“You were all briefed on the plan, and it came off flawlessly. China’s key weakness in the Spratly Islands airspace has always been their lack of refueling capability. They’d counted on a quick, hard strike, with enough casualties to make us back down. They were wrong. Not only did their plan fail to allow for the strength of our response, they underestimated the Vietnamese government’s weakness. China badly miscalculated how Vietnam would take the sinking of her patrol boat. There’s a lesson in this fight — one war at a time. By taking on both the United States’ and Vietnam’s presence in the Spratly Islands, they overextended themselves. And you saw what happened. Vietnam simply waited for them to batter themselves bloody against our fighters and then picked them off when they tried to land in Vietnam.”
“What now, Admiral?” the CO of VF-95 asked. “A full alpha strike on China?”
“Not this time, Speedie,” Tombstone replied. “China was partially right about one thing — the United States is not ready to take heavy casualties in the South China Sea. It’s one thing to bloody their noses in international waters on our own terms. It’s an entirely different matter to take them on over their own mainland.” A few of the officers let out sighs of relief. The concerns about escalating military actions had been one reason Tombstone had scheduled this briefing immediately. Left to its own devices, the carrier’s rumor control system would have had the battle group on the verge of World War III within a matter of hours. “Our orders have not changed. In two weeks, USS Lincoln will relieve us on station. Between getting ready for turnover and keeping an eye on the Chinese, I think we’ve got plenty to do. You hear rumors about an alpha strike on China, you can put a stop to them. “Any other questions?” Tombstone concluded. The officers assembled around the table shook their heads. A few yawned as the gut-wrenching fatigue that always followed combat Missions set in.
“Go see your squadrons, and then get some sleep,” Tombstone ordered. “Come see me if any other issues surface.”
He watched them file out of the conference room, remembering how many times he’d been in their shoes, and then glanced down at the message in his hand. There was one other piece of good news to deliver, but it could wait until the morning.
“What took you so long?” Tombstone snapped. “I passed the word for you ten minutes ago. Did you forget how to get to my quarters?”
“Sorry, Admiral,” Batman said. He glanced around the officers assembled in Tombstone’s cabin, and a puzzled look spread across his face. All six captains on board the Jefferson were present, along with every squadron CO. “What can I do for you, Admiral?”
“It’s customary for admirals to call each other by their first names, Batman,” Tombstone said solemnly. “Although I suppose we’ll need to wait a few months for the Senate confirmation to make it official.”
“What? Oh, no, you don’t mean it!” Batman exclaimed. Every face in the room was split with a broad grin. “Oh, shit, Tombstone! For real?”
“Here’s the message,” Tombstone said, a rare smile lighting his face. “You’re number one on the list selected for promotion to rear admiral. See for yourself.”
Batman stared at the message, then started to smile. The corners of his mouth pulled further and further away from each other, until he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. For once in his life, he was at a loss for words.
“And I wanted you to have these,” Tombstone added. He handed his old wingman a red-and-white Navy insignia box. “There aren’t many sets in the ship’s stores, so I had to part with a set of my own. Bring you good luck.”
Batman stared down at the two silver stars gleaming against their white cardboard backing. “Still come mounted on cardboard,” he said reflectively. “Funny, I guess I thought once you made admiral, they’d be on black velvet or something.”
The assembled crowd broke into a line of jostling senior naval officers queuing to shake his hand and offer their congratulations. One by one, they started filing out of the office, until Batman and Tombstone were alone.
“You had to surprise me, didn’t you?” Batman said. “Couldn’t let me just read it on the message board.”
“You would have done it differently if our positions had been reversed?” Tombstone said gravely, his eyes still warm. “I don’t think so — not after you forgot to tell me about Pamela being on that COD.”
“Hell of a payback, Tombstone. You’re pissed at me for the surprise, so you get me promoted just to get even.” Batman shook his head. “The things you’ll do for revenge.”
“There’re even more surprises in store,” Tombstone said. “Guess who called me this morning?”
“The president, wanting to offer me his personal congratulations?”
“Almost. My uncle. You know, the old guy with more stars than both of us put together? He asked me to pass on his congratulations — and one other thing as well.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, seems like he’s going to have an opening for a Carrier Battle Group Commander. For this battle group, as a matter of fact. He wondered if you wanted your name put in the hat for it.”
“He had to ask? Damn, what have you been telling your uncle about me, Tombstone? Of course I want it! It’d be my first choice!”
“I told him I’d have to get back to him, seeing as you’d gotten so fond of the Pentagon and all.”
Batman snorted. “Right. If I get it, I’d be relieving you. And be back on the ship I grew up on, so to speak. Hell, I’d arrange for all the other selectees to have accidents if I thought it’d guarantee me this battle group!”
“Still up to DC, of course, but my uncle does swing some weight with the heavies. After his tour on special assignment to the White House, he got to know his way around the Pentagon fairly well. You’d have to cut your tour in DC short-“
“Yes!” Batman cried. “Oh, yes, yes, there is a God!”
“I take it you’d have no objection, then,” Tombstone said dryly.
“And what about you?” Batman said suddenly. “Any idea of where you’re going?”
Tombstone shook his head. “Not a clue. There’ve been a couple of possibilities discussed, but nothing even more than a passing thought. It won’t be to sea, though. Probably DC would be my guess.”
“Well, that wouldn’t be too bad,” Batman said thoughtfully.
“Hah! Look who’s talking! You were just crowing over the chance to get out of there!”
“My situation’s a little different from yours.”
“How so?”
“I don’t have a RIO who thinks I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. You do. And DC is a hell of a big place, Tombstone. Big enough for one admiral and one lieutenant commander to get lost in the shuffle.”
“What are you saying?”
“Just this, amigo. You’ve got a chance to have something very good with that young RIO of yours. These circumstances — it wouldn’t work, and you’re smart not to try. But you pass on this one when you get ashore, Stoney, and you’re going to regret it. I guarantee it.” For a second, something wistful shone in Batman’s eyes. “She’s a fine RIO, Tombstone, and a hell of a woman. And one of our own. Don’t blow it, okay?”
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll think about it.”
Batman left, clutching the precious stars in his hand. Tombstone watched him go. He’d make a fine admiral, no doubt about it. And if he had to give up command of his carrier group to anyone, he’d have picked Batman.
He scowled and reached for the next folder on top of the pile that threatened to slide off of his desk. During the last week, the normal paperwork associated with running a battle group had accumulated to a daunting stack. In two weeks, USS Lincoln would relieve USS Jefferson on station in the South China Sea, and the logistical issues and lessons learned were responsible for at least half of the folders demanding his attention. Nothing short of a full alpha strike from the mainland would get him out of wading through it today.