INTRUDER ALERT

By Mary Elliott

Captain Crane had just completed his nightly walk about the sub and entered his cabin with a mug of hot chocolate. Taking a seat on his bunk, he kicked off his shoes and plumped up his pillows to lay back, unwind and enjoy his hot drink. It was shaping up to a much longer than planned mission filled with countless delays in investigating the mysterious behavior of dolphins. Now it was Christmas Eve and instead of roasting chestnuts on an open fire with his current lady friend he was stuck underwater on a cold sub (the temperature control was on the fritz) with a crew of grumbling men. And to top it off, Admiral Nelson had turned into Scrooge when Lee had suggested sending the flying sub to pick up something special for Christmas dinner now that they would be missing the holiday with family and friends.

Finishing off the hot chocolate, he temporarily placed the mug on the shelf above his head thinking he would close his eyes just for a few minutes before attacking the ever-growing stack of end-of-the-year reports on his desk. For his Christmas present he should've asked Santa for one of his elves to do his reports. Lee drifted off imagining a very short blonde blue-eyed version of Chip with pointed ears dressed in a stocking cap and curly-toed shoes. Smiling to himself he promised to send Santa a letter next year for exactly that gift.

As their captain slept the scene in the control room was anything but relaxed. Riley was on sonar and reporting to Mr. O'Brien he had unidentified objects fast approaching the Seaview. There were no sounds of screws and it didn't sound like any vessel he’d ever encountered. It could be biologics but the grouping was like nothing he had ever come across. Mr. O'Brien had just turned to Burke to see if he was picking up anything on his instruments when the entire control room heard a thump and then something dragging on the outer hull.

Minutes later reports were coming in from throughout the boat of an intruder. From the frequency of reports and distance between the sightings there had to be several unauthorized visitors. Mr. O'Brien hit the intruder alert alarm calling all hands to general quarters.

The alarm woke Lee with a start. Quickly sitting up his head hit the ledge above his head sending his empty mug crashing to the floor. Slipping his feet into shoes he raced to the cabin’s door; he would worry about cleaning up the mess later. It did sadden him to break the mug, which the crew had given it to him last Christmas. It was described to the World's Best Skipper on one side and a drawing of the Seaview on the other side.

Reaching the control room he encountered controlled chaos. Mr. Morton, having arrived a few moments before the Captain, was questioning two of the crewmen who have reported the intruders.

“Sorry Sir, I can’t give a very good description, I know I saw someone but just can't describe him.”

“What about you, Johnson?”

“I saw someone exiting the missile room hatch but like Thompson I can't remember what he looked like.”

“You mean you both reported an intruder but you can't give us one piece of identification?”

Both Thompson and Johnson looked at each other then at the two officers and nodded their heads in unison. The skipper dismissed them telling them to return to the search party.

“Alright Mr. O'Brien exactly what did this noise sound like? Could there have been divers outside attaching a bomb to the hull? Riley thought this contact was a biologic, could the noise possibly have been a shark or dolphin bumping into the boat?”

“I don't think it could have been a diver sir; no reported vessels in the area. And as for the noise it was a thump like something dropped and then was dragged for a very short distance. A shark or dolphin will more than likely hit the side of the sub, and you know unless they were injured their own radar would have prevented them from crashing into us. Anything large like a blue whale would have given us a bit of a jolt.”

Intruder sightings were still being reported to the Conn, but security was receiving the same answer, no one could give a description of what they saw. Lee and Chip simultaneously thought of Senator Dennis and his hallucinations but that couldn’t be possible in this situation.

Admiral Nelson had made his appearance a few minutes before after making sure all his classified papers were secured and experiments not tampered with. The captain looked at his superior and shrugged his shoulders in confusion having no answers to what was occurring on Seaview. Suddenly the alarm to the escape hatch sounded; someone, or something, was leaving the boat.

Once again there was a scraping noise above them causing all three officers to rush to the nose of the boat. There before them was in unbelievable sight. Moving past them a heavyset man in a red wetsuit was sitting in a sleigh being pulled by eight dolphins. The white-haired man turned and waved then jerking the reins the dolphins quickly swam out of sight.

Nelson, not looking at his two officers, cleared his throat and announced he was returning to his lab. The captain, in a hushed voice, ordered Mr. Morton to secure from general quarters. The XO finally found his voice and obeyed the order. He returned the mic just as Cookie called from the gallery.

“Sirs, I didn't think we were getting additional supplies. Now that general quarters has been canceled, I’ll start cooking for Christmas day. The crew is really going to be happy with the hams and roasted goose for dinner.”

The skipper started to answer but was interrupted by a call from the MAA reporting a very unusual sight in the crew's quarters. Each bunk had a stuffed Christmas stocking hanging from it. A small decorated tree stood on the table loaded with colorfully wrapped presents. Soon other areas of the boat were calling in and reporting mysterious Christmas decorations appearing throughout the boat. By this time Lee was beginning to wonder if he had hit his head harder than he thought when he jumped up from his bunk a little earlier.

The skipper decided he had heard and seen enough. He was returning to his cabin, maybe with a side trip to Sick Bay for an x-ray of his head. Standing in the corridor Lee paused with his hand on the doorknob, afraid of what he might find. Taking a deep breath he bravely pushed open the door and entered the room. No stockings, no gaily-wrapped Christmas presents were in sight. Lee smiled; he knew it. Someone from the crew had played an elaborate Christmas prank on the boat but didn't dare enter the private quarters of her captain. The Santa sighting must've been a holograph or something. Probably a couple men were in on it to get everything done so quickly.

Confidently he crossed over to his desk; it was time to work on those end-of-the-year reports. As he pulled out his chair, he finally noticed that instead of reports scattered all over the top of his desk there was only one large pile being held in place by his undamaged mug. Propped up against the mug was an envelope addressed to him. Sinking down on to the chair, he picked up the envelope and with shaky hands he opened it.

My dear Lee,

I hope the reports are completed to your satisfaction. I was a little rushed, so many stops, so little time. For next year, I suggest you write that letter to me if you wish an elf for your Christmas secretary. Enclosed is a picture of a very capable young elf. His name is Bobby; you did request blond hair and blue eyes didn't you? His specialty in the workshop is toy submarines. Be forewarned, he eats a lot of cookies. Be a good boy and stop giving Jamie so much trouble; he's only looking out for you.

Merry Christmas,

S.C.

Lee carefully replaced the letter, got up, crawled into his bunk, and pulled the covers over his head. He was babbling over and over to himself… It's all a dream… It's all a dream… It's all a dream.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.