My Journal

By Harriman Nelson

17

I was surprised I’d had a good night’s sleep, in spite of yesterday’s Spam ‘Hawaiian’. Cookie had used chewable vitamin C tablets crushed into a fine powder to season the Spam before frying it up. I can’t recommend it for a pineapple substitute, but it was passable as Spam a ‘la Orange, I guess.

My musings were interrupted while I pulled on my socks when the klaxon echoed.

“What’s going on up there,” I demanded from my intercom.

“The skipper’s taking us upstairs to meet the Joy Rider.”

“The what?”

“Sightseeing helicopter from the Aussie mainland.”

“And the captain is encouraging sightseers?”

“No sir. Mr. Ames’s aboard.”

“Ah, yes, I remember now. Sooner than I’d expected, though. Carry on.” I had to wonder if Ames had flown in a military jet, or if he’d taken one of the fastest Australian jet liners, similar to the old Concord.

I hurried to finish dressing and made it to the Control Room just after we’d surfaced. I watched the deck cam on the monitor as the bright yellow and red chopper was lowering two jumpsuit and helmet clad passengers to our deck. Two? Who else was joining us? I also noticed the Royal Navy still had vessels nearby, so evidently, the powers that be hadn’t recanted or changed the Anemone ruse after hearing that Lee was still on point regarding the sea lab’s investigation, even without official approval.

I could see flashes from cameras from the open cockpit. It wasn’t every day private pilots would be hired for a sea/ship transfer, if at all. No doubt Ames had made sure of the two pilot’s credentials. Probably former naval aviators.

“Take it easy with those!” I heard Chip order as one of the deck crew handed down large insulated boxes to some of the waiting crewmen in the Control Room. He stepped down the ladder right after.

“Get these to the galley!”

“What is this, Lad?” I asked.

“Chinese take-out from the mainland. One of those twenty four hour places.  Mrs. Nelson’s idea.”

I had no choice but to smile at my better half’s concern for her poor starving husband. Not that I was actually starving as Lee’s fishing trips had certainly augmented our food supply. But anything helped.

Luggage came down next. A duffle, surely belonging to Ames, and then a pink suitcase. Pink? I wasn’t the only man to raise my eyebrow at that.

Ames came down the ladder, and was taking off his helmet when his travel companion gingerly stepped down the ladder behind him.

“Permission to come aboard?” Katie greeted me as she removed her helmet, her lovely shoulder length hair revealing itself.

“Now this is a welcome surprise, my dear,” I said, embracing her.  

The topside deck crew began to come down, followed lastly by Lee.

“Here you go,” Ames said, pulling out a small box from inside of one of his jumpsuit’s pockets.

 “Remember, it’s only a loan,” Katie said as Lee opened the box containing the replacement prosthesis.

“Just one problem,” Ames said. “This replacement is

smaller, but it should still fit into  the socket, sort of.”

 “It’s red!” Chip said, aghast.

“None of the iris’s were ready. The red is only an undercoat color.”

“Never mind that,” Lee said, fitting into his socket. “Feels a little odd with some of the socket exposed. Glad it doesn’t irritate my eyelids, though.”

“But does it work?” I asked.

Lee headed to the plot table and picked up a clipboard, shutting his other eye. “I can read the text just fine.”

“And the other things?” Chip asked. “The things we’d like for the mission?”

Lee bit his lip and studied Katie.

“What’s wrong?” she asked at first, then blushed, probably knowing full well just what gadgetry was included in the eyeball.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Lee said with a slight smirk,“ I’ll test the whole thing later. Ski? Please escort our guests to their cabins. Chip? Prepare to dive. Then continue to the trench at flank speed.”

As soon as Katie and Ames had left, Chip whispered into Lee’s ear, “just how well did the X-ray work?”

“Mr. Morton~” I warned.

“A guy can dream, can’t he?”

“She likes yellow,” Lee said. “Harry, I feel like celebrating. Join me in the nose for a drink?”

I didn’t usually drink so early in the morning, in fact I couldn’t recall any time that I had,  but I decided to accompany him forward. If Lee felt like a drink, well, then, I did too.

“Wait, Lee,” Chip said. “What about the Chinese Take-Out? It’s still warm….”

Lee grinned sympathetically, and picked up the mike. “Attention all hands, this is the captain. Thanks to our visitors, Chinese take-out will be served for breakfast and lunch. Double dipping is allowed but if you’ve already had breakfast, at least wait for the rest of us to have some first.”

“What’s wrong, Lee?” I asked a few minutes later as he kept blinking his eyes while he poured out two shots of Smirnoff. (He usually prefers vodka over other booze.)

“My eyelids are itching at little,” he said as he handed me my drink.

“That,” Ames said as he and Katie strode down the spiral ladder, he in uniform, and her in the tweed suit that she favored frequently, “is probably because it’s straight from manufacturing. Might not have been cleaned in the solvent yet. I should have stopped you from just putting it in. But I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Le said. “I’m glad I did. Help yourselves,” he added, nodding to the bottle.

“Thanks,” Ames said and poured himself a shot. “Katie?”

“No thank you, By the way, we also brought along something we knew you’d all love.”

“Better than Chinese?” Chip asked, joining us as Seaview picked up speed under the depths.

“Freshly ground coffee,” Katie said “the kind you have to brew. Also real butter, real cheese, and liquid egg whites. We couldn’t manage any whole eggs. And instant hot cocoa mix, real oatmeal. And sugar. I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with powdered milk, though.”

“Yeah,” Ames said, “kind of hard to bring a cow aboard.”

“Well,” Lee said, finishing off his drink, “I think I hear ‘Joe’ calling me, and I don’t mean Jackson. Going my way?” he asked Katie, offering his arm.

Needless to say, by the time we got there, the Wardroom was packed and Joe (Jackson) was already consuming what looked like a second helping of Chicken Lo Mein.

Since most of the command staff was in attendance now, it was as good a time as any for Lee to speak about the mission.

“Even though I have an eye now, we’re still going ahead with our plans regarding the Hewlett’s. While Chip keeps Mrs. Hewlett busy with Mallie, and Harry shows Dr. Hewlett his clams,  I can play Superman and Joe can be Jimmy Olsen in the sea lab and caves.”

“What if anything in the lab is made of lead?” Chip asked.

“The eye’s been adjusted for such a case,” Ames said. “Lee’s X-ray vision is superior to Superman’s in every way.”

“I just wish it wasn’t red,” Katie sighed.

 “Actually,” I said, “having two eyes of different colors happens. It’s called heterochromia.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of any human having a red eye. Unless it’s bloodshot,” Chip said.

“Live with it,” Lee said.

“It’s not permanent, anyway,” Ames said, “by the time we get home, his civilian eye should be ready courtesy one very good hearted scientist, who’s manufacturing it himself.”

“Purchasing it by selling your car is well and fine, Lee,” I said, “but I’d like to help.”

“If you did that, there’d be all sorts of talk about using institute funds for something private.”

“I do have some private funds that have nothing to do with the institute.”

“Nobody would believe it. Besides, I don’t really need two cars.”

“Well, “I said, as I finished by Sweet & Sour Port, “I need to go check on my clams. Make sure they’re still alive for when I ask Dr. Hewlett to help me examine them. By the way, Katie, one of them presented me with a pearl I’m giving to Emmie. Would you like to see it?”

“How wonderful. Of course. I’ll be down to the lab as soon as I finish my coffee.”

And she did, oohing and ahhing over the pearl and its two new companions. None of the colors matched. Another tidbit to lure Dr. Hewlett over.

It won’t be long now before Lee can play James Bond.