Chapter 5

As soon as Lee knew Chip and Janet would be alright, he stormed down the missile room where Kowalski, Lawrence and Patterson were checking out all Chip's and Janet's equipment. "Chief, who was in charge of the gear Mr. Morton and Mrs. Crane used today," he asked angrily.

"Kowalski and Lawrence, sir," Chief responded quickly seeing how angry Lee was.

"Kowalski," Lee yelled to him.

"Yes sir," Kowalski replied quickly walking over to him.

"Were you in charge of checking out the equipment Mr. Morton and Mrs. Crane used today?"

Kowalski rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "Yes sir. Skipper, Lawrence and I checked out everything before they dived and everything was in perfect order. After they came back in, the admiral ordered us to check it again and we found someone tampered with their regulators.

"You're telling me someone purposely tried to kill them?" Lee said furiously. He was irate that someone on his boat, a crew member, would try to kill his wife and Seaview's executive officer.

"Looks that way, skipper. We're really sorry they had a problem," Lawrence told Lee.

Lee was still very angry but realized that if it weren't for Kowalski and Patterson going out to get them as quickly as they did, they both would be dead.

"Thank you for going out there and bringing in Mr. Morton and Mrs. Crane," Lee told Patterson and Kowalski as he patted them on the shoulder. "I don't think I've seen anyone get into a wet suit faster than you two."

"No problem skipper. We're glad they're going to be alright," Kowalski said.

Both Kowalski and Lawrence were upset at what happened to their equipment. Patterson was glad he was assigned to the missile room watch that afternoon and was able to help out.

((()))

Lee returned to the control room as he left no one in command when he ran to the missile room. He entered the control room to find Sparks had taken over and was briefing O'Brien on where they were.

"Thanks Sparks," Lee said appreciatively. "I was so worried I never turned over command to anyone."

"No problem, sir," Sparks replied going back to the radio shack.

O'Brien took over command after Lee ordered him to set a course and speed for Santa Barbara. He stood at the charting table catching his breath when the admiral called to him from the observation nose where he and Belinda were standing.

"Lee, could you please come here," the admiral asked curtly.

"Yes sir," he replied walking to the observation nose.

"How are Chip and Janet?" he asked with concern but still angry as he paced up and down the nose while Belinda sat down and looked out the windows.

Taking a deep breath Lee answered, "They both will be fine. Chip will be back on duty tomorrow morning."

"What the hell happened," he asked sharply.

Rubbing his forehead, "Someone sabotaged their regulators," Lee said. "Kowalski, Lawrence and Patterson checked out their gear and found it."

"Who on this boat would want to hurt either one of them?" the admiral questioned.

"I don't know Admiral, but I will find out. Whoever it is will be severely dealt with," Lee replied heatedly.

Belinda got up from her chair, went over to Lee and gave him a hug, "I'm glad they're going to be okay."

Lee just pushed her away not wanting to deal with her and went back to the control room. She was angry that he pushed her away.

((()))

Once Lee knew Seaview was on course and at speed, he returned to sick bay just as Jamie was releasing Chip and Janet.

"Are you sure they're okay?" Lee asked looking at them noticing they looked at little pale and tired.

Sighing, "Lee, you know I wouldn't let them out of my sight if I didn't think they were alright," Jamie told him, "They just need to rest and should be fine by tomorrow. But they were lucky. Had they been out any longer..." Jamie didn't finish his sentence.

"I know," he replied seeing the grim look on Jamie's face and shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to them. He held Janet's hand as they walked to their cabin. "It's a good thing Janet held her breath," Chip said when they got to Lee's cabin. "Or we wouldn't be here."

Lee, Chip and Janet were going to have dinner together in the Crane's cabin. Lee called the wardroom and had Cookie send up three dinners. Lee made Janet climb in their bunk as soon as they got there. "Oh good dinner in bed," Janet remarked sarcastically. "What fun." Lee looked at her and grinned as Chip sat at his desk. Cookie himself brought up their dinner of chicken, noodles, corn and of course a plate of brownies with a pot of coffee.

"Any idea who did this," Chip asked Lee as he took a bite of his chicken.

"None so far, but I will get to the bottom of this," Lee answered as he paced his cabin. He wasn't hungry but did grab a cup of coffee.

He explained to them that Kowalski and Lawrence had checked out their gear before they dove and nothing was wrong with it. But when they checked out the gear when they came back it has been sabotaged. Janet sat there listening to them talk just pushing her food around her plate. She wasn't very hungry. Chip stayed a little longer and then left for his cabin. Lee walked with him making sure he got there safely. When he returned, he called a mess specialist to remove their trays and noticed that Janet ate very little of her dinner. When Lee left to walk Chip back to his cabin, Janet laid down in the bunk and pulled up the covers. She was dozing by the time Lee was ready for bed.

He climbed in the bunk with her and held her close. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her kissing her temple.

"It's not your fault," she replied back softly waking up when he climbed in the bunk, "but did I pass?"

"Yes sweetie you did with flying colors," he answered kissing her again.

"Good," she said as she fell back to sleep.

((()))

Lee and Janet woke up the next morning and Janet was feeling fine. They met Chip on their way to breakfast and he was fine also. The admiral, Belinda and Jamie came in a few minutes after they got their breakfast. They were glad to see neither one of them had any lingering effects from yesterday's adventure.

After they finished up and put their trays in the container, Lee and Chip would head to the control room. The admiral went to his lab and Belinda was going to return to her cabin to work on some notes for her new assignment. Janet was going to her office to update her inventory sheets before she finished typing up the admiral's notes and the duty rosters. As she was entering the figures into the computer, one of the counts on a valve didn't seem right as she knew they shouldn't have that many of them so she would go to the storage room on "C" deck where they kept that valve and double checked the inventory. She could have asked one of the crewmen to do it but they were busy and she knew exactly where they were located. She made her way down to "C" deck and went into the storage room leaving the door open. She didn't notice that someone had followed her. They watched her as she went into the room. She found the container she was looking for and counted the valves. I knew the count was wrong, she thought. Before she could turn around to leave someone hit her on the back of her head, she fell to the floor. They shut the door and locked it leaving her lay there unconscious.

((()))

It was early afternoon and the admiral wanted to read over the notes Janet had typed up so he went to her office to ask her for them and she wasn't there. He checked their cabin and he didn't find her there either. He knocked on the door of Belinda's cabin to see if she had seen Janet but he got no answer. As he made his way down to the control room, he stopped in the wardroom and Cookie hadn't seen her since breakfast. He went to sick bay. "Jamie, have you seen Janet?" the admiral asked.

"No sir. I haven't seen her since breakfast," Jamie replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"No I don't think so," the admiral said. "I'll check the control room as she's probably there bringing Chip the duty rosters to look over before she posts them." As he walked out of sick bay, Jamie stood there noticing he looked a little concerned.

The admiral entered the control room through the aft hatch and didn't see Janet there or in the observation nose. He walked over to Lee and Chip who were at the charting table. "Have you seen Janet?" he asked them now worried that she wasn't there either. "I can't seem to find her."

Lee looked at him and saw the worried look on his face. "No sir. We haven't seen her since we left the wardroom after breakfast. Did you check her office?"

"Yes, I checked there, your cabin, the wardroom and sick bay and no one has seen her," the admiral answered. "I even knocked on Belinda's door to see if she had seen her and got no answer."

"I'll do an all call over the intercom and have her contact the control room so she can let us know where she is," Lee said anxiously.

"Mrs. Crane, please call the control room," Lee announced over the intercom. They waited a few minutes and she didn't answer the call.

Lee picked up the mic again, "Janet, please call the control room," he said nervously. She still didn't answer his call. As he made the second call Belinda came down the spiral staircase and into the control room. The admiral asked, "Have you seen Janet?"

No Harry, not since breakfast," she replied calmly. Looking at Lee, "Is there a problem?" she asked smugly.

"Chief Sharkey, call the control room," Lee ordered ignoring Belinda's question.

"Yes sir," Sharkey reported immediately.

"Have you seen Mrs. Crane this afternoon?"

"No sir. I haven't seen her all day," he answered.

"Chief I need you to organize two search parties," Lee told him running his hand through his hair. "I want this boat searched from top to bottom...every cabin, storage room, every inch searched. I'll take Kowalski and Patterson with me," Lee said worriedly. "We'll take "A" deck. Kowalski and Patterson left their stations and Lawrence and Phil immediately took their places.

"Aye, aye, sir," Chief responded. He was in the missile room along with Riley, Bailey, and Edwards. He assigned Bailey and Edwards to "B" deck. He and Riley would take "C" deck. They left to search their areas.

"Chip, take over the conn and report to me if she shows up," Lee told him frantically.

"Yes sir," Chip replied. "Lee, she's got to be on board somewhere. They'll find her," he reassured him seeing the troubled look on his face as he and the men went up the spiral staircase.

Lee, Patterson and Kowalski searched every cabin and storage area on "A" deck and didn't find her. Bailey and Edwards reported to Lee that they didn't find her on "B" deck. Chief Sharkey and Riley were still searching "C" deck so Lee went down there to join them in searching for her.

((()))

Janet came to and was lying on the floor. She had a terrible headache. She rubbed the back of her head and found a large bump. She started to get up but sat right back down as the room was spinning. She waited a few minutes before trying to get up again. She slowly got up and got her bearings. She went over to the door only to discover it was locked from the outside and there wasn't a mic in the room. She knocked on the door, "Please help me. I can't get out," she yelled. She waited a few minutes but no one answered. She tried a few more times before giving up. I could be down here a long time, she thought, no one knows I'm down here. Hopefully someone will miss me. She found a crate to sit on, leaned against the bulkhead and fell asleep.

((()))

Lee met Sharkey and Riley in the aft section of "C" deck. "No luck?" Lee asked desperately.

"Sorry skipper, nothing so far," Sharkey replied.

"I'll go forward and check the storage rooms. You and Riley continue searching the bilge control room and gyro room," Lee said nervously. He checked the first of the six storage rooms and didn't find her. He worked his way through the other two on the port side before starting on the starboard side. After looking in the first one, she wasn't there. He was starting to panic as they were running out of placing to search. He tried the door on the second room and found it was locked. Unless they had cargo that needed to be secured the doors weren't supposed to be locked. Reaching into his pocket, fumbling he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. He found Janet sitting on a crate. He didn't know if she was unconscious or sleeping.

Running into the passageway Lee yelled, "Chief, get Dr. Jamieson down here right now."

"Aye, skipper." Sharkey ran to the nearest mic and call sick bay as Lee returned to the storage room with Riley right behind him. "Janet," Lee said as he knelt down next to her. "Janet," he said again as she didn't respond to him.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Lee's amber ones looking at her. "Lee," she answered as she started to get up but stopped when the room started spinning. "Sorry, just a little dizzy."

"Sweetheart, just stay seated, Jamie will be here shortly" Lee told her putting his hands on her shoulders gently pushing her back down.

"I'm okay...I just get a little dizzy if I move too fast...and I have a headache," she replied. Lee sat down next to her on the crate and she leaned against him. He was checking her over and felt the back of her head. "Ow," she said when he touched the bump.

"Sweetie, you have a pretty large bump back there. What happened and what were you doing down here?" he asked tenderly.

"I came down to check the inventory on one of the valves. I knew the count was wrong and I knew where they were located so I came down to check it out. I found the box, counted them and went to leave when the lights went out and I woke up on the floor. I know I left the door open but it was locked after I woke up. I yelled for help but..."

"You shouldn't have come down here by yourself. We have crewmen to check those things out," Lee chastised her. "Next time get a crewman to check it out or let someone know where you are going," he insisted. "We searched the whole boat for you."

"Yes sir," Janet replied guiltily. "I'm sorry."

Kissing her gently, "I'm not mad just worried when you didn't answer my call and we couldn't find you."

Jamie showed up with the admiral and Belinda in tow. Jamie went into the storage room to see Janet sitting on a crate. Before Jamie could even examine her, Lee said, "Jamie she has a nice sized bump on her head. She was a little dizzy and has a headache."

Janet looked at Lee and sighed, "I can talk for myself. I'm not dizzy anymore but I do have a headache," she admitted.

"Let's get her to sick bay and I'll check to make sure she doesn't have a concussion and then she can tell me what happened," Jamie told them as he looked directly at Lee. Lee helped his wife up from the crate and wrapped his arm around her waist as they walked to the nearest stairway. He walked behind her as she went up the stairway to sick bay making sure she wouldn't fall backwards.