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Dive Tank by Kethrineth
Nick kicked his way down the beach toward the distant lights of the Hotel Del. He knew he should have stayed with Alex. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kenny to take good care of her, he did, it was himself he was upset with. He'd walked away from his purpose for coming here just because it made him uncomfortable. Maybe Derek was right to be worried. Maybe I'm not ready for this yet. Maybe I never will be. The bitter thoughts only served to darken an already bleak mood. The alcohol that had buoyed him up earlier was bringing him down now. The realization that he'd been drinking to carry himself over the rough spots tonight and justifying it, just like his father, only brought him down further.
I should be helping Alex crack this thing, not sulking on the beach. He stopped and turned to look back the way he had come. Maybe it wasn't too late to catch the others. Then he caught sight of the lights on the base and an idea was born. Derek had sent him on this case because he had inside knowledge of the workings of this place that no one else could bring to the investigation. Inside knowledge was just what they needed now. I think now might be a good time to check out our haunted tank without any brass hats poking their noses in.
He loped up the beach at a steady pace, already planning how to slip onto the base undetected. He'd done it all the time when he was stationed there. The brass would have a collective heart attack if they knew how often he'd snuck on and off base in the middle of the night.
~*~
Alex smiled a thank you at the lieutenant as she slid into the back seat of the Thunderbird. She hadn't missed the way he'd maneuvered things to allow himself to ride in back with her and she pointedly put her purse on the seat between them. "So, where are we headed?"
Terry turned halfway around in the front seat to answer her just as he pulled out into traffic, nearly clipping the little red car just swinging into the lot. "Roger's place. He'll still be up. He's taking those night classes again."
Kenny threw a balled up fast food wrapper at his teammate. "Turn around will you. I don't want to get in a wreck tonight. They just canceled my insurance and I know you don't have any."
Alex's eyes were huge as she observed the exchange. It was obvious from the position Kurt had taken in the front seat that this was normal for these three. The quietest SEAL had settled in with his arms draped casually over his upraised knees. Only his feet, braced solidly against the dashboard betrayed any concern over the way the maniac beside him was driving. She decided to focus on the investigation rather than the transportation.
"So, what do you think this Roger will have to add that we don't already know?" Alex closed her eyes as they barreled through an intersection, hoping Terry would keep his eyes on the road instead of turning around to answer her again. Some deity must have been smiling at her because this time Kenny answered her.
"Don't know." He smirked. "Did any of those reports mention a man floating in the middle of the tank screaming at everybody?"
That made Alex open her eyes. "No... I think I'd remember that."
Kenny grinned, his enjoyment increasing at the gasp she let out when Terry wheeled abruptly into an apartment complex and slammed on the brakes hard enough to throw everyone who wasn't braced for it forward in their seats. He didn't mind catching her before her nose could slam into the back of the driver's seat, either. Nick did have good taste in women. His damaged opinion of the ex-SEAL went back up a notch. He wouldn't have thought his old friend could snare somebody this classy but he'd seen the way the two had their arms around each other when they came into the bar. He briefly considered being a gentleman and not hitting on her. Nah, if they were that close he would never have left her alone with us, besides, it's not as if she's wearing a ring.
Kenny ushered her to the outside stairwell with one hand lightly touching her elbow to steer her in the right direction. He glared balefully when first Terry, then Kurt bounded over the railings to pass them as they made the turn on the landing. He looked across at their companion, prepared to apologize for the antics of the two grown men who were now pounding on a door somewhere above them, only to find her smirking in amusement at the spectacle they were creating for her benefit.
By the time they arrived at the scene of the disturbance, a man who looked to be in his late thirties was glaring from the window beside his abused door. The glare increased in intensity when he saw them. "Tomlin, get your pet monkeys away from my place before I call the Watch Officer to send the SP's out here!"
"Chill out Rog. How often do you get a beautiful woman pounding down your door in the middle of the night?" Kenny asked innocently.
Alex decided maybe it would be best if she explained what she was doing here before the 'gentlemen' accompanying her got them all in trouble. "Hi, I'm Alex Moreau. I'm with the Luna Foundation from San Francisco. We've been asked to look into the disturbances at the dive tank and these men told me you could add some information to the official reports that may be helpful. I know it's late, but may we come in for just a few minutes, please?"
He eyed her escorts suspiciously. "This better not be a joke, Kenny." He didn't get any further before Kurt apparently got tired of waiting and took action. The stocky blond climbed through the open window, past the scowling resident and opened the front door for the rest of them. If this was going to be the basic pattern for the rest of their interviews, Alex just hoped they wouldn't get arrested.
~*~
It looked like her hopes were about to be dashed at their third stop. There were lights on in the apartment and her escorts assured her that the man's car was in the lot, but no one answered the first barrage of knocking. After about five minutes of loud pounding, Alex was getting worried that the neighbors might have already called the police. She kept expecting a patrol car to pull into the lot at any moment. Finally, a shout from inside made her gleeful heralds quit their pounding. "GO. HOME. I swear, if this is you two again I will report you to the lieutenant in the morning!"
Kenny grinned at her and raised his voice to respond. "You don't have to do that Luis. I'm right here. Open the door."
Another, much longer, pause followed. "GO! HOME! Sir."
Kenny threw back his head, laughing silently. The voice had come from just inside the door this time. He winked at Alex and held up a warning hand to his faithful bookends to prevent them from actually taking any action. "Okay guys, break it down." He called out just loudly enough to be heard through the door.
Alex was scandalized, her eyes widened and she mouthed a denial at the man. This is a bit too far. She couldn't picture Nick ever having done the sort of things that these men were getting away with tonight. She didn't have time for a more strenuous protest before the door was jerked open.
"You wouldn't dare!" A dark haired man eyed them suspiciously before stepping aside to let them through.
Terry patted his shoulder comfortingly as he made his way past him, smiling slyly. "Ohhh... I think I'd ask Brian about that if I were you."
Alex rolled her eyes at the lies this man told. Brian Rosady hadn't even been home when they checked his place. They definitely hadn't broken any doors down, though it had looked about ready to fall off the dilapidated trailer the man was living in.
Luis snorted as he closed the door and followed his 'guests' into the living room. It was obvious from the way the two enlisted men made a beeline for the kitchen that they were quite at home here.
"Stay away from the cake. That's for my kid's birthday when her mom brings her up tomorrow night." He yelled after them. His eyes narrowed as he turned back to his superior and the strange woman with him. "It's two in the morning. What do you want?"
"We would like to ask you some questions. I'm Alexandra Moreau, with the Luna Foundation. I understand you had some type of unusual experience at the dive tank recently?" She inquired as she stepped forward to introduce herself, trying to look professional as the bookends trooped back in with a late night snack. She politely declined the 'interesting' looking sandwich Terry offered to her before the pair sprawled out on the floor to observe, and eat.
This seemed to have earned her a few points with the man they were interviewing, or earned his pity at any rate. He was a bit less combative when he answered her, though he continued to glare at what were obviously his teammates. "That depends on whether or not you consider blood raining from the ceiling unusual."
Alex was intrigued. "I'm surprised that didn't get in the reports. Did you tell anyone?"
"Yeah. Only problem was it was really late and we weren't supposed to be in there. When I got back with the Watch Officer there wasn't a trace of blood anywhere in the building." His eyes were dark and bitter as he continued. "He was in a generous mood. He said to go sleep it off and he wouldn't report us. I wasn't drunk. They were drunk." He aimed an indignant kick at the nearest bookend, who slammed the phone book into his ankle before the kick could connect.
Kenny confiscated the makeshift weapon and quelled the disturbance with a glare while Alex pursued this line of questioning. There was turning out to be a whole lot more to this story than the official reports indicated and she seemed to have been handed the keys to uncovering it all.
~*~
Nick waited until he was certain no one was around before he approached the door to the dive training facility. Up until now he'd taken great care not to be seen by anyone who was still awake as he slipped through the shadows that nestled amongst the sleeping buildings. Now that he had almost reached his destination, the ex-SEAL was determined to be extra careful. This was the point where he'd always been caught sneaking around after 'lights out' as had been his habit during his wilder days. With his goal in sight, it had been too easy to allow himself to get overconfident.
The old black jeans and dark brown leather jacket helped Nick to blend into the shadows near the door as he slipped into the slight recess. There should have been a light but the fixture hanging over the entryway was dark. Nick had to fumble for the handle. He didn't know how he was going to pick the lock open when he was having a difficult enough time just finding it. To his surprise the door wasn't secured. Anyone who managed to get on base could have snuck inside and set up the incidents they were investigating as some kind of elaborate practical joke but that didn't explain the impressions Alex had gotten in there this afternoon. This place was too vital to the SEAL training program to get this careless with security. Whoever was responsible for locking up deserved to get reamed out for the break in and Nick was tempted to leave some indication that he'd been here to make sure that happened.
The clandestine intruder carefully made his way into the maze of support equipment that maintained the towering structure once he was inside the building. The small penlight in his pocket didn't help much and he had quite a collection of bruises from falling into half-seen obstacles long before he had completed his search. There was nothing visible to the naked eye that would explain or cause the events in the files. He did note that the entire area was poorly maintained by what had to be some kind of troll.
Geez! Nick stumbled as something round rolled under his feet and barely caught himself on the pipes sticking out of the machinery. He could hear the high pitched squeal of rats as something ran across his foot. It was no wonder no one had come to investigate all the racket he'd been making. With all these rats in here, they were probably used to all kinds of strange noises in the building at night.
Nick's stomach roiled as he shone the little light downward to see what had attracted the nasty little vermin and to prevent any more near spills. The thin yellow beam revealed an array of leftover food and wrappers rotting on the floor around his feet. This looks like a nest! Empty bottles of dubious origin were scattered around. The labels had been torn off but the reek of cheap alcohol was unmistakable. The spilled dregs had seeped into the pages of the porno magazines littered around the hidden corner. Nick wrinkled his nose in distaste at the lewd photos. This does not happen on duty.
At any rate it wouldn't continue to happen if he had any say in things. The scattered debris around him was giving the Legacy operative an idea of how to put a stop to all of this. Nick tucked the weapon he'd instinctively drawn back where it belonged, hoping the nasty little creatures wouldn't be back in a hurry. He wished briefly that he had a pair of the gloves with him that they used at the house for handling artifacts. Instead, he reached for the cleanest corners he could find and began laying a trail of magazines out to the open area around the base of the tank. They didn't quite reach all the way but he figured it was close enough that somebody would find them when they arrived later in the morning to begin the day's schedule. He wasn't touching the rest of those things. He finished his little set-up with a not-quite empty bottle of something noxious on the stairs where it couldn't be missed by the first arrivals. If this didn't trigger an investigation, he didn't know what would.
Whether this little disaster area had anything to do with the incidents or not, the tank wasn't being maintained properly. Nick was determined to make sure before they left here that this state of affairs wouldn't continue. He'd go to the authorities about it first. Even if that meant admitting to breaking in here tonight.
Nick now turned his attention to the tank itself, running his light over the sides as he climbed higher on the winding metal staircase, searching for anything that might give him a clue to what was going on.
~*~
Alex was getting a bit leery of approaching strange doors by this time. Her three companions were unsuccessfully pounding on yet another apartment door. Alex was relieved when they subsided for a few moments to confer and she decided to break into this little conclave while she had the chance. "Guys? Maybe he's really not home." She suggested gently, for the moment borrowing one of Rachel's professional tones. If it worked on lunatics, it just might have a chance of getting through to these three. Alex edged nervously away from the closed door when she heard something scratching at it from the inside. This place looked kind of seedy and she wasn't sure she wanted to see what was making those whistling noises that accompanied the scratching.
"Nah. He's home." Kurt returned, "He's just asleep." He looked at his usual partner in crime and asked while digging in his pockets, "We can't have that, now, can we?"
"So you're just going to break in, then?" Alex looked askance at Kenny to see if he was going to allow this. Kenny didn't help, he just stood there grinning.
Kurt shot a hurt look at Alex as he pulled out his key ring and selected a single key from the impressive mass. "Noooo-- I used to live here." He said as he worked the key into the deadbolt. "There's no law that says I can't come back to pick up my stuff."
"Did you leave any stuff?" Kenny asked, pretty much knowing the answer but knowing he'd enjoy the reaction of their newest cohort. He liked this lady, happy as he was for Nick, he really wished she was available. So far though, she had been immune to his charms. Her relationship with Nick must be tighter than I thought, he considered ruefully.
"Probably. You know how I leave stuff around when I move." Kurt said as he opened the door wide and caught the squirming missile that launched at him from the darkness within. "Tessa!!"
Alex followed the other two past the wrestling match that was ensuing between Kurt and what looked like an overgrown Doberman Pinscher puppy. Kurt was losing.
They moved quietly through the living room, with Alex staying close to her guides. She didn't want to be left behind in a strange apartment without the owner's knowledge. Terry slapped on the lights every time he went past a switch and they made their way to what Alex dreaded may be the bedroom. I'm reeeeally not sure about this...She thought as her fears were confirmed and she joined the two men looming over the bed and its sleeping occupant. She couldn't shake the feeling of ghoulishness she felt in the ranks as the lieutenant reached out to pinch off the man's air supply. Alex reached out and firmly removed Kenny's hand.
"I'd say that's a bit too far, mister." Her eyes pinned the SEAL and dared him to continue. Kenny backed down.
"He's asleep! You've broken into his home." She continued in a fierce whisper.
Kenny became immediately defensive, belatedly realizing that a lot of what had been done that night had been partially to impress the lady, and that maybe they had gone a bit too far with this latest demonstration. "It's all in fun -- these guys all know us..."
"So I'd noticed." She stated flatly. "That doesn't excuse what's been going on all night!" Now that the researcher had vented steam, a lethal eruption didn't seem far behind. The lieutenant was not disappointed. "I won't be a part of these juvenile displays of immature male egos on parade anymore!"
Terry's head shot up and he seemed about to protest when his commanding officer glared him back down. They'd had their fun. Now it was obviously time to take their medicine.
"I have more than enough information for our investigation," She shot a cold glance at both of her companions. Her voice became even colder, "Thank you."
"But this isn't the guy I really wanted you to meet..." Terry was grasping at straws as he saw his chance to get better acquainted with this lovely stranger fading from his grasp.
"No, I think you'd better take me home before you wake this poor man up." Alex gestured at the prone form on the bed, "I'm sure Nick is waiting up for me." She pointedly reminded them of the false image that Nick had planted in the minds of everyone in that last bar that the two of them were together.
"Am I dreaming?" Came an unexpected response from the bed. The man had wakened to the sight of a beautiful woman standing over his bed reaming out one of the platoon commanders from Team Six. Even in his fondest dreams, after a hard day of training, he hadn't ever imagined a scene such as this!
"I'm so sorry we woke you, sir." Alex tried to maintain her composure despite the incongruity of formally apologizing to a total stranger for waking him in his own bedroom. She glared pointedly at Lt. Tomlin. "We'll be leaving now."
Gunnar Dalton was awake now though, and not about to let this woman walk out on him until he'd found out what was going on. "No, don't go. I mean if you're here at this hour it must be important, right?" He scrambled out of bed and into a bathrobe before she could disappear on him. "How about we go in the living room and talk?"
In the living room, Tessa was lying across her vanquished prey's chest while he rubbed her ears. Gunnar glared. That was one mystery solved. "Fork over the key, Kurt! You don't live here anymore and I sent all your stuff to your girlfriend."
"What girlfriend?" Kurt regarded him blankly from beneath the alleged guard dog.
"Toni, from Santa Barbara." Gunnar hauled the dog off his ex-roomie and sent her to the couch with an affectionate whack on the side.
"Oh, man! I haven't dated her in nearly eight months. That stuff is gone!" Kurt sobered when he caught sight of Alex glaring. He started digging for his key ring.
"Thank you! Now make yourself useful and go put the coffee on while the lady and I talk." He turned to Alex, steering her toward a chair. "You were about to tell me what was so urgent you had to get these clowns to escort you here in the middle of the night?"
~*~
It was nearly an hour later before she finally got back to her room at the hotel. The last man they had spoken with, Gunnar Dalton, had also seen a figure floating in the center of the tank. His description had been a close match with the one given by Roger Shay, though he hadn't reported any blood raining down from the ceiling. She reached beside the bed and pulled out the entire stack of reports that she'd brought from the castle. Alex fumbled through them until she found the sheaf of 'Hell Week' files that her partner had discarded so casually.
The gray dawn was starting to peer through the crack between the curtains by the time Alex felt that she'd gotten what she needed from them. All of these reports indicate this is a soul with unfinished business. If we can find out who it is, maybe we can find out why this is happening. After ordering two breakfasts she headed for the connecting door to awaken her partner for their abysmally early meeting with Commander Simpson. She was still trying to figure out how to pay Nick back for that.
Maybe a good rousting out of bed with the hangover he's sure to have after last night would be a good starting point. Serve the little brat right! Alex smiled in malicious anticipation as she stepped into the next room with a full glass of ice water in hand. The curtains were wide open, allowing the dim morning light to filter into the room. She didn't even have to turn on a light to see that Nick wasn't there and hadn't been there all night from the look of the undisturbed bed. With a long-suffering sigh, Alex headed over to check the floor on the far side of it. She could tell already that this was going to be a long day.
~*~
Nick stood on the lip of the dive platform breathing deeply to fill his lungs before the dive. He'd already switched on the interior tank lights, confident that the dim string of lights wouldn't show outside the building. His examination of the tank's outer wall where Alex had gotten her reading had turned up nothing. A free dive was the only way to check the inside. There had been no spare tanks when he'd taken the wetsuit and mask and he wouldn't deplete a tank some SEAL would be relying on in the morning.
The ex-SEAL checked the stop-watch on his wrist to be certain it was working right. Without an air tank his time below the surface would be tightly limited. Nick stepped forward and let gravity drop him down to the warm waters. No temperature anomalies tonight at any rate, Nick thought to himself in relief. He pushed off from the wall and stroked lightly to the area he thought corresponded to where Alex had been this afternoon. His arm twinged painfully whenever he extended it but not as badly as it had out of the water. That jerk in the bar had torqued the muscles good. For a moment he wished he'd taken one of his pills but diving alone was dangerous enough without being on painkillers, too. Besides, he didn't want to get hooked on them. He'd been down that road once already when he was young and stupid.
Reaching what he thought was the correct spot, Nick flipped over and began to pull himself down the wall, shining the penlight clamped in his mouth at the metallic surface. The tank's interior illumination cast weird, distracting shadows all around him in the water. Every time he moved, he would catch a glimpse of something darting just beyond his vision. Get a grip, Nick. Don't spook yourself imagining things that aren't really there. He'd forgotten how eerie these night dives could be. They had always gone down in pairs during training. Everything during training had been done in pairs.
Nick was surprised at how much he could feel the increasing pressure on his hurt ribs as he descended. He hadn't thought they were still that fragile, but he kept going. He was sure he hadn't reached the right depth yet. The lone diver was almost ready to turn back when he felt a roughness under his right hand. He edged further that way to investigate but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The metal that had flaked away beneath his hand had already fallen out of sight in the dimly lit tank and the pressure on his ribs was becoming unbearable.
Nick righted himself and pushed away from the wall. Kicking lightly, he began to rise at the smooth steady pace he had been taught here years ago. He knew he had enough air to reach the surface shining above him, but it sure didn't feel that way. The relief that flowed through him when he at last broke the surface and drew in that first deep lungful was incredible. Apparently he no longer had quite the lung capacity he'd relied on when he was still in the military.
The water cradled his body as Nick floated on the rippling surface, letting the gentle motion ease the pain. Alone in the darkened building, rocked by the warm water, Nick felt at peace for the first time in months. He breathed slowly, listening to the minute sounds that came from within the structure. Beneath the soft hum of the recirculating pumps, there was another sound, subliminal almost. A sound that didn't seem to belong but he couldn't quite grasp it to define what it was. The soft pinging of the lights as they warmed up overrode the strange almost-sound.
Nick let his feet drop beneath the surface and stroked back to the side of the tank. This time, he ignored the slight nagging ache as he extended his injured arm. He had to find out what was bothering him. He'd make just one more dive to where he'd found that odd roughness and then he'd leave before morning, and the first training teams, caught him.
This time Nick knew how deep he had to go to find the irregularity and went directly to that level, counting the seconds as he kicked downward at a steady rate of descent. There was nothing. It looked exactly like any other patch of wall. Disbelieving what his eyes were telling him, Nick ran his hands across the surface where he'd felt the abnormality before. Still nothing. Disappointment flooded through him and brought with it the many aches and pains that were being compounded by the water pressure. While his attention had been occupied by the mystery, he had been able to push aside his own discomfort in his search for answers. Now that discomfort was overwhelming him.
It's time to get out before I drown myself. He could just imagine what Rachel would have to say if he accomplished that feat. She had never really believed him about what had happened in Sunnydale and was always questioning what he was thinking. How he was feeling. Why he was doing whatever he was doing when she walked into a room. This was why he'd been trying to duck out on their therapy sessions together lately. Derek had not been pleased at having to intervene to get him to show up for them. Nick hadn't been very pleased himself when, without telling him where they were going, Derek had driven him to Rachel's home office and escorted him inside before abandoning him there.
~No! You've almost got it kid. Don't give up yet!~ Instructor Jacobi agonized as he watched the young man waver and begin to rise, wishing he could make himself heard. He knew this kid. The old instructor had trained him himself years ago when he had still been alive. He was counting on his old student now to find the tank's lethal secret. ~Come on Nick. You were never a quitter no matter how hard we tried to make you one. Don't quit on me now.~ He began to make his presence known in the only way he still could.
Nick was startled by the first deep boom that reverberated throughout the massive structure. He began to kick, trying to reach the surface faster and see what was going on. The ghost watching from the depths despaired. He couldn't let this happen. Jacobi gathered all his will to manifest himself near the young man who had nearly reached the dive bell mounted to the side of the tank at the fifty foot mark.
Nick was sure he was hallucinating when the apparition wavered into being in front of him. Expletives immediately came to mind at the sight. He'd known this dive was a bad idea. He didn't need one of his old instructors, especially the one who had told him so many times to always stay with his swim buddy, catching him in the act of disobeying his many warnings and diving alone, at night of all times. Nick shied away looking around for the class of trainees who must already be in the tank. He'd thought he would have more time before their day began.
The last of Nick's air escaped with a sharp gasp as he banged his injured arm into the protruding edge of the diving bell hard enough to cause the ex-SEAL to double up in renewed pain. He tried to stop himself but his lungs reflexively inhaled the warm water as they fought to draw fresh air into his tired body. Nick found himself staring at the silvery surface far above him. There was air there if only he could reach it. Trying to reach the pocket of fresh air inside of the dive bell, only a few feet away from him, never occurred to Nick. He'd already drifted above the small haven and had eyes only for the rippling surface above him.
It was already too late though. Nick could feel panic rising within him as his lungs spasmed to expel the water and draw in fresh air that they couldn't find. It was just like the times back in training when he had gotten separated from Kenny during a practice dive and found himself in trouble. He felt Jacobi's arms snake around his chest as they began to rise and limply abandoned himself to the instructor as the blackness closed in around him. He didn't care about the lecture he'd get when he woke up topside. He was just glad the instructor had been here to make up for his lack of judgment in coming here alone and injured.
Jacobi could feel himself losing cohesion as the chance of completing his task passed, but he fought to hold himself together long enough to get the limp form in his arms to safety. He only just made it, flipping the unconscious victim up onto the dive platform just as his physical form faded. It was morning, or what passed for it at the Special Warfare Center. Nick would be all right until they came to wake the tank for the first training sessions. As always, the old SEAL would be there watching over his students, just as he had for the thirty-one years he had been an instructor here, waiting for his next opportunity to warn them of the danger the bureaucrats had placed them in.
A sharp twinge of rage flashed through the spirit as he saw who had come to wake the tank. That one doesn't help matters! Jacobi drifted closer to the injured man, seeking to protect his former student should it become necessary. Hurting a man who was already down would be about the troll's idea of bravery.
The instructor watched with growing fury as the technician in charge of maintaining the huge tank during this shift casually flicked on switches and checked things off on his clipboard without even bothering to look at the readouts. He should have noticed that the tank's interior lights were already on. If he had still been alive he would never have tolerated this man's presence in his tank. Damn kid they got to replace me hasn't got a clue what the maintenance techs are supposed to be doing in here. That girl on second shift has more sense than he does.
The lingering spirit grinned maliciously at the bellowed obscenities that indicated the discovery of the plundered nest. He'd been waiting for someone to find the vile little hiding place for months now but these new young officers would never dream of getting their hands dirty by going back into the mass of machinery. In his day, the officers knew all aspects of the jobs held by the men they commanded and knew how to help out if there was something wrong. These youngsters today only knew what they could read on a report prepared by somebody else. Take away the report and they didn't have a clue.
Jacobi's attention was drawn back to the dive platform. The kid had stopped breathing and his skin was an alarming shade of blue. He needed help now, while there was still a chance to save him. The troll it is then. Let's see if he can ignore this. Deep rolling booms filled the chamber as incorporeal hands pounded on the rim of the tank.
Ritchie jumped, startled by the sudden noise. It wasn't hard to tell that the sound was coming from up topside. The man's eyes narrowed as the thought occurred to him that the vandal who'd been into his stuff might still be playing around in here. It had to be an outsider. Some kid sneaking on base on a dare probably. None of the SEALs would have done this. He'd already complained to the captain to keep them away from his machinery. They wouldn't have dared to go back in there again. A wide grin crossed the young man's face as he bounded for the stairs. Finally it was his turn to get on somebody else's case for a change.
The booming rolled to a halt once the troll reached the top of the platform. Jacobi watched as Ed Ritchie circled the limp form of the trespasser who had strewn his belongings all over the place. The instructor was outraged when, instead of trying to help the obviously stricken man, the troll toed him in the ribs to see if he was awake. ~Idiot! He's not breathing. Do something!~
The maintenance tech must have heard him. He hauled back and kicked the incapacitated intruder to be certain this wasn't a trick. Fortunately for Nick, the kick rolled him onto his side and forced some of the water from his lungs onto the other man's feet. Ritchie jumped back, swearing at the sudden deluge and hauled the injured ex-SEAL to his feet to teach him a lesson.
The spirit's rage grew as the troll sank a fist into the ex-SEAL's stomach. The immediate result, however, was rather gratifying as Nick choked up the water that had made it's way into his stomach. Along with all the alcohol from the night before. And the bar snacks. And the remains of last night's dinner. If Jacobi had still been able to roll on the floor laughing, he would have. Ritchie, on the other hand, didn't think it was funny at all.
Ritchie dropped his victim, swearing shrilly as he wiped at the mess on his shirt. The troll began kicking the choking figure curled into a ball at his feet. This wasn't satisfaction enough for him, however. He caught sight of an eighteen inch pipe wrench he'd left up there the day before when that bastard, Tomlin, had made him tighten the fittings topside during his break. Ritchie crossed to retrieve the discarded tool. "Let's see how you like a taste of what the lieutenant threatened to do to me."
None of the room's occupants, mortal or otherwise, heard the door open as Lt. Kenny Tomlin and his unit barged their way in to investigate the silence that had followed the sinister pounding. They had been hanging around outside, waiting for time to go to work when the booming had begun. None of them had wanted to pass the waiting time inside with the morning maintenance technician, that they all privately called 'the troll', but the ominous stillness that followed the strange sounds had to be checked out. The spirit's rage had grown beyond all restraint by now and he soon discovered he was able to do much more than pound on walls.
The heavy pipe wrench was ripped from the man's hand and flung over the side of the tank. It nearly clipped Kenny on his way up and he was forced to cling to the tank wall for cover as it tumbled past on its way to the concrete floor. He motioned his men to proceed with caution as he drew his sidearm. It's probably just the troll and some two bit hooker he smuggled onto base having a falling out over the price, but what the hell, it could be fun to throw a scare into him.
The next thing Kenny knew, a body was flying through the air overhead. It made a rather wet splat when it hit the far wall. He could hear the bones crunch but to his amazement the corpse didn't fall. It simply hung, suspended, halfway up the wall. Master Chief Roger Shay crowded behind him and nudged his arm. "Uh, Kenny? I don't remember anything up there strong enough to hold a body, do you?"
Kenny's eyes finally left the eerie sight to look at his second in command. He'd never seen Rog turn that particular shade of green before. Not even that time he ate some of the potato salad Kurt's current girlfriend brought to their unit's picnic. "Nope. Do you want to check out where he came from?"
A more normal color returned to Roger's face as he turned his eyes to his CO. "Nope, but I think we should anyway. Not checking things out was his style and I don't want to end up like that." He jerked a thumb at the barely recognizable figure splayed on the wall.
Kenny took a deep breath and tried to avoid looking at the crimson rivulets of blood that had begun to flow downward. At least gravity is still working on something up there. It was a good thing they had been scheduled to go straight to the target range from here today. All of them had their weapons with them instead of locked up in the armory. "Lock and load now, guys. We don't know what's up there." Lt. Tomlin was all business now as he singled out a pair of men and motioned for them to proceed around the base of the tank. He signaled another pair into the maze of support machinery off to the side. The rest he motioned to stay low and follow him as he began to ascend the stairs.
The unnerving sight of the corpse suspended on the wall changed. Only not for the better. The limp body moved out a couple of feet before slamming back against the wall. There was definitely nothing holding it up-- nothing they could see at any rate. The motion repeated itself a few times. It was almost like a kid trying out a new toy to see if it would work right. The wall was developing quite an interesting pattern of red blotches by this time. Kenny crouched low and turned to glare at whoever was muttering behind him.
"Oh man... oh man..." Terry didn't even realize he was saying anything until he saw the lieutenant glaring down at him. He tried to take a deeper breath to calm himself but it didn't help much. This is just too weird, even for this joint! He moved out with the others anyway when they were signaled to continue upward. This time he was careful to keep his eyes off the corpse that was refusing to lie still, the way bodies were supposed to, and focused instead on their objective.
When they reached the platform all they found was a neat pile of clothing and the wet, crumpled body of the man they had left outside that bar last night. Kenny immediately re-holstered his weapon and went to his knees beside his old friend, trusting in his teammates to cover him from any unexpected dangers.
Jacobi smiled with satisfaction. Tomlin was a little weird but he wasn't likely to abuse an injured man. The kid would be all right now with no more interference from him and the blotches on the wall had given him an idea. The spirit turned his attention to his own concerns and concentrated on getting better control of his newfound tool.
Terry kept his eyes on the macabre view by the wall now that they were stationary. No way am I taking my eyes off that thing until it comes down and I can make sure it's really dead! As he watched the body it began to slide slowly up the wall and stopped before curving to the right and back down. He didn't quite believe what he was seeing even when the 'R' was complete and the corpse moved on to the next letter. Next the body completed a perfect circle on the wall. Toward the bottom of the crescent it drew next, the bloody smear started to fade a bit.
By this time, Terry wasn't at all surprised when the corpse pulled back, flew down to a clear patch of wall and started banging again. When it returned to finish what appeared to be a 'C' and began to draw another letter, he reached down to fumble for Kurt's shoulder. He had to know that somebody else saw this too. "Uh... guys? Guys? Is anyone else seeing this?"
Kurt turned away from his task of covering their other side to look over his shoulder at the teammate standing over him. "R. O. C... Is that a 'K'?"
Chief Shay yanked hard on the errant seaman's collar. "Watch your sector and let him worry about his. I don't want whatever's doing this sneaking up on us!"
"Sure, Chief." Kurt hastily turned back to the task of guarding his superiors while they examined the intruder he could hear reviving behind him. It was one thing to tease the chief in his own home, it was something else entirely to disobey him while on duty.
Terry inserted his own opinion of the order without thinking. "I don't think it's sneaking up on anybody, Chief. It's still busy."
No sooner had Lt. Tomlin glared down the insubordination and turned back to his old friend, than the teams from down below began to report 'all clear'. Terry's eyes traced the newly formed shapes of the 'W' and 'E' that had joined the other letters as the corpse flew off to blot itself again. "It looks kind of like that Wiener Dog Art stuff that Larson guy does."
He was immediately yanked back to the current reality when the Master Chief's fist knotted itself in his collar, cutting off all oxygen. Terry found himself jerked to his knees in front of his irritated CO. Kenny's blue eyes were shooting sparks at him. Never a good sign. He didn't have time to worry about it though. His boss pulled hard on the front of his uniform as the chief let go of it, flipping him neatly over his back and into the deep water of the tank.
"Terry! Check out the tank to make sure nothing's hiding down there!" The lieutenant called down after his 'fallen' teammate. Kenny only grinned when Roger rolled his eyes at the prank and he defended his actions. "You heard them call 'all clear'. It can't hurt to check everything out that we can."
Terry let himself sink for a bit, wondering if it might not be safer in the water than it was up above. No, judging by the wetsuit, the guy up on deck had been down here and come out the worse for it. The wet SEAL began kicking steadily for the surface, even as he angled for the short ladder that would help him back up onto the deck.
Kenny was just getting off the emergency phone line by the rail when Nick began coughing in earnest and struggling weakly against the hands that held him propped up on his side. Roger tried to force the kid to hold still so the water would come out of his lungs instead of backing up into them. Kenny returned to help, kneeling down where Nick could see him and know he was safe. "You're okay now, little buddy." He grinned when his friend's eyes snapped open in recognition of the familiar taunt. Luckily, Nick was in no shape to retaliate the way he used to.
He sobered quickly as another coughing spasm shook the ex-SEAL, causing him to curl into a fetal ball on his side. He gripped one shoulder comfortingly and held his old friend steady as the painful spasm wracked his body. "Hang on kid, the medics are on the way."
