Chapter 21

Nelson sat quietly at his desk reading over some of the research results. Things had settled down dramatically since Lee arrived several hours ago with the parts. The reactor had been fixed; the Seaview was back in working order and best of all, the senators would soon be on their way back to Washington. Now that the Seaview was off the bottom, the FS1 could be launched and after the near disaster of recent events, Rollins was insistent they head back to Washington immediately. Kowalski was preparing the Flying Sub now and would pilot it to Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. From there, the senators could find a flight back to the Lower 48 and out of Nelson's hair.

He considered the current situation. Lee was still unconscious down in sickbay. Dr. Jamison had assured him and Chip that Lee would be all right but needed a lot of rest. He was still worried though. He couldn't help it. Lee had looked so terrible when he'd collapsed in the corridor and for one horrible moment, Nelson thought Lee was dead. But, Lee was tough and had proven once again that he was a force to be reckoned with. Nelson smiled and looked back at his research papers but a moment later, his concentration was broken by a diffident knock at the door.

"Come in." Nelson's eyes widened a fraction as Senators Kerr and Michaels peered in somewhat apprehensively.

"Excuse us, Admiral," said Kerr hesitantly, "But may we speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course," replied Nelson glancing at his watch. The senators would be gone within the hour. He supposed he could spare a few minutes although given a choice, he would have preferred to not lay eyes on any of the politicians again.

Kerr and Michaels exchanged glances and entered the cabin, carefully closing the door behind them. Nelson eyed them speculatively. It was unusual to see Rollins' cronies on their own. He remained silent, waiting for them to make the first move.

Kerr cleared his throat nervously and looked down before finally making eye contact with Nelson. "Admiral, we would like to offer you and your crew our deepest apologies." Nelson lifted an eyebrow but remained mute. This was interesting. Kerr glanced again at Michaels who was staring at the floor. Kerr licked his lips and began again. "Admiral, if nothing else, this trip has shown us just how wrong our knowledge has been concerning the way the Seaview operates. We should never have tried to second guess you and if we had allowed you to operate your submarine as you saw fit, we could have avoided this near disaster. We are fully aware that it was our faulty decisions that resulted in your reactor failure which nearly killed us all."

Nelson leaned back in his chair. "I can't deny that is indeed the case."

Kerr nodded. "But we were even more wrong when we insisted that Commander Crane be removed as the captain of this vessel." Nelson stared at him in surprise. This was unexpected. Kerr continued. "We removed Commander Crane because Rollins convinced us that Crane had some kind of hero-fixation and risked his life more for glory than any real need. Well, we have seen firsthand that is hardly the case."

Michaels spoke for the first time. "When I first saw him, I couldn't believe he was on his feet." He shook his head at the memory. "Admiral, in my "other" life, I am a physician and I was frankly appalled by the condition of Commander Crane. It was obvious he should have been in a hospital and certainly not flying thousands of miles in an experimental aircraft through severe weather! I have read the reports and am fully aware of how severely injured Crane was. I would never have believed anyone recovering from such injuries as well as a serious illness would have been able to pull this off but it was obvious, he wasn't doing it for glory. He was doing it because this was his sub and his crew and he was the only one that could do it. He couldn't stand back and let us all die. Yet, in his current condition, no one would have faulted him for not going."

"And it's more than just that, Admiral!" broke in Kerr warming to his subject. "We both noticed the astounding change in the atmosphere of the sub when Commander Crane came aboard and it wasn't just because he had arrived in time to rescue us." He paused in thought. "It was almost as if an electrical charge went through the entire crew. There was spark of energy that had not been there before. These men knew Crane was on board, even the ones who weren't in the control room when he'd arrived and there was a new sense of purpose and confidence."

Michaels nodded. "It felt as if a hole had been filled; a sense that things had been set right."

"Admiral," said Kerr, "As I said before, we now know how wrong we were to remove Crane. It is obvious that he is the heart of this ship and its crew and Senator Michaels and I plan to do everything in our power to have Commander Crane reinstated as the captain of this vessel as soon as his health permits."

Nelson stared at the two senators in astonished disbelief. Of all the things he had expected to hear from these two, this was certainly not on the list. He was under the impression Rollins would go back to Washington and demand the president dry dock the Seaview and keelhaul every crewman aboard while hanging Nelson from the yardarm. He never expected two of the committee to come around and actually appear to understand how things really worked on board the Seaview. "Gentlemen," he finally managed, "I…I don't know what to say! You are certainly making the right decision. There is no finer commander than Lee Crane."

The two senators exchanged glances once more and nodded. "We agree completely, Admiral, and we will make sure he is returned to his rightful place as captain of the Seaview." With final farewells, the two men turned and quietly left the cabin.

Nelson leaned back in his chair still unable to comprehend what had just happened. He had hopes that Lee's rescue mission would eventually result in his reinstatement as the Seaview's commander but he never in a million years would have expected the support of two of the senators on the finance subcommittee! He shook his head and laughed; the first genuine laugh he'd had in a long time. Maybe something was finally going to go right.

SIX WEEKS LATER

Lee Crane stood before the mirror of his bedroom nervously adjusting his tie. It wasn't as if he hadn't tied that tie thousands of times before but he felt the need to make sure everything was perfect. He studied his reflection and gave a rueful smile. Yes, he was still too thin but had regained a fair amount of his lost weight over the past few weeks. After much trial and error, Doc had come up with a regimen of medication that had finally seemed to destroy the persistent typhoid bug that had been plaguing Lee for months. He hadn't had a fever in the past three weeks and that had been instrumental in promoting his recovery. He had also spent hours in rehab working those muscles that had seen little use since Christmas almost six months ago. Other than occasional twinges and miscellaneous aches, Lee felt he was almost back to normal.

But now, the big day had finally come. Lee was about to return to his rightful place as the commander of the Seaview. As he moved away from his mirror, he thought back to the day Admiral Nelson had come to him with the most unexpected news. Senators Kerr and Michaels had kept their word. They fought Rollins at every turn and through sheer determination and perseverance had won the votes from the rest of the sub-committee to have Lee reinstated. Rollins had been furious that he had been thwarted. Nelson later learned that Rollins was an old friend of Admiral Vandergriff and Nelson had no doubt what the true motivation had been for Lee's dismissal. Vandergriff had hoped to have one final chance at revenge. With this loss, it seemed Rollin's iron-fisted control had been weakened and Nelson now hoped for a friendlier response from the committee in the future.

Today, however, was Lee's day and he was oddly nervous. The Seaview had been running quite smoothly under Chip's capable direction and Lee wondered if his return might cause some tension. Chip had repeatedly assured Lee that although he would like his own command someday, he didn't want it this way. Chip was adamant that for the moment, he was very content with being the Seaview's executive officer especially if that meant Lee could return as her captain. Lee sighed, checked his uniform one more time, then picked up keys. It was time.

The drive to the Seaview's secret berth seemed twice as long as usual. The traffic seemed worse, the lights longer and poorly coordinated, and all the other drivers must have been driving at half the speed limit. Lee drummed impatiently on his steering wheel as he waited for one final light to turn green; then he would be at the Institute.

He looked at his watch. It was still early and he was hoping would arrive before most of the crew. He really didn't want any fuss. He just wanted to get back to doing what he knew best.

Twenty minutes later found him at the top of the stairs leading down to the Seaview's berth. She looked magnificent! It seemed a lifetime since he had last been aboard her but it really had only been weeks. However, he had hardly been in any shape to appreciate the voyage. He had spent most it had been unconscious. Slowly, he descended the stairs, never taking his eyes off the silent sub. He never felt as comfortable as he did aboard the vessel but he was almost hesitant to go aboard. He truly feared that the atmosphere on the Seaview would have changed in his absence and that there wouldn't be a place for him there any longer. He knew he was foolish to think that, but he was so desperate to return, it was hard not to have negative thoughts. So many things had gone wrong over the past six months; he was having difficulty believing anything good could happen to him. As Lee approached the Seaview the security guard standing nearby saluted him. Lee hesitated a fraction of a second before returning the salute.

"Good to see you again, sir," said the guard with a grin. "We've missed you."

Lee ducked his head slightly in embarrassment. He had been hoping that he might just slip aboard unnoticed and everything would be back to normal. He knew that was a foolish hope, but he couldn't help it. "Thank you, Rogers," Lee replied as he turned to step onto the gangway leading to the sub. "It's certainly good to be back!"

It was strangely quiet as he came aboard the Seaview. He stood for a moment, his eyes closed, just exhilarating in the familiar sounds and smells of his beloved sub. He smiled softly to himself then turned to head towards his cabin so he could stow his gear. It was early for any but the skeleton crew to have come aboard yet. That is how Lee wanted it. The quiet would allow him some time to tour the ship without dealing with the greetings from the crew. He certainly appreciated their concern but hated all the attention.

After he had put away his things, Lee stood silently for a moment, reluctant to venture out further. It was safe here; no one expected anything from him. He laughed a little thinking he hadn't felt this nervous since taking his first command but he knew these men as well as every bolt and wire of this boat. There was no reason to be nervous. However, he had to admit to himself, as he had frequently in these past months, his confidence in himself had been badly shaken. He had made some foolish decisions and paid dearly for them. Yes, he had managed to fly the FS2 through some dangerous conditions and made it in time to save the Seaview and her crew, but he had been running on adrenalin. Now, in the cold light of day, he doubted himself and whether or not he still had it in him to make the day to day decisions of a submarine commander. Was he willing to put the lives of his crew at risk because of his poor judgment?

Stop it, Lee! he scolded himself angrily. This was ridiculous! He knew he could do this. As soon as he was back in the control room he was certain his confidence would return. But…what if it didn't? Lee took a long look at himself in the wall mirror. "Well, Captain Crane," he said aloud. "There's only one way to find out!" Taking a deep breath, he turned, opened the cabin door and stepped out into the corridor. He then turned and strode forward down the corridor.

At the top of the spiral stairs leading to the control room, he again paused. He listened for a moment but could hear no voices or signs of life. He nodded to himself and slowly began the descent. As he took that last step, he froze in shock as the entire control room exploded into a cacophony of yells, cheers and whoops. Lee whirled around to find himself facing as much of the crew as could be crammed into the control room, radio shack and observation nose making their welcome to their beloved captain as loud as possible. Lee stood staring unable to take in what he was seeing. He slowly turned meeting the eyes of each and every cheering crewman until he finally found himself facing Chip and Admiral Nelson.

"Welcome aboard, Skipper," grinned Chip with an exaggerated salute. Lee returned the salute and grinned in return. The warmth of his reception and his racing heart told him everything he needed to know: This is where he truly belonged; Lee Crane was home at last.

THE END