My
Journal
By
Harriman Nelson
In
God We Trust
~3~
Chip
appeared to be more interested in the rivulets of rain on the Observation Nose view ports than
on the charts on the Control Room plot table.
“Penny
for your thoughts?” I asked from behind him, only slightly damp from the sudden
cloudburst just before I boarded.
“Sorry,
sir...once all hands have reported, we’ll be ready to shove off. That is, once
we get our orders. Sparks got a message from ComSubPac that Admiral Starke
wants to hand deliver them.”
I
couldn’t help but to raise my eyebrow.
“He’s
been visiting San Diego,” Chip explained his presence in California.
“I
see. Better warn Cookie,” I said. My old friend was known for his penchant for cinnamon
apple filled doughnuts that were a kind of tradition for whenever Seaview began
a cruise. I knew Cookie would take the hint and set some aside so he wouldn’t
raid the Wardroom of them all before we sailed. “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Breakfast?
What’s that?” Chip answered almost playfully, “I’ve been trying to familiarize myself
with the ‘Witch’s Cauldron’ in Antarctica formed when that meteor hit
yesterday. Not too massive a bowl in the sea floor, but frankly I’m suspicious
of anything so named. We need to be prepared for any and all eventualities...gawd,
I miss Lee. Then he’d be studying the charts. Speaking of Lee...I can’t help
feeling that each and every day must feel like an eternity to him.
“Part
of the job,” I sighed.
***
Jiggs
was treated to a boson’s whistle as he boarded. Though retired, he’d been
recalled to active duty by the SecNav, as several retirees had been, at the
request of the White House. Yes, in the current situation, we needed the men
and women of experience to add to those of technological expertise. There had been a few ruffled feathers on both
sides of the equation, but I had to agree it was a logical choice by the man in
charge.
“Here
you go, Harriman,” Jiggs took out a hand written sealed envelope from his
inside uniform jacket. “Even I don’t know any details. Came by courier. Has the
White House seal, not the SecNav’s. Want to open it up in your cabin?”
“Doesn’t
have ‘Top Secret’ stamped on it... looks a bit frayed....”
“It’s
not frayed, sir,” O’Brien said from his nearby vantage point. “those are teeth marks. Maybe Winston got a hold of it, or
maybe Sweetie. And your name is handwritten. Looks like the skipper’s
handwriting. ”
“You
need to remember to address your former captain as President, not skipper. That
address belongs to Captain Morton now.”
“Easy,
Jiggs,” I said. “It’s a difficult habit to break.”
“And
it’s okay by me,” Chip said. “I’ve told the men that as the master of the ship
of state, it’s perfectly proper to address the president as ‘skipper’. It’s
okay with Lee too.”
“Well,
go ahead, Harriman, open the damn thing.”
I
retired to one of the loungers in the Observation Nose, a rainbow just visible
in the distance through the viewports, and tore open the envelope. It was all
handwritten, so perhaps these weren’t our orders after all, or were they?
“Jiggs?
Why don’t you head to the Wardroom for some coffee and doughnuts.
I believe Cookie’s made a large batch....”
“What
about the ones laid out right over there?” he asked of the laden paper plate on
the sideboard.
I
only had to raise an eyebrow for him to get the message that I wanted to read Lee’s
letter or as president, his orders for Seaview.
Chip
pressed the button to close the pleats to give me even more privacy. As soon as
the pleats clicked into place separating the Observation Nose from the Control
Room, I leaned back and pulled the frayed edge of the envelope open and pulled
out the handwritten letter, leaving the typed communication behind it for now.
Dear Harry,
I am sending this to you via the
courier to ComSubPac. It’s just not wise
anymore to risk either a personal or official letter. Already four members of
congress have had their mail not only opened, but vandalized!
Gruesome stuff, epitaphs and drawings
on the letters, some with neo-Nazi emblems. You can imagine the shock and
surprise upon opening these hate messages.
The Justice Dept. has not discovered
the responsible persons and some of the press is having a field day about the
senders’ freedom of speech.
I can’t believe such disgusting letters
were the kind of freedom of speech the founding father’s intended. My God, Harry, I can’t even deny these idiots
their constitutionally guaranteed rights, as long as there are no real or
inferred threats. John Adams attempted to stifle some hate mail when he was in
the White House and oh boy, what a scandal that caused.
Anyway,
back to other things .
First,
I hope you and Emily are doing well. Have you decided on the twins names yet?
Mom called and said she hoped you wouldn’t use ‘Harriman’ or ‘Harriet’. We had
a little bit of a disagreement about that, though neither you nor Emily have mentioned those
names at all. . I think both names would be just fine. But then, I’m so proud
to be your son, that I’m rather partial to your name and its derivative, even if Mom says Harriman and
Harriet are just too old-fashioned and Harriet reminds her of a bully she had to
put up with in school.
Second, I want you to know that any
mission Seaview is assigned to during this war with the PRA, will be out of
necessity and even you have to agree that the Chrysalis, the Nova, and the as of yet unnamed vessels of
the new Borealis class , have a few more high tech and sophisticated features
than Seaview does at present.
Frankly, despite the Chrysalis’ and
Nova’s outstanding sea trials, I can’t trust without reservation subs so
overtaken by computerization.
The youngsters aboard
these subs, (I can’t bring myself to call their skippers the ‘old men’), may be
increasingly tempted to trust in what they see on the screens, rather than
trust their better judgement...but I digress...
I only wish I could be aboard Seaview,
especially during these troubling times. But I’m stuck here, being advised and
re-advised and re-re-advised until my head aches. I can’t even count how many
times I’ve had to go to the ‘Situation Room’ where so far we’ve managed (with a
great deal of skill and cunning-not necessarily mine), to thwart several attempts by the PRA to use their
weaponry against us.
Seaview’s orders are included with this
letter. Again, I hope you’re not too
disappointed not to be a part of the Borealis Command Group. They may have the
technology, but we need men like you and Chip and Frank and Sharkey and Ski
and...well, I think I’d take up too much time by
listing everyone aboard! And the NIMR staff ashore.
I hope you don’t mind me having Starke
bring you my letter and your orders. It was safer to entrust them to him than a
WH courier. Call me paranoid, but it never hurts to be more cautious than the
Security Council deems adequate.
I’ve appointed Starke as an advisor/
observer, and know he’ll apreciate a chat with you
before Seaview shoves off.
I’ve decided to visit the academy. Hope
they don’t mind me butting into the graduation ceremony, but I do have a few
words for those brave boys and girls taking on the world. (Did I say that? Oh,
boy, I really am growing old.)
Good luck and God Speed to you and
Seaview. Winston and Sweetie send their
best. I hope Mallie doesn’t mind Mrs. Morton taking charge of her temporarily. Seaview’s just not the place for Mallie right
now.
As Lincoln said when he left
Springfield for the White House, ‘I entrust your care to the Almighty’. Of course that might have been some literary
license from one of the Lincoln movies...in any case, I do get on bended knee
every day to plead the same for you, Seaview, our nation, our friends, our
allies, and this poor old world on the edge of doomsday. I can’t believe the
Almighty would desert us and He’s taken pretty good care of us all so far.
All for now, God speed.
~Lee~
I
folded the letter and put it into my breast pocket, then I pulled out the page of fficial orders. After reading them, I opened
the pleats and placed it into the ship’s log. Shaking a little from Lee’s
heartfelt words I could only imagine the mental turmoil he had to face every
minute of every day.
I’ll
be on bended knee myself for the country, our friends and allies, and for
Seaview, but most of all for Lee.
~***~