Limbo
by Diane Kachmar
“Skipper?”
Lee Crane reached for
the microphone under the chart table. “Yes, Chief.”
“Pat discovered a hummer
down here in the torpedo room. It’s not that bad yet, but the Exec wants you to
come forward and assess the situation, sir.”
“Have you notified the
Admiral?”
“Not yet. Shall I have
him meet you here?” Sharkey asked.
“Yes.”
“Aye, sir.”
* * * * * *
Nelson cocked his head,
listening. “She’s armed all right.” He lifted the inspection port gingerly. “We
had better jettison her.”
Lee looked in over his
shoulder. “We can’t load her armed. What if it goes off in the tube? We’d never
survive it. Let me disarm it.”
“And have it blow up in
your face? No, we don’t know what set it off. Let’s take it apart, and get rid
of the explosives and the charge. If we wrap them in lead weights they should
sink past any danger to shipping.”
Crane shook his head.
“We can’t dump it live. That’s too hazardous. I’ll take a
team topside with it. We’ll try to shut it down. That way, if she does
go, there’s room to toss it over without endangering the rest of the crew or
damaging the boat.”
Harry looked up at the
determined face of his Captain. “All right, Lee, you can try. But if it even
makes one click toward going up, it’s going over the side, dead or no. Pick
your team and get on it. The sooner it’s out of here, the better.”
“Aye, sir.” Crane moved to the mic on the wall.
* * * * * *
“One more set,” Lee
said, almost to himself as Chip handed him back the needle nose pliers to cut
the wires he had isolated. Much as he hadn’t wanted Morton to volunteer to come
topside and help, having Chip there was an advantage he wasn’t going to refuse.
The steady calmness of his Exec beside him always helped him concentrate on the
dangerous task at hand.
Crane closed the plier
blades around the wires and cut them in two. He expected the humming to stop,
but there was an ominous click and the hum became even louder. Even as Lee
realized what he was hearing, which was totally wrong for what he had done, he
felt himself being dragged away from the open casing.
“No, Chip!” He seized
his friend’s arm. “Help me throw it over the side!”
Morton let him go and
grabbed the trailing side of the open casing as Lee lifted it from the deck.
Together they swung it once, twice and on the third swing, Crane yelled. “Now!!”
The casing went sailing
over the starboard rail. Lee gave Chip a hard shove away from the side of the
boat. “Hit the deck!” he yelled to the rest of his team.
His words were lost in a
roaring rumble as the sea erupted in a geyser off the starboard bow. The
explosive concussion knocked Lee from his feet as the deck tilted beneath him.
There was something large and silver in front of him that he could not avoid. Crane
hit the object hard. Water crashed down on top of him and he was smothered by
the foaming sea. Dimly, Lee knew he should fight the pull, find something to
stop his downward motion, but he couldn’t make himself move. He was sinking
into cold dark nothing.
* * * * * *
His ears still ringing
from the proximity of the explosion, Chip Morton tried to pick himself up from
the soaked deck. The sub rolled under him and he grabbed for the nearest
handhold. Water came rushing across the deck, engulfing him and trying to pluck
him away. Chip held his breath as he clutched the raised handle harder,
fighting off the pull until it subsided.
Gasping, Morton hauled
himself upright, looking wildly around to check on the members of their damage
control team. Next to him an alarm began to blare. The three detail members lay
sprawled, clinging to various rails and handles. As his gaze swept over them,
two of them began to stir. Chip did not see the person he was looking for the
most. He half lunged, half slid to the closest seaman, grabbing him up by his
collar. “Where’s the Skipper?”
The man looked up at him
blearily. “He... hit... the conning tower.”
Chip released the man
and he fell back to the deck, coughing. Morton ran for the base of the tower,
but Crane wasn’t there. The water bubbled and frothed at his feet. Chip felt a
sudden cold fear. He was over the rail and diving down before anyone could stop
him.
* * * * * *
Nelson came out the side
door, half expecting to find pieces of his damage control team scattered all
over the deck. The three seamen on deck seemed to be intact, if soaking wet.
Harry knelt down next to the one closest to the door.
“Steady,” he encouraged
the man. “Where are the Captain and Mr. Morton?”
The man looked up at him
in confusion. “They threw the warhead overboard before it blew. Aren’t they on
deck?”
Nelson shook his head as
one of Jamieson’s corpsmen knelt on the other side of the dazed seaman.
“Scott!” He addressed the rating who was slowly sitting up a few feet away.
“Have you seen Captain Crane?”
The crewman swiped at
his forehead and his hand came away bloody. “I thought I saw him by the conning
tower... then I blacked out. Mr. Morton was shaking me and I told him to go
find him. Didn’t the Exec sound the alarm?”
“Frank.” Nelson motioned
the corpsman toward Scott. “Let Frank take care of that cut. I’ll find them.”
“Aye, sir.”
As Harry came across the
deck to the base of the conning tower, he did not find his two officers huddled
there. Chip had come this way... where could he have gone? Nelson found his
gaze drawn to the rail and the still roiling sea beneath it.
A blonde head broke the
surface beneath his feet, gasping for air before he was dragged under again.
Harry lunged under the rail, holding on with one hand, but his searching hand
came up empty. Too late. “Frank!!!” he yelled as loud
as he could.
He could hear footsteps
clattering toward him as he continued to grope. “Get me a rope,” he demanded.
“Commander Morton has been washed overboard!”
“I’ll get him, sir.”
Kowalski dove over the
rail and disappeared into the boiling depths. A rope was thrust at him. Harry
made it fast around the nearest cleat, tossing it over the side as a guide back
for Kowalski. They had found Chip. Was Lee over the side as well?
A long moment passed, then Morton suddenly reappeared, flailing wildly. Harry
reached under the rail, snagging his shirt collar. He kept hold of the Exec
until Jamieson’s orderlies could drag Chip under the rail to safety. Nelson
felt Frank latch onto his belt as a counterbalance to keep him from going over.
Good man. The orderlies pulled Morton to the relative shelter of the conning
tower. Frank let go of Harry and knelt down beside the gasping Exec.
Nelson tore his
attention away back to the rail. Where was Kowalski?
The sonar man finally
surfaced, bringing someone up with him. Lee. Thank God.
Kowalski clung to the
rope, holding Crane up until the orderlies could latch onto the unconscious
Captain and get him back on board. They rolled him on to the deck almost at
Harry’s feet. Suddenly Jamieson was there. He had a resuscitator in his hand
and he began using it to force Crane to breathe.
Nelson sank to his
knees, watching the Doctor work. Lee did not move. “Are we in time?” Harry
asked.
“He’s still alive,” Jamieson
replied curtly, continuing his effort to revive Lee.
Nelson felt movement
beside him and turned. Morton was trying to raise himself off the deck, despite
Frank’s best effort to stop him. “Where’s Ski?” he asked hoarsely. “Did he get -- ”
“I’m here, sir.” A dripping Kowalski hunkered
down on the far side of the Exec, a damp towel around his neck.
Chip looked up at him.
“Came down... to give... me a hand... did you?”
Kowalski grinned. “You
looked a little tired. All you needed was a push.”
Morton scowled, then
coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Don’t... you know... we
have regulations... against being... a guardian angel?” he growled.
“Angel, sir?” The sonar man grinned wider.
Morton considered that
for a moment, then reached out and closed his hand around Kowalski’s arm.
“That’s two I owe you.”
At that moment, Harry
saw Lee’s chest rise out of the corner of his eye and he turned back to
Jamieson. Billy had joined the Doctor and taken over working the resuscitator,
so Jamieson could further assess Crane’s condition.
His movement back toward
Crane attracted Morton’s attention. He tried to shake off Frank, but the
corpsman held him down firmly. “Is Lee –“
“Stop fighting Frank,
Chip! That’s an order.” Jamieson snapped over his shoulder. “Even Execs have
free diving limits. Do you want to pass out?”
Chip rolled his head to
one side, still agitated. “He had water in his lungs. He was sinking. Another
minute...”
Frank gently put his
hand on Morton’s arm and gripped it. “We know. You saved him. Let me take care
of you now.”
“Will?” Morton demanded.
Jamieson rocked back on
his heels. “Lee has a very large contusion on the back of his head. He hit
something hard before he went over.”
“The conning tower,
according to one of the detail,” Harry offered.
Jamieson sighed. “That
would do it.”
“And?”
“I don’t know. Let me
get him stable enough for transport below. Then we’ll see how bad it is.”
* * * * * *
He was still sinking.
Lee could no longer feel the water around him. It was getting darker and
darker. He’d be dead by the time he struck bottom. If he
wasn’t already. Somehow he had not expected death to be a large black
nothing. Where was the pain from the water that had invaded his lungs? He was
in a place where nothing hurt. That was good, Lee thought as he sank down into
oblivion.
* * * * * *
Nelson wasn’t sure if
all the machines surrounding Crane were making him feel better or not. It was a
pretty daunting array. Harry wished they weren’t needed, but Lee was showing no
sign whatsoever of fighting back from unconsciousness.
Jamieson had been
guardedly optimistic when he gave Nelson the results of his tests. Crane was in
deep shock. That would disappear with time and treatment. Crane’s EEG confirmed
he had brain activity and Lee was breathing on his own, so Doc was certain he
would recover from the trauma eventually.
Harry slid down into the
chair and carefully picked up Lee’s limp hand, enfolding it in his own.
Sometimes that helped Crane find his way back.
* * * * * *
It felt like he had
finally hit bottom, at least Lee couldn’t feel himself sinking anymore. He must
be dead. But why was it so dark? Wasn’t there supposed to be a glowing light?
Maybe he had to go look for it. There was something else he had to do, but Lee
couldn’t remember what it was. Why was he here? He couldn’t remember that,
either. What had he been doing to get here? It wouldn’t come to him. He was so
tired. The darkness felt warm and safe. He really didn’t want to leave it. He
would stay for a while. At least until he was used to being dead.
* * * * * *
“Harry.”
Nelson came awake
abruptly to find Jamieson standing over him. The Doctor removed his hand from
his arm. He pulled himself up stiffly in the chair, aware of the amused smile
the Doctor was trying not to show him. “Is Lee any better?”
Will shook his head. “Can’t tell yet. His vital signs are up and stronger, but
he’s still unconscious.”
“But he is improving?”
“Yes,” the Doctor
admitted and shrugged. “Lee will wake up when he’s ready to. He usually does.
But I doubt it will be tonight. So why don’t you take the other rack. At least
that way you won’t end up with a stiff neck.”
“Are you sending me to
bed, Doc?” Nelson asked quietly.
“Right now, Lee doesn’t
know you’re here. Tomorrow may be different. And you’ll be much more use to me
then, if you are rested.”
Harry stood up slowly.
“Okay, Will. I see your point.” He looked around the deserted sickbay. “How did
you get Chip to leave?”
“He’ll be back at first
morning watch, but I persuaded him you were enough of a vigil, even if
you were asleep when he asked.” Jamieson let the amused smile form.
Nelson grinned back at
him. “Why do you put up with us?”
Will threw up his hands.
“Beats me.”
* * * * * *
It was still dark. That
was wasn’t right. He should try and find some light. There had to be light
somewhere. Lee willed his body to get up and go look for it.
* * * * * *
Chip sat up in the chair
as one of Jamieson’s many machines started chattering and printed out a report.
Crane twitched slightly and almost immediately subsided, the movement so small
that Chip couldn’t quite believe he’d seen it. Morton pressed the slack hand
cradled in his in sudden hope, but no answering pressure came back. Maybe he
had imagined it.
“Jerry!” Morton tried to
get the med tech’s attention. “You got the latest stock report or something... were you expecting one?”
Jerry came over. “Not
really. Doc said something might trigger the machine, but not to look for it.”
Chip gestured at the
printout. “Good news?”
Jerry scanned the
report. “Not really. It’s another increase in brainwave activity. He was doing
that all night and he still didn’t wake up.”
“So what does it mean?
Is he coming out of it?”
“He might be.” The med
tech shrugged. “Or he’s dreaming.”
“I wonder about what...
” Chip smiled down at his friend.
“Who knows.
But with that bump on his head, he’s not going to remember any of them.”
“Too bad,” Chip replied.
“I bet Lee’s having some doozies.” He laid Crane’s hand gently back on the bed.
“Tell Doc – when he wakes up – to send me an update. I’ll be in my cabin,
receiving morning reports.”
“Yes, Commander.”
* * * * * *
Lee knew there had to be
light. He should be going up to it. Had he sunk too low to
get back? He tried again to remember why he was there. Something had
happened. It was painful. He didn’t want to go there. But Lee had to. He
wouldn’t find the light until he did.
* * * * * *
The EEG machine started
printing, startling Harry and he quickly placed Lee’s hand back on the bed.
“Will?” He turned in the chair.
“No need for alarm.” The
Doctor came out of his office to stand behind him. “Apparently it’s going to do
that from time to time. Lee must be dreaming again.”
“I thought you said he
was in a coma.”
“No, I said he was
comatose and unresponsive to stimuli. All this brain activity is a good thing,
actually. He’s in there, somewhere.”
“Why doesn’t he wake
up?”
Jamieson put his hand
down on the chair. “He should. I’m not sure why he hasn’t yet. Could be trauma. Lee took a major blow to the head. It could
take him a while longer to come back from that.”
“Can we do anything?”
“At this point, I think
it’s better to let him keep dreaming and come out of it on his own. You can
hold his hand if you like.”
Nelson looked up. “If
you think it would help.”
* * * * * *
If only he had some
reference point. Something to hang on to until Lee found the light.
He knew he was close. He
could almost touch it, all tall and silver. It loomed in front of him. Lee felt
himself smash into something unyielding. Then he was falling into the black
once more.
* * * * * *
Chip tried not to jump
as the peep of Lee’s cardiac monitor took a sudden spike and then went back to
normal on the next peep. Morton waited for another spike. Nothing happened. He
needed to stop reacting like that. Activity was a good thing, Will had said.
Morton looked around.
None of the medical staff seemed concerned about it. Chip moved closer to the
bed and reached for Lee’s hand. To let Crane know, wherever he was, that
someone was there watching over him.
* * * * * *
Lee expected to fall a
long way, but that was not the way it had happened. Something had stopped his
fall. He had been sinking past light, life and someone had grabbed him. That
person started pulling him up, back toward the light. He wasn’t going to let
Lee die in the cold dark. Crane did not belong here. There was something he had
to do. He had to find his way back.
* * * * * *
“Kowalski.”
The sonar man looked up
at the Doctor’s voice. “Time to go?”
“No,” Jamieson shook his
head. “You’re fine. I want you to help me try something.”
“Me, sir?” Ski asked, confused.
“Yes. It’s all right. I
want you to pick up the Skipper’s hand for a moment.”
“Uh, I...”
“It’s okay. It’s only a
theory and it may not work. Go on.”
Ski gingerly took up
Crane’s limp hand in his, feeling kind of foolish. But he had to have faith Doc
had a reason for asking him to.
Kowalski almost lost his
hold on the Captain when the EEG machine started printing a report.
“Interesting,” Jamieson
said almost to himself.
“Was that me?” Kowalski
asked, tightening his grip on Crane’s hand.
“I’m not sure,” Doc
admitted as he came around the bed to take the report out of the machine. “Why
don’t you hang on to him for a few more minutes until I compare this one with
some others I have and I’ll let you know.”
“I can do that?”
Jamieson smiled.
“Guardian angels get special dispensations.”
Kowalski grinned. “Heard
that, did you?”
Doc nodded. “It’s less
obvious when you sit in the chair. I won’t be long.”
Ski sank down into the
chair gratefully. If he could help, he certainly wanted to.
* * * * * *
Lee could see the light
now, one golden colored shaft mingled with one tinged red.
He was being dragged
toward it. They would not let him die in the dark. There was something he had
to do in that place of light. Something important. If
he could only remember what it was.
* * * * * *
“Come here.” Jamieson
practically escorted Nelson over to the Sickbay bed. “I need you to help me. I
think I’ve found a way to wake Lee up.”
Harry let himself be led
to the chair. “I thought you wanted him to come back on his own.”
“I don’t think he can.
He has been responding to stimuli since last night, only we didn’t know it.
Were you by any chance holding Lee’s hand this morning, when this EEG printout
was made?”
Nelson looked at the
time at the top of the sheet on Will’s clipboard. “Yes, I was. What does that
prove? You said his dreams were triggering the machine.”
“I was wrong about
that,” Will replied. “It was someone holding his hand that triggered the dreams
that set off the machine.” Jamieson riffled the printouts on his clipboard.
“You started it, Chip helped it along and he even responded to Kowalski.”
Harry raised an eyebrow.
Jamieson shrugged. “Ski
was a good blind test, since he was here visiting. It worked.”
“So what do you want me
to do?” Nelson slid into the chair. “Hold his hand again?”
“Yes, only this time
talk to him. Give him something to come back to.”
Harry reached out for
Lee’s hand. “Okay, if you think this will work.”
* * * * * *
Lee had finally made it
to the light. The dark could no longer hold him. He hadn’t died when the
torpedo casing had exploded, they had thrown it overboard. It should not have
exploded when he disarmed it. The wires he cut were supposed to shut it down.
There was something wrong with the wiring. He had to tell the Admiral.
“I’m here, son.” Nelson
came walking out of the light, his hand extended.
Lee took his hand. “The
warhead was defective. We have to check the rest of them.”
“Come on, show me.”
Nelson started pulling him back toward the light and Lee followed him
willingly.
* * * * * *
“Lee?” Nelson leaned
forward as Crane’s eyes fluttered open momentarily and then closed again. “I’m
here, son. Come on, show me you hear me. Wake up.”
Lee rolled his head
slightly and tried to open his eyes again. Nelson clutched his hand tighter. Crane’s fingers suddenly wrapped around his with surprising
strength. “Admiral?” he whispered, barely audible.
“Yes, Lee. We need you
awake. Can you do that for me?”
Crane swallowed hard,
shifting slightly on the bed. “Warhead... check...”
Lee’s voice was still faint, but he seemed to gain strength as he struggled to
get the words out. Nelson glanced swiftly at Jamieson. The Doctor nodded.
“There was only one
defective warhead, Lee. We checked all of them. The boat is not in danger.”
“Good.” Crane’s tight
grip on him relaxed slightly. “My team...”
“They are fine, Lee.
You, on the other hand, hit the conning tower and were washed overboard.”
“Chip was there...”
Nelson exchanged another
glance with Jamieson.
“Someone else...
dark...” Lee closed his eyes.
“Yes, we almost lost
you, son. Now I need you to stay awake.”
Crane smiled weakly.
“Backwards.”
Harry didn’t understand
at first, until Jamieson’s mouth pulled sideways in an uncharacteristic smirk.
“No, Lee. Not this
time,” the Doctor replied. “You need to stay conscious, if you can.”
Lee slid his eyes open
slowly. “I’m here, Jamie. It’s so much better than the dark.”
Nelson felt Lee press
his hand again. He looked up at Jamieson in relief.
Will smiled back and
mouthed silently, don’t let go.
Harry nodded in
understanding and tightened his hold on Crane’s hand.
“Frank!” Jamieson called
out to his assistant. “Call Commander Morton. Tell him
I have someone here he wanted to see.”
“Aye, sir.” Frank clicked on the intercom.
“Think the crew will get
out of his way?” Nelson asked, amused.
“They’d better,”
Jamieson replied.
©Diane Kachmar, 2003.
All rights reserved.