Leviathan

"Sarah, my young dear, these bottles of wine, well ... to put it mildly, they should be in one of your Event vaults. Sauternes from Chateau d'Yquem seventeen eighty-seven--in two thousand six, a single bottle of this wine was auctioned for ninety-seven thousand of your American dollars. There was thought to be no more than two in existence, and here we are staring at four of them, to be a beverage served at lunch."

"Never cared for wine all that much," Lee said as he used his cane to limp toward the table.

"Dear Senator Lee, let me put this in a perspective you may be able to appreciate. The grapes in these bottles were picked the same year that George Washington became your first president."

"Well, give it to him;don't care for wine."

The salon door opened at the far end, and the same blond-haired man they had seen in the operation center entered and then gently closed the two large hatches. He was dressed in a navy blue jacket and tie. The first officer of Leviathansmiled and stepped up to the Event staff.

"Good afternoon," he said, reaching Farbeaux first. "I am First Officer James Grady Samuels, formerly of Her Majesty's Royal Navy."

Farbeaux looked at the man with the soft English accent, and then down at his outstretched hand. The Frenchman finally shook hands.

"Colonel Henri Farbeaux, I believe, formerly of the French Army?" Samuels asked.

"Yes," the Frenchman answered. "This is Lieutenant Sarah McIntire," he said, placing a hand at the small of Sarah's back and allowing her to shake the officer's hand.

"I am well aware of Ms. McIntire and her credentials. Your efforts with the incident in Arizona two years ago, and then again last year in Okinawa, were well noted by our captain."

Sarah said nothing as she stepped out of the way.

The well-mannered officer stepped forward and smiled at Alice.

"Leviathanis indeed graced by your presence, Mrs. Hamilton. I have heard and read so much about you, it feels as though I know you," he said, taking her hand and kissing it. Then he smiled again and moved to Lee. "Senator Garrison Lee, I won't even begin to flatter a man of such deeds as yourself, for then we may never eat our lunch. Senator, war hero, OSS general, Event Group director, it is an honor--"

"Don't bother, son. I was a witness to your orders in your operations room. You'll excuse me if I refrain from shaking the hand of a murderer." Lee looked from the first officer's outstretched hand to his eyes, and then stepped away.

Samuels closed his hand and looked away for a moment, but he didn't answer Lee's accusation. He did, however, approach Virginia with renewed enthusiasm.

"Dr. Virginia Pollock, inventor of the saltwater conversion module during your time at General Dynamics Electric Boat Division. It is an honor, ma'am."

"Excuse me--Mr. Samuels, is it? But I think I'm of the same opinion as the senator. I find you and what you're doing very distasteful. You have taken the cause of ecology to an all-time low."

The man truly looked taken back as he turned and found Niles Compton.

"Director Compton, although you must be of the same opinion as your assistant director and former mentor, I would still like to thank you for being aboard. To answer the seriousness of the charges leveled against my captain and her crew, you must understand we consider ourselves at war, and believe we have conducted ourselves accordingly. All declarations have been made in advance. There is no murder here, other than that already perpetrated by the countries of the world against the very planet on which they live."

Niles pursed his lips and then nodded, but said nothing. He saw a slight hesitation in the first officer's words--it was as if he had to fight to get the speech out of his mouth.

"Then you're now going to enlighten us as to why my people were killed and we ourselves kidnapped from our complex?" Niles asked.

"The captain will answer your questions. For now, please, would you all take a seat; your host will join us shortly. The captain decided it would have shown a lack of naval etiquette to have you eat lunch in your staterooms," he said, just as a hidden speaker in the room sounded.

"Attention to orders from the office of the captain. We have received confirmation that the corrective measures taken in the southern Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea have been confirmed as successful. However, there has been significant loss of life. The captain has ordered a prayer service for the lives lost at twenty hundred hours in the chapel. A representative of each of the boat's divisions is mandatory. Thank you."

The room was quiet as the first officer silently gestured the group to their seats.

Lee was about to say something when Alice shook her head slowly, telling him to stay the insult or accusation brimming to get out.