Suzie Elliot, Evil Genius?

Chapter 22

By late the next night Suzie was completely stir crazy. She had seen more than her fair share of the inside of the submarine, and couldn't believe that at one time she couldn't wait to take a ride in one. Now she just wanted to get off of it and never come back. But now she had another problem. They had never decided if she and Joe should get off the sub first in one of the inflatable rafts, or if her parents and their team should go first. Susan was all for going first, so she could follow and track her parents from the shore. But Joe wanted to wait, so they could make sure her parents got to shore safely, and that they weren't spotted.

In the end though, Suzie had to get off the submarine. She was having trouble breathing in the enclosed space, and knowing her parents were there, and that she couldn't see them, was making her shake uncontrollably. With her adverse reaction, and her desire to get off first, they surfaced the submarine and prepared to disembark.

"Do you have everything packed up?" Joe asked before they left their cabin.

"Yep, I double checked everything, and there is nothing we missed," Suzie replied.

"Well then let's get to shore so you feel better!"

"Wait, I'll meet you on the bridge. I need you to bring this to my parents and the others," Suzie held out an envelope.

Joe hesitated. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"No. But, in case they want or need them, they should have options."

"Your sense of honor is going to get the best of you if you're going to keep running your empire," Joe said softly.

Suzie wasn't hurt. She knew he was worried about her being discovered, but she had to do it. "I know. But they're my parents. I have to do this."

"Okay, I'll give it to them. Let's get this over with so we can have fresh air and get home!"

Suzie smiled at that. She knew Joe wanted to wait, but it was very nice that he supported the decision to go first once it had been made. He opened the hatch and then headed forward to the compartment her parents were in. She followed him part of the way, but then turned and went into the control room.

"Hi Helmut, are we ready to go?"

"We're doing a final check now, and then we can surface and get the rafts deployed," Helmut said pointing to Mister Harris, who had his eyes glued to the periscope as he moved in a circular dance.

"Excellent. Thank you for the hospitality Helmut."

"No need to thank me. It was my pleasure having you aboard. Any time you want another ride, you let me know."

"Maybe a short one, but this trip has me feeling lousy now. I've been under water way too long, thank you very much!"

"I understand that. We had a few men react that way on the shakedown cruise. It can happen to anyone."

"Sir, the area is all clear on radar, sonar and visually," said Mister Harris, lowering the periscope."

"Excellent. Surface the ship!"

Instantly the men started moving, each doing their assigned tasks to get the submarine up to the surface safely. Suzie could feel the deck moving upward beneath her, like a giant elevator. With torpedoes. She tried not to giggle at the image.

When the sub settled to the surface, Helmut scurried nimbly up the ladder, while Suzie waited at the bottom. Once he made sure it was safe, he waved her on up. She hurried up, pausing only when her backpack caught on the hatch, then breathed in the fresh sea air. It was glorious after being stuck in the submarine all day with the thoughts of all the water above her. She was actually shaking with relief to be out of the sub, it felt so good!