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Chapter 7:
When Matt arrived at the door to Seaview’s sickbay his wife was waiting outside for him.
“I take it that you didn’t find any more survivors,” she began.
“Unfortunately not,” he said, clearly frustrated with himself. “But the search hasn’t been abandoned. The US Navy had a pair of destroyers in the area and they are going to continue where we left off.”
Matt handed her a sheet of paper, “This is the information that Sparks was able to dig up about Julie Howard.”
“Julie told me most of this,” Virginia said, as she quickly scanned the report. “Her father is a naval lieutenant? That explains a lot.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Well, when she woke up, she cried in my arms for about ten minutes. As hard as that was it probably will help in the long run,” she said, her voice cracking at the end.
Matt brushed a tear from her cheek as she fought to keep her composure.
“Sorry,” she said. “Do you think there is any hope of finding her parents alive? She doesn’t have any living relatives.”
“Right now I think hope is all we have. But sooner or later we’re going to have to tell her the truth. Damn, where’s Doug Jackson when you need him?”
“With his bedside manner?” asked Virginia, with a chuckle.
“You still underestimate the good doctor, but it’s his psychological expertise that I need right now. You saw how he handled that group of children that lost their parents last year.”
“Yeah, I forgot about that. I never would have pictured him being that tender,” she conceded.
“My father taught me a long time ago that you never judge a book by its cover. But getting back to Julie, if it were me, I’d want to know. But I’m not a seven year old. You’ve talked to her Gin, what are your thoughts.”
“Julie is a very bright young lady; she’s mature for her age, at least at the same level as Sara is.”
“What does Doctor Jamison have to say? As the ship’s Chief Medical Officer, he must have some experience in psychology.” asked Matt.
“Probably not child psychology,” she paused. “Matt, what would you want for Sara?”
“I’d want her to know the truth.”
“So would I. I think we owe it to Julie to be honest with her. By the way, you’ve just became an uncle, I hope you don’t mind,” she said with a mischievous grin.
“Good, I’ve always felt like an old man when the neighbor’s kids call me Mr. Hewett.”
“I knew there was a reason that I married you. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Julie.”
Julie Howard had taken the news much better than Matt had thought she would. While she did cry when she learned that her parents were presumed lost, she didn’t withdraw into herself. Matt found that fact very encouraging.
He had brought Captain Crane up to speed on Seaview’s condition and the status of the mission. And he helped convince the stubborn captain that he needed to stay off his feet. Crane’s unwillingness to be a patient reminded him of both Ed Straker and, to some extent, himself. Matt hated hospitals and only grudgingly tolerated doctors. Surprisingly he was one of the few people in SHADO that could tolerate Doug Jackson, having befriended him soon after he and Ginny had met. But Jackson was a man of duty, something he had spotted the day they met. Not to mention that Jackson had helped save his life just last month.
Julie Howard had taken to Ginny, refusing to leave her side. Gin had taken her to the observation nose and the young lady was awestruck with the view. She also seemed to have taken a special liking to Chief Sharkey. Probably hero worship, thought Matt, as it was Sharkey who had saved her life.
The ship had just passed five thousand feet and was less than twenty miles from the site that Scorpion was presumed to be. Matt thought about his friends on the submarine, he had gotten to know them quite well while the sub was being fitted out. Gay’s executive officer, Brad Connors, had served as Skydiver Three’s XO when Matt had assumed command of the submarine after the death of Captain Patterson. Although the relationship between the two men had been strained at first, by the end of the mission they had developed a mutual respect for each other. At Hewett’s recommendation, Connors had been promoted to Captain and received command of Skydiver Three, opposite Mark Bradley.
Matt had asked him to be his XO for the sea trials of the new SHADO sub, a posting that he gladly took even though it was temporary. The two men had become good friends over the years and Matt was just as worried about him, as he was about Gay.
“Passing six thousand feet sir,” reported the helmsman.
“Very well,” said Morton. “Rig for deep submergence.”
“Rig for deep submergence, aye, aye sir.”
Matt joined Chip Morton at the plotting table as the sound of the trim pumps reverberated through the hull. They would be on station in less than an hour.
The image of Admiral Nelson and Colonel Hewett appeared on the wall monitor in Ed’s SHADO office.
“How bad was the damage to Seaview Harry?” asked Straker.
“We were lucky Ed. It could have been much worse. If not for the films, and Colonel Hewett’s guidance, it would have been. We are about fifteen minutes from Scorpion’s position. Our utronic sensors are picking up an unusual energy field in the general vicinity. The beam can’t seem to penetrate the barrier.”
“If that is the case, we may lose communications when you enter the field. Any thoughts Colonel?”
“My biggest concern is power loss, Commander. Fortunately, Admiral Nelson has a contingency plan, but it comes with a cost. If the system trips, the result will be that Seaview is stranded on the surface. It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” said Matt.
“Are you ready to do your imitation of an alien?” asked the Commander, lightening the mood somewhat.
“I’ve been on a couple of test dives with Commander Morton. I’m about as ready as I’m going to be. You should try this sometime, sir.”
“I think I’ll just be satisfied with reading your report,” said Straker.
From behind him Jen asked, “Matt, how’s Ginny holding up?”
“You know her. She’s a fighter, she’s holding her own. Besides, she’s been busy with the young girl we picked up. I think that has helped to distract her somewhat.”
“Speaking of Julie Howard, do we have any security issues concerning her?” asked the Commander.
“She was asleep when the ship was attacked, the only thing she remembers is her parent’s pulling her out of bed and getting her life jacket on. That…and the explosions after. Ed, it was a miracle that anyone survived. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Straker could see that Matt was frustrated as hell. It was a feeling that he shared. The loss of the SS Sunfish with almost all hands, weighed heavily on his heart. Ed was relieved to hear that Julie Howard was not going to be a security risk. The amnesia drug was known to have unpredictable affects on small children.
“How is Captain Crane?” asked Ed.
“Lee Crane has been blessed with an incredibly hard head,” said Nelson. “He suffered a minor concussion and a laceration on his forehead, but I suspect that he will make a full recovery.”
“That is good news,” said Straker. “I have Skydiver 1 in the general area and Skydiver 2 is only a few hours away. They'll give you cover should the aliens break through our outer defenses. Good luck gentlemen.”
When Seaview signed off Ed looked up at Jen.
“Matt is worried,” she said, “and not just about Scorpion.”
“You noticed that too,” said Ed. “I think there is more going on here than meets the eye. Has tracking picked up anymore wayward meteors?”
“Nothing since the sighting they had three days ago. Ed, that has to be more than a coincidence.”
“I agree. Contact Moonbase and have Colonel Barry step up her alert readiness. If another coincidence shows up, we are going to destroy it.
In the control room of Seaview, Virginia watched the image on the nose camera, looking for visual evidence of the energy field that had been detected by the Utronic sensors. It seemed to cover the opening to the trench, including the area where Scorpion was believed to be resting. The sub was approaching ninety five hundred feet and was about to penetrate the barrier.
“Activate the emergency surface system,” ordered Commander Morton, who was at the con.
“Activate emergency surface system, aye, aye sir.”
“Radio, con. Sparks, any word on the Gertrude?”
“Negative sir, we should be well within range.”
“Very well, keep trying.”
Virginia felt her heart sink as she had hoped that they would be able to make contact on the underwater telephone or UQC, affectionately known as the Gertrude. The fact that they still had not made contact, did not bode well for the crew of Scorpion.
“Penny for your thoughts?” said Matt as he stepped beside her.
“I expected to hear something by now,” she said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
“We don’t know anything yet, Gin. We still have quite a bit of area to search…”
“I know Matt, I’m just frustrated.”
“Where’s Julie?”
“She’s in our cabin, sleeping. The little lady was tuckered out and…”
“Sonar, con. Passing through the barrier.”
Virginia suddenly started feeling very dizzy and started to collapse, when her husband caught her before she fell to the deck.
“Gin!” he cried as he sat her down on the periscope pedestal.
In the control room three men that were standing watch dropped to the deck including the helmsman. Very quickly Commander Morton grabbed the wheel to keep the ship on course.
“Here, take the helm,” he said to the fire control technician.
The dizziness passed quickly, although Ginny still felt very tired.
“I’m all right now Matt. Can you help me stand up?
As her husband helped her to her feet she heard the reports coming in from all over the ship of crewmen that had passed out as they penetrated the barrier.
“Con, reactor room, we need help down here. Crewman Casey has lost it!”
The sounds of men yelling and a struggle could be heard in the background. As Virginia took all of this in she felt an overwhelming feeling of dread come over her. It was a fear that she had not felt in years.
“Master at arms, lay aft to reactor room, on the double,” Chip Morton ordered.
“Con, reactor room. We’re getting a power fall off on the fusion reactor. So far the fission reactor is automatically compensating, but the power loss is fairly steep.”
“Very well. Notify me if we start losing power on the fission reactor.”
Virginia was able to stand on her own now but the feeling of dread was getting stronger by the minute. She was again distracted by a ruckus in the sonar suite. Crewman Patterson was being held by three men as he started screaming, “It’s all her fault, she’s going to get us all killed! She’s bad luck! Get her off the ship!”
“Stay here Virginia,” her husband said as she watched him get into the foray in an attempt to subdue the troubled crew member.
“Master at arms, when you’re finished aft, come to the control room,” ordered Morton. He turned to Virginia, “Are you all right Colonel?”
Virginia forced herself to smile but she was fighting waves of terror, “I’ll be okay in a minute Commander. Thank you.”
Morton already had his hands full and she did not want to be a liability to the mission. Ginny had not felt this much fear since she and Commander Straker were caught in the Timelash effect almost ten years ago. But then she knew what she was up against and the two of them had managed to support each other and overcome it. The trepidation she felt now had no source; it was simply an illogical sense of dread that threatened to consume her.
A few minutes later the master at arms arrived in the control room and Patterson, who was still protesting loudly, was taken into custody and removed from the ship’s nerve center.
When Matt had returned to the plotting table, she pulled him aside.
“Matt, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m frightened…no, make that terrified.”
He took her hands and she could see the shock in his eyes, “My God, Virginia, you’re trembling. How long have you felt this way?”
“It started right after I got dizzy. Mild at first, but it’s getting worse. Matt I haven’t felt this scared in years, and there is no reason for it.”
“It must be something in this energy field. Maybe that’s why…”
“Con, radio. Picking up a distress signal on the Utronic band…it’s Scorpion!”
“Con aye, give me a bearing Sparks.”
“Signal bearing zero-one-zero true, estimated range, twelve hundred yards.”
“Helm, come to course zero-one-zero, slow to one third.”
“Course zero-one-zero, slow to one third, aye, aye, sir.”
Virginia felt her fear abate slightly with the news that Scorpion was intact. That and her husband’s steadying presence.
She looked at Admiral Nelson as he walked into the control room, noticing that he was unsteady on his feet. Distracting herself from the feelings she was fighting, she made her way to where he had sat down.
“Harry, are you all right?”
“I think so,” said Nelson. “I was working in the observation nose when I passed out. I seem to be okay now…”
“Con, sickbay,” interrupted the intercom.
“Go ahead Doc,” answered Morton.
“Commander, this sudden dizziness seems to have affected almost two thirds of the crew. I’ve had to sedate six crew members so far. The rest are complaining of everything from continued dizziness, mild irritability to what could be described as an all out panic attack. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
While Morton conferred with sickbay, Ginny continued her conversation with the Admiral.
“That’s how I’m feeling right now. Waves of irrational fear,” she said.
“And this all started when we entered the barrier. It has to be more than a coincidence,” he said.
“I agree,” said Virginia. “How is it affecting you Harry?”
“Other than the dizziness, I’m just feeling an incredible feeling of loneliness,” said Nelson. He paused for a moment. “Virginia, I never told you when we first met, but I did find you very attractive back then, but now twenty years later, well, time has only accentuated your beauty.”
It wasn’t so much what he said as the way he said it that gave her pause. Nelson had never given her any reason to think that he thought of her as anything other than a colleague. But his eyes were telling a different story and that worried her. So he’s been affected too, she thought.
“How are you feeling Gin?” asked Matt.
She did not hear him approach and she was startled.
“My, aren’t we jumpy,” he said. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah,” she said as she pulled him aside so they could speak privately. “We have a problem Matt. The Admiral just said something to me that he would never say normally.”
She could see the confusion in his eyes and she went on, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was trying to…”
“Con, sonar, bottom contact. Two hundred yards, dead ahead.”
“Activate the nose camera, and searchlights,” ordered Morton.
On the screen, the image of Scorpion appeared in the center, gradually growing larger as Seaview approached.
The SHADO submarine was resting on the bottom, with a slight list to her starboard side. As best as Virginia could tell, the hull seemed to show no signs of damage. But there was no sign of life, no running lights, and the only indication of power on board was the automated Utronic signal.
“Radio, con. Sparks, pipe me into the UQC.”
“Aye sir, you’re on.”
“Scorpion, Scorpion, this is Seaview, over.”
Morton repeated the call three more times before looking over at Hewett.
“I guess you and I are going for a swim,” he said to Matt.
“So it would seem,” he replied before turning to his wife. “Gin, you will be able to control the power feed from the auxiliary power control, in the missile room. Once, Chip and I are aboard, we’ll establish voice contact, via the communications cable. We’ll make a quick survey of the sub, assess casualties, and determine if Scorpion can be brought to the surface under her own power.”
Virginia nodded. Although Matt had spoken clinically, she knew that the task before him laid just as heavy as it did to her.
“All stop. Commence hovering,” ordered Morton.
“I’ll take the con, Chip,” said the Admiral. “The three of you had better get to the missile room.
“Aye, sir. Chief of the watch, Admiral Nelson has the con.”
Virginia followed her husband and Commander Morton as they left the control room. She glanced back and saw the Admiral watching them, no, watching her leave. His sudden change in demeanor only added to her unease.
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Demons of the Deep (Read 4093 times)
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