Trap

By R. L. Keller

(Once again, Thank You, Pauline, for one of your Contrives, to jumpstart my brain into motion 😊)

Lt. Ted Sines, who, except for his family was rarely called anything other than Sparks, was barely controlling a smile. He wasn’t alone; most of the duty crew this hour in Seaview’s Control Room were having the same problem. As focused as they all were on their own instruments, they were still keeping half an ear pointed toward their two senior officers. Cdr. Lee Crane and Lt. Cdr. Chip Morton were softly harassing each other as they stood at the chart table discussing the dive they had both gone out on that morning. Normally they both wouldn’t have been off boat at the same time, although Seaview’s Second Officer, Lt. Chris James, was very capable of handling the giant submarine, especially as they were at the moment sitting quietly between the island of Rhodes and the Turkish coast. But ‘something’ had happened at breakfast that morning, and before Admiral Nelson left in FS1 for a meeting he was attending in Athens he had ordered both younger men out on the dive to collect soil and water samples from the area while he was gone. As he normally did, Sparks monitored the dive channel while the men were out. Casually only as he also monitored his own equipment, since he knew that COB Sharkey, as Dive Master, was carefully keeping track of the divers, so he missed what first triggered the bit of silly that had happened between the two long-time friends, and spilled over to the other two divers out as watchdogs for their officers. So he was, as were the others within hearing, enjoying the pair needle each other, always a welcome sound that all too often was serious and deadly aboard Seaview.

A few moments later Sparks was again having to squelch a grin, but for an entirely different reason. An incoming call had interrupted his eavesdropping. As quietly as he’d answered it, he knew that his voice held a different tone than it normally would have when he recognized who the call was from. So he wasn’t at all surprised that, when he turned toward the center of the Conn, both CO and XO were turned in his direction, their previous conversation obviously put on hold as they caught the different tone in his voice. Nothing gets past those two, Sparks told only himself. “Skipper,” came out barely louder than he’d been talking, knowing how sound carried in the Conn, “Admiral Nelson on the horn for you.” As Lee took a step in his direction he quickly added, “He suggests you take the call in his office.”

Lee nodded. “Two minutes,” he told Sparks, shared a quick look with Chip, and headed up the spiral stairs to Officers’ Country. Sparks waited the requisite time and transferred the call. The instant Lee answered, Sparks cut off his headset. With Nelson wanting Lee to take the call in private, that was Sparks’ signal to not listen in. He knew that his CO would share what he could, if he could. That’s how it worked here on Seaview.

With Sparks’ careful tones still in his head, when the light on Nelson’s phone indicated the call had been transferred, Lee answered in kind. “Sir?” came out in his own respectful tone. His answer was a soft snort, as if Nelson knew exactly how his incoming call had been received. Nothing gets past that man, instantly went through Lee’s mind.

“There needs to be two of me,” came back, half growl.

But Lee still heard the bit of humor in his boss’ voice so before he could stop it, “The rest of us would never survive. Sir,” was a definite afterthought.

Thankfully, Nelson chuckled and Lee slowly and quietly let out the breath he’d suddenly been holding. “You’re probably right,” Nelson agreed with another soft chuckle.

“What can I do for you, sir?” Lee guessed, his voice back to its normal respectful tone.

Nothing gets past Lee, Nelson unwittingly, and also silently, mimicked his captain’s earlier thoughts and he chuckled again. “I’ve been trying to set up a meeting with Professor Hakan Simsek, with the Institute of Marine Sciences. His area of expertise is coastal Mediterranean waters.”

“Sounds like you two would have a lot to talk about,” Lee observed softly.

“Yes. Unfortunately, we’re also kept busy, and our schedules are such that we keep missing each other.” Lee stayed quiet and Nelson chuckled again. “No, Lee, I’m not asking you to discuss the several topics we have in common.”

“Thank you, sir,” Lee breathed out. While he was required to keep up somewhat with current topics, it was mostly just reading reports and paying attention to his boss’ occasional rants.

“But I do need you to meet with him,” Nelson continued. “I’ve just learned that he will be in Alanya, Antalya District, for two days. For some reason he needs to get ‘something’,” he emphasized that word, “to me, and it has to be hand-delivered.” Nelson growled softly. “I can’t leave here right now, and unfortunately I also don’t have the time to get FS1 back to you.”

“I knew that it was a mistake not assigning a co-pilot,” Lee grumbled softly, but still audible.

“Yes, Lee.” The pair had quietly argued that point before Nelson left, and he’d assured his captain that a co-pilot wouldn’t be necessary. Now he sighed. “I’m afraid that you’ll have to take Seaview near to there and take a zodiac in.”

“Understood, sir,” came out not quite reluctantly, but Nelson still caught it.

“I’m at something of a loss as to why Professor Simsek is so determined that I meet him as soon as possible. I tried to explain that I couldn’t get there tomorrow but he wouldn’t listen and broke the connection. Well,” he hesitated, “it actually wasn’t him, exactly. It was his assistant.”

“May I ask how you were contacted, sir?” Lee heard the nod in Nelson’s voice at the answer.

“Wondered about that myself, although we haven’t actually made a secret of this cruise.”

“True, sir.”

“Anyway, the call went to the Institute and was forwarded to my cell.”

“That actually makes sense,” Lee admitted, mostly to himself.

“But also why, when the assistant disconnected after all but demanding the meeting, I was unable to argue the point. I’m afraid that you get stuck with the aftermath.”

Lee almost smiled, and he knew that it came through his voice. “Won’t be the first time, sir.”

Nelson snorted. “And I’d be an idiot to guarantee that it will be the last.” Lee’s turn to snort, and they both chuckled.

“I’ll do my best ‘Admiral Nelson’s Assistant’ impersonation. Since you dealt with an assistant, Professor Simsek shouldn’t complain too loudly.”

“Well said,” Nelson agreed. He gave Lee the information about where the meeting was to take place and they both disconnected.

Lee was letting the whole conversation run through his mind as he came back down the stairs and joined Chip at the chart table. “Wasn’t as bad as we thought,” he answered Chip’s frown and raised eyebrow. “Well,” Lee amended, “at least nothing we haven’t had to deal with before. Ah, I haven’t had to deal with,” was added in a small groan. Chip’s other eyebrow went up and Lee finally smiled. “The chart for the Eastern Turkey area?” Once the proper chart was retrieved from beneath the table top, Lee spent a couple minutes studying the area. “I have to meet a Professor Simsek in Alanya.” He pointed to the town, not all that far from Turkey’s border with Syria.

“Why there?” Chip asked.

“Because that’s where the Admiral has been directed to meet him,” Lee answered matter-of-factly, then he shrugged. “Long story. Suffice it to say that, with the Admiral already buried in his other meetings, we’ll head there overnight and I’ll be dropped off in the morning via zodiac. I’ll take my cell phone, and give a shout when I’m ready to be picked up. You shouldn’t have any trouble sitting offshore for a few hours.” He suddenly grinned. “Thankfully the weather should stay calm.” Chip sent him a quick glare; the blond all too easily got an upset stomach in rough seas.

But Chip went back to studying the chart. “Looks fairly shallow around the city.” Lee nodded his agreement. “Might it be better to move west after we drop you off? It’s deeper there if we have to submerge for some reason. Plus, we’ll be more out of the way of harbor traffic.”

“Excellent plan,” Lee agreed.

So it was that the following morning, with Seaview getting her share of curious looks as she sat as close as she could get to Alanya’s harbor, Antalya District, Turkey, COB Sharkey piloted one of her zodiacs ashore as Lee sat quietly in the bow observing everything around him. He half expected someone from Professor Simsek’s party to meet him, with all the attention Seaview was getting. But other than more curious stares, Lee’s arrival on the dock where Sharkey left him went unchallenged. Sharkey gave Lee a look, Lee shrugged, Sharkey sent him half a salute and made his way back to Seaview. Lee returned the semi-salute with one of his own, as well as a quick smile and nod, and headed toward what looked like the center of town to find the hotel where he was supposed to meet the professor. Well, where Admiral Nelson is, Lee thought to himself.

He was surprised to find it fairly close to the harbor and seeming to be a tad rundown, looking more like a place for fishermen and dock workers to crash than a place for a professional meeting. But perhaps this guy is on a tight budget, Lee decided, and entered and walked up to the check-in desk. Keeping his fingers mentally crossed that the man behind the counter spoke English, Lee told the man that he was supposed to meet Professor Simsek here. The man looked at him blandly, looked Lee’s uniform up and down, and reached under the counter for an envelope that he handed to Lee. It was addressed to Admiral Nelson. “Please tell me this wasn’t all for nothing,” Lee muttered to himself as he placed the briefcase he’d brought, in preparation for handling whatever reports Prof. Simsek needed to send back with him, on the floor and used his finger to slice open the sealed envelope. And promptly gave himself a paper cut, thankfully minor, but something else to grumble about, albeit silently, as he read the note inside. Or tried to. The handwriting was atrocious, as if it had been done in a hurry by someone unused to writing in English. He basically talked to himself as he worked his way through what was written and at one point caught the raised eyebrow of the other man as he tried to sound out a strange word. Lee looked up and repeated what he’d muttered to himself a little louder. The other man frowned, said ‘something’ which Lee took to be the actual pronunciation, and pointed out the door and toward the west.

“How far?” Lee asked, translating the man’s arm movements to mean that he was being directed to go to another location. Unfortunately, all he got back were more gestures. He pointed to the word he had apparently pronounced badly and only got the same gestures, so Lee picked up his briefcase, went back out to the street, and walked west looking at what signs he could see for something – anything – that resembled the strange word.

He hadn’t gone more than what at home would be about two city blocks when a car pulled to the curb ahead of him, a man got out of the front door and opened the back door. “Admiral Nelson,” came out in so heavy an accent that Lee almost didn’t recognize it.

“No, I’m…” was all that he could get out before the man pointed and all but shouted, “In.” Once more Lee tried to explain that he wasn’t Nelson, but it became very evident very fast that the man didn’t understand English, and tried to guide Lee into the back seat by grabbing his arm.

Lee shrugged off the grip but with a nod got in. Since I’m taking the Admiral’s place, this is obviously my ‘taxi’ to the meeting. He settled into the seat as the door was slammed shut, the man jumped back into the front seat and the driver, who hadn’t even turned to look at him, took off so fast that Lee would have been slammed back if he hadn’t already somewhat braced himself, anticipating the motion merely from the way that he’d been somewhat abducted. As the car continued to travel west, the thought went through Lee’s mind that, once his meeting was over, perhaps there would be a place out this direction for Sharkey to pick him up without Chip having to move back toward the town.

But the longer the drive went on, the stronger Lee’s sense of something being wrong became. He couldn’t pinpoint a reason until he once more tried to question the two men in the front seat and the one who had all but shoved him in the car brandished a gun and growled what sounded like “shut up,” although the accent was so heavy it could have been anything. Lee quietly settled back in the seat.

But he also started plotting. Whatever was going on, it for sure wasn’t what he, or rather the Admiral, had been led to believe. He’d been sitting sort of in the center of the back seat and now casually moved more behind the driver. The other man almost grinned, albeit without humor. Lee figured that the guy thought he was moving a bit away from the gun, although it had once more disappeared. Lee had a totally different tactic in mind, and waited patiently for the small road they were travelling to give him the opportunity he needed.

He'd stayed so compliant – well, that was the image he was projecting – that when he did act it caught both other men totally by surprise. As the car slowed somewhat for a sharp turn, Lee quickly raised his legs and jammed his feet into the back of the driver’s seat, at the same time grabbing the door handle next to him and, as the car nearly went out of control, jumped out. It wasn’t the most opportune moment – the surrounding hills were mostly jagged rock and scrub brush, and didn’t lend itself to comfortable hiking. Nor was Lee dressed properly, in his khaki uniform, jacket, and normal shoes. He didn’t bother to grab the briefcase; it was empty. He’d have liked to grab his cover, which he’d removed when he’d gotten in the car. But his ‘attack’ on the driver’s seat, coupled with the sharp turn in the road, sent the car dangerously out of control and Lee literally had to make a jump for his life. He didn’t wait around to see what happened to the two men, but the resulting sounds of metal hitting rocks wasn’t so bad that he thought the men had probably survived. Hopefully they were dazed enough to allow Lee to get away, and to that end he moved as rapidly as he could in the direction of where he knew the coastline to be.

Too rapidly through a small rocky pass between even larger rocky crags. His shoes, perfect for the sub, slipped on some loose stones and sent him nearly face first into a large boulder. He managed to turn enough that the rock caught his side more than his chest. He did hear a crunch, and said a few words most of his crew never heard as he realized that the phone in that side pocket of his trousers was now so much mangled mechanics. On top of that, it was close enough to noon that the sun overhead, coupled with the expenditure of energy plus anxiety and no water, was causing him to overheat. He knew that he needed to take a break but he had no idea if he was being followed. He’d heard nothing, but could have easily missed something in his own hurry to escape. He did remove his jacket, stripping it of any identifying markers which he stuffed in his pants pocket along with the mangled phone, and buried the jacket under a layer of rocks before continuing his journey towards the coast. He tried to remember if the cover he’d grabbed that morning from the couple he kept on the boat had his name inside. If it did he could still be in trouble, but it was too late to do anything about that now.

Not having the slightest idea of where he actually was or how far away he was from the coast, and what type of ground he’d have to traverse to get there, he tried to take the next part of the journey a little slower, a little more cautiously than his earlier mad dash to get away. He tried to listen carefully to the sounds around him, and scan the higher terrain for anyone looking for him. Or anyone, really, he admitted to himself. At this point, whatever he’d ended up in the middle of, he didn’t trust anyone. Logic told him that it had apparently been an attempt to kidnap Admiral Nelson. Wouldn’t be the first time, Lee growled to himself. Who, or why, he didn’t bother to ponder. There were far too many possibilities!

He didn’t think that the road the car had taken out of town carried him all that far from the coast. But as each hill was topped, or small canyon reached its end, there was more dry, rocky countryside in front of him. He knew that he was travelling in the right direction, even if he had to occasionally work sideways through a rocky area. But the sun told him which direction he was heading, and he even got a glimpse of water at the top of one particularly high mound of rocks he climbed specifically to see if he could get his bearings, and also spot any movement from anyone following him.

Unfortunately, what it did do was give someone a look at him. A shot rang out, missing him by several feet, and from the sound it was taken from a long distance. But it forced Lee to scurry off the rock faster than he had intended. Once more his foot slipped and this time he fell head first down to a short ledge, landing in a heap. Several rocks followed him down, one landing on his left ankle. Lee wasn’t sure how he managed to keep from screaming out as rock met bone, and bone lost the argument. As the instant pain started to subside, Lee was able to slightly wiggle toes inside the shoe so he knew that the ankle wasn’t broken. But it also wasn’t in any great shape to aid further travel. Tough, Lee told himself, and looked around to figure out his next bit of the journey.

It wasn’t going to be easy or fast. But he had to move, now that he knew that he was for sure being followed. Using boulders to help him stand as much as to partially hide behind, he headed for a cut through the area of higher cliffs that seemed to head in the direction he needed to go. He wasn’t sure what he would do once he got to the water’s edge. Without his phone he had no way to contact Seaview. It seemed to take forever, as slow as he had to move. But between an extremely painful ankle, and an armed ‘someone’ following him, he couldn’t afford to stay where he was. Thankfully he heard no more shots, but he wasn’t counting on the man having given up the chase. If he was still behind him, Lee figured that he was having as much trouble as Lee was since he never caught up to his target.

Finally, as the sun was getting lower in the sky, Lee got a strong smell of ocean as he worked his way through what he hoped was the last section of rocky terrain. He figured that Chip was by now having a hissy fit at Lee’s continued absence, combined with the fact that Sparks wouldn’t have gotten an answer trying to call Lee’s cell phone. He hoped that Chip hadn’t gotten so worried that he’d moved Seaview back toward the port and sent Chief Hauck, Seaview’s Master-At-Arms, and a few of his security team into town to look for Lee.

Worry turned to relief when he rounded a particularly large boulder and found himself on a small sandy beach. And surprise when he spotted Seaview not that far away. But joy turned quickly to grief as he forgot to watch where he stepped and did a faceplant into the sand as he tripped over several smaller rocks between him and the water’s edge. At the same time, noise from the top of the cliff to his left had him scanning for his pursuer, and he crawled closer to the bottom on that side to hopefully hide better from whoever was now standing at the top.

With Seaview on the surface there would be lookouts posted, but Lee had no way to signal them. The only option that he could see was to swim out to her and hope that whoever was on the cliff didn’t spot him and start shooting. On the other hand, rifle fire would draw the attention for the lookouts, which might not be a bad thing. Lee had to hope that he didn’t get shot in the process.

That’s where his luck finally gave out. He’d barely entered the water, trying to stay under the surface as much as he could with his hampered swimming abilities due to his injuries, when he heard gunfire and felt the results, although for a bit he wasn’t sure where the new pain was coming from. A glance at Seaview during his next breath showed that the lookouts were both staring in his direction, but he ducked once more under the surface as more gunfire erupted. He didn’t feel a whole lot of new pain, but he figured that was probably due to the immense pain he was already feeling from the original ankle injury as well as ribs smacking rocks hard enough to break the phone, so it took him a bit of time to realize that his left shoulder and arm were no longer working efficiently. He tried to get deeper into the water, and stay under as long as he could, but the pain was affecting his ability to hold his breath as long as he normally could. Nor could he swim very fast with one leg and one arm and shoulder screaming at him to quit moving. He did his best, but wasn’t sure that he could even reach his beloved boat before his energy ran out and he’d need to float on the surface, an easy target for whoever was firing the rifle. And that’s if what blood I’m putting in the water doesn’t attract a bunch of hungry sharks and they finish what the gunman started, went through his starting to shut down brain. He tried ignoring the pain by focusing on what kinds of sharks that lived in these waters was most likely to finish him off. Hammerheads came to mind, all three varieties – Scalloped, Smooth, and Giant. Thankfully, even though they tended to swim in schools, Lee could take some comfort in the fact that they tended to leave divers alone. Lee was more concerned, with a trail of blood leading right to him, about Black Tips and the ever ‘loveable’ Great White. Damn, he growled as he had to take a breath, and the pain screamed louder. Back under the surface he tried to think of more sharks, just to occupy his mind. Angel sharks were bottom-feeders, and rarely bothered divers. Think, Crane! Copper sharks could be a problem… But by that time Lee couldn’t think anymore, the pain was too great and his breathing was too ragged. With no energy left he floated to the surface.

* * * *

Chip was on the rampage. He was trying to keep his temper under control, but he knew that he wasn’t doing a very good job of it and sighed heavily, trying to regain at least a little of his usual calm. Once COB Sharkey had returned from dropping off Lee in the harbor Chip had casually maneuvered Seaview west along the coast until he found a semi-protected little cove and settled her on the edge of it. The water stayed calm so he stayed on the surface and posted lookouts – standard procedure. There was little boat traffic in that spot so the day stayed peaceful. But as midday came with no word from Lee, Chip started getting antsy. By 1500 hours, with still no word, he had Sparks call Lee’s cell, but all that got was an ‘out of service’ response. He and Sparks pondered that one, but with all the hilly terrain it was possible that Lee, if he had to travel out of the city to meet with this Prof. Simsek, could be in a place that the cell couldn’t get a signal. So Chip continued to wait.

By 1800 hours, however, he was becoming a hazard to any crewman who even thought about getting in his line of sight unnecessarily. The one exception was Seaview’s CMO, who wandered down the spiral stairs into the Nose a few minutes after. “Dinnertime,” he announced to no one in particular, and meandered through the Conn toward the aft hatch, giving Chip a glance as he passed the chart table. Chip merely glared at him. Will didn’t take it personally – his corpsmen had been keeping him apprised of what was going on. “Come on,” he now stopped and told his XO. “Hunger will only make you crankier than you already are.” A soft snort from Lt. Chris James, Chip’s Second most days in the Conn, caused Chip to glare at the younger man. But Will’s snickers quickly softened the expression. Chip finally nodded, gave Chris the Watch, and followed Will to the Wardroom. Cookie must have also been warned because he was careful not to comment on how little food usually heavy-eater Chip put on his tray before sitting down in Lee’s usual spot. Will sat opposite, in Nelson’s normal place. Both men were quiet as they ate. Will considered it a minor miracle that Chip had eaten at all; it was usually Lee that had to be watched when things weren’t going well. But thankfully the blond was almost done with what he’d taken when all hell broke loose, starting with a call from the Conn of gunfire along the shore and someone in the water swimming slowly toward Seaview. Even Will left what little was still on his plate and hurried forward.

It took a bit to get everything that happened over the next several minutes sorted out. The original call had sent Chief Hauck and two of his men to the Boarding Hatch on the deck, armed, having no idea of what they’d find. By the time they got there the firing from the beach had stopped but the closest lookout, having finally gotten a glimpse of who was in the water, literally dived over the side into the water and swam to meet who turned out to be Lee. Fortunately, because that was also the point at which Lee lost consciousness. Both Chip and Will hit the Boarding Hatch at the same time as Chief Hauck also recognized Lee – needless as the lookout, Seaman Rawn, was already yelling as he pulled Lee closer to the boat.

Will yelled for his corpsmen and a stretcher, and many hands swiftly but carefully pulled Lee aboard and hustled him to Sick Bay, where Will started assessing Lee’s multiple injuries. As Lee was stripped of his uniform the mangled bits of cell phone and jacket insignias were discovered and given to a fuming, but at least quiet, Chip, standing just inside the door. Will finally glanced at him. “Give us an hour, Chip,” he told the worried blond softly. “So far nothing looks too serious.”

Chip nodded, hesitated another moment, then told Will, “I’ll go notify the Admiral.” Will returned the nod and Chip left.

* * * *

“Skipper?” Lee heard the voice but had no idea who spoke, or where the voice was coming from. The last thing he remembered was water all around him, something to do with sharks, and a whole lot of pain.

“Time to wake up,” came with a small shake of his right shoulder.

“Why?” Lee thought that’s what he tried to say, but he wondered if it actually came out that way because all he heard back was a soft chuckle, and once more his right shoulder was slightly forced to move.

But a new voice broke in. “What the hell happened to you,” came with a fair amount of anger, and Lee finally managed to open his eyes.

It took him a few seconds to realize that he was laying in a lower bunk in Seaview’s Sick Bay, Jamie standing close to his head and Chip glaring at him from closer to his feet. Neither spoke, letting Lee sort things into place until he finally mumbled, “Somehow, I’d like the answer to that as well.” That actually caused Chip to snort and sit down on the edge of the bunk, his expression finally softening. No one spoke as Lee continued to sort through his jumbled memories, finally getting them into something close to the right order. “There was no Prof. Simsek at the place we were supposed to meet,” he started.

“Yeah,” Chip grumbled. “I called the Admiral once you got back, and he was going to see if a mutual friend had any idea about what the heck was going on.” The blond actually growled. “Wish he’d thought to do that before he sent you to the meet.”

“Chip.” Will spoke softly, but there was still a level of warning in that one word.

“Yeah,” Chip nodded at his CMO, then returned his gaze to Lee.

But Lee’s eyelids were starting to drop again and Will called a halt to the XO’s interrogation with, “Suppose we let the Skipper get some rest. His present condition speaks loudly to a rather rough day.” He grinned as both CO and XO sent him a glare. Lee’s was a bit lackluster, but nonetheless meaningful, and Will placed a hand lightly on his uninjured shoulder. “Everyone’s safe, so the whole story can wait.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ll all feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

Lee tried to see the clock on the far wall but it was Chip who supplied the information. “Almost 0130 hours, Lee,” his voice once more under control. “You made it back to the boat about 1845.”

“Don’t remember getting here,” Lee admitted with one of his rather patented shy looks.

“You didn’t,” Chip told him. “At least, not all the way. Rawn was on Lookout Duty topside, spotted you, dove overboard, and pulled you the rest of the way.”

“Tomorrow,” Will said firmly.

“It is tomorrow,” Chip told him, but his frown quickly turned into a bit of Lee’s shy look.

“Out!” Will’s turn to grumble, with a point toward the door. But he almost immediately smiled as Chip nodded, gave Lee’s leg a pat, and stood. There was an ever so slight hesitation but he glanced at Lee, sent Will a quick nod, and left.

Will then looked at Lee, who also sent him a slight nod. “No argument here,” Lee admitted.

“Now I am worried,” Will muttered. But he also quickly smiled and nodded, tucked the blankets a little more firmly around Lee, and headed to his office, dimming the lights in the main room.

* * * *

Lee never slept well in Sick Bay unless Jamie got too free with what Lee and Chip referred to as ‘his cocked and loaded syringes’. But after the day that Lee had had, once he closed his eyes they didn’t open again until nearly 1500 hours the next afternoon. He was just trying to digest that totally unexpected news when Admiral Nelson walked into Sick Bay. “Sir?” Lee started to sit up.

“Down,” Will growled, coming from his office as Nelson walked over to the bunk Lee was lying in. Lee glared but lowered his eyes, and his head, as Nelson chuckled.

“When did you get back, sir?” Lee still asked his boss.

“Just now, actually,” Nelson told him with a smile. “Chip said you were sleeping away the day.”

“Whuphumph,” Lee muttered, and sent a glare Jamie’s way.

“Nothing I did,” Will told him firmly. “Your body’s finally listening to me, even if your brain refuses to.” Nelson chuckled softly at Lee’s disgruntled expression. “But I rather suspect that you could use a trip to the head for a shower,” Will added more pleasantly.

Lee nodded, then rubbed a hand over his chin. “And a shave,” he admitted.

“Frank will help you, and retape your ankle. Nothing’s broken except some skin.” He pointed an eyebrow at Lee.

“Got smashed by a rock,” Lee answered the unvoiced question.

“Your shoulder wound isn’t too bad, but it will make using crutches a little more awkward than usual.”

“Which means you’ll spend most of the trip home in your cabin,” Chip quipped, walking in and catching the last bit of conversation. “I’ll make sure you have plenty of paperwork to keep you occupied.” Nelson and Will both snorted softly.

“Admiral, what…?” Lee started to ask.

“Later,” Nelson cut him off. “I rather suspect that you’ll be hungry once you’re cleaned up. I know that I am,” came out in a soft growl, and no one risked asking him why. “Make your first stop on the way to your cabin the Wardroom and we’ll all get caught up.”

“Yes, sir,” Lee answered.

With as long as Lee had slept his body, thankfully, handled the shower and shave fairly well. He wasn’t overly happy having to use the crutches, but his ankle was sore enough that there was no way he could put any weight on it so surrendered fairly easily. He was actually grateful that he was being allowed to eat in the Wardroom instead of confined to Sick Bay or immediately hustled to his cabin. While the clothes Chip brought him were civvies he kept aboard instead of a clean uniform, it still allowed those crewmen he encountered to recognize that their Skipper wasn’t hurt too badly. They would quickly spread the word, and everyone could calm down from the case of nerves his disappearance had caused.

Lee knew ‘someone’ had alerted Cookie because, even though it was still a couple of hours before the normal dinnertime, an abundance of wonderful smells hit Lee’s nose as Chip, who had accompanied him on the walk from Sick Bay, opened the door and let Lee precede him inside. What Lee wanted first was coffee! Chip grinned broadly as that was Lee’s first stop. The blond went ahead and filled a tray for Lee with what the chef had determined to be appropriate to celebrate everyone getting back to Seaview at least somewhat safely – grilled salmon steaks, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots in a light butter sauce, green salad, and whole wheat rolls. Chip put it down at Lee’s usual spot, then returned to Lee and grabbed a mug for himself, as well as Lee’s newly refilled one. “How many?” he asked with a quirky grin.

Lee nodded to the one Chip now held. “That will make four,” he admitted.

Chip chuckled. “About right,” he agreed. Lee saw Cookie grin from ear to ear as the pair walked over to the table, then Chip went to fill his own tray. He’d barely sat down when Nelson walked in, followed by Will.

“Sir?” Lee said instantly.

“Eat,” Nelson ordered, and turned to fill a tray for himself after also downing several mugs of coffee. He kibitzed with Chip about boat’s business as the blond caught both Nelson and Lee up on what little they’d missed while off boat, since Seaview had mostly just been holding station.

Once all four were done eating, including large portions of apple crisp that Cookie had made for dessert and Chip had refilled both his and Lee’s mugs again, Nelson finally got down to what Lee most wanted to know. “Sir?” Lee once more asked his boss.

“The short version,” Nelson started, “an attempt to kidnap both Prof. Simsek and myself.”

“Prof. Simsek?” Lee asked instantly.

Nelson raised a hand and went to refill his coffee mug. “Safe. He was actually nowhere near here. But when contacted, admitted that there had been an attempt to grab him about the same time, thwarted by local police when several of his own people reported the strange behavior of another one. When questioned, that one admitted to the plot.” He paused. “I don’t think I want to know how the man was interrogated.” Lee shuddered slightly, and Nelson nodded. “When contacted, Prof. Simsek had no idea that I was involved.”

“Do they know who organized it?” Will asked.

“Yes,” Nelson told him. “But again, I don’t want to know how they know.” It was the doctor’s turn to shudder.

“Who, sir?” Lee once more gently prodded.

“PKK,” Nelson all but spit out. Both Will and Chip just looked at their boss, having no idea what that meant.

But Lee nodded. “Kurds. They’ve been fighting with the Turkish Nationals for who knows how long. This particular group are heavily armed rebels, recently listed as a terrorist organization.” Chip stared at him. “Came up in a briefing recently,” Lee told him softly.

“ONI,” growled the blond, and Lee nodded.

“Prof. Simsek,” Nelson took control of the conversation before Chip could say any more, “was told that the group wanted to kidnap the two of us to get both the Turkey and US governments involved in a prisoner exchange. Thankfully, both attempts were stopped.” There was another growl from Chip, and Nelson sent him a nod. “This group had no idea who they were tangling with.” He sent a toast with his coffee mug toward Lee. Lee merely shrugged, but the other two nodded.

“I hope that you aren’t planning another trip ashore,” Lee did get out. Carefully, as with Nelson you never knew.

But this time it was Nelson who nodded. “Yes, Lee, I’m ready to head for home.”

“Hallelujah,” came softly from Will’s direction. Not softly enough because he instantly had three pairs of eyes focused on him. He frowned as he sent a firm look back. “Crutches and submarine knee-knockers do not mix, and one trip to Sick Bay per cruise by my workaholic Skipper is all my nerves can handle anymore.” Nelson and Chip both burst out laughing. Even Lee managed a sheepish grin as it was his turn to send a quick toast with his coffee mug.