Grounded

By R. L. Keller

A frown crossed Lee Crane’s handsome face, and a soft growl escaped, as he stood on NIMR’s upper dock and watched his beloved Seaview push away from her moorings without him. But the frown quickly turned to chagrin. It was his own fault that he was grounded for this cruise.

Once Seaview had gotten back from her last cruise to replace some underwater quake detectors off the Aleutian Islands, Lee’s friend Pete Sinclair had called and invited Lee to a few days’ hiking around Pete’s cabin in the mountains. It was the first time both men had been there together since Lee had accidentally found the small animal trail that headed over a saddle in the surrounding ridge to the next valley where, instead of a lake, snow runoff formed a lovely waterfall into a small pool, then continued through the valley in a small stream.*

The trail up Pete’s side wasn’t a major problem for either man, both very fit. The other side had a couple of places where both had to watch their steps; that side had a section of shale rock that had to be navigated carefully, and along the stream as they walked to the waterfall there were occasionally slippery rocks. Lee made Pete laugh when he admitted sheepishly what had happened on Lee’s first trip back from the peacefulness around the waterfall. Pete razzed Lee unmercifully because Lee was one of the most nimble people he’d ever met.

“Yeah, yeah,” Lee had muttered, and the pair continued their hike. They’d planned ahead, and ate their picnic lunch next to the pool. No deer this trip, which Lee blamed on the fact that the pair had continued to visit, needling each other about this and that, and their presence was detected by whatever wildlife might have been in the vicinity.

They continued their friendly banter when they eventually left the peaceful spot, and Pete burst out laughing as they headed back across the shale and Lee took a moment to send a smart-aleck shout at an obnoxious Steller’s Jay. But the laughing abruptly stopped when, as Lee looked up at the bird, he missed his next step and took a nasty tumble, injuring his right knee and ankle. Both men much more prepared than Lee’s first trip over the mountain, first aid kits carried enough strapping and tape to get Lee back to the cabin.

However, the injuries were what led to Lee’s now being left standing on the dock leaning on a cane, his ankle heavily taped and a brace on his knee. Neither injury would require surgery, just time to heal. But Will, backed by Nelson, grounded Lee for what would be a simple run to re-supply the two undersea labs. Still angry, and trying to argue – loudly – that there was no reason that he couldn’t still go, he’d finally calmed down when Chip reminded him just as loudly that it was his own fault he’d been injured and he finally, and bashfully, shut up.

Lee was still standing quietly, watching Seaview glide out the channel toward open water, when a sound behind him drew his attention. He instantly turned the frown that hit his face into a smile, but he was pretty sure Seaman Jackson, part of NIMR’s security team both on base and on Seaview, had seen it, although he chose to ignore it. “Ready to head home, Skipper?” the medium-toned African-American man asked softly, standing next to the golf cart he’d brought Lee down to the dock in.

“No,” Lee answered honestly. But he sent the man a small smile which Jackson returned.

“There’s enough reports packed in your briefcase to keep you occupied most of the time until Seaview gets back,” Jackson offered, still smiling. Lee waggled his left hand, but nodded and limped the few feet to the cart. The guard drove Lee back to his car, then back to Lee’s beach house where he’d left his own rig when he’d picked Lee up that morning. He’d been surprised when Lee had offered to let him drive Lee’s bright red sports car instead of using his jeep, and the grin had barely left the man’s face. Lee didn’t let just anyone drive his ‘baby’. Once the car was tucked into the garage and Lee was standing at his front door, briefcase in hand, Jackson took a second to ask if there was anything else he could do. They’d both laughed after Lee muttered, “Only something you won’t do.” Lee had, on several occasions the last couple days, made threats against his CMO – and someone who had become a very special friend – Dr. Will Jamison.

“Yell if you need me,” Jackson said with another grin, mostly a joke because it was well known that Lee almost never asked for help, and he drove off leaving Lee to finally settle in his favorite chair in the livingroom.

As Will had pointed out repeatedly, once all the test results came back, Lee wasn’t that badly hurt. Thankfully! The two joints, knee and ankle, merely needed to be supported while ligaments and muscles, stretched beyond their normal range, got back to normal and the bit of inflammation in both settled down. He wanted Lee to stay fairly quiet with the leg elevated, something he was absolutely sure wouldn’t happen if Lee were aboard Seaview no matter how much Lee argued otherwise. Nelson had stepped in, telling Lee that, since he would be limited to dealing with reports and feasibility studies for possible upcoming cruises, he could just as easily do them at home and not have to deal with all the effort it would take to come into the office. There was plenty of work Lee could do to keep him occupied until Seaview’s return, and by then he should be pretty well healed. The only reason he’d been on the dock today was, one, Will wanted to check him one more time before he left with the boat; and two, no one, including Admiral Nelson, wanted to try to keep him away!

While Lee muttered openly about being beached – literally and figuratively – quietly he wasn’t all that unhappy. If he’d been in his office he no doubt would have been spied on by Angie, Nelson’s PA and acting head of NIMR when Nelson wasn’t around. And she would have enlisted aid from Lee’s secretary, at least two members of the cafeteria staff, and possibly even Nurse Esther Hale, USM (Ret.), Will’s not so secret, secret weapon against Command Staff in Med Bay. At least at home, Lee could better control who interrupted his days. That thought now bringing a smile, he got up again, changed out of his uniform – that meant a trip up and down the stairs, but he just shrugged his shoulders and blew a raspberry out to sea in Jamie’s direction because he chose not to use the cane, and then took his briefcase, along with half a glass of Scotch, and spent the next several hours on the chaise lounge on his deck, actually doing what he was supposed to – leg raised and doing paperwork. Part way through the afternoon he was visited by his neighbor’s calico cat, Chloe** who stayed for about half an hour, sitting on the arm of the chaise lounge watching him work. He’d reach out and give her a long rub from the top of her head, down her back and out to the end of her tail. She’d purr loudly, he’d smile, and he’d go back to whatever report he was working on. A school bus passing the house was Chole’s signal to head home. She gave Lee a quick nuzzle, he chuckled, and she scurried off, her ‘kids’ now home for the day.

Lee was just considering ordering a pizza delivery, actually hungry since he hadn’t bothered fixing any lunch, when he heard the sound of his front door bell. “Around back,” he yelled, and Nurse Hale appeared, carrying an insulated bag.

She stopped dead when she spotted Lee, still sitting, his legs out in front of him on the chaise lounge and papers scattered here and there. “You’re actually doing what you were told,” came out in a voice of amazement, and Lee burst out laughing. “And I forgot my camera,” she added. Lee, still chuckling, handed her his phone. She quickly snapped several shots and sent them to herself before handing the phone back.

“Dinner?” Lee asked, pointing to the bag and still chuckling.

She nodded. “Chicken and veggie fettucine. Enough to give you several meals.”

“Yumm,” Lee said honestly as he started gathering up his paperwork. “Will you stay?”

“Nope. A niece and her hubby are visiting. Taking them out to dinner. Needed to make sure you weren’t doing anything you weren’t supposed to first.”

Not yet, Lee told only himself, but he sent her a smile. “Enjoy your family. I’ll be fine. Was actually just about to order a pizza delivery.”

“It’s my understanding that XO Morton gave a shopping list to his secretary before he left. You should be getting a delivery early this evening.” Lee knew that he frowned, and Nurse Hale’s smile was mostly smirk.

Lee eventually sent her a nod. “Figured that I wasn’t totally off the hook.”

She finally sent him an honest smile. “The theory was, if we loaded up your fridge and pantry there wouldn’t be any reason for you to go out or us to keep showing up bothering you,” she admitted.

Lee’s answering grin was also genuine. “Not a bother.” She pointed an eyebrow to him, and he shyly raised thumb and forefinger barely apart, to which they both nodded.

“You want this now?”

“Yep,” and she headed into his house to set everything on the kitchen table. Thankful that he’d remembered to bring the cane outside with him since he’d been expecting ‘someone’ to show up, Lee grabbed a plate and silverware. Out of the bag came a fairly large container of pasta and half a loaf of sourdough bread. Once Lee was seated, she sent a glance at the empty coffee pot. Lee grinned. “Hadn’t gotten that far yet, for some reason,” and he pointed to the fridge. “I think there’s still some juice in there, along with butter for the bread.” With Lee already stuffing in a large forkful of the pasta from his favorite Italian restaurant she nodded, sent him another actual smile, and left.

Lee was just cleaning up from that feast when his doorbell rang again. Thankfully he remembered to take and use the cane as he answered it because Angie, herself, was waiting on the other side along with Lee’s secretary, Terry. Lee merely stood back as they hauled in several bags of groceries. Lee did have to point to where he would usually put a few things in the pantry so he could easily find them. The ladies also brought another stack of reports, and took with them the ones that he’d finished.

“That should hold you for a day or so,” Angie smarted. “Yell when you get bored.”

“I have another stack just waiting for you,” Terry added. “Nothing urgent, mostly just the usual monthly reports.”

“I’ll either email or bring over anything that needs your attention,” Angie added.

“You’re both bound and determined to keep me housebound,” Lee muttered.

“Yes, sir,” the ladies said together, and all three ended up chuckling.

* * * *

The next four days went by actually quite swiftly. Because Lee would spend a fair amount of time in his office anyway when Seaview came back from a cruise, the fact that he was merely dealing with paperwork wasn’t a major issue. He did miss his morning and/or evening runs on the beach, as well as visiting with others, especially Chip and Admiral Nelson. But Chip did email daily; he knew that Lee liked to be kept up-to-date. Angie emailed every other day, just to check in. The third day Lee told her he had a bunch of reports that could go back to the office, and Terry showed up an hour later. She grinned and he frowned when the stack she brought with her was nearly as big as what she was taking back. But he finally smiled when she reminded him that for once he was actually getting caught up, something that never seemed to happen. He kept expecting Nurse Hale to show up and kept the cane handy, although he now rarely used it. Over the years he’d learned how to use kinesiology (KT) tape, and he’d healed enough – at least as far as he was concerned – to just use the tape on both the ankle and knee. He wasn’t even putting the brace on anymore. He wasn’t stupid enough to even consider going for a jog but both joints, supported by the tape in the right places, made walking almost normal again.

He was just pondering how much trouble he’d get into by showing up at the office the next morning when his house phone rang. “Crane,” he answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID since he assumed that it was someone from NIMR.

“Crane,” came back officiously in his ear and Lee recognized Admiral Robert Jones’ voice, head of ONI and Lee’s occasional boss.

“Sir,” Lee instantly responded, burying a smile. Admiral Nelson had Chip program Lee’s cell phone not to accept calls from Jones’ office, forcing that Admiral to go through Nelson to reach Lee. “How did you know I was ashore?” he asked carefully. It was just barely possible that Jones had called Nelson aboard Seaview. Although, if that had happened, Nelson would have told Jones, in no uncertain terms, that Lee was not available to the Office of Naval Intelligence for any reason.

“Called your office and your secretary told me.” Oops, Lee mumbled silently. Terry knew better than to admit that. “Wasn’t your regular woman,” came out in somewhat of a self-satisfied tone.

“Oh.” That would explain it, Lee admitted to himself.

“She wasn’t sure if you were still on the injured list,” Jones continued.

“Yes and no,” Lee admitted. “Pretty much healed. Not ready to do any heavy jogging yet.”

“Harrumph,” Jones growled. Lee smiled but stayed quiet, waiting to find out what Jones wanted. Nelson, Jamie, and especially Chip would go ballistic if he went off for ONI while they were gone. If he happened to further injure himself there would be no living with any of them for the foreseeable future! But if it was important enough… Lee would at least hear Jones out. “Are you familiar at all with the foothills of the mountains east of Pahrump, Nevada?” finally came out.

“No, sir,” Lee could easily admit. “I’m not even sure where that is. But I can find it easy enough on a map,” he quickly added as another growl started coming through the line.

“I’m told the town is about a six-hour drive from Santa Barbara,” came out in what was for Admiral Jones a fairly calm tone.

“Easy drive,” Lee told him. “But you said I’m headed east into the foothills, sir? Might not want to take my sportscar.” Lee couldn’t hide the bit of humor that he knew snuck into his voice so he quickly added, “Perhaps I’ll borrow Chip’s, ah, Lt. Cdr. Morton’s, SUV.”

“Harrumph,” was instantly growled. Ever since the incident with the turtle*** Admiral Jones had been reluctant to discuss any of Seaview’s crew except, of course, Admiral Nelson. “I’m told that where you’re heading is out in the boonies,” came a little more under control.

“I’ll pack my camping gear. How long will I be there, sir?”

There was silence from the other end, which Lee didn’t interrupt. Admiral Jones didn’t like discussing mission details over the phone. Finally, “I’ll have a meeting arranged for you in Pahrump.”

“Understood, sir.”

“When can you leave?”

Lee took a second, mentally working through the logistics. “Barring problems, I can be in Pahrump early tomorrow morning, sir.”

“Lt. Andreas,” Jones referenced his Aide, “will text you where to have breakfast.”

“Understood, sir,” and the line went dead.

Flipping a mental coin, Lee considered whether or not to email Chip that he was going to borrow the SUV. It was parked at NIMR next to the Admin building, the keys no doubt in Chip’s office desk drawer. No matter how he handled the next several hours, he was going to get in trouble; he just needed to figure out a way to be in the least amount.

He finally settled on emailing Chip, complaining long and hard about being sick of doing paperwork – knowing that Chip would laugh his head off about it – and asking for the SUV to go camping for a couple days to clear his head. Seaview wasn’t due back for almost a week and Lee figured ‘a couple days’ would go over fairly well with everyone. He considered calling the boat, but decided that he’d rather not have Jamie grill him about how he was feeling. He told Chip that he’d switched to the KT tape, which Jamie had already cleared him to use when he felt strong enough. Nelson had heard that comment and raised an eyebrow, to which the Doctor had grunted, “Yeah, I’m an idiot, Admiral. The Commander will switch long before I would. But I have to admit that he really didn’t hurt himself that bad.”

“Then why can’t I go on this cruise?” Lee had demanded.

“Because he said so,” Nelson had answered before Will could, surprising all three. They ended up chuckling, Lee perhaps a bit less than the other two. But he’d nodded. Once Nelson entered an argument, too many years of Naval training, and too much respect for the man, wouldn’t let Lee continue without an extremely good reason. Since Seaview was merely on an easy re-supply cruise, that kind of reason didn’t exist.

Lee got lucky and there wasn’t a long delay in Chip’s response. Lee figured that Chip, as acting Captain, was doing what Lee normally did and spend several hours right after lunch in his office/cabin doing his own paperwork. That also made Lee’s complaint about paperwork that much easier for the blond to accept. He did ask where Lee planned to go. Lee hedged. ‘Wherever I find myself out in the boonies when I get tired of driving,’ he wrote back. Chip’s response was a smiley face. Lee started to tell Chip that he’d leave his car and keys at NIMR, but realized in time that he was expected back before Chip, and sent just a ‘Thanks” instead. He actually kept expecting his cell phone to ring; Chip would have notified Jamie. When it stayed quiet Lee gathered up all the reports he’d finished and headed for NIMR. Then had to laugh when Angie came out the Admin building door and down the steps as Lee parked in his normal spot. “Ah,” Lee grinned. “Jamie called you instead of me,” he guessed.

Angie finally smiled, from the frown she’d had walking up to him. “You’re not exactly known for following orders,” she sniped, then raised a hand. “Well, medical orders, anyway.”

“Guilty as charged,” Lee admitted. He handed her his briefcase and keys as she handed over Chip’s keyring.

She pointed to the briefcase. “I’ll have this packed with more reports when you get back,” she told him with a bright smile.

“Gee, thanks, Angie,” he returned in a bit of a mutter, but finally smiled. He knew that she watched carefully how he walked over to Chip’s SUV, but in actual fact he didn’t have to work overly hard to make it look totally relaxed. He sent her half a salute, she grinned and waved, and he drove back home.

Knowing that he didn’t have to hurry since he wasn’t expected in Pahrump until morning – and also suspecting that Angie sent Jackson to spy on him as he packed to make sure that he was still walking easily – he puttered. He’d backed the SUV into his driveway, opened the garage door, and spent almost an hour casually shifting some basic camping equipment into the back of the rig. He kept a supply of MRE’s there, military ‘Meals Ready to Eat’, and packed some of those as well. Upgrades over the years had made them quite palatable, plus adding more choices, and because each pack contained a flameless heat pack they could be prepared without a fire. And, they were easy to toss in his backpack. He’d put a few fresh things in the cooler he loaded up as well. He hoped that wherever he was headed he could mostly use the four-wheel-drive SUV, but with ONI missions there was no telling where he’d end up! With that thought in mind, he also tossed in the knee brace, a couple of Ace bandages, and more KT tape – just in case! It might, just possibly, keep his friends from going quite so ballistic if his little escape didn’t go so well. Probably not, he admitted, but at least they’d know that he took that much precaution.

He'd just tossed those things in a bag and put them in the SUV when his cell phone chimed. Momentarily rolling his eyes, he discovered that it was just Roger Andreas, Admiral Jones’ Aide, and an old friend of Lee’s, texting what was apparently the address in Pahrump where Lee was to meet his contact the next morning. There was only a street address, no town or time. But Lee figured that he’d show up about 0700, normal breakfast time on the boat although at home it was closer to 0600, and hope for the best.

Besides his backpack he carefully packed a duffle. The latter held mostly extra clothes. The backpack wasn’t quite as big as the one he carried when he was actually hiking the high country, as he liked to do. But this one had some very cleverly hidden pockets here and there, into which went a variety of weapons and other things Lee might possibly want or need.

It was nearing 1700 hours when Lee closed the back of the SUV, now that everything he’d planned to take was loaded. He locked his house, casually drove to a family diner on the outskirts of town, and ate a substantial meal of chicken strips, home fries, and a slice of peach pie for dessert before heading east.

While Lee much preferred racing around in his little red sportscar, he’d driven Chip’s SUV enough to be very comfortable handling it. He did have to admit that, sitting higher, he could watch traffic better than sitting practically on the ground in his car. But he’d still never give it up! The SUV also had its own Nav system so Lee had only given his map of the area a cursory glance before leaving. He didn’t program the system with the actual address – just in case – merely setting it for Pahrump. He’d also deleted Roger’s text after making sure that he’d memorized the address. If he remembered right, Pahrump wasn’t that big, and he had lots of time to figure out where he was going. He also didn’t drive overly fast once he left the diner, checking constantly for a tail. But he was fairly certain he never saw the same vehicle twice leaving Santa Barbara, so he finally relaxed and enjoyed the drive through the gathering darkness. He did stop after about three hours at a roadside Rest Stop and caught a few hours’ sleep.

* * * *

Surprising himself, he actually slept, having made a quick bed for himself on the back seat of the SUV on his sleeping bag; it was too warm to need to sleep inside the bag. He’d set his phone alarm for 0300 hours, expecting to be awake well before that – assuming he actually was able to fall asleep in the first place since he was always keyed up before a mission. He could only shake his head and smile when the alarm went off, waking him from a weird dream; something to do with aliens. You’re not going anywhere near Roswell, he muttered to himself as he put himself together for the day.

Pahrump, while having a population nearing 45,000 residents, was in fact an unincorporated, mostly bedroom community, spread out over a valley in the Mohave Desert. Daytime temperatures were similar to Las Vegas, sixty-some miles south, but noticeably dropped more at night. Easily finding the address he’d been given, he pulled on a long-sleeved shirt over the t-shirt and jeans, they being warm enough for driving. He casually entered what he discovered was basically a truck stop-type place, with lots of parking, gas station, convenience store, and the diner that he parked on the side of. Surprise turned to delight when his ‘contact’ turned out to be Roger Andreas. Admiral Jones’ Aide was sitting in a corner booth and raised a hand in welcome, a smile on his face as well. Because the booth was semi-circular, and knowing Lee’s preference for being able to see around him, Roger moved over to the center so that Lee would have his back to the wall, a clear view of the rest of the room.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Lee said quietly, letting Roger set the mood for the meeting.

“On my way to Vegas for a few days’ vacation and thought I’d say Hi,” came back in the same soft tone.

A waitress walked over to check on the coffee mug sitting in front of Roger, and Lee instantly turned his up, Roger having switched when he moved. “Menus?” she asked.

“Please,” Lee told her. “Any chance you can leave the pot?” he nodded to the coffee pot she carried with a broad smile.

She smiled back. “Just brewing a fresh one. I can bring over a carafe.”

“Perfect,” Roger spoke as Lee was busy draining his first mugful. She grinned, waited until Lee put the now empty mug down, filled it again, and headed back toward the counter.

The two friends spent the next few minutes catching up, although nothing was said that would indicate where they were from, or had anything to do with the US Navy. When the waitress returned with two menus she also left a full carafe on the table, and both men refilled their mugs before perusing the choices. Lee, who normally ate very little for the first meal of the day, decided that he’d stock up since he had no idea what the rest of the day would bring and ordered a full breakfast of hotcakes, bacon and sausage, two eggs over easy, and hashbrowns. Roger gave him a funny look when he gave the waitress his order, knowing how light an eater Lee usually was, and promptly ordered the same thing.

As the waitress left to place their orders Roger nonchalantly, and without really looking, reached into a pocket and pulled out two 3x5 inch note cards covered with writing, including one small picture, and laid them on the bench seat between the two. Lee was just as careful, as he checked them out, to not look like he was doing anything other than continuing to visit. So far the table closest to them was empty, and Roger lowered his voice to barely be audible the short distance to Lee.

“Names Nathan Alder. Congressional Aide. Somehow got his hands on a briefcase full of documents that shouldn’t have been left where they were.”

“Oops,” Lee muttered, his mouth mostly covered by his coffee mug.

“No joke. Thankfully we don’t think he actually knows just how dangerous the intel inside that briefcase is, but we do think he understands that if he tries to open it without the proper codes it will blow up in his face.”

“Oh goody.”

Roger frowned. “It gets better.”

“Ugh.”

“We believe that he was supposed to pass the briefcase on to who we think is a Russian agent, but something went wrong and Alder took off before he could be stopped.” Lee just looked at him, Roger shrugged, and so did Lee. “We tracked him to Vegas but he got spooked again and headed for the hills. Literally. We can’t send a team in; for several reasons, but mostly we don’t dare alert the Press that the theft even happened. They’d screw everything up.” He stopped talking as a forty-something woman slid into the empty seat next to their booth. “Thanks again for suggesting we meet here, Lee,” he went back to talking normally, and Lee slipped the two note cards into his own pocket. “I was surprised that you weren’t out to sea.”

“Should be,” Lee put an honest grump in his voice. “My own stupidity that I’m not.”

“What did you do?” came in a teasing tone.

“Had a few days and went hiking with Pete Sin… Have you met Pete?”

“Heard you talk about him.” They both kept an eye on the woman, who was trying very hard not to let on that she was listening.

“Took him to a place I’ve hiked before, knew that there was one bad spot on the trail, warned Pete, and promptly fell on my ashcan.” Roger laughed out loud. At the same time their meals arrived and they both dug in before Roger pointed an eyebrow. Lee finished swallowing the bite he’d taken. “Didn’t really hurt myself all that bad, but enough so that my CMO beached me for this cruise and left me to do fourteen mounds of paperwork.”

“Double ugh.”

“Yeah. But on the plus side, the boat’s still out, I’m pretty well healed, along with being sick of reports, so decided to get away for a couple days. Wasn’t sure where until you called and said that you were spending a few days in Vegas.” He paused. “I hate Vegas. Too many people.” Roger chuckled. “Heard the camping was pretty cool east of here, and…” He shrugged.

“Works for me. Haven’t seen you in a while. Nice to catch up.” Lee nodded and they finished the meal as they’d started it, talking about anything and everything not related to their jobs.

When the checks came, Roger grabbed Lee’s. “The boss is picking up this tab.” He sent Lee a look as they polished off the last of their coffee and slid out of the booth. “Figured that’s why you ate such a big meal.”

Lee laughed. “Hey, I’m hiking. Needed to stoke the furnace.” He nudged Roger’s shoulder with his own once they were both standing. “What’s your excuse? You’ll plunk yourself in front of a slot machine and won’t move the rest of the day.”

“I prefer Blackjack,” Roger muttered, then grinned. “With a woman dealer.” They both laughed. Lee waited by the door as Roger paid the bill, just glancing around, and watched as the woman quickly left money on the table and hurried out the door before them. Standing so near, Lee opened the door for her, sending her a quick smile, then paid attention to which car she got into.

When Roger joined him and they walked out, Lee said quietly, “Green Toyota to your right,” at the same time pointing to a building off to the left and pretending to say something, although it was just his lips moving; no sound came out. Roger responded in kind, as well as a quiet, “Got it,” as they walked toward where Roger had parked, pretty much the opposite direction from where Lee’s rig was. Lee did ask softly, once he was sure there wasn’t anyone else around, “What am I supposed to do. Ah…amend that. What is the preferred outcome to my hiking trip?”

Roger grinned at the re-phrasing. He’d been in on enough debriefings to know that Lee had a tendency to complete assignments his own way, not necessarily by established rules. Admiral Jones would often fuss and bluster. But basically, since Lee almost always ended up accomplishing his tasks, Jones had pretty much given up trying to change Lee. “Get the briefcase back without anyone getting blown up,” Roger told him. “Standard size, silver metal. Looks aluminum, but isn’t. Somewhat heavy.”

“And when I get it?”

“You have my cell number.” Lee sent him a raised eyebrow. “Won’t necessarily be me you turn it over to, but I’ll know more about what my back-up plan is. This sort of had to get organized on the fly.”

“Don’t lose too much at the Blackjack tables,” Lee said a little louder than they’d been talking as Roger got into his car.

“Planned ahead. Have a separate wallet with X amount of cash. If I win, cool. But if the wallet gets empty, I quit.”

Lee nodded. “Smart man.” Roger waggled a hand, they both laughed, and Roger left. Lee was in no hurry to head for his car. The green Toyota also didn’t move. But when Lee walked to the end of the parking lot, seeming to just be looking around that section of the town, it finally pulled out. Without seeming to hurry, Lee returned to the SUV and spent nearly an hour just driving around, trying to spot if he’d picked up a tail. Finally as satisfied as he could make himself, he stopped at a different gas station and filled the rig, bought a few things at the attached convenience store, and headed east toward the foothills of the near mountain range.

Stopping at the first wide spot in the road where he could easily park, he partly watched the traffic and read the info on the cards Roger had given him, holding them down in his lap so passing rigs couldn’t tell what he was doing. There was a basic description of Alder, along with the headshot picture. It looked like it had been taken for a Driver’s license or ID card. There were descriptions of the briefcase, the car Alder was last seen driving, and GPS of where he’d last been seen. Lee did wonder…if they’d been able to keep this kind of track on the man, why hadn’t they been able to apprehend him before now. On the other hand, because of what Roger had intimated, Alder was a rabbit; he spooked easily. That kind of person was extremely difficult to corral without a posse, and obviously keeping the press from finding out the details had become priority number one. Well, maybe not number one, but close to it! Lee could understand; he’d been privy, and part of, too many Seaview missions that, if the public had ever found out about would have led to widespread panic. No, some things were best kept quiet!

He played with his GPS unit for a bit, checking out the area around Alder’s last known location, and found what appeared to be a small trailhead. He figured that Alder wouldn’t want to be around too many people. On the other hand, if he was smart he’d hide his car in amongst a bunch of others. Flipping a mental coin and deciding that so far Alder hadn’t shown to be all that good at espionage, he settled on the smaller spot. But first he destroyed the two note cards, ripping them up and burning them in the SUV’s ash tray. With a wry grin he reminded himself to make sure he cleaned it out before returning the rig to Chip.

As he got closer to the trailhead, winding his way through the lower foothills, he noticed a dirt side road here and there. He assumed that they led to vacation cabins because they were mostly marked by a small “Private Road” sign. Still a mile or so away from his destination he came across another one, but this one had a Sheriff’s car parked at the end. The car flashed its overhead lights just once as Lee approached, no siren, and Lee pulled over to his side of the road and stopped, stepping out as the uniformed driver of the Sheriff’s car did the same.

“Sir?” Lee asked, his voice casual and curious. The other man smiled, Lee figured, because Lee has said ‘sir’ and not the more usual ‘officer’.

“Out for a drive?” came back, also casual as the man crossed the road.

“Actually, camping for a few days. Lee Crane,” and he reached out a hand as if to shake.

The officer hesitated only a moment before accepting the handshake. “Deputy Caleb Ford. Headed to the trailhead?”

Lee nodded. “Yes, sir. Heard it was small and quiet.” His grin broadened.

“You don’t mind showing me ID and registration?” Still casual.

Lee’s grin spread even further. “Not at all.” He pulled out his wallet, driver’s license on one side and NIMR ID on the other, and while Ford was looking at them he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the vehicle’s registration and insurance information.

When Ford read that he pointed an eyebrow at Lee, and Lee nodded to the rig. “Belongs to my XO. Camping gear won’t fit in my little sportscar.” Ford nodded. “Is there a problem?”

Ford shrugged. “Had a report from one of the locals that his cabin had been broken into.”

“Damn,” Lee muttered. Privately he wondered if he was getting closer to Alder; that the man hadn’t been prepared for camping out and needed shelter, and especially food. “Much damage?” he asked offhand as he returned papers to their proper place.

“Not much. Probably bored kids.”

Lee sighed. “Tell them to join the military. They won’t be bored for long.” He straightened up to almost attention.

Ford grinned. “On Leave?” Still being friendly.

Lee knew that he frowned. “Sort of. Seaview, NIMR’s research submarine that I command,” he added that just in case Ford didn’t know much about the Institute, “is out on a short cruise with my XO in Command. I got beached because of a leg injury, but it’s healed enough…and quite frankly I was sick of the paperwork I was assigned while the boat was out…” He sighed heavily, then grinned. “Decided to take a break. Asked Chip, ah, my XO, for the use of his rig and took off, headed east, to parts unknown. Ended up here, after meeting an old friend in Pahrump.”

Ford glanced at the clear sky. “Should be good weather the next few days.” He grinned. “Your cell phone won’t work.”

“Hallelujah,” Lee breathed and they both chuckled.

“Enjoy your stay, Commander.” Lee’s rank was of course on his NIMR ID. “Ah, I assume that you are armed.”

“Yes, sir.” Lee grinned. “But I’ll do my best not to shoot any rowdy teenagers.”

“You have my permission, ah, totally off the record of course, to scare the bejesus out of them.” They both laughed and nodded. Ford headed back across the road and Lee climbed back into the SUV. With a wave, he headed once more for the trailhead.

Lee didn’t expect to find the car Alder had been last seen driving in the small parking lot of the trailhead. There were, however, two other SUV’s there, both empty of people. Lee pulled out his binoculars and scanned the tree-covered area all around where he was, and followed the actual trail as it wound its way up the hill where it went around what looked like a rock escarpment of some sort part way up to the top of the nearest ridge. Lee decided that he’d check that spot out; it looked from where he was to possibly have some small concave places at the base. If they weren’t being used by any resident wildlife, one would make a good place for him to set up camp. With rocks at his back, that was one less direction he’d need to defend. A small cave would be even a better and safer place to start a small fire to help with the colder nights this far up.

He got lucky. A not too deep cave was unoccupied, nor did it look like it had been in the near past except for a small stash of empty beer cans and junk food wrappers, which Lee carefully bagged and tossed in the back of the SUV as he made several trips back and forth, figuring that less weight to carry compensated for more trips on his knee and ankle. Once he was settled, he spent a few minutes rubbing Bio-Freeze gel into both joints before replacing the KT tape with Ace bandages for the night, then gathered enough dry twigs and branches to build a nice little well-banked fire just inside the cave entrance. By this time his big breakfast had worn off and he fixed a meal of chili heated over the fire, sandwich fixings from the cooler, and a pot of strong coffee. He grinned as he pulled on an oversized flannel, long-sleeved shirt as it started to get dark. He had rather fond memories of where the shirt had come from – along with some sheepish memories, he was forced to admit.**** But it rather seemed appropriate to wear on this trip since he was, once more, fugitive-hunting.

Twice he heard soft voices from the direction of the trail and assumed that they belonged to the people in the other two rigs. While his food was heating he glanced down with his binoculars and both rigs were now gone. But a flash of ‘something’ caught his eye just as the sun was setting. He couldn’t make out what it was, however. It wasn’t in the parking lot; more like it was back in some heavier brush at one edge of the lot. He hadn’t noticed anything while he was walking back and forth setting up his camp, but he'd parked on the side away from that area. He figured that he’d check it out the next morning, when he could actually see where he was going. Once the sun set it got dark fast!

The cave floor wasn’t overly smooth but Lee found a fairly flat place to roll out his sleeping bag, thankful that he’d also packed a thin but efficient foam mat. Not only did it smooth out a few rough edges of rock, it provided an extra barrier from the cold ground. Once he’d cleaned up everything from his meal, not leaving any food out to attract nocturnal wildlife, he carefully banked the fire even better than he originally had and settled into his bed. He wasn’t sure how much he’d sleep, but at least he’d rest.

Until Chip’s car alarm went off just after 0130 hours. Lee grabbed his gun, flashlight, and keys, and hurried down the trail. But he found the lot empty except for the SUV. He carefully checked all around but the rig was secure. Then, smacking his head at his stupidity he hurried back to his camp, hoping that he hadn’t just blundered, falling for the distraction so that his camp could be raided. Thankfully, he got back in time to keep that from happening. Either that, or Lee was being paranoid. The camp seemed just as he’d left it. He gave everything a quick check and finally laid back down.

* * * *

Lee wasn’t actually sure how he was going to spend the next day. He wasn’t thinking any farther ahead than that; just taking one day at a time. He’d packed several reports in his backpack – just because. He’d chastised himself when he did it, but still put them in.

First on the list was breakfast. His chili the night before had come from a can, even though one of the MRE’s he’d packed also had chili as the main course.+ One of the others had maple sausage as the protein and he dug that out, along with a small container that, with water added and well shaken, produced a reasonable pancake batter. With a small flat griddle over his built-up fire and his small coffee pot at the side, he was all set to fix his meal when a branch snapped off to his right of the cave entrance – the side away from the trail. After what happened the night before Lee now had his service revolver tucked in the back of his jeans at the waist. He made sure his shirt was covering it before standing up, but stayed behind the fire in the protection of the cave entrance. “Anyone out there?” he called, trying to keep his voice casual. “The coffee’s ready and I’m about to start breakfast.” There was silence for so long, Lee started to sit back down. But finally there was another soft crack, like someone who didn’t know what they were doing stepping on twigs as they moved, and a man appeared. Slender-built, inappropriately dressed in a brown suit and patent leather shoes, and looking decidedly mussed and ruffled, Lee would have guessed him to be in his late thirties. But as scruffy as he was at the moment, Lee knew him to be 28 since he recognized him immediately as the man he was sent to find, Nathan Alder.

“Lost?” Lee now asked, and indicated the man have a seat on the side of the fire. He almost laughed out loud as Alder cringed, no doubt at the thought of sitting on solid rock. But there wasn’t an alternative available; Lee hadn’t brought a camp chair. Alder didn’t seem to be carrying anything and Lee wondered where the briefcase was.

Alder hadn’t moved by the time Lee had once more sat down. “Ah, car trouble,” finally came out of the man’s mouth. “Ah, is there a bathroom around here?”

Again Lee struggled not to burst out laughing. He reached behind him, grabbed the packet of toilet paper-slash-napkins that came in the MRE that he’d opened and tossed it to Alder. “I’d prefer that you go down-wind, maybe to the other side of the trail,” and he pointed. “By the time you get back the hotcakes and sausage should be just about ready.”

Alder had caught the packet but just stood there looking at it. While Lee appeared to concentrate on the meal preparation he was keeping a careful watch on Alder. That the man was totally out of his element – and Lee had to carefully control a guffaw at that terrible pun – that just made him unpredictable, and therefore all the more dangerous. Alder seemed to finally decide that he had no other option, and headed in the direction Lee had indicated. A thought hit Lee’s brain just before Alder got out of sight. “Bury the packet after you use it,” he called out. “It’s all biodegradable.” Alder stopped at the first word but didn’t turn around. He did nod before continuing to walk, and once Lee figured that he was out of range, burst out laughing, although he tried to keep the actual sound down. Whatever possessed him to come out here? Lee wondered, but could only shrug and start to cook his breakfast.

He was almost done when he heard Alder returning. He’d only planned on feeding himself so only had one plate and cup. He did have the cap off of the thermos of coffee he’d brought with him from home, now long gone. He plated several hotcakes and most of the sausage on the plate, along with the disposable silverware from the MRE and handed that and the cup, now full of coffee, to Alder as he sat tentatively where Lee had first indicated. Lee ate directly from the small griddle using his pocket knife for his utensil. From the way the man ate, it was his first meal in some time. Lee figured that he knew who had broken into the cabin the deputy had mentioned.

“Was it you who set off my car alarm during the night?” Lee asked casually as he finished his small meal at the same time Alder did his much bigger one and started to look around, apparently for more.

“I barely touched it,” Alder practically shouted.

Lee smiled. “Belongs to a friend of mine. He’s a little security-conscious.” He talked casually, refilling his makeshift cup with coffee and holding out the pot. Alder quickly held out his mug and Lee poured the last of the coffee into it. Alder once more looked around, Lee thought for food but didn’t ask. He merely started cleaning up what little needed it, and putting things back where they belonged.

“I need you to drive me to Las Vegas,” came out in somewhat of an order.

“Sure,” Lee agreed before looking up. “In three days.” His expression and voice were firm.

“No. I need to get there today,” was all but shouted. It almost echoed in the confines of the shallow cave.

“Then I suggest you start walking.” Lee kept his tone firm but not antagonistic. “If you go down the road from the trailhead, once you hit the main road you’re bound to find someone.” Lee sent the man a grin. “There was a Deputy Sheriff making his rounds when I drove up. He’ll be able to take you somewhere where you can rent a car.”

“I can pay you,” came out desperately. At least it sounded that way to Lee. “You can come back and finish your vacation.”

Lee was already shaking his head. “Can’t leave anything here unattended…”

“I can pay you enough to replace everything if you’re afraid of it being stolen.”

Lee just kept shaking his head as he watched Alder carefully for any sign that he was about to reach for a weapon. “Not the point. One, I don’t need the money; but two, I’m not leaving anything for the bears to get into. There’s stuff here that…”

“Bears?” was again almost shouted as the man nervously glanced around.

“… would harm the animals,” Lee finished his sentence. “I’m not about to harm the wildlife.” That last came out firmly.

“Fine. I’ll help you carry everything down to your car.”

Lee nodded. “Three days from now.”

“I have to go now!”

“Then start walking. If nothing else, once you get far enough down your cell phone would work. Ah, if you have one,” he added with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ll buy yours.” He’d obviously seen Lee’s, in its holder on his belt.

“No can do.”

“It’s not doing you any good here,” Alder sneered.

Lee shrugged. “It will when I start home.” Lee suddenly stood up and Alder took a step back in startled reaction to the hard expression Lee allowed to hit his face. “I don’t know what your problem is, mister, but I’ve had enough. Geesh. Try to help a guy out, feed him, and he doesn’t even bother to say Thank You.” Lee huffed out a breath. “I came out here for some peace and quiet. Leave. Just leave. I’ve had enough of you,” and he took a step forward.

Alder all but fell on his ashcan as he backed up, and then turned and ran in the direction he’d originally come from, Lee’s harsh laughter following him.

Once he was out of sight, Lee immediately grabbed his backpack and silently followed. It wasn’t all that hard; the man had absolutely no idea of how to move silently. Lee had a quick vision of a mission he’d been on with then Captain Nelson when they both served aboard the old Nautilus.+ Nelson was leading a group of scientists to freedom from their Russian guards and they wouldn’t shut up! When Nelson finally got them to quit talking, the trip went somewhat better. In Alder’s case, his feet were ‘talking’ loud and clear. Lee didn’t even worry too much about any noise that he might make; Alder was making so much he’d never hear anything else!

Lee was hoping that Alder would lead him to wherever he’d left the briefcase. Once Lee knew where it was, he figured that he could take Alder with very little trouble. He’d tie up the guy, leave him bound and gagged in the rig while he packed up his camp, and once far enough away from the foothills to get reception, call Roger and arrange a transfer.

Alder didn’t go far. He circled a bit, then headed for the parking lot. Lee wondered if the guy was stupid enough to make another try for Lee’s rig, then thought that he might try to get someone else who might drive in and park to give him a ride out. Lee didn’t want that to happen; at least not until he knew where the briefcase was. Then he remembered the flash of ‘something’ that he’d seen right before sunset the day before. As Alder stopped just inside the brush on this side of the parking lot, apparently to wait, Lee headed back the way he’d come and then worked his way to the other side, staying far enough in the trees and brush that Alder wouldn’t see him. It meant losing sight of Alder, but Lee was pretty sure that the briefcase was more important.

Bingo, Lee told himself as he found the car Alder had been seen driving, buried in brush and invisible from the parking lot. Lee was actually surprised that Alder had brains enough to do it. What was also obvious were two flat tires, and Lee now knew why Alder couldn’t drive himself out. But that didn’t make sense either. How had the guy driven here, and why here, in the first place?

Lee suddenly got a bad feeling. Had Alder been chased here by the Russian agent he’d been supposed to meet? And if so, more importantly, where was that agent now? He inspected the tires as best as he could from where he’d settled a few feet away in some bushes. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like at least one of them had a slit like it had been punctured by a knife. And where was Alder’s weapon? He can’t have been so stupid as to try to deal with enemy agents totally unarmed. Lee shrugged and decided not to try to figure that one out. Neither the trunk, nor the doors on the side Lee could see looked like they had been jimmied open, and Lee scooted around to check the other side. The car looked untouched except for the tires – the two on that side were flat as well.

Lee debated whether to return to watching Alder or try to pop the trunk. There was no way, at least that Lee could see, to let Alder get involved with innocents and then try to capture him and the briefcase; too many ways it could go bad. He guessed, if that happened he could follow in his rig until he could get phone reception, and keep an eye on them until officials could take over, but that still could lead to injuries. Flipping another mental coin, he settled next to the trunk of the sedan. It would be a piece of cake for him to pop the lock, but if the car had an alarm that could bring trouble. Instead, he shrugged out of his backpack and reached into a special pocket for his lockpicks. He’d never tried to do a car trunk but it was a keyed lock so it shouldn’t be any different from any other, he thought.

And, at least in this case, it wasn’t. Lee had it open in less than a minute, then waited and searched for any sign of wiring before barely opening the trunk lid.

Maybe not so stupid, Lee muttered once he could see inside. There was a solid metal box that appeared to have been welded to the inside floor of the trunk. He was trying to decide if he could pick the box’s lock when he heard a rig of some sort – he couldn’t see through the brush – drive into the small parking lot. He heard Alder, he assumed, start to call to whoever had driven in trying, Lee assumed, to get them to drive him out. But the voice was rather abruptly cut off, then total silence. This ain’t good, and Lee silently slinked a bit further into the bushes. He’d really like to know what was happening, but the inner sense that always seemed to warn him of danger was telling him in no uncertain terms that this was definitely not the time to be seen. By anyone!

And then he knew what that ‘something sense’ was – he heard soft voices speaking Russian. Oh crap. The SUV’s alarm didn’t go off, so whoever had driven in must have known what Alder was driving and didn’t bother trying to search the only other rig in the lot. And Lee suddenly realized why Alder’s car was rigged the way it was. It wasn’t Alder’s car; it was the Russians’. They’d rigged it to transport the briefcase and Alder had somehow stolen it after the exchange. Terrific – NOT! Lee muttered under his breath.

Because of the SUV, the Russians had to know that there were others around. Lee could only hope that Alder showing himself so quickly, and apparently frantic, without realizing who the newcomers were, the Russians would think that whoever belonged to the rig was far away. Unless Alder told them after they shut him up. Lee moved a few more feet into the bushes. He did wonder why Alder had shut up so fast. Did he recognize the men – Lee thought there were only two; at least, that’s how many voices he thought that he’d detected.

(Russian) Lee was able to hear and translate enough of one man’s comment that he figured that, however many newcomers there were, they were splitting up to search around the area and he got as small as he could in the brush, thankful that he wasn’t wearing anything brightly colored. Without really realizing it, his gun was now in his hand and he waited for whatever was going to happen next.

That turned out to be one man starting to search Lee’s side of the parking lot. It didn’t take him long to find the car, and he gave a very short, sharp whistle. Thankfully, the sound covered however much noise Lee made coming up behind him and dropping him with the butt of his gun behind the man’s right ear. The man didn’t even have time to get all the way to the ground before Lee grabbed the now unconscious body and dragged it back to where he had been hiding, and once more crouched. Then he realized that the gun the man had been holding was laying in plain sight next to the car. A couple words slipped out before Lee could stop them but he didn’t move, not having any idea where the other man – and he hoped that it was only one more – was.

He didn’t have a long wait. A voice called out a name, presumably the man still unconscious, and there was a cautious approach of footsteps through the trees and bushes. The first thing that Lee saw was a gun, complete with silencer, and he had a bad feeling about why Alder’s voice had so abruptly stopped. Lee hated killing. Sometimes it was unavoidable – he knew that. But he still hated it. He hoped that he could disarm this man before there was any bloodshed. But he’d do what he had to do – that was the job.

As the rest of the man came into view – and thankfully he seemed to be alone – Lee, still from his hiding place, said firmly in Russian, “Drop the gun.” The man instantly spun and Lee heard the soft ‘phat’ from the silencer as he fired, thankfully missing Lee. Lee didn’t miss him, but then stood still and listened to see if anyone else had heard the shot. After almost a minute of silence, Lee got to work.

First, he checked to make sure that the man he’d shot was dead, and picked up both guns. From his backpack he took zip ties and duct tape, making quick work of immobilizing the still unconscious first man, including a strip of tape over both his mouth and eyes. That done, he searched both men for keys, finding a couple different sets, and headed for the parking lot pulling on a pair of latex gloves that also came from his pack. Thankfully, their car and his were the only ones there and he searched theirs, finding Alder’s body in the trunk. There was little doubt that he was dead, an actually quite small hole in his forehead. Lee slammed the truck shut. From the glove compartment he learned that the car was rented in Las Vegas, which made sense. Then, making sure there was no other sounds, like maybe a rig coming up to the trailhead, he put the dead man into the trunk with Alder and locked up the car again, keeping the keys.

Back to Alder’s car, he tried every key he’d found until he discovered the one that opened the metal box. Bingo, he breathed; the missing briefcase was inside. Handling it carefully, he hurried to the SUV and hid it in the back, under some of the camping equipment he’d brought but hadn’t taken up to his campsite. He pondered what to do with the man he’d tied up. He didn’t dare leave him; he might accidentally be found and released before Lee could call in reinforcements. Taking another look around, and listening carefully, he hauled the starting-to-wake-up man into a fireman’s carry and deposited him in the back seat of the SUV. Chip’s rig had tinted windows, so even if someone did drive in he wouldn’t be very visible. Lee took the time to use another zip tie to connect arms and legs behind the man’s back. He wouldn’t be very comfortable, but he also wouldn’t be able to kick out and make a ruckus, trying to get attention. But as trussed up as he was, and blind and mute because of the tape, he seemed to realize that he wasn’t in any position to argue the point and lay fairly quietly.

At that point, Lee finally started to breathe a whole lot more easily than he had been the last half hour or so. He also realized, now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off, that his knee and ankle were sending out, not overly painful messages, but aching enough that Lee knew that he’d better stop and attend to them before anything else.

He returned to his camp, stripped off his jeans, and spent time rubbing both joints with Bio-Freeze gel, letting the gel dry, and putting on a layer of KT tape before also putting the Ace bandages back in place. Taking a deep breath, he went about slowly and carefully cleaning up his campsite and carrying everything down to the SUV. He covered his passenger with his sleeping bag to further hide him. Everything else went into the back, further burying the briefcase until it was very well hidden. One last trip to make sure he hadn’t left anything incriminating anywhere, and both other cars were locked up tight. As he headed down the road away from the trailhead he finally relaxed enough to actually smile, however wryly it ended up being.

It took him almost thirty miles before he had enough bars on his cell phone to comfortably call Roger Andreas. “Good morning,” the man answered cheerfully. “I hope,” came out much more softly.

Lee didn’t waste any time. “You have access to a clean-up crew?”

Roger didn’t either. “Yep.”

“I need to meet you. Someplace a whole lot more private than the last time.”

“Where are you?” Lee gave him the highway number and approximate mile marker. “Can you stay there?”

Lee looked around. That stretch of highway was fairly open; no houses around and a wide enough place to park off the side. “Yeah, but I might want to drive around until you get here, just in case. Don’t want to attract attention.”

“Got it. Call it ninety minutes. Maybe two hours.”

“Give a shout when you get close, and maybe I’ll have found a better place by then.”

“Done,” and both broke the connection.

Lee did, in fact, find a better place not that far away, a little more off the road and a little less out in the open. Coordinating with Roger, he pulled in from one direction as two black SUVs pulled in from the other. Roger and one man got out of the first one. Whoever was in the second stayed where they were.

“Short version,” Roger said as they met. “Don’t need details at the moment.”

Lee nodded. “One man, probably Russian, in my back seat, alive.” The man with Roger motioned to the second rig and three men piled out. They made quick work of the transfer, grinning amongst themselves at how Lee had immobilized and hidden him. While that was happening, Lee moved to the back and unburied the briefcase but didn’t touch it. The man with Roger took instant possession. Lee then gave directions to the trailhead and told them what they’d find there, giving Roger the two weapons he’d confiscated. Roger cringed, but the other man merely nodded and went off to inform the rest of his team.

“You okay?” Roger asked.

Lee nodded. “For a change,” he added, since Roger had been privy to some of the ‘discussions’ between Admirals Nelson and Jones after Lee had been injured on ONI assignments.

Roger grinned. “Good! And, good work this time. A lot of nervous people…”

“Dumping on you?” Roger waggled a hand. “You might still run into a little trouble cleaning up the trailhead parking lot. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“That’s their problem,” he tossed a hand at the clean-up team. “Safe drive home, and again, thanks, and good work!” Lee nodded, they shook hands, and Lee headed west toward home.

* * * *

Four days later, Lee stood on NIMR’s upper dock watching Chip settle Seaview into her moorings. The morning after he got back from his ‘camping trip’ he dressed in a uniform, gathered up all NIMR paperwork that was still at home, and headed to work at his usual time. With a firm look he defied Angie to say a word. Smart lady that she was, she sent him a broad smile, exchanged Chip’s keys for the ones to Lee’s sportscar, and accepted the paperwork that Lee had finished. She did offer with a grin that she’d put several new reports in his ‘IN’ basket. Lee briefly hung his head but did nod with a quick grin, and spent the intervening days pretty much undisturbed, cleaning up not only his own reports but as many of Chip’s as he could. Angie had also given him several requests for Seaview’s services, and Lee had added feasibility study notes to each before handing them back, for Nelson to either approve and schedule, or decline to accept. He was still using KT tape on the two injured joints, but by that morning was back to almost a full jogging route.

Lee found both Admiral Nelson and Dr. Will Jamison in the Nose as he slipped down the stairs the instant Seaview was against the dock. “Permission to come aboard,” came out in more of a smirk than a properly respectful tone. His smile spread when Nelson grinned and Will shrugged. But when Chip said sharply, “Denied!” it caused Lee to stop dead and glare. Both Nelson and Will bursting out laughing, as well as grins all around the Conn, had Chip finally waggling a hand.

“You didn’t take a very long camping trip,” Will commented. Besides the fact that, once home Lee had gone back to emailing Chip, Lee knew that Angie would have kept Admiral Nelson up-to-date, and Nelson would have told Will.

“Just needed to clear my head,” Lee told him. Nelson sent a look and Lee had a feeling that, sometime over the last few days his full-time boss had had a conversation with his part-time one.

“My office,” Will said firmly, “1000 hours tomorrow morning.” It caused Nelson to once more grin.

Lee rolled his eyes but nodded. “Yes, Jamie,” he acquiesced, but immediately turned his back and walked up to Chip. “Status Reports,” he demanded. Even Chip grinned. A bit inappropriately, perhaps, but it was so expected that no one, even Lee, cared.

Nelson turned to Will. “Everything’s back to normal.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

* See “Feathered Friend” by R. L. Keller

** See “Chloe” by R. L. Keller

*** See “A Turtle’s Tale” by R. L. Keller

**** See “The Flight Before Christmas” by R. L. Keller

+ MRE contents according to Wikipedia – however correct that might be 😊

+ See “Shark Bait” by R. L. Keller