Chapter Six
Countdown to Zero Hour

It had taken longer than the hour Lee estimated for the sonar mast to be repaired. Though the Admiral had practically bitten his head off when he first came aboard for considering the crew soft on security, he still believed the men weren't living up to their full potential: no doubt, in part, having to adjust to a temporary Captain whose expectations they were unfamiliar with.

While his own part of the mission remained top secret; scuttlebutt was starting to spread like a virus among the men. Though none broached the question, all were voicing their worry about Phillips and their fellow crewmates. The Admiral and Chip had clamped the lid down on their speculation, but Lee was more concerned about the possibility of flagging morale. While a boat was only as good as the man who captains her, a captain was only as good as his crew, and he had six days to get the crew up to speed on what he expected from them.

So, between reviewing situational reports with the Admiral and Wilson, he was having Chip run the men through a series of drills to be prepared for any eventuality. Nelson was emphatic that an implacable enemy was still out there, biding its time; and with missile and torpedo systems inoperative, he wanted the boat prepared to defend itself in whatever way possible.

*.*.*.*.*

Six days down, and only two hours till countdown; it should have been cause for celebration, but it wasn't. The sub had yet to locate open water in order to broach the surface, and sonar had picked up what might be another sub within range.

As Lee double-checked the sonar man's readings, Nelson and Wilson entered the Control Room. Even after six days of relative calm, the scientist couldn't help but make his demands known; however, the Captain had far more important things to worry about than bruising the man's ego, as he continued reviewing the sonar console.

He didn't have long to wait, as the sonar man called out, "Captain, unidentified fast propellers. Bearing zero-nine-zero. Short-scale pinging."

"They don't give up easily, do they," said Nelson grimly.

Without torpedoes and missile systems, Seaview was relatively helpless, as the sounds of torpedoes bearing down on her became all too apparent.

Whether the enemy sub was a drone or its captain was incompetent didn't matter, the torpedoes missed their mark—though just barely.

Lee gave the order for battle stations; glad to see the drills he'd been putting the crew through had paid off. They assumed their positions in about half the time they did six days ago.

Still with missiles and torpedoes inoperable, there was only one course of action open to him: "Dive. All dive. Full speed ahead."

Their chances of outmanoeuvering the enemy sub's next onslaught were slim to none, but Lee was going to give it everything he had for the lives of his men.

When the next barrage hit a wall of rocks, shaking the sub from port to starboard, Lee called out, "This is your baby, Admiral, how much pressure can she take?"

"Five-thousand feet ⁽¹⁾—on the drawing board. If we can take more pressure than she can, she'll blow."

Another barrage rocked the boat, as Lee kept moving the sub like a chess piece from hard-to-port to hard-to-starboard attempting to keep the skipper of the other boat off-balance. Thankfully, that sub's commander was proving to be one hell of a lousy shot.

Dropping below thirty-five-hundred feet, Seaview was rocked by another explosion. No doubt the other sub couldn't handle that kind of pressure and had imploded.

As Lee gave the order to secure from battle stations, the sonar man called out, "Captain, clear fast water dead ahead."

Despite the attack, the enemy had done them an invaluable service: taking Seaview into an area of open water from which they could surface and transport the Operation: Counterforce device.

*.*.*.*.*

Attired in the their winter weather gear, Crane, and Kowalski were on the flying bridge, overseeing the crew as they unloaded the device, which would be towed to its destination by an Arctic snowcat driven by Wilson, who would be accompanied by Sn. Malone, while Admiral Nelson was below deck preparing to get readings on the first earthquake.

Lee already sensed the rating's disquiet around him; he'd made his loyalty to Phillips very clear, and to him Crane was clearly an interloper. He couldn't blame him, though; it took a good man to secure that kind of loyalty from his men, and John Phillips would no doubt be an irreplaceable captain.

*.*.*.*.*

With the readings for the first quake in hand, Nelson had Lieutenant O'Brien prepare to feed that information into the sub's computer. Once they had triangulated where and when the second quake would occur via Wilson's readings, they'd be able to place the Counterforce bomb in the correct location to offset the impact of that quake.

*.*.*.*.*

Lee had just come below deck, and removed his gear, when the battle stations klaxon sounded.

"Plane coming seven o'clock low, closing fast." Kowalski's voice came through the speakers from the flying bridge. He was the only one aboard with a direct line of sight to the attacking plane.

The rating's visual coordinates were no comfort to the Captain: this time the enemy wasn't attempting an attack on Seaview. They were preparing to take out the Counterforce device directly.

The Captain picked up the nearest mic in the radio shack and reported to his CO, who was desperately trying to contact Wilson and Malone.

"Admiral, that plane got under our radar screen. We had no approach warning." How Lee detested saying those words; it sounded like he was making excuses to someone whose respect was important to him. Those words also bespoke failure: something he wasn't prepared to accept.

Through the speakers Lee heard the tautness in Nelson's voice. "Any indication how close they came to a direct hit?"

"None, sir," replied Lee. "I've ordered radar to keep scanning for the plane. It may be back.

"If they got Wilson, they won't have to come back." His tone was grim, "Lee, it may be all over."

"Admiral, what are the orders now?"

"Stand fast, and wait. There's nothing else we can do."

There might not have been anything else they could do, but Lee had already decided on his own course of action. His decision was only reinforced by the weak signal Sparks was picking up from Wilson, stating that while the device was undamaged both he and Malone were injured and wouldn't be returning.

As Lee made his way to Seaview's nose to place his proposal before the Admiral, he could hear Wilson's weak voice being piped through the speakers: "I'm setting the timer now. You need at least three hours to get the sub safely away from the blast. This means you've got to dive in forty-four minutes."

Making his way down the spiral staircase to the nose, Lee heard the Admiral shout to Wilson, "Wait Wait! How long will it take you to get back here?"

The resignation in Wilson's voice was unmistakable. "Too long. Malone can't move, and with my shoulder I can't dig out the snowcat. It looks like we're stuck here. You better get the sub out of here. So long, Admiral." The scientist severed the connection.

In the silence that followed Wilson's last transmission, Lee went to Nelson to propose his gambit: "We've got forty-four minutes, sir. If I can find them, and uncover the snowcat, I can bring them back in time."

"And if you can't dig it out?" It was a redundant question, as Nelson knew there was only one decision left for him to make.

"You've got no choice, sir, pull the plug and scramble."

*.*.*.*.*

Nelson, Chip and Kowalski were on the flying bridge as the Captain and the Chief trudged through the snow, watching until they were completely obscured by the desolate terrain.

Chip noted the time until zero hour: "Thirty-two minutes to go, Admiral." While he kept a stoic expression, he was as worried as Nelson about the lives of the Chief and his best friend.

"Sir," asked Kowalski, "will they get Malone back in time?"

"I don't know, lad," answered Nelson, "We dive in thirty-two minutes, whether or not they're back."

"You mean, sir, the Captain went out there knowing that?" Crane's actions had definitely surprised the rating.

"He did." Nelson's tone was solemn.

*.*.*.*.*

Lee hadn't expected the Chief to volunteer to accompany him, though the more muscle for digging out the snowcat, the better. He was more than willing to gamble his own life on what might be a fool's errand, but now he had the Chief's safety to worry about, as well.

With the snow swirling around them, visibility was poor, and it was easy to get lost in that terrain.

"We've missed them," said Lee.

"If we don't find them now, we'll never make it," replied the Chief.

Lee tried his MBITR again, "Wilson, this is Crane, can you read me? Come in."

They finally received a response: I can barely hear you. Where are you?

"Wilson, I'm going to fire a flare. Tell me where you see it."

The response on the radio was garbled, and Lee had to ask him to repeat his message.

Overhead. Directly overhead.

With at least a direction to go, Lee and the Chief hurried towards the scientist, whose location thankfully wasn't far from their own, just obscured by the heavy snow fall and the bleak terrain.

If you could call it lucky, the debris surrounding the snowcat made it easier to locate; it made the site stand out against the flat background of the landscape.

Despite the knowledge that rescue was at hand, Malone and Wilson had succumbed to despair. Both were leaning against the snowcat merely counting down the minutes until they were overcome by hypothermia or the device activated. It seemed to matter little to them which came first, and Lee and the Chief had to drag them away from the snowcat to begin the process of clearing the debris, and getting back to what the Captain hoped was a waiting sub.

*.*.*.*.*

Still on the flying bridge, the Admiral, Chip and Kowalski were somber.

"Sir, it's five minutes past diving time," Chip reluctantly gave the countdown. Damn it, Lee, where the hell are you?

The Admiral also gave an order he wasn't pleased about, "Stand-by to dive."

Kowalski's news wasn't much better: "Sir, Sparks has lost all radio contact, but Damage Control reports that the missile firing system is finally repaired."

Nelson never liked irony. "It doesn't help us much now, does it? Take her down, Mr. Morton."

The rating rose to his lost companions' defense, "Sir, if we dive now, they're dead."

"If we don't," snapped Nelson, "everyone's dead."

"Aye, sir," replied Chip. "Prepare to dive."

Kowalski's report from radar stopped that order, "Sir, radar reports unidentified plane bearing one-forty. Closing fast."

"Sound general quarters," ordered Chip.

"Battle stations! Battle stations!" yelled 'Ski

"That must be the drone again. Blast her out of the sky before it hits us."

"Fire control intercept," barked the XO.

Intercept missile locked on target

"Fire missile one."

The sub shuddered as the missile was launched. Three pairs of eyes watched expectantly as the missile collided with the plane, destroying its target.

There's nothing to celebrate. Looks like Lee's luck has finally run out, thought Chip, as he gave the order which would save the crew's lives, while ending the life of one of his closest friends, "Clear the deck. Prepare to dive."

The Admiral, thankfully, thought Chip, countermanded his order, "Belay that! There they are." He pointed to the snowcat which seemed to materialise from nowhere.

Lee, you son of a bitch, thought Chip, You'd make a killing in Vegas.

*.*.*.*.*

"You shouldn't have waited to bring us back," began Wilson, who had already been treated and released from sick bay. "You're thirty minutes too close to the point of impact. That double-blast could kill everyone onboard.

"We'll have to take that chance," replied Nelson.

They'd already crash dived to five-hundred feet with reactors moving the sub at full speed from the danger zone.

"This is the Captain," came Lee's voice through the sub's speakers. "In fifteen seconds, we're going to catch the full force from two gigantic explosions. Now, all hands brace yourselves." He counted down the seconds until the blasts.

The submarine was caught between one natural explosion and one man-made one, as the polar ice floes began to tear apart, dropping ice shards into the seawater like a bartender dropping ice cubes into a highball glass.

Systems throughout the boat rebelled and shorted out with the strain, but Nelson's sub remained intact.

Lee gave the order for the sub to dive to one-thousand feet, barely one-hundred-fifty feet from the seabed, but it was the only way to save the boat from the ice that was threatening to stave in the side of the sub.

Reaching a lower depth, even with that little manoeuvering room from the keel to the bottom had probably saved the sub, as they were finally free of the ice.

"Good job, Captain."

Though grateful for it, Lee brushed aside Nelson's compliment. There'd be time for that later, once they were clear of the ice floes and making for port.

Footnote: ⁽¹⁾ I cheated a little with Seaview's crush depth. According to episode canon it was 3400 feet, but as the series progressed, it changed so often that I settled on my own standard of 5000 feet (833.33 fathoms).