Two days passed without any word from the court. Then at 11:30 at night, Jacobs received a phone call summoning him to the Squadron 5 Commander’s office in the Bangor Naval Station. The court had reached its decision, and being summoned in the middle of the night was not a good sign.
CHAPTER 60
Willa and Frank slowly made their way down the sloped road that led to what was Dolphin Beach. Frank’s leg was in a light blue cast as he used his crutches to navigate the scattered remnants of the city. A large front end loader was scooping up the debris and piling it into large dump trucks for removal. Most of the huge piles that remained of the buildings after the 9.1 magnitude earthquake had been washed out to sea. The people of California and the Baja Peninsula would be picking up pieces of Dolphin Beach that washed up on their beaches for the next several years.
They stopped at what was the city limits of Dolphin Beach. The Pacific Ocean now extended farther inland than it had before. The beautiful beach that the tourists loved so much was now covered by eight feet of water. The ocean waves crashed not on sand, but on the disintegrating foundations of small motels and B & B’s that once lined the ocean shore. It was difficult to even recognize what had been where. The open land stretched the length of what was once a thriving resort town. Willa and Frank walked and talked about Dolphin Beach and its future.
“I won’t oppose you if you want to run for mayor of Dolphin Beach,” Willa said. She was having trouble shaking the depression that had settled in since the loss of her beloved city. Frank stopped and thought about what Willa had said. She turned to him only to find him staring at the ground. When he finally lifted his head and made eye contact with her he spoke softly and slowly.
“I thought I would have made a great mayor for Dolphin Beach,” he said. “But if I had been mayor, the vast majority of people who lived in and visited Dolphin Beach would be dead. I would be dead, except for you.”
“And Chief Dolan,” she corrected.
Frank chuckled briefly. “Yeah,” he said, “about that. I spoke to the Chief. He said he would have left me in the wreckage of my hotel if it wasn’t for you. He respects you a lot more than he does me. I’m beginning to see why. I would have left me, too. I wouldn’t have risked my life like you did to save someone I didn’t like. Or need,” he added.
Willa was seeing a side to Frank she hadn’t known existed. He was finally being open and honest about how he felt. That alone was refreshing. Perhaps facing his own mortality had changed him. It had certainly changed her. She viewed life in an entirely different light. Where she had valued things, position and influence before, now she valued people, friends and life more than anything else. It was this change in her priorities that prompted her to offer Frank the unopposed election of mayor of Dolphin Beach.
“I respected you, you know,” Frank said. “You stood up to me. You were the only one in Dolphin Beach that earned my respect.”
“It didn’t feel like it,” Willa replied.
Frank nodded. “I know. I can be an angry old fool sometimes. I wouldn’t have fought so hard if I didn’t think you were worth the effort.”
Now Willa laughed. For the first time since the earthquake she could actually laugh. The release of pent up worry and concern flooded from her heart as she continued to laugh. Frank started to laugh, too. The two of them leaned against each other and continued to laugh, tears running down their cheeks. When the laughter came to a gradual end they looked at each other.
“You were a much better mayor than I could have ever been,” Frank said. “Your love for the people of Dolphin Beach is what got you elected. I know that now. And that is what should keep you as mayor. Personally, I think you should be mayor of Dolphin Beach for life. I will be your greatest supporter in the November election.”
Willa looked down at the ground. “I know you have always had a vision for Dolphin Beach. Years ago, when Dolphin Beach was just a sleepy little dent in the coastline, you saw a future that no one else could see. You built the Ocean Grand Hotel. I thought you were insane. How could you ever get enough tourists to come to Dolphin Beach to even pay the overhead on a building that size? No one could visualize that except you, and you made it work, not only for your hotel, but for all of Dolphin Beach as well. Everyone in this city owes at least part of their success to you and your vision.”
Frank looked around at the stretch of empty land that was once Dolphin Beach. “Yeah,” he said, “and look at how that turned out.”
Willa looked at the empty space. “Instead of looking at what was, we should be looking at what can be, and I don’t know anyone who can do that better than you can. I’ll agree to stay on as mayor if you will agree to become the community planner for the New Dolphin Beach.”
“The people need your heart to give them the strength to rebuild,” he said.
“And we all need your vision so we know how Dolphin Beach should be rebuilt,” she replied.
Frank stood motionless for a moment. He then held out his hand. “Deal?”
“Deal,” she said as they shook hands. “Since this has been declared a National Emergency Area, there are millions of dollars available in grants and guaranteed loans. Major contracting companies are already calling, offering to help us rebuild, mostly at the expense of the Federal Government.”
“Plus the insurance companies will be making payments on their policies,” Frank said. “There’s more than enough to rebuild the Ocean Grand Hotel and the other buildings the city needs. I was thinking we could…”
They walked together slowly up the hill imagining what the New Dolphin Beach would be like. Between the two of them it would all come together.
CHAPTER 61
Captain Jacobs walked from the Officers’ Quarters across to the Administration Building and entered the front door. He took the elevator to the third floor, turned to the right, and continued down the hall. The only other person he saw was a seaman in dungarees swinging the floor polisher from side to side. The seaman stopped polishing the floor and allowed the Captain to pass, then resumed his task.
The lights were on in the Submarine Squadron 5 Office. He knocked as a matter of protocol and entered the outer office.
“In here, Paul,” the Squadron Commander said from the inner office.
Jacobs took a deep breath, exhaled and went in. Two men sat in the office. The Submarine Squadron Commander sat at his desk, his uniform jacket hung on a coat rack. The Squadron 5 Commander was a Rear Admiral Lower Half with the single broad gold band with a gold star above it on the cuff of his uniform jacket. The other man was dressed in a nice suit. Jacobs was caught by surprise.
“I’m sorry, Sir, I didn’t expect the Secretary of Defense to be here,” Jacobs said.
The Squadron Commander extended his arm toward a padded chair. “Please, sit.”
Jacobs sat, not knowing what was about to happen. He had expected the Squadron 5 Commander, but the Secretary of Defense was a complete shock.
“I’ve had the Court of Inquiry’s report since noon, but I wanted to wait until the Secretary could get here. He arrived half an hour ago and he will return to Washington later tonight. You are not to speak of his being here.”
“Of course,” Jacobs replied.
“The U.S.S. Massachusetts suffered severe damage,” the Squadron Commander said. “It’s a damned miracle you and your crew managed to survive. I’m afraid the cost to repair the Massachusetts is more than we can put into her. We can build a new Virginia Class sub for less than the cost of repairing the Massachusetts. It’s going to be scrapped. That will leave us with only three Seawolf Class subs, but that will have to suffice.”