PROJECT
NEPTUNE
By Angela Field
The underwater complex of domes that made up the
prototype colony of Project Neptune sprawled across the rocky sea bed. Only as the SSRN Seaview drew closer did it
become obvious that something serious had happened. Out of the original ten domes, only two were
still intact. The others had been torn
open by some unknown, but terrible force that had left the shards scattered
like egg shells across the sea bed.
Chip Morton scowled in concern as he observed the
wreckage. This had not been what he
expected to see. According to Nelson the
colony was thriving. Shaking his head
over the sight of destruction, he reached for the intercom to tell the Admiral
the bad news. Nelson would need to see
this for himself.
“What could have done it?” Lee Crane worried as he heard what Chip had
to say. At the Exec’s request, he and
Nelson had come to the control room to see the devastation for themselves.
“Atmospheric pressure perhaps,” Nelson pondered. “Perhaps a power failure overloaded their
systems.”
“Would that have caused an implosion effect?”
“Difficult to say without taking a closer look.” The Admiral considered for a moment, gazing
at the smashed colony on the monitor. He
shook his head grimly. “We need the data
pack from their computers.”
“I’ll take a team out,” the dark haired captain
decided.
Nelson smiled at his enthusiasm. “Okay, Lee, any
objections to me tagging along?” Or
would you rather I stayed here?”
Crane had the grace to look slightly embarrassed,
ignoring Chip’s barely concealed smirk.
“Sorry, Sir, I should have said do you want me to take a team out?”
“I think that is an excellent idea, Captain,” Nelson
answered, amused.
***
Crane kicked hard, grasping the edges of the airlock
and pulled himself up into the dome. His
diving buddy, Lyons, followed him nervously.
He was a crewman new to the Seaview and an electronics expert. Once inside, he trotted towards the
instruments at the Captain’s gesture.
Lee finished peeling off his swim fins and padded over to the radio to
report their safe arrival to Morton.
With Chip temporarily reassured, the Captain then moved on to explore.
“Where do you suppose everyone is, Sir?” Lyons asked
uneasily.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Crane admitted. “Have you found anything?”
“No details yet, Skipper. They seemed to have closed the watertight
doors between the domes. They’re all
sealed off from each other. Why would
they do that?”
“Hard to say, if they saw the others decompress...”
Lee broke off as he heard an odd slithering noise from somewhere in the
darkness. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes, Sir,” Lyons shivered uneasily. A small brown haired man, he wasn’t the
physical action type. He would much
rather have stayed on the Seaview.
Crane hesitated a moment. He knew Lyons’ limitations and preferred to
take the risks personally. “I’m going to take a look around, you stay
here. Gather up any information you
can.”
***
Outside in the corridor, Lee peered around him and
wished that he had brought a flashlight.
The domes were all running on backup power and the dim red of the
emergency lights was none too good on the eyesight. He stood still for a moment, getting his
bearings from his memory of the plans Nelson had shown him. All the domes had been designed and built the
same. The corridors radiated out in
spokes from the central air lock room, with cabins and quarters arranged in the
wedges between them. One long corridor
circumvented the dome and allowed access to the other domes in the complex via
air locked tunnels.
Lee moved down the nearest corridor and into the main
passage. He squinted through the port
into the gloom outside. Above the colony
he could see the Seaview’s dark bulk, her lights shining welcomingly through
the depths. Closer at hand he could see
the lights of the only other surviving dome.
Apparently the Admiral had been more successful in restoring power than
Crane and Lyons.
Turning his attention from the view, Lee set off in
search of an intercom. It was more or
less where he’d expected it to be positioned; a few feet from the port on the
inner hull. He punched the button and
sent a call echoing through the stillness of the dome. “This is Captain Crane of the Seaview. If anyone can hear me, please answer at
once.” If there was anyone around, they
either couldn’t or wouldn’t respond. Lee
shivered, the longer he was in the dome, the uneasier he felt. His sixth sense
was tingling, warning him that something very nasty had happened to the colony
and that the less he knew about it, the happier he would be.
Reluctantly, Crane started on a circular tour of the
dome. If there were survivors, they
might be hurt and unable to reach an intercom.
As he explored, however, his concerns increased as he started to find
serious internal damage to the dome’s structure. Bulkheads dented that should have been
impossible to dent, doors ripped bodily from their hinges.
Echoing through the eerie silence, the scream shocked
him. He swung around, starting back down
the corridor in alarm. It had come from
the central airlock and could only be Lyons.
Crane broke into a sprint, tearing back down the corridor to the middle
chamber.
Lee skidded to a halt as he hopped over the edge of hatch
sill into the central chamber. Something
had forced its way up through the air lock and into the base, something huge
and slobbering, and gross. Lee had a
brief impression of tentacles and a snapping beak. Then Lyons screamed again. The technician was
cowering behind a control panel, clutching the dome’s data pack, but too terrified
to move. Crane didn’t blame him, but his
own self-preservation instinct was far more sharply defined. “Get out of there
man! Move it! Get back to the Seaview!”
Crane yelled at the crewman and lunged towards the self-destruct device on the
control panel. His sudden movement drew
the creature’s attention long enough to allow Lyons to escape through the far
door. The creature reared up, tentacles
flailing the air as it hauled its spotted bulk further out of the water.
In response to Lee’s frantic punching the buttons, the
radio spluttered into life.
“Lee? Lyons? One of you answer me,” Chip’s agitated
voice exploded into the dome. Clearly
the creature had been observed from the sub.
Lee grabbed the microphone in one hand and slapped the
self-destruct button with the other. Now
at least he knew what had wrecked the colony, but he didn’t have time to
explain it to his Exec. “Chip, keep talking, distract it!” he shouted the order
before dropping the mic and legging it for the hatch. He wasn’t quick enough; something slammed hard
across the small of his back and smashed him into the deck.
Breathless from the impact, Lee couldn’t move for a
second and then he rolled over and saw the tentacle whip towards him. He ducted frantically, squirming to get clear. The groping appendage seized his ankle,
twisting around his calf and knee. Razor
sharp suckers drew blood as the creature dragged its prey back towards its
hungry maw.
Lee twisted over, snatching at the automatic on his
hip. Only it wasn’t there, he was still
wearing his wetsuit and the gun was back in the safe on Seaview. The creature wrenched at him in silent fury
as he grabbed at the safety railing and clung, clawing one hand for the storage
space below it and for the fire axe attached to the wall there. He felt as if he was being torn in two and
his leg twisted at the knee. His
desperate fingers closed on the fire axe and wrenched it from the wall at the
same moment that his grip was torn loose from the railing. Skidding backwards across the floor, Lee
twisted over onto his back and whacked the axe down on the tentacle that
gripped him. Somewhere in the back of
his mind the activated auto destruct was going tick, tick, tick...
The blade bit into the tentacle and cut deep before
the creature jerked and dislodged it. In
slipping free, the blade nearly took Lee’s foot off at the ankle. With a yell of fury and ignoring his own
danger, Lee swiped the axe again at the tentacle. This time the keen edge landed right and
sliced right through, cutting the fleshy tip off as the blade almost embedded
itself in the deck. Writhing in pain,
the creature recoiled across the deck, releasing the injured man.
Not daring to pass out, despite the pain of his
battered body, Lee crawled towards the hatch.
Behind him he could hear a sickening squelch as the creature started to
recover and follow its escaping prey. Somehow,
picking up several more scrapes and bruises to add to his collection, Lee
dragged his aching body over the hatch sill and collapsed into the
corridor. Taking a deep breath, he
rolled over and set his shoulder to the door, forcing it shut. The creature frustrated his efforts,
hurling its bulk against the hatch to smash it open and throw Crane several
feet backwards at the force of the impact.
Colliding hard with the wall, Lee slid down it to the deck and lay in a
panting heap for a minute or two. The
sight of a tentacle squirming towards him got him moving again. Almost before he knew it, he was on his hands
and knees, driving his battered body out of reach. He was half way to the emergency hatch before
he realised he was even moving.
Behind him the creature kept coming, striving to
squeeze its bulk through the hatch and the delay giving Lee a precious few more
seconds to escape. Afraid to look back
and find out how close it was, Lee clawed the storage close closet open and
dragged out the first scuba tank he could lay his hands on before he crawled
into the airlock. He barely had the
strength left to wriggle into the scuba tank and start the airlock
cycling.
Tentacles slapped against the inner hatch as the cold
water poured in, buoying Lee up as he kicked slowly out into the ocean and
towards the nearest dome. His injured
leg stung like crazy and he didn’t think that he had the strength to reach the
Seaview. The scuba tank was a necessary
but almost unbearable weight on his back.
His vision blurred as he looked behind him, searching for pursuit. For a second he thought he saw something
moving under the dome, then there was a startling brilliant flash of light that
dazzled eyes accustomed to the dimness.
The auto destruct had finally detonated.
The sudden surge of water pressure caused by the
explosion defeated Lee and sent him tumbling out of control. He slammed hard against something cold and
metallic, cracking the back of his head against something and nearly bit
through his mouthpiece in shock.
Something warm wrapped around his waist and dragged at
him, hauling Crane upwards. He was too
tired to care what it was. Darkness
descended with frightening speed and he swallowed water, inhaling...
***
Nelson knelt at the edge of the airlock and reached
down into the cold water to help Kowalski as he surfaced with Crane’s limp
body. The young man had taken a risk by
going in with his scuba gear to retrieve his Captain and Harriman had already
made a mental note of his bravery.
Pulling the mouthpiece from Lee’s lips and checking to
make sure that he was breathing, he removed the tank from Lee’s back.
“Is he okay, Sir?” Kowalski worried as he stripped off
his own tanks.
“His leg’s a mess and it looks like his back’s been
scraped pretty badly.” Bare bruised skin showed through Crane’s wetsuit and the
splits were oozing blood messily. “See
if you can find a blanket before he goes into shock. Then we’ll get him back to Seaview.”
Lee started coughing as Nelson spoke. He doubled up around the older man’s knees
and cracked his eyes open. His pupils
were enormous, widened by pain.
“All right, Lee, take it easy. You’re safe,” Nelson put a reassuring hand on
his friend’s shoulder and did his best to pull him up a little, realising that
the Captain would be able to breathe better if supported upright.
“Admiral? D’you
see it?” Lee croaked as he struggled up and braced himself weakly on one arm.
“Yes, looked like a mutated squid of some kind.”
Lee shuddered, glancing vaguely at Kowalski as the
crewman wrapped a blanket around the shivering Captain.
“The Seaview is on her way,” Kowalski offered as he
crouched beside them.
“Good,” Nelson relaxed a fraction. Even to his inexperienced eyes, Lee didn’t
look good. The Admiral had been the
glazed, ashen expression often enough to know it meant the onset of shock. “I want you to keep still, Lee. No talking until Doc has a chance to look you
over.”
“I’m fine,” Crane mumbled, he was having a hard time
convincing himself he was awake and this wasn’t some kind of horrible
delusion. The splash and surge of water
made him look round in alarm.
The creature had found them, homing in on the scent of
blood. A long barbed tentacle erupted
from the water, probing toward the warm flesh it could sense. Nelson dropped flat across Crane, ignoring
Lee’s grunt of pain as he sought to protect the young man. Kowalski was sent flying as the tentacle
caught him across the chest and sent the crewman rolling down the steps. It probed after him, questing for his flesh.
Shoving himself off Crane, Nelson lunged under the
tentacle and to drag the dazed crewman clear.
Lee rolled off the platform that surrounded the airlock and slipped
awkwardly under the rail to land on his damaged knee with a muffled groan of
pain.
Tentacles flailed the air in a shark like frenzy of
blood lust. The darted towards the
Admiral and Kowalski, another whipped the air in search of Crane. Badly shocked, Lee wasn’t quite fast enough
to duck and the barbed tip hooked into his shoulder, curled up under his
collarbone and yanked him viciously
against the side of the platform.
Somehow Crane managed to twist sideways and brace himself against the
pull, yelling his head off in pain.
“Get an axe,” Nelson shouted as he ducked under the
tentacles and ran to help Crane. He
wrapped one arm round Lee’s waist and hung on grimly, striving to force the
tentacle to unhook itself. Lee had
stopped yelling and was appallingly limp in the Admiral’s grip, his breathing
rasping harshly.
Kowalski skidded to a halt beside them, smashing the
axe he had found down on the tentacle with all the savagery of a berserk
Viking. “You...are...sushi!” he yelled
in fury as the tentacle writhed and released its prey. The crewman pursued it up the steps, slicing
segments off the creature and leaving bits of it strewn across the deck.
“Kowalski!” For a moment Nelson was convinced the
crewman was going to follow the creature back into the water.
Kowalski skidded to a halt at the edge of the airlock,
panting hard and vaguely surprised at himself.
“Help me get Crane clear of the airlock before it
comes back,” Nelson demanded urgently.
“Aye, Aye, Sir,” hefting the axe, Kowalski sped back
to his senior officers. As he reached
them there was a dull whumpf of sound that was more felt than heard as the dome
vibrated to the concussion of a nearby explosion. “What...?” Kowalski looked
round in bewilderment as he caught his balance.
“A torpedo,” Nelson guessed, his attention mostly
consumed by the unconscious young man on the deck beside him. “Mr Morton must have finally got a clear
target.”
***
Dr Jamieson took one look at Crane as they gingerly
carried him off the Flying Sub and let out a hiss of concern. He wouldn’t even let the unconscious Captain
be moved to Sickbay until he had an IV up and running and Lee was on oxygen. Then the genial-faced doctor had him taken
down to Sickbay on the double.
Nelson lingered reluctantly in the control room. “Mr
Morton? You fired a torpedo?” he asked
quietly.
“Uh, yes, Sir,” Chip stirred uncomfortably and studied
the deck between his feet for a second. “It seemed the correct action to take,
Sir. I don’t believe the dome was endangered.”
“Chip,” Nelson’s voice was oddly gentle for the
brusque man. “You did the right thing.”
Startled blue eyes came up to meet his and Harriman
smiled faintly.
“You and Sharkey should have a little talk about the
mother hen complex you two seem to share.
I’ll be in my quarters. I need to
dry off.”
Somewhat bemusedly, Morton gazed after the Admiral for
a moment and then shook himself and turned back to the chart table. Several heads ducked hastily back to their
consoles and Chip bristled. “Well? What
are you all looking at? We have a survey
to run here. Get with it, you lot.”
***
Two hours later, Crane was being allowed
visitors. He was still dazed and very
sore after the stitches Jamieson had put in his torn skin, but he had been
fortunate. The damage was mostly
confined to flesh and muscle, rather than ligament and tendon damage. His head ached badly, but Jamie had assured
him there was no sign of a concussion.
“I’m fine, Chip,” Lee assured his blond Exec groggily
when he woke up to find Morton hanging over him.
“You don’t look it,” Chip teased. “You look like Doc has been practising his
mummification techniques on you with all these bandages.”
“Protective camouflage,” Lee murmured drowsily. He shifted awkwardly in his bunk and pillowed
his cheek on his good hand. His left
shoulder was strapped and bandaged so firmly that he could hardly move it.
“Still sleepy, huh?” Chip said softly, watching his
friend’s eyes drift shut.
“Mmmh,” Lee yawned, then flicked a glance up at him.
“The squid thing?”
“I torpedoed it,” Chip admitted.
“Oh, old Chip if it moves blast it Morton back for an
encore, huh?”
“That was Space Invaders at the Academy,” Chip
snorted. “And as I recall, you did your fair share of blowing them out of the
sky.”
Lee smiled, his eyes half closed again. He shoved at
the blankets, easing them away from his chest.
“You going to sleep now?” Chip asked softly.
“Uh huh. Tell
Doc to turn the heating down, s’too warm in here.”
“Okay, you take a nap.” Morton got no response from as Crane dozed
off peacefully. Straightening up, Chip’s
reassuring smile vanished. Lee didn’t
look right. His skin was flushed and his
breathing was too harsh. Turning on his
heel, Morton headed for Jamieson’s office, knowing that Nelson was ensconced
with the doctor.
Nelson was indeed in Jamieson’s office and the worried
look on his face gave Chip pause.
Noticing the Exec, however, the Admiral waved him inside. “You’d better
hear this too, Chip.”
“It’s Lee, isn’t it?”
Morton had long ago developed a sixth sense about his his friend. “How bad is it?”
Nelson exchanged a look with Jamieson and it was the
doctor who answered in a dry, matter of fact tone. “The wound under his collarbone is inflamed. It looks as if the barb was poisoned. Lee’s temperature is rising rapidly.”
“He looked feverish,” Morton agreed slowly. “What do we do? Can you help him?”
“I’ve sent Sharkey, Patterson and Kowalski back to the
dome to collect samples of the creature’s tissues,” Nelson answered. “We’ll see what they come up with. In the meantime, I want this kept quiet. It won’t do Lee any good having half the crew
coming and going to check up on him.”
***
Nelson looked up with an irritated scowl as the
intercom beeped for his attention. “Admiral?”
At least it was Morton this time and not Jamieson. Harriman was waiting in dread for the call
from the doctor that would tell him Crane had slipped into a coma. “Yes, Mr
Morton, I am a trifle busy,” he had spent most of the night striving to find an
antidote to the poison that was slowly killing his friend. Occasionally Sharkey would trot in and
deliver another cup of sugary black coffee. On his last visit, the Chief had
also left a plate of sandwiches.
Nelson hadn’t touched them so far.
“Yes, Sir,” Morton sounded as tired as Nelson
felt. “We had a call from the SS
Brislington. They picked up survivors
from the Project Neptune colony. A
doctor Powers? He said there was a data
pack on board.”
“Lyons brought it aboard the Seaview. Tell him he can have it back. Rendezvous with the ship.” The shiny fluorescent datapack still sat in
the corner of the lab where it had been abandoned and forgotten and was likely
to remain so.
“Yes, Sir. He
mentioned the creature attacking the base and forcing them to abandon it. Apparently they collected a fair amount of
data on smaller specimens before they had to evacuate. This Dr Powers thought it might help. He gave me a code to open the data pack.”
Nelson sat up and paid real attention for the first
time. He eyed the data pack in
speculation for a second. “Mr Morton, why don’t you come down here and help me
open it. Two pairs of eyes might be
better than one.”
***
“Shhh, Lee, shhh now. I know you’re hot,” Jamieson
gingerly replaced the sheet on his squirming patient and dabbed his perspiring
face with a cold cloth. Crane’s eyes
fluttered open at his touch and he squinted painfully at the doctor. By now Lee was having severe trouble
breathing and there was fear in his eyes.
“Did I pass out again?” he whispered in a dry voice.
“Only for a minute or so,” Jamieson soothed. “Want more water?”
Lee rolled his head against the pillow in an exhausted
refusal. He wanted only to sleep and
couldn’t. Fever wracked his body,
perspiration stinging his numerous abrasions.
“I hurt,” he complained in misery.
“I know you do.” Sadly, Jamieson straightened and took
a deep breath. “Would you like a
sedative? Something to help with the
pain a little?”
Lee licked dry lips and hesitated. He knew damn well that there was a good
chance that once sedated he wouldn’t be waking up again. “Yeah,” he murmured finally. “I’m sorry...”
Jamieson put a comforting hand on his shoulder and
squeezed gently. “A little rest will do
you good. You’ve been awake most of the
night. Lie still for a minute. Don’t
kick your sheet off again. You’re not
wearing anything under there, remember?”
Lee smiled weakly and closed his eyes, relaxing back
into his pillows. He could feel the heat
of his own throbbing body. It sizzled
along his nerves and nipped at his skin.
The abyss lurked at the edge of his senses. Darkness...
“Captain?” Returning to his side, Jamieson picked up
Crane’s limp wrist and slipped the needle into his arm. There was no response and Lee loathed
needles. “Lee?” Peeling back an eyelid, Jamieson frowned at
the wide pupil, then felt for his patient’s pulse. His pulse was pounding violently, running away
from him.
Swearing under his breath, Jamieson swung in
controlled panic to his drugs cabinet and grabbed one of the syringes from
those he had pre-filled. He barely
stopped to check it was the right one before he emptied the contents into
Crane’s arm and reached for the oxygen mask on its clip above the bunk. “Come on now, Lee, don’t do this. The Admiral will have an antidote for you any
minute now. Hang in there,” perching on
the edge of the bunk, Jamieson took a light grip n Crane’s wrist and took his
pulse again. It was still accelerating
as the poison burned inside him.
“Doc?” It was
Morton’s worried voice, but Jamieson didn’t even look round. “How is he?”
“His pulse is erratic and way too fast,” the doctor
said flatly. “He’s in no condition to handle this kind of stress.” Jamieson broke off as Nelson moved into view
with a small vial. “What’s that?” he demanded, feeling the first glimmer of
hope that he’d had in hours.
“Hopefully, the antidote. The colony had been researching the smaller
squid like specimens they found in the area.
They had the same poisonous barbs.
This is a concentrated form of the antidote. The only thing is, I don’t know how much to
give him.”
“Doesn’t matter, get me a syringe.”
Morton headed for the indicated cabinet drawer.
“Doc, if there’s time I’d rather run a few tests,”
Nelson said uneasily. Crane seemed
peaceful enough, despite the oxygen mask.
“I don’t know how successful it’s going to be.”
“Harry, the way Lee’s pulse is going; it’s either now
or never. Now, give me the syringe. I’ll take full responsibility.”
Nelson handed the vial over slowly and he and Morton
watched anxiously as Jamieson gave the unconscious man the injection.
“How long will it take?” Jamieson asked as he dabbed
Crane’s arm with a swab, wiping away a fleck of blood from where the needle had
bitten into the pale skin.
“Your guess is as good as mine. It hasn’t been fully tested,” Nelson shivered. There was no way he could sit and watch Crane
live or die from his actions. “I’ll be
in the lab. Maybe I can get a few more
answers from the data pack. Chip?”
“I’ll stay here if doc doesn’t mind, Sir.”
“Your company will be welcome,” Jamieson said absently,
his full attention being taken up by Crane’s laboured breathing.
***
An hour after he had given the antidote, Crane went
into convulsions. Jamieson wrapped him
in the bunk restraints, more hindered than helped by Morton’s assistance. The doctor sent the XO to make coffee and
wait in the office while he quietened Crane.
The convulsions lasted for half an hour before gradually fading into the
occasional violent tremor.
Chip emerged cautiously from the office, worried by the
sudden hush. He eyed his softly moaning
friend in concern, nervously chewing his lower lip.
Eyeing the Exec’s worried expression, Jamieson put a
calming hand on Morton’s shoulder. While
still worried over Crane, he was now almost convinced the Captain would pull
through and had time to pay attention to other members of the crew. Especially tall, blond’s who looked as if
they had forgotten what sleep was. “His
temperature is coming down quickly, Chip.
The fever’s broken.”
“You think he’ll be okay?”
“I think the crisis is past. You watch him while I tell the Admiral.”
Chip nodded absently and settled into Jamieson’s
abandoned chair. He watched anxiously as
Lee squirmed, restless and uncomfortable.
Watching Lee’s limp hand where it lay on the sheet, curling and
uncurling, Chip reached over and squeezed his fingers. “Hang in there, buddy.
You’ll be okay.”
“Here Chip, drink this,” Jamieson caught Chip by
surprise, shoving a mug of steaming coffee under the Exec’s nose. Chip jerked in embarrassment, but couldn’t
bring himself to release his grip on his friend when Lee twitched slightly at
the movement.
“I thought you were calling the Admiral.”
“I did,” Jamieson said mildly. “Admiral, Lee is going
to make it. Ten second call. The Admiral
will be here in less than that. Drink
your coffee. You look like you need it,
and some sleep too for that matter.”
“Too much to do,” Chip answered tiredly. He was still holding Lee’s hand and the
Captain seemed to have settled with the physical contact.
Jamieson frowned.
Morton was exactly like Crane. He
would push himself too far and too hard and not even realise it. Anything rather than face his fears. “Well,
at least lie down for ten minutes.”
“No, I’ll finish this coffee and wake myself up a bit,
I’ll be fine.”
“Very well,” Jamieson turned to fuss gently over
Crane, cooling his face with a damp cloth and generally making Lee as
comfortable as his battered body would allow. That done, he eased Morton’s hand
gently from its loose grip and persuaded the drooping Exec to his feet and over
to the other bunk.
“Doc?” Chip’s voice slurred groggily a he peered up at
the older man. “What d’cha do to me?”
“Sorry, Mr Morton, you need some sleep. I slipped a sedative into your coffee.”
“No fair,” Chip complained as his eyelashes dragged
his lids shut.
“Who said anything about being fair?” Jamieson said
lightly.
“Lee?” Chip moaned softly.
“He’ll be fine,” Jamieson assured the young man as he
drew the covers over him. “Go to sleep now.”
Morton didn’t need the instruction; he was already out to the
world. Chuckling softly, Jamieson turned
to go back to his patient, only to pause in surprise at the sight of Nelson who
was hovering in the doorway. There was a
worried frown on Nelson’s face.
“Doc, what’s wrong with Morton?”
“I gave him a sedative. He’ll sleep it off. The Captain will do the same. I suggest you find your own bunk, Admiral.”
“And stop bothering me?” Nelson moved gently, hearing
the reproof in Jamieson’s voice.
“Something like that, yes,” Jamieson walked over to
Crane and straightened the sheet again as Lee rolled over and curled up. Carefully untangling the IV from around Lee’s
wrist, he was started when Lee opened his hazel green eyes and smiled sleepily
at him. “Hi,” he mumbled.
“Hello there,” Jamieson crouched down to his eye
level. “Sleepy? Feeling better?”
“Ummmh,” Lee’s long eyelashes fluttered, he focused on
Nelson, treating him to a shy smile.
“Where’d Chip go?”
“Not far,” Nelson nodded towards the far bunk where Chip
was peacefully slumbering. “Taking a
nap.”
“Good. I’m okay
then...?” Lee yawned and fell asleep almost before he finished.
Jamieson nodded in satisfaction and glanced at Nelson
affectionate chuckle. “There now, satisfied?
Now will you get some sleep?”
***
“Lee! Be careful, you’ll fall!” Morton anxious protest
earned him a stiff glare.
“Chip, I can handle it,” Lee pulled away from the
blond’s supporting hand and wobbled dangerously on his damaged ankle.
“No, you can’t,” Chip growled impatiently. He tucked his hand firmly under Crane’s good
elbow and more or less held him upright.
In his opinion Crane needed another week flat on his back in a Sickbay
bunk. Convincing Lee of that though was
another matter. “If it wasn’t for your
shoulder, you’d be on crutches and you know it.” Chip hustled his friend down the steps of the
institute. Nelson was going to pick up
his two officers and take them to dinner.
“Chip!” Lee
pried frantically at Morton’s hand.
“Stop it, you’ll fall,” Chip snapped.
“I will if you don’t let go! I can’t move that fast!” Crane’s yelp got the message across and Chip
stopped so fast that Lee nearly went sprawling and had to clutch the blond to
stop himself.
“Aw, hell, I wasn’t thinking,” Chip said miserably,
striving to head off the explosion that was bound to follow. Lee had been getting distinctly short
tempered after being cozened over by much of the crew. To Chip’s amazed relief, however, Lee was
very nearly giggling s he clung to the blond.
Do I dare ask? Chip wondered
and decided he would never find out if he didn’t. “What?”
“This must look really good to anyone who doesn’t know
us. Me cuddling you like a teddy bear,”
Lee chortled, his hazel green eyes sparkling with devilment. He rested his head against Chip’s shoulder,
weak with the laughter of relief.
Chip stood very stiffly to attention, not daring to
drop his superior officer despite being tempted, mostly because he knew Lee
would only hurt himself; at any other
time though… “You are not my type,” he
retorted sarcastically. “And you’re
ruining my reputation.”
Lee lifted his head and grinned at him. “Not what I’ve
heard.”
“Lee B Crane, I prefer blondes with curves to brunets
with stripes,” Chip snorted. Lee
collapsed in another fit of giggles, but he pulled away from his friend.
“Really? What
about Yvonne Craig? She had stripes.”
“She also had curves,” Chip retorted, grateful to see
Nelson’s car pulling up on the macadam at last.
Wobbling slightly, Lee limped towards it. The Admiral had brought the limousine and
earned himself a huge grin from Crane as he climbed out to open the door for
the young man.
“Gee, deluxe service for little me?” Lee teased,
fighting another fit of giggles as he slid into the back seat.
Nelson raised a questioning eyebrow at Morton.
“Don’t ask me, Sir.
Doc gave him a pain killer before we left,” Chip shrugged apologetically
and was relieved when Nelson only chuckled deeply.
“Never mind, Chip, he’d have probably ended up drunk
at the end of the evening anyway. It’ll
save on the cost of champagne,” he winked at the young man.
“Can I drive?” Lee asked hopefully from inside the car
and looked slightly hurt by the chorused no he got in response.
“Admiral?” Chip questioned. “You want me to?”
“I’ll do it.
Makes a change from having to be chauffeured everywhere,” Nelson said
easily and headed for the front of the car.
Chip grinned and climbed in after Crane, stretching out lazily beside
his fiend and ignoring the way Lee was practically bubbling with joy. Maybe he should ask Jamieson for a couple of
those painkillers himself the next time they had a rough trip.
Morton glanced sideways at Lee as he quietened and saw
the sudden shadow that crossed his friend’s face. Oh, so that’s it. It’s not the
pills. You’re simply happy to be
alive. Chip relaxed his worries
about the drive and leaned over to nudge the Captain gently. “What you need is looking after,” he told him
as Lee gazed at him curiously. “Yvonne
has a tall leggy blonde girlfriend that you would love. She’s a very affectionate girl too...”
For a long moment Lee said nothing. Then the shadow started to lift and he gave
Chip a speculative look. “Tell me more, Chip...”
End.