Storm Chaser: Chapter 39

Chapter 39

A relatively short time later the three of them watched what looked like a gray raft with a motor attached make its way from the submarine to the ship. The sub had moved closer to the Storm Chaser, but not enough to crowd them. Elena hadn’t seen where the raft thing came from as it was launched on the far side of the sub. Benjamin lowered a ladder and three of the four men aboard climbed up. The fourth stayed with the raft. As the raft looked as though it could hold about 15-20 men it made him look a little lost. Elena left Mateo in the pilot house and went to greet their guests. Fatigue burned behind her eyes and she hoped it didn’t show.

All three of the men were obviously military. Even if it weren’t for the haircuts, the matching outfits, differing only in insignia she couldn’t recognize, would have given it away. The hats shaded their eyes and made them hard to read. Two of them looked to be in their twenties while the third looked closer to her age or maybe a little older. There was a wink of gold from the pins in his collar. Elena mentally shrugged, not knowing a lieutenant from a general.

“Good morning,” she said, addressing all three. “Welcome aboard.” Silently she wondered if they would try to take her ship.

“Good morning,” one of the men said. She was unsurprised that it was the older one who spoke while the others kept silent. He paused and then added, “Ma’am,” as if unsure what title she should have. Elena didn’t correct him.

“Your men are below in the crews bunks if you would like to go to them.”

“That would be appreciated.” Apparently he felt as little need for pleasantries as she did. Elena turned and the three men followed her. Technically only the first one followed her. The other two followed him. Benjamin joined their parade bringing up the rear. She felt absurdly grateful for his looming presence. One in the hallway all three men removed their hats. The walk to the crews’ quarters was a short one and the silence was broken only by the sound of their feet. At the closed door she could hear murmuring as the three men they had rescued talked among themselves. She opened the door and it abruptly stopped.

The space suits they had climbed out of were shoved under the lower bunks. There were six bunks in the crew quarters. Like the bunk in the pilot house they were essentially shelves on chains made to support sleeping people. They could also fold back into the wall for more space. The only real bed on the ship was in the captain’s quarters. The three lower bunks had been folded out while the three upper ones were still locked against the wall. The three men were sitting on the bunks and turned as she entered. Their eyes slid past her as the man behind her entered.

All three snapped up to rigid attention. Elena noticed the one in the center wobbled a bit as he stood. The fact that the three of them only wore boxers and t-shirts didn’t seem to phase anyone. Elena was just grateful they hadn’t been naked under the suits. She would have felt a little too much like Madeline Kahn’s roman empress character in History of the World Part 1. The thought of their reactions to that made her smile.

“Glad to see you are feeling better,” she said. They didn’t really look at her. She didn’t expect them to. She turned to the man who did command their attention. “I’ll leave you to help your men gather their gear.” She turned and left the room, Benjamin following her into the corridor. He closed the door behind them.

“I’m surprised you left them alone.”

“They won’t be down long. And since Mateo stashed his equipment in the engine room the door is actually both closed and locked.” Normally the door to the engine room was left open since anyone needing to get to the engine might be going to the room fast. “By design both the pilot’s cabin and the captain’s quarters are separated from the crews. All of the maps and such are either in my quarter’s or the pilot house. They would have to come on deck to get into the pilot house. But if they are down there too long, I might ask that you go check on them.” She smiled at Benjamin as they stepped out onto the deck.

“Of course,” he responded with a laugh. “I had forgotten about the cabin separation.”

“Well when the pilot is often a younger female relative of the captain she isn’t just thrown in with the crew.”

“This is true.” Behind them they heard footsteps and turned to see only the older man exiting the hall. He put his hat on as he stepped outside. Elena was surprised to see him alone and wondered if this was a delaying tactic.

“Is there a problem?” she asked. He shook his head.

“No ma’am. The men are gathering their gear and we will be leaving soon. I merely wished to speak with you before we left.”

“Why don’t I go lend them a hand?” Benjamin said. He left them to go back below. Elena wondered if he was suspicious or just giving the man the privacy he wanted.

“Thank you,” she told his retreating form. He waved and Elena turned her attention back to the man in front of her.

“First of all Ms. Calabrese, I would like to thank you for assisting my men,” he began. The corner of Elena’s mouth quirked up. She had never given him her name, merely identifying herself as the Captain of the Storm Chaser. She, however was unsurprised he knew it. She also didn’t think it was an accident that he used her name.

“Your thanks are welcome but not strictly necessary,” she said. “We make it a practice not to leave people to die unnecessarily.” He smiled.

“Duly noted and appreciated. However basic manners still require giving thanks.” Elena laughed.

“True, and you are welcome. I wasn’t aware the military worried over much about manners.”

“On occasion,” he told her. “If I may ask, do you know what happened?”

“Well I believe you set your submarine to track where we entered the channel, marked the coordinates, waited until the Storm Chaser was out of visual range and sent the,” Elena paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t see the name on your ship. What was she called?”

“Called.” He repeated. “Oh we didn’t name…her as it was a prototype.” Elena frowned.

“No wonder she sunk, no name and no cat, how unlucky can you get? Anyway you sent the ship through. The environmental controls blew during Channel entry more than likely and your one back up system lasted only long enough for your men to get into their suits.”

“I take it you do not approve?” he said noting her frown.

“Personally I think it was damn irresponsible to charge into a channel with little to no knowledge of what was going on and to do so with so few safety precautions…” Elena snapped her mouth shut realizing she was on the verge of lecturing. “That is however your prerogative.” She raised an eyebrow when she realized he was smiling.

“If it is any consolation I agree with you. In fact I even made some of the same arguments before I sent my team in. Apparently more attention was paid to the mechanics and not enough to safety precautions as you call them. My orders didn’t change.” The smile fell from his lips. The men had gathered their gear and were studiously ignoring the two of them as they made their way to the ladder and down to the raft. The two of them watched the line of men in silence for a second.

“What do they call you?” She asked him. He looked surprised. “Not your rank or title or whatever, just something other than the man who is slightly older than the others and seems to be in charge,” she added when he remained quiet.

“Thompson,” he said with a smile. Elena nodded. She thought about it for a second, but conscience beat protocol. Mateo was in the pilot house and Benjamin was by the railing.

“Thompson then,” she said in a soft voice that didn’t carry. “If I were you I would look into a coolant for your back up system at least.” He stared at her for a second and then nodded slightly, acknowledging her help silently. One of his men walked back towards him and stopped a discrete distance away. He took it for the signal it was.

“Apparently the gear is stowed. It was a pleasure meeting you and again thank you for your assistance.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. He turned and followed his man back to the ladder. The two climbed down and into their raft. Elena stood with Benjamin for a second watching them head back towards their submarine. She left Benjamin by the rail and returned to the pilot house.

“Everything go well?” He asked. Elena nodded.

“Better than expected. Why don’t you go get something to eat,” she told him. He started to protest and she cut him off. “Go eat then come back and relieve me so I can get some sleep.” He laughed.

“All right,” he told her leaving the pilot house. “I’ll be right back.” She nodded knowing he would bring whatever he decided to eat back with him rather than eat in the galley, for which she was grateful. She could feel the tiredness seep down into her bones. Elena turned towards the water. The raft had reached the submarine and the men had boarded. The raft when back to wherever it had come from and she watched as the submarine began to move away, sinking below the surface as it did.

Idly she wondered if submerging was standard procedure or just so she wouldn’t see where they went. Elena reached over and snapped on the sonar. It wasn’t as fancy as the military had and in truth she rarely used it. However it was part of the standard equipment. The sub was indeed moving away from them at a rather fast clip. The machine’s green made her tired eyes swim. She turned it off. They were leaving, that was all she really wanted to know anyway.

Elena thought about Thompson and grudgingly admitted she liked him. He was still a large unknown but he seemed to actually care about the consequences to his men whereas Smith and Jonathan simply wanted the technology. Smith took the bullying and threatening role in trying to secure it while Jonathan tried charm but in the end it was still the same. She replayed her conversations and realized there had never been one about safety. While they seemed to function only in the theoretical, since it was never going to be their lives on the line, Thompson seemed to run the ground crew.

“Perhaps that’s why I don’t find him that obnoxious.” She told herself. Mateo was crossing the deck with a tray in his hands. He entered the cabin and she gladly handed him the wheel. She went to the small bunk instead of going down to her cabin. She climbed in and lay down.

“Expecting trouble?” He asked.

“Not really,” she told him. “Just too tired to make it to my bunk. She paused as her eyes closed. “Wake me in a few hours.” She was asleep before he could reply.