He discovered she had been doing the same thing — just sitting and waiting.
“How bored are you?”
“A little less at the moment, thanks,” she said with a slight smile.
“You know, Sarah,” he began, “I was thinking about our conversation — our agreement, I guess — that we’d keep a low profile while aboard this ship.”
“Oh?” she said. “And what have you decided?”
“I don’t really give a… darn what these people think, for one thing. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? We’d piss off the admiral?”
“Snickers behind our backs all the time,” she said.
“I’d hate that.”
“But what’s the harm in two civilians hanging out together in the midst of all this?” he argued. “Wouldn’t most people expect us to act that way? It’s logical, I think.”
“Point,” she agreed. “I’ve not looked at it like that.”
“Good,” he said with a big smile. “Let’s go explore.”
She grabbed a sweatshirt and put it on. Henry watched as the garment slid down over her body and smiled appreciatively. The sweatshirt bore the emblem of the Enterprise.
Sarah noticed him looking at it. “A gift from the admiral.”
He couldn’t help feeling a pang of jealousy, though he forced it out of his mind. “Nice.” He followed her out the door.
By now most of the crew knew who Henry and Sarah were. Nods and salutes greeted them at every turn as they walked through the ship. Inside the aft hangar deck the smell of aviation fuel was nearly overwhelming. They covered their noses. Henry noticed that the two helicopters he’d seen landing were being serviced. Parts of each craft were covered with tarpaulins.
As they approached the aircraft an armed officer held out his hand. “I’m sorry, sir, ma’am. You’ll have to leave this area.”
Thinking quickly, Henry asked if Commander Grimes was around.
“He’d be in the mess hall, sir,” said the guard. “You can get there through that door.” He pointed to a door behind them.
“Those things look like Stealth choppers,” said Henry. “Am I right?”
The guard reacted cautiously. “I have to ask you to leave, sir,” he said. “That’s classified information. This is a classified area, sir.”
“Cool,” said Henry. “So those are Grimes’s ships, aren’t they?”
“Sir…”
“I know, I know,” said Henry. “I should leave.”
Sarah pulled at his arm. “Don’t feed the animals, Henry. Didn’t you see the signs?”
The officer gave her an angry look, then his demeanour changed. “Do you have authorization to be here, sir?” he asked, looking Henry up and down.
Henry glanced at the guard’s name badge. “Admiral Schumacher didn’t say, Wayne. I’m not aware of any restrictions. I just wanted to check out the choppers.”
“Only authorized personnel, sir. I have my orders. Are you the two civilians with General Hayes?”
“Are there any other civvies on board?” asked Sarah.
“I wouldn’t have that information, ma’am.”
Sensing the man was about to lose patience with them, Henry decided it wasn’t a good idea to press the issue any longer. He thanked the guard, apologized for the trouble, and moved towards the exit with Sarah.
“Maybe Kai will give us a tour,” he said as they left the hangar.
Walking the hallway towards the mess hall, Henry and Sarah encountered a group of officers headed in the same direction. One of them had the captain’s insignia on his uniform. He noticed Henry and Sarah immediately and called to them.
“What do you think of the Big E?” he asked.
Henry registered confusion. “ ‘ Big E’? I’m sorry…”
The man laughed. “That’s her nickname. E for Enterprise. Hel o, Mr Gibbs, Ms French. I’m Captain of this tub. We haven’t met, but I guess you know the admiral pretty well by now.”
Henry looked embarrassed. He’d noticed the rank but somehow had trouble picturing this man as Captain of the Enterprise. His portly stature and his casual demeanour with his men seemed unfitting to the post.
“Good to meet you, sir,” he said. “Meeting you answers a big question of mine.”
“And what would that be?”
“I thought all naval ships had a captain, but nobody mentioned you. I mean…” Henry looked embarrassed.
“Not a problem,” laughed the captain. “The admiral has been calling the shots lately while I run the ship. I’ve been here all along, but in the chaos of the moment I guess nobody bothered with formal introductions.”
“Oh, I see.”
Henry’s opinion of the man immediately changed. He could feel how the captain, for all his easy manner, was fully in control.
“I’m Captain Brad Halsey. No relation to the old British admiral that I know of. I took the commission when Mike Malone retired.”
Henry nodded, even though he’d never heard of Mike Malone.
“Headed to the mess hall? Care to join us?”
“Delighted,” said Sarah with a warm smile.
“Sure,” agreed Henry, pleased to meet the man who ran the largest carrier in the fleet. He wondered if he might get authorization to peek at the choppers he’d been shooed away from by the guard.
“I’m glad we had a chance to meet,” said Halsey.
“You know, Mr Gibbs, you’re quite the celebrity.”
“Through no fault of my own, I’m afraid,” said Henry with a grin. “Good to meet you too.”
The captain and his aides were laughing at Henry’s comment as they entered the mess. An officer made an unintelligible noise, and everyone stood to attention.
Halsey saluted, looked around the room at everyone appreciatively, and said, “As you were.”
Henry saw Grimes and his men standing to one side of the room, isolated from the rest of the crew, presumably by choice. He noted that even they found it necessary to show respect for their superiors.
Somehow this surprised him.
Grimes didn’t return to his seat, but came up to Henry, Sarah and the captain as they strolled towards the cafeteria line.
“Hi, Kai,” said Henry.
Grimes smiled at him, then asked the captain if he’d like to join their table.
“My pleasure, Commander,” said Halsey. “Maybe you could give me some idea of what’s happening. No one else seems able to.”
Sarah whispered to Henry that Grimes seemed to be everywhere they went.
“Maybe he has a double,” murmured Henry.
Grimes was at least twenty feet away from them, refilling his cup, but he heard the words. He leaned back, looked past Halsey and said, “Not a bad idea, Henry.”
“Sheesh,” said Henry under his breath. “The man’s got ears.”
“That I do, hero,” said Grimes.
Once they’d sat down, Halsey said, “Well, Commander, any news you can share?”
Grimes looked at his cup thoughtful y and smiled.
“Took a little trip in the Gadfly this morning, sir. Nice chopper… but useless to me.”
“So that was you I saw coming in at dawn,” interrupted Henry.
Halsey glanced at him, then returned his attention to Grimes. “And why is that, Commander? You’re calling two twelve-million-dollar choppers useless?”
“I wanted to see how far we could get up the mountains, but we didn’t even get close to the kind of distance I need,” said Grimes.
Halsey poked at his scrambled eggs thoughtful y. “No chopper in the world’s going to get you to the top of the Andes,” he said. “Those two birds fly higher than any chopper in the world, but even they have their limit.”