by Mike Hartman
Once they were satisfied the SDV was ready for the mission, the pilot silently glided the SDV through the dark water toward the harbor. The navigator continuously fed information to the pilot concerning their location. Visibility on this dark night was zero as they maneuvered stealthily in total darkness.
They covered the 2,500 yards to the mouth of the harbor without incident. From the mouth of the harbor, it was still a one and a half mile journey inland to the dry dock. Each man held on to the mini-sub and moved as a single unit until they neared the dry dock. Still 150 yards away from the target, they found a place under the pier to secure the mini-sub. Overhead there were six small gunboats moored side-by-side alongside the pier. This provided a nice overhead canopy to protect them from detection.
The pilot and navigator remained to guard the mini-sub while the other four men proceeded to swim the remaining 150 yards. As Red swam through the darkness with the three other SEAL’s his mind began to think about possible scenarios they might encounter. Most of them were not good. If anything of value was taking place inside this dry dock, it would be heavily guarded.
The darkness had partially given up its grip as the lights from the pier above cast a glow on the water. The four men swam in formation and had no trouble seeing with their night vision goggles under their swim masks. Up ahead they could see light coming from under the dry-dock. It was a covered shelter and looked like a building from the top, but it was open to the water below. A platform in the center of the dry-dock raised and lowered to allow a ship or submarine to be lifted out of the water for maintenance and repair.
The team slowly swam around the perimeter of the dry-dock being careful to avoid any open areas where the form of their bodies might be seen from above. They found a corner of the structure that was not as well lit and slowly ascended into the shadow.
Red smoothly and silently broke the surface of the water with the top of his head just enough to get his eyes above the surface. The other three men performed the same maneuver, each of them facing in a different direction. After a quick check for guards or other personnel, they once again slipped back below the surface. They didn’t so much as leave a ripple as they disappeared once again. In total, they had not been surfaced for more than three seconds.
Descending down to ten feet the men compared notes using hand gestures to convey information about what they had seen. The first man had surfaced facing west. He gave a thumbs-up indicating he detected no threats to the west. The second man had surfaced facing north. He gestured that he had seen 1 person to the north and indicated they were armed. Red had been facing east. He relayed information about the three armed guards he had seen. The last SEAL indicated several people to the south, but they did not appear to be armed.
The leader gestured for the team to move to the west side of the dry-dock since they had not seen any guards in that direction. Rather than swim across the open dry-dock and risk being seen from above, the SEALs swam around the outside perimeter. They found a large pillar on the west side and the leader gestured for Red to surface and assess the situation.
Rising back to the surface once again, the top of Red’s head slowly rose above the water. He came up with his back to the pillar to ensure nobody was behind him. By surfacing in this manner, it limited the amount of motion he would have to make to assess the full range of his view. No personnel were in view on this western side. He could hear activity behind him on the other side of the pillar as people went about the tasks of the jobs they were performing.
In front of him Red surveilled each quadrant carefully, taking in all features. There was a walkway approximately ten feet across that traversed the entire length of this western wall. There was a space of about 18 inches between the walkway and the surface of the water. The space had a metal framework construction designed to support the walkway. Red could see this area would provide an excellent place for the team to surface and set up their surveillance. They should remain hidden nicely in the shadows this space provided under the walkway.
Silently slipping below the surface of the water one more time, Red joined the team waiting below and motioned for them to follow him. Each of them surfaced inside the framework on the underside of the walkway and remained nicely concealed in the shadows.
The bright lights of the dry dock revealed an abundance of activity with workers going about their task. The SEALs instantly knew what that task was. Before their eyes was the framework of an enormous submarine under construction. It did not yet have any skin on the external side of its ribcage, but it was unmistakably the beginnings of a submarine being born into this world. Overhead were large cranes moving materials from place to place. The flash of welding activity came from several parts of the project.
One of the men began taking photographs and another was taking thermal imaging video of the entire area while Red and the fourth SEAL stood ready with their MP5’s just above the surface of the water. The guards seemed to be mostly concentrated on the far side of the dry-dock with only a few on the northern and southern sides.
All four men froze when they heard footsteps on the walkway above. The footsteps got louder as they approached the SEAL’s position. When they seemed to be directly overhead, the footsteps stopped. Each of the men waited patiently to see what would happen next. A few seconds later a match was tossed into the water directly in front of their position and then the footsteps continued on their way.
The team leader gestured what their next move would be without speaking any words and the four men silently slipped back below the surface of the water. Once again swimming around the outside perimeter, they discovered the same type of walkway structure on the east side of the facility. Once again the men surfaced in the small shadowy space between the walkway and the water. The exact same routine was followed. Pictures were taken, thermal videos were shot and then the team disappeared once again. A clean mission, in and out. Nobody would ever know they had been there.
The swim back to the SDV went just as smoothly. In only a few minutes the SDV was loaded, their air lines were plugged back into the compressed air manifold, and the SDV glided silently back out of the harbor.
Chapter 42
November, year 4.
Pots and pans rattled around the kitchen and music played on the stereo in the living room. The house was filled with the aroma of stir-fry vegetables and fried chicken. It was unusual for Monica to cook much in the way of a meal at her house. It just wasn’t that easy cooking for one. She tended to grab a quick bite out or pick at whatever she could find around the house most of the time. For some reason she felt like cooking tonight.
Like most Fridays, everyone had knocked off work at 3:00 today to get an early start on the weekend. She usually continued to work after everyone else left, but today she just felt like doing something different. A quick stop at the grocery store on the way home and now she was enjoying her time in the kitchen. Of course, it would be better if she had someone to cook for; someone to share it with. She was used to living alone though. Spending time by herself was the norm and she was okay with that.
She used to cook with her mom when she was a growing up so she knew her way around the kitchen fairly well. She found herself dancing to the music as she stood at the stove stirring the vegetables. It really wasn’t like her to dance around the house and she became aware of herself grinning as it occurred to her what was going on.
After three years of working together Gabe had suddenly asked her out on a date. They went out last weekend and had a wonderful time together. He had packed a picnic lunch and taken her to Vasona Lake. It was a beautiful day and Gabe had pulled off a wonderful romantic first date.
He had spread a comforter on the ground with flowers in a vase. A beautiful picnic basket with deviled eggs, fruit salad, brie with gourmet crackers, grapes, and a chilled bottle of wine. A CD player with soft love songs topped it off. It seemed he had tho
ught of everything. They had a wonderful time and laughed as they fed each other the finger foods.
After lunch they held hands as they took a walk around the lake on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Monica was surprised how comfortable it felt to be with Gabe in this way. They talked about all kinds of things and the conversation never seemed to run dry. He hadn’t kissed her goodbye at the end of the day, but she wished he would have. She found herself looking forward to another date. Too bad he was out of town this weekend visiting a friend.
The chicken was about done and she pulled it from the pan one piece at a time, placing it on a plate with a paper towel to soak up any extra grease. The timer went off and she pulled a loaf of French bread from the oven. Her little one-woman party was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. She moved the vegetables off the hot burner and went to answer it.
She looked out the window and was filled with a thousand emotions. What should she do? This was the last thing she had expected and she was taken totally off guard. Standing on her doorstep was Ed McCoskey!
Cautiously Monica opened the door and looked at Ed. He looked pitiful and defeated. She had never seen him this way. He had always been so filled with confidence and sure of himself. She didn’t say anything, but just stood there with the door partially opened, guardedly remaining inside the house.
Ed spoke first. “Hi,” he said.
“What are you doing here?” Monica sounded reserved.
“Can I come in?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s been two months since Sally fired you. Why are you coming here now?”
Ed answered, “I don’t have a job, my wife kicked me out of the house, and I have nowhere else to go.” He really did look pitiful.
“Well you can’t stay here.”
“Can I just come in to talk for a few minutes?”
Sally thought this through quickly in her mind. If I let him come in, it will be like betraying Sally. I can’t just let him stand there. He can’t be trusted. He looks so pitiful. He needs my help. He tried to sabotage BioTech. I’ve kind of missed him. Sally would never forgive me if she found out. How could talking to him for just a minute hurt anything?
It took only a few seconds for all these thoughts to flood through her mind. Weakness won out and she said, “You can come in, but only for a few minutes.” She opened the door and he stepped inside.
“It smells great in here. I didn’t know you were a cook.”
“I’m not usually. I just felt like doing something nice for myself this evening. What do you want, Ed?”
He looked hurt at her short tone. “I didn’t do those things you think I did. Sally made a mistake. I didn’t steal a prototype tick from the lab. I didn’t test it on her. I didn’t put that video on my computer. I didn’t bug her office. I didn’t make any calls overseas. I’m innocent, Monica.”
Not even a little bit of belief entered Monica’s mind. She found that she wanted to believe him, but she had nothing to support that desire. “I wish I could believe you, but it’s pretty clear what happened. Sally had all kinds of evidence and she had every right to fire you.”
He sighed. “I know it looks that way, but it just isn’t true. I’ve been through hell for the past two months. I’ve been trying to figure out what happened. I’ve been trying to figure out who would do this to me. As if that wasn’t enough, now that I’ve been two months without a paycheck my wife threw me out of the house today. I can’t believe how shallow she is. I thought she loved me.”
Even if she didn’t believe him, Monica still felt sorry for him. She looked at him for a minute and then said, “Are you hungry?”
A look of appreciation appeared on his face.
“You can stay for dinner. We will eat and we will talk, but then you have to leave.”
As they ate dinner Monica tried to make sense of the situation. She had a terrible feeling that she was doing something wrong by having him here. On the other hand, she wanted to hear what he had to say for himself.
“So how do you explain everything that happened?” she asked.
He looked defeated. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure it all out. I’m having trouble making sense of anything. All I know is that I didn’t do those things. I was as surprised as Sally. I love that company. I gave the last 18 years of my life to BioTech. I was damned good at what I did and I never dreamed in a million years that I would get fired.”
“Somebody must have set me up, but I can’t figure out who did it or why they did it. Nothing makes any sense. I thought about Jamie. He and I both tend to be the alpha male types. Perhaps he was making a bid to be top dog. I thought about Gabe. He has had a crush on you for years and was totally jealous of the time you and I spent together.”
This one took Monica off guard. Gabe had a crush on me for years? she thought. He was jealous of Ed? This had never occurred to her before, but even as he threw it out on the table, she realized it must be true. Why hadn’t she seen this before? The slightest bit of doubt crept into her mind.
Ed continued, “I thought about Jillian, but I couldn’t think of any reason she would do this. I thought about Dan. He’s like a white knight. He’s capable and confident, but he’s already Sally’s right-hand man. What could he have to gain from knocking me down? For that matter, what could any of them have to gain by knocking me down? If someone wanted to knock me down, this was sure an extreme way of going about it.”
“I thought about Sally. I’m pretty sure she has been looking for a way to get rid of me for a long time. Maybe she concocted this scheme to make sure she had a solid case against me so she could push me out the door. I just don’t know.”
Monica decided this all sounded like bunk to her. She wasn’t buying any of it. She was about to tell him as much when her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone. Looking at the display, fear crept into her soul. It was Gabe. The last thing in the world she wanted was for Gabe to find out Ed was here. She had high hopes of going out with Gabe again and couldn’t wait to see him again. This could be a bombshell that ruined any chance of that happening. She thought about not answering it, but she was thrilled that he had called her and she really wanted to talk to him. “Excuse me for a minute,” she told Ed and went to the bedroom before answering the call.
“Hey!” she said as she flipped the phone open.
“Hello beautiful!” They weren’t actually dating or anything, but the words sounded good in Monica’s ear. She blushed a bit at the sound of them.
He said, “After last weekend, I was hoping to see you again soon. Unfortunately, the trip I had planned for this weekend was pretty inconvenient on that front. I managed to cancel those plans and I was hoping I could see you. Are you up to a movie tonight?”
Oh crap! thought Monica. I really want to say yes. How can I pull this off? I’ve got to get rid of Ed. I can’t just throw him out the door onto the street. What should I do?
She said the only thing she could bring herself to say. “I’d like that.”
“I’ll pick you up in 30 minutes.”
Her mind rallied and she said, “I need more time than that to get ready. Make it an hour.”
As she walked back to the dining room she was only thinking about one thing. How can I get rid of Ed?
“Okay, Ed. I said you could come in for dinner and we talked over dinner. You haven’t said anything that made any sense. It’s time for you to leave.”
For just a split second the old Ed McCoskey reared his head up from within his soul. Anger welled up inside of him. How dare this girl push him out the door? It only lasted for a split second and then reality pushed it back down deep inside of him. Monica had seen it though. It scared her and for the first time she became fearful of what might happen.
For the next 20 minutes Monica tried to get Ed to leave, but she wasn’t having much luck. She finally threatened to call the
police and only when she opened her phone to dial 911 did he finally agree to go. He looked like a whipped puppy dog as he made his way out the door and down the walk toward his car.
Monica leaned against the door and sighed. Her emotions were running full throttle and she tried to calm down so she could shift gears for her evening with Gabe. Only 40 minutes left to get ready. She ran for the shower and got dolled up for her date. She only changed her mind about what to wear four times. Not bad, she thought.
She was still in the bedroom finishing up the last beautifying touches when the doorbell rang. On the way to answer the door she realized the dishes were still on the table from dinner. Not dishes for one person, but dishes for two people! Fear gripped her soul. She did the only thing she could think of. She opened the door and slipped outside. Gabe would not be invited in tonight.
Chapter 43
November, year 4.
Things had not been the same at BioTech since the day McCoskey got fired. He was a chauvinist and a pain in the butt, but it turned out he had been a bigger part of the team than anyone realized. It seemed very strange, but in some odd way, they all missed him.
Sally’s rage had subsided and her anger gave way to a feeling of betrayal, then to confusion, and finally to pity. She couldn’t believe it, but she actually felt sorry for the man. Nobody was more surprised by this emotion than she was.
They all continued to work on the project, but the pace had slowed down to a crawl. McCoskey had brought cohesion to the group that somehow wasn’t there any more. They all went about their work, but their thoughts wandered frequently and they all had trouble focusing on the task at hand.
Monica carried guilt with her that she could not turn loose of. How could she have been so stupid to have allowed Ed into her house last weekend? What kind of a friend was she to Sally? She had betrayed their friendship and only wished she could repair the damage. Sally didn’t know, of course. But every time Monica looked at her, shame entered her soul.
It had started out bad when he showed up at her door and she allowed him to come in for dinner. It got worse when Gabe called and asked to see her. She had practically pushed Ed out the door. He looked so pitiful. Things really got out of hand when she returned from her date with Gabe. Ed had been waiting on her back porch. After he begged and pleaded, she had allowed him to sleep on the couch.
