Logan

By R. L. Keller

(I have to apologize to Liz Martin. Actually, I’ve already apologized to her, but this is a formal one, to let everyone know that I have, in the past, made a major error. In several of my stories I’ve made mention of ‘Logan Sealab’ without giving Liz credit for being its original creator. So, thank you, Liz for borrowing your creation, and thank you for letting me borrow it again for this story)

(This story presented for the picture challenge “Coffee Break 3”)

As Lee walked into the open area in front of Admiral Nelson’s office a shout loud enough to penetrate the office’s excellent soundproofing stopped him in his tracks. “NO!” Lee glanced at Angie, Nelson’s P.A., who’s desk he’d stopped next to.

“Now might not be the best time to disturb him,” Angie told him.

Lee frowned at the glib comment. “No joke,” he agreed anyway. “Who?”

“Admiral Stark,” she identified who Nelson was talking to.

“I’m out of here,” Lee told her, and turned on his heel to head back to his own office. But he had barely made it in his office door when his intercom spoke.

“Lee,” came in Angie’s almost always calm voice, “the Admiral would like you to come to his office.”

Lee took a deep breath. “On my way,” he told her, and once more reversed course.

“Lucky you,” she smarted with a grin when Lee reappeared.

“Thanks so much,” he smarted right back. They both grimaced. But Lee straightened up, gave his uniform a quick tug and, walking over to the office door, knocked firmly and entered.

Admiral Nelson was standing between his desk and the broad windows behind it that gave him a magnificent view of the Institute he’d built and the ocean beyond, the reason for his passion. Lee assumed that he’d been pacing, working hard on a cigarette as he conversed with ComSubPac, and one of his oldest and best friends, Admiral Jiggs Stark. Now he was stopped, probably by Lee’s entrance. He glared hard at his young captain, but abruptly transferred the glare to the phone on his desk. “I’ll deal with it, Jiggs,” came out harshly. As that admiral started to say something in return, Nelson jabbed the disconnect button. He took a long drag on his cigarette, blew out the smoke with a disgusted growl, and turned his back on Lee to stare out the window. Lee remained silent, standing nearly at Attention after closing the door behind him.

It wasn’t a long wait. “You weren’t far,” came out a good deal softer than Nelson’s previous few words.

“I had actually been bringing you my AAR from the last cruise. When I discovered you were busy I headed back to my office, but barely made it there when Angie called.”

“Have plans for your two weeks off?” Nelson asked, still with his back to Lee.

“A few,” Lee admitted. “But nothing that I can’t cancel.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” was yelled at the window, but Nelson snorted and finally turned around. He gestured toward one of the visitor’s chairs facing his desk, and sat down himself. He did reach for the report Lee held out, but didn’t look at it before tossing it to one side. He momentarily closed his eyes, visibly gaining control of himself, and finally sent Lee a small smile. “Talked to Pete Sinclair recently?”

The non sequitur momentarily stopped Lee from saying anything. Pete was one of the technicians who worked at Logan Sealab. The two had met shortly after Lee came to NIMR, and made a quick connection. They always found a few minutes to visit when Seaview made her regular supply runs and, when schedules permitted, tried to get in some hiking on Pete’s leave times from the underwater research station. “We were busy the last time Pete was on land,” Lee finally told his boss cautiously, curious as to where this conversation was going. “Only had time for a quick phone call. We talked about doing a dive our next visit to the lab. If there’s time,” was quickly added.

Nelson nodded, then abruptly sent Lee a grin. “That didn’t go so well the last time.”*

Lee ducked his head and sent Nelson a shy look. “No, sir,” he said softly, remembering the incident, before a quick grin of his own appeared. “Pete promised no caves this time.” But the smile died when Nelson’s did.

The older man squirmed just a bit in his chair before asking, “When you’ve talked, has Sinclair given you any indication of trouble at the installation?”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean, sir.” Lee told him, now serious.

“I’m not, either,” Nelson admitted. He blew out a large breath and waved a hand at the phone on his desk. “Jiggs,” he grumbled.

“I gathered,” Lee told him, then decided to tease just a bit to relieve the tension suddenly filling the office. “He’s pretty much the only person you yell at loud enough to be heard through the door.”

Nelson glared, then snorted, and finally sent his impudent captain a quick nod. “NSA, or CIA, or ‘someone’,” Nelson waved a hand again, this time into the air, “intercepted a courier purported to be working for the People’s Republic.” He frowned. “Intel, as usual, is being shared reluctantly.”

“And incompletely?” Lee guessed.

Nelson shrugged. “At this point, who knows.” He gave his head a shake. “Apparently the only reason anything got passed to ComSubPac is because they are the only agency who can access Logan Sealab without going through forty-nine different channels.”

“ONI?” Lee questioned.

Nelson shrugged. “If they were involved I’d have heard from Robert directly.” He was referring to the Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Robert Jones, another of Nelson’s old friends, and also Lee’s part-time boss. “And with a good bit more detail than was given Jiggs,” he added firmly. Lee nodded agreement.

“Why Logan?” Lee leaned forward in his chair.

“Because the courier had at least one piece of paper on him with a Logan letterhead.”

“Sir!” Lee started to do a little yelling of his own, but Nelson held up a hand.

“Hence my outburst at Jiggs,” he growled. “We pretty much screen everyone who goes out there.” Lee nodded and sat back, although still not completely. “And who we don’t, Scripps does.” He referenced the research center near Los Angeles. “And on top of that, everyone has to pass a Navy security check before they can be assigned there.”

“But we’ve all dealt with someone who has managed to get through anyway,” Lee admitted, and he and Nelson both nodded grimly.

“Will,” Nelson mentioned NIMR’s CMO, Dr. Will Jamison, “does a lot of the entrance and exit physicals, and monitors psychological tests to make sure – or as sure as possible – that anyone out there is stable.” They both smiled, albeit briefly; it was an ongoing research project for the doctor – how people in tight circumstances maintained their mental equilibrium.

“It can be a pretty stressful place, isolated as it is,” Lee agreed. “What intel was on the paperwork? They really don’t do anything that’s not included in their quarterly reports, and that’s public knowledge.”

“That we know of,” Nelson admitted. “It’s not inconceivable that, if someone got out there under false pretenses, they aren’t up to anything good.”

“But you’d think, with as close as they live together out there, someone would notice something.”

“You’d think,” Nelson told him, but they both were quiet for a bit, thinking that one through.

“What intel was on the paperwork?” Lee finally broke the silence.

“Unclear,” Nelson muttered. “Like everything else about what Jiggs was told.” He sent Lee a glare but Lee didn’t take it personally. “Apparently delicate enough to raise suspicions, but nothing definite enough to point fingers. At least, that’s what he was told.” They were both silent again. “Ideas?” Nelson broke the silence, at the same time Lee asked, “What do you have in mind, sir?” They sent each other a grimaced grin.

After another bit of silence, Nelson reached out, grabbed his phone, punched in an internal extension, and also hit the hands-free button. “Jamison,” came through after the second ring.

“Busy?” Nelson asked the doctor.

“Just trying to decide if I walk to the cafeteria for an early lunch, or walk home and stay there unless I’m needed.” He chuckled softly. “It’s been a quiet morning.”

“Only in your bailiwick,” Nelson grumbled. “Kindly meander this direction, please.”

“Who did what?” came back in what almost matched one of Nelson’s grumpier growls.

Nelson chuckled as Lee frowned. “Ah, I’m in need of your brain, not your medical bag.”

“On my way,” came back in a much lighter tone and the connection was broken.

“You’ve thought of a plan,” Lee told his boss.

Nelson waggled a hand. “A niggling of an idea at best,” he admitted, and the pair sat quietly until Angie announced Will’s arrival.

Nelson’s first question to Will was pretty much a repeat of what he’d asked Lee. Once the Doctor had entered and been gestured to a chair, Nelson sent him a small smile – mostly because of the frown Will was sending Lee. “You and Lu-Tsi have plans for your time off?”

Will turned his attention back to his boss. “Nothing specific,” he admitted, sent another glance at Lee, then focused on Nelson. ‘Something’ was obviously going on and he decided that he’d better not commit to anything until he had further intel.

“We…ah…have an issue. Sort of,” Nelson started. “Can you come up with a reason to spend a few days, maybe up to a week, at Logan Sealab? Lee will be accompanying you; he and Pete Sinclair want to do some diving.”

“Yeah, riiiight,” Will drawled, purposely not quite under his breath. Lee sent him a small glare as Nelson smiled. “I suppose,” Will continued, “that I could come up with some psychological testing, over and above what I do for the usual pre- and post- tours.” He paused and frowned. “There was an article published a couple months ago that I’d love to refute.” That got a chuckle from Nelson. Will may profess to be merely an Internist-Emergency Medicine specialist with an interest in the psychology of small group interactions. But Nelson knew that his personal interests were far more eclectic and diverse. Will turned to Lee. “Bodyguard?”

“If I have to,” Lee admitted. “All may not be as it seems at the sea lab.”

“Ah.” Will nodded and returned his attention to Nelson. “When do we leave?”

“Ask Lee,” Nelson half-smirked. “He’s piloting FS1.”

“Does the lab know we’re coming?” Lee wanted to know.

“Not until you notify Mr. Sinclair,” Nelson confirmed.

“Humm,” Lee pondered. “0800 hours tomorrow morning?” he asked Will

“Meet you on board Seaview,” Will agreed. He sent both men a nod and headed back to his office.

“I’ll walk over to Communications and let Pete know he’s being invaded. Doc needs research data and I’m flying him out, which gives Pete and I a chance to hang out.”

“Sounds good,” Nelson agreed. “A little unusual, but nothing that should set off alarms if there is something weird going on. You might ask if there’s any supplies they need before our next regular visit, as long as you’re going out.”

“Good idea,” Lee agreed, and stood up. “And I’ll stop by the Armory while I’m out. My backpack is going to be extra heavy, just in case.” They both nodded and Lee started to leave to get everything set up. But he stopped abruptly at the door. “Chip?” he asked Nelson.

“He’s headed for his folks’ place?”

“Yes, sir. Scheduled to leave tomorrow once he gets his reports in order.” He grimaced. “What he doesn’t know won’t get me a thirty minute lecture,” came out in a half-growl.

Nelson chuckled. “With him, you’re on your own.”

“Thanks. Sir,” wasn’t quite an afterthought, and earned him another chuckle from his boss. “Guess I’ll tell him that Jamie wants to do some research and, since I didn’t have anything special planned, I offered to take him out to Logan so that I could spend the time diving with Pete.”

“Enough truth to not set off your conscientious XO’s sonar,” Nelson nodded.

“It will, anyway,” Lee muttered, earning a quick nod, “but just maybe, since Jamie’s involved, he’ll let it pass.” At that Nelson snorted; both Lee and Chip tried to stay on their CMO’s good side. He nodded, and Lee left.

* * * *

Lee was running at least a dozen scenarios through his mind the next morning, going over all of the previous day’s conversations and hoping that he’d packed enough to cover all contingencies, when Will came down the spiral stairs into Seaview’s Conn carrying a small duffle bag and his laptop computer bag. Lee automatically reached for both, and smiled sheepishly when Will pulled back. “I’m not incapable of handling my own bags,” he grumbled, but also almost instantly smiled, very used to Lee automatically trying to take charge of everything around him. “Are we ready?” he asked.

Lee nodded. “My stuff is stowed on the top of the bunk. There’s several boxes of supplies asked for, since we’re going out.” He paused. “I didn’t get the feeling during the couple of calls back and forth that anyone is bothered we’re showing up.” Will pointed an eyebrow at him. “You do your thing,” Lee told him, “but do keep eyes and ears open, and tell me – and only me – if you notice anything weird.”

“Define weird,” Will ordered, but with a grin, and Lee nodded with a quick grin of his own.

“Hopefully this is all just a wild goose chase. If not…” He shrugged.

“We don’t give anything away,” Will finished Lee’s sentence.

“Exactly!” They both nodded and headed down into Seaview’s bright yellow offspring, the Flying sub.

Will saw Lee cringe ever so slightly when it was Chip’s voice who called down to see if Lee was ready to launch. Before Lee could open the mic he asked, “Your XO not happy about something?” his voice full of innocence.

Lee sent him the glare he was expecting, but nodded. “He knows he’s not being told the whole truth,” Lee admitted.

“Am I?”

Lee shrugged. “As much as Admiral Nelson knows. Mostly,” he said with another shrug. “There’s a couple pieces I’ll fill you in on before we get there.”

“Thank you,” Will told him honestly. He was perfectly aware of how cautious Lee was about divulging any intel concerning any mission the least bit ‘undercover’, as it were. But once they were away, and headed for the sea lab, he did get the feeling that Lee was telling him as much as he knew. And, apparently, less than he’d told Chip, which caused a quick smile that he immediately covered.

Not immediately enough, apparently. “Yeah,” Lee muttered. “Chip knows something is going on, and not happy that he’s not being included.”

“Is he still headed to his parents’ farm as planned?”

“I have no idea,” came out in a growl and Will dropped that topic, choosing to kibitz about whatever came to mind as the pair travelled to the undersea laboratory.

* * * *

Their arrival didn’t outwardly cause any problems. The lab’s cook was grateful for the fresh fruits and vegetables that made up most of the requested supplies. Both Lee and Will were familiar with the lab’s staff and were warmly welcomed, assigned quarters in a small, shared, cabin in the lab’s equally small guest section, and allowed to settle in. Lee immediately joined Pete, head of the station’s operational technicians, earning a laugh from Will as he chatted with a couple of the scientists. “Lee’s happiest with his hands in the machinery,” Will told the others, and they headed one direction as Lee and Pete headed another.

They met up again at dinnertime. As on Seaview, staff ate in shifts, but Will got the feeling that Lee made sure he was on the same time schedule as Will although nothing but a quick shrug passed between them about why they were really there. So far, no one who Will had interacted with all afternoon had given off anything but neutral vibes as far as he could tell. On the other hand, if there was something going on Lee figured that it would more likely be during the lab’s night shift, when less people were actually on duty. Will had frowned, knowing that that meant Lee was most likely to be active during those hours, not getting even the small amount of sleep the man seemed to thrive on. But as there was nothing much that he could do about it, other than plan some of his own ‘research’ during those hours, he let it go. He’d keep as close a watch as he could on Lee, checking to make sure the man ate and slept as much as possible. But Lee on a mission wasn’t someone you dared challenge without a really good reason. Will would need to be careful!

At this early stage, Lee seemed fine. He and Pete had apparently spent the day servicing several pieces of equipment and both were perfectly calm, pleased with how much work they’d accomplished which would allow Pete to take off several hours the next day so the pair could dive. Will carefully controlled his expression when Pete brought up the fact that, since they had access to FS1, they could perhaps go further afield than just right around the lab. A couple of the scientists had also brought up that fact to Will as he’d wandered around that afternoon, but Will could put them off with a quick, “You’ll have to take that up with Cdr. Crane. I don’t know what orders he has from Admiral Nelson concerning FS1’s usage while we’re here.” To Pete, Lee merely shrugged with a “We’ll see. There’s lots that I’d love to see right here. One reason Admiral Nelson wanted the sea lab in this location.” The conversation at mealtime mostly centered on ongoing research that the lab was doing.

Afterward, Will took his laptop to the small lounge area where there were broad windows reminiscent of Seaview’s front windows, and made out of the same material. Personnel wandered in and out over the next several hours he was there, sometimes stopping to chat with him as he expounded on his own ‘research’, and sometimes just poking a nose in briefly before headed elsewhere.

Two people bothered Will. Well, three if he included Lee who walked in, looked around, frowned at Will, and walked back out to Will’s broad smile. One was a technician, Matt something-or-other, newly assigned to Logan and not overly friendly. That kind of person often preferred the solitude of the sea lab. Now Will decided that he needed to specifically – albeit carefully – make a point to interview the man.

The other was Dr. Piper Westfall, a marine biologist studying plankton bloom. Will assumed that she’d arrived on a Navy vessel as he couldn’t remember doing her pre-posting interview. She was gushing with enthusiasm – almost too much so, as far as Will was concerned. Normally he’d have thought nothing of it. But now, with current concerns, Will found her almost non-stop chatter to be a good cover, lulling those around her into starting to ignore her.

“Matt Boulder,” Lee said instantly when Will mentioned him about an hour later. Lee had again wandered in and this time stayed, Will assumed, because they were the only two in the lounge at that point. Both men still spoke as quietly as possible. “He’d come to mind, actually, because we didn’t bring him.” Will nodded. “I did ask Pete, in a roundabout way, about him, just because he’s so standoffish.” Again Will nodded, but Lee shrugged. “Pete said that he does his work competently, doesn’t complain, doesn’t make waves, and Pete wishes he had more on his team like him.” Will grinned at that, and Lee did as well.

Lee frowned when Will mentioned Dr. Westfall. “The woman never shuts up,” he grumbled.

“My point exactly,” Will told him. “She talks so much people quickly tune her out.”

“Oh,” Lee admitted after a moment. “Hadn’t thought of that.”

“That’s got to be a first,” Will teased him, and Lee sent him the anticipated glare.

They were interrupted as Dr. Arthur Allen, Logan’s Director of Research, walked in. “Gentlemen,” he greeted them and sat down, looked around to make sure no one else was around and asked quietly, “Now, perhaps one of you will tell me what this visit is all about?”

“Exactly what it seems,” Will stepped in before Lee could say anything. “I wanted some additional data for an article I’m writing, and we usually don’t stay long enough on our regular supply runs for me to get what I need. Seaview is home for a couple weeks and since Lee wanted to spend some time diving with Pete Sinclair, he agreed to bring me out.” Will got the feeling that Dr. Allen didn’t want to believe him, but couldn’t figure out how to argue the point without seeming to be an idiot.

“Happy to have the company,” Allen finally settled on. “Markus,” he mentioned the lab’s cook, “sure was happy to see the fresh supplies. We had a little problem with one of the storage units last week…”

“Pete mentioned that,” Lee broke in. “He still has no idea what went wrong.”

Allen nodded. “It was strange,” he agreed. “We weren’t expecting anything until next month. While frustrating, it wasn’t serious enough to call in an emergency.”

“It’s working out for everyone,” Will told him with a big grin.

“So it would seem,” Allen told him, although there was still a bit of hesitation in his tone.

“We’ll try not to interrupt normal work flow,” Lee told him. “Pete and I will plan our dives during his off hours.”

“And I’ll do what interviews I need whenever I won’t be hindering anyone,” Will added.

Allen nodded. “Everyone has been advised to give you what time you need,” he told Will, then smiled. “They’re used to your questions.”

“At least somebody is,” Lee muttered not quite under his breath. Will burst out laughing, realizing Lee’s double meaning. He knew the comment was meant to distract Dr. Allen from further inquiry. But it was also meant as a private slur to Will’s constantly keeping watch over how Lee did, or didn’t, take care of himself. “At least you only get him once in a while,” Lee continued to Dr. Allen.

“Down, Skipper,” Will decided to tease back. But he sent a quick nod, acknowledging the bit of subterfuge for Dr. Allen’s sake.

“Familiarity breeds contempt?” Allen asked innocently. Lee waggled his hand as Will snickered, and Allen sent them both a grin. He’d been at Logan long enough to be fairly familiar with Seaview’s officers and their interactions with each other. “Well,” he stood up, “enjoy your visit.”

“We plan to,” Lee told him, now smiling. Allen smiled back and left. Once he was out of sight, Lee pointed an eyebrow at Will.

“Not a chance.” Will answered the obvious question. “His security clearance is probably higher than yours, to be assigned as Director out here.”

Lee nodded. “But he is suspicious of us being here, making me wonder if he’s noticed anything, or anyone, not what they seem.”

“Do we dare ask?”

Lee shook his head. “At least, not right now. Perhaps later, if we get more of an idea about what, if anything, is going on.”

“Agreed.” Will glanced at Lee seriously. “Are you going to get any sleep tonight?” He got the instant glare that he was expecting for that crack, but Lee almost instantly sent him a nod and they both headed for the small visitor’s quarters.

* * * *

Will didn’t see much of Lee the next day. Lee left early with Pete to go for a dive, then spent the afternoon once more with his nose in Logan’s machinery. Will spent the day wandering around the different units, kibitzing with the on-duty personnel about their individual areas of study. Every so often he’d intersperse a question or two that everyone knew was meant for the Doctor to be able to conduct his own bit of research. But he was casual enough, and pleasant enough, to keep everyone relaxed. Will was, actually, enjoying the bit of research, making notes between interviews to be able to write his own paper at a later date. But, also keeping in mind Lee’s reason for being here.

So far no one was standing out, with the exception of the two people he’d already mentioned to Lee. He was easily able to spend time with Dr. Westfall. In fact, his biggest difficulty came in getting away from her! He’d entered her unit shortly before lunchtime and ended up having the meal with her, learning everything that he didn’t particularly care to know about her work at the lab and all the exciting – to her – things she was able to do here that she couldn’t so easily do in a land-based facility. Will was put in mind of Admiral Nelson when he got a bit carried away with whatever research he was in the middle of, and carefully controlled the smile that thought threatened to put on his face. Instead, he concentrated on nodding at the appropriate places and occasionally asking a pertinent question – when he could figure out what that would be.

He was finally able to extricate himself from her when she went back to her unit, and it wasn’t until then that Will realized he’d learned way too much about plankton and absolutely nothing about Piper Westfall. “Interesting,” he muttered softly to himself, and then nearly jumped out of his skin as Lee suddenly appeared at his elbow.

“What is?” Lee asked.

“The way you can sneak up on people,” Will grumbled, looking around and realizing that Lee and Pete were just coming for their noon meal. Both younger men snickered. “I’m going to assume that you had a good dive this morning.”

“Wonderful,” Lee told him.

“You should come with us.” Pete told him, then got a confused look on his face as Lee broke out laughing and Will frowned.

“Jamie doesn’t like to be underwater without Seaview – or Logan,” he added with a hand waved at their location, “around him,” Lee got out around continued chuckles.

“Oh, yeah,” Pete nodded. “I forgot. Your son was lost in a diving accident.”

“That’s not why,” Will told him honestly. “Just…” He shrugged off any further explanation.

“Whatever,” Lee continued to send him quick grins. Will sent them both a nod and headed out to whatever unit was farthest from Dr. Westfall’s; he’d had quite enough of her for the immediate future.

But she stayed on his mind as he visited with several others over the afternoon. Once or twice he managed to bring her up in conversation about life at the sea lab and got the impression that no one else knew much about her personal life, either. She’d apparently made such a habit of constantly talking about her research that people tried to not get her talking about anything, and that included herself. Will found that extremely interesting, but had to be careful not to show any particular interest in her.

He was, actually, enjoying himself; more so if he hadn’t known why he and Lee were there but he was still finding the experience amazing. Yes, he served on a submarine. But Seaview was so large, so open compared to other subs, that it was easy to forget sometimes. Here, where space was limited, he was able to gather data that wasn’t so obvious on his entry and exit interviews. Most of the people stationed there he’d met, if only briefly, as Seaview rotated personnel, so he found visiting with everyone mostly pleasant. A few weren’t exactly pleased at his interruptions but Dr. Allen had made it clear to all that they were to cooperate. And Will was as careful as possible to not be disruptive, or be any more intrusive than he needed to be to get the information he wanted.

He tightened his imaginary belt and tackled Dr. Westfall again at dinner, thinking now that she was at least semi-off duty she might be more open with personal details. When she started in over Caesar salad and pork loin once more talking about her plankton research he quietly stopped her with a faked shy, “Please, not over dinner,” comment, and tried to ask a few questions about how she found life at the sea lab, what she did on her off hours, and her times ashore. But she brushed him off and started asking her own questions, about serving on Seaview and at NIMR. When Will promptly brushed her questions off with a “I’m here to learn more about life at Logan,” she abruptly decided that she wanted to sit at a different table. Will had to bury a grin when it didn’t appear that her new tablemates were at all thrilled with her intrusion into their own conversations. But Dr. Allen sat down in her place and, after exchanging pleasantries plus a few questions to Logan’s Director on general matters, Will asked quietly about several specific personnel, careful to not weigh heavy on anyone in particular.

When he finally got around to Piper Westfall he again had to control his expression as a brief frown crossed Dr. Allen’s face. “Enthusiastic,” the Director finally decided on.

“She doesn’t seem to gel well with the other staff,” Will offered carefully.

It took Allen a few moments to answer, filling the time with a couple bites of his dinner, and Will didn’t interrupt. “We’re all pretty laid back down here,” he started. “We need to be, as tight as we live.” Will nodded. “She…” he hesitated again, “likes to talk.”

“I’ve noticed,” Will admitted. “But only about her research, it seems.”

Allen nodded. “And everyone down here is working on projects of their own.” He frowned again. “Sometimes we like to talk to others, share our ideas, our successes, surprises, the occasional failure.” Will nodded. “But she only talks about her plankton.” He made the word sound almost nasty. “Mind you, it’s important work.”

“And a necessary part of ocean ecology and survival,” Will told him honestly.

Allen nodded. “But there’s only so much you can say about it, or hear about it, before…” He sent Will a frown.

“Totally understandable,” Will told him. “We’ve occasionally had scientists aboard Seaview…” His turn to frown. “Thankfully they usually aren’t aboard for any great length of time.” Allen nodded. “I wanted to get a few personal impressions from her about life down here,” Will continued with a shrug. “Sort of why I’m here.”

“Let me guess, she cut you off.” Allen told him. Quietly, as she was still only two tables away. Will nodded. “She does it every time,” Allen admitted. “Even her personnel file is short on detail. Oh,” he looked at Will, “her security clearances are all in order.”

“Would have to be before she would be brought out here,” Will told him. “But I don’t remember Seaview bringing her. We must have, but perhaps it was one of the cruises I wasn’t on.” He smiled. “There have been a few, mostly when I’ve been in San Diego doing Continuing Education courses. When did she come?” he asked casually. “Perhaps I could take a quick peek at her file?”

“Not a problem. She came on Seaview’s last regular trip.”

Will nodded. “Missed that one. My wife and I were back East visiting family. Normally we’d plan that for in-port times but one of my nephews was graduating high school. With honors,” he added proudly. “Admiral Nelson allowed the absence, especially as my nephew has been accepted at Annapolis.”

“Congratulations,” Allen sent him a quick wink, which Will translated to mean that the boy’s connections to NIMR and Admiral Nelson no doubt contributed to his getting admitted to the Naval Academy.

“It was a total surprise when he announced that he’d been accepted,” Will told Allen. “Not even his parents realized that he’d applied.”

“Oh,” Allen was taken off guard by that explanation, or so it seemed to Will. “Anyway, back to Dr. Westfall. I do seem to remember something about Seaview having a substitute doctor aboard, now that you mentioned it.”

Will grinned. “Let me guess. Complaints from Cdr. Crane?”

Allen grinned back. “Actually, I believe it was Admiral Nelson.”

“Help,” Will muttered softly, causing Allen to smile broadly. “I’ll have to ask my corpsmen when I get back. I can’t believe they haven’t already said something.” He frowned slightly. “They are usually very quick to complain if something weird happens when I’m not around.” Both men nodded, but ended up grinning as they kibitzed about a few strange things that happened both on Seaview and at Logan. The station didn’t have an actual medical doctor stationed there, but between all of the Ph.D.’s and first-aid-trained technicians, they usually handled anything except major injuries which, thankfully, were rare. On those occasions they did the best they could until either FS1 or Seaview, or some other submersible, could reach them.

Will kept expecting Lee to show up for the meal, probably with Pete Sinclair, but neither made an appearance before he and Dr. Allen headed to the Director’s small combined office/quarters so that Will could check Dr. Westfall’s personnel file. Allen warned him again that it was skimpy, but Will was nearly made speechless by its lack of detail. “How did she get her security clearance?” he asked after a quick scan of the two pages.

Allen shrugged. “Obviously she had it or Seaview would have never brought her out here.” One page held name, education, and a brief description of her area of interest, and the other held what she intended to accomplish during her stay at Logan.

All Will could do was shake his head. He’d really like to call NIMR and have her thoroughly checked out but didn’t dare, and was extremely unhappy that he hadn’t been aboard to do her pre-posting interview. There’s no way this skimpy a background file would have gotten past him, and he’d have insisted on an in-depth interview before she’d been allowed to transfer from Seaview to Logan. He wondered out loud who she knew in what high place to have been allowed to come with such an incomplete file.

“Actually,” Dr. Allen admitted, “I sort of assumed that it was Admiral Nelson.”

Will pondered that for a couple seconds. “I don’t think so,” he told Logan’s Director. “But I suppose it’s possible. Or,” he added as he looked at Allen, “one of his close friends called in a favor.”

They both gave a quick nod at that idea, although Allen added a quick, “Must have been a really good friend,” and they nodded again. “On the other hand,” he added, “other than the non-stop talking, she is actually doing some cutting edge, badly needed, research. Her findings so far are quite extraordinary.”

“How long is she scheduled to be here?” Will wanted to know.

Allen shrugged again. “As you know, we try to accommodate as much research time as people need. And have grant money to support,” he added.

Will flipped through the two pages once more. “Doesn’t really say where her money is coming from.”

“No,” Allen admitted. “Again, I sort of assumed NIMR because she handed me a rather substantial check, on her personal account, and it cleared the bank without a whisper. Would you like to call and double-check?”

“No, no,” Will quickly assured him. “My personal curiosity doesn’t warrant the intrusion on her private life.” He sent Allen what he hoped was a casual smile. Apparently it worked, as that man quickly smiled back.

Will would have liked to see Matt Boulder’s file while he was in Dr. Allen’s office but didn’t have a sufficient reason to ask. Then, as it happened, Lee was actually able to fill in those blanks. He finally wandered into their small quarters just before 2200 hours. Once Will filled him in on Dr. Westfall, Lee filled him in on the quiet technician.

“Pete and I ended up having dinner with him and a couple others,” Lee sat down on the edge of his bunk, across from where Will was sitting on his. “Seaview didn’t bring him in; he’s regular Navy doing a stint here, so the Lechner brought him almost four months ago. He has a small speech impediment, not enough to disqualify him for service but enough to not like talking much. But he’s an amazing mechanic. I told him that if he ever gets tired of the Navy, come see me at NIMR.” Lee’s voice held honest admiration for the man. “As for Dr. Westfall, I don’t really remember her being on Seaview. I figured that a Navy sub brought her; perhaps the Lechner when they brought Matt.”

“Nope,” and Will related Dr. Allen’s recollections about Seaview’s visit.

“That trip,” Lee practically growled. “Now I remember. The Admiral was on a rampage the whole time, something about some big powwow in DC that Admiral Stark ‘mandated’ he attend…” Lee glanced at Will. “Chip and I got to Logan and back in record time just to stay out of his face as much as possible.” He shuddered as Will sent him a nod of understanding. “But I’m with you; I don’t see the Admiral agreeing to take her out with so little intel.”

“I’m guessing that there’s always someone on duty in the Radio Shack?” Will asked.

Lee nodded, before a slow smile spread across his face. “Doesn’t mean that I can’t volunteer to man the station – give whoever’s on Duty a quick break.”

“Yeah, but what happens when NIMR wants to call back?”

“They have me paged because I’ve told NIMR to say that it’s private Institute business.”

“I don’t suppose that you’ve come up with any other possibly sketchy personnel?” Lee wagged a hand. “Me, neither,” Will admitted.

“It actually makes sense that it would be someone who totally didn’t stand out,” Lee told him.

Will didn’t like the concerned frown that was taking over Lee’s face. “You mean,” he teased, “that your ‘Spidey Sense’ hasn’t kicked in about anyone?” It had his intended result – Lee’s frown turned into a glare.

But it almost instantly switched to a smile. “You’re the one with the psychology degree,” he told Will. The Doctor said something rude and they both ended up smiling.

“What now?” Will finally asked.

Lee shrugged. “You continue with your interviews. Ah, I assume that you haven’t gotten enough material for your article yet.”

“I could study the personnel for several more days easily.”

“Good.” He lowered his voice even more than the quiet tones they’d been using. “I trust Pete so I let him in on why we’re here.” He sent Will one of his sheepish grins. “He wasn’t buying what we were trying to sell,” he admitted, and Will nodded. He’d met Sinclair on several occasions. “He’s got it in for a couple of the current scientists aboard but it’s mostly personal. He swears they break things just so he’ll have to come fix them.”

“Female scientists?” Will asked. Pete was not an unattractive man.

Lee grinned. “One of each sex,” but he had to cut off a snort. “He suspects both for the same reason.”

“Oops.”

“Yeah. He says there’s been nothing overt from Dr. Stanley Dean, but…” He shrugged again. “He has more personal contact with everyone aboard so I couldn’t see not telling him what we suspect. Well,” he admitted, “what little we’ve been told.”

They were both silent, and Will started getting ready for bed. “Enjoying your diving?” he asked Lee as he came out of the cabin’s very small head. Having spent most of his time in other pursuits, he actually wasn’t sure how much time Lee had spent in the water.

Lee grinned. “All good,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Have to keep up the appearance of why I came along.” Will grinned and laid down, but wasn’t at all surprised when Lee quietly left a few minutes later.

* * * *

Nor was he at all surprised that Lee wasn’t in the cabin when he awoke, and figured that Lee had spent the entire night ‘on the prowl’, as it were. He dressed, grabbed coffee and a bite of breakfast, and prepared to spend the day talking to as many of the remaining scientists and technicians on Logan as would allow him to bother them.

Lee had a decidedly different agenda. After his conversation with Jamie the previous evening he conspired with Pete to get Dr. Allen out of his office, and used the subterfuge to quickly scan through all of the station’s personnel files. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, merely hoping that he’d spot any irregularities. Like Jamie, he was perplexed by the lack of details in Dr. Westfall’s file. He scanned Matt Boulder’s file but had already pretty much eliminated him from his list of possible suspects.

Unfortunately, no one else seemed to have anything the least bit suspicious in their background checks; no unusual visits to sketchy countries and no outstanding money trouble habits, such as gambling, were noted. He grinned as he was able to confirm Pete’s suspicions about Dr. Dean as his sexual preference was clearly noted. But it had obviously not caused any issues so far so Lee assumed that there was no reason for Dr. Allen to have made the fact public.

The one thing Lee did find interesting was, there was no file for Dr. Allen. Lee couldn’t imagine the man having been made Director without an overly thorough security clearance, but it was a bit of a puzzle not to find his file with the rest of the personnel. Lee quickly scanned a couple of other drawers, but he didn’t know how long Pete could keep Dr. Allen busy and for sure didn’t want to get caught snooping where he didn’t have any right to be. As it was, he’d barely left the small cabin/office when he ran into the Director headed back there. Allen raised an eyebrow, Lee made a quick excuse about being restless, and doing a ‘walkastation’ instead of his usual ‘walkaboat’ on Seaview.

“I’ve heard stories,” Dr. Allen admitted with a quick grin at the explanation.

“Probably complaints from Jamie, ah, Dr. Jamison,” Lee mumbled softly. Allen chuckled and they went their separate ways.

Lee headed to find Pete. “All’s well?” Lee’s friend asked, looking around to make sure no one overheard their quiet conversation. “I kept him as long as possible, but…” He shrugged.

“Got out just in time,” Lee told him.

“Any luck?”

“Not really,” Lee admitted. “No obvious red flags. I was a little curious to not find a file on Dr. Allen.”

“Probably buried in a bottom drawer somewhere.” Lee sent him a pointed eyebrow at Pete’s tone of voice, and Pete sent him a quick nod. “Got nothing against the guy,” he told Lee. “A little condescending at times, thinks us technicians aren’t on a par with the researchers and Ph.D.’s aboard.” He shrugged. “Every so often we like to remind him that, without us, he and the others wouldn’t last twenty-four hours down here on their own.” Both men chuckled.

“He’s been here a while if I remember correctly,” Lee added.

Pete nodded. “Just over two years. Stays six to eight weeks, takes a couple weeks off, then another six to eight weeks.”

“Obviously not always with Seaview,” Lee noted. They normally made supply runs about every three months.

Again Pete nodded. “One of his buddies runs one of those ‘Atlantis’ tours in Hawaii. Since the submersible can get down this deep, Dr. Allen mostly comes and goes that way.” He grinned. “Apparently the guy can charge a big price for a trip down to Logan Sealab when he transports Dr. Allen since it takes all day instead of the usual couple hours.”

“The passengers visit the lab?” There was a combination of puzzlement and concern in Lee’s voice. He’d never heard about this.

“No way,” Pete told him instantly. “Admiral Blankenship and his staff at Pearl,” he referenced Logan’s ultimate supervisory board, along with NIMR, “would have a cow!”

“Does Admiral Blankenship even know this is happening?” Lee questioned. “I don’t think Admiral Nelson does. At least,” he admitted, “he’s never mentioned it. And, with this current issue…” He didn’t finish the thought.

“Now that I’ve mentioned it, it does make you wonder,” Pete admitted.

“No one comes or goes except Dr. Allen,” Lee needed clarification.

“Nope,” Pete confirmed. “And either I or one of my team is always on duty to make sure the connection is secure before the exchange can happen,” he added. Lee’s turn to nod. “Anything else?” Pete asked. “I need to crash if we’re going diving in the morning.” Lee grinned and waved him off; he’d kept his friend up way too long as it was.

Lee grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down on the window seat in the lounge, stretching his long legs out on the seat as he was the only one there, then pushing the mostly still full mug to the other end of the bench as he pondered this new bit of intel. He had seen the touristy ‘Atlantis’ submersibles, both in Hawaii and in the Caribbean Islands, and found them rather stupid considering where he worked. The people, usually about twenty-four to thirty depending on the size of the vessel, sat back to back, facing out, on long benches in the center, looking out the multitude of small portholes on each side, with sometimes a clear plate underneath their feet to see directly under the vehicle. They didn’t travel all that fast, but would have no trouble reaching the 95 foot depth it would take to attach to Logan’s airlock. Lee could easily understand the extra expense for tourists for the extra long ride. He was pretty sure that those must be either hearty souls, or perhaps former submariners getting an extra thrill at being finally able to see what they’d been traveling through all those years.

Lee was almost certain no one, and especially Admirals Blankenship and Nelson, knew anything about these ‘special’ trips, and couldn’t believe that it had even been kept quiet. Of course, no one but Logan personnel knew, and apparently as they moved in and out, hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. Pete sure hadn’t said anything at his and Lee’s occasional visits. But then, who would say much; it was the station Director who was doing it and any normal person would assume that he had permission. But it was still upsettingly strange!

Lee’s ponderings were interrupted by a small pod of Bottle-nosed dolphins appearing outside the lounge window. One in particular seemed to want to snuggle up to Lee, and got a bit frustrated when it couldn’t get past the clear partition. Lee smiled and placed his open hand on the window, and nosing as close to it as he or she could seemed to calm the creature. She, Lee told only himself, even though he was still alone, since it was a standing joke aboard Seaview that Lee seemed to attract females of every species he encountered.

He was still smiling at that thought, watching the dolphin watching him, when there was a quick “Oh,” behind him, and he discovered Dr. Westfall standing in the doorway. “Didn’t mean to disturb you,” she apologized.

“You weren’t,” Lee told her. “Merely communing with nature,” he gestured toward his finny friend. He didn’t move his legs; after Jamie’s encounters with the woman he wasn’t overly anxious to let her get that close and comfortable. And there were other places if she wanted to sit.

Apparently she did, and chose a chair by the window closer to Lee’s feet where they could both watch the view. “Amazing creatures,” the scientist finally said, as Lee remained quiet.

“Drs. Michael and Alexis Travers ** at NIMR do a lot of work studying them,” Lee said off-hand, trying not to encourage the woman if she wanted to start a long dissertation on the creatures. “I’ve had some amazing experiences on dives with them.”

“I’ve read some of their work,” she admitted. “Wanted to learn some of what the Nelson Institute was involved in before I applied to come to Logan.”

“A little bit of everything involving the world’s oceans, and what lives in them,” Lee told her honestly.

“So I gathered.”

As she seemed to be visiting quietly, without the frenzied gushing of everything not related to herself that Jamie had mentioned, he risked a hopefully casual question. “Why Logan?” But he didn’t really look at her, preferring to once more rest a hand on the window. As hoped, his new ‘friend’ proved an enthusiastic distraction.

“It seemed the perfect place to continue my research,” she also seemed content to keep the conversation casual, thankfully, intent as well on watching the dolphin try to solve the puzzle of the invisible barrier. Several others remained close, but didn’t come up to the window. “I…” she started, then went silent. Lee sent a quick glance her way but immediately went back to focusing on the dolphin. He figured that his lack of challenging the silence helped her finally continue. “My mother is Admiral Blankenship’s sister,” she finally said, so quietly that it barely made it the short distance between them. “We keep it quiet; didn’t want him accused of nepotism for allowing me to come without a whole lot of red tape.”

That explains a lot, Lee told himself. Out loud all he said was, “Understandable.”

“I, ah…” she once more hesitated. “I wondered if Dr. Allen finally got wind; maybe that’s why Dr. Jamison was here, asking all the questions.”

Lee couldn’t stop the grin that hit his face. “Nope,” he told her. “Jamie is here for precisely the reason he stated.” It was the total truth. He merely didn’t explain his own reason for coming.

“Oh,” was her only answer. Neither said anything for a bit. “I hope that you won’t rat me out to Dr. Allen,” came even more softly than what she’d been speaking.

“No reason,” he said before turning his head toward her, “unless you’re a threat to national security,” he added in a half-serious, half-teasing, tone.

“Plankton is no threat to take over the world,” she announced, obviously annoyed at the idea.

“You’d be surprised,” Lee muttered, thinking back on a few of Seaview’s whackier cruises. He didn’t elaborate and they were both silent again. But he decided that as long as she was talking fairly normally, he’d try a few questions from Jamie that she kept avoiding. “How do you like being here?” he asked, once more looking out the windows and trying to stay casual.

She was silent for so long Lee wasn’t expecting an answer. Finally, “Interesting,” and he sent her a quick glance as he continued to interact with the inquisitive dolphin. “Not sure what I was expecting, actually,” she admitted.

“Stuck on the bottom of the ocean, surrounded by water, isolated with a bunch of like-minded scientists.” Lee kept his tone light.

“That, for sure,” she readily agreed. But…” Her voice trailed off and Lee didn’t interrupt. “I expected everyone here to concentrate on their own research. Oh, some collaboration was expected. Even necessary in some cases.” Lee wanted to tell her that if she’d be more friendly, stop talking about her own research and show some interest in what others were doing, she might make some friends. But again he remained silent. “I didn’t expect the secrecy; almost everyone guarding their research like someone was going to steal it.”

Lee worked very hard to show absolutely no interest in her last sentence. Oh, he knew that researchers guarded their work, at least until it was published. But given the intel Admiral Nelson was given – such as it was – Dr. Westfall’s observations could hold a completely different meaning. Lee wondered how he could get her to elaborate without actually asking. “Perhaps just them being careful of their data until they can get it published,” he said off-hand.

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “Except a couple of them barely admit that they’re studying anything. Ah, not what I mean. I know that they are doing ‘something’ in their area of the labs. I just don’t have any idea of what.”

“I have all I can do to keep up with Admiral Nelson,” Lee told her, sounding bored. “I try my best to keep a distance, if possible, from other scientists and researchers aboard. Well,” he admitted, “beyond what they need Seaview and her crew to do.”

“You don’t care about all the important work being done?” came out an indignant accusation.

“It’s not that I don’t care,” he told her, looking directly at her as he defended himself. “But my focus has to be on the boat and her crew, keeping everything under control so that they can do their research.”

“Sorry,” she backed off. Lee waved a hand of dismissal and went back to ‘playing’ with his dolphin-friend.

When she didn’t say anything more, but also didn’t make any attempt to leave, Lee tried again. “Didn’t Admiral Blankenship tell you what types of studies were being done down here before you came?” Because he kept his eyes on the dolphin, he only caught her shrug because of the slight reflection in the window.

“He gave me a general overview,” she finally told him. “Mostly to let me know that there wasn’t anyone else working in my area of study here at this time.” She snorted softly, and Lee finally sent her a quick glance. “He wanted me to stay at the university,” came out in a grumble. “It would have taken me two years there to get the kinds of data I’ve managed in just a few months here.”

“How long do you think you’ll stay here?” Lee asked. It seemed an innocent enough question, under the circumstances.

Again, he caught the slight shrug in the reflection. “I’d saved enough money for six months, maybe eight if I’m really careful. I need to be very sure of my data before I publish, and hopefully that will put enough in the kitty to either let me continue, or perhaps get a job teaching.” She sighed. “I’d prefer to continue to do research but I have to be realistic.”

“Have you thought about applying to NIMR? It’s possible Admiral Nelson would be very interested in your work. If so you could probably continue to come out here from time to time.”

“Oh,” Lee heard a breathy response. “I actually hadn’t given that a thought; too far out of my league.”

Lee sent her a genuine smile. “You’d be surprised,” he told her honestly, then had to bury a frown. He could tell by her dreamy expression that he’d completely sidetracked her from what he really wanted her to talk about: which of the other personnel aboard Logan were apparently hiding what they were doing. And he had no idea of how to get her back on track without causing any suspicions on her part. Rats, he chastised himself.

“Guess I’d better get some sleep,” she finally said, and stood up. “I have several experiments coming to a head tomorrow; it’s going to be a long day.” She paused. “You?”

“Pete and I are going diving in the morning. Tomorrow is his day off, barring anything major.” He sent her a quick grin. “Why I came,” he added. “Partially to bring Jamie out, but mostly to relax.”

“I thought that I heard someone call Dr. Jamison Will,” she questioned.

“Yep, that’s his first name. Chip, Seaview’s XO, and I mostly call him Jamie. Well,” he sent her a look he figured, by her frown, that she totally didn’t understand, nor was he about to explain, “that’s at least the one thing we call him that can be repeated in polite company.” He sent her a grin, which she sent back, but hesitantly, and his increased. He still didn’t explain, and she eventually turned and left.

By this time Lee’s coffee, he knew, would be completely cold so he went back to ignoring it. The dolphin had wandered off, finally, but it and friends were still within sight so he pretended to watch as he thought back on his conversation with Dr. Westfall. Her explanation of why she didn’t talk about herself, turning others off from asking questions by her non-stop chatter, made sense given her undercover relationship to Admiral Blankenship. He was a little puzzled how she’d been able to hide that from Dr. Allen but from her reaction, apparently she had.

He had to admit that he’d never paid much attention to the interpersonal dynamics of the station. His and Chip’s jobs were merely to make sure that requested supplies were loaded and delivered on a regular…well, and he smiled to himself, semi-regular schedule. Like all of Seaview’s cruises, ‘stuff’ had a tendency to occasionally screw up timetables. But they did the best they could. Admiral Nelson mostly dealt with who was being transferred in or out. Chip would have the list, which Lee signed off on after a casual glance. When he and Pete got together pretty much the last thing they talked about was work!

Despite Dr. Westfall’s comments, and Dr. Allen’s assurances to Jamie, Lee found it a bit incredulous that she was here basically incognito, as it were. Yes, her credentials were genuine. But if security had gotten so lax as to allow her here without serious inquiries, then who knew what was actually going on at the sea lab. His dolphin friend came close again with an almost puzzled look on ‘her’ face, but Lee could only shrug. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice when all the dolphins disappeared.

* * * *

He had absolutely no sense of time passing as his brain worked overtime to untangle the web of puzzles this mission had created, so was totally amazed when something bumped his shoulder and he turned and found Pete giving him a curious look. “Please tell me you didn’t spend the night there,” Pete fussed. “We’re supposed to go diving after breakfast.”

“I’m fine,” came automatically from a suddenly sheepish Lee. “Perfectly rested,” he assured his friend.

“Yeah, riiight,” Pete drawled. But he grinned broadly; he knew Lee well enough to be aware of how little actual sleep the man seemed to thrive on. He glanced around but the lounge was quiet. “Any luck?”

“Not from an expected place,” Lee told him. “Had a little visit with Dr. Westfall.” Both of Pete’s eyebrows went up, and Lee grinned. “Admiral Blankenship secured her spot here. She’s his niece. She’s tried to keep her distance so she didn’t have to talk about her personal life and thought Jamie’s questions were meant to expose her; that somebody found out. She’s almost paranoid about Dr. Allen finding out.”

Pete started nodding about halfway through Lee’s reasoning. “That explains a lot,” he admitted. “Have you told Jamison?”

Lee’s sheepish look came back. “Haven’t seen him yet.”

Pete grinned more broadly and picked up Lee’s forgotten coffee mug. “Looks like you could use a fresh cup,” he teased, and the pair headed for the small Wardroom.

Will wandered in just as they were finishing a light breakfast. Since others were present Lee couldn’t completely explain, but did let the Doctor know that Dr. Westfall could probably be deleted from the list of suspects. “Bummer,” was all Will said, but got nods from the other two since now they really didn’t have any additional likely suspects. “How long are you two going to be outside?” Will asked casually and received the quick glare that he was expecting – and wanted, actually. He was perfectly aware that his captain hadn’t slept at all.

“As long as we want,” Lee muttered.

“Well, as long as our tanks last,” Pete added. Lee shrugged and Will chuckled.

“How are your interviews going?” Lee asked, more as a cover since now they were talking loud enough for others to hear.

“Well,” Will told him. “Another couple days? I’m trying to be careful not to interfere with everyone’s work schedule so it’s taking a bit longer than I had expected.”

Lee nudged Pete’s shoulder with his own. “More time to play,” he said with a grin.

“Works for me,” Pete agreed.

“Finish your breakfast,” Will grumbled.

“Yes, sir,” Lee told him softly, but nearly couldn’t get it out around an almost giggle and quickly stuffed what was left of his light meal into his mouth. It was an old joke between the two, that Lee would ‘sir’ a lesser-ranked officer, and drew some curious looks from others in the room. Everyone was familiar with Lee’s rank, but apparently not so much with Jamie’s. And since both had worn only civvies this trip there were so insignias to help. Lee ignored the glances, finished his meal, and he and Pete left. Will merely looked smug as he got what he wanted and settled back at the now empty table.

He was joined shortly by Dr. Allen. After a pleasant greeting, Allen asked softly, “I could have sworn that you were a Lieutenant Commander. But Crane ‘sired’ you?”

Will merely grinned, said nothing, and went back to eating. It wasn’t until later that he realized his mistake by not giving the man a complete explanation; not differentiating between Lee’s use of their private little joke and Will’s actual rank. He and Dr. Allen visited casually over the meal, and were nearly done when Will asked what would be a good time for him to interview the Director. Will was surprised, but tried to cover it well, when Allen stiffened at the quiet question. “I wasn’t aware that I was part of your survey, Doctor,” came out formally.

Will did his best to remain relaxed. “Everyone here,” he told Allen. “That includes the station Director.”

Allen remained stiff and put down his fork. “Not today,” came out harshly, especially compared to the casual way he’d been treating Will up until that point. “And I’m not sure about tomorrow. I have some reports that need serious concentration.”

“No problem,” Will assured him, still calmly but alert now to the sudden difference in how Allen was acting. “Admiral Nelson didn’t set any hard and fast time limits on the Skipper’s and my stay. I’m actually quite enjoying the visit and I know that Lee is as well.” He saw Allen frown at that comment and start to open his mouth but then close it tight, drain his coffee, and leave the rest of his meal untouched as he abruptly stood and left. Interesting, Will thought as he finished his meal. Very interesting. He could be fairly sure that it was the mention of Admiral Nelson that had stopped whatever outburst Allen had been ready to spurt out. While NIMR wasn’t the actual authority over the sea lab, everyone knew that they served here with Nelson’s permission. He did wonder if that meant Nelson knew about whatever Lee had discovered about Dr. Westfall that took her off of the suspect list. But Allen’s reaction to a mere interview took Will totally by surprise. And, while he would occasionally tease Admiral Nelson about not liking puzzles, Will was nearly as bad; especially when it concerned illness or behavior. He needed to solve this puzzle for his own satisfaction!

But he had to be careful. The wrong question to the wrong person could totally screw everything up. So, as he conducted that morning’s interviews, one with a scientist working toward his Ph.D. in Microbiology and one of Pete’s crew of technicians maintaining the facility, he added a question about that person’s interactions with Dr. Allen. The tech first said that he didn’t really have any; that he worked mostly nights and rarely saw Allen. But Will detected a slight ‘something’ and waited an extra moment before changing to a different question, and the tech finally admitted that the Director mostly ignored the techs as much as possible unless he needed them for something specific, and then usually grumbled because it took them so long to respond. The tech said that mostly he and the others tried to let Pete deal with Dr. Allen as he seemed able to handle the Director’s lack of respect better than anyone else.

The Ph.D. candidate was a bit more cautious than the tech had been, but still indicated that Dr. Allen considered himself far above everyone else on the evolutionary tree and didn’t overly socialize with anyone. He added that everyone else usually did some of their best work when Dr. Allen was on shore. At Will’s raised eyebrows the man gave him a quick description of what Pete had told Lee. Will would have liked to ask a dozen questions, to fill in the man’s hesitant and way too brief explanation, but didn’t dare. What he did do was plan to tackle Lee at lunch – somehow – and make sure Lee knew about this development.

But just as he was wrapping up that interview Dr. Allen suddenly appeared. Will wondered if he’d heard any part of the scientist’s comments as he was a bit blustery as he told Will that he suddenly had time for Will’s questions, but it had to be right now.

“Not a problem,” Will assured him. “If I need anything more from Mr. Hartley I know where to find him.” He sent the man a quick grin and followed Allen back to the Director’s office.

“I’ve noticed that you don’t carry a notebook,” Allen said as he closed the door behind them and indicated where he wanted Will to sit. Not that there were a lot of options in the small office, but Will found the polite gesture interesting after his earlier bluntness. “Do you carry a mini-recorder in your pocket?”

“Good memory,” Will told him. “I write a few notes when I get back to the cabin. Just crib notes, and shorthand I’ve developed over the years, but they are enough to remind me what I want to remember.” Allen hadn’t sat down at his desk, instead continuing to stand almost behind Will, so Will started to turn in his direction.

The attack came so suddenly, and so unexpectedly, that Will was caught completely flat-footed. He had a vague sight of Allen reaching into his lab coat pocket for something but didn’t actually see what came out, and was totally unprepared to ward off the needle plunged hard and fast into his neck. Whatever was in it acted quickly and Will felt himself collapsing even further into the chair before all consciousness left.

* * * *

Lee and Pete were nearly back to the sea lab’s diving hatch when there was an urgent call to return; that Dr. Jamison had been interviewing Dr. Allen but had suddenly collapsed. Lee tried not to panic, but both he and Pete suspected a traitor aboard and with a nod acknowledged that Will had become a victim. Lee could only hope that his lack of attention, his thoughts that the dives would take away any sense of suspicion toward whoever was the guilty party, hadn’t just cost him one of his very best friends.

Neither wasted much time getting out of their gear; one of Pete’s team assured them that he’d take care of putting things away. The men quickly dressed and headed for the small cabin assigned to Will and Lee, where they were told Will had been taken.

“What happened?” Lee demanded, entering and finding Will laid on his bunk, being attended to by one of the Ph.D.’s aboard who Lee knew from previous conversations also had a partial medical degree and could act as corpsman for Logan during his time stationed there.

“He just collapsed,” Dr. Allen, also present and standing between the two bunks told him. “We were talking and he just bent over. I think that he’s had a severe stroke.”

“Not so fast,” Dr. Rimer half-glared at Allen before turning to look at Lee. “While I agree that’s a possibility, there are a few inconsistencies…”

“You’d better load him on FS1 and take him back to the Nelson Institute as fast as you can,” Allen ordered, drowning out Dr. Rimer.

Lee ignored him and continued to look at the other Doctor, sitting next to Will on the edge of the bunk. “I’d like to make sure he’s stable before we try to move him. Perhaps I could talk to one of the doctors at NIMR?”

“Of course,” Lee told him, ignoring Allen’s glare. “How is he?”

“He needs more care than we can give here,” Allen ordered, then looked at Dr. Rimer. “Prepare to transfer him to FS1.”

“Belay that,” came in Lee’s ‘I am the Captain’ voice, one he rarely had to use on Seaview, and apparently hadn’t been heard by Logan staff as even Dr. Allen took a step back. “Dr. Rimer?” he asked again, back in his normal speaking voice. Actually, if they’d known him better they’d have recognized the worried tone he was trying desperately to cover.

“He actually seems to be resting comfortably. Blood pressure and pulse are steady, he’s breathing easily. There’s no fever and his autonomic responses to stimuli seems to be, while just a little slow, fairly normal.” He glanced at Allen but continued to talk to Lee. “That’s mostly why I don’t think it’s a stroke; his responses are equal on both sides. If I didn’t know better…”

“That’s why I said massive stroke,” Allen all but yelled. “Both sides of his brain have been affected so responses will be equal.”

Lee had had about all he could take from Dr. Allen. He sent the man his best Command glare and a firm “Shut up,” before turning back to Dr. Rimer. “You were saying?”

“That my first thought is that he’s been drugged.”

“Have you tested that theory? You must have that ability down here.”

“Dr. Allen wouldn’t let me,” came back softly, and they all watched Lee’s expression turn even harder than it already was.

“Isn’t it interesting that the one person present when Jamie went down won’t let you do what you’re trained to do,” came out almost softly, and even Pete nearly stopped breathing as Lee advanced on Dr. Allen. “Please do whatever you think necessary, Dr. Rimer, and then feel free to contact NIMR directly. Someone there will connect you to Med Bay. Dr.” and he managed to make the title sound derogatory, “Allen and I are going to have a little chat.”

“You have no authority here,” Allen blustered, puffing up and standing tall.

Lee smiled. Pete had seen that particular smile before, and cringed. “Right now, Dr. Allen, I have a hell of a lot more authority than you can imagine. Pete?”

“Right here.”

“Got some place you can secure Dr. Allen?”

“I’m going to my office,” the man in question blustered and tried to walk past Lee.

Lee had him in an arm lock, plastered against the bulkhead, before anyone else could even suck in a breath. “Pete?” Lee once more asked.

“I think Jordi and I,” and Lee turned to find several members of Pete’s team standing quietly just outside the cabin door, “can manage to entertain Dr. Allen for however long you need.”

Lee gave Allen’s arm an extra jerk before handing him off. “Behave yourself,” he warned the Doctor. “And if Jamie turns out to be okay I might let you live.” Whatever Allen tried to say, it was cut off in a scream as Pete took over Lee’s arm lock and the crewman, Jordi, jammed a fist into Allen’s side as he grabbed the other arm.

“Been wanting to do that for months,” Jordi told Pete, and the pair dragged Allen off to wherever they figured would do the job. Lee turned back to Dr. Rimer, who was already pulling a syringe and vial out of his medical supply bag.

Lee took a couple of deep breaths and laid a hand gently on Jamie’s shoulder as he looked again at Dr. Rimer. “Whatever happened, he seems to be resting comfortably,” the man told Lee. “You do what you need to do. I’ve got your friend.”

“Thanks,” was all Lee could manage. He gave the shoulder a light squeeze, nodded to Dr. Rimer, and headed for Dr. Allen’s office.

This time he didn’t care how long he took to search; he trusted Pete to give him all the time he needed. And he hit paydirt within three minutes, finding a used syringe in Allen’s wastebasket. He carefully wrapped it in tissue and continued his search.

Half an hour later, when he was paged to the Radio Room, he had amassed an interesting collection of documents and graphs. He couldn’t totally understand much of it, but easily decided that it had very little to do with marine biological studies. He collected his haul, locked Dr. Allen’s office door behind him, and made his way to the lab’s Communications area by way of his cabin. Getting a quick thumbs up from Dr. Rimer, he sent the man a grateful nod and took the first decent breath he’d taken in nearly an hour.

“Cdr. Crane,” he answered formally since the woman on duty merely handed the headset to Lee as fast as she could when he approached. But he wasn’t at all surprised to hear Admiral Nelson at the other end.

“What the blazes happened?” Nelson demanded.

“I got careless, sir,” Lee admitted. “A few things were starting to make sense, well…not really, but…” He was cut off by a loud ‘Harrumph’. Nelson didn’t appreciate long explanations. “I went diving with Pete this morning, not expecting any trouble so fast.” He sighed. “And I think I almost got Jamie killed.”

“The word I got was drugged.” Nelson’s voice had softened considerably.

“Luck,” Lee muttered. “Pure and simple.”

There was a soft chuckle at the other end. “Give the two of you more ammunition to fire at each other,” was Nelson’s assessment.

“I’ll happily lose that round, sir, as long as he’s still able to shoot.” That got even more chuckles from his boss.

“Chip decided to delay his trip to see his parents, and he’s scrambling a short crew; we’ll be there as quickly as possible. Admiral Blankenship has been advised and is flabbergasted, to say the least.”

“I think a lot of people will be,” Lee admitted. “Whatever Dr. Allen has been up to, he’s apparently been at it for some time. You’ll have to sort through what I found; I can’t make heads or tails out of it.”

That got a snort from Nelson; he had little doubt that Lee understood much more than he was admitting. But that was Lee – self-effacing as always. “Obviously Dr. Allen is secured,” he requested confirmation.

“Pete’s people have apparently been storing up resentments for some time. Not sure exactly what shape Chief Hauck,” he mentioned Seaview’s MAA, “will find him in by the time you arrive.”

“Works for me,” Nelson growled, but his voice softened ever so slightly as he added, “With Chip’s foot on the gas pedal, I’m guessing just under twenty hours.” He got the quick chuckle he’d wanted from his obviously upset captain and they broke the connection.

* * * *

Lee was sitting quietly on his bunk, keeping watch over Jamie now that Dr. Rimer had confirmed that he’d been drugged, and had identified the substance as something they used at the lab for stunning fish they wanted to examine. Jamie wouldn’t be happy when he woke up but there should be no lasting effects. At his first wiggle Lee moved to the edge of the other bunk and laid a hand lightly on Jamie’s chest. “Easy, Jamie,” he tried to reassure the older man as he became more and more restless and aware. “You’re going to be fine.”

“Says who?” Will growled, still not totally sure why he felt like his head was split in half with his brains hanging out. But he recognized Lee’s voice, and tried to get his mangled brain to make sense. When it finally started to cooperate he stiffened and glared at Lee. “Dr. Allen…”

“Is in custody for drugging you,” Lee told him, his hand keeping Jamie flat on the bunk. “Among other things,” came out in a growl. “Seaview’s on the way. Admiral Nelson says with Chip driving, at least half a dozen speed limits will go up in smoke.” As Lee had planned, Jamie relaxed with a soft snort.”

“How long?” Will did ask.

“From when I got the call that you’d supposedly collapsed, about fourteen hours,” Lee told him, then sent Will his little boy, sheepish, look. “I’m so sorry, Jamie. I wasn’t expecting trouble. He could just as easily have used poison…” He paused and took a deep breath. “I nearly got you killed,” came out barely loud enough for Will to hear.

Will was aware enough to understand how upset Lee was. It would have been easy to merely reassure Lee, but Will knew the younger man far too well for that to work. Instead he frowned. “Not a chance,” he grumbled. “One, I’m too stubborn; and two, who else would put up with you.” He sent Lee the best glare he could muster under the circumstances. It had Will’s desired effect; Lee grinned. It was still his shy one but Will could easily accept that over the previous expression. He glanced at his watch but his still malfunctioning brain wouldn’t allow him to see what time it was.

“About 0100 hours,” Lee supplied.

“And you’re still up because…” came the next question, Will purposely using his demanding tone.

“Giving Dr. Rimer a break. It was he who first suspected that you’d not had a massive stroke, as Dr. Allen kept trying to convince us all that that’s what had happened. Allen wanted me, well, demanded, that we load you on FS1 and get you back to NIMR.”

“And by the time you’d figured out the mistake he’d have had time to clear out anything incriminating.”

Lee nodded. “We think so,” Lee agreed. “There wasn’t a lot here; he obviously moved everything ashore as fast as he could,” and he went on to explain what Pete had told him about Allen’s trips to Hawaii aboard the private ‘Atlantis’. At Will’s upraised eyebrow Lee added that, after more intel was passed back and forth, Admiral Blankenship was doing some serious looking into Allen’s friend. Both men were silent for a bit.

But Will saw another sad, nervous, expression cross Lee’s face. “Obviously I’d make a lousy ONI agent,” he told the brunet, referring to Lee’s part-time job as an agent for the Office of Naval Intelligence. “Can’t even ask a few simple questions without screwing up the investigation.”

Lee knew exactly what Jamie was doing. The two friends, for that’s what they were despite the sniping that permeated a lot of their conversations, had butted heads for far too long not to understand each man’s tactics at dealing with the other. So he gave Jamie the smile the Doctor wanted, gave him another small pat on the chest, and laid down on his own bunk. Both understood that Lee wouldn’t totally relax until Seaview arrived and Will was back on his feet. But both took a deep breath and closed their eyes accepting that, while things had gotten a little out of hand, it was another successful completion to Seaview’s all too often slightly crazy missions.

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

(Mention of Lu-Tsi Jamison used with permission of her creator, Cris Smithson)

* See “So You Want To Be An XO” by R. L. Keller

** See “Shimmer” by R. L. Keller