Here are the last two chapters... hope you had a giant of a good time!
Chapter Eighteen
The explosion coincided with a rumble and subsequent rocks falling in the cove where Belinda's escape sub was currently docked, while a cloud of dust and debris quickly obscured the camera to the sub pen.
Lee took that moment to act, rising and issuing a flat-handed jolt with the heel of his hand to one guard's chin, then turned to apply an upper cut to the second's jaw; both resulting in two unconscious guards. His attack didn't get far however, when Belinda issued the punishment pain from her behavior control device. Lee wrenched in pain as the wristband suddenly lit, transmitting a debilitating shock throughout his entire body. He fell to his knees, his attack neutralized, but with the device focused on Seaview's Captain, Jacob was free to move throwing the two remaining guards across the room. His aggressive actions, however, activated Bremer who left his prisoner's side to confront the rogue giant.
Nearly blinded in pain, Lee inched his way toward Belinda, crawling hand over hand in sheer determination in order to keep her focused on him with the sole purpose of making sure she didn't activate Jacob's frequency. The murderous look in his eyes was enough to convince her to save her own skin rather than help Bremer's cause. To that end, she increased the charge in an attempt to keep Crane from reaching her.
Harry had taken advantage of the fracas, seizing the moment and dispatching the other two station operators who had left their post to join in the fray, but were unexpectedly shocked to discover that they were outmatched by the "middle-aged" admiral who was ONI trained in hand-to-hand combat.
"Destroy Seaview!" Belinda ordered the drone operator as the giants grasped each other's throats; one loyal to the evil doctor, the other despising everything she stood for, pitting their weight, height and strength against one another in a strange duel of goliaths.
Zagmaan issued the order for the drone to fire and then turned, aiming at Nelson who had worked his way across the room, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out from the doorway and Zagmaan froze, drew a hand to his chest and pulled it away to view the blood dripping from his fingers, before falling forward. Harry turned toward the shot's origin to see Kowalski, moving in to cover the downed guards who were slowly recovering on the floor.
There was no time for gratitude however, as Harry bee-lined his way toward the drone station just as the operator fired two torpedoes at Seaview.
# # # # #
"Two fish in the water!" the hydrophones operator yelled. "Bearing zero-five-two, three thousand yards and closing."
"Engine room, flank speed!" Bobby ordered. "Secure silent running," he yelled over his shoulder.
"Two thousand yards!"
"Right full rudder!"
"One thousand yards… they changed course with us, sir! They're on our six now!"
"Five hundred yards!"
"Left full rudder!" Bobby ordered, hoping the zig-zag might send the torpedoes into a sea mount instead.
"Three hundred yards!"
"What's on top, Sonar?"
"Clear water!"
"Emergency blow!"
# # # # #
"Stop, Harry!" she yelled, as he karate chopped the drone operator and dragged him from his chair. "Or I'll kill Crane!"
Harry ignored her threat not even turning around and quickly assessing Seaview's danger, took the drone controls into his hands. Though Lee was as dear to him as a son, there was never even a temptation to sacrifice the over 120 men for its captain. It was a split-second decision that he knew Lee would approve.
"Drop it, lady!" Ski yelled from across the room, his threat an empty one since he was covering the other men. She seemed to have a grasp on the situation, because she made no effort to turn off the device that had the Skipper immobilized in pain on the floor.
Meanwhile, the loud sound of furniture being thrashed about filled the room as Bremer and Jacob's battle raged on. Each with a hold on the other's neck trying to get the upper hand, and sending chairs flying when they slammed into the now unoccupied stations.
To add to the confusion, one of the guards attempted to make a move on Kowalski, and received a bullet in the shoulder for his mistake.
"The next man to move is dead!" he threatened, feeling incredibly inadequate since he was unable to help the Skipper or Jacob.
Over at the drone station, Harry was ignoring everything going on behind him, maneuvering the drone to intercept with Seaview's upward progress. It was going to be close… very close…
# # # # #
"Two hundred yards!" hydrophones informed while everyone in the control room held fast as the boat's angle of attack reached an astounding thirty degrees.
Bobby watched the torpedoes' progress from his handhold at the periscope island, his heart sinking into his feet. We're not going to make it, he thought silently.
"One hundred yards!"
"Prepare for explosion!" he ordered in the mic.
"Two hundred feet!"
"Another contact!" Pat interjected from sonar and then immediately clarified himself when he realized the importance. "It's the bogey…"
"One hundred feet!"
That was the last thing they heard before an explosion occurred exactly one hundred feet from their present position sending shock waves barreling against the hapless submarine still conducting an emergency blow maneuver.
# # # # #
The camera on the drone's nose suddenly went black, while the sonar monitor exploded in a sea of green before resetting itself to the familiar sonar dial sweeping across the screen, but now only registering one contact. Even from her position, Belinda recognized that something had blown up, and by Harry's relieved body posture, she was easily able to deduce that it wasn't Seaview. With Jacob and Garrud's fight unleashing an aggressive violence that couldn't be tamed even with her device, she decided that now would be a good time to leave. She headed for the door, taking with her the device still inflicting searing pain to her victim; it was her only leverage at this point.
"Stop her!" Harry yelled, but Ski had his hands full guarding four men lying face down on the ground while Garrud and Bremer crashed to the floor, rolling end over end in an apparent death struggle.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Belinda slipped out of the room.
"Lee!" Harry exclaimed, taking a knee beside his friend who was struggling with the sustained pain, the wristband still indicating it was working with its ominous glow, even as his body writhed and twitched unwillingly. The only way to stop the torturous pain was to turn off the controls in Belinda's possession. The situation, however, wasn't under control yet. Kowalski was outnumbered, and should the two giants finally end their battle, the winner could easily overtake him, and having never been briefed, he had no idea that Garrud was an ally. Lee's unwitting groans indicated he was nearing a breaking point and wouldn't last much longer, and deciding he would have to take a chance, he reached for a gun lying beside the dead Colonel Zagmaan, then rose and started for the door.
# # # # #
Belinda ran through the corridor, heading for the sub pen, her heels tapping out the unmistakable sound of a woman in flight. It was the fastest way to the sea and she had no desire to trek through the jungle for two hours, besides, even if the sub was trapped in the cove, Gamma would send a second sub to rescue her… she was too important to his plans. Up ahead, she saw the last corner she would round before reaching her destination, and smiled inwardly that she had made it. With Nelson busy trying to save Crane, she would have time to issue the emergency call and then disappear into a hidden safe room until Gamma came for her. She was almost there, and there was no sound of pursuit behind her… she was going to make it. Her confidence soared as she rounded the corner… straight into the arms of a man in green fatigues.
"Well, well, well… what have we got here?" Chief Sharkey asked, holding on to what had to be a lady scientist, with her wearing the white lab jacket and all.
"Let me go!" she yelled, but he held on all the tighter. "They're after me," she sobbed, trying to add a bit of drama to her voice to sound like a victim in need of rescuing.
"Is that right?" Sharkey asked laying the sarcastic tone on heavy. She wasn't fooling him one bit, because if there was one thing he knew, it was how to call a spade a spade, and he'd been aboard Seaview long enough to recognize the crazy scientist type, and this lady fit the bill, head-to-toe. "Well, don't you worry, I'll protect you," he added, then turned her back in the direction she had come, guiding her forward.
"But you don't understand, they killed Nelson and Crane and now they're after me!"
Sharkey's cheek twitched; he had to admit that last statement had gotten to him, but he was Coney Island educated and everything in him said she was one of the bad guys. A beautiful bad guy, but that was beside the point.
"Someone's coming," he said into her ear upon hearing approaching steps. "Let's just see what we've got," he announced with more confidence than he currently possessed. He held her tightly in front of him, banking everything on the fact that he believed she was lying and hoping he wasn't going to live to regret it. His gun was trained on the corner in front of him, waiting for whoever was approaching to turn the corner. A long second passed, when the familiar auburn head of Admiral Nelson appeared.
"Boy oh boy, Sir; am I glad to see you!" the relieved Chief of the Boat exclaimed, blowing out a breath and shaking his head with an added chuckle.
"Good work, Sharkey," the Admiral complimented, closing the distance with purpose.
"Where is it, Belinda?" the Admiral growled to Sharkey's satisfaction that he had pegged her right.
"It's too late," she answered coldly. "His brain is fried by now," she announced triumphantly, taking great pleasure in the thought that she could drive a dagger into Nelson's heart with this revelation.
She offered no help, but Harry was quick to find what he was looking for in her lab jacket pocket. Without explaining to a bewildered Sharkey who lacked certain facts at this point, he quickly reversed the settings on the device. He hoped that back in the Master Control Room, Lee had finally found a reprieve from the pain.
"Bring her along, Chief," he said, not wasting any further words on the malevolent woman he had once considered a friend.
# # # # #
Ski stood guard over Zagmaan's men, each lying face down with their hands clasped behind their heads. The battle between the giants was still raging, though from his vantage it looked like Jacob was getting the upper hand. They had traded punches, and rolled across the floor, kicking and jabbing with all their strength. Neither one had any thoughts of duty; they were simply locked in a primal battle for survival and victory. It was an engineered response, cooked up in Dr. Barnes' ghastly lab; once activated it could end only one way: total destruction of their enemy. Mercy had no play in this game, and for both giants, mercy was the farthest thing from their cloudy minds. They rolled again, this time Jacob ended up on top and straddled over his opponent, holding Bremer in a death choke. He raised the giant's head and pounded it against the floor, taking more fight out of his opponent as Bremer gasped without pulling in air, his eyes wide open as if searching for the oxygen his lungs so desperately needed.
"Jacob!" Kowalski yelled, "Jacob, stop! He's not a threat anymore!" he called from across the room, and then had to kick the foot of a guard who checked over his shoulder to see if he had an opportunity to overtake his captor.
"Jacob…"
Ski shot his head toward Captain Crane, who was currently working his way to his hands and knees, blinking to clear his mind and still breathing hard, apparently free from the pain that had previously besieged him.
"Jacob…" Lee called again, but his voice was weak and he doubted the giant man could hear him in his current frame of mind. He made it to his feet and staggered toward the two warriors locked in mortal combat. Bremer was still gasping, but Jacob had the strength to end the struggled with a twist, snapping his enemy's neck. He knew he was taking a chance in Jacob's current state, but he reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder. "Jacob, this isn't who you are," he reasoned.
Jacob shirked the hand off his shoulder, he couldn't let go of Bremer's neck; not until all breath had passed from his lungs and hadn't fully grasped that it was Crane speaking to him.
"Jacob… Remember the cave? You told me your name isn't Garrud. You wrote your name so you wouldn't forget who you were," Lee implored, still weak and working hard to stay on his feet, but he didn't want the giant to regret his actions later. "Remember? J… A…C… O…." he paused when he saw the giant loosen his hold and the smallest of hints that he had gotten through began to manifest itself in Jacob's body language.
"…B…," Jacob finished for him, supplying the last letter to his name and grabbing hold of his humanity in the process.
Slowly, he relinquished Bremer's neck and climbed off his chest as the giant on the ground gasped to fully fill his lungs with the life-sustaining air, before his head dropped to the side in exhaustion.
"He will be dangerous when he wakes," Jacob explained, standing to his full height and taking in a deep breath before expelling it, as if to vanquish the violent adrenaline-fed emotions that had unleashed the ability to kill without thought of mercy.
Lee sighed his contentment that Jacob had found his way back, and then slowly scanned the room. Both Harry and Belinda were missing, but his eyes were focused on the drone's station ahead, its screen black and its gauges indicating the drone was no longer transmitting data. His eyes then darted towards the satellite station, where just at the edge of the satellite view an oil slick stained the otherwise, blue sea. His heart sank, he'd been lost in his own struggle to survive and had lost track of everything else going on while under the influence of Dr. Barnes' device, to even know what had become of his boat. Quickly, he made his way to the satellite station, attempting to reposition the feed as he searched for signs that Seaview had survived the drone's attack and feeling as if he had failed his crew.
Standing over the keyboard, he issued new commands, widening the view and adjusting the picture as his eyes searched almost frantically across the empty sea. He breathed in deeply, and then slammed a frustrated fist down on the desk when he couldn't find Seaview.
His head was still lowered when he heard his name from behind.
"Lee?" Harry called; his relief at seeing him up, about, and on the computer, was suddenly lost to a different type of pain Seaview's Captain was experiencing.
Lee looked up, his eyes wet with unshed tears pooling and ready to slide down his cheek. "I can't find Seaview," he choked out and then collapsed.
Harry barely caught him, guiding him down to the floor as the physical stress his body had endured, coupled with the mental strain of the possibility that Seaview hadn't survived, had left him with little resources to think through other possibilities.
"Listen to me, Lee," the Admiral implored, waiting for his eyes to focus before continuing. "I maneuvered the drone to intercept with the missiles. It was close, Lee, but she still may be intact. She's a good vessel, Lee, there's still a chance," he encouraged.
Lee blinked and he swallowed as he collected his thoughts and regained control over emotions he wasn't used to feeling, let alone exhibiting for others to see; but the relentless pain of the behavior control device had nearly sucked the life out of him; and like Jacob, he was struggling to find the part of him that never gave up.
He took in another breath and nodded. "Help me up, Admiral… maybe her radio is still working."
Harry nodded, helping Lee to a stand and pulling a chair, currently knocked on its side, over for Seaview's Captain to sit.
"You try the radio, I'm going to reboot the sonar," the Admiral said, pleased to see both confidence and competence back in Lee's eyes.
Harry did a quick examination of the darkened screen, noting it had been abused by a likely flying chair during the giants' battle. He opened an access panel on the side, finding a shorted-out wire and went to work with the mini repair kit taped to the access door. A wire cutter and electrical tape would be all he needed to get the station up and running again, he hoped.
"Admiral?" Sharkey interrupted from behind.
"Hmm?" Harry answered, busy working on the sonar, "What is it, Chief?"
"Uh, Jacob, the big guy," he explained rather clumsily, "says they have cells we can lock these bozos in."
"Good," Harry answered, looking up. "You take care of that, and make sure she…," he said with a nod toward Belinda, "is locked up tight."
"You got it, Sir," the eager Chief replied, heading back toward the prisoners. "All right you, scumbags, on your feet and the first one to make a move I don't like, will be eating lead," he warned as he and Kowalski herded their prisoners out the door, followed by Jacob dragging Bremer under his arm.
Harry stripped the casing away from the freshly cut wire and then proceeded to twist the wires back together. He applied a few wraps of electrical wire and stuffed the wires back into the access panel. Reaching behind and flipping the power back on, he waited for the station to come to life, all the while Lee was repeatedly hailing Seaview… receiving nothing but static in response.