Nathan was chomping at the bit practically as he listened for Vulture Team's update.

"Come on Chandler..." He whispered. "Please..."

Slattery was just as impatient. "Extraction point's a baseball field about four klicks North of the compound according to Green team." He said, relaying the message.

"Big enough for our hilo." Nathan murmured.

"Get a fix on it!" Slattery ordered.

"Already on it sir." Nathan replied, working the description through his computer. "Got it! Can we launch it now?"

"Not with that sub out there, it'll hear us." Slattery growled.

"Damn, where can we go that we can launch without being detected?" Nathan asked.

"Mouth of the St. Johns River would be the closest. Set a course there, Quiet 1, 12 knots." Slattery ordered and Nathan did so.

"Damn, I think you actually missed an outcropping." Achilles grumbled, rubbing her side with her port plane. She was in a foul mood for she had emerged from the canyon with a bowache that was only getting worse. Part of her morning sickness. She hadn't actually thrown up though, yet.

"Ah quit your bitching!" the quartermaster snarled, a bit African in a British tank.

Achilles huffed but she knew better than to keep talking. Her eyes flickered to her sonar panel. It beeped. She had a new contact. Still though, she said nothing. She would let the crew find it for themselves.

They saw it a few minutes after she'd seen it. "It's that destroyer!" cried one. "We should sink him now. It's what Sean would want."

"No, it's what Ned would want!" retorted the quartermaster.

A big argument broke out and Achilles felt her headache turning into a migraine. "SHUT UP!" She roared. "ALL OF YOU WANKERS JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

They all stopped in shock. "Damn, I just need to think." She groaned. "Without your bickering giving me a migraine."

...

"Sir, we've got something on sonar. It's faint but it's there." reported Lt. Foster.

"Is it the sub?" Slattery asked.

"Affirmative sir. It's traveling fairly quickly, close to the surface. The draft on it is too big though, it can't follow us into the river."

"She." Nathan interrupted.

"Something you care to add, Nathan?" Slattery asked.

"That submarine's a she." Nathan replied.

"How do you know?"

"I just know. It takes a ship to understand another ship."

Slattery merely huffed in reply.

With her few minutes of silence, Achilles had time to think. Her pregnancy was becoming more pronounced by the day. Her sides were widening to accommodate the 12 unborn pups within her. It wouldn't be long before questions were asked. The quartermaster, if he found out, would kill her for sure. As would Ned. Sean, maybe not. A fleet of submarines could be useful and their breed grew quickly too. They could be pressed into service at age 2 but could prove to be helpful as yearlings. For the time being though, Achilles needed the attention off her. She made her decision.

"Go active sonar." She ordered.

"They'll hear us!" came the retort.

"If they haven't yet?" She snapped back. "Do it, now!"

...

"We're being pinged!" Nathan shouted, feeling the vibrations along his hull.

The water was so shallow that the submarine would have to be close to the surface to fit without running aground. Looking, he could just see the tip of a leopard spotted periscope. "There you are, you bitch." He chuckled. He armed his weapons though he wouldn't dare fire unless she fired first.

It was a waiting game. A dangerous game of cat and mouse and Nathan prayed to Poseidon he was the cat.

...

Achilles was forced to retreat when Nathan disappeared off her sonar as he entered the St. Johns River. "He's a slippery one." She murmured, her tongue swiping itself around her jaws once. "It will be a pleasure to sink him eventually."

"You could've sunk him now! Why hesitate?!" The quartermaster snarled. Before she could answer, he struck her Conn hard.

Achilles shrieked and rolled on her side, striking bottom. She gasped as she felt ripples of pain work their way down her side. Big mistake, coughing as she worked to clear her lungs, she blew herself to the surface, bursting from the water like a whale. Jaws parted, she took in the air gratefully.

The crew sat in total shock, a few giving the quartermaster murderous looks. Several were former navy enlisted men. They knew and understood to respect their ship and she in return would bring them home safely. One man moved from his position, heading for the hatch.

The quartermaster drew a gun on him. "Stay where you are!" He snarled.

The man held his ground. "You've hurt her. I must see if she's okay." He replied.

Reluctantly, he was allowed to leave. Emerging outside, he crawled his way forward, to Achilles parted jaws and lolling tongue. The sub's sides gleamed with oily sweat and they heaved as she fought to regain her wind. "He shouldn't have hit you." He said.

"I deserved it." came the automatic reply. Achilles' voice was blank, her tone nonexistent.

"You don't believe that and I don't believe it either. You did the best you could." He said. "But he did have one question right. You had all the time in the world to fire, why didn't you?"

Achilles sighed and looked at him. The man was a former British Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer. He could be trusted to keep his mouth shut. "Because I don't just have my life and your lives to consider." She rasped.

His eyes widened slightly as he understood the message. "How long?" He asked.

"I'm nearly a year into it. I've got a few more months to go, then..." Achilles broke off with a wince but he understood. Then she would give berth to a dozen pups and both would pray Sean would not kill them immediately.

"I won't say a word." He promised.

Achilles relaxed considerably at that. "Thank you." She murmured.

"You look pale." He commented.

"Morning sickness. I think this time I'll throw up." She replied, starting to retch.

"I'll tell the crew you've got a stomach bug." He said.

"Thanks." She murmured.

"Be right back." He promised, giving her hull a pat.

As soon as he went back inside, Achilles gave into her body's demand and proceeded to puke her guts out.