NationStates Jolt Archive

"If you weren't married then I would have asked you to come along with us." Pete revealed. He looked up from the map and toward her. "Sadly this is not the case."

Christi smiled and hugged Pete, hard. "I'd like to come along... make sure Malena's all right." She didn't want to say outright that she didn't trust Miles.

"She'll probably need someone, if her new relationship doesn't work."

"You are willing to risk your career too?" asked Pete, breaking away from the hug.

"The risk of being caught is minimal," said Christi. "They won't recognise you, and if Miles is smart enough to disguise himself we're home free."

Pete gave her a small peck on the cheek. "I will not let anything happen to you, Christi."

"Shall we be off?" asked Christi.

"Where to?" Pete asked as he went back to studying the map.

"Out of here?" Christi looked quizzically at Pete.

"We are going to wait. Submarine has to get in place and all that jazz." replied Pete.

"OK," said Christi. She sat down on the sofa. There seemed to be little to do until it was time to leave.

"What do you want to do, of course after I am done looking at this map?"

"Hadn't really thought about it, why?"

"I dunno. I thought you might want to do something besides sit around here all day."

"Like what? Right now, I can't think of much I want to do besides get this mess over with..."

"Well I can think of one thing." Pete said with a devilish smile.

Christi got the hint. She opened her shirt slowly...

"Want me to help you with that?" asked Pete.

Christi nodded casually and lay down on the floor.

"How would you compare me to your past lovers?" Pete said as he slowly undressed her, then himself.

This was a rather uncomfortable question. Christi was still in contact with three or four guys she was sleeping with whenever her husband was at sea, or when she was sent abroad. She was in a position of answering truthfully - that he was so-so given the number of men she'd been with, telling a white lie that was clearly transparent, or not answering and simply being asked again.

She simply lay back and acted as if she hadn't heard.

"Why do I have to do all the work?" asked Pete, once undressed.

"You don't." Christi slipped her clothes off and opened her trousers.

Pete gently took to her and made sure both of them were satisfied. Once done he let out a big deep exhale.

Malena turned to Miles. To her, the sexual noises coming from within her house were nothing to be surprised about.

"Oh jeez...don't tell me that they are having sex?" Miles asked, while floating.

"Yeah, probably," said Malena. "Well, we've done the exact same thing, so..." She seemed unimpressed.

"But not when people were around. I mean it was just you and me." Miles swam around her.

"Eh." Malena slid into the water. "Guess he's just gone native."

"Wait...I am the one who has spent more time in this country. You would expect me to go native first." Miles said, right before hugging her from behind. "Sorry about earlier."

Malena smiled. "In Canadstein, if that happens... we won't come looking for you." She seemed half joking.

"I am pretty sure that it will not happen in Canadstein." teased Miles.

Malena nodded calmly. Right now, she just wanted to get the wait over with.

"What's... Canadsteiner attitude toward drug use?"

"Drug. Yeah I should remind you not to bring any mind altering drugs with you."

"So leave the magic brownies at home..." said Malena. She climbed out and lay on the sundeck.

"That might be a good idea." replied Miles.

Malena went back into her room to dry off and go to sleep. She had a sub to catch...

The other two men prepared them for their escape day. Pete had gone into town to get some supplies, an inflatable raft, and some paddles. He made sure that there were enough supplies for four. They didn't want to starve out in the middle of nowhere. Better to be over prepared than under prepared.

When Christi woke up the next day to the supplies, she began preparing to leave. Malena woke up somewhat later, packing what she would need for three weeks in Canadstein. She had had two thousand shekels converted into marks at a local bank that dealt in foreign currencies.

Both of the men were hard at work. When Miles got a moment to catch his breath he went over to Malena. "Why are you bringing money?"

"Might want something," said Malena casually.

"Well...couldn't I pay for it?" replied Miles, taking a moment to breath.

"You could. But I like to be independent," replied Malena. "Unless there's a cultural issue I should be aware of..." Are women subordinate to men over there?

"Things are very different over there. You honestly have no idea Malena." replied Miles.

"Fill me in. I haven't had the chance to read up." Malena figured if there was anything weird, Christi would have told her... but most of her time there was hiding from the Agency with Miles or hunting down Molly. She had little more knowledge of Canadsteiner culture than Malena.

"Well...Canadstein is a much more rigid and conservative society. We haven't been in a war for about 130 years. That means almost no one on the streets carries a weapon. Sure most males between the ages of 18 through 45 have a SIG SG 550, but that is only used for when an invasion occurs. Next we have sex. That is kept in private, so it is certainly something that people don't talk about. Okay with cloths...think of the Victoria Era, but a little less restrict. Men most wear suits on weekdays and leisure clothes on the weekends. Almost every man wears a hat, a Homburg, Trilby, Fedora, or Bowler. On the other hand women wear mostly dresses, that really don't show anything, but not too restricting." Miles stopped himself to see if he was forgetting anything. "Also don't use too many profanities. We try to use 'proper' language instead. Religion is important, Canadstein is mostly Roman Catholic. Almost everyone goes to Church. I think...that is all."

Malena seemed surprised. "Now I know why Senator Romero's always saying nasty things in the media about Canadstein." Melissa Romero was a high-ranking member of the Anti-Catholic Party, who had taken over when its chair went into hiding in Allanea.

"And there I was, thinking she might have just taken the feminist angle a little too far, or just been mad about the... incursions. Christi's a Catholic, I think. Not a very devout one, of course. She didn't say anything about the culture."

"Catholicism is part of Canadstein's history. In the early days it united all the separate Canadstein states under one monarchy. Without it then Canadstein would surely not exist." replied Miles.

Malena nodded. She wasn't religious at all, and wasn't used to conforming to other religious norms beyond not dressing in a miniskirt in a heavily Orthodox Jewish area.

"I... see. What do you have on the sub?"

"What do you mean? It is probably any old sub."

"I'm just... eager for it to get here, I guess. Shouldn't be more than 24 hours now, right?"

"Yep, I think Pete is getting ready to go."

"OK," Malena replied. "I'll go pack up."

Miles nodded, then went back to packing too.

Malena went back to her room. Christi had already finished after she was done with Pete.

Both men were done packing their stuff into Christi's car and waiting for both of the women. It didn't seem like either of them were going to drive.

Malena loaded her bag into Christi's car. Christi climbed into the driver's seat next to Malena and started it up. Malena programmed the destination into Christi's satellite navigation system.

If nothing happened, they'd be at the shoreline waiting for the submarine in four hours...

Pete and Miles both got into the back and quickly fell asleep. They were going to be needed as much as possible.

Christi sped down the highway, doing over 150 kilometres per hour whenever the road conditions allowed. In a short time they were at the shoreline.

A few guys hunting seals prowled the beaches with clubs and axes, carrying seal carcasses and bait. Coast Guard vessels were a rarity, occasionally coming into view and disappearing as quickly as they appeared. A young woman floated in the icy water, a practitioner of an extreme sport called ice swimming. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_swimming) She was short and somewhat chunky, giving her a layer of insulative fat, but not so fat it would cause health problems.

"Do either of you have any weapons?" asked Pete, while looking out the window but putting on a jacket at the same time. Miles was still fast asleep.

Christi reached into her jacket and pulled a Hi-Point .45 ACP. "This is all I have," she said.

Malena shook her head. She trusted the Canadsteiners and their lower crime rate to justify her not needing a weapon. Christi looked quizzically at her, as if she were mad for going into a foreign country unarmed.

"Trust me Christi. If you are caught overseas with a weapon, then things will not be pretty. You could end up in jail or just be outright deported. Plus would you rather have me ask you or the commander of the submarine?" Pete asked as he took the gun away from Christi.

"That is all I have," said Christi calmly. She trusted Pete. She just didn't trust his government.

"I know that you will tell me the truth Christi. There is no doubt in my mind." Pete kissed her on the cheek.

Christi smiled. She and Malena stepped out of the vehicle and waited for the sub.

The two men immediately got out of the car and started to unpack their supplies. Once that task had been complete, with easy, they started to inflate the raft.

Christi and Malena put their bags on the raft and sat down. They waited to meet with this submarine...

Once the raft was inflated, Miles packed the rest of the stuff then got in. Pete started to push it into the ocean. As he pushed he was definitely not ready for the icy waters. Fast as humanly possible Pete got the raft into a suitable position to row, then got he. He was shivering. This was not a good sign.

"Christi..."

Miles looked over. There was no time to tend to Pete. They had a schedule to keep. If they were not at the location at the designed time, then they would be left behind.

Christi put her jacket over Pete. She could keep him warm for the few minutes it would take for the submarine. Malena held the jacket in place as Christi lay on top of him to provide body heat.

"Does the submarine have a sick bay?" asked Malena.

"Probably once the submarine surfaces I want you two to get Pete into the submarine." responded Miles, continuing to paddle.

"OK," said Christi. She took over for Malena with the jacket, even though she was suffering from the cold herself.

"Malena... take the paddles and get us there as fast as we can."

Soon enough they were at the designated location. They were a few minutes early, but it was better than a few minutes late. Miles took a deep breath. Was he finally going to escape from Kahanistan?

It seemed so. A coast guard hydrofoil pulled up and a lieutenant called over to warn over a bullhorn, "The seas here are pretty dangerous, hostiles afloat. You might want to turn back."

The officer didn't seem to recognise Miles, though. If he did, he wasn't saying so.

"Yeah....sure." Miles looked down at his watch.

The lieutenant nodded. "You need me, just radio for help. If you come under attack out there... well, let me know and I'll see that you get part credit for the kill." He sped off with his boat.

While the occasional ship might pop up on the horizon, the Navy didn't seem to be looking for Miles.

Miles simply nodded back. Once the boat had left he let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully that sap hadn't caught on. Who knows what would have happened if he had. Well none of that mattered. Miles looked down at his watch. Two more minutes and the submarine should be surfacing.

Christi and Malena sat on either side of Pete to keep him from dying of hypothermia before the sub surfaced. They waited for the sub to rise...

Suddenly the sea started to become more fierce. This had to be submarine. Miles looked over at Christi and Malena to hold on. Their escape was about to come out of the ocean. Rising from the depths of the black, foamy sea a tower of a submarine slowly started to come out. Miles grinned as he saw this. He was finally getting out. As he did this he almost lost his footing. The raft itself was moving. Part of the submarine was carrying them up. It had been underneath them the whole time. Without warning it came to a jerky stop. There was sounds from the tower. Then a man in naval uniform appeared.

"Awww...you must be Miles Mason and company. Well I am Captain John Nelson and this is the RCS Albert. I welcome you aboard."

Christi nodded to the captain. "I'd like to introduce myself, but right now we have a man freezing to death." She indicated Pete on the raft.

Captain Nelson nodded back. He ducked down for a second and a high pitch whistle was heard. Two men, also wearing naval uniforms, quickly appeared, then went down the ladder to get Pete. One of them looked like the resident doctor. The doctor of the two checked Pete's heartbeat and other vitals. After quickly doing that, the other man came over and they picked up Pete. Soon enough Pete was within the submarine. As the two men scurried away with Pete, Captain Nelson went down the ladder. Miles and John's eyes met. They nodded at each other.

"I guessing that you need help with your belongings?" Captain Nelson said with a smile.

"I'm fine," said Christi. "Lieutenant Colonel Christi McDaniels, Kahanistan Marines. This is Major Malena Neil, Kahanistan Army Special Forces. How is Pete going to be?"

"Hopefully he will be alright Lt. McDaniels. There is no telling, but those two men are bringing him down to the infirmary. He had a fighting chance down there. But honestly only time will tell." Captain Nelson stated. "Now do you need help with any of your belongings?"

"I'm... fine," Christi repeated. She hefted her bag onto her shoulders. "Malena might." Malena was certainly smaller, and didn't have as much protection from the cold, but she was still conscious, though not likely in condition to carry her bag.

"Miss do you need a jacket?" Captain Nelson asked to Malena.

Malena nodded. "And some... help with the bag."

Captain Nelson handed over his pea coat to Malena. "Here. Now you go inside. Someone inside the submarine will show you to your rooms. I will get some men to get your belongings. I don't want another person having to go to the infirmary."

Malena went inside the sub after Christi. They let the crew take them to their rooms... it seemed they were on their way to Canadstein and nothing could stop them, or could it?

An Ensign was waiting inside the submarine once both women came down. He quickly led them along a hallway until he stopped at two rooms. One was labeled a Captain, obviously Nelson, and the other Lieutenant. These two rooms must be where the officers sleep. Of course this wasn't going to be the case for the next few days. There was no chance both women were sleeping with the rest of the men. Mostly because it was all men. Captain Nelson thought that the women might need their privacy. As the young Ensign opened the door an alert rang out. They were starting to dive.

"Don't be startled by that. Just a warning. Now I think Captain Nelson wants to have dinner with you. Meet him in the officer's dining room at 8. Also I am sure that your belongings will be here shortly."

Christi nodded. She seemed to be somewhat mistrusting of the Canadsteiners - she'd read the intelligence reports saying that agents would sometimes lace food with sedatives. She didn't believe the Agency was gone, not for a second. Malena, on the other hand, seemed quite carefree - maybe she hadn't read the reports, maybe she simply didn't care. She had been taking crazy risks lately...

"Not to seem ungrateful," said Christi. "Is there a vacant crew quarters we could share? It isn't like we aren't used to roughing it."

"Sorry miss. These are the only rooms. Everyone just stays in one room, which is filled brim to brim with beds." The ensign thought for a moment. "Well there is one more place. Would you mind sleeping in the infirmary. We do have two beds in there."

"Wouldn't want to take beds from the sick," said Christi. "We'll go with the officer's quarters." She was more suspicious than ever - she'd have to fill Malena in on her feelings when she could get alone time with her. The captain didn't just give up his quarters... there was something fishy going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of this.

"Ladies, if you need anymore help just call for Ensign Lightoller. Oh yes...forgot to introduce myself. I guess you already know my name." The Ensign nodded toward them, then went back to his normal duties.

The women went to quarters, where Christi began searching for bugs.

"What're you doing?" asked Malena. She was tired and sat down on the bed.

"Checking for bugs," Christi replied. "Something's fishy, I just can't put my finger on it. I don't trust the Canadsteiners."

Malena rolled her eyes. "You're just being paranoid. Don't piss them off. I'm going to sleep." She rolled over and closed her eyes.

Christi scoffed and continued her bug search. "Don't eat any of the food here, either. We can go without for a few days, and by then we should be in Canadstein." She wouldn't put it past the Canadsteiners to put sedatives or whatnot in the food aboard, but on dry land she could get food herself and not worry about such tainting.

Malena ignored her and went to sleep.

Around 8 o'clock there was a knock on both woman's door. It must be Ensign Lightoller.

Malena stepped up to answer the door. Christi, on the other hand, stayed in her bed, not fully trusting the crew.

"You ready to go to dinner?" asked Ensign Lightoller, though he wondered why the other Kahanistani was staying in her room. Maybe she was sick. Soon enough he would find that out.

Malena nodded. "All right. What're we having?"

Christi merely rolled over in bed, as if too ill to eat. She wasn't going to let them know she was on to them... yet.

"Honestly I don't know. Probably a surprise." Lightoller with a smile. It seemed like Christi wasn't coming. As he led Malena away from the bedroom, he started to whisper. "Do you know what is wrong with her?"

"She's... a bit paranoid," Malena replied. "She thinks that there's an Agent aboard, and doesn't trust anyone. Took a lot of getting to know Pete, and some nasty surprises, before she trusted him, if I recall correctly."

Malena couldn't think of anything else to say. Christi was showing signs of paranoia, but was she any more so than anyone else who had read the Intel files...?

"Do you think we should bring her back some food?" asked Lightoller.

Malena shook her head. "No. She can go for a few days without food, and she advised me not to eat anything on the sub... not that I'm going to listen to her. You would probably just upset her or get her more suspicious."

Lightoller stopped for a moment. "Wait...why did she tell you not to eat anything on the sub?"

"Christi's paranoid," replied Malena. "She thinks it's drugged, that there's an Agent aboard."

"Anything I should know about her?" Lightoller asked, wonder if the other Kahanistani could be a possible threat.

"Well... what do you want to know about her?" asked Malena. "She's my age... 28, she's married but it's culturally acceptable in Kahanistan if the husband's stationed away for extended periods for a woman to take lovers... it's understood that the men do it too, I know you're a little less liberal about that. She's nominally Catholic, but not too religious. She likes sports, kind of extreme sports. Base jumping and the like. We aren't that close..."

"No...I mean anything...that could be a potential threat." restated Lightoller.

"No," Malena replied. "I don't think she's a threat, as long as you give her a wide berth until we get to shore."

"May I ask why you are not shut away in your cabin like her?" asked a now curious Lightoller.

"I guess I'm more trusting than she is," replied Malena.

"Why do you trust us? I mean in the eyes of most Kahanstanis we are just the big bad Canadsteiners that are up to no good. We kidnap for no reason and ruthlessly kill."

"That's the Agency. It's no more representative of all Canadsteiners than, say, the Anti-Catholic Party is all Kahanistanians. I try not to generalise," Malena replied.

"Sorry for all the questions, Miss Neil. I guess my curiosity gets the best of me." Lightoller finally stopped at the only wooden door aboard the whole submarine.

Above it was a small plaque. It read Officer's Dining Room. The young ensign grabbed the door and opened it for Malena. Inside was a cozy little dining room with a rectangular table that took up much of the room. A very fine set of silverware and china had been set out. It looked like it had been rarely used. Both sets were probably only used for special occasions. Six chairs were placed around the table. Two on each side, except for the head and opposite side which had one. Sitting at the head was Captain Nelson, who was talking to both to Miles and an unknown Lieutenant. Oddly enough Pete was missing. He must have still been in the infirmary. Once the three men noticed Malena they got up.

"Welcome, Miss Neil." Captain Nelson addressed. He was wondering where the other Kahanistani was at. "This is Lieutenant Joesph Pitman. I am guessing that you are famished?"

Miles looked over at Malena with a smile. Once Malena was seated they all sat down. If Malena was watching carefully she would have noticed that Ensign Lightoller disappeared.

"Where is your friend?" asked Lt. Pitman. "I was hoping to meet both of you."

Malena smiled and sat down. "She is... not as trusting of the Canadsteiners as I am," she replied calmly. "She thinks that there are Agents among the crew. I think she only came along to look out for me."

"Well we do have one agent aboard and he is sitting right next to you." Captain Nelson said. Lt. Pitman started to laugh. It was true that only one agent was aboard. That man happened to be Miles Mason.

Malena smiled. She was convinced he had left the Agency. "How is the other man who came aboard with us?"

"Still in the infirmary. We were lucky to surface when we did. He will be in there for a while, but he will survive." responded Captain Nelson. Soon a man appeared with four salads and some kind of tomato soup. He must have been submarine's chef.

Malena nodded. She waited for the food to be passed around. "Do you... have any rituals, any blessings you say over a meal?"

She wasn't terribly religious, but she would join in if only to show respect for their culture.

Captain Nelson shook his head. "We just start eating. I don't think any of us are deeply religious aboard this submarine."

"OK." Malena dug in. She wondered how long they would be aboard the sub. She hoped Christi wouldn't starve to death before they got to a port... or that she would see reason when nothing happened to Malena.

"If you don't mind we asking, but what do you see in a bloke like Miles?" asked Lt. Pitman. "I mean after all he is a hated Canadsteiner Agent, no offense to you Miles."

Malena thought deeply. What did she see in him?

"At first... I took pity on him when most of Kahanistan wanted his head. We just... grew closer, I guess."

"Hmmmm...are you sure that you like him? That answer took a while." commented Captain Nelson as he finished off his salad. "Miles has told us of his little adventure in Kahanistan. Maybe he was the first person to actually half-way care about you. Then you wanted this feeling to never escape you again, so you made yourself love him."

"I don't know," said Malena.

"A little unsure? This was a very big decision." replied Captain Nelson as he looked at both Malena and Miles.

Malena shrugged and looked blank. She didn't seem to be willing or able to reflect on her decision.

Captain Nelson looked over at Miles. It was pretty obvious that Miles was going to talk to Malena later.