Chapter 9
Kate feels like she is not able to move anymore, caught in her worst nightmare. The entire universe had stopped running and her heart hurts as it is fighting hard to keep beating: “One beat, two…three…four…” Painfully, it regains its normal rhythm and she can take in a shaking breath. Cold and thick drops of salt water are hitting her skin but her mind seems not to register any impression.
She can’t scream with her voice, her whole being is screaming from inside as her eyes are looking to the place where the rubber boat had been anchored before. The concentric waves that the blast had left make impossible to see the horizon line or calculate right distances. She is so lost in herself and her fear that doesn’t perceive the first wave reaching the side of the Dolphinsiren.
It impacts hard against the wood hull few seconds later and causes her to fall on her knees and palms. She does not even try to get on her feet again. Instead, she positions herself in a fetal position, fingers crossed behind her neck and eyes closed. Maybe all of this is not real - may be it is just a nightmare from which she is going to wake up. The second wave hits the boat and she trembles.
“Kate!! You OK?” She hears DiNozzo’s voice and feels his strong arms pulling her up, but her legs and weak and still uncooperative, she leans against him and looks up at his face, but he is not looking at her, his eyes are searching the horizon while a murmured word escape from his lips echoing into the hole that Kate feels in the place that her heart seems not be occupying anymore: “Boss”
Seconds go by in what seems like an eternity, and the reality hits her ruthlessly. It’s not a nightmare. This is real. DiNozzo runs towards the stern. Sedna and Tom are already there, helping each other in a rush with the diving equipment. Sedna was adjusting her belt with trembling hands when them get close. Kate locks eyes with her. Sedna’s eyes hold a strange icy desperation.
“Kate, DiNozzo. We are going underwater! It is the only way to know what happened!!! They could be still alive!!!”
Clearly it appears that the doctor is trying to believe her own statement and give them hopes. Kate nods and makes an effort to form words, at the second attempt she got it: “Sedna… what could we do to help?”
“Kate, you and McGee reach the Base Command through the radio. Don’t use phones or wireless, I’m sure that they already noticed the blast. Just report the situation, by now…the two SEAL’s and your boss are… (She hesitates before voicing aloud these words) missing in action. They will know what to do, they have probably displayed a rescue team already…by minutes are matter of life or dead now. We can’t wait for them to arrive!!!”
Tom cuts her, his caressing voice smoothing the sharp statement: “Sedna we better hurry…”
DiNozzo’s eyes are severe and his face exhibits the same resolve that Sedna had recognized into Gibb’s eyes: he grabs her arm. “Doc… I had seen the place from where the signal came from…it’s from land. It was detected by our Tech at HQ. Could be said that we already caught them, doc”
“You know what DiNozzo? I don’t care about the bloody bastards!!!”
She is interrupted by Tom, who is stepping over the board, ready to jump. She gives him an affirmative signal and they hear the splash sound of him hitting the water. Sedna is already stepping over the rim and wondering how in hell they are going to find the exact point where they could be.
Parts of the destroyed rubber boat are visible now, blast debris floating spread on surface, but if there are any survivors they could be anywhere in a wide ratio and the underwater visibility should be certainly bad.
A sharp whistle comes from below. Sheryl is at Tom’s side, waiting for her to join them in the water, it seems that she is not been affected by the blast and suddenly Sedna knows what to do.
She answers the dolphin whistle with another one and makes the signal meaning “search” follows by”Gibbs”. Without another word, Sedna adjusts her mask and jumps over the board at the time the dolphin dives at her best speed.
They had swum less than half the way when Sheryl reaches them at the surface whistling excitedly. Sedna and Tom know what to do, and Sheryl accepts them taking hold on her fins and brings them in tow to the exact point when she had located whatever it was. The dolphin swims underwater at the speed that permits humans to keep hold on her. She knows.
Suddenly they almost bump to a body floating on surface, the scraps of the navy diving suit still covering him, it was not necessary to search for the vital signals to know that the man is dead. He is the SEAL man and Sedna thinks that Stolzer is going to be in wrath, instantly she thinks that that is a very stupid consideration, she doesn’t even know if Stolzer is still alive or not .
Following the dolphin Sedna and Tom dive, the visibility is not as bad as they had thought. Obviously the substrate was mainly solid rock and was not removed by the blast as much as it would have been sandy. However, rests of algae, cracked shells and detritus are still floating around them and dulling - clouding the surroundings, even tough the hull of the ruined vessel is perfectly visible underneath. They approached the scene, their heartbeats increasing.
Slowly, Stolzer regains his consciousness, he feels numb but not so bad, apart that his ears are buzzing and aching painfully. He checks himself up…There are not broken bones or flesh wounds, and miraculously he still has his diving equipment intact and held in place. It takes him two or three seconds to be aware of his surroundings - probably he had passed out for some seconds, he knows that it had been a blast that reached them.
He is amazed of being still alive, unhurt and Stolzer thinks that the hull had protected him and the blast wave should had gone mainly in the opposite direction and up to the surface , it means that the explosive charge was placed onto the outer surface of the hull .In fact, the hull was now parted in two pieces.
The old rivets had gave in thankfully and had adsorbed the most of the blast energy, luckily he had been in between the two intact pieces but. Shit!!! What about the damn NCIS agent who was inside the damn wreckage??? He hadn’t time to wonder about his man and the boat yet when he sees two silhouettes approaching him, to be said better “three”, two humans and a dolphin.
The divers reach for him and he makes them signal that he is OK, but the dolphin instead face him passed by his side and despite his buzzing ears he feels the wave of her sonar system impacting his belly. It was not a bad feeling…but rather comforting, it makes him feel still alive.
But he is not Sheryl’s target. The dolphin is still searching for something else. The dolphin moves fast and graceful passing along him with Dr Dunn in tow and they round the corner of the damaged hull and get out of his sight. Tom stays at his side and helps him to do a quick check up to his equipment.
Having finished, Stolzer gave a glance to the surface and Tom can’t help to shake his head and moves apart his hands palms down, saying that there is nothing to do up there. The SEAL’s captain catches instantly the inference and he fights for keeping his breathing normal and tights his fists. His man had been his friend but he knows he must reserve his rage for afterward. Now, he is still on mission.
Sedna follows her Sheryl, she feels a speck of hope now that she knows that Stolzer is alive and if Sheryl is so excited it means that Gibbs is Ok? At least she hopes he is…she takes a look to her diving watch. The doctor knows that it’s now six or seven minutes since the blast occurred. Oh damn it! It’s too long if he is injured or his Scuba’s not working.
She follows Sheryl with no hesitation, the think that it would be more than one bomb not even crossed her mind, she trust on the dolphin skills absolutely as well Tom does. Sedna fights to keep her breathing under control and being calm. She doesn’t know what are going to face…and suddenly flashes of Kate’s terrified face reach her mind. They didn’t exchange any word, but Sedna knows she is shocked.
The doctor witness her pale face before diving with Tom and Sheryl, she had wanted to assure her that all is OK….that Gibbs and Stolzer are both still alive.
The old hull is a dark threatening shadow in front of them. Sheryl had gotten inside it seconds before the potent lights make her gray skin shine and Sheryl made sure of being seen offering them the view of the more pale skin of her belly.
Damn she knows, Sedna can’t help and thinks that the dolphin is completely conscious and sensitive about how human senses are helpless and useless underwater. Sheryl stops and releases a trace of bubbles facing them and moving her head up and down.
Following the direction they see another line of bubbles, this one thin and sparse… coming from underneath a large and thick piece of metal lying on the bottom floor - not properly lying on. There is a small space between the sea floor and the metal piece of blast, and yes the flood of bubbles was definitely coming from beneath…
Tom and Sedna approach to one side, they noticed the bubbles are not constant; the flood is time to time broken into an irregular pattern. This bubbles, although being weak …are not coming from a damaged isolated tank!!!
There is somebody there - someone is certainly breathing from this tank!
It’s Gibbs’ tank.
Sheryl is emitting audible sounds now and answering them. A hand appears from under one side of the metal leaf and makes signals” first: , followed immediately for another one he motions his hand repeatedly palm down, fingers open and stiff. Sedna gives his hand a brief touch and then pats the back of it. The hand relaxes, now he knows there are somebody there, somebody that can help him.
“Oh yeah” thinks Sedna, “It means he is hardly flattened against the sand bed and can’t move himself to get out. Damn, how are they going to get him out of there? Has Gibbs had enough air supply to wait for the Navy rescuers that are surely coming???
She gets her arm into the tight space and touches the side of his torso, there is not enough space to maneuver with other air pipe, he has his face twirl to the opposite side and his ear and neck is all that she can touch from here.
Sedna thinks that may be she felt alleviated much too soon. The piece of metal seems to be thick and heavy, and must be hard to move, even underwater. But they have to try.
They take positions at the side and apply all their strength. The thing hardly moves, it shifted less than one inch before laying back. At the second attempt Sheryl understands what are they doing and she seems to perceive the humans have no enough strength to deal with. The intelligent mammal makes her own room between them and put her nose in between their hands. Tom and Sedna looked at each other and let her enough space to move.
This time, while the metal leaf is moving up, the dolphin pushes her head further and underneath, using her caudal fin motion to apply her six hundred pounds weight against the odd thing and now it really moves !!! .
Unfortunately, there isn’t adequate space for Gibbs to release himself from beneath the waste of the blast and even worst was the fact that his tank appears to be the main trouble.
Sedna doesn’t think twice and letting Sheryl and Tom supporting the metal leaf, she gains herself inside the little space at the side of the dolphin head, being small framed sometimes maybe an advantage…she knows that.
And yes, the ocean bottom is sand as she had guessed, as quickly as she can. Sedna uses her bare hands to dig around the tank, aiming to release it from beneath. Unfortunately the only way to do it is letting him remain with no air… At least until they get him out. By second she is suddenly assaulted by doubts: What if she gets the air out of him and then they can’t extract him fast enough??? “Maybe would be better to wait for the help to come??” She wonders.
The question answered itself.
Somewhat the movement they did displaced the air pipes or the mouthpiece moved out of place and is out of his reach or, that Gibbs’s equipment was damaged because the flood of air suddenly stops.
All of them know that the next opportunity will be the last. Sedna prays for Gibbs being a good apnea diver while she is frantically pushing the sand apart. Having her left hand and arm solidly tugged around the tank she uses her right one to signal to Tom to be ready, that it was time to do the last attempt.
While Sedna was frantically digging, Sheryl had used her nose and mirrored her actions. She had got to make room enough to go further and shove her head almost completely under the piece of metal. Seconds seem to be hours and all them know that every second counts.
Gibbs feels faint, he had been dizzy and progressively numb from the very moment that had became conscious and aware of his desperate situation. He is barely able to move into the tight space, he had checked himself up, tensing his muscles methodically and it seems nothing had got broken. Although his head is placed in a very uncomfortable position and he feels the hardness of the metal inner surface in contact with his right temple if trying to move his neck.
One more inch and his neck could have been fractured and he would be certainly dead. He fights against the rising nausea and the urgency of taking his breath in, now that he can’t reach the mouthpiece since somebody had been pulling from his air tank in order to release him. He feels a hard object doing pressure against the right side of his ribcage and trying to get under his body. It is clear that is not a hand… What a hell?
The effort he is doing to guess what it would be, helps him to keep his mind focused in something more than the increasing lack of oxygen and Gibbs got his answer when a recently learnt sensation spreads along his body, radiating from the point of contact:
“Dolphin’s bio-sonar ” he realizes.
“It is Sheryl. The dolphin is here. That means Sedna, which means help is here”.
The discovery gives him hope. He can hold his breath longer…not to panic; everything is going to be OK.
All is happen very fast, he feels the pressure against his side increasing and simultaneously the leaf of metal is moving further up and the trouble that the tank is, is pulled out from under his body. During a couple of scaring seconds he feels unable to move, but a new adrenaline rush runs along his blood and being helped by a pair of hands he slides himself out of the leaf of blast that had almost crushed him.
Tom and Sheryl (with the most recent addition of Stolzer) had been supporting the weight up, and now that he is free a suddenly weakness gains him completely. Sedna offers him her mouthpiece and it requires all his strength not to breath wide and greedily. He knows that doing so could make him cough or even paralyze his diaphragmatic muscle. He breathes short and slow and passed one minute he starts to feel better.
The others had positioned the metal piece again on the marine bed and Sheryl keeps herself close them eyeing interestedly. She knows Gibbs is alive but despite his attempts he can’t swim and reach the surface by himself, besides, Stolzer and Sedna think that it was better to follow the decompress rules . So, Gibbs is brought slowly up, doing the necessary stops using Sedna’s equipment while Tom and her are sharing another one.
They had just surfaced when the noise of powerful rotors reach their ears mercilessly. By once this a very welcome noise, thinks Dunn.
Minutes later, there are three rescue boats there in addition to the helicopter. The bomb squad and paramedics with them. Gibbs was raised on board the helicopter despite his weak complains and driven to the base hospital.
Paramedics try to convince the hard ass agent, although is clear that they are going to the hospital with or without his acquiescence, the oldest of them, a blonde woman tells Gibbs that his breathing is still short and labored and he has a slight cyanosis, plus the oximeter that was attached to his thumb nail minutes before, indicates that the saturation of his hemoglobin is lower than normal .
She takes a second look to the digital band and sees that the previous value is rising up, and is almost normal after some minutes with the oxygen mask, but she is not giving up with her orders. Gibb’s eyes had followed hers, and he is not a doctor but he knows enough to see that a ninety percent is better than sixty… He rolls his eyes, damn!! He hates hospitals.
The SEAL diver is working in recovering the body of their killed comrade, Stolzer with them; Sedna and Tom were back on board the “Dolphinsiren” .
Kate is there, watching them to climb onboard. Her face is pale and Sedna sees that she had been biting her lower lip hard enough to let the mark her lips. She had watched Gibbs being raised to the helicopter and her heart was turned up down. The relief that she felt seeing him moving was brief.
“What if he is severely injured? “she imagines the worst “ What if he dies …and I … I never told him that…that I…”
Her “daymares” is interrupted by Sedna, who discharges herself from her diving equipment and unzips her suit approaches to Kate and slides a hand over her arm. Tom and the others are not at earshot now, so Sedna talks attempting to comfort her friend.
“ Heeey Kate !! He is OK!!!! She searches for her eyes and sees tears on them,
“Don’t cry Kate. You have no reasons to… he is really a strong guy… hell!!! There are few guys that could stand being trapped underwater like him just did it!!!
Kate looks at her friend. Hope is in her tears stained eyes from now, but she keeps arguing asking for Sedna’s reassurance. “But… but… what if there’s some other complication? He is not young anymore and…”
The doctor bursts out laughing on Kate’s last comment, “Agent Todd!! I‘d like him to hear you say that!!! What do you think he would do to you, huh?”
Kate’s smile is a just perceptible one, but looking at the friendly eyes of her new friend her smile widens slowly.
“Well…you got a point there. The age thing always pushes his buttons and currently DiNozzo keeps doing this malicious statements just to annoy him…he says nothing but Gibbs always makes it clear to us with his actions that he is able to do all Dinozzo can, and more, even being fifteen years older!!!
Sedna is grateful looking the humor sparkle dancing into Kate’s eyes. She is giving her something to think of, which is going to help in the hours to come.
The doctor smirks at the best Gibbsian style, leaning into her personal space and locking her teasing eyes with hers, she says, her voice smooth and low: “Agent Todd, there is just one place where a man shows how young or healthy he really is, no matter what his chronological age would be…after all, we are all just animals” and she speaks the last words before leaving to meet her crew, letting a blushed and distracted Kate, alone:
“In bed…that how it really counts…don’t you think, Kate?”
TBC.....
Remember that this story is co-writed with Nova and feed us back with your comments and suggestions...
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs knows that the answers he wants could be hidden into the deep ocean. He dives for the truth and meets face to face with death. And Kate faces her true feelings for him.
Chapter End Notes:
Okay , guys... you have to forgive us ... It's been a while since our last post... Nova has problems with her Internet access and we had to look for another beta for this chapter... But the results are here !!! This chapter is mainly action....
Our special special thanks to Michelle Euster, our beloved beta !!!! Please, enjoy the chapter and feed us with your reviews and PM. Chapter 10 is in progress... GOOD progress. Remember that feeds back make us to hurry !!!!! Enjoy!!!!
Our special special thanks to Michelle Euster, our beloved beta !!!! Please, enjoy the chapter and feed us with your reviews and PM. Chapter 10 is in progress... GOOD progress. Remember that feeds back make us to hurry !!!!! Enjoy!!!!