Duty Calls
By JSRobertson
Lee Crane and Chip Morton
were at the beach on Saturday morning watching Stu Riley one of the crewman on Seaview
surfing the waves at a beach not to far from NIMR. He was an excellent surfer and had entered a
contest for the best surfer in the area and had asked Lee and Chip to come
watch. They didn’t mind going to the
beach to watch him surf and check out the girls in their bikinis; neither one
had a steady girlfriend right now so who knew who they might find.
They were joined there by
Kowalski, Patterson and Chief Sharkey.
They had seen Riley surf before and knew he was very good.
“Wow, he really is good,” Lee
said as Riley hanging ten rode the wave all the way to the shore.
“I’ve never tried it and even
though it looks like fun, I think I’ll just stick to girl watching,” Chip
replied looking over the top of his sunglasses at the beautiful blond walking
by in the skimpiest bikini he’s ever seen.
She noticed him and Lee
watching her and walked over to say hello. “Looking for some fun?” she said to
Chip as she grabbed his hand. “Don’t
worry I’ve got a friend for you,” she said pointing to Lee and grabbed his hand
too.
Lee and Chip looked at each
other and decided she was trouble and removed their hands from hers.
“No sorry, I don’t think
we’re ready for your kind of fun,” Lee told her. They both enjoyed the intimate company of
women but this one screamed trouble.
She walked away in a snit
after being turned down by them.
“I wonder what she had in
store for us besides the obvious,” Chip pondered.
“Go find out if you want too,
but you’re on your own buddy,” Lee snickered.
Nodding his head agreement, “No
I see nothing but trouble with her.”
“Sir, who was the chick you
were talking to? She sure was a looker,”
Kowalski asked Chip as he came up along side of him.
“Yes, she sure was a looker
but she had trouble written all over her.”
“If you say so Mr. Morton,”
Kowalski said as he watched her walk down the beach.
Kowalski, Riley, Patterson
and Sharkey didn’t mind hanging out with their commanding officers. The two of them were chick magnets and good judges
of character. So if Mr. Morton said she’s
trouble then she probably was.
The afternoon passed quickly
and soon they were assembled in front of the judging stand waiting for the results
of the competition and for trophies to be passed out for the best surfer of the
day. After shredding every wave, no one
was surprised when Riley won first place.
((()))
The six of them left the
beach and went to Albert’s Hamburgers to celebrate; he had the best burgers
around and Lee was treating them.
Sitting at a large round table, a young cute waitress came over to take
their order. The men checked her out but
Lee, Chip and Sharkey decided she was a little too young for them. Kowalski, Patterson and Riley had no problem
getting her phone number. She brought
their order to the table a few minutes later and there was an extra-large helping
of french fries on all their plates.
“When’s your next
competition?” Chip asked as he took a bite out his bacon cheeseburger.
“There’s a huge competition
in
“Well Riley so far we don’t
have anything scheduled. If we do get
one, we might be able to spare you but I’m afraid the rest of the guys wouldn’t
be able to go,” Lee told him.
“Bummer.”
“I’ll try and make sure
nothing comes up,” Lee assured him as he finished his beer. He asked the waitress for the check which she
brought over and gave him her phone number too.
Smiling Lee paid the bill along with a generous tip and they left the restaurant. Lee kept the phone number. Who knows maybe I’ll give her call, he
thought.
“Enjoy the rest of your
weekend,” Patterson told Lee and Chip.
“You too,” Chip answered for
them.
Chip and Lee got in Lee’s red
cobra and drove out of the restaurant parking lot. He sped along Highway 101 heading to Chip‘s
condo.
“Chip, why don’t we see if we
can get rooms in
“Do you think the admiral
will let both of us go together?” Chip asked holding on as Lee took the turn a
little too fast.
“We’ll just have to convince
him that we need to watch over the other guys so they don’t get in trouble,” Lee
told him as he pulled into Chip’s driveway.
“Sounds good. I’ll check it out and see if we can get
rooms. Talk to you tomorrow.” Chip crawled out of the car and waved to his
friend. Lee put his car in reverse
backed out of Chip’s driveway, and sped away to his house.
((()))
Chip went in his house after
checking his mailbox, nothing but bills.
He took a shower then booted up his computer and typed in
((()))
Lee pulled his car into the
garage and went into his ocean front condo.
He grabbed a beer and went out on the balcony knowing Chip was probably
already on his computer checking to see if he could get them rooms. He sat outside for a couple of hours just
enjoying the view and relaxing. He
nodded off while he sat outside but woke up when his cell phone rang.
“Crane,” Lee answered
yawning.
“Lee, I’ve checked every
hotel within a fifty mile radius of
“Umm. I have an idea. Let me check it out and call you tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for your call before I do anything
more.”
Lee hung up then dialed
Riley’s number. He wasn’t home so Lee
left him a message to call him. After getting up at 0500, running five miles,
being in the sun all day and downing a few beers Lee was tired. He got up and went to bed.
((()))
Lee woke up next morning to
the ringing of his cell phone. Who calls at 0700 on a Sunday morning?
“Hello Riley,” Lee said
recognizing his number when he picked up the phone.
“Hi Skipper. You left a message for me last night. Sorry I wasn’t home, I met a friend after we
left the restaurant. What can I help you
with?”
Lee went downstairs to the
kitchen, to make some toast and a pot of coffee as he talked to Riley, “Mr.
Morton and I would like to go with you and the guys to the surfing competition
in Daytona but there are no hotels rooms available. Didn’t you say you had
reserved four rooms?”
“Yes Skipper. We could double up so you and Mr. Morton
could come with. You and Mr. Morton
could share a room. Ski and Pat wouldn’t
mind sharing one. Chief and I will have
our own rooms if that’s alright with you.”
Smiling broadly Lee replied, “That
will be just fine Riley. Thanks for
suggesting it. I’ll let Mr. Morton
know. How are you getting out there?”
“We haven’t booked our
flights yet but we’re going to try and all get on the same flight.”
“Don’t book them just yet,
there’s something I want to check out.”
“Thanks, Skipper. Talk to you soon.”
“Far out,” Riley said out
loud after hanging up with the skipper.
Lee hung up with Riley and
called Chip.
“Chip, we’re going to
Daytona,” Lee said before Chip could get a word out, “I remembered Riley said
he had four rooms. He thought we could double
up and suggested we share a room. I told
him no problem.”
Chip and Lee were roommates
at
“I have no problem with
that. How are we getting out there?”
“Doesn’t the admiral have a
friend who owns a small jet and didn’t the admiral tell us he could use it any
time he wanted as long as it was available,” Lee asked as he sipped his coffee.
“Fred Blaine is his
name. Do you think maybe he would let us
use it?”
“Let’s talk to the admiral
tomorrow.”
Lee was pretty proud of
himself. He got them rooms in Daytona
and maybe a way out there plus he would get to fly a plane for a change instead
of FS-1. He loved flying FS-l but it was too small to take all of them plus
their gear.
He didn’t do too much after
his phone call with Chip. He went for a
run, took a shower and did some laundry. It was a beautiful day so he sat out
on his balcony most of the day reading over some proposals the admiral asked
him to look over but only got through a couple of them before he fell asleep. Jamie would be proud; he’s taken two naps in
the last two days. When he woke up, he
was hungry so he made himself a steak, baked potato and a salad.
He finished his dinner, made
another pot of coffee after he cleaned up and went out on the balcony with a cup
of coffee. He noticed the couples
walking hand in hand on the beach some of them stopping for a quick kiss before
they continued on. He thought about what
it would be like to share his life with some one everyday. He wondered if he would ever get
married. He knew it would take a special
woman to handle his unusual life. One
who didn’t mind being second fiddle to his ‘gray lady’ or be alone for long
periods of time when he was at sea or his ONI missions. Sighing he went back into the house, got
another cup of coffee and on to his office to finish looking over the proposals
and do some reports. He should have done
the reports earlier but after his nap this afternoon he was still wide
awake. It was 2300 hours by the time he
finished.
((()))
Lee was up at 0500 and got
ready for work. He made breakfast while
he listened to the news on the television.
When he was finished, he cleaned up, grabbed his briefcase with the
reports he completed and left for work. When
he got to NIMR he noticed that the admiral was already there so he headed
towards his office to ask him about his friend’s jet. Chip came in just as Lee walked into Angie’s
office.
Before Lee could knock Chip
entered and asked “Want company talking to the admiral?”
“Sure. He can’t turn us down when we ask for a
vacation together if both of us are there,” Lee replied as he knocked on the
admiral’s door.
“Come in.”
“Good morning Admiral. Did you have good weekend?” Lee asked as he
and Chip sat down in the chairs in front of his desk.
“Yes, how about yours?” he
answered looking at the two of them and knew they were up to something. “Okay,
what’s up?” he asked putting his pen down and leaning back in his chair with a
smile.
“Lee and I would like to take
a vacation next month to
“Okay that’s no problem as
long as Seaview doesn’t have a mission.
You both need to take a break and
“Well sir, there’s more to
it. Chip and I along with Kowalski,
Patterson, Riley, and Sharkey are going there to watch Riley in a surfing
competition. We watched him over the
weekend and he’s very good. We were
wondering if your friend, Fred Blaine, would let us use his jet to fly back there?” Lee asked hopefully.
“I can check with him and
find out. He did say I could use it
whenever I wanted. Give me the dates you’ll
need it.”
Lee told him the dates they
would need the jet. “Thanks Admiral.”
Lee and Chip left his office
with huge grins, so far so good. Lee
went to his office and got the reports out of his briefcase and put them on
Angie’s desk. He felt bad giving her
more work. He and Chip kept her busy as
well as the admiral. They might have to
consider hiring another secretary. If
they did, they might want to consider having them work on Seaview too as
it would reduce some of the paperwork they needed to do after they returned
from a mission. He would talk to the admiral
about that sometime soon.
((()))
Harry leaned back in his
chair thinking about what Lee had just asked him. Maybe he’d go to
“Fred Blaine,” he answered on
the first ring.
“Hi Fred. It’s Harriman Nelson, how are you.”
“Just fine Harry. It’s so nice to hear from you. Everything okay with the institute and Seaview?”
“Yes Fred everything is good.
I need a favor from you.”
“Name it. If I can’t do it I
will find someone who can.”
The admiral grinned at his
response, “Fred could I borrow your jet to fly to
“Harry, give me the dates and
I’ll check for you right now. If they
can fly the little yellow sub of yours I’m sure they can fly my jet with no
problem.”
The admiral gave Fred the
dates and tapped his pen on the desk while he waited for an answer.
“Harry you’re in luck, she’s
available and could use a good run as she hasn’t been out for awhile. I’ll make sure the airport and my personnel
know you will be taking her out on those dates. All you need to do is pay for
the jet fuel and you can keep it as long as you need it.”
“Thanks Fred. You want to come along?”
“No but thanks. My wife and I are going to
Harry smiled as he hung up
the phone deciding to go along with his men.
He was really looking forward to visiting his friend, Carolyn.
Hearing Angie rustling around
in her office, Nelson buzzed her before she got a chance to get settled in for
the day.
“Angie, would you please tell
Lee and Chip I’d like to see them?”
“Yes sir, Angie replied and
then called Lee’s office to pass on the summons. Unable to reach him she headed out the door
and down the hall to track him and Chip down.
As she strode down the hall she spotted him in an empty office looking
out at Seaview.
“Lee, the admiral would like to
see you and Chip.”
“Thanks Angie. Oh, sorry about all the reports I put on your
desk. I saw Chip had put some there too.
Maybe we need to hire another secretary; you and Wanda are always
overloaded with work.”
“Sometimes it can be
overwhelming but we get it all done eventually,” she answered him as they left
the office.
“I’ll get Chip,” Lee replied as he walked to
Chip’s office and stuck his head in the door.
“The admiral wants to see
us.”
Chip got up from his desk,
“Let’s go.”
Lee knocked on the admiral’s
door and went in before the Admiral could reply.
“You wanted to see us,” Chip
asked.
The admiral was sitting at
his desk with a smile on his face. “Yes
sit down. I talked to Fred and his jet
is available. We can use it for as long
as we need it, we just need to pay for the fuel.”
“We?” Lee inquired raising
his eyebrows.
“Yes, I’ve decided to go with
you. I need a vacation too and I’ve
never been to a surfing competition. Is
that a problem?”
“No sir not at all. We’re happy you’re going with us.”
Lee and Chip left the
admiral’s office in total shock that he was going with. They really didn’t mind but hoped the rest of
the men wouldn’t mind. Lee headed back
to his office and called Riley to give him the news.
“Hello,” Riley answered
hurriedly as he was just walking out the door.
“Hi Riley. It’s the
skipper. We’ve got a way to
“That’s great Skipper! Uh seven of us...who’s the seventh person,
sir?”
“The admiral has decided to
join us. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“Far out, the admiral’s going
to a surfing competition. I think it’s
great. Chief and I can share a room so
the admiral can have his own. I’ll tell
the other guys. Thanks for the ride
too.”
“Okay Riley. I’ll talk to you soon,” Lee said shaking his
head as he hung up his phone. Riley was
on a permanent high.
Riley called the other men
and they had no problem with the admiral going to Daytona with them.
((()))
Seaview had to leave on an emergency mission before they left
for Daytona. They had to check some
sensors that weren’t working near
The admiral called Lee into
his office one afternoon a few days before they were to leave with a perplexed
look on his face. “Lee what do you wear
to a surfing competition?”
“I think just shorts, shirts
and swim trunks. I’m only bringing one
pair of pants and collared shirt just in case we go to a nice restaurant.”
“Thanks,” the admiral said him
as he rubbed his forehead. Now all he
had to do was get some shorts. He hadn’t worn shorts in years.
The next couple of weeks went
by pretty fast; they had a lot of work to do after they got back from the last mission. They received quite a few proposals and they
needed to be reviewed by the admiral, Lee and Chip. They got most of them done but the rest would
have to wait until they got back.
((()))
Since the surfing competition
started on Friday afternoon, Lee decided they would leave early Thursday
morning to give Riley a chance to adjust to the local time before the event. Riley had reserved the rooms for Thursday
night through Tuesday morning. They could wait at the pool or on the beach if
their rooms weren’t ready when they got there.
Lee had arranged for the men
to meet the Monday before they left at 1000.
He wanted to give them some last minute instructions. Of course they all were on time as Lee hated
when anybody was late. He considered you
late if you got there fifteen minutes before the meeting started.
Once everyone had arrived he
got started. “We’re going to leave the
“No sir,” they all replied.
“Good, see you on Thursday,
bright and early.” Lee said smiling as the men got up walked out of his office.
They left the institute and
went to the diner down the street for lunch.
None of them minded that the Seaview’s command staff was going
with them. With the skipper, Mr. Morton
and even the admiral going they were sure to get some girls.
After the men left, Chip
stayed in Lee’s office while sitting on the edge of his desk he said, “Thanks
for letting me fly home. I need to log
some hours in jet. I haven’t flown one
in awhile. We seem to use FS-1 for
everything.”
“I need the time too, so it
will be good for both of us,” Lee replied looking forward to flying the jet.
Chip went back to his office
to finish the inventory he started. Some
time soon they were going to have to inventory the whole boat. They seem to be
ordering the same items all the time but not keeping track of what they are
using. It was time to design and
implement a new system.
After Chip left, Lee returned
to his reports. He wanted to finish up
the rest of his reports and logs so that he could give them to Angie before he
left for
Chip went to Lee’s office at
1930 to see if he was ready to leave for the day. He was hungry and tired as he too was trying
to get all his work done before he left.
He walked in Lee’s office at 1900 hours, “Up for some pizza and beer?”
“Sure your house or mine.”
“How about we just go out; no
clean up on our part.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll meet you by the elevators.”
Lee shut down his computer
and put the work he had finished on Angie’s desk with a note. She had finally
left for the day after staying an extra two hours.
Sorry for all the work. Only have a little more to do before I leave. Lee.
He grabbed his coat and cover
and headed out of his office. Chip was
already at the elevators waiting for him.
Lee followed Chip to their favorite pizza joint where they ordered a
sausage pizza and beer.
“I’m looking forward to lying
on the beach and maybe finding a girl to take to dinner,” Chip told Lee as he
took a bite of pizza.
“Relaxing on the beach sounds
nice. Hopefully you’ll find a girl,” Lee
teased as he took a swig of beer.
Both of them enjoyed dating
when they were home but neither one of them were fans of one night stands. They rarely jumped in bed with a girl on the
first date. If they did, she would have
to be someone very special. With their schedules they could be gone for a week
to a month or more so it was hard for them to keep a steady girlfriend since
most of them didn’t want to wait for them.
Chip paid for the pizza and
beer tonight. Lee would pay the next time
they went out.
“Good night. Thanks for dinner,” Lee told Chip as they
left the restaurant.
“See you tomorrow.”
They went home, checked the
mail and just relaxed after a long day.
((()))
The next two days flew by as
the command team wanted to finish all their work before they left. Wanda and Angie couldn’t wait for them to
leave as they were driving the two of them nuts. Finally on Wednesday, they left early to get
ready for their trip to Daytona. Angie
and Wanda breathed a sigh of relief. They
were finally gone and now they could get their work done without being
interrupted a dozen times.
((()))
Lee and Chip were the first
ones at the airport on Thursday morning. The jet was in a hangar at the
“Could you please tell us
where Mr. Fred Blaine’s jet is hangared?” Lee asked the man at the desk.
“Are you the group from the
Nelson Institute taking her out for weekend?” he responded. “I’m Justin.”
“Yes sir,” Lee replied as he
and Chip showed him their pilot’s licenses and credentials.
As he checked out their
information, Kowalski walked in and gave him his license also.
He wrote down their
information. “Follow me,” he said as he led them to a hangar not too far from
the taxiway and opened the hangar to reveal a sleek white and blue jet. The three men looked at the plane and
couldn’t wait to check her out. Lee and
Kowalski began the pre-flight check list while Chip went back to the office
with Justin and filed the flight plan.
“The communications
department at the Nelson Institute also has a copy of the flight plan,” Chip
told him. “Here is that number in case you need to contact them.”
“Thanks and have a safe
flight,” Justin said to Chip as he shook his hand.
By the time Chip was done,
the rest of the men had arrived so Chip led them to the hangar. Lee and Kowalski had finished the preflight
check list and were in the cockpit familiarizing themselves with the controls.
“Holy cow,” Riley said as he
looked at the jet. “What a nice
ride.” The others men including the
admiral shook their heads in agreement.
Everyone boarded the plane,
stowed their gear and they took off a couple of minutes past 0600 after getting
clearance from the tower for an easterly departure for the seven hour trip. Lee let Kowalski fly the jet since they were
having a smooth flight with no weather problems ahead.
“This plane handles like a
dream,” Kowalski remarked to Lee.
“Yes, she sure is smooth, but
I still like flying FS-1 better,” he said with a gleam in his eye. FS-1 was his ‘baby’ and could do things with
her that no one else would dare to try.
They landed at a small
airport near
After flying for nearly three
hours, Lee contacted the tower at the
The seven men with their gear
and one surfboard hailed a couple of taxis to take them to Perry’s Resort. Everywhere they looked there were surfboards
and girls. The taxis dropped them at the
resort where they checked into their rooms. Riley had booked the rooms as soon
as he found out about the competition so all the rooms were on the same floor
with ocean views and they all had kitchenettes.
Chip went out on the
balcony. He couldn’t believe there were
cars actually parked on the beach. As
much as he wanted to go to the beach, he was starving. They only had a light snack at the airport in
“Lee let’s get some dinner.
I’m starving.”
“Okay, let me call the others
and see what and where they want to eat?”
Lee called the other men and
they were all hungry too so they found a restaurant within walking distance of
the resort. It was hot and steamy in
“Man did you see all the
women,” Kowalski asked as he took a long swig of his beer.
“All they have on are
bikinis,” Patterson added.
The admiral, Lee, Chip and
Sharkey looked at the three young men and smiled. They were remembering what it was like to be
that young.
They ordered their dinners
and another round of drinks. Riley was
the only one who wasn’t drinking. He
wanted to be in top shape for tomorrow’s competition.
When the waitress brought
their dinners, she had the help of two more waitresses who stared at the seven
handsome men while they served them.
As they walked away after
serving them, Lee heard one of them say, “That is the best looking table of men
I’ve seen in a long time. I’ll take
anyone of them even the older gentlemen is easy on the eyes.”
Lee smiled at one of the
waitresses as she turned around for another look. She quickly looked away embarrassed that she
got caught.
They all enjoyed their
dinners and everyone was full except Chip who ordered dessert.
“Riley, what time is the
first preliminary tomorrow,” Chip asked eating a piece of key lime pie.
“I have to check in by 0800
and the preliminaries start at 1000.”
After paying the bill, the
group left the restaurant and walked back to the resort. Chip and Lee wanted to take a walk on the
beach while he admiral returned to his room to call Carolyn and make
arrangements to visit her tomorrow after the surfing competition was over. The other men were going to a bar not to far
from the resort.
“Men, please don’t get into
any trouble, Mr. Morton and I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail,” Lee
told them with a smile.
“Aye sir. We promise we’ll be good,” they replied
smiling back.
Even at 1900 hours it was
still hot and muggy. Lee and Chip walked
for about a mile down the beach looking at the different hotels and checking
out the women too. They went back to the
room where Lee laid down on the bed. He
was beat. The long flight and hot
weather had done him in. Chip wasn’t
much better. They crashed before 2000. The rest of the men were back by that time
too. Riley wanted to get to bed early so
he would be rested up for tomorrow’s competition.
((()))
As usual Lee was up at 0500
and made a pot of coffee. That was one
thing nice about this room since it was a kitchenette they could have coffee
without going out for it. Chip was still
sleeping so he went out on the balcony and watched the sunrise. It was beautiful and he knew they were in for
another hot day. Chip got up and poured
himself a cup of coffee and joined Lee on the balcony.
“Missed the sunrise,” Chip
remarked as he drank his coffee. “Bet it’s
going to be a scorcher today.”
“We better get ready. I’m sure you want breakfast and we have to
find the hotel where Riley needs to report.
I’ll shower and get ready while you drink your coffee.”
Lee showered and put on a
pair of shorts and t-shirt. He called
the admiral while Chip took a shower.
“We’re going down to the
Mango Cafe for breakfast, would you like to join us?”
“Yes, I’ll be there in twenty
minutes.”
“We should be there by then.”
After enjoying a delicious
breakfast, the admiral, Lee and Chip were heading out the door just as the rest
of the men came in. They would meet them at the beach in an hour so they could
go with Riley to register and watch the competition.
((()))
The hotel where Riley had to
register wasn’t too far from the resort. He got there in plenty of time and watched
some of the surfers practice their runs before the competition started.
“Man, those guys are really
good,” Riley said with a worried look on his face.
“You’re as good as they are,”
Patterson reassured him. “You’ll do
fine.”
At 1000 the first surfers
when out for their runs. They were given
points on each run and then totaled together for their final score. The top fifteen in points would proceed to
the next round later that afternoon. The
top ten would compete on Saturday morning with the top five competing on
Saturday afternoon with the champion being crowned after everyone was finished.
As the men watched the
surfers do their runs they were impressed on how good these people really
were. There were just as many women
competing as there were men. Some of the
women were way better than the men.
Riley went out for his first
run which didn’t turn out as well as he wanted, he was little disappointed in
it. But he nailed his next run.
“I’ve never seen him surf
that good,” Kowalski said. “These waves
are very hard to judge and are a lot smaller than at home.”
After all the surfers had
completed the first set of runs, they announced the winners going to the next
round. They had announced thirteen names
and so far Riley’s hadn’t been called.
“What a bummer if he doesn’t
make it,” Chip said worriedly.
The rest of the man stood
there with their mouths open stunned that those words actually came out of his
mouth. Even the admiral had a big grin
on his face that his no nonsense executive officer could utter those
words.
“Sorry I got caught up in the
moment,” he said sheepishly as they all stared at him.
“The last surfer to make it
to the next round is Stu Riley from
The men were cheering and
patting each other on the back. They
were proud of Riley. He was waiting with
the rest of the surfers so after his name was announced her ran over to his
friends.
“Man I sure was worried. I really messed up my first run. I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
“Good job kid,” Sharkey told
him.
They all walked back to the
resort and ordered lunch. The next set of
runs started at 1400 hours so they had just enough time to grab a quick bite to
eat before they had to go back to the beach and watch the next round.
((()))
The fifteen surfers would get
three runs this time and the scores would again be totaled to together. Riley had made great runs and was doing his
last run for the day.
As Lee and Chip cheered Riley
on, they didn’t notice the two women standing next to them until the one
closest to Chip asked, “Do you know him?”
Chip turned towards her,
removed his sunglasses and replied, “Yes, he’s a friend of ours.” She had on a pair of shorts and a tank top,
had long dark hair and he could see she had a nice body. “Hi, I’m Chip Morton and this is Lee Crane,”
he said nudging Lee who also removed his sunglasses so he could get a better
look at the women.
“I’m Theresa Stone and this
is Tammy Watson.”
“Please to meet you,” Lee
said to them as he looked at Tammy who had short blond hair. She also had on shorts and a tank top but he
could tell she worked out.
“Do you know much about
surfing?” Chip asked.
“No, we just came to
watch. We’re bodybuilders,” Theresa told
them.
“Bodybuilders?” Lee asked
raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, we’re here for a
contest at the blue and white hotel next to this one. We finished our first round of competition
and needed a break so we came out to watch the surfers,” Tammy said, “We need
to go back in a few minutes for the next round.”
“Would you like to join
us? I know we just met but you might
like it,” Theresa asked hopefully.
Lee looked at Chip and said,
“Why not. But we’ll have to wait to see if our friend makes it to the next
round.”
“No problem. Just give them these tickets and they’ll let
you in. You can sit anywhere,” Tammy
told them as she handed Lee two tickets.
“We’ll be there as soon as we
can,” Chip replied eagerly.
As the two women walked away
Lee and Chip looked at them. They were
both very nice looking women and they were curious about the bodybuilding
contest. Besides that they had nothing
better to do.
The admiral was standing
slightly away from his men. He stood
there with a smile on his face like a proud father. Patterson and Kowalski both had tall leggy
blonds with them. He noticed a red head
standing next to Patterson by herself, so he assumed she was Riley’s date. Sharkey managed to find a nice looking
brunette. It looked like Lee and Chip
had found a couple of very good looking and nicely built women too. He also knew his men were gentlemen and
wouldn’t worry about them.
They were half way through
the next round of competitors when Lee and Chip joined the admiral as he stood
watching the surfers do their runs.
“I see you found yourselves a
couple of nice looking ladies,” the admiral commented with a grin.
“Yes sir and they’re
bodybuilders. As soon as they announce
whose going on to the next round we’re going to watch them compete,” Chip said
with a huge grin.
“Bodybuilders? That should be
interesting.”
They watched as Riley
completed his last round for the day. He
looked very good. He had a big smile on
his face when he walked over to the red head and gave her a kiss. Kowalski, Patterson and Sharkey were patting
him on the shoulder. The admiral, Lee
and Chip walked over to the group.
“Nice job,” the admiral said,
“Too bad I’m too old to learn how to surf.
That looked like fun.”
“Sir, you’re not old. When we get back home, I’ll take you out one
day.”
“Admiral, you better not let
Doc see you. He’ll have your six,” Lee
said laughing.
The announcer started to give
the names of the final competitors for Saturday morning. This time Riley’s name was the first one
announced. He was jumping for joy. All the men were high fiving and giving him their
congratulations. They were very proud of
Riley. As they were getting ready to
leave Lee took the admiral aside.
“Admiral, we’re going to the
bodybuilding contest. We’ll see you
later.” Lee told him.
“Okay, son. Have a good time,” the admiral told them with
a grin on his face. He was glad to see
his ‘boys’ enjoying themselves.
((()))
Lee and Chip walked down the
beach and up the stairs to the blue and white hotel where the bodybuilding
contest was being held. Even though they
were hot and sweaty they still got plenty of stares from the women as they went
in the hotel. They found the room where
the contest was being held and headed down the hall. Lee gave the man at the door the tickets
Tammy gave him and they found seats near the back. There were quite a few women as well as men
competing. They didn’t have to wait long
before Theresa and Tammy came out.
“Lee,” Chip said with his
mouth wide open, “have you ever seen a body like that before?”
“No,” he stuttered, “I
thought I was in good shape, those women put me to shame.”
Lee and Chip sat there and
watched the rest of the competition amazed at what great bodies the women had
as well as the men.
“Looks like we better hit the
gym a little harder,” Chip snickered when the competition was finished.
Theresa and Tammy saw Lee and
Chip and walked over to them.
“Ladies, you must have to
work very hard to get a body like that,” Chip stated trying hard not to stare.
“Yes we do work hard at
it. It’s our stress relief,” Tammy
replied.
“Stress relief,” Lee
asked. We sure could use some of
that, he thought.
“Yes, we’re emergency room
nurses at a large hospital in
“Nurses,” was all Chip could
say.
“If you’re not busy tonight,
they’re having a party later to announce the winners, would you like to
go? They have a buffet dinner, drinks
and dancing. It’s really a lot of fun.”
Tammy said.
“Sure, we’d like to come,”
Lee replied before even asking Chip. He
knew he would go with no problem. Lee could see he was already quite taken with
Theresa.
“What time,” Lee continued.
“We’ll meet you here about
7:00, the party is held in this room.”
“We’ll be here,” Chip finally
managed to say.
Since the competition was
over, Theresa and Tammy left them to go change into their shorts and tank tops
before they left. Lee and Chip walked
out the door into the lobby.
“Why can’t Jamie hire some
nurses that look like that? I wouldn’t
mind staying in
“I’m telling Nurse Betty on
you. Wait till you need a shot, she’ll
use a dull needle on you,” Chip chortled.
They walked back to the hotel
so they could get ready for their dates and ran into the admiral just entering
his room.
“Well you two sure look
happy. What’s up?”
“Sir the two women we met,
well, Lee and I are going to have to work out a hell of a lot more to look half
as good as they do,” Chip smirked.
“That good?”
“Better than good,” Lee
replied, “They’ve invited us to a party at the hotel. You do have plans for tonight?”
Lee asked not wanting to
leave him alone.
“Yes, I do. I’m going to
visit my friend Carolyn that lives here in Daytona. Don’t worry about me or the others. I checked
with them and they all have plans for the evening too. Enjoy yourselves,” the admiral told them as
he went into his room.
((()))
Lee and Chip got ready for
their date and were walking out of the resort when they spotted Riley waxing
his surfboard with the cute little red head standing there watching him.
“Great job today,” Lee told
him patting him on the back.
“Thanks Skipper. I was
surprised I made the final cut. There’s
a lot a fantastic surfers out there.
I’ve got be on my game tomorrow.
It’s going to be windier tomorrow so the waves will be bigger which is
what I like.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow. Have good evening and don’t get into
trouble,” Chip reminded him.
“No problem, Mr. Morton,
We’ll be on our best behavior. You two
are sure dressed up, you must have dates.”
“Yes dates that can take us
down in a minute,” Lee muttered.
“What’s that Skipper,” Riley
asked not hearing what Lee said.
“Never mind, see you later.”
Lee said as he and Chip walked towards the hotel where the party was.
((()))
Lee and Chip arrived at the
hotel a few minutes before 7:00. Their
dates had not arrived and they were looking around the lobby of the hotel at
the photos of the different winners from previous year’s contests.
“I sure wouldn’t want to get
on the bad side of these women,” Chip said softly, “some of them actually scare
me.”
Lee laughed out loud, “Chip
Morton afraid of a woman. I’ll have to
remember that next time I need some ammunition to use against you.”
They finished looking at the
pictures when they saw Theresa and Tammy enter the lobby. They walked over to them. They looked very lovely in sun dresses which
didn’t hide too much of their bodies.
“Hi Lee, Chip,” Theresa said
with a smile. “Glad you came. Let’s go in and find a seat.”
She took Chip by the hand
while Tammy took Lee’s and lead them into the banquet room. It had been
transformed into a beach scene. There
was a huge picture board along the back wall with a scene from the beach
complete with hobie cats and cars parked on the beach. You could even see the
people in the water and on the beach sunbathing. There was a picture of a very
hunky man with six pack abs and a very developed upper body in a tight orange
swim trunk with a blue and yellow design that left nothing to the imagination
and he had a red surf board in front of him.
Only there was no face on top of the body. It was one of those boards where you put your
head in the hole and it makes you look like the person in the picture. When they saw that, the four of them laughed.
“Lee I think you should put
your head in there while I take a picture. You could send it out as your
Christmas card this year,” Chip taunted.
“Maybe later after I’ve had a
couple of drinks,” Lee said laughing.
They found a table and sat
down. Lee took their drink orders and
went to the bar. As he waited at the
bar, he looked at the beach scene again and shook his head. I don’t think so, he thought.
As he waited for the drinks,
four women bodybuilders came up to him and one put her hand on his arm.
“Hey handsome, we’ve got room
at our table, come join us,” she asked seductively.
“Sorry ladies, I already have
a date.”
“Lucky her,” one woman said
as they walked away.
Lee brought the drinks back
to the table and sat down next Tammy.
“You know what we do for a
living, so what does Lee Crane do when he’s not at surfing competitions?” Tammy
asked smiling.
“I work for the Nelson
Institute of Marine Research in
“You must work near the ocean
then if you do marine research,” Tammy said.
“Yes, I’m captain of the
submarine, Seaview, which is our research vessel. The institute is
located right on the ocean.”
“Captain of a submarine.”
Theresa repeated again. “A real
captain.”
“Yes, I’m a real captain,”
Lee answered with a smile.
“How about you Chip, what do
you do?” Tammy asked as she took a sip of her rum and coke.
“I work with Lee at the same
place. I’m the executive officer on the submarine.”
“What does an executive
officer do?” Theresa asked, “I’m really sorry to ask but I don’t know anything
about submarines or boats for that matter.”
“It’s okay,” Chip told her patting
her hand, “I take over for the captain if needed and give orders to the men on
how deep to go, what direction to go and other various duties the captain
doesn’t want to do.”
Lee gave him a dirty look and
then smiled at him.
“They sound like important
positions.” Tammy said.
“There are one hundred and
twenty five men on Seaview and it takes all of them to make sure she
runs smoothly,” Lee replied.
The servers had finished
setting up the buffet when Lee suggested, “Why don’t we get something to eat? I know Chip is probably famished by now.”
“Very funny,” Chip retorted
as they got up and went to the buffet table.
There was quite an assortment
of food, everything from steaks to fish along with rice, pasta, and
vegetables. There was also a dessert table
with brownies, cake and fruit.
As they worked their way
through the buffet line, Lee was surprised at the amount of food Theresa and
Tammy took. They had as much food on
their plates as Chip had on his and his plate was heaping full.
“Are you not hungry, Lee,”
Tammy asked noticing how little food was on his plate.
“He eats like a bird,” Chip
chimed in.
“Yes, I’m hungry. I like to start out with a little at a time,
I can always go back,” he replied giving Chip his I’ll get you later look. They
sat down and ate their dinner. When they
were almost finished, Chip went to the bar to get some more drinks. He too was hit on by a couple of
bodybuilders. He brought back the
drinks, put them down on the table but before he could sit down the band started
to play.
“Would you like to dance?”
Theresa said to Chip with an eager look in her eye.
“Sure why not,” Chip replied
taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor wrapping his arms around her
as they danced close together.
“Would you like to dance?”
Lee asked Tammy as he took her hand and led her out to dance. Lee also took Tammy in his arms holding her
close to him.
They were having a very nice
time with Tammy and Theresa. They were a lot of fun, nice looking, and didn’t
ask too many questions about their line of work. After they finished dancing the four of them
sat down. The ladies excused themselves
to use the restroom.
“Lee, we sure got lucky
tonight. I’m really enjoying their company.”
“Me too,” he replied taking a
drink of his gin and tonic.
The ladies came back and both
of them stood up from the table and helped them to the chairs.
“I’ve never had a man do that
for me,” Tammy said as she sat down.
“Thank you, Lee.”
As soon as they sat down the
emcee went to the stage and announced who the winners were in the contest. Tammy and Theresa didn’t win but did tie for
third place. They went up on stage and
got their trophies.
“Congratulations,” Lee and
Chip told them as they returned to the table and gave them each a congratulatory
kiss and hug.
“Would anyone like another
drink?” Lee asked.
“If you don’t mind I would
like another rum and coke,” Theresa asked softly.
“Sure, Chip do you want
another beer...how about you Tammy, another rum and coke?”
“I’ll have a beer, Lee,” Chip
said but Tammy replied, “No more for me I’ve had my quota.”
Lee got the drinks for Chip
and Theresa. He also didn’t want any
more. He had enough to drink too. He brought the drinks back to the table and
Chip and Theresa were on the dance floor.
“Would you like to dance
again,” Lee asked Tammy as he reached for her hand.
“No I would just like to sit
here,” Tammy replied holding on to his hand.
“You and Theresa are ER
nurses that must be very challenging.”
“It can be. You never know who’s going to come in your
door at any time. But all we want to do
is help people to get well and on their way home. Are there challenges to your
job?”
“There can be but just like
you sometimes we never know what we’re going to get into either.” You have no idea what we’ve run into,
he thought.
“Have you and Chip known each
long. You seem to almost read each
other’s minds.”
“We went to school together
and have worked together for a few years.”
“How about you and Theresa?”
“No, we met at work about a
year ago and just hit it off.”
“Do you come to these contests
very often?”
“This is only our second
one. We enjoy working out together so we
figured we might as well do the contest together too. It’s easier to work out with someone than by
yourself.”
“You and Chip look in good
shape so you must work out,” Tammy continued as she looked Lee over.
“We do when we can but not as
often as we would like. We’re at sea a lot so we don’t always have the time.”
Lee enjoyed talking with
Tammy. He could tell she was a bright
and caring person. Chip and Theresa
finished their dance and returned to the table.
They looked like they were up to something when they returned to the
table. Lee saw them with their heads
together talking and looking at him as they were dancing.
“Lee, I dare you to stand
with your face in the picture board.
I’ll pay for dinner for the next three months if you do,” Chip
challenged. Tammy and Theresa were also encouraging
him to do it.
Lee wasn’t surprised at
Chip’s dare. They’ve known each for so long
he wondered why it took him so long to ask him.
“Chip, I’m going to hold you
to that bet. We’ll be going out every
night when we get back home.”
Lee walked over to the
picture board and put his face in the hole.
Chip took a couple of pictures with his cell phone. Tammy and Theresa thought he looked pretty
cute standing there in the skimpy orange, blue and yellow trunks with the red
surf board in front of him. Only Chip knew it was totally out of his character
to do something like that.
“I can’t wait to show this
picture to the men,” Chip said laughing. “I’m going to have it framed and hang
it in my office.”
Lee shook his head and
wondered if it was worth the dinner bet.
He knew Chip would post that picture all over the office and Seaview.
Tammy looked at her watch it
was already
Before she got up Lee asked,
“Could we take you and Theresa out to dinner tomorrow night?”
Tammy answered with
disappointment in her voice, “Sorry but we’re leaving tomorrow. Our flight leaves at
“We understand. Duty calls,” Chip replied back sadly. “We’ve been there too.”
They got up from the table and
walked them back to their hotel which was about three hotels away from where
the party was. Lee held Tammy’s hand as
they walked along the beach.
Tammy whispered to Lee as
they walked, “We’d ask you back to our room but one of the girls we came with got
sick and is in bed.”
Smiling he replied, “It’s
okay. I’ve really enjoyed spending the
evening with you and Theresa.” He bent
down and gave her a kiss.
A little further back from
Lee and Tammy were Chip and Theresa.
They had their arms wrapped around each other’s waist.
“Chip, I’d ask you back to
the room but one of our room mates is sick and in bed, sorry.”
“No problem. I understand.
It’s too bad you’re leaving tomorrow.
I was looking forward to spending some more time with you,” Chip said giving
Theresa a kiss.
They walked the women to the
lobby of their hotel and waited with them at the elevators.
”If you’re ever in
“Same here, if you can get
away from the ocean and research. Please
come and see us.
The elevator dinged signaling
it was at their floor, but before the doors opened Tammy and Theresa gave Lee
and Chip a kiss and then stepped in the elevator pushing the button to their
floor. Chip and Lee waited until the
doors closed before leaving.
“Damn,” both Theresa and
Tammy said out loud as they rode the elevator to their floor. “Those two were the hottest men I’ve ever
seen or dated.”
“Damn,” both Lee and Chip
said as they walked out of the hotel lobby and onto the beach heading back to
the resort. “They were pretty, sexy and
nice.”
“I need a nightcap,” Chip
told Lee as they walked into the hotel and headed for the Tiki Bar at the
resort.
“Me too,” Lee agreed sadly.
They walked into the resort
and sat down at the bar. The woman
bartender walked over to them and just stared at them before she asked them
what they wanted.
Smiling his sunshine smile
Lee ordered, “I’ll have a 7up and he’ll have a coke.”
“Yes sir,” she stammered.
As they were waiting for
their drinks, they both checked their cell phones for any messages from the
men. So far no one had called. Chip found the pictures he took of Lee in the
picture board.
“I can’t believe you actually
took me up on my bet.”
“You didn’t leave me much
choice. I didn’t want to let down Tammy
and Theresa who were waiting for one of us to pose there.”
After they finished their
drinks, they went up to the room disappointed that Tammy and Theresa had to
leave tomorrow. Each of them was
thinking they might have broken their one night stand rule as they really liked
them.
((()))
Lee and Chip were up early
the next morning so they went for a run on the beach, before meeting the rest
of men for breakfast at 0700. The first
round of competition started at 0900.
Riley was so nervous he had a hard time eating.
“Did everyone enjoy their
evening last night,” the admiral asked as he took a sip of coffee. He made a face after tasting it, not strong
enough. He was learning to appreciate
Cookie’s coffee more and more.
Patterson spoke up, “Yes we
did. We found a bar with live music,
good food and dancing. I think we’d
still be there if Riley didn’t need to get to bed so he could compete today.”
“Your next Lee, Chip,” the
admiral said, “report on your evening.”
“We had a great time too.”
Lee replied with a grin.
“Now Lee, please tell the men
where you went,” the admiral insisted with a smile on his face.
Sighing Lee said, “We went to
a bodybuilding contest and then to a party with two of the women who competed
in the contest. They didn’t win but tied
for third place.”
“Far out,” Riley said. “Bodybuilders.”
Kowalski whistled adding,
“They must have had great looking bodies.”
“Yes Ski they did,” Chip
answered giving him the Morton look not to ask anymore questions.
“Admiral, how was your
evening” Lee wondered as he nibbled on a piece of toast.
“Just fine. I had a wonderful dinner with Carolyn whom I
haven’t seen in a long time.”
Riley looked at his watch and
jumped up, “I gotta go. It’s already 0830.”
“Go ahead and go. Mr. Morton will get the tab for breakfast,”
Lee told the men, “We’ll meet you down there in a few minutes.”
“I’m paying for breakfast?”
Chip asked Lee surprised,
“Consider it a dinner
payment,” Lee responded with a huge grin on his face.
“Okay what’s going on,” the
admiral inquired taking a drink of his coffee and frowned, “what have you two
done?”
Lee explained to the admiral
about the picture board and the bet Chip made.
“Let’s see the picture.”
Chip showed the admiral the
picture which made the admiral burst out laughing.
“You actually did this and
you let him take a picture?”
“Yes I did it. Chip didn‘t leave me a choice with Tammy and
Theresa standing there. I didn‘t want to
disappoint them,” Lee sighed, “but I get dinner free for the next three
months.”
“I think we should blow it up
and hang it right as you walk in your office,” the admiral teased.
“Okay enough. Let’s go we don’t want to miss the first
group of surfers,” Lee replied getting up from the table.
Chip signaled the waitress to
bring the bill. When she handed him the
bill there was another sheet of paper with her phone number on it. He paid the bill, left a tip on the table and
took the phone number with him.
((()))
The admiral, Lee and Chip
walked to the beach where the surfing competition was starting. It was a lot windier today and the waves were
a little bigger so this fit right into Riley’s plan. They stood with the rest of the men and
watched the first group of surfers go out.
A couple of them fell off their boards in the waves.
“Do you have plans for
tonight, Lee, Chip,” the admiral asked as he watched the surfers.
“No sir. Tammy and Theresa are leaving today. They are ER nurses from
“Carolyn was hoping you and
Lee would join us for dinner tonight.
She’s making ravioli casserole and promised to make ‘real’ coffee and
not the instant she has most of the time.
She’s got some new Swedish coffee she says is fantastic. She’s made brownies since she knows there
Lee’s favorite.”
“Sure Admiral we’ll be happy
to join you and Carolyn,” Lee replied as another surfer lost it in the waves.
Riley went out for the first
of his runs and nailed it. He caught
every wave and brought it in all the way to the shore. His next two runs were just as good. There were a couple of other surfers that
were just as good as Riley. Everyone
finished their runs and standing around waiting for them to announce the results
for the final runs of the competition.
It seemed to take the judges forever to decide.
Finally after a fifteen
minute wait they announced the results and Riley made it. He ran over to the rest of his friends, they
were slapping him on the back. They were almost as excited that he made it as
he was. The admiral, Lee and Chip joined the rest of them in congratulating
him. The three officers noticed the men
were with the same girls they were with yesterday; at least some of them were
lucky.
The finals were scheduled to
start at 1400 hours that afternoon. The
admiral, Chip and Lee decided to go back to the hotel and check in with
Angie. She told them to call her if
Riley made it to the finals.
“Hi Angie,” the admiral said
when she picked up the phone.
“If you’re calling me that
means Riley made it to the finals.” Lee and Chip could hear her cheering in the
phone.
Smiling as he told her, “Angie
calm down, he hasn’t won it.”
“Sir, make sure you call when
it’s over. Even it he doesn’t win.”
“Yes I will. Everything okay there?” the admiral asked.
“Yes sir. Everything is just fine. Don’t worry about a thing. Wanda and I have taken care of everything.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,”
he muttered softly.
“What sir?”
“Nothing. I’ll call you later,” the admiral
disconnected the call and looked at Lee and Chip, “I think we’re in
trouble. Angie and Wanda have taken care
of everything.”
“We’re definitely in
trouble,” Lee sighed. “I need a drink.”
The three men walked into the
bar and ordered sodas. Chip was hungry so they ordered sandwiches and ate them
at the bar while they drank their sodas.
“We better get going the last
run is going to start in a few minutes,” Chip said.
Lee paid the bill and they
walked back out into the heat and humidity.
They were sweating before they even got to the beach.
((()))
The wind had picked up a
little more and the waves were a little bigger.
Riley was very excited at this turn of events. He loved to surf in the larger waves. Since there were only five finalists they
would all do their runs at the same time.
The five finalists consisted of two women and three men. Riley had met his match in these surfers. All of them had no problems and made no
errors. They all finished their three
runs and it was a very tight competition.
Now that the runs were over, it all rested in the hands of the judges.
Riley ran over to the
men. He was still excited. The red headed girl he was with gave him a
huge kiss in front of everyone. Poor
Riley was embarrassed to be kissed in front of his officers. The admiral, Lee and Chip just smiled at him
giving him the okay signal.
It took the judges over
twenty minutes to decide the winners.
They announced the fifth and fourth places finishers and Riley’s name
was not announced so that meant he finished in the top three. Finally the last three places were
announced. Riley had won second
place. He stood there dumfounded. He never expected to even make the semi
finals let alone second place. The group
of men was cheering, slapping him on the back.
His red headed friend gave him a very long congratulatory kiss which he
returned. He went to the judge’s stand
to pick up his trophy and a check.
The admiral, Lee and Chip
were walking ahead of the men as they walked with their girls back to the
resort. They were going to a fancy
restaurant for dinner and then to a bar for dancing. No curfew for them tonight, no one had to get
up early to be anywhere tomorrow morning.
“Skipper,” Kowalski said as
he ran to catch up with Lee, “do you have any plans for tonight? Please bring your girls and join us.”
“Thanks Ski, they left for
home today. They were ER nurses and have
to be on duty tomorrow morning. Besides we’re joining the admiral and his
friend for dinner tonight. She’s looking
forward to seeing us.”
“Okay but if you get back
early and still feel like partying, give me a call and I’ll let you know where
we are.”
“Will do,” Lee smiled as
Kowalski went back with the rest of the men and the girls.
They all went back to their
rooms to get ready for their evening out.
The admiral caught up with Lee before he went into his room.
“I’ll meet you out front at
1700 hours and we’ll take a taxi to Carolyn’s house. I’ll have to find a store so I can buy a
bottle of wine to bring her.”
“I’m sure there’s one on the
way. See you later. Admiral before we
leave we should call Angie and tell her about Riley. But don‘t do it before
Chip and I can hear her yell,” Lee laughed.
“Sure.” he replied with a
huge grin.
Chip was already in the room
and was ready to go when Lee got to the room.
He was munching on some pretzels he bought out of the vending machine.
“If you want to have a body
like those bodybuilders, you’re going to have to lay off the junk food. No more pizza, beer, chips, and whatever else
you eat that’s bad. From now on you eat
only healthy foods like salads, tofu, vegetables and fruit,” Lee teased.
“Give up pizza and beer. Eat
tofu,” Chip exclaimed, “no way. I’ll
keep my body just as it is if I have to give up that stuff.”
Laughing Lee replied, “I’m
with you no tofu for me either.”
((()))
Chip and Lee met the Admiral
in front of the resort. Now that they
were all together, he called Angie to let her know how Riley finished.
“Hello,”
“Hi Angie.”
“Admiral, how did Riley
finish?” she asked very excited.
“He finished second,” he told
her then held the phone out at arm’s length at the resulting screams.
“Second,” she yelled, “Give
him my congratulations. I can’t wait to
see him. He must be thrilled.”
“Yes, he is. We’ll see you sometime late on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”
“You too sir.”
The admiral disconnected the
call. “You heard she was happy,” he
chuckled.
“For such a little thing, she
sure can yell,” Chip grinned.
Lee hailed a taxi and asked
if there was a store they could stop at.
The taxi driver drove a little ways down the street and stopped in front
of a store that sold beer and wine. He
went into the store and picked up a nice bottle of red wine and a bouquet of
flowers that were for sale by the register.
They arrived at Carolyn’s house where she met them at the door.
She gave Lee and Chip a kiss
hello along with the admiral and took the bouquet of flowers and put them in a
vase. They opened the bottle of wine and
enjoyed it before dinner. She asked how
the surfing competition went and how Riley finished.
“He finished second,” the
admiral told her.
“That’s great. I bet he’s very excited.”
“Yes, he is. Chip why don’t
you show her the picture you took of Lee,” the admiral suggested with a wicked
grin on his face.
“Sure,” Chip replied as he
took out his phone and found the picture.
She thought the picture was
very funny and so unlike Lee.
“Why did you do it,” she
asked smiling broadly.
“I was dared and there were
two women there I didn’t want to disappoint.”
“Well you do look very
handsome,” she snickered.
Changing the subject Lee
asked, “When is dinner? I’m a little
hungry.”
“We can eat right now if you
want.”
They sat down at the table
and enjoyed the ravioli casserole with garlic bread and salad. When they were finished Chip and Lee cleaned
up the dishes while Carolyn made ‘real’ coffee and served dessert.
Since it was very hot and
humid, they stayed in the house eating the dessert and talking about the
institute and what was on the agenda for Seaview. They were having a good time at Carolyn’s
house but when Lee looked at his watch he couldn’t believe how late it
was. Lee called for a taxi which would
take fifteen minutes to arrive.
As Carolyn cleaned up the
dessert dishes, she asked them about the coffee, “Well, my coffee connoisseurs
how did you like the coffee?”
“You mean that wasn’t
instant?” the admiral teased.
“It was very good. Where did you say it was from?” Lee asked.
“It came from
“Good to know. I might have to get some.”
They heard a horn outside and
knew the taxi had arrived.
Giving her a kiss good bye
the admiral said, “Thank you for dinner it was delicious. Come out and visit us so we can treat you
dinner and a voyage on Seaview.”
Lee and Chip agreed with the
admiral and gave her a kiss good bye.
“I’ll try but working at the
college keeps me very busy.”
She waved good bye as the cab
drove away. Maybe I should go out
there. I would love to take a voyage on
Seaview, she thought.
((()))
The cab driver left them off
at the front of the resort. While Chip
paid the fare, they were deciding what to do.
“Let’s go in the bar for a
nightcap,” the admiral suggested.
“Sure, it’s not that late,” Lee
added.
They walked into the bar, and
the same bartender that served them last night was there again tonight. She
walked over to them as they sat down.
“One coke and 7up,” she said
looking at Chip and Lee, “What can I get you sir?” she asked the admiral.
“I’ll have a scotch and water
on the rocks,” the admiral said as Lee and Chip looked at him. “I’m thirsty.”
The bartender brought over
their drinks and started up a conversation with them.
“Where are you from?”
“
“It’s been pretty busy here
because of that competition. Now that the competition is over things will quiet
down for awhile. When are you leaving?” she replied as she looked for rings on
their fingers.
“Later on tomorrow,” Lee
replied as he finished his drink.
A few more patrons entered
the bar so she excused herself to take care of them. When they finished their drinks, the admiral
paid the tab and the walked out of the bar waving goodbye to the bartender.
“Come back again.” she told
them. The three of them were very
easy on the eyes, she thought. They
can come back here any time and it didn’t look like they were married.
As they rode the elevator
upstairs to their rooms, they were deciding on what to do tomorrow.
“I’m going to lie out on the
beach and go swimming,” Chip told them yawning.
“Sounds good,” Lee agreed.
“You can lay out all you
want. I’m going to look around but don’t
forget we’re meeting the rest of the men for a celebration lunch at 1300
hours,” the admiral reminded them.
“Yes sir. Good night admiral,” Chip said.
Lee and Chip went out on the
balcony just to hear the waves. Even
though it was dark, you could hear people talking as the walked on the beach. Lee yawned.
“I’m going to bed. Want to run in the morning before we lay
out? We need to get into shape,” Lee
teased.
“Sure, why not.”
They came in from the balcony
but left the door open. There was a cool
breeze coming off the ocean and they wanted to hear the waves.
((()))
The rest of the men were
having a good time at a bar a few miles from the resort. The bar had live music and dancing. While
they were at the bar, a man started a fight with Kowalski over his date but
Patterson and Chief Sharkey cooled him down before he got into trouble. The
last thing they wanted to do was to wake the skipper and Mr. Morton to bail
them out of jail. After dropping off
their girls who were staying a few resorts down from them, they got back very
early in the morning and Riley and Kowalski were a little drunk.
Lee and Chip were going for
their run when they saw the men coming into the resort. Patterson had his arm around Kowalski while
Sharkey was holding up Riley.
“Did you have a good time?”
Chip asked looking at Kowalski who could hardly stand.
“Yes sir. We had a wonderful time,” Kowalski replied
swaying as he answered them, “but we didn’t get into trouble.”
“Well you all better get some
sleep. The admiral is expecting all
of you for lunch at 1300 hours,” Lee told them.
“We’ll be there,” Sharkey
assured them.
Sharkey and Patterson took
Riley and Kowalski upstairs as the Lee and Chip left for their run with grins
on their faces.
“Looks like they enjoyed
themselves,” Lee smiled.
They ran down the beach for
five miles before stopping at an outdoor café and grabbed a quick bite before
running back to the resort. It was already
pretty crowded when they got back there.
They staked out a spot on the beach and were admiring the girls walking
by in their bikinis. When they got warm
they walked into the ocean for a quick swim when they noticed a nice looking
woman having trouble getting back to shore.
They could see she was starting to panic. Lee and Chip swam over to her.
“Relax,” Lee told her calmly,
“we’ll help you back to shore.”
“I’m so scared. I got a cramp in my foot and I can’t walk on
it,” she said hysterically.
“No problem,” Chip told her
as he picked her up and carried her back to the beach.
He put her down on the beach
and started rubbing her foot to get the cramp out.
“Thank you so much. I don’t know what I would’ve have done if you
hadn’t come along. Let me buy you a
drink.”
“No that’s okay,” Lee said to
her as a large man walked over to them.
“Babe, what the hell’s going
on here? Who are these men?” he said
loudly as he pushed Chip’s hand away from the woman’s foot.
“Cool it, Otis. These men just saved me from drowning. I got a cramp in my foot and they brought me
back to the beach. If you have gone with
me in the water, you could’ve have helped me back.”
“Keep your hands to
yourself. If there’s any rubbing to do,
I’ll do it,” he snarled at Chip.
“No problem,” Chip said as he
and Lee backed off and walked to their spot on the beach not wanting to upset
Otis.
“She wasn’t bad looking. Too
bad she’s with Otis,” Chip sighed.
“We better get going. We don’t want to be late for lunch after
telling the rest of them they better be on time.”
They walked back to the
resort just as the admiral was coming up from the beach.
“Where did you go, sir,” Chip
inquired.
“Went for a walk on the beach...saw
what happened...can’t you two stay out of trouble?”
“We didn’t know she was with
Otis,” Lee said, “we saw her in trouble and went to help her.”
“I wouldn’t have expected you
to do anything else,” he replied patting them on the shoulders.
The three of them took the elevators
to their rooms to get ready for lunch.
((()))
Lee, Chip and the admiral
were the first ones at the restaurant. A
few minutes later, Sharkey and Patterson came in followed by Riley and Kowalski
who still looked a little hung-over.
“Sorry sirs,” Riley said as
he sat down holding his head, “I guess I celebrated a little too much. I have a king size headache.”
“Me too,” Kowalski said as he
sat down.
“When we’re done with lunch come
to my room,” the Lee told them, “I have some acetaminophen.”
“Thank you skipper,” the both
replied.
“Let’s order lunch.” Chip
said sympathetically. He felt sorry for
Kowalski and Riley as he has been there before.
They ordered lunch and they
were telling the admiral, Lee and Chip were they went and how a man tried to
take Kowalski’s date away from him but Sharkey and Patterson calmed him down
before he got into trouble when the admiral’s phone rang. He excused himself and went to the corner of
the restaurant where it was a little quieter.
“Hi Angie,” the admiral
answered knowing who was calling.
“Hi Admiral, sorry to bother
you but the Secretary of the Navy called the institute. Peters called me and let me know he
called. I figured I better let you know. They have an emergency mission for Seaview. I explained to him that you were out of town
but he insisted I call you. You need to
call him right away,” Angie told him.
“Damn,” the admiral said,
“sorry Angie. I’ll give him a call. I’ll let you know what’s going on.”
“Yes sir.”
Lee and Chip could see that
something must be wrong by the look on his face. They excused themselves from the table and
went over to him as he was calling the Secretary of the Navy. The rest of the men also knew something was
up by the look on his face.
“Bill, Nelson here. What’s the problem?”
“Harry, sorry to interrupt
your vacation but we need Seaview to leave immediately to help a ship in
the Pacific. She’s taking on water badly
from an explosion. She’s loaded with
nuclear missiles. Seaview’s the
only one who can offload them, store them and get them back.”
“Bill, I’m in
“According to the captain
they might be able to stay afloat and are trying to make repairs. We want to make sure nothing happens to those
missiles. Do what you can Harry.”
“We’ll leave as soon as we
can for home,” the admiral told him running his hand through his hair. “Give me the coordinates so I can have my men
plot out a course.”
Bill gave the admiral
coordinates. They weren’t too far away
from
“Problem sir?” Lee asked
seeing the worried look in the admiral’s face.
“We need to leave right
away. There’s a ship in the Pacific
that’s in danger of sinking and we need to offload her missiles unto Seaview.
There’s no other ship’s out there that can do the job and store the missiles. Lee, how soon can we take off?” he asked
as he called Angie.
“Hello.”
Pacing back and forth as he
talked, “Angie, I need your help. Please
call Bobby O’Brien and have him come to the institute. We need you and Bobby to recall the
crew. Would you mind going to the office
and helping him out?”
“No sir, not at all. Can I ask why so I can tell him?”
“Just tell him we need to
leave by Monday afternoon and I’ll tell him when I call you back. Thanks Angie.
I owe you. I will call you as
soon as we take off and give you our arrival time.”
“Yes sir.”
After the admiral got off the
phone Lee told him, “We’re almost done with lunch, we pack up, get to the
airport and do the pre-flight check list, maybe sixty to ninety minutes. Admiral don‘t forget we’ll be heading into
the wind, it‘s going to take us longer to get back. I’m guessing an additional hour.”
“Okay, let’s finish up here
and get going.”
Lee, Chip and the admiral
went back to the table and the men could tell something was wrong.
“Admiral, what’s wrong?”
Sharkey asked.
“Sorry men, we’re going to
have to leave as soon as we’re done with lunch.
There’s a ship in trouble in the Pacific and we need to get to her,” Lee
told them.
“Skipper, I won’t be able to
co-pilot it hasn’t been eight hours since I stopped drinking. I’m really sorry.”
“Ski, don’t worry about. How did you know we would have to leave right
away. Mr. Morton will fly us home and I
can co-pilot. Neither one of us has been
drinking.”
The men finished up lunch,
the admiral paid the bill and they left the restaurant twenty minutes after he
got the call. They packed up their gear
and checked out of the hotel and were in taxis to the airport thirty minutes
later. Patterson, Riley, Sharkey and Kowalski stowed their gear on the plane
while Lee and Chip did the pre-flight check list. The admiral went to the office to pay the tie
down fee along with the fuel bill. He let
them know they were leaving and gave them a copy of the flight plan Chip made
out. He also let them know that NIMR had
one too. He called the airport in
“Nelson Institute,” Angie answered
quickly.
“Hi Angie. How are things going there?”
“Hello admiral. Bobby is here and we’re recalling the
crew. We’ve gotten through to most of
them. We’re waiting for a couple of them
to call back. We know for sure that three
men are out of town and will not be able to make it back in time to shove
off. Bobby says we can sail without
them.”
“Good job Angie. We’ll be taking off in the next thirty
minutes. We need to make one stop for
fuel. I’ll call you back and let you
know when we will land at the
“Okay Admiral. Please be careful.”
“Don’t worry we have the best
pilots around,” he said smiling at Lee and Chip as they came up next to him
finishing the pre-flight check list and the walk around the plane to make the
control surfaces were not damaged.
After checking the flaps,
setting the altimeter, and making sure it was refueled Chip took off for the
first stop on their way home. They were
in the air ninety minutes after Angie called the admiral.
The winds aloft were stronger
than Chip or Lee anticipated so it took them a little longer to get to the
airport in
“Chip, Lee, how long to you
think it will take us to get to
“If these winds stay as
strong as it is now, probably another five hours,” Chip told the admiral and
Lee nodded his head in agreement.
“Let me know if we can shave
some time off.”
“Yes, sir,” Chip told him.
The admiral called Angie to
give her an update before they took off from
“Nelson Institute.”
“Hi Angie. Looks like it will be at least another five
hours.”
“Okay admiral. Bobby and I finished recalling the crew. They all should be on board by 0900 hours on
Monday.”
“Angie, if Bobby is still
there, please put him on the phone.”
She handed the phone to
Bobby, “Yes sir.”
“Thanks for coming in
Bobby. There’s a ship in trouble not to
far from
“Aye sir. We’ll be ready to shove off as soon as you
arrive on Monday.
“Thanks, Bobby.”
The admiral hung up his phone
and climbed aboard the plane. Chip took
off as soon as he was cleared by the tower for a westerly departure. The winds aloft were still fairly strong and
it took them five hours before they were cleared for landing at the
“Thanks for letting us use
the jet,” Chip said as he and Lee deplaned, “she’s a dream to fly.”
“Yes sir she sure is. Glad
you enjoyed flying her,” he replied with a grin.
“Please put fuel in her and
let us know the cost so we can pay you,” Lee told the mechanic.
“Yes sir.”
The men unloaded their gear
from the plane and made their way to their cars. It was early evening when they returned to
the institute.
“Please report to Seaview
by 0600 tomorrow,” Lee told the men.
“Aye sir,” they replied.
“Thanks for letting us go
with. We had a great time,” Lee said
grinning as the admiral and Chip nodded in agreement.
“We’re glad you came,” Riley
said, “Maybe we should go again next year?”
“We’re game,” they all
replied.
((()))
Lee and Chip were on board Seaview
by 0500. Bobby was checking in the crew
as they came aboard. By 0800 everyone
had reported for duty.
“Prepare to shove off,” Lee
told the dock hands from the bridge as they untied the ropes and pulled up the
gangplank. He called to the engine room, “all back dead slow,” he said as he
directed Seaview out of her berth and into the channel.
All he said to Chip who was
on the bridge with him was, “Duty calls.”
The End.