The Siren's Call

By Caribou Kid

Commander Lee Crane, captain of the SSRN Seaview and occasional ONI operative, sat quietly fretting and fuming over becoming trapped in a massive traffic jam. Given the number of emergency response vehicles and ambulances that kept arriving, there was a bad accident ahead and traffic wouldn't be moving anytime soon. Normally an annoying inconvenience, this time the snarl of traffic running for miles, stood between him and his extraction team located 60 miles ahead.

As he stared at his watch and observed the hands on the face line up on the appointed hour then pass, he knew he'd missed his ride. He sighed in deep frustration, slapped his hands against the steering wheel and leaned forward resting his forehead on the wheel as he cursed quietly to himself. This was not going to be pretty and he almost wished the authorities of the country he was currently in, were behind his delay. Nelson and Morton were not going to be happy with him since his tardiness in returning home would stretch well into Seaview's next scheduled mission.

Staring ahead at the chain of backed up cars he noticed a number of police walking down the highway speaking to the occupants of the cars ahead. He noticed them checking the driver's and passenger's credentials looking for what he had no idea. To his knowledge, he had been in and out of the storage facility with no one being the wiser. Up until now it had truly been an easy in and out mission.

As the officers approached his car, he rolled down his window and handed them his license and registration. The officer examined them closely, then scrutinized Lee's face and after a minute or so passed them back.

Lee took his ID and registration and calmly returned them to the glovebox. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

"A semi and a tour bus collided, then got hit by the cars following behind. Did you notice anything as you were driving?" the officer inquired.

"There were a couple of cars zigging in and out of traffic trying to get ahead of the rush. Other than that it was the usual commute."

"That's what most drivers have said. We think they may have cut off one or both of the larger vehicles which started a chain reaction accident. Do you recall anything about the cars? Did you get their license numbers?"

"They were both dark sedans, I think they were Gravdas. I remember a partial plate number, T5Z2. That one cut me off and I almost lost it," Lee offered. "Do you have any idea how much longer we'll be sitting here?"

"It's going to take some time to get the bodies removed and then all the vehicles. It really is a bad mess. I wouldn't count on being anywhere for the next 4 to 5 hours," the officer replied.

Lee let loose a frustrated sigh. 'Well so much for the backup plan,' Lee thought sourly then quickly turned his thoughts to finding his own way out and back home.

(olooo

"Damn it!" Harriman Nelson swore as he pulled into the parking lot Monday morning and noted the absence of his captain's car. "Where the hell is he? He should have been back three days ago," he grumbled aloud.

Harri pulled into his space, threw his car into park and snapped off the ignition. His mood had just gone from good to sour in the space of a heartbeat. He was now fighting the concern over his friend and chosen son not having returned from the ONI mission, and the irritation of not having said man there to oversee their next voyage. He climbed out of his car, grabbed his briefcase and slammed the door shut in frustration.

As he stalked towards the Admin building front door he heard another vehicle pull into the lot and spun around expectantly hoping it was Lee. He immediately recognized Chip's SUV and watched him go through the same reaction he had at discovering Lee's car not in the lot. He knew exactly what Chip was going through as he heard him slam the car door shut and begin his own low mutterings and disgruntled march to the front door.

"Morning Chip," Nelson called out to his Executive Officer. "I take it you've not heard from Lee either."

"Morning, Sir. Nope, I was hoping to find that he got home late and didn't want to wake me in the middle of the night to let me know he was back," Chip growled in response.

Nelson nodded knowingly. "Well I suppose we best go in and I'll make a call to find out where he is. I just hope to hell he's only running late."

"He said it was just a simple in and out. Right, like we've never heard that one before. I'll call his house just to make sure he didn't oversleep."

"Very well. Once you've done that and get settled in, come to my office so we can discuss the upcoming mission with the scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. With Lee gone you'll need to take charge," Harri replied.

"Will do, Sir. I'll be there in 30 minutes if that's okay."

Harri nodded and entered the building as Chip held the door open for him. They both acknowledged the greeting from the guard at the security desk and made their way to the elevator and up to their offices to begin their task of finding Lee Crane.

ooolo)

Thirty minutes later Chip made his way down the hall to Nelson's office. His face grim, having not been able to contact Lee at home. As he entered Nelson's outer office he was greeted by his admin assistant.

"Morning Chip, have a good weekend?" Angie asked.

"Morning Angie. Not bad, how about you?"

"It was okay, nothing too exciting, which is a good thing because by the sounds of it things are going to be a little hot here today," Angie replied. Both she and Chip grimaced as they heard the raised voice inside the next office.

"I take it the admiral is conversing with Admiral Hardy?" Chip ventured.

"How'd you guess?" Angie replied rhetorically. "Go on in Chip, he's waiting for you."

Chip grimaced again and straightened his tie. As he opened the door, Nelson slammed the handset to his phone firmly back into the cradle. "Damn it!"

"What's up sir?" Chip asked as he moved to the chair in front of Nelson's desk.

"As you must have guessed I just finished my call with Hardy at ONI. Lee missed both extraction times. He has no idea his status and only now has he activated in-country resources to determine if he was captured or worse. Typical ONI efficiency," Nelson snarled.

"Is there any indication that they knew Lee was there?" Chip asked.

"The only thing he could say was that there was no increased message traffic between the intelligence, military, and police agencies that usually occurs when they know there's been a breach. He's taking that as a sign that Lee has not been apprehended and was only prevented from making his rendezvous with his extraction team for some other reason. As I said they're making inquiries now."

"Well isn't that comforting to know," Chip replied sarcastically. "So we just get to sit and wait; always fun."

"At least there's something to occupy our minds until we hear back," Harri offered as he stood up and moved to the conference table grabbing a rolled up chart off his desk. He placed the chart on the table, unrolled it and quickly placed paperweights on each corner to hold it in place. As Chip joined him he pointed to an area of the Pacific off the California coast. "Dr. Gramsky and his team will be arriving tomorrow with their gear for their mission to study and collect samples of deep sea corals. We'll be heading out to the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone approximately 500 miles southwest of here. Based on their mission goals they'll be conducting four days of deep dives at the edge of the euphotic zone in an attempt to locate, catalog and collect rare black corals."

"That's really in the middle of nowhere," Chip remarked as he looked at the location Nelson indicated. "How deep do they intend to dive?"

"Gramsky said they are hoping to get below 600 feet. ROV's have photographed black corals in the area at that depth and they want to go to the probe's cited coordinates and conduct their inspections and specimen collections. The first samples they found in the area were at 4800 feet, they are hoping to find something a little closer to the surface."

"That deep?" Chip asked, surprised at how deep they proposed to dive. "Why not use an ROV or diving bell to collect samples? That's really going to limit the number of divers we'll have available to support this mission."

"Their project brief calls for three, three-man dive teams to conduct their survey and collection activities. If we have the divers available, I'd like to have at least one, if not two, of our people down there with them as lookouts and dive control," Nelson explained.

"That's going to be pushing it without Lee. He's the most experienced diver at that depth. I know I can take one team, Kowalski another, and Patterson the third, but we've all had limited dive time at those depths. Lopez and Riley are on leave but I could see about calling them back if you want."

Harri shook his head. "No, don't ruin their time off. I think one diver per team should be sufficient and by the sound of it, we'll have it covered. At least you'll be able to rack up the dive hours on this and get more experience at depth."

"Woohoo, I just love freezing my butt off in the dark," Chip deadpanned then returned Nelson's smile. "Lee better have a damn good reason for not being back here on time to run the boat, and to make his dives." They both chuckled then returned their attention to the chart noting the physical features of the region and any potential challenges working at those depths. As they poured over the map, Angie alerted the admiral to an incoming call.

"Admiral, Dr. Gramsky is on line one," she said as she poked her head through the door.

"Thank you, Angie." Harri moved to his desk and hit the speaker button allowing Chip to sit in on the call.

"Parker, Nelson here. What can I do for you?"

"Ah Harri, I need to talk with you about our mission. I need to make a change and hope that it won't pose too much of a problem," Gramsky replied.

"Parker, I've got Chip Morton here with me who is in charge of mission preparation. Go ahead and let us know what you need."

"Excellent. The change is minor, just a change in personnel. I'm not going to be able to make it do to an illness in the family and will be sending my colleague Dr. Randal Weems to cover for me. Randal is equally qualified to lead the team and actually has more dive time than I. Do you see that as an issue?"

"I wouldn't think so Parker. I hope the illness isn't overly serious," Harri responded.

"It shouldn't be, but one never knows. My mother is going in for open heart surgery and the surgeon indicated everything was lining up for this to be a rather routine heart valve replacement. Still since my mother is alone, I don't want to be in a position where I can't get to her should something crop up."

"I understand completely. I'll miss having you aboard, I was very much looking forward to trouncing you in a few games of chess," Harri replied, laughing. "Just send Dr. Weems' information to Mr. Morton and he'll conduct the necessary checks to make sure he's cleared to come aboard."

"Thanks Harri. I appreciate you being able to make the switch at the last minute. I'll transmit the information to Mr. Morton as soon as we hang up. Are we still on for a departure Wednesday morning?"

Harri shot a quick look at Chip and indicated he should answer. "With exception of Dr. Weems, all of your personnel have been cleared. We are expecting them to arrive tomorrow before 1000 to deliver their equipment and get the necessary briefings before we sail. Does that still track, Doctor?"

"Yes, that's the schedule they should be following barring any unexpected snags," Gramsky confirmed. "They'll be bringing their own dive gear and tanks along with pressurized specimen tanks for any corals they're able to collect."

"Excellent, we'll be ready to move their gear aboard as soon as they arrive," Chip replied.

"Is there anything else you need Parker?" Nelson asked.

"No, that's all I needed. I'm sorry I won't be able to come along this time. I really do want to go down in that remarkable sub of yours Harri. Maybe another time. Thanks for everything."

"All right then Parker, I'll give you a call when we get back. Pass on my good wishes to your mother. Good bye."

(olooo

As the phone went dead Gramsky released a ragged of sigh and closed his eyes in shame.

"Well done, Doctor. I think you really missed your calling, you should have gone into acting. You sounded completely natural, I don't think they suspect a thing. Now you just need to keep your mouth shut and your mother might just survive to see Wednesday," Weems said laughing.

Gramsky glared at Weems. "This is so cliché, but you'll never get away with whatever your planning. Nelson's one sharp cookie and he'll derail any plan you think you can carry out on his sub."

Weems drew back his hand and backhanded Gramsky across the face knocking him to the floor. He sneered at the bloodied scientist. "You keep that up and no one will ever see you or your mother again! Got me?"

Gramsky nodded slowly as he wiped the blood from his mouth and nose. "I'm so sorry, Harri," he said to himself as Weems stalked out of his office and slammed the door shut.

ooolo)