Chapter 20: "Bad News and Worse"
3 February 2024
"Sir, I just took a call from Admiral Noyce," Katie told him as he walked into the wardroom, still trying to wipe grease off of his hands. Cheng had called him down to look at the Torpedo Handling System again; Williams and Brody had some concerns about the lubrication system attached to it, and Nathan had to agree with their assessment despite having come up with the idea for the system. Unfortunately, there was little the crew could do about it at this late date, aside from stocking up on spare parts. The system worked, but the rails overheated far too easily, and none of them were certain if it would stand up to the rapid reloading inherent in combat conditions.
"You weren't answering your PAL," his XO continued accusingly.
"Sorry. I was distracted." He felt an embarrassed smile cross his face. "What'd he want?"
"Oh, only to tell you that you're expected in the Secretary General's office in an hour."
Bridger blinked. "Come again?"
"You're wanted in the Secretary General's office in an hour," Katie repeated innocently. "Fifty-five minutes, now."
"Very funny. I can't get to New Cape Quest in an hour," he snorted. "What did he actually want?"
She gave him the type of fed up and mothering look only an XO could bestow upon her wayward captain. "You do realize that Secretary General McGath is here in Pearl Harbor, don't you? He arrived last night—it was all over the news this morning. Something about 'continuing to assure people that the UEO's borders are secure'."
Oops. He'd heard something about the trip, but had forgotten already. I suppose Katie isn't just trying to make me miserable. Nathan sighed, forgetting the idea of eating lunch. "Did he say why?"
"He just said to wear your dress uniform." Damn her, she was enjoying this—but Nathan supposed that Katie had to get her kicks somehow, and if she was teasing him, that meant she really was comfortable in her new role.
"You're really just making my day today, aren't you?"
She just smiled. "Your driver is waiting for you, sir."
Forty-five minutes later, Nathan strode into the office Bill Noyce had appropriated over in the base headquarters building, still scowling. His new driver—and the security man who rode with them—had managed to have a minor spasm about this "unplanned" departure from the security of the shipyard, and he'd spent most of the drive arguing with them both. As such, he was more than a little annoyed. "Was this party your idea, Bill?"
"You wouldn't be wearing your favorite outfit if it was," Bill replied, looking somewhat drained. "I think McGath wants to give you a medal."
"For what?"
"For your actions out at Alfin Ridge, of course. What else?"
Nathan groaned. "Can't you tell him to put it in the mail? I've got about a thousand and five things I could be doing right now."
"Don't be ridiculous. He's the Secretary General," his friend replied pointedly.
"He's not planning something public, is he? Tell me that's not why I'm in this monkey suit."
"Relax. It's just a simple, private meeting," Bill soothed him. "Sit down, will you? You're giving me a crick in the neck from all your pacing."
"Aren't we due in there soon?" But Nathan sat down, expecting the response before it came.
"He's the Secretary General. Everything is a bit behind schedule today." Bill shrugged. "As usual."
"Ah." I wish I hadn't bothered hurrying, then.
Fortunately, they only had to wait about fifteen minutes more before heading up to McGath's office, which was an abnormally short delay for a politician, at least in Nathan's experience. Passing by the security guards and through the door, he was half-surprised to see how sparse the office was, but McGath had always been a no-nonsense kind of leader. The UEO Senate might hem and haw, but McGath usually knew what he wanted and how to get it. Nathan had only met him a handful of times—his head really had been as far into the sand as he could get it, these past few years—but he knew that Bill both liked and respected the man.
Still on Noyce's heels, he was just glad that he didn't have to deal with the Secretary General alone. While Nathan wasn't particularly afraid of associating with elected officials, he certainly didn't enjoy the experience, especially when the conversations revolved around something other than pending operational decisions. Those are easy, he thought as the door clicked shut. Making nice and being subtle and politic are the hard parts.
Movement caught his eye as the figure seated in one of the three chairs in front of McGath's desk rose to greet them.
What the hell is Oliver Hudson doing here?
Alarms started screeching in Nathan's head, and forcing a polite smile onto his face was hard. At least a quick glance at Bill showed that the admiral was equally surprised—and not very pleased. Hudson, however, looked quite at home. Something is going on here that I'm missing…
Bill handled the introductions, and Nathan accepted the Secretary General's proffered hand.
"It's good to see you again, Nathan," McGath said pleasantly.
"Thank you, sir."
"Sit down, please, all of you. This isn't designed to be a formal gathering." All three officers waited until the Secretary General was seated before joining him, of course, and as Nathan settled in, he let his eyes flick right to look at the CO of Scorpion. Yes, Hudson looked comfortable. Even happy. What's got him so pleased with himself? McGath's voice, however, interrupted Nathan's musings.
"Captain Bridger, I asked you here because I wanted to personally extend the UEO's gratitude for your actions at Alfin Ridge. Although you were in command of an untried submarine, you chose to engage those who threatened UEO territorial integrity, despite facing overwhelming odds. By your actions alone a settlement of eight thousand citizens of the UEO was saved, and a non-aligned confederation was prevented from seizing control of a crucial naval station. In short, Captain, your actions may have prevented all-out war."
Nathan wanted to agree with that last part of the Secretary General's statement. He really wanted to, almost more than anything. He might have participated in war planning sessions, but all the while Nathan had prayed common sense would break out and they could stop this train wreck from happening. But he knew better, now. Hearing Marilyn Stark on the low band had changed everything.
"The award citation for the Navy Cross will read as such," McGath continued with a smile, but Nathan's sense of fairness objected.
"With respect, Mr. Secretary, the credit belongs to my crew—along with those of Scorpion and Atlantis," he said as reasonably as he could.
"Of course it does. But just as the ultimate responsibility lies with you as the senior captain on the scene, so too comes the glory," the Secretary General said with a smile. "Bill warned me that you would argue about this, Nathan, but I warn you, I won't change my mind."
He thought about saying something more, but something in McGath's eyes stopped him. "Yes, sir."
"Excellent." McGath turned to face the admiral. "See, that was easier than you anticipated."
"I suppose he must be mellowing with age, Mr. Secretary." Despite the smile, Bill looked wary.
"Or he's been underutilized in his present position," the Secretary General answered, and then shifted his gaze back to Bridger. "I understand that you've been involved with both the Strategy Board and in weapons development while waiting for seaQuest to be finished."
Nathan blinked at the non sequitur. "I have."
"From what Bill tells me, you've been extremely useful in both roles—and I'm not as blinded by Macronesian rhetoric as many on the UEO Senate are. I firmly believe that we will need big-picture thinkers in the years to come, and that's why I want to promote you to Rear Admiral now and free you up to take a strategic look at our long term needs."
"You want to what?" The words escaped before he could stop them, and Nathan simply stared.
Oh, shit. Now I know why Oliver is—
"I'm offering you a promotion that is more in line with your experience and abilities. Say the word, and you'll walk out of here as an admiral."
Once upon a time, that had been all he wanted. But Nathan did not even need a moment to think about it. "No thank you, sir," he said hoarsely. "I'd rather stay on seaQuest."
McGath blinked hard, clearly not expecting such a response. Hudson's face told the story all too plainly: What kind of idiot turns down an admiral's stars? But for Nathan, there wasn't any choice to make.
"I don't think—" McGath started.
"Mr. Secretary, before you continue, allow me to show you something," Bill interrupted before McGath could continue. When the Secretary General nodded tersely, the admiral extended his tablet computer. From his angle, Nathan could not see whatever it was Bill felt the need to share, but he was almost sorry that the admiral had interjected. Although Bridger knew better than to ask, he was damn curious about where that half-shocked and half-angry response had been leading.
A long moment passed in silence.
Hudson was beginning to look very annoyed.
Finally, McGath glanced at Bill. "I see your point." Then the politician's intense gaze zeroed in on Nathan. "I understood you to be a man of peace, Captain."
"I am." And I'd really like to know what he's looking at right now.
"Perhaps I should rephrase that to say that I did not expect a self-professed man of peace to have such a distinguished war record," the Secretary General said more pointedly. He was glaring a bit, now, more at Nathan than Bill. But of course, he'd been caught rather by surprise; McGath was younger than both of the officers he was angry with, and he was a career politician. McGath understood undersea issues—he was even an expert on them—but he'd clearly never paid much attention to submarine warfare.
They don't call us the silent service for nothing.
"Sometimes I think that it takes seeing how terrible war can be to truly appreciate peace, Mr. Secretary," Nathan answered. What he didn't say was that losing Robert had changed everything for him, too—but Nathan wasn't here to explain why he didn't want to fight. Not this time.
Instinct told him that if he started in on that, he might lose seaQuest once and for all, so he wouldn't even let himself think of it.
"And yet you're willing to fight another one?" McGath pressed.
The answer was simple. "Some things are worth fighting for, Mr. Secretary."
Katie closed the door behind herself, watching the captain's scowl warily. Bridger hadn't sounded happy when he'd called her to his cabin, and anything that made him this testy boded ill for everyone. Part of the XO's job description was to be the captain's punching bag (when necessary), and though Katie didn't relish the task, she was ready to do it. Besides, even at his worst, Bridger was no Oliver Hudson.
"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked cautiously.
"That's one word for it," he snorted.
Oh, this one is going to be a doozey. But his body language told Katie that whatever had crawled under his skin was external to seaQuest; if it had been a problem on the boat, Bridger would be talking about ways to fix it instead of brooding with such a frustrated expression on.
"What's wrong, Captain?"
"The UEO is going public about what happened at Alfin Ridge," he answered, only puzzling her further.
"The news is already public," Katie said slowly. Had he really missed that? She didn't think that Bridger was so absorbed…not this time, anyway.
"No, they're going public with seaQuest's role," he corrected her unhappily.
"Oh. There goes security, I guess." This was going to be a nightmare. Katie could already see disaster coming.
"Oh, it gets better."
A sinking feeling started growing in the pit of her stomach. She knew that expression, and the sarcastic smile the captain was wearing promised that something painful was to come. She asked hesitantly: "Do I want to know?"
"If I have to know, you have to know." Bridger scowled again. "Misery loves company. The UEO has decided to allow 60 Minutes to do a special on seaQuest."
"They're what?"
"Makes your day as wonderful as it does mine, doesn't it?" her boss asked while Katie sat there and stared at him, her mouth hanging open.
This isn't a nightmare. This is a fucking disaster!
The silence weighed heavily upon the cabin for several long moments. At first, all she could do was stare miserably at Bridger; they were due to get underway for their final shakedown cruise in twenty-four days, and commissioning was in only twenty-two, and preparations for both events were consuming every moment the crew had. Katie was especially worried about preparing for the underway, especially since the brass had decided to finish seaQuest's testing right on the border with Macronesia. Everyone knew that the short patrol would take place on near-wartime footing, and they were working twelve hour days at a minimum to make sure the boat was ready. Yet that questionable decision paled in comparison to this one.
Finally, Katie found her voice.
"I don't suppose we could say 'thanks, but no thanks'?" she asked dryly.
Bridger chuckled without humor. "I tried that. I got overruled by the Secretary General."
"Fabulous."
"I know you've got a lot going on, so I'm of a mind to assign point on this to one of the department heads—I want you to keep your focus on underway preps. Do you have anyone you'd like to hand this over to?"
"Krieg." She didn't even hesitate, but Bridger's eyebrows shot up.
"Krieg?" he repeated.
"Tim might stutter, Brad will bore them babbling about his reactors, Lucas is too young to be believable, and Brody is still trying to figure out which end of the boat is which." Katie shrugged. "But Ben is so glib that he can talk a baby out of their candy. And he's photogenic—though don't you dare tell him I said that, sir. They'll never know what hit them."
"Well, you do know him best," Bridger laughed.
She glared. "That was a cheap shot, sir."
"Sorry." His smile was cheeky, and she could see how he used to drive Jonathan insane. "But you have a point. Let Ben run with it."
That was easier than I thought it would be… "I assume you want to keep everything classified off the tour route, sir?"
"You assume correctly. Tell Ben that I want a tour route laid out by tomorrow and for him to brief the entire crew on this…opportunity as soon as possible." He managed to keep from scowling this time, but Katie could see that he was still unhappy. "I'm sure that 60 Minutes will want to interview some of them, and if we have to do this thing, I want to do it right."
"I'll bash his head into the wall until he gets the point, sir," Katie promised.
That prompted another laugh. "Don't ruin his good looks too badly. But I'll leave the details to you, Katie. One of us has to be the bad guy, after all."
"I guess we're just lucky that I'm good at it." She grinned back. Working with Bridger was light years better than working for Hudson—even if being on board seaQuest did mean that the weird things like 60 Minutes specials just kept piling up. Still, she could never imagine having the conversation with her previous CO, and it was damn good to be back on a sub she could think of as home.
5 February 2024
"Here, carry this," Helen Burgess said, shoving a camera bag into Ken's hands. He was really starting to regret having agreed to act as bodyguard for this 60 Minutes reporter. But it had seemed like a good idea two days ago when she had come to the police station looking for protection after receiving a death threat.
And it gets you on seaQuest, so quit complaining.
That had been the real reason he had volunteered for the job. After running into Captain Bridger again, Ken had gone back to researching the man. He was still irritated about being taken off the attempted kidnapping case by NCIS a few months ago, especially since he had been there when it had all gone down.
And then news about the Alfin Ridge incident had broke, revealing that the UEO had built another seaQuest in secret. Ken may never have been in the military, but even he could appreciate a boat like that. And if Bridger was the captain of the first one and slated to be captain of the second before it got destroyed, it stands to reason he'll be captain of this new one, too. So much for there being a boat named Stingray. Ken was still smarting from that lie, too, and really wanted to uncover the actual truth.
"Do you always dawdle like this, Officer Watanabe?" Burgess asked, and Ken resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"We can't go anywhere until someone comes to get us," he retorted. She scowled for a moment before pasting a grin onto her face. Probably one of those women who thinks smiling will keep her from getting wrinkles or something.
"You're right, of course." She turned towards one of her two assistants, the one not carrying the oversized camera. "Jason, have you done a sound check on my microphone?"
"Three times," Jason replied flatly, barely even paying any attention to the woman. Clearly, he had lots of experience handling her and really didn't care what she thought. Before she could start harping on him about something else, though, a lieutenant commander approached them. He was dressed in submariner's coveralls with a seaQuest DSV 4800 patch on his right breast.
"Good morning! You must be the 60 Minutes crew. My name is Lieutenant Commander Ben Krieg. I'm the Supply Officer on board seaQuest, and I'll be showing you around the boat today," he introduced himself.
Burgess gave him an appraising look as he smiled affably. She sniffed, obviously finding him lacking. "Supply Officer? They couldn't spare anyone a little more…important?"
"Well, I happen to be the second highest ranking department head on board," Krieg replied, his smile never wavering. "And since I know this boat from stem to stern, Captain Bridger asked me to show you around. You'll meet the XO, Commander Hitchcock, shortly."
She slid that fake smile back onto her face, stepping forward to slide her arm through Commander Krieg's. "Well then, Ben—you don't mind if I call you Ben, do you?—let's get this started."
Ken struggled not to laugh, but judging by the eye rolls from her two assistants, this was normal behavior for the woman. Whatever it was, the fake smile seemed to work on the naval officer, because his grin grew even wider in welcome, and his eyes seemed to sweep appreciatively over Burgess. Krieg's barely-concealed admiration for Burgess' leggy form made Ken suppress another chuckle, although this one was not nearly so amused. She might be good looking, but this crazy woman reminds me of a cobra. He's an idiot if he thinks he can get anywhere with her.
Then again, he's a sailor. I shouldn't be surprised, not after living in a navy town this long.
"Of course! If you'll follow me, we'll head on board through the tube right here. Since seaQuest doesn't have a sail like most submarines, we have to enter through the launch bay, and..."
Ken trailed along behind them, trying to stay out of the way as the two other men snapped pictures and took video footage, only half listening to what the commander was saying. He was obviously still trying to charm Burgess, and she was gleefully feeding into his ego. Ken could tell she didn't mean it, but the reporter seemed like she was hanging on every word Krieg said, and the officer was eating it up. Probably trying to get more out of him than he's willing to give.
Ken, however, was less interested in the submarine than he was in her crew and the secrets he knew they were keeping.
And my suspicions about Bridger were right. He is in command. This should be interesting.
The secrets didn't stop there, of course. There had been lots of interesting tidbits about the young lieutenant he'd met in the hospital, ones that made every investigative instinct that he had stand on edge. He hadn't found any firm information, but the very lack of concrete facts made him suspicious, and Wolenczak wasn't the only crewmember whose past seemed to have suspicious holes in it.
Krieg led them into a spacious, wood-paneled room. Who puts wood on a submarine? Ken wondered to himself, but the supply officer was still talking. "This is the wardroom. We'll start the tour here, and please help yourselves to refreshments while we wait for the XO to arrive. In the meantime, I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have."
"I was hoping we could start in the bridge," Burgess said, giving Krieg a fake pout.
"Don't worry, we'll get there. We do like to save the best for last," he replied with a grin.
She returned it before turning to her two assistants. "Michael, set up over there, why don't you?" she told the cameraman, gesturing airily to the far corner. "Let's do the introduction shots in here while we're waiting."
Ken put the bag he had been carrying down on one of the chairs, going to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"Is there anyone in particular you'd like to interview while you're here?" Krieg asked. "Our goal is to cooperate with you as much as possible."
"Well, the captain, of course," Burgess said, talking at a compact mirror instead of the other man as she fluffed her hair. She glanced up at him briefly. "Though we may be able to arrange a...private...interview later."
"I'll see what I can't do."
"I'm sure you'll manage to find a way." She flashed him another grin, snapping the compact closed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, this won't take long. Jason, is the microphone on?"
Ken resisted the urge to snort. Some women...
"Getting distracted already, Mr. Krieg?" a dry voice interrupted as a brunette walked into the room. Ken glanced at her and noted that she wore the ranks of a commander on her collar. Must be Hitchcock. She was surprisingly good looking, and her eyes were…well, distracting, to say the least. However, there was something in Krieg's return smile that Ken couldn't quite identify.
"Not at all, Commander." Krieg turned back to Burgess. "Helen, allow me to introduce you to Commander Katie Hitchcock, seaQuest's Executive Officer."
He saw Burgess' eyes light up. "I didn't know seaQuest had a female XO!" She sounded like Christmas had come early.
Hitchcock covered it well, but to Ken's eyes, she looked slightly annoyed. "I'm sorry to disappoint you," she said dryly.
Krieg, on the other hand, looked like he was trying not to laugh.
"No, I'm not disappointed at all. Please, I hope you'll agree to an interview. It's so rare to see such a pretty woman like yourself this high up in the ranks!" Ken tried to avoid the petty fights that women got themselves into sometimes, and while Burgess' comment sounded like a compliment, even he could tell there was an underlying insult.
"Thank you," Hitchcock replied, and if there was an edge in her voice, she hid it well. "And of course, I will be happy to help you in whatever way you require."
"Ms. Burgess was just about to film her introduction," Krieg interrupted, speaking to the commander.
"In that case, I will stay out of the way and allow you to continue," she replied.
Ken watched in amusement as Burgess rattled off some spiel about herself and about seaQuest and a recent summary of events that anyone watching her show would already know. More interesting was the silent conversation the two officers seemed to be having.
They must know each other pretty well if she can tear him apart with just a look like that, Ken guessed. A few minutes passed, and Hitchcock stopped glaring at Krieg, after which the two seemed perfectly happy to stand side by side in companionable silence. There was definitely something between them that he'd missed.
"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Burgess asked, apparently having finished her introduction session.
"Absolutely nothing," Krieg replied with that same smile, though Ken was starting to give him a bit more credit—he seemed not to have fallen for Burgess' act as much as Ken had thought. "If you'll come this way, we'll start our tour."
Krieg led them out of the wardroom, prattling on about some of the differences between the first seaQuest and the current one.
"You seem to know a lot about the old seaQuest," Ken commented casually.
"I was her Supply Officer as well," Krieg answered as Burgess turned to talk to Hitchcock. "I was flattered that Captain Bridger asked me to come back for the new boat."
"Ah. So you've worked with Captain Bridger before. You must know him fairly well, then," Ken said, keeping his tone as conversational as possible
Krieg shrugged nonchalantly. "As well as any of the officers, I suppose. I was roommates with his son at the Academy, actually, so it's kind of ironic."
"Robert, right?" Ken asked; he had read that in one of the reports about the captain, and long years as a police officer meant he knew how to hide surprise by diverting attention back to the person he was questioning.
"Yeah. We were good friends, though I never met the Captain until he came to command the last boat."
"You like working for him?" Standard interrogation technique, getting his subject to talk about themselves and volunteer additional information without Ken guiding the conversation any more than absolutely necessary.
Krieg smiled, and now the expression didn't seem forced at all. "He's the best CO I've had, and believe me, I've had some interesting ones."
"Oh?" Ken asked, intrigued.
"It's the Navy. You don't get to pick your own boss," the officer replied with a shrug. "I'm sure you know how that is."
Ken smiled wryly. The supply officer was certainly sharper than he acted, and the odds of him getting information Krieg didn't want to volunteer were steadily decreasing. "Yeah."
"You seem awfully curious for a guy here to be the muscle," Krieg said a moment later, confirming his suspicions.
"What can I say, Commander? I may not be a Navy man myself, but I can read the writing on the wall plain as anyone else. And this here boat will be what keeps Macronesia from knocking on our door," Ken replied. Two could play that game.
"I suppose so," was the nonchalant answer.
Ken was smart enough to know when to let something go. If he kept questioning Krieg about the captain, he'd only make the other man suspicious. Instead, he focused his attention back on Burgess and her questions directed at the XO.
The reporter was asking something about the commander's career, so Ken didn't really pay attention. Twenty minutes later, Burgess was talking to some other crew member who they'd run into along the way—O'Neill, or something like that; he was also a lieutenant commander—but Ken tuned that out, too. So far, most of them hadn't said anything other than the company line, how proud they were to be on seaQuest and how the boat was ready to go, but the reporter was eating it up. A few of them did offer their feelings on what had happened at Alfin Ridge, but so far they seemed like a pretty cool-headed bunch. No one was giving anything away.
After a few minutes of listening to variations of the same answers, Ken started to wonder if they'd all been briefed on what to say and what not to say. However, they finally were walking onto the bridge, and that was far more interesting, even over his own suspicions.
He'd taken tours of several ships and submarines over the years—what police officer hadn't?—but he'd never seen anything like this. A trio of consoles sat in the center of the space, and two other rows of consoles (one on an upper level) splayed out to each side of those. There were top of the line screens on every console, and big screen displays everywhere—the electronics alone must have cost a fortune. Most of the screens were showing information of some sort, and several crew members were sitting at their stations. Most seemed to be working, but a few glanced their way curiously.
Is that...? Ken did a double take. Yes, that was a pool of water on the bridge. He couldn't help staring, because there was no reason he could possibly imagine for a submarine to have that much water inside the boat.
Burgess seemed just as excited, directing her cameraman to start filming again.
Hitchcock immediately made a beeline for a young officer who was seated on the top row of stations, and Ken strained his ears to overhear the conversation.
"...classified?" the XO was asking in an undertone.
A moment later, Ken recognized the officer as Lieutenant Wolenczak. He didn't look nearly as young as he had in the hospital or in any of the pictures Ken had found of him online. Online, everything he'd been able to find trumpeted the young officer as a child genius, the one who had taught dolphins how to talk—or had at least translated whatever noises they made, anyway. Here, however, he looked like a naval officer, and not like the worried kid that Ken had met in the hospital.
"Nothing," Wolenczak assured her. "All the systems are in training mode, and I made sure that even that stuff is vanilla."
Burgess had followed the commander, practically pouncing on the young man when the XO stepped away, fawning something about brave young men. Her entire demeanor changed when he introduced himself, though.
"Lucas Wolenczak? Son of Lawrence Wolenczak? Tell me, how does it feel to know that your father has failed twice now with his World Power endeavor?" Burgess asked, looking like the cat that had caught the canary.
"I..."
"This chick really is a piece of work, isn't she?" Krieg asked Ken in a snarling undertone, looking like he burned to interfere—but Commander Hitchcock was already all over that one.
"Ms. Burgess, why don't you come take a look at our sonar suite? seaQuest is the only sub in the Navy capable of controlling multiple WSKRs—that's Wireless Sea Knowledge Retrieval systems, or roving periscopes." The XO literally took the reporter by the arm and led her to another station on the opposite upper level, even though Burgess didn't look too eager to leave Wolenczak alone. "This is Chief Warrant Ortiz, and he'll be happy to show you his toys."
"Yeah," Ken replied to Krieg, still watching the young lieutenant.
He looked shaken, unsure of what to do next. Ken had seen that look many times in the expressions of rookie cops faced with their first hard case, the one that screamed for someone to do something to make the problem go away. Hesitantly, Wolenczak stood from his seat, turning his head slightly towards Hitchcock as if he wanted to get her attention, but the XO was looking the wrong way. When she didn't notice, Wolenczak glanced down at his display again. Then a figure approached from his right.
Ken hadn't noticed him enter the bridge, but Captain Bridger must have overheard at least some of the conversation, because he walked up to Wolenczak as the kid stood there, looking lost.
"Go see what you can't find out, Lucas," Bridger said softly.
"What about the tour?" Wolenczak asked, though he clearly wanted to do as the captain said.
"You let me worry about that. Go."
Wolenczak practically ran out of the bridge.
Krieg left Ken's side to speak quietly to the captain, but try as Ken might, he couldn't catch what the supply officer said. A moment later, however, he stopped caring about that conversation, because without warning, the bridge went dark.
Every light, every console—off. Just...dark.
Ken had no idea how frightening it could be to be on a submarine when everything just stopped, but he was suddenly having visions of the boat flooding, of it sinking, of—Don't be an idiot, Ken. You're a police officer, and you're supposed to be used to pressure. Still, the sudden stillness was eerie, and he thought he heard Burgess yelp. Besides, we're still in the drydock.
A voice broke the silence, speaking over the sub's loudspeakers as red emergency lighting started flashing to life on the bridge.
"SECURITY ALERT, SECURITY ALERT. AWAY THE SECURITY ALERT FORCE AND BACKUP ALERT FORCE. MUSTER THE RESERVE FORCE. ALL HANDS NOT INVOLVED STAND FAST. REASON FOR SECURITY ALERT: LOSS OF SHORE POWER."
The entire message was repeated again, and people started moving. At least now I can see a little, Ken thought, glancing around. Not much had changed, and no one had really moved, but there was a sudden tension on the bridge
"Engineering!" Bridger snapped. "Get me a generator online now."
A very young sounding female voice answered immediately. "Yes, sir."
"XO, get a hold of the Quarterdeck and find out what's—"
Bridger's hand-held communicator crackled, cutting him off. "Captain, Officer of the Deck."
"Bridger."
"Sir, we've had a catastrophic loss of pier services. I sent the messenger out to see what's going on, and he says that the shoreside power plant is in flames."
"The power plant is what?" Bridger demanded.
"In flames, sir. I'm trying to contact base security to find out what's going on, but no one's answering."
"Very well. Let me know when you find anything else out," Bridger replied, his voice calm again. He turned to face the young female officer. "Status on coming to ship's power, Auxo?"
"It's—" she cut off, looking frustrated. "The system isn't responding, sir. It seems to be stuck in training mode."
Ken saw the XO go over to the younger woman, urging her to move aside. When she didn't respond immediately, the sonar officer—Ortiz?—tugged her gently out of the way. Hitchcock sat down at the engineering console.
He could hear the frustration in the younger officer's voice when she muttered, looking over Hitchcock's shoulder: "Of all times for Cheng to go on leave..."
"Don't worry, Henderson, I think I know a thing or two about this," Hitchcock said, sounding almost amused as she typed away rapidly.
"Yes, ma'am," Henderson replied, sounding somewhat reassured. Unfortunately, several seconds passed before Hitchcock looked up, and even in the eerie red lighting, Ken could see the frustration etched into her features.
"You're not going to like this, Captain," Hitchcock said.
"Let me guess. She's stuck in training." Bridger's voice was light.
"Right in one, sir."
"Lovely." He headed down from the right side of the upper level to the rearmost console in the trio near where Ken was standing, hitting a few keys to bring it to life.
"Lucas probably didn't make it very far. Want me to send someone for him?" she asked.
"Let's try something else first. We haven't tested the overrides on this thing yet, anyway." Bridger shrugged and hit a few more keys; then a computerized voice spoke:
"Confirm voiceprint identity."
"Ah, excuse me." Ken hadn't noticed Krieg wandering up to the cameraman, but the supply officer reached out and hit the 'off' key with a smile. "Now's probably not the time to be using this thing. So sorry"
"You can't do that," Burgess protested. "Michael, keep filming."
"I can, unless you want us to confiscate all of your tapes before you leave." His smile was positively sweet now, but there was steel behind it that Ken would not have expected. "And have Officer Watanabe here arrest you for violating security regulations."
Ken would have done it, too, but unfortunately, Burgess shut up.
The captain spoke to the computer. "Bridger, Nathan Hale."
"Voiceprint confirmed," the computer responded, sounding snotty. "Confirm access code."
Bridger hit a sequence of numbers—from where Ken was standing, it looked like six. Immediately, the screen changed, displaying a long list of overrides. Certainly not how I would have expected him to react, Ken thought. He seems almost amused by this entire thing, or certainly not bothered by the fact that a power plant is on fire and his entire submarine is dark! He couldn't make out everything the screen said—he was a little too far away for that. But what he could see sent shivers down his spine. I wonder if those nuclear weapons he has access to are actually on board right now...
"Access code confirmed. Determine override selection from menu and—"
"Engage Battle Override," Bridger cut the computer off, no longer sounding amused at all. "Emergency isolate the boat from external power sources."
"Battle Override, engaged. Isolating from external power sources."
"XO, initiate start sequence, number one and number two emergency generators."
"Initiate start sequence, number one and number two generators, aye, sir," she replied crisply.
A moment later, the lights flickered back on and consoles started coming back to life; Ken found himself blinking in the sudden brightness. Nothing on the sub felt different than it had earlier, though a few consoles seemed to be displaying different information.
"Am I allowed to exercise my right to freedom of press again?" Burgess asked, sounding irritated.
Krieg smiled cheerfully at her, reaching out to tap the warrant officer on the shoulder. "Of course."
As if he knew exactly what that tap meant, Ortiz hit a few keys, and his console went dark. To Ken's right, Bridger had done the same with both of the other two consoles in the trio, and was exiting override mode on his own console. However, he was smiling again as he wagged his eyebrows Hitchcock's way. "I guess that one works."
The commander smiled back, but before she could answer, Bridger's communicator chimed again, and the voice on the other end sounded strained. "Captain, Officer of the Deck. We just heard back from base security, and they're saying that the power station was bombed. They're recommending we remain at Security Alert until everything is sorted out."
"Guess that means we won't be going anywhere any time soon, eh?" Ken asked.
Bridger turned to face him, and he could see the surprise in the captain's expression. Apparently he didn't realize I was here. Oops. "I think we can manage to have someone escort you ashore, Officer Watanabe," he said dryly.
"No need to go out of your way for me, Captain," Ken replied. He couldn't help but grin. It felt good to be ahead of the other man, for once.
The frown was faint, but it was there. However, before Bridger could respond, Burgess jumped in.
"My interview isn't complete, Captain," Burgess said.
"I'm afraid that due to security concerns, we're going to have to cut it short, Ms. Burgess," Bridger replied, and now Ken really could see annoyance beneath the calm exterior. "I'm sure you have enough footage taped already."
"I just have a few more questions. For you," Burgess said, trying flattery again. The captain didn't seem very impressed by it.
"A few, and then I will have to ask you to leave," Bridger replied, clearly not happy and not bothering to hide it.
"Perhaps there's somewhere more comfortable we can go?" she asked.
Bridger nodded reluctantly. "This way," he said, leading them off the bridge. As he did so, he threw a significant glance Hitchcock's way, and she nodded, remaining behind. Krieg, however, fell into step at the rear of the group, clearly wanting to make sure that no one lagged too far behind.
Interesting. They're a little more paranoid now. Is that because the power plant got bombed, or is there something else? Ken wondered.
Unfortunately for Burgess, they wound up back in the wardroom, either because it was closer or because Bridger didn't want the reporter in his own cabin. Ken could see her little pout, but the captain seemed not to notice it. Nor did he seem to notice how annoyed Burgess was when he cut the interview short after a few mundane questions about seaQuest and the incident at Alfin Ridge, managing to avoid telling the reporter anything that his crew hadn't told her earlier. Soon enough, Krieg escorted the little group back off of the boat and back to the news van.
An hour later—it took almost that long to get off base due to the added security—Ken watched from his squad car as the news van pulled up in front of the station. Burgess headed inside a moment later, freeing Ken from his protective duties.
The tour had been interesting, even if it had raised more questions than it had answered for him. But at least it had answered some of them, he thought, heading back to the station. Now to get started finding answers for the new ones.
A/N: It lives! Sol and I realized we had several additional chapters written for this beastie, so we're going to try posting them in future weeks. The entire story isn't done (it was envisioned as a rather epic re-write of all things seaQuest when we had a lot more free time), but hopefully this will give at least a little more closure than where we left it.
Stay tuned for Chapter 21: "Bring the Boat to Life", in which seaQuest is finally commissioned, Katie brings an unexpected date, Bridge has a spat with Hudson, and Ben runs into an old CO who doesn't like him one bit.