CHAPTER 32
Despite Irene Schick’s prediction, the video of the killings in Lhasa did not run as the lead story. She was still convinced that the massacre was going to dominate the news cycle for several days, but the news director, Lloyd Neilson didn’t agree.
Neilson was damned good at his job, and he and Irene rarely butted heads. But he didn’t agree with Irene’s evaluation of the story’s importance or potential. China and India were escalating toward what could become the first all-out war between nuclear powers. Against a backdrop of that scale, Neilson judged that the shooting of some demonstrators in Tibet would get lost in the shuffle.
He had overruled Irene on both the placement and timing of the piece. Irene had wanted to break the story as a headliner on Saturday evening, with full trumpets, and delivery by one of the big league anchors. Instead, the Tibet piece had been shoved into an also-ran spot on Sunday morning, twenty-two minutes after the lead stories had aired at the top of the hour.
For a lot of news pieces, that would have been the death knell. But not this story. As Irene had told Nielson repeatedly, the Tibet thing was not going to disappear quietly.
She had no inkling of how right her prediction would turn out to be.
CHAPTER 33
There was a light rap on Commander Silva’s door, and then a polite pause before it opened. Captain Bowie stood in the entryway. “Good evening, Kat. Mind if I come in?”
Silva looked up from the stack of paperwork on the tiny fold-down desk of her temporary stateroom. She was still plowing through a mountain of minor administrative details, in preparation for the change of command on Friday.
She had been planning to hit the hay in a few minutes, so she was dressed in her customary shipboard sleeping attire: sweatpants and tee-shirt. Tonight’s sweats were standard gray workout pants, and the tee was dark blue with a gold silkscreen image of the surface warfare officer emblem across the shoulders. At home, she preferred to sleep in socks and underwear, but aboard ship she might be called out of bed at any moment of the night. Informal as they were, her tee-shirt and sweats allowed her to respond to drills and emergencies fully clothed.
She leaned back in her chair. “Evening, Jim. Come on in.”
Bowie stepped into the stateroom, closing the door behind himself. He held out a routing folder. “I wasn’t sure if you’d seen the latest message traffic. I thought you might want to look it over before you hit the rack.”
Silva gestured toward the papers on her desk. “The one about the Chinese surveillance satellite? I’ve seen it. I’ve got a copy right here.”
Captain Bowie shook his head and held out the folder. “Not that one. A new message, from the Bureau of Personnel.”
Silva accepted the routing folder, flipped it open, and read the one-page message inside.
//UUUUUUUUUU//
//UNCLASSIFIED//
//PRIORITY//PRIORITY//PRIORITY//
//301355Z NOV//
FM BUPERS//
TO USS TOWERS//
INFO COMCARSTRKGRU FIVE
COMDESRON ONE FIVE//
SUBJ/USS TOWERS CHANGE OF COMMAND//
1. (UNCL) BUPERS NOTES THAT USS TOWERS IS CURRENTLY DEPLOYED TO THE BAY OF BENGAL PURSUANT TO OPERATIONAL ORDERS NOT DISCUSSED IN THIS TRAFFIC.
2. (UNCL) IN VIEW OF UNANTICIPATED DEPLOYMENT, SUBJ CHANGE OF COMMAND IS HEREBY POSTPONED UNTIL COMPLETION OF CURRENT OPERATIONS.
3. (UNCL) CAPTAIN SAMUEL HARLAND BOWIE IS DIRECTED TO REMAIN ABOARD USS TOWERS AS COMMANDING OFFICER FOR THE DURATION OF CURRENT OPERATIONS, OR UNTIL USS TOWERS IS ROTATED OUT OF THE OPERATING AREA.
4. (UNCL) COMMANDER DESTROYER SQUADRON ONE FIVE IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT CAPTAIN BOWIE’S DETACHMENT FROM USS TOWERS WILL BE DELAYED. NEW DATES TO FOLLOW.
5. (UNCL) COMMANDER KATHERINE ELIZABETH SILVA IS DIRECTED TO REMAIN ABOARD USS TOWERS AS PROSPECTIVE COMMANDING OFFICER FOR THE DURATION OF CURRENT OPERATIONS, OR UNTIL USS TOWERS IS ROTATED OUT OF THE OPERATING AREA. COMMANDER SILVA IS ADVISED TO UTILIZE THIS ADDITIONAL TIME TO CONTINUE PREPARING FOR ASSUMPTION OF COMMAND, SUCH PREPARATIONS NOT TO INTERFERE WITH SHIP’S MISSION REQUIREMENTS.
6. (UNCL) FURTHER DETAILS WILL BE ISSUED VIA SEPCOR.
//301355Z NOV//
//PRIORITY//PRIORITY//PRIORITY//
//UNCLASSIFIED//
//UUUUUUUUUU//
Silva closed the folder and laid it on her desk. “I’ve actually been expecting this for a while,” she said.
“So have I,” said Bowie. “But I know how frustrating this must be. I was ready to turn over the keys in five days.”
He smiled weakly. “Okay, maybe not ready. I don’t think anyone is ever ready to turn over command of a warship, but I was prepared to do it.”
Silva sighed heavily. “I know you were, Jim, and I appreciate that. And I understand why the Bureau is doing this. You don’t change jockeys in the middle of a race. But I can’t pretend that I’m not disappointed.”
“I understand,” Bowie said. “If I were in your shoes right now, I’d be peeling the paint off the bulkheads.”
“I’m tempted to do that, myself,” said Silva. “But they’re not my bulkheads yet, so I guess I’d better leave the paint intact.”
Bowie patted the bulkhead next to the door. “They will be yours soon,” he said. “Before you know it.”
Silva looked back down at the closed routing folder on her desk. “Yeah,” she said. The disappointment in her voice was audible. “Soon.”
CHAPTER 34
-------------------------
From: <katherine.silva@navy.mil>
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 11:52 PM
To: <harry.silva@nauticalcomposites.com>
Subject: Change In Plans
Dear Dad,
Got a little bad news a couple of hours ago. The Bureau of Personnel has issued orders delaying my change of command until this operational deployment is over. So, Jim Bowie gets to sit in the hot seat a while longer, while your loving daughter cools her heels and waits her turn. (How’s that for mixing up the old metaphors?)
I guess I really don’t have anything to complain about. Jim is an excellent skipper, and a great guy. He couldn’t possibly be any more helpful or thoughtful, and the crew worships him. Needless to say, I’m not happy about the delay, but if I have to warm the bench for a while, it’s nice to know that the man playing in my spot is an A-list player.
Before you get started, Jim is not my type, so don’t even go there. He has a long-term girlfriend, or a fiancé, or something. I don’t know the details, and I’m not going to ask. Whenever I get serious about a relationship, it won’t be with a Navy man. Don’t get me wrong, I like men in uniform, but I figure one Captain Ahab is enough for any family. Besides, I intend to be married to this ship for a couple of years.
This situation does have an up-side. I’m getting a chance to see my new ship and crew perform under pressure before I take command. We’ve got an Indian battle group on one side of us, and a Chinese battle group on the other, and that’s a little like being between the hammer and the anvil. We’re not in combat, and (God willing) we’re not going to be, but the situation is tense. The crew is performing beautifully. I’m already proud of every man and woman on this ship, and I’ll be proud to lead them when the time comes.