Chapter Four
A Battle on Three Fronts

The flight from Vandenberg was uneventful. It looked like the enemy wasn't about to attempt an attack on an armed USAF aircraft, at least not in US airspace. The Admiral and Wilson spent the short flight in relative silence. Nelson could tell that Wilson was still unhappy about the choice of a replacement for Phillips. Though, he wanted to broach the subject concerning the scientist's objections, he thought better of it. Wilson had a tendency towards arrogance, if given half a chance, and knowing Lee Crane throughout his years at Annapolis and aboard the Nautilus, Nelson suspected that whatever their interactions had been, Lee wouldn't have tolerated the scientist's hubris.

When the planes landed at NIMR, the Admiral was impressed to see the number of armed SPs standing by. While Park would take the credit for it, no doubt it was Morton's doing. The XO made it clear in their limited radio conversation that security had been beefed up in his absence, and he had both Park and Emery re-evaluating personnel to locate the infiltrator.

Looking out the window of the aircraft, Nelson was also heartened to see that the Exec had a car standing by to take Wilson and he directly to Seaview. The clock was ticking down, and the sooner that he, Wilson and Crane were aboard, the sooner this mission could get underway.

*.*.*.*.*

Lee was unimpressed with the way security was handled aboard Seaview. True, he hadn't made it very far into the submarine itself before being caught, but he shouldn't have got as far as he did.

He'd proceeded to give the order that the sub was to remain on full alert.

Since this was to be a temporary assignment, he decided his best course of action was to maintain a rigid formality between himself and the boat's XO. He'd always preferred the relaxed formality he'd held between himself and Dave Walker, but he and Chip had a long history from their Academy days, and he didn't want it to appear that their friendship would influence any of his command decisions.

So, both stood on the dock in silence awaiting the imminent arrival of Admiral Nelson and Dr. Fred Wilson, while crewmen were loading supplies and preparing the sub for departure.

They didn't have long to wait, as the industrial elevator, which handled supplies and transport vehicles to Seaview's berth five-hundred feet below the Nelson Institute, arrived and discharged the motorcycle SP escort and Adm. Nelson's limousine. The car came to a stop, and Nelson and Wilson stepped out.

Coming to attention, he and Chip saluted the Admiral. Despite Nelson's grim expression, Lee was relieved to see at least one friendly face. Except for Morton, the crew were still unaware of Captain Phillips' death, and were not pleased by having someone they considered an interloper take command.

"Glad to have you with us, Lee." The Admiral warmly shook his former Lieutenant's hand; Crane had come a long way since those early days.

A lot was conveyed by the strong handshake from his superior, and Crane smiled slightly at his former Captain. "Thank you, Admiral."

Nodding towards the XO, Nelson began introductions: "Dr. Wilson, this is Chip Morton, our Exec."

Both men nodded a formal greeting.

"And I believe you know our Skipper?" Nelson was curious to see how deeply Wilson's dislike for his sub's temporary Captain went. He didn't have long to wait, as the scientist cut Lee's welcome aboard off with a perfunctory, "Hullo, Crane."

The Admiral could see that Wilson's coldness had caught Lee by surprise, but the Commander quickly recovered himself, and put up what Nelson always referred to as that stone wall of military decorum to mask any emotion he might reveal. He'd seen it enough times at the Academy and aboard the Nautilus to know its signs.

"How soon can we get moving?" The scientist's tone was more a command than a request.

Nelson replied, "The moment we get our special cargo aboard." He looked at his Captain, "Lee?"

"Yes, sir."

"Tell them to get the lead out. I want a Northwest heading at full speed." With the order for departure given, the Admiral and Wilson boarded the boat.

Lee turned to his XO: "Mr. Morton, hurry the detail, and prepare to get underway."

"Aye-aye, sir."

*.*.*.*.*

Once the sub was safely into international waters, Lee found himself sitting in the Admiral's cabin finally being briefed, and reviewing the orders he'd been awaiting.

As he read through them, he understood exactly why they'd kept him in the dark concerning what his actual mission was. Finding a deep-cover plant on base would have been a walk in the park compared to this.

The Admiral watched his Captain's response to what he just read. "Any questions?"

"No, sir." He shook his head. "The orders are quite clear: to complete the mission I'm to regard Seaview and her entire crew as expendable."

Nelson was proud of the man seated before him. There was no hesitation in Crane's voice as he accepted what could very well turn into a suicide mission. He chortled a bit, "If you have the choice, though, Captain, I assume you'll bring us all back alive."

Lee returned the Admiral's banter with a brief chuckle. "I sort of planned on coming back myself, sir." And he damned well did.

The Admiral stood and went over to the shelf in front of his television monitor. His orderly always kept a percolator brewing. "Coffee?"

"Uh, no thank you."

Nelson was a bit surprised by Crane's polite refusal; he could remember a time when the man practically lived on the beverage.

"With your permission, Admiral, I'd like to announce the mission to the crew."

Shaking his head, Nelson replied, "Sorry, lad. The crew is to consider this a routine mission. Tell them course and destination; nothing else.

Lee was perplexed as he replied, "Aye, sir."

The Admiral looked towards his Captain, as he poured himself a cup of the strong brew. "Confused, Lee."

"Completely," he acknowledged. It also forewarned him that things aboard Seaview and in the regular Navy were handled very differently. "In the Navy, I always told my crew all mission details once we were safely at sea."

"Lee, if the men discover even the slightest hint of the calamity threatening their families, this sub will become a floating pressure cooker. Not knowing, they only have themselves to worry about. They're good men; they won't crack."

"I understand, sir." The Admiral was right; he still had a lot to learn about this crew.

Coffee cup in hand, Nelson again took his seat behind his desk. His brow furrowed. "There's something else you should know: there's a certain powerful, worldwide force, which welcomes the very disaster we're trying to prevent." His voice rose, "They seem to know our plans, as soon as we do, and they'll go to any lengths to stop us."

"This sounds like a wartime mission, sir." Lee's tone reflected the Admiral's gravitas.

"In a very real sense, we are at war. We have no way of guessing how or where they'll strike, but one thing I can promise you, they will strike. From now on, we run submerged. Carry on."

"Aye-aye, sir." Dismissed, he rose, and headed for the Control Room.

*.*.*.*.*

From Chip's questioning response to his order to maintain full speed, Lee recognised that his current position as Captain left him fighting on two fronts: the enemy that the Admiral had spoken of, and the crew, who, though they would follow his orders, had no reason beside his rank to feel any loyalty to the man temporarily replacing their much-respected Skipper.

As he, Nelson and Wilson sat in Seaview's nose discussing the placement of the Operation: Counterforce bomb, he readjusted his calculations: three fronts. Wilson was doing nothing to hide his personal dislike of him, and kept calling into question every recommendation he made.

Crane was not having any of it, though, and was, no doubt, antagonising the scientist further by not backing down when he knew exactly where his duty lay: with the successful completion of the mission.

As a rating came by with some much welcome coffee, the boat was suddenly rocked by explosions on its port side.

Depth charges, thought Lee. For him, at least, this was a hands-on crisis; something he could take control of, especially after feeling like he was the intruder aboard.

After giving the order to rig for attack, both he and the Admiral bolted for the Control Room. If he had time to spare Wilson a glance, he would have seen the fear that passed across the scientist's face.

*.*.*.*.*

Even though this was a temporary assignment, Lee had shown his mettle by successfully navigating the vessel through the attack.

But it was Kowalski's question at Damage Control that threw him a punch to the gut, "Captain, what the devil's going on?"

Though the mission was still classified as top secret, there wasn't a man aboard who didn't know that something serious was up and this was no longer a routine assignment. No doubt, the crew had already connected some of the dots to the absence of Phillips and the other crewmembers who had accompanied Nelson earlier.

All eyes in the Control Room were on him, and Lee could imagine the thoughts running through each of their heads.

He moistened his dry lips, and grasped the communications mic in his hand, debating exactly how far he could push the "top secret" envelope.

Sensing his disquiet, Nelson offered his support, "You'll have to tell them something now, lad. Make it as little as possible."

Nodding, he began, "This is the Captain. The mission we're on is top secret. All I can tell you at this time is that there are forces who are determined to stop us. They haven't succeeded, yet. And to make sure they don't Seaview is now on war alert." Though, how much good that will do us with missile and torpedo systems knocked out, I don't know, he thought.

He barely got out the words secure from battle stations before encountering another obstacle: the sound of a cable scraping across the hull, as sonar went completely dead.