You Never Know

Suddenly I had an idea, and looking at Mike, I asked, "When is she supposed to be here?"

"She said that she'll be down here on Friday of next week," Mike suspiciously replied, "But what are you....."

"Leave everything to me," I smiled, taking Jennifer in my arms and looking at her, "Everything's going to be just fine."

"Uh-oh," smiled Sherry, "It sounds like you're getting ready to start some shit, Doug, and I want in on it."

"Sherry, honey," I replied, "I don't think that....."

"Don't you dare patronize me, Doug," Sherry interrupted "I'm not about to let the only family I have risk his ass for anything unless I'm a part of it. Do you understand me, you fucker?"

By this time she was crying so, gently hugging her, I said "Okay, you've made your point, Baby Sis, and I love you, too,"

~~~~~~

When we got back to my house, I begged Mike to stay with us, but he was having no part of it, and smiling slyly, said, "I'm going to stay at the Holiday Inn downtown right there on Duval Street. Besides, I can tell by the way you two act around one another that you need to be alone tonight, wouldn't you say so, Doug," as he laughed while calling a cab on the telephone.

After Mike left and we were all alone, Jennifer looked at me and sheepishly asked, "Are you still mad at me, Doug?"

"Why would I be mad at you in the first place?"

"For not telling you the truth," she replied her eyes downcast and looking at the floor, "You know, about my being Mike's niece, I mean."

"Oh that," I laughed, "Do you promise to never omit the truth from me again?"

"Yes," she giggled, throwing her arms around me and her body against me.

"Alright then," I laughed, lightly slapping her butt and making her squeal, "Let's get some sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

~~~~~~

After getting a hold of the rest of the crew, as well as picking Mike up from his hotel, Sherry brought him with her to Andromeda's berth, where Jennifer and I were already getting her ready to get underway. I was below deck monitoring Andromeda's tanks while she took on fresh water, when I heard an old familiar voice from my past, shout, "AHOY, CAPTAIN, PERMISSION TO COME ABOARD, SIR!"

"Ger your ass on board, and stow that Captain shit, Mike," I laughed, sticking my head through an open port side hatch.

"Wow," replied Mike, looking at Andromeda as he crossed her brow, "I couldn't really see her last night, but she sure is a beautiful ship, Doug."

"Thanks, Mike," I chuckled, "But she's a boat, not a ship."

"I never could get that one straight," he laughed, "So, what are your plans, Doug?"

"No disrespect intended, Mike," I said, "But I only want to have to go through this once so, I'm going to wait to tell you until the rest of the crew gets here, if you don't mind."

"You always were a sneaky little shit," laughed Mike, "But I guess that's why you were so damn good. Okay kid, I'll wait."

Andromeda's water tanks were not even half full so, I grinned at Mike and said, "In the mean time, let me show you around, Mike."

"Hoo Yah!" he smiled.

I gave him a full tour, showing him everything from the Operations Center/Lab, to the Pilot House and the state-of-the-art navigating computers and GPS guidance systems, all the way to where the submersible sat locked onto a hydraulic platform aft, hidden below the stern. When I turned the switch and the deck slowly slid forward into itself, raising the platform which Nautilus was cocked and chained to, I looked at Mike and proudly said, "This is my baby, Mike. It took me five years to design her, and another four years to build her. She has four Carbon-dioxide scrubbers, and six Oxygen generators. Her crush depth is thirty-five thousand feet and can stay submerged for seventy-two hours with a maximum capacity of three men. She also has full digital recording capabilities, whether it is sound, or motion picture as well as still photography.

"Wow," breathed Mike, "So that's the Nautilus, huh? She sure is a beauty, Doug."

"Thanks old friend," I replied, patting him on the shoulder, "She's the realization of a life-long dream."

"That's all the more reason to keep her out of the hands of that Congresswoman Bitch," said a voice from behind me, which I immediately recognized as Jennifer's.

"Hi, sweetie," I replied, putting my arm around her waist, "Is everything up and running?"

"It sure is," she giggled, "While you two boys were back here playing with all these toys, Sherry and I got all the food stocked. All four fresh water tanks are full, and all we're waiting on is for you to start Andromeda's engines."

"Well, alright then, sailor," I proudly smiled, "I need you to take Mike below and get him squared away When you're done, get Sherry to show him the spec sheets on both, Andromeda and Nautilus; and then bring him up to par. Can you handle it?"

"Aye, aye, Captain," she giggled, saluting me. Then after quickly kissing my lips, she smiled at Mike and chirped, "C'mon Admiral, this way, if you please."

Mike winked at me and smiled, while knowingly shaking his head as he followed her below deck.

While everyone was making preparations to get underway, I left Andromeda to go to my office and make some phone calls.

~~~~~~

Chapter Nine

Once the rest of the crew had arrived, I assembled all hands on Andromeda's stern. "Okay, here it is," I began, "As you all know, Congresswoman Jane Ostermeyer has threatened to pull our research grant if we don't do as she says."

"How can she do that, Doug?" Todd asked.

"She can't," I replied grinning.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, Sweetie," Jennifer said, "But because of the office she holds, she has the right and can very well rescind your grant if she so chooses."

"I'm going to need every one of you to trust me without asking why," I explained, "Is that agreeable to you all?"

"We've always trusted you, Boss," laughed Chuck, "Why should we be any different now?" With that said, the rest of the crew, Mike and Jennifer included, all gave their approval.

"Alright then," I grinned, and to Chuck, Todd and David, said, "Single up all lines and let's prepare to get underway.

As the rest of the crew made their final departure preparations, I started Andromeda's engines. While she as warming up, I made my way below to retrieve the weapons that, known only to Chuck, I'd had placed aboard in the event we encountered pirates. The small armory aboard Andromeda consisted of five M-16's, two M-60 machine guns, a fully automatic .50 caliber machine gun, a dozen Colt .45 automatic pistols, and three cases of fragmentation grenades with plenty of ammo, not to mention ten M183 demolition charges, all waterproof and each one with its own remote detonator. All-in-all, there was enough ordinance aboard to arm a small group of men. I had also installed, by myself, swivel mounts for both M-60's, one forward and one aft, as well as one that sat amid ship for the .50 caliber. Yeah, I know that I sound like a lunatic, but my past experiences have led me to believe that, in order to be able to deal with all the shit that life tends to throw at you; one should always be prepared for the worst. That way, when things turn out good, it is always a pleasant surprise. Still though, it is better to be safe than sorry.

~~~~~~

Once we'd topped off our fuel tanks and were a hundred miles past the outer markers, I called Chuck to the pilot house.

"What's up, Doug?" he asked.

Mike, Jennifer and I were in the pilothouse when he arrived so; I decided to go ahead and let the cat out of the bag when I replied, "I want you, David and Todd to mount the sixties fore and aft, as well as the fifty-cal amid ship. When that is done, put an M-Sixteen in every cabin with four clips each, and issue side arms to every member of the crew. Is that clear?"

"Oh, hell yeah," laughed Chuck, "I've been wondering when we were gonna get to use that stuff.

"I want you to put the demo charges in my cabin, too," I added.

"Jesus, Doug," Mike gasped, "What're trying to do, start a war?"

"Not at all, Mike," I grinned, "But you know as well as I do that these government assholes tend to be a bit pushy. I'm not going to let them get away with it, this time."

Once we were far enough offshore, I turned Andromeda north, set my heading and then turned on the auto pilot.

~~~~~~

After an hour or so had passed and everything was in order, I summoned everyone to the pilot house to let them in on what I was going to do. Once they were all gathered, I smiled and said, "We're heading to Virginia where we're going to drop anchor eighty miles off of Little Creek. Once we're there, we're going to meet with three old friends of mine who're going to be here to help us, if we need it."

"Let me guess," laughed Mike, "We're gonna be picking up Danny Reed, Tom Helman, and Mickey Noonan, all of whom served with you when you guys were under my command. Am I correct?" I just laughed and nodded my head

"Why are you going to need those guys aboard this boat, Doug?" Jennifer apprehensively asked.

I laughed and replied, "Right before we left port this morning, I called Congresswoman Ostermeyer and told her to shove her project up her ass, but not before I "liberated" all of the available grant funds from the bank."

"Doug, you can't be serious," Jennifer gasped, "I know this woman, and she'll come after you with every available resource she has at her disposal."

"Fear not, my love," I smiled, "I did some digging and I found out that she doesn't have government approval for her so called project. That's why she wants to use us to do her dirty work."

"What do you mean?" asked Mike, "She can't do anything like that without a full Congressional approval."

"There's more," I smiled, "In October of nineteen- forty-four, a Japanese cargo ship named, the "Shinto", steamed from Buenos Aeries to the gulf of Leyte, where it was to refuel with a Japanese tanker before going back to Japan. But by the time the ship made it to the Leyte Gulf, the fighting had broken out and the Shinto was sunk by a U.S. warship. Now it sits at the bottom of the Leyte Gulf in two thousand feet of water."

"So," asked Jennifer, "What's the big deal about that?"

"The Shinto was carrying Uranium-238 in her hold which had already been enriched to weapons grade by the Nazis," I said.

"What the hell would she want with Uranium?" Jennifer asked.

"I know exactly what she plans on doing with it," laughed Mike, "Twelve years ago, her supposedly ex....daughter-in-law got busted by INTERPOL for using the Black Market in Thailand to smuggle marijuana into the United States. A couple of years after that, she used the right of immanent domain to, in my book; illegally swindle a rather large chunk of land from the Ute Indian reservation. The land was earmarked for residential development by Ostermeyer's firm, and that The Ute Indian tribe would be paid twenty million dollars once the lots had been sold. However, if, over a period of ten years, the lots don't sell and no monies are paid, then possession of all land titles will automatically go back to The Ute Nation."

"I remember now," said Jennifer, "She was planning on building a bunch of ski resorts, but the winters are too harsh that far north. The developers backed out of the deal at the last moment, leaving Jane holding the bag.

"I think I understand, now," I said, "That bitch plans on using us to retrieve the Uranium so she can get her daughter-in-law to sell it on the Black Market for God knows what price, and then she's going to use that money to save her ass on this land deal."

"But why would she take that kind of risk over a chunk of land?" Jennifer asked.

"I know that this may sound crazy," Sherry suddenly spoke up, "But I think I might know."

"Tell us, little sister," I excitedly said, "I'm all ears, baby-girl."

"You mean I know something that Doug doesn't," she arrogantly smirked, "Wait, let me enjoy this moment." I allowed her a few seconds to be silly, and then she smiled and said, "This is so cool, Big Brother," while giggling girlishly, with Jennifer joining in behind her, and then everyone else laughing as well.

"Well, are you going to tell us, or not, Miss Smart Ass?" I laughed.

After giggling then sticking her tongue out at me, Sherry began, "I read a book when I was in high school called, "The Legend of North Platte". It was, supposedly, a true story about a man named Horace Walker who came from California during the gold rush. He settled just north of what is now Walden, Colorado along the eastern bank of the North Platte River." Then walking over and sitting down in one of the open pilot chairs, she continued, "Over a period of about three years, old Horace Walker panned the North Platte River, heading north, upstream as he went. Well, after panning the river for fifty miles upstream, and twenty miles beyond Harper's Pass, with minimal results at best; his yields began to show definite color. The dust particles he'd been extracting for the last three years became bigger granules, and from those came larger nuggets."

"So, what happened?" Todd asked grinning.

"He got greedy," she laughed, "His greed for the gold caused him to stay until the weather started getting bad. The blizzard of eighteen fifty-four made it impossible to breach Harper's Pass. He was never seen or heard from again, but his journal was somehow found, and when we went on a field trip to Washington D.C. that same year in high school, I read a copy of it in The Library of Congress," and then with a ghostly whisper, Sherry said, "In the journal, he said that he'd found the motherlode and that there were seven large veins that ran in seven different directions."

"You don't think that Ostermeyer has found the gold, do you?" Mike asked.

I knew that there was only one way to find out. After asking Todd to man the pilot house, Mike, Jennifer, Sherry and I headed to the lab to use the computers.

~~~~~~

After I'd brought up a global mapping program, I brought the state of Colorado up. Then I got Mike to show me the location of the "chunk of land" he was talking about. With Sherry's help, we discovered that the piece of land in question was a 120 square mile tract of land that started just beyond Harper's Pass and stretched north, all the way to the Wyoming border.

"Well, I'll be damned. She must've found the lode," said Mike, "No wonder she's taking such a risk with the Uranium." Then he looked at me, and in no uncertain terms, added, "I've got the distinct feeling that things could get a bit dangerous around here."

"I know," I replied, "That's why we're going to put Jennifer and Sherry ashore when we reach Little Creek."

"I'll be damned," growled Sherry, "I'm not afraid of that fucking bitch."

"I'm not going anywhere either," Jennifer sternly added, "I've worked my fingers to the bone and have had to put up with that cunt's bullshit for two years so; I want to be there when the bitch falls."

"No," I adamantly replied, "I don't want to take the risk of either one of you getting hurt."

"You'll protect us," Jennifer cooed, as she placed herself beneath my right arm, "Won't you, Doug?"

"Yeah," giggled Sherry, placing herself under my left arm, "You'll protect us, won't you, Big Brother?"

"Aw man," I complained, "Come on, you two, I'm serious."

"We're serious, too, Doug," Jennifer flatly replied, "We're not going anywhere and that's final."

"Dammit," I said, making my way back to the pilot house, "Hard headed damn women."

"You can bet your ass on that one, Doug," giggled Sherry, on my way out of the lab.

~~~~~~

Because we'd left Key West at 0900, it was now 1430 and my stomach was beginning to growl. However, before I had even suggested that we take a lunch break, Jennifer appeared before me holding a plate with a gigantic cheeseburger and a huge pile of French fries sitting atop of it.

"I thought you might be getting hungry, baby," she smiled, kissing my lips as she handed me the plate.

"I'm sorry for getting angry with you earlier," I replied, hugging her around the waist with one arm.

"It's okay," she cooed into my ear, "It just shows me how much you love me, because I sure love you."

"I love you, too," I replied in between bites of my food.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it was impolite to talk with food in your mouth, silly boy?" Jennifer laughed, wiping a small spot of ketchup from the corner of my mouth with her thumb.

~~~~~~

By the time Andromeda reached the rendezvous point off the coast of Little Creek, it was nearing 2230 hours when I dropped anchor. The sun had long since faded into the western horizon and darkness surrounded us.

I was sitting on Andromeda's stern enjoying a well deserved glass of wine when my satellite phone began to ring. I smiled as I answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey Dougie," said the voice on the other end, "How the hell are ya, little brother?"

"Hey, Danny," I laughed, "It's about time you called. I've been waiting for over an hour now."

"You're so full of shit," he laughed, "Look out your starboard beam."

As I looked out to sea, I saw the lights of a smaller craft come to life in the darkness across Andromeda's starboard side, aft. As it drew closer, I began to see what looked like a chartered fishing boat moving toward us as I turned on the aft deck lights and prepared for my friends' arrival.

~~~~~~

"Hey Doug," Danny laughed, "How the hell are ya, bro?"

"I'm doing real well, man," I smiled, "How are you guys doing these days?"

"We'd be doing a lot better if you got off of your ass and helped us bring our gear aboard, ya little shit," laughed Tom.

"Yeah," Mickey chuckled, "Civilian life has turned you into a slacker, Doug. I mean, jeez, look at this boat. What a tub."

"Holy shit," I groaned, as the four of us helped Tom load the final piece of his gear, a single...big...case, from the fishing boat aboard Andromeda, "What do you have in here, an elephant?"

"When Danny called," Tom explained, "He only said that you needed our help. I wasn't sure what I needed to bring so, I brought everything."

"Damn, Tommy," grumbled Mickey, "You're worse than a woman."

"Fuck off, Asshole," Tom grinned.

When the four of us had served together, Danny and I were skilled with weapons and close quarters combat. Mickey's specialty was explosives and demolitions. And believe me when I tell you; he's the best there is.

We were, and still are, all four, very intelligent men. However, Tommy is the genius of the group. There is no one, I repeat, no one, who is better at electronic design and electronic counter surveillance than him. Tom works for the government in the intelligence community, but his first allegiance is to us. Once a group of men have faced death together, they share an eternal bond that is stronger and runs deeper than any blood relation, and that s the bond that the four of us shared. I trusted these men with my life, and they trusted me with theirs.

~~~~~~

"Holy shit, Doug, it sounds more like treason to me," said Danny, after I had fully informed my friends of Congresswoman Ostermeyer's plans, as well as apprising them of the situation I was in.

"What do you need us to do?" asked Mickey.

"I've got to get some kind of proof before on her before I expose her," I replied, "But first I've got to find a safe place for the rest of my crew."

"I've got you covered, old buddy," grinned Tom.

"What do you mean," I asked, "How?"

Patting the big case with his hand, he smiled and said, "I've got a gadget in here that emits a radar array that, on a radar display, looks like surface clutter."

"And just where did you steak it from?" I chuckled.

"I'll have you know that I designed it myself," he slyly grinned, "But I stole the material to build it from those geeks at MIT." Then he paused momentarily, and looking me in the eyes said, "I promise you, Doug, it will make this boat invisible to anyone who's looking for it."