Seaview had been on her way for the last two days and was steadily gliding closer to her destination. Everything was running smoothly and efficiently but the climate amongst the crew was cold. It lacked the friendly banter and warmth that radiated from the Captain and XO.
The Lt. Cmdr was standing next to the plotting table making the final adjustments to the next stretch of their course when the patter of footsteps moving down the spiral staircase alerted him the Crane's presence.
Lee surveyed the control room and proceeded over to Davenport.
"I'll take over the watch now, you can go," order Crane.
Lyndon causally glanced at his watch, "I still have fifteen minutes," he paused for a moment then added an insubordinate, "sir."
The pair stared each other down for a moment before Davenport rolled his eyes and dropped the pencil down onto the plotting table. The crew quickly turned back to their instruments when Crane turned to look around the control room. O'Brien swiftly came forward from retrieving a message from Sparks. The Lieutenant handed the message to the Captain who glanced at it then ordered Sharkey to take it up to the Admiral.
"Mr. O'Brien, bring us around to course zero-one-six," order Lee as he moved closer to the map.
Lyndon had just reached the top stair when the order was issued and promptly turned and ran back down the stairs.
"Belay that order," shouted Davenport as he reached the control room floor.
The crew froze in place at the new order and Crane's head shot up.
"Carry on Mr. O'Brien," shouted Lee.
"Disregard that order Lieutenant," commanded the exec, who then turned towards the skipper and growled out, "can I have a word with you Captain."
Lee didn't know why his first reaction was always anger when it came to the newest addition to his crew; the fact that the man was trying to countermand his order grated on his last nerve. Crane knew if it was anyone else he would take the moment to hear them out, but he just couldn't help himself.
"Mr. Davenport on this boat I give the orders and I will not have you countermand my authority. Now you are dismissed; Mr. O'Brien, carry on."
"But Captain. . ." the protest died on the exec's lips as the sound of proximity alarms echoed through the sub.
Davenport began issuing orders for the sub to alter course away from the nearby rock formation just as Nelson came rushing into the control room.
"What the devil is going on here," demanded Nelson looking at his two most senior officers.
Crane looked at Davenport and then back at Nelson. He was about to speak when Lyndon beat him to the punch.
"My fault sir. I failed to remind the Captain about the new rock formations in this area due to the recent seismic activity as discussed in out meeting sir," barked out the young man.
Nelson glanced towards Crane who was looking rather pale at that moment.
"Is this true Captain?"
Again before Crane could utter a syllable Davenport beat him to it.
"Yes sir. The Captain gave an order based on faulty information; if I had informed him of the changed this incident would never have occurred."
"Very well. Mr. Davenport, to my cabin on the double. Captain I want to see you there in thirty minutes," ordered the Admiral who turned and left with the exec in tow.
Lee rubbed his hands over his face. How could he forget an important piece of information from the mission brief like that? More importantly why would Davenport cover for him when he had gone out of his way to be difficult for the new exec? Lee wasn't about to stand there and let him face the Admiral's wrath for something that wasn't his fault. Crane had made another miscalculation; when had that start to become a common occurrence?
"Mr. O'Brien take the conn," commanded Crane as he headed towards Nelson's cabin.
"What was all that about?" asked Sharkey who had also came down when the Admiral had.
O'Brien shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea Chief."
"Care to explain what happened?" asked Nelson as he looked over the damage list.
The incident had been minor. Another close call for Seaview; the concern was that it occurred at the command crew's hand. The situation could have been a lot worse but the Admiral felt deep down that it had been coming for a while. Crane was all about getting the job done, but lately he had been obsessed with finding Chip. Nelson couldn't blame or fault Lee for his devotion to his friend, but the Captain had a habit of becoming so singularly focused on his task that everything else seemed to cease to exist; including his attention to his health and personal danger.
Lighting his cigarette, Nelson knew what had transpired in the control room before he even asked the Lieutenant Commander. It wasn't hard to imagine. So far the older man was impressed with the exec's summation; he could have just as easily told his CO what had really transpired instead of taking the blame.
"I told you sir, I failed to inform . . ." started Davenport.
The Admiral raised a hand and stopped the younger man from continuing his speech.
"Cut the crap Commander," Nelson paused as Crane entered the room and stood by his exec, "I want to know the exact scenario of how this happened and I don't want the noble 'fall on my sword' approach."
"Captain Crane decided we should attempt to test the structural integrity of the outer haul; apparently he didn't like the paint job, sir," shot the young man.
"So Captain Crane ordered a course correction without taking in to consideration the information discussed at out earlier meeting."
Lee felt compelled to answer the rhetorical question, "yes, Admiral."
"And you took responsibility because . . . ?" led Nelson as he shifted his gaze towards Lyndon.
Answering the Institute founder's question, Davenport turned his gaze towards Lee. "It's very clear that the Captain has zero faith in me. It's my job to look after this crew. I feel it's important for the crew to have faith in at least one of their commanding officers, so I will maintain that trust even if it means projecting an illusion."
"Alright Davenport, you are dismissed. You and Crane can work out whatever this is when we get back to Santa Barbara and you're both painting the hull. Now let's get focused on the mission at hand."
Lyndon turned and left the room before Crane could say anything. As soon as the door was shut the Admiral continued his speech.
"A mission that I will not hesitate to bench you from Lee if I feel you are not able to focus and be objective."
"I can handle the mission sir," grumbled the disgruntled Captain.
"Today's demonstration would prove otherwise; if it happens again I will relieve you of command. You're not going to do anyone any good if you get us or yourself killed on this quest. Either get it together or fall apart but this, whatever this is, is not working."
He knew the Admiral was angry and had every right to be but Lee just couldn't bring himself to care. All of this was just a distraction from his objective: bring Chip home. There were no other options or possibilities in his world. Nothing was right anyways; the whole routine and feel of the sub was off.
Crane nodded at the appropriate places in his friend's speech but he wasn't really listening; he kept running over the situation from when they first accepted the mission with Base 21 to the email from Chip. No one else that mattered to him was going to get hurt because of him; Lee was going to finish this alone.
Nelson had insisted that the Captain take his new XO and two additional crewmen. He planned on taking Sharkey and Patterson; they both obeyed his orders to the letter. If he ordered them to stay with FS1 that would just leave him and Davenport to find the location. Ditching the exec shouldn't be a problem and then Lee would be free to do what he needed to do without worrying about anyone getting hurt in the crossfire.
Crane didn't know when he changed or what changed in him but he knew he wasn't the same person he was before Chip died; no, Chip wasn't dead, somehow he had survived and was depending on Lee to rescue him. The Skipper decided he could pretend to be his old self for a few more days; keep it together and pretend everything is the way it used to be.
Sharkey and Pat were busy getting FS1 ready and Davenport was gathering some last minute items. Nelson decided now was a good time to have a heart to heart with his friend. The two stood in the observation nose staring out at the ocean.
"Lee I need to know you're not going to do anything stupid out there. I need the calm, capable, collected Crane that commanded this sub before all this started. I need the ONI agent that's good under pressure and can see danger before it arrives. I need to know I'm not going to lose another friend."
"Don't worry Admiral I have everything under control now. I know exactly how to play this."
The yellow sub approached the shoreline. The Captain decided not to fly directly to the coordinates as not to alert anyone of their presence; instead he would leave FS1 submerged just off of the shore and walk through the jungle to their destination.
The submersible surfaced and Crane climbed into the raft. Davenport handed him the backpacks and followed him on to the raft.
"I want you and Patterson to wait here."
"But Captain don't you think it would be better if we came along? I mean the Admiral did say we were to accompany you," questioned Sharkey.
"If something goes wrong I'll need you here to contact Seaview. If we don't contact you in twenty-four hours I want you to head back to the sub."
"If you think that's best sir," answered Patterson.
Davenport just rolled his eyes at Crane's plan and 'justification'. The action did not go unnoticed by Lee.
"Do you have a problem Mr. Davenport?"
"Now why would I have a problem with a plan like that? I would never question the infinite wisdom of our captain."
The two locked eyes; neither one wanting to concede to the other. Crane had a feeling his new exec was on to his plan to ditch the crew to take on this adversary and Lyndon knew the Captain was planning on ditching everyone to go off on his own personal vendetta. Lee finally threw an oar at Davenport and ordered him to row. He would deal with the insubordination later; right now there were more pressing matters.