John Mosby's Scenario: Salvage by jonwI' August 30, 1999 Hank looked at the letter and frowned; “I don’t know, John, its certainly not the kind of work we normally do. Deep Sea Salvage?” The Lion took a swig of his beer as he watched Nina play on the amidships cargo hatchcover. After a moment, he shrugged; “all we have to do is to provide the boat. They’ll provide the salvage equipment, the divers, hell, they said they’d even provide the food!” Hank nodded; “so why us? Why not some larger, better equipped, more comfortable motor vessel?” The Lion smiled; “have you seen what those ships charge? On a dollars per ton basis, we’re the cheapest in all the Happenstance Islands.” Hank looked down at the letter again and then shrugged; “Six furrs, between two and four weeks, half down, half at the end of operations…… Yeah, that might put us in the black for a while…. So, you going to accept their charter?” Sylvia sighed and shook her head; “John, I really do wish you’d leave Nina with us. Kara agrees. You two are going to be much too busy with this charter to watch after her.” The Lion shook his head stubbornly; “I think she’s still too insecure to be separated. Yes, I know you and Kara are scarcely strangers, but she’s coming to think of the Schooner as home, and I’m not sure I want to confuse her by shifting her to your lodge for a month…… Besides, she says she wants to stay with us. AND most of this charter will be sitting at anchor watching the surface of the water, waiting for the divers to return. I DOUBT she’ll be neglected…… Hatch watched the schooner approach the dock and frowned. Turning to Willoghby, the Otter growled; “Geez, did you find us a small enough ship? How the heck are we going to carry away anything valuable in that tub?” Willoghby just smiled back at the Otter; “Don’t worry. We’ll turn a profit, I tell you. Besides, if this particular ship were to vanish from the seas, just about no one would notice… The Otter just smiled and then turned to the others, waving at them to pick up their gear…… Hank watched, his paws on the guide rope as the Lion used the Mizzen Boom as a derrick, to move the salvage equipment to the forward hold. It was obvious that their charter was impatient to get underway, but the Lion and the Rabbit worked to make sure that everything was correctly secured and tied down. The air compressor was their biggest worry; it must have weighed two tons. And the drums of diesel that powered it were a concern as well. And then there were the large cylinders of helium, each as dangerous in its own way, as a torpedo. The sun was dipping towards the horizon when they finally slipped their moorings and headed out to sea. Willoghby watched the channel marker slip by the port side of the schooner and then ambled over to the Lion at the wheel. “your course is 225 magnetic. We’ll follow that for about three days.” The lion just nodded, slowly bringing the ship’s head around to that bearing. “It’d help if I had a destination to plug into the SatNav.” The Wolf chuckled and nodded; “I’m sure it would, but I hope you wont’ mind if I play our destination a little close to the vest, for the time being….” As he ambled off, Hank muttered; “Treasure seekers…..” Dinner that night was a rather informal affair. Hank had made a stew, and baked a couple of loaves of bread in the Schooner’s tiny oven. When they were ready, the passengers and then the crew went by and got what they wanted. Hank made a point of making sure that Nina ate a proper dinner, even if the fox kit didn’t particularly care for the peas in the stew. John didn’t much care for them either, but he found himself shoveling them in, to make a point to the child……. It was at dinner that Willoughby introduced the members of his salvage team. They’d already met Hatch, the Otter, and Mosgrave, the Ferret. The skunk was named Berdan, and the Tiger was named Goel. And the only female in the group Willoughby introduced as Penny, his daughter……… The night passed quietly. Three of the charter party had taken over the forecastle, with Willoughby, his daughter, and Mosgrave taking the three vacant cabins towards the stern. Hank and John had stood back to back watches, four on, four off, basically just watching as the windvane autopilot steered the ship through moderately calm seas. Dawn found them about a hundred miles out to sea, and as the sun rose, the weather grew warm. Hank stood by the wheel, one eye watching the compass, the other on where the Lion talked with the bespectacled Ferret by the stern. "Well, I'm sorry that the ship's got a steel hull," the Lion rumbled; "But that was never mentioned in the charter." The Ferret, Mosgrave, just shrugged; "I'm not surprised. Willoghby never did have a head for the technical details. We'll just have to stream the magnetometer that much further from the ship. At least you have enough cordage and a good winch on board." The Lion nodded; "Now, tell me about this sonar system of yours. I take it, it’s a high-frequency type of the sort that might be used for detecting anti-ship mines? The Ferret nodded rapidly; "Oh, yes. Latest version available on the civilian market. It SHOULD give us a rather high resolution image of the bottom. But we can't tow it too near the Magnetometer. Is there a way we can rig a pole to stream it from one side?" The Lion frowned for a moment and then nodded; "I think I can find a way to hold it about …. Twelve feet off the side of the ship. Will that be enough?" The Ferret just shrugged; "I hope so… We'll just have to try it and find out." Hatch watched as Nina played with a wooden block puzzle on the roof of the deck house, her fur almost blindingly white in the tropical sun. She seemed to be enjoying the fact that the blocks wanted to slide towards the lee side of the ship, as if their trying to "escape" were some secret game they were playing….. After a moment Hatch grinned up at the Rabbit; "Cute Kid…. But I have to wonder… she doesn't exactly look like either of you two….. you babysitting, or something? John, at the wheel, just chuckled; "Or something. My Brother married this lady Vixen, who had Nina by a previous marriage…… and then there was this tragic accident. There just wasn't anyone else to look after her……" The Otter just nodded, his face mirroring the confusion as he tried to wrap his thoughts around a Lion/Vulpine couple… After a moment he wandered off. Watching him go, Hank stepped a little closer to the Lion; "that is the lamest story I've ever heard. We have GOT to think of something better than that!" John just chuckled; "Like what? We won her as a doorprize? I think it'll hold up OK… but if you can think of something better, let me know….." The day was a long one, with most of the charter party just laying out in the sun, or checking over their dive gear. John watched as they kept pretty much to themselves, exhibiting little curiosity in the ship, or its crew. Usually the folks that chartered his ship wanted to know everything possible about it, and were full of questions, but this was a surprisingly quiet group…… John watched the sun disappear behind the horizon and handing the wheel over to Hank, went below. In the tiny compartment that passed for an engine room, he threw the lever that connected the ship's free-wheeling propeller to the auxiliary generator. The motion of the ship slowed imperceptibly as their passage through the water started producing electricity…… Returning to the deck, he flipped the switch to turn on the ship's running lights…… Hank looked at his watch and then at the Lion; "Think we got enough juice in the batteries to fire up the TV? Mosgrave, who was standing by the windward rail, looked over, his eyes wide; "This tub has a TV?" John just laughed; "we picked one up recently; it’s a LITTLE black and white job that draws almost no current…. But we do have a satellite receiver for it. Hank likes to watch certain shows, whether we're in port or not. And Nina likes certain cartoons too." Looking back at the Rabbit, John chuckled; "Yes, I think we've got the juice, and I KNOW how you hate to miss an episode of "Greatest Police Chases." I've got the helm, you go ahead….. Hank grinned and padded forward, to scoop up Nina, carrying her below. After a bit, some of the guests ambled on below as well…… John watched as most everyone crowded below into the salon. After a few minutes a cry of “Two degrees to port!” floated up, and grinning, the lion complied. Another minute and again Hank’s voice was heard; “Another degree, if you please, Skipper!” The lion smiled and eased the helm to leeward until the cry of “THAT’S IT” came from below. Willoghby ambled over to look at the SatNav. After a moment he grinned; “how much time do you think this “course correction” will cost us?” The Lion shrugged; “not much; three degrees for an hour, even two, if they decide to watch that news magazine show that comes on next, shouldn’t make much difference. Not at THESE speeds. Sagely, Willoghby nodded. After a moment the Lion rumbled; “you still haven’t told us where we’re going. Don’t you think its about time?” Willoughby looked up at the stars and then down at the SatNav, and finally shrugged; “I guess.” Padding below, the Wolf returned after a bit with a rolled up chart. Spreading it out on the roof of the deckhouse, he pointed; “Here. Right here.” John took a look and nodded, mumbling to himself, repeating the numbers over and over to keep from forgetting, he turned and entered the coordinates in the SatNav. For a moment he looked from the electronic display to the chart and back; “Should be there at about ten in the morning. Probably get you a half day’s searching with the magnetometer…..” Willoughby nodded; “sounds good. I can’t wait.” Hank smiled as he held Nina on his lap; “you see, little one? You see the mistake he made? When you’re fighting for your life, never assume your first shot killed your enemy. He SHOULD have taken the time to make SURE his enemy was dead.” In his lap, the fox child nodded sagely as if she had understood each word….. Hatch looked at the pair and chuckled; “Giving the kid the benefit of your years of experience watching TV? Your decades of life as an armchair commando?” Hank just smiled softly and shrugged. This was, after all, a customer. And there was no point in shoving his comments back down his throat……. After a while, the Lion took another look at the chart. “you know, I’m surprised. Its pretty close to land for a ship to sink. We’ll barely be two days out….. And there aren’t any reefs in that area…..” Willoughby nodded; “It was a fluke. Wartime; what can I say?” The lion just nodded. He looked sleepy, standing there at the wheel, his one good eye half open, his posture slack. But his mind was wrestling with WHY THERE……. Hatch was enjoying himself. The Rabbit was SO easy to tease….. “So, you and that old Lion going to raise this little girl all by yourselves? Do you think you two old farts are up to it?” Behind Hatch, Penny looked acutely embarrassed, as did some of the others…… Hank just smiled and shrugged; “I’ve raised three kids; got half a dozen grandkids, and all my life I’ve been told that I’m doing it wrong. First by my wife, and later by my kids, with reference to their kids….. Now I’ve got the opportunity to prove ‘em all wrong. I still insist that in this day and age, kids need discipline. They need order. Structure! They have to know their limits and their bounds!” Behind Hatch, Penny nodded; “Oh, I’m not so sure I agree completely. My father, after all, has been VERY strict with me… and I think there were times when he… “overdid” it…. Hank just shrugged and nodded; “Believe me; John’ll do everything he can to spoil her; that’s his way. But between the two of us, I think we’ll strike a happy balance….. NOW! NINA! Its WAY past your bedtime! Come on, I’ll tuck you in and read you a story……” Picking up the fox child the Rabbit turned and made his way aft towards Nina’s cabin…… He was almost out of earshot when Hatch chuckled; “that is going to be one very screwed up kid!” “So she sank in wartime?” Willoughby blinked and turned to look at the Lion; “Um, yes. Towards the end of the war. One brief radio message was received, giving their estimated position, saying the ship was sinking rapidly, and then nothing else. There were only a handful of survivors. Somehow they’d gotten way off course, and all the search and rescue efforts were in the wrong location……. John nodded and looked at the chart again; “amazing luck, for you folks; the seabed’s comparatively shallow there…… Willoughby just frowned as he nodded in agreement; “Yes…. Most fortunate for us……” Hank smoothed down the Fox child’s hair and smiled at her. “He might be right, you know. A couple of old farts like John and me….. But I promise you this, Nina; no one will ever try harder, or love you more. Smiling, but without a word, the child lifted her head and gave Hank a kiss on the cheek. Then she was settling down into her bunk. Hank turned out the light, and padding out, softly closed the door. “I take it, if they were way off course, you got the location of where she went down from one of the crew that survived…..” Willoughby nodded; “From the ship’s executive officer. He was one of five that survived…. The Lion just nodded. Hank returned to the salon to find a poker game in progress. The miniscule TV was off, and Penny was nowhere to be seen. They’d gotten into the beer, and from the number of empty bottles on the table, Hank thought they’d soon run dry…. Unless they’d brought some of their own in all the cargo they had loaded. The Rabbit watched the card players for a while, smiling softly. After a bit, he turned and climbed the companionway ladder, to relieve the Lion at the wheel. “Was she a civilian merchantman?” Willoughby turned and looked at the Lion; “No, naval transport.” The Lion nodded; “then she’ll be built to milspec. If you have to cut your way in, it might be a little more difficult.” Willoughby nodded; “True, but the chance of the wreck being intact, and not strewn all over the bottom are greater.” The Lion nodded slowly; “there is that…..” Hank looked up from the chart; “so what’s on this ship that is worth going after, dang near thirty years later? What’s going to be salvageable?” Willoughby smiled; “they were transporting medical supplies. A large shipment of medicines. Most of that was robustly packaged, and should have survived thirty years of immersion. And the cold water at depths like that should insure that its all still good. Think of what a hundred tons of antibiotics could do for some of the impoverished tropical countries. If we do it right, we can help folks, cover our expenses and still turn a modest profit…..” Hank looked at the Lion and nodded; “Philanthropists, then?” Willoughby just smiled. “Something like that. Now, Gentlefurrs, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go below and go to bed. We’re going to have a big day tomorrow……” When the Wolf had left, Hank looked at the Lion; “You believe all that?” John just shrugged; “It COULD be true. Although I’d rather not stake my life on a thirty year old antibiotic…. Even if it WAS cheap. But you’re right. He’s not telling us the whole story…… I think, perhaps, one day, when they’re all below, diving, we’ll get on the radio and do some checking up on these guys……” Hank just nodded. The following day dawned bright, and the schooner cleaved through the gentle swells under a modest following breeze. Most of the charter party slept in, but Mosgrave was up early, pulling boxes from the hold, laying out odd bits of equipment on the deck, stringing wires and cables from this to that. There was a long discussion about the electrical generation capabilities of the Schooner, and then they wrestled the portable generator the group had brought with them up onto the deck, lashing it tight just behind the winch. By the time noon arrived, along with John's cold cuts and potato salad from the galley, Mosgrave was ready to stream the magnetometer over the stern. "Don't worry, Mosgrave," the Lion rumbled; "We've done deep sea fishing charters before. We KNOW how to maneuver so as to not foul the trailing lines." The Ferret nodded nervously; "That may be, Captain, but none of that fishing tackle was ever as expensive as this stuff. Just make your turns nice and easy……" Hank looked at the Lion and scowled; "That means we'll have to gybe for each turn….." The Lion just shrugged; "and a long and leisurely gybe as well… but if we must, we must….. Now what do you think we should do about streaming the sonar sensor?….." By two that afternoon, they were at the coordinates Willoughby had given them, the magnetometer streamed over the stern, the sonar sensor held off to the starboard side by a pole…. and a maze of wires running to a portable computer perched on the deckhouse. They were settling down to a regular search pattern; an ever expanding square…… For a while, the salvage group watched the monitors intensely, but then, as the afternoon wore on, they drifted off one by one…. Dinner was boiled shrimp, and red beans and rice, served with plenty of beer, and for a while, the conversation was lively, animated, full of what they'd do when they found the wreck… But as John cleared the dishes, as Hank steered the ship, following the steering cues generated by the SatNav, the conversation died, each lost in his own thoughts. By Nina's bed time, the poker game was again in full force, with the players perhaps just a little short of temper…… It was eight bells, or four o'clock in the morning, when Musgrave relieved Willoughby at the instruments. The computer showed they'd completed four circuits of their ever expanding box, and were towards the southeast corner. The Schooner was moving slowly, at about three knots, under jibs and mainsail, and the night was clear and calm……. Hank looked at the back of the Wolf; it was obvious he was nodding off to sleep as he sat before the glowing computer screen. "Well, do you think this is a wild goose chase?" he whispered. John swept his gaze over the sails again and then shrugged; "No…. something tells me they know all too well where this ship is. But even the best of navigation systems won't let you find something EXACTLY when you come back to it. No, I think we'll find it; its just a matter of time…….." By Breakfast, John could tell Willoughby was worried. He kept consulting a small, old notebook, looking from that to the charts and back. And the attitude was infectious, the salvage crew bickering amongst themselves….. tempers short. The Wolf seemed to be involved in some mathematical calculations, as if he were checking his numbers, when the computer started to beep….. John did his best to turn the ship, following Willoughby's directions, Hank dashing to trim sails as the course shifted. It was obvious they'd found something….. Something big. After several passes back and forth, moving gradually to the West, Willoughby finally called; "That’s it; stop here. RIGHT HERE!" The Lion cursed and swung the ship's head into the wind. Locking the wheel he dashed forward to let go the port anchor, the heavy plow that was better for soft bottoms. Hank for his part released the halyards for the jibs, letting them flutter to the deck like a canvas blizzard. And all the while Musgrave screamed about not getting the cables for the magnetometer and the sonar fouled…….. The robot was a marvel of technology, but it didn't look much like a miniature submarine. It looked more like a wire frame crate full of batteries, and electronics modules with small electric fans at strategic places on the perimeter, and several lenses for the cameras and floodlights. Still, when they'd lowered it over the side, it seemed to perform well. Hank stood at the gunwale, paying out its cable while everyone else crowded around to watch the computer screen. Gradually the light faded from light blue to blue-black, and Musgrave hit a key, turning on the robot's floodlights. After a bit, a dark form came into view. It was obviously a sunken ship, partially covered in coral. Everyone watched, entranced, as the robot "flew" above its surface, the floodlights revealing deck gear, king posts, and then the superstructure amidships. The ship was listing heavily, almost on its starboard side, and as the Lion watched, he got the impression that it was about to topple the rest of the way over….. Finally the robot had made it to the very stern of the vessel.. a name could just barely be made out… the Mary Deere. Everyone stared in silence, a fact the Lion found curious; he would have expected cheering ……… Willoughby looked up at Hatch; "Its too late in the day to dive. We'll get an early start tomorrow. You, me, and Goel will go down. When we find a way in, locate the…… salvage, we'll bring the others down." The Otter just nodded, and then looked up at the Tiger; "Come on, lets start checking out the diving gear……" John watched over Musgrave's shoulder as the robot moved back and forth over the ship, filming it for later examination. "you going to do a documentary on this, when its all done?" The Ferret blinked, and looked up; "Um, ah, well, maybe. I'm just interested in how well this ship's survived after thirty years of immersion. Call it professional curiosity….." John just nodded. Hank was coiling line in the bow of the Schooner as the Lion came up behind him. His voice was low as he half- whispered; "Sergeant Major, we have a problem." The Rabbit never straightened, his posture never changing as he continued to coil the rope; "how's that, Captain?" "As the robot submarine went past a portion of the hull, I spotted a hole. A hole large enough to sink the ship. It was obvious from the way the plates were bent, that the explosion had been from INSIDE the ship. I suppose it could have been a secondary explosion, with the initial damage concealed on the side of the hull that's against the sea floor, but given that this ship was supposed to be carrying medical supplies, I think that's unlikely. It looks more like sabotage to me." The Rabbit nodded again; "that, and the ship was way off the normal shipping routes…. And sank at a remarkably shallow spot in the ocean… It sounds like someone set up the whole thing….." The Lion just rumbled "yeah….. it does, doesn't it?" Penny was sitting by the windward rail, just staring out at the moonlit water. "Evening, Ma'am" Hank said, as he came up next to her. "Beautiful Moon tonight, isn't it?" Penny just nodded; "Yes, it is nice out here…….. After a moment's silence, Hank asked; "So, you and your father been planning this expedition for a long time?" Penny just kind of shrugged; "Um…. Well, I hadn't THOUGHT so….. Oh, he'd always made sure that I knew how to swim, and he got me involved in SCUBA lessons a while back. We took vacations in tropical places, always getting in a lot of dive time, but I thought it was all just a hobby until this came up….." Hank nodded; "Came up rather suddenly, then?" Penny shrugged and nodded; "Yeah…. About a year ago. Right after old Mr. Peabody died. He was in the Navy with my Father, and they were friends….. Then, suddenly it was as if someone had thrown a switch. Suddenly it was all he could talk about….." The Rabbit just nodded. Penny looked at Hank for a moment and then grinned, changing the subject; "Tell me about Nina; how are you two going to handle raising a child on a boat?" Hank just grinned; "Oh, I suspect we'll have some help…. We work out of a place called "WaterWings." It’s an island resort. And the lady who runs it has a number of children, and she's sure to help….." They were up before sunrise, just as the sky grew light in the East. The divers wolfed down John's steak and eggs, washing it down with black coffee, and then they were bustling around on deck readying their gear. The robot went over the side first, followed by an inflatable boat that would serve as a dive platform, and then a number of equipment bags, each buoyed by a small balloon, to make it near weightless. Finally the divers clambered down to the inflatable, and rolled off its sides into the water. It was like watching some weird undersea adventure show. Almost everyone clustered around the computer screen, watching the video feed from the robot as it followed the divers down. As they watched Musgrove grumbled; "Unfortunately we just didn't have enough money for the really good suits, the ones with the built-in radios. So we won't be able to hear whatever they have to say. Communication will have to be by hand signals." John nodded; "Just in case, do you think you should brief us on what the signals mean?" Musgrove shrugged; "I’m not dive certified. I should be here while they're down there. But I guess it wouldn't hurt……" Willoughby swam through the murky water to the base of the superstructure, on the forward side. At the depth of about a hundred feet, he knew the helium/oxygen mixture would give him about two hours before they'd have to start back up, spending almost as long in decompression. A diving bell would have extended their stay, but that'd been more money than they could afford. Ignoring the freighter's hatch covers he strained at the dogs of a hatch set in the sharply canted deck. John watched the monitor curiously as the divers pounded on the stuck hatch. Obviously thirty years immersion in salt water hadn't done it any good. "Why don't they just work on the hatch covers" he mused, making sure Musgrove could hear him. The Ferret just shrugged; "Some of the cargo is more valuable than the rest. The….. antibiotics. Certain drugs. There's no point in wading through tons of soggy pressure bandages, bed pans, and rusting ambulances and other vehicles related to a field hospital, if you know where the important stuff is……" John nodded solemnly; "how'd Willoughby find out how the cargo was stowed? How does he know where to go first?" The Ferret turned his head to look up at the Lion; "you mean he didn't tell you?" At the look on the Lion's face, Mosgrave frowned, and then as if reluctant, but deciding it was too late to stop now, he muttered; "Willoughby was the ship's first officer when she sank….." Behind him on the robot's monitor, a bright spark flared as one of the divers lit a cutting torch. The divers broke the surface with a splash. Things had been rather dull since they'd emerged from the ship, to start their slow ascent, the robot drifting slowly upwards with them, as they stopped at the different depths, decompressing. Berdan, the Skunk, knelt in the inflatable, helping the divers, one by one, shed their gear and clamber upwards. When Willoughby reached the deck, his daughter gave the wet wolf a hug; "Well, father, how was it down there?" Willoughby just scowled. "Jumbled. Everything's come loose and we spent most of our time trying to clear the corridor. And with the ship not on an even keel, its… confusing." Behind him, Hatch chuckled; "He had a bit of a scare. We forced open one of the watertight doors, and in the swirl of water, this corpse floated out. Bumped right into your father, scared the CRAP outta him!" Behind the Otter, the Tiger, Goel, grumbled; "Scared the crap outta me too. I can't say as I care for that kinda thing. Spooky." Looking at Musgrove, Willoughby muttered; "We'll have lunch, take a break, and go down for an afternoon dive. Perhaps by tomorrow we can clear the way to…. the compartment. The Ferret just nodded. The afternoon dive party consisted of Willoughby, Hatch, and Berdan, with Goel sitting out. The Tiger dozed on deck, obviously tired from the exertions below. John puttered in the galley, setting up for dinner, while Hank pursued the never-ending occupation of chipping rust and repainting. Nina was quite happy sitting on the deckhouse roof, working with crayons in a coloring book. It was just before dinner when the divers emerged once again from the water. Willoughby looked upset, but Berdan was cussing a blue streak, talking mostly to Goel; "I tell you, it’s a MESS down there. We spent almost the whole time trying to get past a row of lockers that had fallen across the corridor. LOCKERS. Just like you had in Gym class. Geez, what in the Hell are LOCKERS doing on a freighter?" After a bit, Willoughby turned to Musgrove and shrugged; "I wonder if it might not be faster to just cut our way through the hull opposite the compartment….." The Ferret thought for a moment and then called up a schematic on his computer, the two bending to study it…… Dinner that night, due to a cool breeze and fair skies, was served on deck. John had done up a shredded pork barbecue served with baked beans and potato salad. Nina found it too spicy for her tastes, but most everyone else liked it. As everyone ate, Hank looked over at the Lion and chuckled; "You remember that guy in the 23rd, Henderson? He used to love beans like this. You could get him to trade almost anything for a can of beans……" The Lion frowned for a moment… Henderson? Um, I……" Catching the Rabbit's look John nodded; "Oh, yeah. Stinky Henderson. Yeah, I remember him….. He would have…. Loved these beans. Of course, the aftermath was always a little….. disagreeable. What ever happened to him?" Hank shook his head as he tried to talk around a mouthful of potato salad; "He got caught up in that fiasco with the 445th field hospital. You remember that?" John looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded; "Yeah. They were selling supplies out of the field hospital's pharmacy. Stimulants. Sleeping pills…… and morphine, if I remember correctly." Hank nodded; "Yeah, they had quite a little drug racket going. Lotta troopers would get a shot of morphine in the field, and then want more. The doctors wouldn't give it to 'em, to keep them from getting addicted, and then one of those guys'd come around, give 'em a little bit of heaven. For a price. And THEN they had 'em hooked." John sighed; "and then when the doctors went to the pharmacy for the drugs for the folks who REALLY needed them, the place was empty. And everyone just shrugged their shoulders." On the other side of the Deckhouse, Berdan and Goel exchanged pointed looks, something that escaped neither Willoughby's notice, nor that of the Lion. Hank was reading Nina a good-night story when he paused. The whispers coming through the ventilator weren't understandable, but it was obvious someone was having an argument. Musgrove looked at the Wolf and whispered; "Dammit, you told me this was legit! That we were after antibiotics! I must have been a fool to think THAT'S all this was! Why I ……." The Ferret let out a choked gasp as Goel's paw closed around his throat from behind; "What you should do, is your job. Keep it quiet, keep it under control, and we'll all make money from this. Panic, and we'll leave your body in the freighter when we leave." Musgrove could only nod… and then the Tiger was patting him on the head, and strolling off towards the bow. The next day again started at first light, with Willougby, Penny and Goel diving as one team, with Hatch and Berdan diving as another. John watched over the Ferret's shoulder, through the robot's eyes, as the Otter and the Skunk started cutting at the freighter's hull….. John watched for a few minutes and then tapped the Ferret on the shoulder. Musgrove jumped a foot, his head snapping around; "WHAT?" John just smiled; "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Its just, I don't think what they're doing is going to work. The way the hull's canted, when they cut that piece of steel free, its going to fall INTO the ship. Might block whatever they're trying to uncover. Or destroy it. Musgrove frowned and then nodded; "Yeah…… yeah, you could be right. I'll have to talk to them when they come up….." Penny was the first to surface; pulling off the plexiglas bubble of her dive helmet she yipped and howled with joy, holding a mesh bag up, waving it back and forth. Hank helped her into the inflatable, and then up onto the deck of the schooner. Dripping wet, she pulled open the bag and held up a small glass vial. It had the standard metal and rubber top, made for a hypodermic needle, although the label was long gone. "The crate was marked Ampycillin. It had broken open when the ship had sunk and these were all over the deck! There's dozens of crates like that down there! I can't wait to dig my test kit out of the cargo bay, and see if this stuff's any good. If it is, this could save hundreds of lives! Maybe thousands! John nodded, and then looked up, past Penny's head, at her father. The Wolf was talking with Hatch, and neither looked too happy……. After two days of cutting, Hatch and Berdan were ready to try and remove the section of hull they'd been cutting on. Eyebolts had been welded on, and an underwater "balloon" was slowly filled with air until the lines to the eyebolts were tight. As Musgrove maneuvered the robot, almost everyone else watching the monitor over his shoulder, Hatch made the final cut. At first the plate sagged inwards, but then Berdan added some more air to the "balloon", and slowly it rose out of the way. Musgrove pushed some buttons on the robot's keypad, and the device obediently started backing away from the freighter's side, pulling the "balloon." It was beginning to look like it was going to work just fine, when one of the eyebolts broke free. Instantly the lines to the "Balloon" shifted, the plastic bag spilling some of its air… and then the plate was falling in slow motion, like a windblown leaf, the plastic "balloon" trailing behind, leaving a trail of bubbles. Hatch dropped his air tanks, threw is dive helmet across the deck and LEPT at Musgrove; Before he could connect with the startled Ferret, Goel and Berdan intercepted him, the three going down in a heap on the deck. Snarling, Hatch shook a fist at the Ferret; "What are you trying to do, KILL me? I SAW the way you maneuvered that thing right over me! I saw how you had the robot jerk it! You were just HOPING it'd come apart, weren't you? What're you trying to do, get a larger share? Who ELSE you planning to kill?" Musgrove, eyes wide, just spread his paws; "I didn't do ANYTHING. I was maneuvering the robot directly away from the ship, as per the plan! I can't help it if YOU got under it! And YOU were the one who welded the eyebolts! If you'd done a better job, it wouldn't have come apart!" As Goel and Berdan dragged off Hatch, Hank looked at the Ferret, and feigning innocence, asked; "if its all for humanitarian purposes, what's this "larger share" the Otter was talking about?" Behind him, Willoughby growled; "Mind your own business, you!" As the Wolf collected the Ferret, to pull him towards the bow, the two in an animated if whispered discussion, Hank looked at John and nodded slowly….. The Afternoon dive saw Willoughby, Hatch and Goel start working their way through the hole cut in the side of the ship. Musgrove was able to follow them with the robot, as the hole they'd cut was more than man-sized, although John expressed concerns about the device's trailing control and power cable being dragged over where the cut had been made. The interior of the freighter was full of floating debris; this section seemed to be filled with decomposing cotton balls, and any motion stirred up a swirling snowstorm of white. After a while John wandered below decks. Hank sat on the deckhouse roof, watching Nina play jacks…. And watching Musgrove, and Berdan. Penny was forward, in the bows, reading quietly…… "Hank, the Head's plugged again; do you know where the snake is?" The Rabbit raised his head and glared at the Lion; "Don't tell me…. Oh for cryin' out loud!…." Grumbling he got up, and headed for the companionway….. At the bottom of the ladder, the Lion put a large paw on Hank's chest; stopping him. Wordlessly he turned and pointed at the shortwave radio. Hank walked over to look at it….. The little green light was on, as was the light behind the dial… picking up the microphone, Hank clicked the transmit button softly. The green light didn't change to yellow, as it was supposed to, nor was there a burst of static. "Someone's been playing loose and fast inside the case with a pair of wire cutters." The Lion rumbled. "Someone who knows what they're doing with electronics." Hank nodded slowly; "Musgrove. What now, Captain?" The Lion just grinned. "I think we're going to "loose" the SatNav. Ours AND theirs. Somehow I think I'm the only one in practice around here with a sextant…. And they'll need us to get home." The Rabbit frowned; "I dunno…. Willoughby was supposed to be the Exec on that freighter… He might remember how…." The Lion just grinned, fangs glinting whitely in the dark cabin; "might have to "loose" him too…. but maybe we can do it without hurting anyone…. If we do it JUST right……." The Wolf growled and shook his head; "I TELL you, its in THAT compartment!" The Otter looked at Willoughby from across the table and shook his head; "So far we've opened several dozen crates. We've got antibiotics, and water- soaked bandages, and contaminated sulfa powder, and all sorts of vials and jars that have lost their labels, but we still haven't seen a sign of what you promised us!" "Its THERE, I tell you! We just have to keep searching!" the Wolf growled back….. Penny looked from her father to the Otter and said in a soft voice; "Oh, come now, Mr. Hatch. Its not THAT bad! We've got several tons of antibiotics that still test good. And that crate of wheel chairs, well, even if we DO have to replace all the seats, I bet we could get four hundred dollars a piece for them! The chrome and stainless steel came through the immersion quite well!" Berdan chuckled; "And the bedpans. Don't forget the bedpans, Hatch! Why we've got enough to keep the Freelands hospitals in bedpans for the next twenty years!" John nodded from the head of the table; "Yeah, and I'm almost positive all those tubes of cream that've lost their labels are that "Preparation G" stuff. Ought to be a simple way to test that. And Lord knows, I've been places where a tube of that stuff would have brought you a month's pay…." Hank just laughed and nodded enthusiastically. Willoughby scowled and shoved another forkful of salad into his mouth; "Its there, I tell you. We'll find it soon." Hatch scowled back; "we'd Better….." Hank watched with a grin on his face as the Lion climbed the ratlines on the starboard mizzen shrouds. A jib halyard allowed him to swing back and forth until he was able to catch the staysail forestay, slowly lowering himself, like a spider, through the rigging, until his head was by the forecastle's ventilator. Hank had thought the Lion's plan to achieve a position from which to eavesdrop hopelessly theatrical, but Nina had enjoyed the acrobatics immensely. John listened for a minute, and then suddenly swarmed back up the rigging. By the time Berdan and Goel emerged from the companionway, he was fiddling with the anchor light on the top of the foremast. As the Lion slid down a line to the deck, the Tiger shook his head; "you'll never get ME up there like that….. Hate heights." The Lion just shrugged; "you get used to it. Try it in a seaway sometime, though, with the mast swinging through a sixty degree arc. Now THAT'S scary….." When they'd left, moving back down the deck towards the bows, John whispered to Hank; "worse than I thought. I think those three are from the "syndicate." I think Willoughby found his financing for this little expedition in unsavory places. And they're getting real short on patience." The Rabbit just nodded….."shouldn't be too hard to push 'em over the edge then. All we have to do is to make sure they turn on each other, and not us." The Lion just nodded in agreement. The Lion's roar of outrage brought everyone awake. Hank rolled out of his hammock between the mainmast and the mizzen boom, trotting aft. Willoughby boiled out of the companionway, followed closely by Musgrove and Penny. "What's wrong?" the Wolf growled. The Lion gestured to the binnacle; "The SatNav's gone. Someone's removed it from its housing! Nothing there but dangling wires!" As the Wolf peered at the empty plastic housing, the Lion growled; "Dammit, Willoughby, What in the HELL is going on here? Just WHAT are you folks looking for? WHY would someone take the SatNav?" Hatch came up behind Willoughby, looked past him, and then turned to face the Lion; "Captain, I don't know who'd do this, but just calm down…. We ain't doin' nothing wrong; no laws against what we're doing. Honest." Turning he shot Berdan a look; "Go check in our gear; see if our Global Positioning System's still there. We can use that to get home if we have to….. The Skunk just nodded and turned to head for the forward hold. John was still grumbling when the Skunk returned, with a hand-held device; holding it out to the Otter he growled; "it was still there, in its case, but it doesn't seem to be working….." Before Hatch could reply, Musgrove grabbed it, and popped the back open. After a second he grunted; "Not much surprise there. The circuit board's been broken. Got a crack right down the middle, like someone whacked it with a hammer." Hatch grabbed the device, looked at it and threw it half-way across the deck. Turning, he scowled at the Lion; "So I suppose you'll have to "shoot the stars" or something to get us back, now, RIGHT? I bet you're the ONLY one who can do that, too, RIGHT?" The Lion shrugged; "I'm current in celestial navigation, yes…. And I've got a sextant too. And a chronometer. But I bet your Mr. Willoughby could do that too. Didn't someone mention he'd been a naval officer?" Hatch, Berdan and Goel all turned to look at the Wolf, who growled; "yeah, I was taught how do to that… thirty years ago!……." Hatch just nodded, and then turned back to the Lion; "Don't fall overboard, Hairball. We may need you yet….." With a dirty look at Willoughby, the Otter turned and stalked forward. Tempers were strained at lunch, when the divers came back up. Apparently they still hadn't found what they'd been looking for…… After lunch, Willoughby, Hatch and Goel again went back down, with Berdan carefully watching Musgrove. OBVIOUSLY watching Musgrove…… Penny sat in the bow, reading occasionally, and occasionally playing some small game with Nina….. Hank, and John mostly dozed on deck, as if sleeping were the only thing to do on so boring a job. Hatch surfaced with a shout. Berdan, in the inflatable, looked down at the Otter expectantly. Hatch chuckled and heaved his empty air tanks over the side of the Inflatable, and with an assist from the skunk hauled himself up after them. After a moment the skunk growled; "WELL?" and Hatch chuckled; "we found it. It was behind a wall of crates full of toilet paper. The "wall" had collapsed over the crates we were looking for, smashing a number of them open…. The vials were scattered all over the area, carpeting the deck. But they're THERE, just like the Wolf said." As Berdan grinned, the Otter chuckled; "we're gonna be RICH!" Everyone was in a much better humor that night, and the liquor flowed freely at dinner. At one point, Hank took the Lion aside; "Why you pouring them the GOOD stuff?" The Lion just grinned back; "because I want them to sleep soundly tonight." Hank just "oh'ed" and sighed…. It was much later, with the dishes all done, Nina put to bed, and the poker game having finally run down, that the lion hopped down from his perch on the folded mainsail. He was fumbling with one of the SCUBA rigs when Hank padded up softly behind him; "I wish you wouldn't do this. The risk of you being missed, of you running into trouble down there, even of them realizing there's two more air tanks in the "empty" rack, are simply too great. Besides, you just aren't that skilled at this." The Lion shrugged; "I dive all the time to check the hull. I can even weld underwater, if I have to. But no, I'm not used to going that deep, using this air mixture, or at diving at night. Still, Sergeant Major, if they're doing what we suspect, we have to know, so we can plan accordingly. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, the Lion hoisted the tanks, picked up the helmet and climbed over the side of the ship. Hank watched the inky waters close over the Lion, and for a while he watched the air bubbles, but then he finally turned and padded back to his hammock. Swaying slightly, he watched the companionway, hoping that all those below slept soundly this night….. The water was jet black, but they'd rigged a line from the wreck to a buoy, and the Lion followed it down, kicking slowly, moving cautiously. He'd read up on diving this deep, on using this mix of helium and oxygen, but he'd never actually done it before. And the inside of his helmet smelled strongly of the Tiger's sweat. After traveling what he thought was about eighty feet down, he switched on the helmet light, only to see… nothing. Nothing but the rope disappearing below him. Continuing down, he was surprised when suddenly the Freighter materialized before him. Even with the light he couldn't see well past about ten feet. The hole in the side of the ship was obvious, as was the path cleared through the wreckage. The way the silt had been disturbed by the passing divers, it was obvious where they'd gone, and he only made a few wrong turns before he found what he was looking for. The ampoules glittered with a dark honey color, and he reached down to pluck one from the silt, to tuck it in a pocket. Picking up a suitable piece of wreckage, the Lion assaulted one of the remaining intact crates, scattering its contents among the other ampoules already littering the deck….. That much more for them to recover by hand; that much longer the job would take….. Taking a last look around, making sure the place looked as much like he'd found it as possible, he retreated back the way he'd come, he made his way out of the ship, but instead of heading for the surface, he followed the curve of the hull, moving aft….. The hull plates looked like the petals of a steel flower. It was obvious that the explosion had been from within the ship…… Moving carefully, the Lion swam through the breach, to look around inside the hull. The explosion had occurred right at one of the watertight bulkheads, breaching the hull on either side. And from the damage inside the compartment, it was obvious that it had indeed been sabotage. After examining the wreckage for a bit, the Lion checked his dive watch, and then his decompression tables and once again exited the hull. It would be tight, but there was time for a look. One lifeboat was missing from the davits, but the other still hung there…. With a noticeable hole in its bottom. Most of the Carey floats were gone…… Finding the line to the buoy, the Lion started his slow ascent, never traveling faster than the bubbles his dive rig gave off…… It gave him plenty of time to think. Hank was in the inflatable when the Lion surfaced, gasping for air. As he handed the rig up to the Rabbit, he gasped; "Cut it a bit too close, Sergeant Major; Ran out of air… the last bit of the ascent was a mite "hurried."……. The Rabbit left the Lion gasping in the Inflatable, to haul the dive rig to the deck of the schooner. The air tanks were removed and placed in the "empty" rack, to be replaced with full ones. The dive helmet was rinsed out with something that would kill the Lion's scent. And the harness and backboard was toweled as dry as it could be made. Hank was just finishing up when the Lion dragged himself over the gunwale. Fishing in a pocket he passed the ampoule to the Rabbit. Hank looked at it for a moment and then sighed; "Guess we've seen enough of these to know what it is" he mumbled. The Lion just nodded; "the ship was definitely sunk by sabotage. A charge was placed in a compartment adjacent to engineering. I'm sure the engine room flooded before anyone could get the water-tight doors closed. They'd loose power quick, and with it, any chance for them to correct the mistake the radioman made when he reported where they THOUGHT they were, even if they figured out what was happening. Oh, and one of the lifeboats was still in the davits, with a big hole in the bottom. I'd be willing to bet whoever scuttled the ship had the missing lifeboat all ready to go when the charges went off. Anyone else would have had to use one of the carey floats…." Hank nodded; "Yeah; getting shipwrecked is a whole lot more survivable in a powered lifeboat……" Hank looked again at the ampoule in his hand; "How much of this stuff is down there?" The Lion shrugged; "I didn't exactly hang around to take inventory; I'd guess a ton or so. Maybe a little more. Its going to take them a while to gather everything up; the stuff's scattered all over the deck. Maybe a little more so now, than yesterday….." The Rabbit looked up, and then blinked; "Ah…. Buying us time to figure out what to do. If they could just hoist a few crates on board, we might be heading back in a day or so….." The Lion just smiled and nodded. Penny looked at the Lion with concern as he tried to pour the coffee; "You all right, Captain?" The Lion just winced and nodded; "Arthritis. I seem to be having trouble moving this morning. That kind of thing happens when you start getting old….." Penny made sympathetic noises, but behind her, Berdan gave the Lion a strange look……. The Skunk was checking out the dive gear when Hatch caught up with him; "What's eating you?" The Skunk just shrugged; "Dunno. The Captain's moving like he's got a touch of the bends. HE says its arthritis, but I'm not so sure….. Problem is, I can't prove or disprove my suspicions. I haven't been keeping up with the number of air tanks that are full, or empty, and while none of the dive gear's dripping wet, its all damp. Maybe he dived last night; maybe he KNOWS what we're doing…. And maybe not." Hatch just chuckled; "doesn't matter if he knows or not; if we get that cargo on board, we'll have to dispose of them all before we make land anyways. The crew, the Wolf, AND the Ferret. Now Willoughby's daughter, well, I suspect we'll have some fun with her before we put her over the side too…….." The Skunk scowled at the Otter; "I dunno; you think you can sail a ship like this?" The Otter just grinned; "Hey, its got a motor too, right?" John squinted at the sky and frowned. Catching his look, Musgrove wandered over, leaving the robot's operation to Goel; "What's wrong, Captain?" The Lion shook his head; "I don't like the look of the sky. See the high, thin clouds? It looks like some bad weather developing. If the SatNav was still functioning, it had the ability to download weather maps as well as navigational data, and I'd know more. But right now, I'd say, two, maybe three days we're going to have a blow….." Musgrove nodded and then shrugged; "well, if we have to run in to port, we can always come back later, and finish up……" Behind him, across the deck, Goel, the Tiger, scowled…. By evening, the divers had brought up two crates and a dozen mesh bags filled with their treasure. All of the contents of the mesh bags were carefully transferred to black plastic bags before being lifted out of the inflatable, as if they were trying to hide it all from view…… The black plastic bags were then locked in the steel containers that had originally housed the dive gear, in the forward hold. Dinnertime conversation was strangely subdued, as if everyone was bubbling with things to say, but no one quite dared to talk about it. Finally John looked at Willoughby and said; "I think there may be a storm coming. If there is, we're going to have a real problem here. The way the ocean gets shallow here, swells that would normally be gentle will be accentuated. It could get quite rough here." Willoughby waved a paw; "Musgrove told me what you'd said; we'll stay until the job's done. You know how unpredictable the sea can be; we might never find our way back here again." The Lion nodded, and then shrugged; "the ship and the safety of its crew and passengers are MY responsibility. When I say its time to go, we pull up anchor. Period." Hatch chuckled; "Oh, I think you'll honor the requests of your paying customers and put that off as long as possible……." As he reached over to ruffle Nina's headfur, he growled; "I'm sure you'll be reasonable….." Once again, it was well after midnight, well after everyone else had gone to bed, when the Lion hopped down from his perch on the main boom. The hidden compartment at the leading edge of the deckhouse yielded the components to the SatNav, and padding quiet as a ghost he moved aft towards the binnacle. It took just a moment to snap the circuit boards into place, and then the screen lit. The Lion punched in the instructions for it to download the weather map, and the relevant forecasts, and then settled back on his haunches to wait while it downloaded. The growl brought his head up, and he found himself facing Goel, the Tiger. A Tiger armed with a rather large pistol. "Berdan thought you'd been up to something. So you were the one who took the nav gizmo. Did you really think it would make us keep you around? Fat Chance. Berdan can navigate this tub if he has to….. and you are eminently dispensable….. In fact, I think you're going to….." The Tiger never finished the sentence. Instead he staggered forward. Hank took a step forward and brought the marlinspike down on the back of his head again. And then again, until the Tiger collapsed to the deck. John quietly removed the pistol from the Tiger's limp grip, and padded over to the companionway, to watch, to listen, to see if anyone had heard the noises, to wait for anyone who might come to the Tiger's rescue. But the ship was quiet. Or, at least, amidst the creak of rigging, the rattling ot chain, the groan as the hull rose and fell gently on the ocean swells, as quiet as it ever was…… When the Lion had satisfied himself that Goel was the only one awake, he turned to find Hank tugging at the Tiger's form. "Help me get him in the inflatable. We'll empty the forward hold of as much of the morphine ampoules as it'll carry, set him adrift, and they'll think he tried to abscond with the loot. John frowned for a moment and then nodded; "I'll drain the donkey engine of all the gas in its tank, and get the reserve can; that'll add to the story. Quietly they each turned to their tasks. Hank cut the lines at the bow and the stern, and they watched as the inflatable slowly drifted down wind. It'd turned out that the Tiger was still alive, although probably rather concussed. They'd left him in the boat with some food and water, spare gas, and one of their two EPIRB's (emergency position indicating radio beacons). And with eight of the twelve bags of morphine. The lock on the steel containers had proven to be no problem at all for the bolt cutters that were now conspicuously missing from their place in the schooner's tiny engine room. And all Goel's personal stuff was gone as well, Hank stealing through the forecastle, quiet as a ghost, gathering the stuff up. It was almost dawn before they each managed to lie back down, John atop the folded mainsail, Hank in his hammock. It was only as he laid down that the Lion remembered the SatNav, and then he was up again, to hide it… but not before studying the weather chart it had displayed….. By the time the sun came up, and folks started to stir, the inflatable was nowhere in sight. Hatch's cry of outrage was all too predictable; "Where the F*CK is the inflatable?" John stuck his head up through the companionway hatch and growled; "I'll thank you to mind your language in front of my niece!" Clambering onto the deck, he looked over the side of the schooner. Padding forward he pulled up the braided cotton line and looked at the end; it had been cut cleanly. Holding it out for Hatch's examination, the Lion shrugged; "Looks like its been stolen. Line's cut. Now… who's missing? Who haven't we seen this morning?" Berdan reached around the Lion to take the end of the cut line; he raised his gaze and looked at the Otter; "Pirates? Who knows where we are?" The Lion chuckled; "Hey, I'm a sound sleeper, but I think I would have woken up if another ship had come alongside…… No, I think this must have been an "inside" job." Hatch scowled; "I thought you slept up here….. wouldn't you have seen someone?" Hank chuckled; "there was a rain shower about three AM; we went below." Hatch only scowled deeper; "my.. how convenient." Things degerated rapidly; they found the Tiger missing… Willougby was furious, yelling at Hatch, accusing him of sending one of his furrs off with their treasure, as if he were seeking to take a larger share; Hatch for his part accused Willougby of killing the Tiger, of deep-sixing the inflatable and hiding the treasure to make it LOOK as if Goel had stolen the stuff. Penny insisted that there MUST be some other explanation, but no one seemed to be listening, much to Hank and John's relief. By the time breakfast was over, and Willougby, Hatch and Berdan were ready to dive, everyone was watching everyone else as if awaiting a stab in the back….. The sea was a bit rougher when the divers surfaced, just before lunch, and without the inflatable, it was more difficult for them to climb up to the deck of the schooner. In the end, John had to rig a bosun's chair, and swing the mizzen boom over the side, to hoist the tired divers to the deck. Hank looked at Willoughby, as the Wolf struggled from his wet-suit; "how's it going down there? Is the rougher sea making itself felt down there?" The Wolf shrugged; "There's some movement, but its not…. intolerable. You just have to be careful near the wreck, make sure a surge doesn't slam you into something….." The Rabbit just nodded; "uh HUH!" Lunch was a somber affair, with most of the furrs taking their plates to opposite ends of the ship; Willoughby, his daughter and Mosgrave sat at the aft end of the deck house, with Hatch and Berdan in the bows. Hank and John took the amidships hatch cover, where Nina giggled as her plate slid back and forth between the Lion and the Rabbit…. "Are you SURE you want to dive?" John asked the Wolf; "Its getting just a bit rough…. " The Wolf shook his head; "No, its not that bad on the bottom. We'll dive until the last possible minute, Captain." The Lion just shrugged, and then stood at the rail as first Penny, then Hatch, then Berdan and finally Willoughby climbed over the rail and down the Jacob's ladder, to be swallowed by the sea. Turning away from the rail, the Lion was surprised to find the Ferret holding a rather large revolver. "I'm afraid I’m going to have to ask you gentlefurrs to stay belowdecks, until my associates return. We're somewhat concerned that you might….. sail off and leave them there." Hank started to splutter, but the Lion just chuckled; "That’s all right, Mr. Mosgrave. You have nothing to worry about……." When they got below, Hank turned on the Lion and hissed; "How can you let him order you about on your own ship?" John just shrugged; "I can use a nap, and with the wind, its not as stifling belowdecks. Those guys are jumpy, each thinking the other killed Goel, and I don't want to get shot by mistake. Its all right; lets get some sleep now. I think we're going to be in for a rough night anyways……." The shouting awakened the Lion; he cocked his head to one side, trying to listen through the ventillator. A quick look at his watch showed it to be a good hour too early for the dive party to be back, and yet, something was happening…. There were at least three sets of pounding feet on deck…. And then Penny was yelling down the companionway hatch……. "There was a surge of water; we felt the whole freighter rock…. And then a section of the bulkhead was collapsing…. My father and Mr. Berdan are trapped in the hold; Mr. Hatch and I came back up; we've got to get the cutting torch, and some tools, and some spare cylinders…." Hank nodded; "Do you know if your father's alive?" Penny slurped at the mug of hot coffee and nodded; "we heard pounding; someone's still alive in there, but their air supply's going to be limited……" John nodded; "I've got a little bit of diving experience; if you've got a spare rig, I'd be willing to help….." Hatch growled; "NO thanks, we can handle it," but then Penny shot back; "Mr. Hatch, my FATHER is trapped down there and I'll take ANY help I can get… besides, your precious "treasure" is in the same compartment he's in; and if we can't get in to him, you can't recover any more of what you came for, now can you?" The Otter scowled for a moment and then nodded; "Oh, all right. But if he gets in trouble, I’m not saving him…. And if he MAKES any trouble….." John followed the others down, into the dark water. He'd fumbled with the diving rig, asking Penny a number of questions he already knew, or thought he knew the answer to, doing his best to look as if he'd never used a rig like that before. Ahead of him, Hatch carried the cutting torch and one spare air cylinder, while Penny carried a net bag as full of spares as she could maneuver. John carried a pry bar and another sack of spare air tanks. The water was deceptively calm as they followed the rope downwards, but as they neared the wreck, it became apparent just how much the sea was moving. As an ocean swell approached the shallow spot in the sea, the water velocity sped up… and they surged forward, to surge back as it passed….. like a piece of driftwood being thrown up on a beach and then dragged back. It was difficult getting through the opening in the side of the ship without getting smashed against it, and John wondered how hard it would be to exit the wreck. Inside the gloomy confines of the ship, the surging water was less noticeable, but still present, and from time to time the hulk would groan, and shift under their feet. Finally they came to a portion of the corridor, just short of the entrance to the compartment where the divers had been working. The roof and one wall had caved in, the metal obviously weakened by the sinking of the ship. Hatch lit one underwater flare, and then another, and then prepared his cutting torch. Penny banged on one wall, and after a few moments, a return knocking was heard, slow, and measured, as if someone was trying to conserve their air. John looked at the wreckage for a bit and then inserted his pry bar and heaved upwards. The mass of metal and debris shifted slightly, and Hatch bent to apply the torch to one piece of girder that seemed to be holding them back. The work went slowly; Hatch would make a cut, and Penny and the Lion would shift wreckage, prying at the debris, until Hatch was required to make another cut. The bubbles from their SCUBA gear puddled on the roof of the corridor, making a reflective layer that caught the light from the cutting torch, casting eldridtch shadows. Finally they had moved forward until they could see a dim light shining from under one piece of sheet metal. John inserted a pry bar and heaved upwards, while Penny prepared to shove an air tank through the gap. No sooner was the tank shoved through, than a net bag was shoved back towards them; a net bag full of the little amber vials….. Penny shoved it aside with a foot, and Hatch turned to watch it drift for a moment, as if concerned it might drift out of their reach… but then he was turning back, lighting his torch with an audible "pop", and bending to cut at the metal…… The hole through the wreckage was barely large enough for the Lion to squeeze through, but somehow he managed. Hatch was bending over, looking at Berdan's still form, his dive helmet obviously smashed. Penny was hugging her father, trying to urge him towards the newly created exit, while her father tried to scoop up yet another pawful of the vials. Swimming slowly over, John looked at the Skunk's body…. Something large had hit his dive helmet from above and behind, shattering it…… Had it been wreckage, or the Wolf, determined to take the Skunk's remaining air? And then they were moving back through the wreckage, as the ship groaned around them. It was raining hard as they broke the surface of the ocean. Hank swung the boom out and hoisted Willoughby on board first, and then his daughter. Hatch attached the net bags of ampoules to the rope next, and then sent the mostly now empty air tanks up as well. While Hank hoisted the Otter on board, John wearily climbed the Jacob's ladder, to drop his dive rig on the deck. Standing, he turned and looked into the wind, into the gathering gloom of the storm. "I tell you he was struck by falling debris" the Wolf growled. Hatch stared at him from across the cabin; "Yeah… and Goel just went for a walk! Yeah, RIGHT!" The Lion's growl drew everyone's attention; "The seas are getting quite rough on the surface and we've already seen how dangerous it can be, below. Shortly I'm going to have to slip our mooring, or we'll be capsized. I'd recommend that we return to port. That way at least we'd have the chance to return someday." Hatch actually beat the Wolf to the punch; "The HELL we're leaving now! We've only recovered a fraction of what's down there! Do you have ANY idea how VALUABLE that stuff is?" Willoughby nodded; "After all these years, after all the planning, after all the LIVES this has cost, there's no WAY we're quitting now!" Hank just growled, from the corridor forward of the salon; "you mean like all the lives of the crew that were on that ship, when you mis-directed it off its course, when you sabotaged the ship, sinking it where no one would ever think to look for it?" For a moment Willoughby's ears flattened to his head, and his tail drooped…..and then, after a moment, they twitched and returned to their more normal position. "Don't be absurd; I'd never do a thing like that!" The Rabbit just grunted and turned, disappearing down the corridor. The Lion turned and looked at Willoughby; "I know you're the paying customer, but none of your treasure will do anyone any good. When I feel the safety of the ship is at stake, I WILL slip the anchor line….. And that’s all there is to it!" The argument between Penny and her father floated through the tiny cabin’s door. For ventilation purposes, the interior doors of the schooner were all louvered; sailing ships tend to be wet, and a good airflow is necessary to keep the mold and mildew down to a reasonable level. John listened for a while as the Wolf’s daughter demanded answers, bringing out facts, drawing conclusions from the events of the past year, while her father denied it all, at first in a strident voice, and then in a more subdued voice, as his daughter wouldn’t be placated or dissuaded. Finally the Lion moved off, gathering his foul weather gear, and his harness, headed topside, to keep an eye on the ship. John was met with a hail of sideways-flying rain, as he stuck his head out of the companionway. Clipping his safety line to the eyebolt by the binnacle, he scanned the sky; the clouds were almost a homogeneous gray, and very low-hanging, to the point where they seemed to scrape the mainmast as they flew past. The sea was still in swells, no breakers yet, but with the shallowness of the ocean at this point, the swells were high and close together, and the schooner pitched violently. As he looked about the ship, he noticed Hatch, huddled in the bows. For once even the Otter looked drenched. “What in the HELL is he doing up there?” the Lion shouted in Hank’s general direction, the Rabbit’s ears folded down under his slicker’s hood. “Seems to be guarding the anchor line; says we ain’t leaving; that we’ll ride it out here.” John just nodded, and then turned back to look at the Rabbit; “Sergeant Major, I’ve about had enough of this. Do you think it would be worth the plow anchor and a hundred meters of line to get out of here? The Rabbit looked back guardedly, his muzzle dripping rainwater; “Um….. yeah…… but…. When you talk like that, Captain, I have to hesitate; just WHAT do you have in mind?” The Lion just grinned. Hatch was thoroughly miserable; only the thought of what the syndicate would do to him if he failed to make this little “investment” a success kept him from heading below, of surrendering to nature’s assault. He glanced occasionally at the pair in the stern of the Schooner, occasionally looking UP at them as the bow of the Schooner dipped down between the swells, and then DOWN at them as the ocean lifted the bows of the ship. He was getting really seasick, and was glad he hadn’t had much to eat at dinner. As a result, he never caught the motion of the Lion as he unlocked the schooner’s wheel and gave it a small twist….. Nina giggled as the ship twisted, moving not just down the face of the passing swell, but moving sideways across its face as well…. And then as the next swell lifted the ship, as the anchor line went taut, jerking the head of the ship about violently, the schooner heeled over so that the side of her cabin was the floor for a moment…….. it was a wild and exciting ride! Hank HOWLED and clutched TIGHT to the running backstay as the ship gyrated wildly. He felt, more than heard the anchor line snap, saw from the corner of his eye the Otter sliding, ricocheting down the deck from bows to amidships, bouncing off the gunwale, and the hatchcover, the gunwale and the forward edge of the deckhouse, like the ball in a particularly violent game of pinball…. And then the motion of the ship was steadying somewhat, the Lion at the wheel, holding the ship’s head into the wind. The Rabbit took the wheel, nervously holding the ship pointed into the wind while the Lion raised the storm jib, and a highly attenuated version of the mainsail, and then trimmed them into the classic "hove too” position. Hank then moved forward to help the Lion tie up the still form of the Otter, and then carry him down into the Salon. Hank was just adding an extra loop of rope around the Otter’s chest when Willoughby came out of his cabin, the snarl on his face fading as he found himself staring into the business end of the Lion’s submachine gun. Shortly thereafter, both he and Musgrove found themselves “confined to quarters” after Hank had searched their cabins, removing anything that looked like it might be a weapon……. The storm raged for a day and a half. John watched the now replaced SatNav; they drifted some, under the assault of wind and wave, but not enough to matter; they were well out to sea, and in no danger of running aground. And as they moved away from the wreck, with deeper water, the seas moderated somewhat. Finally, the storm turned to just a pounding rain, the seas gradually calming. Hank sat on the leading edge of the deck house, watching Willoughby, Musgrove and Hatch as they sat, paws tied, on the main hatch cover. Penny was sitting with her father, although she looked anything but pleased with him. The presence of the assault rifle in the Rabbits paws seemed a recurring surprise to Hatch, who couldn’t believe that these two old-timers had something like that on board, much less that they knew how to use it. Astern, John fiddled with the magnetometer, which was once again streamed astern. The SatNav said that they were about to cross over the spot where the wreck was, but there wasn’t a trace of it on the sensor’s display. There was no sign of the bouy they’d left to mark the wreck, either. The Sea did that sometimes…… Finally the Lion just shrugged and slowly hauled it in, carefully coiling the line. Stowing the gear, he made his way forward, to bend on more sail, the schooner slowly accelerating, as they headed for Haversport, the closest Freelands harbor with a Coast Guard station. The Coast Guardsman had a wry grin on his face as he helped the Lion with the eyepatch tie up the schooner alongside the Freelands Cutter “Point Barrens.” “No, the skipper’s ashore somewhere. Some sort of a budget meeting, I think. But CPO Darling is on board…… Say, do you REALLY have those furrs tied up there?” CPO Darling turned out to be a barrel chested Alsatian who looked like he could spit nails. He listened wordlessly while John, frequently interrupted by Hank, told their story. When the Lion finally ran down, he nodded; “Well, possession of narcotics is a felony, but I’m not sure the salvage of narcotics is in itself a crime. However, trying to prevent a Captain from exercising “due dilligence” in the safety of his ship and crew COULD be considered mutiny. I’ll take charge of your prisoners, AND the contraband, and then we’ll wait for the skipper to return. THIS one sounds like a matter for the lawyers, though, if you ask me. Things degenerated fairly rapidly when the cutter’s Captain returned. Shortly thereafter a Coast Guard Commodore in a sharply pressed uniform showed up, with the local police in tow. Then the local district attorney showed up, shortly followed by a news crew. The argument held on the deck of the cutter, with the district attorney shaking his fist in the Commodore’s face made the evening news. It was after noon, the next day, when the Coast Guard Cutter’s Captain ordered the schooner cast off. They still weren’t sure what to charge Hatch, Musgrove and Willoughby with, let alone Willoughby’s daughter, but they WERE reasonably certain that the crew of the schooner had done what had been proper…. With the possible exception of casting Goel, the Tiger, adrift. They’d never picked up the EPIRB beacon, and had concluded he’d tried to sail the inflatable to shore, with his “treasure” of morphine. No one had any idea if he’d made it or not…… But at least they knew what to watch for. As the Schooner cleared the breakwater, Hank looked at the Lion and shrugged; “well, I’d have to say we broke even on that one, Skipper. We lost the anchor, and the anchor rode, and ground tackle, but we got half our charter fee in advance, and the Coast Guard seemed to think the salvage gear made up for the other half….. So I guess it wasn’t completely a waste of time.” The Lion nodded as he watched Nina play with one of the dive helmets, pulling it over her head and then making faces at them; “True. We at least prevented a bunch of morphine from hitting the drug markets, if nothing else. And solved the thirty year old mystery of what happened to the Mary Deere. Now, Sergeant Major, what do you think about offering “dive tours of the Happenstance Islands?” Think we could fold those long ears of yours down inside one of those helmets?” As Nina made faces at him, the Rabbit just grimaced, and tried to imagine …….. a horde of bikini clad beauties asking his advice on where to dive, and how to catch lobsters…. Gradually his face brightened and he grinned back at Nina; “That might be the best idea you’ve had in a LONG time……” This story, Captain John Mosby, and Sergeant Major Hank Schmidt are copyright its author. Sylvia Slipsunder is copyright Todd Sutherland. Any comments, suggestions, or complaints should be addressed to hbkhm@huber.com. Flames should be addressed to the nearest drunken Kzinti, Kilrathi, or in a pinch, Klingon.