Terror on the Seaview.
By Seaview Siren.
Admiral Nelson had flown
out in the flying sub with Chief Sharkey to collect Dr.
Anthony Thomas. He was a well-respected
scientist, a colleague of Admiral Nelson's, a decent gentleman. That was until
he had gotten involved with a group of foreign scientists who had convinced him
to put time and money into their own experiments developing new species of sea
plants. These experiments in their highly secured lab had at first seemed
innocent enough. But he had realized a little too late that these newly developed
plants were intended to poison people! He had reported the experiments to the
authorities and his life was believed to be in danger.
After being welcomed
aboard the Seaview and escorted to his cabin, Captain Crane
discussed their latest passenger with Admiral Nelson in his
cabin.
“Has he received any death
threats Admiral?” Lee asked.
“Not as yet Lee, he's
rather anxious, he regrets his involvement” Nelson replied.
Lee nodded, “How did he
come to get involved with them Admiral?” he asked.
“They offered him the
perfect opportunity, he has always had an interest is botany and
to work with James Kent, the botanist was perfect”
Nelson told him.
Lee sighed, “Well let’s
hope we get no trouble Admiral” he said.
“How is our other guest
Dr. Strainer coming along in the lab Lee?” Nelson asked.
“He was buried under a
pile of papers when I checked on him” Lee replied with a grin.
Dr. Harold Strainer was
aboard to accompany a team of divers to an undersea cave in which a new species
of plant life had been growing. He had
previously been down to these caves and believed these plants to have medicinal
uses after running some tests. Admiral Nelson was hoping that whilst on board
and with an interest in botany, Thomas and Dr. Strainer could be introduced and
work together.
Chief Sharkey knocked at
the lab and went in, “Dr. Strainer Sir, you require anything?” he required
politely.
“Oh a fresh pot of tea
would be much appreciated thank you” Dr. Strainer said, he was a genius of a
man, wore thick rimmed glasses and thick grey hair and walked with a limp due
to polio as a child. He was British born but had lived in New York since his
teens, he had a love of the city said he would never live anywhere else on
earth.
“I'll get some sent down
Sir” Chief Sharkey said.
Dr. Thomas had unpacked
his case, he was still rather anxious about an attempt being made on his life.
Why oh why had he got involved with these foreigners
anyway? Not one of his best career moves. Did they know he was aboard? Stanhard Felmann, the leader had vowed to get his revenge, called
Thomas a traitor, said all Traitors died!
Admiral Nelson asked for
Dr. Thomas to come to his cabin.
“Be right there Admiral”
Dr. Thomas replied over the Mic.
Dr. Strainer was listening
in the lab, “All traitors died!” he said with an evil smirk upon his face. He opened his case and took out a square box
and opened that. Inside was a bottle labled 'air borne virus'. It had been derived from plants and could make
a lot of people very ill. Injected
directly it could even kill. Inside the
bottle was a small ampule of serum, this was intended for Dr. Thomas to be
injected. Also inside the bottle where
small particles, intended for the air revitalization system on the Seaview. ideal for emptying into the air revitalization duct on the
Seaview. Mr. Felmann had been specific, “Make them
all very ill” he had ordered, “But make sure Thomas is killed and that they
know why!”
Strainer knew that Seaview
had been called upon to deliver Dr. Thomas to his office
in Bedford, Virginia via the flying sub. Seaview would
continue to the co-ordinates
for the undersea caves Dr. Strainer had requested. Nelson
was keen to accompany him to see these undersea cave plants for himself being
the fascinated scientist he was. Dr. Strainer had heightened his interest by
informing him of their potential medicinal uses.
Dr. Thomas was in the
Admiral's cabin now, he sat opposite the older man with a
nervous smile, Nelson could see the man was preoccupied.
“Everything alright
Anthony?” Nelson asked Dr. Thomas, he nodded, “Yes Harry still a bit tense,
I'll be happy when I get back to Bedford.
I'm planning on re-evaluating my career” Dr. Thomas replied.
“We have a Dr. Strainer
aboard with a special interest in botany, perhaps you would care to meet him”
Nelson suggested.
“Oh of course Admiral” Dr.
Thomas said with a smile.
Dr. Strainer was enjoying
the tea that had been sent down when Nelson and Thomas arrived at the Lab. While Dr Strainer
recognized Thomas from the report Felmann had sent,
he pretended not to.
“Dr. Strainer,” Nelson said, “this is our other
guest, Dr. Anthony Thomas. He's
interested in botany so I thought you both might enjoy each
other's company a while.”
“Of course,” Strainer
said. “I'd be delighted.”
“Same here,” Thomas said.
“I'll leave you both alone
to talk shop,” Nelson said and headed to the control room.
Lee was in the observation
nose drinking some coffee. They'd reach Virginia in the
morning. There had been no enemy planes or ships reported,
maybe the threats to Thomas
had been empty threats. He sighed, time would tell, the sooner
Dr. Thomas was delivered the better. He rubbed his forehead and sighed.
Chip came forward.
“Everything's satisfactory
Lee, O'Brien has the conn.”
“Very well, Chip, you
might as well turn in.” Lee said.
Dr. Thomas studied the
plant data in Dr. Strainer's folders and the diagrams, he was
absorbed in the reports. Dr. Strainer took the syringe out of
his case and carefully
filled it from the ampule in his box being careful not to
spill a drop and he got up.
He approached Dr. Thomas
and delivered a hefty chop to the back of the neck
causing Thomas to fall forward. He rolled the man's sleeve up and injected
him with the virus.
He took the box and left
the Lab.
“Sonar shows some
uncharted caves ahead Sir,” O' Brien called out and slowed the sub to a stop.
“Perhaps Dr. Strainer
would like us to check these caves out as well as his own,” Lee
said, “I'll take the flying sub out for a quick look. No need to call him forward.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Strainer
had crawled his way into the main branch of Air revitalization and emptied the
particles into the system. Now he had to
get off the Seaview in the flying sub, he hurried to the control room.
“Dr
Strainer?” O' Brien asked when he arrived. “You just missed the skipper. He's
out checking on some uncharted caves you might be interested in.”
“How long before he gets
back?” Strainer asked looking pale.
“Dr
Strainer Sir, anything the matter?” O 'Brien asked.
“Oh no, nothing.....excuse
me,” Strainer said and hurried aft.
He had to get off the
sub! It wouldn't be too difficult to use
scuba gear would it?
He had to get off before
the virus affected him too.
He hurried to the missile
room for scuba gear but saw men on watch in there, he panicked. Then he remembered the orientation he'd
received when he'd boarded. Rebreathers,
they were situated all over the sub.
Even in the lab, he hurried back to the lab.
He stepped over Dr.
Thomas's limp body that had fallen on the deck and reached for the rebreather
in the emergency cupboard. Now all he
had to do was wait for Crane to return in the flying sub.
As Lee circled the caves
in a cruising pattern with the flying sub, he was sure these
were definitely the same caves Dr. Strainer had
described. His brow furrowed, he was beginning
to get the feeling that something was not quite right. He called Seaview.
“O' Brien? There's something damn peculiar about these
caves. Bring Dr. Strainer forward will
you?”
Lee got no reply and tried
again.
“O' Brien? O' Brien? This is the Captain, Anyone, please
respond!”
There was nothing.
Lee came about in the
flying sub and set off for the Seaview at flank speed.
As soon as he berthed he
grabbed a revolver, and raced up the ladder and cracked the hatch. All the
control room crew were collapsed in their chairs or on the deck.
Rushing toward the nearest
crewman, Ron, he felt an erratic pulse, and his skin was cold and clammy, in
spite of a normal air temp.
“Sickbay!” Lee called on
the mic. “Emergency! Can anyone hear me?
Report!”
“No one can hear you!”
Strainer, rebreather on his face said, waving a gun. “And so no one will hear you”
“What’s going on?” Lee
demanded, aiming his gun at Strainer.
“My mission! Death to all
traitors!” Strainer said shooting Lee in the shoulder and he
made a grab for the railing by the flying sub hatch.
“What have you done to my
crew?” Lee groaned, stooped in pain, he took a shot at
Strainer and brought him
down on the deck, writhing from a wound in the leg, his gun falling from his
grasp. Lee kicked it out the way,
holding onto his bleeding shoulder. “What have you done and why are you wearing
this?” he asked pulling the rebreather off
Strainer's face.
“IF YOU DON'T ANSWER ME IN
TEN SECONDS, SO HELP ME I'LL KILL YOU,
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Lee
bawled dangerously.
“Orders. Virus in the air revitalization system. Kill Thomas....all traitors.....get me off this
boat! I don't want to die! I don't....want...to...d...Felmann, help me!”Strainer said
as he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Even with the mask, Lee
felt hot and dizzy. He grabbed a new
rebreather from the
storage unit and began to distribute more to his fallen crewmen, but to no
avail.
He punched in a few
commands into the computer to turn off Air Revitalization, and also all
functions for the flying sub, just in case Strainer somehow woke. He even set auto controls to surface and
crack the hatches for fresh air, not that it would help much.
He rushed to sickbay and
found Doc sprawled on the deck.
“Doc, Doc! Snap out of
it!”
But as with the control
room crew there was no improvement.
“Virus...virus,” Lee spoke
to himself, “How to treat...antibiotics?
No, that's not right. Doc always
said they don't work for virus's....wait...he saw an experimental chemical
formula that had some success with lab rats infected with some virus…brought it
here to study…”
Lee franticly searched
around the medicine cabinet...damn, what was the name of that thing?
Broad spectrum something
or other... He almost missed it. Grabbing the large vial he began to pour it
into a syringe, making sure to squirt out any air, then injected it into
himself and took off the mask.
He waited. He still felt
hot and dizzy but the symptoms were weakening. Bingo!He filled another syringe and injected Doc. By the time Doc began to rouse, Lee felt
fine, except for his bullet wound and there was no time to see to that at the
moment, his crew needed him now.
“What....what happened?”
Doc asked gingerly staggering to his feet, Lee put out an arm to steady him.
“Too long to explain Will,
Here we need to inject everyone aboard against a deadly virus which was unleashed into the air
revitalization system!” Lee gasped.
In minutes the men had
loaded up enough syringes and they went off in different sections of the sub to
find and inject everyone.
Lee, Nelson and Chip sat
in the observation nose drinking some freshly brewed coffee as Seaview, still
on the surface, headed towards Virginia.
“Stanhard
Felmann, the man behind the revenge plot and his
colleagues are all being questioned by the FBI,” Nelson informed them.
“Strainer's requesting a
plea bargain,”Chip said. “Is upset that we'll still be turning him over
to the FBI when we dock.”
“What does he expect!” Lee stated, he felt the padded dressing on his
shoulder.
“He'll be charged with the
attempted murder of Thomas and for what he did here” Nelson
said.
“How is Dr. Thomas?” Lee
asked.
Chip looked at Nelson with
a grin who instantly returned it.
“We were hoping you could
tell us, 'Doc!” Chip said.
Lee gave a bashful smile,
“Oh” he said.
“Well done Lee” Nelson
said with a smile. “If it hadn't been
for your determination, well, we might not be here talking about it.”