Don't own Chuck
Chuck remotely accessed the Captain's computer then immediately set to work. The first thing he did was turn on the webcam to look around the room then activated the mic to listen from. After that he really got down to business incriminating the Captain. He wrote false e-mails from the Captain to different shipyards inquiring about the costs of different mega yachts and their delivery dates. He accessed the web browser then clicked on different companies that specialized in marine customizing for yachts. Chuck even printed out fake price quotes with different line items for the Captain's new yacht. He finished just in time as the two men the First Mate sent came in.
"Shush, we need to hurry and get out of here," said the one man. "Just remember to keep down the noise we don't want to get caught."
"Keep down the noise? What are you talking about we're the only ones in here. I'll check his computer out while you look through his desk and papers. Look for anything that we can take back to the First Mate."
"Boy this didn't take long. Look what I've got," said the one man as he took the papers off the printer. "It looks like the old man's looking for some price quotes to upgrade for a yacht and for the looks it sounds like he's in the market. Where's that money coming from?"
"Geez I've got something to go along with that look at this. It looks like someone's been yacht shopping on Craig's list," said the man at the Captain's computer as he went through the web browser history. "Check out the prices on these."
"I wonder which one the Old Man's thinking about buying?" said the man at the keyboard as he started looking through e-mails.
"Not thinking about but bought. Look at this I've got a copy of a bill of sale. It looks like the Skipper put a down payment on one. The name is being withheld but here is a receipt from a ship broker."
"I've got something here too there's an e-mail the Captain sent to that Arab guy requesting full payment as soon as we return to port after the auction. He says he's going to come to collect his money while he sends us to anchor off Catalina. You grab those papers while I print off this mail then we need to get this to the First Mate straight away."
"What do you think he's going to do," asked the man as he folded papers and shoved them into the pockets of his coveralls.
"I don't know but whatever he does he needs to be careful… We need to be careful. Have you noticed some of our passengers look like their photos ought to be posted in post office? The wrong word to one of them and we'll be fighting them off too. No we need to be careful and hit them when they're not expecting it."
[Down in Sickbay]
"I hate to tell you but you're going to need a couple of stitches," said the Ship's Doctor. "Is something going on I need to know about you and the First Mate are acting strange."
"Ouch! Can you watch what you're doing? What do you mean there's something going on and we're acting strange?" asked the Captain as the Doc started to stitch him up.
"Just hold still and it won't hurt so much. I don't know I saw you and the First Mate together and you two barely exchanged words. Not that either of you have every really been loquacious but there was something else going on that I can't put my finger on."
"There's nothing there for you to be concerned about just keep handing out aspirins and everyone will be happy. You know what they say happened to the cat that got too curious? You should keep that in mind."
"But the cat isn't the one people turn to when they fall down the ladder and bust their head," said the Doctor as he cut off the end of the suture. "There you go I'd say good as new but that would mean it was functioning properly before this."
"Funny Doc we should have a comedy night with you onboard. And I didn't fall down the ladder; I fell up because the lights went out. The First Mate promised me an answer about what happened while I was here but there's no sign of him."
"Well he's busy he might've gotten sidetracked with something else," said the Doc as he handed the Captain some aspirin for his headache. The Captain looked at them then at the Doc. "Well you were the one who told me to keep handing out Aspirin so take two and call me in the morning if the pain gets worse or you have trouble with your eyesight."
"If the First Mate comes by you can tell him I went back up to my cabin and called it a night," said the Old Man as he took his Aspirin then left. He was almost there when he passed two engineers in coveralls walking in the passageway outside.
"Hold up there you two, are you guys lost," asked the Captain. They looked at each other then shook their heads. "You two are a long ways from your work space. What are you doing up here?"
"No… I mean yes we are. Well it's… we just went up on the bridge to… to get a breath of fresh air. The weather decks are secured because of heavy seas and the air below is so stuffy you can hardly breathe so…"
"That may be but you can't just go wandering around the ship dressed in dingy coveralls. And you shouldn't go up on the bridge; the guys up there on watch can't be distracted by people coming up to shoot the breeze."
"No sir you're right and it won't happen again," said the one then they quickly scurried away. The Captain stood there looking at them as they disappeared something here just wasn't right. The Captain decided to go investigate and he knew where to start. He continued on up on the bridge then went back into the security office where two men sat monitoring all the activities on shipboard through CCTV.
"Captain," said the one. "What are you doing up here? I… we thought you'd be down with the First Mate. He didn't call you about the incident?"
"Call me about what incident?" said the Captain as he went over to look at what they were watching on the monitors.
"The First Mate took a group of men down to talk to him," said the security man as he pointed at a man on the screen. "He was caught wandering down below where the General and her man are being held. We notified the First Mate but he told us he'd notify you."
"He did, did he? Well he probably decided to handle it on his own. I don't think our man was wandering around down below but snooping around more likely. So you say he was caught in the hold with the General do we know why he was there? Did he try to free her?"
"No from here it seemed as if they just talked. He never touched the cage but we don't know what they talked about because we don't have audio in there just video."
"Isn't that convenient," said the Captain as he watched his First Mate escort the man back to his cabin then saw him inside.
"What did you say Sir," asked the man. But he didn't have time to listen to the reply because the cameras started going on the fritz. They went on and off then some of the cameras went out and never came back on.
"What's going on," asked the Captain as both me started throwing switches and typing command lines in their keyboards. There was a huge spark that arched out of the back of the console with a strong smell of burnt plastic then the whole system went dark or their monitors at least when dark.
"Crap that had to be a rolling power spike and it just fried out our system. I'm going to have a nice talk with someone down in engineering. Sir, I'm afraid our cameras are dead until we get back in port."
"There's nothing you can do? I don't know a temporary fix or maybe get part of them back on line," asked the Captain. This wasn't good news with everything that was going down now.
"Sorry Sir we're going to have to replace the cameras and verify the system integrity which is going to take time. We could rig up something with fewer cameras but it would require us going out on the weather decks to run cable…"
"Good make it happen," said the Captain. "We need this up and if that means going out in foul weather so be it. Keep me posted and let me know when this is done. Get people up from their racks and get started right away. There'll be time for sleeping afterwards."
The Captain turned and left without giving the men time to point out how dangerous it was to be out in weather like this. But he didn't care he had an idea that his First Mate was in collusion with their guest, Hamid. Somehow they decided that a two way split was better than a three and he was the odd man out.
"Bridge officer, I'll be in my cabin if you need me for the night," said he Captain as he walked back out through the bridge. "Oh and keep the tourists off the bridge. Only bridge personnel should be up here."
"Yes Sir, but that's the way it's always been," said the watch officer as he looked back at the Captain. "Sir no one's been up here except the watch standers and myself."
"No one?... Of course no one. I was just saying that to underline our protocol no one should come up here and bother you or distract you from your work. Well, I'll be in my cabin," said the Captain then he left the bridge.
"So if you weren't where you said you were where were you," said the Captain as he walked into his cabin. He heard his computer beep so he went over to find it on.
"Who turned you on," he said as he woke up the computer and refreshed the video. He started looking around but nothing was changed except as he looked closer something wasn't right.
"Hey how'd you get over there," said the Captain picking up a jade turtle off his desk. A souvenir from when he became a shellback. "You were in the desk drawer. Some one's been sleeping in my bed and there were two of them."
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Chuck watched everything evolve from Castle smiling. He mirrored the Captain's hard drive before he made his modifications then formatted it reloading the mirrored version after he was done. He'd picked up on the fact that the General had been the one to sow the seeds of dissension. He'd just watered them and now he had to work a little on both parties then the plant would be ready to bloom. But while he was doing that Sarah was stuck with family duties.
She drove Devon and Clara to the hospital then she and Sam took them up to the quarantine ward. It was late at night but the hospital never slept and so when they walked in through the atrium Devon met people who remembered him and wanted to talk. But he kept up the march towards the elevator with a promise to sit down later. They rode up and as soon as the doors opened Clara and Sam ran down to the glass partition.
"I don't know how you two can do it," said Devon as he walked down with Sarah. "How you can risk your family like you guys do?"
"We don't risk our family. I've never put Sam in harm's way at least not intentionally nor will Chuck. Nor will I risk with Walnut when she's born. However, Devon if you can sleep at night in the comfort of your nice life where you have no concerns other than do I go with whole milk or partially skimmed it's because of people like Chuck who lay it on the line every day. Now go talk to Ellie." Devon went over to the glass wall where Sam had already moved a chair over for Clara. Clara was standing in it talking to Ellie when Devon walked up behind her.
"Hey hun, how's everything in the fish bowel," said Devon. "We got here as soon as we could with a small hiccup in Chicago."
"I heard," said Ellie as she laughed a little. "I'm sorry but it is funny. I tried to call you but every time I did it went to voice mail. You need to keep your phone on in these emergencies…"
"I did just I forgot to charge it. Sorry but my battery died on the way here. Hey, I'm going to suit up and come inside to help. It looks like you could use a couple more hands."
"The others who were infected are not coming around as fast as I did because I halved the dosage to avoid unwanted side effects like cardiac arrest."
"That would probably be nice to avoid but that's why you need a cardiologist on your team. I'm on my way in," said Devon. "Sarah, can you take care of Clara tonight?"
"Clara can sleep with me," said Sam. "I can tell you about a new friend of mine Samaa. I think you would've liked her but she's gone now with her parents. They went into witness protection or something like that. Mommy rescued her Dad and Uncle Casey her Mommy. Somehow in all that Chuck got sick then he was here. Hey where's Chuck at? He was here this morning."
"You're father had to go do some work. When we get home we can call him at Castle and see how he's doing."
"You can see him if you want," said Ellie. "I got Chuck labs back during the day. He's now virus free so there's no reason you can't go to see him."
"You hear that girls. Let's go get some pizzas and swing by the Buy More."
"I was thinking we could go by Alibaba's and get some pacha for dinner," said Sam with a little smile. "Wouldn't that be good for the tummy? Maybe we could get a takeout for Uncle Devon and Aunt Ellie."
"I'll get it for you, Miss Mischief, but you're going to have to eat it and when I say eat it I mean all of it. That includes the eyeballs, tongue and brains," said Sarah as everyone made disgusting faces standing around her.
"What? It's only goat's head. In some places around the world it is considered fine dining. Just not here but I think pizzas will be fine."
"I thought you might feel that way. Now say goodbye and let's go," said Sarah as she took the two girls by the hands then led them away.
"Hun I should order takeaway before I come inside. You wouldn't happen to have the number to Alibaba's. Thinking about that goat's head has made me hungry.
"You're going to have to put up with cafeteria food when you go out. Now suit up and get in here. I want you to hold me."
"Isn't that about the same thing?"
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Hamid was another one who was getting very little sleep. He retired to do evening prayer but before he could begin the Corsicans were knocking at his door. He put off his obligations to talk with them. Opening the door he invited them inside and to have a seat. Leading the group was Jacque La Gauche infamous Corsican separatist.
"Bonne Soirée mon ami," said Jacque as he walked in with two bodyguards. "I'm sorry to bother you as you're about to pray. But I promise to be brief and to the point. You see my friend I absolutely have to get at least one canister or I can't return home. I will... how you say lose the face and we wouldn't want that."
"I cannot interfere in the auction process," said Hamid. Jacques two bodyguards got on both sides of him to intimidate him but Hamid shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I wasn't clear I guess what I mean is I couldn't even if I wanted to. You see the canisters were transported onboard this ship and the First Mate and Captain hid them. I have no idea where they are."
"So if I was willing to offer you say five million for one canister under the table. What would your answer be to that?"
"Thank you but you're going to have to bid on them like everyone else. The canisters aren't in my possession to give away but if you want to bid the five million more power to you. However, after the auction I will have all the canisters so give to the groups that won them in the bid but if the people in a group weren't able to pick up their product. The prize would go to the man who puts money in my hand."
"I hear what you're saying but that wasn't how the New IRA received their canister now is it. I heard they paid you what I'm offering and you jumped on it. I hope you're not playing favorites it might not be healthy."
"I sold the IRA a small canister because we had a common enemy they wanted to eliminate. I needed their money to finance all this but if you're chatting with your IRA friends you have to know that MI6 intercepted delivery so they paid for nothing."
"Okay I heard that too… Very well then I'll see you after the auction to pick up my canister. Just make sure it's ready for use," said Jacque as he got up then left. On the way down the passageway he passed the German Baader-meinhoff group and people from the Chinese Triad.
"If you're going to try and strong arm him into giving you a canister it won't work so you might as well wait until tomorrow. We could all get together now and agree how much we're willing to spend then divide the canisters up equally so not one goes home empty handed."
"And I say every dog for himself," said Wolfgang from the Germans. "Why should I share with low life scum such as yourselves? You have no vision, no plan you just run around like common thugs. If I ask you where you see yourselves in five years what would you tell me? Working the salad bar at Ponderosa or dead? I'm not saying it's wrong living in the moment but to be a successful terrorist in the 21st century you need a mission statement and an action plan until you've got that you're just spinning your tires."
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Casey had just gotten back and ducked into their bedroom when there was knock at the door. Morgan and Alex looked at John then went out to see who it was. Standing in the common room in his nightshirt was Ettore with a book in hand and reading glasses on.
"What? Can't a person do a little reading to pass the time? Will one of you catch the door I'd like to get back to my Danielle Steel novel? I was just getting to the juicy parts.
"Right," said Morgan as he went to the door. Opening it he found the First Mate with a group of men and Paolo.
"Shorty, Danielle is going to have to wait. There's a man at the door for you," said Morgan as he and Alex sat on the sofa listening to what was going on.
"We found your man lost in the cargo space of the ship so we thought we'd help him find his way home. You might tell your other man when he gets back that wandering around the ship at night can be dangerous. You should stick to the decks designated for passengers..."
"Did someone mention my name," said Casey as he walked out of their berthing space dressed in a nightshirt. I do sometimes go wandering about but I try to stay to the passenger deck…"
"John, you aren't smoking those disgusting cigars again are you. You know I told you that you needed to give them up. They're not good for your health."
"I've only smoked one or two since we've arrived. They calm me down and give me the peace of mind I need to do this job Mr. La Barba."
"If you want to continue in my service then you need to learn how to take orders," said Morgan. "We'll talk about this later. I'm sorry if we're making you waste your time listening to us bicker. Thank you for bringing my brother's man home and have a good evening," said Morgan as he got up off the sofa and walked to the door then slammed it in the First Mate's face. If he didn't have to find out information for the Captain he would've handled the situation differently but he dropped it then went away.
[Back inside]
Ettore was about to ask Paolo what he found out but Paolo held up his hand. Then he got up close to Casey.
"I know where they're holding your General. If you share your Intel with us I'll tell you where she is. You show me yours and I'll show you mine."
"Sorry Charlie but so far all you've proven is that you know how to get yourself caught," said Casey. Paolo was about to tell him his name was Paolo not Charlie when Casey drew a dart pistol and put both Ettore and Paolo to sleep or so he thought.
"Chuck can you read me," said Casey into his watch then touched his ear and listened. "Hold I'm going to put everyone else on the horn."