The Tiramisu

by Looby Lou

Embarking on a seemingly routine mission to search for the wreck of the Tiramisu the Seaview crew find themselves involved in the aftermath of Captain Cranes last ONI mission. Will Crane's failure to complete his previous mission catch up with him?

Just a little bit about me

I know you probably don't want to know this but I want people to know why I'm posting this, I want people to know that this is dedicated to the most wonderful man I've ever met – my Dad. He was more than just my Dad, he was my best friend and my hero.

My Dad died 19/12/03, he drowned in a scuba diving accident. I am still diving myself and have no intentions of giving up because despite the dangers, the oceans of our world are a truly magnificent place and this is dedicated to my Dad who I spent much quality time with whilst exploring the wonders of the sea first hand. He loved diving and I'm sure that given the choice again he would choose to take up diving and yes, even go out on that fateful Friday morning. His love for diving and the moments that we shared were what put me in mind of the Seaview and her crew.

Disclaimer

Ummm, not sure what to put here as this is my first fanfic but here goes, NIMR, the Seaview and her crew aren't mine, they belong to Irwin Allen and I'm just borrowing them for my own amusement so please don't sue me if I've inadvertently breached some copywrite agreement.

I know it's a naff title but I couldn't think of an appropriate one so you'll all just have to make do.

The Tiramisu

Admiral Harriman Nelson warmly greeted the man who appeared in his office doorway "Prince Igor, welcome, come on in. The Navy informed me of the loss of the royal cruiser Tiramisu, let me reassure you that the Seaview crew will do everything possible to locate the Tiramisu and your missing brother."

The oriental looking man sighed with relief as he stepped further into Nelsons office and replied "Thank you Admiral your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. My brother was due to be crowned Tsar when he returned to the Surstey Isles and although he is much loved by our people I cannot help but fear for his safety."

"I understand," replied Nelson, "my Chief of the Boat, Francis Sharkey should be picking you and your personal guard up out front in about 10 minutes, and he will escort you safely to Seaview."

"Thank you. I look forward to seeing your submarine; I have heard much about it and your Captain." With that, the young Prince departed leaving Nelson alone with his thoughts. Nelson wandered over to his window and stared out at the sea, watching as his men scurried around Seaview in preparation for her departure. He always found the view strangely relaxing but today his thoughts were in turmoil and even the sight of the magnificent submarine rocking gently in her berth could not ease his tension.

"Penny for them?"

Nelson turned away from his window, his thoughtful frown dissolving into a grin as he greeted one of his close friends. "Glad you could make it Will; you all set to sail?"

Will Jamieson smiled as he perched on Harry's desk. "Sure, glad I could get out of that conference, you know those things almost make me look forward to sailing on missions with you" joked Jamie before turning to serious business "sickbay is all stocked and ready. Now, Harry, what's on your mind?"

Nelson tried to pretend he didn't know what Jamie was talking about as he gave a casual shrug and answered "nothing"

Jamie frowned, he knew the command staff were all wound up tight as anything "Come on Harry. You, Chip, and Lee are stressed over something and don't think you can change the subject on me either. I fell for that old trick with Chip and Lee"

Nelson looked into Jamie's stubborn face and chuckled as he imagined Lee and Chip; they were capable of pulling quite a double act. He knew he would have to tell Jamie eventually so he gave in with a defeated sigh, "Oh I don't know, maybe I'm getting overly sentimental in my old age. Did you hear the mission details?"

Jamie nodded, "That we're to search for the Tiramisu and rescue any survivors."

"That's not all Jamie. Prince Ivan was aboard and after listening to the recording of her last distress call we've no reason to believe that we're looking for anything other than the wreck of the Tiramisu. Navy divers have seen what they believe to be her lying on the bottom but she's just beyond their range so the government called in Seaview as the only ship capable of investigating at those depths."

Jamie looked puzzled. "I still don't get why you're so rattled Harry, I'll admit it's never pleasant recovering the dead but we've done lots of similar deep dive operations."

"Well, its Lee" admitted Nelson reluctantly

"Ahhh," said Jamie with a knowing smile; now he was getting somewhere.

"Lee seems very keen to do this. ONI has information which strongly implies that Igor was behind the death of his father, and Lee agrees with them that he could also be behind this attempt on his brothers' life"

Jamie frowned, "But if he is, why put himself here and why all the effort to locate the ship?" The two men broke off their conversation as a third person entered the room and joined Nelson over by the window.

"Perhaps you can answer that Lee?" Nelson asked the newcomer.

"Well Captain?" prompted the doctor.

Lee smiled grimly and shrugged, "Well it's the perfect cover; if we find the wreck and recover the body there can be no accusations of foul play. We're his alibi in this. All the public will see is a tragic accident and Igor doing everything possible to bring his brother's body home and find the perpetrators; hardly the act of a murderer, eh?"

"Everything I've seen or heard of the man suggests that he's genuine," argued Nelson

"I know," said Lee quietly, "but I still have a bad feeling about this. Chip and I are going to be keeping a very close eye on our guest."

Jamie rolled his eyes theatrically, "Well don't get into any trouble on this cruise I spend too much time patching you up as it is."

The three men smiled at each other little realising how dangerous this mission was going to get.

Six hours later the Seaview was leaving Santa Barbara in the distance as she sailed smoothly along the surface on course to the site where Navy personnel had reported finding a wreck, which was likely to be the Tiramisu. Lee and Chip were in Nelson's cabin discussing the situation.

"I don't like it," stated Chip flatly "Why is ONI so interested? I thought you were finished with all that undercover stuff anyway?"

Lee gazed into the accusing eyes of his executive officer and best friend as he tried to explain, "I was, but they need me to do this. For a start I'm already here as only Seaview and NIMR divers have the equipment and training to operate at the depth the Tiramisu is lying at."

Chip scowled, he had to admit that Crane was the best choice for the ONI mission but he still shuddered as he remembered the state that his friend had been in when they had retrieved him from that last mission. "I still don't like it; if your suspicions are right then we've brought potential killers aboard Seaview; anyway what about that new Navy sub the Neptune? The Tiramisu is at the limit of her range." Chip looked to Nelson for support.

Nelson took in the angry concern of his XO but he couldn't back him up, much as he would dearly love too, with a sigh he grumbled, "I don't like it either Chip, but the government has requested that we do this in the interest of diplomacy. ONI has requested that Lee take the mission and they've pulled strings at the White House to get the Chief of Staff twisting my arm. Finally, given the choice of shipping Lee out to the Neptune with the equipment to train a bunch of strangers for this mission, or keeping him where he's working with experienced men who'll keep an eye on him, I'd rather keep him here"

Lee scowled at the implication that he needed looking after. He could train the Navy divers to handle the equipment although he admitted that he would much rather be on Seaview where this sort of thing was routine instead of being considered something that was on the edge. Not to mention that he would much rather work with the Seaview crew than even the most highly trained Navy divers because he trusted his men and they trusted him. That sort of two-way trust was a rare occurrence in his life but the young Captain found it most rewarding.

Chip was placated by the scowl on his friends face and his own scowl relaxed into a delighted smirk as he grudgingly acceded "Okay, I suppose he does need a babysitter"

Unheard over the laughter of the three men in Nelsons' cabin a short stocky man wormed his way backwards from the air vent opening into the cabin and out into the main ventilation shaft. Several minutes later he squeezed out into guest cabin 1 and dropped to his knees in a prostrated position before his master.

"Well Tarkan, what did you discover?" Demanded Prince Igor

Tarkan looked up and reported, "There is an ONI spy aboard and he's the same man that was gathering evidence on the demise of your father."

"Who is it?"

"Captain Crane. ONI has asked him to keep a close eye on you."

Igor reclined on his bunk and thoughtfully drawled "Wellllll, I suspected as much. I recognised him from a picture in a research journal although I haven't met the good Captain in person yet. It is imperative now that we ensure I don't have to get involved personally. Is our destroyer in the area?"

"The Shavian will be in the area about an hour after we arrive, she is fully armed and awaiting your instructions master."

"Very good Tarkan, keep me informed on the schedule for the mission."

Tarkan bowed deeply and took his leave.

A dark expression settled on Igor's face as he wondered how Crane had escaped from the Islands last time. Igor remembered that Crane had obtained vital information proving that Igor had arranged for his father to be poisoned. Fortunately, one of Crane's contacts had crumbled under pressure and betrayed him, enabling Igor's men to capture him as he was attempting to leave the main Island. Igor felt his rage boiling within him as he recalled that despite being tortured for three days the man had not uttered a single sound, and even more galling was the fact that he had somehow managed to escape and make his way to one of the small outer Isles. Igor and his men had hunted Crane down but by the time they found him he was safely heading out to sea in a small launch with several armed men onboard. Igor had puzzled over Crane's escape for weeks, unable to figure out where a small boat like that would have gone in the vast ocean, but now he could see that the Seaview must have been waiting submerged just off the shore and Crane's men had come looking for their Skipper. He scoffed as he recalled that they called him 'Skipper' as a sign of affection. He was disturbed to feel a momentary pang of sadness as he thought that none of his subjects had ever shown any affection towards him although they would move the Earth for Ivan. Cursing himself for his momentary weakness, he hardened his heart again and promised himself, "I'll get you this time Crane and I will make you scream. I'll have you begging me to end your miserable life. If by some miracle Ivan has survived I'll make sure that you can't stop any assassination attempts or threaten to expose me again." Feeling in control of his destiny once more, he lay back and closing his eyes he promptly fell asleep.

Unlike Igor, Nelson had had a restless night and the next morning found him up and about early. He wasn't surprised to find Lee already in the control room and joining his friend at the chart table he greeted him with a smile "Morning Lee, how's our progress?"
"We submerged about 20 minutes ago and should be reaching the search area anytime now," replied Lee as he tossed his clipboard casually onto the chart table.

"Skipper, picking up something on sonar," called Riley.

Lee and Nelson headed over towards the Sonar station and stared thoughtfully at the blip on the screen. "It's approximately the same shape and size as the Tiramisu," said Riley hesitantly, Lee smiled and patted him on the shoulder "Good job Riley, we won't be able to identify her until we can get a visual. Give a bearing to the helmsman and then keep a lookout for any unwanted visitors."

"Aye aye Skipper"

Nelson turned to Lee with a small smile and said, "Well this is it, it won't be long before we know whether your suspicions are well founded or not"

Lee matched Nelsons dry smile with one of his own and replied, "I hope for all of our sakes that I'm wrong about Prince Igor but despite evidence to the contrary my gut instinct is that Igor assassinated his father and he's just attempted the same with his brother."

Several hours later, the Seaview had the Tiramisu just 200m off her nose. Chip Morton and Lee Crane stood on Nelsons' porch studying the sunken ship through Seaview's huge windows.

"There's a slim possibility of survivors," mused Crane as he pointed, "see those bubbles coming from the starboard mid section?"

Morton nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, you're right; they may be trapped in an air pocket and if that's the case we should be able to bring them out once we've ascertained the stability of Tiramisu."

"I'm going to take a team over in about 10 minutes to check that out, then if all is well we should be able to start bringing out any survivors and identifying the bodies."

"Who's on your team?"

Lee paused thoughtfully but before he could answer, he heard Kowalski call, "Skipper? Picking up a destroyer on hydrophones; she's heading our way at full speed."

Lee and Chip rushed over to Kowalski's' station. Lee gave Riley a questioning glance and Riley replied, "Nothing showing up on sonar Skipper, they mustn't be in range yet."

Chip raised an eyebrow at Riley's response; everyone knew that the range on the sonar was slightly more than the range on the hydrophones.

Noticing the looks the Skipper and the Exec were giving him Riley explained further, "Umm, there's an abnormally high concentration of metallic debris in the water round here and it's reduced the accuracy on the sonar."

Despite the situation Lee still had time to feel the warm glow of pride spread through him as reflected that he hadn't even had to speak to Riley; his men were so well trained that they knew instinctively what he wanted from them.

"Can you identify her Ski?"

The rating shook his head carefully as he listened to the sounds on his hydrophone headset. "She sounds turbine driven, twin screws, possibly World War 2 surplus."

"That narrows it down to most of the smaller nations then," muttered Chip sarcastically

Lee shot him a dark look but said nothing; he understood his friends' frustration. "Okay, change of plan, we need to get the Tiramisu stabilised if necessary and any survivors out in one dive, I don't want to be in the area when that destroyer gets here just in case they're not friendly."

Nelson had entered the control room just as Kowalski had picked up the destroyer, he had stood watching proceedings, unnoticed by the men but now he stepped out if the shadow of the hatch and asked, "Have you still got a bad feeling about this mission Lee?"

Lee felt a brief pang of disappointment that despite the sudden arrival of a mystery ship on the scene the Admiral was still so disbelieving of Lees' uncanny sixth sense; after all, it had saved their backsides on several previous occasions. Shrugging aside his emotions Lee covered his hurt feelings by snapping into navy mode. "If you mean am I still concerned about certain aspects of this mission then yes Sir, I am."

Chip took in his friend's deadpan expression and the almost imperceptible straightening of his posture; he had watched the exchange and knew that Lee had retreated behind his command facade because Nelson's apparent lack of trust had hurt him. Lee was an intensely private man but the Seaview crew had cracked his façade and had wormed their way into his heart just as he had earned his place in theirs. Chip reflectively considered that although he and Lee were like brothers, Lee had a distinctly more father and son relationship with Nelson, with a sigh Chip made a mental note to keep an eye on Lee as this would eat away at him. Nobody else on the crew would notice the subtle difference but Chip could see the blank look to Lee's eyes and his exaggerated politeness. Deciding on a tactful change of subject Chip returned to his original question "Who's on your team Lee?"

Lee was still upset that Nelson was acting so unconcerned about the mission despite what little Lee had grudgingly told him about Igor being responsible for his injuries when he returned from his last ONI mission but when Chip spoke he turned away from Nelson and quickly decided, "I'll buddy Kowalski as usual, and I'll take Riley and Patterson too."

Nelson merely raised an eyebrow but Chip actually whispered "Pat?!"

Lee discreetly guided Chip back into the nose and Nelson followed. When they were out of earshot Lee explained ,"If you were trapped in there and you were frightened, it's cold and dark, you'd be less likely to panic with a face like Pats' on the rescue team wouldn't you? And he is an extremely competent diver"

Chip laughed, "Yeah, I see what you mean. Pat's baby face would comfort anybody; hell it even reassures me!"

Lee left his two friends laughing as he made his way through the control room picking up Kowalski and Riley as he passed and instructing them to accompany him to the missile room.

Lee arrived to find Patterson already half kitted up and Sharkey clucking round like a mother hen, after 10 minutes of being fussed over Lee's team finally did their buddy checks and escaped into the airlock. With a sigh of relief Lee pushed open the outer hatch and descended into the inky darkness outside Seaview. Looking around he could see the Tiramisu clearly illuminated in Seaview's powerful forward searchlight; he checked that Kowalski was by his side and that the other team were following before he headed forward along Seaview's hull.

Kowalski smiled to himself as he watched the Skipper relax in the water and gently pat Seaview's hull as he swam past. Kowalski and the Skipper hadn't had the best of starts due to Cranes' unorthodox method of sneaking aboard Seaview on his first tour of duty. Crane had thumped Kowalski to gain entry to Seaview and he had made Cranes' first few weeks hell even though Crane had apologised. Once Crane had risked his own life to save Kowalski and several other crewmembers during that first mission he had been accepted as one of them. Kowalski personally was very close to the Skipper now and Lee also felt very comfortable in Kowalski's presence; hence they were usually buddies on dive missions.

The Tiramisu was resting with a significant list to her port side with her upper decks almost facing Seaview, flat sandy bottom to her stern and her bow peeking out over a steep trench. Lee was concerned that the curvature of the hull could cause her to topple and possibly slip over the edge of the trench into deeper water than even Seaview could withstand . As the divers reached the Tiramisu Lee signalled that they should swim round her perimeter and check out her stability. Soon after, they met around the dorsal side and communicated their findings. Lee wrote on his slate ' she seems stable. Rudder and dorsal hull damage indicates explosion in engine room? ' Kowalski nodded his agreement. Pat looked at Riley then wrote 'seems stable for now, wouldn't want to hang around. Current picking up round the bow.' Lee nodded that he understood and together the team ascended along the bottom of the hull until they found the stream of bubbles slowly seeping from a cracked porthole in the starboard side. Ascending slightly and peering in through the porthole Lee could see a man huddled in a corner of the small cabin, he tapped gently on the port and the man glanced up in disbelief.

Ivan could not believe his eyes; there was a man at the window with a slate. What did it say? Ivan squinted at the words and just made out 'Tap on wall beneath you so we can locate' The man disappeared and Ivan had to suppress the urge to giggle; he must be going crazy. Someone had found him and was going to rescue him. He had lost all hope of a rescue attempt from his own people and it wasn't likely that his brother would enlist outside aid to find him after he had tried to murder him. At first, he had thought himself fortunate to be stuck in this air pocket but then he had begun to realise that there was a good chance he would slowly suffocate in his own exhaled carbon dioxide. He had had a hard time accepting that his own brother had sent the saboteur onboard; the explosion in the engine room had killed half the crew instantly and the others? He hoped they had been as fortunate as he had but in his heart he knew that they had probably drowned when the Tiramisu sunk. He remembered a slim, dark haired man with intense hazel eyes coming to him shortly after his father had died. He had been beside himself with grief at the time and had angrily dismissed the man's claims that Igor had killed their father. The man had beseeched Ivan to help him get evidence to convict Igor but Ivan had refused and the man had been forced to go to an unreliable source for the information. Igor had sent his men to capture the agent, then he had the man beaten to within an inch of his life but the man would only speak to Ivan and even then, he would only warn Ivan to watch his back. Ivan's shoulders shook with emotion as he banged against the wall he was sat on and the tears of anger, sorrow and shame spilled down his cheeks. He had found the evidence that the agent had collected to prove his brother's involvement and then had the agent freed. The agent had offered to take Ivan with him but Ivan knew that he couldn't abandon his people. At the young age of 22, he was 6 years younger than Igor but the people had voted for Ivan to be crowned Tsar rather than Igor. Neither brother had been happy at the time but it was the decision of the people and only the people could change that. Ivan felt the responsibility weighing heavily on his young shoulders but he now knew that it was his destiny to rule, the people had seen that he was a fair and considerate man and had chosen him over the reign of brutality that his brother unconsciously promised. He'd been surprised that the man had genuinely understood. Ivan had often wondered what had happened to the agent and why he seemed to understand Ivan's responsibility to his people so deeply.

The team of divers followed the sound of banging until they were in the corridor outside the cabin that housed the trapped man; it was going to be difficult getting him out as the door was now on the ceiling and the locking mechanism on the watertight hatch had been twisted by the percussive force of the ships watertight bulkheads blowing out as she sank. Lee again wrote on his slate 'can't open door. Mechanism damaged. Will have to use laser. The others nodded and exchanged 'ok' signals, then Riley started to cut through the door with the laser along the route Lee traced through the darkness with his torch.

Inside the cabin Ivan stopped his banging and crying as he noticed the metal of the door start to blacken and melt as the laser burnt through it, but now he had a new problem and as he felt the metal beneath him starting to heat up he hoped that his rescuers could remember exactly where he was sitting.

Back on Seaview, Chip and the Admiral were plotting the ETA of the mystery destroyer and it wasn't looking good. Chip threw his pencil onto the chart table with a look of disgust as he said, "The destroyer will be over us in approximately 5 minutes; we're out of time Admiral."

Nelson nodded absently but nobody was fooled, despite his earlier nonchalance every man in the control room knew that the Admiral was thinking fast about how to extricate his men if it all got sticky. Nelson sighed inwardly as he noted the surreptitious glances of his men, he knew what they were thinking but he had no ideas this time. If Lee was right and the sinking of the Tiramisu had been an assassination attempt then the logical conclusion was that the destroyer would probably attempt to finish destroying the Tiramisu and attempt to take out Seaview too. Seaview would easily be able to outrun the destroyer at flank speed or she would be able to withstand a few depth charges if she stayed put, but if Lee and his team were caught out in the open or even in the Tiramisu then their chances of survival weren't good. Nelson gestured towards the surface with a nod of his head and asked, "Sparks, any luck communicating with our mystery guests up there?"

"Sorry Admiral, they just don't want to talk."

Nelson sighed and looked at Chip who shook his head. He had no ideas either. Damn, thought Nelson angrily to himself, when will you learn to listen to Lee Harry? You know his sixth sense is normally right about these things.

Riley breathed a sigh of relief as he completed the circle he was burning through the cabin door; it was hot work using the laser as the beam tended to heat the surrounding water. Grumbling to himself and frowning, he stowed the laser back in its carrying bag and looked up again to find the Skipper watching him with eyes full of quiet amusement. Riley felt his own laughter bubble inside him at the Skipper's expression; he marvelled that a man who was so fearless and who had faced so much violence and angst could still take so much innocent delight in something as simple as a crewman's grumbling when faced with a little discomfort. With a shake of his head, Riley supposed that that was just one of the reasons that they all loved the Skipper. Lee gave the cabin door a sharp tap and the circle of metal fell out of the middle creating a hole just big enough for one man to squeeze through, moving back he nodded to Patterson to indicate that it was time for him to play his part. The three remaining men set out to search for any other survivors whilst Patterson's head and shoulders disappeared into the hole.

Ivan scrambled backwards as a hole appeared in the cabin door, for a moment he was gripped with fear as he expected the water to come flooding through the hole in a deadly torrent. When the water stayed where it was he started to creep cautiously towards it when he was again startled but this time by a man appearing in the hole. Before Ivan could react, the stranger removed his regulator and pulled off his hood and mask to reveal one the friendliest faces Ivan had ever seen.

The stranger had a decidedly boyish face decided Ivan but any further evaluation was cut short when the strangers face broke into a huge sunny smile and he announced "Hi I'm Seaman Patterson but everyone calls me Pat, are you injured in any way?"

Ivan was understandably shaken by the unexpected change in his luck but he managed to pull himself together and stammer, "I'm fine thank you, my name is Ivan."

"Hi Ivan...oh, I mean...you're that Ivan? The Prince? Oh, uh, sorry, sir." Pat blushed as he slowly realised just who he was rescuing.

Ivan laughed at the mans discomfort and thought to himself I like this boy, glancing down at his practical corduroy trousers and fisherman's sweater he laughed even harder and said "Don't worry Pat, I don't look much like a Prince at the moment but I'm afraid I've never been one for the finery and trappings of my position. I'm more into mucking in with the work and mingling with my people." He glanced nervously at the water again and inquired "Now, tell me, why the water doesn't flood the compartment?"

"The air pressure in here is keeping the water out, for the water to rise the air must first be removed." Ivan looked puzzled so Pat thought of an example, one that the Skipper had used to explain it to him. "Have you ever inverted a glass or milk bottle in a bowl of water?" Ivan nodded and now looked thoughtful as Pat continued, "well the air trapped in the bottle keeps the water out, if you tip the bottle slightly the water pushes the air out and replaces it."

Ivan smiled in delight and said, "Yes I understand, now, can you please get me out before that happens here?"

Pat chuckled "Yes, here put these mask and fins on." He handed Ivan a pair of fins and the young Prince obediently kicked off his shoes and replaced them with the fins, next Pat handed him the mask and instructed him in how to fit it and finally how to breathe from the spare regulator attached to Pats' diving cylinder. Finally, they were ready to leave, Ivan was afraid but he figured he was safe with someone as friendly and placid as young Pat, after all the young man was barely more than a kid.

Lee heaved a sigh of relief as he saw another pair of legs appear in the water quickly followed by the rest of Pat and their mystery survivor as they descended to the others. At least they had saved this one; their search of the vessel had revealed only corpses floating eerily in the darkness of her interior. Lee wondered how much time he had left before the destroyer arrived as he led his team back towards the external hatch and clear water.

Nelson was trying to catch up on some paperwork in his cabin when he was disturbed.

"Admiral to the Control Room!" Chip's voice was deceptively calm over the PA as he continued "the company we've been expecting is here!"

Nelson knew that Chip's cryptic comment meant the destroyer had reached the area and the dive team were still out there. "Please be careful son," he muttered to himself he made his way forward to the control room.

As Nelson joined Chip in the control room he felt a chill run down his spine when he heard someone report, "depth charges dropped Sir." Nelson locked gazes with Chip and saw his own fears reflected in his XO's blue eyes before he tore his gaze away and angrily shouted "Godammit men get those crash doors closed." The men scurried to obey their Admiral knowing that it was only his concern for the diving party making him irritable. Nelson ran a shaky hand through his wavy auburn hair and took a deep breath before joining Chip by the monitor for the forward nose camera to watch for any signs of his men. The first depth charges hit moments later causing Seaview to rock violently under the onslaught, panels exploded in showers of sparks as men tumbled from their stations. There was a brief pause in the barrage whilst the destroyer reloaded her launchers and Nelson took the opportunity to glance around the smoky room at his men, he felt a surge of pride as he saw them going about their duties although they were clearly afraid. Although the canister itself wouldn't cause any serious damage to Seaview they had been devastating to early submarines and the submariners still found the fearsome noise soul destroying. Nelson smiled grimly at his men and reassured them "Just hang on tight men, Seaview can handle this and I've no doubt that the Skipper can too." He was only rewarded with tired smiles but he knew his men would get through this for Lee's sake; they would sit this out for as long as it took to get their Skipper and their colleagues safely back aboard.

The dive team were only 30 feet away from the Tiramisu when the first depth charge struck, luckily for them it was nearer to Seaview. The team were struck by the percussive wave scattering them across the bottom but otherwise they remained unharmed. Lee shook his head trying in vain to clear the ringing from his ears. He glanced round and saw his men were disorientated and frightened, although to his credit Pat still had a firm grip on their mystery man. Lee swam to Pat and pointed back towards the Tiramisu, Pat nodded and tried to head back towards the relative safety of the wrecked cruiser but Ivan was frozen by his fear and Pat couldn't get him to move. Lee sighed with exasperation but then had to admit that some men wouldn't have left the air pocket let alone keep it together whilst being depth charged. Kowalski and Riley were both badly frightened but instinct drove them automatically to seek out Crane for reassurance; the Skipper would get them out of this mess somehow.

Chip shouted when he saw the divers, Nelson glanced at him and cocked his eyebrow in amusement at the strangled sound of relief forcing itself from the lips of his normally emotionless XO. Chip looked abashed for a split second then his normal deadpan expression spread over his features masking any emotion lurking there although Nelson knew that Chip was worrying about Lee and the others just as much as he was. "Admiral, look! The dive party have left the Tiramisu with one survivor."

Nelson's momentary flare of hope was extinguished as he again heard the hydrophone operator report "second wave of depth charges dropped." He watched helplessly as the disorientated men regrouped and he saw Lee try to direct them back toward the precarious safety of the Tiramisu but the survivor was frozen with fear leaving them stranded in the open.

"It's so unfair" whispered Chip. Nelson glanced at him seeing his own fears reflected in Chips eyes as he continued "We're here on Seaview, relatively safe yet unable to protect them whilst they're stranded only metres from us."

Nelson's questioning glance changed to a thoughtful one then he slammed his fist onto the chart table with a triumphant "I've got it!" The men in the control room all looked up at him hopefully. Nelson could almost kiss Chip for giving him the idea, it wasn't brilliant but it just might work "Helmsman, bring Seaview closer to the Tiramisu; try to put us between the dive team and the depth charges, use her hull to deflect those canisters and see if you can shelter our men."

"But sir, the wake from our screws could destabilise the wreck that's why we're so far away in the first place" said the helmsman.

Nelson smiled grimly, his crew thought of almost everything, they certainly were fine men. "I know but we don't have any other options," he explained sadly. "I hate to say this but we know there may be other survivors, we also know that our men and one survivor are definitely alive at the moment. I can only protect the men in the open or the men who may be trapped onboard the Tiramisu. Given the choices I have to choose the men I know are alive."

"Aye aye Admiral" replied the helmsman as he and the planesman carefully manoeuvred Seaview over the diving team under the direction of the Admiral himself.

The men in the control room were saddened to think that their actions may have sentenced any crew still onboard the Tiramisu to death but they also knew that the Admiral was making the right decision. It would be unbearable if their own crewmates died for a wreck full of corpses, that was a gamble that nobody could quite stomach taking.

Lee looked into the eyes of his frightened men but he couldn't help them, their only chance was to coax the survivor into moving again but he was firmly gripping a large rock on the bottom and seemed to be almost catatonic he was so petrified. Kowalski was frantically trying to prise Ivan's fingers away but only enjoying limited success; Pat was gently shaking him and trying to make eye contact. Lee was wracking his brains trying to think of a way to extricate them all before the next wave of depth charges hit when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Seaview moving. Turning to look he saw that she was moving towards them, relief flooded through him as he signalled to his men and instructed them to look at Seaview, the relief in their eyes told him that they understood she was coming for them. The Tiramisu rocked gently in the wake of Seaview but remained as she was although she was now even more unstable than previously, Lee was thankful that they had got out even though they had been depth charged in the open. The ocean suddenly heaved and boiled around them as the first depth charges of the second wave detonated over Seaview with a massive thunderclap. Galvanised into action by the noise and motion, Ivan let go of his rock and grabbed Pat in a bear hug, his eyes wide with fright. Pat struggled to free himself but he couldn't match the adrenaline-fuelled strength of the man, eventually he gave up and hugged the man back trying to calm him down. Lee almost laughed but instead he pulled out his slate and directed Riley and Kowalski to tow the tangle of men back to the escape hatch on Seaview.

Once the men were safely inside the escape hatch and the water was being pumped out, the young Prince finally relaxed his grip on Pat. His cheeks flushed with shame as he recalled his behaviour but thankfully all the Seaview team with him were pretending it had never happened, he heaved a sigh of relief as he surreptitiously glanced round at his rescuers. Apart from young Patterson he hadn't spoken to the other team members and he was looking forward to being introduced to them and to being able to thank them for saving him even at the risk of losing their own lives.

The Admiral and XO were in the missile room waiting anxiously with Sharkey as the airlock emptied; they exchanged worried glances as the second wave of depth charges rocked Seaview.

"The Skipper, Ski, Pat and Riley are in the airlock with one survivor," reported Sharkey as he anxiously tried to see what was happening to his men through the various cameras placed on Seaview's hull.

The water was now down to mid torso levels and Ivan began to finally feel relatively safe as the men began removing their regulators and chatting amongst themselves.

"Is everybody alright?" asked the man in the yellow wetsuit, there was a chorus of aye ayes from the men and Ivan assumed that the man with the yellow suit must be in charge. His assumption was proved correct when the man leaned forwards between the other crewmen and extended his hand towards Ivan and said, "welcome aboard your highness. I'm Commander Crane, Captain of the Seaview."

Kowalski and Riley looked at each other in surprise, how did the Skipper know that the man they had rescued was Prince Ivan? Very few people knew what the ruling family of the Surstey Isles looked like as the natives were virtually xenophobic.

Ivan leaned over and shook Cranes hand, the man looked very familiar but it was hard to tell with the wetsuit hood obscuring so much of his face. Shaking off the nagging feeling that he knew this man he replied "Captain you won't believe how pleased I am to see you and your men, thank you ever so much for rescuing me, I owe you my life."

The men grinned as Crane merely shrugged and said "you owe us nothing your highness, we were just doing our jobs. Admiral Nelson is onboard and would like to speak to you about what happened if you feel up to it?"

Ivan suddenly remembered the reason he had been sailing on Tiramisu in the first place, he felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as if the floor had been pulled out from under him. "The microchip!" he cried in horror, "how could I have forgotten it?"

"Microchip?" enquired Crane.

Ivan turned to him and pushing through the other men he grabbed Crane by his upper arms and beseeched "you must go back for it, please."

"Now hold on a minute your highness, we barely got back this time I can't risk sending my men out there again."

"I understand your concern for your men Captain but the information on that chip is irreplaceable, the cost in lives has been..." Ivan trailed off unable to articulate how much emotional pain losing the crew of Tiramisu was causing him.

The awkward conversation was halted momentarily as the last of the water drained away and Chief Sharkey pulled open the airlock. The men clambered out and Sharkey draped a warm blanket round Ivans shoulders as Chip and Nelson came forward and introduced themselves.

Nelson gave the young man a friendly smile and extended his hand "Welcome aboard Seaview, I'm Admiral Nelson and this is my Executive Officer, Commander Morton. I believe you've already met Captain Crane and crewmen Kowalski, Riley and Patterson. I know you've been through a lot in the past few hours but as soon as you're warm and dry we need to discuss the situation with you"

Ivan ignored the offered hand, he was still too upset about the microchip. "Admiral you have to send someone to recover a microchip from the safe in my cabin on Tiramisu, that microchip contains vital information."

Chip instantly had a sinking feeling, this could only lead to more trouble. Suppressing a sigh he asked "what information could be important enough to risk the lives of our men?"

Ivan rounded on Chip angrily "this information has already cost everyone onboard Tiramisu their lives, I owe it to them and the rest of my people to see that this information is made public."

"I understand that you're upset about your crewmates and you don't want them to have died for nothing but you still haven't told us what this information is. I'm sorry but surely you can understand why the Admiral and I don't want to risk our men?" Crane gently pointed out to the distraught young Prince.

"I know, I wouldn't want to risk sending anyone out there either if I was in your shoes. If I could, I would go myself Captain."

Nelson raised his eyebrows in surprise, he then frowned as he gruffly demanded, "the information is that important? What could a crewman be carrying that's of such vital importance to a nation?"

Chip suppressed the urge to groan and Lee wore a grim smile as Ivan continued "I am Prince Ivan and the microchip contains proof that Igor assassinated my father, it also contains evidence that links him with two previous attempts on my own life. Without the information on that microchip the council on Surstey will not arrest a member of the ruling family and Igor will make further attempts on my life."

The men in the missile room were all openly staring at Ivan, astounded by his claims against his brother. Nelson thought to himself My God Lee was right all along, what have I done? He would have to make reparations with Lee later, clearing his throat he announced "My apologies your highness, I didn't realise who you were and I think you should know that Prince Igor is aboard Seaview."

"Then I must request that you assign me some security Admiral" replied Ivan resignedly, he should have known that the rescue was too good to be true, plucked from the jaws of death to be thrust into his brothers grasp without the evidence he had painstakingly assembled.

The men in the missile room all whirled round at the sound of the airlock being slammed shut.

"Damm, I knew there was going to be trouble" muttered Chip as he rushed over to the airlock.

"It's too late sir" reported Sharkey with a shake of his head "the escape hatch is already flooding."

"God dammit !" snapped Nelson.

"I should have known that stubborn fool would pull a stunt like this" grumbled Chip

The Seaview rolled gently as another wave of depth charges started in the distance. Chip rolled his eyes "great timing with the fireworks, let's just hope that their aim doesn't improve" he grumbled.

Sharkey returned to his previous post by the external camera monitor and waited anxiously for any sign of Crane whilst Chip walked over to the mike and called for Doctor Jamison to make his way to the missile room to check over Prince Ivan and the men. It would have been normal procedure for the men to go to the sickbay but Chip knew that there was no way in hell he was going to be able to move those men from that room until the Skipper was back onboard.

Nelson and Chip joined Sharkey over by the camera and watched in horrified fascination as the turbulence of the depth charges stirred up the seabed and obscured their view with a thick blanket of silt. Riley, Kowalski, Patterson and Ivan hovered behind them, straining to see the tiny monitor as they waited anxiously for news.

"There he goes" said Sharkey as he pointed out a faint shadow on the monitor, the shadow gradually resolved itself into an image that looked like a diver as Crane passed closer to the external camera before he disappeared into the murk left by the last depth charge.

"My God" said Chip, his voice thick with emotion as they helplessly watched their friend and captain disappear into the dense cloud of silt.

Lee's heart was in his mouth as he plunged into the rolling cloud of silt, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face but he knew that he had to get that microchip. As he blindly followed his compass towards the Tiramisu he thought about the events that had just unfolded. Ivan must have reconstructed the evidence that Lee had lost during his last ONI mission and had obviously been on his way to present that evidence to his people when the Tiramisu had been sunk by the unexplained explosion in her engine room. They would never be able to prove that Igor had been responsible for the demise of the Tiramisu but the evidence on the microchip would be enough to ensure that he was locked away for life. Ivan would be a wonderful leader for his people and he deserved the chance to rule, he only wanted for his people to prosper and Lee could identify with that. This was an opportunity to complete his last ONI mission, it had niggled at Crane that his last mission had been a failure and now he had a chance to rectify that mistake.

Lee reached Tiramisu and was relieved that she was still balanced precariously on the edge of the trench, he gingerly felt along her hull for the hatch and slipped inside. Once inside, the visibility was still fairly clear and Lee returned to his musing as he made his way to where they had found Ivan. He tried to ignore the nagging fears at the back of his mind, the little voice that told him he would run out of air or the depth charges would get him, and concentrate on why he had decided on this reckless course of action. As he found the microchip and safely tucked it away in his glove he realised that he hadn't decided on anything, him being out here was a knee jerk reaction to the failure of his last ONI mission and to the way Nelson had hurt him. He wouldn't admit it to anybody but he had been hurt by Nelsons flippancy when he had tried to warn Nelson about Igor, he felt that Nelson knew him well enough to have realised that he wasn't given to fits of paranoia or panic. But no, Nelson had obviously decided that Lee was still suffering mentally from his last mission, he had spoken to Igor briefly and decided that he wasn't a threat, despite Lee's assertions to the contrary.

Lee had no more time for thought as he reached the hatch and emerged once more into the roiling cloud of silt. He knew that if he waited the depth charge attack would be over soon and he could utilise the gap whilst the canisters were being reloaded onto the launchers but two things forced him out into the open, his rapidly diminishing air supply and the increasing creaks and groans he could hear from Tiramisus hull as she slid further over the edge of the trench. It would only be moments before the weight of her hull sent her plunging down into depths that no man could survive at. As if on cue, two depth charges detonated close by her and with a terrible tearing and screeching sound she slipped over the edge and disappeared. Lee hadn't even realised that Tiramisu had gone as he found himself being tossed around like a rag doll in a washing machine. He was so battered and bruised by the turbulence of the water that he didn't even feel the piece of shrapnel from the canister pierce into his abdomen, all he was aware of was the roaring of the water in his ears and the sensation of being completely helpless as he felt unconsciousness closing in on him.

Onboard Seaview the men could only just see the shadowy form of the Tiramisu as she slid away into oblivion, it was impossible for them to determine if Lee had made it out.

"No" whispered Nelson harshly, he gripped the edges of the monitor so hard that his knuckles turned white. As if he could bring the Skipper back by sheer force of will thought Sharkey.

He turned away taking a shaky breath to compose himself and was surprised to see Jamie and Frank stood there watching him carefully.

"Are you okay?" Jamie asked quietly, he could see that the all the men were badly shaken. He and Frank had turned up in time to witness Tiramisu disappearing into the blue, but he refused to believe that Lee was beaten just yet. "Don't give up on him just yet, you know he has a knack for defying the odds" he reassured. Chip just smiled at him and nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Riley sat in stunned silence and Pat had tears streaming down his face but Kowalski could not accept it any more than Jamie had.

"No, I don't believe it, he must have got out" said Kowalski angrily, he shuffled over to the monitor and stared at the screen, desperately searching for his Skipper.

"Come on Ski, let me help you off with that kit" offered Sharkey, but Kowalski just shoved him angrily away as squinted at the settling silt.

"There" he breathed.

Nelson jumped as if someone had stuck a pin in him and dashed over with the others closely on his heels, "where?" He asked frantically, "show me."

Kowalski pointed to a dark shadow in the rapidly clearing silt, and the men held their breath as the shape moved.

"He's alive," laughed Chip, his relief made him feel weak at the knees and he felt Nelsons supporting hand, warm and strong on his shoulder.

"He's wounded," said Riley as the silt settled completely giving them a clear view.

They all jumped as the sound of the air lock slamming shut startled them all for the second time that day.

"Damm him" growled Nelson "he's getting just as stubborn as Lee."

Sharkey whispered "bring him home Ski." Patterson and Riley nodded their silent agreement.

It seemed to take an eternity for the airlock to flood and Kowalski fidgeted impatiently whilst he waited, he knew that the air in Lees' tank must be running low, eventually he could open the hatch and he hastily made his way to Lee's side. He was scared to see the growing cloud of blood gradually staining the water red but it only took him a moment to find the shrapnel buried in Lees' belly, there was nothing he could do about the shrapnel wound now, so he ignored it and concentrated on rousing the unconscious man. He grabbed Lees' arms and shook him until a pair of pain glazed hazel eyes blearily blinked back at him. Helping him up off his back, he looked into Lees' eyes, questioning his ability to swim back to Seaview. Lee squeezed Ski's arm to acknowledge the question and nodded that he was okay, his eyes showed his gratitude but Ski could see the pain in them too.

Sharkey and Chip opened the internal pressure hatch to find Kowalski sat on the floor of the airlock cradling his unconscious Skipper gently in his arms, he staggered to his feet as the door opened and carefully lifted the Skipper out of the airlock and laid him on the stretcher Jamie and Frank had waiting. "His air ran out as we entered the airlock so he's probably a little oxygen starved," he reported quietly to Jamie. Jamie nodded and continued to examine the unconscious man; he deftly applied a temporary dressing to the abdominal wound to stem the bleeding and then rushed the Skipper to sickbay leaving the other men standing round helplessly.

Lee gradually became aware of voices around him but he couldn't figure out what they were saying, he decided to ignore them for the moment and concentrating on his other senses he slowly became aware of a mask over his face. He tried to move his arm so he could remove the mask but it seemed to be snagged with a tube of some sort. Lee experienced a sudden surge of fear as he recalled being a prisoner only a few months previously and in a panicked moment, he opened his eyes and tried to leap to his feet. A burning pain in his abdomen arrested his motion and caused him to fall back to the bunk, the cry torn involuntarily from his lips. He closed his eyes against the blindingly bright light and this time he recognised the voices.

"Easy Lee, just relax you're safe now. You gave us quite a scare; I think Kowalski's got a few grey hairs not to mention the rest of the crew."

"Admiral" Lee weakly tested his voice and was rewarded by a warm hand firmly gripping his shoulder, Nelsons warm gravelly tones were reassuring as he answered, "Yes son, I'm here and so is Chip so just take it easy."

"The men?" demanded Lee.

Jamie snorted in the background and muttered "typical" but Chip answered, "The men are all fine Lee they're worried about you though, Frank and John have been fending them away from the door."

Lee smiled faintly and whispered, "Tell them I'm fine." His smile deepened as he remembered Nelsons embarrassment and innocently asked, "how's Prince Ivan?"

Nelson and Chip looked at each other in surprise before Chip chuckled and accused, "You knew who he was. How did you know who you'd rescued when we didn't know who he was until he introduced himself? Nobody knows much about the ruling family of the Surstey Isles and hardly anyone has photos or even a decent description."

Lee managed a humourless laugh as he answered 'met him...before....'

Lee's sentence trailed off but he managed a glare at Jamie before his eyes closed and he drifted into a deep sleep.

Jamie withdrew the empty syringe of sedative from the IV line attached to Cranes arm and discarded it before crossing his arms over his chest and fixing the two officers with a steely glare "Now, if you two don't go and get some rest I'll give you both a shot of the same stuff." Nelson and Chip took one look at the determined expression on Jamie's face and beat a hasty retreat to Nelson's office.

As the men entered Nelsons office, he gestured for Chip to have a seat at the desk, as Chip sank wearily into the chair Nelson went to the lockable cabinet on the wall and produced a bottle of whisky and two glasses. Joining Chip at the desk, he flashed the young officer a conspiratorial grin and said, "I think we need this after what we've just been through today."

Chip just sat and stared as the Admiral poured out two generous tots of the amber liquid, he had had to remain in tight control of his emotions all day as he coped with the problems thrown at him by this mission and now that everyone was safe his suppressed emotions surfaced with an intensity that left him trembling. Nelson sneaked a worried glance at Chip; he was concerned that Chip might be going into delayed shock now that the adrenaline of the days' events was wearing off. He pushed one of the glasses across the desk towards Chip and heaved an inward sigh of relief as Chip reached out with a shaky hand and picked it up. Nelson watched as the young man downed the whisky in a single gulp, then followed his example and refilled both of their glasses. Chip nodded gratefully to Nelson and downed the second one too, by the third one, his hands had stopped shaking and both men were feeling much better.

"Well, it looks like Lee may have been right," sighed Nelson eventually.

Chip cradled his fourth whisky, rolling the glass back and forth, "Admiral, just how did that Destroyer manage to be in the right place at the right time to try to destroy our guest and us? I smell a rat."

"I do too, and I don't think it's one of Seaview's crew."

"Tarkan?"
"What better cover? But I'm not ruling anything out."

"What do you want to do?"

"Give the Prince a bodyguard for starters. And sweep the boat for any illicit electronics. Start with Tarkan's cabin."

"Definitely" agreed Chip. The two men sank into contemplative silence for a moment before Chip hesitantly began "Admiral, what Lee said before Jamie sedated him...."

Nelson knew what was bothering Chip, it had preyed on his own mind too and he was secretly glad that Chip had brought up the subject. "About meeting Ivan before?"

"Yeah. Was it on his last ONI mission? The one that nearly got him killed?"

"Probably, but he didn't reveal much of it to me."

Chip nodded "Do you suppose that Ivan was the contact who refused to help him obtain the information and forced him to compromise his cover by seeking out less reliable sources?"

"I'm not sure; it's a distinct possibility although Ivan hasn't shown any signs of recognising Lee."

"Ivan hasn't really seen Lee and it's hard to distinguish a person's appearance under a wetsuit hood, mask and regulator."

Nelson nodded thoughtfully "True, but if Ivan was that contact then he didn't betray Lee, he had good reason for maintaining his silence."

Chip nodded his agreement but Nelson could see the doubt in the blue eyes so he continued, "You can't blame Ivan for what happened to Lee on that last mission. Whoever captured Lee and tortured him was nothing to do with Ivan."

Chip considered Nelson's words and grudgingly admitted "Lee wouldn't talk to me about that last mission either but if Ivan was the contact, then he helped Lee to escape so I guess that that makes them almost quits."

Nelson refilled both their glasses and reclined back in his chair with a weary sigh of his own. "What information I've managed to prise from him was reluctantly given up but only because it may have been relevant to our current mission. Looking back on what we know now I wouldn't be surprised if Igor did kill his father and was responsible for Lee's state when he returned to us, but then again, there's nothing linking him to the death of his Father or the attack on Tiramisu."

"Yeah, I know there's no concrete evidence but there are too many coincidences." Chip gave a sarcastic humourless laugh and added "precisely the situation Lee was in at the end of that last mission. After we had that discussion in your office about the mission briefing Lee and I went to the ward room for a coffee and he told me that he was keen to do this because he saw it as a chance to redeem himself."

Nelson was surprised "Redeem himself? What was he supposed to have done?"

"He was sent in to the Surstey Isles to confirm ONI suspicions that Igor had murdered his father but Igor never gets his hands dirty, he employs others to do the dirty work for him so Lee found it very hard to pin anything to him. ONI was left with one very badly injured operative, the subject under surveillance alerted to the fact they were on to him and no more information than they had before the mission, all in all a major screw-up."

Nelson grimaced and growled "ONI knew that Lee would feel he had to take this mission if they laid the blame at his door. Those people make me sick, how can they send him back to the proverbial lions den when he's only just got back on his feet after trying to do their dirty work the last time."

Chip thought it about time he cut to the chase and said what was really bothering him, he set down his glass with a decisive thump and looked the older man in the eyes as he asked "If Tarkan is the man responsible for doing Igor's dirty work, how safe is Lee?"

Nelson let out a long slow breath as he pondered that one. He would move Heaven and Earth to prevent any harm from coming to Lee and his first thought was to ship him out in the Flying Sub but Lee knew the Seaview and her men like the back of his hand so he was undoubtedly safer on board than on land where contact with potential villains was much more likely. The next thing Nelson considered was Lee's feelings on the subject; there was no way that he would leave his sub and men with a potential murderer running around. "Seaview is the safest place where Lee can look after himself." Nelson decided.

Chip nodded "True, but we're also his biggest weakness." On that sombre note, Chip excused himself to go and relieve O'Brian in the control room leaving Nelson alone with his troubled thoughts.

"What have I got us into the middle of now?" Nelson groaned to himself.

Kowalski, Riley and Patterson were indulging in a drop of whiskey themselves that afternoon. Nelson had excused them from the remainder of their watches and the three men were sprawled on their bunks in the aft crew quarters morosely contemplating the day's events when Sharkey found them. Sharkey was fiercely protective of all his men, he considered it his responsibility to look after them all regardless of whether they were junior or senior to him and he knew just what the three seamen needed now, hell he could do with a tot himself. Sharkey furtively glanced up and down the corridor outside the crew quarters shared by the senior ratings, finding the coast all clear he cautiously slipped into the room.

"Hey!" Exclaimed Riley as he found himself shoved unceremoniously aside.

"Are you okay Chief?" Asked Patterson nervously.

Sharkey flopped down on a bunk next to Kowalski and produced a bottle of whisky from the tool bag he had been carrying and with a wicked glance said "Well don't you guys have any mugs?"

"What if we get caught? You know the Admiral doesn't like us to drink too much whilst at sea." Hissed Riley as he glanced surreptitiously onto the deserted corridor before closing the door.

"Relax" grinned Sharkey "I got any senior ratings not on duty doing some practice drills, they wont be done for a few hours."

"Way to go Chief" cheered Kowalski as he leaned forward and produced four mugs from beneath his bunk.

Sharkey poured a generous measure into each mug and shrugged off the men's gratitude "Aw it's nothing guys, I figured that you could do with this after the day you guys have had and I got this from Frank for medicinal purposes." He winked conspiratorially at the men and they laughed. Several mugs later, they began to relax and Kowalski talked about what had happened when he rescued the Skipper.

"You alright Ski?" Patterson asked as he noticed that Kowalski was no longer joining in the ribald conversation and laughter.

Kowalski was shaken out of his thoughts and glanced up "Huh! Oh, sure I'm fine Pat."

Sharkey frowned and craftily topped up all the mugs as he soothingly said, "Come on Ski, what happened out there?"

Ski sighed and his eyes focused inwards as in his minds eye he was back out in the water struggling to get his Skipper back to the boat, the men leaned forward offering their unspoken support as he began to softly speak. "It was awful, he was trying to put a brave face on it but there was so much blood in the water and I could feel him getting weaker and weaker, by the time we got back to the airlock I was towing him." Kowalski laughed, "He was so weak I had to tow him and he was still trying to swim on his own." The men exchanged smiles, that was typical of the Skipper. Kowalski continued, "I was nearly out of air but the Skipper's had run out as we were entering the airlock, I tried to give him my spare valve but he must have known I was nearly out too and he wouldn't take it." He looked round guiltily at his friends.

Sharkey patted him reassuringly on the shoulder "It's all right Ski, we know you did everything you could but if the Skipper knew you had barely enough air yourself then nothing on Earth would have made him take that regulator."

Kowalski looked round and saw the others nodding earnestly in agreement, he sighed and smiled "I know, it was a horrible feeling though standing there in that airlock knowing that he was suffocating. He turned away so I couldn't see his face until he passed out; I was so relieved when you pulled that door open chief."

"How is the Skipper?" Asked Patterson.

Sharkey shrugged, "Doc won't let anybody within ten paces of the sickbay door but I overheard the Admiral and Mr Morton talking to Doc as I passed sickbay earlier." The men leaned forward eager for any news as Sharkey continued, "I didn't get much but I gather that Doc's already got him patched up, he just needs a few days rest." The men sighed with relief and the atmosphere in the cabin was decidedly more relaxed as they changed the subject.

"What do you make of that Prince Ivan?" Asked Riley.

"He's cool, he kinda reminds me of the Skipper," piped up Patterson instantly.

"Well he certainly took a liking to you cutie," teased Riley.

Patterson scowled but smartly retaliated "jealous?" They all rolled round roaring with laughter and Riley had to admit that Patterson had won that round.

"Apparently he's under sedation in sickbay, Doc's a little worried about what sort of mental state he'll be in after going through all that with the depth charges, man! Even I nearly wet myself when that first one hit us," exclaimed Kowalski.

"Scuttlebutt says that both Ivan and Igor were somehow involved with the Skipper's last ONI mission" scowled Sharkey.

"What do you know Chief?" Demanded Kowalski

"Well, I'm not completely sure but I heard that Igor was the one responsible for the Skipper getting a pasting."

Patterson went pale as he realised what the Chief was saying, he stammered "B...b....but I heard that the last ONI mission was an investigation into an assassination and that the person who hurt the Skipper was the prime suspect."

"That's right," said Sharkey coldly

"B....b.....b.....but that means that Prince Igor is the assassin a....a....and he probably sabotaged the Tiramisu a...a....and he's responsible for that destroyer hounding us" stuttered Patterson.

"Relax Pat, we've had all kinds of weirdo's on board before and we can handle the Prince too otherwise ONI wouldn't have let Seaview accompany the Skipper on the mission" reassured Riley.

"Neither would the Skipper, he wouldn't let any harm come to us" added Kowalski.

Patterson relaxed at that and beamed happily at his friends "Yeah, you're right." He looked thoughtful for a minute then whispered, "do you think we could sneak into sickbay and visit the Skipper?"

This time when Lee awoke, he knew exactly where he was and who was in the room with him, without even opening his eyes he good-naturedly grumbled, "I should have you thrown off my boat for that stunt Mister."

Jamie laughed, "How did you know it was me standing here? You could have terrified the living daylights out of some poor innocent seaman."

Lee opened his eyes and fixed Jamie with a sleepy glare. "I'm not sure, I just know, anyway don't change the subject, you sedated me," he said a trifle petulantly although his eyes were starting to shine with humour as he shook off the effects of the sedative.

Jamie laughed again, this was all part of their little game and both of them enjoyed the good-natured sparring. "It was the only way I could get you to rest without tearing out your stitches and IV line again, you've been very restless," Jamie's smile disappeared and a more serious tone crept into his voice as he gently probed "you've had a couple of bad dreams, is there anything you want to talk about?"

Lee gave Jamie a small smile and replied, "No Jamie, thanks but I'll be fine, I always have a few rough nights after any ONI mission ends in failure."

Jamie smiled in return and gave Lee's shoulder a gentle squeeze "Okay then Skipper but you know where I am if you change your mind."

Lee smiled back and nodded but Jamie knew that Lee would work through it on his own as usual; he very rarely discussed ONI missions. He would talk through the actual details and the plans for drop offs and pick ups but he would never discuss any of his personal feelings about what happened to him on those missions. Jamie looked fondly down at the young man and found him already asleep again, with a chuckle he gently tucked the blankets in more securely and lowered the lights as he left.

As soon as the Doctor had disappeared into his office, Ivan clambered out of his bunk and made his way over to Captain Crane's bunk. Ivan was curious about this man, whilst he had been kept under the Doctors watchful eye he had managed to glean bits and pieces of information about the Captain from the various conversations of the crewmembers passing through. Ivan was a little surprised about how concerned the crew were for their Skipper, they seemed to regard him as a friend as well as a superior. He had also found out that the man was an ONI agent; maybe he could tell him what had happened to that agent who had been on the Surstey Isles a few months back? Ivan wanted to know whether the man had survived.

Ivan glanced over his shoulder and checked that the Doctor was busy with his paperwork before leaning over to inspect the sleeping man. His hair was shorter and he was clean-shaven but the similarities were unmistakable. Suddenly the Captain opened intense hazel eyes and Ivan knew he wasn't mistaken, "It's you!" He exclaimed.

Lee gazed up at the surprised man "Your Highness" he greeted politely.

Ivan perched a little unsteadily on the edge of Lee's bunk and whispered "You're the ONI agent on the Sursteys a few months ago."

Lee's eyes twinkled with mirth at the shock on the man's face as he whispered back "guilty as charged."

Ivan smiled, "I thought I would never see you again. I hoped you had survived but I didn't know for certain."

Lee felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up; his gut instinct was screaming danger to him, was it Ivan he felt threatening him? He gently probed the man's intentions "Why did you help me to escape after previously wanting nothing to do with me?"

Ivan looked away feeling his shame burning his cheeks as he answered "I....I.....I didn't want to believe that my own brother was capable of murdering our father. After you had been caught I found the evidence you had collected, Igor had left it lying around in his chambers, I read through it and discovered that you were right." He paused, gathering his thoughts whilst Lee waited patiently for him to continue. "In my heart I knew you were right but your evidence forced me to accept it, facing the truth strengthened me in many ways and I knew that I had to stand up to him so I released you and set about preparing for my ascension to the throne. I knew he could kill me too but it's my duty to protect my people from tyrants like him."

"Why didn't you have him punished for his crimes or imprisoned for your protection?"

"Even though the people are fully behind me there are still some council members who are loyal to Igor, I couldn't do anything without evidence and Igor was careful to find and destroy anything that could possibly incriminate him, including the evidence that you had collected."

Lee nodded thoughtfully "What about the microchip from the Tiramisu?"

Ivan shrugged sadly, "Possibly, Igor is even more careful than ever to leave nothing that could be traced back to him, it took me weeks to recompile all the evidence you had originally obtained and copy it onto that microchip but most of it is too water damaged to be usable."

"Some must have survived, surely all we need is some of that evidence to be readable?"

The two men jumped as Jamie suddenly called "You two are supposed to be resting, you can chat from your bunks if you insist but if you don't stay there I will have to restrain you."

Lee and Ivan laughed as Ivan scrambled back into his bunk above Lee.

"Is he always this sharp?" Asked Ivan

Jamie came out of his office and laughed, "I have to be with the Skipper here, he's an expert at escaping from my clutches."

"Not expert enough or I wouldn't still be here, how about releasing me to my cabin?" Asked Lee with a pleading look in his eyes.

Jamie scowled although the twinkle in his eyes betrayed his amusement as he retorted "Not a chance!" He fixed the two men with a stern glare and firmly laid down the law, "Now, I am going to report to the Admiral about you two and I expect you both to stay put whilst I'm gone. If I even suspect that either of you have moved from those bunks, I will sedate you."

Lee lay back down with a sigh and grumbled, "He means it too, he's done it to me before."

Ivan smirked, "I know I saw him do it."

Jamie rolled his eyes in mock despair and disappeared out of the room.

Five minutes later and judging by the soft snores coming from above him Lee could tell that Ivan was sleeping, he sighed and tried to catch up on some sleep himself but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Lee knew he wouldn't sleep until he had figured out what was worrying him, he was fairly sure that Ivan was no threat, as far as he could tell the young Prince was just an honest and caring young man who wanted what was best for everyone. Lee could only wait and see what happened, Nelson had made it clear what he thought of Lee's hunches and Lee was reluctant to be the subject of ridicule again by the man he viewed as the father figure in his life, he was still hurt by the Admiral's previous perceived lack of faith in him.

Tarkan crept through the ventilation shafts of Seaview, dressed all in black, including a balaclava to hide his face in case anybody should see him. Tarkan had been instructed to try and dispose of Ivan if possible; however, his primary goal was to get rid of Captain Crane. His master had made it clear he wanted to make sure that if Ivan made it back to the Surstey Isles, alive, and ascended to the throne, there would be no further interference by the good Captain should Ivan find himself in a dangerous situation. It had to look like an accident or the crew would instantly suspect Prince Igor and himself so Tarkan had decided the best option would be to arrange an accident, maybe break Cranes neck and drop him down some stairs. It would look like Crane had passed out from his injuries and fallen, a simple but effective plan. People would suspect foul play but with no proof, they could do nothing about it. Tarkan paused by an opening, he checked the small ampoules of sedative in his pocket before swinging open the grille and dropping silently into the sickbay office.

Lee's eyes snapped open; his mind was screaming danger to him louder than ever, was that a footstep he heard? Gingerly he sat up, wincing at the pain in his stomach as he moved, he slowly swung his legs to the floor and had to pause as a dizzy spell hit him. Take it easy Lee, he told himself, you've been on your back for a while and lost a lot of blood, just take one step at a time. He slowly opened his eyes just in time to see a dark figure come rushing at him; instinct took over and he lurched to his feet to defend himself. The figure rugby tackled him to the floor leaving him gasping for breath as the impact caused his injury to explode into a mass of agony.

Tarkan swore to himself, he hadn't expected Crane to be capable of mounting any resistance in his condition. Taking advantage of the time Crane needed to gather himself after the initial attack, Tarkan removed one of the ampoules from his pocket and removed the protective plug from the needle tip. He had intended the first one for Crane but the commotion had awakened Ivan who slid out of his bunk to come to Crane's aid, quick as a flash, Tarkan sunk the needle into Ivan's arm and he crumpled to the floor unconscious before he had taken three steps.

The distraction Ivan had provided had given Crane enough time to scramble to his feet, and the two men now circled each warily sizing up the other.

Lee felt shaky and was disconcerted to feel a warm wetness slowly creeping down his stomach, he was bleeding from his wound again and he knew that would put him at a disadvantage. As he patiently circled, the other man made a reckless lunge which Lee easily side stepped as he dealt a hard blow to the side of his attacker's head.

Tarkan shook his head to clear his vision and he felt his blood boil with rage. Crane was injured and should be easily subdued but the impudent scum was making a mockery of him. Tarkan turned and made another lunge for Crane who once again stepped neatly out of the way. Tarkan knew he wouldn't be able to bring his superior strength to bear on the man until he had run him down, looking at the blood staining the bandage round Cranes torso he laughed to himself, he would easily be able to outlast Crane in the stamina stakes, the Captains injury would see to that.

As Tarkan made attack after attack, Lee could feel himself tiring. He knew that Tarkan would get him in the end but he hoped that Jamie would come back before that happened. He glanced over at Ivan slumped on the floor and determinedly resolved to protect the young Prince who had risked everything out of love for his people, just as Crane would for any of the Seaview crew.

Tarkan made a clumsy swing at Crane who easily ducked under it and knocked Tarkan off his feet with a solid kick to the back of his knees Whilst Tarkan was picking himself up off the floor Crane made a desperate lunge for the mike which hung tantalisingly near by on the wall.

Tarkan couldn't afford to let Crane summon help and he rushed at weakened man who now supported himself against the wall and was reaching for the mike.

Lee saw movement out of the corner of his eye and stumbled out of the way but Tarken hit home with a solid fist in Lee's solar plexus. Lee doubled up in pain and Tarkan smiled with glee as he began to pummel the man until he dropped to the floor, allowing his rage and frustration free reign Tarkan didn't stop there, he continued to unleash a torrent of kicks and punches to the helpless man.

As soon as Lee stumbled he knew that the attacker had him, as he fell he automatically rolled himself into a protective ball and clenched his teeth against the agony as the blows rained down upon him. Whilst he lay helpless, Lee couldn't help but think that if he died at least he had the satisfaction of knowing that by provoking Tarkan into this mad rage he could prove that his death was no accident, no accident could explain away the bruising that was appearing. Just as he thought he couldn't take anymore he heard voices shouting, there was suddenly a commotion all around him and he became aware that the beating had stopped and someone was holding him, covering him with a blanket and speaking to him gently. Lee slowly opened his eyes to see a familiar face looking down at him in concern "Ski?" he murmured and was reassured by the seaman's comforting tones.

"Shh, it's alright Skipper, you're gonna be fine. Doc's on his way and boy are you gonna be in trouble."

Lee smiled and allowed himself the luxury of sinking into unconsciousness.

"What the hell happened?" Demanded Nelson angrily as he paced up and down in front of the four inebriated crewmembers.

"Ermm, well...." Patterson hiccuped.

"It was like thish Shir...," added Sharkey

"We thought we would go and see the Skipper..." chimed in Kowalski

"Cos he's the Skipper." Finished Riley with a pleased smile.

Nelson sighed in exasperation and looked over at Jamie "Can't you do anything about these four?" he begged.

"I've got my hands full taking care of the Skipper at the moment," snapped Jamie as he assessed the new injuries his charge had acquired.

The mention of the Skipper instantly sobered up the men and Sharkey managed to fill Nelson in on what had happened.

"I'm shorry Admiral but I thought the men could do wiv a drop er something after the day they've had."

Nelson grunted and nodded "That's okay Francis, the Exec and I felt the need ourselves."

Sharkey carefully and slowly, continued, "Pat suggested sneaking in to see the Skipper an' we all agreed that.it was a good idea, when we got here we found the guy beating merry hell out of the Skipper and Prinz Ivan sleeping like a baby on the floor."

"The Prince was sedated," said Nelson as he held up the empty ampoule for the men to see. "Did you get a look at the attacker?"

"Nope he was dressed head to toe in black including a balaclava or mask of some kind."

"We're sorry Admiral, if we hadn't of been drunk we might have been able to appre....apprehe.....catch the guy" burst in Riley.

"And he had one of them am.....ampul things held to the Skippers neck" added Kowalski, "we were afraid it was poison so we let him go."

"We figured that he couldn't get far whilst we're submerged" finished Patterson.

Nelson smiled at the shame on their faces, "That's alright men, if you weren't drunk you wouldn't have been sneaking into sickbay in the first place and then god knows what would have happened then. You did well men and took all precautions to prevent Captain Crane from possible poisoning, now I suggest you sleep this off and I'll inform you of the Captain's condition when I know anything."

The men smiled and disappeared with a chorus of aye ayes.

"Well Jamie?" Nelson asked softly as he joined the doctor by Lee's side.

Jamie sighed, "Could be worse, his abdominal wound has opened up again and he's lost a lot more blood, he has a concussion, two cracked ribs and some pretty nasty internal bruising. Let's just say he'll be under my feet until we reach Santa Barbara and then I'll be dragging him to your lakeside cabin for some rest and relaxation for a few days."

Nelson sighed with relief, it wasn't a good report but Lee would bounce back, even though his injuries were painful he had sustained much worse in the past.

Lee opened his eyes and groaned inwardly, he was getting sick of waking up in sickbay. Before he could move Jamie was at his side placing a gentle but restraining hand on his shoulder,

"Just take it easy Skipper, you took a bit of a beating."

"You're telling me!" joked Lee with a faint smile.

Jamie smiled back, Lee couldn't be too bad if his black humour was still in evidence.

Lee suddenly started to look around as he began to recall some of the nights events 'Wh...where is he? What' happened?"

Jamie sighed "He got away. We were hoping you could tell us more."

"It's all a bit foggy"

Seeing that Lee was less agitated, Jamie relaxed his grip on Lee's shoulders and perched on the bunk next to him. "It seems that Ski, Pat, Riley and Sharkey got a little tipsy yesterday and decided to try and sneak in here to visit you. When they arrived outside they heard a racket coming from in here and burst in to find some character dressed in head to toe black giving you a right pasting and undoing all my handiwork."

Lee closed his eyes and looked thoughtful as he recounted the previous days events, "I remember hearing a noise from your office after you had left, I tried to get up and look because I knew nobody should have been in there. I was knocked to the floor and Ivan must have been disturbed by the noise because he got up too. The attacker injected him with something." He opened his eyes and gave Jamie a questioning glance.

"A minor sedative, nothing lethal," filled in Jamie.

"Thank God....He was bigger and slower than me but he ran me down" admitted Lee quietly. "The next thing I remember was the men bursting in and Kowalski telling me how much trouble I was going to be in when you got there."

Jamie laughed, "He was right and you are. "

As Jamie checked Lee over he unobtrusively observed the young captain and noticed how quietly withdrawn he was, Lee hated to be weak or injured but even worse was having to admit it to anybody. Jamie tried to take Lee's mind off what he was undoubtedly considering his failure by bringing him up to date on what was going on.

"I've released the Prince and he's confined to quarters with an armed guard for his own protection until we get back to the Surstey Isles, I'm sure that the Admiral and Chip will fill you in on all the details though when they come to visit."

As if on cue, Nelson and Chip walked into the sickbay and made a beeline for Lee.

"Jamie, how is Lee doing?" greeted Nelson as he and Chip joined the doctor at Lee's bedside.

Doctor Jamieson stepped aside so that the two men could see that Lee was awake as he answered "I still don't think that the Skipper will be out of my clutches for a little while but he will make a full recovery."

The men all smiled at Jamie's use of Lee's earlier comments to Ivan about not being able to escape Jamie.

"Well Captain, do you have any idea about who might have attacked you?" asked Nelson.

"I have my suspicions, but no proof. I'm sorry sir. I know you need hard evidence to take any action."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nelson asked, irritated at the implied insult of a conversation best forgotten.

"I've said enough. I'm tired. Please let the men know I'm grateful for their help."

"Lee..."

"Admiral," Doc interjected, "Let him rest. He's still a little confused after the attack."

Nelson looked back to Lee, determined to persue the subject but Lee turned his head away clearing signalling that he was through with the conversation. Nelson opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by a firm hand on his arm, he turned to look at Jamie who quietly shook his head. Nelson sighed, he knew he was defeated and his shoulders slumped as he turned and left.

Jamie shook his head sadly as Nelson slammed the door behind him, he knew that they needed to work out their differences or it would cause problems later on but both men had a stubborn streak that made reconcilliation unlikely until emotions had cooled.

Later that night Lee lay awake staring up at the bottom of the bunk above him lost in his thoughts of the events of the past few days. Lee had no doubt that Ivan would be safe for the remainder of his stay on Seaview but what would happen once he returned to the Surstey Isles? Would Ivan be vulnerable when he got home? With a sudden burst of clarity the attack earlier suddenly made much more sense, Chip and the Admiral hadn't been able to come up with a motive but now Lee found that missing link was staring him in the face. Tarkan was supposed to kill him! The attempt on Ivan had failed but there was nothing to stop Igor from trying again except........Igor was afraid. Lee had found enough evidence to convict him once and Igor was afraid that if he killed Ivan Lee would find enough new evidence to turn his people against him and have him arrested, maybe even deported.

"You stupid fool" raged Igor, how could you botch such a simple task? The man is badly injured all you had to do was finish him off.

Tarkan grovelled before his master, "I'm sorry your Highness but I could not foresee his men dropping by for an impromptu visit, all would have gone according to plan if it hadn't been for that."

Igor cuffed the cowering man roughly round the head and flung himself angrily onto the bunk in his cabin, with a sigh he sneered "well, what's done is done but if the good Captain interferes with future plans for my beloved brother then you will pay the price for your incompetence, as will your family."

TBC

I will add a further chapter to this at some point and finish off the storyline, I realise that I haven't resolved the tension between Nelson and Crane but that plays a part in events that will happen after Ivan and Igor return home. I also realise that I have ended on a rather vague note but I haven't quite decided what will happen next and I need to return to my real life now and concentrate on getting that back on track before I can help the Seaview crew resolve their dilemmas.