Chapter Two
Lee checked over the charts and made the course adjustment then tapped his pencil on the chart table in thought.
"Something on your mind?" Chip asked quietly.
Lee smiled inwardly at his conscientious XO and friend. "Nothing big, but I'm thinking I'd like to have Chief Sharkey do a once-over on FS1, before I commit her to the elements in Alaska."
"Good idea," Chip agreed. "I'll get right on it."
"Don't bother. The Chief's off watch now, so I'll just a take a little walk and track him down myself," he answered.
"Aye, aye Skipper," Chip replied, knowing that Lee always enjoyed these walks about the boat as more than a relaxing walk, but a chance to connect with Seaview and her crew.
# # # # #
"Man oh man, Chief! When are you going to admit that that shirt is anything but lucky?" Kowalski jokingly chided as he finished adding their points to the score card. Gambling on board was against the rules for anything more than M and M's and pennies, but once off the boat, the game continued at their favorite port watering hole where the winnings got much more substantial.
"It's been lucky for us," Riley amended, holding his cards innocently, as his twenty-two year old baby face, along with his blue eyes and strawberry blond hair, painted a veritable picture of an angel on loan from heaven.
Sharkey growled as he reached to gather his cards.
"Don't look at me," Ski defended, raising both hands in the air as if affirming an oath. "It was the surfer boy here that said it," he said giggling as he spoke and then reaching for his cards. "But he is right," he added under his breath to Sharkey's continued glare and low growl.
"Chief."
Sharkey's head whipped to the side, unaware that the Skipper was standing in the door way.
"Uh sorry Sir, I didn't see you come in," he apologized, caught off-guard and trying to find his NCO decorum while wearing a loud brown and green paisley shirt on board.
"It's all right," Lee assured the men. "Sorry to interrupt," he added with a smile, as a courtesy for the men's personal time aboard the boat, and setting his crew at ease. "Could I have a word with you Chief," he issued in an unmistakable order even though it was delivered amicably.
"Aye Sir," Sharkey replied, feeling much out of place conferring with the Skipper in his "lucky" shirt, even if it was on his own time.
They stepped out into the corridor as Lee addressed him. "As you know, the Admiral and I will be shoving off the day after we hit port. I'm thinking it would be a good idea if you gave FS1 a once-over and a clean bill of health before we take her up North."
"Aye Sir, right away, I'll get right on it," Sharkey piped in, always one to jump into his duties when called.
"No need to interrupt your game. Just get on it first thing in the morning," Lee said with a pat to his shoulder.
"Aye Sir, first thing in the morning," he repeated as Lee smiled before continuing his relaxing, but purposeful walk through the boat.
Sharkey watched the Skipper head back down the corridor, then turned and frowned at the crew's mess behind him. He headed back catching both Ski and Riley smirking and giggling, no doubt still discussing his lucky shirt. He sat down and reached for his cards on the table as both men snorted back their laughter.
"It's the kid, I swear!" Ski said blaming his counterpart with both hands raised in the air once again, while trying to put on his most innocent face, which didn't pass muster when compared to Riley's across the table as Sharkey picked up his cards.
"All right you Bozos," Sharkey added gruffly. "Let's finish the hand and I'll show you a 'lucky' shirt," he bluffed, but inside he was wondering if he should switch to his wild pink and orange Hawaiian print shirt after all. Nah, he decided silently as he held back a smirk while thumbing through his hand to reveal a pair of aces and a pair of deuces. Hah! We'll see who laughs last, he added in thought before calling for the wagers.
"I'm in," he said coolly, figuring to clean out the boys with this next hand.
# # # # #
"She's all ship-shape, Sir," Sharkey reported with his usual enthusiasm, handing Lee the clip board to peruse.
"Thanks Chief. Anything I should be made aware of?" he asked looking over the clip board.
"No Sir. She's in tip-top condition," Sharkey replied, just as proud of the Admiral's flying wonder as anyone and pleased that the Skipper had entrusted the once-over to him.
"Very well, thanks Chief," Lee replied with a nod as he dismissed a very happy COB to his other duties before hitting port later that morning.
# # # # #
Harry climbed the ladder down into Seaview's Control Room the next morning and perused the deck, looking for the tall dark headed captain.
"Have you seen Captain Crane?" he asked the electrician's mate working on an open panel.
"Aye Sir, he's in FS1," the rating replied.
Harry nodded his thanks and headed to the deck hatch, which was already raised. I should have known, he thought to himself with a bit of private humor reaching his face in a small tight-lipped smile. He descended down to find Lee in the co-pilot's seat, already going through the pre-flight checklist.
"Good morning, Sir," Lee greeted, turning a bit upon hearing the quiet descent of the Admiral's soft-soled oxfords.
"Good morning, Lee," Harry replied, noting their preparations were almost complete. He sunk into the left seat and flipped a few switches before buckling his seat harness.
"Well I see we're about ready to shove off," he noted, donning the throat mic.
"Aye Sir, the course has been plotted and entered into the on board navigator, and all systems are checked and ready to go."
"Good," Harry replied, fingering his throat mic to activate it.
"FS1 to NIMR Com. We're ready to launch."
"Aye Sir, have a good trip Sir," the communication's operator replied.
"Very well, Nelson out," Harry replied switching off and taking a side glance toward Lee.
"Ready to launch?"
"Aye Sir, at your command."
"Launch in five, four, three, two, one; launch."
"Launching," Lee replied, flipping a switch to manually deploy FS1, as the flying sub dropped from her berth. An on board sensor illuminated to green as Lee reported, "Bay doors cleared."
Harry nodded, applied power and began navigating the corridor through Seaview's secret underwater sub pen.
"I regret not having more time in between our last voyage and this trip," Harry said casually as the Flying Sub cleared airspace and took to the sky.
"Not a problem for me, Sir," Lee replied completely at ease. "I'm looking forward to the trip; I've always found Alaska to be intriguing, even in the winter."
"Especially in the winter," Harry corrected with a smile.
"Aye Sir," Lee agreed, returning both the smile and the sentiment.
Their cold weather gear was hanging behind them and both men were well adept to the harshness of an Alaskan winter, having been fully trained for extreme weather survival. Truth be told, Lee saw this trip as more of an adventure than a resupply run for a government funded scientist working nearly off the grid.
Logistics really wasn't the focus of their trip however, as Dr. Vickers' supplies were brought in by bush plane and the scientist reported that he had received his winter cache. Although FS1 carried supplies for the project as well as personal supplies requested by Vickers and his assistant, the visit was really more of an opportunity to oversee the progress thus far. The project was too much in it's infancy for the government to be looking for results, but the process of funding demanded some accountability and Harry's obvious scientific abilities made him a very logical choice. For his part, Harry was very excited about the possibilities of the project and saw the trip as an exciting scientific venture; he was equally looking forward to meeting the doctor himself and hoped to engage in some rather interesting conversations during the course of the visit.
The flight to Anchorage took only 2 ½ hours at Mach 2, where the Flying Sub landed at Elmendorf Air Force Base to take on the special equipment Vickers had requested. The sight of the yellow flying wonder was enough to grab the attention of several pilots on the flight line as they admired Nelson's incredible invention. The sight of a Four Star Admiral kept them at their distance, but Lee made a point of addressing the pilots in a gesture of good will between the military branches, while preparations for retrieving their cargo were underway. Sharp salutes were exchanged with the Navy Commander as Lee stopped to talk "shop" with the pilots.
Harry watched the animated discussion as an air force pilot demonstrated with his hands, a particularly exciting vertical take-off he had participated in. Something must have been humorous as the small group, including Lee, broke out in smiles and soft laughter. The Admiral enjoyed watching the interaction as Lee added his own story, his hands demonstrating what Harry recognized as the pitch and roll of a carrier deck in motion. His story ended with the same soft flow of laughter as Lee expressed his need to get moving after spotting the three medium sized boxes heading for FS1.
Lee supervised the loading and stowed the boxes then exited the side cargo hatch to join Harry who had by this time been joined by the Base Commander, having come to offer Base greetings to the high level Naval Officer, as a visit by Admiral Harriman Nelson (ret) prompted his personal attention. Lee greeted the Colonel as well and with the necessary decorum complete they excused themselves for the final leg of their journey, a research facility so far remote that it received no visitors except for the scheduled supply runs.
Once back inside FS1, Harry strapped in as Lee began the start-up sequence. He knew Lee had enjoyed his visit with the pilots and figured it didn't hurt to give the interested parties a show of the Flying Sub's abilities.
"Why don't you take the controls, Lee," Harry offered with a small smile as he feigned interest in something on his clip board.
Lee smiled. "Aye, aye, Sir," he replied, wrapping both hands around the control sticks after receiving clearance to taxi. "I'm uh... pretty sure we should test our short take-off capabilities before heading to the research lab," he added in a lame excuse to open up FS1 for the pilots and ground crew below.
"Oh, by all means," Harry replied, barely holding back his smile.
Lee nodded and contacted the air traffic controller, indicating his intentions and receiving clearance for take-off. It was a beautiful take-off, with a nearly vertical ascent after an incredibly short roll before Lee rotated the craft and took to the air. His satisfied smile was all the reward Harry needed as he stole a sideways glance over at his co-pilot.
"You know, I'm not sure that you didn't break the record on short distance take-off rolls with that one," Harry observed calmly, commenting on Lee's ability to push the craft to its limits.
"Just making sure she's up to the task of our remote landing strip, Sir," Lee offered seriously before breaking into a full smile.
"Well, I think she passed with flying colors then," Harry noted as they conducted a leisurely flight over the Alaskan tundra, heading north westerly to their destination.
# # # # #
"Connor! Connor!"
Dr. Vickers called for his assistant, there was no doubt he was within the research facility as the frigid air outside made his ability to venture out impossible since the temperatures had dipped to twenty degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.
Vickers entered a storage room and reached for the light.
"Leave it off," Dr. Vickers heard in a low guttural sound that seemed to rattle in his assistant's throat.
"But Connor, help will be here soon," Vickers promised. "Remember, I told you Nelson was coming?"
A soft gasp of remembrance filled the air as Connor kept to the shadows, wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head.
"He'll be here shortly and I need you to stay out of sight," Vickers instructed. "Nelson will find a way to reverse the affects; you'll see," he promised.
Heavy breathing mixed with a woeful moan filled the darkened storage unit before Connor Hall spoke again.
"How can you be sure he'll help... what can he do in two days?"
"I've got it all worked out," Vickers encouraged excitedly. "He'll stay as long as it takes."
"Why would he do that?" Connor asked taking a step out of the shadows while pulling his hood off and pointing to his face. "He'll discredit you and remove your funding and then where will I be?"
"No, it won't be that way. Now I promised you, son, that I wouldn't abandon you and I won't. Nelson will stay as long as it takes if I make the stakes high enough... he's bringing Captain Crane along."
Connor seemed to consider the statement. "It's not right to subject someone else to this," he reasoned in a moment of humanity and decent morality.
"But Nelson's mind is brilliant; he will think of what I haven't and then you'll both be free," the scientist reasoned. "It's the only way," he added.
Connor nodded, replacing the hood and stepping back into the shadows where the darkness veiled his deformity, his moment of questioning Vickers' methods passed without further scrutiny... he was desperate for an end to his pain. He nodded and breathed another raspy breath in acceptance.
"Good," Vickers replied, happy his assistant was still rationale. "Now stay calm and be patient. Once Crane is infected, Nelson will stop at nothing to save him."
The figure in the shadows just nodded as Vickers left to make preparations for the arrival of his guests within the hour.