Home Goes The Warrior (2 page)

Lieutenant Raines watched the chaos on the pier from the bridge wing, standing shoulder to shoulder with Captain Neilsen.

The captain was the first to speak. “I see my wife out there, Lee. Is anyone here to meet you?”

“No, I don’t think so, Captain. We bachelors don’t usually invite anyone to these shindigs. Our girlfriends get too many ideas watching the wives and kids on the pier.” He had a big grin as he spoke, and Neilsen smiled back.

“Okay, Lee. Have it your way.”

Even as they talked Lee was checking on the crew’s progress as they tied the ship to the pier and rigged the gangplank. Now, seeing that the ship was properly secured, he turned to the boatswain’s mate. “Okay,
Bosun, secure the Special Sea and Anchor Detail and transfer the watch to the quarterdeck.”

“Aye, aye, sir.” The bosun hurried to pass the appropriate message on the ship’s announcing system.

The captain continued the conversation as if there had been no interruption. Indeed, the pause to issue necessary orders was so ingrained in the two men that it had hardly been noticed by either of them. “Lee, I’m really going to miss you. You’re the only officer on the ship with the experience and common sense to let me relax and just shoot the breeze. You’ve been around long enough to know the difference between bullshit and reality. That’s made my job a lot easier over the past year.”

He paused, then continued, “I know that you did a lot to keep the wardroom grounded and rational when times were tough over there. I’ve got to admit that I’ve really enjoyed serving with you.”

Lee smiled at his friend. “Thanks Captain. I’ll miss you, too. It’s been a good tour.”

“By the way, Lee, when are you leaving? I’ll see you again before you go, won’t I?”

“Not for a few days, Captain. We’ll have plenty of time to get together before I go. I’m staying aboard today. I took the duty tonight so the ops boss could go home to his family. After today, I have a few days left before I go. Then it’s off to another adventure.” They exchanged big smiles at that.

“You know, Lee, I’ve never seen transfer orders like yours before. Never heard of a set of orders being classified, let alone classified at the Top Secret level. Have they told you where you’re going yet?”

“Nope. Just hope it isn’t Iceland or the South Pole or something.”

Captain Neilsen turned to leave. “Well, let’s hope they send you someplace warm, at least. But right now I have to get down there and meet the wife when she comes aboard. If I’m not on the quarterdeck when she gets there, it’s gonna be my ass for sure.”

He slapped Lee jovially on the shoulder as he started toward the steep stairs that led from the bridge down toward the quarterdeck. Then he stopped and looked back at Lee, still smiling. “I almost forgot, Lieutenant, that was one hell of a risky maneuver you made docking the
ship. If the wind hadn’t been just right, you would have had egg all over your face - and mine!”

Lee grinned in reply. “Sorry, Captain, but I’ve been wanting to try that ever since I was a young seaman standing helmsman watches.” The captain went on down the stairs, shaking his head good-naturedly.

Lee turned back to watch the crowd on the pier. He hadn’t told the captain that he’d studied the approach for months before trying it. Nor did he mention that he’d radioed ahead to make sure the wind was blowing from the right direction. Long experience had taught him that, while hard work and a lot of studying were necessary to success, a bit of mystery and an air of invincibility didn’t hurt a person’s reputation at all. No one but him would ever know that his knees had been shaking as he negotiated the tricky approach to the pier. After all, he was Lee Raines and he had a reputation to maintain.

He waited on the bridge until all of the visitors were off the quarterdeck. He knew that they’d congregate in the enlisted mess, chief’s mess, and the wardroom for a while before they began leaving the ship to take their men home. One third of the ship’s crew would be on duty tonight, so the duty section’s unlucky dependents would probably wait with their men and eat the evening meal aboard ship before leaving.

When the visitors were finally off the quarterdeck, Lee visited with the watch officer to make sure that all was well. A reliable senior chief was on watch and had the quarterdeck well under control, so there was nothing that needed his attention there. Leaving the quarterdeck, he made a short side trip to the wardroom galley, where he checked to make sure that the plans for dinner were on track. He was expecting a visitor this evening and had alerted the wardroom stewards so they could make a special dinner for her and any other visitors who happened to be there.

From the galley, he peeked through the serving window. As he had expected, the wardroom was a madhouse of officers, wives, girlfriends, and children, all seeming to talk at once. Shaking his head, he decided to detour around the wardroom and go hide in his stateroom. Soon most of them would be gone, and he could relax again.

Leaving the galley, he emerged into San Diego’s warm afternoon sunlight. He stood beside the hatch and waited for his eyes to adjust. It
was quiet out on deck, so he wandered up to the foc’sle and sat on a bollard while he soaked in the sun. But after a few moments of setting in the hot sun in his dress white uniform, he decided that this just wasn’t a good idea. He moved aft to the hatch and went inside, striding unhesitatingly through the narrow passages to his stateroom.

Entering his room, Lee tossed his hat on the little desk and began unbuttoning his shirt. The room was only about ten feet square, but it contained bunks, lockers and desks for two officers. It also had a small sink and two steel desk chairs. The walls were painted haze grey and the deck was covered with reddish tiles. The ceiling, with its maze of pipes and cables passing through on their way to the great unknown, was painted white. Spartan as it was, the little room had been Lee’s home for the past two years. When overseas, he shared the stateroom with the pilot of the combat rescue helicopter the ship had carried. But now that they were home, there was no need for a helicopter or pilot, so the second bunk was empty. That suited Lee just fine. A little privacy was rare and welcome aboard a Navy ship.

He wasn’t particularly tired, but long experience had trained him to take advantage of any opportunity to rest, so he lay back on his bunk and was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

His little alarm clock woke him at 4 p.m. He went to the nearby Officers’ head and took a quick shower. Then he returned to his stateroom where he got out his shaving equipment. Standing in front of the stateroom’s little sink, he studied himself in the mirror. He felt good about what he saw. He’d filled out nicely since he’d been hauled out of Viet Nam on a stretcher. His scars had healed as much as they ever would, and his countenance was clear, looking much younger than his thirty-four years. Only his bright blue eyes betrayed the stress of his past life. Somehow, they seemed to pierce any object they focused on. The furrows between his brows and the little lines around those blue eyes spoke volumes about his past experiences.

Breaking away from the mirror, he put on a fresh white uniform and then he wandered aft to the wardroom. It was empty now except for young Ensign Jennings and his parents, who were visiting from Seattle. The ensign hurried to introduce Lee to his parents, Henry and Pearl
Jennings. Lee exchanged small talk with them for a few minutes, taking advantage of the opportunity to get a fresh cup of coffee and complete the wake-up process. Ensign Jennings was also on duty and had to stay aboard, so Lee instructed the steward to set two additional plates so the parents could join them for dinner. He knew the dinner would be a high point of these folks’ vacation, so it was worth the effort. He excused himself while they were still thanking him, using the excuse that he had to check on the ship’s watchstanders.

Still carrying his coffee cup, he wandered out to the quarterdeck. The watch had changed and the senior chief was gone. He’d been replaced by Lieutenant Junior Grade Morris, the ship’s electrical officer. Morris, like Lee, was unmarried so he had taken the duty for a married officer on this homecoming day. The two officers gabbed aimlessly for a few minutes before Lee left to take a quiet tour of the ship. Today he was the Command Duty Officer, which meant that he was the senior officer aboard and was responsible for the ship and its crew. Whenever he had this duty, he liked, as he put it, to “have a feel for things”. He walked the outside decks, checking the mooring lines and making sure that everything topside was properly clean and stowed. After that, he descended into the bowels of the ship, to where the controls for the ship’s massive 1200 psi steam propulsion system were located. Finding everything quiet there, he climbed back up to where he could walk through the passages on the main deck, ensuring that all was calm. As he moved toward the forward part of the ship, he had to pass through the mess decks where a number of enlisted men and their wives were seated talking to one another.

His arrival on the mess decks caused immediate chaos. Lee was the only commissioned officer aboard the ship who had once been an enlisted man. He’d worked his way up from seaman recruit through the enlisted ranks until he was selected to become an officer. He was respected and well-liked by the enlisted men aboard ship, most of whom he knew by both first and last names. As he moved through the mess decks today, he took time to talk to everyone who stopped him and that appeared to be almost every sailor still aboard. He met dozens of wives, children, and parents, chatting cheerfully and informally with all
of them. It seemed that there wasn’t a sailor present that the lieutenant didn’t have a good word for. When he took his leave from each little group, they were sure that their man was special. Lee made every sailor feel pride in what he had done over the past eight months, regardless of his actual level of contribution. The lieutenant was a leader.

Finally he was saved by the ship’s loudspeaker system. “Lieutenant Raines, you have a visitor on the quarterdeck.” Excusing himself, he almost ran as he headed up the steep stairs to the quarterdeck. Maggie was here, and he’d really been looking forward to seeing her.

Maggie was talking to the watch officer when he arrived. He was obviously totally enchanted. She had that way with men. She was a tall, blue-eyed brunette who was wearing a black business suit with a white blouse today. The suit was classically tailored and could have been worn to the most distinguished of business conferences, but it did nothing to hide the lush curves of her body. Maggie, at about thirty years of age, was a confident, professional woman, the kind of woman desired by many but available to few.

Lee’s appearance on the quarterdeck caused the conversation to stop. Maggie had a big smile for him as she held out her arms. He gave her a huge hug, lifting her off the deck as she kissed his cheek demurely. “Hello big guy.”

“Hi Mag. My gosh, you look great.” He held her at arm’s length, looking at her admiringly. “C’mon, let’s go into the wardroom where we can talk.”

It wasn’t far to the wardroom. On the way, they passed through an outer hatch into an entirely black, closet-sized, room called a light locker. About four feet directly ahead there was another door that led to a short passage and on into the wardroom. They didn’t make it to the second door. As soon as Lee closed the outer hatch, Maggie came into his arms. This time the kiss was neither demure nor chaste. Her body pressed into his as she pulled his head down to her. After a moment, they both pulled back for air. She was breathing hard. “God, I’ve been waiting for this. There’s something about you that I miss terribly.” She pulled back mischievously. “And I know just what that something is, don’t I?” Her right hand released his head and crept down to his crotch
where she wrapped her long fingers around the protrusion she found there. “Yep. There it is. I hope it’s undamaged after this long wait?”

He laughed. “Of course it is, you horny wench! I take very good care of some things, and that’s high on the list. Just for you, of course.”

“Yeah sure, Mr. Raines. Somehow I never know whether to believe you on that or not.”

“OK, Maggie. Unhand me before I have an accident. This is no place for fun. We’re gonna get wiped out by the next guy who opens either of these doors. Let’s go into the wardroom and be couth for a while. Then we’ll leave and take a tour of the ship later.”

“All right, lover. But I do want your guarantee that the tour will be eventful.”

He smiled down at her. “I promise. Now release your choke hold, please.”

After straightening their clothes and removing an errant bit of lipstick, the two went on to the wardroom. Young Ensign Jennings and his parents were still there. Lee made the introductions. “Maggie, I’d like to introduce you to Ensign Jennings and his parents, Henry and Pearl. They’re visiting from Seattle. Folks, this is my friend, Maggie Gardiner.”

Ensign Jennings was a small man and he was obviously overcome by the appearance of the woman in front of him. She was at least four inches taller than he was. Mentally, the young ensign was comparing her to Wonder Woman, one of his favorite comic book heroines. He literally stuttered as he greeted her. “H-H-H-Hello, Miss Gardiner. I-I-I’m glad to meet you. I-I-I’ve heard of you.” That was all he could get out, but luckily his mother was a bit less overwhelmed.

“My God, Junior. Have you been locked up for the past eight months? You are positively drooling! Get it together, boy!” Henry and Pearl were grinning widely at their son’s discomfort and for once Lee couldn’t think of a thing to say.

Maggie reached over and took the ensign’s hand between both of hers. “Don’t listen to them. We all get startled sometimes.” At that, everyone relaxed, and the ensign’s blush began to fade. With his hand still firmly in Maggie’s, he took a deep breath and visibly collected
himself. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I was startled. I’d heard that Lieutenant Raines was friends with a Navy nurse, a Navy commander. But I never expected anyone like you.”

She couldn’t resist. Arching her eyebrows inquisitively, she asked, “Just what did you expect, Ensign?” Again, the overwhelmed ensign started stuttering “I-I-I” was all he got out before his tormentor began laughing, a laugh that was echoed by Lee, Henry and Pearl. Maggie released his hand. “Relax, Ensign. I’m just giving you a hard time. I’m actually very flattered that you’re so impressed by an old lady like me. One other thing, I’m not a commander yet. I’m still a lieutenant commander.”