A sort of WHN to “The
Machines Strike Back.” This story
takes place before “The Reason Why” and a year after Captain Bradley’s
death.
With a Little Help from My Friends
By JSRobertson
Seaview was on her way home from a supply restocking mission
to several underwater laboratories. Once
in port, there were no missions scheduled for a few weeks as she needed some
work done on the reactor as well as some other routine maintenance.
Lee Crane, Seaview’s captain,
and Chip Morton, the XO, had just finished dinner and were off duty but decided
to meet in Lee’s cabin to discuss what maintenance jobs should be completed
first. Hand in his pocket, Lee stood
behind Chip as he sat perched on the corner of Lee’s desk. Chip had already
poured a cup of coffee from the ever present pot on the desk and was getting
ready to take drink when there was a rap on the door.
“Who’s minding the control
room if the two of you are up here?” the admiral asked with a smile as he
entered the cabin. He missed dinner with
the officers as he was in his cabin finishing up some paperwork and checking in
with Angie.
Chip quickly stood up and put
down the cup of coffee. “Sit back down,
Chip,” the admiral told him as he patted him on the shoulder and walked in
front of Lee’s desk.
“Lt. O’Brien has the conn
until morning,” Lee reported returning his grin.
“Good,” the admiral
said. “If I remember correctly, we have
no missions scheduled for a few weeks.”
“That’s correct sir,” Chip
replied. “Lee and I were just going over
the items we want maintenance to take a look at.”
“Nothing serious I hope,” the
admiral said concerned.
“No, just routine maintenance
on the reactor and some other minor items,” Lee responded.
“How soon before we dock at
NIMR?” the admiral asked.
“We should be docking around
1000 hours. I’m going to bring her into
the underground facility,” Lee told the admiral.
“Good idea,” the admiral
concurred. “Do you think you can do
without me for a few days? When I
checked in with Angie, she told me there was an official looking envelope from
the President of Cordella, Mrs. Christina Ballard. I told her to open it up and
read what was inside. It’s an invitation
to attend the dedication of a new school named for the Nelson Family.”
“Cordella?” Chip questioned.
“It’s a small country on the
western side of
“Sir, I don’t recall you ever
mentioning the country or her before,” Lee said curiously.
“We have an old family
friend, Christian Ballard, who went with Edith on one of her trips down
there. He was a teacher and they were in
need of teachers to teach the children of Cordella so he decided to return
there and help them out. I bet he’s
married to the President and since the school’s being named in our honor
they’ve invited me to attend. I wonder if
Edith received an invitation.”
“Admiral, when was the last
time you spoke to Mr. Ballard,” Lee asked worriedly.
Rubbing his forehead, the
admiral replied, “It’s been quite a few years but I think Edith has kept in
touch with him since I believe she’s still involved in fund raising for the
schools.”
“I have no plans for my shore
leave, I’ll go with you if you don’t mind company,” Lee suggested.
“No Lee, I’ll be fine. I’ll contact Edith and see if she received an
invitation. She’ll go with me,” the
admiral reassured them. “Have good
evening and don’t work too late.” He
walked out the door leaving Lee and Chip to finish their meeting.
Lee sat down at his desk and
picked up his pencil. Chip returned to
the corner of the desk with his coffee cup in hand. “Lee, doesn’t it seem strange to you that the
admiral would be invited to attend an opening of a school he knows nothing
about. As busy as she is, Edith always
keeps him informed of anyone using the Nelson name,” Chip remarked.
“I was thinking the same
thing,” Lee added. “Something just
doesn’t feel right to me.”
As Chip finished his coffee, they
decided what maintenance items needed to be done first. He put the cup on the tray and
stretched. “See you in the morning.”
“Okay,” Lee replied not
really paying attention to what Chip was saying.
Lee sat back in his chair
when Chip left his office. He rolled his
pencil between his hands wondering about this Christian Ballard and Cordella.
((()))
Once Seaview docked
and after the crew left the boat, only the admiral, Lee and Chip remained on
board. The admiral went up the ladder in
the control room with Lee and Chip following close behind. Once on deck, they walked down the gangplank
and saluted the colors. Lee and Chip
stayed to talk to the deck detail before the admiral walked to his car that had
been brought down to the underground facility.
“Don’t be too long,” the
admiral reminded the two men. “You will
take your shore leave.”
“Admiral,” Lee said, “how are
you getting to Cordella? Since I have no
plans, why don’t I fly you and Edith down there on FS-1? We’ll fly to
“Ahem,” Chip cleared his
throat. “I’ll go with too.”
“Lee, I thought you were
going to visit your mother and Chip, you were going to
“I’ll take you to the
airport,” Lee volunteered.
“No thanks, Lee. I’ve already contacted Tommy to take me
there. So carry on with your plans,
please don’t worry,” the admiral replied, “but thanks for volunteering to take
me.”
“Yes, sir,” they responded as
they watched the admiral get into his car and drive away.
“Lee,” Chip said but Lee
didn’t hear him as he was worried about the admiral. “Lee,” he said a little louder.”
“Sorry Chip, my mind was far
away,” Lee said distractedly.
“He’ll be fine,” Chip assured
him. “Let’s get some lunch before going
to the office.”
“Okay,” Lee answered as they
walked up the stairs to the parking lot and their cars. They stopped at the diner for a quick meal
and returned to the office. They checked
in with Wanda, who gave them all their messages. Sighing as they took them, they both knew it
would be a long afternoon.
After spending all afternoon
looking over the mail and answering his messages, Lee stood up, rubbed his hand
on the back of his neck and walked out of his office. He went to the admiral’s office wanting to
talk to Angie.
“Hi Lee,” she said when he
walked in. “I talked to the admiral and
he said the mission went off without a hitch.”
“Yes, everything went fine,”
Lee replied, “Is he still here?”
“No, he dropped his briefcase
in his office, looked at his messages and the invitation from the President of
Cordella. He was pretty excited about it.”
“Did he call Edith...have you
ever heard of this Christian Ballard?” Lee asked.
“Yes, he did call her but was
unable to talk to her right now as she’s in a country without cell phone
service and wouldn’t be available for the next five days. I vaguely recall him mentioning him a few
years ago,” Angie responded looking at Lee with a puzzled look on her
face. “Is there a problem with him
going?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m just over reacting.”
Angie looked at Lee and knew
him will enough to see he was worried but she wasn’t sure why.
Lee left Angie’s office and
returned to his, sitting down at his desk.
It was 1800 hours by the time he was ready to leave for the day. Wanda and Angie had left a couple of hours
earlier. Lee shut down his computer,
grabbed his jacket and cover and went to Chip’s office.
“Ready to go? I’m beat,” Lee said to Chip who was just
turning off his computer. He took his
jacket and cover from the closet, turned off his lights and joined Lee in the
waiting area.
“Up for some dinner, my
treat,” Chip told Lee.
“No, not really. Can I have a rain check?”
“Sure, anytime,” Chip replied
as they headed to the elevator and took it to the first floor where Howard
signed out the two men and wished them a good evening.
((()))
The admiral parked his car in front of his house. He had called Sally, his housekeeper, and
told her his plans so she would have his suitcase ready for him when he got
home. She was in the kitchen getting
lunch when he arrived.
“I’ve put your suitcase in
your room, sir,” Sally told him. “Would
you like me to help you?”
“No I’ll take care of
it. Since I’m going to be gone for a few
days, you don’t have to be here so enjoy the time off,” Harry told her.
“Thank you sir,” Sally
replied as she put his lunch on the table.
Harry finished lunch and went
to his room to pack his suitcase for the trip.
He had just finished packing when Sally told him that Tommy was here for
him. Harry handed his suitcase to Tommy
and followed him out to the car. Tommy
put the suitcase in the trunk and got in the car. He stopped briefly at the security gate
before proceeding to the airport. By the
time Harry arrived at the
((()))
By the time Harry arrived in
Cordella, it was early evening and he was hungry and tired. He was met at the gate by John Mandow, President
Ballard’s top aide.
“Welcome to Cordella,
Admiral. I’m John Mandow, I hope you had a nice flight,” he said to Harry as he
took his suitcase from the co-pilot and placed it in the trunk of the waiting
limo. “It’s only a short ride to the
president’s residence.”
The driver opened the door
for Harry who slid into the back seat while John walked around to the other
side of the limo and sat next to Harry.
“Mr. Ballard is looking forward to seeing you and has dinner planned
once you’re settled.”
“Thank you, Mr. Mandow,”
Harry responded.
“Please call me John,” Mandow
told Harry as they made their way out of the airport.
Harry looked out the window and
admired the beautiful countryside as they drove to the presidential residence located
on the outskirts of the capital city of
“Harry, it’s so good to see
you,” Christian said eagerly shaking Harry’s hand. “I’m sorry my wife,
Christina, isn’t here to greet you.
She’s attending an important conference in another country but will be
back in time for the dedication.”
“Same here Christian,” Harry
replied. “I’m looking forward to meeting
your wife when she returns. Very nice place you have here.”
“Thanks, Harry. You must be tired and hungry. I’ll have John show you to your room where
you can freshen up for dinner. Is thirty
minutes enough time?”
“Yes, that will be fine,” Harry
answered as they entered the large foyer.
Straight ahead was a large wall of windows that looked onto a garden
with a fountain and patio. On the left
side of the foyer was the dining room.
Next to it was a small hallway that led to the kitchen and then a large
carved staircase that led to the second floor.
On the right side of the foyer was a large living room with floor to
ceiling windows that also overlooked the garden.
“I’ll meet you in the living
room where we can enjoy a drink before dinner. You still drink Glenlivet?”
Surprised that his friend
remembered his favorite drink, Harry smiled and replied, “Yes.”
“Right this way, sir,” John
said as he led Harry up the staircase to a well appointed room on the left side
of the hallway. “If you need anything
just let me know and I will see that it is taken care of.”
“Thank you John. Everything looks good,” Harry said noticing
his suitcase was already set up on a stand.
He found the large bathroom and he freshened up. He returned to the bedroom and looked out the
window which had a view of the ocean as well as the garden. Yawning as he removed his clothes from his
case, hung up what needed to be hung and placed the rest of the items into one
of the drawers in the large chest. He
returned downstairs to the living room where Christian was waiting for him.
“Feel better?” he asked as he
handed Harry a tulip shaped whiskey glass filled with the amber liquid.
“Yes, much better,” Harry
replied as he took sip of his drink. “Is
Edith attending the dedication of the school?”
“I haven’t heard from her yet
but I hope so as the dedication wouldn’t be the same without her. Why don’t we go outside to the patio? I hope you don’t mind eating dinner out there
as it’s such a beautiful evening.”
“No problem,” Harry answered
as he followed Christian out to the patio and sat down at the table where there
was a tray of appetizers. Harry was
hungry so he helped himself to some shrimp and mushroom caps.
“How’s the institute
doing...and Seaview?” Christian asked as he took a sip of his drink.
“Very well,” Harry replied
proudly. “We have quite a few contracts
for Seaview and research developments that we’re working on at the
institute.”
“How are the schools
doing...are you still teaching?”
Smiling, “No I don’t teach
any more...I’m now in charge of running them.
Just like most schools, we’re short of money but with the help of Edith
and her fund raising we managed to build a new school,” Christian responded and
quickly changed the subject back to the institute before Harry could ask any
more questions.
Finishing up his drink, Harry
asked, “When and where is the school and dedication taking place? I can only stay a couple of days as I’ve got
some items I need to review with my officers before our next mission.”
“We’ll talk about that
tomorrow,” Christian said to Harry as a woman brought out their dinners and
poured them another drink.
After talking for another
hour, Harry was having a hard time stifling his yawns. “I’m sorry, Christian but I’m afraid I’m
going to retire for the evening. It’s
been a very long day.”
“I understand Harry,”
Christian replied. Both men stood up and
returned to the house. Harry went to his
room while Christian entered the living room where John was waiting for him.
“Do you think he suspects
anything?” John asked.
“I’m not sure. He did ask
about the school and dedication but I put him off until tomorrow.”
“You can’t stall too much
longer as the premier is getting anxious for the information.”
“I know don’t worry, we’ll
have it before the deadline,” Christian reassured John. John nodded and left the room leaving
Christian standing by the windows. I
hope, he thought as he finished his drink and retired to his room.
((()))
Harry got ready for bed and
fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
He woke up the next morning at 0630 his normal waking time. He took care of his morning ablutions,
dressed in a pair of blue pants with a short sleeve light blue shirt and
trotted downstairs thirty minutes later.
He was met at the bottom of the stairs by John.
“You’re up early, sir,” John
said to Harry as he looked at his watch.
“I never sleep in,” Harry
responded with a smile. “Must be the
Navy in me.”
“I’m sorry to say that
breakfast won’t be ready for another thirty minutes. President and Mr. Ballard always dine at
“Coffee would be wonderful,”
Harry answered as the two men walked into the dining room just as the woman who
served them dinner last night was putting out the carafe and cups. She quickly poured the two men a cup and
left to finished making breakfast.
“Excuse me, sir,” John said
taking his coffee with him, “I have some business to take care. I’ll see you
later.”
“No problem,” Harry answered
as he took a drink of the coffee. Not
bad but definitely not strong enough, he thought. He walked over to the windows that looked out
over the front porch of the house just as the sun was coming up over the
trees. He finished up his cup of coffee
and went over to the sideboard and poured himself another cup as Christian
entered the dining room.
“Good morning, Harry. I hope you slept well,” Christian said
cheerfully.
“I slept just fine. Thanks.” Harry replied as he continued to
drink his coffee.
“Breakfast should be served
shortly,” Christian told him as he sat down at the head of the table and
motioned Harry to sit to his left. “I
hope you like eggs benedict. I had Lisa,
my cook, make it especially for us.”
“Whatever you’re serving will
be fine.”
Lisa entered the dining room
with breakfast and placed the plates down in front of the men. As they were eating breakfast Christian spoke
up, “Harry I thought I would show you around the city. It has some nice museums, galleries and
gardens I think you might like to see.”
“Sounds fine, it looks like
it’s going to be a nice day and I wouldn’t want to spend it indoors. I spend enough time under the sea that fresh
air is a luxury,” Harry quipped.
Christian smiled back, “We’ll
leave as soon as we finish breakfast.
I’ll have John bring the car around.”
The two men finished up their
meal and made their way to the front of the house where the car was waiting for
them.
“Would you like me to drive
you?” John asked.
“No, I’ll be fine,” Christian
answered as the two men got into the car.
“We’ll have lunch in the city.”
“Yes sir,” John
answered. “Have a good time.”
Christian left the grounds
and headed towards the city. Harry was
looking at the countryside and houses that lined the street as they drove into
the city. Once in the city, Christian
parked the car in front of the library.
“We’ll start at the library
and then walk to the other sites. I hope
you don’t mind walking?”
“No, not all,” Harry replied
as he looked at the library. He was very
anxious to check it out.
Christian had to drag Harry
out of the library so he could show him the museum, art gallery and the gardens
in the park. Harry enjoyed the rest of
the tour and was happy when Christian suggested they have lunch before
returning to the presidential residence.
They dined at very nice restaurant noted for its seafood. They finished up lunch and walked back to the
car.
“Thanks for the tour and
lunch,” Harry said to Christian as they drove back to the house. “I’m very impressed at what your city has to
offer the tourists.
“Yes, we do have a nice
downtown section. Most of the people
come for the warm weather and beaches,” Christian agreed.
“I was hoping you would take
me to the school so I could check it out before the dedication.”
“Sorry Harry, but I promised
Christina I wouldn’t show you the school until she returned and I don’t want to
make the president angry,” Christian replied with a smile.
“I understand,” Harry
answered a little disappointed.
“I’m afraid I have some work
that I need to finish, so you’ll be on your own this afternoon.”
“Don’t worry about me I’ll
just walk around the grounds if that’s okay with you.”
Hesitating for a moment,
Christian replied, “No problem.”
Christian entered the gate to
the residence and parked the car by the front door. The two men got out of the car and were met
by John.
“Did you enjoy the tour of
the city?” he asked Harry.
“Yes, it was very nice,” he
replied as they walked into the house.
Christian and John left Harry
in the foyer while they went into Christian’s office next to the living room. Harry headed up the stairs to his room. Since he had some time to kill he would try
calling Lee and see what was happening at the institute.
((()))
Lee was sitting at his desk
when his phone rang. He looked at the
caller ID and saw it was the admiral calling.
“Hello sir,” Lee said quickly
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes Lee, just fine. How are things there?”
“Fine also,” Lee
replied. “Have they held the
dedication...did Edith call?”
“No, not yet as President
Ballard is out of the country right now but should be returning by
tomorrow. I haven’t heard from Edith and
either has Christian. Hopefully she’ll
just show up.”
Lee was surprised to hear
that but asked, “When will you be returning?”
“Not for a few more
days. I’m enjoying the nice weather and
sites. I’ll call you before I leave.”
“Okay sir. Have a good time. I’ll talk to you soon,” Lee answered as he
heard the admiral disconnect the call.
Lee sat at his desk and
rubbed his forehead. Something was still
nagging at him but he couldn’t figure out what it was. He left his office and went to the admiral’s
to let Angie know he wouldn’t be returning for a few more days. He then went to Chip’s office and sat down in
front of his desk.
“Problem Lee?” Chip asked
seeing perplexed look on his face.
“No. Just talked to the
admiral and he’s not returning for a few more days. He said he’s having a nice time.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Just that nagging feeling
something isn’t right,” Lee sighed. “How
about some lunch?”
“You don’t have to ask me
twice,” Chip replied and stood up. He and Lee walked out the door of the office
and to the elevator after letting Wanda know they were going to lunch.
((()))
After Harry finished his
phone call with Lee, he decided to take a walk through the gardens. He walked downstairs,
out to the garden and found a path that led to the beach. He strolled along the beach for awhile before
turning back. Just before he reached the
path to return to the house, he saw a small boy trying to skip stones across
the water. He noticed he wasn’t having
much luck so he walked over to him.
“Not doing to well skipping
those stones are you?” Harry asked with a smile.
“No sir. I just don’t know
what I’m doing wrong,” the boy replied with a frown.
“Let me show you. What’s your name?” Harry asked as he looked
around for the right sized stones.
“Larry,” the boy
answered. “My mother is Lisa. She cooks and cleans for Mr. Ballard.”
Harry noticed that he didn’t
seem very happy that his mother worked for his friend.
“First in order to skip the
stone properly, you need flat stones,” Harry explained as he showed Larry the
stones he picked up from the beach.
“Then you need to toss them across the water,” he continued as he showed
him how it was done. Harry gave Larry a
stone so he could try.
Larry took the stone from
Harry and tried to toss it like he did but didn’t have much luck. Harry gave him another stone and helped him
toss it. It skipped across the water
four times. Larry found a few more
stones and before long had the stones skipping across the ocean.
“Thank you, sir,” he said to
Harry.
“No problem,” Harry responded
as he patted Larry on the head and started walking back to the house leaving
him skipping stones. He came across
another path he didn’t see when he started his walk on the beach. He was going to take it when John came down
the original path.
“What’s down there?” Harry
asked as he started down the path but John blocked the way.
“That path is never used as
it leads to the basement. There’s
nothing down there but a few rats and bugs,” John told him. “Mr. Ballard has finished his work and sent
me to get you for dinner. Sorry if Larry
was a bother,” he continued as he saw Harry with Larry before he met up with him. “There’s not a lot for him to do here so he
can be a bit of a pest.”
“He was no bother at
all. I enjoyed showing him how skip the
stones,” Harry replied noticing the disgusted look on John’s face.
The two men walked back to
the house where Christian was waiting for them.
“I hope you had a good walk,”
Christian said.
“Yes, very good,” Harry
responded, “you have a very nice beach and dock but I didn’t see any boats.”
“Yes, the beach is nice. The dock has been there for years. We don’t own any boats but our friends do so
they will use the dock. How about we
meet for dinner in ten minutes?”
“I just need to wash up and
I’ll be right down,” Harry told Christian.
He wanted to ask him a few questions about the dedication. Harry went up the stairs to his room while
Christian and John stood at the bottom and watched him go up.
“I stopped him just before he
went down the path to the basement,” John told Christian. “He was quite curious about what was down
there.”
“He’s getting a little
comfortable here but that’s going to change tonight after dinner,” Christian
said to John as they wandered into the dining room where he poured himself a
drink. He stood at the window looking
out over the porch.
((()))
Harry quickly washed up and
returned to the dining room where Christian was waiting for him. As they sat down to another delicious dinner
Harry asked, “Christian when is the dedication going to be held as I need to
return to
Christian looked at him and
smirked, “Harry, there isn’t going to be a dedication. I brought you here because I need some
information from you. Give me what I
want and you can return home. If you
don’t....”
Harry quickly stood up. “I don’t know what you want but to bring me
down here under false pretenses must mean you want information I can’t and
won’t give you.”
Christian snapped his fingers
and a huge burly man walked into the dining room. “Harry, I don’t want to hurt you but I will
stop at nothing to get what I want.”
The man walked over to Harry
and pushed him back into his seat and stood next to him.
“I need you to give me the
command signal sequence for the drone submarine defense systems. Vice Admiral Halder failed to complete his
mission so I’ve taken it over,” Christian explained to Harry.
“You’ve taken it over?” Harry
asked surprised as he didn’t know Christian was involved with Halder.
“It’s now my project and I
need that information. You’ll not leave
here until I get it,” Christian threatened.
“Christian, I’ll never give
you that information. Besides that,
after what Halder tried to do, the command signal sequences have changed and it
takes more than one person to activate it.”
Frustrated that Harry
wouldn’t give him the information, Christian spoke to the man standing next to
Harry, “Brad, take him away and see if you can persuade him to cooperate. John, go with him.”
Brad grabbed Harry by the arm
and led him from the dining room. Brad
outweighed Nelson by a hundred pounds and was six inches taller, but he
struggled anyway to get away from him.
They took him past the garden and down the walkway to the beach. They took him to the path John had stopped
Harry from taking earlier.
((()))
Larry was skipping stones on
the beach when he saw Brad and John dragging the man with red hair out of the
house. He quickly hid in the bushes and
watched as they took him down the path to the basement. He had been down there one time and couldn’t
wait to get out of there. It was dark
and dirty. He waited until the men were
out of sight before he ran back to the house where he found his mother cleaning
up after dinner.
“Mom, they took the man with
red hair to the basement,” he told her out of breath.
She looked at him with tears
in her eyes, “Yes, son I know but you can’t say anything to anybody or they’ll
hurt you. Promise me, Larry, promise.”
Seeing how frighten his
mother was, Larry reluctantly replied, “Yes mom.” He left the kitchen and went to his room
above the garage.
((()))
Once in the basement, the men
led Harry to a dimly lit cell with a dirt floor and boards attached to the bars
closing it off from the hallway. Brad punched Harry in the face splitting his
lip. Harry could taste the saltiness of
his blood as it ran into his mouth. The
man then attacked Harry’s stomach and ribs pummeling him with punches. Harry fell to the ground curling in a ball
trying to ward off the kicks to his back and head. He finally passed out from the pain.
“Stop,” John told Brad as he
continued to use Harry as a punching bag.
“He won’t do us any good if he’s dead.
Maybe this will convince him to talk.
Let’s go.”
John and Brad left Harry lying
on the floor and locked the door to the cell.
“If that doesn’t change his mind, we’ll have to use other means to get
him to talk,” John said as they walked away leaving the light on.
((()))
On the other side of the
wooden wall, a woman sat on a small bed.
The wall wasn’t very thick and she could hear them beating someone. When she heard them lock the cell door, she
removed her pillow from up against the wooden wall in the corner. She had managed to gouge a hole in the wood
with a knife she kept when they served her dinner a few nights ago. She could make out the form of a man curled
up on the floor. She heard him moaning
and groaning in pain. She continued to
watch him until he managed to sit up.
She saw his face was badly bruised and bloody. She wondered who he was and what Christian
wanted with him.
“Psst,” she said through the
hole. “Over here by the corner.”
Harry heard something but
wasn’t sure if it was a real or his imagination. He hurt all over and had a hard time finding
a comfortable position to sit in.
“Psst, in the corner.” The sound was louder this time. Harry managed to crawl to the corner where he
heard the noise.
He looked in the corner and
saw a hole with an eye looking at him.
“Who are you?” he asked quietly as he caught his breath.
“My name is Christina Ballard. I’m the president of Cordella and Christian’s
wife. Who are you?” the woman’s voice
asked.
“Harriman Nelson,” Harry said
softly gritting his teeth against the pain as he talked. “I’m a friend of Christian or at least I
thought I was.”
“I’ve heard him speak of
you. He brought you down here to get
some information from you. I take it you
didn’t give it to him.”
“No, why are you down
here...you’re out of the country at a conference?” Harry asked confused.
“Christian imprisoned me and took
over running the country when he got involved with the People’s Republic. Ever hear of them?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of them,” Harry
replied with a wry grin. “But why put
you down here?”
“I wouldn’t go along with him
on what he wanted to do. If there’s
paperwork that needs to be signed or I’m needed at a function, I’m allowed
out. He’ll let me out once he gets the
information from you. Please give it to
him. I can’t stand it down here
anymore. Please,” Christina begged.
“Christina, I can’t give him
that information. The whole world would
be at risk if I did,” Harry said softly.
“I’m sorry.”
“You know he’ll torture you
until you break or even kill you,” Christina answered unhappily.
“Yes, I’m well aware of that
but I’ll never give up the information.”
Christina sighed deeply, “I
figured you wouldn’t talk. We’ll just
have to find a way out of here.”
“I’ll try to think of some
way,” Harry responded. “Right now I need
to rest.”
“Okay, I’ll try think of some
way too,” Christina replied sadly.
Harry rested his back against
the wall and fell asleep. Christina put
her pillow back covering the hole and laid down on the bed with tears running
down her cheeks. She was afraid she
would never get out of this prison.
((()))
The next morning, Harry woke
up and every muscle in his body hurt.
His lip was swollen and his eye was only partially opened. He figured he
had a couple of broken ribs as any breath he took caused him considerable pain. He needed to use the facilities and noticed a
bucket in the corner of the room. After
taking care of his business he made his way back to the hole in the wall hoping
to talk to Christina. He could hear
Christian talking to her through the wall.
He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying but he could hear her
arguing with him about letting her out.
He heard the door slam shut
on her cell and before too long the door to his cell was opened. Christian and John stood there looking at
him.
“You sure don’t look very
good,” Christian said with no emotion.
“Are you ready to talk?”
“Never,” Harry replied
bracing himself for another beating.
Looking at John, Christian
said, “You know what to do next.” He
walked out of the cell and left John there with Brad who was waiting outside.
Brad grabbed his arm and
jerked him by his arm causing Harry to cry out in pain. John handed him a white jumpsuit. Sewn to the bottom of the jumpsuit were white
socks and on to the arms were white gloves, “Put this on,” John ordered.
Harry just looked at him
having no intention of doing what he ordered. John lost his patience and punched him the
stomach taking Harry’s breath away. “If
you won’t do it, I’ll have Brad put the clothing on you and he won’t be
gentle.”
Harry realized he had no
choice so he took the jumpsuit and struggled to get into it as he was having a
hard time moving. Once in the jumpsuit,
Brad handed him a pair of white slippers which Harry put on.
“Follow me,” John told Harry as
he led him from the cell. Harry took
notice of the room next to his figuring Christina was locked in that cell. The walls were also covered in wood so you
couldn’t see into it.
The trio walked to the end of
the hall where they went down some more stairs to another room. John opened the door to the very small room
painted all white with a single low wattage bulb and no windows. There was a small cement bed and bucket. John pushed Harry into the room.
“Here’s your new home,” John
said snidely. “At least until you talk.”
“I’ll never tell you the
sequences,” Harry replied defiantly.
“Suit yourself,” John
answered and shut the door to the room.
Harry looked around the cell. There’s a small hole at the top of the
door where they can watch me but I can’t see them, Harry thought as he took
deep a deep painful breath and gingerly sat down on the hard bed. His ribs hurt as well as his back where Brad had beat
him. He fell asleep but was awaken by
the unlocking of the door. Brad
walked in dressed in white with slippers on his feet. He handed Harry a white paper plate with
white rice, and a white fork. Maybe I
can ask him what time it is. “Brad...”
Harry started to say but Brad ignored him, said nothing and left. I
guess it must lunch time as they brought me something to eat. It’s sure hard to eat with these gloves
on. When he finished eating he put
the plate on the floor. I’m feeling a
little better maybe I can find a way out of here. Harry tapped on the wooden walls looking for a
hollow spot but didn’t hear any nor could he tell if there were bars on the
other side of the walls. Man, it’s
chilly in here, he realized as he sat back down on the bed and wrapped his
arms around his legs to ward off the chill.
((()))
After Christian left
Christina, she went to the back of the cell, took the pillow away from the hole
and looked in. She could see Brad hand
Harry a white jumpsuit. She had no idea
what Christian was planning to do with him.
She could see Harry was still in pain.
She saw them remove him for the cell but didn’t know where they were
taking him. She wanted to help him but
the only way she figured she would be able to help him would be when Christian
let her out but who knows when that would be.
Sighing deeply, she sat back down on the bed.
((()))
Harry heard the door being
unlocked again. I have no idea what
time it is...I need to know. “Brad, please tell me what time it is,” Harry
begged. Brad ignored him, put his food
down and left. What’s with the white
rice, white paper plate and fork. I know
they have better food than this, he thought.
((()))
Lee had not heard from Harry
since he called him the second day he arrived in Cordella and that was three
days ago. When Lee got to work, he
grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at his desk. He tried to call Harry but it went directly
to voice mail. After an hour, Lee saw
Angie walk by his office.
“Angie,” Lee called getting
up from his chair and met her at the door to her office. “Have you heard from the admiral?” he asked
worriedly.
“No Lee. I haven’t and I’m a little worried as he
always checks in,” she replied noticing Lee looked worried too.
“I tried his phone an hour
ago and it went directly to voice mail.”
“Do you want me to try and
reach him?”
“No, I’ll try again in a few
minutes,” Lee answered as he rubbed his hand through his hair.
“Okay, Lee. Please let me know when you reach him.”
Lee nodded his head and
returned to his office while Angie continued on to hers. She put her things away and took a deep
breath. She had a feeling something was
very wrong.
((()))
Lee sat down at his desk and
tried the admiral’s phone...it went to voice mail again. He looked at his
computer and logged on to the internet and typed in the search line ‘country of
Cordella’. He searched the entire
Cordella website looking for information regarding the dedication of the new
school. Maybe not front page news but a
new school is something the country would be proud to show off. “Shit,” he shouted out loud.
Chip was getting a cup of
coffee and heard Lee so he went into Lee’s office. “What’s up?” he asked seeing how mad Lee was.
“We haven’t heard from the
admiral in three days. I called his
phone and it goes directly to voice mail.
So I decided to check the Cordella website to see when the dedication
was going to be held,” Lee replied.
“Come here on look what I found.”
Chip went over to Lee’s
computer. “Lee, I don’t see anything
regarding a dedication of a school. You’d think they would want people to know
about it. This isn’t good,” Chip
responded.
“I know,” Lee said and got up
from his desk. “I want to see that
invitation.” He and Chip walked to
Angie’s office.
“Angie, do you have the
invitation to the dedication? I would
like to take a look at it.”
“Sure Lee,” Angie replied and
pulled out of a file on her desk and handed Lee the invitation. “Is there a problem?”
Lee looked over the
invitation and had to admit it looked legitimate. Chip looked it over as did Angie and didn’t
see anything wrong with it. Frustrated
and worried Lee and Chip returned to Lee’s office.
“Did you try calling Edith? Maybe she knows something,” Chip asked.
“No, I was just going to when
you came in. She’s been out of the
country and unreachable for a few days,” Lee answered as he dialed her
number. The phone rang four times
before she finally picked it up.
“Edith,” Lee said tensely,
“How are you?”
“Hi Lee...fine and you?” she
replied sensing something was wrong by the tone of his voice.
“Okay. Edith, did you get an invitation from
Christina Ballard, President of Cordella, for a dedication of a new school with
the Nelson name on it.”
“No Lee. What are you talking
about? I’ve been out of the country but
did manage to get through all the mail there was no invitation to Cordella from
anyone.”
Sighing Lee replied, “That’s
what I was afraid of. Harry was invited
there by Christina Ballard for a dedication of a new school with the Nelson
name on it.”
“Lee, I assume she must
Christian Ballard’s wife. I heard he had gotten married but I didn’t know it
was to the president. I used to help raise money for the schools but when I
asked for a report on how the money was being spent, he couldn’t give it to me
so I stopped helping him. Cordella is a small country but doing well due to the
tourist industry which is another reason why I haven’t helped him. Is Harry in trouble?”
“I’m not sure but we haven’t
heard from him in three days.”
“What do you want me to
do...go down there?”
“No Edith, stay put. Maybe he’s having a good time and will call
back when he gets my messages,” Lee told her not wanting to worry her. “I’ll let you know when he calls.”
“Thanks Lee,” Edith responded
softly and hung up the phone.
Chip looked at Lee as he
slammed his phone down on the desk. “She
hasn’t heard from Christian in quite a few years and didn’t get an
invitation. She stopped helping raise
money for the schools when he couldn’t account for how the money was
spent. I’m going down there. He can be pissed at me for checking up on
him,” Lee said tersely.
“When do we leave?” Chip
asked as he could tell by the look on Lee’s face he wasn’t going to be able to
stop him.
“As soon as I can make
reservations,” Lee told him as he looked up flights on the computer and found
there was one leaving that afternoon.
“How soon can you be ready as
there’s one leaving in four hours from LAX...first class only,” Lee told Chip.
“As quickly as you can,” Chip
responded and watched as Lee secured two seats for that flight and two hotel
rooms.
The two men prepared to leave
with Lee stopping at Angie’s desk to let tell her what Edith told him and that
they were leaving for Cordella immediately.
“If we run into trouble,” Lee
said, “I’ll call and have you dispatch Chief Sharkey and Dr. Jamieson in FS-1. Could you ask Tommy to pick us up at my condo
for the drive to LAX?”
“Okay, Lee,” Angie answered
dialing the number for Tommy, “but please let us know what’s happening.”
“You know I will,” Lee
replied as the two men left the institute grounds.
((()))
Chip dropped Lee off at his
condo and continued on to his. They had
approximately thirty minutes to pack as it was a two-hour drive to LAX. Tommy was waiting at Lee’s condo as soon as
Chip pulled into his driveway.
“Thanks, Tommy,” Lee said as
they both got into car and barely had the doors closed when Tommy started to
drive away. Angie must have told him
they were in a hurry.
((()))
They made it LAX with no
problems only to be delayed on the ground for weather. They were finally airborne after leaving two
hours late. They landed in Cordella at
2100 hours and got their luggage. While
Chip hailed a taxi, Lee checked his phone for messages. “Damn,” he muttered under his breath when
there were none. He started to tell the
taxi driver to take them to the president’s residence but Chip stopped him.
“Lee, it’s too late to go
there. If there is a problem, we
wouldn’t be able to help the admiral as we don’t even know where we are. Why don’t we wait until morning, a few more
hours won’t make a difference. I don’t
know about you but I’m tired and hungry.”
Lee rubbed his hand on his
forehead. “You’re right Chip. Let’s get to the hotel and get something to
eat. We’ll leave early in the morning. Please take us to the Sunset Beach Hotel,”
Lee said to the taxi driver.
The driver loaded their
luggage and drove away from the airport dropping the men at the hotel in the
downtown area. Lee paid him and they
walked into the lobby and checked in.
The hotel was a little older but had all the modern amenities. Both men freshened up and found a small
restaurant down the street. Once they
had their meal, Chip paid the bill and they returned to the hotel. “See you in the morning about 0700?” Chip
said to Lee.
“Sounds good,” Lee responded
as he went into his room. He sat down on
the bed and checked his phone once again for messages. He got ready for bed but had a hard time
falling asleep as he sensed the admiral was in trouble.
((())
I can’t stand not knowing what day it is...what time it is, Harry screamed out loud but no one heard him. I’m tired of pacing....I can’t sleep...I need to talk to someone besides myself...and no more white. I’m going to break if I stay here any longer.
Christian stopped to see
Christina on the evening of the third day.
“What did you do with the man in the cell next to me,” she demanded.
“How do you know there was a
man in the cell?” Christian asked tersely.
“These walls are thin, I
heard you talking to him but I didn’t hear him answer. Where is he?”
“You don’t need to know
that,” Christian replied nastily. “Just
mind your business if you know what’s good for you. I can make you and your sister
disappear.” He slammed the door on the
cell leaving her standing there wondering what he meant by making her disappear.
He and John walked further
down the hall and down the stairs to the room where Harry was and found him
sitting on the bed. “Ready to talk?”
Christian asked Harry.
“No,” Harry replied knowing
that two sequences of number were needed.
He knew that the other set of numbers were safely stored in the Office
of the Secretary of Defense.
“Suit yourself;” Christian
replied curtly, “I already have the other numbers. I found the person who was in charge of
keeping the numbers and put him down here.
He talked after being here for a few months. You’ll eventually give me
the numbers,” he said harshly, “or lose your mind.”
John slammed the door closed
leaving Harry standing there shocked that Christian had the numbers. Or was
he just telling me that to get me to talk, Harry thought as he tried to run
his hand through his hair but the gloves made it hard to accomplish that. He started pacing again. He was afraid he was already losing his mind.
“Why did you tell him you
have the numbers,” John questioned Christian and his motives.
“You know that and I know
that but Harry doesn’t know that’s true.
It puts a doubt in his mind that maybe he should give them up to get out
of his prison,” Christian replied arrogantly as the two men returned to the
main house.
Christian went into the
living room and poured himself a drink. He’ll
break, he thought smugly seeing the look of disbelief on Harry’s face when
he told him he had the other set of numbers.
He downed his drink and went upstairs to bed.
((()))
Lee woke up early, quickly
took a shower and dressed in a pair of jeans, blue shirt and deck shoes. He went to Chip’s room and knocked on his
door. Chip met him at the door in a
t-shirt and shorts.
“Lee, its only 0600, I
thought we were meeting at 0700,” Chip said as he rubbed his hand over his
face.
“Sorry I was ready so I
thought you might be ready,” Lee replied guiltily.
“Come in and I’ll get ready,”
Chip responded as he opened the door.
Lee walked in and went over to the balcony and waited while Chip
showered and dressed.
“I’m worried too,” Chip assured
Lee as he paced in front of the balcony door.
“Any messages?”
“None,” Lee answered. “Let’s get some breakfast and see what we can
find out.”
Chip locked the door to his
room and the men took the elevator to the lobby. They walked outside and saw a fast food
restaurant down the street. Lee pointed
to the place, “Okay with you?”
“No problem, their coffee is
hot and strong,” Chip said as they walked to the restaurant and ate
breakfast. When they were finished they
walked back to the hotel and hailed a cab.
“The presidential residence,
please,” Lee said calmly.
“Yes sir,” replied the driver.
It was a short ride to the
grounds where the president’s house was located. The driver drove through the unlocked
gates. Lee and Chip looked at each
amazed that you could drive right in.
The two men got out of the
car, “Please wait,” Lee said to the driver.
“Yes sir,” he responded,
“it’s your money.”
Lee and Chip walked up the
stairs to the front door and rang the bell.
((()))
It was a little before
“Yes, he was pacing the room
in a circle and it didn’t look like he got much sleep and he didn’t eat dinner
either as the plate of rice was still there.”
Lisa brought out Christian’s
breakfast and saw John sitting there so she brought him out a plate. As they sat there eating, Christian noticed a
taxi had pulled up in front of the house.
“Are you expecting anyone,” Christian asked as Lee and Chip exited the
taxi.”
“No, why” John asked not
seeing the taxi or the men.
“Two men just pulled up in a
taxi and are walking up to the front door.
Answer the door and see what they want,” Christian told John.
John put down his fork and
removed the napkin from his lap and made his way to the front door just as the
bell rung. He opened the door and stared
at Lee and Chip.
“Hello,” Lee said
pleasantly. “We’re friends of Harriman
Nelson and wondering if we could talk to him.
He’s not expecting us but we decided to visit him while he’s staying in
Cordella.”
Just as John was about to
reply, Christian walked over to the door.
“Please come in. I’m Christian
Ballard and this is John Mandow.”
Christian stood aside letting Lee and Chip into the foyer.
“I’m really sorry you came
all this way but Harry left a couple of days ago. He said he was going to visit his sister and
tell her about the dedication since she was unable to attend the event.”
With surprised looks, Chip
responded, “Sorry to bother you. We
didn’t get that message. Thanks for your
help.”
“No problem, gentlemen,” Christian
said cheerfully, “enjoy your stay in Cordella.”
“Thanks,” Lee mumbled as
Christian opened the door and showed the two men out.
Lee and Chip returned to the
cab. The driver left the grounds of the
house and pulled out into the street. “Where
to now, gentlemen?” he asked.
“Is there access to the beach
from the road?” Lee inquired.
“Yes sir. Just a couple of miles down the road there’s
public access for boats and swimming.”
“Take us there,” Lee
instructed the driver.
As they drove past the house,
Lee looked it over. He knew that
Christian was lying about the admiral not being there. He had to get back into that house and find
him.
The driver turned off the
main road and drove down a long road to the beach access where he dropped off Lee
and Chip. Before Lee paid him he asked,
“Why weren’t there any gates or guards to stop us from entering the grounds at
the president’s house?”
“The president, Mrs. Ballard,
believes the house belongs to the people and wants them to visit her and her
husband. She’s a very outgoing person
and the country is thriving under her guidance.
Too bad she’s married to the guy who answered the door. He seems to think he’s in charge and not
her,” the driver volunteered.
“Thanks for your help,” Lee
replied and paid the driver giving him a generous tip.
Lee stood on the beach staring
out at the ocean. Chip knew he was
formulating a plan to get Harry back.
((()))
Christian and John returned
to the dining room and stood at the window watching as the taxi drove
away.
“Damn,” Christian said, “Did
you destroy all of Nelson’s belongings?”
“Yes sir,” John
answered. “I burned them the other
night.”
“What did those two really
want...Harry didn’t say anything about have friends here.”
“We’ll need to make sure the
entrance is guarded twenty fours hours now that his friends have arrived. I got a feeling we haven’t seen the last of
them.”
Resting his hand on his head,
Christian answered, “You’re right. I
don’t think they bought my story. I’ll
check to see if I can find out who they are.
If they’re friends of Harry, they might work at his institute.” He took out his phone, sat back down at the
table, looked at his breakfast and decided he wasn’t hungry anymore. He pushed
the plates away as he waited for the NIMR website to come up. It didn’t take him long to find out who they
were. “The dark haired one is Lee Crane,
captain of Harry’s sub Seaview. The other man is Chip Morton, the XO on
the boat.”
John looked at the pictures
of the Lee and Chip on the website. “I see trouble,” he commented.
“I agree. Now that they’ve arrived we’re going to have
to step up our plan to get those numbers.
I was hoping to keep Harry down there a little longer but I think he’s
beginning to crack,” Christian said letting out a deep breath.
“Let’s go outside,” Christian
said not wanting to talk in front of Lisa who he knew was in the kitchen
cleaning and waiting for them to finish.
“Lisa, clean up this mess,” he ordered as she promptly returned to the
dining room as Christian and John walked out.
She heard them talking to the two men that had come looking for the red
haired man. She knew where he was and
would try and help them find him.
The two men retreated to the
patio when Christian’s phone rang.
“It’s the premier,” he told John as he answered the phone.
((()))
Lee and Chip walked down to
the shoreline and noticed they could see the back of the house from the
beach. Lee guessed it would be at least
a mile walk the house. Neither one of
them were dressed for the beach and hot weather.
“Lee, what are you thinking?”
Chip asked as he rolled up his sleeves and wiped the sweat off his forehead
with his sleeve.
“The admiral is still
there. Did you see the look on their
faces when I said we’re friends of Harry and he wasn’t expecting us? They were surprised that we knew Harry was
there. Let’s walk to the house and see
if we can’t get in there,” Lee answered as he also rolled up his sleeves.
Chip wanted to go back and
change but knew Lee wouldn’t go without checking out the house first. They walked down the beach which wasn’t very
crowded at that time of the morning. They weren’t too far from the house when they
came across a boy skipping stones on the ocean.
Lee stopped to talk to
him. “Hi there, I’m Lee and that’s
Chip,” Lee said as he pointed to Chip, “you’re doing a great job of skipping
those stones.”
“Thanks. I’m Larry. The man with the red hair showed me how to do
it.”
“A man with red hair?” Chip
asked raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, he showed me how to
skip them the other day before they took him down to the basement,” Larry said
as he picked up another stone.
“They took him to the basement?”
Lee questioned as he stooped down to Larry’s level.
“Yeah, he was trying to get
away but Brad and John had him by the arms.
Nobody gets away from Brad...he’s big.
Mr. Ballard was there too.”
“Where’s the basement?” Lee
asked but before Larry could answer a woman’s voice called to him from the back
of the house.
“Larry, come here, I need
your help.”
“Sorry, gotta go. I have to
do my chores.”
“Hey Larry, can you keep a secret?” Lee inquired as he started to walk away from
Lee and Chip.
“Sure, I can. I keep a lot of secrets.”
“Please don’t tell anyone you
saw or talked to us. We’re going to
surprise the men at the house.”
“No problem,” Larry answered
and ran towards the door where the woman stood waiting for him. Lee was watching him all the way and noticed
he took a path to the back door of the house.
“Well we know Harry didn’t
leave,” Chip said frowning.
“We’ll just have to find
him,” Lee remarked as he continued walking to the house wiping the sweat out of
his eyes.
Lee and Chip made it to the
back of the house and looked around for an entrance to the basement but only
found the path that Larry used to get to the house. The sides of the path were overgrown with
tall bushes and shrubs. If Lee hadn’t watched
Larry enter the path, they would never have found it. They started down the path and came to a
fork. “Let’s stay to the right and see where that
takes us,” Lee said to Chip as they continued walking. They were almost to the end of it when they
heard voices talking ahead of them. “I
bet they’re on the patio,” Lee whispered to Chip who nodded his head. The two men crouched down behind some of the
overgrown shrubs and listened to what the men were saying.
((()))
Yes sir,” Christian answered,
“Mr. Premier, I’m very close to getting those numbers. I realize you need them
to set off the drones. I just need a
couple more days. Okay,” he said as he
hung up the phone. “Shit, we only have
until tomorrow to get the information or he’s going to make us pay. We have to get the number sequence for the
drones tonight. Damn, Alex Halder for
getting us into this. If he hadn’t
screwed up, we won’t be in this mess.”
“We?” John replied sharply,
“He was your uncle not mine. You left me
no choice but to help you, threatening to turn me in for stealing from the
school’s funds,” he said disgustedly. “What
if Nelson doesn’t crack...what the hell do we do?
“If we don’t get the numbers,
we’ll kill Harry and disappear. We’ll go
where no one can find us,” Christian replied.
“Let’s try and get the
numbers from him now,” John suggested.
“This way we have more time to get away.”
“No let’s wait just wait a
little longer,” Christian said maliciously.
“He needs a little more time down there.
We’ll start putting an escape plan into place just in case he doesn’t
talk.”
The two men entered the house
and went into Christian’s office just off the living room.
((()))
Lee and Chip stayed crouched
behind the bushes a little longer before Lee ventured out after not hearing any
voices.
“Well at least we know why
they kidnapped the admiral. They want
the drone sequence numbers to set off a war.
I bet the premier is the head of the PR,” Chip said uneasily. “The admiral must have told him that they
need two sets of numbers.”
“Knowing the admiral he did
but I’m worried about how they’re going to get him to talk. What have they done to him or going to do to
him?” Lee remarked unhappily. “Come
on,” he said urgently as he started to walk back down the path, “we have to
find the entrance to the basement.”
Chip grabbed Lee’s arm,
“Don’t you think we should get some backup?
We’re already outnumbered and if Brad is as big as Larry said he is; we
could be in trouble. I’m worried about
the admiral too but if we get caught what good will we be...nobody knows where
we are.”
“Chip, I know we should have
backup but there’s no time...they’re going to kill him...we don’t know when. It could be in an hour, two hours, or three
hours. I’m not willing to take that
chance. Even if we called for backup, Sharkey wouldn’t get here for at least
three hours. We have to move now. But I
do realize we need someone here to help us after we get the admiral
out. I’ll call Sharkey and have him
bring FS-1 here. I’ll tell him to bring
Jamie too. Will that satisfy you?”
“Yes, and we’ll have a way
home,” Chip replied as they walked away from the house to make the phone
call. Lee didn’t want to be heard
talking in case Christian and John decided to make their move now.
((()))
Lee dialed the institute
office first so he could let Angie know what was taking place.
“Lee,” Angie answered when
she saw his number. “Do you have the
admiral...is he okay...when are you coming home?”
Taking a deep breath Lee replied
softly, “No Angie we don’t have him.
Ballard made up a story telling us that he left for
“Okay Lee. Please let us know
when you find him,” Angie said her voice quivering.
Lee disconnected with her and
dialed up Sharkey’s phone.
“Hi Skipper,” Sharkey said
when he picked up. “Enjoying you shore
leave?”
“No Chief, I never got to
take it. The admiral’s in trouble and I
need you to fly FS-1 down here with Dr. Jamieson.”
“Sir, where is here and what
happened to the admiral?”
Lee explained where they
were, why the admiral was in Cordella and that he and Chip were going to rescue
him. After he finished, he gave Sharkey some
instructions. “The president’s house is
located not too far from the capital city which is near a harbor. I want you to fly a little north of there but
stay submerged. I don’t want to alert
anyone you’re here. I’ll call you when I
need you.”
“But sir, why don’t you wait
until we get there. I’ll be able to
help,” Sharkey insisted.
“Chief, we don’t know when
they’re going to implement their plan and I’m not taking a chance on
waiting. Mr. Morton and I will be
fine.” Lee disconnected the call before
Sharkey could respond.
“Damn, they can get into bad
situations without trying,” Chief muttered after Lee hung up. He drove to NIMR and Seaview. Jamie was waiting at the dock by the time
Sharkey arrived. When he saw all the
gear Jamie was bringing, he recruited Patterson and Riley, who were on guard
duty, to help them load the gear and prepare FS-1 for launching. They both wanted to accompany him but Sharkey
told them there wasn’t enough room for all of them.
Once Sharkey and Jamie were
aboard Seaview, Sharkey pulled a map from the plotting table making a
note on where they were going. He called
Trish at the communication center and gave her his flight route in case there
was a problem. He would find out where
the harbor was once he was close to Cordella.
After all the gear was loaded,
Sharkey and Jamie boarded FS-1 and strapped in for the three-hour flight. “Pat, all green?” Sharkey asked into the
throat mike.
“Aye Chief, all green and
ready to launch,” Patterson replied.
“Okay launch,” Chief answered
and waited for the docking doors to open. He slowly guided the small sub out
the doors and headed to the surface.
Patterson closed the docking
doors and he and Riley headed back topside to finish their guard duty.
((()))
Chip felt a little better
that back up was on its way but still frustrated, “We don’t have any guns or
weapons to stop them.”
Lee looked around the area
and picked up two large thick branches from a fallen tree. He took a knife from
his pocket and cut away the small twigs making a clean club. “These worked for the cavemen, we’ll have to
make them work for us,” he said with a wry grin.
Chip returned his grin, not
surprised that Lee had a knife on him, took one of the branches and followed
Lee as they looked for the path that led to the basement.
((()))
Lee and Chip returned to the
original path looking for one that would lead to the basement. They walked a little way down the path when
Chip stopped and moved some of the brush away from another path. He whistled to Lee who was ahead of him. Lee backtracked to where Chip was standing.
“I bet this is the path,”
Chip whispered.
Nodding his head, Lee
whispered back, “I’ll go first. We know
there’s a guard down there so be careful.”
“Okay, Lee.”
Lee cautiously started down
the path coming to a stairway leading underground. “Chip, stay here until I signal you it’s
okay to come down. No sense both of us
getting hurt or killed,’ Lee told him as he headed down the stairs. He got to the bottom and was surprised to
find there wasn’t a guard until he saw a huge man come down the hall. He spotted Lee and charged him pushing him
into the stone wall. Lee banged the back
of his head on the wall causing him to see stars. The guard took a swing at Lee and connected
catching him in the jaw. Lee pushed him
away and managed to get a punch in but the guard was unfazed. The guard had his hands around Lee’s throat
when he saw the guard’s eyes suddenly rolled back into his head and fall to the
ground. Chip had clobbered the guard on
the back of the head knocking him out.
“Thanks bro,” Lee said as he
stood there catching his breath and rubbing the back of his head checking to
see if there was any blood. “Larry
wasn’t kidding when he said he was big.”
“You okay, Lee” Chip asked
seeing a nice bruise forming on his friend’s check and small trickle of blood coming
out of his nose.
“I’m fine,” Lee answered as
he rubbed his jaw making sure it still worked and wiped away the blood. “He just got a lucky punch.”
What Lee and Chip didn’t know
was the guard landed on his radio triggering the button to the ‘on’ position. John had left his radio in the dining room
after breakfast and never returned for it.
Lisa heard the static and wanted to help whoever was in the basement so
she turned off the radio and hid it in a cabinet so Christian and John wouldn’t
find it.
Lee and Chip walked further
into the basement and noticed the boarded up cell. Lee tried the door and found it
unlocked. “Stay out here while I check
inside,” Lee said to Chip.
Lee slowly opened the door to
the cell and found it empty. He looked
around and saw some clothing lying on the floor. “Chip, come in here,” he said as he walked
over to the clothes and picked them up.
“These are the admiral’s clothes.”
“Yes but where is the
admiral?” Chip asked worriedly. “Let’s
drag the guard’s body in here so whoever comes down here will think he’s gone.”
“Good idea,” Lee concurred as
the two men dragged the body into the room.
There was sheet on the bed, so Lee ripped it into strips and tied up the
guard’s hands and feet and then applied a gag.
Christina heard the commotion
in the cell so she went to the bed and pulled the pillow away from her hole. She looked in the cell where she saw Brad
tied up and two men. One of the men
looked hurt. Maybe they’re friends of
Harry, she thought and would take the chance they would help her
escape. “Psst,” she said through the
hole.
Chip looked away from
Lee. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes, where did it come from?”
Lee wondered as Christina tried again to get their attention. She took a chance and whispered through the
hole.
“I’m back in the
corner...there’s a hole in the wall...please come over,” she pleaded.
Lee and Chip walked to the
back corner and saw the hole in the board and an eye looking back at them.
“Who are you?” Lee
whispered. “Do you know where Harry
is?”
“I’m Christina Ballard,
president of Cordella. My husband
Christian locked me up in here, please get me out.”
“Okay, give us a minute,” Lee
responded as the two men left that cell and went to the next one. Lee noticed
the lock on the door and took his set of lock picks from his pocket as Chip
just looked at him.
“A good spy never leaves home
without his tools,” Lee said sheepishly as he picked open the lock on the door.
As they opened the door,
Christina was waiting for them. “I don’t
know who you are but thank you for opening the door,” she said happily. “What happen to Brad?”
“Madame President, I’m Lee
Crane and this is Chip Morton. We work
for Harry,” Lee told her. “Brad lost the
fight and is locked up in the other cell.”
“Please call me Christina and
have you found Harry?”
“Yes ma’am and no we haven’t
found him. We were hoping you could tell
us where he was,” Lee said as he stood part way in the cell and the hall. Chip stood behind him making sure no one was
coming.
“Christian took him away a
few days ago. I don’t where. I’m sorry,” she said sadly.
“Why are you locked up if
you’re the president?” Chip asked.
Christina explained, “Christian’s
uncle, Alex Halder, failed on his mission with some drones. I’m not sure what those even are. Anyway, Christian was using the money he got
for the schools for other things. He got
caught and was going to go to prison when these men showed up and paid back
what he took but they now wanted something from him...information on these
drones. I refused to go along with him
so he put me down here. I’ve been down here for several months. He only lets me
out for official business but nothing more.”
“If you’re the president, why
don’t you have him arrested,” Chip asked tersely.
“Easier said than done as
he’s holding my sister hostage somewhere in the mountains. That’s all I know,”
Christina replied angrily. “I won’t do
anything that would jeopardize her life.”
“I’m sorry, we forgot that
you’re also a victim here,” Lee said apologetically. “We’re just worried about Harry.”
“I’m worried about Harry too. And he isn’t the only man Christian brought
down here. When they brought me dinner
one night, I kept the knife and carved out a hole in the wall so I could see
what they were doing. I peered through the whole and saw him. He was
dressed in a blue uniform and I watched them beat him up pretty badly. They
were asking him about some numbers while he was there, but he never
talked. They took him away before I
could ask him why he was here. When they put Harry in the cell, I was able to
see and talk to him.”
“Did they beat up Harry?” Lee
asked worriedly.
“Yes, from what I could tell
they beat him up pretty badly. I don’t
know how he even managed to talk to me as I could tell he was in a lot of
pain.”
“Damn,” Lee said sharply.
“Can I please get out of
here,” Christina begged. “I can’t take
it anymore.”
“We need to find Harry
first. If we let you out, they’ll know
we’re here. I promise we’ll let you go
as soon as we find Harry,” Lee told her.
“I’ll stay but please come
back for me,” she implored. “I don’t
want to do anything that will put Harry or my sister in more danger.”
“I promise we’ll come back,”
Chip reassured her. “We won’t lock the
door but please stay put.”
Just as Lee and Chip were
closing the door they heard a gunshot from another part of the basement. They ran to the other end and found another
set of stairs.
((()))
Christian and John were in
Christian’s office packing up the items they were going to take with them. All of a sudden Christian’s radio was filled
with static. He tried to clear it but
couldn’t get a clear channel.
“John, check your radio and
see if you get the same static,” Christian said. John looked in the living room but didn’t
hear or see it. He remembered he left it
in the dining room. He ran to the dining
room and looked on the buffet table but it wasn’t there. He was going to ask Lisa where it was when
Christian called out.
“John, what’s the problem,”
Christian yelled from the living room.
“Forget about it. Something must
be wrong in the basement. Let’s go down
there.”
John was going to the patio
door in the living room when Christian headed for his office so he followed him. John didn’t know there was a secret door
behind one of the bookcases. Christian
pressed a button on the side of the bookcase and it swung open revealing a set
of stairs.
Lisa was in the kitchen and
saw John looking for his radio. She had
a smile on her face when he couldn’t find it.
She waited until he was in the living room before making her way into
the foyer. Once she saw him go into
Christian’s office, she headed into the living room. She peered around the door looking into the
office catching Christian slipping through the door after John. She had accidentally found the secret door
when she was cleaning the bookcase. She
also knew there was a lock on the door.
When Christian shut the door behind him, she went over to the bookcase
and locked it. If Christian and John
needed to come back into the office, they would have to use the outside
entrance. I hope this helps who’s
ever down there, she thought and returned to the kitchen.
((()))
John and Christian made their
way down the dimly lit circular staircase.
Once at the bottom, they went to the room where Harry was stashed. John unlocked the door and Christian went
in. Harry had been sitting on the bed
but stood up when the door was unlocked.
“Are you ready to talk?”
Christian asked Harry.
“No,” Harry replied
defiantly.
“Well, you leave me no
choice,” Christian said and pointed his gun at Harry and shot him in the
stomach.
Harry looked at Christian as
he gasped in pain and fell to the floor.
“Let’s get the hell out of
here,” Christian said to John as they headed back to the staircase and ran to
the top. Once at the top Christian pushed
on the door but it refused to open.
“Damn,” he yelled. “The door must
have locked after us. We’ll have to go
back down the stairs and use the other exit.”
John turned around and
started back down the stairs but when he got to the bottom, he was hit in the
hand with a club sending his gun flying across the floor. The last thing he remembered was being hit on
the head.
((()))
Lee and Chip reached the
stairs, ran down them and saw the door open to another room along with a
staircase. They ran into the room and
saw Harry lying on the floor. Lee ran
over to him as Chip stood in the doorway.
“Lee, there’s somebody on the
other staircase,” Chip said as he heard voices coming down the stairs.
“Wait at the bottom and see
if you can catch them off guard. I’m
going to check on the admiral,” Lee told Chip.
Lee ran over to the admiral
seeing his blood spreading across the white jumpsuit. He knelt over him and mumbled softly, “Please
stay with me, Harry. I can’t lose you too.”
Harry opened his eyes and
gave Lee a weak grin, “Son, you haven’t lost me yet.” He passed out as Lee unzipped the jumpsuit
checking to see how bad the wound was and also noticed the bruises he received
from the beating. He knew it was pretty
bad and needed Jamie. He hoped Sharkey
had arrived in the area.
While Lee checked on the
admiral, Chip waited in a small alcove just off the bottom of the
staircase. When John stepped off the
last stair, Chip hit his hand causing him to drop his gun. John looked at Chip as he clobbered him with
his club. John fell to the floor where
Chip pushed him out of the way. Christian
was half way down the stairs when he saw Chip hit John.
“Stop or I’ll shoot and drop
the club,” Christian told Chip who complied with Christian’s order.
Christian pointed the gun at
Chip and motioned him to go in the room with Lee and Harry.
“You should have stayed out
this...you leave me no choice but to shoot you too...they’ll never find you
down here,” Christian said to Lee and Chip.
Lee was still kneeling next
to the admiral as Chip stood alongside of him.
Neither man moved as Christian took aim at Chip. Lee knew he wouldn’t be able to shoot both of
them so he could maybe knock him down before he could get off another shot. As
Christian pulled the slide back to chamber the round on his 45, when they heard
a shot and he fell to the floor. Lee
looked at Chip wondering what happened when Christina appeared in the doorway
with the gun John had dropped.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stay in
the room like I promised,” Christina told them as Chip took the gun from her
hand. “I didn’t want them to hurt you
too.”
“I’m glad you didn’t listen,”
Lee said breathing a sigh of relief.
“Chip, go outside and see where Sharkey is. Hopefully they’re not too far away...the
admiral needs Jamie.”
“Okay, Lee,” Chip replied as
he went by Christina as she went and knelt down next to Lee and Harry.
“Nice shot,” Lee said has he
tried to stop the bleeding on Harry’s stomach.
“I never told Christian my
father taught me how to shoot a gun,” Christina answered. “I’ll go up and call an ambulance.”
“Thanks,” Lee replied
continuing to apply pressure to Harry’s wound.
“Hang on Harry, help's on the way,” Lee whispered but got no response
back.
((()))
Chip ran up the stairs and
outside only to run into Lisa who was coming down the path to the basement. He stopped, pulled out his phone and
frantically called, “FS-1, come in FS-1.”
“FS-1,” Sharkey finally
replied.
“Chief where are you...how
soon can you be at the dock near the presidential residence?”
“Mr. Morton, I’m submerged
about one hundred yards off the dock.”
“Surface and make your way to
the dock. I’ll be waiting for you, make
sure Jamie brings everything you can carry.
The admiral’s been shot and it’s not looking good.”
“Yes sir,” Sharkey replied
quickly, “we should be there in five minutes.”
Chip continued onto the dock
waiting for FS-1 to surface so he could help them tied down the little sub and
grab some of the gear.
Christina came outside for
the first time in months. She saw Lisa
and ran over to her. “We need to call
for an ambulance,” she told her. Lisa
quickly ran back to the house and made the call while Christina ran down to the
dock and helped Chip, Sharkey and Jamie carry the supplies they unloaded from
the sub.
They ran back down the path
with Christina in the lead into the room where Lee was still by Harry’s
side. Jamie ran to the other side and
checked Harry’s vitals which weren’t very good.
He then examined the wound in Harry’s stomach. “Lee, the bullet is still in there,” Jamie
informed them after finding no exit wound.
“He needs to be in a hospital where I can operate on him.” He went into one of the kits they brought
down and applied a bandaged tightly to Harry’s stomach trying to stop the
bleeding. He also noticed the bruises to
his ribs and face. “He’s been beaten
which isn’t helping his condition,” he stated angrily.
Christina chimed in, “There
should be an ambulance on the way...it should arrive shortly since it’s coming
to the president’s residence.”
Jamie looked at Lee. “Jamie, this is Christina Ballard, president
of Cordella,” Lee said to him. “I’ll
explain later.”
Sharkey and Chip picked up
John who was just coming too and brought him to the room with Brad and locked
him in there.
As soon as John was locked
up, Lisa came down the stairs with the paramedics. Chip led them to the room where Harry was
under Jamie’s care. He had stabilized
the admiral’s condition as much as possible before having him loaded in the
ambulance. Lee and Jamie jumped in the
back.
“I’ll see that the rest of
your men get to the hospital,” Christina told Lee before the ambulance drove
away. “Follow me,” she said to Chip and
Sharkey as they ran up to the house and the garage. Lisa had gone ahead and grabbed a set of keys
for the car where she met Christina at the garage and handed her the keys. “Thank you,” Christina said to her as she
took the keys. She quickly got into the
car with Chip and Sharkey. By the time
they got to the hospital, the admiral was already being prepped for surgery.
((()))
Lee was already pacing in the
waiting room when Chip, Sharkey and Christina found him.
“Is Doc operating on the
admiral?” Sharkey asked.
“No,” Lee answered
gruffly. “But he’s assisting the
surgeon.”
Christina went over to Lee
and put her hand on his arm. “He’s in
good hands, Lee. I know the surgeon
personally.”
Rubbing his hand on his
forehead, Lee replied softly, “Thanks for all your help.”
“I’m sorry Harry got involved
in this mess with Christian,” Christina told Lee. “Maybe if I had gone along with him, this
wouldn’t have happened.”
“Please don’t blame
yourself,” Lee told her as he patted her hand.
“Christian would have found a way to get him down here anyway.”
“Skipper, how about some
coffee?” Sharkey asked not knowing what else to do.
“Good idea,” Chip replied.
“I’ll show him where the
cafeteria is,” Christina volunteered as she finally got to introduce herself to
Sharkey as they walked away. She also
wanted to check in with Lisa and make arrangements for Lee, Chip, Sharkey and
Dr. Jamieson to stay at the presidential residence while Harry was in the
hospital. He would also be staying there
once he was released from the hospital.
She also called the police and told them what had taken place at the
house and where they would find Christian, John and Brad. She also asked them to find out from John
where they had her sister and to go get her.
((()))
Chip sat down in a chair
while Lee continued to pace. “Lee,
you’re going to wear out the carpeting.”
“Sorry, Chip,” Lee replied as
he sat down next to him. “He just looked
so pale...he lost a lot of blood.”
“He’ll be okay...he’s a
fighter,” Chip tried to reassure Lee. He
didn’t know all the circumstances but knew that Lee had gotten very close to
the admiral since the death of Captain Bradley.** He knew they were more than just friends.
“I know,” Lee sighed.
“Can I ask you something?”
Chip asked nervously. “Why was the room
where they had the admiral all white...he was wearing a white jumpsuit with
gloves...everything was white even the plates and forks.”
“It’s called ‘white
torture’,” Lee responded quietly. “It’s
a form of emotional and physiological torture.
Instead of beating the person, electrocuting them or keeping them in a
small box, they are tormented with sensory deprivation and isolation.*** There is no sound...no contact with other
people...no color. They use it to get
you to confess or break. Sometimes it
can take a few days or months. Different people break at different times. They know enough about you to control
you. They can make you believe the
president resigns, or someone you trust has told them lies about you. You can
admit to things you’ve never even done just to get out of there. You begin to break...and once you
break...they have control.”
Chip looked at Lee but didn’t
have to ask how he knew what it was. By
the look on Lee’s face, he knew he was very familiar with it probably from one
of his ONI missions. Lee and Chip sat
there quietly until Christina and Sharkey returned with coffee for all of
them. They sat down next to Chip and
waited for the doctors to come out and let them know how the admiral was doing.
((()))
Harry’s three friends and
Christina had been sitting there for over an hour. Lee got up and started to pace again when he
saw Jamie and another doctor walking towards the group.
“Jamie, is he alright?” Lee
asked urgently meeting him before he got to the rest of them.
“Yes Lee, he’ll be fine. This is Dr. Dave Farris, he operated on Harry. No damage done to any of the major
organs. He’ll need to stay in the
hospital for a couple of days and I’m not going to let him fly home for a few
more days,” Jamie reported to Lee and the others.
“Thanks, Jamie. We’ll make arrangements for hotel rooms for
him as well as you and Sharkey,” Lee said.
“No you won’t,” Christina
piped up. “I’ve made arrangements for
all of you to stay at the president’s residence. There’s plenty of room and Lisa is getting
things ready right now.”
“We can’t impose on you,” Lee
replied honestly.
“I’m the president of
Cordella and I demand you stay there,” Christina insisted. “You’re not going against my wishes are you,
Mr. Crane?”
“No ma’am,” Lee answered with
a grin. “We’ll be happy to stay there.”
Lee turned back to Jamie and
Dr. Farris, “Can we see him?”
“Give us a few minutes to get
him settled in his room and we’ll see how he’s doing and if he’s up to
visitors,” Dr. Farris said to Lee.
“I’ll come and get you,”
Jamie told Lee knowing he would find his way into the admiral’s room anyway.
Christina turned to Lee and
the rest of the men, “I need to return home, I will send a car to pick you up
when you’re ready to leave.”
“Thank you Christina,” Chip
replied. “Chief, see to it that Mrs.
Ballard gets to her car and here are the keys to our hotel rooms. Would you mind getting the Skipper’s and my
luggage and bring it to the house?”
“Sure thing sir,” Sharkey
replied and escorted Christina out to the car.
She insisted they stop at the hotel and pick up the luggage before she
returned home.
((()))
While Lee and Chip were
waiting to see Harry, Lee called the institute and told Angie what had happened
to the admiral and that they would be staying in Cordella for a few more
days. Angie told Lee she would let Edith
know that the admiral was going to be okay.
Lee had just finished his call when Jamie approached them.
“He’s still sleeping but you can look in on
him, but please don’t wake him and you can only stay for fifteen minutes.”
The two men quickly stood up
and followed Jamie to the admiral’s room. They sat down in the chairs and
waited for him to awaken. They had only
been sitting there for a few minutes when he started to stir. Lee and Chip stood up and went to his
bedside. He opened his eyes and closed
them again re-opening them to find Lee and Chip standing next to his bed.
“Christina, is she alright”
Harry asked as he tried to sit up and realized that was a mistake and laid back
down.
“She’s fine,” Lee assured
him. “We just wanted to make sure you’re
okay before we left. Jamie's only
letting us stay for a few minutes. You
need your rest.”
Harry took another look at
Lee, “Are you two okay?” noticing Lee’s bruised jaw.
“We’re fine,” Chip said as
Jamie walked into the room.
He checked over the bandage
on Harry’s abdomen and other vitals.
“Harry, you need to rest. Lee and
Chip can come back tomorrow,” Jamie told him as he pushed the two men out of
the room. He looked at Lee’s face.
“You okay, Lee,” he asked as
he ran his hand down his jaw checking to see if it was broken.
“I’m fine,” Lee replied
quickly brushing Jamie’s hand away.
“I’m hungry and tired,” Chip
piped up, “How about we get some food and return to the president’s house.”
“I’m not hungry and I’m going
to stay with the admiral tonight,” Lee stated matter-of-factly.
“No you’re not,” Jamie
answered back sharply. “We’re all going
to the presidential residence tonight, no exceptions.”
He ushered the two men
towards the door where they ran into Sharkey who had brought the car back to
pick them up.
“Ready to go? Mrs. Ballard ordered me I’m to bring you
right back to the house. Dinner will be
on the table when we get there and I’m not going against the wishes of the
president,” Sharkey reported.
The three men smiled as they
left the hospital. “She sure can be
pushy,” Lee muttered to Chip as they returned to the house and got ready for dinner. Lee and Chip got to see Larry again and thanked
him for helping them find the admiral but did have a few questions for
Christina as to how the door got locked at the top of the staircase after
Christian and John went down it.
Lisa was serving dinner when
she heard Chip ask Christina about it.
“I locked it,” she said surprising all of them. “I accidentally found that secret door when
I was cleaning the bookcase. I opened it
and looked down the stairs but never went all the way down there. I noticed when I closed it there was a lock
on it. So when John went to look for his
radio, which I hid, I followed him back to the office. After he and Christian went down the stairs I
locked the door. I knew if someone was
down there, Christian and John would have to get by them and they would stop
Christian and John. I wanted to let you
out Miss Christina but they threatened to hurt Larry so I couldn’t do
anything.”
Christina got up from the
table and gave Lisa a hug. “Thank you,
Lisa. If you hadn’t locked them down
there, I might have never gotten out of there and Harry, Lee and Chip would
have been killed. Besides, I never knew
that there was a secret door.”
After they finished dinner,
everyone was exhausted as it had been a long and stressful day so Christina
showed them to their rooms. She was also
very happy to return to her room after being locked up. She enjoyed looking out the window seeing the
moon and stars.
((()))
Harry was released from the
hospital two days later and Christina made sure he was settled in his room on
the main floor before she left for an official meeting downtown. She left instructions with Lisa to make sure
he didn’t get out of bed. Jamie smirked
at Harry when Lisa made him lay back down when he did try to get up.
After two days, Harry had
been taking short walks around his room and the main floor of the house. He had joined Christina and his men in the
dining room for lunch but he wanted to talk to Lee alone so after lunch, he had
Lee help him walk out to the patio. They
sat there for awhile before Harry decided he wanted to take a walk down the
path to the dock.
Lee helped Harry up and they
slowly made their way down the path and to the dock. Harry stood at the end watching the waves lap
against the dock.
Since they were alone, Lee
used the admiral’s first name, “Harry, is everything alright?”
“I almost broke,” Harry said
quietly. “I couldn’t stand the
silence...I just wanted words...I screamed and no one heard me. Do you know why Christian lured me down
here?”
“Yes, Chip and I heard John
and Christian talking on the patio about how they took over from Vice Admiral
Halder only he was selling the information to the PR. The Premier wanted the information the day he
shot you. After Christian killed you,
they were hoping to disappear believing the PR would never find them,” Lee
replied seriously.
“Christian said he had the
other set of numbers. Was that true or
did he just tell me that so I would break?”
“From what Christina told us,
yes, he somehow got the other numbers as he brought a man down there before
you, he beat him up and took him away. I
presume they used the ‘white torture’ on him and he broke.”
“Shit,” Harry swore, “If I
had given him my numbers...”
“Harry, you didn’t so don’t
worry about it.”
Harry turned to Lee and
looked him in the eyes. “You know
exactly what I’m going through don’t you?”
“Yes sir, I do. It’s almost better to be beaten or tortured
in some other way as you can escape into unconsciousness and not worry about
breaking,” Lee replied frankly.
Harry turned and started to
walk back towards the path, “How did you find me?”
Lee smiled at Harry as he
answered, “Larry. I tried calling you
for three days and you never returned my messages so I got worried and checked
out the country of Cordella. I know a
school dedication isn’t front page news but it is something to be proud of and
I couldn’t find a damn thing about it on their website. I knew something was wrong so Chip and I flew
down here. I was willing to take my
chances at you being pissed with me if I was wrong. Chip and I paid a visit to Christian who made
up some cock and bull story about you leaving after the dedication to tell
Edith about it since she couldn’t come. I checked with Edith and she knew nothing
about a dedication. After we left the house, we went down to the beach and saw
Larry skipping stones across the water. He was doing a great job and we asked
him where he learned how to do it, he said a red haired man showed him how and
that he saw them take you into the basement.
So Chip and I went into the basement where we ran into Brad.”
Harry stopped at the end of
the dock, “Is that where you got the nice bruise on your jaw?”
“Yes, he got a lucky punch in
until Chip hit him with his club.”
“Club?” the admiral asked
curiously and started up the path.
“We had no weapons, so I
found a couple a thick tree branches, cleaned them up and we used them as our
weapons,” Lee admitted.
“Well, they worked,” Harry
replied amused at Lee’s resourcefulness.
“Please continue.”
“After we found the cell you
were in, we heard a noise from the back of the room. We went to the back and found the hole
Christina a carved in the wood. She told
us who she was and asked that we get her out.
I picked the lock and she told us you had been there as well as the other
gentleman. We were going to take her out
when we heard a gunshot. We found the
room where you were but no one was there and no one got by us. Chip saw the staircase and heard Christian
and John on it but the door had been locked by Lisa. John came back down the stairs only to be
knocked out by Chip. Christian returned
to the room where you were and was going to shoot both Chip and I when he fell
to the floor. Christina had found John’s
gun and shot him.”
By the time Lee had finished
telling Harry what had transpired they were back at the house. Christina along with Chip, Jamie and Sharkey
were somewhat worried since they had both disappeared without letting anyone
know where they had gone.
“I needed to talk to Lee
alone,” Harry told them as he sat down on a chair in the living room. “I’m lucky to have old friends and new
friends looking out for me. I guess
everyone at sometime will need a little help from their friends.”
((()))
After spending four days with
Christina, Jamie okayed Harry to fly back to
“Larry, would you like to see
the inside of her?” Lee asked knowing Harry wouldn’t mind.
“Yes Mr. Lee. Could I please?”
Larry replied excitedly.
Once everything was stowed
aboard, Lee picked up Larry and handed him to Sharkey through the back hatch. Christina and Lisa stood on the dock hoping
they could see the inside too. Harry
noticed the looks on their faces.
“Lee, I think you have two
more people who would like to see her too,” Harry said smiling.
Lee made sure the two women
had no trouble getting through the rear hatch and he and Chip joined them
before Harry and Jamie would board.
Lee told them that Harry
designed and built the flying sub which impressed them even more. He showed them the controls and explained to
them how they worked. Lee started her
engines much to the thrill of Larry. Lee
helped them off the sub and onto the dock.
Chip also returned topside while Jamie went to prepare the bunk for
Harry.
“Thank you for you all your
help and hospitality,” Harry said to Christina as he gave her a hug. “If you’re ever in
“It was a pleasure to meet
you Harry. Please come back and visit
us,” Christina replied giving Harry, Lee and Chip a quick peck on the
cheek. Harry tousled Larry’s hair
before he boarded the sub.
Chip helped Harry board FS-1
and wasn’t happy he would have to be strapped into the bunk for the ride
home. When Lee came aboard, he secured
the rear hatch and sat down in the pilot’s seat while Chip strapped into the
co-pilot’s seat. Jamie gave Lee the okay
that Harry was strapped in, he belted himself and Lee slowly eased FS-1 away
from the dock. He piloted out into the
ocean before going airborne after being cleared the tower at the airport. He could see the three people on the dock
waving to them as he flew over the president’s house.
((()))
Even though Harry protested
being in the bunk, he fell asleep about an hour into the flight. Lee submerged into the channel at NIMR a
couple of hours later and docked her in Seaview. Once the docking doors were closed,
Kowalski and Patterson opened the hatch and helped the admiral out of the
sub. Jamie had arranged for a car to
bring the admiral to
Angie and Wanda were waiting
on the dock when they brought the admiral out of the Seaview. Both of them were glad to see that he was
okay as well as the rest of the men.
They went with him to
Lee was the last to
leave. “Good night Admiral,” Lee said
quietly. “I’m glad you’re back safe and
sound.”
“Me too, son and thanks for
coming to get me,” the admiral answered gratefully.
“Anytime sir,” Lee replied
with a smile as he left the admiral’s room.
The End.
Author’s Notes and
Credits:
*Cordella is a fictional
country on the western side of
** See the story “The
Reason Why”.
***White torture - http://listverse.com
and www.hrw.org
“The Machines Strike Back”
– Written by John and Ward Hawkins,
Directed by Nathan Juran, original airdate was
Thank you Christy for your
invaluable help.