by David Poyer
He didn’t move. But after a long time their hands crept across the gray steel. And then they were crying, head to head. She felt his body heave. A moment later he broke free and went to the deckedge.
She leaned back while he finished being sick. She felt empty, as distant and emotionless as the tiny lights in the sky.
When he came back he slumped there for a long time. Beside her; but he did not move to touch her again. At last he said angrily, “Are you sorry?”
“For hurting you. That’s all.”
“I see.”
“What are you going to do, Dan—about the Navy?”
He passed a hand over his eyes. “Oh yeah.”
“You were going to decide, Dan. Whether you were staying in or not. That matters as to—as to whether or not we’re staying together.”
“Yeah,” he said again. Then, after a long time, “Yeah. I thought about it. Let’s see. It’s like this.
“The Navy has its faults. What can I do? I can leave, or I can stay in. But even if I leave, it’s still going to be important to me.
“See, Sundstrom’s always talking about ‘professionalism.’ I think what he means by it is careerism—what gets you promoted. But I think it’s something else. A military man is responsible for the lives of others. That’s why he takes an oath, like a doctor. And that’s why it’s important for him to know his job, and insist that the right things are done and the wrong things uncovered and stopped, not hushed up.
“Sundstrom, and the guys like him, don’t see it that way. They’re in business for themselves. But if we leave the Service to them, we can’t bitch about its failure or waste or unreadiness. And then when we need it, it’ll fail, and we’ll lose everything we have.
“I don’t care anymore about my career, Susan. I know I won’t make it very far now. But I’m going to stay as long as I can.”
“What about us?”
“You’re important to me,” said Lenson. “But I think this is more important. And that’s what you’re going to have to decide—whether you love me enough to stay with me, on those terms.”
And after a pause she said, too, “I see.”
“So that’s it, Susan.”
“I guess so.”
“What do we do now?”
Susan thought about it. She felt empty and sad. “Take care of Nan, I guess. She’s going to need both of us. For what comes after, between us—we just go through it, Dan. Just go through it. And see what’s on the other side.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Shake?”
“Shake.”
They shook hands, awkwardly. She got up. “We’ll talk more later. I’m going back to Nan now.”
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
She left him standing alone.
Whatever happens, he was thinking, it will be all right. If they made it or not. It would be hard either way. But there were some things that could not change, could not become murky or gray. And one of these was the fact that he loved them both, so much.
He followed her into the ship. And behind them, out of the sudden darkness of the Mediterranean evening, the helicopters settled, dark petals slowly falling from a windy sky.
PREVIOUS BOOKS BY DAVID POYER
TALES OF THE MODERN NAVY
Black Storm
China Sea
Tomahawk
The Passage
The Circle
The Gulf
THE HEMLOCK COUNTY NOVELS
Winter Light
Thunder on the Mountain
As the Wolf Loves Winter
Winter in the Heart
The Dead of Winter
THE TILLER GALLOWAY NOVELS
Down to a Sunless Sea
Louisiana Blue
Bahamas Blue
Hatteras Blue
OTHER NOVELS
Fire on the Waters
The Only Thing to Fear
Stepfather Bank
The Return of Philo T. McGiffin
Star Seed
The Shiloh Project
White Continent
CRITICAL PRAISE FOR THE WORKS OF DAVID POYER!
THE MED
“Update The Caine Mutiny and Away All Boats, move the action to the Mediterranean, throw in some Arab terrorists with American hostages, and you’ve got The Med … a naval thriller at full speed!”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“A POWERFUL STORY, as honest as it is imaginative … Readers will be gripped … realistic, and indeed uncomfortably topical.”
—Publishers Weekly
“One of the best seagoing novels of the decade. YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN!”
—William P. Mack, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Co-author of South to Java
“The Med gives a feel of what it’s like to be out on a deployed ship during an operation, and that’s particularly valuable for budding naval officers to be able to experience.”
—Herb Gilliland, associate professor, U.S. Naval Academy
“TENSE, INCISIVE … At once a novel of adventure on the sea and an exploration of the military mind on all its levels. Poyer creates characters who breathe.”
—Wilmington News-Journal (DE)
“A fast clip … It is hard not to think of it as nonfiction.”
—Columbia—The Midwest Review of Books
“Tense and complex … STUNNING!”
—Anniston Star
“Frighteningly familiar … tightly written.”
—Proceedings, Naval Institute
“A novel born of the headlines but transformed by a skillful novelist into combat fiction of a high order … Poyer’s detailed technical descriptions are matched by his persuasive characterization of men at war.”
—John Barkham Reviews
“Fascinating … fraught with tension and romance … explosive.”
—Rocky Mountain News
“A sweeping novel of modern U.S. naval power at bay in history’s most turbulent sea.”
—Hank Searls, author of Jaws II and Kataki
THE PASSAGE
“Readers of this stirring tale will be sorry to see it end.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A crackling good adventure.”
—The Windsor Star, Windsor, Ontario
THE CIRCLE
“Impressive … Original … Convincing … Compelling … Moving … Echoes The Caine Mutiny.”
—Publishers Weekly
“A first-rate naval adventure unequalled for authenticity.”
—Kirkus Reviews
THE GULF
“The best naval story since The Hunt for Red October.”
—Clive Cussler
“Breathtaking, from the first page to the last … One of the very few military thrillers written by a man who not only knows his subject thoroughly, but who is also a genuinely talented writer.”
—Ralph Peters, author of Red Army
“Poyer’s grasp of the machinery of modern naval warfare is unparalleled, and his prose makes it live … A thoroughly enjoyable read!”
—J. William Middendorf II, former Secretary of the Navy
“His mastery of technical and procedural detail does for the modern small-ship fleet what Tom Clancy does for nuclear submarines and Stephen Coonts does for aircraft carriers.”
—Publishers Weekly
THE MED
Copyright © 1998 by David Poyer.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 0-312-92722-3
EAN: 80312-92722-6
St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition published 1988
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / September 1989
eISBN 9781466848238
First eBook edition: June 2013
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