To Hunt and Protect
Page 15
She hugs him, “You sound so smart.”
AMY’S COTTAGE, BALMAIN, WEST OF SYDNEY
Gary wraps Amy up close and rolls, so they’re side by side in the bed, “Oh wow. Wow. Just wow. Amy, you’re amazing.”
She lightly caresses his face, “You are too.”
“I…today, I hoped to get to talk to a pretty girl. Your beautiful. Your funny. Your amazing.”
She smiles, “When do you leave?”
“I have duty tomorrow. I don’t know when we’re leaving, but we are supposed to be here for a couple of weeks. Maybe three. They don’t tell us when.”
“Okay. I need to get a little sleep before I go on shift at midnight. Can I see you again?”
“Absolutely. I would really like that. Where do you want to meet?”
“You think you can find this place?”
“If you write down your address, the taxi can.”
She climbs out of bed, in the nick, and writes her address on a note card. He lounges in the bed admiring her, “You’re incredible.”
“Your good for my self-esteem. We need to get a shower.”
“Okay.”
USS CARL VINSON
0850, 06 February, 1942
LCDR Petrea walks down the brow and sees John waiting at its foot. She gets to him and smiles, “Tell me you have a car.”
“Yes, I do. Now hopefully, I can drive on the wrong side of the road. Is that in your skill set?”
“No, I’m afraid not.”
“Well, I’ll muddle through. If I scare you, please say so.”
“I’m from New York.”
He laughs and opens the wrong door for her, “Oops.” They settle into the Ford sedan and he pulls out. “I thought first to drive into Sydney proper, then we can explore.”
“That works.”
They drive through down town with its tall buildings and shops. He served in Scotland for three years and has no trouble driving. His navigation skills do result in the sounding of a few horns from other drivers. They drive by the Queen Victoria Building and John says, “This is supposed to be the best place to shop.”
Petrea smiles, “Maybe later.”
“Okay.” He drives into the Royal Botanic Gardens and parks. “A walk?”
“Sure.”
He hands her out of the car and they start down one of the many footpaths. Liz, “Were you married?”
John breathes, “I got married to Lisa the day before we sailed.”
“Oh my God.”
“It…It’s hard to explain.”
“I was married to Tim for three years. He…he’s special.”
John, “I don’t want to fly a false flag. I can’t even imagine being with anyone but Lisa. I just can’t.”
Liz, “Truth, I feel the same about Tim. He’s the love of my life.”
“So, this isn’t a date?”
She quirks up the side of her mouth, “Is that okay?”
“It’s wonderful. Way better. Okay, that sounds awful. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I do. Exactly. I just wanted off the ship and didn’t want to hang with the guys.”
“Okay, how do we keep this non-date from getting awkward?”
She smiles up at him, “We talk. I know I need to.”
“You don’t want to hear me whining about Lisa.”
“I do. I do, if you can put up with me whining about Tim. I think we both could use the relief valve. So, you married her right before you left?”
“We dated for a year when I was a JO. Back then, I proposed twelve times, and she said no, every time.”
“Do you know why?”
“Sure. She didn’t want to fuck up her career. She was convinced it was incompatible with being a Navy wife.”
“What did she do? Pole dancing?”
He laughs, “You’re direct. No, she’s a song writer and back-up singer in a band. Well, she was.”
Liz, “She probably still is, somewhere.”
“No, she married the lead singer. When she divorced him, she left the band.”
“Oh, okay. Have I heard of them?”
“Metalsmith.”
“Yeah. I really liked one of their early songs. I can’t recall the name, just the lyric.”
“What’s the lyric?”
“My heart screams out for you, but it doesn’t make a sound.”
He smiles, “She wrote that.”
“So, you know it?”
“Yeah, but I can’t sing.”
“Who is it about?”
“This is going to sound massively self-centered.”
“Okay, but is it the truth?”
“Yeah. She wrote it after we broke up, right after she said no for the twelfth time. I feel this empty hole where my heart was. God, I miss her.”
“Yeah, I get it. You know, she was probably right.”
“What?”
“Her career and yours were almost completely incompatible.”
John, “I know, but we would have figured it out. If it hurt my career, it would have still been worth it.”
Liz, “All the lost years to hurt.”
“That’s the worst part. We could have been happy for fifteen years.”
“I can feel that pain. I was in a fucked-up marriage for four years. I finally found the strength to dump him and six months later, I really saw Tim.”
“You worked with him?”
“Yeah. I’m a mustang. We met at ‘A’ school. He was a nuke and I was a diesel dyke. We met again when we were on the Gompers. He was a chief, and I was a lieutenant JG going through a divorce. The day he retired, he asked for a date. I said yes. God, I’m glad I said yes. When they opened nuclear power billets at sea to women, I signed up. He encouraged me through nuclear power school and prototype, because he understood what it was about. In every way, we lift each other up. In no way, do we pull each other down. He’s a one in a billion guy.”
“So, we both have an unfillable hole.”
Liz, “We do. Right now, I’m not even looking for a shovel, but it’s nice to talk about it.”
“Yeah, it is. Did you have kids?”
“Thank God, no. That would be the worst.”
John, “What year was Tim born?”
“1949. In 1967 he’ll be legal, and I’ll be a haggard fifty-five.”
“You might not be haggard.”
“Do you know anything about women? We do have a shelf life.”
“Only to stupid, shallow people. Real beauty comes from within. So does real ugly. Yours is a beautiful soul.”
Liz grins, “Some of my guys would disagree.”
“Yep, and they would be wrong. They don’t see what I see.”
“John, I’m a demanding mercurial bitch on the job.”
“Good. In your job, you have to be. I’m an XO. Normally, I have to be a pain in the ass, too. Lately, I need to be the nice guy.”
“Why?”
“Because our captain is a flaming ass hole.”
Liz laughs, “Captain Johnson is pretty cool. Tucker is, too. He has a sense of humor that is needed. We’re all still demanding assholes to some of the guys. It’s necessary.”
“Yeah. As important as it is to care for our crews, we also need to keep them in fighting trim. Do you recall what Rickover said about that?”
“I’m pretty new in nuclear power. I probably need to complete a Rickover PQS.”
John smiles, “Yeah. Anyway, he was asked why he trusted his enlisted men as much as he did. He said, ‘If you send a ship out crewed entirely by officers, it would never come back. If you send a ship out crewed entirely by enlisted, it would always come back. It would just come back dirty.’”
Liz howls, “That is so true. So, fucking true. So, what is wrong with your captain?”
“He has zero empathy. I think he believes a strong face in front of the men is needed. He’s incapable of caring. From time to time, he seems to be faking it. He generally fails. After we found out about the time tran
sference, he couldn’t understand why our crew was upset. After all, the Navy didn’t issue them a family.”
“You’re serious.”
“As a heart attack. The only time he’s happy is when he’s just killed another sub. I do have to admit, he is effective tactically, though he takes too many chances.”
“How many have you killed?”
“We’ve sunk seven Japanese subs, one battleship, one cruiser, and one destroyer.”
Liz, “He always has to push the button?”
“Oh no. His latest game is to test the loyalty of the crew. Once the shot is set up, he’ll call someone over and order them to push the button. If they refuse, he masts them.”
“That’s sick.”
“Yeah, welcome to my world.”
“Has he ordered you to do it?”
“Yeah, which was stupid. When he was on the Vinson for a meeting, we killed one. I pushed the button then, too.”
“So, you have personally sunk two Japanese submarines?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure what okay is. My work life is a pressure cooker, but my guys need my best.”
She gives him a side hug, “Yeah, they do.”
He returns the hug, “How are you holding up?”
Releasing the hug, she starts walking, “My watch station is main control. On a carrier, that is the overall engineering control center. I don’t push that kind of red button. Still, everyone on board shares some of the responsibility. I’ve done a lot of soul searching about it. If I had to, I would, but I’m glad I don’t.”
“I’m glad you don’t, too. I’m glad our women aren’t in that position.”
She stops and looks up at him, “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
Liz, “You don’t know about the pilots. We have a bunch of female pilots.”
“Do they have any kills?”
“Commander Hunt, Samantha Hunt, is CO of the Black Knights squadron. She’s a F-14 pilot who has 35 kills.”
John, “Wow. I didn’t know. Did I just make an ass of myself?”
“You did. I don’t believe it is any harder for a woman, than it is for a man.”
“I didn’t mean it misogynistically. Well, maybe a little. I just assumed it would be harder for a woman.”
“You assumed wrong.”
“I’m sorry. Can I take that one as a lookup?”
Liz smiles, “Maybe some remedial training is in order.”
“I’m on board for that. How does Hunt’s kills compare to the other pilots?”
“Captain Johnson called her the squadron, air group, Navy, and national ace of aces.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, girls can do it, too.”
“He looks at her, “I’m sold. I think I’ve hogged the conversation. Tell me about Tim. After he retired, what did he do?”
She grins, “He looked after me, took care of our house, two dogs, and a cat. He’s a great cook.”
“Right. Point taken. Guys can be domestic engineers, too.”
“They can. He also has a wood and metal shop where he builds all kinds of cool stuff. He’s made custom gates, door hinges, stuff like that. He makes stuff to order and makes custom knives to sell. We have an amazing house in Washington.”
“I bet. I live in a one bedroom flat in Honolulu. What is the thing you miss the most?”
“His voice. He isn’t a singer or anything. It’s just, when he calls me ‘darlin’, I melt.”
John, “Lisa has an amazing giggle when I make her laugh. I’ve even made her snort. It’s so cute.”
Liz, “Sometimes I would quietly walk into his shop and just watch him. He’d be stripped to the waist wearing a leather apron. His muscles would glisten with sweat. He was in his element, you know? The master in his realm.”
“When we were together before, I loved to watch her at the piano working out a song. That is something I understand.”
“Never again. It’s all gone.”
John, “We don’t one hundred percent know that.”
“We do one hundred percent know that. We know the mechanism.”
“The Talon Sword?”
Liz, “Yeah, there is no mechanism for returning.”
“It was a book. It may have the details wrong.”
“I’ve gone over Dr. Heinlein’s paper, and what we have of his notes. It’s a one-way trip.”
“Fuck. I knew in the book it was a one-way trip. I guess, I was just hoping…”
“Yeah.”
“You hungry?”
Liz, “Time travel makes you hungry?”
“Nope, but time does.”
“Yeah, I’m hungry, too.”
As they walk back to the car, he asks, “Do you mind the chivalrous stuff?”
“No, I don’t mind. I just don’t expect it.”
“Because you’re in the service, or because you’re from New York.”
The get in the car, “A little of both. Women in the work force have to work so much harder than a man to prove themselves. Any weakness is jumped on as a reason why you’re not suitable.”
“I’ve never seen a mechanic use his penis as an extra hand, so I don’t see why one is required.”
Liz, laughing, “Oh, my God! That would be impressive.”
He joins in, “Yeah, and probably painful.”
He pulls up to a café with two police cars in front, “Does this work?”
“Yeah. What do the police cars indicate to you?”
“Police know their district and aren’t generally well paid. If they are eating here, the food is probably both good and affordable.”
Liz, “Solid analysis. I cannot find a flaw.”
He gets the door for her and they go into the café. Their dress whites attract attention, but they’re left alone. They are seated in a booth and given menus. He asks, “Have you been to Australia before?”
“Well, yes. A couple of times.”
“My first time here. Should I try the fish and chips?”
Liz, “It’s all good.”
The waitress, an older woman, walks up.
Liz, “Chips are French fries. Ma’am, can I have the pasty with Earl Grey?”
“Of course.”
John, “I’ve been to Scotland before. Can I have the bangers and mash with coffee?”
“Yes, sir.”
Liz, “You were in Scotland?”
“Yeah, my last tour before the San Francisco was SUBRON 14.”
“Then you have driven on the wrong side of the road.”
“Yeah, I’m just not great at it.”
“But you were going to let me drive?”
“Liz, I may be a bit of an ass, but I’ve no doubt you’re as capable as I am.”
“Thank you, but in the future, don’t act stupid on my account. It has the opposite effect.”
“I won’t and I’m sorry.”
“Do you understand why it’s annoying?”
He is quiet for a moment, then, “Because it’s patronizing?”
“Exactly.”
“I had no idea how much cultural bullshit I need to work on.”
“You haven’t had a wife to sort out your bad habits.”
“You know, that’s patronizing, too.”
Liz, “Probably, but it also rings true for most relationships. It’s women who create a civilization. Men would be slobs and cads if it were not for the presence of women.”
He chuckles, “Mostly true.”
They hear, “Liz?”
Liz looks up, “Hi Commander. Please join us. Samantha Hunt, Gloria Houlihan this is John Morrison, XO of San Francisco.”
Sam, “We don’t want to break up a date.”
John and Liz look at each other and grin. John, “It isn’t exactly a date. Please, join us. We’ve just ordered.”