New Atlantis
A noise outside his room woke Ortiz. He groggily looked at his watch which
he had neglected to take off when he went to bed. It was a little after eleven.
His door opened.
"That you, Brody?" he called. He laughed to himself. He knew Brody would
strike out with Hitchcock. Of course, there was no accounting for that woman's
taste. She had married that reptilian Kreig. "Brody?" he repeated and started
to roll over when suddenly he was yanked from the bed. The move startled
him. He had barely regained his senses when sharp, cold steel pressed into
his neck. He vaguely remembered Brody was mad at him but this seemed entirely
uncalled for.
He stole a glance at the man that stood behind him. His assailant was a little
smaller than he was but incredibly wiry and strong. He was dressed all in
black. He even wore a mask but in the light that flooded in from the hallway
Ortiz could see part of his face. He knew that face "Sh---"
"You don't know me or I'll have to kill you," a hardened voice hissed and
the knife bit deeper into the soft flesh under his chin.
"I don't know you," Ortiz agreed.
The man just grunted and shoved him toward the door. Ortiz put up no resistance.
He could feel a trickle of blood roll down his neck and onto his chest.
Out in the hallway they met another man clad in black. "Nobody else down
here." The second man had checked the rest of the sleeping quarters. "Where's
the rest of 'um?" he demanded of Ortiz.
Ortiz was not inclined to cooperate. "Don't ask me. I was asleep," he grouched.
The knife dug deeper into his neck and he became inclined to cooperate. "Rec
room maybe." He swallowed hard. He could feel more blood running down his
neck.
"Nice outfit," the second man laughed. Only then did Ortiz realize he was
clad only in his underwear but not having his throat slashed seemed more
important than fashion to him at the moment. The man with the knife shoved
him forward. He assumed he was to take them to the rec room. He couldn't
see that he had any other choice. Three separate little trails of blood tickled
as they made their way down his body and splashed in drops onto the deck.
Out on the main deck he led them aft to the rec room/mess hall. He could
hear a commotion on the bow but dared not look around too much. As they passed
the bridge tower he saw two blackclad men standing over the GELFs on duty.
"What do you want?" Ortiz had to ask.
The second man elbowed him hard in the side causing him to groan and double
over. The knife tore deeper into his flesh for a minute till the man holding
him adjusted his hold and pulled him back up. He was losing more blood now
and starting to feel lightheaded. He hated feeling this helpless but all
he could do was gasp for breath and try to remain upright to keep the knife
from his gullet.
They were joined by a third man when they reached the rec room. The second
man shoved the door opened and stepped inside. One of the GELFs was playing
the piano while four others and one human sat around and watched. They never
heard a thing till the door was kicked in and a man announced, "Listen up!"
Ortiz was pushed into view. "Do as you're told or we slit his throat the
rest of the way."
There was an
impressive amount of blood covering Ortiz by this time. Momentary confusion
overtook the GELFs but Lucas took command. "Okay. Okay. We'll do what you
want. Do what they say," he told the GELFs. "Offer no resistance."
"Smart boy," the man said. "Everybody stand up real slow like and put your
hands behind your back just like in the cop movies. Nobody try anything and
nobody gets hurt."
"What about Ortiz?" Dagwood argued. "He looks hurt."
"Well, anybody tries anything and he'll be the first to die," the man promised.
"Just cooperate, Dagwood," Lucas advised.
The third man passed among them with steel re-enforced tape and bound their
hands behind them. Then he grabbed Lucas and put a knife to his throat. He
shoved Lucas toward the door. Lucas stole a look at Ortiz as they passed.
He couldn't tell if he was conscious or not. The second man signaled for
the GELFs to follow. They complied. He followed them out.
The man with Ortiz shifted his weight again. "You alright?" he whispered.
"Been better," Ortiz said softly.
"Keep on pretending to be out and don't worry I'm a good half inch from the
jugular."
"Thanks," Ortiz muttered.
On the bow of the ship Katie and Brody ran headlong toward the men who overran
the ship. The sudden flood lights had momentarily blinded and confused them.
Martin jumped from the shadows and grabbed two of the men by the backs of
their shirts and tossed them overboard. A GELF called Tobias came up from
the engine room and joined the fray. This rattled the men farther. They were
told the GELFs were artists and musicians. No one remembered they were originally
designed as soldiers. The woman captain proved no pushover either as she
raced toward them. One of the men became completely unnerved and pulled out
a gun.
Brody saw the gun first and threw himself in front of Hitchcock. A blue light
shot from it and exploded into his left ribcage. He was knocked two feet
back into her and they both crumpled to the deck. The burning sensation was
fierce and he cried out in pain before he lost consciousness.
Hitchcock was astounded. She'd known that blast was meant for her. Things
had seemed to be in slow motion. She'd seen the gun go off and knew she couldn't
avoid being hit. She'd been certain she was going to die when all of a sudden
Brody was there and took the hit for her. She'd felt the consciousness leave
him as he fell into her. He was like a dead weight on her now. She smelled
burned clothing and burned flesh. She unbuttoned his shirt. He had a bad
burn the size of a grapefruit on his stomach but he did not appear to be
bleeding profusely. As hard as he'd been hit, that weapon was on stun. That
was a high priced gun for reef huggers and since when did reef huggers use
guns?
"ATTENTION CAPTAIN HITCHCOCK," one of the intruders shouted into a bullhorn.
A powerful light was shined onto a bleeding Ortiz. A man had a knife
to his throat. Another man had a knife to Lucas' throat. Some of the GELFs
were also in custody and were held at gun point. "AT THE RISK OF YOUR CREW
I SUGGEST YOU SURRENDER."
She couldn't see where she had much choice.
"WE HAVE NO WISH TO HARM YOU. SURRENDER PEACEABLY AND YOU WILL ALL BE RELEASED
UNHARMED."
"It looks like some have already been harmed," she yelled back in frustration.
"CONTINUED RESISTANCE IS FUTILE AND CAN ONLY RESULT IN THE LOSS OF LIFE."
"Alright." Tears burned in her eyes. "I surrender."
"A WISE CHOICE. IF YOU AND YOUR CREW WILL KINDLY MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE LIFEBOATS
THIS WILL ALL BE OVER SOON."
"What are you going to do?"
"WE ARE GOING TO RETURN TO THE SEA WHAT YOU HAVE STOLEN FROM HER"
"You're going to sink my ship?" Katie fought to keep her fury from erupting
in tears.
"Are you crazy?!" Lucas yelled "The resulting spill will pollute these waters
for --------" The man that was holding the knife on him turned it around
and slammed the hilt into Lucas' temple. His knees sagged.
"LUCAS!!!" Dagwood screamed in fury. He ran forward.
The second man produced a hand gun. "Stop right there, Baldy. Or I'll drill
him." He turned the gun on Lucas.
"I'm okay, Dagwood," Lucas said, but his voice sounded groggy.
"INTO THE LIFEBOATS," the man with the bullhorn repeated.
"Go ahead," Katie told the GELFs near her. Brody was still out cold.
Anna made her way through the crowd. "I'm the medic," she said simply and
walked up to Katie. "Are you alright, Captain?"
"I'm fine but they really nailed him."
"So I see. We'd best do as they say. They appear to be quite trigger happy."
Katie had to laugh to herself. The GELFs were picking up human expressions
that were decades out of date from watching old movies.
Anna reached down and picked Brody up. A pain filled groan escaped him.
"Careful," Katie warned. She knew the GELF was more than strong enough to
lift Brody's weight but somehow she still felt worried. He'd taken this hit
for her. No one had ever done anything like that for her before. Not that
she'd ever let them.
The man that held Ortiz held him while everyone else boarded the two lifeboats.
Katie looked as closely at him as she dared as she passed. She wasn't sure
if he was dead or alive. He made no movement and blood washed down his chest.
One of the reef huggers read a list of "charges" while the two lifeboats
were lowered into the water. They were commanded to row away from the
Carlton.
"What about him?" Katie demanded frustrated at her inability to control the
situation. She stood in the lifeboat and pointed to Ortiz.
"When you are a safe distance," one of the reef huggers called. "He's our
insurance policy against any heroics on your part."
When the lifeboats were away the man hissed into Ortiz' ear. "I'm gonna throw
you in."
"That's what I figured," Ortiz said.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
The man pushed Ortiz off the ship. He fell part way but corrected into a
dive before he hit the water. It seemed to take great effort to get back
to the surface. He easily became winded and the water was cold enough to
stun him. He heard people calling him but he felt disoriented.
Katie stood up in the lifeboat. "He's not going to make it," she stated and
dove overboard and swam toward him. She was a strong swimmer and had been
a lifeguard in high school. She knew if he panicked he'd be strong enough
to drown them both. She swam to within an arms' length of him.
"Ortiz," she hollered. "Miguel." He turned toward her." Are you alright?"
She used her command voice on him. He hadn't yet panicked. She wouldn't give
him that option.
"C-c-cold," he shivered.
"You're tired too. I'll help you." She swam up to him. "Just relax. I'll
tow you in." She slipped her arm around his neck in the classic lifeguard
hold. She took care not to rub against his wound. His body did not relax
and make the tow easier but he did not fight her.
When she finally reached the boat Anna reached out and pulled him in. She
immediately wrapped him in thermal blanket. Katie pulled herself onboard.
Anna also handed her a blanket.
"I'm a baked potato again," Ortiz made an attempt at humor but his voice
was very weak.
Anna had cut Lucas free. Dagwood and the other GELFs broke their bonds
themselves. Dagwood held a cold pack from the emergency first aid kit to
Lucas' bruised temple.
Lucas leaned over to Ortiz. "You okay?"
"This your nightmare or mine?" Ortiz asked.
Lucas squeezed his shoulder encouragingly then got out of Anna's way as she
began treating Ortiz' wound.
Katie sat wrapped in her blanket staring helplessly at her ship. Brody had
regained consciousness but he was very sore. He forced himself to move till
he sat next to her. He followed her line of vision to the men running on
the decks of the Carlton. "What are they doing?" he asked. It obviously
hurt to talk.
"Setting explosives. Are you alright?"
"Sure," he lied. "Why are they setting explosives?"
"They're gonna blow him up and sink him. Damn Reef huggers!" she spat.
Brody knew how bad he had felt at losing the shuttle. He could imagine how
much worse this was. With great effort he reached up and put his arm around
her shoulder. He half expected her to shake him off. She did not.
"It doesn't make sense," Lucas stated plaintively. "Why would environmentalists
blow up a tanker?"
"You heard them, Lucas," Katie yelled, her voice catching. "They want to
return to the ocean what we stole."
"But that's going to cause a spill of catastrophic proportions! It'll take
years for the ocean to recover from a disaster like that. People who care
about the environment would never condone such a move!"
"There probably won't be a spill," Katie said stonily.
"Katie, that's a super tanker," Brody reminder her gently.
"Yes, but all the oil is safely containerized. They did this about a month
ago. They blew up and sank the Clinton. Brother ship to this one.
There wasn't a spill. The containers held. I told you we're a lot more careful
now."
"I didn't hear anything about that," Brody said.
"No one did. The company kept it quiet. They want to come back and try to
locate and recover the product when the storm season is over. Any publicity
would attract salvagers."
The reef huggers now left the Carlton and got back into their own
boat. The fishing boat neatly turned and left the scene.
"That's not right," Ortiz remarked.
"That's the understatement of the year!" Katie spat angrily.
"I mean that boat."
"It's a reef hugger boat sure as hell." She was trying not to vent her anger
on him.
"But a boat like that doesn't have that kind of turning radius or that much
pick up for that matter. And you can hear its engines a mile off. I can barely
hear anything, can you?"
"Maybe they got a different engine," Brody suggested.
"My grandfather was a fishermen. I know boats like that. Any engine that
would work in it would be noisy."
"Who knows what kind of tricks the reef huggers have up their sleeves. Maybe
they are a lot more clever than we think they are." Katie was disgusted.
"Maybe it's the other way around," Lucas suggested.
"What do you mean?" Katie wanted to know.
"Maybe it's someone a lot more clever trying to make us think they are reef
huggers."
"Whoever the hell they are they are going to sink my ship." Katie closed
her fists in frustration. Her fingernails dug into her palms.
"I know who one of them was," Ortiz stated simply as Anna fussed with his
wound.
"You do?!!" Katie was astounded.
"The guy that stuck me was Lt. Shan."
"WHAT?" Lucas couldn't believe it. "He had a mask on."
"He spoke to me. It was him."
"Last I heard he was teaching self defense at the academy," Katie commented.
"Who would have thought he would have gone bad?"
"Are you sure he did?" Anna asked. "This is a very minor wound made for show
and not injury. He expertly caused almost no damage."
"Caused enough for me. Thanks," Ortiz argued.
Just then the night was ripped by a series of explosions the intensity of
which caused them all to take cover. The Carlton was sinking beneath
the waves and fiery debris rained down around them. The GELFs moved the two
boats farther away. No one said anything as they watched the super tanker
shudder and slip completely out of sight. Everyone pretended not to notice
Katie was crying.
Nathan Bridger was having breakfast with Kristin Westphalen. Crocker and
Kreig had already interrupted them with their reports. They had just started
on their second cups of coffee.
"Rupert Channing is arriving tomorrow," Kristin mentioned casually.
"Oh." Bridger raised his eyebrows as he took a sip of coffee. "The old flame."
"Nathan! For Heaven sake. I was practically Lucas' age. I had a school girl
crush. He was an older man that took interest in my ideas. It was very
flattering."
"I see," Bridger said noncommittally.
"Nathan!" She threw a napkin at him in frustration.
He caught it and was about to throw it back when something took his eye outside
the glass wall. "And just what are you looking at, you little spy?" he demanded.
She followed his gaze outside to the dolphin who was wearing his aqualung.
"Darwin," she smiled, truly glad to see him. "Now what do you suppose he
wants?"
"He wants us to go swimming with him. Which might not be such a bad idea.
I think you could use a break from this."
"Oh, Nathan, I don't know. I have a mountain of things to do and now with
Rupert coming ahead of schedule...."
"What are you afraid of," he teased, "that this place can't get along for
a few hours without you or that you're out of shape and can no longer keep
up with me and Darwin?"
Her eyes narrowed in momentary anger till she guessed his game. "Alright.
You're on. I'll meet you at the seaQuest docking bay in 30 minutes
with my suit on and you'd better be ready for the workout. I'll show you
this place from the outside." She got up and left.
He laughed then signaled to Darwin that they'd join him soon. He gulped down
his coffee and left for the seaQuest in quick time.
Commander Ford walked down the "street" in the inner ring. The science that
would go on here did not particularly interest him. Dealing with the scientists
that had been on the seaQuest had been enough to make him happy to
steer clear of them. Actually he would have been just as content to stay
on the seaQuest, but Bridger had ordered that all hands take shore
leave. He wandered from one place to another window-shopping. He had purposely
not noticed Henderson and O'Neill holding hands. Who did those two think
they were fooling anyway? He remembered all the times he had not tried to
initiate a relationship with Katie. He had been sure at the time that he'd
been doing the right thing. Now he wasn't so sure. He was spending his shore
leave alone just as he spent most of his time on seaQuest alone. He
had always preferred the solitude of his own thoughts but as he came upon
other couples he wondered if solitude was all it was cracked up to be. He
sat down at a small table at a sidewalk cafe and ordered a coffee. He looked
out at the ocean that wrapped all around this place. He saw Darwin cavorting
near the main building. "Crazy dolphin," he muttered, "preferring the company
of people."
"No crazier than a human that prefers the company of no one."
He looked up to see a very attractive young woman at the next table. He was
startled by her remark and motioned for her to join him without really thinking
about it.
"Thank you," she said with a smile as she sat down.
Her smile was infectious and he returned it.
"So you
can smile."
"Of course, I can smile."
"I wasn't sure. Your aura was so sad."
"My what?"
"Your aura and yes I'm afraid so."
"Afraid what is so?" He was confused.
"I'm one of those crackpot psychics. That's what you were thinking."
"Well uh.."
"I know I shouldn't be reading your mind. But it's just so easy down here.
I can't help myself sometimes. Oh I'm Jamie Leyton. I'm Dr. Levin's assistant.
And you're Commander Jonathan Ford of the seaQuest."
"You are psychic. I'm impressed."
"Don't be. You are wearing a name tag and seaQuest is the only game
in town, navily speaking. Is there any such word as navily?"
"Well, there is now. Would you like some coffee?"
"I'd love some," she smiled.
He motioned to the waitress.
Dr. Josh Levin and Dr. Wendy Smith walked around the vast interior of the
outer ring. He pointed out the view port to the pylons supporting the inner
ring. "All the pylons are hollow. Inside each one is a kind of giant shock
absorber. There isn't nearly as much seismic activity in the Atlantic as
there is in the Pacific, but there is some and these serve to stabilize the
complex against any and all such activity. Some vibrations around them would
be understandable but I feel a constant hum of motion and this is where I
feel the "wrongness" the most. "
"I feel it, too," she agreed. She was deep in thought.
He did not interrupt her. Both of them were startled when a forklift zoomed
up behind them. A burley construction worker jumped out of it. "Sorry, Doc.
This is a hard hat only area. It ain't really safe for you an' yer girlfriend
to be here I'm gonna hafta ask ya to move along."
"Alright, Jake. We're leaving," Dr. Levin said pleasantly. "Just showing
Dr. Smith around."
Jake watched as they walked down the corridor. When they were out of sight
he took a PAL type communicator out of his back pocket. "Caught Levin snooping
around again. I'm afraid we're going to have to do something about him soon."
Katie woke up at sunrise as she was in the habit of doing. One thing you
did miss on a submarine were sunrises and sunsets. No two were the same and
she never got enough of them. The beauty of the sunrise failed to cheer her
today. She had no inclination to even move as she watched the sky become
steadily lighter. When it was bright enough she surveyed her surroundings.
The morning was chilly and she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
William sat in the stern of the boat near the small motor. He was shirtless
as he had given his shirt to Ortiz. He seemed totally unaffected by the cold.
It was still too dark to see if he was even awake. Corrine was next to him.
She had no blanket but did not appear to be cold. In front of them Penelope,
Dagwood and Lucas huddled together. Dagwood held a blanket around Lucas.
He certainly was devoted to him.
There was a large ugly bruise on Lucas' temple that now enveloped his eye.
Lucas looked completely exhausted and slept soundly. He was a gutsy kid,
she decided, not the Richie Rich she had once thought him to be.
Her eyes then fell on Ortiz. She had always kind of considered him a kid
too. Maybe it was the fact that he always seemed to have such a bright outlook
on life. Even with all he'd been through he was able to joke about feeling
like a baked potato. He slept on the floor of the lifeboat. He slept fitfully.
Even with William's shirt and a blanket he seemed cold. He might be still
wet. Her clothes were still damp and her skin and hair were uncomfortably
salt encrusted. His neck was bandaged which seemed to add to his discomfort.
He pawed at the bandage but Anna, who sat near him, tucked his hand back
under the blanket. Anna was the most diligent medic she had even known. She
suspected it was some sort of latent maternal instinct that Anna was operating
on. All the GELFs were the same age but they all looked up to her as if she
were older and wiser. She was very interested in medical arts and read everything
she could lay her hands on about medicine and healing.
Next she looked up at Brody with whom she shared her blanket. He had his
arm around her shoulder and she rested her head against his chest. This was
not an altogether bad situation she laughed to herself. It did feel kind
of good to sit this way. She looked up into his face. It was now bright enough
to see the grimace of pain on it. Why did those damn reef huggers have to
shoot him? He was breathing through clenched teeth.
"Are you alright?" she worried.
"Sure," he lied. His voice sounded like a gasp.
"You are not. You're in a lot of pain. Did you sleep at all?"
"Some."
"Anna," she called in a low voice, "have you got anything in the first aid
kit for pain?"
"Are you in pain, Captain?"
"No. Lt. Brody is."
"I'm alright," he argued weakly.
"Drop the macho stuff. Burns are very painful. Let me see it." She carefully
unbuttoned his shirt.
"Make sure the wound is clean and dry, Captain," Anna advised. "I'm afraid
the only burn medication in this medkit is for sunburns but we must prevent
infection."
Katie noticed Brody did not look at the wound himself. Men could be such
cissies about this kind of thing. She neither saw or smelled any sign of
infection. She slowly replaced the bandage. He winced. He was looking a little
pale too. Anna handed her a some Tylenol and a small bottle of water. She
wished she had something stronger for him. She helped him take the pills.
"They should help," she smiled encouragingly. "You should try to get some
sleep. Can I make you more comfortable?"
"Just stay where you are," he smiled.
"Always a line with you!"
"That's not a line. Honest. You are more comfortable to lean against then
the gunwale."
"You sure know how to turn a girl's head with flattery, don't you?" she laughed.
"Must be my Irish charm," he smiled back but it did not veil his pain.
"Look, I want you to know I appreciate what you did. Jumping in front of
me like that. This was meant for me." She nodded at his wound.
"Just my competitive nature. I always want to be first for everything," he
joked.
"There's nothing wrong with being competitive. I happen to like competitive
men."
"Really?"
"Really. But if you're going to compete with me you have to be well rested
so get some sleep, huh?"
"Your wish is my command," he mumbled sleepily.
She gave in to the urge to reach up and give him a quick peck on the cheek.
His smile broadened but he closed his eyes. She felt his body relax as he
gave himself up to sleep.
All was quiet for about a half an hour then Lucas startled awake.
"It's alright, Lucas," she said kindly as he blinked the sleep away. "Take
it easy." She grabbed his arm.
"I was kinda hoping this was a nightmare," he admitted. "This lifeboat routine
is getting really old."
"I bet," she agreed. "How's your head?"
"My head's okay. but I'm starving."
"Maybe we can do something about that." Katie saw Corrine reach over and
open the supplies bag. She pulled out a ration pack and a small bottle of
water and handed it to Lucas. He ripped it opened and dug in. Since the GELFs
were obviously awake Corrine handed out rations and water to everyone. Lucas
started to pass one to Brody. "He had a pretty rough night. Let's let him
sleep."
"He looks bad," Lucas agreed "How is he?"
"Well, he's been shot," she said honestly. "You don't just spring back
from
that
type of injury. I'm sure he'll pretend he feels a whole lot better than he
does for a while."
"I hate it when people try to protect me from the truth," Lucas stated flatly.
"Me too," she agreed whole heartedly.
"People try to protect you because they care about you," Dagwood pointed
out.
Neither of them had a reply for that.
Nathan helped Kristin with her scuba tank. Then he picked up the Vocorder
and they went into airlock and eventually out into the open ocean. They swam
clear of the building and Darwin swam up and joined them. He flipped in two
tight circles and whistled happily. The tinny translation of Darwin's language
came over the Vocorder.
"Hubba hubba hubba
what a set of ho---"
Bridger was able to switch off the device before Darwin could complete the
sentence. As it was, Bridger saw his entire life flash before his eyes.
"Where DID he learn that kind of language?!"
"Well, I got another kid onboard this year. Real hard luck case, broken home,
in and out of trouble all his life but basically a good kid. Just misguided.
I bunked him with Lucas hoping that Lucas would rub off on him. I'm afraid
my plan backfired," he admitted sheepishly.
"And now you have a pair of hoodlums running around the ship?"
"Sometimes it seems that way. But it is good for Lucas to have someone closer
to his own age to pal around with. It can be really rough otherwise. I'm
finding that out myself," he admitted.
Darwin was once again spinning and demanding attention.
"If I turn this back on you'd better watch your language," Bridger warned.
".....line of pinchers," he was saying.
"What's he talking about?" Bridger wondered.
Kristin shrugged.
"Bridger come. Pretty Doctor come," Darwin insisted and shot off a ways.
Then turned to see if they were following. They were. He led them farther
away from the outer ring then dove down close to the ocean floor. "Line of
pinchers," he repeated.
They both had powerful flashlights. Kristin shone hers at the place Darwin
indicated. "Nathan! Look!" She pointed to the seemingly endless line lobsters
that walked beneath them. "The migratory march of the Atlantic lobster. Do
you realize how few humans have ever witnessed this? The presence of New
Atlantis has not disturbed them one lick!" She bubbled with enthusiasm as
they both watched for quite a while. "There must be thousands of them. Each
one following precisely the path of the one in front of it. Isn't this amazing?!"
"My kingdom for some butter sauce," Bridger quipped.
"Oh Nathan! Come on, I want to show you around some more."
They swam back toward New Atlantis and around the perimeter. Darwin kept
pace with them and teased them into playing with him. They were feeling a
bit winded by the time they reached the far side. They stopped to rest a
minute.
There was even less human activity over here and the ocean life was more
abundant. "Look" She pointed up to where a pair of manta rays flew gracefully
by overhead. "Not a care or a thought in the world," she commented.
"Oh, I don't know. I think he might have a thought," he laughed as the male
manta began a courtship dance.
They watched as the two continued the ritual oblivious to the voyeuristic
humans.
"Did I tell you about the lovesick manta we had try to mate with one of the
WSKRS?"
"Nathan, no," she laughed.
"I swear," he vowed. "Drove Ortiz crazy for two days trying to figure out
why his readings were so cockamamie."
"Ortiz," she stated, "I remember him. Dark eyes, great smile, feigned interest
in science."
"How do you know it was feigned?"
"His only interest was in biology," she muttered. "And dating my nurses.
I finally had to ban him from medbay."
"And you say the military was hostile to the science division," he teased.
"There's a lot to be said for biology." His gaze returned to the mantas.
"Now this is the way to show the lady around, Doc," the vehicle bay tech
bragged as he readied a small two seat observation sub or "OSSIE" for Josh
Levin and Wendy Smith. "Really get the feel of the place. See it the way
the little fishies do," the personable young man enthused stepping back so
they could get into the vehicle. Once they were inside he closed the hatch.
"Don't you keep her out too late," he admonished jokingly and shook his finger
at Levin.
"Yes, Dad," Levin promised.
The young man laughed and left the bay. He closed the inner hatch and pulled
the lever that let the small room fill with water. Once it was filled and
the pressure was equalized he opened the outer hatch and the tiny vehicle
shot out into the sea.
Jake walked up behind the technician. "Everything set, Mike?"
"Yep." Mike wiped his hands off on the towel he kept in his pocket. "That'll
be a one way trip. Guaranteed."
"Good. With the boss coming tomorrow that'll be one less problem to worry
about."
Katie must have dozed off because the sudden rocking of the boat startled
her awake. She opened her eyes to see Lucas standing shakily. He was trying
to get his balance. She grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry. I just had to stretch my legs. I was losing the feeling in my feet."
"I know what you mean but you'd better stay seated." She helped him sit back
down. "Everybody else okay?"
"Well," Lucas said quietly, pointing at Ortiz with his head. "I'm not sure
about him. I've never seen him so down." Ortiz sat in the bow of the boat.
His knees were drawn up to his chin and he was wrapped in a blanket. He rested
his head in his hand and looked forlornly over the gunwale to the endless
sea. "Maybe you should go talk to him," Lucas suggested.
"Because I'm the woman?"
"No, because you're the captain. Captain Bridger would do it."
She knew he was right. She got up and made her way forward to Ortiz. She
sat in front of him. "Are you alright? You're not sick are you?"
He shook his head. He glanced at her a minute. His dark eyes were full of
sadness.
"Look, Miguel," she began softly. "You've had a rough couple of days. I know
you're feeling bad right now. But you've got to hang in there. This is a
busy shipping lane. Another tanker left port 12 hours after I did. They are
smaller and slower than the Carlton but they should be along in a
few hours. Somebody else might get here even sooner. We're gonna make it."
She pushed a salty curl back out of his eyes. "You gotta believe that."
He nodded but didn't look terribly convinced.
She tried again. "Our orders were that when we got to port we would go on
to New Atlantis. What do you say I try and wangle some home leave for you
out of Commander Ford instead?"
He look interested. "You can do that?"
"I can try. If not him maybe we can get a medical leave out of Dr. Westphalen."
"Dr. Westphalen? She told me not to come to med bay unless I had a limb hanging
off."
"Why would she do that?"
"She seemed to think I was chasing the nurses."
"Were you?"
A genuine smile touched his lips. "Uh huh," he admitted.
"Lucky for you I didn't know about that. The Iron Maiden would have seen
to it you didn't have so much free time."
He smiled and then fumbled for words. "Com -- uh Cap..."
"I think under these circumstances, Katie is fine," she said gently.
"Katie. I'm really sorry. I've been such a pea brain."
"Not a pea," she teased pulling the blanket tighter around him, "maybe a
baked potato."
He laughed.
"That's more like it," she approved.
"Thanks, Katie."
She squeezed his arm encouragingly. "Keep the faith," she winked. "I'd better
get back where I was to keep us in trim."
He smiled and nodded. She crawled back to her original position wondering
how she stumbled upon the fact that thoughts of going home would bring him
around. Maybe he was homesick. She sat back down next to Brody trying not
to wake him.
"You do that very well," Brody said without opening his eyes. "You'll make
a great mother."
Before she could comment or even think about what he'd said Alexander called
to her from the second boat.
"Captain, Look! At four o'clock"
She followed the way he was pointing. Sure enough, a tiny white speck was
heading their way. They all watched as the vessel approached with maddening
slowness.
Wendy sat back and listened as Josh launched into a lecture, as he was prone
to do. She didn't mind. She found this view of the ocean to be intriguing.
They had seen the Captain and Dr. Westphalen in scuba gear swimming with
Darwin. For herself, she preferred the safety of being inside a vehicle.
There were just too many things residing in the ocean that considered her
part of the food chain for her tastes. There was also great beauty here,
though, she had to admit.
She was about to tune back in on Josh's lecture when the engine sputtered
and quit. The lights went off. "You know, " she said dryly, "no one's tried
this 'ran out of gas' routine since high school."
"I wish that was it," he said as he futility pushed buttons in efforts of
restarting the vehicle.
"We're stuck," she surmised.
"Looks that way," he admitted sheepishly.
"They will come look for us?"
"Oh yeah. After a while."
"How long is a while?"
"Few hours."
"Well, maybe that's not so bad."
"Wendy." He was honest. "Life support's down too."
"How much reserve oxygen have we got?" she guessed the problem.
"'Bout 40 minutes."
She looked helplessly at the shining dome of New Atlantis. It was in plain
sight but might as well be oceans away. "I don't suppose communications work?"
"It's all on the same power source," he told her. "And it's dead."
They could feel an ocean current pick up the small vessel and carry it farther
away from New Atlantis and any hope they might be spotted.
To be continued.....
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