Baffled

By R. L. Keller

Seaman Patterson, working this watch at his usual Hydrophone station on Seaview, glanced behind him to the chart table where the submarine’s CO and XO were softly harassing each other. They and their dates had gone bowling the night before sailing on what was to be a fairly quiet cruise to service a bunch of sensors they’d placed along North America’s western waters. Neither they nor their ladies were all that proficient and they’d ended up laughing the entire evening at each other’s attempts, all four having a terrific time. Patterson hated to interrupt but didn’t have a choice. “Skipper, that noise is back again.”

Lee was instantly all business. “Chief, check the board,” he told COB Sharkey as he walked over and accepted the second set of headphones from Patterson.

“Green across,” Sharkey responded almost immediately.

Lee nodded, listened for a few seconds, and told Chip, “Better call the Admiral.” He continued to listen to the strange noises being picked up by Seaview’s highly efficient systems until Admiral Nelson appeared at his elbow and he handed over the headphones. In the background he heard Chip call down to Propulsion.

Nelson all but threw down the headphones and glared at Sharkey. “Green across the board up here, sir,” the COB told him.

The glare transferred to Chip. “O’Brien says everything is normal in Engineering and the screws are functioning perfectly, sir.”

The glare went this time toward Lee, but all Seaview’s captain could do was shrug. “Damn,” snuck out of Nelson’s mouth before he could stop it. The glare went back to Chip. “Speed,” was his next order.

“Just went up to Full from three-quarter, sir,” Chip told him almost hesitantly, and sent a quick glance Lee’s way.

“Harrumph,” Nelson growled and also looked at Lee. “This makes…?”

Thankfully, Lee had gotten fairly proficient at reading Nelson’s mind in such situations so he easily answered Nelson’s unasked question. “The third time, sir. Every time we’ve increased to Full speed in the last two days we get that specific weird noise, but no indication of anything amiss in Seaview’s handling.”

“And the only changes since the last cruise…” Nelson’s voice was starting to calm down.

“Are the new propeller blades, sir,” Lee confirmed.

“Damn,” snuck out again, much softer this time. “There was absolutely no indication of trouble when we tested them in the pool.”

“No, sir,” Lee confirmed. “They passed every test beautifully, with no sign of cavitation even at higher speeds. And, sir,” he added carefully – while Nelson’s voice had softened, his expression hadn’t – “the sounds Hydrophones are picking up don’t actually sound like normal cavitation sounds.”

Nelson’s glare momentarily hardened before abruptly softening. “No,” he agreed. “They don’t.” He glanced down at Patterson. “It doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before.” He sent Seaview’s senior Hydrophone operator a raised eyebrow.

“New one to me, too, sir.” He paused. “It almost reminds me of my nephew’s helicopter drone; that kind of buzz, but muffled by water.”

“Kowalski?” Lee sent his own mini-glare at Seaview’s Senior Rating, and her best Sonar operator.

“Nothing, sir.” Lee wasn’t the only one fairly good at reading minds, given specific instances. “Nothing on Sonar either this time or the other times it’s happened. There’s nothing but us out here as far as I can tell.”

“I could…” Lee started, and then amended, “well, we could,” and he sent Nelson a bit of shy smile, “go out in FS1 and sit behind Seaview as Chip brings her up to Full speed.”

“That would be an interesting ride,” was muttered softly from Chip’s direction. Lee’s instant frown turned sheepish as he glanced at Nelson.

“What he said,” Nelson agreed. “We could stay off to one side, but then we wouldn’t have a clear view.” Lee agreed with a short nod.

“Humm,” Nelson pondered. “And absolutely no indication of any trouble on board.”

“No, sir,” came from Lee, Chip, and Sharkey in unison. “Knot speed stays stable and within normal parameters,” Chip added.

“Humm,” Nelson muttered once more, almost to himself, and then looked at Chip. “ETA the next sensor?”

“At what speed, sir?” Lee interrupted carefully

“For now, better safe than sorry,” Nelson decided. “Keep her at three-quarters.”

“Aye, sir,” Chip acknowledged. “Then, call it five hours to the nearest sensor.”

“While divers are servicing the sensor, I’m going out and inspecting the propellers. I know,” he cut off whatever Lee was opening his mouth to say. “They worked perfectly in the pool. But this is their first sea trial.”

“I was actually going to say, sir,” Lee told him with a return of the shy smile, “that that sounded like a great idea.”

“Harrumph,” Nelson muttered, gave Lee’s shoulder a soft backhanded slap, and headed up the spiral stairs.

Lee leaned back against the periscope railing, crossed his arms over his chest, and took in all the Conn stations with a glance. “Anybody have any ideas?”

“Sir,” Lt. Chris James, Chip’s second most days in the Conn, spoke up. “Could something have gotten caught around one of the shafts, or perhaps one of the blades?”

“But we’ve had that happen,” Chip added, “and it has always affected at least one gauge, or there’s been some indication of a problem.” Lee sent him a nod, and glanced at his watch as he unfolded his arms. “Time for a ‘walkaboat’ before lunch,” Chip told him with a slight smirk.

“Harrumph,” Lee growled, but then grinned as most of the Conn crew did as well at their senior officers’ continued teasing, and headed out the aft hatch.

Headed for the Wardroom just over an hour later, Lee switched directions and poked his head into Admiral Nelson’s lab. As expected, the Admiral had his nose in a pile of papers. There was no doubt in Lee’s mind that he was going through all the specs for the new propeller blades trying to find any small detail that he might have overlooked. Lee was firmly of the opinion that Nelson would find nothing, simply because the Admiral would never make that kind of mistake. But he also wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud when Nelson himself was second-guessing his design.

“Lunch time, sir,” Lee said instead, with a grin when Nelson looked up to see who was interrupting him. Nelson’s instant glare at the invasion to his private lair quickly softened. He nodded, rose, and followed Lee out. “Any new ideas, sir?” Lee offered his boss the chance to vent.

“No,” came out in a growl, but he sent Lee a sideways look, then chuckled softly when Lee merely shrugged.

“Now what’s he done,” interrupted, and they both looked up to see Seaview’s CMO, Dr. Will Jamison, headed their direction.

“What he’s supposed to do,” Nelson answered before Lee could even open his mouth. “Keep me focused on what’s important instead of mired in self-doubt.”

“Sir,” Lee instantly tried to argue.

Nelson pointed a finger at him. “Don’t even try,” came out firmly, but his smile was an indulgent one.

“Yes, sir,” Lee surrendered. Caught again – can’t ever get anything past him, he told only himself, and followed the two older men to the Officers’ Wardroom as Nelson explained to Will that there was apparently an issue with the new propeller blades Nelson had designed.

“And heaven forbid you not be able to solve the puzzle,” Will told him, only semi-teasing. A bubble of laughter escaped Lee’s mouth before he could stop it and it caused both Nelson and Will to grin. That was a long-standing given aboard Seaview, and at NIMR – Nelson hated unsolved puzzles.

Chip joined them just as the other three were sitting down to warm Reuben sandwiches, potato salad, and sliced peaches and pears. As the blond sat down, his plate loaded heavier than any of the others – as usual – Cookie set a plate of warm brownies down between the four. Chip immediately reached for one and Lee smacked Chip’s hand. “Dessert after you eat your meal,” he ordered. “Didn’t your mother teach you anything?” Cookie laughed all the way back into the Galley. Chip sent a glare at his back, but the others all grinning had him quickly doing the same.

Will was mostly quiet during the meal as the other three kibitzed about boat’s business, as was normal. Nelson frequently used mealtimes to catch up on what was happening aboard. Nelson explained to him in a little more detail about the current issue as the three discussed a few possible reasons, but without further information they didn’t have any real thoughts on how to solve it other than to put the old propellers back on. In port that would take most of a day; at sea Lee figured at least twice that long, and even held down to three-quarter speed they’d finish this cruise within original parameters. With no indication of anything major other than the strange noise, Nelson figured that it would be safe if need be to cruise at Full. Lee frowned at that. Nelson was quick to point out that as far as he was concerned they could stay at three-quarter speed, and both Lee and Chip quickly nodded their agreement.

Will buried a grin in a bite of sandwich. Times like this occasionally made him think of what Nelson had been like before Lee took over command of Seaview. He’d come to NIMR several months after Lee, but had of course heard stories of Seaview’s first year of service under Capt. John Phillips. Chip never said much, but Will got the impression that Phillips didn’t challenge what Nelson asked Seaview to do; that he merely tried to keep up with whatever the Admiral asked. That changed with Lee’s arrival. Not that Lee argued with Nelson. That’s the surest way to set off Nelson’s infamous temper, Will thought to himself. No, Lee always came at issues with a logical plan to keep Seaview and her crew as safe as possible. He and Nelson still butted heads, especially in the beginning. But Will had been witness to Nelson more and more accepting Lee’s ideas and plans. Lee, of course, was always careful how he presented any challenges to Nelson’s ‘I’ll do what I want, when I want’ attitude about things. But NIMR had a calmer, more controlled, atmosphere to it than when Will had first come.

At least, Will thought he’d been keeping his own council. Chip lightly elbowing Lee and saying, “Jamie’s smirking; means he’s up to something,” reminded Will that nothing but nothing got past Seaview’s ultra-efficient XO.

Now Will grinned, both at the comment, and the nickname pretty much only Lee and Chip used to address the doctor. But there was a soft growl in his voice as he stared at the blond. “Can’t I even have a pleasant thought to myself without you thinking I’m plotting something nefarious?”

Chip looked at him, then at Lee, before both answered together, “No,” firmly. Nelson snorted and shook his head, the others finally grinned, and they all went back to eating.

As they all nearly finished and the brownies disappeared, mostly into Lee and Chip, Nelson told Lee, “Give me half an hour lead time as we approach the sensor, then meet me in the Missile Room. I’d like you to go out with me to check the blades.”

“Was already planning on it,” Lee told him with a bit of his shy smile. Chip grinned, Will chuckled, and Nelson nodded.

Typical Lee, Nelson thought as he left the Wardroom. One step ahead of me, and he headed back to his lab. The crewmen he met on the way had no idea why Nelson was grinning; they were just happy to see the OOM in a good mood!

* * * *

1500 hours found Will wandering into the Missile Room as Nelson and Lee, along with half a dozen others, were getting into wetsuits. Lee sent him a look. “What’s up, Jamie?” was asked carefully.

Will grinned. He knew exactly why Lee had used that tone of voice. “Chill, Skipper. Merely bored and decided I’d take up one of your favorite activities: walkaboats.”

“Help,” came from the corridor, and Chip walked into view.

As there were a multitude of choked off chuckles and snickers from all over the Missile Room, Will sent his CO a shrug. “Why so many divers?” he asked.

Chip answered before Lee could. “Two to service the sensor, two as watchdogs for them; this is shark territory,” he added with a frown. “And two to watchdog for the Admiral and Lee, same reason.”

“Understood,” Will told him, but then had to adjust his balance as Seaview shifted a bit underneath him and he sent the blond a look.

Chip cringed ever so slightly. “With Propulsion down so the Admiral can inspect the screws, we have to balance only with buoyancy,” he explained. “It’s a little tricky, but Chris,” he referenced Lt. James, “is getting the hang of it.”

“Literally, it would seem,” Will told him with a grin. Chip sent the doctor a small glare for the horrible pun but both Lee and Nelson snickered.

“Not something we have to do very often,” Lee added. He looked at Chip. “Tell him for me that he’s doing a good job.” Chip nodded and headed back out, but not before Will saw him send a particularly firm look at the four crewmen who were now fully suited up and picking up spearguns. He realized that Lee had seen it as well, but merely shook his head as he tightened the straps on his air tanks. There wasn’t a crewman aboard Seaview, or anyone at NIMR for that matter, who didn’t know that look from the XO – you let anything happen that could have been avoided and you can expect to be made very unhappy for the foreseeable future. The watchdogs would be on their toes the entire dive!

Those four went out first, then Lee and Nelson with Henderson and Mickelson, the pair tasked with servicing the sensor: downloading the data, checking for any damage, and replacing the powerpack. They picked up their watchdogs and headed for the ocean floor while Lee and Nelson, with their watchdogs, headed aft to inspect the propellers.

As they’d suspected, neither Nelson nor Lee could find a thing wrong. No tangled seaweed, no snagged fishing lines, no damage to any of the blades. Lee inspected all around Seaview’s stern while Nelson concentrated on the screws but both came up empty. As they sat once more in the Missile Room, removing their dive gear and redressing, Nelson pondered out loud. “It has to be in the design itself, but I can’t make heads or tails of why.”

“When you eventually figure it out,” Lee offered, “you’ll kick yourself for not finding the problem faster.”

“I don’t find that as comforting as I assume you meant it,” Nelson told him a bit forlornly before he shrugged. “But thanks anyway.” He sent Lee a soft grin. Lee sent it shyly back and they both headed off to different parts of the giant submarine.

* * * *

After dinner Lee tracked down Seaman Patterson, now off duty, and the pair sat quietly in a back corner of the Wardroom going back over the strange happenings. Pat had been on duty the first time, as well as this most recent instance. Seaman Wylie had been on duty the other time but he was fairly new to Seaview. He’d noted the change in sound and reported it immediately but didn’t know Seaview well enough yet to be able to postulate a cause. Well, neither Pat nor Lee could come up with anything either, but they were both far more able to discuss the issue because of their years aboard – Pat even longer than Lee. They kicked around half a dozen ideas, most of which had already been pretty much ruled out.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, Skipper,” Pat finally said, clearly frustrated. “The closest I can come to describing it is, something traveling in our baffles.” He referred to the area in the water right behind a sub, through which a hull-mounted sonar cannot hear. Seaview’s hydrophones and hydrograph had been designed to at least partially cover that potentially blind spot.

“I’d thought of that, too,” Lee nodded, “but either Sonar or you should have been able to detect anything either getting that close, or moving away as we slowed down.”

“Yep,” Pat agreed. “We did have that problem once, when that Russian lady was aboard, of a sub sending out probes ahead of itself that sounded like whales following us.” *

Lee cringed ever so slightly. He remembered only too well that cruise, and what he’d been forced to do because of the woman’s actions. But he quickly shook it off. “You’re right, I’d forgotten about that. And neither Sonar nor Hydrophone detected the probes, only the signals they were sending out, while the sub itself stayed out of range of our equipment.”

“Maybe you and the Admiral could go out in FS1 and scout behind us?” Pat suggested.

“That’s been suggested already, and it’s actually the best idea I’ve heard yet,” Lee agreed. A quick grin hit his face. “A long shot for sure, but any excuse to go ‘play’ in the Flying Sub.” They both grinned.

* * * *

Lee proposed the idea to Nelson the next morning at breakfast, although he got momentarily sidetracked as he had to take a second look at this morning’s main selection: French toast, but made with croissants sliced in half lengthwise, then dipped in the egg mixture and fried. He glanced up as Cookie came to stand on the other side of the serving table. “A little decadent, Cookie?”

The premier chef, and Seaview’s backup Nuclear Reactor Technician, shrugged. “Discovered two packages got sort of lost behind the rest of the bread in the freezer. They needed to be used; didn’t want them to go to waste. This seemed like a good way; they came out pretty good, I think.”

“They do look interesting,” Lee agreed, took his usual small portions of what he wanted, and sat down. He was halfway through eating when Nelson and Will walked in, with Chip nearly on their heels. Cookie had to once more explain, but the substitute clearly went over well. Cookie was nearly beside himself when Lee, always a light eater, went back for a second helping. Lee mentioned Patterson’s idea to the Admiral after gently harassing Chip when the blond went back for thirds.

“You just want an excuse to take FS1 out,” Chip chided as he sat back down next to Lee, who merely shrugged.

Nelson chuckled softly. “But it also gives me an opportunity to scout around the area we’re traveling through a bit more.”

“Yes, sir.” Lee, as well as the other two, knew how much Nelson loved checking out every part of every body of water he could get to.

“When do we reach the next sensor?” Nelson directed the question at Chip.

“Roughly 1030 hours,” came back after Chip quickly swallowed the mouthful of food he’d just taken.

“And the one after that is approximately six hours away?” was Nelson’s next question.

“Holding at three-quarter speed, yes, sir.” Lee answered this time.

“Humm.” Nothing was said as Nelson rose and got his own second helping of croissant French toast. Once he’d sat back down and taken a couple of bites he continued. “If we go out while the sensor is being serviced, and wander off well out of range, as Seaview moves off we can come up from well behind and follow.”

“And once Seaview leaves, Chip can call for Full speed and see what happens. If nothing else, we can get close enough behind, but out of the turbulence, to see if we can spot anything amiss.” Lee liked that plan.

“Sounds good,” Nelson agreed. He took another bite, swallowed, and called, “Cookie?” The chef instantly appeared in the pass-through from the Galley. Nelson pointed to his plate. “I think this needs to be a new regular.”

Cookie grinned from ear to ear. “Yes, sir,” and he headed back to his domain.

* * * *

“Sir?” Lee asked carefully.

“Yes, Lee?” Nelson answered just as carefully.

“How can an experiment be a success and a failure at the same time?”

Nelson snorted. “Easy. When what you accomplish was exactly what you set out to do, but the result is absolutely nothing.” That last came out a soft growl.

Lee was just bringing FS1 into position to enter her berth under Seaview’s nose as the submarine came to a stop just before 1600 hours. He and Nelson, along with Chief Sharkey, had taken off in the little yellow machine shortly after Seaview had reached the next sensor. They’d carefully, just in case they were somehow being monitored, headed out at an angle away from the submarine, more forward than aft, and travelled well out of range before cautiously making a broad sweep and approaching from her stern, all instrumentation on high gain. The only thing they’d detected was an ocean-going container ship in what was a normal shipping lane, and a couple of smaller surface vessels, no doubt personal boats. It was one reason Nelson had placed sensors where he had, to monitor shipping channels for any changing ocean conditions.

They continued to stay well back from Seaview until she headed for the next sensor, then ever so slowly followed. Chip had a set time to bring Seaview up to Full speed but the two vessels were maintaining radio silence, just in case. Chip was to maintain Full speed whether or not the strange noise appeared since it didn’t seem to be bothering anything except the Hydrophone operator’s ears. This would give FS1 time to ease in behind.

Everything went according to plan, except nothing happened. Even at Full, Patterson on Hydrophones picked up none of the weird sounds this time. Lee used rock formations and every underwater trick he and Nelson knew to sneak up behind Seaview but neither found nor heard anything out of the norm. Once close enough to visually see Seaview’s screws, everything seemed normal. Sharkey swore not quite under his breath, got nods from both Lee and Nelson, and they continued to trail along until Seaview stopped at the next sensor.

Chip’s assessment, as they all gathered around the chart table was, “Perhaps whatever niggly little glitch that was happening finally worked itself out.”

“Makes as much sense as anything,” Lee agreed. “Back to normal cruising speed?” he asked Nelson.

“Doesn’t seem to be a reason not to,” the Admiral told him. Nelson headed for his lab, Lee and Sharkey headed for the Missile Room to check on the divers out servicing the sensor, and Chip and Lt. James plotted the course to the next one.

An hour later Chris James shuddered slightly and took a step away from his XO as Chip brought Seaview up to cruising speed and Seaman Riley almost apologetically called out, “Mr. Morton, the noise is back.”

While Chip almost never swore there wasn’t a man aboard Seaview, or pretty much anywhere at NIMR, who wouldn’t have recognized Chip’s immediately dark expression. He didn’t acknowledge Chris’ hurried step away but did work to get himself back under control. “Skipper to the Conn,” came out with only a minor growl, but apparently Lee still heard the irritation because he hurried down the spiral stairs only moments later. Chip pointed, and Riley silently held out the second set of earphones to his CO.

“What the…” came out, barely loud enough to reach Riley, but everyone in the Conn all but held their breath. Lee took a deep one, handed the earphones back to Riley, and told Chip, “Back her off to three-quarters.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” Chip answered officially. “Make our speed three-quarters.” Everyone easily felt the submarine slow under their feet. Both Lee and Chip watched Riley.

“Noise gone, sirs.” Chip slapped a flat hand on top of the chart table but it was mostly to make Lee aware that both of his hands had turned into tight fists.

The slap caused Lee to look at Chip. When he realized that the blond was looking down at Lee’s hands he also looked down, and sent his XO a wry smile as he forced his hands to relax. “Point taken,” he told the blond.

Nelson had somewhat the same reaction when Lee reported the incident as they all sat down to dinner. He knew that the Admiral would have felt Seaview slow. But since Nelson didn’t question why, Lee saw no need to say anything until they once more saw each other. The Admiral only shook his head – after taking a couple of deep breaths to get himself back under control. “It’s got me stumped,” he admitted.

“Join the club,” Chip muttered softly. Lee backhanded the blond’s shoulder but also nodded, and dinner conversation was subdued as each kept their thoughts to themselves.

As they were all about to leave the table Nelson asked Chip, “ETA next sensor?”

“0500 hours,” Chip answered instantly, causing grins on all three other officers’ faces. Chip’s, too, but his was mostly smirk before he continued. “That’s the one you wanted to spend extra time at, so having to slow back down actually isn’t going to cause a problem.”

Nelson started nodding halfway through the explanation. “Plan on being there most of the day.” His grin came back. “Even you’ll have time to do some diving if you’d like.” They all knew Chip loved to scuba but didn’t take nearly the opportunities to do it, preferring to stay aboard Seaview during most cruises.

“I’ll have Keeter, when we get close, look for a convenient place out of any currents to ‘park’ Seaview for the day,” Lee said mostly to Nelson but included Chip in his glance.

“Perfect,” Nelson agreed. “I noted some interesting rock formations when we set the sensor, but we didn’t have time that trip for me to investigate them properly.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee told him, a very slight note of resignation in his voice.

Apparently, not slight enough because Nelson grinned and lightly backhanded Lee’s shoulder. “Don’t give me that,” came out firmly but was undermined by the continued grin. “You love ‘playing’ in the ocean as much, if not more, than I do.”

Lee’s eyes lowered into his shy look. “Yes, sir,” he agreed, and the others chuckled softly.

When Lee and Chip returned to the Conn they pulled out the detailed chart of the area around the next sensor and made note of what looked like a couple of places Seaview could be comfortably stationed for an extended time. They explained the plan to Lt. O’Brien when he came on Duty, and he would tell Lt. Keeter when the shift changed at 0200. Instructions in place, Chip headed for his cabin and the half dozen or so reports that needed his attention, and Lee headed for his evening ‘walkaboat.’

* * * *

When Lee awoke the next morning he could instantly tell that Seaview was calmly holding station, Lt. Keeter obviously having found a convenient ‘parking space.’ He didn’t hurry his morning routine, nor did he waste much time. There would be no diving until a sufficient amount of time had passed after the morning meal which, if Chip didn’t make sure he ate, Doc would! Lee actually grinned at that thought and, while he didn’t skip down the spiral stairs into the Conn as Chip sometimes did, his steps were still light.

A glance out Seaview’s front windows showed relatively clear, calm, waters, and a glance around the Conn showed an equally calm atmosphere. Keeter was just giving him a verbal report of his shift, and showing Lee on the chart where he’d settled Seaview, when Chip joined them. A quick review, another glance around the Conn at all the instrumentation, and Lee and Chip headed for the Wardroom.

They were about halfway through with their blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and thick ham slices when Will walked in, followed shortly by Admiral Nelson. Lee waited until all four were pretty well done eating before asking, “Diving schedule, sir?”

Nelson glanced at his watch – it was just after 0730 hours. “0900 sound about right?” he asked. “No need to hurry. I want to go out at least twice, and perhaps three times depending on what I find. Weather topside?”

Chip waggled a hand. “Some swells, but relatively sunny and calm. Local currents shouldn’t be overly troublesome.”

“Excellent. If it stays that way we can surface and enjoy the sunset.” His smile brightened. “Perhaps I’ll talk Cookie into serving dinner tonight in the Nose.”

“Just need plenty of warning,” floated in from the Galley, and all four officers grinned.

The smiles were immediately wiped off by a call from Lt. Keeter. “Skipper to the Conn.” His tone was firm, and lifted all four out of their seats. While no one ran, Lee and Chip wasted no time headed forward, and Nelson and Will were only a couple steps behind.

As Lee, with Chip practically stepping on his heels, entered through the aft hatch into the Conn, Lt. Keeter was ready for him. “Contact topside, sirs,” he included Chip, who went straight to the chart table as Lee followed Keeter’s point toward Sonar.

“It was just there,” Seaman Daystrom told Lee as he handed over the second set of headphones. “Nothing, then poof! Ah,” he sent Lee a sheepish look, “sorry for the flippancy, sir. I just can’t explain where it came from.”

Lee grinned as he laid a hand on the young seaman’s shoulder, listening to Sonar and watching the scope. “If Riley can use ‘weird’,” he referred to what had become a bit of an inside joke on Seaview, “you can use ‘poof’.” Daystrom nodded as there were a few grins around the Conn. Lee listened for several seconds, then called, “Periscope depth.” As he slipped off the headphones he finally noticed Nelson and Will, who had stopped just a few steps inside the hatch. “You might want to postpone your first dive, sir.”

“First things first,” Nelson told him as they all felt Seaview start to rise.

Lee nodded and stepped onto the periscope island, but didn’t raise it until Chip called out the depth. Lee had carefully controlled his expression as he watched Lt. Keeter, while Chip had officially ‘taken the Conn’, stay quietly close by, just in case. Nor did he leave when Lt. James scurried down the spiral stairs. A grin almost broke through when he saw Chip send both Keeter and James a quick nod, acknowledging both lieutenants’ willingness to be ready for whatever was needed, whether officially on duty or not. Although Chris was only about fifteen minutes early for his shift, he’d obviously heard Keeter’s original call to Lee and hurried his own morning routine.

It only took Lee a moment to discover what had triggered Sonar. “Surface, surface,” he called out after a quick glance out the periscope. “Prepare to rescue survivor.”

“Of what?” he heard Nelson ask.

“No clue,” Lee answered, his eyes still on the periscope. “Man in a small metal dinghy.” He dropped the periscope and headed for the Nose, along with Nelson and Will, as Seaview neared the surface and Chip turned the sub toward the now-identified small craft.

Nelson noticed Lee stiffen as Seaview surfaced a dozen yards from the small boat, startling its occupant. Approximately Nelson’s age, he guessed, the man was relatively well-dressed but in rough shape, appearing to have been on the water for some time. But then he had to bury a snort as Chip, who had also walked forward, told Lee firmly, “Chill, Lee. It’s not Christmas, and there’s no smart-aleck boy prince aboard,” in reference to a cruise early in Lee’s tenure aboard. ** Lee had been on edge the entire trip, and at one point told Nelson that he was about ready to kill the young boy himself, not wait to identify the assassin they had good reason to believe was aboard.

“If this guy has a bag of toys in that boat,” Lee muttered, “I’m torpedoing the dinghy.”*** Chip snorted, and Nelson gave Lee’s shoulder a backhanded slap.

Chief Sharkey hadn’t wasted any time; the instant Seaview surfaced he had crew ready to bring the man aboard. Will stayed in the Nose; with Seaview on the surface the rescue team brought the man aboard through the boarding hatch. But he wasn’t at all surprised to find, as Sharkey led the man down the spiral stairs, that Will’s senior corpsman, Frank, was following right behind, attempting to drape a large towel around the man’s shoulders. The man was just short of six feet tall, seeming to be fit and trim, wearing dress slacks and what had once been a nice shirt, both wrinkled and stained. But nothing else – no shoes or socks, hat or jacket. He was showing signs of being sunburned, not unusual if he’d spent very much time in the dinghy.

“Thank you, thank you,” the man was practically babbling as he followed Sharkey, and looked like he was going to hug Nelson as the Admiral stepped forward once the man was off the stairs. Nelson stepped back as Sharkey all but put himself between the two, and the man hesitated.

“Who are you?” Nelson tried not to growl, got himself back under control, and continued a little more gently. “And how did you end up here in a dinghy?”

“Sheer stupidity,” came out forlornly. “And I’m Marvin Kilbright, from Atlanta, Georgia.”

“You’re a long way from home,” Will observed. He got a quick glare from Lee for basically interrupting Nelson’s control of the conversation, which he ignored as Nelson saw the glare and sent Will a quick nod.

Kilbright seemed to miss the interplay but answered easily enough. “I was in Seattle, Washington for a conference, and when it was over I rented a car; decided that I’d drive down the coast. I’d heard it was a lovely drive.”

“It is,” Nelson agreed. “My captain has spent time there. Oh, sorry,” he caught himself. “I’m Admiral Harriman Nelson, Nelson Institute of Marine Research, Santa Barbara, California. You’ve been rescued by my research submarine, Seaview. My captain,” he indicated Lee, “Cdr. Lee Crane, and XO,” a nod to Chip, “Lt. Cdr. Chip Morton. COB Sharkey you’ve already met – sort of,” he added with a quick grin. “And my CMO, Dr. Will Jamison.”

“Again, thank you all.” He sighed heavily and seemed to sag briefly. Frank reached out a hand but Kilbright straightened, shaking off the helping hand. “I got as far as Coos Bay, was having a drink in the hotel lounge…” Again he started to sag.

“How about we all sit down,” Will suggested. “Frank, could you get Mr. Kilbright some water.” He sent Kilbright a quick grin. “And some coffee.”

Frank pulled out a chair at the table in the Nose for Kilbright, and then walked over to the usually ready coffee urn in the corner where there was also a small sink with running water. Will and Nelson also sat down but Lee and Sharkey remained standing. Chip walked back to the chart table and only a moment later Nelson saw Chief Hauck, Seaview’s Master-At-Arms, walk in through the aft hatch and calmly come to stand just where the crash doors came across. Nelson struggled to cover a grin as Lee sent both Hauck and Chip a quick nod.

“You were saying…” Nelson continued to Kilbright, who downed the offered water in three gulps, and Frank quickly refilled the glass.

Kilbright took a more controlled sip from the coffee mug that accompanied the second glass of water. “A very pleasant young woman sat down next to me…” He sighed. “Yeah, I’m not that stupid. Well,” he shrugged, “didn’t think so anyway.” Most of the men around him nodded. “But hey, I’m a long way from home, nobody knows me…” He shrugged again and polished off the second glass of water as he got more nods. “Should have backed off when she wanted to go to the marina instead of upstairs to my room in the hotel. Figured maybe hotel management would hassle her.” He polished off the coffee, which Frank quickly refilled. But when he sighed again, Will once more spoke up.

“How long were you in that dinghy?” Nelson seemed to finally realize that Kilbright needed something other than the instant inquisition Nelson was subjecting him to.

“I woke up in it sometime night before last. They even took my watch.”

“They?” Lee asked, but backed down at Will’s instant glare.

“How about I take Mr. Kilbright down to Sick Bay,” Will said with a glance around the Nose. “Let me do a quick ‘once over lightly’ and, if nothing else, let him get a shower and into some clean clothes. I’m sure that he’ll feel more like answering the rest of your questions,” a glance included Nelson and Lee, “in a couple of hours. I believe you,” he addressed Nelson directly, “were headed out on a dive?”

Nelson’s instant glare at Will’s interruption turned sheepish even faster. “Of course, Will. Forgive me,” he turned back to Kilbright. “Go with the doctor and corpsman. We can talk when you’ve had a chance to relax from your ordeal and get something to eat.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Kilbright agreed. He allowed Frank to lightly take his arm and lead him through the Conn, Will right behind. And Nelson sent Lee a nod as Chief Hauck walked quietly a few steps behind Will.

“Lee?” Nelson nonetheless asked his captain.

“Something’s fishy besides the ocean,” Lee muttered softly. “A simple mugger would have left him in a dark alley, not well off the coast without a paddle.”

“Agreed. Now,” he stood up, “what are we going to do about it?”

It was Lee’s turn to sigh. “Let Jamie and Chief Hauck do their jobs, and you enjoy your morning dive. We need more of the story to do anything else.”

“Me. You’re not going out?” Nelson’s grin was brilliant; he knew perfectly well that Lee wouldn’t leave the boat if there was even the smallest of issues.

Lee didn’t take the bait but did send his boss a small grin. “I’ll let Chip go with you. He doesn’t get nearly as much of a chance to dive as I do.”

Nelson glanced at the blond and nearly burst out laughing at the glare Chip was sending Lee. Seaview’s XO hated problems just as much, if not more, than her captain. “Actually,” he told them both, “I rather think Chief Hauck has our guest well in hand, and Lt. James has the boat in shape, so that both of you can go out for an hour or so.” Both Chip and Lee were showing signs of extreme tension and would benefit from the exercise a dive would provide. He nearly laughed again as Chip sent a quick glare at the young lieutenant before sending Nelson a quick nod.

“Yes, sir,” Lee answered verbally. He glanced at his watch – 0815 hours. “Still 0900, sir?”

“That works.” He glanced at Chief Sharkey, who hadn’t moved.

“I’ll have everything ready,” the COB told him. “Everything was organized anyway. This didn’t interrupt anything that much.” He sent a nod to Lee, and headed through the Conn and out the aft hatch toward the Missile Room as Nelson headed up the spiral stairs.

Lee walked back to the chart table. “How much trouble can Kilbright cause in the hour or so we’ll be outside?” At Chip’s instant glare, he nodded. “Point taken,” he told his XO. “But I trust Chief Hauck even more.”

“Yep,” Chip agreed.

* * * *

When Lee allowed himself to put current issues aboard Seaview aside, he was actually enjoying the dive. Chip brought the submarine back down just far enough to not be a hazard to any topside traffic; they were still fairly close to standard shipping channels. While two divers, along with their watchdogs, went out to service the sensor Lee and Chip, with their own watchdogs, accompanied Nelson a short distance in the other direction to explore the underwater terrain. CO and XO both carried collection bags for whatever Nelson decided needed further study, as well as several tools he might need to collect those samples. Chip made a quiet comment to Lee about ‘packhorse duty’ before they left the Missile Room but it was mostly to try and get his still up-tight friend to relax. He totally understood Lee’s unwillingness to go outside on the dive; he wasn’t overly thrilled about it, either. But Seaview had a great crew and there really wasn’t a major reason, with her sitting quietly, that her senior officers couldn’t enjoy what should be a relaxing dive.

From the sub Nelson headed east, in the direction of the still distant shoreline, gathering a rock sample here, a plant sample there, and snapping the occasional picture with the underwater digital camera he carried, attached to his dive belt. The water wasn’t particularly deep; while the area was close to shipping lanes, all navigational maps had it clearly marked so that bigger ships could avoid possibly grounding on the shallower areas.

Lee had wandered off several yards from where Nelson, with Chip’s help, was taking a small rock sample when Kowalski, his own personal watchdog assigned by Chip to “not let the Skipper out of your sight,” spoke in his ear through the communications gear in his dive mask. “Skipper, to your right and down.”

Lee was still trying to find what ‘Ski was warning him about when Nelson’s voice ordered firmly, “Lee, don’t move a muscle!”

“Sir?” Lee was now totally confused but he tried his best to hold where he was, about two feet above the sandy surface of a small mounded area.

“Don’t touch the sand but move very slowly and carefully to your left,” was Nelson’s next order and Lee saw both he and Chip swim towards him, but also moving slowly.

Finally, Lee saw what the others had seen. Laying partially buried in the sand, neatly camouflaged, was a disc-shaped body roughly four feet in diameter, its gray color with a few darker spots blending almost perfectly into the sand. “Pacific Electric Ray,” he accurately identified the creature, and eased away a bit further. “Don’t think I’ve seen one this close.”

“Or this large,” Chip added. “Good catch, ‘Ski.”

“I second that,” Lee added.

“Thanks, sirs,” the Senior Rating sounded almost embarrassed.

“Almost surely a male,” Nelson told them, snapping a couple of pictures. “And at that size, if you’d gotten any closer he’d have given you a nasty shock.”

“But most rays are shy.” Chip didn’t question Nelson, merely needed further intel.

“Not these guys,” Lee told him, and backed even further away.

“Lee’s right,” Nelson agreed. “They’ve been known to actually follow and attack divers. There’s never been a reported death from them but they will give you an extremely nasty, powerful, shock.”

“And didn’t I read something about a couple of otherwise unexplained scuba deaths that could have possibly been from ray attacks?”

Nelson grinned through his mask. Lee may profess to be just a sub driver but his insatiable curiosity led him to pick up all sorts of other information. And this bit, of course, was tied into his favorite activity – diving. “I rather suspect that, if they did die from a ray attack, there were underlying conditions,” he told the others. “But I still would recommend giving them a wide berth.”

“Yes, sir,” came back from multiple voices.

Lee continued to keep his eye on the ray and figured Kowalski did too, but stayed well away from it. California Electric Rays were normally solitary hunters but everyone now paid attention to their surroundings, and especially the sandy areas, just in case. The rays frequently settled like this one had during the day and ambushed their favorite fish, including halibut and other flat fish, as well as mackerel and anchovies. They hunted more openly at night, first stunning than eating their prey. They had few natural enemies because of their ability to produce such a powerful electric shock.

Nelson caught Chip glancing at his air tank meter and casually checked his own. “Guess it’s time to head back,” he told the others with a wistful note in his voice. He heard an ever so soft sigh through his mask speaker; no idea who it was although he suspected that it was from his XO. He was actually a bit surprised that both of his senior officers hadn’t tried to hurry him, what with the ongoing puzzle they’d acquired this morning. He gathered one last water sample before leading his group back to the diving hatch.

Lee and Chip wasted little time stripping off their dive gear, although both carefully stowed everything on the proper racks to be cleaned and air tanks refilled. Nelson was a little slower. He told Sharkey that he’d be going out again after lunch, and pointed to the CO and XO. “Not sure about those two,” he said with a grin in his voice. Chip maintained a neutral expression but Lee ducked his head slightly; he normally used any excuse he could to go out on a dive.

“I’ll have everything in order for a 1330 hours dive, sir,” Sharkey told Nelson, the time allowing for a sufficient break after eating lunch.

“I’ll let you know who’s going out as soon as I can,” Lee told the COB. They all knew that future actions depended on further intel from their accidental passenger.

Sharkey did wonder why they just didn’t load the guy aboard FS1, take him to shore, and turn him over to the authorities. But he’d seen the speculative looks that passed between the Admiral and Skipper after Doc had taken the guy away, as well as heard their short conversation on the subject. If this dude was trouble he knew that both Nelson and Crane would want him where they could keep a close watch on his actions.

Chip headed immediately to the Conn but Lee’s first stop was Sick Bay. He came in through Will’s office door, not the main one into Sick Bay proper, catching Will sitting at his desk doing paperwork.

“Good dive?” Will cut off whatever Lee was opening his mouth to ask, knowing full well what Lee wanted and deciding to needle the man just to be perverse.

Lee knew exactly what the doctor was doing, but took a deep breath as he swallowed what would have been an instant demand for information about Kilbright. “Yes, Jamie, it was,” he answered, playing the game. “Almost stepped on an electric ray, but didn’t want to make you work extra hard this morning.”

Will snorted. He was extremely fond of Seaview’s young captain, for a multitude of reasons. New himself to NIMR, Lee had made a point to reach out to Will’s wife, both she and Will grieving over the loss of their only child, a son lost in a diving accident. An incredibly intelligent, dedicated officer, Lee went out of his way to make time to visit with, or at least acknowledge with a quick word or gesture, every person he came in contact with. This didn’t always leave a whole lot of personal time but Will quickly realized that to Lee, checking on others was personal; if those around him were comfortable, he could relax as well.

But Will also knew that Lee could only be pushed just so far so he told Lee what he knew the younger man had come for. “Mr. Kilbright is resting, I hope, in Guest Cabin A, being carefully kept an eye on by Chief Hauck and his team.

Lee nodded. “Your diagnosis?” he asked, and settled into the visitor’s chair in the small office.

“Not in bad shape, actually. I drew blood but it’s been long enough that, if he was drugged, I probably can’t detect what was used. There were no signs of physical abuse. Well,” he sent Lee a look, “what I could tell from the brief exam he allowed.”

“He wasn’t cooperative?” Will waggled a hand and shrugged. “Did he offer any more information on what happened?”

“Not really. Allowed the brief exam, seemed happy for the shower and fresh clothes. Chief Hauck had one of his men gather up a few things from the stuff we keep aboard for emergencies.” Lee nodded at that. They often had civilians aboard, scientists and researchers, and had learned early on that a few boxes of what normally wouldn’t be of use often came in extremely handy. “Arranged for the cabin with Lt. James,” and Lee sent him a quick nod and a smile, “and had him escorted there, where Frank had a large tray of food delivered.” He frowned slightly, and then grinned when he realized the expression had not been missed by his extremely perceptive Skipper, who pointed an eyebrow at him. “He’s not nearly as sunburned as I would have expected him to be after a full day, unprotected, on the water with only shirt and slacks for clothing.”

“He’s lying about the timing?”

Will shrugged. “There could be reasons, cloud cover being the easiest explanation.”

“But as far as I know, all the local weather has been clear.”

“Hence my questioning,” Will told him. “I’d already checked with Lt. James.”

“Where are his clothes?”

Will’s grin came back. “Instantly collected by your very efficient Master-At-Arms.” Lee nodded and rose. “See you at lunch,” Will took one last jab.

Lee glared but as quickly nodded, recognizing Will’s return to ‘the game’, and left. He did, greatly, appreciate Dr. Will Jamison’s arrival at NIMR. Never comfortable around medical personnel, who always seemed to want to put more limitations on Lee’s activities than Lee saw a need for, he’d slowly come to appreciate Seaview’s new CMO. Making friends with Lu-Tsi, Will’s wife, had helped. But mostly it was Will’s willingness to allow Lee some freedoms in making decisions about care during those times Lee was ill or injured. Will wasn’t always comfortable with some of those freedoms, or the decisions Lee would make. But the balancing act they’d eventually found kept both happy – for the most part. It was also why Will would occasionally needle Lee – try to get him to relax when things around him were getting him uptight. That Lee actually allowed it pleased Will no end. He’d served with too many senior officers who simply fell back on military order and blew him off. This way was much more pleasant – for both of them!

Lee let a smile escape as he exited Will’s office and headed for the Conn. The doctor had a decided knack for defusing Lee’s temper when things got tense around him. It was rarely mentioned by the two, cloaked in the sniping that was their usual conversations, especially when others were present. But Lee had great respect for the man and knew that that knowledge was shared. It didn’t stop ‘the game’ from getting aggressive and loud on occasion. But for the most part it was played fairly, and enjoyed by both.

As Lee walked up to the chart table Chip handed him a sheet of paper. It was Chief Hauck’s report, for the most part duplicating what Lee had just gotten from Will, which he told Chip. The MAA had gotten nothing from Kilbright’s clothes, typical off-the-rack from any number of men’s clothing stores. But Seaman Monroe, one of Hauck’s Security team, was adept at chemical analysis and was checking some interesting stains found on the clothes – report to follow. Lee laid the report on the table. “Has the Admiral seen this?”

“The Chief reported directly to Admiral Nelson right after handing that to me,” Chip replied, his tone firm. “I’d wondered, too, about the sunburn.”

Lee nodded. “He’s not nearly as fair as you,” he sent Chip a quick grin, as the blond had suffered the occasional sunburn, “and he seems to have a decent tan so he has spent time outdoors. But…” Lee didn’t finish the thought.

“Yeah,” Chip nonetheless agreed. “The Admiral’s also had Sparks busy the whole time we were outside. I haven’t interrupted him.”

“We’ll no doubt hear shortly,” Lee told him. The pair then spent time dealing with other bits of boat’s business before once more turning the Watch over to Lt. James and heading to the Wardroom for lunch.

Nelson walked in right after them, as did Will, and Nelson pointed an eyebrow around the room. “I had expected Kilbright to be here,” he admitted when the others looked at him.

Cookie spoke up before anyone else could. “The tray I sent up to him was pretty well loaded down, including two big thermoses of coffee and half a dozen bottles of water, besides the water available from the sink in his head. All easy-to-eat things that didn’t need to be refrigerated or cooked. Depending on the man’s appetite,” he sent a quick look Lee’s way, as Lee was the lightest eater on the boat, and Lee acknowledged the crack with a quick nod, “the guy might not even need to leave his cabin until breakfast.”

As the four sat down after taking what they wanted of today’s offerings – ham sandwiches on Cookie’s fresh baked bread, minestrone soup thick with veggies and pasta, pear slices, and chocolate chip cookies, Lee asked Nelson, “What do you plan to do with him?”

“You no doubt heard that I commandeered Sparks while we were out diving.” He got nods from Lee and Chip, and a questioning look from Will. “Had him call every hotel in Coos Bay asking if they had a guest by that name registered.”

“Not call the local police, sir?” Chip asked.

“Not yet,” Nelson told him. “Wanted to do some checking on our own first.”

“And?” Lee nudged.

“Nothing,” Nelson told him. “Sparks’ last call was to Dewey,” he named NIMR’s Head of Security, Dewey Caudill. “While Sparks was a bit limited with what he could conceivably check, Dewey is…” he grinned, “rather inventive with these kinds of inquiries.” He got instant nods of agreement.

They were all quiet a moment, concentrating on their plates. But suddenly Lee’s spoonful of soup stopped halfway to his mouth. “You think this has something to do with the screw issue.” It wasn’t actually a question.

“While I have no idea why or how,” the Admiral told him, “I think it’s extremely interesting that these two puzzles have presented themselves so close together. And especially as his appearance on Sonar was so….sudden.” He shrugged slightly. He got nods of agreement, but pretty much nothing else was said as the four concentrated on their meals.

Lee and Chip finished first. “Who does Sharkey have going out as Watchdogs this afternoon?” Lee asked, knowing that the COB, with at least one more dive, would have scheduled who was where and given Chip the list. Or, more likely Lt. James, as Chip had been out of the morning dive and Chris had had the Watch.

“Lewis and Marks. Niles if he needed a third.”

“Think I’ll have him add Lakeland,” Lee named one of Chief Hauck’s Security team.

“Lee?” Nelson didn’t challenge, but did want clarification for whatever had Lee suddenly tense.

“Kowalski was out with us so he can help Chief Hauck watch Kilbright this afternoon. I want the dive party overly protected, especially as you’ll be out there.”

“Are you going back out?” Chip asked before Nelson could.

Lee looked at Nelson, who remained silent, waiting to see what was on his young captain’s mind. “Something is for sure going on,” he told Chip, then looked at Nelson.

“And you want to be in all places at the same time,” Nelson told him, not unkindly. Lee ducked slightly, but nodded. “Chip?” he turned to the blond.

“I’ll be where Lee isn’t,” Chip answered instantly, and shared a nod with his CO.

“That works,” Nelson agreed.

“I’m a little surprised that Mr. Kilbright hasn’t asked about how to get back to shore,” Will offered into the sudden silence.

“That, too,” Nelson told him, before turning to Lee. “He didn’t seem to react when he discovered who had picked him up so he may not know about FS1.”

“Or he’s a good actor.” There was a bit of growl in Lee’s voice.

Nelson nodded his agreement. “Suppose you go out with me this next dive, and yes, I agree to the extra watchdogs. Chip, I don’t expect anything from Dewey before we get back.” Chip nodded. “Have Chief Hauck try, without actual restraints,” and he sent the blond a quick grin, “to keep Kilbright in his cabin.”

“I told him that I’d check on him this afternoon,” Will interjected.

“Good, but be careful,” Lee warned. “I’d prefer no one was alone with him. This morning you had Frank, as well as the knowledge that Chief Hauck was just steps away.”

“Understood,” Will agreed. “If he asks about getting back to the mainland?”

“Tell him we still have several sensors to work on before we return to base in about a week, and see how he reacts to that,” Nelson told him. “He has to know that we have communications capabilities. I’m not sure why he hasn’t asked to at least contact his family.”

“Who he has not even mentioned,” Chip added, and got nods back.

“It’s really tempting to dump him on FS1 immediately, take him back to Coos Bay, and be done with him.” Lee was speaking to Chip, but also glanced at the other two.

“And if we don’t get some definite answers to our questions in the next twenty-four hours,” Nelson told him, “that sounds like a perfectly logical plan.” All now done eating, they headed out in separate directions.

* * * *

While Lee and the watchdogs stayed on high alert, the early afternoon dive went off without a hitch. With the sensor already serviced it was just Nelson, Lee, and the three watchdogs. Before going out Lee had chatted a bit with Chief Hauck, laying out his and Nelson’s concerns. He had to grin when the MAA mentioned that he’d had Jackson, from his team, climb into the air ducts and place a sensor on the grate in Cabin A while Kilbright was still in Sick Bay. They’d know instantly if the man tried to leave the cabin that way. Lee mentioned it to Nelson as they were suiting up and the Admiral sent him a broad grin. The air ducts had been used all too effectively, and frequently by Lee, to maneuver unnoticed through the giant submarine. Once more back inside, they changed and both headed for the Conn.

Chip had little so far to report. As expected, no word yet from Dewey. Will had reported that there had been no answer to his light knock on Cabin A’s door. He’d poked his nose in anyway and found Kilbright asleep on the bunk. “Or pretending to be,” Chip added. “Jamie didn’t try to wake him up. He did say that all the food Cookie had sent up was gone so maybe he’ll ask about supper.”

“I’m tempted to make him stay in his cabin,” Lee told the others.

“And yet,” Nelson countered, “one, it’s not hospitable of us if he is who he says he is; and two, if he isn’t, we have no easy chance to question him.” He got nods from both Lee and Chip.

“Hopefully Dewey will come up with some answers,” Chip told them.

“And if he doesn’t, that also says a lot,” Lee added with a frown.

“Agreed,” Nelson told them. “I’ll be in my lab for the next hour.”

“Another dive, sir?” Lee asked.

“I think yes, but I won’t know for sure until I’ve had a chance to examine this last batch of samples. If I do go out it will be after dinner.”

“You like night dives,” Lee teased Chip with a huge grin both on his face and in his voice, knowing that Chip most definitely did not. Nelson chuckled, and left his two young officers nattering quietly at each other while most of the Conn crew tried not to burst out laughing.

Nelson didn’t hear anything new before finally leaving his lab just after 1730, and confirmed with Chip when he entered the Conn that so far there had been no word from Dewey. Lee walked into the Conn right after Nelson did from one of his casual ‘walkaboats’ and reported that Will had gone to Kilbright’s cabin at 1700. Once more the man had appeared to be asleep, and once more Will hadn’t disturbed him. Nelson merely shrugged.

He was tempted to say something about perhaps having Kilbright give lessons to Lee on how to get a decent night’s sleep since Lee thrived on so little actual sleep it tended to drive his friends a little crazy. But he decided, under the circumstances, he’d keep quiet. The three dealt with a few odds and ends of boat’s business, mostly Nelson admitting that he would like to make one more dive in the area before they left, having found some curiosities in that afternoon’s samples and wanting to investigate further. Chip frowned, Lee elbowed him lightly and told him that he could stay aboard if he wanted. Lee did enjoy night dives and, while he’d been out twice already that day, they’d been easy ones and he didn’t mind going out again.

The three were just about to head for supper – a few minutes early but then they could start the evening dive a bit earlier – when Chief Hauck came in through the aft hatch followed closely by Seaman Monroe. “Sirs,” Hauck addressed all three senior officers, “Monroe has some preliminary reports on the stains he found on our ‘guest’s’” – he made the word sound suspicious – “clothes. He and I also did a thorough examination of the dinghy,” and he handed the sheet of paper he was carrying to Admiral Nelson. Lee and Chip each picked a shoulder to read over. Hauck knew instantly when each reached the most pertinent findings.

“Epoxy, isocyanate, polyetherimide,” Nelson muttered softly as he read, and abruptly glared at Hauck. “Stealth coating?” came out in a growl.

“That was our conclusion, sir,” the MAA answered, with a nod toward Monroe.

“Just who is this guy?” It was Lee’s turn to growl.

“I say we go find out. Now,” came firmly from Chip.

But Nelson held up a hand. His expression was hard but his voice had a cautionary tone when he addressed the others. “Let’s not get hasty,” he advised. “We don’t even know yet what kind of conference he was attending. In Seattle, where Boeing has headquarters, it could easily have something to do with the Aerospace industry.”

“Or not,” was muttered softly from Nelson’s left shoulder, where Chip was standing. Nelson gave his XO a quick grin as the others nodded.

“Chief,” Lee told Hauck, “double your guards on the guy.”

“Already done,” Hauck said, causing more nods among the officers.

“Come along to the Wardroom with us,” Nelson now told Hauck. “Since he’s made no attempt to leave his cabin, it’s perfectly appropriate to have more food delivered to him.” Nelson grinned but there was absolutely no humor in the expression. “And since we all have other duties at the moment, I think you two,” he nodded between Hauck and Monroe, “should be the ones to handle that small chore.”

“Happy to help out,” Hauck replied with a slightly evil grin. “Monroe, as careful as I know you are, if the guy still pretends to be asleep, think you can ‘accidentally’ drop the silverware?”

Nelson snorted softly as the seaman nodded. “Having one of those days, Chief. Took me three tries just to get the test tubes in the holders while I was working on the stains.” Lee chuckled and gave the seaman’s shoulder a soft backhanded slap as they all headed for the Wardroom.

Once explained, Cookie happily joined the conspiracy. A tray of sandwiches, fruit, salad, and coffee carafe was quickly prepared and given to Monroe. He headed for the guest cabins accompanied by Chief Hauck as the others dished up shepherd’s pie, green salad, and cornbread. Will offered to go along since it would be normal for him to want to check on his patient. But Hauck frowned and Lee told the doctor, “If Kilbright isn’t on the up and up, you’re the last person I want around him.”

“We’ll call if we need you,” Hauck assured Seaview’s CMO.

As the other four sat down to their meal Lee asked Nelson, “Any more thoughts on what to do about him, sir?”

Nelson didn’t answer immediately, pondering as he took a couple bites of his supper. “I’ve actually been wondering more about what Monroe found,” he admitted. “Didn’t someone say something about the strange noises sounding like an underwater drone?”

“Actually, Patterson said that it reminded him of his nephew’s aerial drone,” Chip told him, and Lee nodded.

“What if,” Nelson told them, waggling his fork a bit, “someone has developed a small, propeller-driven drone.” He held the fork still as Lee started to open his mouth, and Lee waited. “Not like the underwater drones that exist now, but more like aerial drones with external propellers, and either made out of, or covered with, stealth materials?”

“To what purpose, sir?” Lee asked.

“Besides driving us crazy,” Chip muttered.

“And perhaps that’s the point,” Nelson told them both.

“Distraction,” Lee grumbled.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Chip admitted. The others nodded, remembering.

“We’ve got too good a crew for anything like that to do much good. At least, for very long,” Lee assured the others.

“But it has slowed us down,” Nelson reminded him.

“And allowed us to ‘find’ our passenger?” Lee asked.

“Quite possibly,” Nelson agreed. “That’s why I’ve been in no hurry to get rid of him. If this is a plot of some sort against Seaview, or NIMR as a whole, I’d rather have him where I have some control over his actions.” Both Lee and Chip nodded.

Chief Hauck chose that moment to poke his head through the Wardroom door, and Lee motioned him in. “Kilbright didn’t answer a knock so we went in quietly. But I accidentally banged the door.” He sent a faux-sheepish grin at his superiors. “Kilbright was just coming out of the head. Said he was feeling much better when I asked but was still a little too shaky to be walking around, and thanked me for the food. I offered to get you, Doc, but he said not to bother, he just needed to rest. I didn’t press him.”

“Perfect,” Lee told him.

“Yes,” Nelson agreed. “I’d rather not press him, at least until we hear from Dewey.”

“Yes, sir.” Hauck gave a quick nod and headed back out.

They were just polishing off their dessert of peach cobbler when Sparks called down that NIMR’s Head of Security was reporting in. Lee had him pipe the call down so they could all hear at once.

“I’ve hit a snag, sirs,” Dewey said once Lee told him where he was and who else was there. “I’ve confirmed that there is a Marvin Kilbright, from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s a senior executive for a mechanical engineering firm there. Bachelor, lives alone. Supposed to have flown to Seattle for a conference last week.”

“So his story checks out,” Lee told him.

“Well, sort of,” Dewey said, and Lee glared at the intercom speaker. “He’s not apparently a sociable guy; doesn’t talk much to either co-workers or neighbors. What I can’t confirm is, the guy you picked up is the right Kilbright. The description I was able to get is similar, but…” His voice trailed off.

“Understood,” Lee responded.

“I’m trying to get a picture. Thought that there should have been one on the company’s website but no such luck. Still working on it.”

“I know that you’ll do your best,” Lee assured him, and they ended the call.

“I’ll update Chief Hauck,” Chip said, and headed back to the Conn. They all knew that he’d stay on duty, even after Lt. O’Brien came on at 2000 hours, until the night dive was completed.

“1930 hours, sir?” Lee asked his boss, both knowing he meant the time of the dive.

“Sounds good,” Nelson agreed, and Lee also left the Wardroom.

“Think I’ll go double-check Sick Bay,” Will muttered, and polished off the last of his coffee.

Nelson snorted but also sent the doctor a nod. “With our track record…” He didn’t finish the thought.

“My sister asked me once,” Will said, standing up, “if I ever got bored, transferring from the Navy to a ‘small research institute’.” He said those last three words with an air quote.

Nelson grinned. “What did you tell her?” he asked innocently.

It was Will’s turn to snort. “I gave her a loud ‘harrumph’ and she was smart enough to shut up.” Both grinned knowingly before Will headed to Sick Bay and Nelson headed to his lab.

* * * *

Lee loved diving. Anywhere, anytime. Admittedly, some places were prettier than others, more interesting. Some were more exciting. But no matter, he enjoyed them all. And tonight was no exception. The addition of darkness added extra challenges, but also extra possibilities, as many creatures only came out at night. Because of that, Nelson was loath to put too many extra lights in the water. Both he and Lee had small lights on their dive masks, and each of the three watchdogs had lights attached to their spearguns. Nelson reminded everyone, before they entered the dive chamber, to be on the lookout for the electric ray they knew was in the area since night was its preferred hunting time.

It was always a little disorienting to enter the water at night. There was a bit of comfort for the five divers this time because they’d all been out at least once during the day. But everyone, even Nelson, Lee was happy to note, didn’t rush anywhere. The others followed Nelson’s lead, Lee fairly close and the watchdogs scattered slightly above.

Nelson smiled softly inside his mask as he headed to the area that he wanted to examine further. For several reasons. One, he was where he most enjoyed being – in the water, his second home. And if he could figure out a way, it probably would be his first home. Unfortunately, he needed to be on land enough to help keep the idiots of the world from screwing up the water or nobody would be alive anywhere. Some people just couldn’t get that through their thick skulls!

But mostly he smiled at how lucky he was to have the people around him to help him with his life’s work, and in particular, Lee and Chip. The grin spread as he thought back on the blond’s comment earlier: I’ll be where Lee isn’t. That pretty much said all anyone needed to know about the pair. So different in so many ways, they totally complimented each other. A soft snort escaped as he thought back on the fireworks that nearly erupted when the two were thrown together for the first time, as roommates at Annapolis.

“Sir?” Lee’s voice sounded in his ear and he realized Lee had heard the snort. Nothing got past that man.

“Everything okay?” now came from Chip, monitoring the dive channel.

Yep, thought Nelson, and then said out loud for both younger men, “I love diving.” It was innocuous enough to satisfy both, and allowed Nelson time to get a better handle on himself.

“Yes, sir,” came back in stereo, causing Nelson to smile broadly. But he was able to smother any other utterances and concentrate on his goals for this dive – taking samples from some very specific rocky areas.

He was busy, concentrating on the collections, when Chip’s voice once more came over the dive channel. “Lee, anything weird going on down there?”

“Define weird,” Lee muttered back. There was no way Nelson could cover the quick burp of laughter that snuck out. And his wasn’t the only one as at least two of the watchdogs also gave quick snickers.

“Anything you wouldn’t expect to find on a night dive in the Pacific Ocean,” came back, each word slowly and carefully pronounced.

Even Lee’s voice had a light tone at Chip’s irritated one. “Not so far. Why?”

“Riley’s getting some odd sounds through the Hydrophone. Nothing identifiable. Just…unusual.”

“That explains the use of the word ‘weird’,” Nelson observed, mostly to himself but still heard clearly by all. More soft chuckles were heard.

“Direction?” Lee questioned, his voice now all business.

“Yours,” Chip said firmly. “Perhaps a bit further away,” was added a little more softly. Lee saw all three watchdogs point their spearguns in that direction. Unfortunately, the small attached lights didn’t illuminate very far into the night waters.

“We’ll keep a lookout,” Lee said, and knew that the watchdogs as well as Chip recognized the comment was meant for everyone. He also gave a small grin when one of the watchdogs swam a ways in the direction Chip had indicated. So far all three had been staying right overhead. Lee watched for a couple seconds; the diver didn’t go far but did sink a bit more toward the bottom, where Lee and Nelson were doing the Admiral’s collections. He continued to face mostly away from his officers, and Lee went back to concentrating on what Nelson needed.

“What the…” was muttered over the dive channel. Lee recognized Seaman Kowalski’s somewhat patented growl more than the actual voice, and one of the two watchdogs overhead started to swim slightly north of where he’d been holding station.

“What’s up, ‘Ski?” Lee asked.

“More like what’s down, sir,” was slightly delayed as Lee could only follow the seaman’s direction by the light on the speargun.

“Don’t be going far,” Lee warned firmly.

“No sir. Just…” and his voice trailed off. Lee saw the light dip down, then lift slightly and head back in his direction. “Look what I found.” ‘Ski approached Lee, speargun in one hand and ‘something’ in the other.

“Someone lost their drone?” Lee questioned. “Sort of looks like the one Chip bought for his nieces and nephews to play with in the lake, but a slightly different design.” This one had a main body with what looked like a camera at its front, covered by a curved piece that had propellers on the side at each end. An antenna stuck up about eight inches off the back. “Chip’s one is controlled by either cell phone or tablet, and sends the pictures back to whichever was used.”

Nelson reached out and took the ‘thing’ from Kowalski. “I saw the one Chip bought,” he admitted. “Clever little instrument. I’m sure his family has been enjoying it. This one…” His turn to let his voice trail off.

“Sir?” Lee nudged.

Nelson didn’t immediately answer. He continued to turn the unit this way and that, and finally pulled off one glove and felt the surface. “This one is pretty obviously made of more industrial-quality materials. In fact…” His voice trailed off again and this time Lee kept quiet. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this is made of polymer with a stealth coating.”

“Perhaps you do know,” Lee offered. “Could this thing be what’s been messing with our Hydrophones? Given the dark color it’s no wonder we never spotted it. In fact,” he turned toward ‘Ski, “how did you?”

“It was moving, sirs,” he included both Nelson and Lee in the answer.

“Like it was under power?” Nelson wanted to know.

“Sort of, I guess. I just thought a bit of current shifted it. But when I think about it, there’s not that much current down here.”

Lee reached out and snapped off the antenna. “Just in case,” he told Nelson.

“Works for me,” Nelson agreed. He gave the propeller blades a tentative whack but whatever they were made of, they didn’t break.

Before Lee could make any comment, Chip called. “Further intel incoming,” he told the dive party cryptically. “Suggest you head this direction.”

“Still have a couple more samples to take,” Nelson told everyone. He handed the drone back to Kowalski, and Lee sent a look to all three watchdogs. Even through the facemasks, not one of them mistook that unspoken message to double their level of alertness.

But then as luck would have it, it was Lee that lost focus, just for a moment, on his surroundings. But that was all it took. He’d followed Nelson to one particular rock formation and, as his boss started taking a few samples on one side, Lee rose in the water just far enough to see over the top to the other side. A bit of movement flicked just at the very edge of his mask light before it went out of range and he edged closer to try to identify what had caused it. He moved his head back and forth, casting the light across the short distance it carried, but saw only a few fish. He didn’t think that was what he’d caught the brief glimpse of so he swam a few feet in that direction. Nelson, busy with his collections, didn’t immediately notice, and neither did the two divers who remained overhead of Nelson, sweeping the area constantly with the lights on their spearguns. Kowalski did see Lee, but got sidetracked as he tried to figure out a way to carry the drone and still have easy control of his weapon. He only took his eyes off Lee for a moment but that was just enough to lose sight of his CO and he was instantly alarmed.

“Skipper?” he called tentatively. He wasn’t so much worried as he wanted to know where Lee’s headlamp had disappeared to in the dark waters.

“Right here,” Lee answered instantly, then looked around. “Sort of,” he admitted sheepishly, and heard Nelson’s baritone chuckles softly in his ear. But he barely had time to take a breath before an arm grabbed him around his throat and a hand ripped off his dive mask. Instantly blind and without any more air, he punched backward with his legs and elbows but whoever had him was strong. Although, apparently weaponless; Lee kept expecting a knife or other sharp object in his back. He reached for his own dive knife but something hard hit his wrist and the knife dropped harmlessly to the ocean floor. Without his mask, not only did he have only the air left in his lungs from his last breath but there was no way to communicate to the others – who now apparently didn’t know in which direction he’d gone – that he was merely on the other side of the rocks from Nelson. All he could do was continue to punch against his attacker in the pitch black water, which didn’t seem to have much effect. He assumed that the man – it must be a man to be that strong, although Lee had met women who were indeed powerful – was waiting for Lee to finally run out of oxygen and drown. And that time was fast approaching as Lee used what strength and air he had left to try and break free.

Lee thought that he saw a glimpse of light but since his eyes were closed against the saltwater, his brain told him that he must have seen what some people claimed to have seen as they ‘died’ but then were brought back to life – a glimpse of ‘the other side’. As he kicked, a swim fin touched something solid in front of him. In what he knew would be his last effort, he brought both feet up against what must have been the rocks and pushed back as hard as the last of his air would let him. He thought that it must have startled his attacker because the arm around his throat ever so slightly relaxed. But by that time it was almost too late and he barely moved when his arm was grabbed instead of his neck.

Then Lee decided that he must be dead because all of a sudden he could breathe again. He knew that was wrong – the big gulp he’d finally had to take had to be water. Didn’t it? His mask had been yanked off and he certainly didn’t have the strength to try and reach for it. Yeah, dead for sure, he told himself as he heard, from what sounded like an extremely long distance away, his name being called. Insistently, demandingly, and he opened his eyes to behold heaven. Or hell, he reasoned, and laughed. But suddenly the voices got closer, and someone was choking. With another big breath he suddenly realized that he was the one choking, gagging, as his body, against every reason in him, was actually breathing air.

But then he remembered his attacker and started to once more struggle. “Lee,” came sharply to his ears. “Stop fighting.” It took Lee a couple seconds to recognize the words, and a couple more to realize that they were said in Nelson’s voice. There were other voices, all seeming to be talking at once, and gradually he realized that his mask was back in place and at least a dozen different conversations were going on over the dive channel. Not yet able to do more than breathe, and barely that around the continued choking and gagging, he concentrated on Nelson’s voice and tried to tune out everything else.

“Sir?” he thought he managed to sputter but wasn’t sure. The grip on one of his arms tightened slightly, and belatedly he realized that his other arm was also being held. Securely but not angrily and he let himself start to relax; that he was, however it happened, once more safe. Again he heard Nelson’s voice giving orders but he wasn’t sure that he cared, just extremely relieved and grateful that he could once more breathe; that he wasn’t dead after all.

Not totally aware of any passing time, he did recognize that he was being guided into the dive chamber and tried to rouse enough to help. Between Nelson’s voice ordering him to stop and the realization that, even without the order his muscles were not responding, he let whatever was about to happen, happen. He was starting to be more aware – thankfully – and even recognized Chip’s worried expression, standing in front of him as his mask was removed and several hands reached to unbuckle and remove his dive equipment. “Chip,” he managed to get out, but speaking was still a bit of a struggle.

“What happened?” he heard Chip question and he started to answer – even though he still wasn’t totally sure himself – when another voice he recognized broke in.

“Later,” Lee heard Seaview’s CMO order. He tried to look around, to find the face that went with the voice, but didn’t have any luck before he felt himself lowered to the deck. Not the deck, he realized as it moved underneath him, and he understood that he’d been laid on a stretcher and was being carried, no doubt to Sick Bay. Against every sense in his body he realized that, at that particular moment, he really didn’t care.

* * * *

Half an hour later he did. But as he started to sit up from the gurney in the middle of Sick Bay when he saw Admiral Nelson walk in, a loud clearing of someone’s throat behind him stopped the motion. It also caused Nelson to smile, and Lee turned his head enough to see Jamie standing off to one side, writing on a medical chart. Nelson continued to smile as he walked up to the gurney. “How are you feeling?” he asked Lee as he gently laid a hand on Lee’s arm.

“Glad to be feeling anything,” Lee told him honestly. Nelson nodded as there was a soft snort from the doctor.

“Will?” Nelson next addressed his CMO, who came over to stand on Lee’s other side.

“Our captain’s luck is still holding,” Will admitted, almost sounding reluctant to admit it.

“Dumb luck,” was growled from the doorway, and Chip walked in. “With an emphasis on ‘dumb’. What were you doing, swimming away from the others?” he demanded, glaring at Lee.

“Didn’t think I did,” Lee told his ticked-off XO – and best friend.

“Didn’t think, period,” Chip sniped back. Lee decided his best answer to that was to say nothing.

“What did happen?” Nelson asked. He thought about letting Chip continue to put Lee in his place – as inappropriate as that would be for an XO to yell at his CO, but allowed under certain circumstances between these two men – but he was in need of answers.

Lee had to think about it and the others didn’t interrupt. “We’d been discussing the drone ‘Ski found, then you,” he looked at Nelson, “went back to collecting samples.” Nelson nodded. “I swam to the top of the rocks and thought I saw…well… There was movement just at the edge of my light, but when I turned all I saw were fish.” He shook his head – carefully because he was suddenly aware of a nasty headache. “I must have floated over the top to the other side. Didn’t think I did, but…” he sent all three faces one of his through-the-lashes looks. Nelson nodded, Will frowned, and Chip actually growled softly.

“That was when Kowalski called out for you,” Nelson said with a quick, softly fond, look toward Chip.

“Pretty much the next thing I knew, someone – or something, I’m not sure – grabbed me and pulled my mask off.”

“A man,” Chip told him. “He apparently saw ‘Ski and Monroe coming looking for you and he let you go. ‘Ski got your mask back in place and Monroe was going after the guy, but he ran into your ‘friendly’ electric ray, or one of his buddies, and got zapped. Monroe grabbed him before he could recover, and he’s in the brig. And before you ask,” Chip added, as Lee started to open his mouth, “he’s not talking.”

“What were you calling us about,” Lee asked the blond, “just before…?” He gave one hand a slight wave at his body, stripped of his wetsuit and covered up to his waist with a light sheet.

Chip sent him a glare before answering. “Kilbright finally emerged from his cabin,” he told both Lee and Nelson. “Lakeland,” he mentioned one of Chief Hauck’s Security team, “had the Duty and escorted him forward. He said that he wanted to contact a friend with a personal Ham radio. Said he finally regained enough senses after his ordeal to remember.” Chip’s expression said all too plainly that he wasn’t buying that story. “Told him, with our equipment we could relay to anyone, anywhere, but he insisted on this one person.” Chip smiled but there was absolutely no humor in the expression. “Sparks was all prepared…” He sent a glance around the other three faces. “I really don’t want to know who trained him, do I?” Nelson grinned, Lee snickered, and Will just shook his head. “He scares me sometimes,” Chip admitted, and even Will chuckled softly.

“Be glad he’s on our side,” Nelson told him.

“Yes, sir,” Chip readily agreed. “Anyway, Kilbright made his call, nothing sounded strange from our end. Did ask when we’d be back in port so I told him another six days or so; perhaps a day or two more.”

“You didn’t mention FS1?” Lee asked him.

“At that point, no,” Chip nodded. “We’d sort of left it that way. And he really didn’t ask about getting to land, just when Seaview would make port, so I didn’t lie.” He grinned and the others nodded.

“But?” Lee could tell Chip had more that he was dying to tell. The slight smirk on the blond’s face was a dead giveaway to those who knew him well.

“Once Lakeland escorted him back to his cabin, by way of the Wardroom, Sparks came clean.” Chip gave his head another shake. “The call went to a surface ship no more than two miles away. Whoever Kilbright talked to, they were careful about what they said. But it was pretty obvious that there were underlying messages being passed back and forth beyond the actual words. Not sure yet what, but…”

“Interesting,” was all Nelson said, but all four men were frowning. “Kilbright’s back in his cabin?”

“Yes, sir.” Chip grinned. “Patterson and Monroe seem to be having issues fixing a wiring problem in a panel just down the corridor.” That got nods and soft smiles.

“Humm,” Nelson muttered. “I’m going to my lab.” Lee wiggled on the gurney. “You,” Nelson pointed a finger at him, “will get up when Will says you can, and not before.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee surrendered and settled back down.

“And you,” Nelson next pointed to Chip, “were off duty at least an hour ago.”

“Yes, sir,” Chip’s turn to respond, even though they all knew he’d have gone nowhere until the night dive was well over.

“I need to confirm something in the samples,” Nelson continued. “It shouldn’t take long. And then I need to make a couple of calls. If what I now suspect is true…” He sent a glance around the others, with an especially firm look at Lee. “I don’t expect anything major until morning.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee and Chip answered together. Nelson nodded and left. Both younger men looked at Will, who managed, barely, to hide a grin.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked Lee seriously, but not sternly as he could get with his absolutely worst patient.

“Tired.” Lee knew when to push Jamie’s buttons, and when not to.

Will held up a finger to both Lee and Chip, walked over to one of the cabinets, and brought back the finger clamp used to check blood oxygen levels. He hadn’t bothered before because Lee was breathing normally, and Will had originally thought to try and keep him in Sick Bay for what was left of the night. But Lee was obviously trying to be honest with him so, for the greater good, Will was okay with playing along. But only as long as he was comfortable letting the impulsive young man out of his sight, and he grinned softly as he took the quick reading. “You,” he pointed to Chip, “may go put your captain to bed in his cabin. No side trips,” he added firmly.

“Yes, sir,” came once more in stereo, and Will laughed out loud. While Lee would occasionally ‘sir’ him, a junior officer, to show the doctor the respect they shared with each other, it was the first time that Will could remember Chip, who shared the rank of Lieutenant Commander with Will, doing it. Apparently that fact dawned on the other two as well, as they both grinned. Lee’s died as he sat up with more effort than he’d expected it would take. Will grabbed a bathrobe which Lee shrugged into. Neither Chip nor Will said anything as Lee slipped carefully off the gurney, held on for a couple seconds until he got his balance, and nodded to Chip. They both sent Will a quick look before exiting Sick Bay, a good deal slower than they usually walked. But Will was comfortable with letting the blond watch over his ‘little brother’ until Lee was in his own bunk, where Will knew that he’d rest a good deal more comfortably than if he tried to keep him here.

And that’s mostly what Lee needed right now, after his ordeal. While not physically injured, Will easily recognized Lee’s emotional crash and knew that, while it probably wouldn’t be mentioned, both Lee and Chip understood as well. Lee would take being fussed over by Chip a good deal easier than if Will tried. And both would relax a bit at Will’s letting Lee go to his cabin, knowing that if Will was at all worried about Lee he’d raise holy hell, up to and including getting Nelson involved, to order Lee to remain in Sick Bay. Still smiling, Will cleaned up what John, his night corpsman, hadn’t already done and headed for his own cabin.

At no time during the walk to Officers’ Country did Chip try to assist Lee. He knew better, especially in front of what crewmen they ran into on the trip. They both grinned once they were safely inside Lee’s cabin; they swore every man not on duty – and a couple who should have been – made a point to be somewhere between Sick Bay’s door and Lee’s cabin. With the knowledge that Lee had been released from the doctor’s clutches, the whole boat seemed to take a deep breath and relax.

Lee did insist on a quick shower. Since he only had the robe on Will had handed him it was a quick shower to sluice off what salt water remained, then into pajama bottoms and onto his bunk, where Chip had already turned down the blankets. Chip figured that Lee was asleep before he could make it out the door, and shuddered as he headed for his own bunk. It had been close this time; they all knew it. But once again, Lee had survived. Chip refused to think about any other outcome.

It didn’t take Nelson long to confirm his suspicions about the unusual rock formations in the area, now that he knew what he was looking for. He made a call to one of the scientists at NIMR despite the late hour. NIMR staff had to get used to Nelson’s inquiries at all hours of the day or night or they didn’t last long at the Institute. The captain he woke up when he called Navy Pacific Fleet Headquarters in San Diego wasn’t overly thrilled but Nelson didn’t let that stop him giving the man an earful about what Nelson found, and why he was sounding the alarm. Once it sunk in what Nelson was telling him, the captain understood the urgency and agreed to get things moving from his direction. He did ask what Nelson intended to do with Seaview’s two ‘passengers’. They both agreed that those decisions could be put off for the moment, until further intel could be gathered and confirmed.

Nelson finally headed for his own cabin, albeit with several stops on the way. The first was the Brig. Nelson said nothing at first as he stared at the man who had attacked Lee. The man, wide awake, merely stared back through a fierce scowl. Slowly Nelson started to smile. “I hope that you got paid in advance,” he told the man. “Although, it will be a very long time before you’ll ever get to spend any of it. You’re screwed, no matter what, for attacking Navy personnel. You might as well come clean. Perhaps it will go better for you.” The man’s scowl only increased as he turned on the bunk he was sitting on and laid down with his back to Nelson. “Have it your way,” Nelson told him almost pleasantly. He nodded to the crewman with the Duty Watch that shift and left. He then made quick stops at both Lee’s and Chip’s cabins, not bothering to knock, merely poking his head in far enough to determine that both men were sound asleep. He sent a nod at the two crewmen who were still working on the ‘problem’ close to Kilbright’s cabin, and finally entered his own.

* * * *

Despite the long day and short night, Nelson was only about five minutes later than he usually was getting to the Wardroom for breakfast. But he wasn’t at all surprised to find Lee and Chip already eating, and Will just dishing up his own meal. As the others looked at him he waved them off. “Eat,” he ordered, although with a soft smile, and poured and drained his first mugful of coffee before refilling it and dishing up his own breakfast. He’d barely sat down when Sparks called that Dewey was reporting in. Lee started to rise but Chip sent him a glare and went himself to the wall intercom and had the call piped down.

“Finally got a picture of Kilbright.” Dewey wasn’t known for wasting time. “Your guy ain’t him,” he said with a grump in his voice.

Both Lee and Chip stiffened but it was Nelson who answered. “We were coming to that conclusion, Dewey,” he told his Head of NIMR Security. “But nice to have it confirmed.”

“The real one did attend a conference in Seattle but he’s already back in Atlanta.”

At that moment ‘Kilbright’ entered the Wardroom, escorted by COB Sharkey. “Good morning, Mr. Kilbright,” Nelson greeted their guest with a broad smile. “Chief, have you had breakfast yet? Please join us. Dewey,” he directed toward the intercom, where Chip was still standing, “thank you so much. I’ll get back to you later.”

Dewey was never slow on the uptake. “Got it, Admiral.” As Nelson grinned and pointed both Kilbright and Sharkey towards the food, he saw Chip say something very quietly into the intercom before returning to his place at the table next to Lee. Both younger men nodded to Will as he moved further down the table, leaving space for the two newcomers next to Nelson. All three kept quiet, and even Sharkey was subdued, as Nelson somewhat over-enthusiastically engaged Kilbright in conversation. For his part, Kilbright mostly listened as he ate, and several times thanked Nelson for his hospitality to a stranger. He tried to apologize for basically sleeping away the previous day, which Nelson waved off, and continued his explanation of what Seaview was doing, servicing the sensors.

“And discovering what’s going on in the area,” Nelson’s voice turned firm as everyone was mostly done with their meal.

Kilbright paused, finishing off his coffee, but covered fairly well. “What’s that, you say?” he tried to sound casual. “I’m afraid you’ve lost me.”

“Oh, I really don’t think so, Mr. Kilbright; or whatever your real name is.” Nelson’s look was turning hard and Sharkey stiffened, now realizing something was going on that he wasn’t totally aware of. “As we speak, several Navy vessels, some with specialized equipment aboard, are headed this direction. They’ll be taking charge of you, your friend we have in our Brig, and whoever is on the surface ship just out of our Sonar range.” Kilbright flew out of the chair – or tried to. Both Nelson and Sharkey grabbed him, and were instantly aided by Chief Hauck and two of his team who charged through the Wardroom door at a sharp whistle from Chip.

Nelson sent the blond a nod as ‘Kilbright’ was hauled away, headed for the brig to await transfer to the approaching Navy ships. “Quick thinking, Chip,” he complimented his XO.

“Seemed appropriate, given how things were setting up, sir.”

“Sir?” Lee questioned. “You seem to have more of the puzzle than we do.” The plaintive quality in Lee’s voice, something not often heard, caused Nelson to smile with the nod he sent his captain.

“Illegal underwater mining,” he now told the others. He started to grab his empty coffee mug but Cookie showed up with a carafe and filled everyone’s mugs as the five men sat back down, then stayed to listen. No one objected. “I suspected it yesterday afternoon. That’s why I wanted the third dive.”

“I saw nothing unusual,” Lee said, shaking his head.

“And you weren’t supposed to,” Nelson told him. “It was extremely well-hidden. Whoever is doing it has some pretty sophisticated equipment.”

“The surface boat,” Chip’s turn to ask, although it wasn’t said as a question.

“I think so,” Nelson agreed. “We’ll know more once the other ships get here and can control the area.” He looked at the confused expression on the other faces, and settled in to explain. “That area of rocks…well, I knew it looked interesting when we originally set out the sensors, but we didn’t have the time then for me to check it out.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee told him, and shared a quick look with Chip. The pair had learned, finally, to schedule extra days into any cruise they planned, for whatever ‘interesting’ thing Nelson decided needed studying. Nelson saluted both younger men with his coffee mug.

“Many of the rocks there contain monazite sand ores. And in those sand ores I found an unusually high concentration of erbium.” He sent a soft grin around, knowing that he’d totally lost his non-scientific audience. “Erbium is a rare earth element, atomic number 68, symbol Er,” he couldn’t resist that bit of knowledge and his smile turned momentarily smug. “It was originally found in Sweden, and has been found to be particularly useful in certain laser applications, and in fiber optics.” That got nods from the others. “Now, most of it comes out of China.”

“Where it’s heavily regulated,” Lee said to no one in particular.

“And expensive,” Chip added.

“Right on both counts,” Nelson agreed. “However it happened, someone found a pocket of it right here.” He took a swallow of coffee. “And apparently weren’t happy to discover one of our sensors so close.”

“The drone, sir?” Lee questioned.

Nelson nodded. “At a guess it was meant to slow us down, or send us back to port, until they could finish their mining operation.”

“And when that didn’t work, Kilbright showed up.” Lee was starting to put the pieces together.

“Which also didn’t work,” Nelson agreed. “Who knows what the plan was, but I’m guessing we were supposed to take him ashore.”

“They don’t know about FS1?” Sharkey asked.

“Not everyone does,” Nelson reminded him, and got nods from the others.

“And last night?” Lee continued his need for answers.

This time Nelson merely shrugged. “I honestly don’t have any idea what they thought they’d accomplish by killing one of our divers,” Nelson admitted.

“Could they…” but Lee’s voice trailed off.

“Spit it out, ju..” Chip started to say ‘junior’, his nickname for Lee since Annapolis, then remembered who was there. While Nelson and Jamie had heard him use the term, Chip was careful not to say it in any place where it might be used to undermine Lee’s authority. Not that Cookie or COB Sharkey ever would, but… Chip sent Lee a slightly bashful look of apology for the almost slip.

“Yes, Lee?” Nelson stepped in to cover for his XO.

“If they had encountered the electric ray before…” Once more his voice trailed off as he looked at Nelson.

But it was the doctor who finished the thought. “They tried to choke you unconscious and then toss you at the ray, who would be blamed.”

“Very possible,” Nelson agreed.

“Skipper to the Conn,” came over the intercom in Lt. Keeter’s calm voice. All five men at the table finished their coffee, although only four headed forward.

Will accepted another refill from Cookie as he watched Lee walk out, and he caught the chef giving him a raised eyebrow. He knew exactly what Cookie wanted to know. “He slept all night. Well, what was left of it,” he somewhat muttered, and got the smile he was aiming for from Cookie. “He ate a decent breakfast,” he continued. “Now, if he tries going for a dive in the next forty-eight hours you’ll hear me yell – loudly.” Cookie snickered. “Other than that, he survived once more.”

As Lee, followed closely by Chip, Nelson, and COB Sharkey, in that order, entered the Conn, Lt. Keeter addressed the group. “Kowalski has approaching vessels on Sonar,” he told Lee, and then looked at Nelson. “And there’s a Captain Latour on the radio for you, Admiral.” Lee and Chip stayed at the chart table as Nelson headed for the Radio Shack – basically the aft port side of the Control Room. Sharkey took up his usual position several feet inside the aft hatch.

The next hour was busy. Lee surfaced the sub and, while their two ‘guests’ plus the captured drone were transferred to one of the Navy cruisers, two others corralled the suspicious surface ship. Lee and Chip didn’t try to keep up with all the details, letting Nelson handle that. Chip and Lt. James charted the course to the rest of the sensors they still needed to service, and Lee took the opportunity to do a lazy ‘walkaboat’. While refusing to admit it, he was still a bit shaky from the previous night’s adventure.

The four officers met back in the Wardroom at lunchtime and Nelson caught them all up. The Navy would be patrolling the site until certified mining could be completed and what erbium was still there carefully extracted.

“Now back to our regularly scheduled programming,” Chip muttered around a big bite of roast beef sandwich, and even a couple of off-duty JO’s at another table chuckled softly as Lee half-heartedly smacked his smart-aleck XO’s shoulder, and Nelson smiled at them both.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Will Jamison’s wife mentioned with permission of her creator, Cris Smithson.

* See “Katya” by R. L. Keller

** See Voyage ep “Long Live the King”

*** See Voyage ep “The Terrible Toys”