Divergent Paths
by Subjockey
Chapter One
"Captain, I've got a bogie," Kowalski called out from the sonar station.
"Bearing?" Lee asked, lifting his head from the chart he was working on.
"Dead ahead and... Hey! What's going on?" he asked perplexed. "I lost it Sir," he reported as Lee closed the distance to look for himself.
"Profile?" Lee asked as he leaned over with one hand on the back of Ski's chair.
"I don't know, Sir... but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a sub," he explained with a puzzled shrug.
"A biologic?" Chip asked, having joined Lee at sonar.
Ski nodded a negative, not convinced at all that it was a whale.
"There it is again!" he said, pointing to the bogie now visible on the screen as Lee reached for the spare headset.
"You're right, not a sub," Lee confirmed, reaching to fine tune the equipment when all the sudden the bogie disappeared from the screen once again.
Steps from behind alerted them to the Admiral's arrival.
"What do you have Lee?"
"A flash reading, dead ahead," he replied dividing his interest between reporting to Nelson and solving the bogie mystery when another flash reappeared, this time 90 degrees off their starboard bow.
"I thought you said it was dead ahead?" Harry questioned.
"It was Sir, no doubt about it," Lee answered as the bogie disappeared again and then reappeared 270 degrees off the port bow.
"What is this?" Harry asked perplexed as Lee handed him the headphones and then reached for the mic.
"Engine room, all stop."
"All stop, aye," was rendered as Seaview disengaged her engines.
"Chip, take up Bow Look-out," Lee ordered, having a hunch where the next sighting would be.
"Aye, aye Skipper," the first-officer replied, positioning himself at Seaview's windows and studying the depths for any sign of their strange contact.
"The board is empty," Lee noted while looking down at a completely blank sonar screen.
"Perhaps a thermal layer?" Harry suggested to Lee's nod.
"Perhaps," Lee conceded. "But I think I'll have the equipment checked out by maintenance before we proceed," he decided.
Harry nodded his agreement to Lee's sound judgement when Chip's excited voice interrupted their discussion.
"Lee! Are you seeing this?"
Lee looked down at the sonar. "Sonar is clear," he announced and then turned toward the herculite windows to see what Chip was reporting.
Harry followed as the two were completely surprised by the bright light heading straight for them.
"It's on a collision course," Harry noted.
Lee moved to the nearest mic at the chart table. "Engine room, all back Full," he ordered. "Sonar, are you reading this?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Negative Sir, the screen is clear."
"She's closing fast," Chip chimed in.
Despite the fact that Lee knew there were no obstacles in their current path, he hated to make course corrections without sonar operating; still he had no idea what was headed their way.
"Evasive action, right full rudder!" he ordered but before the order could be followed the sound of Seaview's engines disengaging assaulted him.
"Engine room, I ordered all back full."
"Engine room, aye. I don't know what's wrong Sir," the engineering officer reported from the engine room. "Everything shows in working order but she's not responding to our commands."
"Sir, helm is not responding!"
"Mr. Michaels, see what you can do," Lee ordered over his shoulder as the young lieutenant added his muscle trying to apply the rudder.
"No use, Sir!" he reported.
"She's closing fast!" Harry updated.
"Close collision doors," Lee ordered as Chip responded immediately by reaching for the control button. He pushed several times ineffectually before turning toward Lee in resignation.
"It's inoperable."
"What's on board that works?" Lee muttered perplexed as he exchanged glances with the Admiral; the lights were in full working order; environmental controls were operating yet he couldn't maneuver the Boat out of harm's way.
"All hands prepare for impact," he ordered having no more options as the bright light gained speed and closed the distance.
"Any ideas, Sir?" Lee asked Harry standing beside him.
"I've never seen anything like it, Lee," Harry noted as the brightness of the approaching light overtook the submarine, wrapping it in a bright orange and yellow glow as it approached.
"Fifty yards... forty yards... thirty yards..." Chip counted down, standing next to Lee with the Admiral flanking the other side.
"Brace yourselves, men!" Lee ordered, helpless to do anything else as the light closed its distance.
His eyes widened as it was apparent it was neither an ocean biologic nor a man-made object. He had no idea what it was that hit Seaview's nose with a jolt, then penetrated her herculite windows as the light focused into a beam and headed straight for him. It hit before he could say a word as the impact of the light threw both Harry and Chip out of the way, throwing them off as if in a purposeful haste to isolate Seaview's captain.
"Lee!" Chip yelled, pulling himself off the deck and moving toward the bright light that had completely enveloped Lee, focusing all its unknown intent upon Seaview's captain.
Chip lunged for Lee, hoping to apply a tackle that would dislodge the hold the beam of light seemed to have on his friend, but as soon as he penetrated the light's beam he was thrown across the floor, landing with a thud next to the staircase.
Others moved toward their captain as Harry intervened.
"Everyone stay back," the Admiral ordered, dividing his attention between Chip who was still on the deck groggily returning to the world, and Lee who appeared to be frozen in place.
The light beam enveloping him was still connected to the source of the beam, somewhere outside the Boat, as if an arm had reached into Seaview and grabbed him.
"Lee?" Harry called, hoping to get a response. "Can you hear me?"
"The one called Crane is unable to respond."
Harry turned sharply toward the sound of the familiar voice as the entire Control Room caught sight of a second Captain Crane standing in the Nose. Harry raised an eyebrow, looking from one Crane to the next; Lee encased in light and the second Crane in the Nose, an exact double.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, taking a cautious step forward as Chip joined him shakily still recovering from his attempt to free Lee.
"My name is Zandar; I have taken the form of the one called Crane to communicate with you. I assure you, we mean you no harm," he said evenly, in Lee's voice.
"We?" Harry said, picking up on the word instantly.
"My people are visitors to your world," Zandar replied taking a step toward Harry, as Chip moved protectively toward the Admiral. "We are here because we need your assistance," Zandar went on, not missing Chip's stance as the first officer tilted his head giving Chief Sharkey an unspoken order to arm the crew.
"What kind of help?" Harry replied, both cautiously and curiously.
"Our craft was damaged while traveling through your solar system; our scans noted your world's primitive use of atomic fuel. We scanned this planet for the fuel option closest to our needs and discovered your vessel. We need only the means to fuel our craft and we will be on our way," Zandar explained, his facial features taking on an exact duplication of Lee's own expressions.
"Is Captain Crane well and why is he being held like this?" Harry demanded.
"Lee Crane's body functions are suspended so that I can draw from his being in order to communicate. The human mind could not take the intrusion that we must resort to; by this means he is well protected and insulated from the process. He will be returned to you unharmed when our need for communication is concluded."
Harry nodded. "I see," he answered in a less than convinced tone. "And just what exactly is it you need?"
"Two fuel rods from your reactor; one to take with us the other will be returned to you once our craft is refueled."
"Refueled?"
"Our power cells are dangerously low, we need the use of two rods to bring our power completely on line, but once jump started we will be able to return the second rod. It is our estimation that your craft would still be functional with the loss of one rod."
"Functional but not optimal," Harry noted.
Zandar studied Harry and smiled a familiar Lee Crane smile. "Through Crane's memories I see that you are a human of high intellect Nelson." His smiled faded, as his forehead crinkled in yet another familiar expression. "We realize what a shock this visit must be and we will give you some time to evaluate our request."
"And will Crane be returned to us in the mean time?" Harry ventured to ask.
"It is not an easy thing to produce this form of communication for either ourselves or for you humans, it would be wise to leave him insulated until our communication is no longer needed."
Zandar raised his hand to examine the human form he had taken and smiled. "Your life form is most intriguing; confining, but intriguing," he noted before disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.