This story takes place after “The Saboteur”.

Unexpected Help

By JSRobertson

Seaview had been in port for two days after returning from their mission to load the self-contained remote controlled missiles into their silos.

Lee Crane stood looking out the repaired herculite window aboard Seaview recalling the events that took place a week earlier regarding the mission he almost sabotaged because he was kidnapped and brain washed. He also tried to kill his mentor and close friend Admiral Nelson.

He was late coming aboard. The admiral and Mr. Forester, the government agent in charge of security, were perturbed that they had to wait for him. He told them he was late because he had to visit his mother who was sick and he had just gotten back. Was she really sick? He couldn’t remember. He knew there was another agent on board. But who?

Seaview got underway and was headed to the first missile silo. He had disabled the inertial guidance system. A crewman, Spencer, was almost electrocuted because of him. They would never be able to load the missiles without the system so they would have to abort the mission. The admiral insisted they do it without the guidance system but he couldn’t get Seaview in the proper position after several tries and then he ran her into a sea mount severely damaging the boat. He ordered her back home for repairs, but Nelson wouldn’t hear of it. He was yelling at the admiral who had to hit him to calm him down. He was relieved of duty for twenty-four hours so he could rest and the crew could repair Seaview. Dr. Ullman, the man who created the missiles, repaired the inertial guidance system so the missiles could be loaded. He was then ordered to use his magnetized comb to disarm the circuits on the missiles. He was almost caught and had to knock out Forester. He hid the comb in Chip’s cabin. His next order was to kill the Admiral. Going to the missile room where Nelson was, he hid among the torpedoes, taking aim ready to kill him, when he was shot by Forester who was suspicious of him all along. Taken to sick bay and under sedation, he revealed information letting Forester and Nelson know he had been brain washed and that there was another agent on board. The only new person was Parker, the radio man. They found Parker putting explosives on the windows ready to sink Seaview. They shot him and he was arrested. He had been brain washed too. Seaview surfaced just as the window exploded letting in the sea. The window was repaired and they continued the mission loading all the missiles in their silos.

Lee went back to Seaview to check on the repaired window before he left on shore leave. A leave he needed to take very badly.

A leave the Admiral demanded he take. His arm was still in a sling from the bullet wound.

Chip was on board also checking on the repairs when he saw Lee standing in the observation nose and went over to his friend.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Chip with concern for his “brother’.

“I don’t understand how I was able to be kidnapped and brain washed.” Lee replied quietly. “I feel it’s my fault it happened, I did something wrong. I almost killed Spencer by disabling the inertial guidance system and I still can’t believe I tried to frame you for the disarming of the missiles with my comb.”

“Being brain washed is something you will probably never figure out. I don’t blame you, Lee. I know you would never do anything intentionally to hurt me,” Chip said patting his friend on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Both men left Seaview ready to start their leave. Chip would be going home to Chicago to see his family and he decided to go home to Providence and visit his mother for real. He would fly out the next evening. Since he would get to Providence very late, he arranged for a rental car and made reservations at a hotel near his mother’s house.

******

Lee arrived in Providence, picked up his car and went to the hotel. Even though he was able to sleep on the airplane, he was glad to be in his hotel room with no one else around. He had dinner on the plane so he wasn’t hungry. He went to bed and fell into a deep sleep with no dreams this time. He’d been having dreams about being brain washed.

He woke up at his usual 5:00. He decided to go for a walk before he took his shower. He really wanted to run but his arm wasn’t ready for that. He walked for a few blocks and found a store open so he picked up a paper, coffee and donuts for breakfast. It was too early to go to his mother’s so he read the paper and ate the donuts. The coffee wasn’t too bad but he liked Cookie’s better.

He showered and was ready to leave by 9:00 to go to his mothers. He hadn’t seen her in quite a while. She met him at the door and was very happy to see him.

“What happened to your arm?” she asked concerned.

“I was shot. It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” he replied giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“How?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you.”

His mother was not pleased with the answer but understood he couldn’t tell her because of his work.

They spent the day talking and catching up. His mother made lunch for them but she had already made plans for the evening so she wouldn’t be able to have dinner with him. She was also leaving the next morning to go on vacation. He was a little disappointed as he would have liked to have spent more time with her. But he understood she couldn’t change her plans, as he did give her short notice about his visit.

He decided he would stay at the hotel another night and then drive down the coast in the morning to look for a place to stay near the beach. He woke up bright and early, ate breakfast and was on the road by 7:00.

******

He drove to Warwick where he found a bed and breakfast. He liked the look of the place: quiet, small and isolated. He checked in and decided to look around. The weather was very warm, so he was upset he didn’t bring his swim trunks. He walked into town and found a store that still had swim wear for sale. He bought what was available. Going back to the bed and breakfast he changed into the swim trunks, put his shirt on and went down to the dining room for lunch. Surprisingly he was hungry even though he had eaten breakfast.

He couldn’t believe all the food that was being served. The food was very good and he ate more than he should have.

He went down to the beach as he needed to walk off the huge lunch he just ate. He walked for a couple of miles and saw a lighthouse not too much further down the beach. He could see dark clouds forming in the distance but decided to keep on walking. By the time he got to the lighthouse he was very warm and took off his shirt. He didn’t like the blue swim trunks, but they were the only ones they had in his size.

Staring at the ground he was thinking about that last mission and being brain washed. He was considering resigning as Captain of Seaview. How could he command the men on Seaview when he didn’t know if he could still be under the effects of the brain washing and might do something that would harm the men and Seaview? Besides that, he almost killed one of his crew.

The dark clouds threatened rain so he went into the lighthouse for cover. Climbing the stairs he found the door closed but unlocked.

He got into the lighthouse just as it started to rain. He put his shirt back on since it had gotten cooler when the rain started. The place had been vacant for some time. Others must have stopped there to look around because he could see foot prints in the dust. He climbed the stairs to the top. It took him a while to get up there but when he did the view was incredible even in the rain. He could see far out into the ocean, and he could only imagine how far he would be able to see if it wasn’t raining. He stayed for a while just taking in the view and sea air. He walked back down the stairs and sat down. He was just sitting there when an old man came in.

‘Hello,” he said. “Sorry if I’m trespassing. I wanted to come in out of the rain.”

“Hey, no problem. That’s why I’m here,” he replied as he sat down next to him. “Name’s Tate Lager.”

“Lee Crane.”

“You from around here?” Tate asked.

“No, I live in California. Santa Barbara. You?”

“I live in Warwick. I like to walk the beach and fish.” Tate said matter of factly.

“Catch anything?”

“No not today.”

“What do you do in California?”

“I work for the Nelson Institute of Marine Research. I’m Captain of a submarine,” he answered.

“Navy man. I was a Captain in the Army back in war,” Tate stated. “Why you out here?”

“Visiting my mother and have some issues to work out.”

“Regarding your arm and the sling,” Tate inquired.

“Yes and more, but I can’t talk about it. Classified,” he responded softly.

“I understand. I had a few issues back in the war too. Had to lead my men into a town filled with enemy soldiers but more importantly women and children. We had to get them out of there or they would have been killed. I knew if I led my men in there some of them might not be coming back. I had no choice,” Tate explained. “We went in, rescued the women and children and a few of my men didn’t make it out. I had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I had to do it no matter what the outcome. Even now I still wish there was another way.”

“How did you solve your issues?” Lee asked, needing to know how he dealt with it.

“I realized after much soul searching and beating myself up, I had no control over what happened in that town and I couldn’t change the outcome anyway.”

“Did you ever regret the decision you made? Maybe there was some other way to rescue those women and children,” he asked.

“No, I would still make the same decision again even if I had to make it today. I knew I would never forget those men and what happened to them but I couldn’t let it take over and ruin my life. I had too much to live for,” Tate answered. “Well, it looks like its stopped raining. Pleasure meeting you; hope you work out your issues.”

“Nice meeting you too. Thanks, you may have just helped another man and his issues,” he replied as he shook his hand.

Both men walked out of the lighthouse and headed in opposite directions.

He finally realized he had no control over being brain washed and he couldn’t let it take over his life. He would have to deal with it and move on or it would destroy him. He felt a heavy burden lift off his shoulders. It wasn’t his fault. He wouldn’t resign after all. He also had a lot to live for. He would never forget what happened to Spencer because of him or the mission but he could live with it.

He walked back to the bed and breakfast, changed his clothes and went to the dining room for dinner. There were a few other patrons staying there, but he sat by himself and looked out the window enjoyed the view and finally relaxed.

He decided to leave Rhode Island earlier than he planned. He wanted to get back to California and Seaview. He missed the admiral, Chip and work. He wanted to get back to work. He knew there would be plenty there to keep him busy. Seaview would be leaving on a mission in a week; just a routine restocking mission to some undersea laboratories.

******

Chip had come back from Chicago the same day as Lee. He stopped by Lee’s house to check to see if he was home and how he was doing. He was worried about his ‘brother’ and how he was dealing with the brain washing and injury to Spencer. He knew Lee was very disturbed about it. After knocking on the front door and getting no answer, he walked to the back of the house and found Lee sitting on his deck with a beer, looking out at the ocean. He looked relaxed and relieved. He grabbed a beer from the ice bucket, opened it, took a swig and sat down in the chair next to Lee.

“Looks like Rhode Island agreed with you.” Chip said with a grin. “How’s your mom?”

“Yeah, it was real good and she’s fine. It was good to see her. How was Chicago? Did you get to see all your family?” he asked.

“Yes, all of them. What a mad house, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Work out your issues?”

“Yes, thanks to an old man and a lighthouse.” he said grinning.

“An old man and a lighthouse?” Chip asked.

“After visiting my mom, I drove down the coast to Warwick and found a bed and breakfast on the beach. I started walking on the beach, thinking and trying to sort out what had happened and ended up at this lighthouse. It started raining so I went in. This old man came in out of the rain too. We started talking. Chip there was something about that man, like he was meant to be there. He told me about issues he had during the war. Nothing like being brain washed but a similar situation and he made me realize I had no control over being kidnapped and brain washed. I did nothing wrong,” he told Chip. “It wasn’t my fault. It will always bother me that I caused a crew member to be hurt, but I had no control over that either.”

“Lee, I’m glad you realized it wasn’t you fault. You didn’t have any control. Glad you’re back, buddy. I knew this was eating you up,” Chip told him.

“Yes, it was. I almost considered resigning from command of Seaview because of it.”

“You would never do that.” Chip said with astonishment. “I wouldn’t let you. Either would the Admiral.”

“I know, but at the time I didn’t know if I was still under the influence of the brain washing.”

“Neither the admiral, Mr. Forester or I blame you for what happened.” Chip reiterated. “Hell, even Spencer doesn’t blame you once he found out you were brained washed.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I feel even better now knowing that,” he said smiling.

“I don’t about you, but I haven’t eaten since breakfast. How about we go get some dinner?” Chip asked as his stomach growled.

“Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll even buy,” he said with a smile.

The End.