On Seas So Crimson

by James Young

  Five minutes later, as the lights flicked back on, Nick realized that the overwhelming majority of those gathered in front of him had not known how bad things were. There were many pale, somber faces as he scanned the rows.

  “What is not known is what the next Japanese move will be,” Nick said. “ONI believes that they still retain enough power to strike at Australia or, on the outside, even here at Hawaii. I will be followed by Rear Admiral Graham. ”

  Nick quickly turned to his right as Graham approached, handing the senior officer the pointer. Once fully out of the screen’s way, he did turn and give Agnes a slight smirk, causing her to smile in return. Scanning the room, he saw Admiral Halsey and the captain who had accompanied him talking earnestly in low tones.

  “Okay men, I have 1025,” Rear Admiral Graham said. “Take ten and come back in here no later than 1035 hours. Dismissed.”

  The auditorium cleared out quickly, men heading for the exits to catch some fresh air. Agnes stood from the projector and started to head over him, her smile broadening.

  I am really, really lucky to have her, Nick thought. There was a diplomatic clearing of throat behind him, and he looked to see VAdm. Halsey and his staff officer standing with Rear Admiral Graham. Nick snapped to attention, his heartbeat accelerating.

  “Vice Admiral Halsey, I would like you to meet Lieutenant Nick Cobb,” Rear Admiral Graham said. Halsey extended his hand, Nick taking it.

  “Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Nick said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as breathless as he sounded.

  “Son, that was a great briefing,” Halsey said. “And you didn’t even reveal anything that you weren’t supposed to.”

  Uh, actually that’s because I don’t know all that much, Nick thought, seeing Rear Admiral Graham looking a bit uncomfortable.

  “Thank you, Sir,” Nick said. “I had plenty of help putting it together, I just got to stand up there and give it.”

  “Well, it was good enough Captain Browning here tried to snatch you up for our staff,” Halsey said, gesturing towards the disgruntled looking captain, “but Rear Admiral Graham assures me you’re about to go out to sea here soon.”

  The look of shock must’ve crossed Nick’s face because Graham quickly broke in.

  “Yes sir, Lieutenant Cobb will be shipping out as XO on the Plunger as soon as she returns from her war patrol.”

  Nick could tell Captain Browning was not buying Rear Admiral Graham’s statement, nor was Vice Admiral Halsey. However, whereas the former was visibly restraining himself, Halsey just gave a small smile.

  “It seems like your family’s name keeps coming up in my reports,” Halsey continued, a twinkle in his eye. “I look forward to hearing more about you in the future. For now, we’ve got to get down to the Navy yard and see how things are progressing with the Maryland.”

  In other words, VAdm. Halsey’s going to check and make sure I get on board a boat and gone, Nick thought. Great, I go from being the ‘forgotten lieutenant’ to admiral chew toy.

  After the two other officers had left, Graham turned to Nick, a wry smile on his face.

  “Well, I knew I couldn’t keep you in the office forever,” the admiral said. Captain Donze chose that moment to join them after having come down from headquarters.

  “I just saw the old man leave…did he have anything critical to say?”

  Rear Admiral Graham and Nick both looked at Donze.

  “Just that Lieutenant Cobb has about two weeks before he’ll be on his next war patrol,” Rear Admiral Graham replied sadly. Donze turned towards Nick with a look of dismay, then slight anger. The officer was about to say something when Rear Admiral Graham stopped him.

  “It’s not Nick’s fault, it’s mine,” Graham said, then outlined the whole situation.

  “Dammit,” Donze said when his boss was done. “Lieutenant Cobb, you were getting damn good at your job…in retrospect, I guess too good.” Looking at his watch as well as the rapidly returning officers, Graham realized that it was about time for him to resume speaking to the gathered men.

  “Well, guess you better go tell Agnes before she finds out through the orders crossing her desk. I’d hate to see her kill you,” Captain Donze said. Nick turned to see Agnes looking at the gathered officers with a worried look on her face.

  She knows something is up, which means I’d better take Captain Donze’s advice and go talk to her, Nick thought.

  Moving like a man who had been condemned to the firing squad, Nick pushed against the tide of incoming officers to head for the stairs to the projection room, acknowledging congratulations for his briefing along the way. At the top of the stairs he stopped and straightened his uniform, then turned the knob to go in. To his shock, Agnes was turned away from where Rear Admiral Graham was starting to speak to look at him.

  “You stopped to straighten out your uniform and gather your thoughts…something you only do when you are about to get chewed out or are nervous,” Agnes observed quietly. “Since I look nothing like Captain Donze, I must assume it is the latter.”

  “Aye…yes, it is,” Nick said, breaking into a smile at his discomfiture.

  “So, let me see…you are either going to work for Captain Browning” Agnes began, “or you are going to sea. Given that your brothers would encourage you to stab Captain Browning in the neck at the earliest opportunity and working for him is an assignment which I have heard likened to being flayed alive, it is probably the latter.”

  Once again I realize why I lo…I mean, like this woman, Nick thought to himself. It was rare to have such beauty and brains in the same package, and with the addition of her matter of fact take on life Agnes was, to quote his brother Sam, “a keeper”.

  “I just found out that I am going to be going out on the Plunger,” Nick replied. Agnes gave no reaction except to place both her hands in her lap, regarding him carefully as if expecting more. When nothing more came, she raised an eyebrow and started to turn back around, then stopped herself. Sighing, she shook her head.

  “I have to remind myself that you mainlanders are a bit…different,” Agnes said. “Well, that and the difference in our upbringings. Nick, do you love me?”

  Nick was caught flatfooted at Agnes’s directness, his jaw dropping open. Reading it wrongly, Agnes pressed her lips into a thin line and completed turning away, looking down where Rear Admiral Graham was continuing his speech.

  “Y-yes,” Nick said, placing a hand on her back and starting to turn her chair around as he pulled up the other chair in the small room. Initially resisting, Agnes let him complete the maneuver. To his surprise, he saw that her eyes were glistening.

  “Then why is it that you haven’t said something?” Agnes said quietly, her voice catching. “Because I love you, and I think if I was possibly leaving you forever I’d want to make sure you knew that.”

  “But the Plunger’s not due back for…”

  “The Plunger will be back in harbor within four days. The reason she needs a new XO is that her current one ‘cracked up’ because her captain has been so damn aggressive since she went out on patrol right after the war started.”

  “Jesus…” Nick said.

  “Yes, there are advantages to having the admiral’s secretary as your girlfriend,” Agnes said drily, wiping her eyes. “One of them is you get to find out that your dream assignment may actually be a nightmare.”

  “So you’re worried that I’m going to be XO for an insane man?” Nick asked.

  “I’m worried that you’re going to get killed, you idiot,” Agnes snapped fiercely. “Your captain’s sanity or lack thereof does not concern me as long as you’re safe.”

  Nick put his arms around Agnes, embracing her.

  “I’ll come ba…oof!” he started, stopping as Agnes slammed her hand into his chest.

  “I am not some idiotic schoolgirl, Nick,” she said. “Do not make promises you cannot keep, it only makes it worse. Haven’t you ever wondered why I refused the advances of every man befo
re you?”

  “Well, sort of…”

  “But you just thought you were so suave and handsome that I couldn’t help myself?” Agnes asked sarcastically, then stopped him before he could answer. “I know that’s not the case, Nick. Part of why I love you is that you understand humility and your place in the world. Few people have that gift.”

  Nick found himself blushing slightly at the compliment.

  “It comes from being the youngest,” he said.

  “Partially, I am sure it does come from your parents,” Agnes said. “But I think even more of it comes from you and who you are.”

  “So you’re saying I’m not humble and handsome?” Nick asked lightly. Agnes laughed, then kissed him, hard. Breaking off after several moments, she pulled a handkerchief out of her purse and dabbed at the lipstick she had left behind.

  “No, Nick, you are handsome, caring, and a wonderful man,” Agnes said. “Which is what finally made me overcome my fear of you ending up like William.”

  “You know I can’t promise you…” Nick started, only to have Agnes silence him with another kiss.

  “I know, Nick,” she said. They were interrupted by the scraping of several chairs beneath them. They both turned to see that Rear Admiral Graham had finished speaking with the gathered group of officers.

  “I’d better get back down there,” Nick said.

  “Nick, wait,” Agnes said, placing a hand on his arm. “I want you to know that I will love you, no matter what happens. We can continue this discussion tonight, when you come over for dinner.”

  Nick caught himself looking at her face as he detected her tone.

  I may not be all that experienced with women, but I could swear that she just basically told me that I had best plan for breakfast the tomorrow morning also, Nick said.

  “Agnes, I…I don’t know what to say,” he started, then was stopped by Agnes pressing her finger to his lips, followed by kissing him again.

  “Say yes,” she said simply. “All I am asking for is dinner…both now and forever. Anything else is up to you.”

  “I don’t think you mean a game of checkers when you say anything else, do you?” Nick said, still a bit flustered. Agnes gave him a soft smile.

  “I do not want you to think less of me, Nick, so I will not answer that,” she said. “Just understand that my heart belongs to you, and I hope that yours belongs to me also. I understand that you weren’t, as you Americans say, ‘brought up that way’, so if all that happens is we enjoy some good food, I will still love you as much as I do now.”

  You know, my Dad used to say war speeds everything up, Nick thought, reflecting on the last time he and his father had spoken before he came out to the Pacific. I guess I know what he means now…and I completely understand why. I need to make a stop by a jewelers before I go over tonight.

  “I think I’ll be seeing you at seven, then,” he said, gently. Leaning in, he kissed Angela again, then got up to head downstairs.

  Roughly twelve miles away and twelve thousand feet above his younger brother, Eric found himself thinking similar sentiments regarding the speed of conflict.

  Eight weeks ago, I got put into a hospital bed, he thought. Now here I am, about three weeks earlier than the doctors expected, trying to regain my flying touch.

  “C’mon Eric, just settle down and trust your instincts,” Lieutenant Chad O’Shannon, formerly of Pensacola and now check pilot for VB-11 (Provisional), stated from the Curtiss SNC’s backseat. Pressing his lips together, Eric nodded took a deep breath, and concentrated on trying not to overfly the light monoplane. After another ten minutes, he was finally able to move around the sky without feeling like every turn was going to lead to a possible stall.

  “See, just like riding a bike…now why don’t you go ahead and take us back to Ford Island?” O’Shannon asked. Eric was sure the man was writing something down, but decided to worry about flying more than how his check ride was going. Putting the aircraft in a gentle bank, he continued to scan the skies around him. Seeing two dots in the distance, he felt his pulse starting to pick up.

  “Bogeys, two of them, eleven o’clock,” he said, his voice slightly more intense than he intended. He could hear O’Shannon look up, then bring his binoculars to his eyes.

  “Army boys,” he said, as the two aircraft turned towards their SNC. “Probably out on patrol.”

  Eric realized with a start that he had some sweat running down his face. Shaking his head, he forced himself to remain calm.

  You’d think it was me who got shot down, not Charles, Eric thought grimly. His former wingman had been reassigned to VB-5 off of Yorktown, in no small part because the man was involved with Eric’s sister.

  Hopefully ‘involved’ is not a euphemism in this case, Eric thought. Although it’s no more my business than Jo and I are Tootsie’s.

  “Bastards are going to use us for target practice,” O’Shannon muttered, seeing the two Army pursuits curving around for a simulated pass. The next instant the backseat pilot was crying out in shock, Eric whipping the SNC into a tight turn into the two Army pursuits.

  “No body uses a Cobb for a damn firing dummy,” Eric said, the two P-40s rolling out of their turns as he put his nose into them. Waggling their wings, the two fighters pulled up and moved off.

  “You know, a little warning before you decided to hassle around with someone would be nice!” O’Shannon said harshly. “Especially since your checksheet just went out the canopy!”

  Eric started to turn around.

  “Oh shit, I’m…” Eric stammered.

  “Gotcha,” O’Shannon said, holding up the clipboard where Eric could see. “I think we can skip the solo. If you’re ready to mix it up with two planes in this crate, I think you’re fine to start flying again.”

  “Good enough,” Eric replied, suddenly euphoric. He turned the SNC towards Ford Island, putting it into a shallow dive to get back faster. Clearing his approach with the tower and air defense commands, he circled into the island’s busy pattern. As he went, he looked down at the harbor, noting the empty holes in Battleship Row.

  Bastards got a pretty good lick in on us, he thought grimly. Fleet’s been back on its heels for the past two months, but I think we’re about to start swinging back.

  It was easy for any one with eyes to see that Yorktown, Enterprise, and Illustrious, after multiple weeks patrolling around the islands, were taking on a large number of provisions. Carriers didn’t take on a large number of provisions just to circle around their homebases. Given that Charles had nearly slipped up and made a comment when Patricia had made a reference to doing something in a couple of weeks, Eric figured the Pacific Fleet was about to get in the business of dishing out punishment rather than taking it.

  About damn time, too, Eric thought as he dropped down for his final approach. Thinking about how his sister was clearly falling deeper in love with the young Lieutenant Read, he hoped that she was really aware of what she was doing.

  Jo’s tried to tell her time and time again that maybe she should have learned her lesson from last time, but Patricia doesn’t want to listen, Eric thought. Eric could tell that Jo was getting frustrated with his sister’s naïve, idealistic view of wartime life. Both Nick and he had jointly decided to stay out of the fight between the two housemates, Eric because he didn’t want to have to choose between his girlfriend and his sister, Nick because when he wasn’t eating at Agnes’s there was always room for him at Patricia and Jo’s table.

  Little idiot must take after Mom more than we thought, Eric thought, because Lord knows I’ve had to start pushing the rehab a little bit harder to keep fitting in my uniform. The hospital doctors had been less than pleased with his pushing the envelope, but they couldn’t argue with the results. While he wasn’t even close to approaching his pre-injury level of fitness, he was a lot close than most men should have been.

  Touching down with chirp of tires, Eric brought the throttle back and taxied the SNC over to the hangar. Twent
y minutes after touching down he was off the inter-harbor ferry and headed for the small building the orphaned ad hoc Air Group Eleven had taken over as its headquarters. The ramshackle building wasn’t much to look at, and quite frankly Eric hoped that the dockyard workers were wrong and the Hornet was repaired well before June was done.

  With Vice Admiral Halsey driving the dockyard workers like it’s 1843, not 1943, I’m sure that just might happen. There were rumors going around that Halsey, tired of all the complaining being done by the long hours, had gotten a quick block of instruction and taken a hand in repairing some of the damage to the Maryland himself when that vessel had been pulled into drydock. While Eric was certain the story was apocryphal, and the lack of bitching had more to do with the fact that fleet intelligence expected the Japanese back any time after they had finished digesting the Dutch East Indies, it was certainly plausible given Halsey’s personality.

  You can tell he wants to be out there hitting at the enemy, not back here playing fleet commander, Eric thought. Can’t say that I blame him, not after missing out on the fleet’s one big battle.

  “Well, the prodigal son returns,” a familiar voice observed drily as he passed the VB-11’s airman’s room. Turning, he was pleasantly surprised to see Radioman 1st Class Brown.

  “Sir, I was starting to wonder if the Japs had got you after all,” Brown said, extending his hand. Eric took it, shaking it firmly. While he was sure many officers would have been surprised at the familiarity, as far as he was concerned maintaining mutual respect wasn’t encouraged by treating enlisted flight crew like pariahs.

  “No, just banged me up enough to scare me,” Eric replied, letting O’Shannon past him in the narrow hallway. “I heard that they tried to transfer you to the gunner’s pool.”

  “Yeah, until I told the…”

  “Lieutenant Cobb, get your ass in here, now,” Lieutenant Commander Ernest Hitchcock bellowed from the officer ready room. Eric saw Brown roll his eyes and step away.