Chapter 14

Lee entered the conn and walked directly to his XO. "Report Chip."

"DC is working on the unit right now. According to them almost every electronic relay in the system shorted out simultaneously. They're currently replacing the circuitry and estimate they will have the unit back on line in an hour."

"Every relay?" Lee asked incredulously. "Do they know how or why?"

"I sent Bobby down to check with them and get a status report. He should be back momentarily. I personally can't think of any reason short of sabotage for that to have occurred," Chip replied.

"Have any other systems been impacted? Do we have the ability to blow ballast and surface if we need to?" Lee inquired.

"Aye sir. I've got everyone running diagnostics on their specific systems to ensure everything else is operating in top condition. Thus far nobody has identified any problems in other systems."

"Very well Chip. I'm going to hit the circuitry room and then head back to the reactor room to check on progress. Let me know immediately if you find any other problems with any system on the boat," Lee said as he headed for the aft hatch.

"Yes sir."

(o)

Lee quickly made his way down to the circuitry room to touch base with the DC party and to find out if they had identified a reason for the damage. He spotted Patterson and Sharkey working on the console, a large stack of burned out circuit cards and relays laying at their feet. The room had a decided odor of burning plastic which wasn't dissipating due to the lack of ventilation. He coughed a couple times as the smoke irritated his throat.

Hearing the cough Sharkey looked up from his work. "Hi Skipper, man we got one hell of a mess here," he said as he gestured to the control panel and the discarded cards on the deck.

"Have you identified a cause for all this yet?" Lee asked his men.

"It kind of looks like a huge power surge, given the extent of the damage but I have no idea what would have caused it," Patterson replied. "Skipper I went over all these panels with a fine toothed comb before we left port. I made sure all these cards were in good shape and that all connections were secure."

"I don't doubt that a bit, Pat. Is there any sign that this was a deliberate act?"

"Could be but we haven't seen any clear signs that it was. When we got here all the cabinets were secured, didn't look as if anyone had been in the room and I've yet to see a specific site for the start of the surge," Sharkey answered. "If it was sabotage whoever did it was really, really careful and very good."

"How long until you're done?" Lee asked as he mulled over Sharkey's response.

"I'd say another 30 minutes at the most Skipper," Sharkey offered and Pat nodded in agreement.

"Great. Let Mr. Morton know when you're done and before you fire the unit back up."

"Will do Skipper," Pat acknowledged then returned to his work.

Lee nodded then turned and headed out the door to the reactor room.

(o)

The scene in the reactor room was very reminiscent of the one in the circuitry room, there were singed circuit cards laying in piles at the various consoles in the room. Nelson and Marks were currently testing each circuit to ensure it was sound before they initiated a restart of the reactor.

"How's it going sir?" Lee asked as he entered.

"We've replaced the damage cards and components and are now checking everything before we go ahead with the restart process. It should be another 3 hours before we're ready for that. How about the air revitalization system?"

Lee quickly provided a brief on the situation in the circuitry room and as he finished up the air kicked on making them all sigh in relief. "I asked Sharkey if there were any signs of tampering and he indicated he couldn't prove it one way or the other. How about things here?"

"Not possible," Lt. Marks said as he walked over to Crane. "Either I or one of my crew have been present since we left port; it's SOP when we have guests aboard sir. Also there haven't been any modifications or replacement of parts for the last three cruises so unless the saboteur was really patient I don't see how it could have been done." Lee and Nelson nodded in agreement with Marks' assessment.

"Still I find it very disconcerting that we have two similar meltdowns at the same time," Lee replied. "I don't like coincidences since they usually aren't."

Nelson snorted in agreement. "Lee once we get the reactor restart well on its way I want a meeting with the command crew in the nose. Please have everyone convene at 1700 and ask Dr. Delbruck to join us as well."

"Yes sir," Lee acknowledged. "Well I best get back to the conn and spell Chip for a bit. If you need anything or something changes let me know, sir."

"Will do Lee."

(o)

By the time Nelson descended the staircase into the nose at precisely 1700 everyone else had assembled. Harri nodded to Chip who was standing near the crash door controls indicating he wanted the doors closed. Chip hit the button and the doors dutifully slid shut then he claimed his seat next to Lee.

"What's our status Lee?" Nelson asked as he lowered himself onto his chair.

"The boat is tight and dry. The DCP has the air revitalizlation unit fully operational and is monitoring for any problems. As you are well aware the reactor restart is proceeding without incident and we expect full power within five hours."

"Thank you. Do we have any idea what went wrong?" Nelson inquired.

"Nobody can pinpoint a reason for the meltdown of the air unit sir. Sharkey and Pat are examining all the fried circuitry for any hint of why it went. Lt. Marks is having his team do the same thing with the reactor parts," Chip replied.

"Okay let's look at our other melt down today. How's Jung doing Hans?" Harri queried.

"He seems to be back to his normal self. He complained of being sick to his stomach and some dizziness then slept for the most part after the alarms went off. He woke up an hour ago and said he felt fine," Delbruck offered. "I asked why he went off as he did and he really didn't have any recollection of it. He was mortified to find out what he had said and indicated he would be apologizing to everyone involved."

"Did Sharkey come up with anything on his gear?" Nelson asked as he looked at Lee.

"He said everything was operating as designed. His mix was dead on, the gas in the cylinders is clean and his regulator is fully functional so that rules that out."

"It could be HPNS," offered Jamieson. The divers in the room nodded in agreement.

"HPNS? What's that Jamie," Kendal asked.

"High Pressure Neurological Syndrome. It's a neurological and physiological disorder that results when a diver descends below about 500 feet using a breathing gas containing helium. The effects experienced, and the severity of those effects, depend on the rate of descent, the depth and percentage of helium in the mix. It can manifest in the form of tremors, sleepiness, decreased mental performance, nausea and dizziness. It can afflict anyone and there's really no way to tell who will be affected when," Jamie related. "Given what you've described of his behavior before and then after being back on the boat, it's a possible explanation. I would definitely say no more diving for him and he should be monitored while we remain at depth."

"Definitely sounds like a logical reason for his behavior. Hans I'm going to agree with Dr. Jamieson's recommendations; Jung is no longer permitted to dive while on this boat. I can't force him to check in with the doctor but I would like you to heavily recommend it to him."

"Of course Harri, we will abide by your constraints and again I apologize for his behavior," Hans said.

"That brings us to the next order of business, do we continue with recovery of the items on the boat. Lee your thoughts."

"I have no idea if what's on that sub is responsible for our problems but things didn't go wrong until we started pushing the rate of recovery. What also may have triggered events was Jung's deliberate search for something specific, maybe he jostled something in his hunt. Ski indicated he immediately honed in on one area of the hold and concentrated his search there. I also recorded a noticeable jump in all the readings following his activities. I suppose we could send out another dive team and bring back a few more articles if we really want to determine if there is a link."

"How about you Kendal, thoughts on what may be over there?" Harri asked.

"Not as yet Harri, I've tracked the readings recovered by the dive team and there is a definite correlation between the removal of items and the increase in activity. My one suggestion if you decide to make another dive, would be to have a real-time feed on the scans and scan continuously while the dive team is there, that way we can monitor for immediate spikes and pull back if necessary. We could also set up a remote scanning station to monitor the torpedo room during the times we aren't there."

"Jamie any concerns on exposure of our personnel?" Harri continued.

"The only one that seems to have been affected is Jung. I don't think one man is enough to go on."

"Well he's not the only one who's had experiences, both Chip and Lee have reported some odd phenomena," Harri reported.

Jamie's eyes immediately fixed on the two men sitting at the far end of the table and felt a certain degree of satisfaction as they seemed to squirm in their seats a bit. "Oh, and what might those have been?" he nearly growled.

Harri failed miserably to bite back a grin knowing both men were likely to end up nailed to the sick bay wall if Jamie felt they were hiding something. "Lee said on his first dive he had visions of the previous occupants and on his last dive Chip experienced a serious bout of claustrophobia and has had a feeling of being watched on both of his dives."

Jamie glared at them again. "Well given Lee has now made two subsequent dives and no repeats I don't think I have much to say about that but Chip's claustrophobia does concern me. That could land him in a world of trouble if he got panicked and felt he had to get out in a hurry. I really don't advocate him going back in for that reason alone Admiral. There are other qualified divers that can go if you decide to go back to the boat again."

Chip shook his head and grimaced but deep down knew Jamie was right. If his feeling got worse he could panic and injure himself or worse someone else in his rush to get out. "Admiral I reluctantly have to agree with Jamie and I'll pull myself out of the dive rotation."

Jamie sat there slack jawed as he stared incredulously at Chip.

"What?!" Chip said with some irritation.

"Maybe there is something going on over there because the Chip Morton I know would never do that of his own free will," Jamie replied. Chip glowered at him as the other people in the room chuckled.

"Okay Hans where do you fall out in this?" Harri finally asked the project lead.

"I want what's in that boat Harri, I won't lie to you about that but not at the expense of anyone's life. Those alarms scared the hell out of me and if the events of the day are somehow tied to our activities on the boat then I think we need to back off a bit. I know that won't be popular with my team but I won't risk them along with your men."

Harri sat quietly for a moment considering all that had been said and all that had occurred. If he were smart they would move off and leave this boat to history but he didn't like mysteries and he didn't like the notion of someone else finding the boat and running into these same issues. In his opinion they were the best vessel and team in the world to deal with the oddities this mission had presented. Given their experience in similar situations they would most likely be the only ones to prevent or remedy the release of some unknown power into this world.

"I don't like unanswered questions, you all know that and I think this boat and its cargo have presented us with one too many for us to just sail away. After we break from this meeting I'll lead the dive team over to the 626 and we will install the monitoring equipment Kendal recommends. That will give me an opportunity to look around and get a feel for the boat. Hans you're welcome to accompany me if you wish. I'll tell you right now we will not recover any items except what's already staged outside the boat and the dive won't go more than an hour."

Delbruck nodded indicating his desire to accompany Harri and see the boat as well. Lee and Chip looked like they were going to bite through their tongues, not at all happy with Nelson's decision to go into the boat. Seeing the clouds brewing on their faces Harri ended any objections immediately. "It's settled then, we dive in two hours. That is all."

(o)

Metz had been present, standing mutely in the corner behind the captain. A deep frown etched on his face as he listened to their plans to return to his boat. He had sincerely hoped that the damage he and his first officer had caused to this boat would have been enough to send them home, their tails firmly tucked between their legs but these men were made of sterner stuff.

The only small consolation was that the man named Jung would no longer be allowed on the boat. There was something sinister driving that man as he intentionally burrowed through the boxes of cargo towards the one item that needed to be destroyed. They were nearing the point where drastic measures would need to be taken if these Americans could not be dissuaded from their mission.

As the group began to disperse after the meeting ended, Metz once again directed his thoughts towards the dark haired captain. He had managed to redirect his attention from the book he had found earlier in the day along with his vision in the torpedo room and managed to keep him from letting the others know. Metz needed him to read its contents before sharing those revelations with anyone else. Only he seemed open to the thoughts and experiences he had had on this last ill-fated voyage. He regarded him one more time and sent out a single thought "Read" then faded away.