Harper just looked over to Emerson and shook his head slowly, obviously in disappointed astonishment. By that time, Armstrong had limped around the table to face Legend.
“Lay down, boy,” Legend said.
“Huh?”
“Lay down at my feet. I want Sam to be able to keep an eye on you. Besides, son, you look like you need a rest.”
Sam reached over and pulled a gun from Armstrong’s belt. Following Seven’s example, she handed it to Harper.
Armstrong practically collapsed at Legend’s feet and lay on his back, still groaning.
“I believe you owe our guests an apology,” Seven said to Spencer. “If you’ll just listen for half a minute, you’ll see they’re actually here with the express intent of saving your ass.”
Spencer’s eyes shifted nervously about the room as he withdrew his own gun from inside his jacket and pointed it directly at Seven. “You and your thug friends get back on that ridiculous machine you came from and get away from my colony and never come back. I swear I need no more excuse to kill you where you stand.”
“You know, you guys need a ‘check your gun at the door’ policy,” Legend laughed aloud. “I haven’t seen so many firearms in one room since the last bike week at Daytona.” Still smiling, he whispered quietly into Seven’s ear, “That man will be dead on the floor in two seconds.”
“Don’t do it!” Seven snapped, not taking his eyes off Spencer.
“Sam, wait,” Legend said evenly.
”Frank,” Seven continued slowly as Serea gripped his fingers, “you need to listen to what we have to say before you do something you may not be able to recover from. This little ‘whore’, as you’ve so rudely and inaccurately called her, is more than meets the eye and certainly more than you bargained for. Now, just like everyone else, lay your piece on the table and slide it over to Commander Harper.”
Spencer’s face was red and contorted with rage.
“Lay the gun down, Frank, right now!” Serea added, her voice revealing her sentiment.
“It would do us all good if you actually refused and we had to ask Sam here to solve our little Frank Spencer problem, but you get to decide!” Seven added matter-of-factly.
“I don’t need this,” Spencer spat, sliding the gun across the table.
“Okay, Frank, now that we’re all on even ground, go ahead and make your ultimatums,” Serea said in a strong voice, her eyes sweeping about the room. “But unless my influence here has suddenly sunk to new lows, everybody in this room is going to put away your tough guy attitudes, drop your weapons onto the table and hear Aaron out. I swear as I live that the first person who interrupts his account will be forcibly removed from this colony and will never be allowed back in! Do I make myself clear to everyone?”
All eyes turned away from hers including Spencer’s whose face became a crimson red. Apparently, he still did not want to risk directly confronting Serea in front of her father, regardless of the Professor’s state of mind.
“Aaron, tell them,” Serea commanded, her eyes sweeping past him to the ever calm face of Sean Conlin standing just over her father’s shoulder.
Seven immediately began reciting the details of their long journey back to Pacifica . He included the fantastic capabilities of the Phoenix , its encounters with the Chinese submarine. Seven also recounted in detail the Jiang Zemin’s stalking of Pacifica due to the unforeseen effect of Pacifica ’s noise in the oceans, for which there was no solution, nor would there ever be.
“Now, given those facts,” he said, “here’s the plan. We deploy the Leviathan to Dutch Harbor tomorrow morning. She’ll be carrying four of the Phoenix ’s ROV’s for acoustic protection and countermeasures. The Phoenix will remain behind to protect Pacifica , attempt to draw the enemy away from us and hold our position until the Leviathan can return in 10 days.”
“Preposterous,” Spencer finally sputtered, obviously unable to hold back any longer.
“Frank, prepare to be ejected,” Serea shot back instantly. “There’s nothing I’d rather do at this time than to make this decision without you.”
Spencer looked like he wanted to retort, but with lip biting difficulty, he held his tongue.
“Go on, Aaron,” Serea said.
“We’ll take two of the torpedoes from the Leviathan’s arms store here and strap them to two of the Phoenix ’s ROV’s. If need be, we can defend ourselves combining the torpedo’s propulsion with the ROV and Phoenix ’s tracking systems.”
“It should work…” Harper remarked rubbing his chin.
“It will not!” Spencer spat, glancing at Harper as though he were nothing but vile, putrid slime. “Just listen to their contradictory logic,” he said directly to the Professor who sat staring blankly at the tabletop before him. “First he wanted to launch the Leviathan and leave us defenseless altogether. Now he wants to send away our only form of protection and leave us defended by this… this monstrosity commanded by a team of whores and brigands from Hong Kong. For all we know this man and his team have brainwashed or drugged Seven here into believing their fantastic tale. I’m a United States Naval flag officer and I can see right through their fantastic lies and obviously fake technology. As soon as the Leviathan’s out of sight, they could take us over and enslave the lot of us!
“And how can you not realize,” Spencer continued, now turning his wrath on Seven, “that you made that irresponsible promise to the Dutch Harbor contingent without proper authorization? Therefore the contract you made with them is null and void, and was actually illegitimate the moment it was spoken! Now, for the rest of your pathetic, incompetent, incarcerated life, you’ll have to live with the consequences!”
“Wrong,” Seven replied instantly. “I was in command of Pacifica when I made the deal, so I had the authority and the moral obligation. And as the senior military officer in the Pacific, you’re now responsible for their lives and well being. Therefore, you have no choice but to bring them onboard to fulfill your oath of office. You may have assumed the office of Fleet Admiral after boldly consulting yourself, but now you must fulfill the duties for which you assigned the a-hole staring back at you in the mirror when you pinned those stars on your own collar.”
Spencer stared back at Seven with the look of a man who had just been hit in the face with a pot of scalding hot water.
“Enough of this – enough!” Spencer spat, his angry eyes sweeping the room about him. “Commander Harper, I’m relieving you of command of the Leviathan immediately for public insubordination and am formally charging you in complicity with mutiny. Your executive officer will assume command.”
“Fine,” Harper responded, ripping the oak leaves off of his collar and slamming them onto the table top. “In case you haven’t noticed, Frank, one minute ago, practically the entire known U. S. Navy officer corps consisted of me and you and Commander Winsteed in Dutch Harbor . So if you want to completely piss off about one third of the Navy and kill the other third, go ahead. As for me, I’m now a civilian. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, you should be in charge of yourself.”
“I’ll have you in irons tonight,” Spencer replied, his neck veins bulging.
“May I kill him now, boss?” Sam asked in a voice loud enough to be heard by all.
“No!” Seven and Serea responded together.
Sam crossed her arms in supreme annoyance and glared at Spencer.
At that moment, Legend smiled, then laughed loudly and leaned against the wall, his arms folded.
“No, Sam, no way! Hell, these people are all just about as hosed as the Chicoms. As far as I can tell, we have a better chance shoving off and drifting out of range of the submarine’s bull’s eye which should be just about where I’m standing now. If this meeting is any indication of the real leadership around here, this whole pile of metal will be sitting atop the seamount just below us in 48 hours or less and the fish are going to feast on diced people meat!”
Having said that, Legend pulled a cigar out of his pocket
and to everyone’s horror, he lit it with a flick of a well worn, brass Zippo lighter.
“Don’t light that cigar in here!” Armstrong moaned from his position on the floor. “You’ll wreck the life support systems.”
“Screw you,” Legend replied, blowing a huge cloud of cigar smoke over the room. Then he flicked his ashes on Armstrong’s prostrate form, placing the pointed toe of his black, leather boot on his neck.
“Forgive me if I’m reading the tea leaves wrong, but I sense some bad ju-ju here, my friend,” he continued, looking directly as Seven. “I’m getting tired of holding Sam off from snapping Frank’s neck, so I guess we’ll just be on our way. Otherwise, I may have to change my mind, release Sam and leave you in charge by default. The only indecision I sense is whether Sam should neutralize Frank or whether I should have the privilege. As far as I can tell, it’s likely to be a close call.”
Seven turned to Serea and urgently whispered, “If you can manage your father, this is your chance. Otherwise, it appears that Frank has called the shots and forever doomed Pacifica.”
Serea looked at Seven as though he had just lowered more pressure on her than she could manage. Then she turned to face her father sitting at the conference table just in front of Spencer, who deftly raised his hand and placed it on the back of Desmond’s chair.
“Father, may I speak with you in private?” she asked in a low but steady voice.
Desmond’s eyes scanned the tabletop as though he were disconnected from the scene unfolding about him. An unbearable moment of silence passed, then his eyes slowly raised to meet hers.
“I see no reason for that,” he responded in nearly a murmur. “I have put Admiral Spencer in charge. His decisions here at Pacifica are final.”
Seven could feel the hairs rise on the back of his neck. Now, it was over, not only for him, but irrevocably over for all the people trapped at Dutch Harbor as well as the entire community of Pacifica who would either soon lie in a tangled mass on the seamount below or worse, become enslaved to unmerciful Chinese masters.
“Father, may I speak with you in private?” Serea repeated in a raised, compellingly urgent voice.
Again, Desmond’s eyes were lowered to the table. Then they rose to meet hers, and in a cold voice, he responded, “No.”
“I hereby command that you depart from Pacifica immediately,” Spencer roared in his most overbearing voice at Legend who still leaned against the wall, blowing his cigar smoke over the room. “Get your un-seaworthy, dangerous contraption out of Pacifica’s sovereign waters and never return on pain of sinking. And you, Aaron Seven, be on the platform when it departs, you and your disgraced friend in crime, Bill Harper. All of you have one hour to clear our waters or I’ll order that you be sunk forthwith.”
“Father, I hope you understand that I must go with my husband,” Serea said to her father with tears streaming down her face. “Father, do you understand that I’m leaving?”
Desmond’s eyes again swept the surface of the table before him. His expression bore the look of a depressed man, to be sure, but as Serea spoke, his eyes also narrowed as though he were struggling mightily against some unnamed, invisible demon. Then he looked up at Serea and said softly, “Aaron stays. He may not leave Pacifica. I do not permit it.” Then he stood slowly, turned and left the room, closing the door behind him quietly.
Spencer looked as though he was momentarily disoriented, then recovered and continued his tirade. “Aaron Seven, you are hereby placed under house arrest. From this moment forward, you will not be allowed to leave your apartment without escort from a lawfully deputized officer of the law, attending, recording and reporting your every move.”
Seven looked away from Spencer, then leaned over to the openly weeping Serea and looked at her with a grave, stern expression. He whispered quietly in her ear, “Well, I guess that would put the old kibosh on our nude beach shenanigans, eh?”
Serea appeared momentarily stunned, then turned to face him and said through a tear-filled smile, “Aaron Seven, I missed you so desperately! God bless your perfect sense of the moment. ” Then she embraced him, slamming her fists into his back in undisguised frustration.
Pulling away, she looked into his smiling eyes. “Wait a minute,” she continued to whisper. “I know you too well. You have some plan going in that mind of yours!”
He simply flashed his best, reassuring smile and winked back.
“No whispering!” Spencer spat. “Have the courage, man, to say whatever you may have on your sick mind to the whole group. Let everyone hear just how psychotic you really are!”
“Very well then,” Seven responded, clearing his throat and speaking loudly, still embracing Serea with his right arm. “I just told Serea that you would look really sharp in a black dress, just like Sam’s, except with red lipstick and a sparkling red bow pinned to your bald, knobby head. Now, that, that, would really fit this scene perfectly and round out and fully express your naval leadership capacity. Carry on, Frank. I’m sure the Chicom Navy, which is at this moment hovering just out of sight, has the very same image and respect for your leadership here at Pacifica.”
“Bloody well put, old man,” Legend added, blowing his putrid cigar smoke over the room. “I was actually entertaining the exact same image myself.”
Sean Conlin, who had been standing by silently and gravely absorbing the entire scene, apparently could not hold his stern expression and exploded in an involuntary guffaw.
“Laugh now, co-conspirators,” Spencer said, his mouth trembling, “but I can assure you that your sick imagery only underlines what I’ve been saying and warning about the pack of you all along. Emerson, if you think you’re up to the task, please escort these misfits to their apartment and don’t allow them to leave without my permission. Then escort the others to the submarine pen and get them out of my colony.”
Emerson seemed momentarily distracted as he glanced over and saw Sam staring at him with her piercing black eyes.
“Mr. Emerson,” Seven said patiently, “before you do anything else, please call the medical folks and have them bring a stretcher to fetch Mr. Armstrong here to the clinic. And just to ensure you retain some grip on reality, Frank, I intend to escort my friends here to the submarine pen myself.”
“You’re to be escorted at all times!” Spencer persisted. “You don’t have my consent to leave this room or your apartment without my permission or go anywhere at any time without your escort!”
“Frank, get a grip, will you?” Serea said contemptuously. “Your permission is about as useless as an umbrella outside that window. “If you interfere with Aaron or me, or any other vital function of this colony, I’ll kill you myself. And in case you haven’t noticed, that’s when the real party will begin.”
Spencer looked to Serea in a rage and started to open his mouth but Seven interrupted him.
“Women!” Seven said shrugging, looking back at Spencer. “What are ‘ya gonna do?”
They left the conference room with Spencer sputtering and looking the part of a total impotent fool. Alongside Seven and Serea walked Sean Conlin, Bill Harper, Legend and Sam.
“Well, that could’ve gone a little better,” Conlin quipped, having lost all traces of his humor.
“Before anybody gets too deep into this problem,” Serea said as they walked, “I wish to remind everyone that according to our charter, Aaron is still in command of Pacifica. My father has either been drugged or he’s in deep clinical depression, therefore, he can’t act competently. Furthermore, according to the charter, I’m still the Sovereign here. We never imagined that father would be here at any time, so there was no arrangement to share sovereignty. What I’m saying is…”
“What you’re saying,” Conlin interrupted, “is that Frank Spencer has assumed the role of leadership over the legitimate government and that he’s used the disability of your father as his cover.”
“Precisely.”
“Then why don’t we just go back in there and kill him
where he stands?” Legend asked honestly. “Sam or I can do it; we don’t care either way. Problem solved…” he said with a shrug.
Sam stopped in her tracks and stood with her arms folded, looking back at the conference room door.
“Sam, no, please!” Seven said to her. “There’s actually a better way.”
“I am not a whore!” she said sternly, her eyes narrowing.
“Sam, I’m truly sorry,” Serea said. “He didn’t mean it.”
“Yes he did,” Sam responded. “I should kill him now, for everyone.”
“No, Sam, let me work it out for you,” Seven responded. “I promise he’ll apologize to you or sooner or later. If not, then I’ll let you have him.”
“How can you actually have compassion for such a pompous ass?” Legend asked, blowing yet another cloud of smoke from his brilliantly lit stogie.
Seven ignored the question.
“So what gives?” Legend asked. “Why don’t you just go in there, tie Frank to his chair, strap his face with tape and get on with the mission at hand? I’m sorry, I don’t see the threat here.”
“The threat isn’t Frank,” Seven sighed. “It’s my mentor and father-in-law. He’s stated his wishes and now I’m compelled to go along with them for the moment. Unless I see water lapping about my ankles, he gets his way.”
“Why?” Legend drilled. “The old derelict is obviously half senile and nearly unresponsive…” then he realized he was speaking in Serea’s presence. “… er, no offense, dear…”
Serea said nothing but faced him down with glowing eyes and flaring nostrils.
“Trust me, he still has all his faculties,” Seven responded with one wary eye toward Serea. “I know him quite well. But if we shut him down, humiliate him before this community and remove him from power against his wishes, it could break him the rest of the way. I’m not willing to risk that.”
“But if you don’t, everyone could die,” Legend added quickly and intensely. “You’re risking everyone here and at Dutch Harbor for the sake of his pride and your family position. That’s bullshit!”
Quantum Storms - Aaron Seven Page 54
