Chapter 10

With FS-1 now safely in space, Nelson blew out a sigh of relief, then slammed his fist down hard on the desk. "Damn it! Where the hell did that missile come from?" Nelson fumed. He had had the radio transmission put on the loudspeaker so all the in subpen could hear their team's progress. As he looked around the subpen, he realized that the majority of the crew had assembled to see their crewmates off and they all had expressions of concern and anger on their faces at what had just occurred. He quickly spotted O'Brien and Sparks.

"Sparks!" he called out.

"Yes, sir," Sparks responded immediately.

"Get on the horn with Mission Control and find out the source of that missile. I'm betting it's somewhere off the coast."

"I'm on it, sir," Sparks replied and hurried off to the radio room.

"O'Brien," Nelson called out next and motioned for the man to join him.

"Aye, sir."

"Bobby, by the looks of it we've got a full crew here. Find Sharkey and get everybody rounded up and on Seaview, we shove off in an hour. I'm betting whoever fired that first missile will be lurking around to fire off a second shot once our team comes back to Earth. I want us to be there to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Yes, sir," O'Brien replied then quickly spun on his heel to locate Sharkey and get them working on carrying out the admiral's order. Once O'Brien located Sharkey, the order was passed faster than scuttlebutt and the entire company mobilized towards the exit and Seaview. Nelson smiled in appreciation of his crew and their willingness to protect their shipmates and kick a little ass in retribution.

"Admiral," Sparks called out as he hurried across the subpen. "Sir, they have tracked the missile to a location about 200 miles off the coast. They believe that is was fired from a sub since there is no surface traffic in the area. I've got their estimated coordinates."

"Excellent Sparks. Get with O'Brien and pass that on, we're sailing within the hour," Nelson ordered.

"Aye, sir," Sparks acknowledged. "Do you think they'll still be there by the time we get there?"

"I'm betting they will remain in the vicinity if they're as keyed in to what we're doing as I think they are, they will already know the plan is to have FS-1 return to San Diego. I think we can sneak in there, and give them an equally rude surprise when they get ready to launch their second missile," Nelson replied. "I'm heading up to my office to make a couple of calls. Let O'Brien know, and to get in touch with me immediately if he runs into any problems."

"Yes, sir," Sparks answered then spun on his heel and headed off to Seaview to pass on his information, and ensure his duty station was fully operational and ready to support the mission.

Harri hurried across the subpen and up the hidden staircase to the Admin building. Once inside he grabbed the elevator up to his office and all but flew down the hallway, startling Angie as he burst into the room. He smiled a bit, chagrined at scaring her. "Angie, get me Jiggs Starke on the phone, now."

"Yes, sir, right away." The news that FS-1 had been fired on had already traveled up to the Admin building, so they were all on alert to support whatever the Seaview team needed. In less than a minute she had Starke on the line. "Admiral Starke is on line one for you, Admiral."

Harri looked somewhat surprised at how quickly she had worked through the communication maze to COMSUBPAC. "Thanks, Angie. I don't want to be disturbed unless it's O'Brien."

"Yes sir."

Nelson hit the button on his phone connecting him with Starke. "Jiggs, Nelson here."

"Hi Harri. What can I do for you?"

"Jiggs, I'm sure you already know that FS-1 was fired upon following her take off for space. From what I've heard, it most likely came from a sub off the coast of California. I've got my team scrambling right now for immediate launch of Seaview. We intend to get out in the vicinity, track down those bastards and see to it they don't get another missile in the air. Can you give me any more information on the probable location and what assets you've already got in the region?"

"Yeah, Harri I heard. We're scrambling a destroyer, and two cruisers out of NavSta San Diego and have a full host of ASW aircraft in the air already trying to track the bastards down. I don't have a sub I can commit to the hunt, so your participation is quite welcome. Thus far we haven't heard a damn thing, which makes me think they've bottomed the boat and are just waiting for your bird to fly home," Starke replied.

"That's what I think too. I think aside from a mole on the Space Station, there's someone else feeding them information from inside Mission Control, or one of the other nations that have personnel on the station, and are tied into the flow of information. I'm torn between recommending an alternate landing site, and wanting to keep it as is so we can nail them the minute they go active," Nelson responded.

"Those are damn close to my thoughts as well. Given my druthers, I'd have them still come into North Island, because we have the assets mobilized to intercept anything they might throw at us."

"I've been leaning that way too. It poses a risk to FS-1, but I think it gives us the best option for retaliation…I mean intervention," Nelson quickly corrected.

Jiggs chuckled on the other end of the phone. It was rare to get Nelson so riled up that revenge trumped justice, and all that took was posing a threat to Crane and the rest of his NIMR family. "I hear you Harri. I'm going to contact the CNO and recommend that return information be dialed down to the bare minimum, so it will be a hell of a lot easier to identify where the leak is coming from. Also, I'll recommend we implement the highest security protocols we have to shut the leak down. We'll throw a net over Mission Control, limiting who knows the exact time of arrival and bring in a host of ONI, CID, CIA, and FBI agents to maintain constant covert surveillance over those who are trusted with that data."

"Thanks, Jiggs," Nelson said. "I appreciate the support."

"You're welcome, Harri. I know how much those people mean to you, and I'll make sure we take every step possible to protect them after the risks they're taking for us. I'll give you a shout once I've talked with CNO."

"We should be shoving off in about 30 minutes and will go silent once we've cleared the breakwater. You can transmit, but we won't acknowledge to protect our approach," Nelson replied.

"Copy that. You take care and we'll get your boy back safe and sound."

Nelson hung up the phone, then hurriedly gathered up a few things he thought he'd need for the voyage. He then grabbed his cover and briefcase, and headed out the door.

"Angie, I'm going back down to Seaview. If Grant Majors calls before we shove off, patch it through, otherwise take a message and transmit it to me; we'll be running silent once we've cleared the breakwater to keep our presence in the area as quiet as possible."

"Yes, Admiral," Angie replied. "Be careful sir, and give 'em what for."

Nelson smiled and gave her a quick salute as he exited the office and made his way down to Seaview.

Upon his arrival at the dock, he found the only thing they were waiting for was him. Lt. O'Brien met him at the gantry and provided a quick status report as they made their way to the sail and descended into the Control Room. As he touched down, he quickly scanned the area and found all the stations manned and ready for departure.

He gave a quick nod, then walked to the chart table removing his jacket and cover, then passed them to the rating along with his briefcase to be taken to his quarters. "Well done, Mr. O'Brien, well done to you all," he said loud enough for the Control Room staff to hear. "Let's be on our way with all due haste. Once we've cleared the breakwater, takes us to these coordinates as quickly and quietly as possible."

O'Brien took the slip of paper, looked at it briefly then began issuing orders for them to depart the dock. Within 15 minutes they were slowly making their way out of the dock area towards open ocean. Once clear of the breakwater, Bobby gave the order to dive the boat and implemented silent running protocols.

As they quickly slipped below the surface, Nelson took another look at the Control Room crew, and found a serious and determined look on all of their faces. They would make damn sure they were there to prevent the enemy sub from firing on FS-1, and give them a taste of their own medicine to boot.

(00l00)

Agneta floated silently in the station. There were none of the familiar voices or the sounds of anyone rustling around carrying out their various tasks. It had taken on the feeling of a tomb, locked in an unending night. She wrapped her arms around her knees trying desperately to ward off her feelings of impending doom.

She nearly screamed when the small transmitter chirped, signaling an incoming transmission from Alpha. She hands fumbled with the snap on her pocket as she tried to remove the device. Finally, able to compose herself enough to manipulate the snap, she removed the device and toggled it on, no longer concerned about whether anyone else on the Space Station could hear.

"Sigma, this is Alpha, come in."

"Sigma here, go ahead Alpha," she responded to the hail.

"We are preparing to begin docking operations, what is your status?"

Agneta let loose a depressed sigh. "Entry to the station is clear. The other two crewmates are unconscious and will pose no problem," she reported.

"Excellent. Prepare for our arrival. Docking should commence in 45 minutes. Have the experiment modules ready for immediate removal."

"What's the status of the rescue flight?" Neta asked.

"They are enroute. Our forces were unable to destroy the craft as it launched."

Agneta's eyes grew wide at that bit of information. She knew at that moment they had had no intention of ever letting them live; the damage to the capsule had been quite intentional. Despite her actions, she wanted very much to live and wanted her crewmates to do the same. She needed to stall for time, to allow Kendal's friends the opportunity to arrive and hopefully be able to rescue them.

"I'm going to need assistance freeing the largest of the two modules," Agneta informed them. "I tried removing it myself, but it's secured in such a way that one person can't get it out of the containment slot."

"Copy that, Sigma," Alpha replied. "We will assist you, have all the tools necessary to remove the item available, so we can get this done as quickly as possible. Alpha out."

"Bastards!" Agneta swore. Now knowing they intended for them all to die, she was determined they would get nothing for their effort. She grabbed a screwdriver and some super glue and headed back to the storage area to hopefully deny them their prize.

Arriving at the first experiment module, she eased the screwdriver tip under the data plate on the front and carefully pried it off. She did the same thing with the second item, then pried the data plates off two other modules that were of the same approximate size. She quickly applied the glue to the back of the plates and adhered them to the other containers, then more obviously marked the decoy containers so they would be easy to identify by the PR astronauts. She pulled out the larger decoy and slathered it liberally with the super glue and shoved back into the slot.

"Let's see you get that out, assholes!" she swore.

She then did a quick review of all the containers to make sure the real ones didn't stand out from the other experiments. She scratched several of the other containers to disguise her previous work. Once done, she returned her supplies and floated up to the Control Room to keep an eye out for the capsule. Thirty minutes later she spotted the capsule as it neared the Space Station and began maneuvering to make the connection. Fear washed over her as she watched them slowly line up and begin coupling with the station.

(00l00)