The doctor had given them fifty penicillin tablets each with instructions to take two every four hours. Bud kept his meager supply hidden in his pants pocket, knowing his wounds were superficial in comparison to H. J.“s.
Bud Helliwell raised himself slightly. “Captain, I’m fine. I’d like to rejoin the group on deck. I can handle a weapon and you can prop me up somewhere.”
“If he’s going to be a hero, then I want to be one also, Captain,” H.J. said. She threw her legs off the bunk and sat up. Her face turned white. She weaved slightly on the edge of the bunk. “Damn altitude,” she said softly.
Duncan shook his head as she fought to stay upright on the edge of the bunk. The muted sound of gunfire coming from the head of the pier could be heard here belowdecks. “Right, Lieutenant. I can see you’re ready to go into combat.” He pushed her gently, and she fell back onto the bunk. “You just came out of an operation less than twelve hours ago for two bullet wounds. There’s nothing to prove, and if we need you, you’ll hear the screams and bloodcurdling yells from above.
Meanwhile, you two rest while you can. We’re under way out of the harbor and, with any luck, we’ll be safely at sea soon.”
Duncan took a deep breath. “H. J.” well done. You’ve handled this mission like any Navy SEAL I’ve served with. You’ve fought. Been in combat. Got yourself at least two Purple Hearts, and I don’t think there’s a one of us who don’t think of you as anything but a Navy SEAL.”
Duncan leaned close, feeling embarrassed, and in a low voice said, “I want to say that I’m sorry about what happened. Being captured and tortured—” H.J., with a fierceness that caused Duncan to jump back and Bud to examine the bulkhead. “Captain, don’t say it. What happened is something I will deal with. Not you. Me! Okay? There’s not a woman in the military that doesn’t know what might happen if she’s captured. Men can’t protect us from it and they shouldn’t carry guilt about it. I know what would have happened if you hadn’t rescued me. Women have known this since Desert Storm when the Iraqis sexually assaulted American women they captured. It’s something each of us has to come to terms with in our own unique way. This is something I can, and I will, handle.”
Duncan blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound patronizing, nor for you to think I was insulting you.”
“You weren’t, Captain, and you aren’t. You were just being a man.” She touched him on the arm and squeezed. “You don’t know how happy I was to see you rush through that door. I figured at any moment they would kill me rather than hold me for …” She stuttered to a stop. Then, after a couple of deep breaths, she continued. “This is something a man cannot understand and never will, as much as they may wish to,” she finished softly.
“I know, but …”
“There are no buts. Captain. You think it was your fault. It wasn’t.
It is part of the game of war in regards to women who want to play it.
It’s a part, if we want to play, we have to come to terms with, and you men can’t blame yourselves for it. I won’t be the last woman to be captured. And women are going to be raped and tortured when captured.
I was lucky being a SEAL. I knew you would come after me.”
Duncan detected a slight waiver in H. J.“s voice as she mumbled the last sentence.
“OK, H.J. Just the same, you’re one of my SEALs and I refuse to ignore the concern I feel.” He started to pat her good shoulder, but then thought better of it.
H.J. shut her eyes and nodded. “Thanks, Captain.”
Duncan turned to Helliwell to change the subject. “You were wounded in Liberia, weren’t you, Bud?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied, looking back at the two.
“What happened?”
“Small-caliber fire, similar to one that Lieutenant Mcdaniels got; only mine was in the back and I only had one wound.” Then, smiling, he continued. “Unlike her, I learned fast and dodged the second bullet.
Unfortunately, it seems I have to relearn this lesson every time I go on an operation.” “Asshole,” she said, opening her eyes and grinning at Helliwell. “Did you get back into battle?” Duncan asked.
“Hell, no. I don’t even remember being hit. The next thing I remember was being back on the USS Guam, coming out of surgery and spending the next two weeks in sick bay until they evacuated me to Germany.”
“Well, one thing about this. Neither of you have to prove yourselves in combat. Lieutenant, this was your baptism under fire. For you, Bud — Ensign Helliwell — it’s one more combat action for your record. In today’s Navy, there are not many who can say they’ve been in combat.
Combat experienced veterans are going to be hard to come by in the next few months, and I think the United States is going to need all it can find. Both of you stay here and rest. We don’t know how long we’ll be at sea before rescue arrives. If something happens and we have to abandon this old tub, you’re going to need all the strength you can muster.”
“Sir, I think this is cruel and unusual punishment,” H.J. replied with an audible sigh.
With a bemused look, Duncan asked, “How is that?”
“Leaving me in a room this small with Ensign Helliwell. He is a junior officer, you know.” She grinned weakly. “Any chance of separate staterooms?”
“Captain!” came a shout from topside. He recognized the voice as Beau’s.
“See you two later.” Duncan pulled himself away to head up the ladder to topside.
“Captain,” H.J. said.
Duncan turned, one foot on the ladder leading up.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m sorry if I sounded angry.”
“Don’t worry about it, H.J. Good luck. You, too, mustang.”
Helliwell turned to H.J. when the captain disappeared. “You were rough on the Old Man, don’t you think?”
“I know, I didn’t mean to be, but …” Her voice trailed off. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“You’d be surprised what we understand. Sometimes you women don’t give us a chance before you pull a holier-than thou act on us.”
Duncan hobbled up the few steps to topside. President Al neuf stood where Duncan had left him. In the distance, about two miles, the small port city blended with the unbroken, sandy coastline.
“What is it, Beau?” he asked, looking up at the Navy lieutenant commander who was steering the boat.
“We’ve got visitors,” Beau said, pointing left.
Duncan took two steps to the port side of the water carrier. On the western horizon a gray speck, spewing white smoke from her stack, was speeding toward them.
“What’s her bearing?” Duncan shouted.
“She’s on a constant bearing decreasing range, Skipper!”
Duncan studied the approaching craft. The amount of white smoke increased. She was pouring on speed. A constant bearing with a decreasing range meant the ship was on an intercept course with the water carrier.
Duncan turned and pulled himself up to the bridge area. “This thing have a radio, Beau?”
“Yes, sir. Right here.”
The bridge-to-bridge radio was mounted awkwardly beneath the panel.
Duncan lowered himself to the deck, reached under, and flipped the radio on. The frequency band digital display lit up, showing 156.8 megahertz. Channel sixteen, the frequency where commercial vessels and harbor control conducted routine business. He looked for the search-and-rescue frequencies, and it took him several seconds of fiddling with the knobs and switches before 240 megahertz appeared on the digital display.
Duncan took the microphone and pressed the transmit button on the side.
“Any United States Navy unit this station, this is Special Unit Two in emergency need of assistance.” He clicked off and waited for a reply.