Chapter 11

It was getting dark and Lee had been tied to the deck from almost eight hours. His back, legs and bottoms of his feet were burnt from the hot sun. His chest was rubbed raw from the movement of the yacht on the rough sea. He was thirsty, hungry and tired. He had tried to work loose the ropes tying him to the deck but made no progress. He stopped struggling hearing the sliding door open from the main salon where heard the voices of Arnie and Howie talking as they walked out. He waited for them to come up and untie him. Lee figured the yacht was at least sixty feet long and had four decks. He was locked up on the bottom deck with the engines. When they initially brought him up, he noticed the deck he was on had the bridge, galley and a stateroom. He also knew the main salon was where the owner's quarters were and where Arnie and Howie had just come from. He could hear them as they stood outside.

"When we get to the island tomorrow, Mr. Gallagher's men will have taken over the island and put the people located there in one of the buildings in the compound. Once Seaview docks, they'll take the deck crew and put them in with the others until we get the rest of the crew off the boat," Arnie slurred.

"How many men does he have on that island? Seaview must have over hundred men on her," Howie said slurring his words too.

"I think he said there were at least twenty. I'm sure Mr. Gallagher will have taken steps to make sure we can get the crew off. Once the crew has been locked up, we'll board her and takeover operations. The men on the island are all sailors so we shouldn't have too much trouble getting Seaview back home. After all Mr. Gallagher is a submarine captain."

Lee smiled as he listened to the men talking realizing they were drunk. He wondered where Danny was as he recognized the voices of the Howie and Arnie. If he was going to save Seaview he would have to make his move now. Lee heard to the men come up the ladder and pretended to be asleep. Arnie kicked the bottom of his foot. Lee stirred and let out a cry of pain.

"Wake up Crane. Your sun tanning days are over," Arnie said as he untied his ankles and then untied his wrists. Lee slowly pushed himself up. His back was on fire along with the back of his legs and the bottom of his feet. He tried to stand but the pain in the bottom of his feet kept him from standing so Arnie jerked him up by his arm. Lee took his other hand and punched Arnie right in the jaw sending him into the bench on the deck knocking him out cold. Howie quickly saw what was taking place and ran over to Lee catching him in the jaw with his fist. Lee staggered backward almost tripping over Arnie but managed to avoid another of Howie's punches before connecting with one of his own sending him overboard into the ocean. Lee looked over the rail but there was nothing he could do. He watched as the man slowly sank under the waves.

He quickly put on his t-shirt and shorts. Lee took the zip ties Arnie had on him and tied his hands together to the railing and then tied his ankles together. He took the gun that Arnie had and put it in the waist band of his shorts. He took Howie's gun and threw it overboard. Grabbing the rest of the ties he gently and cautiously walked down the stairs to the main salon. Now not only were his feet sore but his jaw too. He had to find Danny. He also needed to find out how many more people were on the yacht. He knew about the three men, and figured there would be someone at the helm but wasn't sure if anyone else was aboard. He found Danny on the couch in the main salon passed out as he too was drunk. He put him over his shoulder and made his way down to the room where he had been locked up. He zip tied his hands together then secured him to a rail that was in the cabin to keep the loads from shifting. He then zip tied his feet. He grabbed his shoes and put them on before he left the cabin. It hurt to walk but the shoes did help somewhat.

He made his way to the deck where the bridge was located and saw a man and woman in there. He cautiously opened the door. The woman noticed him first and tapped the man on the shoulder. Lee took the gun out of his shorts and pointed it at them.

"Mr. Gallagher, I thought you left the boat," the woman said as she stared at Lee.

"I'm not Paul Gallagher. I'm Lee Crane."

"So you must be the man they're holding below," the man said warily.

"Yes, I am."

"How did you escape the clutches of the other men," he continued.

"They got drunk and I managed to overtake them. Unfortunately, Howie fell overboard," Lee stated.

"No big loss," the woman smirked. "I'm Jenny Crosby and this is my husband Jacob."

"I sense that you aren't exactly here of your own free will either?"

Jenny continued, "No sir. Paul Gallagher is my cousin. Let's just say he's the black sheep of the family. Born and raised here in the United States and then all of sudden defects to the PR. He made us help or he'd have our daughters and parents killed," she said softly. "How did you happen to meet him and why does he look like you?"

Running his hand through his hair Lee replied, "Let's just say he wasn't happy with something that took place a few years ago and decided to take revenge on me by changing his looks and taking over my life. Would you be willing to help me see that he is stopped from hurting your family and taking me back to the PR?" Lee asked hopefully.

"What can we do?' Jacob responded without hesitation.

"First of all do you have any water. They had me out there all day and I'm really thirsty."

Jenny went over to a small refrigerator and took a bottle of water and handed it to Lee who quickly opened up the bottle and guzzled down the whole thing. Jenny handed him another one which he drank a little slower.

"When was the last time you ate or changed?"

"Ate this morning and no clothes," Lee grinned looking at his dirty shirt and shorts. "I guess I don't smell or look very good."

Smiling back Jenny said, "No you don't smell very good and you sure are sunburned. I tried to help you the other day when they put you out there but Arnie almost threw me overboard. I'll get some clothes for you while you take a shower. Maybe I can also find something for your sunburn in the stateroom and I'll make you something to eat. I was just going to get us some dinner anyway."

"Thanks Jenny but first I need to contact my submarine and warn them that they're in danger."

Surprised, Jacob looked away from the water at Lee, "You have a submarine?"

"Yes, I'm the captain of the Seaview and work for the Nelson Institute of Marine Research. They're heading to Cole Island just like you only Gallagher has arranged to have her taken over so he can take her back to the PR too. They're on their way there to check out some sensors that were placed in the ocean and are not working."

"I've heard of your submarine and the Nelson Institute. I would love to see her. I was in the Navy but now I pilot one of the charter boats that go to Catalina Island that's why we were picked to take Paul's yacht to the island."

Smiling Lee answered, "I'll make sure you get a tour now where's your radio?"

Paul pointed to a cabinet on his left. Lee opened it up and found a state of the art radio system.

Lee dialed in Seaview's frequency. "Seaview this Crane, come in Seaview."

Sparks was just getting off duty and turning the communications over to Thompson when he heard Lee's call. He and Thompson looked at each other confused as they thought the captain was on board. They didn't know about Gallagher not being Lee.

Lee called Seaview again more urgently, "Crane to Seaview, come in Seaview, Sparks please answer."

Sparks immediately called Chip's cabin but he didn't reply. Keying the mic he placed a boat wide call for Chip. "Mr. Morton, please report to the radio shack immediately."

Chip was still in the Admiral's office when he heard the call. The admiral pressed the intercom button on his desk. "What is it Sparks? Mr. Morton is with me."

"Sir, I'm getting a call from a boat and the caller is identifying himself as the Skipper. I thought he was on board. Did he leave the boat?"

The admiral quickly responded, "We'll be right there. Answer the call and relay that message."

"Aye, aye sir," Sparks replied quickly. "Seaview to Captain Crane, please hold for the admiral."

"Thanks Sparks," Lee sighed taking a deep breath but wondered why the admiral would take the call but realized he must have somehow found out the man on board was not really him.

Janet heard to the boat wide call for Chip and ran down to the radio shack just as the admiral was answering Lee's call. She stood next to Chip and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"Lee," was all the admiral got out before Lee starting talking, "Admiral, why did you take the call...do you know the man on board is not me...how did you find out...Seaview's in danger...is Janet alright?" he rattled off before the admiral could respond to any of the questions.

"Slow down Lee. Yes, I know Paul Gallagher's posing as you. I won't go into details right now and we know Seaview is going to be taken over by Gallagher's men that are on the island."

Catching his breath, "How did you find out?"

"Janet told us everything after she managed to get note to Cookie and knock Gallagher out. He's in the brig along with Adam Spade who was helping him."

Rubbing his forehead "Janet," Lee responded gratefully. "What are we going to do about the men taking over Seaview?"

"Do you know how many men there are on the island?" Chip asked.

"About twenty. I overheard the men who were holding me here talking but I managed to disarm and tie them up. I don't know what plan you've come up with but I think we should meet before we get to the island."

"I agree," the admiral said. "You need to be on the bridge when we pull up to that island or Gallagher's men will know something is up. We should be there by 1200 hours tomorrow." Chip nodded his head in agreement.

"I haven't checked to see where we are. Let me ask the captain of the yacht." Lee looked at Jacob who looked at his chart and replied, "We should be there about 1400 hours."

Lee took a look at the chart Jacob had and figured out a rendezvous point. "We'll meet at the following coordinates at 1300 hours," Lee replied giving them the information. Chip nodded his head knowing they would be there with no problem.

"Okay Lee," the admiral replied. Janet touched the admiral's sleeve before he severed the connection. He smiled and handed her the mic.

"Lee, are you okay?" she asked softly not wanting the whole control room to hear their conversation. The control room was just as confused as Sparks and Thompson. Chip and the admiral looked around and saw their confused looks.

"Sweetie, I'm fine just a little sunburned," he answered with a grin.

She handed the mic back to the admiral. "Okay Lee we'll see you in a few hours. Seaview out."

"Crane out," he replied back. "Thanks for you help," Lee said to Jacob.

"No problem. I'm going to increase our speed a little so we can make the rendezvous. Jenny can pilot the boat for a little while tonight while I catch some shut eye. She's gotten pretty good at it."

Lee broke out in a big smile. "Maybe someday my wife will be able to pilot a boat too."

Jenny had come up from the deck below with a plate of sandwiches, fruit and drinks. "I've laid out some clothes on the bed in Gallagher's stateroom. There's also some ointment for you sunburn. I found a can of spray to take the burn out of the sunburn. I'll spray it on your back if you'd like."

"Thanks, Jenny. I'll be back in about ten minutes but go ahead and eat if you want."

"We'll wait. I want to hear more about your submarine," Jacob said.

"Thanks for your help," Lee answered as he gingerly went down the stairs and into the Gallagher's stateroom where he took a nice long leisurely shower and changed his clothes. He wasn't thrilled with wearing Gallagher's clothes but they were a lot better than his. Before he put his shirt on he spread the ointment on the open sores on his legs and chest. He made his way back to the bridge where Jenny sprayed the burn relief over his back and legs. He sprayed his feet and the rest of his body. He felt a lot better as he joined the Crosby's for dinner and told them about Seaview.