Chapter 11

The two men found the road they were looking for and followed it to the tree lined area near the beach. They were waiting in the car when they saw a set of headlights coming at them from the opposite direction. They left their car and watched while two men got out of the other car.

Whispering one of the men asked, "Are they here...have you seen them?"

"We haven't seen anyone but then we just got here too."

"I'm sure they're waiting for a chopper to get them out of here. We'll stay hidden in the tree line until the chopper lands and when they try to board the chopper we'll start shooting. Maybe they'll give up and we can bring them back alive."

The four men walked down to the tree line and waited for the helicopter to land. They looked around but didn't see anyone and wondered where they were hiding.

((()))

As soon as the chopper landed, the door opened and an air crewman in fatigues stood guard at the door with his gun drawn as Leon, Janet and Paul ran towards the chopper. Before they got to the door, they were fired upon from the tree line. The air crewman returned fire as another one helped Leon aboard who moved to the far side of the chopper away from the door. Before he could help Janet aboard, she tripped and fell fifty feet from the door. Paul quickly laid on top of her shielding her from the bullets. He moaned in pain as the bullets ripped into his back. The air crewman continued to return fire as Paul gathered what strength he had left and helped Janet up and into the chopper with help of the other air crewman. He collapsed before he could climb in.

"Don't leave him there," Janet yelled trying to jump out of the chopper to grab Paul's arm and help them bring him aboard.

"Stay in the chopper," Paul ordered sharply as the crewman helped him aboard.

Once they were aboard, the pilot quickly took off and headed towards the open sea as the co-pilot radioed the carrier. He had only gotten part of his message off when the radio died. One of the bullets had destroyed the radio as they took off.

Paul lay gasping for breath on the floor of the helicopter. He was bleeding profusely from several gunshots to his back.

"Please help him," Janet begged the crewmen as he wrapped a blanket around her.

"Ma'am, I'm not a medic and we weren't expecting to be fired upon. I'll do the best I can to help him," the crewman who helped them aboard replied.

Paul was very pale and shaking. Janet held his hand while the two crewmen tried to stop the bleeding by applying some bandages they found in a first kit to his back. Once they finished, Janet wrapped a blanket around him.

"I'm sorry ma'am but that's the best we can do for him. We should be landing on the carrier in thirty minutes," the crewman reported.

"Thanks for all you have done for us," Janet answered shakily. "Can you radio the carrier and have a corpsman standing by?"

"I'll inform the co-pilot and let him know he is critical." The crewman called the co-pilot who told him the radio was broken. The crewman relayed that information to Janet and Paul.

Having a hard time talking, Paul whispered softly, "Janet, don't worry about it. I need to tell you something that's very important to me. I wanted to tell both you and Lee when we returned to Washington but..."

Janet stopped him before he could continue, "Paul, please hang on," Janet implored. "We'll be on the carrier shortly."

"Janet, please listen," Paul said urgently, "I'm sorry for all the pain and trouble I put you and Lee through when I posed as Lee. I should have just left it alone but I wanted revenge...I regret I ever did that to you and Lee...please forgive me."

"Paul we'll talk about this when we're all together," Janet said holding back her tears.

"No, I need your forgiveness right now," Paul asked weakly. "Please."

"We forgive you, please stay with me," Janet pleaded squeezing his hand tightly.

"Thank you," Paul replied with one last gasping breath and closed his eyes.

The crewman checked him out and shook his head. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, he's gone." He took another blanket and covered him.

Janet started crying as she let go of his hand and pulled the blanket around her tighter.

"I'm sorry about your husband," Leon said to Janet sympathetically not realizing that Paul wasn't Lee Crane. She didn't know if she should say anything so she kept quiet. Let Johnson tell him the story, she thought.

Leon took a deep breath, damn, he thought. I really messed this up.

Janet sat next to Paul's body until they reached the aircraft carrier.

((()))

On an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea, the captain was waiting for a radio transmission from his chopper. He waited in the communication's center for the call as he had instructions to call Admiral Johnson at ONI as soon as the helicopter was airborne and on its way back. "Chopper 895 under fire," the co-pilot said rapidly. "Three civilians on board...one wounded...hold on for more..."

The captain pressed the button on the mic, "Chopper 895 come in...come in 895. Shit," the captain said as he threw the mic down. "Keep trying," he instructed the communication specialists as he returned to the bridge.

"Captain," the communication specialist called the bridge a few minutes later. "No response from the chopper. Do you want me to continue trying?"

"No," he sighed deeply. "Get me Admiral Johnson at ONI."

"Aye, aye sir," he answered as he made the call to ONI. "Captain, I have Admiral Johnson."

"Captain, do you have them...are they okay?" Johnson asked impatiently.

"Admiral, right now I don't know if I even have a helicopter. Their radio isn't working. The co-pilot reported they were under fire but did get them on board but one was wounded. Don't know which one or how bad. It will be another thirty minutes before we'll get them on radar if they're returning to the ship."

"Under fire?" Johnson questioned.

"That's what the co-pilot reported. As soon as I find out any more information I will pass it on to you."

"Thank you Captain. I would appreciate it," Johnson said unhappily as he hung up the phone. "Damn," he muttered as he rubbed his forehead. He didn't want to have to make his next call...to Lee Crane.

((()))

Lee, Chip, the admiral and Jamie were at the Crane's house waiting for word from Admiral Johnson that Janet and Paul had been picked up by the chopper and were on their way back to the carrier. Lee looked at his watch again as he tapped his pencil on the table.

"Why hasn't he called?" Lee asked worriedly. "They should have been picked up thirty minutes ago...something's gone wrong."

Chip patted him on the shoulder, "Tell us about not being picked up on time or not even being there to be picked up, do I need to go on," he smirked.

"Point taken," Lee remarked realizing how many times they had to wait for him to be dropped off. Just as Lee checked his watch again, his phone rang. "Are they on the way home...are they okay?" Lee rapidly asked Johnson before he could even say hello.

Taking a deep breath Johnson told him, "All I know that the chopper was under fire. It picked up three people and one of them was wounded. They lost radio contact with the chopper. It'll be another thirty minutes before the chopper will show up on their radar if at all."

"Three people...who's the third person...who knew they would be there? Someone found out why they were there," Lee shouted. "Johnson you better hope nothing has happened to her."

"Lee, I don't know all the details. As soon as I find out more, I'll call you back," Johnson said wearily. He wasn't even upset that Lee was insubordinate as he was mad too.

Lee threw the phone down on the table and ran his hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have let her go," he lamented. "It's my fault."

"Lee, what did Johnson tell you?" the admiral asked cautiously seeing how upset Lee was.

"The helicopter was under fire. They got them on board but one of them is wounded then they lost radio contact with the chopper," Lee explained miserably. "They won't know if the chopper is returning for another thirty minutes."

"Who's the third person?" Chip wondered.

"My guess it's Leon Kelly. He probably decided to leave with Janet and Paul," Lee said. "Who knew why they were there...only Paul, Janet, Leon and the two operatives...someone talked."

The four men sat at the table waiting for more information hoping for the best.

((()))

The radar operator was closely watching his screen for the chopper. They received the call from them over forty-five minutes ago and should have been on the radar by now. Finally, a blip appeared on the screen. The operator shouted to the captain as he sat on the bridge, "Sir, I have the chopper on radar."

Breathing a sigh of relief, he picked up the mic, "Flight-deck crew prepare to receive helicopter."

The crew went about their normal duties preparing for the landing of the chopper. The captain was anxious to meet the helicopter and find out why they lost their radio. He knew that someone was wounded on board so he had a medical team on stand by. Admiral Johnson told him that Commander Crane and his wife were coming on board so he asked Ensign Sara Baker to accompany him to the flight deck in case they needed anything. They made their way down from the bridge and were waiting on the flight deck when the chopper landed. After the pilot had shut down the engines, the rear cabin door opened and the two air crewman jumped out. The captain and Ensign Baker walked over to them as they helped out Leon and then Janet. The captain would talk to the pilot and co-pilot after they completed the shut-down check list. He also wanted to speak with Lee regarding the events that took place on the beach. He was not aware that they would run into resistance on the pickup. He went over to Leon and began asking him questions assuming he was Lee as he had heard of him but never met him.

"Sir, I'm not Lee Crane. My name's Leon Kelly." Leon responded and turned his head to the cabin of the chopper.

The captain looked in the cabin area of the chopper and saw a body covered up. He walked over to Janet and was surprised at the way she looked. She was muddy, wet, her knees were scrapped raw and had no shoes on. "Ensign Baker, please take Mrs. Crane and Mr. Kelly to the guest quarters where they can get cleaned up. See that Mrs. Crane is given some clothes and shoes and then take her to Sick Bay to be checked out."

"Aye, aye sir," Baker replied and went over to Janet and Leon. "I'm Ensign Baker and I'll take you to the guest quarters where you can get cleaned up."

"No, not yet, I want to wait until they remove him," she told Baker as the crewman prepared to take the body out of the cabin.

"Mrs. Crane," the captain said quietly. "I'm sorry that your husband was killed but I will need to talk to you later regarding the events that took place on the beach."

"Thank you, sir. May I please use your radio? I have to place an important call."

"Yes, you can use the radio as soon as you get cleaned up. I need to check with my crew about what exactly took place on that beach and report back to Admiral Johnson."

Sighing deeply, Janet watched as they removed Paul's body from the helicopter and took it away.

"Mrs. Crane, Mr. Kelly," Ensign Baker said softly, "please come with me." She took Janet's arm and led them down to the gallery deck and the guest quarters.