The vessel went under way on schedule. Jim called a meeting to run the agenda and noticed the absence of one person. With a frustrated sigh, he relayed the assignment to the crew. They were to follow a course to the coordinates of the wrecked ship and use the experimental rover to investigate and retrieve the black box. It was agreed that no personnel would enter the hull and the two lieutenants could assist at top level only.
“Where the hell is she?” Jim asked Michael after the meeting.
He pointed to the porthole. “Swimming. She’s pissed about something and I thought it would be wise for her to work out some energy before I tried talking with her.”
“She’s pissed at me and is throwing a tantrum. I told her ‘no’ about the packs. Will she be okay?”
“She’s perfectly safe out there. It takes her about an hour to cool off. Plus she’s been dry for two days and Ton missed her. Trust me, let her swim.”
“Fine. But for now on she is to let me know if she goes out. She’s pushing her luck.”
“She always does, Jimbo. You know how to stop it.”
“I won’t hesitate for a second, either, my friend. I even brought a special surprise with me, just in case,” Jim grinned.
Sam presented herself exactly as her brother predicted, one hour after her dive. She was still scowling as she was updated with the mission plan. “That is so ridiculous. I could go in, get the box and be out without any problems. I can take that depth too! It’s only 220 feet. If you let me contact the packs, you wouldn’t need a weapon crew to watch for those seals. This is just plain stupid.”
“Lieutenant Quimby? Exactly what part of the word ‘no’ don’t you understand? One more word and you will be confined to quarters for the remainder of this cruise. Well?” Jim demanded as she glared at him. “Get dried off and head over to the lab. You have work to do.”
Without a word, she left. Michael shook his head silently at the power play and felt sympathy for his friend. He rested his elbow on his friends shoulder. “Welcome to my world. Watch out, though, she’s going to try to wear you down.”
“I’m tougher than she thinks. I suspect I should be on the lookout for loopholes.”
“Always with her,” Mike agreed. “I’d like to see that rover. Maybe I can make some adjustments to improve its function.”
“Physicists. Just don’t break it.”
The expression, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” was not one in Michael’s vast knowledge of engineering. He immersed himself in trying to improve the sensory device on the unit and, in the process, made a fatal calculation in the circuitry, blowing the mother board. “Shit,” he murmured, sitting back and receiving no computer response. “This isn’t good. Major Fox, please report to engineering.”
Jim entered several minutes later and stopped in his tracks upon seeing the look on Michael’s face. “You didn’t, damn it!”
“Sorry. It didn’t work the way I thought it would. What are we going to do?”
Jim thought for a moment. “We are going to call your Dad and find a way to convince him to let your sister help us. We can’t afford to lose that black box.”
“He is going to pop his rocker about this. You would think,” Michael said, dialing out, “that at my age, I would stop being afraid of my father.”
“Mike, I’m 15 years older than you, and I’m afraid of your father!”
“Quimby here.”
“Hey Dad.”
“Oh no, what did she do this time?” Dr. Quimby groaned, leaning back and closing his eyes in preparation of the story.
“Um, not her… me,” Michael said, slowly confessing the problem. It was silent on the other end.
“Michael, how many times have we have we had a discussion with you about fiddling with things?”
“Many times,” Michael said quietly. Jim bit his lip, shuddering at the tone in the older man’s voice.
“And how many times have we talked about unauthorized adjustments?”
“Several.”
“I’m glad you remembered that much,” Dr. Quimby scolded. “Ok, what is the solution to your dilemma? I’m assuming the Major is with you and is also sinking into the deck?”
“Right here, General,” Jim said, straightening himself.
“We can’t abort this mission. Any ideas?”
“Yes Sir, but I’m not sure….” Jim hesitated.
“Out with it!” Dr. Quimby ordered sharply, tapping his pen impatiently on the desk.
“We could have Sam go down and retrieve the box. She’s little and won’t have problems getting inside and she can take the depth without difficulty.”
“No.”
“Dad, I’m so sorry. I wish I could come up with another solution,” Michael added. “But that’s all we could think of. I’ll go with her as deep as I can, but I’m too big to fit in the open portholes.”
“It’s too dangerous. No.”
“We’ll have a guard for her against the seals,” Jim said.
“No.”
“What’s your solution then? No one else can get in there and we have to get it done. Dad, please. I need you to think like a commander instead of a father for a minute,” Michael said with frustration. Jim paled as the man’s voice boomed over the line.
“Excuse me? If I was thinking like a commander, I would be looking as to how I could get past your immunity and court martial your ass. Consider yourself fortunate I am your father, and even more fortunate that you are too big to strap!” The man calmed down after a moment of dead silence. “My concern is how the ship is balanced on that shelf. A surge could easily push it off and trap her.”
“If we can think of a way to stabilize it, may we proceed?” Jim asked cautiously.
“I’ll consider it. I will also speak with Scott to see if he has any suggestions. In the meantime, young man, you, Scott and I are going to have a very, very long talk when you return home.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m sorry.”
“Call me if you come up with anything. Bye.”
“He is so pissed,” Michael said, setting the phone down.
Jim finally exhaled. “I could tell. I felt like two little kids caught stealing. He scares me.”
“Me too, but not as much as our next plan of action scares me. Lieutenant Quimby, please report to engineering, ” Michael commented. “We now have to deal with Miss Attitude. She’s gonna make this very unpleasant, I’m sure.”
Chapter 11
Jim and Michael held their breaths as Sam glided into the room and gently kissed both their cheeks.
“ Hey, Sammi. How was your swim?”
“Nice, the temp is warmer than down south, about 56. You should come with me. What did you need?” she asked pleasantly.
He looked at her suspiciously. “What are you up to, little sister?”
She sat down, shrugging. “Nothing. I’ve been a little bit bitchy lately and it hasn’t helped things. Ton pointed out that I was a polar bear and that if I wasn’t his calf, he would eat me. I’m sorry, to both of you.”
“So the tantrums are done?” Jim asked.
She nodded with a smile that wouldn’t melt butter in her mouth. “Finished about this subject,” she assured them. “I might find another one later.”
“I’m sure you will. I know that smile. Sam, we need your help. I screwed up bad,” Michael admitted. He quickly told her what he had done and the resulting conversation with their father.
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Ordinarily, I would be teasing you about getting into trouble, but this is serious. What’s he gonna do?”
“Dunno, but it’s important we think of a solution. Any ideas?”
“I do have one, but it might require the pack. However, before you panic, I could try a blue….”
“What are you thinking?” Michael sighed helplessly, knowing he had no other choice.
“The blues should be pretty numerous right now with the warmer water. I might be able to get one to push the ship back off the shelf. I
’ll have to take a look first, and that’s where I would like the pack. I could work with them through Ton.”
“I’m listening.”
“A blue won’t come around the pack if it can help it, so I would need to get the pack to either disperse or find a means to communicate safety. I will also need them to protect me from those damn leopard seals.”
“Do you think it will work?” Jim asked Michael.
He studied his sister then slowly nodded. “I have no doubt. We still need to get permission.”
“I could take responsibility and set the orders.” Jim offered.
Michael shook his head. “No way, buddy. You don’t have immunity, so you can get into serious trouble. Even if I took full responsibility, you know they would question you about your choice as commander to say no. If Dad forbids this then it might have to be a situation of defiance from us.”
“That’s not good.”
“It wouldn’t be like it’s the first time we’ve had to do something against his orders,” Sam said as she plopped herself on her brother’s lap.
He slowly wrapped his arms around her, burying his chin in her neck. “True. I just hate having to do that. It risks trust. Plus the price we’ll pay once they get their hands on us,” he said softly. “It’s a lose-lose situation if we disobey him.”
“There’s a small chance he could be reasonable. We have to try.” Jim said.
“How far are we from the wreck?” Sam asked after a couple of minutes of silence.
“A couple of days. You are not going out until we talk to your father, Samantha.” Jim eyed her.
“I need to look at the area! Give me the maps and any pictures you have. I’m going to try something. Nothing dangerous, I promise. Trust me.”
“You may look at them, but you are not to go anywhere near that site until we get permission.”
“When did you become such a chicken shit, Jim? You know damn well I can, and will, do this!” Sam demanded as her temper suddenly flared.
“So much for the ending of tantrums. That’s it, Samantha. Michael, excuse us please,” Jim growled, grabbing the girls arm and dragging her to his cabin. He slammed the hatch behind him as he shoved her into the room. “Why the hell do you keep loud-mouthing me?” he bellowed with his finger pointed in her face. “Do you deliberately push buttons to see how far you can go?”
“Fuck off, Jim. All I’m trying to do is get your ass out of the hole that you and Michael dug for yourselves. You should appreciate my wanting to help instead of yelling at me,” Sam spat back.
“What I appreciate,” Jim barked, grabbing her earlobe and leading her helplessly to his couch as he lifted a thick oak paddle put of a drawer, “is having your brother’s permission to finally give you what you have asked for over the last eight years! I am so glad I brought this.”
“Let me go! I swear, I will call my pods to help!” Sam screamed as he tossed her across his sturdy thighs and used her long ponytail to keep her in position. “You’re pulling my hair! Let me go!”
“No way, no how. I warned you that I would not put up with any monkey business on my ship, and that includes sassing back. I should have done this eight years ago,” Jim replied, bringing the oval head of the wooden paddle down with a loud SPLAT on her right cheek. Sam yelped loudly with surprise and struggled to protect herself. “The longer you fight me, the longer this will continue. You are not to reach back, either. This paddle can break a finger and neither of us wants that to happen.”
Sam started breathing heavily in true fear when he pinned her legs down tightly with his right leg and held her wrists together at the small of her back. Arching his arm above his head, Jim swung the paddle to impact with the fullness of her bottom. Using close to his full strength, he followed the initial blow with several, jarring smacks to both cheeks and her sit spots. Sam immediately howled, and beseeched him to allow her a semblance of dignity in the eyes (and ears) of the ship’s crew.
But it was dignity, and overt pride, that Jim momentarily intended to strip from her. He wanted to ensure that every effort was made to remind her that she was no more than a child playing at being an adult. Within seconds after he had started spanking her thinly clad bottom in earnest, Jim had achieved full control while Sam had dissolved into honest, heartfelt, weeping as her bottom jounced and bounced under the polished, thick, slab of oak as it baked every inch of her back end .
Her involuntary twists and turns had no effect as she attempted to avoid the paddle’s contact with some of her sorer spots. Jim wanted to leave a lasting impression upon her bottom prior to their arrival at the wreck site as he focused on her more tender regions. Her right hand broke away from Jim’s grip as she reached back to shield her bottom cheeks from his attentions. Jim immediately stopped, regained control of her hand, and threatened her that she would be bared if she repeated her actions. Jim began to space his swats further apart, pacing himself to increase the duration of the spanking. He did not relent on his force as he carefully placed each smack of the paddle in a nice, even distribution all over her throbbing buttocks.
Finally, Jim laid down the implement and lifted her up off his lap. He embraced her as she continued to sob. “Your spanking is all over now. Hush now, Sammi-girl,” he murmured. He hummed lightly as he stroked Sam's back and shoulders. "Shh...there, there, baby girl. It’s all over now."
When Sam's sobs started to lessen a bit, Jim helped her to her feet to stand in front of him. Her hands immediately flew behind her to soothe her inflamed, burning rear end. Her labors were unsuccessful and she started to sob afresh. The man comforted Sam for a few minutes, holding and rocking her in his arms as she cried.
Jim started to suspect that Sam was using tears as a weapon to punish him for spanking her when, after several minutes of being comforted, she was still inconsolable and crying uncontrollably. With a frown, Jim stood up from the couch and moved a metal straight back chair into the corner, facing the wall. He walked back over to the crying girl, and picked her up in his arms as easily as if she were a sack of groceries. He carried her over to the chair and deposited her on the hard wood seat. Sam immediately released a high-pitched, “Oww,” as the seat of the chair came into contact with her freshly-spanked and throbbing bottom.
When she jumped up, Jim firmly pressed her back down, and shook his head. "No, Samantha. You are not to get up from there until I give you permission. Do you understand?"
Rage and indignation coursed through her and she struggled to escape, kicking Jim smartly in the thigh. Grunting, Jim lifted Sam up out of the chair by one arm and planted six harshly delivered smacks to her already tender bottom.
"Stop this shit now, Sam!" barked Jim angrily. "Do you hear me? I said you are to stop it this instant! I mean it! You are going to sit in that chair and you are not to budge an inch until I say otherwise. I've just about had it with your misbehavior, and see I made a huge mistake in letting you get away with so much for so long when you’ve been around me! Well those days are over, little girl, and you do not want to disobey me ever again! Any more attitude from you, and you will get another spanking that I promise you will not like one bit! Is that clear?"
He took a deep breath as she buried her face shamefully in her hands. "Now then. You are going to face the corner and just sit there and think about your spanking. If I catch you out of that chair, you will go right back over my knee and then back to the corner where you will spend so much time that you will grow roots. Understand?”
His duty done, he left her alone.
***
The ensuing three days were very quiet as Sam nursed her bruised ego (and tender bottom) and avoided contact with Jim. She refused to discuss her ordeal and Michael respected her polite requests to allow her some personal space. He urged Jim to share the secret of his effectiveness and was rewarded with a gift of the paddle and a blessing to use it in good health. He was quite certain he would never have to use it again.
After studying the maps and images, the girl don
ned her wetsuit and plunged into the water, followed by her brother. They met up with Ton who had been reacquainting himself with his home waters. With assistance from the bands, the two imaged the situation to the young whale. He swam in circles around them, taking in the information and trying to process it. With a flip of his flukes, he was gone.
“What was that about?” Michael asked, surfacing and scanning the choppy waves.
His sister joined him. “I’m not sure. If I didn’t know better, I would think the proverbial light bulb went on. Stay here for a while and let’s see if he comes back.”
In the distance, an orca breached in high flight, launching itself completely out of the water and landing flat on its side with a giant splash. It was followed by a second then a third. The two looked at each other.
“It seems that we no longer have a choice about the pack. They just announced their arrival,” Sam said quietly. “Just stay calm. I have a feeling they were invited.”
Led by Ton, a resident pack flooded in to meet the land walkers.
“There must be 20 or more. Oh shit,” Michael whispered his heart pounding.
His sister merely sunk below the water’s surface to wait. Reluctantly, he joined her. “Don’t be afraid. Residents are fish eaters. It’s the transients you need to be concerned about,” she reassured him as she sensed fear racing through his body. Ton circled his calf, squealing and clicking as he sent multiple images of her world to the pack members. Mixed images and colors swarmed in her mind and confused, she glanced at Michael. Another part of their language? Ton then rubbed gently against them before diving under to lift them onto his back. A voluntary ride? This was beyond strange, but neither commented as they held on tightly. With a strong flip, the whale dove deep and was followed by the pack.
Sam pointed to the wreck. “There is it! Wow, look! They are chasing off the seals!”
The ship was small, only about 200 feet long, and rested on the partially destroyed hull on the edge of a deep canyon. “That’s worse than I thought. It’s too dangerous, Sam. You can’t go in,” Michael said, hanging onto the tall dorsal fin.
Up A Notch Page 13
