Admiral Nelson sat in silence, watching his young officers. Years of ONI training had taught Lee Crane to be still; the kind of stillness that intimidated without sound, that kept all feelings tamed to the mind, that insured that no one noticed him when he needed to be unnoticed. He was completely under control, seated almost nonchalantly in his chair, watching his XO pace an arc back and forth across the deck of Nelson's cabin.
Chip Morton's perfect poker face didn't let anyone know his thoughts, but fury was evident in all that restless energy that drove him back and forth across the floor like a caged tiger. They knew for certain now that someone or something had gained entry to the boat. Whoever or whatever it was, it had left three crewmen in Sick Bay, one of them just barely clinging to life. The command team was steaming; that was why Chip paced restlessly, wearing that arc in the deck plating. Lee was every bit as angry as Chip, but far more successful at keeping himself still and relaxed, giving him more time to think about what needed to be done.
Not that Chip wasn't thinking as he paced. That methodical, mathematical mind never stopped working. He had been down to Sick Bay to question the two victims who could actually answer him. Nelson knew he had a report to make, and waited patiently, knowing the XO was turning the answers over and over in his mind, trying to make sense of them. "Pat didn't see anything but shadows. Briggs thought it was female. Ski was in no condition to say anything at all." He turned savagely on his heel and paced back toward the door. At this rate, he would wear a hole in the deck plating. "Sharkey and I went over that storeroom with a fine-tooth comb, and found nothing."
Not exactly true. They'd found a good bit of blood, though not enough to explain the amount of blood lost by three crewmen in that room. That was possibly a clue in the case; it seemed to Nelson that the fact that there was too little of it was somehow integral to the mystery. "You found a good deal," he corrected his XO, pausing to consider what they knew before he put his thoughts into words.
They knew that something had attacked the three crewmen in that storeroom. Therefore, something had been in there that didn't belong, but less than fifteen minutes later – and with no obvious opportunity for the attacker to escape - Chip and Sharkey had found nothing. Nelson knew that they had torn that storeroom apart; Chip would have seen to it that the search was thorough and methodical, and the COB would have done anything that would help find who had turned his three crewmen into something resembling sushi…
If it hadn't been for Pat's quick thinking, they might have all died in that tiny space. Ski had taken the brunt of the attack, and they were all on pins and needles, awaiting Will's judgment on whether or not he would survive. Most of the blood in the storeroom had been his, and his shoulder looked like it had been savaged by some wild beast.
Briggs was the second victim. His throat had been practically ripped open, and he had sustained significant blood loss as well, but Pat, blinded by shadows, had latched onto Briggs and dragged him clear, then had gone back for Ski.
Going back had cost him; the gashes in his arms – flung up to defend himself from something he couldn't even see – had taken forty-eight and thirty-nine stitches respectively. He, too, had lost blood, but mostly he was shaken up by the encounter, ashamed of the fact that he could offer no help toward finding and identifying the assailant.
He had nothing to be ashamed of; they were all agreed on that. His actions had saved two other crew members. Once he'd dragged them into the hall, he'd immediately notified Will and Lee, and within ten minutes, all three were in Sick Bay, receiving blood transfusions, and Chip was sweeping through that storeroom like a hurricane, looking for anything he could lash out at. Failure to find the assailant had only whipped his anger up more, so that he paced back and forth here in the admiral's cabin, wearing away the deck plating, as they waited for the admiral to speak.
"Nothing that didn't belong!" Chip flung the words back, his voice causing the temperature in the room to plummet. "What the hell good does that do us? She was there, and then she wasn't… How she escaped when that hallway was full of men within seconds of Pat's SOS, I can't figure out…" He took a deep breath, visibly attempting to calm himself. "But she did escape, which means she's somewhere aboard this boat, and I have no idea where!" His face tightened as he swung around at the top of his arc and started toward the door again, moving faster as his agitation increased.
Nelson could tell when Lee decided that he needed to take a hand. The captain's eyes flicked toward Nelson, then Lee rose from his chair, stepping into his XO's path, forcing him to stop short. "We did everything we could. It is not your fault or mine that Ski and Briggs are confined to Sick Bay in critical condition." He said the words very calmly in a voice that was soft enough that his friend would have to strain to hear. This was where he had an advantage over Nelson, who was typically inclined to let his anger rule him. He had to work hard to keep his temper from rising in response to Chip's own. The last thing they needed was for him to chew on his XO as he had too often done in the past. He was trying to mend his ways, but sometimes it was hard. He knew exactly how Chip felt…
They could both use Lee's cool head in this crisis. Quick thinking abounded on this boat, but a cool head and calming words were in short supply. Lee used the techniques he had learned to cool the head and ease the temper to good effect. "We don't have any leads just yet. There's nothing we can do at the moment."
"I know that." Realizing that the sharpness of the words sounded cruelly insubordinate, Chip immediately backed away and raised his hands placatingly. "I hear what you're saying, but…"
But it tore him up to have to sit and wait; Nelson knew exactly how he felt. But he was unable to suppress the urge to bark. "None of us like it! But until we have something else to go on, there's nothing we can do!" He snarled reflexively, then tried to tone down his words. "Have you doubled the watch and seen to security in all sections?
"Aye, sir." The words were quick; Chip would have taken care of that immediately, probably had done it within five minutes of being called to the scene of the crime. And Lee wouldn't have bothered to request the arrangement, knowing that his XO would have seen to it. They were a great team because each could so easily read the other's mind.
Finally taming the restless energy that was driving him, Chip drew in a shuddering breath, and dropped into a chair, forcing himself to settle. His face was inscrutable as ever, but Nelson was learning to see what lay behind the façade. It took effort, and he would probably never master it, but there were times when he could clearly see what was going on in those icily intense eyes. Right now, it was concern; the XO was struggling to put his thoughts into some semblance of order. Something more was bothering Chip, and if it was having this kind of impact, Nelson thought he knew what it was.
Chip was an extraordinarily good reader of situations, and his intuition was invaluable but he was also highly skeptical. That skepticism was often his most valuable asset, but in this situation, where even Nelson's own scientific mind was struggling, skepticism would simply interfere with finding a solution.
On the other hand, if Chip could find a practical reason for what was happening aboard this boat, it would be as well to hear it, and see how well it fit the facts. Occam's Razor wasn't helping Nelson much right now… He would be willing to entertain any logical solution that would fit all the facts. He just wasn't certain there was a logical solution…
He waited patiently for several minutes, but it was Lee who prompted gently, "There's something else, isn't there?"
The words came slowly, almost hesitantly. "It just doesn't make sense from any angle…" He looked up and met Lee's eyes, his own mirroring the confusion of his thoughts. "The assault was brutal, and evidently took time, yet Pat saw nothing, and Briggs could only speculate that the assailant was female…" He paused, clearly mulling it over and not liking the conclusions he was drawing. "And where did the blood go? The amount we found wasn't anything like enough to explain either Ski's condition or Briggs'." He splayed his fingers in frustration. "So we have an assailant no one saw, shedding blood we can't find… It doesn't make sense!"
Nelson had to agree with him. Kowalski wouldn't have walked into a situation that was clearly dangerous. Yet he'd walked into that storeroom without a thought, without even a weapon… Patterson had cut his teeth on a camera, and his passion for photography had sharpened his observation skills. He had the quickest eyes on the boat. How could he have missed the person or thing who had slashed his arms to ribbons as he'd defended Ski and himself? Even tending to two injured men, he was the person most likely to notice when the assailant slipped away, but he hadn't… And neither had any of the respondents to his SOS. Even Lee and Chip – who noticed everything – had failed to note a stranger escaping the scene, and they had been there within a handful of minutes of Patterson's ship-wide distress call.
"It couldn't have been human…" Chip spoke so softly that his listeners barely heard him, but the pale face carved in stone gave away the XO's unwilling acceptance of something that was utterly fantastic.
"No, lad, it couldn't have been." The admiral's gruff voice showed his unwillingness to believe that one incontrovertible fact. The suspicion he harbored in his brain was completely unscientific, but it fit all the known facts… The improbability of it exacerbated his temper. He rose from his chair and paced, not unlike Chip moments before, but the whole time he studied his young officers, satisfied that they were running true to form.
Lee sat casually in his chair, outwardly at ease, but the narrowed eyes showed that inwardly he was strung tight. Chip's perfect poker face was intact; no one could have guessed at the turmoil hidden behind those ice-blue eyes. Poster boys for Navy preparedness, both of them. That he'd managed to snag them both still constantly amazed him. He had reinvented himself as a father figure to Lee; he had been a mentor to Chip since the boy was twelve. They were absolutely the best that any Navy, anywhere in the world, had to offer…
But this was something else again… He wondered if Madness would be able to think far enough outside the box to brainstorm a solution to this problem; and if he could, would Method be able to put aside his skepticism and put the plan into action with all his usual methodical flair? It was a dicey question, but the answers wouldn't be long in coming…
Lee turned his head to meet Nelson's gaze. "It couldn't have been an animal, sir." His confident tone told Nelson he was already halfway to accepting what Nelson had already accepted. And he was right, of course… An animal big enough to do the kind of damage that had been done to Kowalski could find no hiding place on this boat. And if it had been an animal, surely Briggs or Pat would have pointed out that fact. Yet they both claimed they hadn't seen anything but shadows. Only Briggs had gotten any other impression, and he'd only thought it was a woman… Manifestly it couldn't have been a woman, because a woman couldn't have done that kind of damage without a weapon…
Nelson shook his head. "I don't think it was an animal."
"Then what?" Chip's frustration leaked into his voice. "Are we fighting ghosts and vampires now?" Scorn dripped from the words, but Nelson heard the underlying note of agitation and flicked a glance toward his XO, reassured when Chip's steady gaze met his. Agitated, yes, but not afraid. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen the lad afraid of anything…
Except the rats… And even then he hadn't broken…
But now wasn't the time for the pride that filled him quite unexpectedly. He had done a good job with the boy Alan Morton could so easily have destroyed. And John had finished the job with flair and determination…
Nelson shook the thought away, returning to the problem like a dog with a bone. He had read avidly and comprehensively. The quote he needed came to him from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes… Old school, but perfectly tailored to the grim situation they now faced. "'When you've eliminated the impossible," he said solemnly, "whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." He shrugged at them both, and his brows drew together in a frown. "I don't like the idea any better than you do… The thought of something as ridiculous as vampires aboard this boat…" His eyes narrowed, and his voice turned harsh. "But where did the blood go? Where did the assailant go? How is it possible that no one saw her?"
Lee said nothing; he didn't have to. They both knew that the XO would respond with something approaching reason, covering the fact that both Lee and the admiral were considering the possibility that something as silly as a bloodthirsty, reanimated corpse could possibly exist. Sure enough, Chip marshaled his arguments and leaped into the fray. "So we raid Cookie's supply of garlic and start carving wooden stakes? Can you hear how insane that sounds?" He shook his head and spread his hands in a gesture of frustration. "We have to look at this logically and find a reasonable answer that fits all the facts."
Nelson cocked his head, regarding his XO sternly, almost coldly. "And what answer would that be?"
Chip opened his mouth to speak, realized he had nothing but questions, and bit his lip. "I don't know! But surely if we examine this thing from all angles…" He trailed into silence, defeated by his own logical mind. He'd already examined the incident from all possible angles and hadn't found a reasonable answer. He already knew the admiral was right; they'd eliminated the impossible. But what did that leave?
Lee shuddered suddenly, as if the room's temperature had plummeted. Everyone was having trouble with this… If it weren't for Occam's Razor… "So what are we talking about here, Admiral?"
Nelson turned his head to capture Lee's gaze; the intense hazel eyes held no hint of warmth or humor. He was totally fixated on the problem at hand, and as angry as the admiral had ever seen him. It spoke volumes for his self-control that he was able to speak with logical presence of mind, chaining his anger into more productive channels. It was a lesson that Nelson privately admitted he needed to learn. His own temper frequently got the best of him. But he had made a promise to himself to exert better control over it, and he was determined to succeed… So with difficulty, he forced down his anger to answer Lee's question. "I think we have to consider the possibility…" It went against the grain; a scientist just didn't make these kinds of concessions to fantasy. Nelson was struggling with it, but he tried again and got the words out. "I think we have to consider the possibility that we are dealing with the stuff of legends rather than facts."
Chip expelled his breath in a hiss of disapproval, but had nothing to say to refute the suggestion. Instead he sat back in his chair watching the admiral pace back and forth. His fingers flexed, sure sign that he wanted to have something to work with, something that would allow him to calm his mind so that he could think. In the absence of a pen or pencil, or other tool, he moved his hands unconsciously, clenching and unclenching them as he considered what must seem to him as absolute fantasy. "Okay. No one saw her. So… Is she invisible? Or does she manipulate the shadows?"
Nelson heard the words, but his mind refused to assimilate them at first. Lee was quicker off the mark, a sign of his more fluid ability to wrap his mind around this. "Pat said he saw nothing but shadows. Briggs said it was dark, even with the light on. She's not invisible. She can't be. Briggs sensed her and felt her touch, even though Pat didn't see her. She manipulates the shadows to hide herself…" Lee nodded slowly. "Yes. And I think that manipulating shadows is how she got on board without being seen." He thought for a moment, clearly remembering what they'd felt in Seaview as soon as they'd come aboard to cast off and head out to sea… "And we can add to our profile that she seems to produce some kind of atmosphere of dread…"
Nelson remembered only too well how Seaview had turned from a welcoming vessel - his home away from home, his pride and joy - to a sinister, uninviting hulk of steel and wiring in a matter of hours. Yes, she definitely produced an atmosphere of dread. Even Seaview resented her presence…
Chip nodded and his hands stilled. Each new argument was making the acceptance of this easier. "Right. We didn't find nearly enough blood to account for all that Ski, Briggs, and Pat lost…"
This time, Nelson answered, his brows knitting together across his nose as he frowned. So hard… Yet he was the scientist here. He should be able to field even these bizarre questions. "So she took it from the scene somehow. Did she drink it? Or did she catch it in something?"
"Not enough time to drain blood into some vessel and carry it away. And not enough time to mop it up or get rid of it some other way. " Chip hesitated, then rose as he spoke, tucking his hands away behind his back, probably so that neither Nelson or Lee would notice his agitation. He was a master at hiding his emotions and seeming to be so uncannily still and silent, but undoubtedly this female predator disturbed him. He'd been the victim of another such, though Dr. Pope had been completely human, if utterly mad. That he was able to put aside those memories and deal with this issue with the utmost professionalism spoke volumes for his courage. "She must have drunk it."
Nelson nodded his approval of the reasoning. "It's the only thing that makes sense. And if she drinks blood…" He trailed off, his eyes narrowing at the implications. A vampire… He didn't even believe in such things…
But then before Krueger, he hadn't believed in ghosts either… There were more things in heaven and on Earth there were dreamt of in his scientific thoughts. Things that couldn't be proven in conventional ways, but which he now knew existed nonetheless. Phantoms… And now vampires… It was a stranger world than Nelson had ever imagined…
"I can't believe we're even having this discussion." Chip's words came out on a breath that Nelson barely heard, but the admiral commiserated with him. Still, as unreal as the situation seemed, they had three crewmen down and an unknown assailant aboard. They had to do something to figure this out, and they had to do it fast. The alternative was unthinkable…