THE CONTROL

An alternative version inspired by ‘Death Watch’

A ‘Voyage’ story by Seaview Siren.

Author’s note: Claire and Lee aren’t married in this story.

The liberty had been boring, nothing to do but wait around at the Institute while some new computers had been fitted aboard the Seaview. A new tracking system, new technology, all devised by a Dr. Jonas Metsor.

Admiral Nelson was keen to test the system out, a test ‘voyage’ to see how it tracked their position and over-rode the old system. It was all very fancy, a new tape system with warnings given out over the submarine’s PA system alerting them at once to any dangers. The new computers would keep Seaview on course and automatically change course if any problems showed up.

Captain Crane remained sceptic. He would much rather run the submarine how it was built to be run, with men using the machines but he welcomed the chance to go along with Nelson, just the two of them on a test mission.

“Oh I’ll bring Claire along, she’s driving Angie crazy at the Institute!” Nelson said of his personal assistant. Miss Young was very efficient, the woman was an absolute gem. Lee nodded. Claire had been aboard a few times now, a pleasant woman and a welcome distraction from routine missions.

Claire waited dockside the next day. This was going to be a novelty, just the three of them aboard. Although it was only going to be for a few days, she was sure she would survive. She laughed and waved to Chief Sharkey who was as usual checking stores, he came over with a grin, “Say Ma’am, won’t you be a little lonely on board with just the Captain and the Admiral?”

Claire gave him a lovely smile and slipped her arm in his, “You mean without you Chief, I won’t know what to do with myself!”

Chief gave her a grin and tousled her hair, “You’ll be ok kiddo!”

Claire nodded and showed her id to the officer of the deck and was escorted aboard. She climbed down the hatch and her case was lowered down to her, just a few essentials she needed. Where were the admiral and captain?

Claire looked around the Control Room. The instrumentation was all lit up ready to go. She immediately recognised the new computer system as it stood out like a sore thumb against the older instruments. There was a big tape reel on top of it, and it was stationary at the moment.

Claire headed aft towards her cabin, a smile on her face. She loved being aboard the Seaview, preferring the cabin to her apartment. Admiral Nelson had joked and told her she was as much as an old sea dog as he was!

While beginning to unpack, she heard a hatch close and guessed Admiral Nelson and Captain Crane had now come aboard. She headed down to the Observation Nose to greet them, but neither were there. She turned around startled as the Sub began to move. Where they?

The large tapes began to rotate. She suddenly felt very panicked, and picked up the mic, “Admiral Sir, where are you?” she asked.

There was no reply.

“Captain Crane? Lee? Where are you both?”

The tape reel was making a noise now like it was running backwards, she could hear it over the PA system. It didn’t sound right to her, she tried to stop it but couldn’t. Then she heard footsteps on the spiral stairs.

She breathed a sigh of relief and ran over.

“Lee, oh Lee, I’m so pleased to see you, I thought I was all alone,”she gasped and threw her arms round him. He immediately struggled against her and roughly pushed her away so much so she almost fell, “Sir?” Claire asked in disbelief. What was wrong with the usual well mannered, charming gentleman?

It was also unusual in that he was wearing a dark sweater and pants instead of a uniform for the mission, plus he had an evil glint in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here, Ms. Young!”

“A- Admiral Nelson wanted me aboard Lee,” she answered, stepping back.

“Well I don’t Ms. Young!” he said, grabbing her arm. “You’re in the way here!”

The noise of the tape came over the PA again and Lee let her go, “Where’s the Admiral?”

“Lee? What’s wrong?”

“I asked where the admiral was!” he bellowed, enraged.

“I haven’t seen Admiral Nelson yet,” Claire told him meekly, and very scared.

“If you see him before me, you tell him I’m going to kill him!”

“Kill the Admiral?” she gasped in horror.

“That’s right,” Lee said, pulling out a gun and heading aft.

***

Admiral Nelson awoke in the lab, he’d come aboard earlier and had come down here to set up and experiment. Apparently he’d fallen asleep.

He was about to leave the lab when the door was thrown open and Claire rushed in, “Admiral?” she cried slamming the door shut and locking it,

“It’s Lee,” she gasped, “There’s something wrong with him; he says he’s going to kill you!”

“It has to be some kind a joke….”

“He's deadly serious Sir...... And he has a gun!”

The tape made a noise and he looked up at the intercom speaker fitted in the bulkhead.

“Sir?”

Admiral Nelson went over to the desk and opened the bottom drawer.

“It’s gone! Where is it?”

“What’s gone?”

“Answer me!” he shouted, grabbing both her arms. “My gun. Where’s my gun?”

“I haven’t seen it Sir!” Claire shouted. “Oh, God, what’s the matter with you both?”

“Where is Crane?”

“I don’t know.”

“I guess you don’t know very much, do you?” he said sarcastically,

“This is a nightmare,” she muttered to herself, then, “Admiral, please, you have to get to the flying sub and get away from here, from Lee. You can’t stay here!”

Admiral Nelson ignored her and left the room, looked around and began to walk towards the engine room.

She tried to stop him but he pushed her to the deck, furious, than continued on his way, leaving her in a crying heap on the deck.

…

Crane was in the Control Room,.checking on all the instrumentation. The Seaview was moving through the water, submerged now, on the course that had been programmed into the new computer system then picked up a mic.

“Admiral, pick up the mic!” he ordered.

There was a pause.

Claire had pulled herself up off the deck, and leaned against the bulkhead, listening.

“I hear you; where are you?”

“The Control Room and I have a gun and I’m gonna’ kill you!”

“Don’t be absurd……what’s happened to you?”

“I’ll find you Admiral, if I have to search the whole ship, I’ll find you and kill you!”

Claire listened, horrified.

Meanwhile Admiral Nelson was trying to think what could’ve happened to Lee. He’d been with him yesterday. But he couldn’t remember anything after they’d attended a meeting.

There was nothing more from the captain, only the eerie noise of the tape running backwards.

Not really knowing what she could do to stop Lee, Claire rushed to the Control Room, but a hard whack to the back of her head made

everything go black.

Lee stood over her with his gun, having knocked her out with the butt, then dragged her across the deck and into a storage locker. He drew out some rope from a drawer and bound her wrists together behind her back. She was slumped against a crate. He gazed at her for a moment and reached out to touch her face, a flicker of regret in his eyes. The warning system interrupted him again, the tape making a racket, and he rooted in the drawers further, frantically and found some masking tape and gagged Claire. Then he left her there.

Admiral Nelson hastily entered the Control Room while the tape played the same jumbled noise. He looked up to the speaker but all he knew was that the sound was significant. He didn’t know why and looked at all the instrumentation as he slowly made his way through the compartment. They were on course; the computer system was working well. He heard a bang from the lower deck and rushed towards the arms locker, but sure enough it was locked. He turned round as Lee walked into the Control Room.

“Lee?” Nelson asked, as he edged backwards towards the flying sub hatch,

“Don’t bother Admiral; it doesn’t work!” Lee scoffed, aiming his gun at the older man.

Nelson edged away, “Don’t be stupid Lee, it’s me! Nelson! Why do you want to kill me……we’re friends, best friends…..whatever they’ve…..”

Lee clicked his gun, “You’re no friend of mine Nelson, I don’t need you!”

“Lee, please, please think about it…..”

The tape played again and both men looked up at the intercom.

“Where’s Claire?” Admiral Nelson suddenly asked.

“I’ve gotten rid of her. It’s just you and me Admiral! Say your prayers, I’m going to kill you now.” Seaview lurched and the bullet missed, Crane falling to the deck.

Nelson dashed up the spiral stairs.

Lee pulled himself up, and followed catching a glimpse of Nelson running down the corridor. This time, Lee’s aim was true and grazed . Nelson’s arm before he rounded the corner and darted into his cabin, locking the door. Knowing Lee could break the lock, he reached up to the ventilation grid, and using the inspection footrest, climbed up and into it, slamming it shut behind him. The vent system was vast with several branches. Ideal for hiding. He moved slowly through the ventilation system, flinching from the pain in his arm.

Lee shot the Admiral’s door open looked around his cabin, throwing his closet door open and slamming it shut then, the head.

“Gotcha!” he muttered as he looked up at the grid. It was the only place Nelson could be, and both had had to use the system on various occasions. Soon, he was crawling through the vents in search of his prey.

Claire wearily came to. She shoved herself up against the crate trying frantically to undo the bounds on her wrist. What if she was already too late to try to stop Lee, if there was any way she could. She struggled and struggled but finally managed to free herself.

Admiral Nelson crawled out of the duct holding his injured arm against him, and stumbled down the corridor.

Lee hadn’t had much luck trying to find Nelson through the labyrinth of vents, until he saw the blood. Soon he saw where Nelson had exited and followed suit, glad of the trail leading him down the corridors.

“You can’t escape me, Nelson,” he hissed into a mic as the tape clattered again. “I know where you are!”

Claire breathed a sigh of relief. Nelson was still alive!

“Lee,” Nelson begged.

“Shut up! I hate you! I........!" Lee began, then listened to the tape

noise again, "It keeps interupting," he murmured then, his voice less of a threat.

“Interrupting,” Nelson mused, “wait…Lee…think! We were friends before we installed it…we have to abort the mission! Lee! Lee! It has to be affecting us somehow! Do you understand? Answer me!”

Lee ignored him and followed the blood droplets to the pressure well compartment. Nelson was waiting and lashed out against Lee with a spanner, causing Lee to drop the gun which Nelson kicked away

Lee grabbed up an oxygen tank and threw it at Nelson, knocking him off balance and into the well. Nelson frantically grabbed the side with his good arm. Lee put his foot on his hand.

“You're dead Admiral!" Lee shouted in a manic voice, "Dead!"

Meanwhile Claire rushed to the Control Room, to the new computer. But the power button didn’t work. It was as if it had a life of its own, especially as the tapes squeeled again. The tapes…she remembered the Dr. saying they were loaded with programming. She pulled at the plastic dust cover like a woman possessed, ripping out the tapes from their spools to land in tangled heaps on the deck.

‘The experiment has been disrupted,” the program’s warning voice said over the PA.

Lee stared at the intercom speaker, then a look of horror came over his face, “A-Admiral!” he cried, removing his foot from Nelson’s hand, crouched down and helped Nelson back up.

“You okay, Lee?” Nelson asked as the two faced each other.

The horrified look on Lee’s face told him that he was very much back to normal.

“Admiral I don’t understand!” Lee gasped, “what the hell was I trying to do?”

“I’m not sure what either of us were thinking. I know we volunteered for a computer controlled boat, but something more must have been loaded onto the tapes. The thing’s stopped now, apparently.”

“Lee?” Claire’s voice come over the PA, “are you okay now? You’re not trying to kill the admiral anymore?”

“He’s fine,” Nelson said into the mic. “I assume we have you to thank for ending our…well…altered states of consciousness.”

“Oh, thank goodness," Claire's voice replied.

“Never mind, we’ll be there in a moment.”

Claire sat down on the Control Room floor and hugged herself, thank god it was all over.

Both men rushed to her, Lee helped her up, she had a bump on her

head he was concerned about and was apologising, Admiral Nelson

needed his arm seeing to also. Lee was mortified that he'd hurt two people he cared a great deal for.

"It wasn't your fault Sir," Claire told him, he drew her into his arms.

***

“But why would Metser add that subliminal experiment to the main one?” Claire said over coffee in the Observation Nose as Seaview headed home. “How could anyone be so cruel?”

“Not cruelty,” Lee said handing Nelson a communique. “We volunteered to play along…an experiment to see if the use of subliminal suggestions could be used as a weapon…our memories of it were erased.”

“What an experiment to agree to?" Claire put in.

“Precautions were taken,” Nelson said, “all firing systems deactivated, and all armament removed, but apparently they missed Lee’s spare handgun, where did you hide it?

“In one of my sneakers…with my undercover gear…guess the recon group didn’t think a sneaker could be harmful and didn’t look any further. And in my own defence, neither of us remembered anything about the mission by then…”

“Well,” Nelson said, leaning back in his chair, “ it just goes to prove a tired old adage. Never volunteer!”

THE END.