Sea of Shadows eBook - Navy Thriller.com

SEA OF SHADOWS 343
Vice Admiral Douglas Hicks had a folder tucked under his left arm.
He looked down and tried to brush a smear of dirt off the right leg of his
uniform pants. “I shouldn’t have worn my whites to a shipyard,” he said.
He looked up. “But this is an official visit, so it seemed appropriate.”
He retrieved the folder from under his arm and held it out to Captain
Bowie. “Do you know what’s in here?”
Bowie accepted the folder but didn’t open it. “My orders, sir?”
The admiral smiled. “I like you, Jim. But I wouldn’t have bothered to
trot my fat carcass down here to deliver an ordinary set of orders.”
Captain Bowie started to open the folder and then stopped himself.
“I’m not being transferred, sir?”
The admiral shrugged. “That’s up to you, son.” He nodded toward the
folder. “What you have there is what amounts to a blank check. They’re
orders all right. Signed by the Secretary of the Navy himself.”
The captain looked puzzled. “Where am I going, sir?”
“Anywhere you want,” the admiral said. “You can take your pick of
any O-5 billet in the Navy. And I have it on the highest authority that, if
your dream billet is taken, the bureau will move somebody to make room.
You think about it for a while and then get back to me when you’ve made
up your mind.”
“I don’t need to think about it, Admiral. I already know where I want
to go.” He pointed into the dry dock where cascades of welding sparks
were falling. “Right there. I want to do another CO tour aboard the
Towers.”
The admiral grinned. “You just won me fifty bucks. I told my chief of
staff to pencil you in for the Towers. He said I was nuts.” The admiral
reached out and shook Bowie’s hand. “You’re a good man, Jim. And
Towers is a hell of a ship. I envy you. And on that note, I’ll have to take
my leave. There’s a stack of reports on my desk a foot high, and my name
is on every damned one of them.”
Captain Bowie and Chief McPherson came to attention and saluted.
The admiral returned their salutes and then turned on his heel and walked
briskly back up the pier.
Captain Bowie radioed the quarterdeck and shortly afterward they were
treated to a 1-MC broadcast announcing the admiral’s departure.
When the speakers had faded to silence, Captain Bowie turned to Chief
McPherson with a grin. “What do you think, Chief? Are you ready to do
it again?”