The group moved through the jungle single file; Crane and Davenport were in the middle following Lao. It was a day's trek but eventually the dense foliage parted to reveal the stone mansion by the lake. It seemed out of place against the green backdrop, like a piece of history fell into the jungle.

The place stood silent against the active jungle full of life. The hope of finding Chip and those responsible was slowly fading away. There were no guards or any indication of security measures that would normally be associated with someone running illegal operations and kidnapping. Lao's scout returned and gave his report to his commander.

Lyndon translated for Lee, "He said the place is completely empty. Everyone`s gone and anything of value has been removed or destroyed."

Crane started walking towards the house with a determined look on his face. He couldn't have come all this way for nothing; for it all to be a ruse. Davenport followed behind him as he entered the home. The scout had been right, the place had been deserted; basic furniture was left, but the lab had been smashed and most of the devices removed. This had been the right spot, but when did they leave?

Crane continued to search the place; if Chip had really been here surely he would have left some clue for him to follow? There had to be some sign that Morton had once occupied this place. He wandered down a long corridor which led to another one full of small rooms; Lee tried the handles and found them to be unlocked. The sight in the third room had him stop dead in his tracks. Hanging above a cot in the corner of the tiny dark room was a note taped to a set of dog tags.

A part of Lee knew who's they belonged to, but he found himself drawn to them. His suspicion was confirmed as he turned the silver tags over in his hand and read Chip's name. He grabbed the note with the other hand; as he read it, he gripped the tags tighter and tighter.

Captain Crane;

Ghosts tell no tales.

You're running out of friends and time.

Sincerely,

Your biggest fan

The last thing Lee remembered was crumpling the note and stuffing it into his pocket; the next time he became aware of anything he was laying on his bunk in his cabin aboard Seaview. He knew he had walked back to FS1 under his own power with Davenport guiding him the whole way; but after reading the note he just shut down. Upon arriving back aboard the sub he knew Jamie had been concerned and so was the Admiral; but if you'd asked Lee anything specific about the last few days he couldn't tell you a single thing.

Crane opened his eyes and took in a deep breath; Nelson cleared his throat and Lee glanced towards his desk. The older man had stayed by the Captain's side for the majority of the two days since the away party had returned; he was leaning back in the desk chair filling out reports when Lee woke up.

"He's really dead isn't he?" asked Crane in a hushed whisper.

Nelson had wanted nothing more than to have his former exec return with the skipper. It took all of three seconds to figure out the mission hadn't been successful by the state Crane was in when he arrived. Jamie had been extremely concerned, and Nelson had had to explain the whole situation to the doctor. Jamie had taken the news hard himself. The Admiral wasn't sure what to say to make this situation any better. All of his scientific endeavours and inventions and not a single one could bring back their friend.

"I don't know Lee; my head says yes but I'd like to believe he's still alive. We pulled finger prints off the bottle of wine and glasses you brought back. ONI is going to let us know if they get a match."

"What bottle of wine and glasses?"

"It appears your XO is very good at thinking on his feet; he brought back two glasses and a very old and expensive bottle of wine that was covered with finger prints. I had Madden scan the prints and send them to ONI. Hopefully the prints, the name Kozlov and the connection to a Russian spy working for the People's Republic will turn up something. This man can't hide forever."

"That's what I'm afraid of; every time he shows up someone dies. It would be different if he came after me but taking out everyone around me makes it impossible to protect the people I care about. I can't even focus on my job anymore I'm so fixated on revenge and trying to save Chip that I . . ." Lee paused as he thought about his last statement; was there really a Chip to save?

Nelson stood up and patted Crane on the knee, "get some rest; we'll plan our next move when we make port." He left his friends cabin and returned to his own.

The Admiral reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and flicked his lighter; no flame appeared. He tried again but the results were the same. He grabbed a hold of the lighter and threw it across his cabin with all his might; the pack of cigarettes followed. Nelson put his head in his hands; he wouldn't cry, he never allowed himself to cry. He had been stead fast in his belief that he shouldn't get his hopes up about Chip being alive, but in the last few days Lee's enthusiasm had been contagious and he'd dared to believe it was possible.

All the weeks of stress and holding it together came flooding out of him as he dragged his arm across his desk sending all the items upon it scattering across the floor of his cabin. The Admiral had been breathing down ONI's neck for weeks for something, anything to help catch this person that had taken the lives of Morton and Archer and attacked Riley, Jamieson and Ryan. Most importantly he had to stop what this man was doing to his friend and the Captain of his sub.

Things were quiet around NIMR except when Nelson was walking about; office staff members had made the comparison to a hurricane. Since Seaview had returned to port the temperament of the crew had changed; especially Nelson and Crane. Lee was very quiet and was either in his office or the Admiral's. Nelson vented his anger on anyone who had the misfortune of crossing his path. Ryan felt bad for Jack Morton as she put him through to the Admiral; she had no idea how the phone call went but it did nothing for the Admiral's temperament.

Without using the intercom Nelson bellowed from in his office, "Ryan I want you to get Crane and bring him here."

Ryan wasted no time in carrying out his orders and rushed to Lee's office to retrieve the Captain; a few moments later she returned with a demoralized skipper in tow.

"I just got off the phone with Jack Morton; apparently someone's been calling the house and harassing them. They have been getting calls at all hour of the night for the last two weeks with someone taunting them about Chip. I also spoke to Tyler and Michelle O'Brien this morning, and she received written threats while we were gone. I've sent the letters out to be analyzed but I don't believe we'll find anything on the letters."

Nelson could see the new information weighing on the Captain and thought it was time to share some more positive news.

"Lola gave me the report from ONI. They pulled two sets of prints off of the glasses, after eliminating Davenport's of course."

Lee stared at the Admiral; not sure if he could handle another disappointment and dead end.

"One set had several matches to other cases but no identification has ever been made. The other glass had Chip's figure prints on it; so we can now conclude that Chip was there at one point and with that communication two weeks ago I'm willing to speculate that he is indeed alive and being held by our mystery friend."

"He could have just as easily killed him at any point since the bombing of Base 21."

"I've been thinking about that Lee; if he did kill Chip there would be a body. It seems our enemy's biggest goal is to make you suffer; if he did kill Chip he would produce a body. No, he has some plan for Mr. Morton and we have to figure out what that is before he executes it."

"What about the bottle?"

"The prints are hard to read. They are working on a program to try and reconstruct them, but right now there isn't enough detail present to get any kind of match. They assured me they should have something in the next few weeks. Now the name Kozlov is a common Russian name and can be connected to several agents, but they only found one that supposedly had two sons. The good news is he defected to our side; the bad news is he's eight-six and not in the best mental state."

"But we know where he is and can talk to him?" A tiny seed of hope was starting to take root again. If this man was connected to this faceless enemy, then for once they would have the advantage and someone their foe cared about within their reach.

"At the moment he's ill and highly medicated. Lola has talked to his physician and he's agreed to decrease his meds and allow you to talk to him at the end of the week. I've cleared you to take FS1 and head to New York on Friday. Lola will meet you at the harbour and take you to the retirement home."