TRWD40C

My Journal
By Harriman Nelson
40C

It was 2100 hours. While the girls played Bingo in the Wardroom with some of the off duty officers, Jigs and I had a few drinks in the Observation Nose.
Seaview had cleared the Scottish Isles some time before and now was at two hundred feet in the Atlantic at flank. Our U.K. escort had departed and our U.S. fleet had taken over. Lee had the conn and Chip was busy as XO. It was difficult not to watch my two boys engaged in the running of the boat.
“Wonder what that call they had earlier today was about?” Jiggs whispered to me.
“Of course I want to know. I just refuse to butt in. If it was important Lee would have told us.”
“Have you lost your sense of reality? He’s the president elect now. He doesn’t owe you any information. Why not ask Jackson?”
“Because they’re spook buddies, and he’s agreed to be Lee’s chief advisor again.”
“You think Morton’s up to being captain?”
“Of course he is. He’s been acting captain more times that we can count. Oh, he doesn’t want it. But he’ll do it. For Lee.”
“Yes, your men all seem to want to do anything for him. I have to tell you, Harriman, all that hero worship is as dangerous for them as it is for Lee. Too easy for all that glory to go to a man’s head.”
“Jiggs!”
“Hear me out. Lee is not an egomaniac. But he does have an ego just the same. Makes for a good commander. Confident. But too many accolades and he might begin to believe he’s invincible and always right. No man is invincible and no man is always right.”
Just then Lee and Chip headed to the Radio Shack.
“Now what?” I muttered.
“We’re not supposed to butt in, remember? Might as well turn on the latest news. The monitor was filled with split screens. He used the remote to select a local Washington station…
“…As you can see,” the reporter was saying against the backdrop of the capitol building at sunset, “red, white, and blue bunting, and flags have already transformed D.C. for the inauguration. The influx of visitors has already caused security issues, and sanitation workers have ordered extra porta-potty’s from surrounding areas for those who will be lining up along the parade route. Patriotic fever is sweeping the city…”
“… TV’s have been set up all along the route as well as at the capitol building for the major moment. According to Lt. Cdr. Jackson, who will resume the position of personal aide and chief advisor to the president, Captain Nelson-Crane will be borrowing the Lincoln family bible to take the oath of office, though a bible is not required for the oath and….”
Lee interrupted by striding over and turning off the monitor.
“Why watch the news when you can be part of it. We’re going to surface. Want to come shoot the stars with me, Harry? Jiggs?”
“Won’t Doc object?” Jiggs asked, “aren’t there still military helicopters up there?”
“A few. But all are at least five hundred feet away. Besides, I have protection.”
He dug into his pants pocket and pulled out a cap, only it wasn’t from Sick Bay.
“You’re not going to wear that monstrosity?” Jiggs asked of the multi colored crocheted beanie.
“Mom made it. Said I might as well keep warm. And,” he said as he put it on, “fits better than Sick Bay caps. No rotor wash will dare move this off my head. Ugly as hell but functional. And I’d hurt Mom’s feelings if I didn’t wear it at least once.”
Jiggs was rather pleased he’d been asked and we pulled on our parkas as Lee and Chip surfaced the boat.
It didn’t take long and as soon as Lee and Chip pulled on their parkas, we followed them topside to the Conning Tower.
It would have been a magical view, the sky was filled with stars and the moon was bright. But the damn fleet was in the way for us to enjoy it all. The ships were in front of us, beside us, and behind us. The helicopters from the aircraft carriers had spotlights as well as their running lights.
“Help me shoot the stars, Harry?” Lee asked. “I know it’s not technically necessary with all these babysitters, but…”
“Want me to scan Polaris or verify the reading?” I asked.
“You decide. She’s your boat too, and you haven’t shot the stars yourself for a while.”
“And you don’t have many opportunities left. You decide.”
“No, it should be yours.”
“Oh good grief,” Chip said and handed Lee the sextant. “You take the sighting. Admiral Nelson will verify the reading. I hope you won’t be this difficult with your vice president, Lee. Going to keep the latest speaker of the house for it? He wasn’t actually sworn in for it with Avery.”
“I hadn’t thought about it. I guess he’ll do.”
“Will you shoot the stars already?” Jiggs demanded. “It’s cold up here.”
And so Lee used the sextant to take his sighting and I verified the reading as Chip held the flashlight though there was enough light from the helicopters spotlights to read a map.
“Skipper?” Sparks called on the conning tower’s PA, “you realize you’re live on CNN? They don’t have audio but they did get access to the choppers.”
“Time for a little PR,” Lee said, “everyone wave, in a circle, to the choppers, to the ships.”
We did as ordered, and Lee, removed his wooly beanie and waved it. I just knew Will would give Lee an earful, but Lee’s parka’s hood did a pretty good job protecting the top of Lee’s head, so I gave up worrying about our ears and enjoyed the moment. The sounds of ships horns returned our greeting.
We were surprised when Joe joined us.
“Sorry, bro, but the president wants to speak to you again.”
“Right now? Can’t I stay up here a little while longer?”
“He said it was a pressing matter.”
“Very well. Take her down at your pleasure, Mr. Morton.”
Lee and Joe disappeared below while O’Brien arrived to replace Lee. Jiggs and I stayed topside a little while longer. But all too soon it was time to get below while Chip and O’Brien closed up the conning tower and followed us down to prepare to dive.
The Bingo game was over and the women were in the nose, having turned the monitor back on.
“…In other news, the famous auction house Southey’s in London, has removed George Washington’s ring from going under the hammer without explanation.”
“That’s odd,” Emmie said. “Perhaps they discovered it’s a fake.”
“Or someone bought it outright,” Edith said. “They can do that, you know, if the price was right.”

“Commander Morton,” Joe’s voice came over the PA, “Once you’re at depth, you and Admiral Nelson please dome down to the captain’s cabin asap.”
“Has he hurt himself again?” Will’s voice asked from Sick Bay.
“He’s fine.”
Jiggs and I waited until Seaview was under to head to Lee’s cabin with Chip. My old friend might not have been requested, but there was no way I was going to tell him not to come along.
Lee’s door was open, and he was standing, leaning against his desk, and fingering something in his hand. I’d hoped he hadn’t discovered that Gerrard’s hadn’t been quite honest with him about what remained of his rings.
Winston greeted us in his usual friendly way, though I was sure Lee was going to be scolded about that by Will since the animals were still persona non grata in his patient’s cabin.
“I’d wanted to do this differently,” Lee interrupted my thoughts, “but, by the authority of the president of the United States, Commander Chip Morton, you are hereby promoted to the U.S. Navy rank of captain, with full rights and responsibilities due the rank. In addition, you will assume full command of Seaview immediately.”
Lee opened his palm to reveal his ‘command at sea’ pip he had seldom worn and pinned it on Chip’s collar.
“You have command, captain,” Lee said.
“I…I…it wasn’t supposed to be yet.”
“You have command, captain,” Lee repeated firmly.
“I have command,” Chip said sadly.
“Very well,” Lee said and wearily sat on the edge of his bunk looking at the floor. “Joe?”
“Sparks,” Joe said into the intercom, “Captain Nelson-Crane wants to make an announcement to the boat’s complement.”
“Aye, sir,” Sparks replied, then clicked on the PA. “All set, sir…”
“This is the capt…this is Nelson-Crane. Mr. Morton has taken command of Seaview and has been promoted to the Navy rank of captain. I’d wanted a more proper ceremony but it was necessary to expedite things immediately as Seaview may be required to go to war alert even before we reach Washington. I pray to God this will not be necessary, but I have to tell you that sources in the field believe that the now fifteen nation coalition of anti-west nations adopted a manifesto, or blueprint, for the destruction of the nations of the free world as soon as they’re able. There has been no confirmation of this, but we have to be prepared for any nuclear or biological attacks. The joint chiefs have been informed of the potential threat. It is possible this is all just a rumor designed as a ruse to take us back to Cold War hysteria.
“Whatever the truth or not, Seaview is now on orange alert, will be on flank plus speed to Washington, and the Flying Sub will be prepped for immediate launch if need be. The potential threat is not public knowledge and only known to a select few in our government. Communications will be limited to official business. No personal phone calls, internet, or emails will be allowed until further notice. That is all.”
Joe clicked off the intercom.
“Do you think it’s real, Lee?” Chip asked.
Lee took a deep breath.
“Yes, I do. I also think Ozno’s behind it all. Who knows what he promised the People’s Republic and his other minions. The coalition could be just waiting for us to take proactive action and push the first button resulting in a retaliatory all out nuclear and biohazard war. Conversely, which is more likely, they may launch their missiles without any kind of provocation to blow us off the map.”
“Oh God, Lee,” Chip reacted.
“Better get us up to flank plus, Captain.”
“Aye, aye Skip…Mr. President,” Chip acknowledged.
We all noticed that Lee didn’t object to the still future title.
I nodded to Joe and Jiggs to leave with Chip. I closed the door after them then sat down beside Lee, putting my arm around his shoulders. I could feel him trembling.
I was glad I was there for him, not that I could comfort him in any way.
“Harry?” he asked, looking almost feral. “What if…what if I make the wrong decisions? What if my actions or inactions cause me to start a global conflagration? Even World War Three? What if…”
“Lee, Lee, Lee,” I embraced him. “We can’t know. All we can do is what we believe to be correct. Like you’ve always done. Besides, I don’t think the Almighty would have allowed or asked you, in his way, to take the job if He didn’t think you could handle it. In fact, I think there’s something in the Bible about that sort of thing, but I don’t know the verse. You’ll do the right thing, Lee. It would go against your very soul not to. Put away all the ‘what if’s. Let the future take care of itself, for better or worse.”
He bowed his head. “As God wills then.”
He got up off the bunk and rubbed his hand over the bulkhead, “Sure wish I could have had the conn longer. I’m going to miss her so much…so much.”
“As much as we both love Seaview, she’s still just a thing. It’s family that counts. And your crew is family. So are your countrymen. Far better to serve them as president than as the captain of a lone submarine. Come with me to my cabin. I was going to give you present for your inauguration, when the girls do at the inaugural brunch, but now’s as good a time as any.”

It was a short walk down the companionway and around the bend to my cabin. He sat on the edge of my desk while I scrounged around in one of the desk’s drawers, and pulled out the little box.
“Gerrard’s wasn’t exactly honest with you about returning all the broken pieces of your rings. I had them hold a piece of the Nelson family ring back. Just a little piece I had them fashion a replica from.”
I handed him the box and he opened it.
They’d done a good job. The little piece from the original ancient ring was smack in the center, noticeable only because it was silver and the new setting, also Celtic in design, was gold.
“The gold’s from a small nugget of Irish gold they had. This is the Nelson Family Ring now,” I said, handing it to him.
“I don’t know what to say,” he answered, as he began to put it on his left hand.
“No, son. Wear this one your right. Old World custom,” I lied. Not strictly a European custom, but our cousins across the pond did tend to wear their rings on their right hands more than we Yanks did. Besides, I had an ulterior reason.
“It sends chills down my spine,” Lee said. “Thank you, Harry. For everything…I’d better go see Mom. She’s bound to be upset.”
“Would you like me to go with you?”
“If I can’t handle my mother, I’m not the man for the big job. Don’t worry, I can and I am.”
“I know, son. I know.”