Day 13

It’s been a pretty wild ride, this whole business with Lee, and today actually began yesterday with the President’s speech.

It began like one of those older speeches used to. You know, the kind with ‘My Fellow Americans’. I could tell he didn’t want to make the speech. Why he chose to do what he did, I’m still not sure. There was a lot of outrage.

But not with me or Lee’s crew.

The President began by revealing that Capt. Crane and the other ‘victims’ of the munitions explosion had been on a top secret operation, and actually detonated the explosion themselves (from a ‘safe room’, deep below the munitions plant).

He went on to say that their ‘death’s were an  operational necessity to bring a terrorist cell down. But he stopped there and didn’t expand on any details. He did say that  in retrospect, it had been a bad idea to sacrifice their ‘lives’, so to speak, for themselves and loved ones, but that at the  time it seemed appropriate.  The death benefits families received would not have to be returned and had been re classified as Hazard pay.

That was it. He didn’t hang around to answer the plethora of questions, and escaped back into the Oval Office. But those questions are bound to haunt him. Especially  in an election year.

“Well, ” I grinned at Lee, who was still a bit groggy from our late night, “I guess we don’t have to make a new name plate for your office. You, um, really did detonate the explosion yourself?”

“Hardest thing I’d ever done in my life. I was ‘killing’ myself and hurting everyone I ever loved, forever, I thought. But considering that Gamma’s under lock and key and the biohazard didn’t happen, it was worth it.”

“But at what cost,” I muttered and looked at Lee’s eyes. Still haunted from the ordeal he’d been through.

“Did ya hear? Did ya’ hear?” Sharkey, aka my ‘faithful hound’ barged into the office.  I supposed Angie had thought it best not to stop him.

“Yes, Chief, we heard,” I said gently.

“Man oh man, am I ever glad! I’d of had a whale of a time getting’ used to another name and...”

“Captain Crane, you’re out of uniform!” Jiggs interrupted, striding in, “you realize your girl’s not at her desk, Harry? In any case,” he extended his hand, “welcome back Captain Crane. You can’t imagine what a old sourpuss your boss’s has been without you to keep him in line.”
“That’s only because I had a hard time doing my homework,” I said.

“Homework?” Lee asked, confused.

“It’s a long story, son.”

Damn but it felt good to call him that. And  in earnest, not just a term of affection.

“And I’m not Lee’s boss any longer Jiggs. I was going to tell you this later  today, Lee, but I drew up some papers, for whatever name you’d be known as.  Edith agreed to it too. They give you an equal share in NIMR...and Seaview.”

“What?” Lee was stunned.

“And now, thanks to our Commander in Chief’s decision, The Nelson Institute is now the Nelson-Crane Institute of Marine Research, though I’ll still need you to sign some papers for the legal dept.”

“Admiral,” Lee looked downright embarrassed “you don’t have to do this... I have no problem going back to the way things were...before everything happened...you don’t have to feel guilty about the argument and..”

“Let’s get one thing straight right now, Captain. I’ll feel guilty for the rest of my life if I want to, but that’s not why I made you a full partner.”

“It isn’t?” Jiggs asked.

“Well, for one thing, you might call it insurance, just in case I suffer from ‘clinical depression’ again. At least Lee would be able to make all those pesky decisions that Doc might not  let me.”

“What are you talking about?” Lee asked, his voice quivering, worry on his face.

“Never mind that now. And secondly, and most importantly, isn’t it customary for a father to ask his son to join him in the family business?”

“You...you’d do that for me? I...I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say yes, Captain,” Jiggs said, “he’ll be impossible to live with otherwise. Now, hadn’t you better get yourself cleaned up? You look like ten miles of bad road. Jackson’s brought you your uniform.  Among other things,” he winked at me.

“Lee?” a familiar voice called.

“Mom?” Lee hurried to the outer office as Jiggs, Sharkey, and I followed.

“Oh my baby, my  baby..” she embraced  Lee tenderly, kissing him, ruffling his hair.

“Mom,” Lee whispered, “please, not in front of the...”

“I think he means us, ma’am,” Jiggs interrupted, “but you just go on ahead. Come along Jackson, Chief, Harry. Let’s give them a few minutes.”

As we walked through  the corridor toward  Lee’s office, #007,  we saw Angie and most of the NIMR staffers all a twitter decorating the walls with bunting , balloons and ‘welcome back’ banners.

“Chief,” I said, “we’ll need the machine shop to make a new sign for the main gate...”

“Crane hasn’t agreed to it yet, Harry,” Jiggs said.

“Maybe you might have to get the Skip to agree,” Sharkey said, “ and there’s paperwork and all that stuff, but beggin’ your pardon, sirs,  me and the guys  decided that it was the Nelson Crane Institute already.”

Sharkey nodded toward Ski, who was grinning like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary, holding a transistor radio from which he and a multitude of others had heard the President’s speech, and can of black spray paint.

“It’s only temporary,” Sharkey said, “but it’s close enough for government work, or NIMR.”

“Hey,  Admiral?” Riley approached, “they guys in dry dock are wondering, for when that gash is all patched up, what color to repaint Seaview.” He held up 2 open cans of paint.

“One of those is  red!” Jiggs exclaimed.

“I believe that’s ‘Corvette Red’ actually,” I grinned.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I promised myself a lot of things if only Lee came home.”

“What’s all this?” Lee approached, his mother’s arm in his.

“Oh, just welcoming you home Skipper,” Sharkey said. “Uh, the  guys in dry dock don’t know what color to paint Seaview when she’s all fixed up, Navy Gray or Corvette Red.”

“Ohmygod,” Lee looked at the red paint longingly, then at me.

“It’s your choice,” I said, then added, partner.”

We could tell this was costing him a fair amount of inner turmoil. He’d always dreamed of a bright red Seaview. And while red was not the usual color for a submarine in the employ of the US Navy as Seaview was  at times, it was as good a color as any other, sort of, well, maybe. All right, it wasn’t a good choice at all if you wanted to hide in a blue gray sea. But it was a fantasy dream of Lee’s, and I’d promised myself during my darkest hours that he came back,  if he wanted her red, then she’d be red,  a frivolous decision perhaps, but one I’d made in earnest and intended to honor. As for the Navy, well, they’d just have to put up with it.

“Sir?” Riley asked Lee, with his cherubic smile, half lifting the red canister a little higher.

“As long as I can keep the white racing stripes on her fins, I think we’d better err on the side of caution. Let’s go with Navy Gray.”

“You don’t have to pick gray for me, son,” I said. “Go with your heart, Lee.”

“I like red, I’ve longed for her to be red,” he said wistfully, “But...” he looked at Jiggs.
“Don’t let me influence you Crane,” Jiggs said.

“Sweetheart?” Mrs. Crane asked.

“I...can’t decide...I have to talk to her...” he vanished down the hall and then the stairs.

“No, Jiggs,” I grabbed my friend’s arm before he could follow. “Let him be. This is one decision he has to make on his own without any interference from us.”

He’s still down there, in dry dock. The workmen tried  very hard to ignore him but as he kept walking the boat, touching her, muttering, inside and out, they finally gave up trying to get any work done and called it a day.

What tomorrow may bring, who knows? The crew’s taking bets. Even Jiggs placed one, citing that if anyone knew about duty as Captain Crane did, there was no doubt at all that he would go  Navy  all the way.

I’m not so sure. Lee’s been handed one of his dream on a plate. Will he take it? Or will commit himself to duty again, placing his own desires aside yet again. All I know is that he’ll do what he’ll do. And that’s all that matters to me.

For now, I’m going to pull up my next to last lesson, take notes, and finish some homework which I’m not at all sure I’ll be able to complete.

Perhaps I’ll also bake some more cookies, or maybe some brownies. We need to make something really special, to celebrate  Lee Crane being Lee Crane, and Seaview’s new coat of paint, whatever color Lee decides for her.

Harriman~