Note: I really felt my tale was more a two-part episode, rather than a story and its sequel; and so the tale picks up where Part I ended at Chapter Twelve, as we turn the corner from our main antagonist, the squid, to the hidden antagonist, the mystery woman on the island.  Thanks for indulging me, and I hope you enjoy the conclusion!  Lynn : )

 

Giants of the Deep

Part II

 

By Lynn

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

Kowalski watched from the flying sub’s monitor as Captain Crane and Admiral Nelson swam into the darkness of sea; the black diving suits quickly becoming lost where at sixty feet below the surface, the filtering light from above lent little aid.  With the officers no longer in view, Ski reached and flipped a switch, watching as the crash doors slid over FS1’s windows, blocking all light from inside the cockpit of the flying sub.  He checked the monitor, switching between the cameras mounted on the hull and verified they were in working order and then sat back for what was going to be a long wait, with the conversation he had just had still fresh in his mind.

 

Captain Crane tested his regulator with a blow of breath and then reached for his face mask.  “Are you’re orders clear?” he asked Kowalski.

 

“Aye Sir, stay low until I hear from you at two-hour intervals.  If you miss three check-ins, I’m to break radio silence and contact Seaview,” Ski replied, disappointed that he was left babysitting the flying sub, but understanding that his part in the mission was very important.  He was concerned, however, that the Skipper had built in such a long delay before he could contact Seaview for help; a lot could happen in six hours.

 

“Very well; you’re our safety net, Ski.  This is primarily a fact-finding mission, we’ll only engage if we’re forced to; otherwise, we’ll rely on the Navy to clean house,” he encouraged.

 

“Aye, aye, Sir.  I’ll be ready for whatever you need,” the loyal seaman replied, willing to risk life and limb for his commanding officers.  It was a long ways from the crewman who had whined and complained the entire voyage to the arctic when Captain Crane first came aboard three years ago.  He’d learned to respect the Captain by the end of that voyage, and it was no secret that he and every other man aboard Seaview would follow him all the way to Davy Jones’ Locker, believing the Skipper would find a way out again.

 

“If we find anything at all,” the Admiral interjected with half-smile as he lowered his face mask.

 

Captain Crane lowered his mask as well, but didn’t join in the levity of the moment.  The look in his eye was something Ski had seen before, it was the one that was all business; the one he had before he left on ONI missions.  It was a clear signal that the Captain fully expected to find just what they were looking for on the island; namely, some sort of laboratory to process the samples from the fissure.  And it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that a secret set-up like this would be well-guarded. 

 

Ski sighed audibly, eyeing the black diving suit in the storage rack and wishing he was riding shotgun with the Admiral and the Skipper instead holding down the fort.  Be that as it may, he was determined to do his part, and since Captain Crane hadn’t actually ordered him to return to Seaview, he figured he’d been given some leeway in the matter.  Maybe it was just an oversight on the Skipper’s part; he seriously doubted that.  Whichever the case, he planned on using the loop hole to lend whatever aid his commanding officers needed… but for now, it was a waiting game.

 

# # # # #

 

It had been a good swim to shore, necessitated by the pristine clear blue waters that surrounded the island and the need to keep the flying sub from being spotted from the air.  Lee tugged off his head gear as tiny droplets of water ran down his face.  He was still breathing heavy but not excessively, from the swim and then the dash to cover; it was a testament to his endurance and fitness.  Even more impressive was the stamina of his partner; twenty years his senior and yet Harriman Nelson was ever as fit and breathing no heavier than he.

 

Silently, they both shed their dive suits in favor of green jungle fatigues they carried in water proof packs, then hid their tanks and gear in the ample foliage. 

 

Lee sent a quick signal to Kowalski indicating they had landed safely before tucking the transmitter away into a side pocket; though it didn’t transmit voices, it was the communication device of choice due the flying sub’s current depth.  “Which way, Sir?”

 

“The relay station should be about two miles inland,” Harry replied with a hand motion in the direction they should go. 

 

The two trekked through the jungle of the small island, hundreds of miles from the nearest inhabited island.  The foliage was dense, slowing their progress as they worked their way toward the high-point of the island, a rock dome forged from volcanic activity that had long-since lay dormant.  The relay station was positioned near the top, but still below the tree line in order to protect the equipment from high winds and thus, offering cover for their approach. 

 

They avoided cutting a path, choosing rather to weave in and around the brush, resulting in a cat-like prowl that was quiet and purposeful.

 

“Lee,” Harry said quietly, pointing toward the ground at a four inch diameter cable mostly concealed by the reaching fronds of the ferns.  It was the cable they were tracking, and a good sign that they were headed the right way.

 

Lee acknowledged with a nod, his mood solemn and clearly focused on their task. 

 

“About another half-mile,” the Admiral estimated, continuing on and adding even more vigilance to their trek. 

 

Then next ten minutes were spent hiking a definite incline, a sign that they were nearing relay station’s mountain base.  They were nearing their goal when they spotted their first signs of life; a fresh boot track in the damp forest floor. 

 

Lee knelt on one knee by the track, quickly assessing it and then looked up at Harry. 

 

“Less than an hour ago,” he stated flatly and then rose.  Though it appeared they had been correct in their logic, one boot print wasn’t enough to call in the marines just yet.  Taking a stealthier approach, they crouched their way along, using the bushes and foliage of the jungle to conceal themselves.  Within five minutes they were staring straight at a building in the middle of the jungle, with a camouflaged net covering the roof, cloaking its existence from the air.

 

“How did they build this in one year?” Lee asked in a whisper, while quickly surveying the jungle for signs of the road they would have needed to construct the sophisticated metal structure built partially into the mountain side.

 

“It’s a pre-fab modular unit,” Harry surmised.  “See how they cleared out the trees here,” he pointed out.  “My guess is they used a helicopter to lower the walls in sections.”

 

Lee blew a breath out in disbelief.  “Admiral, can you imagine the money involved in this?” he asked incredulously.  “Is there any chance that we’ve accidentally run across a government project that we weren’t supposed to know about?”

 

“No, I don’t think so, Lee; but you’re right about the amount of capital a venture like this would require, particularly with the subterfuge involved.”

 

“The next question is, how do we get in without their knowledge?” Lee asked, looking over the narrow windows which offered no access due to their size.  “There’s got to be more than one way in,” he considered thoughtfully.

 

“It’s built into the mountain, perhaps there’s another door hidden somewhere along the base,” Harry postulated, “only one way in also means only one way out, and they’ve been too calculating to have not given themselves an escape route.”

 

 Lee nodded in agreement then checked his watch, noting it was time to contact Kowalski.  He sent a quick flash message to check in and then stowed his radio back in his pocket.

 

“Let’s split up and check around the base of the mountain,” Harry suggested.

 

“Sounds good,” he agreed, “We’ll meet back here in fifteen minutes.”

 

They checked their watches and synchronize the time before heading off in opposite directions to begin their reconnaissance.

 

# # # # #

 

Lee followed the tree line, careful to stay well-hidden as he looked for another entrance into the building that had been both unexpected and quite out of place on the supposedly uninhabited island.  He stopped and crouched low, surveying the base of the mountain and spotting nothing unusual; at least, without losing his advantage of staying out of sight.  Glancing at his watch, he realized it was time to work his way back to meet Harry and started to turn when he spotted something unusual on the forest floor;  an impression or some kind of print was partially obscured by a low hanging fern.  Moving the frond out of the way, he was stunned to find an incredibly large boot print.  The size alone was shocking at an estimated thirteen inches.  He didn’t think the large print to be a coincidence, or that a man of unusual size would fortuitously happen to be on the very island they suspected housed the fissure research.  The evidence was circumstantial at best, and still not enough to call in the marines; they would need to find a way into the facility to see for themselves. 

 

Not wanting to miss the rendezvous with Harry, he continued back to the meeting place to report what he had found.

 

# # # # #

 

Harry moved with all the quiet resolve of a jungle cat on the trail of its prey.  His ONI training and experience afforded him the skills that he now called upon to slink nearly silently through the jungle.  The years had been kind to him, and despite his nasty habit of smoking - as Jamie would characterize it, he had retained both his health and agility into his mid-fifties.   His fitness and training, however, was no match for what came next.

 

A twig snapping behind him was his first clue as he turned rapidly to face two men.  The first of no distinction, save the basic henchman he’d come to expect in matters such as these.  The second, so extraordinary that he was somewhat taken by surprise at the man he estimated to be over seven feet tall, with proportionately sized shoulders and bearing. 

 

Quickly, he went for his holster, but the long reach of his opponent batted his arm away with the force of the encounter sending him sprawling to the jungle floor.  Harry wasted no time making another move for his gun, but the giant of a man was upon him and one well-placed, if not clumsily administered blow to his jaw silenced the admiral’s futile attempts at any further defense.  The large man wheeled back to dispense another punch from his oversized fist but was stopped with a sharp rebuke from his counterpart.

 

“No, Bremer,” his partner commanded, “she wants him alive.”

 

Immediately the giant stopped, though his fist remained clenched for a moment as he breathed deeply, reining in the sharp spike of aggression that had come all too easily.  Though a rather average height of 5’10”, his partner was a small man in comparison, yet the giant obeyed. 

 

The smaller man moved closer, pushing Harry’s shoulder with the point of his boot to gauge his lucidness but garnering no response from the downed man.  “Bring him along,” he ordered, the red stripe down the length of his arm denoting his rank as an officer.  His black uniform differed from the giant, who instead, wore a long white tunic over tan pants and belted around the waist.  His clothing was far more reminiscent of the Middle Ages in simplicity and function, and carried no indication of rank or status, whatsoever.   He did, however, wear a band around his wrist, its purpose far darker than denoting rank.

 

The giant hesitated for a moment before leaning over and gathering the unconscious man into his arms and waited for the order to return to base, daring not to think on his own or to even presume his next move.

 

A rustling in the bushes behind the officer offered no cause for alarm as the smaller man turned without concern to give his next orders to a second giant who had just arrived.  He too, was dressed in the same peasant-like tunic outfit and wearing a similar wrist band.

 

“Garrud, find Crane,” he ordered before motioning Bremer to follow, carrying the limp body of Admiral Harriman Nelson.

 

# # # # #

 

“He did what!?” Chip Morton shouted from the bunk in sickbay, rising slightly before flinching in pain at the movement. 

 

“Calm down, Chip!” Jamie urged, hurrying from across the deck.  “You keep that up and you’ll drive that rib straight into your lung, and I guarantee you’ll be flat on your back for weeks!” he warned.

 

Chip raised a hand to quell the doctor’s concern.  “Okay, Jamie… okay,” he conceded breathily, the pain an instant reminder of why he was still lying in sickbay getting a status report from Bobby instead of being in the thick of things.  Carefully, he lowered his hand to rest over the bandage on his chest covering the stitches where the broken rib had pierced through.  Even though he had been lucky that the compound fracture hadn’t perforated his lung, it had still pressed uncomfortably against the organ, resulting in bruised and very tender tissues. 

 

Jamieson checked his patient then returned to care for another crewman.  Though the outburst had been unfortunate, it hadn’t exactly been unexpected.  In true XO fashion, Chip had awakened asking about Seaview and the status of repairs, but had been surprised when it was Bobby O’Brien who entered sickbay instead of Lee Crane.   He’d been zonked out on pain meds when the Captain left the boat and this was the first the dedicated officer had heard of it. 

 

Breathing shallowly, and having learned a valuable lesson in how fast he could move, Chip resumed his questions with a much more refined approach.  “Tell me again why Captain Crane decided to go off without proper backup,” he stated succinctly, this time more in control, but with no less fire in his eyes.

 

# # # # #

 

The sounds of the jungle quieted in an almost prearranged pause of silence.  The occasional bird squawking; the chirping of the plentiful winged-insects; the frog’s throaty call… all the background noises that remind one that the jungle was alive… stopped.  Lee, cognizant of his surroundings, stopped as well and crouched low.  Something had disturbed the serenity of the dense forest life.  The breeze was almost non-existent, making the silence even more deafening as he listened for the source of the jungle’s concern.  A sound caught his attention and he focused toward its source, while huddling beside a large bush to hide his position.  Another sound clumsily announced the approach of something large and heavy.  Not a cat, he reasoned, for such a jungle creature would surely be more cunning in its approach.  The heaviness of the steps suggested perhaps a wild boar, almost as dangerous as a panther, especially when surprised or cornered.  He crouched lower and watched; his eyes glued for the arrival of the beast.  Leaves rustled and moved as something passed through their midst, when at last, it stepped into a clearing.  The feral cry of a rather large boar squealed loudly upon catching his scent and bolted into the jungle in another direction.

 

Lee blew out a silent breath of relief, and rose slowly from his position only to be met by the subtle sound of a rustling leaves behind him.  He turned sharply and froze for only a second, as his eyes trailed upwards to very large man who had succeeded in sneaking up behind him. 

 

Over a foot taller than the 6’1” captain, the giant of a man was also proportionately larger in shoulder width and arm reach.  A swift swing of the giant’s arm produced a whiff of air when it failed to connect with the leaner, more agile man as Lee dodged the attack.  Normally one to have the advantage of his own height and reach, he found both neutralized by his opponent, for it only took one long stride, awkward as it was, and another swing of the arm from the opposite direction to connect in a hard hit to his shoulder, sending him sprawling to the ground.  Quickly, he rolled out of the way of reaching hands and found his footing, delivering a double-fisted blow to the giant’s back when he out-maneuvered his slower-moving adversary.  The giant roared in sudden pain as Lee struck another blow, this time to his lower back, but the massive man didn’t succumb to what would have been a devastating strike to any other normal man and, instead, instinctively answered with a violent swing of his arm as he turned into his foe.  Even though Lee was already moving out of the way of the expected retaliation, he was once again caught by the long reach, this time connecting with his head; the impact knocking him off his feet.  He ended up on the ground, rolling to one side to escape the giant’s offensive assault but moving far more sluggishly as he fought dizziness, a prelude to losing consciousness if he wasn’t careful and moved too fast.  But before he could complete the turn to push himself to his knees, he was man-handled and turned over with his back on the ground and held by a fist-full of shirt collar.  He barely had time to catch the large over-sized knuckles that made contact with his jaw.  A sharp blinding pain was immediately followed by blackness as his head dropped lifelessly back. 

 

The giant, full of primal rage raised his fist again, snarling in an animalistic need to vanquish his opponent completely, and drew back his arm ready to deliver the next blow that would surely have inflicted far more damage than his previous strikes.  He paused for a moment in self-check, considering the helplessness of his victim, then snarled and drove his fist downward.

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

Harry paced the sterile white room void of any furniture, decorations, or implements of any kind except for the large stainless steel gurney he had awakened upon.  His characterization of the “large” gurney was made almost facetiously, for it rather engulfed him in both length and depth.  The gurney itself was in fact, evidence that the giant of a man he saw before being clobbered, was real and that he had not dreamt the encounter; the thought invoking a reflexive rub to the back of his sore neck. 

 

He glanced at his watch, determining that he had been unconscious for about twenty minutes and had since been pacing for another ten minutes.  His patience was wearing thin and he had many questions for which he sought answers.  Indeed, he had already come to one obvious conclusion concerning the nature of research that would require the fissures’ elements.  The fact that the table he woke upon was a medical gurney, and not a bed or cot, had added validity to his deduction.  But there were still questions he couldn’t answer with the information available; namely, how all of this was accomplished in less than one year’s time.  The only thing he knew for sure was that there was big money behind the project, and that fact fueled his curiosity even more. 

 

His contemplations were interrupted by the turn of the deadbolt as he instinctively turned toward the door opening inward. 

 

“You will come with us,” the black clad man ordered, the “us” in his command included the indisputably large man standing behind him.  This was his first good look at the fellow who had rendered him unconscious with one blow, and he realized with one appraising glance that his earlier estimation of height had been correct.  He was over seven feet tall and yet bulky, unlike the occasional seven-foot basketball player who was tall and slender, the large man before him was truly a giant. 

 

Harry pursed his lips and followed compliantly, hoping the fact that he was being summoned meant he would soon have answers to his many questions, not the least of which was what had become of Lee.  The latter question he would keep to himself in the hopes that Seaview’s resourceful captain had avoided detection, or at the very least had evaded capture.

 

He was led down a hall, taking several turns until he was guided into a large, impressively outfitted laboratory.  Specimen tanks lined one wall, various apparatus and microscopes filled lab tables in the middle of the room, and bookcases with books, journals, and lab notes were lined up on a third wall, and on the fourth, was a door that appeared to be a cold-storage compartment.

 

The giant moved to a corner of the lab and positioned himself with his arms crossed before him, but the officer who had come for him left without a word.  Harry figured that he was on a “parole” of sorts and tested his hypothesis by nonchalantly strolling about and looking over the experiments in progress.  When he got too close to the door, the giant growled and Harry resigned himself to making a study of his surroundings.

 

The specimen tanks held indo-pacific gobies in various sizes.  He was aware that this species was a small fish, reaching just over three inches at maturity, and had he not already deduced the research being done here, he would have marveled at the tanks holding gobies of eight, nine, and twelve inches in length.   The tanks were methodically labeled with a parts-per-million dosage amount.  Harry was somewhat lost in the observation when a voice behind him drew his attention, her voice as familiar as the tone in which she spoke.

 

“Hello, Harry, it’s so good to see you again.”

 

He turned, his forehead tightening in bewilderment.  “Belinda?” he questioned in obvious disbelief, never once considering the possibility of her involvement in the events that had brought him to the island.

 

“I’m rather surprised you even remembered me,” she answered coldly.  “As quickly as you dropped my project and moved on.”

 

It had been five years since he had last seen her, and those years hadn’t been unkind to the petite, blonde.  Her white lab coat was worn open over a black pencil skirt cut above the knees and was paired with a white button-up blouse, while her hair was worn in a stylish bun; practical yet feminine.  Her pleasing facial features however, were marred by obvious scorn, coupled with a sense of superiority that she displayed openly.

 

“Your project had merit, but it wasn’t the direction that the Institute was moving toward,” he explained, wondering why they were having this particular conversation at the moment and somewhat surprised by her obvious disdain for him. 

 

“Ah yes,” she said in a patronizing tone while stepping further into the room and totally ignoring the giant standing guard in the corner.  “And that was food-from-plankton as I remember?  Tell me, Harriman, did anything ever become of that project?” she asked with a look of false interest in his answer, knowing full-well that the plankton project had had several setbacks and was still being researched to this day.

 

Harry was somewhat bewildered. This exchange was as unexpected as seeing Dr. Belinda Barnes after all these years; her obvious contempt for him and his decision to leave her unrelated research on the life cycle of the basking shark certainly was. 

 

“I was overseeing Seaview's sea trials and I couldn't divide my time between too many projects.  It was, in no way, a reflection of your work or its value,” he replied.

 

“That's right... Seaview,” she said walking around the room as if in thought while Harry turned to keep eye contact.  “Do you want to know what happened to my research, Harry?” his name rendered with disdain.  She didn't wait before answering.  “I'll tell you what happened.  All the major grants dried up one-by-one, until my research was dropped from the Oceanic Foundation.  You see, you were quite the cat’s meow after Seaview was built.  Your decision to walk away was seen as a lack of confidence in my project... and in me.”

 

“I told you, that was never my intent… but I’m a little confused.  What does the gestational period of a basking shark have to do with using previously unknown elements to produce abnormally large growth?” he asked bluntly in an attempt to get the important matters at hand.

 

“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked rhetorically.  “When my funding dried up, I went everywhere in search of someone with vision, but as soon as they saw your name all they wanted to talk about was Seaview this and Seaview that and just why you broke ties with my research.”

 

“Belinda…” he tried to interrupt, but she barreled on.

 

“I had given up, Harry, I couldn’t afford a lab much less a ship to continue my research,” she said almost exasperated.  “But then I was contacted by a man who was willing to make me the lead scientist in his own research.  He had the vision and the means if I was willing to take on his projects.  No more grant applications, no more crawling on my hands and knees begging for funding!  I would have everything I needed including the finest equipment.  Look around you, Harry, there isn’t one thing in this lab that isn’t the very best technology of our day…”

 

“So, you sold your soul to the devil for money and funding.  Is that it, Belinda?”

 

“Sold my soul?” she fired back.

 

“What else do you call it?  You’re experimenting on human beings,” he accused with an arm held out to the giant in the corner who stood expressionless, not even fazed when the subject of the conversation had turned about him.  “Why didn’t you come to me?  There would have always been a job for you at the Institute,” he implored.

 

“Oh, that’s rich! The Nelson Institute of Marine Research,” she scoffed, emphasizing his name.  “You would have loved that, wouldn’t you?  To have me come begging for a job from the famous Admiral Nelson!”

 

“It wouldn’t have been like that, Belinda,” he softened, having no clue when their paths had parted that she felt this way.

 

“Don’t you dare pity me, Harry,” she warned.  “I’m not the same woman I was five years ago.”

 

Harry nodded, that was at least one thing they could agree on.  “Obviously… I could have never believed you would drop your moral code and everything decent to participate… No!,” he amended, “to head a project that experiments on humans.  He is your creation, isn’t he?” 

 

Her callous smile reminded him of another betrayal from another woman, Dr. Lydia Parish; another woman who had turned her brilliant mind to work for evil.  The only difference between these two was Dr. Parish at least had a cause; as traitorous and wrong as it was, it was something that she believed in.**  The same could not be said of Dr. Belinda Barnes for she had traded her soul for money and power.

 

“Yes, he is my creation,” she replied, her smile growing wider and more sinister.

 

Harry had lost his patience.  He could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was too drunk on power to listen to reason.  All he could do now was to gather the facts and try and find a way to stop whatever plan was driving this laboratory in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

 

# # # # #

 

Garrud, the giant, reeled in his aggression, having made a concerted effort to remember what it was like to be in control of his own emotions again; to have compassion on another; to feel what it was like to be human once more.  He had frozen his fist in mid-air, ready to plunge a final blow, when upon looking down on his hapless victim, he remembered a time when the thought of striking an unconscious man would have been inconceivable.  The thought brought sorrow, followed by rage of what he had become; not of his own choosing, but by someone else's design.  The thought infuriated him and his primal aggression needed an outlet, and in his rage, he plunged his fist downward, purposely missing Crane’s jaw and pounding his fist, instead, into the ground beside him. 

 

He breathed heavily and tried to access his reasoning power within an increasingly foggy brain when Crane tossed his head and a moan escaped through his parted lips.  His eyes fluttered opened but then closed as darkness took him once again. 

 

Fully aware of what was expected of him and the punishment of those who disobeyed, Garrud gathered Crane into his arms and threw him over his shoulders... there would be severe consequences if he failed.

 

# # # # #

 

Harry observed Belinda carefully as she conducted a “grand tour” of her laboratory and the experiments in progress.  He was keen to understand the science of the new elements but not impressed with the applications for which the experiments appeared to be directed.  For her part, she was very much showing off her work in an effort to prove that she had bettered him.  He studied her and wondered if a person could have changed so drastically, in both thought and deed, in just five short years.  Her arrogance and pride were over-the-top and foremost in what he noticed first, as was her coldhearted disregard for life. 

 

Of her science, he found no fault.  Her methodology, experiments, and observations were tasks completed in good form, but as the tour went on, he was sure that there was calculated evil, as well as genius behind her work.  He couldn’t fathom how she could have changed so drastically, but he was aware of how unrealized dreams and selfish ambitions had been blamed for many a deviant’s behavior in history.  Though, he couldn’t understand it, he was forced to conclude that by her own words and actions, that she was one such deviant.  With this conclusion now reached, his attention turned fully on learning what her end-goal was and just who was footing the bill for this so-called research.   To that end, he hoped to probe the answers from his “host”.

 

“It’s all rather impressive, Belinda, but I have a hard time believing you did all of this in the course of just one year,” he simply stated, hoping that her pride would indulge him with the information he sought.

 

She pursed her mouth tightly in obvious indignation before answering.  “I stand on the shoulders of no one, Harry,” she said blatantly.  “But there was a scientist before me.  He conducted his research based on manipulating growth hormones by studying acromegaly.”

 

Harry nodded his understanding of the disorder caused by excess growth hormones. 

 

“His work produced less-than-satisfactory results for my employer.  Though, the hormone could be reproduced, he was unable to control the subject’s behavior afterwards, that is, until Dr. Sterling’s fissure.  You see, Harry, Cara Sloane was frantic to find a cure for Dr. Sterling after your initial denial to come to the sea lab, and in her desperation, she presented her case to other scientists.  My employer was made aware of her dilemma, but before he could make an offer, she made one final plea, and you accepted.  My services were garnered immediately, and samples of the fissure were obtained as soon as you left sonar range.  It was enough to begin my research until arrangements could be made to reopen the fissure for more highly concentrated samples, and the result is what you see here,” she finished proudly with a sway of her arms outward.

 

And here was the crux of it all, to produce giants that could be controlled.  He found her cold-hearted disregard for life as disgusting as it was disturbing.  The next question that he needed answered was just what means of control had she employed.  Had she found a way to keep the subjects from going mad as Sterling had?  He doubted it.  As brilliant as Belinda Barnes was, her expertise lay in marine biology not neurology. 

 

“What I see here is a giant with little capacity to think for himself.  Look at him,” he demanded, pointing to the giant in the corner.  “He looks like he’s been lobotomized, there’s no fire in his eyes at all!”

 

“Don’t be so dramatic, Harry,” she patronized.  “According to your own report, direct exposure to the fissure drove Dr. Sterling mad.  My research was simply focused on whether limiting exposure to the elements would produce the desired features.  Through my experiments, I proved that both the growth and the mental deterioration could be controlled.”

 

Harry turned to survey the tanks of various-sized gobies.  It was apparent the direction she had taken in her research.  “Then he’s not your first subject,” he stated as much as asked after drawing a logical conclusion. 

 

“I currently have two giants modified by the fissure elements,” she replied with a prideful upturn of her lips at her accomplishment.

 

“Where are the others?” Harry countered quickly and without responding to the fact that there was a second giant of which he hadn’t seen yet.

 

“What others?” she deadpanned.

 

“Your failures,” he shot back.

 

Her answer was a nonverbal glance at the large cold-storage door on the far side of the room.

 

# # # # #

 

Lee reached for his head even before opening his eyes.  His shoulder was sore and moving his arm was more of a chore than he expected.  A dark bruise had already formed on his jaw and blood from his busted lip had already crusted.  He expected to wake in a cell of some kind but was surprised when he realized that he was lying in a cave.  Sunlight filtered through an entrance only partly obscured with jungle brush that naturally concealed the opening.  He raised himself to his elbows and looked over his surroundings more closely, his gaze moving methodically around the cavern until it stopped to rest on the giant sitting on his haunches watching him.  Lee moved slowly to sit straight up and moved himself against the cave wall.

 

“My name is Crane,” he introduced, having no clue why the giant had subdued him only to hide him away in a cave.

 

“Garrud,” the giant answered.

 

“Your name is Garrud?” he repeated in question.

 

A soft, frustrated growl followed.  “Not… my real name,” he answered in broken English, though he had no accent to indicate English was his second language.  “Here,” he said, rising slowly and pointing to a crude carving on the cave wall.

 

Lee rose slowly, careful not to startle the large man and to hopefully, retain the passive mood of his host.  He walked closer to get a better look at a word scribbled into the soft volcanic rock in child-like writing.

 

“Jaco,” Lee read.

 

The man’s eyes lit up.  “Jacob,” he corrected.  “I tried not to forget,” he explained.  “But I couldn’t remember the rest,” he said struggling with the frustration of it all.

 

“The letter ‘b’,” Lee finished perceptively.

 

“Yes,” he answered sadly.

 

Though he didn’t know all the facts yet, Lee could see that there was more to this gentle giant’s story and suspected that Jacob was as much a victim here as the lives lost at sea.

 

“Jacob, I came to this island with a friend.  We’re looking for answers to explain the recent giant sea creature attacks.  We suspect a laboratory is here.  Would you know anything about that?” he asked, believing he already knew the answer, but seeking confirmation.

 

Jacob nodded.  “Laboratory... yes.  I have changed,” he answered. 

 

Lee nodded; his suspicion confirmed.  “Someone changed you?” he clarified.

 

Jacob nodded, lowering his eyes with an obviously troubled heart.

 

“How long have you been here?” Lee continued.

 

“I… don’t know…” he said, frowning and almost frantic that he couldn’t recall the memory.

 

“It’s okay,” Lee assured. 

 

“Thinking wasn’t hard… before,” the large man lamented. 

 

Lee was starting to get the picture for the diabolical work going on here.  Jacob was obviously not a willing party to the experiments, and knowing what he knew of bad guys capable of such barbarism, he calculated that the objective was to produce some sort of super army.

 

“Are the people who changed you still here?”

 

Jacob’s eyes darkened and his face hardened.  “Yes.”

 

“I need to find my friend, Jacob.  He might be able to help you.  He’s very smart,” he answered with a small smile.  “Can you help me find him?”

 

“I will help.  It’s too late for me, but for others…” he started before the band on his wrist suddenly lit up and Jacob roared in pain.  He turned away from Lee, burying his face in his hands and groaning heavily, leaning against the wall and riding out the pain until the wrist band turned off and the agony abated.

 

“Jacob, what’s happening?” Lee asked, touching his shoulder in a show of compassion and concern. 

 

The giant flinched but didn’t shirk away, as he breathed heavily gathering his voice.  “I must return,” he said simply.  “She will be angry.”

 

“Then take me to them.  That’s what they want, right?”

 

“No, not good for you,” the giant struggled, his articulation slowing and clearly concerned for Lee’s safety.

 

“I have help, Jacob.  I’m not in this alone… and neither are you,” he promised.  “Help me get to my friend and together, we’ll find a way out of this.”

 

# # # # #

 

Ski sat in the left seat with his feet propped on the co-pilot’s chair.  He’d been left to babysit the flying sub and with a radio blackout and the shutters closed over FS1’s windows, there wasn’t much to do but wait for word from the Skipper.  On that regard, he’d been less than patiently waiting, since Captain Crane’s signal was already ten minutes overdue.  Not for the first time, he wished he was there in the thick of things, instead of stuck in sixty feet of water without the benefit of even seeing a fish swim by from time to time. 

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a beeping alarm as he clumsily swung his feet from their lazy rest and stumbled to the radio board.  The coded flashes indicated a different signal than he’d been expecting of “all was well”.  This code carried a completely different message; it meant “Standby.”  He replayed the coded flash message, just to make sure.  He knew it wasn’t originally part of the mission parameters, but he and the Skipper had worked together a lot these last few years, and he knew just what to do.  Immediately, he gathered together his diving gear and a dry bag for his gun and clothes in an effort to be ready for the next message.  When he had done all he could to prepare, he sat again and watched for the next message, this time with ready resolve to act and knowing that the game plan had just been changed.   

 

# # # # #

 

Belinda opened the deep-freezer and swayed a hand inward for Harry to enter.  “We had to refine our original plans,” she explained.  “We achieved the twelve-foot specimens after limiting exposure.  Of course, we weren’t interested in reproducing Dr. Sterling’s final growth, but both specimens went mad only days after they had reached their designed height,” she said with no emotion and completely detached from the barbarism of what Harry was seeing: deceased human subjects, lying on shelves stacked one above the other and covered with sheets that outlined their grossly, unnatural sizes.  “Now, the nine-foot specimens offered great promise,” she continued, “but their mental capacity was unusable.  They simply couldn’t be trained for the simple tasks they were designed.  You see, B-4710 deteriorates brain cells as rapidly as it produces growth.”

 

“B-4710… B, as in Belinda Barnes?” Harry questioned, only partially able to keep the fire of indignation from his face at the inhumane research being displayed so callously.

 

“Well, I discovered it.  It’s my right,” she answered with a slight shoulder shrug.  “Now, the seven to eight-foot specimens, these carry our greatest potential.  This one couldn’t adjust and had to be destroyed, but you can see how beautifully the transmutation took place,” she admired, pulling the sheet back for Harry to see.

 

“What I see is an immoral, blatant disregard to life!” Harry shot back, unable to keep his disgust back any longer. 

 

Belinda waved a dismissive hand and walked out of the cold storage with Harry following.  She closed the door behind them and continued.

 

“Study the great societies of the animal kingdom, Harry.  The bees have drones and the ants have slaves.  Their societies are orderly and well-managed and those in the lower positions have no desire to do anything but what they have been bred to do.  All we are doing is engineering drones into the human equation.”

 

“I can’t believe these men underwent the experiments by their own free will,” he charged heatedly.  “It’s an absolute travesty of all that is holy and right!”

 

“Think of the betterment of society,” she contended walking around the lab as if trying to convince a jury in final deliberations, “no more sending the brightest and best minds of our youth to war; our soldier drones will take on the task.  No more wasting time on menial labor; our servant drones will see to that…”

 

“This is madness, Belinda!  Surely, you can’t believe a word of what you’re saying!” he shouted, leaning over the worktable between them and slapping his hands down in front of him in his disgust. 

 

At this movement, the giant in the corner stepped forward.  The submissive, vacant look in his eyes was instantly replaced with intensity so primal, that he hardly seemed the same man who had stood without emotion, though he had been the direct subject of their conversation.  He growled almost feral as he took another step closer; his senses awakened at Harry’s outburst, which he perceived to be a threat against Belinda.

 

“Bremer, no!” she commanded to which he obeyed at once, stopping his forward motion, though the new-found fire in his eyes still shone with barely controlled fierceness.   She glanced at Harry and smiled at the power her spoken word had over the giant man.  “I would advise you to show less aggression, Harry,” she stated smugly.

 

“Bremer,” Harry repeated thoughtfully, “a derivative of the name of a mythical giant of Norse legend,” he said, carefully watching the giant whose eyes had yet to lose their violent passion.

 

“How utterly perceptive of you, Harry.  We gave Bremer and Garrud new names when they were transformed.  It helps to remind them of their roles,” she stated, her black-hearted reply offering no resemblance to the woman he thought he knew.

 

“I simply can’t believe that you could have changed this drastically.  Has ambition so clouded your senses that you can’t see how wrong this is?” he pleaded on a personal level.

 

“Ambition doesn’t drive me, Harry,” she stated coldly and in a voice inflection that said she was about to reveal a secret.  “My hatred for you drives me,” she said in a bombshell statement that took him by complete surprise.  “I wasn’t initially interested when my new employer contacted me, but when I found out that this research was tied to you and Seaview, I joined without a second thought.  I knew that you would investigate the fissure, but I would have never put money on you defeating the squid.  I fully expected you and your precious ship to be rotting at the bottom of the ocean,” she spewed hatefully.  “But this is even better, because now you know that you are to blame for all those ships sinking and all those lives lost, and you bear as much responsibility for my ‘failed’ giants as I do,” she said pointing toward the cold-storage, “because you drove me to this!” she declared.

 

I drove you to this?” Harry repeated incredulously.

 

“You and your titanium monstrosity flourished, while I was forced to abandon my dreams!” she yelled with a hand to her chest to make her point and in more emotion than she had shown thus far.

 

Harry stood flabbergasted.  Had she really dropped to the depths of any sane person’s moral code because of professional jealousy?  Furthermore, there was neither sorrow, nor regret in her eyes for the dozens of lives lost, or the men she had inhumanely subjected to her experiments. 

 

“You’re a monster!” he accused with emotions raw and passionate, and momentarily forgetting Bremer, he took a step toward her in anger.  

 

In one large stride, Bremer was upon him, striking him with a powerful backhand that sent Harry across the room and sprawling to the floor.  The giant took another raging step toward him, ignoring Belinda’s commands to desist in the background, while Harry searched for a way to move out the giant’s reach with stars dancing around his head.  He had nowhere to go as Bremer took a final step toward him and reached toward his throat, but then inexplicably stopped.  Immediately, the giant tensed in apparent agony as the band around his wrist illuminated.  With pleading eyes, he wheeled about and turned toward Belinda who stood emotionless, holding a small cigarette-sized device.  She pressed on the device a moment longer, until Bremer staggered back to the corner before she unceremoniously turned the device off and returned it to the pocket of her lab jacket.

 

“I warned you, Harry.  Next time, I’ll let him tear you to pieces.”

 

Chapter Fifteen

 

 

It wasn’t that he was in a hurry to be captured by whichever sadistic bastards had experimented on Jacob, apparently affecting both his size and his ability to reason; but he needed to find the Admiral before calling in backup since it was Lee’s signal Kowalski was tracking.  It had been a definite change in plans to issue the last signal he’d sent, but he trusted that Ski would understand and respond appropriately.  The next code he transmitted would depend solely upon what he found once he located Harry.

 

To this end, he was following Jacob back to the building when the giant suddenly stopped and pointed to an effectively hidden camera; its presence answering the question of how their whereabouts had been so handily made known.

 

“Is there another way in?” Lee whispered.

 

“Only this way,” Jacob answered.

 

“Then let’s make this look good,” Lee suggested.  “You give me a good push in front of the camera, and then lead me back into the building like your prisoner.”

 

Jacob lowered his eyes, visibly concerned.

 

“It will be okay,” he promised.

 

A moment later, the deed done, Lee was manhandled to his feet and marched into the building, all under the watchful eye of the camera. 

 

Once inside, he played the part of a prisoner and avoided conversation with his ‘captor’.  Jacob also understood the stakes and had reverted to his role, giving no indication that the two were working together. 

 

Lee kept track of the twists and turns of the hallways, which ran deeper into side of the mountain, until he was brought into what appeared to be a control room with computer stations and multiple monitors, one of which was a satellite view of Seaview.  He was brought to stand in front of an apparent officer and two subordinates.

 

“Welcome, Captain Crane,” the officer greeted in a fashion that Lee knew was the exact opposite of the cordial welcome.  “I am Colonel Zagmaan, and you are my prisoner.  Search him,” he ordered. 

 

Jacob backed away while the two underlings searched and unloaded everything from his pockets. 

 

The officer looked over the contents and frowned.  “No radio, Captain Crane?”

 

“I travel light,” he deadpanned to the colonel’s deep frown.

 

Zagmaan studied his face, not believing Crane and Nelson had come to the island on an obvious fact-finding mission without a radio.  “Hmm,” he said thoughtfully, turning and walking a few steps away.  “But did you lose it… or did you hide it?”

 

Lee made no attempt to answer the question one way or the other.

 

The colonel apparently didn’t like being stonewalled and signaled his men with just a nod.  Immediately, Lee felt the grip on his arms tighten.

 

“Garrud,” Zagmaan called, issuing a one-word order which was clearly understood by all in the room.

 

Jacob obeyed, as much a result of the behavior controller’s past lessons as from knowing that he must not give away that he was in league with the prisoner, and stepped closer; his size effectively providing the intimidating motivation the colonel intended.

 

“Now, Crane, tell me about your radio.” 

 

Lee returned an icy glare that annoyed the colonel, his cheek twitching at the defiance. 

 

“Very well… Garrud,” he said simply.

 

Jacob stepped in front of Lee, his face stoic but his eyes full of confusion at the predicament he found himself. 

 

Lee looked up at the giant and twitched a small half-smile then tightened his stomach.   He hoped he had conveyed to Jacob to do what needed to be done and his answer was a deep punch in his gut that doubled him over gasping for air.

 

The colonel waited as his prisoner regained both his breath and his ability to speak.  “The radio, Captain,” he inquired once more.

 

Lee briefly considered holding out once more to make it look convincing, but he needed all his ribs in place to find Harry and affect an escape.  His delay however was apparently considered defiance by the colonel.

 

“Garrud, again,” Zagmaan ordered.

 

Lee looked into Jacob’s eyes, the giant more confused than ever, and frankly, he didn’t relish another blow to his gut, so he spoke up.

 

“Wait!” he interrupted, dramatically stopping Jacob’s next blow.  “I did have a radio; I lost it when your giant attacked me,” he said through shallow breaths.

 

“I see,” the colonel said contemplating the answer, while studying Lee’s eyes and deciding if he did, indeed, look like a man desperate to avoid another round with his giant.  He decided it really didn’t matter since he was their prisoner anyway, and issued his next order with arrogant resolve.  “No matter; take him to the cell.”

 

The two subordinates each took an arm and guided him, not-so-gently, out the door, while Lee held his sore gut with one hand, hoping his incarceration would put him once step closer to finding Admiral Nelson.

 

Jacob waited for his order and then followed dutifully; while his brute strength was utilized more by Dr. Barnes, his services were often dismissed in favor of the Colonel’s own security force.  He left holding back the deep regret that his life was out of his control and that he had struck the only true friend he’d had since arriving on this hell-island.

 

# # # # #

 

Just when he thought he’d seen the worst of her atrocities, Belinda Barnes surprised him yet again.  He rose slowly to his feet, careful not to invoke Bremer’s ire, though at present he looked more like a scared rabbit than a raging bull.

 

“Behavior control?” he questioned distastefully, but showing no signs of aggression that the giant could misinterpret.

 

Belinda rolled her eyes and shrugged.  “The device is obviously not my innovation.  My employer provided them and they are quite effective.  The wristband is the receiver; once activated, it carries an electrical signal through the nerves.   Once it travels up the arm, the shock is disseminated throughout the entire body via the nervous system.  It’s a simple, but effective pain/reward system.  I control the pain and the reward is when the discomfort stops,” she said as cold and heartless as the worst of mankind’s depravity.  She smirked and walked up to the giant, reaching up and placing her hand on his cheek in false affection.  “Bremer knows I only want what’s best for him.  Don’t you, my giant friend?” she asked, blatantly mocking the man’s perception of her false concern. 

 

The giant’s eyes softened for the physical touch and she pulled away, demonstrating her control over his fragile emotions.  It was mental manipulation at its worst.

 

“Just like Pavlov’s dogs,” she stated victoriously.

 

Harry stared in disbelief.  A lot could happen in five years, but in the time they had worked together, he hadn’t seen one indication that her political or world views could possibly allow for the malevolence which she was now a willing participate.  And since she was presently willing to talk without reservation, he posed the next question bluntly. 

 

“Do you really care about this new world order you’re helping to bring about?” he asked pointedly.  “Or are you just drunk on power?”

 

Her eyes narrowed at the question, but before she could answer, an officer dressed in a black uniform entered the lab and whispered something in her ear.  She smiled at the news, issued orders that Harry couldn’t hear, and then turned back toward Nelson.

 

“To answer your question, Harry; my work is valued here and that’s more than I can say about how I was treated by you and everyone else that blacklisted me.  Let’s just say that I’ve been won over by my employer’s vision; but it really doesn’t matter what world order is in power… as long as I get to hurt you.  It’s a win-win situation for both me and my employer.”

 

Harry was unfazed by her words.  At this point, nothing she said shocked him anymore, and bluntly asked his next question.  “Let’s just talk about the elephant in the room.  Shall we?” he said with piercing eyes.  “Just who is your employer?”

 

Her smile grew wider and more devious.  “I’d rather thought you’d had figured it out by now,” she taunted.

 

“Humor me,” Harry replied, quite sure he knew the answer for the clues she had given thus far.

 

She locked eyes with him, wanting desperately to tell him just to prove how much the tables had turned and just who was in control, but then thought better of it.  Her employer had insisted on secrecy, and even though the need for revenge burned in her like a hot iron, she knew the revelation wasn’t hers to give.

 

“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said dismissively and then turned toward Bremer.  “Take him back to his cell,” she ordered and then left without another word.

 

# # # # #

 

Harry offered no resistance as Bremer led him back to the room he had awakened in several hours ago.  As they approached, he noticed a second giant standing guard out front.  He thought it was curious to guard an empty room and hoped it didn't mean what he thought it meant. 

 

The two giants offered no greeting or any indication that they had a connection of either friendship or even station in life.  But when Bremer reached for the door, Harry spotted something in the second giant's eyes.  It was different from the vacant, lost eyes of the giant who had escorted him here; they seemed to hold more life, vitality, and purpose.

 

Bremer opened the door and Harry walked in, his earlier concern confirmed when he saw Lee, somewhat battered and bruised, but apparently well.  He was pacing the floor, but turned as soon as the door opened. 

 

“Admiral,” he greeted relieved.

 

“Lee, I’d say I was glad to see you, but I rather hoped you wouldn’t be captured,” Harry replied bluntly, followed by a thin grin of relief.

 

“Well, you know me.  Walked right into a giant, and didn’t know what hit me,” he explained, his eyes trailing upwards to clue Harry to the camera watching them.

 

Harry did, indeed, know Lee Crane, and he knew full-well that he wasn’t easily subdued or captured.  He casually rubbed the side of his neck and looked up clandestinely, a nearly imperceptible nod conveying his understanding.

 

Now, that they knew they were under surveillance, their next words were chosen carefully.

 

“We’re in quite a pickle,” Harry noted, his simple observation effectively allowing Lee to take the lead in the conversation.

 

“I’m afraid so, Sir.  I lost the radio in the jungle and even if we had it, Seaview’s in no condition to help,” he said throwing up a frustrated hand in the air with the necessary dramatics to make his point.

 

His back to the camera, half of a grin appeared then disappeared as Harry interpreted Lee’s statement in lieu of what he knew to be true.  First, it was highly unlikely that Lee had “lost” the transmitter; second, though Seaview was undergoing repairs, she was completely sea worthy; thirdly, Lee had quite purposely left out the fact that Kowalski was manning the flying sub; and fourthly, Lee Crane never approached a covert mission without a backup plan of some kind.

 

Lee paced the floor and then seemed to deflate, leaning against the large stainless steel gurney along the wall.  “Do you know what’s going on here, Sir?”

 

Now, it was Harry’s turn to fill Lee in, only in his case, he was free to tell what he had learned since Belinda had shared so freely.

 

“It’s exactly what we thought it was; a research facility,” Harry said, leaning against the table beside him.  “As you’ve probably already guessed, they’re using the fissure elements to produce the giants we’ve seen.”

 

“…As a super-human soldier force?” Lee interjected.

 

“That’s one of their goals, but they’re also trying to engineer a bizarre feudal system to usher in a new world order.”

 

Lee blew out a breath of disbelief.  He hadn’t expected that new piece of information. 

 

“They’re controlling the men with behavior conditioning,” the admiral continued.  “The wristband is the receiver; it transmits a signal that induces severe pain.”

 

Lee had witnessed the wristband in action, but he couldn’t tell Harry about Jacob at this point. 

 

“I just met a Colonel Zagmaan; he looks like he’s in charge here.”

 

“Perhaps of security,” Harry informed.  “The one in charge is the head researcher, Belinda.  Dr. Belinda Barnes,” he added.

 

Lee raised an eyebrow.  “You sound like you know her?” he noticed perceptively.

 

“We have a history together, though I do believe we’re remembering things quite differently.”  Harry paused but then elaborated with the information Lee needed.  “It was in the early days of the Institute,” he elaborated.  “Seaview was nearly completed, and NIMR was formed to ensure our investors that, though Seaview would retain a reserve status under COMSUBPAC, her main mission was oceanic exploration and discovery.  To this end, we took on a variety of projects that would serve as our first voyage missions.  I worked closely with the various projects, but as Seaview’s sea trials approached, I needed to trim away some of the research.  I was extremely interested in Dr. Reisner’s food-from-plankton project and chose it over Dr. Barnes’ project.”***

 

“I take it she wasn’t happy with it?” Lee surmised.

 

“She seemed to understand at the time,” Harry replied, lowering his head slightly and pursing his lips.  “But apparently, she feels rejected by me professionally and believes that she was blacklisted from funding because of our disassociation.  She flat-out stated that the so-called blacklist is what led her to this work,” he said, laying it out with the least amount of emotion he could, though Lee could see his personal conflict.

 

“I don’t know what she’s tried to lay at your feet, Admiral, but her ‘work’ here was directly responsible for the sinking of four ships with dozens of lives lost; not to mention, what she’s done to make those giants,” he said, carefully choosing his words to not give away his alliance with Jacob.  “Disappointment alone can’t account for the amount of disregard for human life we’ve seen here,” he argued passionately.

 

Harry nodded, accepting his friend’s observation and knowing it to be true, but the thought that he was even partially responsible for her actions weighed heavily on him. 

 

“At any rate, the question begs how she amassed the amount of resources to do all this?” Lee inquired, moving the conversation along.

 

“She’s made it clear that she’s not the mastermind.  She was employed to this end.”

 

“But who has the resources to pull something like this off?  The money, this facility, a submarine…” Lee listed off.  “Zagmaan isn’t PR and neither is his uniform,” he noted.

 

“I can only think of one person with the resources and the world vision for such monstrosities,” Harry answered, looking straight at Lee.

 

“We haven’t heard from him in quite a while,” Lee commented.

 

“Yes, but it’s just the kind of game Gamma plays,” the admiral noted.  “A very serious game… a very deadly game,” he finished gravely.

 

# # # # #

 

Belinda watched the monitor as Nelson and Crane talked in the cell.  Their conversation hadn’t offered any new information, but it did confirm that Seaview wasn’t a threat at the moment and knew that information would be well-received by Dr. Gamma.  She frowned when Harry described their past association and her mood darkened all the more when Crane dismissed her pain as mere “disappointment.” 

 

She remembered vividly how some of her colleagues warned her against having her name connected with “Nelson’s Folly”, but she had lent her good name to the fledgling Institute as a credible scientist anyway.  That in and of itself, should have been enough to keep Nelson’s loyalty.   As far as Harriman Nelson was concerned, he knew only of her desire to understand the large, docile creatures more fully, and in that regard, she had never shown her hand otherwise.  His rejection of her project had cost her a very lucrative payoff from a “source” who sought to develop a serum from the squalene of newborn basking sharks.  The under-the-table payoff would have ensured her research project’s funding for years, where she would have been free to help develop other commercial products more socially palatable than what her source had in mind.  After all, she wasn’t the one developing the interrogation serum; she would have simply been the middle person for an ingredient they claimed was necessary. 

 

Initially, the cordial disassociation hadn’t been more than a minor setback, but the medical and research world was changing quickly, and as synthetic options became more popular, the need for her specific research became less important.  She struggled to stay relevant with the current advancements and refused to take on other projects offered her; consequently, refusing also to take responsibility for the downward spiral of her career.  Eventually, Harriman Nelson became the focal point of her disgruntlement, as jealousy, mixed with her own lack of success, rewrote the facts of her failed career. 

Every time Harry was praised; every newspaper or magazine article published; every passing mention of his name, brought her toxic contempt closer to the surface.  And it wasn’t just Harriman Nelson that she hated; it was everything associated with his success, including his creation, Seaview.

 

Leaning forward, she watched the interaction between the two men on the monitor.  Their professional respect was apparent, but their mutual concern and camaraderie was noticeable and sincere.   A smile formed and grew wider as she leaned back and chuckled, knowing exactly her next move.

 

# # # # #

 

The door opened, drawing both men’s attention to the door as one of Zagmaan’s guards opened the door.

 

“You,” he said, pointing toward Lee, “Come with me.”

 

“What’s the meaning of this?” Harry demanded, stepping forward, but forced to stop abruptly when Bremer responded with a protective step forward.

 

“It’s all right, Admiral,” Lee said attempting to diffuse the volatile situation and stepped into the hall, leaving a fuming Admiral Nelson pacing the cell behind him.

 

# # # # #

 

Lee was led into a room only a little bigger than the cell he had just left.  A large stainless steel gurney was the center focal point in the room.  Small cabinets held medical supplies behind glass cabinets, not unlike the ones aboard Seaview.  A small table sat to the side and held surgical implements lined up and ready for use. 

 

A push from behind moved him further in the room and internal alarms were ringing as loudly as if he were the bell ringer of a medieval bell tower; he threw an elbow into the security guard and headed for the door, but the giant, Bremer, growled and stepped in to block the doorway.  Lee had no choice but to back off with his hands raised in surrender; there was no way he’d be able to bowl down Bremer in an escape.  It wasn’t just the fact that the giant's large body nearly filled the doorway; but it was the murderous look in his eyes that really convinced him to stand down.  There was no indecision, or hint of the same humanity that Jacob had shown.  Whoever Bremer was in the past, had been lost to the ghastly experiments of the island’s host.

 

Heeled steps from outside the room announced the arrival of woman in a white lab coat, Dr. Belinda Barnes, he presumed.

 

“Bremer!” she barked, and the giant stepped to one side, nearly cowering in demeanor, evident by the blatant body language of his now sagging shoulders and the lowering of his eyes as she passed.  “Welcome, Captain Crane,” she greeted as she entered, echoing the same false cordiality that Colonel Zagmaan had issued earlier; only hers was issued with a smile that, coupled with the medical room they now occupied, instantly told him that things had gone from bad to worse.

 

# # # # #

 

Garrud rounded a corner, having been assigned to patrol the interior of the complex and spotted Crane being led into the infirmary.  His heart pounded hard in his chest because he knew that particular room wasn’t used for the care and benefit of any unfortunate soul who found themselves in Dr. Barnes’ care.

 

His transformation to giant had afforded him a new aggressive nature that triggered easily and held under control by the wrist band on his hand and so, it was with great self-control that he walked by without reacting.  He’d been struggling to keep the part of him alive he knew as Jacob, but with each passing day he had found more and more of himself slipping away… until today, when Crane treated him like a fellow human being.  He harbored no false hope of being cured of the grotesque changes that had been forced upon his physical body, but he at least, wanted to remain who he was inside. 

 

He rounded another corner and found the room he was looking for, a small storage room, and stepped inside.  He felt under the wide belt around his tunic for the small, rectangular device Crane had entrusted into his care.  His peasant’s pants had no pockets, but he’d been successful in hiding the device under the belt.  His large hands fumbled over the device as he struggled to remember the codes Crane taught him.  He’d been given two codes, and Crane had left him with the decision of which to send in the event that he couldn’t send the message himself.  His forehead crinkled and his head hurt as the endeavor to remember such a simple task frustrated him; suddenly, his eyes lit in recollection.  Depressing the button with the exact code taught him, he sent the message. 

 

A wave of relief flooded over his being.  Now, all he had to do was keep Crane and Nelson alive long enough for help to arrive, but his relief fled and his mood darkened when he realized that death wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to his new friends.

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

“Mr. O’Brien, it’s the flying sub,” Patterson reported, having been reassigned to sonar.

 

“Where?” Bobby asked, crossing the deck quickly and leaning over Pat’s shoulder.

 

“Just coming into range now, sir.”

 

“They must be under radio silence protocol,” Bobby muttered out loud.  “Monitor its approach,” he ordered and then stepped away.  He walked back to the chart table and leaned forward, considering when to bring the XO up to date, before making an internal decision to wait for the flying sub to dock so that he could have all the facts to present to Mr. Morton.

 

# # # # #

 

Lt. O’Brien stood near the deck hatch as Chief Sharkey turned the wheel, he looked up to the young officer for the go ahead to open the heavy hatch as the security detail waited with weapons drawn.  The flying sub had approached without making radio contact and auto-dock had been initiated; they had no idea what they were going to find when they opened the hatch and were under high-alert.  The hatch now raised; they were surprised that no one had greeted them at the top of the ladder.

 

Sharkey motioned the security detail to stand-ready and took the ladder down into the cockpit.  A moment later, his head appeared again as he climbed out and exclaimed, “There’s no one there, sir!”

 

# # # # #

 

“The flying sub was set on Auto-Nav, retracing the original route they had taken to the island,” Bobby explained to the XO who was still lying flat on his back in sickbay.  “We accessed the flash codes FS1 received; there were two standard check-in codes; one stand-by code; followed by an emergency extraction code.”

 

“Looks like they found what they were looking for,” Chip replied, silently cursing the fact that he was bedridden, having been duly warned by the doctor of the danger of his lung being punctured by the broken rib should he even be bumped in the wrong way.  For himself, it was worth the risk to be in the Control Room in the thick of things, but Jamie had medical authority over the situation.  “So, Kowalski went in solo and sent FS1 back on automatic controls,” he surmised.

 

“Aye sir, all three dive suits are missing.” 

 

Chip nodded. 

 

“I have two options,” Bobby continued, explaining his dilemma.

 

“Send a Detail in now, or wait for an extraction team from the Navy,” Chip finished for him to Bobby’s nod.

 

“Kowalski’s on the ground,” Bobby thought out loud, “but the code indicates they’re in danger.”

 

Chip studied the confusion playing on the lieutenant’s face.  He felt the bandage under his hand and breathed a little deeper, testing his physical response, but was stopped almost immediately when a sharp pain stabbed him like a knife deep inside.  He wasn’t physically able to help, and he wasn’t in command, that burden fell to the younger man sitting beside him.

 

“What does your gut tell you to do?” he said, confident in the officer Lee had left in command before leaving.

 

Bobby swallowed, his eyes diverting from Chip’s for only a moment.  “The Skipper could have sent a standard extraction code, but he didn’t.  We’ve already lost two hours waiting for the flying sub to arrive, and we risk being ordered to stand-down until a SEAL team arrives, or worse, kept out of the extraction completely.”

 

“I agree,” Chip replied, his eyes urging Bobby to make the decision they both knew needed to be made.

 

“I’ll authorize an Extraction Detail,” Bobby said, “I can’t leave the boat with all senior members of the command team out of commission, so I’ll put Sharkey in command.”

 

“He’s up to the task,” Chip assured him, “and for the record, Bobby.  The command is yours and therefore the decision, but it’s what I would have done as well.”

 

Bobby swallowed and nodded his thanks.  The Exec was a fair and respected officer, but he didn’t wield “’atta boys” often, and this one was much appreciated at the moment.

 

“I’ll see to it and keep you informed of the progress,” he said standing.

 

“Thanks, Bobby,” Chip replied.  He listened to Bobby’s footfalls as he left sickbay and only then allowed a grimace of pain to shroud his face, though he wasn’t sure if it was his injured lung or concern for Lee and the Admiral that hurt more.

 

# # # # #

 

Harry’s pacing had slowed as the admiral leaned against the steel gurney waiting.  Over an hour later, the door opened and he was ordered out of the room.  Walking between the security guard and Bremer, he was satisfied to leave his cell in the hopes of learning why Lee had been taken.  He knew the younger ONI operative wasn’t a stranger to interrogation, but since Dr. Barnes hadn’t been curious enough to ask him even one question, he seriously doubted that wasn’t what she was after.  The other possibilities were disturbing, and what had thus been the cause of his concerns.

 

He was led down a hall he had yet to enter, and took that as a good sign that Lee hadn’t been brought to Belinda’s laboratory, but when the door opened, he saw his second concern had been realized.

 

Lee was sitting on a gurney, his head lowered and steadying himself with both hands beside him.  On his wrist, he wore a newly installed wristband.  He raised his head slowly toward the open door, the weariness on his face indicating that the device had already been tested, by the looks of the dark-haired captain, more than once.

 

Harry locked eyes with him and Lee offered a half-smile, meant to assure him that things weren’t as bleak as they appeared, though the admiral highly doubted that at the moment.

 

“What’s going on, here?” Harry demanded.

 

“Just a little insurance,” Belinda replied with a devious smile to match the implications of her answer.

 

“Insurance for what?”

 

“I need your help, Harry, and since you found our work here, I can assume that it is only a matter of time before the island is infiltrated,” she stated matter-of-factly.  “A submarine has already been dispatched to evacuate the lab, and I have more than enough samples from the fissure to continue my work.  I’m so very close to perfecting the exposure dosage, but the transformation only produces a successful transmutation in one out of four cases.  I need you to review my data and discover what I’m missing.”

 

Though she had laid it out smugly, Harry could tell she wasn’t happy having to ask for his help.

 

“Now, why would I want to help you?” he asked, his blue eyes piercing with defiance.

 

Her cheek twitched as she reached into her pocket and he noticed Bremer stiffen at the sight of the control box.  Lee tightened his resolve preparing for the inevitable, as a victorious smile formed then grew when she activated it, initiating a grunt from Lee as he flung his head back, his face tightening in pain and groaning unwittingly.

 

“Stop!” Harry yelled, taking a step forward, but Bremer, unlike previous times, was physically unaffected by the device and pulled him roughly back by the shoulder.  “Stop, Belinda!” he implored.

 

She disengaged the device, resulting in Lee dropping his head to compose himself, while Belinda looked at Harry as if silently posing the question once more.

 

“Where are the files?” Harry asked.

 

“Admiral, no!” Lee implored, his head shooting up with beseeching eyes begging him to reconsider. 

 

Harry had no way of telling him that he was only buying time, nor could he tell Lee that he had no intention of actually helping the evil doctor.  Their eyes locked for only a second before Harry turned his attention to Belinda.  

 

“I need a quiet place to work,” he said to the smug smile of his seemingly triumphant hostess. 

 

She headed for the door, her high heels tapping out confidence as she walked.

 

“Just one more thing,” Harry added, stopping Belinda’s progress in her tracks. 

 

She spun around at the implication that he was bargaining for something. 

 

“You’re in no position to demand anything, Harry,” she spewed with contempt.  It had been all she could do to have to ask for his help in the first place, but Dr. Gamma demanded more than endless experiments.  He had invested a year into her work and fully expected a payoff.  Nor did she want to ask for another researcher with expertise in human biology, as surely Gamma would have been able to produce; that would mean her loss of control over the project.  Exploiting Harriman Nelson’s knowledge was the best option to further her place in the dark underworld of criminals with dictator tendencies.

 

“Oh, I think I am,” he perceived correctly. 

 

She raised an eyebrow for him to continue, desperately attempting to appear in control of the situation.

 

“Captain Crane stays where I can see him,” he stated. 

 

Belinda threw her head back in throaty laughter.  “What’s the matter, Harry?  Don’t trust me?” she taunted at his insinuation that she might submit Lee to her “giant” experiment.

 

“As a matter of fact, I don’t,” he said coolly.  “That’s the deal, Belinda, take it or leave it.”

 

“Oh, very well, Harry,” she patronized, before turning to a darker tone, “but I warn you, you’d better produce, or Seaview is going to need a new captain.”

 

 

# # # # #

 

Ski made his way through the jungle following the signal from Captain Crane’s transmitter.  He snaked around trees and boulders, following the trail of least resistance.  So far, the Skipper had been right, as it appeared the trail was leading toward the satellite tower.  He moved along, slowing and then finally stopping as he studied his tracker.  He turned a dial and readjusted the device before coming to the conclusion that the Skipper was on the move, though he was taking a parallel route along side of the original signal. 

 

A quick look at his watch verified that the flying sub should have made it back to Seaview by now offering some comfort that help was on its way, but he knew that he couldn’t wait for their arrival.  Even with FS1 taking to the air and arriving much sooner than underwater, they still had a two-hour hike ahead of them, and he realized that he was the only backup the Skipper and the Admiral had; they were counting on him.  Briefly feeling the comfort of the sidearm in its holster, he then turned his attention back to the tracker and continued to make his way through the island’s dense forest. 

 

# # # # #  

 

Belinda opened the door and swayed an arm inward, prompting Harry to enter the sparsely furnished office.  

 

“Don’t disappoint me, Harry,” she warned, stepping in front of Lee and barring his entrance.  Harry’s eyes burned with contempt and she smiled, sure she had made her point and moved aside for Lee to enter.  He took a step forward and she nodded to Bremer, who added an extra push, sending Lee flying across the room and sliding down the wall.

 

“Lee!” Harry called and hurried toward him when he was slow to rise.

 

“Remember, Harry,” she reminded and closed the door behind them.

 

Harry frowned and then turned his attention back to his friend struggling to stand.  “Are you all right, Lee?” he asked, lending his strength to help him stand.  He was slow to find his footing and Harry leaned in closer to help, that’s when Lee spoke.

 

“We’re each on a different frequency,” he whispered and feigned a fall downward, to give him more time to brief the Admiral.

 

Harry acknowledged with his eyes, and realized that the fashion in which Lee was filling him in meant they were under observation again.

 

“She can’t control us all at once… has to manually switch frequencies,” he got out as Harry helped him to his feet.  That was all the dramatics he thought he could get away with and stood soundly on his feet.

 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked his back toward the camera and playing along with the gambit Lee employed to inform him of this strategic fact.

 

“I’m okay, just a little tired,” he answered in an honest assessment to inform Harry that though he was compromised he had plenty of fight left in him.

 

Harry nodded and then eyed the binders of data stacked on the desk.  “I’d better get busy then.”

 

“Why the hell are you doing this, Admiral?” Lee asked heatedly.

 

“Because, I didn’t have a choice!” Harry shot back, looking for and finding the duplicity in Lee’s eyes to tell him that this too was a ploy.  “If you hadn’t of lost the radio, we might have had another play,” he accused playing along.

 

“What difference does it make anyway?” Lee asked throwing his hands into the air.  “We’re completely on our own with Seaview on the surface undergoing repairs,” he lied. 

 

“We’re wasting time,” the admiral replied, moving toward the desk and silently surmising that Lee’s emphasis that they were ‘on their own’, actually meant the exact opposite.  He was confident that the clever captain had somehow managed to contact Kowalski.  “And I’ve got to make sure that Dr. Barnes doesn’t decide she needs you as her next subject!” he finished passionately; the last added to ensure that Belinda, whom he was sure was monitoring them, believed he was sincerely working on the problem.

 

Lee rubbed the back of his neck and “dejectedly” acknowledged the truth in the Admiral’s statement. 

 

At this point, they were both buying time till help arrived.  Only Lee knew the specifics, and that their lives depended on whether Jacob had managed to send the message.

 

# # # # #

 

The transmitter was flashing insistently and Ski knew he was closing in fast.  He looked down and studied the device again, confused when he saw a building ahead, but the signal tracking in another direction in the jungle.  Taking a deep breath, he skirted around the building and followed the tracker to a cave, only partially concealed by brush.  He stowed the transmitter and pulled his sidearm, considering that perhaps one or both of the missing officers were injured and unable to make it back to the beach.  Stepping into the cave, he blinked as his eyes adjusted to the filtered light of the unoccupied cave.  In the center of the cave lay the device he’d been tracking.  He crouched down and picked it up and then noticed two rather large tracks.  A noise behind him caused him to twist sharply, but before he could train his aim toward the sound, he was knocked off his feet, losing his gun with the impact. 

 

A large form hovered over him, blocking the light from the entrance of the cave.  Ski searched the cave floor with one hand looking for his gun, while watching his assailant.  His eyes readjusted to the light and made out a large man… a giant… he amended, standing over him.

 

“Crane sent me,” the giant said, stooping down and offering a hand to the downed man.

 

“Captain Crane sent you?” Ski reiterated slightly startled at this revelation, but reaching anyway to accept the large hand offered him.  A surprisingly gentle tug pulled him from the ground to a stand.

 

“He said you’d come,” the giant continued, taking a long step toward the gun on the ground and picking it up, “and not wait for help,” he said, handing the gun back to its owner.

 

Ski’s forehead crinkled in confusion, taking the gun and studying it for a long second.

 

“Yeah, I guess so; me and the Skipper have been through a few skirmishes together,” he said, finally taking in the fact that the giant was an ally and holstered his weapon.  “My name is Kowalski, but everyone calls me Ski,” he said, reaching a hand out.

 

“Jacob,” he said extending a large hand to shake and privately pleased to be known as more than Garrud; a slave to someone else’s will.

 

“Good to meet you, Jacob,” Ski greeted.  “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on here.  Can you fill me in?” Kowalski asked, needing to know the entire scoop in order to make plans.

 

# # # # #

 

Belinda watched from Command Control as Nelson studied the binders, making notes on a pad next to him.  Crane, for his part, was pacing the room liked a caged tiger.  She twitched a small smile, her hopes high that the great Admiral Harriman Nelson would live up to his reputation as a genius. Though she was loathe to enlist his aid, it had been rather satisfying to see his reaction to the pain emitter she had fitted on Crane. 

 

“The submarine is on its way,” Colonel Zagmaan said, approaching from behind.

 

“Good, and the drone?” she asked over her shoulder.

 

“Almost within range,” Zagmaan replied, his voice tight with tension, but within the military confines of discipline, and though he didn’t appreciate being under the command of Dr. Barnes, he did his duty without question.

 

“Good,” she said simply, silently counting her victories over Harriman Nelson.

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

“Mr. O’Brien,” Patterson called from sonar.

 

Bobby dropped his pencil and moved behind the experienced rating.  “What do you have, Pat?”

 

“A flash reading, sir.  It was there a moment ago,” he said frustrated when the contact disappeared.  “There!” he exclaimed at the glowing green bogey on the screen.

 

Bobby’s brow furrowed in question; the contact signature too vague to identify.  “Hydrophones?”

 

“I’m not getting anything, sir,” Rogers answered.

 

“What do you mean?  By the size of the reading, you should hear something, even if it’s a small whale,” Bobby questioned, reaching for the extra headphones.  Frowning, he passed the headphones over to Pat.  It wasn’t protocol, but he was short-handed with ongoing DC repairs going on and Kowalski and Riley out of the picture, not to mention Sharkey and the rescue team who had left the boat an hour ago.

 

Pat listened intently; it was well-known among the crew that other than the Skipper; he had the sharpest ears aboard.  A long minute passed before he spoke.  “I don’t know, sir, but it doesn’t sound right.”

 

“How so?” Bobby pressed.

 

“It doesn’t sound mechanical, but it doesn’t profile like a biologic either,” he said, shrugging apologetically as he handed back the headphones.

 

Bobby lowered his eyes, thinking through all the possibilities he could think from his own experience. 

 

“How far out is it?”

 

“About 15 miles,” Pat answered, just as the contact was lost again.  Pat adjusted the sonar and then shook his head.  “It’s gone again, sir.”

 

“Keep a close eye out.  I want to know if it shows up again,” he ordered and stepped away.  He reached the chart table and leaned forward, thinking through the unidentified contact.  For a fleeting moment, he couldn’t help but wish that it was Mr. Morton up here making the big decisions, but quickly dismissed the thought.  The Exec was out of commission in sickbay and he was in command.  Though his confidence had waivered for a moment, his devotion to duty and responsibility hadn’t.  Reaching for the mic, he put aside his self-doubt and got to work.  “Damage Control, report…”

 

# # # # #

 

Harry poured over Belinda’s notes, though he had no intention of helping her perfect the dosage from the fissure’s elements, he was still scientifically curious, and more importantly, he needed to keep up the guise that he was working on her problem.  Lee was pacing the floor behind him, the band on his wrist a constant reminder of what Belinda was capable of, and a quick but thorough glance had verified that the band was there to stay until it could be properly cut off.  Their door had been locked behind them and they were under observation via camera.  In addition, Bremer had been left to stand guard.  All and all, Harry’s original assessment in the cell earlier had been correct: they were in quite a pickle.

 

Despite this point, Lee appeared to be waiting for something, just what, Harry didn’t know, and the fact that they were under observation had curtailed the possibility for discussing escape plans. 

 

Unexpectedly, the door behind them opened as both men turned to see Belinda Barnes standing in the threshold. 

 

“Gentlemen, come with me.  I have something to show you that I think you’ll find most interesting,” she said, her voice inflection suggesting an unmistakably sarcastic tone.  “Don’t worry about the research, Harry… you’ll have plenty of time to look it over for me when the sub arrives,” she stated arrogantly.

 

Harry and Lee exchanged glances, realizing that the island was about to be vacated and apparently, Belinda intended on taking her prisoners with her.  The fact that she had only mentioned Harry was disturbing to the admiral, and he was worried what the demented Dr. Barnes might have in mind for Lee.  Harry pursed his lips tightly, stepping through the doorway and thinking that one of Lee’s miracle escapes would be good just now.

 

It was only a passing thought and a sarcastic one at that, but as if on cue, Lee threw an elbow deep into the gut of one of Zagmaan’s men, before throwing a punch into the second guard.  Bremer took a step his direction, but his help wasn’t required as Dr. Barnes activated the wristband receiver, resulting in instant agony as Lee slid against the wall, riding out the punishment. 

 

Belinda held the button down longer than necessary, seeking to take the fight out of her newest victim until Harry’s insistence grew in both passion and decibels.  With an arrogant smile she released the pain emitter as Harry fumed, held back from helping his friend by Bremer’s large hand on his shoulder.

 

“You’re a stubborn one, Captain Crane, but I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” she said before turning to the guards.  “Bring him along.”

 

The guards each took an arm as Lee struggled to put his feet in motion as he was dragged along.

 

Harry gritted his teeth, wondering just what in blazes Lee was thinking, attempting an escape against such overwhelming odds.

 

Meanwhile, behind him, Lee found his footing and tried with no avail to shrug off the hands of his guards, proving he still had fight left in him, while silently acknowledging ‘mission accomplished’ as he had just ensured that the frequency was still set on his wristband.

 

# # # # #

 

Having been briefed, Kowalski followed Jacob back to the building he had previously spotted at the base of the mountain.  They stopped just short of the clearing as Jacob pointed upwards to a camera positioned to monitor the door.  Ski frowned and checked out the tree he would have to climb to disable it, but Jacob issued a satisfied smile and reached up to move the lens with his fingertips. 

 

Ski nodded approvingly; the camera was now positioned into the tree’s leaves.  It was a clever ploy initiated by the giant, since its new position wouldn’t necessarily indicate that it had been tampered with purposely, indeed, a bird or small animal could have just likely moved it.  Then Ski pulled the tracker out of his pocket and looked around, finding a large fern to hide it under.  Taking a deep breath in and drawing his sidearm, he nodded to his companion and followed Jacob into the building.

 

While two hours from its present position, Sharkey sent a small two-man rescue detail to track the Skipper’s transmitter, and then submerged the flying sub, heading for a small cove on the adjacent side of the island.

 

# # # # #

 

Command Control was alive with activity as Lee and Harry were ushered into the room.  Three men sat at stations in a U shape, monitoring several monitors each.  One station displayed internal security, while another focused outside the building showing a sub docked in a hidden cove.  Lee tensed at the third station, where one monitor displayed a distant satellite view from space, while the other displayed a real-time, zoomed-in view of Seaview sitting topside on the surface.  But perhaps the most distressing station was to his right, where a view of the nose of a small craft was shown traveling underwater; the controls, gauges, and monitor displays indicated the operator at the station was remotely piloting a drone sub. 

 

Lee’s eyes scanned the drone’s position and depth, before quickly sweeping his eyes toward the monitor displaying an aerial view of Seaview.  He took a step forward when he realized that the drone was on an intercept course, but two hands on either arm tightened their grip and kept him in place.

 

“What is this?” Harry demanded, sizing up the situation as fast as Seaview’s Captain.

 

“As I said earlier, Harry, my employer despises you as much as I do…” Belinda started.

 

“You mean Gamma?” he replied heatedly.

 

“Dr. Gamma is a visionary,” she shot back, finally admitting who she was working for.

 

“Gamma is a power hungry, vicious, and soul-less man who will destroy all that is right and good for his own personal gain,” he exclaimed passionately.

 

Belinda shrugged, Harry’s words rolling off her as easily as water droplets down a window pane on a rainy day.

 

Do go on, Harry, educate me on what a man does for his own personal gain,” she replied in a clear insinuating tone.

 

“You still believe that I’m to blame for the downward spiral of your career?” he asked incredulously.  “It was a simple business decision, Dr. Barnes,” he argued.  “Yours wasn’t the first project I’ve ever said ‘no’ to and it certainly wasn’t the last.  Yours did, however, benefit from the full resources of the Institute for nearly six months, including its state-of-the-art laboratory, and we undoubtedly helped to further your research before our disassociation.  As for our parting of ways; I provided, as I recall, a rather lengthy letter of recommendation filled with numerous accolades for both you and your research and I don’t ever recall receiving one phone call, even after issuing an invitation to your prospective sponsors on the letter.  Just how is that possible?  Unless, perhaps, you never submitted that letter, choosing to go at it alone, so that you could conveniently have me to blame when success passed you by,” he finished, passionately making an assertion that he hoped would knock some sense into the disgruntled scientist.  At the very least, he was sick and tired of taking responsibility for her own mismanagement of both her project and career.

 

By the piercing look in Belinda’s eyes, he had hit the nail on the head that she had, apparently, been too arrogant to submit his letter of recommendation, blaming him for the lost opportunities her own pride had disqualified her from receiving.  Her next words were with dripping with contempt and derision.

 

“I hate you, Harry, but probably not near as much as Dr. Gamma,” she issued icily.  “I’ve been given the privilege of removing two great hindrances to his plans.  You will be joining us on the sub to rendezvous with Gamma, and your precious Seaview…” she let the moment hang for effect before finishing, “will be blown out of the water.”

 

At that, Lee lunged toward Dr. Barnes, but was immediately subdued by his guards.  He was still struggling against their hold when she reached into her pocket.  Colonel Zagmaan stepped forward but was stopped by Barnes.

 

“I’ll handle this, Colonel,” she ordered. 

 

He backed off and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, turning his attention, instead, back to the stations.

 

“It’s a good thing for you that Gamma wants you alive, Captain Crane,” Belinda issued darkly.  “Try that again and I’ll give you a lesson you won’t soon forget,” she warned, pulling the device out and dishing out another dose of pain to make her point. 

 

His guards dropped their hold as Lee dropped to the floor, writhing in pain until she had adequately satisfied herself of his compliancy.  He lay unmoving but breathing hard, both his energy and his fight seemingly drained from his body; but though he had paid dearly for the fact that the guards had released their hold of him, it was exactly what he was going for. 

 

“There are 125 men on Seaview!” Harry interjected, his concern for Lee taking second place to the greater danger at the moment.  “Surely you wouldn’t condemn those men to die?” he pleaded.

 

She scoffed, unaffected by his words.  “I like this side of you, Harry, begging becomes you,” she mocked, but her moment of victory was fleeting when Colonel Zagmaan began issuing orders behind her.

 

“What is it, Colonel?” she asked turning.

 

“An outside camera is obscured,” he answered, leaning over and trying to adjust the position remotely.

 

“What’s wrong?” Belinda asked, taking a step closer.

 

“We can’t adjust it remotely.  You,” he said pointing to one of his men, “take Bremer and investigate.”

 

“No, leave Bremer here.  Where’s Garrud?”

 

“Patrolling the perimeter,” the Zagmaan replied, his face stoic but steaming inside that he was required to yield to the scientist.

 

“Send two of your men, I don’t want both giants gone at the same time,” she ordered, knowing that the giants were loyal to her, or at least the behavior device she controlled; while the guards were military and if push-came-to-shove, would turn on her in favor of Colonel Zagmaan.

 

Zagmaan complied, and sent two of his own guards out, while Harry looked on, finding their interaction very interesting while noting, that excluding the station operators and Zagmaan, there were only two guards left.  Bremer was another matter, but he still couldn’t help but feel that the odds had gotten better in their favor. 

 

Lee, for his part, had recovered sufficiently, but remained “harmless”, portraying a man weakened by pain both physically and psychologically.  The obscured camera was his first clue that Kowalski was on the grounds, but he needed to wait until he had the best opportunity for success.  He didn’t know what Ski had in mind, but he was waiting for some sort of diversion.  His eyes swept the stations, from Seaview to the drone, checking their progress and doing the math for how long he could wait before action was required to save the boat.  His brow tightened and his eyes darkened; the drone was making progress, and he would have to make a move soon, regardless of whether he had a diversion.

 

Now would be a good time, Kowalski.

 

# # # # #

 

Ski followed Jacob through the halls of the facility, ducking once into a closet when a guard in black passed.  When they reached their destination, Jacob grunted in confusion at the empty office where he had last seen Crane and Nelson.

 

“They were here,” the giant said clearly frustrated.

 

“It’s okay, we’ll find them,” Ski encouraged, “Where else could…?”

 

His question was interrupted as voices approached from around the corner.  Quickly slipping into the empty office, they waited for two guards to clear the corridor.   As they passed, they mumbled something and shared a cocky laugh between themselves, then said something about Nelson they couldn’t quite make out, followed by more laughter before turning the corner.

 

“Where does that corridor lead to?” Ski whispered upon hearing the Admiral’s name, pointing in the direction the guards had come.

 

“Command Control,” Jacob replied.

 

“Then that’s where we go,” he said resolutely.

 

# # # # #

 

“Mr. O’Brien, I’ve got the bogey again,” Pat called out, his voice echoing with tension.

 

“Position?” Bobby asked from the chart table, dropping his pencil and crossing the deck.

 

“About three miles out, and it made a course correction,” Pat informed with a raised brow.

 

“He’s either a very curious whale or we’re going to have company soon,” Bobby asserted to Pat’s affirming nod.  “One more course correction and all he has to do is surface,” the acting captain noted, while reaching back for the mic hanging on the periscope island.  “Damage Control, are all the dive parties back aboard?”

 

“The last one is in the dive chamber now, sir.”

 

“Very well,” he said, reaching the periscope island and depressing the red button three times as the klaxons declared its unmistakable message to man battle stations.

 

# # # # #

 

Colonel Zagmaan watched the monitor as the security team readjusted the camera, reestablishing visual contact.  Leaning over, he switched on communications.  “Conduct a security check on the perimeter,” he ordered.

 

Lee noted two less men to deal with and upon analyzing the drone’s gauges, determined he only had minutes before the drone was in position.  Depending on the torpedoes it used, it could be within firing range within eight minutes.  He would give Ski a few minutes more, but after that, diversion or no, he would have to act.

 

Belinda was busy moving from station to station, while Lee and Harry exchanged glances; both men well-aware that time was running out.  Upon stopping at the drone station she turned, exhibiting a definite air of superiority. 

 

“Before we board the sub, Harry, I want to treat you to a front row seat to a very special show… the destruction of Seaview,” she said arrogantly.

 

“Are you so sure about that?” he asked and almost without delay, Zagmaan turned, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

 

“Seaview's diving!”

 

Belinda spun around, just as the windowed submarine sunk into the depths, leaving only bubbles and wakes on the surface.  The development was quite a shock since the drone was equipped with new technology effectively cloaking its approach, not to mention the fact that she and Zagmaan both believed the boat too damaged to submerge.

 

“Don't lose them!” Belinda screamed in a near-panic.

 

Zagmaan hurried to the drone station and leaned over the operator's chair.  “We've still got them!” he reported over his shoulder.

 

# # # # #

 

A sharp incline downward necessitated a handhold onto the periscope island as Bobby ordered a crash dive; with the task taking as much as five minutes to reach periscope depth, Seaview was still a sitting duck for, what he now believed, was a submarine stalking them.

 

“Sonar, where’s the bogey?” he demanded.

 

“Two miles and closing.”

 

“Let’s see how fast she can go,” he said rhetorically while reaching for the mic.  “Engineering, give me flank speed, hold her wide open and give me everything she’s got!”

 

An “Aye sir” followed as Bobby double-clicked to clear the comm.  “Missile Room, load torpedoes one and four.”  He double-clicked again.  “Sparks, is the Destroyer tracking the bogey?”

 

“Negative sir,” Sparks replied, “their radar is hit and miss, just like us.”

 

“We’re on our own then,” he said to himself, before turning toward helm.  “Depth?”

 

“150 feet,” Phil replied.

 

“Level off,” he ordered, aware that he didn’t have too much room to maneuver in the area and then headed toward the chart table.  “Present position?” he ordered, as the junior officer pointed on the chart.  “This is a good place to lay low,” noting a sea mound close enough to camouflage themselves if the bogey engaged active sonar.   “All stop; Rig for silent running.  Sonar, where’s the bogey?”

 

“One mile off our starboard, heading away from our present position.  I think we lost him, sir.”

 

“For the time being,” Bobby said, reminding his crew not to let down their guards, and took a deep breath; all this was way more than he had bargained for when he got up this morning.

 

# # # # #

 

“Where are they?” Belinda inquired, losing her confident arrogance to panic, for more than one reason Harry deducted; postulating that losing Gamma’s prize might be more a danger to her new-found career than NIMR not choosing her project five years ago.

 

The guards seemed to be caught up in the drama, watching the drone station more than their prisoner and he could tell with only a quick glance that Seaview’s Captain was readying himself for action.  Harry sighed silently in frustration; while he had no doubt Lee could dispense of his guards, he doubted that he could do the same for his guard, the giant, Bremer.  That thought had barely entered his mind when the odds for success suddenly went south as the second giant, Garrud, entered the room, walking past Lee to station himself in the corner, near Bremer.  A giant was one thing, but two? Harry lamented, unaware that an ally had just walked into the room.

 

“I’ve got them!” the drone operator exclaimed, as a bright green blip flashed on the sonar.  Zagmaan leaned over watching the sweeper move around the sonar circle and then flashed again.

 

“How long till we’re in range?” Belinda interjected.

 

“Two minutes,” Zagmaan answered.

 

“Excellent,” she answered visibly relieved.  “Fire when ready,” she ordered, turning toward Harry victoriously.

 

That victory, however, was short-lived when a loud-explosion rocked the building and all mayhem suddenly broke lose.

 

Chapter Eighteen

 

The explosion coincided with a rumble and subsequent rocks falling in the cove where Belinda’s escape sub was currently docked, while a cloud of dust and debris quickly obscured the camera to the sub pen.

 

Lee took that moment to act, rising and issuing a flat-handed jolt with the heel of his hand to one guard’s chin, then turned to apply an upper cut to the second’s jaw; both resulting in two unconscious guards.  His attack didn’t get far however, when Belinda issued the punishment pain from her behavior control device.  Lee wrenched in pain as the wristband suddenly lit, transmitting a debilitating shock throughout his entire body.  He fell to his knees, his attack neutralized, but with the device focused on Seaview’s Captain, Jacob was free to move throwing the two remaining guards across the room.  His aggressive actions, however, activated Bremer who left his prisoner’s side to confront the rogue giant.

 

Nearly blinded in pain, Lee inched his way toward Belinda, crawling hand over hand in sheer determination in order to keep her focused on him with the sole purpose of making sure she didn’t activate Jacob’s frequency.  The murderous look in his eyes was enough to convince her to save her own skin rather than help Bremer’s cause.  To that end, she increased the charge in an attempt to keep Crane from reaching her.

 

Harry had taken advantage of the fracas, seizing the moment and dispatching the other two station operators who had left their post to join in the fray, but were unexpectedly shocked to discover that they were outmatched by the “middle-aged” admiral who was ONI trained in hand-to-hand combat.

 

“Destroy Seaview!” Belinda ordered the drone operator as the giants grasped each other’s throats; one loyal to the evil doctor, the other despising everything she stood for, pitting their weight, height and strength against one another in a strange duel of goliaths.

 

Zagmaan issued the order for the drone to fire and then turned, aiming at Nelson who had worked his way across the room, but before he could pull the trigger, a shot rang out from the doorway and Zagmaan froze, drew a hand to his chest and pulled it away to view the blood dripping from his fingers, before falling forward.  Harry turned toward the shot’s origin to see Kowalski, moving in to cover the downed guards who were slowly recovering on the floor.

 

There was no time for gratitude however, as Harry bee-lined his way toward the drone station just as the operator fired two torpedoes at Seaview.

 

# # # # #

 

“Two fish in the water!” the hydrophones operator yelled.  “Bearing zero-five-two, three thousand yards and closing.”

 

“Engine room, flank speed!” Bobby ordered.  “Secure silent running,” he yelled over his shoulder.

 

“Two thousand yards!”

 

“Right full rudder!”

 

“One thousand yards… they changed course with us, sir!  They’re on our six now!”

 

“Five hundred yards!”

 

“Left full rudder!” Bobby ordered, hoping the zig-zag might send the torpedoes into a sea mount instead.

 

“Three hundred yards!”

 

“What’s on top, Sonar?”

 

“Clear water!”

 

“Emergency blow!”

 

# # # # #

 

“Stop, Harry!” she yelled, as he karate chopped the drone operator and dragged him from his chair.  “Or I’ll kill Crane!”

 

Harry ignored her threat not even turning around and quickly assessing Seaview’s danger, took the drone controls into his hands.  Though Lee was as dear to him as a son, there was never even a temptation to sacrifice the over 120 men for its captain.  It was a split-second decision that he knew Lee would approve.

 

“Drop it, lady!” Ski yelled from across the room, his threat an empty one since he was covering the other men.  She seemed to have a grasp on the situation, because she made no effort to turn off the device that had the Skipper immobilized in pain on the floor.

 

Meanwhile, the loud sound of furniture being thrashed about filled the room as Bremer and Jacob’s battle raged on.  Each with a hold on the other’s neck trying to get the upper hand, and sending chairs flying when they slammed into the now unoccupied stations.

 

To add to the confusion, one of the guards attempted to make a move on Kowalski, and received a bullet in the shoulder for his mistake.

 

“The next man to move is dead!” he threatened, feeling incredibly inadequate since he was unable to help the Skipper or Jacob. 

 

Over at the drone station, Harry was ignoring everything going on behind him, maneuvering the drone to intercept with Seaview’s upward progress.  It was going to be close… very close…

 

# # # # #

 

“Two hundred yards!” hydrophones informed while everyone in the control room held fast as the boat’s angle of attack reached an astounding thirty degrees.

 

Bobby watched the torpedoes’ progress from his handhold at the periscope island, his heart sinking into his feet.  We’re not going to make it, he thought silently.

 

“One hundred yards!”

 

“Prepare for explosion!” he ordered in the mic.

 

“Two hundred feet!”

 

“Another contact!” Pat interjected from sonar and then immediately clarified himself when he realized the importance.  “It’s the bogey…”

 

“One hundred feet!”

 

That was the last thing they heard before an explosion occurred exactly one hundred feet from their present position sending shock waves barreling against the hapless submarine still conducting an emergency blow maneuver.

 

# # # # #

 

The camera on the drone’s nose suddenly went black, while the sonar monitor exploded in a sea of green before resetting itself to the familiar sonar dial sweeping across the screen, but now only registering one contact.  Even from her position, Belinda recognized that something had blown up, and by Harry’s relieved body posture, she was easily able to deduce that it wasn’t Seaview.  With Jacob and Garrud’s fight unleashing an aggressive violence that couldn’t be tamed even with her device, she decided that now would be a good time to leave.  She headed for the door, taking with her the device still inflicting searing pain to her victim; it was her only leverage at this point.

 

“Stop her!” Harry yelled, but Ski had his hands full guarding four men lying face down on the ground while Garrud and Bremer crashed to the floor, rolling end over end in an apparent death struggle.

 

Taking advantage of the confusion, Belinda slipped out of the room.

 

“Lee!” Harry exclaimed, taking a knee beside his friend who was struggling with the sustained pain, the wristband still indicating it was working with its ominous glow, even as his body writhed and twitched unwillingly.  The only way to stop the torturous pain was to turn off the controls in Belinda’s possession.  The situation, however, wasn’t under control yet.  Kowalski was outnumbered, and should the two giants finally end their battle, the winner could easily overtake him, and having never been briefed, he had no idea that Garrud was an ally.  Lee’s unwitting groans indicated he was nearing a breaking point and wouldn’t last much longer, and deciding he would have to take a chance, he reached for a gun lying beside the dead Colonel Zagmaan, then rose and started for the door.

 

# # # # #

 

Belinda ran through the corridor, heading for the sub pen, her heels tapping out the unmistakable sound of a woman in flight.  It was the fastest way to the sea and she had no desire to trek through the jungle for two hours, besides, even if the sub was trapped in the cove, Gamma would send a second sub to rescue her… she was too important to his plans.  Up ahead, she saw the last corner she would round before reaching her destination, and smiled inwardly that she had made it.  With Nelson busy trying to save Crane, she would have time to issue the emergency call and then disappear into a hidden safe room until Gamma came for her.  She was almost there, and there was no sound of pursuit behind her… she was going to make it.  Her confidence soared as she rounded the corner… straight into the arms of a man in green fatigues.

 

“Well, well, well… what have we got here?” Chief Sharkey asked, holding on to what had to be a lady scientist, with her wearing the white lab jacket and all. 

 

“Let me go!” she yelled, but he held on all the tighter.  “They’re after me,” she sobbed, trying to add a bit of drama to her voice to sound like a victim in need of rescuing.

 

“Is that right?” Sharkey asked laying the sarcastic tone on heavy.  She wasn’t fooling him one bit, because if there was one thing he knew, it was how to call a spade a spade, and he’d been aboard Seaview long enough to recognize the crazy scientist type, and this lady fit the bill, head-to-toe.  “Well, don’t you worry, I’ll protect you,” he added, then turned her back in the direction she had come, guiding her forward.

 

“But you don’t understand, they killed Nelson and Crane and now they’re after me!”

 

Sharkey’s cheek twitched; he had to admit that last statement had gotten to him, but he was Coney Island educated and everything in him said she was one of the bad guys.  A beautiful bad guy, but that was beside the point.

 

“Someone’s coming,” he said into her ear upon hearing approaching steps.  “Let’s just see what we’ve got,” he announced with more confidence than he currently possessed.  He held her tightly in front of him, banking everything on the fact that he believed she was lying and hoping he wasn’t going to live to regret it.  His gun was trained on the corner in front of him, waiting for whoever was approaching to turn the corner.  A long second passed, when the familiar auburn head of Admiral Nelson appeared.

 

“Boy oh boy, Sir; am I glad to see you!” the relieved Chief of the Boat exclaimed, blowing out a breath and shaking his head with an added chuckle.

 

“Good work, Sharkey,” the Admiral complimented, closing the distance with purpose.

 

“Where is it, Belinda?” the Admiral growled to Sharkey’s satisfaction that he had pegged her right.

 

“It’s too late,” she answered coldly.  “His brain is fried by now,” she announced triumphantly, taking great pleasure in the thought that she could drive a dagger into Nelson’s heart with this revelation.

 

She offered no help, but Harry was quick to find what he was looking for in her lab jacket pocket.  Without explaining to a bewildered Sharkey who lacked certain facts at this point, he quickly reversed the settings on the device.  He hoped that back in the Master Control Room, Lee had finally found a reprieve from the pain.

 

“Bring her along, Chief,” he said, not wasting any further words on the malevolent woman he had once considered a friend.

 

# # # # #

 

Ski stood guard over Zagmaan’s men, each lying face down with their hands clasped behind their heads.  The battle between the giants was still raging, though from his vantage it looked like Jacob was getting the upper hand.  They had traded punches, and rolled across the floor, kicking and jabbing with all their strength.  Neither one had any thoughts of duty; they were simply locked in a primal battle for survival and victory.  It was an engineered response, cooked up in Dr. Barnes’ ghastly lab; once activated it could end only one way: total destruction of their enemy.  Mercy had no play in this game, and for both giants, mercy was the farthest thing from their cloudy minds.  They rolled again, this time Jacob ended up on top and straddled over his opponent, holding Bremer in a death choke.  He raised the giant’s head and pounded it against the floor, taking more fight out of his opponent as Bremer gasped without pulling in air, his eyes wide open as if searching for the oxygen his lungs so desperately needed.

 

“Jacob!” Kowalski yelled, “Jacob, stop!  He’s not a threat anymore!” he called from across the room, and then had to kick the foot of a guard who checked over his shoulder to see if he had an opportunity to overtake his captor.

 

“Jacob…”

 

Ski shot his head toward Captain Crane, who was currently working his way to his hands and knees, blinking to clear his mind and still breathing hard, apparently free from the pain that had previously besieged him.

 

“Jacob…” Lee called again, but his voice was weak and he doubted the giant man could hear him in his current frame of mind.  He made it to his feet and staggered toward the two warriors locked in mortal combat.  Bremer was still gasping, but Jacob had the strength to end the struggled with a twist, snapping his enemy’s neck.  He knew he was taking a chance in Jacob’s current state, but he reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder.  “Jacob, this isn’t who you are,” he reasoned. 

 

Jacob shirked the hand off his shoulder, he couldn’t let go of Bremer’s neck; not until all breath had passed from his lungs and hadn’t fully grasped that it was Crane speaking to him.

 

“Jacob… Remember the cave?  You told me your name isn’t Garrud.  You wrote your name so you wouldn’t forget who you were,” Lee implored, still weak and working hard to stay on his feet, but he didn’t want the giant to regret his actions later.  “Remember?  J… A…C… O….”  he paused when he saw the giant loosen his hold and the smallest of hints that he had gotten through began to manifest itself in Jacob’s body language.

 

“…B…,” Jacob finished for him, supplying the last letter to his name and grabbing hold of his humanity in the process.

 

Slowly, he relinquished Bremer’s neck and climbed off his chest as the giant on the ground gasped to fully fill his lungs with the life-sustaining air, before his head dropped to the side in exhaustion.

 

“He will be dangerous when he wakes,” Jacob explained, standing to his full height and taking in a deep breath before expelling it, as if to vanquish the violent adrenaline-fed emotions that had unleashed the ability to kill without thought of mercy.

 

Lee sighed his contentment that Jacob had found his way back, and then slowly scanned the room.  Both Harry and Belinda were missing, but his eyes were focused on the drone’s station ahead, its screen black and its gauges indicating the drone was no longer transmitting data.  His eyes then darted towards the satellite station, where just at the edge of the satellite view an oil slick stained the otherwise, blue sea.  His heart sank, he’d been lost in his own struggle to survive and had lost track of everything else going on while under the influence of Dr. Barnes’ device, to even know what had become of his boat.  Quickly, he made his way to the satellite station, attempting to reposition the feed as he searched for signs that Seaview had survived the drone’s attack and feeling as if he had failed his crew.

 

Standing over the keyboard, he issued new commands, widening the view and adjusting the picture as his eyes searched almost frantically across the empty sea.  He breathed in deeply, and then slammed a frustrated fist down on the desk when he couldn’t find Seaview.

 

His head was still lowered when he heard his name from behind.

 

“Lee?” Harry called; his relief at seeing him up, about, and on the computer, was suddenly lost to a different type of pain Seaview’s Captain was experiencing.

 

Lee looked up, his eyes wet with unshed tears pooling and ready to slide down his cheek.  “I can’t find Seaview,” he choked out and then collapsed.

 

Harry barely caught him, guiding him down to the floor as the physical stress his body had endured, coupled with the mental strain of the possibility that Seaview hadn’t survived, had left him with little resources to think through other possibilities.

 

“Listen to me, Lee,” the Admiral implored, waiting for his eyes to focus before continuing.  “I maneuvered the drone to intercept with the missiles.  It was close, Lee, but she still may be intact.  She’s a good vessel, Lee, there’s still a chance,” he encouraged.

 

Lee blinked and he swallowed as he collected his thoughts and regained control over emotions he wasn’t used to feeling, let alone exhibiting for others to see; but the relentless pain of the behavior control device had nearly sucked the life out of him; and like Jacob, he was struggling to find the part of him that never gave up. 

 

He took in another breath and nodded.  “Help me up, Admiral… maybe her radio is still working.”

Harry nodded, helping Lee to a stand and pulling a chair, currently knocked on its side, over for Seaview’s Captain to sit. 

 

“You try the radio, I’m going to reboot the sonar,” the Admiral said, pleased to see both confidence and competence back in Lee’s eyes.

 

Harry did a quick examination of the darkened screen, noting it had been abused by a likely flying chair during the giants’ battle.  He opened an access panel on the side, finding a shorted-out wire and went to work with the mini repair kit taped to the access door.  A wire cutter and electrical tape would be all he needed to get the station up and running again, he hoped. 

 

“Admiral?” Sharkey interrupted from behind.

 

“Hmm?” Harry answered, busy working on the sonar, “What is it, Chief?”

 

“Uh, Jacob, the big guy,” he explained rather clumsily, “says they have cells we can lock these bozos in.”

 

“Good,” Harry answered, looking up.  “You take care of that, and make sure she…,” he said with a nod toward Belinda, “is locked up tight.”

 

“You got it, Sir,” the eager Chief replied, heading back toward the prisoners.  “All right you, scumbags, on your feet and the first one to make a move I don’t like, will be eating lead,” he warned as he and Kowalski herded their prisoners out the door, followed by Jacob dragging Bremer under his arm.

 

Harry stripped the casing away from the freshly cut wire and then proceeded to twist the wires back together.  He applied a few wraps of electrical wire and stuffed the wires back into the access panel.  Reaching behind and flipping the power back on, he waited for the station to come to life, all the while Lee was repeatedly hailing Seaview… receiving nothing but static in response.

 

 

Chapter Nineteen

 

 

Coughs, smoke, and the acidic smell of wires burning filled the Control Room as Seaview’s crew slowly began to realize that they weren’t dead.

 

“I need emergency power up!” Bobby ordered over his shoulder, rising from the deck and using the periscope island to find his footing.  He stopped and helped Pat back into his seat then felt his way toward the chart table where, once there, he felt for and found a flashlight.  Tugging on the cord until the wayward mic reached his hands, he clicked.

 

“Damage Control, how long before emergency generators are up?” he demanded, training a bright circle of light toward the ribbons hanging limply on the air vent.

 

“Engine Room here, we’re on it, about two minutes, sir.”

 

“Make it faster if you can,” he urged, reaching up to feel a sticky wet spot and pulling his fingers away sharply when he painfully touched his forehead.  The room started spinning and it was all he could do to stand, as he held on tight to the chart table for stability.  “You can’t black-out,” he ordered himself, there was too much to do… and…

 

“Are you all right, sir?” Pat asked, moving closer, getting his first good look at the lieutenant and the nasty gash on his forehead, exposing flesh and bleeding more profusely now.

 

Concentrating to stay on his feet, Bobby was slow to answer before the red emergency lights suddenly kicked on.  They both looked up and watched as the ribbons flew perpendicular to the vent, but then his vision got blurry.

 

“Patterson… I think I need to sit…”

 

Pat caught the officer and helped him down to lean his back against the chart table.  “Hold on, sir, we’ll get you to sickbay.”

 

“No… we’re on the bottom… can’t leave…”

 

“I’ve had my turn at goldbricking,” a familiar voice interjected, “and now it’s your turn.”

 

O’Brien looked up, his vision blurring and barely able to make out the XO standing in front of him.

 

“You did your part, now it’s time to let me step in,” Chip said gently, holding his side as he crouched down to O’Brien’s level.  “But Bobby, you’re in command, you have relinquish the Conn.”

 

Bobby smiled.  “Gladly, sir.  You have the Conn.”

 

“Aye Captain, I have the Conn,” he replied, following military protocol since O’Brien was acting captain and Chip hadn’t actually been cleared for duty, a technicality he would worry about later; it was a “bust me at the top” situation and he’d worry about what Jamie thought later… after the crisis was over.  “We’ll get you to sickbay as soon as we have a few free hands,” Chip said, “and Bobby, good job.  You gave us fighting chance.”

 

Chip rose slowly, holding his side and not exactly in uniform; he had managed to get his pants on, but the white gauze wrapped around his chest was visible since his untucked shirt was only buttoned three-high, and he had slid his feet into his shoes without the benefit of socks. But whether in uniform or not, he was here to work; so, he reached for the mic and got down to business.

 

“Damage Control, this is the Exec, report.  All decks, report.”

 

# # # # #

 

“This is Crane to Seaview; come in Seaview,” Lee had hailed for the twentieth time since Harry had discovered that the boat was now sitting at 150 feet and currently on the bottom; as best as they could tell, it was still in one piece.  Whether she was sound or not was something they would have to find out. 

 

“Crane to Seaview; come in Seaview,” he hailed again, this time receiving a static-filled answer.

 

“This is Seaview, Skipper, good to hear your voice.”

 

Lee dropped his head in an emotional release that his worst nightmare hadn’t been realized and smiled, then raised it again to answer.  “It’s good to hear you, Seaview.  What’s your situation?”

 

“Hold for the Exec, Sir.”

 

He sighed and exchanged glances with Harry, both chuckling and enjoying the respite from the nonstop danger they had encountered since embarking on this mission.

 

“Lee, this is Chip, what’s your status?”

 

“Everything’s under control; we found exactly what we were looking for.  The Admiral and I are fine and the extraction team arrived in perfect timing.”

 

“I’ll pass that on to Lt. O’Brien.”

 

“Very well,” Lee replied, raising an appraising brow; he had left O’Brien in charge and he seriously doubted Jamie had willingly let Chip out of sickbay, but those facts were the least of his concerns at this point.  “Now, tell me what’s going on with Seaview,” he said, done with the chit-chat and ready to hear about his boat.

 

“We’re running on emergency generators, but Engineering reports they’ll have us up on full power within the next ten minutes.  We’re a little battered down here, but we should be able to blow ballast and surface soon after.  From what Patterson tells me, the bogey intercepted the missiles less than 100 feet from Seaview.  You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that?”

 

“You can thank the Admiral for that,” he said with some levity and shooting a smile Harry’s way.  “What about casualties?”

 

“Jamie has his hands full, but we haven’t lost a man, Lee.”

 

“That’s good news,” he said visibly relieved, but moving on.  “The Destroyer in the area is closing in on your position.  We’ll coordinate with them and rendezvous with the Seaview as soon as we can.”

 

“Aye, aye, Skipper.”

 

Lee sat back, content to have finally made contact with Seaview.  Without thinking, he rubbed the back of his neck feeling the weariness of the day catching up with him.  As he dropped his hand back down on the station desk, he noticed the wristband, and stared at it, almost hypnotically as he remembered the searing pain that had pushed him so close to the edge of his endurance.  He was lost in that thought when Ski approached.

 

“Skipper?” Kowalski interrupted.  “The Admiral asked me to man the communication’s station and send a few dispatches to the Destroyer.”

 

“She’s all yours,” he said, standing and looking back at Harry who seemed to be waiting for him by the door.

 

“I think it’s time we got rid of that,” Harry said, with a nod toward the receiver on his wrist, as Lee approached.

 

“I’m all for that,” he said wearily and followed Harry out the door.

 

# # # # #

 

Harry and Lee made their way back down the corridor toward Dr. Barnes’ lab.  He passed Rodriguez and Ferguson, who had hiked their way through the jungle and were now patrolling the building until the Marines arrived to secure their prisoners. 

 

“I was more than surprised to know that Garrud, or should I say, Jacob, was on our side,” Harry said with a small smile.  “You could have let me in on it, you know?”

 

Lee smiled back, they hadn’t had time to compare notes and Harry was curious, not angry.

 

“I was afraid of giving everything away with all the cameras.  Jacob found me in the jungle,” he went on to explain, “He’d been fighting the transformation… trying to hold on to who he is on the inside.  He agreed to help me find you and we staged my capture.”

 

“And that’s why you kept making those stupid moves to infuriate Barnes?   To make sure the frequency was set on your wristband,” Harry postulated easily.

 

“I knew he was our best chance of subduing Bremer.”

 

“And you also sent out a distress code to Kowalski before your capture...”

 

“Ski must have sent FS1 back on automatic pilot; I haven’t talked with him, but I figured he wouldn’t wait for backup.”

 

“It’s a good thing,” Harry agreed, reaching the lab just as Sharkey arrived with Jacob.  “Well gentlemen, let’s see about getting those devices off your wrists,” he said with a nod to their wristbands.

 

Jacob shot a hopeful glance Lee’s direction in anticipation of taking back the most important part of his life, his will to choose. 

 

“Let me take a closer look,” Harry said as Lee nodded for Jacob to go first, who was more than eager to shed the device.

 

He laid his wrist on the desk as Harry examined it, turning it over and deciding the best course of action.  “Do you see this?” he said pointing out a locking system on the band.  “I think this would be the best place to cut it, unless of course either of you saw where she stored the key?”

 

A negative shake of the head from both men answered that question.

 

“Here’s the tricky part, it’s made of grade 5 titanium, and its stronger than steel.  Lucky for you,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “I happen to know a little about titanium.”

 

Lee chuckled, but Jacob, not realizing that Harry had built Seaview using the same metal, just nodded. 

 

“Now, the interesting thing about titanium is that at extremely high temperatures it’s fairly malleable, but at extremely cold temperatures it’s brittle,” he explained, enjoying himself and offering a bit of lightheartedness to the process.  “Which is a good thing, because I doubt either one of you would care for me to use a carbide circular blade to cut the wristband,” he said, rising and pilfering through a nearby cabinet, producing a small bottle of nitric acid.  “But a drop of this, and I can cut it with nothing more than a fingernail file,” he said somewhat amused, while sitting down and opening the middle drawer of the desk.  He smiled broadly as he pulled out a stainless steel nail file.  “She always kept one in the office desk at the Institute,” he explained with a grin.  With all the explanations out of the way, Harry got down to business, first protecting Jacob’s wrist before carefully applying a single drop of nitric acid to the wristband.  A second later, a chemical reaction produced a cool smoke-like wisp, followed by Harry’s careful filing.  Soon after, the band broke apart and was removed from Jacob’s wrist.

 

“Now, it’s your turn, Captain,” Harry said with a satisfied grin.  A minute later, both men were free from the behavior control device.

 

“Thank you, Admiral,” Lee offered emotionally, his sincerity echoing in his expressive eyes.

 

“You’re welcome,” Harry returned feeling a little sentimental himself, and needing to break the seriousness of the moment added, “And don’t, for a minute, think you won’t be getting a full check-up from Jamie when we board Seaview.”

 

“Aye Sir,” Lee agreed with a grin.

 

“Thank you, Admiral Nelson,” Jacob said, extending a hand that engulfed Harry’s in a shake.  At the sight of the awkward shake he pulled his hand away, staring down at its size.  “I’m grateful, but this,” he said, holding out his oversized hand, “this can’t be fixed,” he finished regretfully.

 

Harry sighed.  “I’m truly sorry, Jacob.  The wrong that’s been done to you is immeasurable, and you’re right, the changes are permanent.”

 

Jacob nodded absently.  “My mind is slow now… I’m a stranger to myself.”

 

“I can’t pretend to understand how you feel, Jacob,” Harry interjected in a soothing, calming tone that exuded his sincerity, “but I promise you, we’ll do what we can to help you reach your potential.  I promise you that,” he added with a passion that caused Jacob’s eyes to narrow, as if deciding whether he could afford to believe him.  He’d been treated as a slave, a non-person, and almost sub-human; to learn to trust again wasn’t an easy thing to do.

 

“Jacob,” Lee added, extending a hand of friendship, “It’s like I said before, you’re not alone anymore.”

 

The giant hesitated for only a moment then extended his hand, accepting both the friendship and the help the two men offered; while over in the corner, Sharkey wiped away a tear with the lame excuse that he had something in his eye.

 

# # # # #

 

The marines arrived and entered via the sub pen in the cove, though Sharkey’s well-placed laser blast had made the exit impassable for the submarine, it was still accessible by small boats and was the preferred route over the two-hour hike through the jungle.  Harry and Lee watched from the dock as the prisoners were escorted to the waiting skiffs.

 

“Goodbye, Harry,” an unrepentant Dr. Belinda Barnes said as she passed by.  “You’ve done more than you’ll ever know for my career now.”

 

“And why would that be so?” Harry asked contemptuously.

 

“Oh, I think you know what I mean,” she answered mysteriously and continued on with as much dignity as she could muster walking between two marines and headed to the brig.

 

“What was all that about?” Lee asked when she was out of earshot.

 

Harry expelled a disgusted breath.  “It means she plans on making a deal.”

 

“What kind of deal? She’s got nothing to bargain with,” Lee replied, his anger instantly provoked at the thought of Belinda Barnes receiving nothing less than life in prison for her atrocities.

 

“She does if the right general gets wind of these superhuman giants, especially if she can convince them that they can be enhanced without losing their mental capacities,” he replied darkly.

 

“Enhanced?” Lee questioned fervently.  “Is that what we’re calling her mutations now?”

 

Harry placed a calming hand on Lee’s shoulder to deescalate the strong emotions surfacing.  “She could sell it that way, but Lee, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he promised.  “Believe me, when I say that.  She’s complicit to four ships sinking and dozens of lives lost; add to that the bodies in the cold-storage, and I promise, her deal with fall on deaf ears.”

 

Lee swallowed hard, tamping down the strong emotions their conversations elicited.  “I’d like to believe that, Admiral,” he said, reserving some measure of skepticism as an unconscious Bremer was carried to the dock, having been sedated for the move when he had become too violent to handle.

 

# # # # #

 

The sight of Seaview sitting on the surface was like an elixir to Seaview’s battered Captain who had insisted on a fly-over to look over Seaview’s battle scars before submerging to dock.  Sharkey had already ferried over the rest of the rescue detail, and theirs was the last leg to evacuate the island.

 

“She’s a good boat, if I do say so myself,” Harry declared with a grin, echoing their earlier conversation.   

 

“Aye Sir, that she is,” Lee agreed amicably.  “Hang on back there,” he said over his shoulder as the downward attack of FS1 sharpened and its speed increased for the water immersion.

 

“Just relax,” Sharkey said encouraging the obviously concerned man in the seat next to him, “the Skipper’s a pro at this.”

 

His adrenaline rushed and his hands wrapped tightly around the arms of the seat he had squeezed into, but Jacob managed to fight the fear of seeing the ocean advance in the windows and after the flying sub had sliced through the water without incident, let loose a wide smile for both the innovative craft and his ability to take control of his emotions.

 

# # # # #

 

With the thrill of his first ride in the flying sub still soaring through his veins, Jacob sought to be useful as he stood hunched over reaching for boxes Admiral Nelson had brought along from Dr. Barnes’ laboratory.

 

“Jacob,” Lee said, after shutting the flying sub down, “you’re our guest here,” he admonished with a small smile of reassurance.

 

Jacob blinked; the idea of being a guest had nearly been manipulated out of his nature by the behavior control device.   He nodded and relinquished the box to a crewman unloading through the cargo hatch.

 

A tilt of Captain Crane’s head toward the ladder was his invitation to follow as Jacob climbed up the ladder and stepped into the brightly lit Nose of Seaview’s Control Room.

 

“I’ve got a lot to work to do,” Lee explained, “but Kowalski here will take you to Sickbay for a check-up.  Don’t worry, we’ve got a good doctor here…”

 

“And Captain Crane will be making his way there before long as well,” Harry interjected, while Lee barely avoided scowling at the thought.

 

Jacob expelled a breath and nodded; his eyes fixated for a moment out Seaview’s windows.  He was overwhelmed and struggling inwardly with an almost overload of new data for his brain to process.  Deciding to deal with the new realities of his transformed body one day at a time, he turned and nodded, following Ski. 

 

“We call these knee-knockers,” Kowalski was heard explaining at the aft hatch, “because if you’re not watching out for them, you’ll be picking yourself off the deck and rubbing your knees afterwards,” Kowalski explained, now wearing a red jumpsuit and giving Jacob the fifty-cent tour on the way to Sickbay.

 

“Welcome back, Skipper,” Chip greeted now that the Nose had cleared out.  He was looking more military at this point; his uniform was now tucked and buttoned, but the uncharacteristic hand across his hidden bandage was a dead giveaway he wasn’t up to par.

 

“Thanks, Chip.  Did Jamie clear you for duty?” 

 

It wasn’t that Lee was taking issue with his XO bucking sickbay orders, God knows he would have done the same thing; his question was asked in concern for his fellow officer and friend.

 

“Jamie has enough to worry about down there, but I imagine he’ll come looking for me before long,” the blond answered vaguely.

 

“Fair enough; why don’t you bring me up to speed before Jamie comes looking for both of us.  Report, Mr. Morton,” the last added returning to military decorum but with a small upturn of his lips as being aboard Seaview was all the medicine he really needed.

 

Epilogue

 

 

The soft beeps and hums of a working Control Room played in the background like soothing music to Lee’s ears.  After repairs and Gerry rigs, Seaview had finally been deemed fit for her journey home and had been underway for three days as she sailed slowly toward Santa Barbara.  Chip had spent two of those days under Jamie’s direct care in Sickbay; the doctor’s reparation, Lee was convinced, for slipping out of Sickbay to take the Conn in the first place.  Though it hadn’t sat well with the Exec, he was much happier when he had been remanded to his cabin with the explicit instructions to rest, and had found it the perfect time to catch up on reports.  Fortunately for Lee, his own trip to Sickbay had been nothing more than a few tests, blood work, and an EKG in order to receive the doctor’s rubber stamp of approval for return to duty. 

 

With so many of Seaview’s key officers and crew injured, Lee had called upon Sparks to take the Conn for the Delta watch.  He and Harry were covering the other watches as junior officers stepped up to the plate, receiving valuable experience in the process.

 

It was presently Delta Watch, and unable to sleep he had slipped into the Nose for quiet reflection on the Admiral’s Front Porch.  Water pressed against Seaview’s windows as the boat made her way, some ninety-feet below the surface.  For others not accustomed to the sea, it was a daunting sight; for the experienced submarine captain, it was an elixir.

 

“I thought I’d find you down here.”

 

Lee turned at the familiar voice to see Harry, descending the spiral staircase.  He was carrying a manila envelope and a bottle of scotch.

 

“Celebrating something?” Lee asked with a nod toward the Glenlivet.

 

“As a matter of fact, I am,” he said mysteriously, dropping the envelope on the conference table and walking to the sideboard to retrieve two coffee mugs.  Taking a seat adjacent to Seaview’s Captain, he tilted his head toward the envelope and poured two fingers worth into each mug. 

 

Lee reached for the envelope and pulled out the photo that had precipitated their little adventure; the picture taken as the rescue helicopter hovered over the two survivors in the raft, with the mutated giant squid broaching the surface.  He studied the photo and blew a breath out.

 

“It seems like a lifetime ago,” the Captain said almost melancholy.

 

It had been a very busy three days, and with the priority of Seaview’s repairs, they had had little time to talk about anything else, much less the creature that had been the focus of their concerns.

 

“We’ve been pretty focused on other matters,” Harry continued, “and things are liable to get busier when we make port with Seaview’s repairs, settling Jacob into a new life, and then there’s Dr. Barnes,” he said with a hint of regret.

 

“Admiral, there’s no way you could have known about Dr. Barnes,” he assured, knowing Harry felt some responsibility for not recognizing her true character five years ago.   

 

“I know, Lee, but it’s a hard thing to come to terms with when you look into the face of someone you thought was a friend and discover a depraved, malicious person looking back at you.”

 

Lee nodded, they had only been on the island for one day, but the repercussions of what had happened there was still affecting each of them in different ways.  Jacob’s life had been changed forever, and Harry had taken on a new crusade to ensure Belinda Barnes paid for her crimes.  Lee hadn’t been unaffected either and was privately struggling with nightmares, brought on by a very long and painful session with Dr. Barnes’ device.  That wasn’t anything he planned on sharing with anyone; he was sure it would pass in time.

 

“Anyway,” Harry said, passing a mug over to Lee.  “We’ve been focusing on the negative, and we haven’t had time to celebrate the very important things that we did accomplish.”

 

“Like the destruction of the squid?” Lee said with a tilt of the head toward the photo.

 

“It was an extraordinary case of teamwork, Lee, and no doubt, its destruction saved many more lives had it not been stopped.”

 

Lee smiled.  “And this boat,” he continued, “the crew stepping up and taking care of business while we were on the island.”  His smiled widened at the crew’s performance in the face of danger, and he’d been especially proud of O’Brien.

 

“And Jacob now has a chance at a life, far different than the one Belinda had in mind for him.  We have a lot to be thankful for, Lee,” Harry added. 

 

Lee nodded, mentally letting go of the broody mood that had unexpectedly crept in on him these last few days. 

 

“To teamwork,” Harry said, his eyes twinkling as he raised his mug.  It was his way of celebrating not only the cooperation it had taken to overcome against overwhelming odds, but the very special relationship these two men shared.

 

“To teamwork,” Lee repeated but then paused before continuing the toast, “and to the best damn boat to sail the seas,” he added, in a salute to Seaview, her crew, and an unspoken private salute to the man who created her.

 

“I’ll drink to that,” Harry replied with a grin, as the two men soaked in the warmth of the moment and the knowledge that Dr. Gamma’s plans had been thwarted once again by Seaview and her gallant crew.

 

The End

 

Author’s Notes:  Thanks for reading, and if you liked the story, please let me know.  : )  Writing is half the fun; the other half is in knowing that you enjoyed the story as well!

 

lynnspage@mtaonline.net

 

 

 

Episode Credits:

*Season 2, Leviathan, written by William Welch, directed by Harry Harris, original airdate Nov 14, 1965.

**Season 2, The Deadliest Game, written by Rik Vollaerts, directed by Sobey Martin, original airdate Nov 7, 1965.

***Season 1, The Price of Doom, written by Cord Wainer Bird (Harland Ellison), directed by James Goldstone, original airdate Oct 12, 1964.

 

 

 

Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and her main characters belong to Irwin Allen

And the respective production companies