The Silent Depths of the Sea - (11 Parts)

[doggo]

Looks like I'm starting to post a story. It will come slowly, chapter at time as there's still work to do with the text, but it will come.

A word of warning or two - this fic is long, heavy on angst, tragedy and messy colds. There's also quite a bit of violence before it's over, but nothing worse than in an average sci-fi story.

And MAJOR kudos to Vetinari, who has encouraged me all along and is beta reading this for me. THANK YOU! She is responsible for editing my poor second-language English into something readable.

So... three, two, one, dive!

--

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part I

The door opened with a barely audible hiss and revealed a small, brightly lit cabin. Lieutenant Varilov stepped in, threw his bag on the bed and eyed the ascetic furniture consisting of a desk with a couple of drawers, a chair, fire extinguishing equipment with a sign of some sort explaining safety precautions beside it, an intralink for internal communication and the bed upon which he proceeded to throw himself, letting out a relieved sigh.

It had been a straining day; he had arrived on Novaya Zemlya late last evening and caught only a couple of hours sleep in the barracks before taking the final step to his destination. An almost ridiculous number of formalities were to be fulfilled before he could board one of the finest military submarines of 22nd century, Denkiunagi, the electric eel, that was the brightest achievement of Japanese magnetohydrodynamic technology so far, as a proud member of it's newly appointed crew. He unzipped his bag and dug out a small, leather-clad notebook and a pen, and with a touch of hesitant reverence wrote the following lines:

8-2-2168, the coast of Novaya Zemlya

I will try to keep a record of the journey I'm about to embark on, both for my personal enjoyment and to be able to remember things in the way they truly happened, as memory, as we all know has a way of twisting and colouring things past to meet the needs of the present.

The ship itself is magnificent, a true beauty equipped with some of the latest technology, including all of four MHD thrusters, a variety of plasma cannons, a squadron of three mechdivers and of course the very best of the existing navigational technology which I'm more than enthusiastic to get my hands on. And all this can be operated by just a handful of men – the Denkiunagi truly is one of the foremost miracles of our time.

If something happens to me on this trip, as my last wish I appeal to anyone reading this to deliver these notes to my mother so she herself can decide if I'm worthy or not to be called her son, as I love her more than anything in this world; without her neither my life nor my death would have any meaning whatsoever.

Frowning a bit at the grim tone of his opening he tucked the notebook into a pocket inside his clean, grey uniform coat, let his head fall against arm and fell asleep.

…

"Lieutenant Varilov!"

Somebody had been calling him for a while through the door, which finally opened wide revealing the figure of a man.

"Lieutenant Varilov, the captain is waiting."

Varilov stumbled up and combed his coarse, brown hair back with his hand while trying to keep his eyes as wide open as possible, trying not to look sleepy. The officer standing by the door, obviously Asian, eyed him with visible contempt. His posture was ridiculously stiff, like he hoped that keeping his chin raised would make him look taller – judging from his uniform he was one of the mechdiver squad, actually a squadron leader judging from the plates. A delicate but agile build was essential for both the physically demanding piloting and for fitting comfortably into the confined space of the cockpit. Varilov felt quite uncomfortable standing before him, even if the little man was obviously younger than him – it must have been the cold, piercing gaze of his pitch-black eyes that made Varilov feel like a schoolkid waiting for a well deserved reprimand. Maybe the left corner of squadron leader's mouth twitched a bit in an irritated fashion before he turned swiftly around on his heels, a thick, black ponytail whipping the air, and took his leave. Varilov followed him as well as he could through the dim corridors.

At that point for the first time he felt an irritating little tickle hovering about his nostrils. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand and tried to scare it away with a couple of sharp sniffs, but the itch was persistent. Suddenly it took over the better part of his nose and bending lightly forward, covering his mouth with his wrist Varilov let out a sneeze. "H'issoh! H'chuh!" A couple of them, truthfully, as it was his habit to sneeze at least twice every time, but he himself always counted the first two as one. He saw the squadron leader's shoulders stiffen and the rhythm of his walk changed slightly while Varilov rubbed the rest of the itch away with his knuckles. The other man turned his head a bit and shot an angry glance from the crack of his half-closed eyes. What a prickly character, Varilov thought, nothing seemed to be beneath his notice.

At last they reached the door leading to the meeting room of the commanding staff. The squadron leader swept his cuff over a sensor beside the door unlocking it and stepped inside.

The holographic map whirling above the table cast eerie shades of cobalt and malachite on the faces of the two men sitting beside it. From the looks of them he could tell that the tall blonde man wearing an elegant smile way too pleasant for military surroundings had to be Captain Cherkasky. An empty chair on his left side presumably belonged to the squadron leader, but the man on captain's right he could not recognize apart from rank.

As a naturally observant person, which was necessary in his profession, Varilov couldn't help but pay attention to this man, a commander apparently. He looked Scandinavian and he gave Varilov a lengthy but subtle look with his pale blue eyes. He held his mouth lightly shut, not smiling but not looking unfriendly either, everything about his expression signalling artless but highly intelligent presence. He was probably in his mid-30's, about the same age as the dandy of a captain, who was obviously appointed to the post based upon pedigree rather than experience or talent, and at that moment Varilov was sure that he would come to admire this man greatly.

"Please sit, Lieutenant Varilov, I have no liking for strict formalities and am resolved to leave them ashore. Let me introduce you to the commanding staff." Captain Cherkasky gave Varilov a warm smile, inviting him over.

Varilov nodded and hesitantly sat down.

"Gentlemen", he continued, "meet Lieutenant Nikolai Varilov. Regardless of his young age he has the reputation of being an excellent navigator, a prominent code-breaker and an expert of fathometric engineering. He will be the leader of our little navigation team. He has served under Captain Engelström of the Hitokage, and has gained nothing but good reputation there." Captain turned his bright, childishly open gaze to the commander, who did nothing but nod silently. "Lieutenant Varilov, I'll introduce you Lieutenant Hiroyuki Kajiwara, our mechdiver squadron leader. And here on my right sits Commander Jarle Gewelt, my right hand man. And I, of course, am Captain Alexander Cherkasky, and warmly welcome you to my ship."

There was something oddly unpleasant about the silence that followed Captain's little presentation. "Lieutenant Gewelt, would you care to update us about the latest staff replacements?"

Gewelt nodded again, drawing a notebook from his pocket and after eyeing it briefly cleared his throat as if to announce that he was going to say something worth hearing. "Gentlemen, as you all know we have had to make some last minute changes after finding out that some members of our crew were not… suitable for an operation of this nature. For the same reason we will abstain from discussing any details of this operation before being well down in the depths of the sea and will keep absolute radio silence during the whole operation. This is a top secret mission of the North-Atlantic League, and we can't afford any suspicions about the loyalty of our crew whatsoever. Many members were moved away from the ship on Novaya Zemlya and placed in… other kinds of service."

"Yes, yes we know all this. But what about the replacements?" the captain asked, not frustrated but with an impatience that stemmed from genuine enthusiasm.

"We have had trouble getting the replacements we need, as doing the required background checks is laborious and time-consuming…. but we were lucky to have lieutenant Varilov to join us… and the new medical officer, lieutenant Jens Andersen."

"And?"

"And that's all."

Something about this whole conversation was highly unpleasant to Kajiwara, judging from his sour expression that wasn't smoothed even by the captain's unreasonably cheerful tone.

"Well it looks like we are seriously undermanned. But we apparently have no choice. Is it still possible to continue? Once more, I want your honest opinion, Commander Gewelt."

Gewelt nodded again, and kept silent for a short while, rubbing his strong, well-shaved chin. In addition to his obvious intelligence and plain, tactful demeanour, he was also a devastatingly handsome man with the proud profile of a king. The strictly controlled strength in his every movement made the captain's elaborate gestures look almost feminine. "Yes, it is possible. We will reorganize the chain of command according to the present situation. I'll have the medical officer informed that we will have to be ready to go heavy on stims if necessary. We will maintain as low a profile as possible and stay out of trouble. Denkiunagi is after all, a ship that can be handled by a significantly small crew."

"Good," the Captain turned to Kajiwara, who interrupted his pouting immediately and smiled back at the captain. "I am perfectly confident of your ability to cope with this situation, dear gentlemen. We will dive in half an hour, and I will be expecting all of you on the bridge. Lieutenant Kajiwara, escort lieutenant Varilov to meet his team."

"Yes, sir!" Kajiwara said, standing up. Needless to say, the soft expression on his face died immediately when he turned to Varilov. "Follow me, lieutenant."

…

Varilov's eyes idly followed Kajiwara's ponytail swinging from one side to the other, reflecting the firm rhythm of his walk. Nevertheless his attention was brought back up to the level of the tip of his nose, as he felt another sharp itch crawling about his nostrils. Well this time it could very well wait, Varilov thought, as he didn't feel like receiving any disapproving looks from the little squadron leader right now. Pressing his knuckles against his nose he vigorously rubbed his nostrils, the bridge and the tip of his nose, wherever the persistent itch seemed to run from him. But unfortunately regardless of all his efforts, his breath started to hitch. Still determined not to sneeze, Varilov chased the pesky tingle with all the might of his hand. "Hihh… ihhh..!" he inhaled.

Kajiwara stopped and turned around. He stared coldly at his comrade, an almost too slender young man with a posture far too sloppy and careless for his liking and coarse, brown hair that didn't seem to fall obediently towards his chin, but which stuck up with no order whatsoever here and there, making him look more like a damn stray dog than a soldier, no matter how well his uniform fit. And this dog of a lieutenant was desperately rubbing his nose with the back of his hand, his long, slender fingers clenched into a fist. "What on earth are you doing, Lieutenant Varilov?" Kajiwara snapped.

Varilov cracked his eyes open slightly, only to squeeze them shut again being bent over by a breathy sneeze. "H'issshoh! H'usssoh!" he sneezed. "hh… HISssch!" Twice, according to his count, of course.

Kajiwara frowned. "Is there something wrong with you, lieutenant?"

Varilov was rubbing his nose with his forefinger, giving an absent-minded sniff. "I… I think there's something wrong with the air here; I should contact the air quality control. It seems to be making me a bit sneezy."

Kajiwara's eyes narrowed. "Other men have not complained."

Varilov shrugged in an easygoing manner that probably irritated Kajiwara much more than the air of the ship did Varilov's nose. "I think I'll contact them anyway. I can't think of what else it might be."

Oh bloody hell; Kajiwara was off again! His nostrils flared slightly and the left corner of his mouth twitched, signalling annoyance and barely contained temper… It was not as if Varilov was not guilty of taking great pleasure in messing with uptight, snappish characters like him, but he was not in the mood for that right now. He had been called to this post at very short notice, and all the travelling and lack of sleep was catching up with him. Honestly, what he really wished for was a good night's sleep.

Kajiwara turned swiftly again – Varilov couldn't help but marvel at the precise, agile movements that integrated smoothly into his otherwise rigid posture. It was like he was in perfect control over his lean, supple body, being perfectly still when still and engaging in movement as if the laws of inertia and counter force didn't apply to him at all. He might have been a very charming young man with his delicate, almost girly facials and the mass of silken, black hair gathered to the back of his neck, if only there hadn't been a cloud of dissatisfaction with everything around him, except the captain maybe, darkening his brow.

The bridge was half empty when they arrived and the corporal by the navigation table, who rose up to give a formal greeting, looked visibly tired.

"At ease, Corporal Norris. Lieutenant Varilov, I leave you with your team."

Varilov eyed the table. "Looks promising: Very similar to the machinery we had on Hitokage."

Norris's eyes lit up. "Hitokage? So it's true, you have served on Hitokage, under Captain Engelström?"

Varilov sat down and attacked the keyboard in too much of a hurry to even to look at his companion while he answered him, the hint of a proud smile curving his lips: "Yes, it's true. And my superior and mentor lieutenant Gradsky taught me many things you might get a hold of on this trip if you pay attention." With a silent buzz, a piece of machinery rose from the table on his left side.

"Oh man!" Norris's jaw dropped. "Oh man, don't you tell me… that's the "crystal ball", isn't it? Don't you say… Oh man, you can really read it!"

"Hush, it's lighting up!" Varilov chuckled. Humming softly, something inside the cage-like structure started to emit a faint gleam of greenish light. "What a nostalgic sound. Brings back memories…." The gleam gained strength before settling down into an entrancing whirl of green and amber lights. "No, I don't know if anyone can read it… and I definitely know I can't."

"And it's unjammable?" It was as if none of Varilov's attempts to damp down his enthusiasm had any effect. "I know it is! It's based on something completely new, I've heard the scientists who came up with it are held in strict state custody to keep its secrets safe!"

Varilov shrugged. "Quite a punishment for coming up with a probing device no-one can jam…yet." He yawned and rubbed his face with his both hands. "Now, there is no way to read this thing. No way to understand it. Understood?"

Norris nodded. It was like overwhelming awe had stricken him mute.

"The only way to learn… no, to get used to it… is to keep it on, whirling there beside you at all times when underwater, and do your job. This thing never shows the same thing twice. Hence the nickname. And maybe… if some day you have trained your eye and mind with it, looking at it, not analyzing… subconsciously learning its language that in reality cannot be learnt… when in a tight spot you might be provided with a more of a lucky guess than those without it."

Norris scratched his head, looking puzzled. This was not what he had waited for.

Varilov leaned back in his chair, shooting him a crooked smile. "But I can tell you that lieutenant Gradsky was a true wizard of lucky guesses. Enough to get us out from countless death-traps with all our screens blank."

A bright smile illuminated Norris's face again. "I will promise to keep it on at all times underwater, sir!"

"Good." Varilov turned to examine the screens. "We will be di…" his eyes fluttered shut. "H'Issoh! USsch!"

"Bless you, sir"

"Thank you." Varilov rubbed his nose absentmindedly with his forefinger and sniffled. Shame he hadn't brought a tissue with him. He should remember to have one next time if the problem was not solved by then; it was obvious that the ship's air was bothering him. He cleared his throat and continued: "We will be diving soon."

"Oh yes. Can't wait for that!" Norris grinned.

Varilov glanced around him. "Looks really empty here. I hear we are quite undermanned."

"Yes… but we've got a whole load of those brand new stims onboard, feels like one doesn't need to sleep at all! Of course there are strict rules about legal dosage… but we also have the Captain!" Norris lowered his voice into a whisper. "I've heard his lineage goes up near to the Czarist family!"

"Czar, you say?" Varilov smirked. "The 'Czar of the executive state'? I would hardly call a lineage of mob leaders the new royal house."

Norris's face grew sombre. "Don't joke about the dual state here, lieutenant, not even to me, even if I'm not Russian. The walls have ears and you must know that they have extremely strict policies about loyalty on this mission."

"Speaking of which…" Varilov yawned again. "Did I get it right that you, you alone, are my team? Where are the others?"

Norris leaned back. "The others were left on Novaya Zemlya. The new background checks…"

"Yeah yeah I know they were not… suitable for this mission. Well I really hope we can handle this."

"Of course we can. We don't just have the stims, and the captain, we also have commander Gewelt and let me tell you, never in my life have I seen a man as capable, insightful and tireless. With them on board, nothing or no-one can stop us."

"I hope you're right…" Varilov was rubbing his nose again. Damn that air, he should get this thing straightened as soon as possible.

…

People were getting gathered on the bridge, one by one, including lieutenant Paul Gill, the head mechanic - a silent, broad-shouldered man with a tint of grey at his temples, and lieutenant Kajiwara. Finally the captain himself arrived, upright and radiant, taking his place on the captain's chair and eyeing his staff reassuringly. He was followed by commander Gewelt, who seated himself by the captain.

"This is captain speaking. Be prepared to dive in one minute 20 seconds", captain announced.

A cheerful hustle filled the bridge, even if people were scarce.

"Here we go now…" Varilov said, smiling faintly to Norris.

"Four… three…two…one… dive."

Even though Varilov had dived so many times he had lost count years ago, he still disliked the feeling. Not only did the movements of the ship make him feel like gravity was hiccupping, but the knowledge of being swallowed by the cold, blue masses of the sea filled his mind. The lamps were emitting red light that made it hard to judge people's expressions. He just wished they would soon be deep enough for it all to settle down again.

Finally the red lamps went off. The awkward silence accompanying a dive on any ship vanished.

"Lieutenant Varilov, you are relieved from your post for now. Corporal Norris can continue alone."

Varilov blinked "But captain… I have just arrived and he must be tired."

"Well according to some information I've gathered you could use some sleep. You are free to go, lieutenant."

Varilov glared at Kajiwara, who answered his gaze with a cold, indifferent look. Damn that bastard, it's true he almost overslept his first meeting with the captain… but one could have some decency, for Christ's sake!

Deeply flushed, Varilov got up and took his leave.

TBC …

[Quite Contrary]

Oh wow, this is really good so far! I like the characters. Keep posting, please!

[mystic-chibi]

What a wonderful story! The characters are all amazing! I can't wait for more!

[Vetinari]

:) :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:

[doggo]

Thank you, mkool, Ana! I'm so glad you like the men in uniforms.

And LOL Vetinari! I'm happy you can get some drooling out of this as well.

So to the next part already! Major thanks to Vetinari for editing this again, she's fantastic.

--

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part II

Back in his cabin before falling asleep, Varilov had made some additions to his entry, mainly recording his first impressions of the crew, as it was his habit to pay careful attention to such things.

The captain is most likely nothing more than a naïve, good-natured aristocrat, but he is very beautiful and lovable, the kind of man who evokes sympathy and encourages willingness amongst his crew. But his right hand man, Commander Gewelt, inspires my honest admiration. He is obviously a very capable man who still prefers to not to attract attention - the kind of officer any young man like myself would aspire to emulate.

And as the captain seems to be the only person that even the prickly lieutenant Kajiwara appears to like, and as he seems to lean heavily upon the services of Gewelt, I have no problem with him either. All in all this might be quite a pleasant ride if it wasn’t for the moods of lieutenant Kajiwara.

Speaking of unpleasantess, there is something wrong with the air on this ship. It makes my throat feel scratchy and my nose run every now and then. I will contact someone who deals with the air quality control to see if they can alleviate this.

…

Varilov was woken up by a call from the bridge.

“Lieutenant Varilov, this is commander Gewelt speaking. Are you awake?”

“Oh yes, yes of course, sir.” he answered, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

“We are meeting in the officer’s room at 7am sharp. After that you will relieve Corporal Norris of his post and assume control of the navigation.”

Varilov cleared his throat again. His head was feeling a bit stuffy, he must have slept like the dead… and of course that damned air was getting to him. “Understood, sir.”

“Meet you soon then. Gewelt out.”

Varilov sat up and rubbed his eyes. Oh hell, he thought as he felt himself about to be overcome again. “Ha.. I’SSschoh! H’ISSchaw!” He sat and waited for another that was just about to come out. “H… H’ISSCH-hngh!” Even though there was no-one watching, he instinctively raised a hand to cover his face and sniffled deeply. Damn, that last one felt a bit messy. Getting up on his still sleepy feet he stumbled into the bathroom, sneezing once more into the sink. “Hi-ISSChaw! …ugh… shit!” he groaned. Three. That broke a record. Still sniffling he reached for some tissue paper and tended to his nose. He had better put an end to this annoyance at once.

He switched the intralink on. Who should he call he wondered, Norris?

“Yes, this is navigation… Norris speaking…”

Damn he sounded tired. It made Varilov feel a bit guilty. “Norris, do you have any idea who is responsible for air quality control?”

“Air quality… that must be the medical officer, Lieutenant Jens Andersen… Is there something wrong?”

“Yeah I think the air quality is bad. Should be checked. It’s making me sneeze.”

Norris paused. “Yeah… you do sound a bit sniffly if I may say so sir. I’ll give him a call. You just get to your meeting; I heard you were to set my ass free after that.”

“Thanks Norris.”

“No problem. Just get me the hell away from here” Norris chuckled.

Varilov smiled. “I’ll come as soon as they let me. Varilov out.”

…

It looked as if he was the last one to arrive again he thought as he stood to attention.

The captain addressed him however: “At ease, lieutenant. How many times do I have to say that I dislike these formalities. Let’s not bring them into this room. Even if I’m the captain, I know very well that I need your insight; everyone in this room should able to speak up and converse more freely than official protocol allows. Otherwise we lessen our chances of survival. Understood?”

“Yes sir.” Varilov sat down. He could see that Gewelt was going through some notes whilst Kajiwara stared expressionlessly at the map.

“Now, commander Gewelt, would you tell them what this mission is about.”

“Yes.” Gewelt raised his head and eyed the others. As always, he was taking his time, not rushing where he considered there was no need. “You must all know that our enemies have enhanced their naval strength considerably, especially on the Arctic Sea and North Atlantic. To track their movements it has been decided that thirty two carefully camouflaged probes are to be planted along a route that is considered to be the most credible candidate for their ‘submarine highway’.”

Varilov nodded. “Interesting. So we will be seriously going for minimum visibility to avoid alerting them to our presence.”

“Exactly.” Gewelt said, turning his face to Varilov and looking him in the eye. “That’s why we have to keep as low a profile as possible. Not only by preserving the radio silence and abstaining from surfacing, but we will also be using minimal engine strength and riding the currents as much as possible, first taking advantage of the transpolar current and then sliding silently through the Denmark Strait, altering our depth to catch the most favourable deep sea streams and leaving each probe in its appropriate position along the way. Our mapping of the currents should hold reasonably accurate for approximately the next three weeks, which should be easily sufficient.”

“Yes. I understand. I had a look at the current-mappings before we dived… it looked pretty well perfect.” Varilov rubbed his chin. Damn, he thought, he had forgotten to shave. Shaving had never been one of his strong points, but now his appearance was likely to give Kajiwara a new reason to shower him with dissatisfied glares. He cleared his throat and continued: “And our navigating equipment is as up to date as anyone could wish.”

“But isn’t our equipment supposed to be soundless?” Kajiwara asked, still not raising his gaze from the map.

“Our engines are soundless and untraceable at low speeds but at high speeds they would cause too much magnetic disturbance, which is detectable using current technology.”

Kajiwara nodded.

“And the second part?” the Captain prompted.

“There’s a second part?” Varilov muttered.

“Yes…” Gewelt continued. “The second part is not written into the official documents… because it is top secret. One could say that the planting of the probes is merely a cover… After reaching our destination our mission is to bombard the seafloor structures… of the third anchoring gyre of Deepwater Watch.”

Varilov’s jaw dropped. “Deepwater Watch? We are going to mess with DW? Possibly the most heavily guarded, well armoured base they have? That turns this into a suicide mission!”

“Not quite,” Gewelt argued calmly. “We have very detailed information regarding it and its close surroundings. And I can assure you that the information has already cost us more lives than could be lost on this ship. The third anchoring gyre is the outermost of the three – a narrow, artificial current which circles around the Deepwater Watch alongside the outer rim of the yellow sector, reaching down to a depth of approximately 400 meters. As it is used mainly to anchor such things as radars, probes, solar panels and such, weakening it sufficiently to make it unstable would affect their infrastructure considerably. But if we blunder… it is not only our lives that will be lost for nothing.”

Varilov swallowed hard and looked around him for assistance, but only the captain would meet his gaze. And all that Varilov could see in his eyes was blind trust.

“Deepwater Watch might be strong, but it is also isolated”, the Captain said eventually, receiving an accepting nod from Gewelt. “Greenland is mainly still neutral territory, and as the name of our honourable alliance reminds us, the North Atlantic is our traditional stronghold.”

“That is pre-history!” Varilov cried. “How long is it since that victory? We are no longer the lords of the North Atlantic as the sheer existence of Deepwater Watch clearly demonstrates. How can we claim that it is our stronghold if the enemy has a massive seaborne military base within its borders?”

Kajiwara raised his gaze from the map immediately. “Are you implying that the League is too weak to take on the enemy?” He looked for support from the captain, who nodded approvingly.

“I have to agree with Varilov.” Gewelt sighed. “Even with the heritage of the league, we can not allow ourselves to be lulled into fantasies of supremacy any longer. We will not be alone.”

“But there is still no reason to let despair overcome us.”

“Exactly.” Gewelt tossed his notes on the table.

Varilov ruffled his hair and groaned. “But it’s… and… uhh…” goddamn, no way he was going to sneeze now!

Unable to speak, he sat on his chair, his mouth open, looking helpless, until his eyes fluttered shut. “Ah..H’ISChoh! HIssch!” he sneezed into his cupped hand. Still holding his hand in place, he sniffled, surprised by the wet sound of it. There was still more to come. “I.. ISSh-hgnh!”

“Is your nose running, lieutenant?” the captain asked curiously.

“Ugh.. douh…” Varilov pressed the tip of his nose with his palm and sniffled deeply.

“No? Doesn’t sound like that, lieutenant.” Reaching into his pocket he drew out clean handkerchief, decorated with the Cherkasky family crest, and handed it to Varilov. “Keep it as a memento, and when this is all over, promise to remember your captain when using it”, the captain laughed.

Varilov nodded thankfully and wiped his nose, squeezing it lightly as he was too embarrassed to give himself the blow he really needed.

“Is something bothering you?”

“I think the air here is a bit off. But air quality control should already have been notified about it”, Varilov said, blushing at the stuffy sound of his voice.

“Oh? Well it should be fixed soon enough. Wouldn’t wish you to feel as if you have the common cold!”

“Forgive what I’m saying, but there’s hardly anything common about that anymore.”

Captain laughed. “Too true. I was joking, lieutenant,” the captain looked around him. “Is there anything else that needs to be discussed at this point?”

Kajiwara turned to face him. “Captain, I would like to request permission to drill the mechdiver squad.”

“Permission denied, lieutenant. You know very well that all such activity is strictly prohibited on this mission. We want to minimize the risk of being detected at all costs.”

“But captain!” Kajiwara objected. “None of the men have any fighting experience whatsoever! And as I have been stripped of my two most skilled pilots on Novaya Zemlya, I am left with rookies! They are wet behind the ears, captain! If we were to fight…”

“If we are to engage in underwater battle, lieutenant, I have every confidence in your ability to make the best of the resources available. But our top priority is to stay undetected, to stay safe, reach our destination and do our job. Do not question my commands!”

Kajiwara sank silently in his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Such resignation did not come naturally to him, but his loyalty to the captain lay before him like a wall that he could not break no matter how right he thought he was and however determined and angry he was feeling.

“This has been a rather exhausting meeting. If no-one has anything more to say, I will call a halt. No? Well then gentlemen, you are dismissed. Carry on with your duties.”

…

On his way to the bridge Varilov had sneezed yet another of his usual doubles. Norris was almost dozing off by his table; he must have stopped taking the stims a good while ago. A sudden shudder ran through Varilov’s body. Damn he was cold. What were those bastards thinking, messing up with the temperatures now too? “

And why was no-one else complaining? They must have become used to it somehow. They had already travelled a couple of days before stopping at Novaya Zemlya.

He decided to ask. “Norris – when you came aboard… during the first couple of days… did you find yourself feeling sneezy?”

Norris scratched his forehead. It looked like he was thinking really hard. “Yeah… I guess I sneezed… once… or twice…” he kept a short pause. “Or maybe it was the hiccups.”

“Norris you ass.” Varilov thumped his shoulder with his fist. “Go get some rest will ya? This is an order. Dismissed.”

Norris was sniggering. “Yes sir.”

…

The first probe was set in place without difficulty, and the atmosphere on the bridge was encouraging. The ship continued slipping slowly and silently forward, towards the Deepwater Watch. The captain had retired to his quarters, leaving the command to Gewelt. Everything seemed peaceful.

Until…

“Commander, I’m tracking something. The signal is weak, it might be ice... No. I don’t think it can be, it’s moving in the wrong direction, sir.”

Gewelt stepped up. “In what direction?”

“It’s moving upstream… it’s getting closer to us at an angle of around 160 degrees…we’re on a collision course, sir.”

“Size?”

“Very close to our own, sir. It’s very likely another military submarine.”

Gewelt switched the intralink on. “Captain, this is Gewelt speaking. We have detected something that might be an enemy ship. I request that you come to the bridge.”

“Whatever it is it’s not hailing us… I have a bad feeling about this commander.”

“All hands ready for battle. I repeat. All hands ready for battle. This is not a drill”, Gewelt announced.

Varilov’s eyes widened. “Oh… shit! Commander, I’m losing the signal. They’re jamming us, we’re blind, sir! I need assistance.”

“Call Corporal Norris!”

“I’m calling sir… Norris, I need you… Ha.. AIScchow! HIssch! … you on the bridge immediately. We’re under attack!”

“Bless you sir…” Norris was muttering, practically still asleep. “…did you just say we’re…”

“Hell, get your ass here ASAP, Norris!”

“Yes sir!”

The Captain was still buttoning his uniform coat when he stormed onto the bridge, his hair ruffled like a halo of golden light. He must have been asleep too. Norris followed just behind him.

“Norris, we need to break the jamming code. It looks like they’re using TSRC.”

“TS what?” Norris seated himself beside Varilov.

“TRSC. The trans-semantic reduction code.”

“Oh you mean tranny!”

Varilov rolled his eyes. “Yes, tranny”

“How long until we are within range?” Gewelt’s gaze was burning with an anxiety that was mixed with the lust for battle.

“Not long sir, we’ll soon be there.”

“Set the engines hard astern, we have to keep our distance until our sight is clear.” Gewelt was pacing back and forth giving orders like the captain was a mere decoration.

“Captain, I’m getting an energy spike, they are preparing to fire.”

“We need more distance. Prepare the cannons and be ready to take aim. We are firing as soon as we regain our sight. Varilov, prepare to respond to the jamming sequence. Is there any evasive action we can take?” the Captain was slowly catching up with the situation and shaking the sleep from his eyes.

“I’m working on it, sir, we just need…” Varilov managed just in time to dig the handkerchief from his pocket to muffle more sneezes in it. “Ha’ISSChaw! ISSch! …HISCCHT!” They sounded harsh enough to make the Captain raise his eyebrows. Varilov groaned; the last one especially had wreaked havoc within his nose. He dabbed it with the handkerchief and continued: “…need all our processing capacity to break this one. As soon as we…he… ISsch! HE’ISSCHT!” The sneeze bent him over in his chair.

“For Christ’s sake, Varilov, bless you!” Norris said.

“… configure this one I’ll send it, sir.”

“What’s wrong with you, Varilov?” Norris was too busy to look at him as he spoke, but the concern was obvious in his voice.

“Don’t really know”, Varilov said, tucking the handkerchief into his pocket to save it for later use. He was pressing the tip of his nose with the back of his hand, trying to get it under control with long, wet sniffs. He was starting to feel really stuffy.

The whole ship jolted and the lights flashed wildly. An alarm went off somewhere far behind.

There was a short moment of panic – it was the first hit they had taken on this mission. Only commander Gewelt showed no visible sign of fright. “Captain we’ve been hit, near the rear. Gill, how bad is the damage?”

“I’m assessing it, sir… it was quite a blast. We’re too far away for maximum damage and we’re holding out well but our defences are down to 40% where the worst of it landed. We have to cut down the use of engine three.”

“You heard what he said. Make up the deficit using engine one.”

Varilov wiped sweaty strands of hair from his face. “It’s clear now, sir, we are calibrating our machinery, and will gain sight just about… now.”

A flash of light travelled through the screens. “We’re back on, captain, and ready to send a jamming sequence.”

“Kajiwara, get into the cockpit. You’ll launch right after we’ve fired. Varilov, jam them now.”

Holding the handkerchief on his nose, Varilov typed with his right hand. A final click, and they would gain the advantage for a short time at least. “They should go blank any time now.”

“All engines ahead! Prepare to fire when they’re within our range!”

“Ih… ISSch-hgn! HESSch!” Varilov was wiping his nose and staring at the screens. “Captain, they’ll be within our range in five seconds…”

“Four…three…two…one...” the Captain whipped his hand through the air to give emphasis to his command: “Fire!”

Varilov fell back in his chair and shivered. His eyes were watery, his nose was getting a pink tint around the nostrils, and he was pale as a ghost. Soft coughs were jerking his chest as he gazed wearily at the already sodden handkerchief he was fumbling with both of his hands, like taking aim in case he was going to sneeze again. And he really felt as if he would any moment now.

Norris turned around in his chair to face him. “Excuse me for mentioning it sir but, you look like shit.”

Varilov closed his eyes and hung his mouth open, taking shaky gasps of air. Finally, raising the handkerchief to his face he doubled over in his chair and sneezed forcefully. “Ha… ISSCHAW! HESSCH!... ugh…” He was still squeezing his eyes shut. “Ha…ISSCHT!” He groaned miserably at the harsh, wet sound of it. How the hell could one’s nose be running like this?

Blowing as moderately as he could, Varilov sank deep in his chair and blinked his eyes a couple of times frowning at the sorry state of his handkerchief. “Yeah”, he said, his voice thick with congestion. “I bet I look like shit.”

TBC …

[silentdreamer789]

Um, wow.

[starpollen]

LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE. Keep it coming. :-)

[count tiszula]

Terrific! Top hankiework, with the captain's crest; and a wonderful new sneezing response; "There's something wrong with the air"; this could be a classic...

Ya lyublyu Shinskuyu.

[mystic-chibi]

Ahhhhh!! I love it love it LOVE IT!!!

[doggo]

Ooh whoa thank you! Glaaaaad you folks like.

Now I feel a bit bad though - I forgot from the description - sci-fi, military and sob story.

Have some more. Oh and virtual vodka time - here's for Vetinari again!

*FLEE*

--

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part III

“Did we hit them?”

“Inefficiently, captain. But they are in a vulnerable position now.”

“Take aim. We have to be prepared to cover Kajiwara when they regain their sight.”

“It looks as if they’re backing away, sir.”

“We bit them harder than they expected!” Norris chuckled.

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Kajiwara. The enemy is retreating. Requesting your permission to pursue sir.” Kajiwara’s voice echoed from a speaker by the captain’s table. The Captain glanced at Gewelt, as if asking for his approval.

“Let Kaijiwara pursue. It’s better to put an end to this.”

Varilov spoke. “I’m warning you, captain, it’s likely that they will regain their sight shortly and that they will… ih…ISSch-hgnh! H’ESSCH!...” It was taking more and more time for him to recover after sneezing. He was cold, his head felt like it weighed a ton and his nose wouldn’t stop running. “…will try to jam us again. As our system is still bypassing the first one…” Varilov’s voice cracked. This was too much. He leaned back and covered his eyes. “Oh shit” he said with a faint, hoarse voice.

“Yeah it requires a lot of capacity to bypass the first and it will be even harder to take care of it next time”, Norris hurried to explain.

“I see. And it looks as if something is taking the sting out of our team… Varilov, what’s wrong with you?”

Varilov muffled a cough into his sleeve. “I’m not sure, captain. But I think I may be unwell. I can’t understand this.”

The captain stepped down and walked to the navigation table. Varilov arose instantly. “Sir?”

The commanding officer placed his hand on Varilov’s forehead. “You’re running a fever, lieutenant. Look at you! Whatever is affecting you, you’ve taken a sound beating from it.”

Varilov’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Staring at his feet, he snuffled and nodded silently.

“Call Kajiwara off,” the captain said softly. “We don’t have to pursue them. Let’s give this one a rest. It’s no use pushing our men when there’s so little to gain and no immediate danger.”

“Yes sir,” Gewelt said and flicked the switch on the intralink. “Kajiwara, quit pursuing. We will retreat.”

It took a while for Kajiwara to answer. “But… it’s not a good idea to let them escape! They will come after us later! We are in a good position now, it would be wasting an excellent chance!”

“That’s what the captain has ordered, lieutenant.”

“But this is insane!”

The Captain, who had seated himself beside his table once more, bent towards the mike.

“Kajiwara, are you criticizing my decision?”

“But Captain!”

“Are you telling me that my decisions are possibly… insane?”

Kajiwara fell silent.

“Don’t you dare disobey me. I have no desire to punish you, Kajiwara. Don’t make me.”

“… No sir.”

The Captain threw himself back on his seat and rubbed his eyes. “We need to recalculate our route. We have to make sure they can’t follow us. Gewelt?”

“Captain?”

“Could you organise that for me? I haven’t slept for God knows how long. Norris will help you.”

“Leave it to me, captain.”

At that moment Kajiwara stormed onto the bridge. He was furious.

“Kajiwara,” the Captain said.

“Yes sir”, he said dryly.

“I weighed my decision to call you back carefully. There were many good reasons to continue… but none of them were urgent, and our crew just didn’t need this. Many of us were already in grave need of rest when this started, and the navigation team in particular was having a hard time. Understand?”

Kajiwara cleared his throat. “Yes, captain, I understand.” It was as if a wave of intimidation and shame was flooding through him, sweeping away the anger before it.

“Good. Dismissed.” Kajiwara was about to leave, but the captain continued in a much softer tone. “Kajiwara, I will ask you something, not as your captain but as a friend. Take lieutenant Varilov to the medical officer and see that he is treated and put to bed please. I still need to take care of things on the bridge.”

Kajiwara nodded. “Yes, captain.”

“Varilov, you are relieved of your post for now.”

Varilov got up. “Yes sir… thank you sir.”

“Come on, lieutenant.” Kajiwara walked out.

…

The walk to the medic’s office seemed to take an eternity. Snuffling and sneezing, Varilov followed Kajiwara’s brisk steps. Arriving outside the facility, Kajiwara pulled the handle. The door was locked. He swept his cuff over the sensor and tried again without success. Eventually he knocked.

“Lieutenant Andersen, we have a sick man here, he needs help.”

Varilov crouched down leaning his back against the wall, still fumbling with his handkerchief. Finally the door opened. Andersen stood there, wiping his hands nervously. His glance was unfriendly.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s sick, like I said. He’s been sneezing all over and he’s running a fever. The Captain thinks it’s the common cold.”

Andersen’s eyes widened. “Common cold? You know very well that there’s nothing…”

“Yeah yeah nothing common about the common cold any more and it seems bizarre, but you tell me.” Kajiwara shrugged.

Andersen bent carefully over to have a glance at Varilov. He was a sight indeed with his shining eyes, reddened nose and constant sniffling. The medic pulled back.

“Cough?”

Varilov nodded wearily.

“A little” Kajiwara said.

“Sore throat?”

“Yes… it’s been sore for a couple of days now,” he paused to sniffle deeply, “since I came aboard. I thought the air quality was messed up.”

Upon hearing Varilov’s slightly hoarse voice, lacking all resonance, his n’s and m’s reduced to consonants he could barely recognize, Andersen slammed the door shut.

Kajiwara pulled the handle and banged the door with his fist. “Hey, what’s wrong? Lieutenant! What’s going on?”

He heard Andersen’s voice behind the door. “I really can’t help you. He has to rest. You others… make sure you wash your hands properly. It’s not serious. Just make him rest and wash your hands.”

Kajiwara was getting seriously irritated. “For Christ’s sake! He has a fever. I know you can do something about that at least!”

After a while the medical officer opened the door a crack and handed Kajiwara some aspirin and a box of tissues. “These’ll take his fever down… but what he really needs are these,” he indicated the paper handkerchiefs, “and to rest. Tell him to be sure to drink enough fluids, preferably warm. I really can’t help any more that that. And you… like I said, wash your hands.”

He tried to pull the door shut, but Kajiwara had a tight grip of the handle and being considerably stronger than the medic, jerked the door back open. He spoke through his clenched teeth, glaring menacingly. “Now listen you sorry excuse for a medic. You don’t get rid of me that easily. You have to treat him.”

Andersen whimpered in terror. “It’s impossible, try to be reasonable! It would be different with a broken limb or a case of radiation sickness. With those I would try my best. But there is still no known cure for the common cold. This isn’t a problem normally, as it’s just… not at all common anymore. During the entire time I’ve worked on submarines, there hasn’t been one single case.”

Andersen tried to pull the door shut with all his might, but Kajiwara jerked it open yet again. “I don’t give a shit if it’s common or not. Look at him! Just listen to him! He can’t work like that; no way in hell! He can’t even breathe properly, his nose is running like Niagara Falls and he keeps sneezing all the time!”

Andersen swallowed hard. He looked sickened by Kajiwara’s description. ”Well he shouldn’t be working”, he said with a shaky voice. “He just has to rest until it goes away.”

“Kajiwara,” Varilov said with a weak, stuffy voice, sniffling wetly behind the remainders of his handkerchief. “Just let it go, if it can’t be helped it can’t. I really need to lie down, I’m… ih… ISChew! ISSch-hgnh! H’ISSCHT! … ugh…I’m feeling a bit light headed. Let’s just leave.”

Varilov’s sneezing had distracted Kajiwara just enough to give Andersen a chance to slam the door shut. Kajiwara grabbed the handle, shook it without success and banged his fist on the door.

“I said I can’t help. I can’t do anything about his symptoms; we are simply not prepared for a case like this. I’m sorry. You could tuck him into a lifepod and send him to dry land.”

“We’re under the damn polar ice pack you moron!”

“Kajiwara, please.” Varilov pleaded.

Kajiwara was still gritting his teeth. With visibly irritated movements he tore the tissue box open and held it out towards Varilov, still looking at the door. Varilov was positive that he was cursing and swearing in his mind.

Varilov reached for the box, grabbed a couple of tissues and buried his face in them. “Thagk you” he muttered, and gave a long, gurgling blow.

“It’s ok”, Kajiwara answered absently. Varilov opened his eyes; Kajiwara’s gaze had slipped from the door and was wandering aimlessly along the corridor. “Where on earth did you manage to pick something like this up?” he muttered, turning to look at Varilov with a slightly furrowed brow. After a short silence broken only Varilov’s muffled coughs Kajiwara reached for his hand. “Now get up, we have to get you into bed.”

Standing up, Varilov shuddered.

“You’re cold aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well come on then!”

…

“What a sorry excuse for a medic!”

Varilov, finally tucked into his bed, nodded as a soft cough escaped him. “I… I am so sorry!” he said, his voice trembling slightly. “I had no idea…. I didn’t know I was carrying this kind of…”

“Of course you didn’t and neither did anyone else. If the medical checks couldn’t trace it, how could you have known?” Kajiwara sounded stern, almost angry. It seemed the obvious guilt of his comrade was making him uneasy.

Varilov was about to nod again but his hitching breath forced him to sit up, and burying his face in the crook of his arm he was taken over by a fit of weak, tired sneezes: “Hi’-ISsch! ISschoh! Ha… A’ISssch!” Lowering his arm, Varilov blinked his teary eyes and sniffled pulling a bundle of tissues from the box. Burying his face into them he sneezed once more: “Ih… ESchuh! H’ESSSCHT!” He winced at the sound and cleared his nose with a long, desperate blow. Letting out a sigh or two and a couple of congested sniffles, he fell back against his pillow.

“You poor bastard,” Kajiwara muttered.

Varilov gave Kajiwara a searching look. What on earth was on his mind? Varilov couldn’t tell.

And why was Kajiwara not leaving? Surely he could use some sleep. After hesitating for a while longer, Kajiwara spoke.

“Why… what made you say that this mission… that it wouldn’t be within our reach to accomplish it?” He hesitated again before continuing in a low voice. “I don’t know much about the… bigger picture. Leading a squad is so different from commanding a ship. I understand that you of all people… sit at the captain’s right hand as we are now so…” Kajiwara slowed his speech even further, scratching the back of his neck. “We must be… in this situation… quite dependent upon your skill.”

Varilov blinked his eyes wide open. Was Kajiwara complimenting him? Why? Or was he just puzzled by the heated conversation in the officer’s room? Varilov cleared his throat. ”I… I still think this is a suicide mission. Because of Deepwater Watch. We are just one single, undermanned submarine. There’s no way around that.”

Kajiwara’s eyes narrowed. “You may be right or you may not, lieutenant. But you’re a soldier and you knew very well that risking your life was a major part of the job when you entered this profession... Nevertheless, thoughts like that are bad for morale.”

“Yes… but this is different. Truthfully… “ Varilov took a deep breath. A bit too deep actually, as it drew an irritating, scratchy cough out of his chest and it took him a while to suppress it enough to speak. Kajiwara waited patiently, a not unfriendly but equally not very sympathetic expression on his face. Judging from his previous behaviour though, not looking irritated was definitely an expression of mild sympathy of some sort from his side. “Kajiwara, I’m really afraid of dying on this mission.”

“Everyone is afraid of dying, lieutenant.”

“You don’t understand… Just before I left… I fought with someone I love dearly. I never had the chance to apologize. I never even had the chance to even tell her where I was going.”

“You didn’t know where you were going, lieutenant.”

Varilov raised his hands to his eyes. “But still…”

Kajiwara watched as Varilov shuddered with his eyes still covered and lips stretched over his teeth, violent gasps shaking his chest. Finally Kajiwara turned his head away and bit his lip. “I will stay with you until the medicine kicks in. With your fever down you can sleep this off.”

Varilov raised his hands from his face and looked searchingly towards Kajiwara. It was hard for Kajiwara to not to return his gaze but even out of the corner of his eye he was able to see how wet and shiny Varilov’s cheeks were.

“I just promised the captain I’d look after you, that’s all”, he continued, and handed Varilov a tissue. “Now wipe your nose, Varilov. I can see it running from all that… that…”

Somehow not being able to finish his sentence made Kajiwara’s expression freeze again. Was the telltale twitching of the corner of his mouth back? Varilov couldn’t quite tell as his vision was still blurred with tears. Kajiwara stood up, turned around and took a couple of steps to the switch to dim the lights.

In the twilight his facial expression looked softer, and for a moment his eyes seemed to glimmer like the eyes of a troubled animal.

TBC …

[Quite Contrary]

Omg, this just keeps getting better! Yay! Please continue your wonderful story!

[starpollen]

OOoohhh. I get it! ha ha! I love it when something surprises me, and Kajiwara's response did surprise me. Awesome! Keep it up! :-)

[mystic-chibi]

Awww we got to see a new side of Kajiwara!

This just keeps getting better and better!

[chui]

ooooh *squee* now i must glomp you and snitch some of that vodka!!!

this is just great. ive been off busy and hadnt seen it....but oh yummy! a man in uniform all sneezy, and with the not-so-common cold....wow....you have such wonderful creative ideas! im just loving this!!!

[Vetinari]

You should be careeful Chui, I've caught Varilov's cold and I've already sneezed in the vodka......

Shiny, you are fabulous!

Can't say it too often.

[chui]

and now why would that dissuade me? i might just have to come take care of you....and the vodka....

and yus...i agree whole- -edly. Shiny, you are fabulous!!!!

[doggo]

They're still reading?? Well maybe the next part will scare them away???? THANK YOU for commenting, mkool, starpollen, ana!

Chui, great to have you onboard too! Maybe we should have some rum, it's the sea, right? I'll ask the captain. He couldn't have sneezed in it yet.

Vetinari, Chui, I bow down to your Mighty Fabulousness.

And now... for something completely different....

--

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part IV

It must be days since I last wrote anything. I can’t remember if I have ever felt so uncomfortable before – now I understand why IHO was so determined to hunt down the common cold all those decades ago. But obviously it’s still not completely extinct – thinking about it, when I left for Novaya Zemlya I was crammed into the same train carriage as a lot of refugees from the south east. They were sorry looking folk, ragged and exhausted. I would have been choked with pity if I hadn’t been so tired and nervous about everything surrounding my sudden departure for this mission. It never crossed my mind that there was a lot of sneezing, considering it’s not the time of the year for seasonal allergies. I feel helpless and angry at myself, and the knowledge that this might very well be highly contagious… No, I don’t even want to think about that. Better just hope for the best.

Lieutenant Kajiwara has surprised me by checking on me regularly. Of course it must be his loyalty to the captain that is making him do it, but sometimes I have wanted to believe for a moment that he was genuinely interested in my wellbeing, even if it is just for my own, miserable sake, or maybe that he had taken pity on me just a little. I must be really ill to derive pleasure from such thoughts.

I can also tell that he’s been working really hard, not allowing himself to rest properly as he doesn’t trust the capabilities of his men and wants to remain alert in case something happens. I haven’t been on many submarines, but from the little I can tell, the willingness amongst the crew to pump stims into themselves is bordering upon insanity. But if they work well, who am I to complain? I just hope that no unexpected problems arise.

Today I’ll return to my post on the bridge. Luckily it has been fairly peaceful, and I hope it will remain so… although something tells me that the encounter we had with the other ship is not likely to be an isolated incident.

I’m still not completely well – I hope to god my nose doesn’t run like that any more. I swear I felt like a damn human bath tap. And I’m still a bit sneezy and coughing and sore all over. My poor nose didn’t take all that sniffling and blowing very well, and if I was a vain man I would surely be gravely upset by the red, chapped look of it.

Oh well, enough complaining. I’m off to the bridge.

…

“Damn you, lieutenant, you owe me big time!”

Varilov rubbed the back of his neck and answered sheepishly: “Norris, I’m sorry. Truly I am. You must have been having a terribly hard time because of me…”

“Nah, not really. I can take it. Commander Gewelt has taken over the navigation to cut me some slack. I could have just gone on taking more stims but he insisted that I got enough sleep. It’s to do with the regulations for legal dosages I guess…” Norris lowered his voice. “But I’d be lying if I said that everyone else was taking the rules seriously, especially around the mechdiver squad…” He paused briefly and continued raising his voice a little: “Somehow I’m not surprised that the commander can pull even this job off. But I really feel sorry for the medic…”

“The medic?”

“Yeah, the medic. I heard Kajiwara made him explain himself… it seems that the he’s simply terrified of cold germs.”

“Oh dear, now I understand. He was acting very strangely, but I couldn’t have imagined that a man in his profession would have a phobia like that… he was nearly panicking!”

Norris chuckled. “Not that. I feel sorry for him because I heard that Kajiwara took the whole farce quite… personally. I wouldn’t like to cross him when he’s feeling like that…”

Varilov slapped his forehead and laughed. “I can imagine. What a nightmare. But on more serious note, I trust you want to take some rest now?”

“Nah… I haven’t been here for long yet, and we are going to plant a new probe in half an hour. It’s going to be a tricky one so I think it would be good if I stuck around at least until then.”

“Well you can go and enjoy a cup of coffee or something. I’d love to relieve you from your post, even for a little while.”

“If you need to get rid of me so badly…”

“Oh go on, Norris. Dismissed.”

“Yes sir!”

…

Varilov swung himself idly left and right in his chair. The screens before him were showing small, slow changes in speed, location and depth, the pushing and pulling of currents, the seafloor formation and countless other things, and the crystal ball was weaving its cryptic, nonsensical dance of lights on his left. He coughed softly into his fist and greeted the head mechanic Gill who appeared on the bridge, followed by Kajiwara. Kajiwara didn’t even look into his direction, but Varilov could tell he was tired.

“Are you going to go out yourself this time, lieutenant?” Varilov asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Kajiwara, who was just passing him, turned round. “The placing of the next probe will be a tricky one due to the seafloor formation and some strong currents, as you should know if you’re keeping track with your duties, lieutenant. I will set it in place myself, as good training as it has been for my men to perform these little tasks.”

Varilov sighed. “Yes yes, lieutenant. I just wonder if you’re… you know, pushing yourself too much. Forgive me saying so but you do look tired.”

Kajiwara’s face grew pale with annoyance. It wasn’t only the corner of his mouth this time, even the corresponding eye twitched. “I don’t appreciate you saying such things, lieutenant. If you have nothing to tell me other than this nonsense I will take my leave.”

“Sure… I didn’t mean to insult you, Kajiwara…. lieutenant.”

Kajiwara took a couple of his swift, firm steps in the direction of the mechdiver docking platform, but something stopped him. Varilov watched as he arched his shoulders and stood still as if waiting. What on earth was he doing?

“Ha… ah…H’TSCheh!”

“Bless you, lieutenant!”

Kajiwara was rubbing his nose with his index finger, and his ears were glowing red. He turned halfway around to say something, but whatever had made him sneeze had not gone away. Varilov had a good view of his face as Kajiwara squeezed his eyes shut, furrowing his brow and clamping a hand over his mouth. Despite his obvious attempts to fight it he sneezed a muffled “H’ISSh-cheh-hng!”

“Bless you again, lieutenant! You need a tissue?”

Kajiwara straightened up slowly, rubbing his nose and letting out two sharp sniffs. He glanced at Varilov from the corner of his eye, his face flushed with embarrassment and looking positively angry.

“Che!”

The ratty interjection, which had sneaked from the squadron leader's mother tongue into his daily conversation sounded curiously similar to his sneezes, and the possibilty of blessing him once more did cross Varilov’s mind. However the gratitude he felt towards Kajiwara for all the trouble he had taken over the last few days, keeping him company and making him feel much less deserted than he might have been, kept his mouth shut.

“Well how are you doing, lieutenant? No, no. No need to stand up. I’m merely curious about your condition. I heard that you’ve been quite unwell and as the wellbeing of my crew is something I take very seriously, I want an honest answer from you.” The Captain had just arrived, and his bright voice was accompanied by a smile.

“I’m doing ok, Captain, thank you for asking. I would say it’s well behind me now, sir.”

“That’s good to hear.” Captain continued in a soft, slightly serious tone: “I was a little worried about you, lieutenant. Well carry on. We’ll be planting the next probe soon.”

Norris was back, looking as excited as ever when he had the chance to work side by side with Varilov. “Reporting for duty, lieutenant.”

“At ease… sit down, Norris. We’ll get some action soon.” Varilov coughed again, rather more harshly this time and frowned. “I hope it will be peaceful. We’ll be positioned in such an awkward way that as long as the planting goes on we will be quite vulnerable. It’s a bit nerve wracking”

“You sound unwell still, lieutenant.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just having a hard time shaking off this cough.” Varilov dug up a tissue from his pocket and blew his nose. His head was still not clear, making his voice sound slightly thick.

“It’s better to take it easy then.”

Varilov nodded. “Yeah, I’ll take it as easy as I can in this situation.”

“Varilov, how long until we reach our position?” Gewelt asked. He looked quite tired as well. The last few days must have been very straining for him.

“About two minutes before we will be ready to manoeuvre ourselves into place.”

“Lieutenant Kajiwara, ready to go?”

“Yes sir.”

Varilov wasn’t quite sure, but it sounded to him as if Kajiwara’s voice was lacking its usual strength. He had also caught some faint, awkward sniffles from his direction… could it be possible that he was unwell? He was also very pale, with black circles around his eyes. It might be something… or it might not..

“We are ready to go deeper, sir.”

Gewelt walked to the navigation table. “Good.” He turned around. “Set the engines astern, we are close. And get us down to 2400.”

Giving firm, confident commands while conferring intently with lieutenant Varilov, Commander Gewelt manoeuvred the ship as close as possible to the spot where the next probe was to be set. Strong currents related to the formation of the seafloor were dragging them off course and they were forced to correct their position continually with gentle engine thrusts. But Varilov was pleased and relieved to discover how easy it was to work with Gewelt, who not only had a surprising knowledge of both navigation and the machinery, but who also listened carefully to every remark and discussed every decision in a swift but still precise manner.

“We are there, captain”, Gewelt announced.

“Good. Lieutenant Kajiwara, do you copy?”

“Yes sir.”

“Be ready to launch in twenty seconds.”

Something made Varilov hold his breath when Kajiwara launched. Calculating the moves required to minimise the impact of the diver launch, he worked in solid understanding with both his assistant Norris and Commander Gewelt.

“This is the captain, do you copy?”

Varilov could hear Kajiwara’s voice through the speaker placed on the Captain’s table. Lucky the mechdivers didn’t need his help – he was having enough trouble with holding the ship in position. Commands were scarce and a nervous silence had fallen upon the bridge.

…

Oh no. Not now.

“Captain!” Varilov’s voice trembled. “Captain, I’m getting a signal… something is approaching.”

Captain stood up. “Have you any idea what it could be?”

“It must be a ship, it’ drifting in an angle of 40 degrees to the current… Captain, forgive me if I’m jumping to rash conclusions but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same enemy ship.”

“All hands prepare for battle. I repeat, all hands prepare for battle. This is not a drill.” The Captain ruffled his hair with his hand. “Kajiwara, we’ve got company. How much longer do you require?”

Kajiwara’s voice came weakly through the speaker; he was barely within range. “It will take a while yet, sir.”

“Should we call him back, commander?” the Captain asked.

Gewelt shrugged. “Depends if he can manage on his own. We can fight but we can’t offer him proper cover while we’re at it.”

A sudden noise came through the speaker, causing it to rattle. “H’ISSChew! H.. ISSCH!”

“Uh oh…” Norris said. Varilov buried his face in his hands, heaving a heavy sigh and rubbing his eyes.

“Kajiwara, do you still copy?”

“Yes…”

“If you think you can continue, you are free to do so. We can defend ourselves but we will not be able to give you cover. But you are free to return if you feel it’s unsafe. The choice is yours.”

“I will continue, sir… h.. H’ESSCh-hgnh!”

“Kajiwara, what on earth is going on?”

Crackling, muffled sounds of wet sniffles were coming through. “Huh… sorry, captain, I just had to.. s..H’ESSCH! sdeeze…”

“Are you ok, Kajiwara? Can you handle this?”

More desperate sniffling echoed through the speaker. “I... Yes I cad.”

“I don’t hear you clearly, Kajiwara, I repeat, if you can’t handle this I request that you return. Otherwise continue with the probe.”

“I’ll continue, sir.”

“Good.” Captain nodded to himself. “They are not hailing us, are they? You’re sure it’s the same ship?”

“I will soon find out, I still have the data from the previous encounter. It’s a 40% match on all our scanners right now… 45… 53…”

“Be ready to send out a jamming sequence immediately if they are confirmed to be who we think they are. Gentlemen, this time… if it’s them, this time we are out to sink them. I’m tired of having them around.”

“It’s a 77% match now… 82% - Captain, it’s confirmed. It’s the enemy ship, 88% match and still climbing.”

“Send it, lieutenant.”

Varilov’s fingers were trembling. “They should be getting blank…right about… now.”

“Are they within our range? Can we fire?”

“They’ll be within our range in 20 seconds.”

“All class H-135 cannons take aim. Ready to fire… …now!”

It was like the whole bridge was holding its breath.

“Did we hit them?”

“I’m working on it… yes, we hit them in the right flank, captain. They’re busy now.”

“How much longer Kajiwara?”

Even through the radio Kajiwara’s voice sounded miserable. “Still a while, sir.”

“Try to make it quick. We’re in a tight spot.”

“Captain, there’s an energy spike, they are returning fire.”

“Take evasive action!”

Varilov’s whole posture stiffened. “We’re in trouble captain, they’re responding to the jamming as well. We’re blind. Norris, help me break the code.”

“How long until impact?”

“Less than ten seconds! We can’t break it in time, we can’t evade properly!”

Captain crumpled in his chair and bit his fist. This was the worst part of it. Blinded in the cold, dark womb of the sea, waiting to be hit.

But nothing happened.

“Shit! They weren’t aiming at us captain. They were aiming at Kajiwara!”

The captain leapt from his chair. “Did they hit him? Kajiwara! Do you copy? Were you hit?”

The silence which lasted only seconds, felt endless. Finally Kajiwara answered in a tired, stuffy voice.

“No they didn’t, captain.”

The captain heaved a sigh of relief. “Get back Kajiwara. You can’t handle this.”

Another silence was broken only by the faint sound of Kajiwara’s sniffling. He sounded quite awful. “H.. ISSCHeh! HIESCh… ugh… Captain, there’s not much left to do. I can handle it.”

“Like hell you can. I order you to come back right now.”

Silence.

“Damn you, lieutenant! Don’t you understand what I’m saying? Come back now.”

“We’re back on, captain, but there’s another energy spike…”

The captain ran his hands through his hair nervously. “Kajiwara should be ready to come back any minute now… damn that bastard. I will punish him for this… Varilov, does he have any chance of evasion?”

“I’m just trying to check on that. His position… oh hell… Captain, the rock wall beside him has just exploded. I hope they didn’t hit him as well.”

“Kajiwara, do you copy?”

The radio was silent. The Captain was pale as a ghost.

“He’s most likely been hit. He’s floating freely.”

A fragmented signal came through, only bits and pieces of words, but it was clearly Kajiwara’s voice.

“Kajiwara, are you ok? Kajiwara, I can’t hear you.”

“Capt…diver… immobile. Request for…” the signal disappeared again, this time permanently. The mechdiver had apparently been rendered immobile by the hit, but at least Kajiwara sounded alive and well.

The Captain slammed his fist on the table. “We have to send someone to get him back. Hell, we have to send out a rookie! …Varilov, can you jam them again?”

“I can… but it will leave our tracking vulnerable as we are running out of processing capacity in case we are jammed again. I doubt they have the capacity to do it but if they have any allies around or if we have been underestimating their machinery…” Varilov was rubbing his badly shaven chin nervously. “It will leave us in a very vulnerable position, sir… effectively naked.”

Captain was frowning. “What about the crystal ball?”

“I can’t guarantee I can read it correctly.”

“But you have solved a situation like this before using it? I heard from Captain Engelström.”

Norris’s eyes opened wide. “You have? Really? You never told me! Oh man!”

Varilov started to type frantically. “I can’t promise that it… it wasn’t any more than blind luck… but considering lieutenant Kajiwara’s position here… we are unlikely to be able to cope without him…. I’m ready to send the jamming sequence any moment, sir.”

“Private Norman, ready to launch?”

“Yes sir!”

“Lieutenant, send the jamming sequence, now.”

Carefully correcting their position again, Gewelt kept the ship in place while the captain concentrated on the battle.

“Ready the cannons for another round and take aim.”

“Yes sir! Ready to fire in ten seconds.”

Varilov felt like his heart had stopped. With a laboured, hoarse voice he said: “Captain… it’s happening. We are… we are going blind again.”

“Are they going to fire?”

“I can’t say sir… I can’t track anything…”

“Captain, I have found Kajiwara and I am ready to drag him back.”

“Good. Just do that, Private Norman.”

“Captain… I think… there’s a current that shouldn’t be there… I can’t be sure but… it might be that they’re backing away sir, it could be their engines. It might be that they want to make a clean getaway. There’s a lot of rubbish floating around, it’s likely that they haven’t noticed the other mechdiver.”

“So they’re getting away again… if we’re lucky that is. And next time… they will most likely have someone else with them.” The Captain lay almost limp in his chair.

“The mechdivers have docked, sir.”

Suddenly something about the whirling lights on his left caught Varilov’s eye, and his jaw dropped. Leaning back in his chair and rubbing the back of his neck, he said slowly: “Captain, I request a full round from the class H-244 plasma cannons… position 220 to 230.”

Captain blinked. “What makes you think that? It will seriously drain our energy resources.”

Varilov stared at a position far past the screens. “A lucky guess… I think… sir.”

“Are you sure it’s that lucky?”

“Yes I am, sir.”

“Then it is. You heard what the lieutenant said. Take aim and fire.”

The silence that followed was not long, but it was as deep as the ocean itself. Varilov knew very well what it would mean if they missed – they would be left with minimal energy resources, ready to be crushed like a flea by the enemy strike they had provoked. On the other hand, if they allowed the enemy to back away, and continue their silent voyage they would be left with the knowledge that someone who was obviously capable of finding them was looming just behind them, just waiting for the right moment to prey upon them, and this time they would most likely have company. They could wait to get killed later, or get it over with right now.

Or place their trust in a lucky guess.

All the eyes and ears of the ship were stunned by a sudden, wrenching shockwave. The ship was shaking, thrown backwards by an overwhelming wave of energy.

Norris rubbed his eyes. “Oh man… we’re back on… oh man, the jamming has stopped. Captain, we hit them! By god we hit them! We sunk them!”

Cries of joy filled the bridge. Gewelt was congratulating the captain. A couple of the crew shed a few tears.

But when Kajiwara climbed out of the cockpit, Varilov’s eyes widened initially, then in sudden understanding he discreetly turned his gaze away. The man was stuttering on his feet, wiping his nose on his sodden sleeves and doing a visibly poor job at keeping his streaming nose in check with constant, congested sniffles. Varilov got up and walked to him, digging a clean tissue from his pocket. Obviously Kajiwara should have had one in the cockpit. On second thoughts he hadn’t needed just one but an entire box, Varilov thought after closer look at his sorry state.

Kajiwara stopped, his eyes fluttering shut. He cupped his nose with his hand. “Hah…ih…” Varilov tucked the tissue in his free hand. Kajiwara cracked his eyes open to give Varilov a miserable, helpless look before pressing the tissue on his nose. “He-ISSCH!” The long, wet blow he gave his nose made Varilov shudder at the thought of how it must have been in the cockpit.

“Ughhh… Thagk you” he said with a faint, slightly timid voice, still sniffling behind the tissue.

“Need another one?” Varilov asked gently, digging through his pockets.

“Yeah…” Kajiwara tucked the tissue away and waited, his eyes half shut and nostrils tensed.

“Lieutenant Kajiwara, we will discuss this later. You understand that the whole ship and its crew were gravely and needlessly endangered by your actions.” The captain’s voice was stern and clear. “Varilov, escort him to his bed. Norris will continue the navigation while you're gone.”

“Yes sir.”

Kajiwara took few hesitant steps staring at his feet, and stopped. “Ha..ISSCH! H’ISSCH-ngh. HISSCHT!” the high-pitched gasp he made after the last, incredibly wet sounding sneeze landed in his tissue had such a miserable, embarrassed tone to it that it made Varilov frown, wondering how much of it was caused by the necessity for air and how much by the need to curl up and cry. He followed his comrade, placing a hand on his shoulder. Kajiwara was radiating heat. He glanced at Varilov shortly from the corner of his eye, his head bent in shame and surrender. Squeezing his eyes shut he took another shaky gasp and winced. Humiliated, guilty and sick, he was ready to crumble at any minute.

“I’ll ask the medic to send someone by with something for a fever, if he needs it,” the captain said in a much softer tone as they passed him. Varilov just nodded silently, and escorted his friend out.

TBC …

[silentdreamer789]

Wow, fantastic! And you managed plot as well, impressive! Can't WAIT to see who catches this next...

[chui]

ominumominumominum.....

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:

yummy!!! the dreaded cold....this just gets better and better!!!

*sits in awe at how creative and amazing you are*

[doggo]

Silentdreamer, thanks for kind commenting! Yeah I feel I have to stick in some plot to justify all the sneezing. Who next? Well, if you read carefully there might be a hint towards that in the chapter I'm going to post now....

Chui, the master of toadsneezing, Thank you! I'm sooo glad you like it!

So, those I haven't still scared away - maybe now I will????? Beware the fluff!

-

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part V

Varilov closed the door carefully behind him. Kajiwara had wrapped himself in a blanket and was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall, fumbling a worn out tissue which he used to dab the underside of his nose between constant sniffles and sighs. Damn he was a mess. His cheeks were glowing with fever and his eyes looked watery, whether because of his cold or because of the hurt and shame of being justly reprimanded by the captain, Varilov couldn’t tell. He raised his gaze to meet Varilov’s but dropped his eyes at the last minute. Varilov went to get a glass of water and pulled up a chair beside the bed.

“Kajiwara… I had a chat with the medic. Does your head hurt?”

Kajiwara nodded. “A little.”

“Well this should help. Are you feeling feverish? Let me feel.”

Kajiwara bent his head forward sheepishly to let Varilov check it with the back of his hand.

“Oh shit. I’m not surprised though… well this should help to reduce it,” he handed over a tablet. “I had a chat with the medic… there’s something you might want to know.”

Kajiwara nodded again. “Yes, just wait I… ah… H’ESSch!” After landing the sneeze in a tissue Kajiwara blew his nose as discreetly as he could, careful to not to make too loud a sound. A shudder ran through him.

“Not like it’s any help now I’m afraid” Varilov muttered almost to himself. His comrade’s discomfort filled him with pity. “If you need to blow your nose, go ahead,” he said softly, “don’t mind me. You had to put up with me just a little while ago.”

“I’b ok…”

Varilov frowned and nodded. “Well then. I just heard from the medical officer that you’re not the only one who’s fallen ill.”

“I know. Even one of my own men fell ill a couple of days ago…”

“Yes.” Varilov was blushing. “But surprisingly, they are mostly men from the lower ranks.”

“Yes, that’s how it’s been.”

“Well… it looks like… The medic says that it looks as if those who have been using the stims, like the commanding staff, seem to have been more likely to remain well.”

“But how… I know I was pushing the borders of the legal dosage….”

“You were breaking them, Kajiwara.”

A pitiful, yet clearly offended look from Kajiwara made Varilov regret his words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Forgive me. It’s just…” Varilov scratched his head. “It seems as if the stims might keep the symptoms in check even if you were infected…. but it doesn’t last. The medic says that it’s highly possible that it puts a whole load of stress on one’s mucous membranes… and in the end when it does hit you, it hits hard and without warning. And the more of that shit you’ve got in your system…”

Kajiwara buried his face in his hands and growled.

“Yes… it makes things quite… messy.”

Kajiwara grimaced. “Believe me I’ve noticed that effect.”

Something about Kajiwara’s tone amused Varilov enough to bring a gentle smile to his face. But he forced himself to become serious again in order not to offend his fellow officer.

“You need sleep, Kajiwara. You’re running a fever.” Varilov sighed. “We can handle things just now. You’d better lie down.”

Kajiwara nodded. He was shivering like a leaf in a strong wind. Sliding down to in his bed he let Varilov wrap the blanket tightly around him without complaint. How delicate he was after all thought Varilov, pale and glowing with fever, his head resting in the fan of hair which spread across the pillow like a mass of black silk yarn. He would have been very beautiful if his poor nose hadn’t taken such a beating.

Varilov got up, and was about to leave when he heard Kajiwara’s weak, stuffy voice behind him.

“Va… Var.. ISSChaw! Varilov…”

“Yes?”

“You will call me back if I’m needed?”

Varilov didn’t know what to answer. “If the captain wants you on the bridge, then of course….”

He turned the lights off and shut the door behind him.

…

“How is he?” the captain asked.

Varilov shrugged. “Feverish. Embarrassed and sneezy. To tell the truth, he’s really miserable.” Varilov hesitated. “Captain…”

“Yes?”

“Is he… is he going to be punished?”

The captain leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin with his long, elegantly pale fingers. “How do you feel? I know he should be, but the situation… would you want him to be?”

Varilov waved his hands before him to indicate a refusal. “No! It shouldn’t be like that!”

“What do you think, Commander?”

Gewelt, who had been on the verge of leaving for a rest, took his time thinking. Eventually he raised his piercing, but oddly cool gaze from the ground to meet the captain’s eyes and spoke softly: “He did disobey your direct order, captain…”

Varilov couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “But commander. Isn’t he being punished enough by the humiliation? I know he’s burning to get back to work, he’s obviously very loyal to the captain if I might say so sir, and…”

“If you would let me finish, lieutenant”, Gewelt said calmly. “He did manage to set the probe in its place, which saved us a lot of trouble. He was obviously… not at the peak of fitness but in the end, we were free to choose to leave him where he was and if something had happened, it would have been our bad judgement as well.”

“As the captain I ordered him to be saved. Are you commenting upon my judgement now, commander?”

“Absolutely not, sir. I was the one who asked you in the first place to let him make the choice, whether to go on or to come back. If you feel you need to punish me for that, I will not object.”

The captain raised his eyebrows. Varilov couldn’t believe this. What on earth was going on?

Slowly a sly smile started to curve Gewelt’s lips. Upon noticing it, the captain broke into laughter. For the first time Varilov saw Gewelt laugh too, revealing two perfect rows of white teeth.

“Oh get away, Gewelt. I know you’re tired. Go get some sleep, with Varilov here now we can manage.”

“I could use some rest yes. I will come back in… seven hours?”

“That’s good. Sleep well!”

“Until the next alarm!”

“Shush! Don’t even say such things. Now go on. Dismissed.”

…

Varilov had a hard time concentrating. He kept swinging in his chair, using every excuse to get up and walk about. He yawned even though he wasn’t tired and made adjustments that weren’t necessary. An hour went by and then another, shifts were changed and reports made, but when nearing the third the captain couldn’t help but comment on his unusual behaviour.

“Is something bothering you, lieutenant?”

“Maybe, sir.”

“A bit worried?”

“You could say so, sir.”

“About Kajiwara perhaps?”

Varilov ruffled his hair. “Maybe… I can’t deny that I am a bit concerned, sir.”

“You’d like to check on him?”

“Well yes, captain.”

The captain leaned back in his chair, apparently concentrating on his fingernails. “Well do you think we are likely to run into trouble any time soon? I want your honest opinion, lieutenant.”

“I wouldn’t think so. The current we are riding should be fairly stable, and our course isn’t due to change for a while. There’s nothing tricky to come before planting the next probe.”

“I see… well, what if I give you twenty minutes?”

Varilov got up. “I would be very grateful, sir.”

“Well go on, then. You will be called to the bridge if there's anything suspicious. Twenty minutes, no more, remember.”

“Yes sir.”

…

Varilov edged the door open carefully, trying not to waken his comrade should he chance to be asleep. Pale light was shimmering from the panel on the wall imitating a tiny window. Varilov tiptoed closer.

Yes, Kajiwara seemed to be asleep. He was curled up like a caterpillar, clutching the blanket that was wrapped so tightly around him that Varilov wondered for a moment whether it could possibly be comfortable. Like a caterpillar in a cocoon perhaps, he thought to himself. Or perhaps a butterfly – a Camberwell beauty too terrified of the world outside to break free.

Varilov shook his head. His friend should be alright; his temperature should be down, there was surely nothing to worry about. This was something that used to be common. He was just worrying because the operation itself made him nervous.

He was about to turn around to leave when Kajiwara suddenly turned onto his back and whimpered. Lying in that position the light hit his face making it glisten. He was sweaty all over.

Varilov couldn’t help but turn back and bend over him to feel his forehead. Kajiwara flinched awake.

“Who?” he cried hoarsely.

“It’s me, Varilov… I was just checking that you’re all right.”

“Am I all right then?” Kajiwara asked drowsily, and as if in reply to his own question he shuddered and coughed into his blanket.

“Well I’m not sure. Your temperature should be down by now. I saw you take those pills. I don’t understand…”

Kajiwara reached for a tissue. The cool air of the cabin touching his arm, covered only by the damp shirt made him shiver again. “Huhhh… H’ESSch-hgnh! ISSCH!” The following wet blow was interrupted with one more sneeze. He took a clean tissue to wipe the underside of his nose but winced even as he touched it.

“Is it sore?”

Kajiwara closed his eyes and nodded. “Been doing that too much.”

“I’ll have to go now, but I’ll go and see the medic to ask for help. You try to sleep.”

Kajiwara was back tightly cocooned under his blanket. “I’ll t…H’ISSCh! …try.” He dabbed his nose again, frowning as he felt the stinging pain.

Varilov nodded silently, rose to his feet and left.

..

He got back to the bridge just in time, pale and nervous.

“At ease, lieutenant. Well? How is he?”

“Well that…” Varilov cleared his throat. “That is something I’d like to discuss. He was still quite feverish. I thought it was odd because by now the drugs should have kicked in. I took the liberty of seeing the medic on my way back and it seems…”

“Yes?”

“It seems that the heavy stim use… it makes it hard, if not impossible to control the symptoms.”

“The temperature you say?”

“Yes… And he said it might take a couple of days to get them out of one’s system… enough to allow any other drugs to begin working. Until then there’s nothing but rest…”

“Well this is a tricky situation. We are so undermanned that those stims are the only way for us to keep going… The whole batch was changed to the new ones in Novaya Zemlya, as the old ones made one hallucinate at higher dosages, but these should not have that effect… Is it dangerous?”

“No... but it might might be… if those affected don’t get the proper rest. But Kajiwara should fine as long as his temperature doesn’t get any higher. He just needs to sleep it off.”

“Oh! I’ll have to reorganize the crew again taking that into account. There must surely be some way to cut down the usage…”

Varilov was staring at his feet. “That’s actually another thing I wanted to discuss… I might be out of line saying this captain, but I know you haven’t really been sleeping at all lately.”

The captain frowned. “You’re right, lieutenant, on both counts. Yes, I haven’t had the chance to sleep very much lately and yes, you are out of line making that remark.”

Varilov straightened up. “I’m sorry captain. I apologize. I was wrong to say it. But I’m just… I’m just worried about all this.”

“Yes I know you are, lieutenant.” The captain’s deep, gray eyes were lit up by a gentle smile. “But let me worry about these things as your captain. Now go back to your table, lieutenant, we will be planting the next probe soon.”

…

The operation went smoothly, with no problems worthy of mention. Private Norman, who had had the chance to plant a couple of the probes before under lieutenant Kajiwara’s guidance, performed as well as one could wish. The submarine slid silently along near the bottom of the sea without major incident.

“Ah, Gewelt! Good to see you. Did you sleep well?”

Gewelt smiled and nodded. “Yes captain, I’ve had my rest.”

“Good, because I’d like you to stay with me on the bridge. I would like to send Varilov back for a few hours, and as we have so many men sick I’d like to send Norris elsewhere when he comes.”

“If that is your wish, captain – although I’d like to see you to get some rest too.”

“I will, commander, as soon as I find time. But right now I have to stay here. Lieutenant Varilov, you will be relieved from your post for four hours. Go see lieutenant Kajiwara, then rest for a bit and when you come back we will have four more hours until the next planting. It will be a tricky one and I wish to have the best men I have working alongside me and I would have them as well rested as possible.”

“Thank you, I will, sir.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

The captain was turning back to his table, but something stopped him midway. His gaze lost focus, and slowly drawing a fine handkerchief from his pocket his breath started to hitch. Varilov watched as the captain’s eyes fluttered shut as he pressed the handkerchief to his nose. “HNgkt!”

“Are you ok , captain?”

The captain blinked his eyes and gave his nose two or three delicate, sharp sniffs. “I’m fine, lieutenant. Just a sneeze. Even I do that sometimes.”

…

When Varilov got back to Kajiwara’s cabin, he met the squadron leader buttoning his uniform coat.

“What on earth are you doing, Kajiwara?”

“I don’t appreciate you addressing me that way, lieutenant.” He was fumbling with the fifth button when another sneeze crept up on him, making him hunch his shoulders and bury his nose in a tissue. “He… ISSCHaw! Hh… H’ESSCH!” He wiped his nose and continued to button his coat with shaky fingers, sniffling wetly. “Hah… H’ISSCH-hgn!” he sneezed freely, turning his head away. He covered his face with his right hand, grumbling with dissatisfaction, found a tissue with his left and with a lengthy blow rid himself of some of the congestion that was more than threatening to leak out.

“Are you planning to leave for the bridge in that condition?”

“I have work to do, lieutenant.” Kajiwara cleared his throat and winced – his voice wasn’t just thick and stuffy any more, it was starting to crack.

“That… that’s ridiculous! No way, no way in hell the captain is going to let you go back. I know you are still running a fever.”

“I’ve been taking medicine, I should be fine.”

“It’s not helping, Kajiwara. You must be burning up right now.”

Kajiwara froze. “No… How do you know that?”

“Sit down, Kajiwara”, Varilov said gently. He placed his hands on Kajiwara’s shoulders. He could feel the heat through the grey fabric of the uniform.

Kajiwara looked Varilov in the eye, a wave of weakness washing over him. He shuddered and pressed the tissue to his nose, his brow furrowing in desperation. “Hh… H’ISSCH-hgh… uhh!” His shoulders bobbed against Varilov’s hands. Varilov grabbed him more firmly and pushed him down onto the bed. Kajiwara continued sniffling in a shaky, almost panicky manner while Varilov undid the sturdy leather belt fastening the tight-fitting uniform coat to his comrade’s slender waist and loosened the diagonal band crossing his chest. He unbuttoned the coat and pulled it off without meeting any resistance.

“Kajiwara, I want you to listen to me once more. I had another chat with the medic. About those stims again. He is now positive… that they make it impossible to control the fever properly because of the strain they put on your system if used in such high doses as many of us are doing now.”

Kajiwara gathered the blanket around his shoulders. “So… I have no choice but to wait?”

“Yes… the stims will be out of your system in a couple of days. Before that there’s nothing you can do but stay in your bed and rest.”

Kajiwara rubbed his temples. “But I can’t! I simply can’t stay…”

“Now listen to me for once. This isn’t a joke. I know you’re burning up, even if you might try to hide how bad you are feeling. Just… just cut it out will you?”

“I’m not taking orders from you, lieutenant.”

Varilov’s temper flared. He stood up. “Just… oh for fuck’s sake Kajiwara! Ok just you get up and poison yourself with those stims to stay on your feet. Go ahead. But can’t you damned well understand that it’s a bad cocktail? The two things just don’t go together. You were pushing yourself to the limit already and look where it’s got you.”

Varilov raised his hand to his mouth. He hadn’t planned to say that. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I’m… I’m just worried about you ok? You’ve done enough already. Just take care of yourself now please?” Varilov was nervously pacing back and forth “For us? The captain risked a lot to get you back from planting that probe. Would you just stop… would you give yourself the time to recover, for him?”

Kajiwara’s face fell. He held a balled-up tissue under his nose, while muffled coughs shook his shoulders.

“Just… why did you do it?” Varilov almost whispered. “Why have you been like that all the time? There was no need to push yourself so. I know you’ve not been sleeping; you’ve been staying up and alert more than should be humanly possible. Why?”

Kajiwara heaved a deep sigh. “I’ll say this straight now. I… I don’t trust everyone on this ship.”

Varilov blinked. “What?”

“And I’m worried about the captain”, Kajiwara continued. “He is perhaps too kind a man for his post, but don’t be fooled – as you witnessed before, he can be very strict despite his gentle nature if… if…” Kajiwara blushed fiercely “… if the situation requires it.”

“Yes. I know he’s a fine man. But what do you mean by ‘not trusting’ someone?”

“The captain… I owe everything I have to him you know… everything.” Kajiwara stared at Varilov with skittish, feverish eyes. Sniffling wetly he pressed his wrist to his mouth and coughed. Varilov couldn’t help but to wish he had some way of consoling his friend without hurting what was left of his pride. He felt helpless.

“I… I have served under him before…” Kajiwara continued, “and with Gewelt. But that damn bastard Gewelt… he set me up! He said I was out of line, I could have lost everything… but the captain made him bury his accusations. It was then that Gewelt suddenly rose through the ranks, and I blame myself for that… If I wasn’t so careless… I might have been able to keep him away from the captain. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust him at all.”

“So you’ve been keeping an eye on him? On… on the commander?”

Kajiwara bit his lip and fell back against his pillow, facing the wall.

Varilov placed his hand gently on Kajiwara’s shoulder. “I don’t know about these things, and I have no reason to doubt the commander. He seems like a fine man to me as well… but if that’s what’s keeping you from resting… I promise to keep my eyes peeled while you’re bed-ridden. Is that ok?”

Was that a sob, or just a shaky sniffle? Varilov couldn’t tell. But it was obvious that Kajiwara’s breath was starting to hitch again. Pressing the tissue carefully to his nose, Kajiwara curled up to sneeze. “He…HESSch! Ih..HIESSCH-hgnh! Ugh…” Groaning, he sat up to clear his sinuses with a lengthy blow. Wiping his nose he tried a tentative sniff, but only managed to make a miserably congested, gurgling sound.

“You sound horrible, Kajiwara” Varilov said.

Kajiwara nodded. “I feel it too. Like my head is flooded.” He coughed softly again and covered his nose with the tissue. “Ha… ESSSCHT! …ad the floodgates are leaking like hell.” He leaned his forehead against his palm. “Shit!”

Varilov tried not to laugh at the all too fitting metaphor, as he stroked the mass of black hair which flowed down his comrade’s back. “Lie down, Kajiwara, you’re shivering!”

Kajiwara shook his head. “I need to…” he blinked his eyes a couple of times and another shaky gasp escaped him. “Still deed to sdeeze first…” He clenched his eyes shut squeezing out a tear, and waited with his mouth slightly open. “Hhh…he…Ugh…” Raising his left hand to cover his face he searched blindly for a clean tissue with the right, his weak, thick sniffles having a hard time keeping up with his nose.

Varilov managed to hand him one just in time. Kajiwara buried his face in it and sneezed. “ESSsch-hgn! H’ISSSCHT!” His sneezes were followed by a desperate blow again, and after going through yet another tissue he fell back onto his bed. Clasping his arms tightly around himself, he closed his eyes and shivered.

Varilov tucked the blanket closely around him. “You’ve got quite a fever… do you think you could sleep?” he whispered, sweeping a couple of sweaty strands of black hair from his comrade’s forehead.

Kajiwara nodded.

Varilov eyed him once more. So this was what was behind that stoic behaviour, desperately striving to stay awake, stay alert and not to leave any room for weakness. The need to look after someone, no matter what the cost to himself.

“Varilov…”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask… Can I ask who the woman you fought with is? The one you didn’t apologize to?”

“Why?” Varilov looked startled. “She is my mother.”

Kajiwara paused. “You will apologize to her when we get back.” he said.

Varilov smiled sadly. “I hope so, Kajiwara.”

TBC …

[Vetinari]

Oh pink fluff!

Well you know I can't resist that.

[chui]

*flails at the fluff*

oooh....now thats just sooo cute!!!!

and all the intrigue.....someone not to be trusted....oooh.....

*yummy yummy yummy* im just this up!!!!

[doggo]

So someone is still reading this! Thank you Chui. It means a lot.

And major and thanks for Vetinari for the edits again!

And here we go!

--

The Silent Depths of the Sea, part VI

No wonder Kajiwara has become so unwell. He was overdosing heavily on stims for many reasons - his team is way too small and according to him, they are good for nothing. I’m not sure how much one should trust him in these things, and for more personal reasons I’m hesitant to record everything here, even if it is highly unlikely that anyone will get their hands on these notes. But he has been working hard and he’s had close to no sleep, and with all those stims in his system… I couldn’t believe my eyes when he crawled out of the cockpit. Of course we heard him sneezing his head off while piloting, but he was a damn sorry sight when he got back; his nose streaming without him being able to do anything about it, sneezing uncontrollably… he made a curious remark about a “leaking floodgates” yesterday, and I had hard time not pointing out how happy I was there still was a gate of some sort! Of course I kept my mouth shut, as he was miserable and embarrassed enough about his condition already.

But I’m a bit worried for the captain too. I could see that even the commander himself wished to see him rest more, but with an astonishing number of our already minimal crew sick, and now Kajiwara too, he seems to be taking all the responsibility upon himself.

Soon we will plant the next probe. The location will be a bit tricky again but luckily we sunk the enemy ship that has been following us almost from the start as the finale to the last encounter. I still don’t understand how it was possible. But maybe that ship was carrying problems of its own, and of the two we just happened to be luckier.

I just wish we could have a moment of peace. I don’t think the captain needs any more reasons to push himself as he does. He appears encouraging and elegant, but I can clearly see that he is so burdened by this all that it makes me wonder when he will crack.

Well I’d better leave for the bridge. I will have time to take a peek at Kajiwara on my way there.

...

Kajiwara was still sleeping, and apart from his flushed cheeks and the raw, red skin around his nostrils, he was looking almost as white as the high collared uniform shirt he was still wearing. It must have been uncomfortable, especially as the fluctuating temperature had made him sweat and shiver in turns leaving the thin material damp. His fever must have been slightly reduced as he was lying on his back with his right hand crooked around his face, his slightly matted hair flowed down the pillow and piles of used and half-used tissues lay all around him. He slept with his brow knit, lips parted and his nose running a little, a sight which amused Varilov as the image of Kajiwara as a stern, easily aggravated young lieutenant in perfect control of his body was still burned into his mind.

As if he sensed a presence despite his slumber, Kajiwara blinked his eyes open.

“Varilov?” he croaked. Suddenly noticing the undignified state of his nose Kajiwara flushed more deeply and wiped off the mess as well as he could with the crumpled tissue that was still clenched in his fist.

“Yes… I just thought I would check on you before leaving for the bridge.”

“Uhhhhn…” Slowly Kajiwara curled up and pushed himself into sitting position. He rubbed his eyes and coughed.

“How are you doing?”

“Wait…” Kajiwara sniffled, searching for a more usable tissue. “Hah… HISSch-hngh! H’issch!” Upon finding one he cleaned his nose a bit and shivered. “Beed better.”

Varilov heaved a sigh and sat beside his comrade. “Did you sleep well?”

“As well as I could with all this s… H’ISSCH! …sdeezing.” Kajiwara leaned his face into his hands and sniffled wetly.

“It wakes you up?”

“Yeah… or…I don’t know… it feels like I’ve been sneezing my head off through all that sleep. And all this… …uhh dabbit!” Kajiwara grumbled and blinked his eyes while rasing the tissue to his face. “H… H’ISSch-hgnh!”

Varilov stroked his back. “Your shirt is damp. Let me get you a clean one. It’ll make you feel a bit better.”

Kajiwara nodded silently.

Varilov wasn’t surprised to discover that Kajiwara’s cupboard was, in its orderliness, quite the opposite of his own chaos of clean, dirty and so-so clothes. Handing Kajiwara a clean set of pyjamas (he must have been sleeping so little that there hadn’t been much use for them) he headed for the door. He watched briefly as Kajiwara unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his delicate yet remarkably fit torso.

“I must leave for the bridge now.”

Kajiwara nodded. “I’ll follow you there next time.” His voice was quite weak, the last words being not much more than a hoarse whisper. He cleared his throat and coughed again.

Varilov shook his head. “You come to the bridge when you’re healthy enough.”

“I still have to be punished by the captain. The sooner the better.”

Somehow it twisted Varilov’s heart to listen him saying that.

“He can punish you when you’re well.”

Back on the bridge Varilov couldn’t help but notice the weary state of the captain. There were black circles under his eyes and his typically radiant presence was only a shadow of what it had been. Varilov wondered at the rapidity with which this had occurred – or more likely he had been too preoccupied worrying over Kajiwara to pay attention to it.

“Lieutenant Varilov.”

“Yes, captain.”

“I hope you are ready to do a long shift. Looks like Norris has finally fallen sick too.”

Varilov rubbed his face with both of his hands and growled. “That’s too bad… I know he has been on quite a lot of stims as well…”

“Yes. He fell ill as soon as I ordered him to lay off them.”

“I see… “

“But I’m sure we…” the captain’s face froze. He furrowed his brow, gazing into the distance, his breath hitching enough to cause his shoulders to make curiously elegant, bobbing movements as he dug the fine handkerchief up again, then he turned around pressing it to his nose and let out a muffled but surprisingly forceful “H’Kngth!… H’Kngxt!”

“Bless you, captain” Varilov said worriedly. “Are you sure you are well?”

The captain sniffled softly, blinking his eyes and wiping his nose before tucking the handkerchief back to his pocket. “Of course I am, lieutenant.”

“But captain, I really feel it would be good for you to…”

“Who is giving the orders here, lieutenant, you or me?”

“You, sir.”

The captain added more softly: “Well, that being cleared up, there’s no need to be so worried about me, lieutenant. How can you possibly fight military submarines and bombard fortresses in the dark depths of the merciless sea if you’re afraid of a single sneeze?”

“Two actually… sir.”

“Oh damn you and your… h… H’knghht!”

“Three…” Varilov stared at his feet. “And ascending, I suppose”, he muttered.

“I have to agree with Varilov on this”, Gewelt intervened. “Captain, I highly recommend that you should rest as soon as possible, if not immediately.”

“Oh no, don’t you dare to start with that too. Gewelt, to whom are you loyal?”

“I am loyal to the Norwegian government, of course, and through that the North-Atlantic League. Via that, I am loyal to the heads of the leagued states, including the mighty Dual-State of Russia and its Czar of the Executive State, along with his trusted Captain Cherkasky who is no less than of his own blood, and the only authority when more than thousand miles under the surface, in addition to Poseidon himself of course. Satisfied?”

A sparkle of amusement was glimmering in Gewelts eyes. Varilov couldn’t help but to smile.

“You’re forgetting Athena, commander”

“Nike, more likely?”

“Always the optimist, dear commander. Although, you failed to mention if she was on our side.”

“I believe that if the mighty sea and our honourable captain work in consensus, even Nike will be overruled.”

The captain chuckled. “Now carry on gentlemen, we will have our hands full soon enough.”

…

Manoeuvring the submarine into position occurred in awkward silence, and Varilov felt as if the weight of the water mass laying upon them was heavier than ever before, almost as if all of that weight was not carried by the massive hull of the submarine but was pressing down upon his own, beating heart. Varilov glanced nervously at Commander Gewelt who was absorbed in the interplay of engine thrusts and the wild, slowly pulsating circulation of the sea, wondering at the silent concentration of his commander as if he was trying to find shelter under the wing of someone much stronger than himself. That role ought to belong to the captain, but it was becoming painfully obvious that the captain was not the strongest link in the chain of command anymore. The sight of him fighting to stifle his more and more erratic sneezes, muffling them into his handkerchief would not inspire trust in his underlings, and no matter how much he concentrated and however hard he strived, his attempts to appear strong, confident and in high spirits were becoming a pitiful rather than reassuring sight to Varilov’s concerned eyes.

What Varilov really feared was the way the captain had mentioned Norris. Varilov didn’t like his tone which had put so much emphasis on the connection between laying off the stims and falling sick. What if he was, in the end, afraid to take a break from them and rest? Was he worried that he would not be able to return soon if he did so? But Kajiwara fell sick whilst still on them… and how many was the captain actually taking? Was he planning to delay taking the rest he needed, and if so, for how long? Was he planning to stay awake until the end of the mission? That would be insane!

“Captain, the probe is set. I’m ready to head back, sir.”

“Good. Just hurry back then.” the captain sighed with relief. “We must navigate through a very narrow passage after Norman has docked back, to stay deep and remain unnoticed. Gewelt, I want you to rest now so you can change shifts with Varilov when you come back. We absolutely cannot do with…” there he went again, his eyes fluttering shut as he turned slightly to the right in his chair, burying his head in the crook of his elbow as he dug the handkerchief up with his left. “H’Kngt! uhh… H’Kcht!” he clamped the already quite worn out handkerchief on his nose to land the final “H’Kng-ESSCHT!” in it. He took a couple of sniffs to assess the damage, frowning at the thick sound of it. “…can’t do without someone capable of navigating on the bridge at all times.”

Varilov was clenching his teeth. He couldn’t believe this. But he kept his mouth shut and watched as Gewelt got up, and walked to the captain.

“I would greatly appreciate you taking a well needed rest yourself, captain”, Gewelt almost whispered.

“Commander, I have to make sure that those capable of navigating stay healthy. With Norris sick I am completely dependent on you two. I can have my rest later.”

Gewelt heaved a deep sigh. “As you wish, captain.”

…

The captain had moved from his own chair to that beside Varilov where it was easier to work with him. They were diving deeper to hide in a narrow passage that was practically like a submarine river, offering them both additional speed and cover.

“Raise the bow, raise the bow slowly… Enough. That should do for a while.” The captain turned around and took a few steps away, digging the handkerchief up again. His head dropped and shoulders stiffened. “Hahhh… H’knght! H'kngxt!” The sneezes he could barely contain bent his whole body forward. He drew himself up slowly, sniffling wetly behind his handkerchief, and Varilov saw him drying a tear from his cheek.

“Bless you, sir.” Varilov had to really fight with himself to not to say anything else.

“Thank you lieutenant”, captain answered with an increasingly stuffed voice. “We have to turn soon, slow the starboard engines down.”

Varilov noticed that the captain didn’t even bother to tuck the handkerchief away anymore, but held it in his left hand. He looked a bit nervous, perhaps he was preparing for another sneeze? In his profession Varilov had become used to dividing his attention and looking at many things virtually simultaneously. Although he appeared to be paying careful attention to the screens, he still noticed the way the captain’s nostrils flared and the fact that he raised the handkerchief, only to put it down a few moments later.

“Captain, we have to turn again soon.”

“Yes I know. We have to slow down again and turn… uhh…” the captain sniffled again, this time with all his might. How miserable he sounded. “Set the… hh.. Set the larboard engides into… hhh..”

“Starboard engine astern!” Varilov yelped.

“H’Kngxt! H’… hell! H'KNGh..ISSCH!” the captain was doubled over again, his nose buried in the handkerchief, and as, after a couple of failed attempts he realized that no sniffles could keep his nose from dribbling at this point he was forced to turn around and blow as politely as he could.

Varilov scratched his head nervously. “Bless you, captain.”

“Thank you.” The captain cleared his throat. “That’s enough, all engines neutral. Bring the bow up a little.” Captain raised his fist to his mouth and coughed. “That’s good, that’s enough.”

“Captain…”

“Yes, lieutenant?”

“I… I know I shouldn’t be saying this but you really sound very unwell.”

“Why are you saying it if you know you shouldn’t?”

“Because…”

“Varilov…”

Varilov raised his gaze to meet the captain’s eyes. They were beautifully shaped, like two perfect almonds, and deep gray like a gathering storm. But the look in them was weary, and they were gleaming in that unhealthy manner that was becoming all too familiar to Varilov.

“Captain, I don’t even want to try to propose that you rest. I’m ready to beg…...”

“Denied, lieutenant. How many times do I have to explain?”

Varilov couldn’t help it anymore. He grabbed the captain’s hand. The captain flinched, but did not pull away. His hand felt warm to Varilov – not burning up, just slightly warm.

“I really mean it. I implore you. I… I promised…this will not work out the way you think, sir! You’re not a machine, you need to…”

“Are you trying to undermine my authority, lieutenant?”

Varilov swallowed. “No… no, I just promised…”

Captain shook Varilov’s hand off and stood up. “Promised…” he muttered while raising the handkerchief to his face again. “What a strange idea… H’kngxt …uhhh… H… H’KGN-ISSCHT!”

“Bless you, sir”, Varilov said almost silently. He was suddenly feeling awkward blessing the captain. Somehow it felt as if he were mocking him.

…

In roughly eight hours they were back out into the open ocean. For a brief period the crew could relax before the next planting. Varilov leaned back in his chair and yawned.

“I will send you to rest as soon commander Gewelt comes back, lieutenant.”

“Yes sir.” Varilov didn’t even try to resist. He knew at this point that his pleas for the captain to leave the bridge would do nothing more than hurt his pride.

And at least he hadn’t become much worse. The captain kept sneezing and he was obviously quite congested, but he remained on his feet quite well. Varilov still remembered clearly how much of a dribbling mess Kajiwara had become shortly after he started to show the symptoms. Even if the captain’s nose was slightly reddened and his voice void of resonance, he was still far from that. Maybe, just maybe this would work out. Perhaps if he stayed in high spirits the cold would pass on its own, and then he could have his rest later. Who knows… maybe the stims were stronger than germs. It was something that had really not been tested to its limits.

The captain took a few steps to stand beside Varilov and heaved a sigh. “It’s our salvation to have commander Gewelt aboard. I don’t even want to consider where we would be without him and his various talents.”

Varilov nodded. “Yes, I’m awestruck by him. His grasp of navigation, among other things, is impressive.”

“He has served under me before, and actually it was the commander who pushed the issue of carrying out the more in-depth background checks. I could never have done it without him.”

“So it was him?” Varilov hesitated for a moment. “Could I ask sir, what… what happened to those who could not continue after the new background checks?”

“They were left on Novaya Zemlya… They have to be kept in some kind of custody until the mission is over, as they know too much to be set free. I am not sure where they were transported… if they were transported, that is.”

“Custody?” The word imprisonment was circling on the tip of Varilov’s tongue, but he knew this was not the right time, place or company for criticising the state’s policies. Suddenly he felt very lucky to be onboard.

“I must admit that I did question his eagerness with this issue at first, but in the end… who knows how much we owe to him even now? No matter how undermanned, at least I know I can trust my men as I would trust myself. I take pride in our small but tireless crew, and I take pride in the excellent hands into which this mission has been placed.”

Varilov nodded. “You are right, captain. Sometimes I feel though, that even a couple of less rigorously chosen officers might have helped a long way…”

The captain laughed lightly, soft coughs interrupting enough to make him tap his chest with his hand. “You are a bit of an anarchist at heart, aren’t you, Varilov?”

Varilov waved his hands disparagingly. “No, no, I’m just worried about your health, captain, and wish that there was a way to lift at least some of the weight from your shoulders.”

The captain was still coughing silently, his mouth shut and curved into a gentle smile. “You don’t need to worry about me, lieutenant, as I have said so many times already. I know you have a good heart, but paying so much attention to such… uhhh…” the captain turned round and pressed the handkerchief to his mouth. “Hahh… H’Kgnt-hh… H’KGN-ISSCHT!”

“Bless you, captain.”

Captain Cherkasky chuckled as he folded his handkerchief. “Lieutenant, please. If you are going to bless me for every sneeze, you’re soon going to run out of breath.”

Gewelt arrived on the bridge, upright and serious as always. He nodded to Varilov.

“Are you sure about this, captain?”

“Absolutely. Varilov, you are relieved of your post for now.”

Varilov got up and greeted the commander. There was a short exchange of worried, sympathetic looks. As Varilov reached the door he heard the captain forcefully stifle yet another sneeze.

“Bless you, captain, just God bless you”, he muttered, but so quietly that his words went unheard.

TBC …

[Vetinari]

*Checks mucous membranes, capillary refill time and skin tenting*

Damn 10% dehydrated.

[chui]

ok...so i was fully in need of a bucket for all the ......until i read Vetinari's comment. *snort* now im just

oh wait....if i get dehydrated....my toads could die!!!! ohno!!!! do you mind if i have them hop on over and let Kajiwara sneeze them back to life?

omg...this is just so creative and well written....Shiny, youre just amazing!! i love it! absolutely love it! i cant wait for more!!!

(edited for improper colon usage) sorry....but its the truth! really!! i put colons instead of asterisks....