Obviation

Admiral Nelson arrived at the café in his civvies and found the most secluded table. He had asked Mr. Morton to meet him here, on neutral ground. He had to make things right with Morton and as Chip's employer he felt it couldn't be on NIMR property where the difference in position and rank would put Mr. Morton at a disadvantage. There was a lot of raw emotion on both sides of this relationship. They needed to sort that out if they could. See if they could find a way past this. If not then Nelson knew there would be significant changes at NIMR. He dreaded that thought.

He saw Chip Morton through the windows and stood up when Morton walked through the door. Chip saw him and walked over to the table, which was in the corner a bit away from the others screened by a plant stand full of burgeoning greenery.

Chip stood nearly at attention even though he was also in civvies. His thoughts behind the blue eyes were closed off and shuttered as he looked at the Admiral.

Nelson waved at the seat across from him and tried to put Chip at ease. "Sit down, Chip."

"Yes, sir." Chip sat himself rigidly on the front edge of the seat like a plebe. Nelson sighed at that stiffness. But he deserved that. He hadn't done anything at all to help Chip after the launch.

"Chip, relax I'm not going to bite."

"Yes, sir." Chip remained as he was.

Nelson sighed again. This wasn't going to be easy. "Chip, let me start by saying I wronged you badly. I know that. I should have intervened and done something, done anything, to help you and I didn't. I have no excuses." He tried a slight wry smile at that 'no excuses' naval response hoping to ease the tension; he didn't get anything back from Morton. Dammit, he thought, I've lost him. Nelson continued. "I was wrong. I am sorry."

Chip suddenly slid back in the chair and twisted sideways, not looking at the Admiral; his posture going from strict impassiveness to a forlorn hunch, his face turned away. He lifted his hand to his forehead and sat very still for a moment.

Nelson was shocked by that out-of-character posture. He held his breath and waited.

Chip was thinking of all those hours, all the uncertainty, of sitting waiting and waiting. It was Lee who found him. Not the Admiral. When he finally found words to say it was about something else entirely. "I was angry at you, you know. Not because I was in the brig. I deserved that. I shot Lee. I was angry that you didn't shoot him. That he asked you to and you wouldn't."

Nelson looked at him in astonishment. He hadn't thought of that angle on the situation and he was the genius. The one who should have realized that.

Morton continued, "That's what I kept thinking, over and over. That Lee trusted you and you wouldn't. Then I thought that he didn't trust me to do it. Never asked me to help when he needed help." Chip sighed deeply. Took a deep breath. "I felt like an outsider looking in. I was so angry, furious at both of you." He gave a scoffing sigh. "I guess that doesn't matter now."

"Chip, it matters." Chip turned back to face the Admiral. Met Nelson's eyes briefly before he blinked and looked away. "Chip, I know that Lee and I 'clicked' since he became Captain of Seaview. There's a friendship I never expected there but I picked you for Seaview first. You matter to me. I know I don't say it or show it, hell I don't talk about stuff like that, but an XO makes or breaks a boat. You were first in my thoughts when I was building Seaview, when I was deciding how to man her. Despite my recent downright neglect of you, you matter to me. I hope … you can forgive me."

Morton's eyes were examining the patterns in the wallpaper beyond Nelson's shoulder. He and Lee had come to terms. Could he manage that with the Admiral? Could he imagine life without working with either man? He suddenly knew. His eyes turned back to lock with Nelson's and he nodded briefly just once.

Nelson felt a strange unexpected rush of pride in Morton. He was an exemplary man in so many ways.

Crane knocked on Doc's office door at NIMR.

"I've come to apologise, Doc. I was abrupt with you and there was no call for that."

The two men looked at each other and found that the silent communication they had often experienced in the past was working once more. Their eyes spoke volumes. Nothing more really needed to be said but it would seem strange to not say anything aloud.

Please think nothing of it, sir. We were all a bit overworked and under informed at the time. I'm sorry, sir, that I couldn't tell you what you needed to know."

Crane flapped a dismissive hand. "There's nothing for you to apologise for, Doc. You were only following orders. Are we good?"

"We're good, sir."

Crane smiled a small genuine smile and nodded.

Nelson was working on the long overdue reports for the mission. What he wrote was brief and terse; the account he wrote of Creager's death was simplified for him by Doc's autopsy report. Creager had late stage cancer. Doc had said he'd been amazed the man was still functional but Nelson didn't include that opinion. Left it at the autopsy findings.

They needed to document an acceptable explanation so there was no justification for Seaview to remain in commission to the Navy. Nelson wrote that it was a successful mission; the launch had been textbook perfect, unfortunately marred by a completely explainable death. The Captain's injury was simply the result of trauma sustained during turbulence. He didn't state the nature of the turbulence.

Based on such a positive report, Admiral Starke would support the return of command to Commander Crane and Seaview's return to NIMR. Since Nelson wanted Seaview back there was absolutely no mention in his report of ghosts of any sort.

Mary had handed in her resignation to Dr. Brand. It was hard to do. It was a good job, but she could do so much more. She had Nelson's offer of support as she pursued her degree in Marine Biology. She would hit the books and the world would open up for her. She was smart enough. She was adaptable enough. She was a hard worker. She had no doubt that she would succeed.

She thought about Captain Crane. He was too old for her, but a girl could daydream. They had nothing in common, at least nothing that he knew about.

She wondered about that. Did the girl child look like the Captain? Or perhaps like her? That book was closed to her. She would never know, but she wondered.

Krueger sat in his space capsule. He had gotten to the heavens. This was what he had wanted once, but he had made a mistake. He hadn't differentiated between heaven and the heavens. This place was empty, devoid of life. He started to laugh like a maniac. Devoid of life! That was choice. What a joke.

After a while he stopped laughing. Despite the growing insanity in his mind he knew now he would never find Lani. But … maybe if … when … this capsule returned to earth, he could find Mary. She was young and lovely. He burned for her. Maybe by then Dr. Brand would have perfected the reverse process for transferring the 'essence' from android to a human body. Brand hadn't told him about it, but he had seen the notes during their months of collaboration. He had an indestructible body now, so he could wait for the process to be perfected.

He looked at the capsule panels. There were no controls. He couldn't guide the spacecraft but he had an endless supply of energy. He had all the time in the world. He smiled, all the time in the heavens. He could wait. He chuckled at that. Even if it was too long to find Crane again, there would be other prominent naval officers with manly bodies. If it was too long for Mary there were other pretty girls. He might even find one that looked like Lani, like Mary. All he had to do now was wait.