A Second Chance

Admiral Harriman Nelson sat in the dark; it suited his dark mood, and the dark outcome he expected. He still couldn't believe that he had thrown everything away: Seaview… His career… Lee's friendship and the crew's respect…

Soon now, he expected to see the Navy brass beating on the Institute's gates. It surprised him a little that they hadn't come yet. They couldn't let this pass. He had shot Lee Crane and nearly killed him; he hadn't even taken responsibility for it. Instead he had claimed that a ghost had made him do it. True, of course, but the Navy wouldn't believe in ghosts. The essential facts of the case were these: Nelson had shot Lee, and then used Chip to escape the uncomfortable consequences. He had run, escaping Seaview, to go to some tiny island in the Pacific. At least, it would look that way. Oh, he would be going down, no question of that. They might not press charges, since Lee had lived, but there was no doubt at all that they would take Seaview…

Jiggs would try to help, but Nelson had no intention of letting him. He wouldn't take his friends down with him. If he had any friends left after this fiasco…

But he would have to figure out how to shield Lee and Chip: Lee, because of what he had done while possessed by Krueger, and Chip because he had himself an accessory to Nelson's own crimes. So much to do… And the hours were running away from him. It was tempting to sit here in the dark and brood, especially after that last phone call to Chip…

His lads knew him too well. He was concerned about Lee, afraid that the breach between them could never be healed. He had been agonizing over that since Lee had left. He'd thought he had hidden it well, but apparently he hadn't been as cool as he'd thought.

And yet Chip did sell himself short. The entire crew had disapproved of Nelson's relative freedom after he'd gunned down Lee, but they had followed Chip's lead. Their confidence in his leadership had overcome their new distrust for the admiral. And Chip's loyalty in the face of almost insurmountable odds had brought them safely home. Time and again, he'd shown his quality, but never so clearly as now. Yet he continued to downplay his actions and achievements and efface himself from the story, content to let others grab the glory.

Nelson snorted in bewildered contempt. It shouldn't be allowed, but he had allowed it anyway. The whole mess was his fault. He pulled the phone toward him, but didn't lift the receiver. There were calls he had to make to put things in order. The logs had been in Navy hands for almost a week. They would surely act soon, and he wouldn't be taken by surprise.

He rose and went to the window, looking out at the ethereal moon that hung in the sky. Hunter's Moon, Lee would call it, and the name wakened an echo in his mood. He certainly felt hunted right now. Turning away, he picked up the phone. Jiggs would have news, and it was important to know when the Navy would act. He had to get everything at the Institute battened down, just in case.

Jiggs and Henry-Anne were night owls. They would still be up; he dialed Jiggs' number and waited as the phone rang…

"Harry!" Jiggs's voice was almost jubilant; a far cry from the stern note he had expected to hear. "Don't worry, you'll get your logs back tomorrow. I just had to read them again." He chortled, and then yelled, "It's Harry! Who else would it be?" After a moment, he said, "Henry-Anne says hello, and invites you for supper tomorrow. Say you'll come. I have to know how on earth you manage to open a can of worms every single time you go on a cruise!"

Something wasn't right… Nelson cautiously thought out his reply. "Of course, I'll come. So… the logs passed muster?"

"They opened a few eyes, let me tell you. Crane going to be okay?" Jiggs was apparently drinking… Nelson heard the sound of him swallowing. "Captain Parker swears that it wasn't an ONI mission gone wrong. Why did Crane go ashore on that rock in the ocean anyway?"

How to answer that when he didn't know what was in the logs… And why didn't he know what was in the logs? Nelson scowled, glad that Jiggs couldn't see him. "All in good time, Jiggs. Tell Henry-Anne I'll come, if I'm not arrested tomorrow."

"Well, maybe you should be, considering the scrapes you get into, but I don't think you have to worry about that!" Jiggs called out to his wife, then said his goodbyes. Nelson stared at the phone blankly after his friend hung up.

It didn't take long to put two and two together. Someone had falsified the logs; the tale had to have been a good one to pass muster, and there was only one person who could have done it. Lee was out of commission from a gunshot wound and that mysterious illness the ghosts had brought. The admiral himself had been exhausted; getting to Lee and getting him out of a bad situation hadn't been easy and it had required almost all the strength Nelson had. No, there was only one member of the command team who could have changed those logs. Nelson closed his eyes, deep in thought. Chip, lad, what have you done?

No time to worry about what had already been done. And Nelson knew why it had been done. The question now was how to shield them all from the fallout should the lies ever be discovered. Reinvigorated, Nelson got down to work.