Chapter 7

Christian and John were in Christian's office packing up the items they were going to take with them. All of a sudden Christian's radio was filled with static. He tried to clear it but couldn't get a clear channel.

"John, check your radio and see if you get the same static," Christian said. John looked in the living room but didn't hear or see it. He remembered he left it in the dining room. He ran to the dining room and looked on the buffet table but it wasn't there. He was going to ask Lisa where it was when Christian called out.

"John, what's the problem," Christian yelled from the living room. "Forget about it. Something must be wrong in the basement. Let's go down there."

John was going to the patio door in the living room when Christian headed for his office so he followed him. John didn't know there was a secret door behind one of the bookcases. Christian pressed a button on the side of the bookcase and it swung open revealing a set of stairs.

Lisa was in the kitchen and saw John looking for his radio. She had a smile on her face when he couldn't find it. She waited until he was in the living room before making her way into the foyer. Once she saw him go into Christian's office, she headed into the living room. She peered around the door looking into the office catching Christian slipping through the door after John. She had accidentally found the secret door when she was cleaning the bookcase. She also knew there was a lock on the door. When Christian shut the door behind him, she went over to the bookcase and locked it. If Christian and John needed to come back into the office, they would have to use the outside entrance. I hope this helps who's ever down there, she thought and returned to the kitchen.

((()))

John and Christian made their way down the dimly lit circular staircase. Once at the bottom, they went to the room where Harry was stashed. John unlocked the door and Christian went in. Harry had been sitting on the bed but stood up when the door was unlocked.

"Are you ready to talk?" Christian asked Harry.

"No," Harry replied defiantly.

"Well, you leave me no choice," Christian said and pointed his gun at Harry and shot him in the stomach.

Harry looked at Christian as he gasped in pain and fell to the floor.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Christian said to John as they headed back to the staircase and ran to the top. Once at the top Christian pushed on the door but it refused to open. "Damn," he yelled. "The door must have locked after us. We'll have to go back down the stairs and use the other exit."

John turned around and started back down the stairs but when he got to the bottom, he was hit in the hand with a club sending his gun flying across the floor. The last thing he remembered was being hit on the head.

((()))

Lee and Chip reached the stairs, ran down them and saw the door open to another room along with a staircase. They ran into the room and saw Harry lying on the floor. Lee ran over to him as Chip stood in the doorway.

"Lee, there's somebody on the other staircase," Chip said as he heard voices coming down the stairs.

"Wait at the bottom and see if you can catch them off guard. I'm going to check on the admiral," Lee told Chip.

Lee ran over to the admiral seeing his blood spreading across the white jumpsuit. He knelt over him and mumbled softly, "Please stay with me, Harry. I can't lose you too."

Harry opened his eyes and gave Lee a weak grin, "Son, you haven't lost me yet." He passed out as Lee unzipped the jumpsuit checking to see how bad the wound was and also noticed the bruises he received from the beating. He knew it was pretty bad and needed Jamie. He hoped Sharkey had arrived in the area.

While Lee checked on the admiral, Chip waited in a small alcove just off the bottom of the staircase. When John stepped off the last stair, Chip hit his hand causing him to drop his gun. John looked at Chip as he clobbered him with his club. John fell to the floor where Chip pushed him out of the way. Christian was half way down the stairs when he saw Chip hit John.

"Stop or I'll shoot and drop the club," Christian told Chip who complied with Christian's order.

Christian pointed the gun at Chip and motioned him to go in the room with Lee and Harry.

"You should have stayed out this...you leave me no choice but to shoot you too...they'll never find you down here," Christian said to Lee and Chip.

Lee was still kneeling next to the admiral as Chip stood alongside of him. Neither man moved as Christian took aim at Chip. Lee knew he wouldn't be able to shoot both of them so he could maybe knock him down before he could get off another shot. Christian pulled the slide back to chamber the round on his 45, when they heard a shot and he fell to the floor. Lee looked at Chip wondering what happened when Christina appeared in the doorway with the gun John had dropped.

"I'm sorry I didn't stay in the room like I promised," Christina told them as Chip took the gun from her hand. "I didn't want them to hurt you too."

"I'm glad you didn't listen," Lee said breathing a sigh of relief. "Chip, go outside and see where Sharkey is. Hopefully they're not too far away...the admiral needs Jamie."

"Okay, Lee," Chip replied as he went by Christina as she went and knelt down next to Lee and Harry.

"Nice shot," Lee said has he tried to stop the bleeding on Harry's stomach.

"I never told Christian my father taught me how to shoot a gun," Christina answered. "I'll go up and call an ambulance."

"Thanks," Lee replied continuing to apply pressure to Harry's wound. "Hang on Harry, help's on the way," Lee whispered but got no response back.

((()))

Chip ran up the stairs and outside only to run into Lisa who was coming down the path to the basement. He stopped, pulled out his phone and frantically called, "FS-1, come in FS-1."

"FS-1," Sharkey finally replied.

"Chief where are you...how soon can you be at the dock near the presidential residence?"

"Mr. Morton, I'm submerged about one hundred yards off the dock."

"Surface and make your way to the dock. I'll be waiting for you, make sure Jamie brings everything you can carry. The admiral's been shot and it's not looking good."

"Yes sir," Sharkey replied quickly, "we should be there in five minutes."

Chip continued onto the dock waiting for FS-1 to surface so he could help them tied down the little sub and grab some of the gear.

Christina came outside for the first time in months. She saw Lisa and ran over to her. "We need to call for an ambulance," she told her. Lisa quickly ran back to the house and made the call while Christina ran down to the dock and helped Chip, Sharkey and Jamie carry the supplies they unloaded from the sub.

They ran back down the path with Christina in the lead into the room where Lee was still by Harry's side. Jamie ran to the other side and checked Harry's vitals which weren't very good. He then examined the wound in Harry's stomach. "Lee, the bullet is still in there," Jamie informed them after finding no exit wound. "He needs to be in a hospital where I can operate on him." He went into one of the kits they brought down and applied a bandaged tightly to Harry's stomach trying to stop the bleeding. He also noticed the bruises to his ribs and face. "He's been beaten which isn't helping his condition," he stated angrily.

Christina chimed in, "There should be an ambulance on the way...it should arrive shortly since it's coming to the president's residence."

Jamie looked at Lee. "Jamie, this is Christina Ballard, president of Cordella," Lee said to him. "I'll explain later."

Sharkey and Chip picked up John who was just coming too and brought him to the room with Brad and locked him in there.

As soon as John was locked up, Lisa came down the stairs with the paramedics. Chip led them to the room where Harry was under Jamie's care. He had stabilized the admiral's condition as much as possible before having him loaded in the ambulance. Lee and Jamie jumped in the back.

"I'll see that the rest of your men get to the hospital," Christina told Lee before the ambulance drove away. "Follow me," she said to Chip and Sharkey as they ran up to the house and the garage. Lisa had gone ahead and grabbed a set of keys for the car where she met Christina at the garage and handed her the keys. "Thank you," Christina said to her as she took the keys. She quickly got into the car with Chip and Sharkey. By the time they got to the hospital, the admiral was already being prepped for surgery.

((()))

Lee was already pacing in the waiting room when Chip, Sharkey and Christina found him.

"Is Doc operating on the admiral?" Sharkey asked.

"No," Lee answered gruffly. "But he's assisting the surgeon."

Christina went over to Lee and put her hand on his arm. "He's in good hands, Lee. I know the surgeon personally."

Rubbing his hand on his forehead, Lee replied softly, "Thanks for all your help."

"I'm sorry Harry got involved in this mess with Christian," Christina told Lee. "Maybe if I had gone along with him, this wouldn't have happened."

"Please don't blame yourself," Lee told her as he patted her hand. "Christian would have found a way to get him down here anyway."

"Skipper, how about some coffee?" Sharkey asked not knowing what else to do.

"Good idea," Chip replied.

"I'll show him where the cafeteria is," Christina volunteered as she finally got to introduce herself to Sharkey as they walked away. She also wanted to check in with Lisa and make arrangements for Lee, Chip, Sharkey and Dr. Jamieson to stay at the presidential residence while Harry was in the hospital. He would also be staying there once he was released from the hospital. She also called the police and told them what had taken place at the house and where they would find Christian, John and Brad. She also asked them to find out from John where they had her sister and to go get her.

((()))

Chip sat down in a chair while Lee continued to pace. "Lee, you're going to wear out the carpeting."

"Sorry, Chip," Lee replied as he sat down next to him. "He just looked so pale...he lost a lot of blood."

"He'll be okay...he's a fighter," Chip tried to reassure Lee. He didn't know all the circumstances but knew that Lee had gotten very close to the admiral since the death of Captain Bradley.** He knew they were more than just friends.

"I know," Lee sighed.

"Can I ask you something?" Chip asked nervously. "Why was the room where they had the admiral all white...he was wearing a white jumpsuit with gloves...everything was white even the plates and forks."

"It's called 'white torture'," Lee responded quietly. "It's a form of emotional and physiological torture. Instead of beating the person, electrocuting them or keeping them in a small box, they are tormented with sensory deprivation and isolation.*** There is no sound...no contact with other people...no color. They use it to get you to confess or break. Sometimes it can take a few days or months. Different people break at different times. They know enough about you to control you. They can make you believe the president resigns, or someone you trust has told them lies about you. You can admit to things you've never even done just to get out of there. You begin to break...and once you break...they have control."

Chip looked at Lee but didn't have to ask how he knew what it was. By the look on Lee's face, he knew he was very familiar with it probably from one of his ONI missions. Lee and Chip sat there quietly until Christina and Sharkey returned with coffee for all of them. They sat down next to Chip and waited for the doctors to come out and let them know how the admiral was doing.

** See the story "The Reason Why".

***White torture - Listverse and hrw websites