The Island
By JSRobertson
"Mayday! Mayday!" the pilot yelled over the radio fighting for control of the crippled aircraft. "We're going down," he shouted to the passengers on board. "Hold on." Through the fog he spotted an aircraft on the ground on an island in the Aleutian Chain. He was hoping there was a place to land there. He was going to have to try and land as severe icing was forcing them down. Right before he touched down, he realized the aircraft he spotted earlier was one that had already crashed. Shit, the pilot thought. He didn't have enough power to go around and check it out as he had to land now. As he touched down, the right landing gear was sheared off causing a ground loop forcing the right wing into the dirt. The plane cart wheeled out of control rupturing the gas tank causing the wing to burst into flames. The five men on the plane needed to get out very quickly before the flames spread to the rest of the plane. They were afraid that the other tanks would catch fire and explode.
((()))
Two weeks earlier
It had been a long day at NIMR. The admiral, Lee and Chip had just wrapped up their weekly Thursday meeting which took longer than usual because they were leaving for their annual required reserve training on Saturday. The admiral had them go over everything that would need to be done while they were away. Lee and Chip left the admiral's office noticing that Angie, the admiral's personal assistant, had already left for the day. The admiral packed up his briefcase as he had another meeting to attend in downtown Santa Barbara with the mayor and said good bye to them. Lee looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was 1830 hours.
Standing by the door at Chip's office, Lee asked, "What are you doing for dinner? Janet and I are going to Giovanni's, want to join us?"
Hesitating Chip replied, "Thanks but I've made plans. It's my turn to pick up the cleaning."
"Since when are you turning down dinner to pick up cleaning? Okay bro, what's up," Lee said as he gently nudged Chip into his office. "You never want to get the cleaning so who is she?" Lee laughed.
Breaking into a smile, Chip answered, "Okay, you're on to me. You remember Julie Bates? She's the detective that worked with Aaron Thompson on Janet's kidnapping case."
Standing in Chip's office with his arms crossed, "Yes, I remember her. Dark hair, about five nine, long legs, brown eyes," Lee replied.
"I hope it's the spy in you that remembers all that or you're going to be in trouble if Janet finds out you're checking out other women," Chip teased.
"It's the spy," Lee deadpanned. "Get on with it."
"I met her picking up our cleaning two weeks ago. She was there picking up her cleaning and we started to talk as we waited in line. I asked her out to dinner that night and we hit off," Chip explained. "We're going to her favorite Mexican restaurant tonight. I'd ask you to come with but..."
"No problem, Chip. I'm glad you're seeing someone. But I'm a little hurt you didn't tell me sooner," Lee complained.
"Just wanted to make sure it was going to last longer than one date," Chip admitted.
"Have a good time," Lee told him patting him on the back as he walked out of Chip's office and ran into his wife who was just coming to get both of them.
"Who's having a good time," Janet asked innocently. "Are you two ready to go? I'm hungry."
Lee took her hand in his. "I'll tell you later," Lee replied. "Chip has other plans so it's just you and me tonight. Are you sure you want to go out? We could go home and have dessert first," Lee said deviously.
"Dinner then dessert," Janet chuckled as Lee went into his office, taking his jacket and cover out of the closet. They walked back to Janet's office where she took her purse out of her desk and Lee got her coat and helped her put it on. They waited for Chip who was just coming out of his office and walked with him to the elevators.
"Good night Chip," Janet said as Lee held the car door for her and she got in. Lee got in the car and before he could start the engine Janet asked, "Who's the woman?"
Laughing he started the car and pulled out of the parking place. "Nothing gets past you."
"No, you and your spy stuff are wearing off on me," she grinned.
"The woman is Julie Bates. She's the detective that worked on the case when you were kidnapped. They've only been dating for a couple of weeks so he wants to be alone with her."
"I remember her. She was very nice and good looking too. I know what it's like to be newly dating. I remember when we first started dating you didn't want Chip to come with either," Janet said as she patted Lee's hand.
((()))
Chip drove to Julie's condo which was in the northern part of Santa Barbara. He parked the car and rang her bell where she met him at the door dressed a short jean skirt with a light blue top. He looked her over and smiled. She locked the door and walked to the car where Chip opened the car door for her and when he got in asked her for directions to the restaurant. They went to a Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of Santa Barbara. The restaurant was small, quaint and not very crowded. They were seated in the back and were looking over the menu trying to decide what to eat.
"I'm going to have the chicken chimichanga and an iced tea," Julie said closing her menu.
"I'll have the same thing," Chip replied and ordered for the two of them when the waitress returned to take their order. "No wine tonight?"
"Sorry, I'm on call tonight. We're short handed in our department as Aaron had to go out of town on another case. Is that a problem?"
"No, unless your phone rings," Chip teased. Julie smiled at him knowing he would understand if she had to leave.
After the waitress brought their iced tea, Julie asked Chip, "Does Seaview have any cruises coming up?"
"No, not for a month but Lee and I have to attend a two week training session back East," Chip told her.
"You're going to be gone for two weeks?" Julie remarked unhappily sipping her iced tea.
"Yes, since I'm in the Naval reserves I have to go every year," he responded noticing she wasn't pleased he would be leaving and was happy to know that. "I'm leaving on Saturday."
When the waitress brought their dinners, Julie finished hers much to Chip's disappointment as he was used to taking home leftovers. They were enjoying dessert when Julie's phone rang.
"Julie Bates," she answered. "Okay I'll be right there." She hung up the phone and looked at Chip. "Sorry, but I have to go. There's been a kidnapping."
"No problem," Chip replied signaling the waitress for their check. He quickly paid it, leaving the tip on the table and they left the restaurant. When they got to her condo, he walked her to the door and gave her a long kiss.
Catching her breath, "I'll call you as soon as I can," she said.
She quickly got in her car and drove to the station. Chip got back in his car and drove home. Damn, he thought as he unlocked his door, now I know how my dates feel when I have to leave them. He shut the door, put his keys on the counter, went to the refrigerator, grabbed a beer and sat down on the couch.
((()))
Lee and Janet arrived at Giovanni's and he was glad to see them as they hadn't been there for awhile. "Good evening, Mrs. Crane, Commander," Giovanni said to them as he led them to a circular booth in the back.
"Hi Giovanni," Lee answered as he let Janet get in the booth first before following her in sitting next to her.
Giovanni handed them menus. "Your server will be right over. Enjoy your meal," he told them signaling the waitress to come over to the table. She was a new waitress and had never served the Crane's before but did notice right away how good looking Lee was.
"Hello, I'm Sharon," she told them looking Lee over as she put a bread basket and butter on the table.
"Hi Sharon," Lee replied, "We'll have a bottle of your house Pino Noir."
"Yes sir," she said walking away but not before glancing back to look at Lee again.
Grinning, "Well, you've managed to charm another one," Janet remarked taking a piece of bread, put some butter on it and took a bite.
"Are you jealous?" Lee asked playfully grabbing himself some bread.
"Why of course," Janet teased giving him a kiss.
Sharon came back with their wine and poured it in their glasses. They were ready to order and both had tortellini in marinara sauce.
Janet took a drink of her wine, "Do you have everything packed for the next two weeks?" she asked softly.
"Yes, I'm all ready to go," Lee replied knowing Janet was upset that he had to go as he took a drink of wine. He changed the subject and asked, "Did we get in all the parts for the overhaul on FS-1?"
"Most of them, but the rest of them should be in on Monday, so they'll start when they get them. Sharkey doesn't want to begin until all the parts have come in," Janet answered finishing up her glass of wine.
"Good idea," Lee answered emptying his glass and refilling both of theirs.
Sharon placed their dinners in front of them. "Is there anything else you need?"
Janet replied, "No everything is fine."
Lee and Janet ate their dinner and were too full for dessert. Janet as usual didn't finish her meal and would take a doggie bag home to eat while Lee was gone. Sharon noticed they were finished eating and brought over the check; Lee signed the charge slip, and helped Janet out of the booth. "Thank you," Sharon said as Lee and Janet left. They walked up front where Giovanni bid them good night. When they got into the car, Lee asked, "How about dessert when we get home?"
"I just might be too full," Janet teased as she took his hand.
Lee pulled the car in the garage and opened the door for Janet. They both hung their jackets in the closet and Lee put his cover on the shelf. He went into the kitchen and noticed a light on at Chip's house. He's home early, Lee thought; I hope everything went okay with his date. Janet had already gone upstairs to get ready for bed. Lee made sure all the lights were off and went upstairs too. When he got upstairs Janet was just coming out of the bathroom. He wrapped his arms around her waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck. He lowered his head down and kissed her gently on the lips, deepening his kiss when she responded back. She went to the bed, pulled the blankets back and covered them up when Lee slid under. She ran her hands down Lee's body stopping only when she reached her intended goal. Lee moaned softly as he gently placed his hand on Janet's breast. They lay sated and sexually happy in each other's arms as they fell asleep.
((()))
Janet and Lee woke up the next morning and got ready for work. They were running late so they didn't have a chance to get breakfast. When they got to NIMR, they met Chip parking his car so they waited for him so they would walk in together.
"Good morning Janet, Lee," Chip said as he held the door for them.
"Hi Chip," Janet replied as they walked to the elevator and pushed the button. They rode the elevator up to the second floor in silence. Lee decided to talk to Chip later about his date.
The three of them would be very busy today. Wanda was going on vacation and would be gone the same two weeks as Lee and Chip. Janet would take over her duties besides doing hers, Lee's and Chip's. They went over to the waiting area where Janet made the coffee and went to her office while Lee went into Chip's office.
"Morning Lee," Chip said unhappily knowing Lee what he was going to ask.
"How was your date?" Lee asked cautiously. "I noticed your light was on when we got home...everything okay?"
"Yes, we were having a good time and she got called on a kidnapping case. Now I know how my dates feel when I have to leave them," he lamented.
"Sorry bro," Lee replied, "can you see her tonight?"
"I don't know. She going to call and let me know."
They just finished talking when Janet was at the door with three coffees and a folder full of letters that needed to be signed and another with notes she needed to review with them. She handed each of them a mug of coffee. "Is now a good time to talk to both of you or do you want me to come back later?" she asked looking at the two of them knowing something was up and would find out later what the problem was.
Chip sat down at his desk, "Now is a great time. The phones aren't ringing and no one else is here. What do you have," he asked looking at the bulging folders. She and Lee sat down in the chairs in front of Chip's desk. She took a quick sip of her coffee, opened the folder and handed each of them some letters to sign. The two of them looked them over, signed them and handed them back to her. "Lee, I have quite a few proposals that need to be addressed. Look over what you can today, give the rest back to me and I'll have the admiral check out the ones you don't get to. Okay?"
Smiling, "Yes ma'am," he replied as he took the folder from her.
"Chip, I already told Lee that all the parts are not in for the overhaul on FS-1. I checked with the manufacturer and they should be in on Monday. Sharkey doesn't want to start until he has all the parts. If I don't get the parts by Monday, is it okay if I threaten to pull the contract on them. This is the second time we've had an issue with some of their parts."
"Do whatever you need to do," Chip responded surprised that Janet would suggest that as she was usually pretty easy going. "What parts are we talking about?" Janet opened up her folder and took out the parts sheets and pointed to the ones they didn't have. "No problem about threatening them, we have another company that could supply those parts if we needed. They're a little more expensive but if this company can't fulfill the order, by all means contact the other company and get prices and lead times."
"Thanks," Janet answered. "I have nothing more to discuss with either of you right now. Do you have anything for me?" After waiting a couple of minutes and neither one of them said anything Janet got up, "Well if you have nothing. I've got plenty of work to do. See you both later." She took her cup of coffee and walked out the door.
Lee and Chip looked at each other realizing they had just been dismissed by Janet. "Well, I'm glad I didn't have anything to give her," Chip snorted. "I don't think she would've have been too happy." Lee stood up, took his coffee mug and walked to the door, "I do have some things for her but wasn't sure I wanted to mention them," Lee chuckled. "She doesn't need any more work right now." Lee left Chip's office, stopped to get some more coffee and went into his office. He looked at the folder of work he needed to give Janet and sighed. I better put this on her desk when she's not looking, he thought as he sat down at his desk and opened the folder of proposals Janet handed him.
By the time the three of them had finished their meeting, the admiral, Angie and Wanda had come in. The admiral already had Angie in his office laying out the plans for the day. Wanda and Janet were by Wanda's desk so she could go over with Janet what needed to be done while she was away.
After reading proposals for an hour, Lee needed more coffee. He went to the waiting area and saw that Janet wasn't at her desk but could hear her and Wanda talking. He quickly went back into his office, grabbed the folder he had for her. He walked into Janet's office and put the folder on her desk. As he went back to his office he thought, I'll make it up to her later.
Janet finished up with Wanda and went back to her office where she saw the folder on her desk, frowning she wondered where it had come from until she opened it up and knew Lee had put it there. He'll pay later, she thought and sighed as she sat down at her desk and went through it.
The day went by very fast. It was 1700 hours when they all decided to leave for the day. Janet and Angie went to Wanda's desk, "Have a good vacation," they told her giving her a hug goodbye. The admiral, Chip and Lee also wished her a good trip. Angie and Wanda went to the elevators and left for the day.
Lee and Chip had cleared their desks. Lee gave the proposals he didn't get a chance to look at back to Janet. He also gave her the ones he had gone through. There were a few of interest but most of them he didn't think they would take on so Janet would send out letters to them. Since none of them had time for lunch they were deciding what to do for dinner.
Standing in the doorway of Janet's office, "Since we're going to be gone for two weeks and they never serve pizza, I vote we get that," Chip announced.
Lee and Janet looked each other and nodded their heads in agreement. The admiral walked to her office, "Have fun," the admiral said to Lee and Chip. "Don't worry about Janet, I'll take care of her," the admiral told Lee.
"Thank you sir," Lee said gratefully. He and Janet weren't thrilled when the admiral made them move to NIMR property but they had to admit it was working out. When Lee was on ONI missions he knew Janet would be safe and it was also nice to have the admiral around to look after her when both he and Chip were gone.
Janet rolled her eyes at Lee, "I can take care of myself. I don't need to be watched," she replied stubbornly.
"I know but I still feel better knowing someone is watching out for you," Lee remarked squeezing her hand.
"Admiral would like to join us for pizza," Chip interjected quickly before Janet could say anything more remembering the last time Lee wanted someone to watch Janet.
"Sure, I've got nothing planned for the evening," he replied as they headed to the elevators. They got in their cars and drove to the pizza place a few miles from the institute where they ordered three pizzas and a couple pitchers of beer. Chip kept checking his cell phone hoping to get a message from Julie. Lee noticed and decided not to say anything but it didn't get by the admiral or Janet.
"Chip, you keep looking at your phone. Is there a problem?" the admiral asked with concern. He was close to Chip as he was one of the first people he hired when he started building the institute and Seaview and was afraid something was wrong.
"No just waiting for a message from someone."
"Anyone we know," the admiral continued taking a swig of his beer.
"I'm dating Julie Bates. She was going to let me know if I could see her tonight," Chip told the admiral. He didn't normally like to talk about who he was dating but the admiral asked.
"Isn't she the detective from Janet's kidnapping case? Nice choice," the admiral said as he poured them some more beer.
Chip never did get his phone call but they did enjoy the rest of their evening. "Be careful," the admiral told Lee and Chip as they walked to their cars after dinner.
"Yes sir," they replied.
Before Lee and Janet left, Lee said to Chip, "Be at our house by 0600 and Janet will take us to the airport. Sorry you couldn't hook up with Julie before we left."
"Thanks, and I'll be there at 0600," Chip answered walking to his car and driving away.
Lee and Janet got in their car. "You are in deep trouble, Lee Crane," Janet said when he started to drive away.
He knew why he was in trouble and grinned, "Sorry I put all that work on your desk when you weren't looking. I promise I'll make it up to you when we get home."
"You sure will," Janet quipped as she sat back thinking about how much she was going to miss her husband.
((()))
When Lee and Janet got home, they quickly made sure everything was locked up for the night and went upstairs. Lee helped Janet undress while she helped him. Before long they were in bed enjoying each other. Lee fell asleep when they were finished but Janet laid there watching her husband sleep. When she put her head on his chest, he woke up briefly, wrapping his arm around, gave her a kiss on her temple and fell back to sleep. Sighing, I'm going to miss sleeping with him, Janet thought as she finally fell asleep.
Both were awake before the alarm went off. Lee went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He got in and stood there as the water ran over him when Janet joined him a few minutes later. Lee gave her a deep passionate kiss which led to other activities. They finally got out of the shower when the hot water ran out.
Lee put on his service blue uniform. Janet took one look at him and almost dragged him back to bed. They walked downstairs Lee stopping briefly to pick up his bag. Lee put it by the front door and went into his office to get his computer while Janet made the coffee. She made enough for her, Lee and Chip. By the time it was done brewing, Chip as at the door with his mug.
"Is it ready yet," he asked with a grin. He looked just as handsome in his uniform too.
"Just finished," Janet replied as she filled his mug and filled one for Lee and herself. They each took a bagel that Janet had taken out of the freezer and put in the toaster. She knew Chip would never make it to the airport without something to eat. She cleaned up while Lee pulled the car out of the garage and Chip stowed his gear in the car along with Lee's. Lee would drive to the airport and wouldn't worry about Janet driving back as she had gotten quite familiar driving to and from the airport.
Chip got in the front and Janet hopped in the back. "Chip, did you ever get a hold of Julie?" Janet asked after she put her seat belt on.
"No," he said discouraged. "I'll try calling or e-mailing her when I get there."
They would be able to call and e-mail the first week they were there but not sure about the second week as they maybe out to sea. Traffic wasn't too bad on the freeway going to the airport and they got there in plenty of time. Lee pulled the car to the curb and got out going to the back and opened the hatch. Chip and Janet both got out of the car. Janet gave Chip a quick kiss on the cheek before he went back to get his gear. She met Lee at the back as he took his gear out of the car and gave him a long deep kiss.
"I'm going to miss you," she told him giving him a hug.
"I'm going to miss you too," he replied returning her hug. "I'll call you when we land," he told her as he closed the hatch while Janet got into the car. They had to walk in front of the car to get to the sky cap and she noticed quite a few women staring at the two of them as they went into the terminal building. They sure are a handsome pair, she thought. Sighing deeply, Janet made sure no cars were coming and pulled out into the road and drove home.
It took her almost three hours to get home as traffic was terrible and there was an accident. By the time she got home she was hungry so she took out the leftover tortellini and put it in the microwave. She took it out the deck and sat at the table as it was a beautiful sunny day. It would have been a great day to go scuba diving. Now that she was a certified diver, they hadn't had any time to go out and enjoy it. She ate her lunch, cleaned up and was contemplating going to the institute to work. Lee took his computer with him so she wouldn't be able to work from home. Janet tried calling the admiral's direct line to see if he was there but he didn't answer. She wasn't allowed to be there by herself so she wouldn't be able to go into work. Janet decided to frame the pictures she found in the garage and hung them in her office. When that was done she cleaned up the house and did laundry. She went for a walk on the beach but had to turn back when it started to rain. She managed to keep herself busy the rest of the afternoon. She was reading a book when the phone rang.
"Hello," she said quickly.
"Hi sweetie. We just got here and settled in our room," Lee told her. "I'll call you when I can, love you."
"Love you too," Janet responded as she heard Lee hang up. At least I know where he's at and he can't get hurt, I hope. Janet thought.
After making and eating dinner, she watched an old movie but fell asleep missing the ending so she got up and went to bed. The rest of the weekend went by pretty fast as she shopped, baked, and read some more. She was actually looking forward to going to work on Monday as it would give her something to do.