My
Journal
By
Harriman Nelson
~In
God We Trust~
2
“Have
a good leave, sir?” Chief Sharkey asked me as he called Patterson over to take
my gear aboard Seaview.
“I
admit that I’ve had some trouble sleeping…too many worries.”
“Yeah,
it is going to be soon, isn’t it? Don’t worry, Admiral. I’m sure everything
will be fine…decide on the names yet?”
“Yes
and no. We’re at an impasse.”
“That’s
okay. You can fill in the names on the birth certificates later.”
“For
sure? We won’t be fined or anything if we haven’t decided by then?”
“Nah…the
twins will simply be listed as ‘boy’ Nelson and ‘girl’ Nelson till you decide.
But don’t let it go too long. You don’t want them to get lost in the shuffle…”
“Morning,
sir,” Chip said as he appeared on deck, his captain’s pip glittering on his
collar, despite the overcast sky. He hadn’t liked the promotion to captain. But he’d done fairly well, had the respect of
the crew, if not the boat. Lately she’d been having minor glitches which the
crew maintained was her way of sulking without the ‘Skipper’, as most hands still
referred to Lee, president of the United States or not. And Chip, bless him,
had no problem allowing it, preferring his former ‘Mr.’ entitlement, or
‘Captain’, which he was getting used to, whether he liked it or not.
“Do
you have our orders from the Navy, yet?” I asked him.
“No,
sir. Not yet. But we did get an official Navy citation for immobilizing that
missile over Hawaii. The Hathaway’s still picking it off the bottom…do you
think Lee had anything to do with it? The citation, I mean?”
“Doubtful,
though I’m sure he was pleased about it. As president, he can’t afford to show
any partiality toward us. We’re just another boat in the Pacific Fleet.”
“He
didn’t look so good when he was on TV last,” Chip said.
“Jackson
said the new prosthesis has been bothering him.”
“Gotta’ ask,” Sharkey said, “with it being new and all, does
it have some of those extra gadgets like the old ones?”
“I’m
afraid I don’t know,” I said, “but I doubt it. If word got out that the
president of the United States has X-ray vision and laser
weaponry, well there could be fears a stray glance might burn up some bills
that he needs to sign.”
Slightly
amused, Sharkey and Chip said nothing further and tended to business while I
boarded, lucky to have dropped down the topside ladder below before the first
wave of rain pelted the deck.
~**~