“Two guitars and a banjo?” the young man asked.
Jeffers nodded. “Yea, it gives me something to beat my people with,” he joked.
“Then I’ll stay out of your way, sir,” the man said with a grin.
“Thanks for the help.”
“No problem, sir. The head is just down there to the left and the wardroom is back past the XO’s stateroom. Go aft of the wardroom and up the ladder three levels and you will get to the bridge,” the young man added.
“I appreciate it.” Jeffers entered the largest stateroom he had ever “owned.” There were two closets, a set of drawers, a bed with more storage, desk, safe, and two chairs. There was a small television on the bulkhead at the foot of his bed. To the right was a sink and cabinet. All was standard Navy and all made of steel. The best part was there was only one bed. Not sharing a stateroom was so much nicer. He spent a few minutes hanging up his uniforms and unpacking the rest of his things, then made his way to the bridge.
On the starboard side of the bridge he saw a man sitting in a chair. Only one man could sit in that seat. He walked up and introduced himself. “Captain, I’m Rod Jeffers, your new First Lieutenant,” he said formally.
Rhodes’ face broke into a smile. He put down the message traffic and extended his hand. “Good to see you, Rod. Admiral Hustvedt had some pretty nice things to say about you. Glad to have you aboard. Are you settled in?”
“As best as I could. I am anxious to get to the Deck office and talk to some people,” Jeffers said.
Rhodes saw him wince slightly as he pulled back his hand. “I heard you were hit. Will you be okay?”
Jeffers smiled. “The stitches are still in, but I was told you needed me here right away.”
“Well, don’t let that get in the way of healing up. When the time comes, you will be needed. Your people are doing a good job. Just keep my ship sparkling. This long period of time at sea isn’t doing the old lady much good, but when we get the time, I want to make sure we set her straight. Just come to me or the XO if there’s something you want to try that’s new or different. I prefer no surprises,” the CO said.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Captain,” said Jeffers. He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost lunchtime. I’ll get below and see where these guys sit,” he said.
“Good. We can talk more once you get settled in. Glad to have you with us, Rod,” said Rhodes.
Jeffers made his way to the wardroom. It was a large space that spanned the full width of the superstructure. There were portholes on either side and three quarts of the space was filled with two long rows of tables covered in a white tablecloth. There was a single short table at one end between them. Chairs were along each side of the tables and a number of officers were already there standing behind a seat. Jeffers went in and was introducing himself around. When the XO came in, everyone got quiet. The XO introduced the new First Lieutenant then a prayer was offered. Everyone sat down and the mess attendants began bringing in the soup.
Jeffers found himself sitting opposite several Russian officers. He said hello to the Russians, in English, and then when he received a cold reception, ignored them. Their conversations with each other began almost immediately. Jeffers concentrated on his soup. It was chicken noodle and wasn’t too bad by most wardroom standards. At least the cooks knew to lay off the salt. He was talking to another officer beside him when he began overhearing the Russian conversations. They were now feeling at ease and not too worried about someone overhearing.
“The soup is awful. I can’t wait till we get back home,” said one.
“Shut up, you fool, we don’t know this new man. He may be a spy,” said another.
“I doubt it. See. He sits with a stupid look on his face.”
“Americans don’t even teach our language in their schools. It is safe. Don’t forget to get the knives today. This should get us enough for at least twelve people. I got with Oslevic just a few minutes ago. He will meet us in their cafeteria. We will start in the engine rooms. If we can open the gears, we can lock up one of the shafts or possibly shut down their electric power. Oslevic says he knows how to do this. From there, we can gain control of the ship.”
“Good. Once we do this, we can sail her into Sevastopol. We will be heroes of the Republic.”
“Never mind that, we can get home,” said one.
“What time did you tell them,” the first asked.
“Tonight at around 11 pm. One hour before their shift changes.”
“Good. We must be ready.”
They were interrupted when another officer leaned in and started trying to talk to the men. Despite their reluctance, they began answering general questions about where they were from and what home was like.
After lunch, Jeffers waited until they had left before grabbing the CO of the Marine Detachment and going to see the XO.
***
At 11 pm, the four officers entered the messdecks and sat down at a table. The area was mostly empty except for a few cooks preparing midrats, or midnight rations to give the oncoming 12 — 4 watch a little something to eat before going up. No one paid any attention to the men sitting there. In a few minutes they were joined by one of the enlisted men. A few more minutes and they were joined by several men trying to appear as if they were just waiting for something to eat. After handing out something to the others, the men got up and began sauntering up the port side and going down the armored hatch just forward of the turret three barbette. Gathering at the foot of the ladder, they were able to see the entrance to “Broadway,” the passageway that runs from turret three all the way to turret two. It connected all of the engineering spaces. No one was seen.
Using hand signals the men began to separate and enter the four engine rooms. Easing down the metal ladders they came down onto the metal mesh deck and began making their way to where they could see men standing in front of the engine control console with its myriad of wheels and gauges. They had only gone about five feet when the Marines sprang from their hidden positions around the engines and behind the electric switchboards. The M-16s and shotguns pointed in their direction forced the Russians to raise their hands. Not a word was said as the dejected looking Russian sailors slowly made their way back to Broadway where the rest of their men were standing under Marine guard. The Marines escorted them to the wardroom where the Captain was waiting. He was standing there with several other officers and the Master at Arms force. Jeffers was standing beside him.
“Gentlemen, you just tried to perform an act of espionage aboard my ship. I am afraid I cannot let that go unpunished,” the Captain said. Jeffers then translated it into Russian. The look on the four officers’ faces was priceless. The one who had warned the others turned and gave them a “dumbass” look.
“Fortunately, I am not going to take my revenge on all of your crew, but you will have to be restricted in your movements for the rest of the time you are aboard. The enlisted men will be moved to the ship’s gym up forward in the ship. There is only one way in or out and you can sleep between the machines. However, for the officers, I cannot trust you to remain under a house arrest, so I have a special place for you where you will not be able to have any conversations with your crew.” He stopped and let Jeffers translate again. “My plan is to get you and your crew off this ship as soon as I can. Until then, you are restricted to the two areas I put you. Hopefully there will be no more such incidents,” he said.
Once again, Jeffers translated, then stopped once more. “Captain, may I say something to them?”
Rhodes grinned. “Sure.”
Jeffers turned to the men. “That had to be the stupidest thing you could do. You realize there are over 1,500 men on this ship. Even if you had taken an engine room, there would be nowhere to go. The officers are supposed to be smarter than this, and you enlisted — well, I understand how you feel. My mother told me about what it is like in her home country. My grandfather bragged of how rugged the Russian people were. He would be ashamed of this effort simply because if it had played out, a lot of you and your crew would be dead with nothing to show for it,” he said. Then he looked at one of the officers. “And keep in mind that the person with the stupid look could be the worst enemy you ever encountered,” he said angrily, pointing his finger at the man. He turned and looked at the Captain.