The Test

By R. L. Keller

The sound of quick fingers hitting computer keys filtered through the otherwise quiet hotel room. Present at the moment were only two of the three registered guests in the two-bedroom suite. Sitting on the couch and using the coffee table for his desk, the blond was busy studying papers spread out around him and madly typing data into his laptop. The brunet sat perhaps ten feet away, in a chair and using the footstool, but otherwise with much the same set-up.

He, however, wasn’t typing but merely glaring at his computer screen. Which, at the moment, was blindly blinking right back at him. He gave the keyboard a tentative rap. Nothing changed. He rapped harder, earning a quick glance from the blond. The brunet didn’t seem to notice, waited another few seconds with no discernable difference in the screen, and pounded furiously several times on the space bar.

“Problem?” the blond, Lt. Cdr. Charles ‘Chip’ Morton, asked carefully. His companion had very little tolerance for malfunctioning equipment – of any kind.

“Stupid computer,” muttered Cdr. Lee Crane. Both men were US Navy reservists, working for Admiral Harriman Nelson (Ret.) at his marine research facility in Santa Barbara, CA. At the moment, however, they were waiting for their boss in the hotel room just outside Washington, DC.

“What’s wrong?” Chip asked his commanding officer – and best friend.

“Can’t get a connection,” Lee growled, once more pounding on several keys.

“Weird. I connected just fine.” He watched Lee smack a few more keys before grinning softly. “You know, they can tell when you don’t like them.” His grin spread as the brunet glared at him.

“Just get your six over here and fix this dang thing,” Lee ordered, and stood up to let Chip take his place.

“Humm,” Chip muttered himself as after several tries he was unable to decipher the problem.

“Hah!” Lee told him triumphantly, vindicated that it wasn’t something he’d messed up. Chip tried a few more techniques his years of computer classes had taught him, but nothing worked. Finally, he picked up the laptop and took it back to where he’d been sitting. Both of the men were amazed when it immediately booted up. “Excuse me?” Lee blustered.

“Told you you’d ticked it off pounding on it,” Chip teased him. He handed it back to Lee and went back to studying where he’d left off with his reports.

But immediately Lee, once he’d returned to his chair, started smacking the little computer, and glared at Chip when the blond noticed. “Again?” Chip asked, and walked back over. But this time he picked up the laptop and slowly walked around the sitting area between the two bedrooms, occasionally tapping a key or two. “Ahh,” he finally breathed, put the laptop down at the small desk that was at the moment covered with a bunch of the Admiral’s folders, and looked at Lee. “Apparently you picked a dead spot in the room to try to work. There seem to be a couple others, for some reason. Here’s fine,” and he tried to wave Lee over to the desk.

“But the chair is only ten feet away from both your couch and this desk,” Lee tried arguing.

Chip shrugged. “Wireless connections are weird that way,” and he went back to his chosen station.

“And when the Admiral gets back?”

“We explain,” Chip told him, not bothering to look up.

“You explain,” Lee ordered with another glare. Still not looking up, Chip grinned and nodded. Lee carefully stacked his boss’ work to one side and sat down, the tapping of two keyboards mixed with the occasional flipping of papers now the only sounds, with the exception of soft traffic noise filtering in, or human traffic in the hallway.

So absorbed in their reports were they, tuning out the distractions, that they both jumped slightly at the sound of the door opening. Admiral Nelson’s expression was harsh when he entered and glanced around, and Lee quickly rose. “I tried to work over there, sir,” and Lee pointed to the chair he’d originally been sitting in, “but it’s apparently a dead zone for the internet connection.”

Nelson headed for the chair in question and flopped into it. “Sounds like the meeting I just came from – dead zone for anything intelligent,” he growled. Both younger men were unable to stifle quick snickers, and Nelson sent them a nasty glare before his own expression softened. “At least it looks like you two got something accomplished.”

Chip pointed to his assortment of paperwork. “Getting the supply orders reorganized for the next few months. This trip caught me off guard.”

Nelson grinned at the blond. “I rather doubt that,” he told his XO with both humor and fondness. Chip was almost never without total control of his duties. Chip ducked his head at the implied compliment.

Nelson then looked toward Lee, who’d sat back down at the desk. “After Chip solved the problem of my computer’s hissy-fit I’ve been going through the recruitment folders Angie forwarded,” Lee told him, referencing Nelson’s PA. “Seamen Majors and Gallant are rotating back into active duty so we’ll need replacements for the Security detail. Chief Hauck had already sorted through the available men and made a general list, but was waiting for confirmation before doing any further interviews.”

Nelson nodded. His research submarine, Seaview, was itself a close-knit community. While there were the inevitable squabbles, thankfully usually pretty mild, great care was taken by supervisory staff to keep it controlled and amiable. “Has Lt. James had a chance to see the list?” Nelson asked. James was Weapon’s Officer aboard Seaview as well as Chip’s Second in the Control Room, and worked closely with Seaview’s Master-At-Arms, Chief Hauck.

“Forwarding it to him as you walked in, sir.” Lee told him, trying not to look too smug. Apparently he failed because Nelson snorted softly, and it was Lee’s turn to duck his head.

“No problems for this trip?” Nelson asked him.

“No, sir,” Lee assured him. “Both seamen had been planning the move, but won’t be leaving until the end of October.” It was now late August.

“Good, good.” Nelson sighed heavily and heaved himself out of the chair, starting to unbutton his uniform shirt. “I’m going to take a shower,” he announced. He sent a particularly nasty glare at no one in particular. “Mostly to wash off the stink of this afternoon’s meeting,” he growled, and got two sympathetic nods in return. “Dinner reservations?” he asked Lee.

“Army-Navy Club, 7 PM as requested, sir.”

Nelson sent him a slightly sheepish glance. “Good, but please call and amend the total to four instead of three. Leon will be joining us. Unfortunately,” he added with a grumble.

“Admiral Kiester (he pronounced it KEYster), sir?”

Nelson sent him a frown. “It’s pronounced KEYEster,” he enunciated firmly.

Lee smirked ever so slightly. “The German pronunciation uses the second vowel as the long one,” he pointed out. “As in the retired Washington Redskins quarterback, Joe Theismann.”

Before Nelson could open his mouth, Chip joined the discussion. “Theismann changed the pronunciation when he entered college, to rhyme with the Heisman Trophy the NCAA awards to the outstanding collegiate football player of the year. Before that his family pronounced it THEESman.” Both Nelson and Lee stared at him. “That’s how I heard the story told, sirs.” Chip smiled, shrugged, and went back to his report. Lee shook his head and Nelson chuckled.

“Whatever,” Nelson told both men. “I’d appreciate you saying it the way Leon wants.”

“Yes, sir,” came back in stereo.

“Especially as he’ll be joining us on our flight back to Santa Barbara on FS1, as well as the upcoming cruise.”

“Sir?” Lee asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Long story,” Nelson muttered.

“Another lottery ticket fiasco?” came softly from Chip’s direction and apparently not meant to be overheard as he immediately looked up, embarrassed.

Nelson frowned as all three men remembered back to one of Seaview’s more memorable encounters with Nelson’s long-time friend, Admiral Jiggs Stark.* But he waved off any further explanation and headed for his bedroom and the mentioned shower.

“Terrific,” Lee grumbled softly once the door was shut. Chip raised an eyebrow. “Admiral Kiester is one of Admiral Stark’s buddy-buddies,” and he purposely pronounced it KEYster. Besides being one of Nelson’s best friends, Stark was also COMSUBPAC, and not one of Lee’s favorite people in the world. Or rather, Lee wasn’t one of Stark’s.

“I’ll make sure COB Sharkey always has one torpedo tube empty,” Chip told him.

“For Kiester (he purposely used the wrong pronunciation) or for me?” Lee growled. Chip merely chuckled. Lee made the requested change to the dinner reservations, and both men concentrated once more on their computers.

* * * *

Dinner was surprisingly more pleasant than either Lee or Chip was anticipating. They both stayed fairly quiet, letting the two admirals handle most of the conversation and only responding when they were asked a specific question. The reason for Admiral Kiester’s inclusion came out in bits, sprinkled through the chatter of the two admirals reminiscing. Kiester, learning that Nelson was in DC with his own transportation, had invited himself along on the return trip so that he could attend some meetings in San Diego. Nelson had, apparently at some point, mentioned that Seaview would be leaving three days later to do sea trials for the Navy on some new computer-aided navigation components. Kiester had heard of the new program but thought that it was merely in the preliminary stages of development, not ready for implementation. Nelson explained that it definitely wasn’t ready, but several individual parts were in need of testing beyond what could be done in the labs and Seaview was tagged to be the guinea pig, as it were.

“Why?” Kiester asked in a simple conversational tone.

Nelson sent a quick glance at his two officers before answering. “It’s something we get asked to do on occasion, Leon. I thought you knew that.”

“Not really. While the Research and Development reports do go through my office on a regular basis and I’ve noted your input on projects, I’ve never actually been privy to the reasoning.”

Nelson looked smug. “NIMR agrees to test new equipment and programming so that if something goes wrong, no one blames the Navy.”

“But that’s not fair…” Kiester started to bluster.

Nelson cut him off with a raised hand. “It works out,” he assured the other admiral. “NIMR charges prime rates for hazardous duty, and gets to raid the ranks for prime personnel.” He nodded toward Lee and Chip, who both busily concentrated on their own plates of food. “Oh, it’s rare when something goes totally screwy. Thankfully! But if it does I have the best, handpicked, crew in the world to deal with it.”

“Devious.” Kiester toasted Nelson with his coffee mug.

“Smart business practice,” Nelson countered. “I like getting someone else to pay for my research cruises. And I can always find time to do research in and around other projects.”

“And no one catches on?”

“Of course they do,” Nelson assured him. “But the bottom line is, we get results. We find any flaws that exist, and half the time have them fixed by the time we report back to R&D.”

Kiester shook his head. “Like I told you this afternoon, I have to get out of the office more. This is going to be an interesting couple of weeks, for sure.”

There was a bit of uncomfortable silence before Nelson coughed carefully, and tried to fill it. “Didn’t I hear someone say you were thinking of retiring? I’m a little surprised at your interest.”

“Hey, you’re not the only one who knows how to work the system. Why shouldn’t I get a little free vacation while I can. And Jiggs obviously had it right when he said that you wouldn’t mind me tagging along.”

Nelson chuckled, and hoped that his officers were the only ones who realized how forced it was. While he had no particular problem with having his old friend along he knew that Lee, especially, would take issue with extras on board for no good reason. And in particular as it was Jiggs’ fault! Oh well, he’ll just have to manage, he muttered to himself. And Nelson knew that Lee would, although Chip might have to work a little harder than usual to keep Lee’s frustration levels under control. That thought, of how his two senior officers shared their duties and complimented each other so well, put a smile back on Nelson’s face. “It’s a little unusual,” he admitted to his friend, “having visitors aboard. Hopefully you won’t be too bored.” Chip hiccupped covering a small snort, causing Nelson’s grin to spread as he realized his comment had triggered in the blond a memory of a previous cruise when boredom, that time on Lee’s part, had almost lead to disaster.** Lee, also, was thinking the same thing as his expression was hooded, and Nelson saw Kiester glance between all three. “We try to avoid boredom,” he told the other admiral. “It causes all sorts of interesting offshoots.” Both Lee and Chip sent him a quick look, and he sent back a slightly sheepish one.

“Oh really,” Kiester commented, unsure of what was not being said. “I seriously doubt,” he continued with a shrug, “that I could get bored. Jiggs tells far too many stories about your weird submarine. I’ll be most interested to check them out.”

“Don’t believe everything Jiggs tells you,” Nelson told him firmly. “He’s still ticked that I was able to swipe first Chip and then Lee out of his chain of command.” From there the conversation went back to the two admirals reviewing old times.

* * * *

Some of the same sprinkled through FS1’s trip home the following day, but interspersed more with Admiral Kiester’s questions about NIMR, Seaview, and the little Flying Sub, which seemed to totally fascinate him. Lee expected to have he and Chip relegated to the two back seats for the journey but instead Nelson and Kiester sat there while Lee piloted and Chip navigated the little craft. Lee assumed later that the arrangement allowed the two older men to visit more easily. But the whole time he kept expecting Admiral Kiester to unbuckle and start wandering around FS1 as Nelson pointed out this feature and that. He was very glad the man hadn’t been standing when totally out of the blue the craft was hit by a sudden wind sheer and dropped several hundred feet before Lee, with Chip’s quick help, got FS1 back under control. He glanced back sheepishly. “Sorry about that, sirs. You both okay?”

Nelson chuckled, but spoke to Kiester. “See why I told you to stay alert, Leon?”

“Eesh,” the other admiral muttered. “I hope that doesn’t happen very often,” he added with feeling.

“Just enough to keep us firmly buckled in at all times,” Nelson assured him.

“You said we wouldn’t be landing in San Diego? How…”

“All taken care of,” Nelson cut him off. “Chip?”

The blond turned slightly in his chair. “There will be a Navy car and driver waiting when we land at NIMR to take you to San Diego, sir,” he told Kiester. “And bring you back just before we sail,” he added.

“Why not this craft?” Kiester asked Nelson.

“We don’t use it for that kind of short hop,” Nelson answered. “Not only isn’t it cost-efficient for those kinds of trips, but there are only a few people authorized and trained to fly her. This close to a cruise I can’t tie up personnel, taking them away from their own duties.”

That, apparently, mollified Kiester because he didn’t bring up the matter again. There was a car waiting, exactly as Chip had arranged, when they landed and docked. Admiral Kiester was whisked away as Lee and Chip shut down and buttoned up the craft, but Nelson was still standing on the dock when the pair exited. “Sorry about all this,” he told them.

“For what, sir?” Lee responded, puzzlement in his voice and expression.

Nelson sent him a quick look, not sure if Lee was feigning ignorance in deference to his boss. But he quickly shrugged. Even if Lee – and Chip as well – were, there was no way he would call them on it. “For agreeing to Leon coming along. I don’t expect it to be a major issue. But he’s already being more of a pest than I anticipated, and I have a sneaky feeling that it’s only going to get worse.”

Lee shrugged and glanced at Chip. “No biggy, sir. Not like we haven’t dealt with it before.”

Nelson snorted and lightly smacked Lee’s shoulder. “And it’s almost always my fault?” He sent both officers a grin. Wisely, neither confirmed nor denied the charge. Nelson chuckled and all three headed for the Admin building and their offices.

* * * *

Seaview’s CO and XO were standing at the chart table three days later going over last minute cruise details when Admiral Nelson came down the spiral stairs, followed closely by Admiral Kiester who seemed to be trying to look everywhere at once. He nearly fell off the final step as he stumbled, not paying attention to where his feet were going.

“Careful, Leon,” Nelson admonished. “Like FS1, you have to pay attention at all times.”

“This is all so fantastic,” the other admiral gushed excitedly, and rushed to examine each station in the Conn. Reaching out to touch something at Sonar, Seaman Kowalski brushed the man’s hand away with a firm “Sir,” and looked at Lee

“Admiral Kiester,” and he very carefully gave it the admiral’s preferred pronunciation, “please don’t be touching the instrumentation.”

“Don’t be silly,” Kiester blustered. “We’re sitting still. I can’t hurt anything,” and he once more reached for one of the dials.”

“Leon,” Nelson ordered sharply. “These are finely tuned instruments. Nothing like you were used to, handled by men just as finely tuned to working with them. They don’t need you fiddling with their settings.”

“Oh, all right,” Kiester mumbled. While keeping his hands to himself he still continued to prowl the Conn, leaning in so close to the various instruments that he was still getting in the seamen’s way, trying to bump them out of his way to get even closer. Lee watched him for just a moment before turning toward Nelson.

“I’ll deal with it,” Nelson told him quietly. “It’s just the newness of it all. He’ll calm down.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee told him, but there wasn’t a lot of conviction in his voice.

Nelson acknowledged Lee’s concerned. Normally Lee didn’t allow civilians in the Control Room proper, relegating them to the Observation Nose where they couldn’t cause this kind of interference. Nelson totally understood Lee’s inability to say anything this time simply because Kiester wasn’t a civilian. If nothing else, Navy rank restricted Lee’s abilities to say too much.

Nelson smothered a chuckle; Lee managed to handle Jiggs Stark just fine, those times they’d been thrown together. But Nelson admitted that even then Lee was respectful. And while Jiggs would never say it out loud he had strong, albeit begrudging, respect for Lee. Leon, however, seemed to think that he had free rein to do anything he felt like, and that wasn’t going to go over well with any of the crew, and especially Lee!

On the other hand, depending on what kind of mood Jiggs had been in when he discussed NIMR and Seaview with Leon, there was no telling what kinds of impressions Leon was left with. Nelson realized, somewhat belatedly as Seaview’s Senior Helmsman, Layton, was explaining semi-patiently some of his station’s more computer-driven gauges, that he was going to have to take a very active role in keeping Leon from running roughshod through the crew, and he walked over to rescue his normally extremely calm-under-pressure crewman. He also told himself that he obviously needed to have a long talk with Jiggs at his earliest opportunity. This kind of self-invited guest, no matter how much of it was Nelson’s fault for agreeing, simply could not continue.

“Leon,” he walked halfway to the navigation station, “let’s get out of here and let Lee get us going. While we do have a decent channel out it’s always easier at high tide, and there’s still a fair bit to be done before we can leave.”

“No,” Kiester blew him off loudly. “I want to see how this boat maneuvers. It’s so large…”

“And we can come back and watch from the Nose as we head out,” Nelson assured him, still trying to keep a level attitude, and practically had to drag the man away and back up the spiral stairs.

“Eesh,” Chip muttered when they were finally out of sight.

“You can say that again,” Lee agreed in almost a growl.

“Eesh,” Chip repeated, with a totally innocent look at his CO. Lee frowned but Lt. James snickered ever so softly, Chip grinned, and so finally did Lee. It was enough to break the bit of tension that had developed all around the Conn at the visiting admiral’s blustering, and everyone settled back into their preparations for leaving port.

Lee had no idea how Nelson sidetracked Admiral Kiester for the next two hours but the pair returned to the Nose just as Lee was about to start issuing the commands to get the sub moving. He did have to quickly control his expression as Kiester quickly headed straight for the chart table and Nelson just as quickly stopped him where the crash doors came across and ordered him to go no further. From Kiester’s expression it was obvious that he was simply going to ignore Nelson and do as he wished, but just as obviously Nelson corralled him, said something too low for Lee to hear, and Kiester very unhappily stayed where he was.

Lee also, during the next half hour, had to keep from grinning broadly. While his crew always did an excellent job of performing their tasks, answering Lee’s orders and keeping Seaview smoothly under control this particular departure, and probably because Kiester was being such a royal pain, seemed to go above and beyond their normal level of competence. He, Chip, and Chris James shared several winks and grins, all carefully hidden from Kiester, as Seaview gracefully left her moorings, eased into the channel, and floated smoothly toward open water.

Once well away from the shipping lanes Lee dove, then just to be perverse got slightly carried away with the ‘Angles & Dangles’ maneuvers that all subs do upon leaving port, to make sure everything is stowed safely. Chip sent him a couple of raised eyebrows at some of Lee’s stronger twists, turns, and dives, but made no comment. Nelson had sat Kiester down in the Nose at the firmly bolted down table when Lee gave the all-boat warning before the maneuvers, and grinned broadly when Kiester, not bothering to hang on to the table, nearly fell off his chair at Seaview’s first quick duck and dive. Once again, whatever Nelson said to Kiester was too low to be heard in the Conn, but Kiester settled further into his chair and held on firmly through the rest of the slightly-longer-than-usual departure routine.

Normally, once the course was laid in – in this case, south of the Hawaiian Islands between there and the Line Islands – Lee would grab up a clipboard or two and head for a tour of his boat. But Kiester’s presence made him hesitate. No way was he leaving the Conn while the nosy admiral was close enough to create problems. But Nelson caught his eye and waved a hand, out of Kiester’s sight. Lee acknowledged the unspoken assurance with a quick nod, sent one also to Chip, and grabbed up the duty roster. The blond rolled his eyes, causing Lee to snicker softly. But Lee knew that Chip had caught Nelson’s message that he would be responsible for Kiester – Lee didn’t envy him that task for the duration of this cruise – so that Lee was free to run his boat the way he saw fit.

Nelson wasn’t sure himself how he was going to manage to keep Kiester from harassing the crew. It was quite obvious that Leon simply assumed that, rank having its privileges, he figured that he could do whatever he wanted wherever he wanted, and be hanged with whatever anyone else, with the possible exception of Nelson, thought. And Nelson wasn’t too sure Leon was even going to tolerate orders from him all that well. Nelson had taken Kiester for a tour of the boat, to get him away from the Conn while Lee completed departure details, and the man had absolutely no concept of ‘off-limits’. Every closed door had to be opened and the space inside investigated. And heaven forbid he hit a door that was locked! Nelson tried to stay patient – not an easy task. But he assumed that once Leon had an overall knowledge of Seaview he’d finally settle down.

He was now beginning to question that thought as, the instant Lee left the Conn, Leon got up and headed straight for the sonar station. “Leon, what are you doing?” The other admiral didn’t even bother answering, just waved a dismissive hand and tried to reach around Kowalski to get to some of the dials. “Leon,” Nelson ordered in a tone that had everyone in the room stiffen. Kiester barely acknowledged it, not even lowering his hand as it wavered within inches of several sensitive instruments.

“What’s your problem, Harriman? I know what I’m doing, probably better than these civilian techs. Sure had more experience.” He sniffed and once more reached for the dials.

“Admiral Kiester.” There was an ever so short pause between the two words. “These civilians, as you call them, are so far highly trained above your knowledge to make you seem like a kindergartener.” There were a couple of quick snickers, unidentified as to direction, and Kiester’s face reddened. But before he could say anything Nelson continued. “Seaview’s instrumentation is so far removed from anything you worked with what, twenty years now you’ve been behind a desk, you have absolutely no idea of their power and abilities. If you can’t acknowledge that and treat my people with the respect that they deserve I’ll have you returned to shore by FS1 immediately. Is that clear?” The last three words were spoken with deadly clarity.

Kiester stiffened, clearly indignant at the dressing down, especially in front of men who he considered to be barely competent. But ‘something’ in Nelson’s voice, stance, and expression, finally sunk in. Sort of. “It’s only been fifteen years,” he grumbled, but put his hands back to his side. “Not that much is different.” His voice still held some defiance.

“Perhaps on a Navy sub,” Nelson kept the order in his tone, but lowered the volume a bit. “Here, we keep tinkering with upgrades all the time.” His expression turned to a slight smirk. “Another perk of highly trained technicians constantly fine-tuning their instruments. As well as themselves,” he added, the smirk gaining intensity. “You can stay, as a guest only, or you can go back to San Diego.” The order was evident in Nelson’s voice. “It’s up to you. But this kind of interference with my crew,” he waved a hand, “stops now! Here, and everywhere else aboard my sub. Is that clear?”

* * * *

“Understand I missed the fireworks,” Lee told Chip, walking up to the chart table about an hour later. Neither admiral was in sight.

Chip took a deep breath and blew it out. “Yeah,” he told his CO. “Wasn’t sure there for a few minutes if anybody was going to survive that confrontation.” Lee raised an eyebrow. “Had to be done. Kiester seemed hell-bent on running roughshod over everyone. I haven’t seen the OOM that ticked off in a long time – thankfully!”

Lee nodded. “Got an earful from Sharkey. He said Kiester,” and he purposely mispronounced it, to Chip’s amusement, “settled down and decided to stay.”

Chip frowned. “Unfortunately,” he muttered. “But nobody is breathing easy. He didn’t exactly give the impression of meekly surrendering.”

“So Sharkey informed me,” Lee told him. “Had a little talk with Chief Hauck on the way forward. Kiester will be watched.”

“What good will that do? Kiester,” and Chip also mispronounced the name, “won’t take orders from anyone lower in rank.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s barely taking them from Admiral Nelson, his peer.”

“Not to mention Seaview’s owner,” Lee agreed. “But I ordered Hauck to report any problems directly to the OOM. And the Admiral told him to report any issues, no matter the time, or who he was with.” Chip raised both eyebrows. “Yeah,” Lee grinned. “If Kiester discovers he’s being ratted on, with the Admiral’s total permission…”

“Maybe he’ll get so mad he’ll ask to be taken back.”

“We can hope,” Lee muttered almost to himself. “And ‘demand’ would be more like it,” he added. But both men grinned.

“Help,” came softly from the spiral stairs and they looked and saw their CMO slowly coming down. He’d apparently seen the pair’s broad smiles.

“Down, Jamie,” Lee told him, still smiling. “You’re safe.”

“For the moment,” Chip muttered, but loud enough that the doctor was meant to hear. Chip returned to his navigation chart as Lee shouldered him lightly, with another grin that Chip quickly returned, and Lee walked forward.

“Scuttlebutt has our visitor not making a lot of friends,” Will said quietly as he and Lee headed to the carafe of coffee Cookie or his assistant, Higgins, tried to keep filled in the Observation Nose. “And yet here you and Chip are, nearly giggling. I must have heard wrong.”

Lee snickered, but took a swallow of the strong brew before answering. “No, you heard right. Chip and I,” and he nodded toward the blond, “were just pondering how long it’s going to take Admiral Nelson to dump Admiral Kiester,” and he purposely mispronounced the name, “out the escape hatch and forget where.”

“Ah, isn’t that pronounced…”

Lee cut him off. “Totally depends on who’s within earshot,” he admitted.

“Got it,” Will told him and he also grinned broadly. More footsteps sounded on the spiral stairs, which turned out to belong to the two admirals. Lee quickly polished off his coffee, set the mug down with a nod to Nelson, and headed back to the chart table. Nelson glanced at Will as the other admiral merely frowned. “Harassing the natives?” Nelson teased his CMO. Will didn’t often come forward. Usually only when there might be something of interest outside to watch, or occasionally to read if everything was quiet. The only thing out the windows at the moment was dark water, and Nelson didn’t see a book.

Will chuckled. “I’m coming to the conclusion that it’s not safe leaving those two unsupervised for any great length of time.” He held up a hand to stop whatever Nelson was about to say. “I know, I know. I’m a little slow on the uptake.”

Nelson chuckled. It caused Kiester’s frown to worsen but, before he could say anything, Nelson did. “I’ve just had longer exposure to them and yet they still surprise me,” he admitted.

“What the devil are you two talking about?” Kiester finally butted in. “Harriman, I don’t understand how you keep this sub from sinking. I want to see how everything works and you won’t let me go near the mechanics or let me question your crew.”

“That’s because you get in their way and won’t let them work, Leon.” Nelson got out fairly blandly. “I can understand your curiosity,” he told the other admiral. “We do things differently here, for sure, and a lot of it has to do with Seaview’s greater size and diversity of cruises. But there’s simply no reason for you to be interfering with my crew, demanding that they stop what they are supposed to be doing to answer your endless questions. You have no need to understand Seaview’s inner workings. You’re merely a visitor – you have no official status aboard.”

“But I want to learn,” Kiester demanded, his voice raising. Will, from where he was standing with his back to the windows, saw both Lee and Chip raise their heads and stare at the admiral, and Will thought he saw Lee gesture at Nelson toward the crash doors.

“Why?” Nelson asked, his voice still calm. There was an ever so subtle hand movement that Will interpreted as Nelson telling Lee that no, there was no need to close off the Nose from the Conn; that Nelson would keep control of the situation. Lee went back to whatever soft conversation he was having with Chip and Lt. James, and Will smiled behind his coffee mug. “Leon, you’ve been behind a desk too long. Even the regular Navy subs have progressed beyond your abilities. You haven’t kept up. And you’re getting ready to retire. Why do you think you can catch up instantly? And why do you not understand that, while I do have military personnel aboard, and we do most things under established military protocol, your rank isn’t going to let you do as you jolly well please here. You have no official status.” Kiester puffed up and seemed to start pointing towards the stars on his collar but, before he could say anything, Nelson continued. “Those mean nothing here,” he told the other admiral bluntly. “As far as you’re concerned, this is a civilian boat with a civilian crew. You will be treated with respect as my guest.” Nelson sent a quick grin towards Will but continued to Kiester. “Even Jiggs gets ignored for the most part when he’s aboard.”

Will again saw Lee look up, this time with a small shudder, and nearly choked burying a snort. Admiral Jiggs Stark, when he was aboard, drove both Lee and Chip crazy. However, that admiral didn’t try to interfere with Seaview’s operations.

It was Will’s turn to shudder. Well, there was that one time, he had to admit.*** But that was also something of a military mission so circumstances were different. Poor Lee. He did get caught in the middle of that one. He saluted his captain with a quick raise of his coffee mug, and then realized that Nelson had seen it. He also realized that Nelson seemed to know exactly what had caused it when he continued.

“Jiggs has had to learn that my crew know what they are doing at all times. They are well trained, understand Seaview’s capabilities to the nth degree, and are the best qualified to be making decisions basted on that training and knowledge. They do not appreciate, nor will they tolerate, your interference.” He actually smiled. “That doesn’t mean that they won’t answer simple questions, or explain procedures. You just have to ask at appropriate times, and not demand.”

“This is still a Navy vessel,” Kiester blustered, “on a Navy cruise testing Navy equipment. I have the right…”

“Sorry, Leon,” Nelson cut him off, “but you have nothing but a visitor’s pass. Get used to it,” both voice and expression hardened ever so lightly, “or I’ll take you back right now.” Kiester’s face turned such an angry red/purple that Will started to get concerned, and put down his coffee mug. No one said a word, and Will had no idea which way things were going to go. But Kiester finally blew out a huge breath. He glared at Nelson, and the glare grew as Nelson’s expression relaxed even more. “Relax, Leon,” he teased the man. “You have no duties here. Enjoy the ride and the view. Pretend you’ve already started your retirement.”

“Harrumph!” came out with another loud blow of air. Kiester sent Nelson more of the glare, but turned and walked back up the stairs.

Will waited until he’d had time to get beyond the upper landing before asking softly, “So, is he staying or going?”

“I’m not sure,” Nelson admitted. Lee had walked about half way to where they were standing, and raised an eyebrow. Nelson shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out if he comes back down with his bags.”

“May I ask, Admiral,” Will spoke carefully, “why he’s even aboard? You never totally explained. Well,” he added with a glance at Lee and Chip, “at least to me.”

It was Nelson’s turn to blow out a large expanse of air. “Would you believe I’m not too sure myself?” Will snorted softly, and Nelson sent him a quick sheepish look. “We had all those stupid meetings in DC,” he looked at Lee, who nodded. “Then I had that last one. Leon had been involved in a couple of them,” again Lee nodded, “but I’m still not sure what business he had at the last one. Once it started to wrap up he came over, all excited and friendly. Mind you,” he included both Lee and Will in a look as Lee had taken the few steps needed to reach them, “I’ve known Leon since the Academy. Not the same class; he was two years ahead.” Both Will and Lee nodded. “He said he needed to get to San Diego and knew that I had my own transport, could he bum a ride.” He shrugged. “Didn’t see a problem, and then he started in about the new computer-driven navigation program; seemed surprised that NIMR was testing it, and…” He flipped a hand. “Here we are.”

“Indeed,” Will muttered. “You know anything about his health? I sure didn’t like that angry shade of purple.”

“Haven’t a clue,” Nelson told him. “But it was mostly just him ticked that he couldn’t have his own way.” He grinned. “Us admirals don’t like being told we’re not gods.” Will snorted, Lee ducked his head, and Nelson chuckled. But he did turn toward Will. “You want me to request his medical history?”

“You can do that?”

Nelson grinned. “Have a friend who owes me a favor or three.”

Will considered it. “No, don’t bother,” he finally said. “Other than that one flash he hasn’t given any indication that there might be a problem.”

“Might be one way to get rid of him,” Lee muttered, then ducked his head as he realized he’d said it loud enough that both OOM and CMO heard him. “Sorry,” he mumbled a bit louder.

“Why?” Nelson challenged. “Nothing wrong with speaking the truth.” Lee’s head went ever so slightly lower but both older men chuckled softly, he nodded, and headed back to the chart table. Nelson turned and raised an eyebrow at Will.

“Unfortunately, I see nothing that indicates a problem,” he told his boss. “Well,” he added with a frown, “beyond the fact that he’s a pain in the six!”

Nelson shrugged, and then gave the doctor a speculative look. “Perhaps you could invent something?” he asked ever so softly.

Will snorted. “If it gets any worse around here I’ll give it some serious consideration.” Both men cringed slightly, nodded, and Nelson headed back up the spiral stairs. Will settled into a chair against the starboard bulkhead where he was somewhat obscured by the staircase but could still see into the Control Room fairly easily. He saw both Lee and Chip give him a curious look as he withdrew a small notebook from his back pocket and grinned softly. This was not normal behavior for Seaview’s CMO which would, he knew, instantly draw the attention of the two senior officers. He made a small bet with himself as to just how long it would take one of them, probably Lee, to investigate.

He lost his wager with himself – he figured that three minutes would be about all either younger man could hold out before one, or both, came forward. But while they continued to send him curious looks it was almost ten before he saw them tease each other, Lt. James flip something he’d retrieved from his pocket, Chip snicker, and Lee shake his head and walk hesitantly to a few feet from Will. “Lost the bet?” Will asked him with a grin.

Lee returned it with the shy ‘little boy’ smile Will found so amusing coming from the captain of one of the most powerful boats in the world. “Sort of,” Lee admitted. “We were going to send Chris, but…” He didn’t finish the sentence as Will snorted again.

“Nope,” the doctor told him. “Neither of you would ever send someone else to do a job you were afraid to do yourself.” He chuckled softly and finally Lee did as well. But he also sent a look at the notebook, and Will obliged. “There was an article I was reading in one of my journals the other day that I find…” he searched for the right world, “weird.” Lee grinned, exactly as Will planned. ‘Weird’ had become a bit of a catchword on Seaview for a few specific times it had been used, especially by Seaman Riley. **** “I need to put my thoughts in order before I write my own article refuting some of the author’s more…eclectic, I guess I could say, ideas.”

Lee’s grin faded. “By using Seaview’s crew as your test subjects?” Lee’s voice wasn’t a growl but Will sensed the younger man’s displeasure, nonetheless.

“Not really,” Will told him, maintaining the smile in the face of Lee’s frown. “I just needed a quiet place to ponder and Frank,” he referenced his senior corpsman, “is disinfecting Sick Bay’s deck. We discovered that a couple bottles of blood plasma hadn’t been property stowed, and fell and broke open during your ‘Angles & Dangles’ earlier.” He shrugged. “The next time the Admiral gets bored I need to ask him to come up with a compound that has the proper disinfectant qualities we need without the intense smell.” He shuddered over-dramatically.

Lee finally smiled. “Thought you always said that what we use is good for also cleaning out your sinuses.”

“Harrumph,” Will imitated one of Nelson’s favorite mutters.

Lee chuckled before once more getting serious. “Did you lose enough plasma to worry about?”

Will was already shaking his head before Lee finished the question. “Got it covered,” he assured his CO, then sent him a frown of his own. “I know better than to let supplies get short around you.”

Lee tried to frown but ended up merely looking sheepish, and returned to the chart table. Will saw him say something to Chip and Lt. James, and all three smiled before Lee grabbed one of the clipboards off the table and headed out the aft hatch.

No way was Will going to admit what he was actually up to. While Will occasionally did use Seaview’s crew for odds and ends of information on his own continuing research project of how small groups of people manage their work and private lives in contained situations – something a submarine crew certainly fit into – most of his data came from the groups of scientists Seaview took to and from Antarctica and various sea labs. Lee knew that Will kept a quiet eye on Seaview’s crew, but Will was careful to keep any actual information he might use in the articles he wrote strictly to generalities. Lee was fussy about intrusions into his crew’s private lives unless the crewman shared such intel freely and willingly. Will smiled softly to himself. And he guards anything to do with his own personal life ferociously. Will was immensely pleased that, over the last few years, he’d been able to break through a lot of Lee’s self-imposed privacy and build a comfortable relationship between them.

But he was still very careful around the younger man so the bit of subterfuge about the article he’d read was necessary. It had been based on corporate structure, and how different character traits tended to sort themselves out into different levels of management and authority. Will had originally taken issue with some of the conclusions but the more he thought about it, the more he started to think in terms of Seaview’s command structure. Will wanted to document his own observations and interpretations of the details. Not for publication. Although, he told himself, some of it could find its way into an article, and again he smiled as he admitted that some of the information easily fit into his other research. But he was very interested to find out if he could validate the other article’s conclusions as they applied to Seaview.

Before he could do more than start a mental graph of comparisons between what the author had categorized as the differences between what he called the ‘Managers’ and ‘Leaders’, however, footsteps on the stairs pointed his eyes upward and he saw Admiral Kiester coming down. Seaview’s visitor hesitated when he saw Will casually watching him, but only briefly, and practically charged the rest of the way down.

“What are you doing away from your station?” Kiester demanded. Will saw Chip stiffen and send a stern glance forward, but Will simply smiled.

“One of the perks of a private vessel, Admiral,” he chose to use one of Nelson’s favorite lines. “When I’m not needed I wander all over the place.” That was technically true; Will had a free hand to be anywhere aboard that he might choose to be. He rarely exercised that right but Kiester didn’t need to know that.

“Of all the jacka..” Will coughed loudly into his hand – mostly to keep from laughing out loud as he noticed MAA Hauck enter the aft hatch quietly and come to stand next to COB Sharkey. Kiester looked ready to behead Will for obviously cutting him off, but instead turned his back and glanced into the Conn. Apparently finding neither Nelson nor Lee there, he got a determined look on his face and headed directly for the Sonar station.

“Sir,” Chip told him in the usual casually firm voice he used for issuing commands to his crew, “please stay behind the crash doors and out of the Conn proper unless escorted.”

Kiester acted like he didn’t even hear him and continued toward Sonar. He was met there by Chief Hauck. The MAA didn’t say a word, simply stood at ‘Parade Rest’, squarely facing Kiester with his hands behind his back. Kiester glared at him. Hauck didn’t turn a hair, just maintained his presence. Kiester sent his glare toward Chip, but Chip had turned his back to Kiester and was writing something on a clipboard. From where Will was sitting he could see Chip barely containing himself. Not so Lt. James, who hurried back to the Radio Shack to cover his delight.

“What are you doing?” Kiester returned his glare to Hauck and demanded.

“His job,” Chip answered for the MAA, never even bothering to turn around. Will thought for a second that the admiral was going to explode on the spot. Instead, after standing a moment with clenched fists, Kiester turned and marched back up the stairs. Will was mentally revisiting his decision not to have Admiral Nelson request the man’s medical history, given the coloration once more on his face, but was distracted by Chip’s “Thank you, Chief,” directed at Hauck. He still had his expression under control – barely.

“No problem, sir,” Hauck responded with a quick nod, and turned and headed out the aft hatch.

Within two seconds Lee stepped in, and hesitated as he caught the atmosphere – Will could see nearly every man, including Chip, smiling softly, although Chip’s was more smirk than smile. “Missed something?” Lee asked as he finished walking up to the chart table.

“All green across the board, sir,” Chip answered him formally – sort of. He was still smiling. Lee sent him a mini-glare, laid the clipboard he was carrying on the table, and continued forward to send a firm look at Will.

“One more example of what a finely trained, exceptional crew you have, Skipper,” was all Will would tell him. Lee sent him a momentary frown before shaking his head and walking over to pour himself a cup of coffee. He raised an eyebrow at Will, who shook his head. “Should probably head back to Sick Bay.”

Lee finally grinned. “You might want to give it another fifteen minutes or so. Frank is still getting it aired out.”

“In that case…” Lee poured out a second mug and handed it to Will with a nod toward the Conn. Will’s grin broadened. “Like I said, a well-trained crew. Oh,” he added with a glance at Chip, “you’re XO might want to watch his back around Admiral Kiester for awhile.” Both of Lee’s eyebrows went up. “Chill, Skipper,” Will told him. “Relax and let them do their jobs.”

Lee continued to give him little sideways glances as he sat down on the front window ledge and drank his coffee. Chip didn’t help a whole lot as Lt. James returned from the Radio Shack, the pair carried on an extremely quiet conversation, and the blond sent the occasional smirk towards his CO. Finally Lee drained his mug and practically stalked back to the chart table. With a grin of his own, Will realized that he was going to have to modify some of his conclusions when it came to the dynamics of Seaview’s command team. Well, perhaps not that much, he told himself as he once more opened his notebook. While those two definitely have a different personal connection than most corporations, given their long years of friendship, it rarely interferes with their command structure. Will was pondering that concept as once more steps on the spiral stairs caught his attention.

This time they belonged to Admiral Nelson, who sent him a raised eyebrow as he poured himself a mug of coffee and refreshed Will’s. The doctor dutifully related his reasons for vacating Sick Bay, but nothing else as Nelson sat almost exactly on the same spot on the window ledge as Lee had just left. Neither spoke for several seconds as Nelson’s eyes floated around the various stations in the Conn.

“Had a quick visit from Chief Hauck,” Nelson finally said fairly softly. While his expression remained benign, Will could see his eyes conveying amusement.

“Interesting conversation, Admiral?” Two could play that game.

“Explained the slamming of a door I’d heard just prior. I was just about to go see what had ticked Lee off so badly.”

At that Will chuckled. “Poor Skipper – he missed that whole show.”

Nelson nodded toward the chart table. “It would appear Chip is filling him in.”

“I seriously doubt he would have been given a chance considering the smirk he sent Lee when Lee came back.” Will sent Nelson a quick look. “Chief Hauck?”

“Reported immediately, as requested.”

“I was just complimenting the Skipper on what an exceptionally well-trained crew he has.”

Nelson sent Will a quick look. “Refused to tell him what happened?” he guessed. Will merely looked smug, and Nelson chuckled. Again there were steps starting down the stairs. “Good timing, Leon,” Nelson told the other admiral as he neared the bottom. “It’s nearly dinner time.” He polished off his coffee and stood.

Kiester hesitated, as if he expected to be reprimanded for his earlier action. But the entire duty crew ignored him as he followed Nelson through the Conn and out the aft hatch. Will did see a couple of carefully covered grins as he trailed after them, and grinned himself as he heard footsteps and discovered Chip, with Lee in tow, coming as well.

The meal was actually quite pleasant, all things considered. Will figured that Cookie had heard about the trouble Admiral Kiester was causing, and went out of his way to prepare some of Lee’s favorite items to help coax a possibly ticked off Skipper into eating when he might not particularly want to. It also worked to sidetrack Kiester, somewhat, into actually complimenting Nelson for serving such excellent food.

“Jiggs didn’t mention this perk,” he said around bites of roast pork loin stuffed with chopped apples, raisins, and walnuts, baked potatoes with all the toppings, mixed greens salad, and fresh-baked whole wheat rolls. “I guess being able to hire your own crew means finding a private chef.”

Lee and Chip both grinned softly as Nelson chuckled. “Actually he’s our backup nuclear reactor technician,” he told the other admiral. “This duty was sort of an accident.” He shrugged. “But it has worked out rather well.” Kiester merely shook his head and stuffed another bite of pork into his mouth.

* * * *

Thankfully, things settled down on board the giant submarine. Admiral Kiester quit trying to demand information from every crewman he ran into, and remained in the Nose any time he was near the Conn. He was still extremely watchful. Chief Hauck or one of his detail was never far away no matter where he was on the boat, a fact that Lee decided was finally having an effect on the man.

Will wondered out loud over breakfast one morning to Admiral Nelson, Lee and Chip – Admiral Kiester hadn’t yet showed up – if the fact that, since Seaview was nearing Hawaii, Kiester might have realized how easy it would be for Nelson to get rid of him. Lee and Chip both snickered as Nelson seemed to ponder the idea, but Kiester’s entrance to the Wardroom put a halt to any more speculation and Nelson changed the subject.

“Chip,” he asked as Kiester dished up his breakfast, “do the components for the new computer program seem to be calibrating correctly?” Chip had spent most of the previous day in the computer lab doing preliminary testing.

“So far, so good, sir,” Chip confirmed. “I have some quibbles with how it wants to take over command from manual adjustment.” He shrugged and forked up a mouthful of hashbrowns.

“Just Chip refusing to release total control,” Lee teased, “no matter how much he enjoys computers.” Nelson and Will both grinned.

“They are not taking over my job,” Chip confirmed before also grinning. “Who’d keep an eye on him,” and he pointed his fork at Lee.

Before Lee could smack his XO, as he seemed ready to do, Nelson broke in. “The thing doesn’t have a quick kill switch? I could have sworn I saw it in the designs.”

Chip shrugged. “If it’s there I can’t find it. Figured I could write a program for one before I authorize its installation.”

Nelson nodded. “Works for me. I believe we’ve all had quite enough of machines trying to take control.” All four Seaview officers shuddered.+

“What are you talking about?” Kiester demanded as he sat down next to Will.

“Just an experiment gone bad, Leon,” Nelson told him, but couldn’t stop another shudder. “Very bad,” was mumbled barely audibly. He glanced at the other admiral. “It was a bunch of years ago.”

“I never heard anything about it.”

“No reason you should have.” Nelson kept his voice light.

“All information about this boat, especially anything detrimental, absolutely must be reported to the proper departments in the Navy.” Kiester’s voice broached no argument.

“No,” Nelson told him anyway, with a bit of a smile, “it most certainly doesn’t. Seaview business is NIMR business, and nothing to do with the Navy other than our availability to run errands for them.”

“But…” Kiester started to bluster, finally seemed to notice the smile that had remained on Nelson’s face, and his voice was under more control when he continued. “Surely you reported the entire incident to COMSUBPAC.”

Nelson shrugged. “I probably had a few extra words with Jiggs after the incident.” He paused and chuckled softly to himself as the other Seaview officers buried their heads in their meals. Nelson’s occasional ‘discussions’ with Admiral Jiggs Stark, Commander of Submarine Forces, Pacific, were legendary around NIMR. “It’s been enough years ago now that I have no idea what I said to him.”

“Harrumph,” Kiester muttered, and concentrated on his own tray of food.

Nelson turned back to Chip. “Do you need any help with the final prep?” he asked, returning the conversation to the upcoming tests.

“No, sir. We’re still over two days away from the site. Langdon and Reese,” he referenced two of NIMR’s computer tech specialists aboard this trip, “have been observing. I should have everything under control by this afternoon, but just in case I still have time enough to figure it out.”

Nelson nodded. “Yell if you run into something that looks too screwy, and document everything. We can always junk this test and try again when R&D gets the issues straightened out.”

“Been making notes as I go,” Chip confirmed. “The design seems feasible and well thought out. That’s mostly why I was puzzled by the lack of any kind of fail-safe. Every other component seems almost overly… Well,” he said finally, “I keep finding what appear to be redundant, back-up codes in the programming. Like, whoever wrote it wanted to make sure absolutely every command had a duplicate.”

“Sounds like a few you’ve written,” Lee told him with a bright smile. “Heaven forbid a program Charles Philip Morton wrote should screw up.” Both Nelson and Will snorted, and Admiral Kiester’s presence was about the only thing that kept Chip from wiping the smirk off Lee’s face with a smack. He almost did it anyway but instead muttered something too low to be heard and then stuffed his mouth with a big bite of Spanish omelet. Lee shared his continuing grin with Nelson and Will.

“Conn to Admiral Nelson,” sounded over the all-boat intercom in Radioman Sparks’ clear voice.

Nelson reluctantly stood up and walked over to the mic on the bulkhead by the door. The interruption would put a halt to Lee and Chip’s little spat, and Nelson wanted to see just how far they’d carry it. “Nelson here,” he answered, a bit of irritation in his voice. “I’m in the Wardroom.”

“A call from Admiral Stark, sir. He sounds impatient.”

Nelson snorted. “He’s always impatient,” he told Sparks. “Tell him to sit on his thumbs until I can get to my cabin.”

“Ah…”

Nelson took pity on his hapless radioman. “Just tell him I’ll be with him in a couple minutes,” he said more gently.

“Aye, aye, sir,” and the connection was broken.

Nelson headed for the door but stopped when Kiester rose and headed his direction. “You barely touched your food, Leon. Where are you going?”

“With you, of course, to take the call. I’m sure that it’s important.”

Nelson frowned. “Past experience tells me that it’s probably only important to Jiggs. Finish your food.” Kiester still took several more steps in his direction. But, when Nelson didn’t budge, sending him a hard look and crossing his arms over his chest, Kiester had little choice but to return to his seat. Will tried to make polite conversation with him, asking how he liked being aboard. For a moment there wasn’t any indication that Kiester even heard him, and all three Seaview officers concentrated on what remained of their own meal.

“Food’s good,” finally came out with grudging approval but his eyes never left his plate. The others also finished in silence.

Nelson settled into his desk chair and buzzed Sparks to send up the incoming call. “What’s up, Jiggs?” he asked casually once he heard the click.

“Harriman, what’s going on?” came in the other admiral’s always demanding voice.

“What’s going on with what?” Nelson kept his voice calm, but now with a bit of puzzlement.

“With the tests,” Stark all but snarled.

“Jiggs, what are you sputtering about? We haven’t even reached the test area yet.”

“What?” was shouted back. “You’ve left port?”

Now Nelson was totally confused. “Jiggs, slow down. You’re not making any sense. You must know that Seaview has left port to have called here.”

There were a few unintelligible mutters from the other end of the line. “I called NIMR,” Stark finally growled. “That explains why it took so long to track you down. It was my understanding that you were taking the new program back to test in NIMR’s lab,” finally came in a slightly less irritated voice.

“Well, then you understood wrong,” Nelson told him. “We’re headed for..” and he gave Stark the approximate coordinates, “to field test some of the components. What’s the problem?”

“That’s not what I was told.”

“Seems to be a lot of that going around these days,” Nelson muttered back.

“What?” Jiggs was back to shouting.

Nelson half-chuckled. “Never mind, Jiggs. What’s the problem?” he repeated.

There was a huge sigh over the line. “Probably nothing,” Stark admitted. “I was expecting to hear something before now because I heard you were only doing lab tests. At least,” he amended, “that’s what Bill Holcomb,” he referenced the head of the Navy’s Research & Development department, Admiral William Holcomb, “seemed to think.”

“Not sure where he got that idea,” Nelson told him. “I actually didn’t speak to him directly when we picked up the computer components last week. But this had always been the plan. While the entire system isn’t ready for in-service testing, several of the programs are. Or so he led me to believe when we originally talked about it.” An oath was muttered over the line, and Nelson smiled softly. “You and he been wagering on the baseball pennant races again?” Nelson wasn’t sure why Jiggs continued to challenge others over the outcome of various sporting events – he invariably lost.

“Harrumph,” sounded loudly in Jiggs’ disgusted tone.

“Whatever,” Nelson told him. “We’re still a couple of days from our destination. I’ll let both you and Bill know how it goes.” He was about to change the subject and ask what Jiggs had actually said to Leon Kiester when noises at the other end of the line interrupted.

“Sorry, Harriman. Gotta run. And sorry for the mix-up.”

“Not the first time – unfortunately!” There was a grunt from the other end and the line went dead. “And some people just can’t understand why I retired and built NIMR,” Nelson grumbled softly as he hung up at his end, and headed to his lab to check on some experiments he had running.

Just before 1100 hours Lee called him to the Conn as he felt Seaview slow, stop, and rise to the surface. Or, rather, almost, he discovered as he came down the spiral stairs. While the top of the Conning Tower was obviously out of the water, the rest of Seaview wasn’t. He was about to ask what was going on when several 8-9 foot torpedo-shaped ‘somethings’ swept past the windows. “Melon-Headed Whales,” he said happily.

Lee nodded. “Thought so. Wasn’t totally sure,” he admitted.

Nelson grinned. “They do resemble a few of their ‘cousins’, like False Killer Whales.” More went past the window. “But those are definitely Melons.” He looked around.

“Admiral Kiester is topside,” Lee told him.

“And you’re hoping that he’ll fall overboard?” Nelson asked innocently. He laughed outright as Lee frowned, and then set the forward cameras to record the infrequently seen creatures and headed topside himself.

And then had to spend the next half hour explaining the animals to an excited Kiester. He did have to chuckle as he realized the two lookouts Lee had posted upon surfacing were Seamen Jackson and Gallant, both members of Chief Hauck’s Security detail. They were also heavily cross-trained in other areas so that this was hardly the first time they’d been assigned lookout duties. But Nelson was still amused that, with Leon topside, they were whom Lee had chosen for this particular duty. He had a video camera sent up so that he could add surface shots to what the nose cameras were picking up.

The animals had surrounded Seaview and Kiester seemed amazed that there were so many. Nelson had to explain that while they preferred deep water so were rarely seen close to land, they were extremely social and often traveled in pods numbering in the several hundreds.

Eventually the excitement wore off. Nelson called in the lookouts and all four men returned to the Conn. Nelson had to bury a broad smile when Leon, standing at the bottom of the ladder, clearly wanted to head toward at least one of the stations. But as the other admiral glanced around he was clearly aware that the two lookouts hadn’t yet left, and in fact were standing quietly by the aft hatch watching him, and he went to the Nose instead and stared out the windows. Nelson saw Will also there, again sitting with his back to the starboard bulkhead where he could see both out the windows and into the Conn. After a couple words with Lee Nelson also walked forward. He left the cameras rolling as Lee once more dove, although not too deeply at first, and slowly started moving. After about 20 minutes they began to leave the whales behind, and Lee dove deeper and went back to cruising speed. By that time Chip had appeared and, leaving Lt. James with the Conn, the four Seaview officers and Admiral Kiester headed for lunch.

Nelson questioned Chip over the meal about the components for the test. “Still struggling to understand the need for all the seemingly redundant programs but I think I have it figured out,” Chip told him.

“The kill switch?” Nelson asked.

Chip had to swallow the bite of meatloaf sandwich he’d just taken before he could answer, but did nod. “Have a few more lines of code to install, sir. I should have it ready by dinnertime.”

“What did Jiggs want?” Kiester demanded. That seemed to be the only tone of voice he knew how to use.

Nelson was actually surprised that it had taken him this long to ask. “Nothing,” he answered with a smile. “Just as I figured.” His smile spread as he glanced at Lee. “Any more e-mails?” he asked his captain.

Lee ducked his head, but just a fraction, at Nelson’s reference to something he’d not known about until recently – that Admiral Stark had occasionally sent Lee notifications of upcoming captaincy openings within the regular Navy.++ Nelson had been none too pleased to find out that Jiggs was trying to lure Lee back into full-time service. “No, sir,” Lee told him. “Whatever you said to him seems to have finally sunk in.”

“It jolly well better have,” Nelson growled.

“What are you talking about?” Kiester butted in, loudly.

“It’s nothing, Leon,” Nelson told him, his voice once more amiable, and sent a grin across the table. “Jiggs can’t stand it that I swiped first Chip, and then Lee, out of his chain of command. I didn’t realize that he was trying to coax Lee into coming back until Lee mentioned continuing to get notices from Jiggs when vacancies came up.”

Kiester turned his stare on Lee. “Why didn’t you return to active duty?”

Lee sent the look right back. “Why would I, sir, when I already have the best job I could ever imagine having.”

“Then why…” came ever so softly from Chip, but was cut off by a kick from Lee. Lee frowned at his XO, Chip returned his gaze to his plate of food, and Nelson and Will shared a quick glance. The older men knew that Chip had been about to mutter a complaint about Lee’s continuing to run errands for ONI and Lee wasn’t, apparently, in the mood to hear it.

Kiester once more stared at Nelson, but this time no words came out. “Ignore them, Leon,” he waved a hand across the table at Lee and Chip. Almost immediately Nelson realized what he’d said – realized that the other admiral had been trying to ignore them since he first came aboard – and amended the statement. “But only here in the Wardroom,” he said with a hard look. “In here they have free rein to natter at each other like the long time friends they are.” Remembering Lee’s instant reaction to what Chip had started to say he added, “At least, most of the time.”

“Harrumph,” was Kiester’s only response.

* * * *

That afternoon Will made another stab at sorting out his thoughts on the corporate staffing article he’d read, and finally realized why he was having such a problem making a start. He’d automatically been thinking about Seaview’s ruling triumvirate: Nelson, Lee, and Chip. He could make comparisons easily to the two younger men, which was what had originally drawn him to the article. But Nelson didn’t seem to have a nitch Will could put him in. Sitting at his desk, coffee in one hand, pen in the other, staring at the blank piece of paper he couldn’t manage to write anything intelligent on, it finally sunk in what the issue was and he practically shouted, “Ah ha,” then was extremely embarrassed as the yell brought Frank on the run from whatever project he’d set himself to that afternoon. “Sorry,” Will apologized. “Sometimes I can be an incredible idiot, and then totally amaze myself when I finally figure it out.”

Frank laughed. “Idiot you most certainly are not, Doc.” Will waggled a hand, then both chuckled, and Frank once more disappeared.

What Will had just realized was, nobody could put Admiral Nelson into a predetermined box. Nelson was unique, in so many ways. A visionary when it came to cataloging and preserving his beloved oceans. A formidable powerhouse when anyone or anything stood in the way of him achieving his chosen goals. And yet an extremely caring man to those few people who had gotten close to him over the years, as well as fiercely loyal.

“Okay, idiot,” he berated himself softly. “Yes, there are bits in the article that relate to the Admiral, for sure.” But for now he concentrated on Seaview’s two senior officers, CO and XO, and tried to leave the OOM out of the equation.

The author had broken down his theories into general categories and then into the attributes of different levels of leadership. He’d started with ‘Styles of Personality’, and said that Leaders, to which Will was assigning Lee the role, were the type to visualize a purpose and generate value in work while Managers, Chip’s category, were more problem-solvers; they focused on goals, resources, and people.

Well, Will thought about that for a second, sort of. While Chip was definitely into finding solutions for any problems he encountered, so was Lee. Will couldn’t find much of a division between the two to focus on and moved to the next sub-heading.

Here there was a little more ‘meat’ for his paper. The author had listed Managers as persistent, tough-minded, hard working, intelligent, and analytical – boy, did that describe Chip in a nutshell. Leaders were said to achieve control of themselves before trying to control others, yet were non-conforming risk-takers. This guy has definitely met Lee, Will muttered to himself. Or thought only to himself.

“You say something, Doc?” Frank called from the next room.

“Only to myself,” Will answered. “Ignore me.”

“I’ll never do that,” Frank told him with feeling.

“Your sanity,” Will responded and they both chuckled.

“Need a couple things from storage. Back in ten.”

“No problem, I’m just making myself a little crazy.” There were more chuckles, and Will heard the door close softly.

The next category to come up further confused Will. Under ‘Attitudes Toward Goals’, Managers were said to decide upon goals based on necessity instead of desire, tying themselves deeply to their organization’s culture. That obviously fit both Lee and Chip. Leaders were said to shape ideas instead of responding to them. That was obviously Nelson! I guess NIMR and Seaview are a little like Nelson himself – they don’t fit in easy boxes. Will shook his head. And why should that surprise you, dummy. He built them both!

And the next descriptions confirmed his developing theory that Seaview was unique. The author described managers as reactive since they tended to focus on current information – Lee and Chip for sure. Leaders provided a vision that alters the way people think about what is desirable, possible, and necessary. The author could so easily have been describing Nelson.

The third category made Will feel a little better about the author’s sanity, at least as far as Leaders went. Under ‘Concepts of Work’, Leaders were said to develop new approaches to long-standing problems and open issues to new options – definitely a Lee thing. They focused people on sharing ideas and raised their expectations. Will laughed when he thought about the line ‘Possess strong dislike of mundane work.’ That fit both Lee and Chip like a glove. Will was less open to the author’s ideas on this subject as it pertained to managers when he theorized that they establish strategies and make decisions by combining people and ideas, and were good at reaching compromises and mediating conflicts between opposing values and perspectives. Again, Lee and Chip both fit that nitch.

On the other hand, Will had to admit, while there is never any doubt that Lee is firmly in command of Seaview, the pair do share a good deal more of the day-to-day running of the boat than what mostly happens in any other military post. Humm… Will sat for a bit mulling that one over.

Finally he tackled the last category, ‘Relations with Others.’ Managers were said to prefer working with others, are collaborative and attempt to reconcile differences, seek compromise and maintain controlled, rational and equitable structures. That once more fits both Lee and Chip. Humm, he pondered, perhaps that’s why Chip so easily slips into the roll of captain when he has to, even though he doesn’t particularly like it. The two men are so similar in so many ways. Leaders were listed as relating to people in intuitive, empathic ways, and to focus on what events and decisions mean to participants. Yep, a Lee attribute for sure, Will acknowledged. But he sputtered at the last line, that Leaders created systems where human relations may be turbulent, intense, and at times disorganized. “What?” he shouted, and was glad that Frank still wasn’t back. “You’re saying,” he addressed the happily absent author, “that Leaders go out of their way to create discord within the ranks?” He ripped the notes he’d been making out of his notebook, balled them up, and threw them towards the garbage can just as Admiral Nelson opened the office door. Will didn’t get the disgusted glare off his face before Nelson saw it.

“Come at a bad time?” the Admiral asked carefully. Even he walked softly around a thoroughly ticked off CMO.

Will took a deep breath and let it out slowly before answering. “Ever had one of those moments when everything seems to be making sense – until it suddenly doesn’t?”

Nelson chuckled and finished walking in. “I thought Leon was holed up in his cabin all afternoon. Claimed something in the air while he was watching the whales gave him a headache.” Nelson smirked. “Personally, I think he’s been stuck in an office so long, his body doesn’t know how to handle clean, fresh, air.” Nelson’s smirk left little doubt about any sympathy he might be having toward the other admiral’s condition.

But it did cause Will to finally smile. “No,” he said, pouring out more coffee for himself and a mug for Nelson, “just me trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. And someone else’s round hole, to boot.” He sighed.

“Not every experiment I work with turns out the way I originally thought it would,” Nelson admitted.

Will pondered that. “Actually, the fact that the data didn’t match is a result in itself.” He sent Nelson a glint. “Just another example of the uniqueness of Seaview.”

“Do I want to know what you’re talking about?”

“Probably not,” Will told him brightly.

Nelson nodded and polished off the coffee. “Thought not.” Both men smiled.

“Just come down to harass your CMO, Admiral?” Will finally leaned back in his chair and sent Nelson a grin. “I know that it can’t be my coffee. It’s not nearly strong enough for you.”

Nelson snorted, caught in the middle of a long swallow. “But Cookie doesn’t keep a bottle handy for emergencies,” he eventually got out. Will started to reach for the medicinal brandy he kept in a bottom drawer but Nelson quickly waved him off with a grin of his own. “At least, not at the moment,” he told Will, with a glance into the main area.

“Frank’s on an errand. We’re alone,” Will told his boss.

Nelson nodded but didn’t say anything for a bit. Finally, after another measured swallow, “What’s your overall impression of Leon?”

“Besides screwy?” Nelson frowned and Will sent him another small smile. “Mostly, just a man extremely used to getting his own way suddenly discovering that he can’t, and not taking it well.” Nelson’s frown deepened. “You’re concerned?”

Nelson pondered for another moment. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ve never spent this much time around him.”

“And now you’re glad, but feeling bad about it. Or beginning to wonder if you’re that bad yourself when you don’t get your way?” Nelson glared at him, but Will merely sent a smug grin back.

Nelson’s glare flared, before splintering into a look of consideration. “Lee says you’re working on a new publication.”

Will chuckled. “No, Admiral, it’s not how to bait your subjects into a temper tantrum.” They both grinned, but Nelson sent him a pointed look. Will merely pointed to the wastebasket. “That project hit the round file as you walked in the door,” he admitted. “Admiral Kiester?” he got back on track.

Nelson shook his head. “Something about him is bugging me.” He frowned at Will. “And it’s more than his attitude. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

Will very nearly said something about Nelson hating to not totally be in control, but decided this might not be the correct time to bait him further and turned serious. Nelson was apparently concerned and while Will would occasionally give him, and especially Lee and Chip, a bad time just to get a reaction, Nelson was asking for advice. “I won’t say that he’s not a disrupting influence,” Will told his boss, and reached to refill both coffee mugs. “Never having met him before I can’t really say too much toward his personality as a norm.” Nelson nodded. “So far I haven’t seen anything that actually disturbs me all that much in a clinical capacity.”

“His physical reactions?” Nelson asked, referring, Will assumed, to how red-faced he’d gotten those couple of times.

“Not healthy,” Will admitted. Again he almost said something about a few of Nelson’s semi-out-of-control moments but held his tongue, although not without a quickly buried smile.

Apparently not buried quickly enough. “Yes, Will, present company included.” He sent his CMO a grin.

Will returned it. “I have to admit, life around Lee has mellowed you a bit from when we first met.” Will figured that he was fairly safe with that crack. “Perhaps he’ll have the same effect on Admiral Kiester.”

“He won’t be around that long,” Nelson grumbled not quite under his breath. He gave his head a small shake, and sent Will a bit of a grin. “You haven’t pointed out that I’m probably more ticked at myself for letting Leon talk me into bringing him along.”

“Suicidal, I’m not,” Will said emphatically, causing Nelson to chuckle – as Will intended.

“Still, I count on you for your honesty,” Nelson continued with sincerity.

“I’ll keep an eye on him when I can but he likes me even less than he does Lee. You mentioned he has a headache. Should I risk a visit?”

Nelson hesitated, then glanced at his watch. “Let’s see if he shows up for dinner.” He sent Will a genuine smile. “He does seem to appreciate the food aboard.” They both chuckled, Nelson polished off the rest of his coffee and stood. “I need to check in with Chip; he’s still not happy with the programming of the new computer components.”

“Enough to cancel the tests?”

Nelson sent him a look. “That would be the quickest way to get rid of Leon.” But then he shrugged. “So far Chip is more puzzled than annoyed.”

“Bummer, to quote Riley.” They both chuckled again, and Nelson left.

Will continued to ponder Nelson’s visit, but Frank’s return sidetracked him as the two dealt with a couple of minor issues.

Nelson’s quiet entry into the computer lab caught Chip staring at a screen full of text too small to read. Of course, Nelson told himself with a wry grin, even if I could read it, and as smart as I am, I couldn’t ‘read’ it, and allowed a broader smile to appear as he closed the door. Chip jumped slightly and turned. “Sorry,” Nelson told him. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I’m in serious need of a distraction, sir,” the blond relaxed and told him. “I would really like to get my hands on the idiot who wrote this program. I’ve never seen such a convoluted mess.”

“If you can’t figure it out it must be a total disaster,” Nelson told him with pride, acknowledging Chip’s talent in that area. It caused a blush from the younger man, but was quickly waved off.

“Mostly it makes sense,” Chip admitted. “I don’t understand the need for all the redundant sub-text, but the program itself appears to be fundamentally sound. Still…” His voice trailed off as he went back to staring at the screen.

“Something’s bugging you,” Nelson told him and walked over.

“Yes, sir,” Chip admitted. “But I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Bugged enough to scrub the tests?”

Chip hesitated before answering. “Not really.” He looked up at this boss. “I think I’m just frustrated. I look at the main program and everything looks good. Then I see all the extra text and…” He paused. “It’s almost like two different people, one organized, one…” He sent Nelson an off-center smile. “Anyway, two similar programs were combined into one.”

“Could that be why there was no ‘kill’ switch? Each person thought that the other one included it?”

“Makes as much sense as anything I’ve come up with.”

“The one you wrote integrated okay?”

“That’s what I was just working on. It seems to have integrated just fine.”

“But…” Nelson prodded. He’d had no trouble reading the hesitation in Chip’s voice.

Chip took a deep breath, let it out, and looked at Nelson. “It all seems to fit just fine.”

“But…” Nelson said again, this time with a small smile.

“My gut tells me I’m missing something.”

Nelson laid a hand on the blond’s shoulder. “You say the word and we head home.”

Chip hesitated. “My gut’s been known to be wrong, sir,” he admitted. “If I could see an actual problem I’d yell foul in an instant. But I can’t.”

“We’re still two days from the test site. I know that you’ll give it your full attention.” His voice turned firm. “But not to the detriment of your sanity,” he ordered.

Chip finally grinned. “Aye, sir.” Nelson nodded and left.

Nelson wandered forward to the Conn; with Chip tied up he knew that Lee would probably stay fairly close to Seaview’s command center even though Lt. Chris James would no doubt have the submarine in complete control. He was right on both counts; James had the Conn and Lee was sitting at the table in the Nose doing reports. Nelson sent the lieutenant a quick grin as he walked forward, and settled into a chair at the other end of the table. Lee sent him a raised eyebrow.

“Just wandering around while an experiment bubbles away,” Nelson told him.

“Surprised that you’re alone,” Lee offered carefully.

Nelson’s grin spread as he caught the cautious note in Lee’s tone. “Leon’s been stuck behind a desk so long, the fresh air gave him a headache,” he used the same excuse he’d given Will, and continued to smile as Lee relaxed. “Chip’s muttering about the new software…”

“Still?” Lee interrupted.

“I told him I’d pull the plug any time he said.”

Lee nodded. “He’s not happy about several things. But he can’t find an issue bad enough to scrap the tests.”

It was Nelson’s turn to nod. “I told him, he’s still got two days to putter with it before we have to make a final commitment.” He hesitated. “Do you know what Will was working on?” The total change of subject had Lee sending him a puzzled look. “I walked into his office a little while ago just as he was tossing a handful of notes into the garbage.”

Lee chuckled. “I know what he said he was working on.”

“You don’t trust him?” Nelson asked innocently. Lee waggled his hand back and forth and Nelson grinned broadly.

“He said he’d read an article in one of his journals he was taking some issues with, and was making notes for some kind of rebuttal. I accused him of using Seaview’s crew for his research but he said no.”

Nelson nodded. “He told me square pegs don’t fit in round holes.”

Lee shrugged. “Sort of depends on the size of the peg and the hole.”

Nelson grinned, got up, and poured both himself and Lee a cup of coffee. It was just this sort of idle conversation that he had come to enjoy. It didn’t happen often, which made it all the more special. Unfortunately he’d no more than sat back down when footsteps on the spiral stairs proved to belong to Admiral Kiester. “Your headache’s better, Leon.” He made it a statement and nodded toward the coffee carafe. “Just taking a little break. Pour yourself a cup and join us.”

Kiester hesitated as he hit the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at Lee, then into the Conn just as Chief Hauck entered the back hatch and came to a stop next to Chief Sharkey. He quickly sent a glare back at Lee, which Lee didn’t see, being busy shuffling his reports into a single stack. Nelson struggled but managed to keep a benign expression on his face as the glare was turned on him.

Kiester didn’t move. “When do we finally get to test the new computer program?” came out in a demand.

“A couple more days.” Nelson’s tone was casual.

“Why can’t you test it here, now?” More demands.

Nelson sighed. He was really getting tired of Leon’s attitude. “If we test it at all,” he told the other admiral.

“What?” came out in a shout, and Nelson saw Lee’s expression turn dark.

“Leon, there’s nothing wrong with my hearing, you do not need to yell.” Nelson’s own tone was a couple of levels louder than normal.

“What do you mean, if?” Kiester’s voice was still loud, but not quite as much as before.

“Chip’s still taking issue with some of the programming…”

“So you’d take his word, a… a…,” Kiester apparently couldn’t come up with a derogatory enough name to suit him, “over the finely trained technicians at R&D?”

“Yes,” Nelson told him matter-of-factly. Kiester glared at him a long moment, then abruptly turned and went back up the stairs. Nelson grinned as he saw Chief Hauck quietly head back out the aft hatch and turned once more toward Lee, who was still watching where Kiester had disappeared. “Glad you never served under him?” Nelson asked innocently. Lee just shook his head, and Nelson chuckled softly. “If it helps, I’ve never seen him like this,” he told his captain.

“You’ve intimated that his sea duty was on subs?”

Nelson nodded. “A long time ago.” He sent Lee a look. “And I do mean long. Mostly he’s sat behind a desk doing managerial duties.”

“Paper shuffling,” Lee said, with a wave toward his own reports.

“Somebody has to do it.”

“Ugh,” Lee told him with feeling.

“My sentiments exactly,” Nelson agreed.

* * * *

Will was just sitting down to dinner when Lee and Chip came through the Wardroom door nattering at each other the way only good friends could get away with. It caused Will to smile broadly. He turned toward Cookie, keeping an eye on things from the Galley doorway. “So nice to have things quiet and peaceful around here,” he told the chef. The two squabblers stopped whatever-it-was they were discussing and glared at Will, but Nelson walking in kept them from saying anything.

Nelson caught the atmosphere. “Now what am I interrupting?”

“The natives disrupting my dinner,” Will muttered. But he couldn’t keep the smile from either face or voice, and turned back to his meal. Nelson turned to Lee and Chip as Cookie snickered and went back into the Galley.

“Chip was harassing me about doing my reports in the Nose instead of my cabin,” Lee complained. “Says it shows I can’t trust Chris by himself.”

“Not so,” Chip defended himself. “I was merely pointing out that having you hovering gets everyone else on edge, and then I get stuck having to calm them all down once I get back.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Morton, and who was…” He stopped when Nelson burst out laughing.

“Point taken,” Nelson told Will and started to fill his tray. Lee and Chip snickered and followed suit. They’d all just sat down when Admiral Kiester walked in. “Any more headway, Chip?” Nelson made a point of asking loud enough for Kiester to hear. He had no idea if Lee had mentioned to Chip about the incident earlier in the Nose. He’d gone back to his lab shortly after and wasn’t sure when Chip had returned to the Control Room.

“Still trying to wade through some of the code, sir,” Chip told him. “I can’t find anything specific, but…”

“That’s because you’re a sub-driver, not a computer specialist,” Kiester cut him off snidely.

“He’s both,” Nelson told the other admiral with a glare. “That’s part of what makes him so important to Seaview, and NIMR.” Kiester merely sniffed and continued to fill his tray.

“If there’s something there, you’ll find it,” Nelson told Chip, with another dark glance at Kiester.

“Thank you, sir,” Chip responded, for both the confidence and the support. He sent a glance toward Kiester, but finally shrugged. “I’m not sure R&D will appreciate some of my notes.”

Nelson chuckled. “That’s their problem. Our success record overrides any objections they might raise.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why are you waiting to get to a specific spot before testing?” Kiester asked, sitting down. His voice was still harsh but he’d toned down the demand.

“A couple of reasons,” Nelson answered. “It’s a spot we’ve been to not long ago so the charts are accurate. That way we have a better idea of how accurate the new program is. And two, I want to replace several sensors we set out in the area. I’ve made some major design changes since those were placed and this was a good chance to get the new ones installed.”

“And how long will that delay the testing?” It came out as a whine, and all four Seaview officers raised an eyebrow.

Nelson took a deep breath before answering. “As long as it takes,” he tried to keep his voice casual, “although I’d actually planned on that part of the cruise being after the test. Since that seems to be your special interest I can take you ashore once that’s done.”

“I’d appreciate that.” Kiester got a strange look on his face, and Nelson realized that he wasn’t the only one who noticed it. “My headache’s back,” Kiester continued before Nelson could say anything further. “I believe that I’ll eat in my cabin.” He got up and left, but not before adding more food to his tray.

“Eesh,” came softly from Cookie, once more standing in the Galley doorway.

“What was that all about?” Lee muttered not totally under his breath.

“Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to affect his appetite,” Chip muttered a bit louder, and got nods from the others.

“Somehow I think, Admiral,” Will told his boss, “I won’t ask him if there’s some way I could help with his ‘headache’.” There was definite sarcasm in his voice on the last word.

“I concur totally,” Nelson agreed. “On the other hand,” his voice lightened and he sent the others, including Cookie, a quick grin, “we get to enjoy a peaceful meal.” Will snorted, Lee and Chip snickered, and Cookie hand-delivered large slices of cherry pie for dessert.

* * * *

The following day’s first two meals also stayed peaceful; Admiral Kiester ordered trays sent to his cabin. Nelson exchanged a quick look with Lee as they entered the Wardroom at lunch and heard Cookie muttering about ‘some people’s demands.’

“Admirals’ privilege,” Lee teased the chef with a quick snicker as he nodded in Nelson’s direction. It earned him a light smack on the arm from Nelson, but a nod and returned grin from Cookie. Chip and Will entered just in time to catch the tail end of the exchange, and Nelson turned to his XO.

“You sure you don’t want the captaincy, Chip?” But he couldn’t hold the frown on his face as Chip glared at Lee, and grinned broadly.

“What did you do, Commander?” Will demanded. When Lee sent all three his most innocent look, Nelson snorted and both Chip and Will finally relaxed.

“Looks like SOP to me, Jamie,” Chip quipped. As all four started filling their trays, Nelson explained. “First he can’t stay out of the way, and now he won’t come out of his cabin,” Chip muttered.

“You’d rather have the ‘pest’ back?” Lee asked him. Chip opened his mouth, took a good look at the other three faces, and shut it again. “Right,” Lee confirmed.

“Chip,” Nelson decided to change topics, “the experimental computer program?” He knew that his XO had spent the morning continuing to fuss with it.

Chip shrugged. “I’ve done about all the work I can do without actually plugging it into the navigation system.”

“You don’t sound enthused.”

Chip sent him a look. “But no good reason why,” he admitted. “I have the kill program installed and it appears to have integrated. I’m fairly confident that if I have missed something we won’t be putting Seaview in any danger. Best I can say.”

“Works for me. Lee?”

“My bet’s on Chip,” he told his boss, with a grin at the blond.

“ETA?” was next question.

“Overnight,” Lee told him. “I’d like to give the area a quick look-see. But we could start the tests about 1000 hours.”

“Humm,” Nelson considered that for the time it took him to take a couple bites of his meal. “How about we do it about 1300 hours? No need to rush anything.”

“That works,” Lee agreed.

“You wouldn’t just want to further irritate Admiral Kiester by any chance, Admiral,” Will observed dryly, “by the extra lag time?” Nelson sent him an enigmatic little smile. “Of course not. Why would I ever think such a thing?” They all chuckled softly.

“As Lee so appropriately pointed out, Admirals’ Privilege,” Nelson told him. They all shared a nod and a grin, and finished their meal.

But as Chip came back to the Conn about 1630 hours, after spending most of the afternoon still puttering with the new program, Lee sent him a raised eyebrow. Chip easily read the unasked question. “It all looks workable,” he told Lee.

“But you’re still not happy.” While Chip could easily read his long-time friend, it worked both ways.

“And absolutely no concrete reason why,” Chip confirmed.

“You are happy with your kill program.”

“The one thing I am comfortable with,” Chip told him. “That’s primarily what I’ve spent the last couple of hours working on. I may not be totally happy with the new program, but if it wonks out it’s not taking Seaview’s systems with it.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Lee said it jokingly to try and relieve some of the pressure and anxiety he could see building in his friend.

“Understood, sir,” Chip responded formally, but sent Lee a quick grin before Lee and Lt. James got him current with Seaview’s status.

Admiral Kiester appeared at dinner. He was quiet, and a frown stayed on his face most of the meal as Nelson, Will, Lee, and Chip basically ignored him. But all things considered the others took it as a sign that he was finally settled in to his very unofficial status aboard. He even came forward after dinner and sat quietly in the Nose for a while. The Conn crew, which included Chip and Lt. James, continued to ignore him. Lee gave him a quick glance as he would have normally left for a tour of the boat. Chip caught Lee’s eye and nodded, signaling that Lee should not worry about the man. When Kiester came forward Chief Hauck had appeared quietly just inside the aft hatch, and Lee sent him a quick wink as he headed out.

He’d barely left when Nelson wandered seemingly casually down the spiral stairs and also settled in the Nose. Chip and Chris James shared a quick grin and went back to going over setting the course for Seaview’s night with Lt. O’Brien. They were entering an area where there were an abundance of seamounts. Nothing overtly dangerous as their tops were below Seaview’s normal cruising depth, but the ever-cautious XO had them charted anyway.

“Not much to see at this depth,” Nelson said casually as he poured a cup of coffee and settled into a chair next to Kiester. “But even so,” he continued when Kiester remained quiet, “I always find it quite soothing.”

Kiester still remained silent for long enough that Nelson was starting to consider finishing his coffee and leaving, but the other admiral finally spoke, although his gaze never left the view outside. “Whatever made you think of these windows?”

Nelson chuckled. “Too many years without them.” He grinned when Kiester did finally look his way. “Sonar and Hydrophone are wonderful tools. But I’ve always been interesting not just in tracking other boats and ships. I loved diving, and those rare occasions I got in diving bells. Their portholes opened up a whole new realm of observation. It was so exciting.”

“You’ve always been more scientist than Navy.” It came out as an accusation.

Nelson shrugged it off. “And what’s wrong with that?” Kiester didn’t even look at him. “This planet is the only one we have.” He contained a cringe as a few of Seaview’s more classified missions flashed though his mind. “And two thirds of it is out there.” He waved a hand toward the windows. “We can’t focus totally on the other third without taking into account, and caring for, this part. Our very existence depends on it.”

Kiester shrugged. “You’ve wasted what could have been a great talent. You took everything the Navy gave you, then turned your back to play with fish.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Leon. And I haven’t turned my back. I’m still involved.” He frowned. “Getting stuck attending those meetings proved that. Seaview still works part time on Navy missions; this one included. Many of the crew, and most of the officers, are Navy Reserve. You know that.”

“A total waste!” Kiester didn’t exactly spit it out, but he also left no doubt about how he perceived Nelson’s choices.

“Leon, I loved my years in active service.” He paused, and a soft smile hit his face. “I even loved my time teaching at the Academy.” The smile grew as he glanced into the Conn, remembering how he’d met Lee and Chip, and a few of the more ‘interesting’ moments during those four years. “But I knew early on that I wasn’t cut out for a desk job, which I’d have been forced into long before now. I’m happy with the choices I’ve made in my life, Leon. I’m active, doing work I truly love.” Suddenly he realized where he thought this conversation was stemming from. “What plans do you have for retirement, Leon? No more restrictions.” He grinned broadly. “No more endless, and for the most part mindless, meetings. You’re not that old. You must have lots of plans.”

Kiester said nothing for a bit. When he did speak it came out as almost a snarl. “Enjoy it. While you still can,” and Kiester abruptly stood and marched up the spiral stairs.

Nelson realized that Chip must have heard at least part of the conversation because he walked forward with a puzzled expression. “What was that all about, sir, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Nelson sent his XO a shrug. “I’m not sure, actually,” he admitted. “At this point your guess would be as good as mine.” He sent the blond a quirky smile. “And I suspect that your guess would lean heavily toward senility.” He had the pleasure of watching Chip’s fair complexion turn several shades redder than usual, and chuckled. Standing up, he gave Chip’s arm a quick slap. “Make sure your skipper finds his cabin before 0200.”

It was Chip’s turn to finally smile. “Aye, aye, sir. In it for sure. What he does once he’s there…” His voice trailed off.

“I never expect miracles,” Nelson told him with a grin, and headed up the stairs.

The grin returned to Chip’s face when Lee walked back into the Conn half an hour later. Lee sent him a pointed eyebrow but Chip didn’t explain and Lee let it go. The pair went over a few last details with Lt. O’Brien before they, too, headed toward Officers’ Country. The smile reappeared as Lee reached for his cabin door, and Lee stopped and glared at his XO.

“Chill,” Chip told him. “See you in the morning.” From Lee’s continued long look he knew the brunet wasn’t buying it and he’d have to eventually explain. For now he was enjoying the moment. He turned toward his own cabin and entered before Lee could push the point.

Lee entered his cabin shaking his head softly, but a small grin started to form. Whatever had caused it, he welcomed Chip’s bit of silly. The last couple of days had been hard on Seaview’s XO. He was usually the one trying to lighten Lee’s mood when a cruise started getting weird. It was nice to return the favor – even if he didn’t understand how or why.

* * * *

Breakfast on what Lee had started calling ‘T-Day’ was for the most part all business. Admiral Kiester was present but both he and Will remained quiet as Nelson, Lee, and Chip fleshed out a timetable on Chip’s almost ever-present clipboard. There was one small outburst from Kiester as the timetable was laid out, demanding to know, now that they’d reached the test area, why the new program wasn’t immediately turned on.

“Because we want to get a general feel for the local charts to make sure nothing much has changed since we were here last.” Nelson told him patiently.

“The whole point as I understand it is to see how well it works,” Kiester growled at the other admiral. “So use it!”

Nelson stiffened noticeably at the order. The other three present all held their collective breaths. Nelson glanced around and seemed to notice, got a slight smile on his face, and blew out his own long breath. “When we’re ready, Leon,” he said almost pleasantly. There was still a bit of bite in his voice that the others easily read. “These things shouldn’t be rushed.”

“No wonder you agree to these assignments so easily. You stretch it out and charge the Navy twice as much as is necessary, so you can fund your precious institute.” He snorted. “Well, that’s going to change,” was said almost, but not quite, under his breath.

All four Seaview officers took a deep breath, and three pairs of eyes turned to their boss. Nelson hesitated, but finally shrugged and went back to discussing the timeline with Lee and Chip. Kiester, his face apparently frozen in a frown, ignored the others as he polished off a huge meal.

He was still working on the last of it as the others finished and headed for the door. Nelson held back a step, intending to have a quick word with Will, but the CMO beat him to it. “Where will you be during the tests, Admiral?” Will asked quietly. “I’m assuming in the Conn.” Getting Nelson’s nod – as well as acknowledging Lee’s attention to his comment – he told both men, “Don’t be surprised if I’m there as well.” He sent Nelson a wry smile when the comment earned a nod from Lee before the brunet followed Chip forward.

“What’s on your mind?” Nelson asked him quietly, just outside the now closed Wardroom door.

“That I’m not comfortable with what appears to be Admiral Kiester’s abrupt mood swings,” Will admitted.

Nelson nodded. “I admit to being caught off guard.”

“Me, too, actually,” Will told him. “And it could just be a momentary snit.”

“If so, it started last night,” and he told Will about the conversation in the Nose.”

“Humm,” Will pondered that.

“Mean anything to you?”

Will sent him a look. “Only that I’m probably just as confused as you are,” he told him honestly.

“I doubt that,” Nelson frowned. “Simple Internist/Emergency Medicine Specialist you aren’t.” His voice was both firm and confirming.

Will chuckled self-consciously. “Eh,” he brushed off the compliment. “Just try to keep my eyes open,” he told his boss.

“For which all of us are very appreciative.” He sent Will a grin. “Even Lee.” His grin spread.

“Eh,” Will repeated. But he also grinned, and the two went in separate directions.

Nelson saw three heads bent over the chart table in serious conversation when he stepped through the aft hatch half an hour later, after double-checking a couple of things in his lab. He also had to sidestep Seaman Majors, one of Seaview’s security detail, and took a quick look toward the Nose. Admiral Kiester was seated at the table, facing the Conn. Instead of the frown there was now almost a smile on his face. Nelson quickly changed his mind – while it looked like a smile he decided that there was a quality to it that was more determination than pleasant. Giving his head a shake that at this point he didn’t really care, he finished the walk to his captain’s side.

“The area has topside traffic,” Lee told him. “Seems to be a yacht of some sort.”

“Here?” Nelson asked. He wasn’t so much questioning Lee, it was just an instinctive reaction to unexpected news.

“Weird, huh,” Lee responded in kind.

Nelson caught Chip and Lt. James share a quick look. “Somehow I get the feeling that I’m repeating the same conversation the three of you had moments ago?”

Lee grinned. “Pretty much,” he confirmed.

“What do you propose?”

Lee tapped the chart. “I can’t see how surface traffic will have any effect on the experimental programming. And if it does, best to find it out now.”

“I concur,” Nelson told him. “Everything else look like it did the last time we were here?”

“No major changes that we’ve noted.” He sent Nelson a quick frown. “Seaview arrived just as “C” watch was ending, and Lt. Keeter spent most of “D” watch doing a little scouting around. What I’d planned on doing this morning.” Keeter was most often Seaview’s “D” watch OD.

“And now you’re miffed because the crew you’ve trained to anticipate your next move actually did it,” Nelson teased him. Chip snickered and Lt. James had to turn his back ever so briefly before returning his attention to his superiors.

Lee still frowned, but it didn’t last. “Actually yes, sir,” he admitted with one of his shy little smiles.

Nelson chuckled. “Chip?”

“There’s nothing more I can do to the program without actually activating it into Seaview’s system, sir.”

“Well, then,” Nelson told him, “I’d suggest that we commence the test.” He sent a glance forward and lowered his voice. “That much faster we can get rid of our unwanted guest.”

“Works for me,” was muttered from Chip’s direction as both Lee and James gave him quick nods.

Nelson glanced at his watch. “0830 hours. Let’s say activate the program at 0900.” He glanced at Chip.

“I’ll be in the computer lab, sir.” He tapped one of the clipboards on the table. “Any last minute questions, Chris?” he asked Lt. James.

“He’s left the lieutenant three pages of instructions,” Lee translated for Nelson.

“I’m comfortable with my role, sir,” James responded formally as both Lee and Nelson smiled.

“Guess we’re as set as we can be,” Lee told Nelson.

Nelson turned back to Chip. “I’ll be monitoring things from here.” He paused. “Unless you’d rather have me with you in the lab.”

“I can’t think why, sir. Unless,” he almost matched one of Lee’s shy looks, “you’d rather be down there.”

Nelson grinned again. “I trust your skills implicitly.”

“Both computer techs, Seamen Langdon and Reese, have been taking turns watching me work with the program.”

“What he means is,” Lee interrupted the blond, “they’ve been standing out of his line of fire while he’s been muttering about it.”

Chip momentarily glared at Lee, but finally dropped it and admitted quietly to Nelson, “Unfortunately I resemble that remark.”

“You owe them both dinner when we get back for putting up with you,” Lee told him.

“And their wives,” Chip agreed.

Nelson chuckled at his two senior officers’ hijinks, and saw grins on most of the Conn crew as well. “You head down now and get yourself ready. I’ll help coordinate from here,” he told the blond.

“Aye, sir,” Chip sent Lt. James another quick look, causing Nelson and Lee to share a grin, and headed out the aft hatch.

Nelson saw Lee send a surreptitious glance toward the Nose. “Let me, and Security if necessary, handle Leon. You just concentrate on Seaview.”

Lee nodded. “Yes, sir.” Lee picked up the clipboard Chip had written his instructions to James on and started going over them with the young lieutenant, and Nelson walked forward.

“You’re going to get your wish, Leon,” he said casually to Kiester. That admiral barely acknowledged Nelson’s presence and continued to stare into the Conn. Nelson shrugged as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Somewhat by accident…” He paused and sent a look at Lee, in conversation with James. He grinned as he noted that it certainly wasn’t an accident that Lee had his crew so thoroughly trained in all phases of running Seaview. “Sort of, anyway,” he added with a glance at Kiester. Still being ignored, he continued. “We’ll be starting the initial test in about half an hour instead of after 1300 hours.”

That got a reaction of sorts. But Nelson saw the half-smile – or whatever it was – harden even further into something that more resembled determination. Shaking his head, he polished off his coffee in three long swallows and walked over to the Helmsman’s station to take a look at Layton’s monitors.

The next twenty minutes passed quietly for the most part. Lee took a quick walk past all of the Conn stations giving everyone a last minute pep talk of sorts. Since the original plan had been for the tests to take place that afternoon Chip had planned to have Seaview’s most senior man at each station at that time. In most cases those men were already there, but Grafton was at Sonar instead of Kowalski and Riley was on Hydrophone instead of Patterson. Lee considered pulling both in early but ended up leaving things as they were. Grafton was quite competent at his position, having come from nearly six years in Navy subs, and Riley was second to Patterson only by a hair.

At 0855 Lee called down to the computer lab. Chip was all set, and Lee took a glance at Nelson as he walked up to the chart table.

“Lieutenant,” Nelson looked at Chris James. “I want you in direct contact with the computer lab at all times during the test.”

“Aye, aye, sir. I’ll have Sparks give me a direct channel,” and the young man headed for the Radio Shack.

“Lee?” was Nelson’s next focus.

“Conn ready. We’re holding the pre-arranged course at one-quarter speed, as directed by R&D’s parameters. Once the system is engaged we’ll give it a five-minute period to establish itself before we call in the first course change. At that point Helm and Planes will be ‘hands off’ and let the computer do its thing unless we run into an issue.”

“I hear hesitation in your voice,” Nelson told him so quietly that only Lee could hear.

Lee sent him a quick look. “Sorry, sir. Past experience rearing its ugly head.”

Nelson nodded. “I totally understand.”

“But I won’t let that cloud the test, sir.” Lee’s voice was back to its usual firm confident timber.

Nelson sent him a grin. “I know you won’t. But you wouldn’t be human if past moments didn’t cross your mind.” He laid a quick hand on Lee’s shoulder. “That’s how we learn the best lessons – by screwing up the first time.” The look Lee sent his boss wasn’t entirely politically correct and it caused Nelson to chuckle softly. “You don’t agree?” he asked lightly, still smiling. Lee turned his gaze to one of the clipboards. But Nelson saw his lips twitch and gave Lee’s shoulder a slight squeeze.

Cookie was neck deep in prepping lunch as his assistant, Higgins, was cleaning up from breakfast when Master Chief Mason, Seaview’s ‘Bull Nuke’, poked his nose into the Galley. “The Admiral is going to start the test early.”

“So I heard.”

Mason sent him a look of pure misery. “A terrific time to get ticked off at a stuck valve.” He held up his right hand, wrapped in an ‘Ace’ bandage.

“Doc tease you about acting too much like the Skipper?” Cookie sent him a broad grin.

Mason cringed. “Wrapped it myself,” he admitted. “Feeling stupid enough without that lecture.”

Cookie chuckled. “Got you covered,” he told the Master Chief, and started giving Higgins further instructions.

“XO to Conn,” came over one of the speakers close to the chart table as Lt. James walked back up.

“Read you five by,” James answered without use of a mic.

“Same here,” Chip responded.

“Direct line established, sirs,” James told both Lee and Nelson somewhat unnecessarily.

“Ready to commence tests, Chip,” Nelson said. “Enter the program connection on your mark.”

“Aye, sir. Program starting in five, four, three, two, one. Connection established.” Nothing much was said for the next several minutes, then Chip came back. “Program has control.”

“Helm and Planes, hands off but watch your controls,” Lee called.

“Aye, are, sir,” came back in stereo.

All was quiet in the Conn for the next two minutes. Lee glanced around but stayed by the chart table next to Nelson. Lt. James took the two steps necessary to take up his position next to the Navigation computer.

“Skipper,” Sharkey sang out from where he was monitoring the control panel lights. “Some minor systems showing glitches.” He flipped a few switches. “Forward cameras offline, several others flickering.”

“Chris, start making notes. The cameras aren’t a problem now, but definitely something to be addressed.”

“They shouldn’t even be affected,” came over the speaker from Chip.

“Could have something to do with the fact that Navy subs don’t have hull cameras,” Nelson speculated. A soft grumble came over the speaker, and Lee and Nelson shared a quick grin.

“Skipper,” came next from Engineering Specialist Garcia, watching his section of gauges, “screw rotation just increased by 10%.”

Lee grabbed the mic. “Engine Room, Conn. Why did you increase power?”

“Engineering,” came immediately from Lt. O’Brien, “we didn’t do anything. The gauges just started fluctuating. We’re trying to compensate.”

“Roger, Bob,” Lee answered, beginning to frown. He didn’t need to say anything further; O’Brien had been with Seaview almost from her conception and knew her engines better than any man aboard.

Grafton was the next to sing out. “Skipper, Sonar starting to have power issues. It keeps blipping out.” A word too low to travel more than two feet slipped out of Lee’s mouth. But before he could move, Nelson did.

“I’ll check,” he told his captain, and headed to stand next to the Sonar specialist.

“Chip?” Lee all but growled.

“Can’t see a reason for the issues, Lee. Everything here looks completely normal. You want me to stop the test?”

Lee glanced at Nelson, who was leaning over Grafton’s right shoulder. “Not just yet,” the Admiral muttered softly.

But it was loud enough. “Understood,” Chip responded. Lee took a deep breath and looked at James, who merely sent the look back.

The peace didn’t last long. Sharkey, Riley, and Layton all called out at the same time. Lee flipped a mental coin and turned toward the Helmsman. “Seaview changing course, coming to a new heading of 135 relative.”

“That was the first course correction in the program,” Lt. James confirmed.

“At least something is going right,” Lee told him. He glanced toward Hydrophones but Nelson was already in quiet conversation with Riley so he turned to Sharkey.

“More system lights starting to flicker,” the COB reported. “A/C, ballast control…”

Lee cut him off. “Nothing Nav controls should be going anywhere near. Admiral?”

“Sonar is almost completely out, Hydrophones are going fast.”

“Chip, shut it down,” Lee ordered. There was almost complete silence in the Conn except for a strange breathy sound. Lee tried to find its origin, and did so at exactly the same time Nelson did. It was coming from Admiral Kiester.

At some point, and Lee was a bit bothered that he had no idea when – although he had been just slightly distracted the last few minutes – Will had come down the spiral stairs and was standing very quietly against the portside bulkhead. Lee saw him nod to someone, and was just turning toward Nelson when Chip almost yelled, “Lee, it won’t disengage.”

“What?” Lee did yell. “The kill switch…”

“Is working. I’ll swear to it. But the program is still running, like its taken over…” A word came out of Chip’s mouth that Lee was pretty sure none of the crew had ever heard him use. “All the extra programming,” he spit out only slightly less venomously, “it wasn’t redundancy; it’s a separate program.” The same word slipped out again, although almost under his breath. “I missed it.”

“Then you’ll just have to figure out a way to un-miss it,” Lee sent back. He was in no frame of mind to tease but it seemed the best response at the time, given the atmosphere in the Conn. At least one person enjoyed the quip – Admiral Kiester practically giggled.

But Lee had no time to wonder about it as Garcia once more claimed his attention. “Skipper, speed increasing.”

Lee grabbed the mic. “O’Brien, shut down power.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” was followed by a pause. “Controls not responding,” came back in the lieutenant’s not-quite-under-control voice.

Before Lee could respond, Nelson did. “Shut down the reactor.”

Lee made the call but it was only a moment before the response came, this time in Cookie’s voice. “Reactor Room door locked tight. We can’t get in.”

“Then cut your way in,” Lee ordered. He didn’t have time to wonder why Seaview’s back-up Reactor Control operator – and full-time chef – was responding instead of Master Chief Mason because Layton once more called out.

“New course, heading 155 relative.”

Lee felt Seaview’s deck tilting under him. “Dive planes engaged,” Seaman Abbott was next to report. “Down bubble eight degrees.”

“Fathometer still working?” Lee practically growled.

“So far, sir,” Layton answered. “Our way’s clear.” There was a slight pause. “For now, sir,” was added somewhat carefully. Lee sent him a wry smile. Seaview’s Senior Helmsman was one of the calmest-under-pressure men Lee had ever worked with. But even his voice was expressing strain.

Lee wasn’t given any longer to contemplate his exemplary crew as several voices yelled at once. “More systems crashing.” Sharkey. “Speed increasing.” Garcia. Layton’s call of “Changing course to heading 80 degrees relative,” proved unnecessary as Seaview ducked under Lee’s feet and then dived steeply. “Down bubble increased to twenty degrees,” Abbott added.

“Course change and down bubble not in the programming,” James called from the Nav computer. He knew that it was unnecessary as the senior officers all knew the test parameters forward and back. But it was still his job to keep those officers informed. He wasn’t expecting a response, but the brief nod his captain sent him was still rewarding.

“Speed continuing to increase.” Garcia’s voice was beginning to sound panicky.

Lee could empathize – he wasn’t feeling all that confident at the moment himself. And it didn’t help in the least when Sparks called out. “All communications down, Skipper. Both outgoing and inner boat systems just crashed.”

“Chip?” Lee called out, but got no response.

“Layton,” Nelson called out, “grab the helm controls. Will they move at all?”

“Speed continuing to increase,” filtered into Lee’s ears as he stared at Nelson. “Up to ‘full’ and not showing any sign of stopping there.”

“Stiff and sluggish, sir,” Layton finally got to answer Nelson. “I can budge them. Barely,” was added after a short pause.

“What’s wrong, Nelson?” was shouted from the Nose. Lee spared a glance and saw that Admiral Kiester had stood up and was glaring at Nelson, still back between Sonar and Hydrophone stations. “Your precious toy not working like it’s supposed to? How awful for you.” Each sentence got a bit louder as Kiester’s sneer grew.

“Shut up, Leon,” Nelson growled back.

“You’re all going to die,” came as both sneer and voice increased.

“Majors,” Nelson told the security seaman who had continued to stand by the aft hatch, “escort Admiral Kiester to his cabin.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Majors answered immediately and started to walk forward.

At the same time Will took steps in Kiester’s direction as he started to pull something from his pocket that Lee recognized as the small injection kit Seaview’s CMO tended to carry with him if he suspected that he’d need some drug in a hurry. Lee caught himself frowning but realized instantly that it was his own reaction to having had the kit used on him, not anything to do with who Jamie’s apparent victim was in this case – Kiester.

Who was focused on Seaman Majors, walking forward and didn’t see Will until the CMO spoke. “Admiral, why don’t you and I get out of the way and…”

Kiester’s right arm whipped out and Will, caught totally off guard, flew backwards. His head hit the edge of the window ledge and he didn’t move. Both Majors and Lee sprang forward as Nelson yelled ‘something’ – Lee was so focused on Kiester at that point that he didn’t remember later what Nelson had said. What he did remember was Kiester taking a small pistol from his pocket and shooting Majors, who dropped to the deck instantly. The gun was starting to turn in Lee’s direction when, seemingly out of nowhere, Lt. James tackled him, but not before two more rounds were fired and Lee saw Layton slump forward and Abbott fall out of his chair.

Lee’s brain registered Seaview’s speed continuing to increase and the deck under his feet once more was twisting, turning, and diving. “Lee,” he heard Nelson order, “take the helm. Try to get some kind of control and keep us from hitting anything.” It went against Lee’s nature not to run for the Nose, or check Majors, or Jamie, or help James with a still struggling Kiester. But some sixth sense sorted through the chaos to triage what was most important at that exact moment and he slipped in beside the semi-conscious helmsman and grabbed the controls. He did manage to spare half a glance at Abbott. He was moaning and blood was staining his upper right arm, but even that didn’t look too bad.

Just as quickly, Kowalski was next to him. Lee wasn’t sure where he came from but was very happy to see him. Seaview’s senior rating was also First Aid certified; he already had Layton on the deck and was assessing the wound – Lee took a quick glance and saw blood starting to spread over the helmsman’s right shoulder – when Seaview’s two corpsmen came rushing into the Conn. Kowalski surrendered to one of them and took Abbott’s place at the Plane controls.

“Ski,” Lee ordered, “try to get us leveled off. Controls are stiff – I can barely steer.” Lee registered Kowalski’s “aye, aye, sir,” but all of his attention was focused on the helm. It didn’t help at all that suddenly the Fathometer winked out. With almost everything else in the Conn out as well Lee was in essence driving totally blind!

Nelson was as furious as he could ever remember being, and yet part of his brain registered Seaview’s crew jumping instantly into the fray to help anywhere they could. Sonar was dead so Grafton went to help the injured. Communications was out – how the corpsmen knew to come forward Nelson had no idea, but suspected some other crewman had heard the shots and ran for help. Also, because all radio traffic was dead Sparks came forward to help where he could. Riley had ditched his earphones and helped James take control of Kiester. That admiral was switching back and forth between screaming at Nelson that everything he loved was about to die, and laughing hysterically. MAA Chief Hauck had magically appeared about the same time as the corpsmen and took over for Lt. James. Will was beginning to move, but sluggishly. Nelson didn’t have the time to do anything except register that there was nothing he could do here that wasn’t already being done. As James stood up, Nelson reached under the chart table for a couple of walkie-talkies stored there. “Lieutenant,” he ordered, and tossed the man one of the units, “I’m going down to the computer room and help Morton.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” James acknowledged, catching the radio, and Nelson ran out the aft hatch as several more crewmen ran in.

Chip was having his own mini-panic attack. He, too, could easily feel Seaview’s disjointed movements, but with communications down all he could focus on was trying to regain control of the computers. A stray comment by one of his early computer teachers slipped unrequested into his brain, about to err was human but if you really wanted to screw something up get a computer, and he unfortunately had half a smile on his face as Nelson ran in.

“Something funny?” Nelson spit out.

“No, sir,” Chip got himself back together.

“What happened?” was the next demand.

“If I had to guess I’d say that all those ‘redundant’ programs weren’t that at all, but a major virus that our software failed to detect. Still, I should have.”

“Let’s hope that I have the time to yell at you about it later,” Nelson told him, his voice softer. “What can I do?”

“The only thing I can think of at the moment is, shut down the entire system and do a complete wipe. I’ve got back-up rescue discs for enough systems that, if we can keep from blowing up in the meantime, we can limp back to Pearl,” referencing the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii. “Not knowing what was happening I was a little afraid to start. Once Seaview loses computer commands she should return to all manual. Assuming the virus hasn’t corrupted those by now.”

Nelson nodded. “Where do we start?” Together they started yanking out connections.

Lee had his hands full – literally. Seaview was barely responding, so stiff and sluggish were the controls. Kowalski was doing the best he could but Seaview continued to dive, albeit now at less of an angle. Without Sonar, Hydrophone, or Fathometer Lee had to rely on memory of the local charts he’d studied – the problem was, he wasn’t sure how far Seaview had traveled from where they’d started the test. They were also much deeper than he’d planned to be. He was trying to remember where obstacles might lay in the submarine’s path, all the while feeling Seaview try to sprint out from under him so fast was she flying underwater. At that speed the forward windows were all but useless to him but he looked that direction anyway.

Kowalski wasn’t sure what was happening so he just concentrated on doing what he’d been ordered to do – try to pull Seaview’s nose up. Since that required nothing more than continuously pulling straight back on the controls he was peripherally aware of others’ movements around the Conn. Majors, after being looked at quickly by Frank, Doc’s senior corpsman, was covered by a blanket and arriving crewmen moved him aft, no doubt headed for Sick Bay. Ski wasn’t encouraged by the amount of blood left on the deck and quickly covered by another blanket as Frank moved forward to attend to a slowly moving Doc. John, the other corpsman, had gone straight to Layton and Abbott, and that seemed to go much better. Layton had regained consciousness and was softly answering John’s questions, as was Abbott.

Ski saw the Skipper’s hands move, felt the still speeding Seaview shift to port several degrees, and wondered why. Chiefs Hauck and Sharkey had a still screaming Admiral Kiester restrained between them. Ski saw Doc motion toward him and say something to Frank. Frank nodded, took out a syringe he filled with fluid from a small bottle, and inject the raving admiral with the apparent drug. Whatever it was, Kiester finally shut up and the two chiefs dragged him off.

Once more the Skipper’s hands moved, this time directing Seaview to starboard. ‘Something’ flashing past the port side of the window sent a chill up Ski’s spine and he tried to pull even harder on the planes. No way would he make the effort to see behind him but he did catch snatches of individual voices. Lt. James telling Sparks that it was safe to return to his station now that the gunfire was contained and to keep trying his radios. Patterson, when had he come in, notifying James that he and Riley were manning Sonar and Hydrophone in case they came back on line. COB Sharkey saying that Admiral Kiester was sedated and in his cabin, in restraints and under double guards. Lt. James asking how all the others were, and Sharkey responding that he’d not entered Sick Bay to find out because Doc’s extremely angry voice was audible a full corridor away. That made Ski smile, but it died abruptly when once more Seaview moved to port. He couldn’t see the starboard side of the windows from where he was sitting, and from someone’s sucked in breath behind him was fairly glad that he couldn’t. Once more he put every bit of strength he could into his constant pull on the dive planes.

There was a good bit of bad thoughts – and a smattering of cryptic words – going on in the computer lab. Langdon and Reese, the two techs, had shown up just after Nelson had and all four men were doing everything they could think of, as well as a few rather unorthodox procedures, to shut down Seaview’s entire computer system. Chip sent Reese to his cabin at one point to get the re-boot discs he kept there for emergencies. Once those were delivered Chip sent Langdon to Auxiliary Control and Reese to Engineering to shut down as many systems as they could think of. They, too, had felt Seaview’s turns, but other than quick looks passed between them, mostly just increased the speed of their hands. Both could feel Seaview’s deck come to not quite so steep an angle and gave each other a look before setting off on their individual assignments.

Lee had no idea of time passed. His mind was filled with speed and depth computations coupled with trying to remember as much of the area’s charts as he could. He knew better than to ask Kowalski to pull back harder on the plane controls; one quick glance showed the rating’s arms straining for all they were worth. Somewhere in his thoughts a small pocket collected bits of conversation around him but for the most part it was just Chris James maintaining as much calm in the Conn as he could. But his attention was drawn back to the helm and he ‘knew’ that he needed another turn to starboard immediately.

Cookie watched Seaman Macklin work furiously with the acetylene cutting torch on the reactor Room door. He was impatient, but he knew Macklin was working as fast as he could so did his best to stay out of the man’s way. As he donned heavy gloves to deal with the heat he’d encounter opening the heavy metal door once the lock – and how the heck that had gotten stuck he had no idea – was cut out they could both feel Seaview’s deck duck under them. Both men tried to ignore the movement and concentrate on what they needed to do. From passing crewmen scurrying around helping where they could and passing messages by mouth since all communications were down Cookie knew that Seaview was in serious trouble unless they could get her back under manual control. Cookie’s job was to shut down power to the out-of-control engines and he wasn’t about to let his officers down. Master Chief Mason was standing next to him, wrapped hand and all. Cookie was perfectly happy having his one good hand for help!

Chip’s well-documented ‘cool-under-pressure’ persona aboard Seaview was about to go down the tubes. For every component he and Nelson tried to shut down, two more came on line giving the submarine bad information. In total desperation he threatened out loud to go down to Circuitry and start yanking out wires. Nelson sent him a quirky look. “You remember what happened when Lee did that?” He referenced an episode in Seaview’s history that had never been full revealed, even though Seaview had been on a secret mission for the State Department at the time.+++ No one knew how to explain how a 5000-year-old mummy could suddenly ‘wake up’.

“At least we stopped,” Chip muttered, remembered who he was muttering at, and added a careful “sir.”

“On the bottom,” Nelson reminded him. “Not such a good idea where we are at the moment.”

“Harrumph,” was muttered softly by the blond. Seaview made another turn to port and the pair continued to work once more in silence.

“Chris, any news?” Lee called to the young lieutenant as he struggled to move the controls.

“No, sir. Runners are doing…wait.” Lee heard a voice he didn’t immediately identify speak softly. “Harris says Cookie and Master Chief Mason are only a couple minutes from getting into the Reactor Room.” As the last word came out everyone felt Seaview perceptively slow. Still moving far too fast given present conditions, but at least she wasn’t continuing to increase. Another couple minutes and even more speed was being scrubbed off. Lee pushed Chris’ voice back as he made another turn to starboard, but now based on the submarine’s gradually decreasing speed.

* * * *

Seven hours later a thoroughly exhausted Nelson dropped heavily into his usual seat in the Wardroom. Across the table, in Lee’s usual spot, sat his equally tired-looking CMO. “What’s the final count?” Will asked, as Higgins set a large mug of coffee in front of Nelson and replenished Will’s.

“You first,” Nelson muttered as he took a long swallow of what was referred to often as ‘Seaview’s lifeblood’.

Will sighed heavily. “Majors died instantly; there was nothing I could have done even if I wasn’t out cold.”

“How’s your head?” Nelson asked carefully. Even he walked carefully around a totally ticked off CMO, and when he took the time to really look Will was showing all the signs.

“Pounding nicely,” Will growled, but finally sent his boss a genuine smile. “Abbott and Layton’s injuries are a little messy but they’ll both heal quickly.” He sent a glare at Nelson. “How the blazes did Kiester get a firearm aboard unchallenged?”

Nelson shrugged. “He’s an admiral; no one checked.”

“Eesh.”

“Got that right,” Nelson growled. Suddenly he snorted softly. “I can see it now; Lee and Chip get their heads together and write new regs for Security, and the next time Jiggs comes aboard…”

Will choked and sputtered on the coffee he’d just tried to swallow. “Help,” finally came out breathlessly. Nelson merely grinned. “The sub?” Will changed the subject.

Nelson’s frown came back. “Limping back to Pearl at one-quarter speed.” He took a deep breath and another long swallow of coffee. “Most of the systems are being run manually. Chip is kicking himself six ways from Sunday…” He sent Will a long look. “It was not his fault!”

“But, like the Skipper when something goes wrong, he’ll automatically take responsibility because the computers are his special ‘babies’.”

Nelson nodded. “Sparks managed to get Communications back on line – that was priority one once we got Seaview stopped – and I’ve had some interesting conversations with both Admiral Holcolm at R&D, and Jiggs.” Will cringed. “Yeah,” Nelson agreed.

“Admiral Kiester had access to the program.” It wasn’t a question.

Nelson nodded, sighed, and polished off his coffee. Higgins immediately refilled it, causing both Nelson and Will to smile softly. But Nelson’s frown made a quick return. “Leon was a whole lot smarter than people gave him credit for; something he cultivated very carefully.”

“He’d have had to, to keep it so quiet.”

Nelson nodded. “As the years went by people simply forgot what a good student he’d been, what a good young officer, because he presented this competent but slightly dotty persona to everyone. In private he was teaching himself some amazing computer skills.” He smiled softly. “Chip is thoroughly impressed.” He paused. “When he’s not muttering under his breath.”

“The rest of the crew giving him a wide berth?” Will guessed.

“Very wide,” Nelson confirmed. “Langdon and Reese, the two computer techs, are being very quiet, following orders instantly, and only speaking when spoken to first.” He chuckled softly. “More dinners Chip will owe them – when he calms down, of course.”

“Uhm,” Will nodded.

“Once we got Seaview back under what is passing at the moment as ‘control’ he and they got busy separating out the various computer systems he’s spent so much time the last few years integrating, then wiping them clean and only reactivating those systems we absolutely have to have; communications, navigation… Cookie’s still down in Reactor Control with Master Chief Mason getting everything there put back together.”

“Wasn’t it just a matter of shutting down the Reactor?”

“Mostly. But they had to cut their way into the room once Leon’s program locked down all the automatic security doors, and that caused a few problems of its own.”

“Kiester thought of everything.”

Nelson smirked. “Not quite,” he told Will. “He’d never been aboard Seaview, didn’t understand how a lot of our systems have evolved from SOP aboard Navy subs.”

“All of his trying to interfere…” Will’s voice trailed off.

“Uhuh,” Nelson nodded. “And his frustration when we kept getting in his way. Turns out he had been feeding Holcolm at R&D, and Jiggs as well, a whole lot of conflicting information.”

“Why you?”

Nelson shrugged. “Jealousy. For the most part, anyway, I think.” He shrugged again. “Is he still sedated?”

Will nodded. “And going to stay that way until we can turn him over to Base Security at Pearl.” His voice was firm.

“I’ve already talked to them. Apparently Jiggs had as well. Leon won’t be able to slick-talk his way out of this one.”

“Good!” His turn to drain his mug and have it instantly refilled by Higgins. “But surely he knew that he was going to die as well. Or,” he sent Nelson a look, “wasn’t there some mention of a vessel of some sort topside that wasn’t supposed to be there? Did he have an escape plan that got messed up when he realized Seaview wasn’t what he was expecting?”

Nelson shook his head. “Pearl Security checked with the Coast Guard; they knew about the yacht. Some billionaire taking his family on an extended cruise and just happened to be passing through the area.”

“Oh.”

“As for a suicide wish…” He shook his head again. “I’ll leave that one for the shrinks.” He frowned. “Lee’s already complaining about Leon using a plea of insanity to get off.” Will sent him a look. “Fat chance,” Nelson assured him.

“Hallelujah,” Will told him with feeling. “Speaking of Lee, where is our intrepid Captain?”

“Everywhere at once,” Nelson told him with a tired smile. “You mean he hasn’t hit Sick Bay to check on the injured?”

“Frank said something about seeing his head poke through the door.” Will frowned. “I think that was about the time I was cleaning up after Majors’ autopsy. I wasn’t in the best of moods by that time and both Frank and John were keeping their distance.” He sent Nelson a quirky smile. “I suspect that they need to compare notes with Chip’s computer techs.” Both men nodded.

“The last I saw him he was walking through the Conn, making sure Lt. James had everything in as much control as possible. Spotted me in the Radio Shack, nodded, and he headed back out again.” Nelson shrugged. “Not even going to guess what he’s in the middle of at the moment.” Suddenly he chuckled softly. “Other than trying to ignore everyone’s attempts to congratulate him for keeping us all safe – again!”

“Divine Providence,” Will looked upward. “Has to be. No instruments, no camera, and for what, twenty minutes, going at full speed plus, he manages to keep Seaview from smacking anything?”

“Closer to thirty,” Nelson corrected. “Lee claims he spent enough time looking at the charts to have sub…”

“Ouch,” Will muttered.

“…consciously memorized them,” Nelson finished, smiling at Will’s reaction to his unintended pun. “Chip just looked at him, shrugged, and muttered something about luck. No doubt trying to keep it low-key for Lee’s sake.”

Will nodded. “He knows only too well that Lee tries to dodge credit.”

“Agreed.”

“And you, Admiral?”

“If I had to speculate, all of the above,” he told Will. “But I’d add that sixth-slash-sixtieth sense he seems to have; that special awareness of the boat and it’s feel going through the water, as if he can feel the minute differences in water pressure from an approaching obstacle.”

“From inside?” Will asked, not quite believing. And yet, it was typical of Seaview’s captain. “Eesh.”

Nelson smiled. “COB Sharkey calls it ‘the knack’.” ++++ “But if you really can’t handle any of that, there’s always the rest of the crew’s conclusion.”

Will made a face, but surrendered to the inevitable. “Okay, I’ll bite,” he told his boss. “What would that be?”

“It’s just the Skipper,” came softly from Higgins. Both Nelson and Will smiled.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* see “So You Want To Be An XO” by R. L. Keller

** see “Pressure Valve” by R. L. Keller

*** see Voyage ep “Mutiny”

**** see “Past Imperfect” by R. L. Keller

+ see Voyage ep “The Human Computer”

++ see “Code” by R. L. Keller

+++ see Voyage ep “The Mummy”

++++ see Susan F.’s story “The Knack”