Well, Spring is just about here and so here goes the new story I promised you - at least it starts here.
Dance of the Deep
Captain Wallace stared at an array
of indicators and wondered what he was doing on the bridge of this ship. He had
these lapses often, usually during highly critical maneuvers. "What's it look like captain?"
Lieutenant Hereshoff was very anxious to get the captain's take on the
operation. "I think we've got a winner here Heshy." The captain spoke very quietly as he scanned
reactor readings. "It's the pre-cooler. I know it. Look at these
temperature gradients." The captain
used his finger to point to a piping detail on one of the screens. "See
that? It's always about 50 degrees cooler here when it's about to go. It's the
first thing that happens. Then it triggers an automatic alarm system. That's
what they're hearing now." Captain
Wallace spoke clearly and calmly over the voice communication line.
"Captain of the Explorer VI this is Captain Wallace of Deep Space Salvor
Wind Rider". "Go ahead Captain
Wallace," came the quick reply. "We've got your problem on the
screen. Your number one Pre-cooler is just about to quit. We've got to get you
all out immediately. Have everyone on the quarterdeck in four minutes ready to
evacuate. Repeat, every person on board ready to go. Please acknowledge."
Understand captain, all persons on board ready to evacuate from the quarter
deck in four minutes, over." OK captain,
see you in four minutes. My first mate will be there for pictures. No one else
can go below. Please confirm." Roger that captain. Everyone up on the
quarter deck in four minutes." The
captain of the Explorer VI sounded resigned to the plan. "One more thing
captain, Wallace added, I need a verbal confirmation that you agree to this
salvage now." "Agreed,"
came the immediate reply. Hereshoff clenched his fist in success. Captain
Wallace smiled up at him as he turned off the voice comm. "We got him. No
laughing Heshy till we're done."
Heshy's job was now to replace the
reactor pre-cooler with a new one and act like he was setting up a recorder. Rubir,
the second mate would plug in the training videos of nuclear explosions while
they were taking people on board. The captain would be the first to board the
stricken ship. This wasn't the first time they pulled this trick. Not the first
time at all.
Captain Wallace was greeted by half
raised eyes and lazy half turns of the head by drunken crew sprawled across the
tables and chairs of a damp and very bad smelling room dug out of a cave and
hidden in the side of a steep hill. At the back, a door led into a more
carefully designed chamber that was better lit, drier, and no longer smelled
like rotting fish. He spotted "The Vulture" seated at a console.
"I've got something for you Vulture," he said to the dark figure.
" I heard Captain," Vulture replied and stood and turned toward him.
"I saw you bring her down," Vulture became very serious as he spoke.
"It costs a lot of money to break her up you know. I'll give you 800,000
Vernon clear." Captain Wallace felt suddenly sick in his stomach. Last
time he got twice that. The Vulture could kill him and his men very easily and
not have to pay them anything at all. The only stop on that was that there'd be
no more business from him. Vulture continued. .."and another 800,000 when
we sell the drive." Captain Wallace
started to feel better. Vulture looked at him hard. "I'll tell you
something else Captain. You got about twenty million in ransoms there. Did you
know that?" Captain Wallace didn't
want to even think in that direction. He could justify selling salvaged material,
a ship that was thought to be lost, but he couldn't justify kidnapping. That
would be out and out piracy. "That girl there - you could keep her. I want
Magnusson and his crew." Vulture
smiled. This was the first time Captain Wallace saw Vulture smile.
The green glint in his eyes shown
only when Vulture knew he had his prey. This and his wry smile pierced Wallace
to the quick. He knew what blackmail felt like now. The rest of his life would
be spent doing whatever Vulture needed done. The only choice he had was to come
clean about his shady salvage operations, and this burned just about as deep as
Vulture's evil gaze. "There must be a way out of this," Captain
Wallace thought. "Ha, Ha...," Vulture leaned way back and let out a
sick loud laugh. "She's a pretty one too she is, all those dark curls.
I'll bet she can dance that one, Ha,Ha."
