Alone
By JSRobertson
It was six weeks before
Christmas and Seaview was on a mission in the Pacific testing out some
new equipment for the Navy on monitoring the tides but would be back in plenty
of time before the holiday season started.
Angie, Wanda and Janet had already planned the annual NIMR Christmas
party for the employees and their families for the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Now they weren’t as good as Edith Nelson at planning events but in past years
everyone has had a good time. They would
again use the cafeteria and turn it into a winter wonderland. Every year one of the officers would put on
the Santa suit stuffing it with plenty of pillows. It was Lee’s turn to play him this year.
The three of them designed an
invitation sent it via e-mail to all personnel. If you didn’t have an e-mail
address, they would make sure you had one delivered to you. Angie and Wanda would take care of finding
out how many adults and children would be attending from the institute while
Janet took care of the personnel on Seaview. Janet posted the invitation on the bulletin
board in the officer’s and crew’s quarters as well as the crew’s mess and
wardroom.
They wanted to make sure no
one was left out so you could e-mail, stop by the institute offices or fill out
the form Janet had on Seaview to let them know how many adults and children,
boy or girl, would be attending so they had enough gifts and food. The ladies
would take a day off from work and buy the gifts. So far the response was overwhelming.
Cookie was in charge of the
food. There would be hot dogs,
hamburgers or chicken nuggets for the children while the adults dined on
roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and Cookie’s special green bean
casserole. There was also lasagna, salad
and desserts. Cookie and the mess
specialists would outdo themselves making all kinds of Christmas cookies, cakes,
pies and tortes. The admiral wanted to
make sure everyone got home safely so there was no alcohol served but Cookie
always made delicious punches for everyone to enjoy along with sodas, coffee
and tea.
Since Lee was playing Santa this
year, Lee and Janet would also host the Seaview party at their house. All crew members were invited along with
their wives or girlfriends to the party.
The party was always held the Saturday two weeks before Christmas
provided Seaview was in port. Since
she would be back before then, they would have the party as scheduled. Janet made the invitations and passed them
out to the crew as they boarded Seaview before they left on the mission. This would be the first time Janet was
hosting the party as Lee’s wife. She was
very nervous and wanted to make sure everything was perfect.
Janet was thankful Cookie
offered to help her with the food which was always appetizers. They had already decided on which appetizers
would be served. Carol from the diner
would bring her bite size hamburgers as one of them. They decided to serve
Christmas cookies, brownies and cheesecake bites for dessert. There would be drinks at this party but no one
has ever overindulged. Janet hoped the
weather would co-operate and not rain.
Even if it was cool outside, they would have outdoor patio heaters around
to take away the night chill.
((()))
It was 1900 hours on Seaview
and Lee and Chip were in the control room just finishing up their shift and
would be replaced by Bob O’Brien. Chip
noted the change of duty in the log book while he filled him on what had
occurred during their watch and what was expected on the next watch.
“I’ll meet you and Janet for dinner,” Chip
told Lee before he walked out the aft hatch on his way to the wardroom.
As he headed for the spiral
staircase and up to officer’s country, “Okay, I’ll pick up Janet and meet you
there,” Lee replied.
Lee looked in their cabin to
see if she was there but found it empty so he went to her office. He found her there and moved some papers out
of the way so he could sit on the corner of her desk which got him a dirty look. She
took the papers he moved and put them on the other side of the desk where she
would have to re-sort them again.
“What are you doing?” he
asked looking at all the papers and little colored slips lying all over her
desk.
“Marking off whose coming to
the NIMR party and our party,” she replied as she checked off another name on
one list and then the other list.
Furrowing his eyebrows he
asked, “How do you keep it all straight?” as he watched her go through the
slips.
“You have to be very
organized,” she told him checking off a couple of more names and marking the
slip to show she put it on the tally sheet.
Picking up one of the slips
he said, “How can the men answer you when they just received the invitation?
Don’t they need to check with their wives or girlfriends?”
“Honey, the wives and
girlfriends of the men know when these parties are scheduled. It’s posted online in the NIMR
newsletter. Maybe you should try reading
it sometime,” she joked gently slapping him on the knee.
“When are you going to be
done? I’m hungry and I told Chip we’d
meet him for dinner.”
“Just a couple more minutes,
I want to finish these up so I don’t mix up the new ones and old ones.”
He watched her finish up the
tallying and then shut down her computer.
He took her hand as they left for the wardroom for dinner. He was off
duty for the night, so when they finished dinner, he would take his walk around
the boat. They got to the wardroom where the admiral, Chip and Jamie had just
started eating. Lee took a tray and
handed one to Janet. The mess specialist
put meatloaf, mashed potatoes and spinach on their plates. Lee wasn’t too fond of spinach and frowned
which didn’t get by Cookie who was watching them from the galley.
Cookie walked over to the
serving station. “Sir, it’s good for
you. I’m trying to serve more healthy
foods. Doc says we’re eating too many
fattening foods so you better get use to it,” Cookie told him with a smile.
Lee smiled back, looked at
Jamie and shook his head wondering how long this would last.
“Does this mean no more
brownies or cookies too?” Lee asked after dawned on him that his favorite foods
were unhealthy.
“Well I wouldn’t go that far
just yet. Maybe just cut down on how
many times I make it on a cruise,” Cookie said to pacify him.
Janet snickered as she went
to the table, put her tray down and got a cup of coffee for Lee and tea for
her.
“Anybody else care for some
coffee,” Janet asked before sitting down next to Jamie.
The three of them handed her
their cups with grins on their faces. Lee
sat down across from her, next to Chip and looked at the spinach.
Barely containing a laugh
Chip said, “It’s not going to bite you.
Just mix it with the potatoes and you won’t taste it. Remember Popeye ate it and he grew up big and
strong.”
The admiral, Jamie, and Janet
burst out laughing as Lee mixed it with the mashed potatoes and ate it. He too had a smile on his face but not for
the same reason.
“Mr. Morton, I will get you
for that remark and you won’t know when or where or maybe I will just have to
assign you bilge cleaning duty when we return to port,” Lee stated calmly
putting a piece of meatloaf in his mouth.
All but the admiral ducked
their heads and returned to eating their meal hiding their grins. The admiral just sat there looking at Lee
still smiling. When they finished eating,
they cleaned up their dishes. Chip,
Jamie and the admiral were heading to their cabins to catch up on some
work.
Lee and Janet also got up to leave but Lee
stopped outside the wardroom door and asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m checking the crew’s mess
for more slips. Sharkey and Scott Taper
will check the crew’s and officer’s quarters for me. I’ve got a few more items to jot down on my
list of what’s needed for our party.
Then I’m going to get ready for bed and read my book.”
Squeezing her hand he said,
“I’ll be back soon.”
He turned and walked down the
passageway with his first stop in sick bay. She went to the stairway and up to
her office. When she got there she
pulled out her list and jotted down the items she needed for their party. Sharkey and Scott had put some more slips on
her desk so she put those on her tally sheets.
She would enter all the information on the computer tomorrow. She turned off the light in her office and
went to their cabin. She got ready for
bed, turned the soft light on over the bunk and took out her book. She had been reading for about two hours when
Lee returned from his walk around.
Looking up from her book she
asked, “Is she all tucked in for the night?”
Smiling as he removed his
tie, took his shirt out of his pants and unbutton it he answered, “Yes she’s
all tucked in.”
“Good how about tucking me
in,” she said seductively as she put her book on the shelf above the bunk,
turned off the light, scooted under the covers, took off her pajama top and
dropped it on the floor.
Lee quickly finished getting
ready for bed and tucked his wife in for the night too.
((()))
Seaview was at sea a few more days recording the data the
Navy needed before heading for home.
Chip and Lee were standing at the plotting table. Chip had checked the navigation computer to
make sure they were on course and was recording it on the map. Lee finished making some notations in the log
book and was tapping his pencil on the table.
“This mission has gone very
smoothly,” he commented to Chip who looked up at him.
“Yes, all the data has been
recorded and saved so when we get back the admiral just has to bring them the
disks. Sometimes computers are helpful.”
“And sometimes they’re not,”
Lee smirked.
“We should be in
“I’m really glad we have no
missions scheduled until after the first of the year. I don’t like keeping the men from their
families at this time of year,” Lee replied still tapping his pencil.
Everyone was looking forward
to the time off even the officers. They would still have to report to the work
at the institute but at least they were home.
((()))
The admiral and Lee were
sitting at the table in his ‘front porch’ discussing when he would bring the
disks to
Closest to the mic Lee picked
it up, “Yes Sparks, what is it?”
“Skipper, I have a call for
the admiral from the Secretary of the Navy.
He says it’s important.”
The admiral taking the mic
from Lee answered, “
“Aye aye sir,”
The admiral got up from his
chair and ascended the spiral staircase heels clicking on the metal rungs. Lee returned to the plotting table where Chip
was standing with a perplexed look on his face after hearing the SecNav was on
the phone.
“I wonder what that’s about,”
Lee told Chip picking up a pencil from the plotting table rolling it between
his hands.
“Maybe he wants the data on
the tides before we get to port,” Chip answered with a look of concern.
“We’ll see,” Lee said
returning to his work at the plotting table while Chip checked out the stations
in the control room.
((()))
Entering his cabin, sitting
down at his desk, he picked up the receiver and pushed the flashing button his
phone, “Hello, Mr. Secretary,” the admiral said. “What can I do for you?”
“Admiral, I have a
problem. The captain of the USS
Chicago, Bill Woolf, has taken ill and can no longer command the boat. We have no qualified personnel available in
this area to take over for him until he recovers. Therefore, I’m going to need to remove Commander
Crane from his reserve status to active duty and place him on that boat. He will remain in command until Captain Woolf
can return and from what I’m told he could be on the
“Yes sir. How soon will he need to leave?” the admiral
asked running his hand through his hair.
He knew the
“There will be a helicopter
there in two hours to pick him up. The
XO has limited experience on that type of boat so that is why we need someone with
Commander Crane’s expertise. Admiral,
the Chicago is one of three submarines patrolling the international
shipping lanes due to attacks on vessels by the People’s Republic.”
“I understand, sir. Would you like to talk to him or have me relay the order? I
can have him report here immediately.”
“Have him report to your
cabin,” the secretary responded without hesitation wanting to talk to him
directly.
“Yes sir. Just a moment please,” the admiral replied
pushing the hold button on the phone and pressing the intercom button
connecting him to the control room.
“Lee, please report to my
cabin immediately.”
Grabbing the mic on the
plotting table Lee answered, “Yes sir.”
He replaced the mic in the holder and ran to the spiral staircase just
as Janet entered the control room through the aft hatch with the duty rosters
for Chip to sign before she would post them.
Seeing Lee run up the
staircase, “where’s Lee going in such a hurry,” she asked as she handed the
duty rosters to Chip.
“The admiral’s cabin, the
SecNav is on the phone,” Chip told her as he looked over the rosters and signed
them.
“Why would the SecNav be
calling him?” Janet asked with a worried look on her face as she took the
rosters from him.
Sighing deeply Chip replied,
“I’m not sure but it can’t be good.”
Lee knocked on the admiral’s
door waiting for him to answer before he went in as it gave him time to catch
his breath.
“Come in, Lee,” the admiral
said with a grim look on his face. “The
SecNav needs to talk to you.”
Taking the call off hold Lee
answered, “Hello Mr. Secretary.”
“Hello Commander,” the SecNav
said and explained to Lee what he just told the admiral.
“Yes sir. I will be ready to leave by then. Good bye sir,” Lee replied placing the phone
in the cradle.
“Damn,” he said unhappily. “Sorry Admiral.”
“You just said what I was
thinking,” the admiral responded with a sigh.
Rubbing his hand on his
forehead he realized he would have to tell Janet that he had to leave and wouldn’t
be home for Thanksgiving and more than likely Christmas.
“Lee,” the admiral said with
concern knowing what he was thinking.
“Yes sir,” Lee looked at the
admiral, “I know I better tell her right now.”
“You want help?” the admiral
asked knowing Janet would be upset.
“No I’ll tell her,” he sighed
as he walked to the door, “but thanks for the offer.”
“No problem son,” the admiral
said getting up, put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
((()))
Lee left the admiral’s office
and went down the passageway stopping at their cabin to see if Janet was
there. It was empty so he walked across
the passageway to her office. She wasn’t
there either. He headed back to the front of the boat and down the spiral
staircase to the control room. Chip
looked up from the plotting table when he heard foot steps on the stairs and
knew they were Lee’s. He could tell by
the look on his face there was a problem as he walked over to the plotting
table.
“Lee what’s wrong?” Chip
asked looking at his best friend and ‘brother’.
“Chip let’s go to the observation nose,” Lee
said, “Mr. Taper you have the conn.”
“Aye sir,” Taper answered.
Chip followed Lee to the
observation nose. Lee sat down at the
table as Chip sat down across from him.
Running his hands through his
hair he told Chip what had taken place in the Admiral’s cabin and that he would
take over as Captain of Seaview until he returned. Chip would have no problem taking over and
bringing her into port.
“Have you told Janet about
his?” Chip asked softly.
“I haven’t told her yet
because I can’t find her. She wasn’t in
our cabin or her office,” Lee replied sighing.
“She came into the control
room just as you went to the admiral’s cabin so she knows the SecNav wanted to
talk to you.”
“I better find her. I’m leaving in two hours,” Lee told him as they
both stood up and walked back to the control room.
Chip took over the conn as
Lee went out the aft hatch to find Janet.
He checked in sick bay and Jamie hadn’t seen her all day. He also checked the wardroom and she wasn’t
there. He went back up the stairs to
officer’s country. He checked her office
again and found her in there typing on the computer. He walked in and closed the door. She looked up at him and knew something was
wrong.
“Lee, what did the SecNav
want to talk to you about,” she asked as he walked over to her desk.
Taking her hand, he led her
over to the bunk, “Please sit down,” he told her as he took her chair, sat in
front of her and took her hands in his.
Taking a deep breath he
began, “I’ve been reactivated back into the Navy. I’m going to command the USS Chicago,
a fast attack submarine.”
“Lee can they do that?” she
asked innocently as she knew nothing about how the Navy worked.
“Sweetie, yes they can,”
giving her a wry smile, “I can be permanently returned to active duty if they
needed me.”
“Why do they need you?”
“Her captain is seriously ill
and had to be removed from the boat.
They have no qualified personnel that can assume command.”
“Can’t the XO take over like
Chip does when you leave...can’t they just go back to port and wait for him to
get well?”
“No, not this time,” he told
her as he rubbed the tops of her hands, “The boat is patrolling the shipping
lanes in international waters in the Pacific because the People’s Republic has
been attacking ships.”
“How long will you be gone?”
she whispered staring at her hands.
Putting his hand under her
chin and gently lifting her face up, he replied, “Quite awhile, I’m afraid.”
“So you won’t be home for
Thanksgiving or Christmas?”
“No sweetheart, I’m sorry,”
he answered kissing her forehead as she put her head on his shoulder, “but at
least you’ll know where I am,” he smiled as he stroked her hair.
Sitting back and giving him a
small grin she said, “I guess that will have to do. When are you leaving...can I contact you?”
Looking at his watch he replied,
“There will be a helicopter here in about ninety minutes and no I will have to
contact you but don’t worry if you don’t hear from me, we could be on radio
silence. I will call you when I can,” he
reassured her. “Come with me while I
pack.”
They both got up, Lee opened
the door and they went to their cabin.
Lee took his duffle bag out of the closet and was packing his gear and a
map of the area.
“I guess it’s a good thing I
had the laundry wash your uniforms,” Janet told him as she went to the closet
and took them out laying them on the bunk.
Normally they take them home and send them to the cleaners but since Seaview
would be in port for awhile, Janet had them washed so they could leave them
here and not worry about getting them back aboard.
“I knew there was a reason I
married you,” he laughed as he carefully folded them and put them in the duffle
bag as Janet hung the empty hangers in the closet. They weren’t Navy regulation uniforms but
they would have to do to. The only good
thing Janet could think of is that his backpack would stay in the closet. He would use that for every ONI mission.
He needed to change into his
dress blues so he took off his khaki uniform but before re-dressing he grabbed
Janet by the waist and kissed her passionately.
He pulled back the covers on the bunk, helped her get undressed and they
climbed into the bunk where they lost themselves in each other for the next
half hour. Lee got up and took a quick
shower. While he was dressing, Janet
took one too. He finished packing his
shaving gear and other essentials he would need. They walked down the passageway taking the
stairs to the observation nose.
As they stood in the
observation nose looking out the windows Janet said urgently, “Lee, you were
supposed to be Santa at the party...who’s going to do it now...what about our
party...I have to cancel it.”
“Sweetie, calm down. One question at a time,” he chuckled knowing
she would rattle on when she was nervous.
The admiral was coming down
the stairs, heard her questions and he walked over to them.
“Don’t worry about the
party. I have a perfect replacement for
Lee,” the admiral told her smiling as both he and Lee looked at Chip at the
plotting table in the control room.
“Who’s going to tell Chip he
has to play Santa. Didn’t he do it last
year?” Janet asked while she looked at Chip too.
“I’ll take care of telling
Chip,” the admiral assured her.
“Please don’t cancel our
party as I know the men are looking forward to it. I’m sure Chip and some of the crew will help
you. Do you think you can do it?” Lee
asked hopefully.
“Yes, of course. I just thought maybe you would want to be
there,” she replied softly.
“Sweetie, I’ll be there in
spirit,” he told her giving her a hug.
The three of them walked in
the control room where the crew noticed their captain in his dress blues and
knew something was up. Going over to the
periscope island, Lee took the mic out of the holder and pressed the button
once keying the mic so the whole boat would hear him.
“Attention all hands, this is
the captain,” Lee said, “I’ve been recalled back to the Navy to command the USS
Chicago. Since I’ll be gone for the
holidays, I just want to wish all of you happy holidays. Hopefully I will return for Seaview’s
mission scheduled for next year.” As
Lee returned the mic to the holder, Kowalski on radar spotted an object on the
screen.
“Skipper, there’s a
helicopter 2000 yards off the port bow,” Kowalski alerted him.
“Thanks Ski,” Lee said, “Mr.
Morton surface the boat.”
“Aye sir,” Chip replied as he
picked up the mic, “Surface, surface.”
Seaview responded and was on the surface in no time.
“Crack the hatch,” Chip told
Sharkey at his station in the control room.
“Aye sir,” he replied shaking
Lee’s hand and went up the ladder.
The admiral and Chip shook
Lee’s hand. He went over to Janet,
pulled her close and kissed her while the crew looked on.
“Love you,” he whispered in
her ear. “Don’t worry...I’ll call when I
can.”
Kissing him back she
whispered back, “Love you too. I know
you will.”
He climbed the ladder to the
sail hatch while the admiral, Chip and Janet went up to the conning tower. Kowalski handed up Lee’s duffle bag to
Sharkey who passed it to one of the crewmen on the deck detail. The helicopter was just getting into place
landing lightly on Seaview. Lee
took the duffle bag from the crewman, opened the door of the helicopter and put
it in. He looked back up to the conning
tower and waved good bye. He jumped in
the helicopter and shut the door just as the copter took off from the
deck. They watched the helicopter fly
away until they could no longer see it in the sky. Chip, the admiral and Janet went back down
the ladder into the control room where Chip told them to dive the boat and continue
on the present heading for home.
Janet stood in the
observation nose arms wrapped around her waist watching the waves go over the
bow before going to the control room and over to Chip and the admiral as they
stood at the plotting table.
“I’ll be in my office,” she
told them heading for the spiral staircase.
“She’s not very happy,” Chip
said as he and the admiral watched her go up the stairs.
“Can’t say I blame her,"
the admiral remarked, “at least the party will occupy some of her time but we
do have one problem,” the admiral said to Chip in a serious tone.
“What’s that sir,” Chip
answered with a concerned and baffled look on his face trying to think what the
problem could be.
Seeing Chip had no clue as to what he was getting at, the admiral broke out in
a grin, “You’re going to have play Santa for the NIMR party this year.”
Smiling too, Chip responded
happily, “No problem at all. I don’t
mind doing it. The kids are always fun
to be around.” Chip had plenty of experience with children as he had quite a
few nieces and nephews.
“Thanks Chip. That’s one less problem Janet has to worry
about,” he told Chip patting him on the shoulder.
They both were standing at
the plotting table when
“Admiral, I have Admiral Starke
on the phone for you.”
“Pipe it up to my cabin,” the
admiral told
“Yes, sir.”
“Wonder what he wants,” the
admiral said to Chip as he left the plotting table for his cabin leaving Chip
to attend to the duties of captain.
Reaching his cabin he went
in, sat down at his desk and picked up the phone. “Yes, Jiggs, what can I do
for you?”
“Just checking to make sure
Commander Crane is on his way to the
“Yes, he left about fifteen
minutes ago. I was wondering who gave
the SecNav his name.”
“Sorry Harry, I didn’t want
to do it but I had no choice. He was the
only one with experience on that type of sub in this area. It would have taken too long to get someone
else. That sub is the lead one of the
three on this mission.”
“I understand Jiggs. Thanks for the call,” the admiral told him as
he hung up the phone. “Damn,” the
admiral said out loud.
((()))
Lee boarded the helicopter
and the pilot motioned for him to put on the headphones so he could talk to
him.
“Welcome aboard commander,”
the pilot told Lee.
“Hal is that you?” Lee asked
with a grin recognizing the voice.
“Yes sir,” Hal replied. He was the helicopter pilot that had picked
Lee up off on Seaview several times for ONI missions.
“I should have known it was
you when you landed on Seaview.
You’re the only pilot that doesn’t scratch her paint landing and taking
off.”
“Thank you sir.”
While they were talking the
co-pilot was staring at Seaview and couldn’t believe how large she was.
He watched her slowly sink in the water. He had heard a lot of talk about this
submarine and her captain and was glad he finally got to see her and meet him. He knew that Lee was the youngest submarine
captain in the Navy.
“Commander, your co-pilot for
this journey is Petey Hobbs,” Hal told Lee, “he’s learning how to land and pick
up personnel off submarines.”
“Nice to meet you Commander,”
Petey said, “That’s one nice boat you have.”
“Yes she is a very nice
boat,” Lee replied proudly as he watched his ‘gray lady’ sink slowly under the water.
“Sit back and enjoy the
ride,” Hal told Lee as he buckled his seat belt for the two hour ride.
“Thanks, Hal. Still don’t serve any food,” Lee joked.
“No budget cuts took away our
snacks,” Hal laughed back and cut the feed to the radio.
Lee sat back and looked out
the window at the ocean below. He was
just a little nervous about taking over the command of another man’s boat not
that he hadn’t done it before but never under these circumstances.
((()))
(Aboard the USS Chicago)
The executive officer, Tyler
Banks, had just received word from the SecNav that Lee would be replacing
Captain Woolf until he could return. He
had heard of Lee and the fantastic Seaview. He would be honored to serve
under him and knew the crew of the
“Attention all hands, this is
the exec,” Banks said over the mic. “Our
new captain, Commander Crane, should be arriving in two hours. In case some of you don’t know him, he is the
captain of the submarine Seaview.
I know I can count on you to welcome him aboard.” Banks replaced the mic and watched as his
crew reacted to the news. The crew
members in the control room were looking at each other. Some of them knew of Seaview and were
nervous about serving under Lee. He had
a reputation of being no nonsense but fair and hands on captain that would take
a few chances.
((()))
Janet went back to her office
to finish entering the log book entries and reports Lee gave her before he
left. Tears welled up in her eyes as she
typed. She couldn’t wait to get home and
off the confines of Seaview.
There would be a lot more to do once they docked. She along with Angie
and Wanda still had to buy the gifts for the children attending the NIMR party.
She would have put up the Christmas
decorations for the party at their house. After marrying Lee she hoped she
would never have to spend another holiday alone but she would this year. She finished up her work, shut down the
computer and was getting ready to leave her office when Chip came to the
door.
“I’ve come to take you out to
dinner,” he chuckled.
“Out to dinner?” Not really hungry she asked, “I suppose you
won’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s not an option. Let’s go our table is waiting,” he replied
taking her arm.
They walked down to the wardroom
where the admiral and Jamie were already there.
Janet took a tray and Cookie put some lasagna on it. She looked at him and sighed. Lasagna was Lee’s favorite meal on board. At
least he didn’t make brownies. He was
cutting back on the desserts at Jamie’s request that they all eat
healthier. Even the lasagna was made
with wheat noodles.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. C.” Cookie
told her. “I didn’t know the skipper was
gone and it was too late to make something different.”
“It’s okay,” she replied
softly.
Cookie gave Chip two pieces
along with some salad. He sat down next
to Jamie while Janet sat down next to the admiral.
“Janet, I asked Chip about
being Santa again and he going to do it so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Thanks, Chip,” Janet replied
taking a couple of bites of food before she pushed the rest of it around her
plate. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m a
little tired. I’ll see all of you
tomorrow,” she said as she took her plate, cleaned it off and handed it to a
mess specialist. She really didn’t feel
well. She went to her cabin and got
ready for bed where she climbed in the bunk and fell asleep.
Surprised that she left
without finishing dinner the admiral said to Jamie, “She doesn’t look good.
“Maybe you better check her out.”
Jamie answered, “I agree she
didn’t look well. I’ll see her tomorrow.”
They finished dinner and
cleaned up. The admiral and Jamie would
go to their cabins while Chip would take a walk around the boat tonight. If they didn’t have any problems, they would
be docking late tomorrow afternoon.
((()))
The helicopter with Lee
aboard was approaching the position of the
“Thanks Hal, Petey for the
safe journey. Be careful going back,”
Lee told them over the headset.
“No problem sir. Please let the men know we got their captain
to
“Will do,” Lee replied
removing the headsets and unbuckling his seat belt.
Hal hovered a few feet over
the rounded deck of the submarine while Lee opened the door tossed his duffle
out before jumping onto the deck and ducking down to clear the blades of the
helicopter. When he was clear he gave thumbs
up to Hal who slowly lifted the chopper away from the submarine and flew away.
Once on deck Lee picked up
his duffle bag and handed it to a crewman who walked over to him and took it to
the sail hatch. He was also met by
another man.
“Welcome aboard sir,” the man
said, “I’m Tyler Banks, the executive officer.”
“Lee Crane,” Lee replied as
he shook
“Yes sir.”
The two of them went to the sail
hatch and down the ladder into control room where all the men were standing at
attention.
Smiling Lee said, “at ease
and return to your stations.”
The men sat back down at
their stations and resumed their duties as the crewman took Lee’s duffle to the
captain’s quarters.
Standing by the periscope
island watching the men, “Dive the boat, Mr. Banks,” Lee told the XO.
Picking up the mic Banks
said, “Secure the deck detail. Dive, all
dive.” Replacing the mic he waited for
the men to report.
“Deck detail secure,” the
chief petty officer replied.
“All green across the board,”
a crewman reported.
“Take her down to ninety
feet,” Banks called to maneuvering.
“Aye, aye sir,” they replied
and smoothly took her down to ninety feet.
“Very well done, Mr.
Banks. Now bring me up to speed as to
what our orders are and exactly where we are.”
Lee said as they went over to the charting table. “I’ll address the crew as soon as we’re
done.”
“Yes sir.” Banks replied as
he showed Lee where they were on the map.
“Right now we’re just watching the shipping lanes and offering
assistance to any of the ships that are escorting freighters across this part
of the ocean. So far we haven’t had to
use any of our weapons or even surface as the PR ships are usually chased away
by the escort ships. But we have gotten
word that they are deploying submarines to take out the escorts and the
freighters.”
“Thank you Mr. Banks,” Lee
told him as he checked around the control room.
It was lot smaller than the one on Seaview but still efficient
just as he remembered. Picking up the
mic on the charting table Lee addressed the crew, “Attention all hands, I’m Commander
Lee Crane and I’ve been ordered to take over command of this boat. Your captain has safely arrived at
“Mr. Banks, please tell me
the names of the men on radar, sonar and the radio.”
“The men on this watch are
Petty Officer 1st Class Bill Gray on sonar, Petty Office 2nd Class Tom
Allen on radar and Information Systems Technician Josh Lewis mans the radio.”
“Have you been ordered to
maintain radio silence?”
“No sir not so far.”
Lee walked over to the radio
shack, “Hello Mr. Lewis. Will you please
place a call to
“Aye sir.” Lewis replied as he pressed the switches that
would connect him to
Lee looked at his watch it
was 1700 hours, “When are you off duty Mr. Banks,” Lee asked as he stood at the
charting table.
“At 1800 hours, sir,” he
replied promptly.
“I’ll be in my quarters until
then; will you please meet me in the crew’s mess for dinner?”
“The mess?” Banks asked as
the captain usually ate in the wardroom.”
“Yes, I would prefer to eat
in the crew’s mess,” Lee replied wanting to dispense with the formality of the
wardroom so he could get to know the crew.
“Yes sir,” Banks answered.
Lee found his way to his
quarters and unpacked his uniforms and hung them in the closet not wanting to
disturb Captain’s Woolf’s gear. He
splashed water on his face and looked around the small cabin. Barely enough room for one person so no way
would two people fit in here he smiled thinking of Janet. He pulled out the maps he brought with him
and for the next hour studied the maps of the area they were patrolling.
He made his way to the mess where
he met the cook, Chief Petty Officer Jimmy Gale who welcomed him aboard. He served him meat loaf, mashed potatoes and
corn. Before he sat down, he went to the
coffee urn and poured a cup of the brew. He went back to the table and sat down just as
Banks came in and was served dinner.
They were the only two men in the mess.
“Thanks for joining me,” Lee
said as he took a drink of the coffee and knew it definitely was not strong
enough but would have to do.
“No problem sir.” Banks said
hesitantly not sure what Lee wanted.
“Just a few questions,” Lee
said noticing his hesitation. “How long
have you been at sea? And when was the last time you took on provisions?”
“We’ve been deployed for five
months. We’re due back in port at the
beginning of next year. We were
stationed in
“Is everything okay?” Banks
inquired looking over the edge of his coffee cup before he took a drink.
“Please relax, Mr. Banks,”
Lee told him. “I always want to know the
details on every mission. I’d like see the reports that have been made regarding
the attacks on the escort boats and freighters after dinner.”
“Yes sir I will see that you
get them as soon as we’re finished.”
“Mr. Banks, how long have you
been stationed on the
“Just over a year. I was on a destroyer before and decided I
would like to be on a submarine. Passed
all the tests and was sent here.”
“Which do you like better,”
Lee asked with a gleam in his eye.
“Submarines of course,” he replied
back quickly.
“Good answer,” Lee said
smiling as he got up, patted the XO on the shoulder. He left the mess and returned to his quarters.
A short time later there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Lee said as he
walked out of the head with a towel in his hand.
Banks was standing at the
door, “Here are the reports you requested, Captain,” he said to Lee as he
handed them off.
“Thank you Mr. Banks. Tomorrow morning, I will be conducting a
torpedo drill and in the afternoon an emergency battle stations drill and
various other drills during the day.”
“Yes sir. I’m sure you’ll find the crew very well
prepared. Good night.”
“Good night Mr. Banks, thanks
for your help today.”
Banks left Lee’s quarters and
returned to his. He liked Lee’s approach
and felt they would work well together. The Chief of the Boat, Henry Grimm, while so
far has not had any contact with Lee watched him handle himself in the control
room when he first arrived. He was an
old friend of Chief Sharkey who had mentioned to him more than once what a
great skipper Crane was so he felt he and the crew would have no problems
following his orders.
Before Lee got ready for bed
he studied the reports Banks gave him. When
the People’s Republic first started attacking the freighters they had no
problem getting what they wanted off the ships.
But when the government started sending escorts with the freighters they
backed off when a ship approached them.
Lee looked closely at the latest reports and found that the PR was
getting bolder and taking shots at the escorts.
He knew the PR well enough to know they were ramping up their
attacks. He finished the last report and
looked at his watch; it had been a long day so he lay on the bunk and fell
asleep.
((()))
Lee was up early the next
morning and went for breakfast where he met the COB. Lee ate breakfast in the crew’s mess with him
and some of the crew who introduced themselves to Lee.
“Chief Grimm, I told Mr.
Banks yesterday that I will be conducting a torpedo drill this morning and an
emergency battle station drill this afternoon and other various drills. He assures me your crew is up to the task,”
Lee said taking a sip of coffee.
”Captain, Mr. Banks is correct. We will
be ready for anything the People’s Republic gives us.”
“Very well,” Lee said
finishing up his coffee and made his way to the control room where Mr. Banks
and the rest of the men were waiting and ready to conduct the first drill.
“All right Mr. Banks lets see
how well your crew handles the torpedo drill,” Lee told him holding his clip
board. Picking up the mic Lee ordered,
“Fire torpedoes one and two.” He waited
for the missile room to report the torpedoes on their way.
He looked at his watch
counting the seconds when the missile room reported, “Two away, sir.”
“Excellent time,” Lee said
making a note of the time on his sheet.
He ran the crew through the
rest of the morning and afternoon drills. Not quite as good as Seaview
but better than some of the other boats he’s been on.
Picking up the mic Lee announced,
“Attention all hands, this is the captain. Great job all of you. Captain Woolf has done a good job of
preparing you for battle. Let’s hope we
don’t have to use any of these skills.” He replaced the mic and turned around
and saw the XO and COB standing there.
“Mr. Banks and Chief Grimm,
you weren’t kidding when you said the crew was prepared. I’m very impressed,” Lee told them smiling.
“Thank you sir,” they both
replied. Chief Grimm went out the aft
hatch back to the missile room while Mr. Banks stood at the charting table
checking to make sure they were on course.
Lee walked around the men in the control room watching what they were
doing.
((()))
Janet woke up later than
normal because her built in alarm clock wasn’t there as Lee was always up at
0500. She showered, dressed and went
down to the wardroom for breakfast. She
wasn’t too hungry but knew she better eat or Jamie would be on her case. Cookie was serving breakfast when she got
there. He took a tray for her and put
some scrambled eggs and toast on her plate.
The only thing looked appealing was the toast. Jamie was the only one in the wardroom so she
sat down across from him. She took a
bite of the eggs and managed to get them down.
Jamie sat watching her stare at the eggs and noticed she had a hard time
eating them.
Looking over the top of his
coffee mug he asked, “Not feeling well this morning?”
“No just not hungry,” she
replied as she took a bite of the toast.
“You weren’t hungry yesterday
at dinner,” he continued. “Come to sick
bay after breakfast so I can check you out.
You’re not looking too good.”
“Jamie,” she said
exasperated, “I’m fine. Just worried
about Lee and you know how I get when he’s gone.”
“Please just humor me,” he
told her as he got up from the table. “I’ll
see you in fifteen minutes and I want you to eat all your breakfast. I’ll have Cookie report to me if you don’t.”
“Yes sir,” she
acquiesced.
He left the wardroom while
she finished up her breakfast. Cookie
looked at her and smiled. Smiling back she got up from her seat, showed him her
empty plate and left for sick bay. Jamie
was sitting in his office when she got there.
Getting up from his desk, he walked her to the examination room and made
her sit on the gurney where he took her blood pressure, temperature and
listened to her heart.
“Okay everything looks
normal,” he told her removing the stethoscope from around his neck, “but I’m
going to do some blood tests just to make sure.
I’ll take it back to
“Thanks Jamie,” Janet replied
as she rolled up the sleeve on her shirt but didn’t watch while he took the
blood.
“All done,” he told her
putting a gauze pad with a bandage on her arm.
She rolled down her
sleeve. She knew why Jamie wanted to
test her blood but wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. She left
She went to the observation
nose and watched as Chip brought Seaview into the channel and then into
the dock. She smiled when he docked her without scratching the paint. It was a standing joke between Lee and Chip that if one of them scratched her paint, he
would have to pay for dinner. Chip and
the admiral stood at the bottom of the ladder wishing the crew happy holidays
as they left the boat even though some of them would be at the NIMR party. After the crew left she went back to their
cabin and brought down the duffle bag and Lee’s briefcase to the control
room.
After he came back downstairs
with his gear Chip asked Janet, “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, I’ve got everything,”
she replied as Kowalski took the duffle bag from her and took it up the ladder
but she kept Lee’s briefcase with her.
Once topside, Janet gave her
car keys to Kowalski so he could put Chip’s and her duffle bag in the car since
Lee drove to the dock for this mission. Patterson took the admiral’s gear and brought
it to his car before leaving.
“Thank you, Ski,” Janet said
as he handed her keys to the car. “I’ll
let you know when I need help with the Christmas decorations,” she told him as
he offered to help her bring them in the house since Lee wasn’t around.
“Admiral, are you going to
the office?” Chip asked once they arrived at the parking lot and stood next to
his car. He and Janet wouldn’t have to
go to the offices until tomorrow morning.
“Yes but I’m not going to
stay long. Just want to check in see how everything is. I’ll see you tomorrow,” the admiral told them
as he took his keys out of his pocket and opened the trunk of his car and Chip
put his gear in.
“Good night admiral,” Janet
said to him as she stood by her car.
“See you both tomorrow,” the
admiral replied. “Janet, if you need
anything please call.”
“Yes sir,” Janet answered
with a small smile.
The admiral unlocked the door
of his car, got in and drove away towards the institute office. Chip unlocked the door to Janet’s SUV and
held the door open while she got in.
Chip went around to the
passenger side of the car, “How about getting some dinner,” Chip asked as his
stomach growled.
“I’m not that hungry so I
hope you don’t mind if we just go home,” Janet told him.
“No problem, I’ll find
something to eat,” he replied concerned that she wasn’t hungry again.
Janet pulled the car in
Chip’s driveway. He went to the back, took
out his gear and went to her side of the car, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow for
work,” he told her.
“Thanks Chip. I’ll see you
tomorrow morning.”
He watched her back out of
the driveway and drive up to her house.
He was worried about her and would talk to Jamie tomorrow when he got to
work. Janet pulled in the garage, took her
gear and Lee’s briefcase into the house.
She put the briefcase in Lee’s office and put the duffle bag in the
laundry room. She went in the kitchen
and found a can of soup and ate it for dinner.
She was tired so she went up to bed and fell asleep even though it was
still early.
((()))
The admiral arrived at the
institute, unlocked the door, and took the elevator upstairs. Turning on the lights in the office he walked
over to Angie’s office and flipped the switch turning on the lights in his
office. There was a pile of mail on his
desk so he sat down at his desk and started to look through the pile when the
phone rang.
((()))
Lee looked at his watch and
knew Seaview would have docked by now.
He wanted to talk to the admiral and Janet but when Lewis tried to get
through to Janet on her cell and home phone the call wouldn’t go through.
“Mr. Lewis since I can’t get
through to my wife’s phone, please try calling the Nelson Institute and pipe to
my quarters.”
“Aye aye, sir,” he responded
making the connection as Lee walked the short distance from the control room to
his quarters.
Loosening his tie and undoing
the top button of his shirt, Lee sat down at the desk and waited for Lewis to
put his call through.
“Sir I have your call to the
Nelson institute.”
“Thanks Mr. Lewis,” Lee said
as he picked up the phone. “Hello Admiral.”
“Lee good to hear your
voice. Everything okay?”
“Yes sir. Everything is fine. Seaview get into
port alright...Chip didn’t scratch the paint did he? I tried calling Janet but the call wouldn’t go
through is there a problem.”
Chuckling the admiral
replied, “Everything is fine and no he didn’t scratch the paint.” Before he could ask the admiral remarked,
“Janet is fine too and I don’t know why the call wouldn’t go through.”
Smiling at how well the
admiral knew him he answered, “Thanks.
She’s not there is she?” he asked hoping maybe she was working.
“No, sorry Lee. She went home right after we docked.”
“How’s Captain Woolf’s crew?”
the admiral asked tapping his pen on he desk.
Lee answered, “The crew here
is well prepared. Captain Woolf has done
a good job with them. So far we haven’t
had any problems but after reading some of the reports I’m afraid that might change. I noticed all these reports are being sent to
Admiral Starke. Did he have a hand in
sending me here?”
Nelson sighed, “Yes Lee. He didn’t have any choice as you were the
only one available to handle that type of sub.
No one else was near enough to bring in.”
“I understand. Will you Janet tell that I will call her
Thanksgiving night about 2000 hours your time.”
“Yes Lee, I will do that.
Take care,” the admiral said before saying good bye.
“You too admiral,” Lee
replied hanging up the phone.
Lee hung up the phone
disappointed that he couldn’t talk to Janet.
He went to the crew’s mess and got dinner. He was hungry as he didn’t have time for
lunch because of the drills. It was
empty except for the cook.
“What provisions do you have
for Thanksgiving?” Lee asked Chief Gale as he ate his dinner of spaghetti and
garlic bread.
“Sir I have all the makings
for a feast. I made sure that the crew
will have turkey and all the trimmings since we won’t be home for
Thanksgiving. I’ve also got Christmas
covered too,” he assured Lee.
“Good. I want to make sure they can at least have a
good dinner since they can’t be with their families,” Lee told him.
“Do you have a family sir?”
“Yes, I have a wife,
Janet. This will be her first
Thanksgiving alone since we got married,” he answered. “How about you?”
“No, confirmed bachelor,” he
said as he got up when some crew members came in for dinner.
After they were served
dinner, Lee waved them over to sit with him at his table. They joined him and were surprised when he
answered their questions regarding Seaview.
((()))
Janet was up early on Tuesday
morning. She would be busy today as she
along with Angie and Wanda were going to buy the presents for the children
attending the NIMR party on Saturday.
They were a little late in getting them this year because Wanda and
Angie waited for her to get back from the mission. She saw Chip pull in the driveway, put on her
coat, locked the door and got in the car.
“Good morning, Chip,” Janet
said cheerfully.
“Morning,” he replied
relieved to see she was in a better mood today.
“Are you and the admiral
ready to man the phones when we go out for the gifts today?”
“I totally forgot about
that,” he said worriedly, “hopefully since it’s the week of Thanksgiving, there
won’t be too many calls. I really don’t
like answering the phones. I’m afraid I’ll lose a call.”
“Chip,” she snickered, “it’s
only a phone. Most of the calls are for
you, the admiral or Lee anyway so I think you can handle it.”
They got to the office just
as Wanda and Angie were getting out of their cars and walked over to Chip and
Janet.
“Where’s Lee,” Angie asked
anxiously when she didn’t see him with them.
“He’s not on an ONI mission is he?”
“No, he’s on another sub for
the Navy,” Janet explained. “The captain got sick and he’s replacing him
temporarily.”
“Will he be home soon?” Angie
wondered as she knew Janet didn’t like to be alone.
Sighing deeply Janet told
them, “No he won’t be home for the holidays.
Maybe he’ll be home after the first of the year depending on how soon
the captain recovers.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,”
Wanda responded. “We’re still going
shopping today for the presents aren’t we?”
“Yes.” Angie and Janet
replied as they walked in the door to the institute and were greeted by Howard
who signed them in.
They took the elevators
upstairs and went to their offices. Janet stopped in her office before going to
Lee’s. They weren’t gone that long so she
couldn’t believe all the mail that had piled up on her desk. Hanging up her coat, she went to Lee’s office
and saw his desk piled with more mail than she had. Oh well, she thought, it’s been
sitting there for a few days so one more day wouldn’t hurt. Knowing she
wouldn’t get it done today since they were going shopping.
The admiral walked in a few
minutes after the rest of them and stopped at Janet’s door before going to his
office. He didn’t see her until she came
out of Lee’s office her arms full of mail.
“Good morning, Admiral,”
Janet said as she set the mail down. She
would sort it out and give most of it to Chip to look over before she left.
“Good morning, Janet. I heard from Lee last night. He tried to call you but the call didn’t go
through. He asked me to tell you he will
call you on Thanksgiving at 2000 hours.”
“Damn,” she muttered, “I
turned off my phone when I got home. I
didn’t think he would be calling. Thank
you for telling me,” she told the admiral upset she missed his call. She was pissed at herself for turning off the
phone.
The admiral went to Angie’s
office where she reminded him they were leaving for the morning and wouldn’t be
back until after lunch. They always went
out for lunch after buying the gifts.
“Oh I forgot. We’ll be fine,” he assured her as she handed
him two huge files filled with letters, reports to look over and
proposals. “Chip can handle the phones
while I tackle all this work,” he chuckled.
The ladies stayed in the
office for another hour before grabbing their coats. Before Janet left she gave Chip the mail from
Lee’s desk after she sorted through it.
There were some things she couldn’t take care of. She let him know they were leaving and wished
him good luck with running the office while they were gone. They got in Angie’s car and drove to the toy
store where they purchased all the gifts and candy canes they would need for
the children. The store promised they
would have all of it delivered on Wednesday morning. The ladies stopped at the diner for lunch and
decided to splurge and have a cheeseburger and fries rather than their normal
salad.
“We’re still meeting on
Friday to set up for the party,” Angie said as she put a fry in her mouth.
“Okay with me,” Janet
answered and Wanda shook her head in agreement.
Before they left, Janet
talked to Carol about the appetizers for her party. She would let her know in a week how many she
would need to make. When they got back,
Chip was sitting at Wanda’s desk relieved to see them.
“Please,” he begged, “don’t
ever leave me again to answer the phones.
I don’t know how you do it. They
never stopped ringing,” he complained.
All three women had huge
grins on their faces. Now he knew what
they had to deal with every day.
“Okay Chip,” Wanda told him
grinning, “we won’t leave you alone for at least a year.”
“Very funny,” he
snorted. “Janet, could I see you in my
office?”
“Sure, just let me hang up my
coat,” she replied as he left for his office.
She went in her office, put her coat in the closet and walked to Chip’s.
“Yes Chip,” Janet said as she
sat down in the chair in front of his desk looking at all the files he had
sitting there.
“Two things,” he said. “First, I did manage to get some work
done. I looked at Lee’s mail and here is
what needs to be taken care of. Also, I
went through my mail,” he continued as he handed her another pile. Second, Jamie called and wants to see you
when you got back. You okay?” he asked
hesitantly.
“Yes as far as I know. He did
some blood work because I’m not hungry and always tired. Thanks for letting me know. Is it okay if I walk over to
Getting up from his desk he
went to the closet and gave her the keys from his coat pocket, “Take my car,”
he told her, “Do you want me to go with you?”
“No if that’s okay. Thanks for letting me use your car,” she
replied taking his keys. “I’ll be back
shortly.”
Janet waited for the elevator
to come up. She already knew the answer
to one of Jamie’s tests. She left the
office, walked to Chip’s car and drove to
“Hi Janet,” he said getting
up from the desk shutting the door behind her as she sat down in front of his
desk.
Sitting back down at his
desk, “I got the results of your blood work.
You’re fine,” he told her, “nothing out of the ordinary.”
“I know,” she replied sadly.
“Thanks Jamie,” she said getting up from the chair and headed for the
door. “See you on Thursday at the
Admiral’s for Thanksgiving,”
Getting up, “I’ll be there,”
he said patting her shoulder as she walked out the door of his office.
She drove back to the office
very disappointed. Damn, she
thought, she was hoping to give Lee some good news on Thanksgiving. She locked Chip’s car and went in the
building walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
She stopped at Chip’s office
but he wasn’t there so she put the keys on his desk and went back to her office
to tackle the piles of work on her desk.
Chip had gone to lunch and
saw she was back so he stopped at her office door, “Everything okay?” he asked
softly.
“Everything’s fine.”
“I still have quite a bit of
work to finish so I’ll be here awhile.
If you want to go home, maybe Angie or Wanda can take you.”
“No, I’ll stay. I have plenty to do too,” she replied as she
looked at all the work.
They finally left at 1900
hours. Chip took Janet home as he had a
few errands to run. She went in the
house and sat on the couch. Oh well,
she thought. She made a salad for dinner
and put on the television while she ate dinner.
((()))
Lee had been on the boat for
a week and no ships had been attacked even though the shipping lanes had been
pretty busy. He had an uneasy feeling
that things were going to change. It was
the Tuesday before Thanksgiving when sonar spotted an unidentified vessel.
“Skipper, I have a boat 2,000
yards away but I can’t make out what type,” the sonar operator reported.
Lee walked over to the sonar
station and took the headphones from Petty Officer Allen. He knew it was a small sub more than likely
from the People’s Republic.
Returning the headphones to
sonar operator, Lee went to the radio shack, “Mr. Lewis send a message asking
the sub to identify itself,” Lee said urgently.
“Aye sir,” Lewis replied as
he tried to raise the sub on the radio but there was no response.
“Mr. Banks, battle stations.”
Lee said tensely.
Pressing the button the alarm
sounded through the sub as men came running from everywhere and reported to
their stations in record time.
“Torpedoes bearing
“Hard right rudder,” Lee
ordered as the helmsmen carried out the orders. As the sub turned they heard the
propellers on the torpedoes go past the starboard side of the boat.
Quickly picking up the mic on
the periscope island Lee said, “Missile room prepare to fire torpedoes one and
two.
“Aye, aye sir.”
Lee waited impatiently for
the missile room to respond that the torpedoes were ready to be fired. After what seemed to be an eternity the missile
room replied, “Torpedoes one and two ready for firing.”
“Fire one,” Lee commanded
feeling the boat shudder as the torpedoes left the tubes.
“One fired,” the missile room
replied.
Lee looked at his watch
counting down the seconds until he wanted to fire the next one.
“Fire two,” Lee told them.
The missile room replied
promptly, “Two fired.”
Lee went back to the sonar
screen and watched as the torpedoes headed for their target. He could tell that one hit its mark but the
other missed.
“Damn,” he muttered to
himself not understanding how the second one missed.
“Mr. Banks, take her up to
ninety feet,” Lee asked as he waited by the periscope island, “all stop.”
“Aye aye sir,” Banks
responded relaying the order maneuvering, “Engine room all stop.”
“Engine room aye,” they
answered.
Lee stood on the periscope
island and waited for the sub to stop at ninety feet. Once it reached that level Lee pressed the
button on the attack periscope and looked around until he saw the other
submarine surface about 1000 yards off the
“Down scope,” Lee said as Mr.
Banks pressed the button and the scope retracted. Lee left the island and went over to the
sonar station. “Petty Officer Allen, is
that sub still sailing away from us?”
“Yes sir. She’s about 1500 yards of the port.”
Picking up the mic, “Damage
control report,” Mr. Banks asked.
“No damage to report, sir.”
“Good job men,” Lee told the
men in the control room. “Take her down
to two hundred feet, Mr. Banks.”
Mr. Banks passed on the order
and the sub slowly went to two hundred feet.
“That was close,” Lee stated to
Mr. Banks as he stood at the charting table wiping the sweat from his
brow. “We’re going to have step up our
alertness from now on.” Lee left the
control room and went to his quarters to report the attack to Admiral Starke.
((()))
Wednesday passed without
trouble. It was Thanksgiving and the crew was in a good mood. You could smell the turkeys cooking all over
the boat. Lee decided to surface the
boat so the men could get some fresh air.
Lee had Mr. Banks make a schedule so the crew would be able to call home
and talk to their families which would be easier if they were on the surface.
Lookouts were posted on the bridge keeping watch not only for the PR’s ships
but any ships that were crossing the ocean.
So far there was nothing to be found for miles around. Lee took the
evening watch on the bridge so the men on beta watch could get some fresh air,
eat dinner and phone home. After Lee
finished his watch, he went down the ladder back to the control room jumping
off the third rung of the ladder.
“Mr. Banks,” Lee called as he
stood by the periscope island resting his arm on the rail.
Walking over to Lee he
answered promptly, “Yes sir.”
“Has everyone been topside,
eaten dinner and made their calls home?”
“No sir,” he replied as Lee
glared at him after hearing his reply.
“Who hasn’t?” Lee barked as
he wanted to dive the boat and get underway.
“Sir, you haven’t eaten or
made your phone call home. I’ve made my
call home but haven’t eaten,” Banks said quietly.
Easing his look Lee patted
him on the shoulder, “Let’s go eat now and then I will make my phone call
home.”
“Lt. Evans, take over the
conn,” Banks said.
“Yes sir,” he replied and
made the note in the log book.
Lee and Banks made their way
to the crew’s mess where Chief Gale was waiting for them. They were the last of the crew to eat dinner
and he wanted to clean up as it had been a long day. He put a generous portion of mashed potatoes,
stuffing, and turkey on both their plates along with green beans, and
cranberries.
“Thank you,” Lee told
him. “You did a nice job of making sure
the crew had Thanksgiving dinner. Why
don’t you join us before you clean up?”
“You’re welcome sir,” he
replied as he sat down next to Mr. Banks with a cup of coffee.
The three men talked about
life on a submarine and how it compared to a surface boat. Lee and Mr. Banks ate everything that was put
on their plates. Neither one of them had
lunch so they were hungry. Gale took
their dishes when they were finished and added them to the pile that needed to
be washed. Mr. Banks was off duty and went to his
quarters. Lee looked at his watch, he
still had an hour before he would try and call Janet. He knew she would have gone to the admiral’s
for dinner. It was a tradition the
admiral started a few years ago if they were all in town. Sally, his cook, would spend the day making a
fabulous turkey dinner.
Before calling her he would
take a walk around the boat. After
stopping at all the vital areas of the boat, he wasn’t surprised to find
everything in order. He made his way to
the radio shack before going to his quarters.
“Mr. Lewis could you please
place a call to this number and put through to my quarters,” Lee asked giving
him his home number. Since they were
still on the surface, he would be able to use a satellite to make the
connection.
“Yes, sir,” he replied as he
rang the number.
Lee went to his quarters and
waited for Mr. Lewis to connect him. He
couldn’t wait to talk to Janet.
“Sir, I have your
connection,” Mr. Lewis told him as the phone was ringing.
((()))
It was early on Thanksgiving
morning when Janet got up. She had a lot
of baking to do before she went to the admiral’s for dinner. She along with Angie and Wanda would bring
desserts to the admiral’s house while Chip would bring the wine and Jamie the
appetizers. No one knew that Jamie was a
fantastic cook. Janet was making a
pumpkin bar dessert and of course brownies.
She finished baking her
desserts and got ready to go. Chip was
picking her up at 1400 hours. The
admiral told him when they were manning the office that Lee was calling her at
2000 hours tonight so he would make sure she was home before he called. He knocked on the door which she opened with
her arms full of desserts. He took one
of the plates from her and put it in the backseat of the car. She put the other plate on the backseat too. She locked the door and got in the car for
the short drive to the admiral’s house.
Chip could see she was a little unhappy.
“You okay,” Chip asked with
concern and knew that something else was bothering her but didn’t want to ask.
“Yes, just miss your
‘brother’,” she responded sighing as she buckled her seat belt. “Let’s go.
I’m hungry. I didn’t eat anything
at all today, leaving room for turkey,” she said with a small grin as she
looked out the window.
He put the car in drive,
pulled out of her driveway and went to the admiral’s. The weather was
exceptionally warm so they made their way out to the deck where they devoured
Jamie’s appetizers and had a glass of wine before dinner. Sally, the admiral’s cook, called them into dinner
an hour later. Everyone was stuffed from
eating Sally’s fantastic dinner so they decided to wait awhile before eating
dessert.
Going back outside to enjoy
the fresh air, “Is everything set for the party on Saturday,” the admiral asked
as he sipped his Glenlivet.
Standing on the deck with a glass
of wine Angie replied, “Yes sir. The
toys were delivered yesterday and we’re going to set up the cafeteria tomorrow
and Saturday.”
“If you need help, please let
me know,” Chip volunteered. “I’m not
doing anything important tomorrow.”
“Thanks Chip,” Wanda said
thankful for the help. “We will need
your help.”
“I’ll be there,” he answered
taking a drink of wine looking at Janet who was staring at the ocean.
After an hour of talking, the
rest of the group went into the house to get dessert and coffee while Janet
stayed outside. The admiral walked over
to her as she stood at the railing of his deck looking out at the ocean. You
alright? You’ve been very quiet today,” he asked.
“Yes, I’m fine...Just miss
him...Sorry I didn’t mean to spoil the party,” she sighed turning to face him.
“Honey, you didn’t spoil the
party,” he reassured her. “We all miss
him. For some reason it’s just not the
same without him,” he told her as he grabbed her hand gave it a squeeze. “Chip did a good job of carving the turkey
but Lee makes it look a lot harder.”
“Yes I’ll admit that Lee can
be a little dramatic when it comes to carving it,” she grinned. “Let’s get some
dessert,” she said as she grabbed his arm and headed inside.
They walked into the house
just as Sally was pouring coffee for everyone and putting the desserts out. They managed to finish a pot of coffee so
Sally made more while they ate the desserts.
By the time they were finished everyone could hardly move because they
ate too much. The ladies helped Sally
clean up before leaving. Before they
left, it was decided they would meet tomorrow at 1000 at the cafeteria. It was 1900 hours when Chip drove Janet home.
Before she got out of the car
Chip told her, “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. Also, please tell Lee I said hello.”
“Thanks Chip and I will tell
him. Thanks for the ride,” Janet replied
as she got out of the car.
Chip waited until she was in
the house before he left. Janet turned
on the lights and looked at her watch.
She had an hour before Lee would call.
She went upstairs and got ready for bed before she went back downstairs. She put on the television and turned on the
football game. At precisely 2000 hours
the phone rang.
Janet brought the phone over
to the couch, “Hi Lee,” she said as she picked up the phone before it had
finished ringing.
Laughing, “How did you know
it was me?” he wondered.
“It’s exactly 2000 hours, who
else would be calling me a this time and besides that you’re never late.”
“You’re right. I miss
you...how was Thanksgiving?”
“I miss you too and
Thanksgiving was very nice as usual.
Everyone misses you and they all say hi.
Chip managed to carve the turkey without cutting himself and we all ate
too much. I’ll have to walk about five
miles for the next week to wear off what I ate. ”
“Anything new,” he asked
hesitantly.
“No sorry,” she responded
sadly.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, it’ll
happen,” he said with disappointment in his voice and could tell she was
disappointed too.
“I know. How are things on the boat? Did you have Thanksgiving dinner?”
“Things are fine. The crew is very prepared and yes, the cook
made a nice dinner for the crew. Not as
good as Cookie’s but still nice.”
“Have you run into any
trouble?” she asked worriedly.
“None so far but I’ve got a
feeling that’s going to change soon,” he told her as he ran his hand through
his hair.
“Your feelings are always right
on, so please be careful.”
“I will. Have fun at the party on Saturday and at our
party. Sweetheart, I’m sorry I can’t be
there and I won’t be able to call again until sometime during the week of
Christmas because we’ll be on radio silence.
The boat’s due in port some time after the first of the year so I should
be home shortly after that provided there are no problems. We’ll be docking in
“So far no missions have come
up so I’m sure the admiral wouldn’t might if I met you in
“Sweetie, I’ve got to
go. We’ve been on the surface most of
the day so the men could call their families.
I need to dive her before we’re discovered. Love you.”
“Love you too,” she said
lovingly, “and Lee, Merry Christmas.”
He knew her well enough to
know she had tears in her eyes when she told him that. Replying, “Merry Christmas too
sweetheart.”
He disconnected the call and
sat at the desk for a few minutes. Damn,
he thought before he got up to go to the control room. Once in the control
room he went over to Lt. Evans who was at the charting table and told him to
dive the boat. Sitting on the charting
table was Mr. Banks’ clipboard with his checklist of who had been topside,
eaten and made their phone calls. He saw his name and it didn’t have a check
mark by the phone call. Smiling he put
one by his name. Even though Tyler Banks
had only been on this boat a short time, his was a good XO. He reminded Lee a little of Chip. A perfectionist down to the detail only he
didn’t have Chip’s glare, yet.
He checked out all the stations
after the boat submerged and went back to his quarters. He got ready for bed and lay down on the bunk
wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.
((()))
Janet hung up the phone. She turned off the television and lay down on
the couch. She hated sleeping alone in
their bed so she pulled the throw off the back of the couch, wrapped it around
her and fell asleep with tears in her eyes.
She woke up the next morning
with a crick in her neck after sleeping all night on the couch. She took a quick look at the clock in the
kitchen and knew if she didn’t hurry she was going to be late. She hurried upstairs, turned on the shower
and pulled a pair of jeans out of the drawer and got a shirt out of her
closet. She took a quick shower, brushed
her hair and put on some makeup. She made
it downstairs just as the door bell rang.
She opened the door for Chip.
“Sorry, I’m just running a
little late this morning,” she told Chip as she ran back upstairs to get her
coat. He walked in, saw the throw on the
couch and knew she had slept there.
“Everything okay with Lee,”
he asked as he put the throw on the back of the couch.
“Yes he’s doing fine,” she
replied smiling as she saw what he had done when she came back downstairs. “So far there have been no problems but he’s
got a feeling that’s going to change.”
“If he’s got a feeling, you
know trouble can’t be far behind,” Chip replied grimly.
“Ready?” Janet said as she
put on her coat, went out the door and locked it. She hopped in Chip’s car. “I hope Cookie has some coffee there. I need a cup badly.”
When they arrived at the
cafeteria, Wanda, Angie, Kowalski and Patterson were already there. Chip and Janet went in and saw a big pot of
coffee. Janet went over to it and poured
a mug for herself and Chip. Kowalski and
Patterson had just brought in the boxes full decorations from the
warehouse. They went back to the
warehouse to get all the trees, wreaths, and Santa’s special chair. Janet pulled the snowflakes out of one of the
boxes as Chip went to get a ladder so they could hang them from the ceiling. When they brought in the Christmas trees,
Angie plugged them in hoping they would light so they wouldn’t have to restring
them. Luckily for them, the lights
worked on all the trees and she had Patterson help her place them around the
room. Wanda was putting the ornaments on
the trees while Janet hung up the wreaths on the windows. Angie with the help of Kowalski put the Santa
chair in the corner between a couple of the trees. So it would be easier for Chip to pass out the
gifts, they put the boys on one side and the girls on the other. After the children sat on Santa’s lap they
would each get a candy cane. Janet looked
at the chair and sighed because she knew Lee was looking forward to playing
Santa this year. They brought in the box with the Santa suit in it. Chip took it out of the box and looked over
the suit. He was excited to play Santa
again this year. When they were finished decorating, they all stood back
looking around the room, it looked like a winter wonderland but without the
snow. That was the only thing Janet
missed about living in
By the time they were
finished it was 1500 hours. Since the party started at 1400 hours tomorrow, they
would meet at 0800 so they could set up the tables, help Cookie with the food
and desserts. Janet noticed sitting in
the back room of the cafeteria was the gingerbread house. Cookie and the mess specialist always made
one but this year’s look exceptionally beautiful. They were getting ready to leave when Chip came
over to Janet with her coat.
Helping her on with her coat
he asked, “How about we get some dinner? I’m starving.”
Smiling “I’m surprised you
lasted this long. You didn’t have lunch,
have you ever missed a meal?” she teased.
“Yes, I have but we’ve been
so busy I forgot about eating lunch,” he laughed as he put on his jacket.
Angie and Wanda had plans for
the evening but Kowalski and Patterson didn’t so they were going out with Janet
and Chip. They decided to go to the diner
and since it was Friday, Carol’s special was pot roast. They drove the short distance to the diner
and found the place was packed. There
was one table left for them so Carol showed them to the table and knew the only
one who would need a menu would be Janet as the rest of them would order the
pot roast. Janet decided on turkey. They were surprised since she had turkey
yesterday. They enjoyed their meal, paid
the bill and were getting ready to leave.
Patterson opened the door for
Janet and Chip and told them, “We’ll there tomorrow to help.”
“Thanks, Pat, Ski,” Janet
said sincerely. “We could use it.”
Since it was still early
Kowalski and Patterson were going to meet some friends at a bar. Chip would take Janet home and then go back
out to get some last minute Christmas gifts for his family. Janet had finished most of her Christmas
shopping before they left on the last mission.
She only had Lee’s present to buy and didn’t know what to get him.
When she got home she looked
around the house and knew she better start decorating. She needed to get her decorations out of the
garage but some of the boxes were too heavy for her to bring in the house.
Since Ski offered to help her, she would ask him to stop by on Sunday and bring
in the heavy boxes. She went out and
brought in what she could and started putting up the decorations but it just
wasn’t the same without Lee’s help. She had
put up a few decorations before getting ready for bed. Even though she hated sleeping alone, the
couch was just too uncomfortable so she made sure the door was locked, turned
off the lights, and went upstairs to bed.
((()))
Lee
was up early the next morning and went to the mess hall for breakfast and
coffee. Mr. Banks was already in the
control room making sure they were on course and schedule.
“Good
morning, Captain,” he said to Lee as he walked by him holding his clipboard in
his hand.
Smiling,
“Good morning, Mr. Banks,” Lee replied.
“Everything in order?”
“Yes
sir,” he answered promptly as Lee continued on to the crew’s mess. After Lee
had breakfast and made his way back to the control room Mr. Lewis, called him
over. “Sir, I have a call from Admiral
Starke.”
Trying
not to sigh or roll his eyes Lee took the mic from him, “Yes Admiral what can I
do for you?”
“Commander, how are things
going?” he said sharply.
“Just fine sir. How is Captain Woolf doing?” Lee replied
calmly.
“Good to hear, I’ll let
Captain Woolf know and he is doing a lot better. I’ll be in touch,” Starke said disconnecting
the call before Lee could answer.
Looking at Lee, Lewis asked,
“Is he always that..?”
“Terse,” Lee answered him
with a wry grin, “yes he is.”
Lee keyed the mic by the
periscope island, “Attention all hands.
I just got a report that Captain Woolf is doing a lot better and I will
let you know more information when I get it.”
When he was done he replaced the mic and went over to the charting table
and checked their course and speed. Mr.
Banks had everything under control and the
((()))
It was 0800 on Saturday
morning and everyone was at the cafeteria.
The men were moving the tables around the room while Janet, Angie and
Wanda were setting them with red, green and white tablecloths, napkins, plates
and silverware. Each table had a poinsettia
for a centerpiece. When they finished
the room looked very festive. As they
were working the admiral stopped by to check out their work and was amazed at
how different the cafeteria looked all decorated.
Walking over to Janet, “Did
you talk to Lee on Thanksgiving?” he asked as she folded the last napkin at the
table she was setting and put the silverware on it.
“Yes, sir,” she replied as
she explained to him what Lee had told her.
“He does have an uncanny
sense of predicting trouble,” the admiral said furrowing his brows. “Don’t worry he knows how to handle a sub
like that. He’s been on them before,” he
reassured her.
“I know, he had a good
teacher,” she answered back giving the admiral a smile which he returned along
with a pat on her arm.
They finally had all the
tables set and Cookie had started cooking the food. The place smelled heavenly. Cookie and the mess specialists brought out the
gingerbread house to many oohs and aahs as they put it on the dessert
table. The ladies helped them bring out
all the cookies, brownies and pies. The tortes would be put out later. They also set up the table with small cups for
the punches and soft drinks. By this
time it was 1200 hours so everyone left to get ready except Cookie and the mess
specialists. They would stay, watch the
food and change before the guests arrived.
Chip took Janet home and
before she got out of the car he said, “I’ll pick up you about 1300 so I can
get dressed as soon as we get there.”
Smiling at him she replied,
“I’ll be ready. Do you need any pillows
for the suit?”
“No the pillows are still
there from last year.”
Chip dropped her off at home
and she went inside, put her purse on the table and went into the kitchen where
she made a bowl of soup. As she ate her
soup she thought about Lee and what was she going to buy him for
Christmas. He didn’t need a new watch as
she bought him one for their anniversary. He had enough clothes. She couldn’t
buy anything for his boat as she didn’t know what he needed. She was stumped on what to buy him. Finished with lunch, she cleaned up and went
upstairs. She took a shower, did her
hair and make up and put on the long dark green skirt with the white sparkly
top the ladies had decided to wear. She
went downstairs and turned on a few lights so the house wouldn’t be dark when
she got home. Chip pulled in the
driveway just as she was locking the door.
After she got in the car she
grinned at him, “Ready to go Santa?”
“Yes, the sleigh is ready to
depart,” he replied smiling as he backed out of the driveway.
By the time they got there
Angie, Wanda, Patterson, Kowalski, Chief Sharkey, Riley and Jamie were there
doing some last minute details. So no
one would see Chip getting ready, he went into the kitchen and with Jamie’s
help would get dressed as Santa.
Janet walked over the where
Patterson and Kowalski were standing and asked, “Ski, could I impose on you to
help me bring in some of the Christmas decorations from the garage sometime
tomorrow. It should only take a few
minutes. The boxes are too heavy for me
to carry.”
“Sure Mrs. C.,” Kowalski
answered. “Just let me know what
time. If you want I can help you
decorate too.”
“Thanks Ski. How about 1100
and maybe just help me put the tree together.
I always put the lights on it anyway.
The skipper doesn’t have the patience to put them on but don’t let him
know I told you that,” she said chuckling.
Hearing their conversation,
Patterson and Riley also volunteered to help.
“I think Ski will be enough
help for tomorrow but could I ask your help in a couple of weeks for the party
at the house. I’ll need help setting up
the tables and lighting the heaters.
Maybe you could buy the liquor if I give you list?”
“We’ll all be there to help
you with that party,” Riley replied as Patterson and Ski nodded in agreement.
“Thanks guys. I know the skipper would appreciate it.”
They finished talking just as
Chip came out of the kitchen dressed like Santa. He really did look good and having light hair
was easier to hide. Lee with his dark
hair and olive complexion always made an interesting looking Santa. Chip would take off his beard and eat in the
kitchen until everyone was finished with dinner. He would go out the back door and come in the
front door with the bag of candy canes.
((()))
It was 1400 hours and the
employees and their families were arriving for the party. The children were dressed up in their holiday
clothes and looking around the room at the decorations. Even though they all
worked at the institute, some employees never got to see each other so they
were talking about their families and plans for the holidays as they enjoyed
Cookie’s punch and soft drinks.
After an hour of socializing Cookie
went over to Janet, “Dinner is ready to be served,” he whispered to her.
“Thanks, Cookie. I’ll let the admiral know,” she replied
patting him on the shoulder. “Everything
smells divine,” she told him.
Janet walked over to the
admiral who was standing by the door looking over the room and his
employees. He never dreamed the institute
would have grown to this size when he first built it. “Dinner is ready sir,” Janet said cheerily.
Patting her hand, the admiral
went over to Santa’s chair and stood in front of it with a glass of punch in
his hand, “Good afternoon. It’s so nice
to have all of you here at our annual Christmas party. I want to thank all of you for your hard work
and dedication to the institute. We make
a great team and have accomplished a lot this year. I would have never been able to do it without
you. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year.” He took a drink
of the punch while everyone clapped, cheered and joined him drinking a toast. “Dinner will be served shortly,” he told them
as he made his way to a table near the front of the room where Janet, Jamie,
Bob O’Brien and his wife would join him.
Everybody found a seat and
sat down as the mess specialists were putting the food on the tables. The children could barely contain their
excitement because they knew as soon as dinner was over Santa would be
arriving. The mess specialists and
Cookie had out done themselves as the food was fantastic. Once everyone was finished with dinner and
dessert and the tables were cleared, Cookie went in the back to let Chip know he
could make his entrance shortly. The
children were sitting in front of Santa’s chair where the admiral would read The
Night Before Christmas*. Once he
finished the book, Santa would jingle his bells before he walked in the front
door.
Janet was standing off to the
side listening to the admiral read the book when Jamie walked up along side of
her. She loved to hear him read out
loud.
“Was he disappointed?” he
asked her quietly.
“Yes, I could hear it in his
voice,” she replied softly.
Squeezing her hand he said,
“Don’t worry, it’ll happen.”
She let out a small chuckle,
“That’s what he said too.”
They stood there listening to
the admiral finish the book and heard the jingling bells as Chip walked in the
door. All the children turned around and
saw Santa. Most of them were cheering and clapping but some of the younger ones
were a little frightened. The admiral
got out of the chair so Santa could sit down. The children lined up to see
Santa. Angie and Wanda helped the
children sit on Santa’s lap. Chip would ask them what they wanted for
Christmas. He had such patience with all
of them. Even the ones that were afraid
calmed down when he talked to them. After
Chip gave them their gift, Janet handed them a candy cane as they left Santa’s
lap. After all the children received their
gifts, Riley brought out his guitar and everyone joined in singing Christmas
carols. Everybody was having a good time
but before long people started to leave as the children were getting
tired. The admiral and Santa stood by
the door shaking everyone’s hand as they left.
Once all the people were
gone, Chip took off the Santa suit. He
put it back in the box along with the pillows.
Janet was helping him put it away.
“Next year Lee will wear the
suit,” Chip told her as she closed the box.
“I sure hope so,” Janet
answered with a smile.
The group helped Cookie and
the mess specialists clean up. Cookie
would take the extra food to the food pantry. He had made arrangements with
them to drop it off on his way home.
Before long the cafeteria was back to normal. They would leave the decorations up until
after the holidays as the cafeteria would be open every day except Christmas
Day and New Year’s Day. There was still
security on duty not only for the institute but also for Seaview. When they were finished, everyone headed home
after enjoying a wonderful party.
Chip dropped Janet off, “I’ll see you on Monday. I’ve got a ton of errands to run
tomorrow. Do you need any help getting
your decorations from the garage?”
“No. Ski is coming over tomorrow. I should be fine, but thanks for offering. See you Monday,” Janet replied as she got out
of the car. “Chip, you made a great
Santa.”
Grinning, “Thanks. I really enjoyed it. It’s practice for when I go home as I get to
do it again.”
Janet shut the car door and
went into the house flashing the light signaling Chip that everything was okay. She put on her pajamas and got into bed. She read her book for awhile before turning
in for the night.
((()))
Lee was in the mess eating
lunch knowing the party at the institute was just starting. He really missed being there and especially
being Santa and didn’t notice when Mr. Banks sat down next to him.
“Everything alright,
Captain,” he asked as he saw the far away look in Lee’s eyes.
“Yes,” Lee replied and told
him about the party at NIMR.
“Sorry you can’t be there,”
Banks told Lee.
“Don’t worry about it. There’s always next year.”
As Lee sat there finishing up
his coffee, Mr. Lewis called him over the intercom. Admiral Starke wanted to talk to him.
Sighing Lee got up from the
table, walked to the control room and over to the radio shack. “Good afternoon Admiral,” Lee said.
“Commander I need to change
your position. There’s been an attack on
a freighter. You’re going to be closer
to where they’ve been attacking the boats.”
Admiral Starke told Lee giving him his new course.
“Yes, sir. We should be at these coordinates in two
hours, Admiral.”
“Very good, commander,”
Starke replied and disconnected the call.
Mr. Banks had left the mess hall
when he heard that Admiral Starke was calling and went into the control
room. Lee gave him the new coordinates
and he issued the order to change course.
The
((()))
Two
weeks had gone by since the
Lee
noticed Mr. Banks tapping his pencil on the charting table as he walked around
the control room. “Problem, Mr. Banks,”
Lee inquired.
Banks turned to look at Lee, “No
sir. Just a feeling that something is
going to happen.”
“You too? I’ve had that feeling for the last couple of
days. So let’s stay alert,” Lee
responded seriously.
“Aye, aye sir,” he answered
cautiously.
((()))
It was the day of the Seaview
party at Lee and Janet’s house. Cookie
and Janet had been making appetizers and desserts for the last week. Carol had
dropped off her bite size hamburgers earlier in the week. The weather was going to cooperate and not
rain so Janet had the patio heaters delivered and set up since it would be a
little cool out. So everyone could enjoy
themselves, Janet hired a couple of servers to make sure there was always
appetizers in the serving dishes and they would also help serve and clean
up. She also had a bartender so no one
would have to worry about making drinks.
Patterson, Kowalski, Riley, Chip and Chief Sharkey had spent most of the
day helping her set up tables inside and outside. Chief was setting out the plates, napkins and
silverware on the table Janet set up by the appetizers. She had the dining room table set up with the
desserts and coffee. Kowalski had helped
her put up the tree which she put the lights on and ornaments. Finally everything was set up and ready to go
so everyone left to get ready including Janet.
She took a shower and changed into the outfit Lee helped her pick out
for before the last mission; a long black skirt with a shimmery silver top. She went downstairs and put the appetizers
that needed to be baked in the oven. It
was 1830 when Chip knocked on the patio door.
Janet opened the door and let
him in but left the door open. “You sure
look nice,” he told her noticing her outfit.
“Thanks Chip,” she said
taking a deep breath, “I wish Lee were here.”
“Me too but he’ll be back
soon,” he told her patting her hand.
“What can I do?” he asked as the doorbell rang.
She went into the kitchen checking
on the appetizers, “How about answering the door?”
Chip opened the door and the
two servers and bartender were there. He
showed them were Janet was and she explained to them what she would like them
to do. Before Chip could close the door,
Patterson, Kowalski, Riley and Chief Sharkey showed up.
“Hi Mrs. C,” they said, “What
can we do?”
“Pat, Ski, could you make
sure the heaters are turned on. I’m not
sure how they work.”
“No problem,” they replied as
they went out to the patio and turned on the heaters.
“Riley, could you turn on the
fireplace?”
“Sure thing Mrs. C,” he said
going over to it, opening the damper and lit the gas starter.
The servers were helping
Janet put the appetizers in the serving dishes. Chip showed the bartender where
the bar was and got himself a beer when the admiral showed up a few minutes
later. He looked around the house and
was impressed at how beautiful it looked.
He went over to Janet who was standing by the fireplace and gave her a
kiss on the cheek, “The house looks beautiful.
Thank you for having the party.”
“Admiral, Lee wanted me to
have it. The crew earned this and it’s
his way of showing his appreciation for their hard work.”
Chip walked over to them with
a beer in hand, gave Janet a glass of wine and a Glenlivet to the admiral. Jamie arrived and gave Janet a kiss along
with a huge bouquet of flowers.
“Thank you, Jamie,” Janet
said returning his kiss before going to the kitchen to get a vase. She put the flowers on the dining room table
with the desserts. By this time the
house was full of crew members. There
were some new crew members Janet hadn’t met so Chip introduced her to
them. Everyone was having a good time
even Cookie who didn’t have to lift a finger. There was plenty of food and
drinks and it was 2400 hours before the last crew member left. The only people still there were Chip, the
admiral and Jamie. They were sitting outside on the patio while
the servers cleaned up. Any food that
was leftover Janet would bring to the food pantry tomorrow. They were all trying to convince her to come
with them for the holidays.
Chip sitting on the lounge
chair said to Janet, “Please come to
Sitting on the other lounge
chair, “You can come with me to
Sitting on the patio wall Jamie
piped up, “I’m going to visit an old friend near
Overwhelmed by their
thoughtfulness Janet told them, “I’m really grateful that you are all willing
to take me home with you but Lee is going to call sometime that week and I
don’t want to miss his call. He can only
call during that week and I can’t let him know where I am because they’re on
radio silence. But I thank each of you
for thinking of me. I know it’s hard to
be alone at this time of year but I’ve done it before. It makes me appreciate everything I have even
more.”
“Well if you change your mind...”
the admiral said, “please let any one of us know.” He got up and walked into the house with the
rest of them following him in. He gave
his glass to the server before walking to the door.
“Rest up tomorrow. You did a fantastic job. Lee would be proud of you,” the admiral told
her, kissing her good bye as he opened the door, took his car keys out of his
pocket and left for home.
Jamie gave her a kiss on the
cheek and said, “You did do a great job.
Thank you.”
“You’re welcome Jamie. Be careful going home.” Jamie had his keys in
his hand and walked to his car parked on the street.
Chip also gave her a kiss,
“I’ll go with you tomorrow to the food pantry.
Just give me a call when you’re ready.”
“Thanks Chip. There’s a lot left over so I’m sure they’ll
be glad to get it. Thank you for all your help tonight.”
“No problem,” he replied as
he left out the patio door, closed it and walked down to his house.
Patterson and Kowalski had turned off the heaters
before they left, so Janet made sure the patio door was locked after Chip left. Taking off her shoes, she turned off all the
lights except the Christmas tree and fireplace and sat down on the couch with
her legs tucked under her. She and Lee
would cuddle on the couch watching the fire and looking at the tree almost
every night. Damn, she thought
missing her husband and wondering how she would get through the next two weeks.
((()))
It was the Wednesday before
Christmas and the
“Skipper,” sonar called. “Listen to this,” he said as Lee made his way
over to the sonar station and took the headphones from him. He recognized the sound and didn’t like what
he heard. It profiled like a submarine and not a
“Skipper,” Petty Officer Gray
yelled frantically, “it’s gone.”
Lee ran back to the radar
station and looked at the screen. The freighter had disappeared off the screen. Moving to the sonar station the only vessel
on that screen was the sub.
“Shit,” Lee mumbled so only
the sonar operator heard.
He knew the submarine had
torpedoed the freighter and blew it out of the water. He also knew they would have to bring the
boat to periscope depth and look for survivors from the freighter but he also
wondered what had happened to the escort boat as radar showed only one ship on
the surface.
“Mr. Banks, take her up to
ninety feet. All stop.”
“Aye aye sir,” he replied
giving the order and the
The men in the control room
watched as the captain pressed the button on the attack periscope. After it was in position he pulled the
handles down and slowly looked around stopping abruptly when he saw two men
clinging to pieces of debris floating in the ocean. He could also see that the weather was bad,
rainy and windy. By surfacing the boat it would put the
“Mr. Banks, surface the
boat,” Lee ordered. “Get a deck detail
ready to bring two men aboard.”
“Yes sir. Blow all ballast tanks and surface,” Banks told
maneuvering. “Deck detail, prepare to
crack the hatch.”
“Sonar, where’s that
submarine,” Lee asked as he waited for the boat to surface.
“She’s about 5000 yards off
our port bow. I don’t think she knows
were here...she’s made no move toward us...yet.”
Lee also knew the submarine might
not have up-to-date sonar or radar but he couldn’t take that chance so they
needed to get those men aboard quickly which would be tricky due to the weather.
Once the deck hatch was cracked, he quickly went up the ladder to the deck and put
on the blue life jacket he grabbed along with a helmet. Once on deck he noticed he had the XO’s
helmet put didn’t have time to get his so he stood on deck wearing it. There
were two men on deck with him who were also looking intently out at the sea
trying to find more survivors. With rain
running down his face, Lee looked sadly at the debris from the freighter as it
floated in the ocean pissed that he couldn’t help save more of the men on that
ship. More members of the deck detail launched
a small raft so they could pull the two survivors out of the sea which was made
trickier as she rocked in the rough seas.
They gently brought the two survivors on the deck of the
“Secure the detail,” Lee told
the men as he went down the ladder into the control room jumping off before he
hit the bottom rung. Lee moved quickly
out of the way so they could bring the two injured men down the ladder and to
sick bay. The rest of the detail closed
the hatch and made their way down the ladder.
Lee removed his helmet and life jacket putting it on the table out of
the way.
“Dive the boat,” he ordered. “Full down elevation on all planes.”
“Dive all dive,” Mr. Banks
relayed the order as Petty Officer Allen called Lee over.
“All green,” Banks heard as
the boat slid into the dark water.
“Sir that submarine must have
spotted us. She’s now at 3000 yards and
closing fast.
“Take her down to two hundred
feet,” Lee said wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt. He was soaked just like the rest of the deck
detail but he couldn’t change until they were out of danger.
“Torpedoes approaching
bearing 1-0-5, range 2500 yards,” sonar told Lee.
“Hard right rudder,” Lee
yelled to the helmsmen.
“Aye sir,” the helm replied.
Lee ran over to sonar as they
heard the torpedoes go under the sub.
“More torpedoes bearing
l-8-0, range 2000 yards.
Lee told the helm, “Hard left
rudder,” hearing the propellers of the torpedoes run along the starboard side
of the sub.
Lee knew that the PR
submarine wouldn’t give up so he would have to take drastic action.
“Mr. Banks, take her down to
nine hundred feet. Once at depth, come
about to a heading of
“Sir, nine hundred feet is
just above our crush depth.”
“I know that,” Lee said
tersely, “I want to take her into deeper colder water where they won’t be able
find us and they can’t go that deep so I’m going to sneak up on her.”
Mr. Banks gave the order and
the boat headed to nine hundred feet.
Lee took the mic from the holder near the charting table.
“Missile room prepare to fire
torpedoes one, two, three and four in salvo.”
“Aye sir,” the missile room
reported.
The
“Sonar, position of submarine?”
“She’s at two hundred feet, 2000
yards away,” Petty Officer Allen replied.
“Position,” Lee called to the
helmsmen.
“
“As soon as we’re in
position, sing out,” Lee ordered.
“Mr. Banks, bring her up to
two hundred feet once we’re in position.”
“Aye sir,” Banks replied
holding the mic by the charting table waiting for the helm to report their
position.
Wasting no time, Lee grabbed
the mic from the holder by the sonar station, “Missile room.”
“Missile room, aye.”
“Fire on my orders,” he said
rapidly but calmly.
“Aye sir,” they responded.
“Skipper we’re in position,”
the helmsmen called out.
“Maneuvering, bring her up to
two hundred feet,” Banks said quickly.
Lee and Banks were watching
the gauges as the
“Missile room fire one, two,
three and four,” Lee said fearlessly.
“Four fired sir,” the missile
room responded the boat shuddering when the torpedoes left the tubes.
Still holding the mic in his
hand, “Prepare for concussion,” Lee warned the crew as the four torpedoes hit
the PR sub broadside.
The
“Skipper,” sonar called.
“She’s gone. A direct hit on all four torpedoes.”
“Damage control report,”
Banks asked as soon as the boat stopped rocking.
“No damage sir. Tight and dry,” DC reported.
“Mr. Banks, maneuver to her
last position and make a 360 degree sweep of the area in case there are
survivors.” Lee didn’t think there would
be survivors but he didn’t want to take that chance.
“Aye sir,” Banks replied as
he gave the helm the coordinates of the submarine’s last position.
Lee left the control room and
made his way to sick bay to check on the two survivors they picked up from the
freighter.
“How are they?” Lee asked the
corpsman on duty as he went over to the bunks where the men were laying resting
his hand on the upper bunk railings.
“They’re not doing to good,
Captain,” the corpsman replied as he stood next the bunk with Lee. “Neither one of them has regained
consciousness and they both have severe burns.
They really need to be in a hospital.”
“Thanks,” Lee told him
patting him on the shoulder. He left
sick back and made his way to the control room.
Damn, he thought to himself, I
wish Jamie was here.
After searching for an hour,
Lee called off the search and went to his quarters to report to Admiral Starke
what had taken place. He didn’t like the
fact that he had to sink the submarine but he had no other choice. Sitting at the desk, he picked up the phone.
“Mr. Lewis, patch me through
to Admiral Starke,” Lee asked as he ran his hand through his hair.
“Aye sir.”
Lee didn’t have to wait long
before Admiral Starke was on the line.
“Yes Commander,” Starke
barked. “This better be important. I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
“Sorry sir,” Lee said
apologetically, “but I thought you would like to know what has taken place in
the last couple of hours.”
“Proceed,” Starke replied.
Lee explained to him how the
PR submarine sunk the freighter and that he had two severely injured me on
board. He also told him that the
“Good job, commander,” Starke
told Lee, “We’ve been trying to sink her for the last two months. How much longer is the
“Another three weeks,
sir. But the two injured men won’t last
that long,” Lee stressed.
“Alright commander, bring her
into
“Thank you, sir. I know the men will appreciate the shortened
deployment. How is Captain Woolf doing?”
Lee asked, “I know the men are still concerned.”
“He’s doing a lot better and
should return to take over command of the
“I’ll let the men know,” Lee
replied with a smile knowing that his stint as captain would soon be over he
hoped. He was afraid Admiral Starke
wouldn’t let him go back to his reserve status and back on Seaview.
“Crane, I’ll let Admiral
Nelson know what has taken place so when he hears the news he’ll know you’re
okay,” Starke told him softening his tone.
“I’d appreciate that sir,”
Lee answered knowing that the admiral would let Janet know.
“Once you’re at
“Yes sir.” Lee replied to the
dead line.
Lee left his quarters to give
the good news to Banks and the crew and have him set a new course for
“Mr. Banks,” Lee said as he
approached the charting table where he was standing watching the sonar and
radar men.
“Yes sir,” he replied.
“Please set this course and
at full speed,” Lee told him as he wrote it down on the paper pad they kept on
the table. Banks picked up the paper,
read it and had a big smile on his face.
He knew they were heading for
“After setting the new
course, I would like to see you in my quarters,” Lee said to him.
“Aye aye sir,” Banks replied
enthusiastically as Lee turned around and headed to his quarters grinning.
Banks went over to the
helmsmen and gave them the course. They
too had smiles on their faces as they knew they were heading home. He also ordered the engine room to full
speed.
Banks made sure the course
was set, went to Lee’s quarters and knocked on the door.
”Come in,” Lee said as he sat at the desk.
“You wanted to see me,” Banks
said quietly. “I’m sorry; I know I got a
little too excited in the control room when you gave me the new course.”
“That’s not why I asked to
see you,” Lee replied smiling. “First of
all, I just wanted to let you know that Admiral Starke was pleased that we sunk
that submarine. Second, the
“Thanks for letting me know,”
Mr. Banks replied breathing a sigh of relief.
“Admiral Starke wants to see me?” he questioned raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, but don’t worry I’m
sure you aren’t in trouble with him.
Also I will be making those announcements to the crew once we get closer
to
Lee stood up, “Good work by
you and your crew Mr. Banks,” he said shaking his hand.
“Thank you sir,” Banks
answered with a smile as both men left Lee’s quarters for the control room.
((()))
Janet called Chip early on
Sunday morning so they could take the leftovers to the food pantry. They were very happy to receive the food as
it would be a special treat for the needy families. They went out to breakfast on the way
home. Chip needed to pick up some last
minutes items for his trip so Janet went with him and hoped she could find a
Christmas present for Lee. Janet looked
around the store while Chip did his shopping and still couldn’t find anything
for him.
He dropped her off when they
were done shopping. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” Chip told her as she got out
of the car.
“Lee’s going to have to drive
every day for the next two months when he gets home to make up for the driving
you’ve done,” Janet teased. “Thanks Chip
you know I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, I know and don’t worry
I will make him drive,” he replied as he backed out of the driveway after
making sure Janet was in the house. She
noticed that the rental company had already been there to pick up the patio
heaters.
She didn’t like seeing an
unlit tree so the first thing she did when she got in the house was turn on the
Christmas tree even though it was still morning. There were a few things she still had to put
away from the party so she did those chores before tackling her gift
wrapping. She didn’t have a lot of gifts
to wrap so she took extra care wrapping them and putting on fancy bows. She put them by the door so she wouldn’t forget
to take them on Friday when she went to work as the institute offices would be
closed the weeks before and after Christmas.
After she finished wrapping
the presents, she made some lunch, did laundry and went for a walk on the
beach. As she walked she thought about
Lee and hoped he was alright. She figured
if there was a problem the admiral would have let her know. She walked back to the house turned on the
television and found an old submarine movie to watch. She fell asleep watching
the movie. She got up, grabbed a sandwich
for dinner and watched a Chicago Bears football game which they finally won in
overtime. After getting ready for bed
she laid there for awhile wondering what Lee was doing before falling asleep.
((()))
Janet was up early Monday
morning. She dressed, ate breakfast and was waiting outside for Chip when he
pulled up.
Looking surprised that she
was waiting for him he said teasingly from his car window, “You okay? You’re never ready before I get here so I
guess I don’t get my cup of coffee while I wait for you?”
Taking a travel mug from
behind her back, “I would never deny you your first cup of coffee,” she teased
back handing him the mug.
She got in the car and they
drove to the institute knowing it was going to be a very hectic week as they
would all want to get their work done before the offices were closed.
For some reason, there were
more telephone calls, mail and other issues that came up during week that kept
all of them busy for the whole week. It
was finally Friday and everyone was looking forward to lunch at
Giovanni’s. He was waiting when they
arrived and had prepared a special dinner for them at the admiral’s
request. He made his special lasagna in
Lee’s honor. Even though he wasn’t
there, they would enjoy his favorite meal.
Janet was touched by the admiral’s thoughtfulness. Giovanni had brownies
for them too. They sat there drinking their coffee and eating the brownies
before going back to the institute where they would exchange gifts. When they got back to the office, they went
into the admiral’s office and sat on the couches while the admiral brought out
the eggnog mixed with brandy. He poured
everyone a drink and stood up raising his glass.
“Here’s to a very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year,” he toasted looking at Janet. Even though Lee wasn’t there to enjoy the
celebration with them, Janet had a big smile on her face and was very happy to
be with her ‘family’. They all raised
their glasses too.
While Chip poured each of
them some more eggnog, Janet handed Angie and Wanda their gifts which they
opened very quickly. She had purchased a bracelet online and they both loved it
so she bought each of them a bracelet. Earlier in the month, the Admiral and
Chip had asked Janet what they could by Angie and Wanda for Christmas. Janet suggested a necklace and another
bracelet to go with the one she had already bought. She took care of ordering
the items for them. Both of them were thrilled with the jewelry. Jamie was next and opened the gift from the
admiral and Chip which was a new diving watch.
Jamie very rarely went diving but he needed a new one so they bought him
one. He was surprised to get cook books
from Janet and Lee and promised to make all of them a dinner from the new books. Jamie and the admiral bought Chip a new fish
finder for his boat. Lee and Janet had gone to resale shop in
The admiral reached under his
desk and handed Janet a small nicely wrapped gift box. She opened it very slowly. Inside was a gift card for a four day weekend
at the bed and breakfast of Jamie’s friend.
It was a gift from all of them.
Janet sat there holding the
card, “Thank you,” she said tearfully.
“I know Lee will love it. But
admiral you’re going to let us go alone?
Isn’t this like a vacation?”
“Yes but Jamie has made
arrangements with his friend to ‘Crane sit’ while you’re there,” the admiral
chuckled.
Smiling Janet replied, “I
promise we’ll be good, careful and pay attention to what we’re doing.”
They all got up and gave her
hug knowing the next week would be hard for her. Even after they all begged her again to go
with one of them, she still insisted she would stay home alone. After they finished another round of eggnog,
they shut down their computers, locked their offices and left for the
week. The admiral had a small gift in
his hand to give to Howard when they signed out. They all chipped in and bought him a gift
card to Starbucks. He loved their coffee
and was seen sitting at the desk with a cup almost every day.
Chip took Janet home but she
sat there for awhile before she got out of the car. She almost told Chip she would go with him
but changed her mind.
“Chip, could you wait a
minute. I have something for you to give
to your parents for Christmas,” Janet said as she got out of the car and
unlocked the door to the house.
He shouted from the car, “You
didn’t have to do that.”
“I know,” she shouted back
from the door as she came back to the car and handed him a medium size wrapped
box. “I hope you have room in your
suitcase,” she said, “and be careful with it, it’s breakable.”
“Okay,” he told her. “What is it?”
“A picture of the three of
us, your mother mentioned that she didn’t have a recent picture of us so I took
one from our
“I know she’ll love it,” he
said as he got out of the car, “are you sure you don’t want to give it to her
yourself?”
“No Chip. I want to talk to Lee. I’ll be fine,” she stated. “Are you sure you
don’t want me to take you to the airport? I’m not doing anything tomorrow.”
“No. Lee left me explicit instructions not to let
you drive me. He let you drive there
once as a test and you got lost but thanks for offering,” he told her
snickering. “If you need anything, you
know where I am and don’t hesitate to call.”
“Don’t worry I will if I need
too. Just enjoy being with your
family. Chip, Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year,” she said giving him a kiss and a hug.
“Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year to you too. Please tell Lee
that when you talk to him,” he answered returning her kiss and hug.
“I will,” she replied.
Chip got back in the car and
waved goodbye. He wouldn’t see her until
after the first of the year as he wasn’t coming back until the Monday after New
Year’s.
Janet went back into the
house and locked the door. She wasn’t
hungry after their big lunch so she turned on the tree and fireplace and sat on
the couch holding the box with the gift card in it. She hoped Lee would get home soon so they
could use it.
((()))
The weekend went by fast even
though Janet was alone for most of it.
Jamie wasn’t leaving until Tuesday so he took her out to dinner on
Sunday. They went to a restaurant in
The admiral had just pulled
into the parking lot when he saw Janet standing by her car. He got out of the car, opened the trunk and
took out his luggage. Janet walked over
to him and closed the trunk for him.
“Have you changed your mind
about coming to
“No sir,” she replied
smiling. “I just wanted to see you off
and wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I also have a gift I would like you to take
to Edith,” she said handing him a present wrapped with bright silver paper and
a red ribbon.
“What is it,” he asked
curiously. “I promise I won’t tell her.”
“It’s a picture of you with
Chip and Lee I took when we were in the
“Thank you, honey,” the
admiral replied smiling. “And a Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year to you. I
know you miss Lee but he’ll be home before you know it,” he said giving her a
kiss and hug which she gladly returned.
The admiral walked down the
gangway to the deck of Seaview and went in the sail hatch. A few minutes later she saw FS-1 take off
from the channel. She walked back to her
car and drove home. When she got home she made some more Christmas cookies and
listened to carols as they were baking.
She went out on the patio, plopped down on a lounge chair and took out
her book. If nothing else she would
catch up on her reading. The timer went
off so she went in and took the cookies out of the oven, sampled one and left
the rest of them to cool so she could freeze them so when Lee came home he
would have some cookies. She spent the
rest of the day puttering around before calling it a day.
((()))
It was early Tuesday morning
when Janet’s cell phone rang. She
recognized the admiral’s number and panicked.
“Hello,” she said nervously. “Is everything alright?”
“Hi Janet,” the admiral
replied calmly, “Nothing is wrong. I
just wanted to let you know that Admiral Starke called me and let me know that
Lee is on his way back to
“Did he know when he would be
home,” she asked excitedly hoping she would be able to meet him in
“No, I’m sorry he didn’t say
anything about that,” the admiral answered.
“He was on his way to a meeting and in a hurry. I barely got that information out of
him. He called to wish me Happy
Holidays,” the admiral chuckled.
“Thanks for letting me know,”
she said as she hung up the phone. At
least he’s okay, she thought.
((()))
The next three days were
rainy and cool not very
((()))
It was Christmas Eve and the
boat smelled fantastic. Chief Gale
decided to have the Christmas Day dinner on Christmas Eve since they would be
docking around 0600 on Christmas Day. He
made turkey on Thanksgiving so he had ham for Christmas along with mashed
potatoes, carrots and Christmas cookies.
He and his mess specialists had been making cookies for the last three
days. He kept them hidden so the crew
wouldn’t eat them before Christmas. Lee
went into the crew’s mess for breakfast where the mess specialist served him
scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. He
went over to the table and sat down with Mr. Banks who was just finishing his
breakfast and would be on duty in the control room.
“Good morning, captain,”
Banks said to Lee after taking a drink of his coffee.
“Good morning, Mr. Banks. Everything okay?” Lee asked putting a forkful
of eggs in his mouth.
“Just fine sir.”
“Good. As soon as I’m done
eating I’m going to make an announcement to the crew.”
“Yes sir.” Banks replied
getting up as he had finished his meal and wanted to get to the control room.
Banks cleared his dishes and
walked to the control room checking on all the stations before stopping at the
charting table. Lee came in a few
minutes later. He went over to the mic
on the periscope island and clicked it once.
“Attention all hands, this is
the captain. I have a few announcements.”
Lee said, “First, Admiral Starke at COMSUBPAC gives you his ‘Bravo Zulu’ on the
sinking of the People’s Republic submarine.
They had been trying to get her for the last two months. Second, I also checked with him on the
condition of Captain Woolf and he is doing much better and will be in command
on your next deployment. Third, when we
dock in
“I guess they’re a little
happy,” Lee said to Mr. Banks with a wry grin.
“Yes, they are Captain,”
Banks replied. “Sir, it has been an
honor for the crew of the
“I’ll keep that in mind when
I’m looking for some new men,” Lee said grinning as he patted Banks on the
shoulder.
Lee went around to every man
in the control room and shook their hands.
He would get the rest of the crew when they left the boat. The morning went by fast and before long
Chief Gale came into the control room looking for Lee.
“Sir, we have a tradition on
the
Lee and Chief Gale made their
way to the mess where he handed Lee a large carving knife, “Thank you for the
honor,” Lee replied as he took the knife and cut the first slice of ham. He decided he would continue to serve the ham
to the rest of the men who were there to eat.
After the first shift of men had eaten, Lee turned the knife over to Chief
Gale who would take care of the next group.
Lee took a tray and ate with the next group of men. Lee finished his meal and went to his
quarters. It would be close but if he didn’t have any problems, he could
possibly be home by Christmas night and surprise Janet. All he could do was hope.
((()))
It was bright and sunny when
Janet woke up on Christmas morning. She
put the throw back on the couch, went to the kitchen and made some coffee. As the coffee brewed, she looked outside and
saw that the ocean wasn’t nearly as rough as it was last night. When the coffee was finished brewing she
poured a cup and went out to the patio.
It was colder than she thought so she went back in the house and grabbed
one of Lee’s sweatshirts out of the closet.
As she put it on, she smelled it and it still smelled like him so she
pulled it tighter against her body.
Going back out to the patio,
she sat down on the lounge chair and drank her coffee looking at Chip’s empty
house. She hoped he was having a good
time in
When she got to the shelter,
the director was happy to see her but wondered why she was alone. She explained to him that Lee was at
sea. She served the stuffing and mashed
potatoes to many homeless people and quite a few families. It made her realize how lucky she was. She left after spending about three hours
there serving the food and talking to the people. The weather was getting colder and it looked like
it was going to rain again. When she got home the first thing she did was turn
on the tree and light the fireplace. She checked the answering machine hoping
Lee hadn’t called remembering that she would have gone to the shelter. No messages.
Even though it was late in the afternoon she wasn’t hungry after serving
the food at the shelter. She sat down on
the couch and turned on the television but it was only on for noise as she
wasn’t really paying attention to what she had on. The house was too quiet when he was gone. She straightened up the house and noticed it
was 1900 and Lee still hadn’t called. It was late evening when she was finally
hungry she decided to call their favorite Chinese restaurant, Mr. Wong’s, as
she knew they would be open. She ordered
egg foo young, beef with string beans and onions and an egg roll. Mr. Wong told her it would be there in thirty
to forty minutes.
((()))
The
Both men vigorously shook
Lee’s hand as Petty Officer Allen said, “It was an honor serve under you
Commander. Maybe our paths will cross
again.”
Lee replied with a grin, “Maybe
they will but I hope under different circumstances.”
Both men saluted the captain
before they walked down the gangway. Lee
went back down the ladder to the control room to get his duffle bag and
cover. He took one last look around the
control room. He liked being back on
this type of submarine, but his heart belonged to his ‘gray lady’ and
couldn’t wait to see her after his wife.
Mr. Banks stood there watching Lee with his cover in his hand and duffle
bag on his shoulder waiting for him to leave.
Mr. Banks went up the ladder and Lee handed him the duffle bags. They went down the gangway with their duffle
bags on their shoulders, stopped to salute the colors and put their covers on
as a car pulled up to take them to Admiral Starke’s office.
The driver saluted them and opened
the back car door for the captain. He
slid into the back seat as Mr. Banks went around to the other side of the car
where the door had been opened for him.
“Ready,” Lee asked sensing that
Banks was a bit nervous as they sat in the car.
“Yes sir,” Banks responded twisting
his cover in his hand.
They made the short ride to
Admiral Starke’s office. They got out of
the car and walked into Admiral’s office.
Lee saw Banks take a deep
breath before the aide sitting at the desk buzzed Starke’s office to let him
know they were there.
“Come in, Commander, Lt.
Commander,” Starke bellowed.
Banks held the door for Lee
as they both walked into the admiral’s office removed their covers and saluted
him as he stood behind his desk.
“Sit down,” Starke told them giving
them a quick salute as he sat down and pulled his chair close to his desk. They sat down as soon as he did holding the
covers in their hands.
“Mr. Banks, I’ve talked to
Captain Woolf and he’s very proud of you and his crew. He would like you to stop and see him before
you take your shore leave and Mr. Banks, good job.”
“Yes sir,” Banks replied
softly having a hard time speaking as his throat was very dry. “Thank you sir.”
“You are dismissed,” Starke
told him. Banks stood up saluted the
admiral again and left the office. He
would wait outside for the skipper to come out as he wanted to say good bye to
him before he left for the mainland.
“Commander Crane,” Starke
said to Lee, “fine job.”
“Thank you sir,” Lee
responded quietly.
“As much as I would like to
keep you on active status, I know Nelson would fight me every step of the way so
I’m changing your status back to the reserves,” Starke said with resignation.
“Thank you sir,” Lee replied
with a small grin.
“You’re dismissed,” Starke
said as he stood up, “and Commander, Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” Lee
answered as he stood up, saluted him and left his office.
Banks was waiting outside
pacing in front the building when Lee came out.
Surprised Lee asked, “
“I was waiting for you to
leave,” he replied “Commander, it was an honor and a pleasure to serve with you. I hope you make it home for Christmas.”
Smiling Lee said, “Same here.” Looking at his watch it was already 1330
hours and replied, “I hope so too.”
There was a car waiting to
take Banks to the hospital to visit Captain Woolf. “Sir, please take this car. I can wait and get another one. Maybe you can still catch a flight home,”
Banks said as he opened the door for Lee who hopped in.
“Thanks,
((()))
There wasn’t much traffic on
the road so they made the short ride to the airport in record time. The driver let Lee out right in front of the
departure terminal. Lee thanked the
driver and ran into the terminal. He
looked at the departure board and saw there was a flight leaving in thirty
minutes for
“Can I get a seat on the
flight leaving for LA,” Lee asked out of breath.
“I’m sorry sir, there are no
seats left. Everyone has checked in but
one passenger.”
“Can I fly stand by,” Lee
asked surprised that the plane would be full on Christmas Day.
“There are already two people
ahead of you for stand by. I’m very
sorry sir,” she told him looking him over wishing she could help him. “The next flight out is tomorrow morning at
“Damn,” Lee said a
little too loudly not noticing a woman had come in behind him and heard him. “Put me on that flight please,” he said
sadly.
“Is there a problem,” the
woman asked hearing the conversation between Lee and the counter attendant and
sensed that he was in a hurry to get home.
“Sorry ma’am,” Lee
apologized, “I was hoping to get to LA so I could make it home to surprise my
wife for Christmas. I was at sea for Thanksgiving and now Christmas,” Lee
explained to her not caring he was telling a complete stranger his problem.
She looked at him and
recognized his rank, “Well Commander, you will be able too,” she told him.
Looking at her confused and
surprised that she knew his rank, “There are no seats available,” he told her.
“You can have my seat. I can go back to the mainland tomorrow. I’m just going to visit some friends anyway.”
“Thank you ma’am but I can’t
take your seat, your friends will be waiting for you,” Lee said.
“I insist,” she pressed, “a
long time ago my husband was a commander on a boat and wanted to get home to me
and our son. A man gave up his seat so
he could be home for Christmas. I know
what your wife is going through, so please take my seat,”
“Thank you ma’am,” Lee
replied, “I will take your seat as I know my wife would do the same thing too.”
“Sir if you want to make that
flight you have to hurry,” the counter attendant interjected, “they want to
close the door at the gate. I need your
name and ID.”
“Lee Crane,” he told her as
he went to his inside pocket and took out his driver’s license out of his
wallet and handed it to her.
“Are you Harriman Nelson’s
Lee Crane,” the woman inquired.
“Yes ma’am I am and how do
you know Admiral Nelson,” Lee asked suspiciously.
With a big grin on her face
she replied, “I’m Virginia Starke, Jiggs Starke’s wife and I’ve heard a lot
about you, Commander.”
“Mrs. Starke, it’s my
pleasure to meet you but I’ve got to go.
Thank you again for giving up your seat,” Lee said giving her a quick
kiss on the cheek as he ran for the gate.
Have to remember to send her a dozen roses, Lee thought as he ran
down the concourse.
The attendant called down to
the gate told them not shut the door until a very good looking officer made it
aboard. For once Lee got lucky and
didn’t have to run to the last gate. He
arrived at the gate and the ticket attendant took his ticket as he ran down the
passageway to the airplane. When he got
to end of the passageway a flight attendant was waiting for him.
Realizing he had his duffle
with him, “I’m sorry. Is there room for
this somewhere?” he asked flashing his special smile.
“Don’t worry sir, we’ll find
a place for it,” she told Lee as she took the duffle from him and put it in the
galley. He handed her his ticket and she
showed him to a bulkhead first class seat.
“Are you sure this is the
correct seat,” Lee said surprised at where the seat was.
“Yes sir. I’m sure,” she
smiled.
They shut the airplane door
and prepared for take off. They took off
a couple of minutes late because they waited for Lee to board. He knew it would
be a five and half hour flight to LAX. If
his luck continued, a cab ride of two hours would bring him to his door between
1930 and 2000 hours. Lee sat back in the
seat and looked out the window as they took off. He hoped Mrs. Starke wouldn’t get into
trouble with her husband when she told him who she gave her seat too. He laid back and fell asleep.
Feeling someone tapping him
gently on the arm he woke up startled, “Sorry sir,” the flight attendant said,
“we’re preparing to land.”
“Thank you,” Lee replied
shocked that he slept through the whole flight.
The plane landed and taxied
to the gate when they opened the doors, the flight attendant handed him his
duffle so he could be the first one off the plane.
“Thank you for taking care of
it,” he smiled as he quickly walked down the passageway, through the concourse
and out of the terminal where there was a taxi waiting right in front of him.
“Will you take me to
“Not normally but it’s been a
slow night, so hop in,” the taxi driver told him as he took his duffle and put
it in the trunk.
Lee hopped in the taxi and
noticed that traffic was pretty light leaving the airport. He hoped it would be that way all the way
home.
“What brings you out this
late on Christmas,” the cabbie asked as he maneuvered through the traffic on
the freeway.
“Returning from a deployment
at sea,” Lee replied holding on as the taxi driver switched lanes quickly. He wanted to get home but preferably in one piece.
Once they got to the
outskirts of
“Welcome back Commander,”
“You work here,” the taxi
driver asked as they entered the complex.
“Yes I work and live here,”
Lee replied as he directed him to his house.
((()))
It was 1930 hours and Janet
knew her food would be arriving shortly so she went into the kitchen to put on
the water so she could have a cup of tea with her Chinese food. Lee still hadn’t called and she was getting
worried. Maybe he was in a place
where they couldn’t surface, she thought as she filled a mug with hot water
from the boiling kettle and put a tea bag in the mug.
((()))
When the taxi driver pulled
up to his house he noticed another car in the driveway. He got out of the taxi, got his duffle bag
out of the trunk, paid the fare and gave the driver a very generous tip and
thanked him for the ride. He went up to
the other car and recognized the driver was Mr. Wong from the Chinese
restaurant.
“Mr. Wong, I see my wife
ordered Chinese for dinner,” he said with a smile.
“Yes sir. She’s my last delivery for the night,” he
replied smiling back.
“I’ll take it,” Lee said as
he paid him giving him a generous tip also and took the shopping bag full of
food. She must be very hungry, he thought.
Knocking on the door, Lee
waited for his wife to open the door.
“Just a minute,” he heard her
say as she opened the door.
Janet opened the door and was
shocked to see her husband standing there with the Chinese food. He put the food down along with his duffle
and grabbed his wife by the waist and gave her a very long passionate
kiss. After he kissed her, they went
into the house bringing in the food and his bag.
“Lee,” she stammered as tears
formed in her eyes, “I didn’t know you were coming home.”
“Sweetheart, I wasn’t sure I
was going to make it so I’m sorry I didn’t call,” he told her kissing her again
and hugging her tightly. She returned
his kiss and hug tears running down her cheeks.
Using his thumb he gently
wiped away the tears on her cheeks as she pressed her face into his chest. He drew her close and rubbed her back. They stood there in each other’s arms for
several minutes before breaking apart.
Looking around the house he
said, “You did a beautiful job of decorating.”
“Thank you,” she said softly
her arms still around his waist not wanting to let him go.
“Why don’t we put the food in
the refrigerator and eat it later,” Lee suggested. “I have something better we can do right
now,” he told her tenderly. He left the
Christmas tree on but turned off the fireplace and followed her into the
kitchen while she put the food way. He
eagerly kissed her again when she turned around after closing the refrigerator
door. She wrapped her arms around his
neck and excitedly returned his kiss. He
reached for her hand and they went upstairs their arms wrapped around each
other’s waists.
As they went up the stairs,
Janet whispered, “Merry Christmas, honey.”
At the top of the stairs whispering
back, “Merry Christmas, sweetie,” he replied as he took her into the bedroom
and led her to their bed.
The End.
Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year to all.
*The Night Before
Christmas by Clement C. Moore
Author’s note: For the Navy aficionados, I know I didn’t follow
proper Navy protocol when assigning Lee command and relieving him of the
command of the USS Chicago which is a Los Angles Class fast attack submarine
based out of
Source for submarines:
Wikipedia.org