.”
“Yes sir,” Sharkey
replied. “Keep up with him,” he told
Patterson.
“Take it easy, Chief,”
Patterson replied. “I can’t see where
I’m going if I get to close.” He was
hanging back because he was getting the muddy back splash from Chip’s SUV and
was having a hard time seeing out the windshield even with the wipers at top
speed
They continued driving when
Chip realized they were almost at the end of the road.
“Sorry, sir, maybe this was
the wrong road,” Chip lamented.
Patterson hadn’t caught up to
them but as they passed the last driveway, Kowalski hollered, “Stop! I think there’s a driveway there…I might
have seen the bumper of a car. Back up and pull in.”
Patterson slowly backed up
and turned into the driveway. He drove a
short way before they spotted the Crane’s SUV.
“Mr. Morton,” Sharkey said
excitedly over the radio. “We found
them. Back up and you’ll see Patterson’s
truck in a driveway.”
Chip put the SUV in reverse
and backed up to the driveway where they spotted Patterson’s pick-up
truck. He waited for Patterson to pull
in the rest of the way and he backed up parking next to Lee’s car while Pat
pulled behind it.
The men hopped out of their
cars and headed to the front door.
Sharkey took a quick look inside Lee’s vehicle in case he was in there
but it was locked. He caught up with
the rest of the men as they opened the front door and went inside.
()()()()()()()
The men quickly checked the
cabin for any signs of Lee and Janet.
Harry went over to the sofa where he spotted the phone.
“Okay, we have the phone…where
are they?” Harry wondered.
“They were here,” Jamie
remarked as he held up the bloodied bandages.
“There’s also quite a bit of fast food here so Lee was planning on
staying for a while.”
“Janet must have gone out to
look for Lee,” Chip said unhappily.
The rain had stopped along
with the lightning and thunder but it still looked threatening. Chip pulled out his phone and checked the
weather.
“We have about an hour before
another more severe storm heads in. We
better get moving.”
“Jamie, you stay here in case
they return,” Harry suggested. “If we
need you, we’ll radio and come and get you.”
“Okay Admiral,” Jamie
replied.
The five men headed to the
back of the cabin to search for Lee and Janet.
They spread out across the back of the property the best they could as
there were dense woods on each side of them.
Kowalski had strapped the foldable stretcher to his back.
“Radio if you find them and
give us your position,” Harry ordered.
“Yes, sir,” the men replied
and set out.
()()()()()()()
Harry and Chip walked into
the woods looking for signs of Lee and Janet.
They had travelled a couple hundred feet from the back of the house when
Chip stopped.
“Admiral, straight ahead
about 1:00, is that a white shoe?” Chip asked hopefully.
“Could be,” Harry replied and
the two men hurried over to a spot where Chip saw the shoe and saw it was
sticking out from under a huge bush.
Chip stooped down and saw Janet
sitting under the bush. He didn’t know
if she was asleep or unconscious.
“Janet,” he called
quietly.
She slowly opened her eyes,
surprised to see Chip’s blue ones staring back at her. “Chip,” she answered shakily. “Did you find Lee?”
“No, the men are looking for
him. Let’s get you back to the cabin,”
Chip responded and helped her out from under the bush. She had dried blood on her face and was
covered in mud as were her clothes. When
she tried to stand, she would have fallen over if Chip hadn’t caught her.
Harry radioed the cabin,
“Jamie, we’ve found Janet. We’re
bringing her back.”
“Okay Admiral, I’ll be waiting,”
Jamie acknowledged. “How is she?”
“From what I can see, she has
a gash on her face, covered in mud and looks like there’s something wrong with
her ankle.”
Harry and Chip wrapped their
arms around Janet’s waist and carried her back to the cabin. Jamie had gone out to the car while they
were looking for them and brought in the first aid kit along with the rest of
supplies he might need. He’d also
scoped out the cabin and found some sweat pants, shorts and t-shirts along with
blankets and towels knowing they would be wet and dirty when they were found.
He met them at the door and
looked over Janet. He wasn’t surprised
at how dirty she was after being out in the rain.
“I’ll take her,” Jamie said
and wrapped his arm around her as Harry and Chip let go.
“Please find Lee,” Janet
begged. “He’s in a lot of pain and not
himself so don’t be alarmed if he bites your head off.”
Harry gently patted her
arm. “We’ll be okay. Jamie, as soon as we find Lee, we’ll let you
know.”
Harry and Chip walked out the
door and returned to the woods to find Lee.
()()()()()()()
Jamie walked Janet to the
sofa and helped her sit down. She was
shivering from the cold rain so Jamie wrapped a blanket around her and then stooped
down to take a look at the gash on her forehead.
“You don’t need stitches but
I’m going to put a butterfly bandage on your cut.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Janet
said. “Don’t you ever get tired to
taking care of us?”
Jamie smiled, “No but I’ll
admit between you and Lee you do keep me busy.”
Jamie went to the kitchen,
found a bowl, and put some warm water in it.
He dug in his first aid kit for some mild soap and grabbed a towel he
had put on the counter. He returned to
Janet and gently cleaned out her gash and put a bandage on it.
When he was finished, Janet
wrapped the blanket tighter around her as she was still cold.
“Do you think you can take a
shower? It’ll warm you up,” Jamie
suggested. “I can put a waterproof
bandage on your cut and when you’re done, I’ll wrap your ankle.”
“What am I going to wear?”
she asked looking at her pink dress that was now black with dirt, mud and was
sopping wet.
“I found some sweat pants and
t-shirts. I know they’ll be big on you but
at least you’ll be dry.”
“Okay,” Janet replied as
Jamie helped her hobble over to the bathroom.
“I’ll wait outside the door
for you. If you need help, please call,”
Jamie said seriously.
“Thanks,” Janet answered and
limped into the bathroom. She looked
around in the closet that was in there and found some towels. She looked in the vanity, a man must stay here as the shampoo and
shower gel were for men, Janet thought but took them out and put them in
the shower stall.
She turned on the water, let it
get hot and stood letting the hot water warm her up. She slowly managed to wash her hair and
body. She tried to stand on her ankle
and almost fell but caught herself on the shower door. By the time she had dried off and put on the clothes
she was dizzy. Jamie heard the water
turn off but noticed it was taking Janet a long time to leave the
bathroom. He didn’t bother to knock and
opened the door to find her sitting on the toilet with her head between her
knees. He knelt down in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with
concern.
“A little dizzy,” she replied
taking a deep breath.
Jamie found a washcloth, ran
it under the cold water and put it on the back of Janet’s neck. “Just sit here for a few minutes,” he
instructed rewetting the cloth with the cold water.
“I feel better,” Janet said a
few minutes later and slowly stood up leaning on Jamie as they returned to the
great room. He helped her sit down and
put her ankle on the sofa so he could put an ace bandage on it.
“When was the last time you
ate?”
“About an hour after we left
NIMR. Lee stopped and picked up all that
food. We both had a salad but he only
ate a few bites as he looked like he was going to be sick. I’m not hungry just thirsty…is there any
tea? I didn’t get a chance to look
around before Lee bolted from the cabin.”
“When I’m done, I’ll make you
some tea and you can tell me how you got the gash on your forehead,” Jamie
answered as he finishing wrapping her ankle.
“Just leave it up here.” He
grabbed a pillow and put it under her ankle.
He searched the kitchen, found some tea and brought her a cup. He sat down on the table in front of the
sofa and faced her. “Tell me how you got
hurt.”
Taking a deep breath, Janet
said, “Lee brushed up against me and I lost my balance and fell down the
stairs. I think I hit my head on that
table next to the stairs. When he saw I
was hurt, he helped me up.”
“You better tell me what he
was experiencing,” Jamie said worriedly.
“When we left the institute,
he stopped on a road I’d never been on.
He went to the back of the car and removed the tracking device. He’d also turned off the tracking app and
phone. Before I could stop him, he’d
taken out the tracker from ONI in his arm.
He had a nice deep cut. I
wrapped it up the best I could but he was in such pain that even touching him
caused him to grimace. His attitude had
gotten worse too…a lot worse since we left.”
“He was in a lot of pain?”
Jamie questioned.
“Yes, it had gotten so bad that
I had to cut the sleeves off his shirt as they were irritating him. When we got here, I changed the bandage as it
had bled through the other one. It
looked like it was getting infected so before I re-wrapped it I cleaned it with
the saline solution from the first aid kit.
I was sorry I did that as it caused Lee to scream like I’ve never heard
anyone scream before. I told him that
we should go back and he got even angrier.
That’s when he brushed by me and I fell. For just one second, when he picked me I saw
the Lee Crane I love…not who he is now.
He said he was afraid he’d hurt me again and ran out the front
door. I saw him run around left side of the cabin so
I chased him for a little way but he was too far ahead of me. I knew I would never be able to find him
myself so I returned to the cabin. He’d put the phone on the floor next to me
so I called Chip for help and then I went out to try and find him but with the
rain and blood running in my eyes, I didn’t see the tree root and fell twisting
my ankle. I tried to crawl back to the
cabin but it was too far. I found a
dense tall bush and crawled under it. I
closed my eyes and when I woke up Chip was staring at me.”
Janet paused to take a sip of
tea, “I’m sure his pain has to be unbearable by now. Do you know how and what caused him to be a
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde…more Mr. Hyde than anything.”
“I’ll let the admiral explain
it to you but someone grabbed him when he was in Kolenovo and injected him with
a drug.”
“Don’t you have an antidote
for it?” Janet asked.
“No, I’ve never heard of the
drug and the man who injected it isn’t even sure how severe Lee’s reactions
will be or if it will kill him,” Jamie responded.
“Kill him,” Janet gasped as
there was a loud clap of thunder.
“Yes, it’s a possibility...but
we’re going to hope for the best.”
“They better find him soon,”
she whispered.
He patted her hand, got up
from the table and went to the kitchen to see what if anything there was to eat
besides the fast food Lee had bought. He
put it in the refrigerator as it was better than nothing.
()()()()()()()
Harry and Chip headed back
out into the woods after leaving Janet with Jamie. Sharkey had moved to the right side of the
cabin, Patterson took the left and Kowalski the center. Harry and Chip would look in between the rest
of the men. They’d been searching for
thirty minutes and hadn’t found any sign of him. They could hear thunder in the distance
signaling the next storm was rapidly approaching.
“Any sign of the captain,”
Harry called desperately over the radio.
Sharkey returned the call,
“Admiral, I’ve reached the end of woods on the property. All that’s ahead of me is nothing but a fir
tree farm. They’re far too small to
hide in.”
“This is Patterson, I’ve also
arrived at that point. The Skipper
wouldn’t go that far as it’s too easy to be seen.”
“Okay, men,” Harry
responded. “Start heading back to the
middle of the woods and we’ll work our way back to the front. He’s got to be out here somewhere.”
“Aye sir,” they replied and
headed to the center.
Kowalski had almost reached
the back of the woods when he came across an old shed. It looked like it would collapse at any
moment but he ventured in anyway. He
looked around and was going to leave when he caught a glimpse of Lee curled up
in the corner.
“I’ve found him,” he yelled
over the radio. “He’s in a shed at the
end of the property, straight back from the cabin.”
Kowalski walked over to him
and knelt down next to him. “Skipper,”
he called softly not wanting to scare him.
“Skipper,” said a little louder but received no response. He gently touched his shoulder and heard him
groan.
He clicked the radio, “He’s
alive but unconscious,” Kowalski reported as he removed the stretcher from his
back and started to unfold it.
“Be careful moving him,”
Jamie cautioned when he heard the report on the radio.
“Yes sir,” Ski replied.
The other four men raced to
the back of the property and found the shed.
They quickly entered and barely made out Kowalski in the corner. Kowalski and Sharkey carefully lifted Lee off
the floor of the cabin. As they gently
laid him on the stretcher he cried out in pain.
Once he was on the stretcher,
Patterson and Chip picked up the other two ends and they walked out of the
cabin. As soon as they left the cabin
and were a couple hundred feet away, a huge bolt of lightning hit one of the
trees shearing off the top causing it to fall right on top of the shed and just
missed hitting them.
“Phew that was close,”
Sharkey declared.
“We better get the hell out
of here…that storm is upon us,” Harry stated.
They hustled the best they
could careful not to jostle Lee and trip over the brush and roots. They reached the cabin just as the rain came
down so hard they couldn’t see the woods.
()()()()()()()
Jamie was holding open the
door so they could bring Lee in. He
looked him over and saw he was shivering, covered in scrapes, scratches, mud
and in obvious pain moaning as he laid on the stretcher.
“Leave him on the stretcher
and bring him into the bedroom. It’s big
enough to fit in there,” Jamie ordered. The bedroom had a queen size bed on the
left side with a dresser on the right. There
were two chairs on opposite sides of the window which was straight ahead from
the door. They set the stretcher down
on the left side by the chairs.
Janet stood up when they
brought Lee in. “Is he okay…can I see
him?” she asked worriedly.
Jamie went over to the sofa
and sat down on the table, “Just stay here for now and let me check him over.”
“Alright, Jamie,” Janet
answered and sat back as the men walked out of the room.
Jamie returned to the bedroom
and quickly examined Lee. His wounds
weren’t bad but he was concerned that he was still unconscious and in severe
pain. He returned to the great room and
the concerned look on the faces of the group waiting for him, “I would really
like to get him to Med Bay tonight.”
“Jamie, I’ve checked the
weather on my phone and it’s not going to get any better…only worse. Right now, it’s pretty brutal out there, you
can barely see the road,” Chip reported.
“Damn, I guess we’ll have to
stay here,” Jamie relented. “I should
have everything I need to treat him. Kowalski, I could use your help.”
“Yes, Doc, whatever you
need,” he responded.
“I’ll let Julie and Angie
know that we’ve found them and that will be returning to the institute
tomorrow,” Chip said and went out to the porch to make his calls.
“Kowalski, make some bowls of
warm water,” Jamie said as he picked up one of the first aid kits and brought
it in the room. He returned a few
minutes later to get the other kit he’d packed.
They both grabbed a bowl of
water, the towels Jamie had found and went back into the bedroom and shut the
door.
()()()()()()()
Chip stood out on the porch
and couldn’t believe how hard it was raining.
It’s a good thing they were staying the night as the storm wasn’t going
to let up until morning.
He dialed Julie’s number and
she answered on the first ring.
“Chip…did you find them…where
are you…how are they…are you coming home?” she asked before he could say
anything.
Smiling Chip replied, “Hi
honey, you sure have a lot of questions and yes, we found them in a cabin in
Frazier Park so you can stop looking for them.
Janet has a twisted ankle and a few scrapes but Lee’s unconscious and
still in pain. Sorry honey, the weather
here is extremely bad and not going to get better before morning so we’re
staying here tonight.”
“I understand, it’s pretty
bad here too so I’m glad you’re not coming home. I’ll miss you though.”
“Me too,” he replied just as
a large clap of thunder shook the cabin.
“I better go before I lose my connection. I still have to call Angie.”
“Be careful, see you tomorrow,”
Julie responded as she heard Chip disconnect the call.
He quickly called Angie and
told her they found Lee and Janet and to let Hank know. He also told her that they’d be spending the
night.
()()()()()()()
Jamie and Kowalski put the
bowls and towels down on the dresser.
“We need to get him out of
these wet and dirty clothes. I found
some shorts and T-shirts we can put on him,” Jamie told Ski. “Has he moved or said anything?”
“No sir, but when I touched
him on the shoulder to see if he was alive, he groaned,” Ski reported.
Jamie frowned when he heard
that. “He’s still in pain so we’ll have
to be very careful when we remove his clothing. Just to warn you, he might scream out in
pain,” Jamie said somberly.
“Thanks for letting me know,
Doc.”
Jamie carefully unbutton his
shirt and gently removed his left arm.
When he’d got that one out, Kowalski did the same thing with his right
arm causing Lee shriek in pain.
“Sorry Doc,” Ski said
softly. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“It’s okay Kowalski. Let’s
get the t-shirt on him and then on work removing his pants.”
They managed to get the
t-shirt on Lee with him groaning softly.
When they removed his shoes, socks and pants he yelled in pain.
Kowalski wiped the sweat from
his forehead when they were finished. “Boy
that was hard.”
“I’ll get Sharkey and
Patterson in here to help us move him to the bed,” Jamie said and opened the
door motioning to the two men to come in.
They got Lee unto the bed
causing him to moan loudly.
“Thanks, men,” Jamie said. “I’ll let you know when we’re finished.”
When the two men returned to
the great room, Harry looked at them.
“They got him changed and on
the bed. Doc’s going to take care of
his injuries,” Sharkey reported.
Jamie and Kowalski gently
cleaned off the mud and blood from the scrapes and scratches on Lee’s arms and
face causing him to groan as they did.
Kowalski had to get a few more bowls of water before they were all
cleaned. Jamie removed the bandage
Janet had put on the cut on his arm where he removed the tracking device.
“Damn,” he mumbled to
himself.
“He’s going to need stitches
isn’t he,” Kowalski said after looking at the wound. Being a trained field medic, he’d seen his
share of cuts and gashes to know when a wound needed stitches.
Jamie rubbed his hand on his
head. “Yes, and I’m afraid it’s going to
cause him a lot of pain,” he replied.
“I better let the rest of them know what’s going on.”
Jamie and Ski left Lee alone
and returned to the great room where the rest of them were waiting for his
report.
“His scrapes, scratches and
bruises are all superficial and we’ve cleaned them up without causing him too
much pain but I need to put stitches in his arm and an IV. Janet, has he eaten or drank anything since
this morning?”
“No, just coffee this
morning. He only ate a few bites of the
salad…he looked like he was going to be sick after he’d eaten it.”
“I’m worried at how much pain
he’s still in but I have no choice. I’m
just letting you know that he’s probably going to scream out. I’ll try numbing the area first but I’m not
sure if it’ll help as I have no idea how the drug in his system is going to
affect it.”
Sharkey looked at Jamie with
a confused expression on his face, “What drug…how he’d get drugged?”
“I guess I better explain why
he was in a foul mood on the boat and in so much pain and how it happened,”
Harry replied.
Jamie and Kowalski got more
clean bowls of water and headed back into the bedroom as Harry explained.
“I wish I could get my hands
on that guy,” Sharkey said angrily.
“I doubt we’ll ever get a
chance,” Harry answered and turned around to look out the window at the monsoon
taking place outside. Me too, Chief, Harry thought.
()()()()()()()
When Jamie injected the
numbing solution into Lee’s arm, he let out a loud scream. The group outside of the bedroom jumped when
they heard it. Janet took a deep breath
as she’d heard that scream before and knew Lee was still in a lot of pain.
“Damn,” Patterson mumbled
under his breath as he’d never heard the captain scream like that before even
though he’s seen him in tough times.
Even with the numbing drug,
Lee still shrieked in pain as Jamie put in the four stitches needed to close
his wound and start the IV. When he was
finished, he bandaged the arm and laid it by his side. He hung the IV bag from a hangar he found in
the closet and hooked it on the sconce that was next to the bed.
“Ski, we’re done for right
now. There’s nothing more we can do to
help him. The drug is going to have to
run its course. Let’s get this gear out
of here,” Jamie said. “I’ll come back
and check on him in a little while.”
“Okay, Doc,” Kowalski
replied. “Do you think he’ll get over
this soon, I mean it’s pretty scary seeing him in so much pain?”
“I hope so but according to
the man who injected him, he’s not even sure what effects it might leave. Captain Crane has a high tolerance for pain
so I can’t imagine what it would do to someone else.”
Jamie and Ski picked up the
first aid kits, the dirty towels and bowls of water and left the room. Jamie took one last look at Lee before he
left. His breathing was normal, his
color was fair and he’d stop shivering.
He hoped when the pain subsided he would regain consciousness.
Once Jamie and Kowalski put
the items away, Jamie went to Janet who was waiting to see Lee.
“Can I please see him now?”
Janet asked.
“Sure,” Jamie replied and
helped her up and walked her to the bedroom.
“The rest of you can look in on him in a few minutes.”
“I could use a drink,” Harry
muttered. “Chief, Patterson look around and see if you
can find something.”
“Yes, sir,” the men replied.
Sharkey and Patterson went to
the kitchen to check it out and found an unopened bottle of scotch. Sharkey set it on the table and searched for
some glasses. While he was checking out
the cabinets, he found cans of stew which he handed to Patterson to heat
up. He looked in the refrigerator and
pulled out the sandwiches Lee had bought and passed them to Pat. Sharkey poured them all two fingers worth of scotch
saving some for Jamie and Janet.
()()()()()()()
Janet walked in the bedroom
and saw Lee laying on top of the bed.
His scrapes and scratches were covered with antiseptic cream. His arm was bandaged where Jamie had put in
the stitches and the IV.
“Jamie, why is he still
unconscious?” Janet asked fighting the urge to grab his hand and squeeze it.
“I’m assuming that the pain
was so intense that even using his pain blocking techniques he’s acquired over
the years of working for ONI, didn’t work so he just gave up. I’m hoping when the pain subsides, he’ll wake
up.”
“Do you know when that’ll
be?”
“I can’t say,” Jamie answered
honestly. “I know nothing about this
drug and either did the man who injected him.”
“Can I stay with him?”
“Let him rest for a while
before you stay with him,” Jamie suggested and helped her out of the room and
back down on the couch.
Harry walked over to them and
handed each of them a tumbler of scotch.
“Just what the doctor ordered.”
Jamie drank his down while
Janet sipped hers. She never did like
scotch.
()()()()()()()
Sharkey and Patterson brought
over bowls of stew along with the chicken sandwiches and hamburgers for them to
eat. The rain was still battering the
cabin and the lightning and thunder was just as bad. Before long they were yawning from the long
day and the glasses of scotch they drank.
Chip helped Janet into the
bedroom so she could stay with Lee. He
moved her chair closer to the bed. He
found a small table and a pillow so she could rest her ankle. Jamie decided to stay in the room too just
in case Lee woke up and needed him. The
rest of them would sleep on the couch and the other chairs in the great
room. It was well after 2200 hours when
they finally settle down as the storm continued to rage outside.
()()()()()()()
Janet fell asleep pretty
quickly but woke up a little while later when she heard Lee moaning as he moved
on the bed.
“Lee,” Janet said softly not
wanting to wake up Jamie. “Do you need
something?”
He never answered her so she
knew he wasn’t awake. Janet continued
watching him for a few more minutes. She
was afraid to touch him so she laid her hand next to his. Damn,
Lee, please wake up, she thought but never fell back to sleep as Lee kept
moaning as he tried to get comfortable.
Jamie also heard Lee moaning
and looked over at him. He knew he was
still unconscious and must still be in a lot of pain. He also laid there not able to fall back to
sleep.
The men in the great room
woke up when they also heard Lee’s moaning.
It was so unnerving that none of them were able to get back to sleep.
()()()()()()()
The storm finally stopped
around 0200 hours. The silence was
deafening as the lightning and thunder moved on.
It was early morning when Lee
woke up and wondered where he was when he realized he was lying in a bed. How
did I get here? he thought. He
cried out in pain as he tried to sit up and laid back down closing his eyes
hoping the pain would subside. Janet and
Jamie both quickly moved to his side.
“Lee,” Jamie said. “Are you awake?”
Slowly opening his eyes, he
replied, “Yes, I’m awake...why does it still hurt so much?”
“Welcome back and I’m sorry I
can’t answer that,” Jamie said relieved that he was awake.
“Wrong answer, Jamie,” Lee
answered breathing deeply fighting back the pain. “I assume I’m back at the cabin.”
“Yes, Kowalski found you in
the shed and they brought you back here,” Janet responded.
“The last thing I remember is
running into a shed…I guess I passed out,” he said hoarsely as his throat was
still sore from screaming.
Janet and Jamie both heard
the hoarseness of Lee’s voice.
“Is your throat sore?” Jamie
asked.
“Yes, I have to admit I was
screaming at the top of my lungs for the pain to stop,” Lee confessed.
Lee looked more closely at
Janet and noticed her forehead had a bandage on it. “Did I do that?”
“You brushed by me, I lost my
balance and fell down the stairs. You
picked me up and left me the phone so I could call for help.”
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to
hurt you but I had no idea what was happening to me and had no way stop it,”
Lee said apologetically. “You know I’d
never purposely hurt you.”
“Lee, you haven’t been
yourself since you returned from Kolenovo,” Janet replied.
“Are you in much pain now?”
Jamie asked as he examined Lee.
“Yes, it still hurts whenever
I move,” Lee answered softly.
“Lee, we need to get you back
to Med Bay. I can monitor you better
there,” Jamie explained. “But I’m afraid
it’s going to cause you extreme pain when we move you.”
“Let’s just get it over with,”
Lee nodded in agreement.
“I’ll have the men put you on
the stretcher and bring you out to the car.
Your car’s back seats recline so you’ll be a little more comfortable.”
Jamie left the bedroom
leaving Lee and Janet alone for a few minutes while he got the men. Lee smiled at her just as Jamie returned with
Kowalski, Sharkey, Patterson and Chip along with the stretcher.
“Hi Skipper,” Kowalski
greeted. “We’re going to move you
now…just let us do the work.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied and
gritted his teeth.
Each one picked up a corner
of the blanket and slowly lifted it off the bed and set it gently down on the
stretcher. Lee cried out in pain as they
picked him up and put him on the stretcher.
He yelled again when they put him in the car. Chip and Harry helped Janet into the car.
Once Lee was in the car,
Sharkey and Patterson put the first aid kits in Lee’s SUV in case Jamie needed
them. They quickly straightened up the
place. When they finished, Chip locked
the door and put the key in his pocket. He’d give it to Lee later.
Kowalski would drive Lee,
Janet and Jamie back to Med Bay with Harry and Chip in Chip’s SUV and Sharkey
and Patterson in the pick-up truck. Ski
slowly backed out of the driveway and headed down the gravel road that had more
pot holes and ruts from the rain. As he
drove down the road, Lee would moan in pain.
Hang on, Lee,
Janet thought wishing she could hold Lee’s hand. We’ll
be home soon.
Chip called Julie and Angie
letting them know they were leaving the cabin and going directly to Med
Bay. Both said they would meet them
there.
()()()()()()()
Lee closed his eyes as they
drove back to the institute. Since the
pain was a little more tolerable, he was able to use some of his techniques to
control the pain and eventually fell asleep.
Janet also fell asleep but woke up an hour before they arrived at NIMR. Lee awoke when he felt the car slow down and
stop at the security gate.
“Welcome back, Doctor
Jamieson. How’s Commander Crane?” Hank
Rivers asked.
“He’s better but will need
plenty of rest.”
“Glad to hear that and happy
you were able to find him.”
“Thanks Hank,” Jamie
responded as Kowalski continued on to Med Bay with the rest of the vehicles
close behind.
When they arrived, Frank,
John and Hazel were waiting for them as Jamie had notified them about when they
would be arriving. He also told them
about Lee’s condition and to handle him with kid gloves as not to cause him any
unnecessary pain. Kowalski quickly
jumped out of the car so he could help put Lee on the waiting gurney. He groaned in pain as they gingerly picked him
up and transferred him. Once he was strapped
loosely in place, Frank and Hazel wheeled him into Med Bay where they would put
him in a room and wait for Jamie.
“John,” Jamie called before
he entered the building, “Please bring a wheel chair for Mrs. Crane. She has a bad ankle and I don’t want her
walking on it until we can get it x-rayed. Please see that she gets an x-ray of
her ankle and a CAT scan of her head. I
don’t think she has a concussion or broken ankle, I just want to make sure.”
“Yes, sir,” John replied and
immediately returned to Med Bay and brought out a wheel chair.
“Jamie, I don’t need one,”
Janet pleaded. “My ankle and head are fine.
I just want to be with Lee.”
“You’re not going to be able
to see him until I check him out and make sure he’s comfortable so this will
kill the time you’d have to wait.”
“Yes, sir,” Janet answered
and let John help her from the car into the wheel chair as Jamie made his way
into Med Bay and the room where they had taken Lee.
Julie and Angie were waiting
at the entrance for them to arrive. As
John wheeled her past them, he stopped so they could give her a hug surprised
that she was in the chair.
“We’ll talk later,” Janet
said and John continued on.
Chip and Patterson parked
their cars and hastily made their way over to the rest of the group. Everyone but Chip went into Med Bay as he
walked over to Julie where he hugged and kissed her.
“I missed you,” he said his
arms still wrapped around her waist.
“Me too,” she answered. “How’s Lee…what happen to Janet?”
“He’s a little better. Janet was injured trying to help Lee. I’ll tell you all about it when we get
home. Can you stay or do have to go to
work?”
“I can stay. Let’s go in and check on Lee.”
()()()()()()()
He took her hand and they
walked into Med Bay where the rest of the them stood in the waiting room. Angie
and Harry were off to the side when they entered. Harry saw him come in and motioned to Chip to
join them. Chip left Julie with the men
and went over to Harry.
“Angie was just telling me
that the mission scheduled to leave next Wednesday has been postponed for a
week. Seems the head scientist had to leave town on a family emergency.”
“That’s great news as I don’t
think Jamie would’ve let Lee sail on the mission,” Chip stated.
“I think you’re right,” Harry
concurred. “Angie, implement the call
system and let the men know they don’t have to report for duty for another week.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Is Lee better…he didn’t look too good when
they wheeled him by us.”
“He’s still in a lot of pain,”
Harry answered noticing she looked very worried. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find out
anything.”
“Thank you, sir,” Angie
responded. “I better go and let Wanda
know what’s happening. She volunteered
to stay at the office and I’ll get right on notifying the crew.”
“Thanks,” Harry said and
watched her as she left the building.
He and Chip joined Julie and
the others standing around waiting for Jamie and news regarding Lee.
()()()()()()()
Jamie entered Lee’s room and
walked over to the gurney. He wanted to
move him to the regular bed so he would be more comfortable but knew it would
cause him pain.
“Lee, I’d like to move you to
a regular bed but if it would cause you too much pain you can stay where you
are.”
“Please just let me be for a
while. Maybe later, I couldn’t take another
move right now,” Lee replied tiredly.
“Okay,” Jamie replied
noticing that Hazel had already hung a new IV bag and started a chart.
“Do you want me to take his
temperature or blood pressure and draw some blood,” Hazel asked softly.
“No, don’t do anything right
now. He doesn’t have a fever and if you
put that blood pressure cuff on him, he’d be screaming in pain.” Jamie saw Lee
had closed his eyes and fallen asleep.
“Let’s leave him alone.”
Jamie, Frank and Hazel left
Lee’s room. Hazel and Frank returned to
the nurse’s station leaving Jamie to face the group in the waiting room.
“He’s resting. He’s still in pain but I’m going to wait
before I take some blood as I know what it’ll do to him. I’m hoping later today to take and test his
blood. That drug has to be almost out of
his system. I’m going to check in with
my other sources and see if any of them has any ideas on how to treat him. Why don’t you all go home and get some rest. I’m sure none of you slept very well. I’m going to stay a little longer before I
hit the couch in my office. If there’s
any change in his condition, I’ll let you know.”
John was just bringing Janet
back from her tests and heard what Jamie said.
“Please let me stay with him.
I’ll sleep in the chair. I just
can’t leave,” Janet begged.
“Okay,” Jamie conceded
knowing he wouldn’t win and this way he could keep an eye on her at the same
time.
“I’ll be at the office for a
few minutes before I go home,” Harry stated.
“I’m going home but will be
back later this afternoon,” Chip said.
The rest of them said they
would be at home and to call if they were needed. They walked out of Med Bay and to their
cars. Chip and Julie would take Harry
to the office before heading home.
()()()()()()()
Jamie helped Janet out of the
wheel chair and into a new lounger. He
bought a couple of lounge chairs for Med Bay since he always had someone
staying there so he wanted them to be more comfortable. He moved it closer to the bed so she could
be near Lee.
“I’ll ring you if Lee has a
problem,” Janet told Jamie.
“I know you will,” Jamie
replied with smile and patted her shoulder.
He dimmed the lights and left
the two of them alone. He returned to
the nurse’s station and instructed them to report to him immediately if Lee had
a problem. He then went to his office and looked at all the papers on his desk
deciding they could wait until later.
He logged onto his computer hoping to have some responses on the drug
but no one had any ideas on what to do.
While he was looking on the computer, John brought in the results of
Janet’s tests and just as Jamie thought she only had a sprained ankle and no
concussion. One problem solved, he thought.
One more to go. He shut down his computer and went over to
his couch and laid down.
()()()()()()()
Janet
sat in the chair and watched Lee sleep. It disturbed her that he continued to
moan as he tried to get comfortable. She
put her hand next to his still afraid to touch him before she eventually fell
asleep.
After
sleeping for a few hours, it was late afternoon when Lee woke up and moved his
arm to see what time it was and winced when he looked at his watch. He saw Janet sleeping in the chair next to his
bed, her hand lying next to his. He
eased himself up, picked up her hand and gave it a squeeze. He noticed his pain wasn’t as bad as
before. He only felt a twinge when he
squeezed Janet’s hand. Maybe it’s finally going away, he
thought.
Janet thought she was
dreaming when she felt Lee squeeze her hand.
She looked over at him and could see him sitting up in the bed.
“Lee, you’re awake?” she said
quietly.
“Yes, sweetie,” he replied
softly.
Janet quickly sat up in the
chair and looked over at him. “How are
you feeling…are you still in pain?”
“Nothing that I can’t manage
but this gurney is very uncomfortable.
How about helping me move to the bed over there.”
“No, I’ll call Jamie and
we’ll get help to move you. I don’t
want you to get hurt,” Janet informed him.
“Okay,” Lee conceded. He took Janet’s hand and pulled her down to
him and kissed her. She returned the
kiss seeing him grimace slightly as she did.
Hazel answered the phone and
Janet explained to her what Lee wanted to do.
“I’ll get Doctor Jamieson,”
she said and rang Jamie’s office. She woke
him up and explained to her that Lee wanted to be moved.
“I’ll be right there,” Jamie
answered. “Don’t do anything until I
get there.” He quickly washed his face
and ran down to Lee’s room.
()()()()()()()
Jamie, Hazel, John and Frank
all entered Lee’s room surprised to see him sitting up.
“You must be feeling better,”
Jamie remarked.
“Yes, there’s still pain but
it’s manageable,” Lee replied. “But this gurney is uncomfortable…how about I
move to the bed?”
“No problem,” Jamie responded
happy that Lee was feeling less pain.
They moved the hospital bed
close to the gurney and transferred Lee to the new bed. He only winced when they got him
settled. John removed the gurney from
the room giving them more room to work.
“Now that you’re feeling
better, can I take some blood? I need to
know how much of the drug is still in your system,” Jamie explained.
“Go ahead, Jamie, I can
handle it. It’s not nearly as bad as before,” Lee stated.
Jamie instructed Hazel to get
the blood drawing equipment. She
returned shortly but let Jamie take care of drawing the blood. They could see Lee wince when Jamie stuck in
the needle. He took quite a few tubes to
test.
“Can I spare that much,” Lee
quipped seeing how many tubes Jamie removed.
“I don’t want to have to stab
you again until tomorrow,” Jamie retorted.
‘Tomorrow, can’t I go home
today? We have a mission to get ready
for.”
“No, if you’re lucky, I’ll
let you go home tomorrow. You’re not
leaving here until you’re pain free,” Jamie stated emphatically. “I want to make sure your blood is totally
free of the drug.”
“Lee, please do what Jamie
asks. You’ve been in so much pain…,”
Janet pleaded.
Lee patted her hand, “Okay,
I’ll stay,” he replied, “but, Jamie, don’t get used to me agreeing with you.”
“Deal,” Jamie grinned. “I’m going to test these and get back to
you.”
Jamie, Hazel, and Frank left the room just as Sharkey,
Kowalski, and Patterson entered Med Bay,
“How’s the Skipper,” Sharkey
asked worriedly.
“See for yourself,” Jamie
replied and continued onto the lab.
The three of them entered
Lee’s room and were pleased to see him in a regular bed and sitting up.
()()()()()()()
“Skipper,” Sharkey said
enthusiastically. “You’re looking a lot
better.”
“Hi men,” Lee answered happy
to see them as he didn’t have a chance to thank them before they left. “I am feeling better.”
“You sure had us worried,”
Sharkey continued.
“To be honest Chief, I was
pretty worried myself. I need to thank
you for all your help.”
“Skipper, we don’t need any
thanks…we’ll always be there for you,” Kowalski interjected.
Before Lee could continue,
the door to his room opened…Harry, Chip and Julie were standing in the
door. They too were surprised to see Lee
sitting up in bed.
“Come on men,” Sharkey said
patting Patterson on the shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“No, please stay,” Lee said
urgently. “I need to explain to you
what was happening to me. Admiral, I’m sure you must know who and why I was injected.”
“Yes, I do,” Harry
admitted. “I think we should all know
the details.”
“Lee is it okay for me to
stay?” Julie asked quietly.
“Yes, Julie, I would like you
to stay,” Lee answered. “There’s nothing
I’m going to say that you can’t hear unless the Admiral has any information you
shouldn’t know.”
“No, she can hear what I have
to say,” Harry replied knowing Julie had increased security clearance since she
married Chip and that Lee occasionally worked for ONI. He also knew she would never repeat what she
heard.
Chip pulled up a chair next
to Janet’s and Julie sat down taking Janet’s hand into hers just as Jamie walked
in the room.
“Jamie, I was just going to
explain what I was going through, so please join us,” Lee insisted.
“Janet filled me in on some
of the details but I want to hear what you have to say. But first I have the
results of your blood test. As of now, you
still have more of the drug in your system than I like so you’re going to be
here again tomorrow.”
“Jamie, we have a mission to
get ready for. I can tolerate the pain
I have now, so I need to get out of here,” Lee commanded.
Chip spoke up, “Don’t worry
about the mission, it’s been rescheduled to the end of next week as the head
scientist had an emergency.”
Lee gently rubbed his hand on
his head, “I’m sorry to hear about his emergency but happy the mission was
delayed so I can help out. Now that we have
that settled, let’s begin.”
()()()()()()()
Lee let out a breath, “First
of all, I’m sorry to put you through all this but as I told Janet, I had no idea
what was happening to me. I guess I
better start on what I remember and then you can fill in the blanks on what I
don’t know like how I got like this,” Lee said.
“When I batted the Admiral’s
arm away, I knew that something was very wrong with me and I was hoping to get
away before I really hurt someone. My attitude had also deteriorated…I was
sniping and snapping at everyone even more than when I was on the boat…but
please realize I couldn’t stop it. I
didn’t expect anyone to catch up with me when I left the building. I was surprised at how fast Janet made it down
the stairs and into the car as I drove away.
I’ll admit I wasn’t happy with her…not because she managed to get in the
car…I just wanted to be alone.” He
looked at Janet, “You could’ve been killed jumping in the car like that.”
“There was no way I was going
to let you go alone…I was afraid I’d never see you again,” Janet replied
softly.
Lee gently squeezed her hand,
“I figured you’d find the tracking devices I left on the road but I didn’t want
to be found so I had to ditch them. By
now the pain had escalated to the point where even my clothes caused pain. When we reached the cabin, the pain had
really gotten bad but still not at its peak.”
Lee paused for a minute to sip some water from the glass by his bed.
Chip chimed in, “Lee, whose
cabin was that? I don’t remember you
ever mentioning it.”
“It belongs to Jason
Weldon. He’s owned it for many years
and told me I could use it whenever I wanted. This is where I would go when I
needed to be alone, especially after some of my ONI missions. If I told you where it was, you’d come
looking for me so that’s why I never said anything about it.”
Lee continued, “When we
arrived there, I wasn’t a very nice person.
The pain was still escalating and I really didn’t care about anything or
anybody. But after I knocked Janet down
the stairs and saw her lying on the floor not moving, I realized I had to
leave. For that one instant, the pain was still there but I blocked it out
knowing if I could hurt her, no one would be safe. I left her the phone knowing
she would call for help. When I ran out
the door and saw Janet following me, I just had to keep running hoping I could
out run her and find a place to hide. By now, it was pouring rain, lightning
and thundering but I didn’t care. The
pain was now to the point where I couldn’t block it out. Every step or movement caused immense
pain. The bushes and branches that hit
my face and arms were like hot pokers hitting my skin. I’d never been that far back on the property
and had no idea what was back there. I
saw the shed and knew it didn’t look very safe but felt if it collapsed on me
it would put me out of my pain.”
The group sat there staring
at Lee when he made that last statement.
“Ah, Skipper, if it collapsed on you, it could’ve killed you,” Sharkey said
quietly.
“Chief, at that point dying
was better than enduring the pain. I’ve
never experienced that severe pain before.”
Janet gasped at what Lee said
and barely held back her tears…even Julie’s eyes were tearing up.
“I finally passed out from
the pain and didn’t know you’d found me and brought me back to the cabin until
this morning.”
There was total silence for a
few minutes everyone letting sink in just how much pain Lee must have endured
that he wanted to die.
Lee took a deep breath, “Now
I need to know who, what and why I was injected. I’m pretty sure I know where.” he declared. “And how you found out.”
()()()()()()()
“A few days after you
returned from Kolenovo we knew something was wrong,” Harry stated. “You were like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but by
the time we’d docked it was more Mr. Hyde than anything. I’ll admit I was stunned when you batted my
arm away almost knocking me down. It was
at that point we realized you needed help but there was nothing we could do to
stop you. Right after you left Jamie
informed us that there was an unfamiliar drug in your blood.”
Jamie spoke up, “I’d never
seen a drug like that before and when I sent it out to other sources, no one
recognized it either. Even if you had
come to Med Bay, there was nothing I could do for you but at least we would
have been there for you.”
“Did you ever find out what
it was?” Lee asked.
Harry took a deep breath and
continued, “A man by the name of Ghag Huchay called. Do you know him?”
Lee ran his hand through his
hair, “Yes, I’ve had dealings with him in the past. He was the head of security at one time for
the PR and then was demoted to security at one of the chemical labs before he
retired. I managed to escape his clutches a few times.”
“He called to tell me what
he’d done and knew the only way I would talk to him was if I had proof he’d
taken you, so he sent me the bracelet you bought for Janet. He’d removed it from your backpack when he
had his bodyguard knock you out after you left the brothel and brought to his
house. He injected you with a sedative
to keep you out so he could inject the other drug. He then had his bodyguard dump you in front
of one of the buildings making it look like you had passed out from too much to
drink. He knew the sedative would be the
only drug to show up in your system when you returned to the boat.”
“Why didn’t the drug take effect
sooner…weren’t there any antidotes?”
“It was a delayed reaction
drug and no an antidote hadn’t been developed because the person who invented
the drug died.”
“Admiral, I bet I know who
developed the drug, Hai Phong but how did he know about it?”
“He told me, he was one of
the men who’d come to her house to bring you back to the PR’s
headquarters. He and Ms. Phong were very
close and he was pissed that you got away again and caused her to kill
herself. He’s also the one who shot
Chip.”
“What did he want from you?”
Lee asked perplexed.
“He wanted me to see you
suffer…nothing else. He didn’t know that
you’d left and we had no knowledge of where you were.”
“I’m sure you tried to track
him down.”
“Yes, I contacted ONI and
they found the place but it was vacant and cleaned when they arrived. I also had NIMR communications trace the call
but he was using a burner phone.”
Lee laid there soaking in
everything Harry told him. “Thanks for
all your help. I know I didn’t make
things easy. Seems Hai Phong is still
haunting me,” Lee replied dejectedly.
Jamie looked at Lee and could
see he was mentally and physically drained.
“Lee’s looking a little tired. I
think we should leave him alone,” Jamie suggested.
Sharkey, Kowalski and
Patterson quickly stood up, “Take care Skipper, we’ll check in with you
tomorrow.”
“Thanks, men,” Lee replied as
they walked out the door.
“Janet, do you need a ride
home?” Julie asked.
“No, I’m staying here
tonight,” Janet stated letting Jamie know she wasn’t leaving.
“If you need anything, please
call us,” Chip added as he and Julie gave Janet a hug and left the room.
Only Harry and Jamie
remained. “Lee…I’m so glad you’re
back,” Harry said emotionally.
“Me too, Admiral,” Lee
replied fondly.
Harry gave Janet a hug and
left the room. He wiped tears of
happiness out of his eyes as he walked out the door. His ‘son’ was safe.
Jamie looked at Lee and
Janet. “Do you need anything…besides
dinner. I’ll have Cookie bring you
something to eat and you’d better eat it.”
“Thank you, Jamie, for
everything,” Lee said warmly.
“You’re welcome,” Jamie
replied. “I’ll be back later to check
on the two of you before I leave for the night.”
Jamie walked out of Lee’s
room and headed for the nurse’s station.
He called the cafeteria and ordered dinner for them.
()()()()()()()
“Janet, help me get out of
the bed, I really need to use the facilities,” Lee asked and swung his legs
over the side of the bed.
Janet helped him get up and
watched him as the made his way to the bathroom. She noticed he grimaced in pain when he stood
up. While he was in the bathroom, Cookie
brought in their dinner.
“Hi Mrs. C., how’s the
Skipper?” he asked as he set the tray down on the table over by the
window.
Smiling Janet replied, “You
can let everyone know he’s doing better.”
Janet knew the whole institute would know what had happened to Lee by
now and wanted to make sure they knew he would be okay.
“Thanks,” Cookie answered,
“if you need anything else, just let me know.”
“I will, thank you, Cookie.”
Cookie left just as Lee came out
of the bathroom and noticed what Janet was wearing.
“Where did you get those
clothes?” he asked.
“My dress was filthy and
Jamie found these at the cabin. I totally
forgot I had them on.”
“No worry, you still look
good,” he replied smiling.
Grinning, “It’s a new look
I’m trying out, Janet said as she walked over to him. “Let me help you get back in bed.”
“No, let’s eat dinner by the
window. I know I can’t see Seaview, but at least I can see the
ocean. I’m tired of lying down.”
()()()()()()()
Janet walked next to Lee
wishing she could take his hand but didn’t because she was afraid she would
hurt him. He eased himself down at the
table by the window. Lee picked up the cover on the tray and didn’t look
happy.
“What’s wrong,” Janet asked
worriedly.
“I was hoping for something
more than chicken soup and jello,” Lee replied.
“I’m sure Jamie’s just being
cautious on what you can tolerate,” Janet surmised.
She sat down across from
Lee. As he ate his soup, Janet just
stirred hers.
Lee noticed she wasn’t
eating, “What’s wrong?”
“Did you really wish you
would have died when you were in the shed?” Janet whispered as the tears she’d
been fighting back finally fell down her face.
Lee took her hand in his,
“Sweetie, you’ve seen me in pain from when I’ve been tortured, beaten and
shot. The pain I experienced from those
was nowhere near the pain I just went through.
I’m glad I passed out.”
“I understand,” Janet said
softly.
Lee reached across the table
and wiped away her tears with his thumb.
“I’m sorry I got you into another mess,” he apologized.
“No need to apologize…we’re
in this together and I wouldn’t have my life any other way.”
“I did think it was strange
that someone would kidnap and drug you after they knocked you out. They could’ve taken the intel while you were
unconscious. Now we know why Huchay went
to all that trouble to drug you,” Janet commented.
“He’s been after me for a
long time. I guess what happened to Hai
Phong pushed him over the edge.”
“Let’s forget about him,” Lee
said as he stood up, took Janet’s hand and helped her up. He gingerly wrapped his arms around her as
she laid her head on his chest. “Love
you,’ he said tenderly as he stroked the back of her hair.
“Love you too,” Janet replied
affectionately wishing she could hug him harder.
They stood there a few more
minutes before they sat back down to finish up their dinner. They had just finished when Jamie came in to
check on them.
“Nice to see you out of bed,”
Jamie declared. “I’ll check your blood
tomorrow and if it’s at acceptable levels, I might let you go home but you
can’t return to work until Monday.”
“Thanks, Jamie,” Lee
replied. “See you in the morning.”
“Good night, Lee, Janet,”
“Night, Jamie,” they replied
as he walked out of the room.
As Jamie walked out of Med
Bay to his car, he thought, Problem
number two solved.
Janet could see Lee was tired
so she helped him back to bed. She sat
down in the chair next to the bed wishing she could lie next to him but knew he
wasn’t quite ready for that. He fell
asleep a few minutes after he was back in bed.
Janet sat there watching him sleep thankful he was still with her.
()()()()()()()
Lee woke up early Saturday
morning and quietly got out of bed with only a grimace. Janet was still asleep and he didn’t want to
wake her but he couldn’t stay in bed any longer. When she did wake up and saw he wasn’t in
bed, she quickly got out of the chair to look for him and spotted him by the
window.
“You okay,” she inquired anxiously.
“I’m fine…I just wanted to
look outside.”
Janet went over to the window
and opened the curtains so they could look at the ocean. They were standing there when Jamie came in
to check on them.
“How are you feeling this morning?” Jamie
asked walking in the door with Hazel who had the blood drawing implements.”
“Better, just a little pain,”
Lee replied. “When can I leave?”
“Just as soon as I draw some
blood and test it to see how much of the drug is left in your system,” Jamie
answered.
Lee sat on the bed while
Jamie prepared his arm. He winced as
Jamie inserted the needle and drew out a couple of tubes. The wince didn’t get by Jamie who knew Lee
was still in pain but would never admit it.
“I’ll test these right away
and let you know the results,” Jamie said as he handed the tubes to Hazel. “Have some breakfast and we’ll see if you can
leave today.”
“Thanks Jamie. And I hope breakfast is better than dinner
last night,” Lee remarked.
Jamie broke out in a
grin. “Didn’t like dinner…you can eat
whatever you want for breakfast. I’ll be
back shortly.”
Lee picked up the phone and
dialed the cafeteria as soon as Jamie left. He ordered eggs, bacon, toast,
pancakes, a pot of coffee and juice.
“You really must be hungry,”
Janet laughed. “You ordered enough food
for at least three people.”
“I bet Chip will be here
before breakfast arrives and he probably hasn’t eaten,” Lee quipped.
“You’re probably right,”
Janet agreed.
()()()()()()()
Chip
showed up right as Cookie was delivering Lee and Janet’s breakfast.
“I
hope you have enough for me,” Chip said as Cookie set down the trays.
“Of
course. I knew you’d be here in time to eat,” Lee
quipped. “Help yourself.”
Chip
waited until Lee and Janet took what they wanted before digging into what was
left.
“You
doing okay?” he asked before taking a sip of coffee.
“Much
better. I’m hoping to be able to go
home, take a shower and get into some decent clothes,” Lee replied.
“Where’s
Julie?” Janet asked.
“She had to check on
something but as soon as she’s finished, we’re going to go see her
parents. By the way, I finally received
the information on the communication upgrades, so I’ll take a look at them on
Monday.”
A frown appeared on Lee’s
face. “I seem to remember we almost
came to blows over that report and information.
I think I was even going to charge you with insubordination,” Lee said.
“Yes, you were pretty pissed
at me because I didn’t have the report finished,” Chip replied. “I was surprised at your attitude that day
but didn’t realize how sick you were.”
“Me either,” Lee agreed. “I’m really sorry for the way I acted. I hope the crew members I was nasty too will
forgive me.”
“I think they’ve already
forgotten it,” Chip reassured him. “Your
crew knows you well enough to understand you weren’t yourself.”
“Thanks, as always, for
everything,” Lee answered. “I couldn’t
get a better brother or XO.”
“I know you’d do the same for
me,” Chip responded as he took a bite of a pancake.
They had just finished up all
the food when Jamie entered the room.
“Well, Jamie,” Lee asked
hopefully.
“You still have a small amount
of the drug in your system but not enough to keep you here. I’m sure you’re not
totally pain free and you wouldn’t tell me if you were in pain so I’ll let you
leave on one condition. You rest today
and tomorrow and come in first thing Monday and let me take another
sample. If it’s clean, you can return to
work. I’ll removed the stitches from
your arm before we leave on the mission.”
“I’ll make sure he rests,”
Janet declared.
“You’re free to leave,” Jamie
said. “Let’s hope that drug is never
used on another person again.”
“Jamie, I agree with you and
pray that was the only dose made,” Lee stated somberly.
Before they left, Jamie
checked over Janet’s ankle and head wound.
Her ankle wasn’t swollen and her gash was healing nicely.
“It doesn’t hurt at all,”
Janet reported.
“Okay, I’ll clear you to
report for work on Monday too,” Jamie remarked knowing she wouldn’t tell him if
it hurt either.
As the three of them walked
out of Med Bay, Chip offered, “Do you want me to take you home?”
“No, I can drive,” Janet
answered as it was her left ankle that was sprained.
“I’ll drive,” Lee responded
and helped Janet into the car. Chip
headed for his car but turned around and went back to Lee’s.
“I forgot to give you this,”
he said as he handed him the key to the cabin.
“I didn’t know where it went so I just put it in my pocket.”
“Thanks, I’ll see that it
gets put back there,” Lee replied and put the key in the pocket of his shorts.
Chip walked back to his car
and headed home. Before they left the
Med Bay parking lot, Janet realized she didn’t have her purse or phone.
“Lee, we need to go to the
office. When I ran after you I didn’t
take my phone or purse. I would like to
pick them up before we go home.”
“No problem,” he replied and
made a left-hand turn and headed to the institute office.
()()()()()()()
When they arrived, Lee
noticed the admiral’s car was in the parking lot. He helped Janet out of the car and opened
the door for her as they entered the building.
No one was at the front desk because it was Saturday so they didn’t sign
in and headed directly for the elevator.
“I’ll only be a minute,”
Janet said. “My purse is in my desk and
the phone on top.”
“Don’t hurry,” Lee replied wincing
slightly as he walked towards Harry’s office.
He didn’t expect the admiral to be there but he really needed to speak
with him so he was relieved he was there.
He noticed the door to
Angie’s office was open and so was Harry’s.
He was working at his desk and looked up surprised to see Lee standing
outside the door.
“What are you doing
here? I see Jamie let you out but I’m
sure to go home not report to work,” Harry declared.
“Janet left her purse and
phone here. She wanted to pick it up
before we went home. Do you have a
minute to talk?”
“Of course, son,” Harry
replied and pushed himself away from his desk noticing his unflappable captain
was still in pain and had something on his mind.
“Let me tell Janet that I
need a few minutes with you,” Lee asked and left the office. He found Janet in Chip’s office where she’d
located her phone on his desk. “Can
you wait few minutes before we leave…I need to talk to the admiral.”
“No problem,” Janet
answered. “Take as much time as you
need. I’m sure I can find something to
keep me occupied.”
They left Chip’s office with
Lee heading back to Harry’s and Janet back to hers. Lee closed both doors to his office. He sat down on the couch placing his elbows
on his knees and rested his chin on his hands.
He looked across at Harry who’d sat down on the opposite couch.
“Admiral, please forgive me
for striking out at you. I had no idea
how violent I was going to be,” Lee said remorsefully. “I don’t know what else to say but I’m
sorry. You’ll have my resignation for
insubordination on your desk on Monday.
“Lee,” Harry replied with
dismay, “why the hell would I want your resignation. I know you would never hit me or anyone else
for that matter unless it was vital to your survival. I knew by the look on
your face that you were just as stunned at what you did.”
“For one quick second, I
realized what I had done and had to leave.
I was so afraid I would severely hurt someone else. It bothers me that I
knocked Janet down the steps but the pain was so intense that I had no control
over what I was doing.
Harry looked over at Lee and
saw the hurt in his eyes. “Lee, she
knows that. You stopped and helped her by giving her the phone because goodness
that runs down deep will always triumph over evil. You’re too good of a man and that’s why it’s
bothering you so much. Lee, let it go,
no one will ever blame you including me for what you did.”
“Thank you, sir,” Lee
answered feeling better after talking to Harry.
“There’s just one more
thing,” Harry said as he stood up from the couch and walked over to his
desk. Lee also stood with a puzzled look
on his face as Harry opened the middle desk drawer and removed the black velvet
bag. “You might want to give this to
Janet.”
“The bracelet,” Lee replied
opening the bag and letting it fall into his hands. “Do you think she’ll still want it after all
the trouble it caused.”
“I’m sure she’ll want
it. You bought for her because you love
her and that’s all she’s going to remember,” Harry assured him. He wanted desperately to pat his shoulder but
knew it would cause him pain so he held back.
“Now get the hell out of here…I’m sure you have better things to do.”
“Yes sir, I do now,” Lee
responded as put the bracelet back into the velvet bag and put it in his pocket. “You’re not going to be here too much longer
are you?”
“No, I only have a couple of
more items to clear up. It’s amazing how
fast the works gets done when you’re not interrupted.”
“I can attest to that. I’ll see you bright and early on Monday.”
“Good because we have a lot
of thing to go over regarding the next mission.”
Lee opened the door to
Harry’s office and then Angie’s with Harry following him out. He found Janet in her office reading over her
e-mails.
“Good morning, Admiral,”
Janet said with a smile when she saw Harry standing at her door with Lee who
looked at little more relaxed than he did when he went in. “Don’t stay too long and have a good
weekend.”
“You too,” Harry replied with
a broad grin.
Janet picked up her purse and
they walked to the elevator and waved good bye to Harry as the doors
closed.
Harry rubbed the back of his
neck. Hopefully things will get back to normal, he thought as he returned
to his office.
()()()()()()()
Lee waited for Janet to get
into the car before he climbed in.
“Sweetie, do you mind if we take a detour before we go home?”
“No Lee, whatever you want to
do is fine with me.”
Lee started the car and
headed towards the sub pen. Janet
smiled knowing Lee wanted to check on his ‘grey lady’ before they went home but
he shocked her by driving by the street that leads to the sub pen and continued
down towards the botany department and garden.
He parked the car in the lot and helped Janet out of the car.
“Why are we stopping here?”
Janet asked. “I thought you wanted to
check on Seaview.”
“No, I’m sure she’s fine,”
Lee commented surprising Janet as he always worried about her. “I wanted to give you something and I know
you love the gardens so I thought it would be an appropriate place.”
“I do love it here,” Janet said
as she stood in the garden. The clouds
that had been around earlier had broken up giving way to blue sky and bright
sunshine.
They walked over to the area
of the garden that overlooked the ocean.
Lee reached into his pocket and took out the black velvet bag.
“Lee, what’s that,” Janet
wondered as she’d never seen it before.
“Sweetheart, I bought this
for you when I was in Kolenovo. It’s the
bracelet that was removed from my backpack,” Lee remarked as the opened the bag
and let the silver and gold bracelet fall into his hand.
“Oh Lee, it’s beautiful,”
Janet exclaimed as she held out her wrist so he could put it on her.
“I was worried about giving
it to you as you might not want it. I
never thought it would become part of a nasty plot and was afraid every time
you wore the bracelet it would bring back bad memories. The admiral convinced me to give it to
you. He knew you’d love it no matter
what.”
“Lee, I do love it and I’ll
be honest it will bring back memories but the good ones will out-weigh the bad
ones.” She gently put her arms around
his neck, not wanting to hurt him as she knew he was still in some pain and
stood on her toes giving him a passionate kiss.
He bent down, returned the
kiss and gave her a hug.
Still wrapped in Lee’s arms,
Janet ran her finger down his shirt, “Is someone up to doing some dancing in
the sheets?” she asked with a mischievous grin.
Chuckling, Lee responded,
“Dancing in the sheets sounds really good to me.”
They walked hand in hand back
to the car with Janet’s bracelet glistening in the sunlight.
The End.
Or Is It?
*See my story “The Reason
Why”
**See my story “Crown of
Thorns”
A huge thank to Christy, my
beta, for all her suggestions, comments and corrections.