Chapter Four
The pain that had reached its crescendo as his lungs cried for air had suddenly ceased; Lee remembered thinking he must be dead until he felt a strange sensation. He wasn't aware enough to begin to understand the feeling of his face mask and regulator being removed; indeed, he was too near death to respond. His eyes remained closed as he felt the life-sustaining sensation of air being forced into his lungs. Even as his body hungrily sucked in the oxygen, he couldn't respond; instead, sank further into unconsciousness. He was drifting in his state of near suffocation, and didn't even realize that he was now gliding through the deep with his regulator back in his mouth to prevent him from gulping in water.
He was guided by hands, propelling him upwards; taking stops at various points where his regulator was removed and more air was forced into his lungs. If he'd been lucid, he would have realized that those two hands were making sure to take decompression stops. Finally, he breached the surface as the regulator was pulled from his mouth and he reflexively gasped in air, too weary to peel his eyes open.
He had lost track of time, too busy choking in air, and was only vaguely aware that he was gliding again, this time on his back. With the ability to breathe once again restored, his awareness slowly returned. He opened his eyes into small slits, finding an arm about his neck in a standard rescue position, but he was too weak to find the face of whoever had saved his life. Instead, he looked up, barely understanding the white puffy clouds scattered across the blue sky above.
The strong, rhythmic splashing told him that his rescuer was well-adept in the water, a strong swimmer and showing no signs of growing tired. That was the last he remembered, until he felt the wet sand under him as he lay on a beach, only partially pulled from the water. The water lapped against his feet, his fins stacked neatly on the sand nearby.
He struggled to open his eyes, but his strength was gone, stolen from him in his near-death experience. With a sense that he was safe, his subconscious let go of even the tiniest thread holding him to the events around him and sunk into a deep sleep; a sleep so deep that he didn't feel his dive hood being removed or wet curls being fingered from his forehead.
VTTBOTS
Lee awoke curled on his side and shivering, which only aggravated his enlarged and raw lungs suffering from the effects of oxygen deprivation. He was weak and felt all the effects of his near-death experience, including a splitting headache. He started to rise, moving too quickly and triggered an uncomfortable session of dry heaves before he realized that he wasn't going anywhere just yet and concentrated instead, on determining where he was at present. The fact that he was on dry land was confusing; even in his compromised state, he realized that the nearest land from Seaview's last known position was nearly 100 miles away.
He closed his eyes in concentration, remembering the events leading up to his current predicament: the sensors, the sea quake, and the fact the he had run out of air mixture. It was only then that he realized that he was no longer wearing his tanks.
Lee reached up and rubbed his eyes, his hands shaking slightly, then dropped his arm clumsily, brushing against the dive bag still attached to his weight belt. The sensor! He blew a grateful breath out, then reached in for the electronic device, relieved to see the light still illuminated. It was active and still sending data! A tired chuckle escaped as he decided to send a little message. If he knew his crew, someone would be monitoring the sensors, and he'd bet his bottom dollar that "someone" would be Admiral Harriman Nelson.
He fiddled with the sensor, resetting the function to "Test" and then reinitiated the sensor. Then he gave it a good shake, figuring that should get someone's attention. He repeated the process one more time before laying the sensor in the sand beside him. He was sure he had added enough drama to the readings to get someone's attention. Even if Seaview missed it, the scientists monitoring the sensors at Pearl would be sure to question the strange readings and notify Harry.
On that thought, he closed his eyes. He was exhausted from the experience; battered by the freak current that had dragged him far from the Boat, and suffering from lungs aggravated from the effects of near suffocation. Thank God, he wasn't reeling from the bends too. That thought caused him to pop open his eyes as his mind desperately tried to grab onto just how he had ended up on the island in the first place.
Someone helped him... it was just an impression; he had no real memory or anything to grab onto to explain why he survived and how he ended up here safe. All the impressions of his rescue by unseen hands were buried too deep for him to remember as he sighed wearily. He was too tired to think anymore, so he allowed his eyelids to drop closed. Another shiver assaulted him as the shade of a nearby palm tree draped across him, and fell asleep with his arm wrapped securely around the sensor.
VTTBOTS
"Sir," Chip said, leaning over to encourage Harry quietly.
"There's no time for that, Chip," he replied, realizing that everyone thought he was off his rocker. "Just look at his," he said, his smile returning as he pointed down at the data sheet. "Look at the depth, Chip. Sea level!"
Chip nodded, trying to appease the Admiral and looked down at the data sheet actively recording every little hiccup in the area. Each sensor was currently running very flat lines with small levels of activity, too light to feel without the electronic devices monitoring the region. He could see the last few aftershocks that had only minimally affected the boat, but his eyes were drawn to Number Sixteen where several readings were off the chart and antithetical to the other readings. The first one was the initial reading that cued them that Lee had activated the sensor as a homing beacon to find his body, but there were several other readings much more recent.
"I don't understand, Sir," Chip said, not convinced the anomalies proved anything. Lee had been lost in 250 feet of water, a dive so deep it required a breathing mixture, not ambient air. He just couldn't see how these readings, nearly an hour after Lee's tanks were empty, could possibly be anything but a fluke of electronics.
"Look Chip," Harry said, standing up and pointing down at the data sheet. "Before these last two readings, the sensors were cycled to 'Test' mode. Look! Here and here," he said, his elation coming under control as his hope returned. "And then they were reinitiated." Harry slammed his hand down on the table as every Rating in the Control Room who had been pretending like they weren't listening, turned toward the sound of the "slap" on the table. "There's no fish in the world that could have done that! Lee Crane is alive and he sent us a message telling us so!" he finished with a twinkle in his eye and his smile widening.
Chip studied the readings, wanting to make sure before allowing himself to believe. Finally, he shook his head and chuckled.
"Well I'll be..."
Upon his admission, the entire Control Room let out a holler of celebration.
"All right men, settle down," Chip admonished with a relieved smile. "Your orders, Sir?" he said turning to Harry who was busy writing down coordinates.
"Chief Sharkey and I will launch FS1, I want the Doc aboard," he ordered, uncharacteristically animated and rushing to the Chart Table to look for his destination. "Aha! Just as I thought," he said excitedly. "It's an island, Chip! The sensor is smack dab on an island," he finished, tossing his pencil on the table and turning for the deck hatch. "He's alive, Chip. I know it."
"Aye Sir," Chip replied, reaching for his black arm band and removing it in a show of faith in the Admiral. "Godspeed Sir."
Harry's expressive eyes twinkled, his delight evident as he nodded.
"Come on, Chief."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Sharkey replied enthusiastically, his smile widening as the weight on his shoulders suddenly lifted. Yes Sir, the Captain was alive all right!
He followed the Admiral down the hatch grinning like the Cheshire cat as the solemn mood in Seaview's Control Room had suddenly shifted to controlled elation, with each rating manning their station with extra diligence to do their part in bringing the Skipper home.
VTTBOTS
The mood of the three occupants of the Flying Sub had turned from elation to guarded hopefulness as the question of how Lee Crane could end up a hundred miles from his last known coordinates, alive and on dry land no less, occurred to each one. The questions were temporarily filed as each one contemplated the possible alternatives to the sensor's strange readings, including the possibility that someone else could have activated the sensor. That thought was dismissed as it would require some knowledge of the sensor sequences. The more they thought about it, the more it didn't add up.
Harry had taken FS1 to the air and had covered the distance quickly, even at sub-Mach speeds.
"There she is, Sir," Sharkey said, pointing out the small island up ahead.
The coordinates indicated an approach from the west as Harry lined up for the set down. He was vectoring in on the signal and noticed that the convergence was leading to a small lagoon.
"There he is, Sir!" Sharkey exclaimed, lowering the high-powered binoculars. "It's him for sure, I can make out his dive suit," he added, referring to the Skipper's undeniable yellow suit.
Harry nodded, keeping his own hope tamped down until he knew for sure. The questions of how Lee ended up here were just too pressing, so he unconsciously shut down his emotions until he saw Lee for himself.
He sat FS1 down in a perfect water landing and motored the yellow craft into the lagoon, concentrating on the yellow form lying on the beach as Jamieson unstrapped and gathered his bag, ready to disembark with visions of a man in the throes of acute decompression sickness playing in his mind.
"Seaview, this is FS1," Harry reported.
"Seaview here. We read you, Admiral," Chip's voice responded.
"We have a visual on the Captain, stand-by," he reported, fingering off his connection and concentrating on beaching the flying sub. A moment later they were ashore as the Admiral quickly shut down the engines.
"Crack the hatch," Harry ordered, swinging the pilot's chair around as Sharkey opened the side cargo hatch then stepped aside for the Doc and the Admiral to disembark while he secured FS1.
VTTBOTS
Jamieson hovered over Lee, checking his carotid pulse first and feeling a strong heart beat beneath his two fingers.
"He's alive," he breathed out, before digging into his bag to conduct a thorough assessment of his patient.
"Lee," Harry said with a hand on his shoulder, relieved that he was alive. But there were strange circumstances at work here and he had no way of knowing how long Lee had been without air. The first reading of the sensor was at depth with only minutes of mixture. Just how he had ended up on an island a hundred miles from where they started was a mystery. The question burning inside him was whether Lee had suffered brain damage due to oxygen deprivation.
"Lee," he called again.
An airy breath greeted him as Crane rolled to his back and blinked.
"Harry?" he whispered, his voice dry and scratchy.
"Everything's alright, lad. How did you get here?" Harry asked, relieved he had recognized him.
"I... don't know. Someone helped me... I think," he said as Jamieson placed a stethoscope on his chest and listened.
"Who?" Harry asked perplexed.
"Don't know." He took a deep breath. "I remember my air running out..." his voice cracked, as the emotions of his impending death rushed back through him momentarily.
"Skipper, it's me Will. I need you to rest now. We'll hash everything out later," he ordered, shooting a "no more questions" look over at the Admiral.
"Okay," Lee replied, too tired for any other response.
Jamieson called for the stretcher as Lee faded out once again. He didn't understand his fatigue; all he knew was that he was safe now. His body latched onto that knowledge and sent him into a deep sleep.
"Well, Will?" Harry asked, as they strapped Lee onto the stretcher.
"He's stable, Admiral. I spotted a few air bubbles in his eye exam, but I'd say it's a very mild case of decompression sickness. I don't know how he managed to do it, but it looks like he took the time to decompress, for the most part anyway, but the sooner we get him back to sickbay, the better. I'm going to run him through a complete 250-foot dive cycle in the hyperbaric chamber, just to be on the safe side."
"Then he's going to all right?"
"I'll do a more thorough exam in sickbay, but right now I'd say he's going to be fine." Jamieson chuckled in relief, running a hand across his neck and shaking his head in faux disbelief. "I don't know how to explain his condition, Harry. I expected to find him in much more need of medical care," he admitted, relaxing his decorum with his old friend.
"I don't know either, Will. The prevailing current shouldn't have brought him to this island. He had to have had help from someone," Harry noted with fervor.
Will raised an eyebrow.
"Do you believe in angels, Harry?"
Harry stared out to the sea and nodded.
"I believe that Lee Crane must have an entire legion of guardian angels watching over him," he said with a small smile to Will's soft flow of relieved laughter.
Sharkey joined in, shaking his head as he picked up the opposite end of the stretcher and helped the Admiral carry Captain Crane to the flying sub, grateful that the mission had turned out to be a rescue operation after all.