“Don’t ever make me do that again. Please,” he begged her, wiping her face. “I got close to going overboard because I was so angry with you. I don’t want that to happen. I love you too much to hurt you like this.”
“It’s my fault. I pushed you. I’m sorry.” She sniffed, burying her face in his neck.
He kissed her, arms wrapped gently around her. “You’re confined to the lab for the next week. No runs, no testing outside. The only swimming you will do is in the tank, and that’s to scrub the algae off the sides. You also have extra duty; only half an hour for chow.”
“Yes, Michael.”
“Did you learn your lesson?”
“Yes, Michael. I’m sorry.”
“Okay. Now get to work. I want you to design a way to start mapping the integration with the three of us.”
“Yes, Michael.”
“You’re dismissed,” he said softly, pushing her towards her office where she slowly sat down at her desk. He shook his head, watching her, then tossed the ruler back into his drawer. He hated the thing as much as she did, but Scott was right, it was very effective.
Rich came in shortly with coffee, scones and a fruit bowl. He tilted his head in Sam’s direction. “How is she?”
“I’m surprised she’s sitting, albeit very uncomfortably. She’ll carry some bruises for a couple of days. I didn’t hold back this time.”
“She’ll be okay. She needed that from you. Did she say anything?”
“Just that Ton didn’t want her in the water. Did it look like another storm’s coming?”
“It’s pitch black out there. I got inside before it started to pour again. I think we should call the crew and have them stay in.”
“Go ahead and do that. I don’t want them out in this weather. I’ll call home. The folks may not have left yet.”
The lab was quiet with just the three of them, the sound of the storm, and the humming of the equipment. An occasional snort from Ton’s tank told them that the whale was wisely waiting out the storm in safer waters. Sam stayed in her office, trying to focus on her assignment and ignore the searing pain to the back of her legs and bottom.
Rich frowned, noticing the food he had brought her remained untouched. He tapped on her doorframe, looking inside. “You haven’t eaten anything,” he said as he sat down in front of her.
“I’m not very hungry,” came the sullen answer.
“Sammi, look at me. I love you. You can’t do this. If you don’t start taking better care of yourself, I’m going to have to take measures that you won’t enjoy. Trust me, I will make sure you are taken care of.”
She stared at him, confused. His voice was serious, the tone unwavering. “Like what?” she asked timidly.
Rich patted her hand. “You know me better by now. Don’t challenge me. You will not like what I would have to do, so don’t even think of going there. I will not hesitate. Now eat.”
Silently, the girl obeyed, avoiding his eyes as she continued to work. Rich was counting on the sinister tone in his threat that made her not want to know what he would do. Yes, he had ways of helping her but would need her cooperation. He couldn’t exactly force feed her, but he was worried. He decided to talk with her father about a supplement or something; as small as she was, she needed every ounce.
“Rich? I’m getting the feeling we’re gonna be on lock down in a few hours. I’m going to go get some more stuff to last us awhile just in case. Keep an eye on the lab, please, and man the phones as well. If we lose contact, use the transmitters.”
“Will do. Be careful.”
“I will. I’ll be back soon.”
“Where’s Mike going?” Sam asked, seeing him leave.
“It looks like we might be doing some camping out. Do we have lanterns and stuff in case we lose power?”
“Yes, we’ve got a fully stocked field room, including rations. MREs are nasty. We have plenty of fresh water and Top Ramen.”
“Let’s set up a field stove and cots. This is going to be fun. I have never camped inside.”
“Will Mike be okay out there?” Sam looked worried, hearing the thunder.
“The store is five minutes away. He’ll be fine. I guess Ton knew what he was talking about, huh?”
“I should have listened. I’m sorry, Rich.”
“We’ll talk about that later. Let’s get things ready.”
Michael arrived thirty minutes later with arms filled with some fruit, bread, cheese and, most importantly, Cheetos. He smiled, handing his sister the bag. “Got these for you. How’s the set up?”
“Got everything ready. It sounds terrible out there.”
“Hurricane warning. Sam, we might get called out. I don’t know what good we can do.”
“You can’t do anything. Only I can. That’s how it is,” she remarked as both boys adamantly shook their heads.
“As commander, it’s up to me to decide if my crew is at risk. If I do, and I say no, then that is the final word.”
“But…”
“The final word,” he repeated sternly.
Sam faced the floor. “Yes sir, Commander.”
“That’s better. Let’s check the hatches, make sure everything’s buckled down. Sam, we need to close the tunnel.”
“I’ll see if Ton wants to stay or go. I have enough fish for him for one day, that’s it.”
“Go take care of that. Rich, contact HQ and update base orders.”
“Yes, sir.”
Michael got on the phone and called home.
Scott answered. “Hey, kid. How’s it going over there?”
“Hurricane watch, getting ready to go into warning. It’s black. How’s it at home?”
“Got the fire going, hot chocolate, and plenty of batteries to watch movies. I’m in my PJs.”
“Gee, thanks for suffering along with us. Is Jen okay?”
“That girl’s a champ. She knows her storms. She whipped us into shape as soon as she looked at the sky. Are you guys going to be okay?”
“We still have power. I have a generator we can use, but I want to do a full shut down of systems before any outage. Do I have your permission?”
“Yes. Can you shut down engineering remotely?”
“Yes, sir. All systems down, then. Our transmitters should work if the phones go out. You can use the emergency contact unit if you need to get hold of us.”
“Shall do. Mike? One thing. This is very, very important. You are not, under any circumstance, to accept a call to go out in this weather. Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir; and what about Sam?”
“I want to say no, but we both know that she’s safer than you would be out there. Use your discretion.”
“Yes, sir. We’re starting to surge. Let me get off. Send our love to everyone.”
“Same from us, my boy. I’m putting the base on lock down; the OOD will call if he needs you. Have fun and I’ll talk to you later,” Scott said, hanging up.
Sam stopped in her tracks, staring at the tank. It was filled with dolphin calves and pinniped pups, with Ton eyeing them warily. “Since when did we become a babysitting service?” she asked Ton, stepping down onto his ramp. He swam up to her, eyeing her from the side.
“Ton, I’m sorry. You were right. I should have listened. Yes, my flukes got bitten. Real bad. The land walker. No, the orca-male did not touch me again. You think he should? Whose side are you on?”
Ton snorted, swimming away and pushing the young animals out of his way to guard the tunnel opening.
“I need to close the tunnel to prevent overflow. Is that all right? Okay, I’ll see you later,” Sam said, watching him swim off. She sighed, looking at the babies. They were all recently fed, thank goodness, but the noise was deafening.
“What is going on in here?” Rich asked as he walked in and froze mid-step.
“I guess I wasn’t the only one told to get out of the storm. Ton went back out, so we should have enough food to last them a couple of days. This is going to
be work.”
“They’re cute. Cheer up, it will be fun,” Rich said, squatting on the deck to look at a young sea lion cub. It waddled to him and belched in his face. “You stink.”
“I’ll have to run the filters with all them in here to keep the tank clear. Gross. Rich, hose that off, please.” She pointed to a pile left by the cub.
“Turn on the sprayers and the lamps. That should keep them clean and warm,” he suggested.
She looked at him grimly. “Until the power blows. I hope Ton will alert us when it’s safe for them to go back out.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Michael asked, walking up onto the deck, hands on his hips.
“I had nothing to do with it. Honest,” Sam said as he looked at her.
“New game plan. This is going to take a lot of time and work. Shit, there goes the power.”
“Now what?”
Michael grumbled as he activated the generator, focusing the power to the tanks to keep the peds warm and the decks and tank clean. The babies were old enough to eat; however they required the fish to be in small chunks and handfed. To make matters more difficult, they would only feed from Sam. She was exhausted by the time they were all satisfied,
“If I didn’t know better, I would think the pod was punishing her for her behavior today,” Rich whispered to Michael who was sketching some blueprint ideas on his tablet.
“I was thinking the same thing. She gets to see how much work it takes to keep a baby safe. She’s ready to drop.”
“Add to that, you know she’s really sore. She can barely kick. I’m surprised, no complaining, though,” Rich added, leaning back to watch.
After crawling painfully out of the tank, Sam dimmed the lights, hoping the animals would go to sleep. She stretched across the deck, head in her arms.
“How are you doing?” Michael asked, squatting next to her.
She lifted her face to squint at him. “I’m so glad I can’t have kids,” she mumbled, dropping her face down again.
“How’s your bottom?” he asked quietly. She didn’t answer. Patting her shoulder, he stood up. “Let’s get you dried off and put something warm inside you. Rich? I’m going to help Sammi get cleaned up, could you heat up some water?”
“Sure thing. I can do her.”
“I’m sure you can.” Michael grinned.
Rich rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean that. Never mind.”
“Come on, short stuff. There should be enough hot water available in the shower for you.” Michael chuckled at his friend's discomfort and then waited patiently for Sam to redress in warm, dry clothes. He stroked her face before kissing her temple. “How’s your ow?”
“It’s wearing me down, big brother. I can handle all that stuff, but add this…”
“I know. You agree you deserved it, don’t you?”
“I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Yes, I deserved it. But I don’t deserve whatever Rich is planning on top of it. You were mean enough for both.”
“I wasn’t mean; I was strict. I don’t enjoy disciplining you,” Michael said somberly.
“So you think I rate double what you gave me?”
“No, but it’s not my decision.”
“It certainly is. This whole thing fell under your command and had nothing to do with my personal life. You can stop him.”
“Do you feel I should?”
“Yes. I’m asking you for your interference. For once.”
“You’re really scared of him, aren’t you?” Michael frowned, looking at her carefully.
“Not of him, but his strength and what he can do. He’ll never harm me, but I don’t want to face what he can deal out this time.”
“I’ll talk with him, but I won’t order him. He would not take to that kindly.”
“Too bad. He can get over it.”
“You’re cranky. I want you to go grab some sleep and we’ll talk about this later,” Michael said softly.
She sighed, nodding in agreement. “You’re right. Will you tuck me in?” she asked in a tiny voice.
He hugged her warmly. “Of course. I set up your cot in your office for you. Come on.” He held her hand and escorted her through the dark hall to the room, holding the lantern high enough to cast an eerie light on the walls.
She carefully climbed onto the cot and under the wool blankets. “I used to love camping. Now it’s just creepy. These blankets itch.”
“Yes, I know they aren’t the Egyptian cotton sheets and down comforter you have at home. But they are clean, warm and dry. Go sleepies.” He kissed her cheek, tucking the blankets gently around her. “Night, baby doll.”
“Night, Michael. I’m sorry about today.”
“It’s over. Rich will want to come in, is that okay?”
“Of course.”
Several minutes later, Rich knelt by her cot, stroking her hair lovingly. “I love you, sweetheart. You know that, right?”
“Yes. I love you too. I’m sorry I was such a brat this morning.”
“I don’t care when you brat, it’s when you overstep yourself. You did that.”
“I know. Michael made sure that I acknowledged every stupid thing I did.”
“He really laid it on hard, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. I deserved it. Rich, I—”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything. I’m fair and reasonable. I don’t want you to ever be afraid of me.”
“You do scare me sometimes.”
“I know I do. It’s the vibe thing. You trust me, don’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Now go to sleep. I’ll stay with the babies. If there are any problems I can’t handle, I’ll get you, okay?”
“Thanks. Night.” Sam yawned, snuggling her cheek in the cup of his hand. Rich kissed her gently, then stood to leave. She was asleep before he closed the door.
The power returned at 0620 the following morning. Awakened by the sound of the equipment coming back to life, and the bright lights snapping on overhead, Sam winced painfully as she abruptly sat up. With a groan, she glanced sleepily at the clock, and then plopped her head back down. Her door opened quietly.
“Hey, Sunshine, your children are hungry,” Michael said, looking in.
She hid her face. “Five more minutes.”
“Sorry, but the babies are in there screaming and they won’t feed from either Rich or me. Suit up, you have work to do.”
“I can’t move,” she whined. Michael shook his head and started to pull off her cammies as she lay on the bed, covering her face with the pillow she grabbed off her chair. He chuckled as she kicked his hands away while he tried to dress her.
“Rich! Some help here,” Michael called. It took the two of them nearly twenty minutes to suit up the uncooperative girl. They both sat in chairs, slightly winded from the struggle, and stared, as she still lay unmoving on her cot.
“That wasn’t fun,” Rich remarked.
“I used to have to deal with this almost every day when she was younger. Same thing. She just got bigger and stronger; it’s not as easy.”
“You should have let her go out naked then,” Rich tsked, shaking the girl’s leg. She kicked at him.
“That was the problem, she would have, in a heartbeat. Up you go,” he announced, pulling her off the cot and into his arms.
“Put me down! I don’t wanna— Go swimming.” She spat the cold, salty water from her mouth as she came up from being tossed into the tank. Grumbling, she began the tedious feeding process, careful of her hands as the hungry, sharp teeth grabbed at the fish pieces. It took her over an hour before all the pups and calves were finally satisfied.
“How’s the weather? Can they leave yet?” she groaned, holding the edge of the tank as they played happily around her legs, nipping her occasionally.
“Still bad, but the warning has passed. Once the waves drop to six feet, we can reopen. Hungry?” Michael asked.
Sam looked at him wearily.
“I want real food. How about crab for breakfast?”
“Where will you get that?” Rich said.
Sam smiled, pointing to the tunnel entrance. “Let me out, I’ll gather some. I’ll stay under so I’ll be safe. Come on, it’s better than Top Ramen or MREs.”
“It does sound good. We could cook them over the camp stove.” Rich elbowed Michael.
“I don’t know. We’re still on base-wide shut down.”
“I’ll try to grab some scallops too.”
“Oh, all right. But be back in half an hour.”
“I didn't think you would put up too much of a fight over this.” Sam smiled. Rich handed her a mesh bag and, with a wave, she squeezed out the small portals in the tunnel gate.
“You didn’t really want her out there, did you?” Rich asked.
“No, but it will improve her mood which will make it better for us. Plus crab for breakfast? Come on, would you refuse?”
“No way. Plus we can rub it in Scott's face. You know how he is about fresh seafood.” Rich snickered
Sam returned quickly with a haul of ten large Dungeness crab, a small octopus and a dozen scallops. They were wrapped in kelp and soon steaming in the crew pot over the large camp stove. Sam hummed to herself as she sprinkled Old Bay seasoning over the crustaceans.
“Where did you find that?” Rich asked, sniffing eagerly.
“Staple supply with us. We go nowhere without it. Mmm, smells delicious,” Michael said.
“This was fun, but I’m ready to go home.” Sam yawned, watching as the babies were taken away by their cows. Ton entered the tank, snorting loudly. He wanted to know how his calf handled her mothering responsibilities.
“You SOB. You set this up, didn’t you?” she scolded, pushing him away from her. He spit water at her, and then turned to eye her. She sat on the tank edge. “I get it. It’s a lot of work to take care of calves. I’ll listen for now on, I promise.”
Healing (General's Daughter Book 5) Page 12
