Chapter 2
Chip looked up from the charting table as Lee entered the control room.
"Everything good?" Lee asked picking up a pencil from the table and rolled it between his fingers.
"On course and schedule. I thought we weren't meeting until 1300 hours," Chip said noting it was only 1200 hours.
"The admiral received a call from a friend in Scotland regarding an unveiling of an ichthyosaur fossil," Lee explained. "He wants to attend the unveiling and wants me to pilot FS-1. We're going to stay a few days after the ceremony since I won't get much time off once we get to Groton. Janet will be coming with us."
"Ichthyosaur unveiling?" Chip asked surprised as he heard of them before. "That sure sounds like fun," he deadpanned.
Grinning Lee replied, "It's better than just sailing under the ice and doing nothing. Let's go to lunch now since the admiral wants to leave within the hour."
Lee saw Chief Sharkey standing at the vertical plotter and approached him, "Chief, prepare the flying sub for launch, we'll be leaving in an hour."
"Aye, sir," Sharkey replied and walked over to Kowalski and patted him on the shoulder so he could help him.
"Is all the cold weather equipment loaded on FS-1?" Lee asked before he left the control room.
"Yes, sir," Sharkey answered then grabbed the check list clipboard and made his way down the hatch into the flying sub.
"Lt. O'Brien you have the conn," Chip said and noted it in the log book.
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Lee and Chip left the control room via the aft hatch and made their way to the wardroom where Harry, Jamie and Janet were already eating lunch. Lee and Chip grabbed their meal and sat down at the table.
"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked Janet as he dunked his bread in his soup.
"Yes, sir," Janet replied. "Thanks for letting me tag along I've never been to Scotland before."
"You'll enjoy it but make sure you take some warm clothes," Harry told her and looked at Lee.
"I still have to pack but it'll only take me a couple of minutes," he responded.
"Chip, we'll meet up with you before you arrive in Groton. If we're late, just take her in and dismiss the crew," Harry said.
"Yes sir," he replied. "Do they have all the information on what needs to be done?"
Harry looked at Lee who then looked at Janet. She nodded her head letting him know she took care of sending the papers. "Yes, they should have all the information on the overhaul and the signed contract."
"Very well," Harry said, "I'll meet you in the observation nose in fifteen minutes."
"Aye, sir," Lee replied as he quickly finished his lunch and followed Harry out of the wardroom.
Grinning Jamie looked at Janet, "You actually want to see an unveiling of a fossil?"
"No, but I didn't want to tell the admiral that and besides I get to see Scotland," Janet smiled back. "I better get going or they might leave without me." She quickly put her dishes in the bin and walked out the door.
"I think I'd rather count seals," Chip chuckled as Jamie shook his head in agreement as they left the wardroom.
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Lee quickly packed the items he would need for the trip.
"Did you get all your gear in there?" Janet asked.
"Yes, thanks for leaving me some room," Lee replied as he took his service jacket out of the closet. "Here you better take this too," he said as he handed her the leather jacket she wore when she was in the flying sub. He helped her put it on and then donned his.
"Thanks," she replied as she took her purse, Lee's service jacket and the toiletry bag while Lee grabbed the suitcase.
They went down the staircase where Harry was waiting. Sharkey took the bags and handed them down to Kowalski.
Sharkey handed Lee the clipboard with the completed check list for him to initial. Lee signed it and gave it back to him as Kowalski climbed out of the sub.
"Everything stowed?" Lee asked.
"Yes sir. All your items are in the lockers and your service coats are laid on the bunk. It's pretty crowded in there with all the cold weather gear aboard."
"Chip, we'll call you as soon as we land in Scotland," Harry told him as he helped him with his leather jacket. "If you have any problems, let us know. We can come back early if needed." He handed Chip the information for the inn where they were staying.
"Aye sir," Chip replied, "Have a safe trip."
"Thanks, Chip," Lee answered as he descended into the flying sub. Janet went next followed by Harry.
They strapped on their harnesses as Lee prepared the little sub for take-off. He attached the throat mic and checked to make sure Sparks could hear him as he warmed up the engines.
"Ready to launch," Lee said over the mic.
"All green," Chip replied as he flipped the switch to open the docking bay doors.
"Launch," Lee told Chip as they felt the clamps release the sub from her bay. He slowly lowered her out of the docking area. Since the area they were in was covered in ice, they would stay submerged until they reached Baffin Bay where Lee would then take to the sky.
Chip and Sharkey watched from the observation nose as the little sub passed in front of the windows. Once she was out of sight, they returned to their stations.
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It would be early morning when Harry, Lee and Janet arrived in Scotland so Janet decided to take a nap. Lee and Harry chatted about the Storr Lochs monster and how it compared to the Loch Ness monster.
They had just reached Baffin Bay but still couldn't take to the air as the area was covered in ice. They would have to stay submerged for a while longer before they could go airborne. As they made their way further south, the sub was suddenly hit by a heavy jolt knocking them off course and waking up Janet. Lee looked at the instruments and noted none of them indicated a problem. He flipped some switches but nothing showed why they were jolted.
"Sir, can you explain that jolt?" Lee asked as both men looked out the windows and saw nothing in their way.
"No, I can't," Harry responded as Lee directed the sub back to its original course.
They didn't get much further when they again were jarred off course only this time the jolt was harder causing the sub to nose dive to the bottom. As flames engulfed the right control panel in the sub, Lee quickly shed his harness and managed to put out the fire but not before the smoke filled the cabin causing them to cough and take in the foul air. Harry removed his harness and lowered down the panel which was still hot from the fire causing him to slightly burn his fingers.
"Sir, let me bandage your fingers," Janet said as she went for the first aid kit.
"No, let it be, they're not that bad," Harry replied as he used his sleeve to lower the panel.
They were looking over the panel trying to fix it so they could get FS-1 off the bottom when Janet whispered, "Lee, you better look at what's outside."
The two men looked up and saw a huge creature very similar to a sword fish with its long mouth only this fish had a lot more teeth and was at least twenty feet long. It was blue in color, had a large dorsal fin, tail fins resembling a dolphin's, huge flat eyes at least ten inches across and weighed over two tons. "Sir, I've never seen a fish like that before. It's very similar to the ichthyosaur," Lee said as they stared at the huge fish.
"Me either," Harry replied as he looked over the fish. "I'm guessing it's a mutant species of the ichthyosaur that swims in deeper waters."
The fish continued to swim in front of the sub. "Let us know if he moves," Lee told Janet as she moved closer to the viewports.
Lee and Harry continued to work on the panels, when they were jolted once again knocking Janet to the deck. "Janet, you were supposed to tell us if that fish moved," Lee yelled as he helped her up.
"Lee, it's still swimming in front of the sub," Janet replied still seeing him out the viewports. "He must have a buddy."
They were once again jostled just as Harry finished repairing the panel. "Get us out here," he said to Lee as they quickly returned to their seats and strapped on their harnesses. Lee fired up the engines and after checking the gauges knew they had only enough power to get them to surface. Lee checked the radar and saw there was open water above them.
"FS-1 to Seaview," Lee called trying to raise the sub hoping they would be able to pick them up but all he heard was static on the radio. He flipped some switches trying to make the radio work but only static came across the radio.
"Damn," he said. "The radio is out and we're going to need to surface. We can't stay down here long, we'll run out of air. We'll have to use our SAT phones to try and contact Seaview."
Harry looked at the gauge noting they only had enough fresh air for another thirty minutes. Even using the air from the scuba tanks would only buy them another hour and he knew that if Seaview ran at flank speed she would never get there in time.
"Okay, Lee, you better take us up," Harry acknowledged.
Lee pulled back on the joy sticks and slowly brought the little sub to the surface. Lee cracked the top hatch to let some fresh air in so they could clear their lungs of the foul air from the fire and air out the cabin.
Lee took his SAT phone from his pocket, "FS-1 to Seaview. Come in Seaview." Lee called. "Seaview this is FS-1 do you copy?"
Lee looked at his phone, it was charged but for some reason not sending out the signal.
"Admiral, try your phone," Lee said as Harry took his phone from his jacket pocket and tried to hail the boat but got nothing; not even static, just dead air.
As they bobbed on the surface of the ocean, Lee calculated they were near the tip of Greenland nowhere near the course Seaview was taking and very far from land. After trying their SAT phones again and not getting any response, Lee pondered what their next move should be.
"Admiral, look outside," Lee said as he caught sight of the huge sail fin on the fish. "We better strap in as I don't think he's going to just let us sit here."
They donned the harnesses as Lee and Harry continued to watch the giant fish circle in front of the sub. Before long he was joined by two more. They lost sight of one of the fish and were jolted again as the huge fish rammed into the side of the little sub.
"I wonder what we did to piss them off?" Lee asked as he tried to keep the sub from crashing under the waves. They had little power and could do nothing but sit there.
"Lee, we have another problem," Harry said. "Look at the reactor gauge…the radiation level is rising. They must have knocked something loose in the reactor."
Lee unstrapped himself from his seat and walked over to the reactor panel and flipped the switches trying to get the reactor back under control.
"Admiral, it's no use the controls aren't responding. We can't stay in here much longer," Lee said desperately.
Harry looked at the gauge and it was approaching the danger zone.
"We're going to have to abandon the sub," Lee reported. "I'll inflate the raft and tie it to the escape hatch wheel until we can get aboard."
"I agree," Harry responded as he unstrapped and helped Lee pull the raft from the locker. He slowly opened the aft hatch as Lee pushed the raft through the hatch and inflated it. As it inflated it got caught on the hatch door and Lee almost fell into the ocean but Harry grabbed his arm.
"Whoa, that was close. Thanks Admiral." Lee said as he secured the rope the hatch wheel.
"No problem, Lee. I would've had to take a dip and save you," Harry replied with a grin trying to lighten up their situation.
After the rope was secured Lee asked, "Janet, do you have anything red?"
"Just a red sweater," she told him with a confused look on her face but went to her suitcase and pulled out her red sweater.
"Give it to me and then start handing me the MRE's, water, flashlights, first aid kit, and the emergency survival blankets. We're going to put on the scuba dry suits and then don the parkas. The sea isn't too rough right now but the water is cold and so is the air temperature."
Janet and Harry handed Lee all the supplies they could fit in the raft and still have room for them. He took the red sweater and tied it to the wheel hatch.
"Why did you do that?" Janet asked.
"I'm hoping if anyone finds FS-1, they'll know there's a problem and not enter the sub unprotected," Lee told her.
"Let's suit up," Lee said as he took out the scuba suits and parkas from the other locker. "Janet, I know the scuba suit is going to be very big on you so I want you to put on as many items of clothes as you can. Put on whatever wool or fleece shirts and pants you have along with socks. Stay away from cotton because if it gets wet you'll get cold faster."
"Yes, Lee but what are you and the admiral going to put under your suit, you can't put as many clothes on as I can," Janet replied worriedly.
Taking her hand, "We'll put on what we can but don't worry we still have the under-liners…we'll be fine," he tried to reassure her.
Janet was able to get quite a few pieces of clothing on under the liner. Harry and Lee managed to get an extra pair of pants and shirts under the liner in the scuba suit. Before they put the parkas over their scuba suits, Lee went to the arms locker and handed each of them a gun.
"Put these under the parkas, so they don't get wet," Lee told them. "We might need them."
They strapped on the weapons and Lee grabbed some extra ammunition. Lee handed Janet one more item, her PFD (personal flotation device).
After he finished strapping the PFD on her, Janet complained, "Lee, I feel like a little kid in my snowsuit, as I can hardly move."
Lee managed a weak smile. "I know sweetie but all I care about is that you're warm and safe should you fall in."
He and the admiral put on their PFD's. Before heading for the hatch, Harry went over the control panel and pushed the homing beacon. "It might be working," he said hopefully.
Harry was first out the hatch and then he helped Janet aboard while Lee secured the hatch making sure the sweater was tied tightly on the exterior wheel. He pushed them away from the sub and hoped she would stay afloat so she could be found later. The sweater would let who ever found her know they had abandoned ship and they should search for them.
Janet and Harry huddle together on one side of the raft as Lee handed them the Mylar survival blankets to wrap around themselves. He then took one and wrapped it around himself the best he could as he rowed away from the little sub. They all kept watch for the large fish hoping they wouldn't follow them and attack the raft.
The giant fish stayed with the flying sub. "Admiral, why do you think they attacked us?" Janet asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe the color or the shape of the sub made them think we were food. I think this type of fish is normally very deep in the ocean but something must have drawn them closer to the surface."
Once they were far enough away from FS-1, Lee took out his SAT phone again, "Seaview, this is Crane, come in Seaview." He received no response just dead air. Harry took out his phone and tried to contact the boat and the Institute but also had no luck.
"Damn, have all the satellites left their orbits?" Lee said angrily as he put the phone back in his pocket.
"Something is definitely wrong," Harry admitted when his phone didn't work too.
"It's going to be dark soon," Lee said as he looked at the horizon. The raft had a light on it and was water activated so he knew if there were any boats out there, they would hopefully see the light and check it out. The sky was heavily overcast so he couldn't even see the stars to find out which direction they were heading. "Damn," he thought as he checked his watch mentally chastising himself for not wearing his watch with the compass.
"There's nothing we can do until morning, so let's get as comfortable as we can so we can keep each other warm," he told them.
He took one of the Mylar blankets and placed it on one of the seats to act as a pillow and placed two more on the bottom of the raft to insulate the bottom. They stretched out lying on their sides as deep in the raft as possible after Lee removed two of the seats. He took the remaining blankets and wrapped them around Harry and Janet securing them the best he could. None of them were very comfortable but hopefully they would stay warm. Janet and Harry fell asleep shortly after they laid down but Lee was worried being out in the middle of the ocean with no way to contact anyone. He'd been in many predicaments before during his ONI missions but he had never felt so stranded than now in the middle of the ocean, with no one around, and no way to communicate. He finally fell asleep after laying there for a couple of hours.