Chapter 2
Surprisingly, after being told he was being relieved of duty for the cruise and placed on medication to combat his symptoms, Lee had stopped pushing himself. There had been one incident in the circuitry room when the Skipper, allowed to take a short walk, had come across men making repairs. There were parts strewn all over the deck. Normally Lee would simply issue a quiet order to police up the mess, but this time there was a mini explosion when the captain let loose on the two crewmembers. Chief Sharkey managed to get the Skipper back to his cabin, calling the doctor to relate the episode.
The doctor had arrived and swiftly assessed the situation.
"Okay, Chief, I'll handle this. The captain will be resting for quite a while so you are relieved. Don't look so worried, he'll be fine."
After Sharkey left, Jamie turned his attention to his patient.
"Want to tell me what happened, Lee? But first, how bad is the headache?"
"Wouldn't object to a couple Tylenol, extra strength if you got them." After swallowing the tablets he finished drinking the glass of water before he continued. "Usually it starts with the pain in the head, this time the outburst came without warning then the drummer started up again with a vengeance. It was just a little thing, no big mess. They're both competent men, everything would've been cleaned up, but I lost it and blew up at them. From what I can remember, they had a very surprised look on their faces when I ripped them up one side and down the other." Lee gave a humorless laugh. "Not my usual method of discipline."
"Any other symptoms, dizziness or nausea? How soon did the headache start after the yelling?"
"Maybe a minute at most. The more the head hurt, the crazier I became. Jamie, how much longer is this going to keep happening? I can't continue being captain of Seaview when I lose control so easily. What would've happened if we were in an emergency situation and lives depended on my calm judgment?"
Sure his frustration and feelings of defeat were being telegraphed on his face, Lee turned away from the doctor. It was getting harder to keep his spirits up after each attack. He had risked his life once too often, and the repayment was possibly the loss of the one thing he'd spent his adult years trying to achieve.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Captain, it's only been a couple days. Your body needs time for the medicine to start working plus you need the normal post-concussion care, rest, rest and more rest plus no stress. I want you to remain in bed for a couple of hours, even if you don't sleep. Relax, think of those great places where you and Chip go diving, the freedom you have in the water. Call me if the headache doesn't let up in another fifteen minutes or so and I'll give you something stronger. For now, remember, you don't have a care in the world."
"Yeah, right. Chip is driving the boat and I'm reliving vacation memories. Just what I wanted."
"It'll be over sooner than you think, Skipper."
"Keep telling me that, okay, Jamie? Just keep telling me that."
A gentle tap on the cabin door aroused Lee from his sleep. Calling out a hoarse permission to enter, he struggled to bring himself to full awareness.
"Well hello, Captain Sleepyhead, did you enjoy your siesta?" Chip asked. In his hands was a tray with two mugs of hot Cocoa and a plate of cookies from the galley. They settled in as the XO went over the events of the day.
"There's nothing to be concerned about, Skipper. The boat is in great shape. The minor rewiring in the circuitry room was completed yesterday evening and we ran numerous tests. There's not a speck of unused wire left anywhere, I inspected the job myself," Chip offered with a slight snicker.
"I came down pretty hard on Burke and Simpson, I sort of lost it."
"After the chief handed you off to Jamie, he went back and added his own chewing out. When I checked their finished work you could have eaten off of the deck. Don't worry about your yelling at the men, it keeps them on their toes. I'm usually the one who lowers the boom! I'm planning on doing a walkabout tonight at 2200, are you up to keeping me company?"
"Do you think we can sneak it past my keepers?"
"Just don't go wandering around until then and it will be safe. I'll give you the old signal - two knocks, a pause than three quick ones."
"Just like the time with..." Lee's voice faded away, not wanting to remember the crazy incident at the Academy with Peter Drake. Seeing Chip's concerned face he quickly pushed that memory away. "Think we need a counter sign?"
Chip laughed and shook his head as he walked away.
The resupplied run to Sea Lab 2 was going smoothly, and Seaview arrived at the coordinates right on schedule. After meeting several of the scientists aboard the underwater lab, Lee got out of the way leaving the unloading to Chief Sharkey and his work detail. He accepted Dr. Jay's offer to see some of the latest research being conducted, overjoyed at having something to occupy his time, while still obeying doctor's orders.
The dinner was a lively affair with Dr. Jay offering up several funny stories concerning the admiral, ones that he would never dare tell in the presence of Nelson. Lee immensely enjoyed the company, happy when none of his current medical problems reoccurred. Still easily fatigued, Lee however did retire early. He was relieved the resupplying had gone so smoothly. The rest was harder to contemplate - five days to return to Santa Barbara then the possible end of his career as captain of the Seaview, or any vessel, if his condition did not improve.
The next morning, after a final check with the lab personnel and goodbyes being exchanged, Seaview started home. Later, Lee personally contacted Admiral Nelson, feeling duty bound to report in. Even if he was not in charge at the moment, Crane wanted to show he could resume some of his duties. He quickly updated the admiral regarding conditions at the sea lab along with relaying the scientists' well wishes.
"Dr. Jamieson's been telling me you've been behaving like a model patient. When Seaview returns to Santa Barbara, he has advised that you take aminimum of two weeks off to help in your recovery. I'm in total agreement."
Lee could feel the beginning of a headache. Afraid the usual pattern of a following blowup would be close at hand, he rushed to end the conversation. "Yes, sir, if you both feel it's for the best. If you'll excuse me, Admiral, I'm afraid I'm quite tired."
"Don't worry about anything, Chip can handle the boat, Lee. Just rest and follow Jamie's orders. We need you back on your feet. I'll be leaving Pearl in two days so I'll beat you back to the Institute."
"Have a safe flight, sir. I am sure Acting Captain Morton will bring Seaview back without scraping the paint. As everyone keeps telling me, I'm just along for the ride."
Before Nelson could respond to that, Lee broke the connection, dropping his head into his hands. Great! Now he was behaving like a spoiled kid whose favorite toy had been taken away. He couldn't help it; he felt Nelson was just trying to humor him. Groaning, he reached for the bottle and swallowed two pain pills. Better to prevent another spell then to give anyone more ammo to take away his command. Lee hated to acknowledge it, but he still felt listless and knew that he needed further rest. The prone position helped alleviate the constant dull pain in his head and the ever present slightly off balance feeling. Closing his eyes, he repeated to himself, two more days, relax, just twomore days.
Too tired to move to the bed and hoping to stem the threatening headache he now switched off the desk light and used his arms as pillows to lay his head on the desk. He tried to slow hisbreathing, relaxing his body. Soon he had drifted off to sleep.
The shots are coming from everywhere! Pete - lay down some firepower to the left! Pete, where the hell are you! Got to get to that guy, drag him off. Hold on, help's coming. I'm gonna rig a tourniquet on the leg. Ambushed! Damn faulty Intel. Pete! Where the hell are you? Pete! Could use some help here! Don't look at the body of the girl, don't do it. Damn… where's that other magazine? Pete! Owww, damn, two more inches and I'd be dead. Shit, that other girl… shit! This guy's had it, the belt's not working, too much blood loss, can't stop it. Where are you, Pete?Come on, we've got to get out of here.
"Hang on, just hang on. I'll get you home. Noise, what's that noise? PETE!"
Chip knocked on the door and waited, hearing Lee' strange sounding voice. He had arrived with lunch planning to go over the final report from the sea lab. Now he needed to discuss what he was hearing. Knocking harder this time, he waited until he received a groggy permission to enter.
"Sorry, guess I took a quick nap at the desk." Lee tried to pull himself together, quickly grabbing a cup of coffee from the tray to help relieve the scratchiness from his voice.
"Sounds like you were having a doozy of a nightmare. Want to talk about it?"
What the hell was I saying? "What? No, there's nothing to talk about. Let's just eat and you can fill me in."
"But Lee, I could hear you-"
"Just drop it, okay? I wanna talk about work, nothing else."
Chip knew it wasn't the time to press the matter, but he would try once more before he left. Perhaps Lee needed a little time to compose himself. Placing the food on the table, he took a bite of sandwich and then proceeded to give the Skipper an overview of his report.
Lee picked a cookie off the plate, breaking tiny pieces away, leaving a pile of crumbs on his napkin. Stalling for time. Lee finished off his hot drink then returned the mug to the desk. It was difficult to bring up what he needed to discuss with his friend. If he could explain to someone who would understand and not be judgmental, maybe he could put the tragedy of the last mission behind him. Right now whenever he thought about what had happened, it usually triggered one of his headaches. In the past Chip had helped put things in perspective when other assignments had gone south. Now he was counting on his long-time pal to come through one more time, this time maybe to help save his sanity.
The XO slowly gathered up his papers, taking his time. There had to be a way to broach the subject again about the nightmare. He was about to speak when Lee beat him to the punch.
"Chip, don't leave, there is something I need to talk to you about."
Grabbing a pencil, Lee started doodling on a scrap of paper, a habit of his when he had difficulties discussing something. He crumpled the paper, tossed it away, and faced his friend. "I know I can always talk to you about my stint with ONI. I trust that you won't go running to Jamie or the admiral when I tell you I'm having nightmares or other problems."
"Hey, that's part of the job description for being your XO. So, what's up, I know something has been bothering you. Get it off your chest; Dr. Morton'scouch is open for business."
Lee's hazel eyes dimmed. "This isn't funny, Chip."
Chip's shoulders slumped, and he said in dismay, "Damn, I'm sorry, Lee, I was just trying to help relieve the tension. I guess I messed up. You know I'll always have your back, help you in any way I can. I heard you outside the door; it was another nightmare, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, must have been. Look, I'm the one who should be apologizing. Lately, I seem to be taking anything said the wrong way." Each man looked down towards the floor in embarrassment, not knowing what to say next. Lee pushed thedestroyed cookie around on the napkin, finally cleared his throat and began his story.
"Admiral Johnson approached me when ONI received Intel that "a person of interest" would be traveling with just a small group of guards. With the help of four specially trained policemen, Drake and I should have had no problem capturing and returning this person to the States."
"I take it Drake is another ONI operative?"
"Yes. He was actually in our class at Annapolis; Peter Drake, remember, he took Naval Engineering with the both of us when we were firsties. I was closer to him than you were. You'll remember about the couple of pranks he was involved in with us, especially the one at our last Army Navy game. That was the best one... when the limousine came into the stadium in Philadelphia with the bunch of guys in black suits jogging alongside and a set of flags that looked vaguely like the presidential seal..."
Chip looked closer at his friend. Lee wasn't in his cabin anymore; he was back in the stadium, back at the game.
"The limo went in front of the Navy section first and we all stood and saluted when it passed, drove around the field on the track and stopped in front of the Army section where all the Woops stood and saluted. After a pause, the door opened and out came the Navy goat, Bill! Bill and his handlers ran across the field to the Navy side. I swear, I've never seen the Woops howl louder. Pete was the head 'secret service agent.' The idea was all his, remember?"
"Sure, Lee. Sure I do."
Lee's eyes focused again, coming to rest on Chip's face. "Sorry, Chip, time got away from me there for a minute. Anyway, Drake and I have been assigned to several of the same missions in the past, sometime working together, other times just meeting as a contact person to pass information to. It was safer if you knew and trus…" Lee paused slightly, and then quickly continued with "if you knew and trusted the other person."
Lee stood up and began walking around the small room, too keyed up to remain still. "The Intel was wrong - I should have suspected something when we received just actionable intelligence - and we got into a firefight. A couple of the local officers were shot almost immediately. I got my concussion thanks to a bomb planted in our escape vehicle, which luckily for me, went off early."
"So the bad guy got away?"
"Not quite, Chip. The "person of interest" never was there. It was a trap to capture or kill me. The bomb was meant to kill anyone else who tried to escape."
"Dammit, Lee, it's bad enough when you go on these assignments, but now they're setting traps to murder you! The admiral's going to blow a gasket when he hears this." An agitated Chip, joined Lee in the pacing, stopping a few feet away from the captain's face. "You've got to stop working for ONI, Lee. Yes, you have a strong sense of duty to your country, but you're also too important to Seaview, to your friends, to keep coming back damaged after playing 007."
He could almost smell the cordite from the gunplay.…
One officer writhed in pain, half of his jaw shot off. Nearby, his partner lay mortally wounded from a gunshot to the stomach. Two teenage girls sprawled in a bloody heap in front of him, guilty of being in the wrong spot when the shooting began. Then getting to the Jeep, and the explosion. Finding Drake… the fight… Drake dying in his arms.
"Lee? Lee, are you all right?"
With difficulty Crane refocused on the present, forcing himself to continue his story.
"The bad guys opened up on us the minute we got to the supposed hiding place, right in the middle of this little town. Killed one local cop, wounded the other. The worst was the two girls that were shot as they were running across the street. I knew I had to get out of there fast. I looked around, couldn't see Drake. Figuring he'd head for the Jeep, I took off in that direction. Boy, was I right. Trouble is, I surprised him rigging the Jeep up for an explosion."
Even now he could see the little packet of C-5, the wires running underneath the ignition panel, Drake's busy fingers intent on the job, never noticing Lee until the other man was right on top of him.
"I surprised Drake as he was planting the charges in the Jeep he'd conveniently found for our getaway. He was trying to explain, crying about how he needed the money, when the bomb went off in the Jeep. He jumped me, we fought and he pulled a knife. It was over in a few minutes. I came back, he didn't."
"Drake was a traitor? Why?"
"Said he'd gotten in over his head gambling. For 30 pieces of silver he turned his back on all his beliefs. He forgave me," Lee spoke in an incredulous voice. "I held him in my arms while he was dying and that sanctimonious bastard is telling me he's forgiven me. He was playing his part to the end. He was always a cocky SOB, maybe he couldn't accept what was happening. The traitor wasn't sorry, only sorry he was caught. Sonofabitch, Chip!" he cried out. "I did my duty, and I'd do it again. Who knows what more Drake would have revealed to the other side."
Lee resorted to his customary gesture of frustration, moving his hand back and forth through his hair. "I should have realized something was wrong. Things just didn't 'feel' right, and because of my mistake, two innocent girls and one officer were killed, with another maimed for life. There would have been two more dead if I hadn't managed to call in the chopper we planned on using to track our guy if he eluded us."
Lee could feel his self-control slipping as his anger overwhelmed him. He was unaware of his actions until the pain shot up his arm when his clenched fist hit the cabin's wall. Chip grabbed the wrist, examining the injured and rapidly swelling hand.
"Looks like it's Sick Bay time again, buddy. That's got to hurt."
The XO was attempting to steer Lee towards the door when he stumbled, an attack of vertigo overcoming him. Chip guided him over to the bunk before reaching for the mic to summon medical assistance.
"Chip, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I keep doing this."
"We'll work through it, Lee. Don't worry."
As Dr. Jamieson examined the injury, Lee lay motionless on his bunk trying to ignore all that his body was going through. He felt as if he would never be in control again. At times he thought the medication was beginning to work, but then he did something stupid like this. If he continued on this course, he would soon find himself being invalided out for good.
Jamie carefully laid Lee's swollen hand down by his side. "Okay, Captain, I'm going to give you something for the pain and dizziness. There doesn't appear to be any broken bones but you need an x-ray to be sure. I don't want you walking so let us take you to Sick Bay-"
"You are not going to carry me anywhere," came the sharp interruption. "Just give me a sec and I'll get there under my own steam."
"As I was saying, there's no rush. I'll put a cold pack on the hand to help the swelling until you're feeling better." Jamie seemed to carefully pick his next words with Lee in such a volatile state. "It would help to know what you were doing prior to this accident. It could help prevent another episode."
Lee couldn't talk about it again. "I just want some peace and quiet. Chip can give you a report, just like he has this entire cruise. I'm sure the two of you will have plenty to talk about. Just leave and let me alone." Lee knew he was being unfair to both men but right now he didn't care. All he wanted was his normal life back, one where he was the master of his emotions.
The two officers left without argument. With the mood the Skipper was in, probably anything they could say would be taken the wrong way.