Story updated on: - 15/02/2011
Chapter beta read by: akiqueen

Chapter 3 (Underway)

As a new day dawned on the facility, the time had finally come to put the great plan into action. But for the crew of Deep Sea Six, the major repairs on the engines caused more problems than the engineering crew expected.

"It's just a bloody data cable, how hard is it to fix?" the chief engineer boomed through the radio set.

"It's not easy. It's tied into many systems and the cable needs to be properly installed to prevent damage from any battles!" argued the engineers, who were wedged between the outer bulkheads and the inner walls.

"Just make sure you do not rupture any of the six hydrogen fuel cells. If one blows, it will destroy everything within three miles!" the chief engineer replied before the radio cracked off.

-o-

"Why am I still stuck on this boat?" said Freeda, looking at a blank screen that would not come online until the engines were operational.

"All I want to do is get off this boat before it's stuck at the bottom of the ocean." She complained, slurring as the six red LEDs glowed in her face. She wanted off the boat more than ever; at least the Blue Sub never faltered in the middle of a battle.

"Sir, can I go back to my ship?" she exhaled to the commanding officer.

"No!" replied the commanding officer. He continued with some attitude after Freeda had repeated the same request six times. "Ask me that again and I'll throw you into the moon pool!"

Freeda followed the man's pointed finger, then after assessing the freezing cold moon pool, sank back down into her seat, biting her lip. It wasn't long until Jake arrived on the command centre and she felt the pressure rise from the constant glares the second in command gave. She could almost swear he fancied her, but she didn't have any interest what so ever.

"Any news on our progress?" asked Jake as he strolled up to his chair.

"Nothing at the moment, they are still repairing the systems and the damage done to this vessel."

Jake took the information, processed it, then calculated a formula on his computer display. But before he could continue, he remembered a message he was supposed to relay. "Freeda, you have a call," he paused before continuing. "You can take it in the wardroom over there."

The news couldn't have come at a better time. After spending all her waited hours on this huge whale of a ship – that couldn't move – she could finally go back to Blue Sub. A place she was trained for, a place she called home.

Jake pointed in the direction of the wardroom and Freeda stood up and rushed over with a spring in her step. Jake felt awkward, like he'd given candy to a girl and knew an officer should not act that way, especially someone from Blue Six.

She closed the door and placed her hat on the table, allowing her brown hair to flow down her body, adding a more feminine look to her tomboy frame.

She tapped on the Intercom unit and an image of a man appeared on the screen. With shock clearly displayed over her face, she jumped with joy.

"Freeda! Thank god you're okay, I've been looking for you! I can't believe it." Freeda broke down with happiness at the sight of her lost husband, who went missing during the Zorndyke wars. She always held hope that her Husband Nathan (Author note: - Don't know his real name, so I gave him one, if you know it tell me.) had been living in a peaceful place with her own daughter away from the war, away from the mess. Her fears could not be confirmed until she had seen some sign of him. For years her desperate search had led her astray and now he had found her.

Fighting back tears from her eyes she continued "What about Lisa?" (Author note: - Again; don't know her real name, so I gave her one, if you know it tell me.) She said, trying to discover what had happened to her daughter.

"Lisa's fine, she is with me."

"How did you locate me, and where are you?"

"We're at New London City. Our town was attacked and some people rescued us a year ago. It was only recently that your name appeared on the global database, as the Deep Sea Six updated its crew manifest."

Freeda looked around at the room, not realising that entering this vessel gave the gateway into finding her lost family. She didn't know that a mundane routine such as a security check – which the English always did – would reunite them together.

The conversation carried on for several more minutes - Freeda lost track of time - and before she knew it, Jake stomped in. Jake's sudden appearance reminded Freeda that she had only been given a few minutes and now was the time to say goodbye. But what Freeda didn't realize was that Jake had only arrived to see if she was okay.

Hastily hiding her tears, Freeda slipped passed Jake and left the room.

-o-

Jake sat down at the end of the table, in the wardroom, chewing on the end of his pen. While reading a document and enjoying the silence of the ship, a call interrupted his pleasant time.

He recognised the individual on the end of the screen and realised there was more to the mission then met the eye.

"Jake, I have more orders for you." The mission commander conveyed a look that told him to 'shut up and follow orders.' "In order for you to carry out your mission, you will need to go to New London and pick up the Ice Element, and then travel to Antarctica.

To add icing to the cake, the commander continued, "We've detected attacks from Zorndyke's forces, so you will need to get underway soon."

Jake looked at the file that was downloaded to his terminal. Typical! He thought, another long journey home and then back down to the bottom of the world.

"Are we going to have any escorts, sir?" Jake asked, wondering if Blue Six would accompany them.

"No! You're to travel at full speed to New London and come back as soon as possible. Your vessel is the fastest in the fleet, so we need you to get it immediately!"

"With all due respect sir, why isn't the element here with its counterpart?"

"The scientists managed to finish the thing a few hours ago." The commander gave the look of annoyance and prepared to turn off the communication device, but he relayed some final words. "You have your orders. Be underway as soon as you have your engines online."

"Typical!" Jake remarked, looking at his reports.

-o-

Few hours later, Jake received a message from the engineering team. "Captain, we've fixed the data line. You'll need to do a hard reboot of all your systems."

Jake replied to the notice and then headed back to the main control deck feeling a little excited; this was the moment to get his boat running again.

"Main control, hard reboot of all systems. Throw the main switch and reset," he ordered as he strolled onto the deck and took his position in the centre of the room.

With a conformation from a few men in the background, Jake stood and listened to the scuttle of people before a huge relay switch cut all the power. There was an eerie silence as every piece of electrical equipment was dead. Only a low shimmering glow from the moon pool lit up Jake's face for all too see.

"Okay, ready to switch on in: five, four, three, two, one," instructed Jake's second in command.

Jake leaned on the railing with a small sign of doubt in his mind. They'd never shut down something this big before and no one knew if the systems would come online. This boat was designed to stay on.

Like the yawning of a great awakening beast, fans began and spun up, florescent lights staggered on and computer monitors slowly sprang to life, displaying green and white writing for fifteen seconds against the eerie background.

Freeda, who finally managed to calm down after discovering her family was safe and secure, looked franticly at the six red lights, hoping for the chance to travel to New London. Her need to leave the ship disappeared after her family had talked to her; now all she wanted to do was go. She prayed for her console to activate.

The pressure and feeling became too intense; she pressed hard on the controls and prayed very hard, then suddenly six massive relays behind her on the wall all clicked on, almost making her jump. The red LED lights on her control consol all changed to green, accompanied by the spinning up of the massive turbine engines attached to the vessel.

Suddenly Freeda became startled by the holographic display that appeared in front of her, showing all the sub's systems, speed, turbine acceleration and ship's location, everything that a pilot had ever dreamed of.

Her eyes opened wide at the sight of the controls and she became over-excited. She then glanced at the speed reading and said, "WOW, THIS BOAT CAN GO 210 KNOTS!"

Jake heard the overexcited mark and intervened. "Easy there pilot, I hope you can steer this monster."

Freeda turned back around to her console and muttered, "I can steer anything!"

"Turbine number one through to six are spinning and operational sir, we have one hundred percent system activation. We are good to go," said a few people, checking and rechecking systems.

"OK, we will depart in one hour; anyone wanting to leave and return to their respective ships or the base should do so now," Jake finally announced over the intercom.

The second in command remembered Freeda's desire to leave the vessel and prompted her that this was her chance to go back to her own ship. But knowing the condition of her family, she decided to stay.

-o-

Iga, who managed to get back onboard to see Hayami, knocked on his quarter's door.

As Hayami grunted his approval, Iga could not help but notice the whole room looked different. Posters plastered all over the wall, materials skewered all over the floor as if his room was a landfill sight. It was almost like his home.

"Looks like you have been busy!" Iga began in Japanese. "Kino's decided to come onboard the Blue Six. What are you going to do?"

"I will stay here. There's something I need to do," said Hayami, mainly staying on board in hopes of finding Mutio. He knew that she was onboard, however he did not know what to do when he found her. Knowing Kino would be on Blue Six and out of his way offered him some peace of mind.

"Hayami. Kino has told me about you fascination with one of Zorndyke's creatures. We know she saved your life and has been on your mind a lot, but take it from me, it's a bad idea. You should leave her alone," said Iga, moving closer to the messy looking Hayami lounging around on his bed.

"Captain, it's something I have to do. We'll meet with Blue Six in a few days, I will be okay." Hayami made sure that his tone had a hint of annoyance and a clear signal that he had overstayed his welcome.

Still, both men carried on talking for a few more minutes until Iga finally got the message and left. The lone individual carried on moping in his quarters, trying to organise his mind while the crew prepared to depart.