This is a
stand-alone story that can be placed anywhere in the Voyage timeline.
Sharon H
~<<>>~
They were never going to
accept me. I was as positive of that as I was of my own name. If I had ever
been sure of anything before, I knew this crew was waiting for me to screw up,
hoping the admiral would send me packing back to the Navy.
I was till spinning over the
fact I had actually landed a spot onboard Seaview. Seaview! Who
would have though, a guy like me, getting the chance to work with one of the
best crews ever to outfit a boat, either on or below the surface. Course, I'd
never tell this bunch of lunk-heads that. I did have
a reputation to think of.
Nobody had questioned my
authority. This bunch was too well trained for anything like that. But I could
feel it, they way they watched me, the way conversation stopped when I came
into a room. I wasn't an complete idiot, I knew they were talking about me.
Kowalski, now he was the ringleader. If I was gonna win the trust of this crew,
I was gonna have to prove to him that I was as good as my predecessor. Now that was one tough act to follow, from
what I had heard. I had talked it over with the admiral, told him I didn't
think I was making the right impression with the crew. He just gave me that
smirk and said I'd get my chance to make a proper first impression. The man
might be a genius, but even I know you only get one shot at a first impression.
I seriously thought I had blown mine.
Right now I was in the
Missile Room, holding my breath, waiting for the diving party to get back. Two
divers had gone out to make repairs on the hull and at this depth it was a
dangerous dive. We had our two best deep divers, one of which was Kowalski
while the other was his buddy Patterson, out doing an emergency patch on the
hull. They had few minutes left before their dive time was up. I was getting
starting antsy but I was trying damn hard not to show it. That whole reputation
thing again, you know. The intercom sparked to life as one of the divers reported
in. I wasn't ready for the panic stricken tone in Ski's voice.
“Dive party to Seaview!
Patterson's gear is malfunctioning! He's not getting enough air and I'm not
sure I have enough left for us to buddy breath back!”
I snatched at the mike,
tugging at the buttons on my shirt with my other hand. I didn't have time to
track down who the next qualified deep diver was. I could do this. I cut my
eyeteeth on dives of this depth. “Ski, hold your position, I'm coming out there
to give you a hand.”
I was in a wet suit with a
set of tanks strapped on before I could think. I pulled the Escape Hatch shut
behind me and waited impatiently for the water level to rise and the pressure
to equalize so I could crack the hatch. Once out of the sub, I cast around, remembering
the direction of the repairs. Putting everything I had into it, I pushed off,
swimming hard for the two distressed divers.
I found Kowalski braced
against the hull, holding the taller figure of Patterson close. Patterson
wasn't moving as I swam up. Grabbing him by the shoulder, I took one last deep
breath then shoved my regulator between his lips. There was a tug on the
airline and bubbles broke against my facemask as he took a long drag on the
mouthpiece.
Together, Ski and I guided
Patterson back to the hatch. I had Kowalski go down first as I snatch a quick
drag off the regulator and passed it back to the rating. I followed Patterson
down then I dogged the top hatch as Ski activated the valves. As the water
drained out and the pressure equalized, I was able to grab a quick lungful of
air as the air pocket began to form at the top of the chamber.
I climbed down the ladder as
Ski cracked the hatch and pulled Patterson out. The rating was gasping, but he
was alive and that's what was important. Nobody was dying on my watch, not if I
could help it. I didn't come this far to lose a senior rating to an unexpected
malfunction.
We had an audience. Ski's
call for help had been picked up by Sparks and somebody had sent for Doc.
Doctor Jamieson was waiting to get his hooks into Patterson the second he
cleared the hatchway. The corpsmen were waiting and got the rating loaded up on
the stretcher for his trip to Sickbay. Doc would have Pat back on his feet in
no time.
Ski was watching as they
carried off his buddy. I knew he wanted to go with him, but his sense of duty
kept him rooted to the spot. He finally turned, pulling the hood off. His thick
dark hair stood up in wild disarray and he racked his fingers through it,
trying to bring it back to order. He fixed me with an intense gaze.
“Sir, you didn't have to do
that. You could have gotten another diver.”
“Ski, there wasn't time. I
wasn't gonna lose you and Patterson when I knew I could bring the two of you
back in. Come on, get changed out and cleaned up so you can check on your poker
buddy.”
Ski barked out a quick laugh
as I began to peel out of the neoprene. “You know something, that sounds like
something Curly might have said.”
“Chief Jones was a good man.
You can't replace a man like that,” I said. I pulled the tanks off but Ski was
there, taking them out of my hands. For a second I was at a loss as to what he
was about.
“Thanks, Chief. You took a
risk. The admiral might be looking for a third Chief and two ratings if you
miscalculated.”
“Don't worry about it, Ski.
It's my job. Just you remember that. Come on, lets get this gear stowed away
before the skipper comes down here and finds us jawing like a couple high
school cheerleaders.”
“Sure thing Chief. Say, you wanna sit in on the game tonight? Doc will probably have
Patterson under observation tonight. We're gonna be short a player.”
“We'll see, Ski. Get moving,
would ya?”
Ski grinned as he dropped
off the tanks on the racks, racking a hand through his unruly hair. “Alright,
I'm moving.” and he was gone, out the hatch to Crews Quarters for dry clothes.
I was about to follow him
when the admiral appeared and gave me one of those penetrating looks. Oh boy,
was I in trouble now. I shouldn't have gone out on my own, I should have called
for another diver, I put three crewmen at risk, he was gonna rip me a new one,
but good . . .
“Good job, Sharkey. I don't
think Curly could have acted faster. I think you may have finally made an
impression. Go ahead and get changed. Captain Crane wants you in the Control
Room for a briefing on the repairs.”
“Aye sir, and ah, thanks.” I
dripped my way up the corridor. Maybe things were gonna turn around for me. It
took me awhile, but maybe the admiral was right. Maybe I had finally made a
descent first impression.
End
srh
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