“Father Rick,” said Ashley, “your perspective?”
“I see a diplomatic problem,” said Father Rick. “The South has no incentive to talk to the North until they try out their new plan. They think that guerilla war may be a way of getting a peace they can live with. The problem is that it will probably take years. Right now, they have nothing to talk about. The North and South are at an impasse, and the California is stuck in between.”
“Father, anything new to report on your meals with the crew?” asked Ashley.
“Yes, there is. I see a lot less sadness, sullenness, or anger. What I see are glimmers of hope. It’s been an open secret that we were going to make an impact at Bull Run, and that the battle would be our key to the door marked home. Your public speeches over the last few months, Captain, have given the crew a stake in the battles. I can’t see how any of them will see a stake in a long protracted cruise on blockade duty. If I could summarize the crew’s thinking it would be this: ‘We’ve done our job. Let’s go home.’ ”
“And we have done our job,” Ashley shouted as she slapped the table. “But our journey home has been delayed by some rat shit, swaggering assholes who want to continue their elite lifestyles and keep their slaves in fucking chains. Sorry about the language, Gentlemen. Maybe I should take a few more shots at my bag.”
“But I think I have a solution,” said Ashley, after she took a deep breath..
Both Jack and the chaplain leaned forward, expecting to hear something bold. They weren’t disappointed.
“The three of us are going to visit Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee as a delegation from the future. From my reading about both of these guys, they’re men of honor, or at least they think they are. This is especially so of Robert E. Lee. Have you ever seen one of those old photographs of him when he didn’t appear to be posing for a marble statue?”
“I couldn’t agree more, Captain.” said Jack. “Duty and honor are steeped in their DNA. That’s why Lee gave up a successful career with the Union Army so he could defend his beloved Virginia.”
“We’ll probably violate a few hundred federal statutes,” Ashley said, “but we’re going to form a diplomatic team and try to talk some sense into their heads by appealing to their sense of honor. It’s not only their honor that’s at stake, but the honor of the entire South. I suspect that’s an angle that will get their attention. I want you two with me, Father Rick for your historical knowledge and Jack for your time-travel experience. You two are brilliant. You’re also my good friends.”
“I’m going to send a preliminary delegation ashore, led by SEAL Lieutenant Conroy, to set up the meeting and to have a carriage waiting for us. Even though the Executive Office Building is a just few blocks from the edge of the river, I don’t want to walk. We’ll be wearing dress whites and I don’t want to arrive in a sweat. Also, a colored girl dressed up like a naval officer may cause an unnecessary stir. We’ll travel in daylight in the motor launch, and we’ll fly a white flag to show that we’re looking to talk under rules of truce.”
“And what if they find your message unconvincing, Captain?” asked Father Rick.
“Then we immediately steam for the wormhole. One way or the other, we’re going home.”
Chapter 87
On August 3, at 0900, Petty Officer Donizzio guided the California’s motor launch up to one of the few remaining docks in Richmond. The destruction along the waterfront was on grim display. Both he and Marine Corporal Falanga were in their dress uniforms. As the boat touched the dock, Donizzio leaned over to Falanga and whispered, “Isn’t this the town that we blew the shit out of a few days ago?” Falanga nodded. “I hope you have plenty of ammunition,” said Donizzio.
Ashley, Father Rick, and Jack got into the waiting carriage. In two minutes they were in front of the Executive Office Building. All three of them noticed that repair crews were replacing windows all along the front of the building.
They were escorted into a large entrance hallway. Jefferson Davis’ office was on the third floor. They trudged slowly up the stairs, trying to keep perspiration to a minimum in the sweltering building.
An aide opened the door and the three walked in. President Jefferson Davis, Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory and General Robert E. Lee sat on one side of a long table. The three men stood when the delegation entered. None of the men offered their hands. None of them knew what to do in the presence of a woman in a captain’s uniform, especially a colored woman. Ashley was pleased with the chilly reception.
She seethed with anger, not the kind of anger that makes you punch holes in a wall or kick things over, just a low burn feeling of being pissed off. She was glad that she felt this way. It focuses one’s attention and avoids distractions. It’s the kind of anger that propels you to get a job done and to send a message. She realized what made her angry. These people are bullies, she thought.
“My name is Ashley Patterson and I’m the Commanding Officer of the USS California.” And if you have a problem with that, eat shit. Stop, calm down, make nice.
“You’re not the first delegation from your ship to visit us,” said Jefferson Davis coldly.
“I assume you are referring to Commander Phillip Bradley, Sir,” said Ashley. Davis nodded. “Simply stated, the man was a traitor. He betrayed us, he betrayed you. I understand that you put him before a firing squad. I thank you for saving us ammunition.”
Ashley then recounted the events of April 10, now almost four months ago. She talked about the Daylight Event and their discovery that they had travelled through a time portal, and came from the year 2013 to 1861 in an instant. Whether you assholes believe it or not. Stop, stop, don’t blow it. She talked about the photos of Charleston in the twenty-first-century and the view they saw when the SEALs went ashore.
She then asked Jack Thurber to speak about his studies of time travel. Jack concluded his talk, saying, “So, the scientific possibility of time travel has always existed. We just experienced it in reality.”
Ashley continued. “Because we come from the future, as strange as that may sound, we have a unique perspective on history. We know what happened, or to be more accurate, what will happen. I personally witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter, and consulted my time piece when the first shot was fired. It was exactly the time that the history books said it would be. We also knew what would happen at Bull Run, or Manassas if you will. For the first time a Gray Ship, my ship, intervened in history. The books told us that the South would have a resounding victory. Instead, the California turned it into a Confederate defeat. Then, as you know, we attacked General Lee’s Army and destroyed his artillery, and finally we blew up the Richmond Armory.”
Davis pounded his desk and yelled, “And you have the gall to stand before us after unleashing such violence a mere matter of days ago.”
Ashley stood, put her hands on the table, and locked Davis in a full Ashley Patterson Eye Job. Jack thought she was going to punch him.