The Goodwill Gesture

by McKay, KC

  She shrugged. "I don't know. I was ordered to get you and for us to go see him." She wore her poker face.

  I looked behind her to make sure no one else was lurking around. "You don't think it's about us, do you?" I whispered.

  She shrugged again. "It could be anything. I honestly don't know."

  We locked eyes momentarily, but I could guarantee I was more nervous than her because I had more fuck-ups to my name.

  I slid out of my chair and we made the extremely long walk to the XO's stateroom in silence. My mind raced, not knowing if I should apologize, or if perhaps we should have been devising a plan of denial. I opened my mouth several times to speak, but nothing came out. I certainly didn't want to confess to the wrong crime, so I kept quiet.

  After Darcy knocked on the door that read 'Commander Vance, Executive Officer,' a voice called out, ordering us in.

  We entered the gray room. A neatly made bunk lay on the far wall of the space, and a desk sat grounded to the deck off to the right. A robust, balding man with a moustache sat dominatingly behind the large desk, looking somewhat like a walrus in glasses.

  Darcy and I stood at attention in front of him.

  "Sir," she addressed him. "Lieutenant JG Novak and Petty Officer Chambers from R-One division, reporting as ordered, sir."

  Shit. Two sirs. She must have been as intimidated as I was. My eyes roamed the space as my body remained motionless. Several citations and important-looking certificates hung on the wall behind him. The desk under his pudgy forearms was immaculately tidy.

  He slammed the pen he fiddled with onto the desk. "Who turned off the fucking ventilation to the storage compartment on the main deck?" the XO growled.

  Darcy and I quickly exchanged looks of relieved shock with each other, then refocused our eyes to the front.

  Darcy leaned forward slightly. "Excuse me, sir?"

  "I said…" His eyeballs darted back and forth between us, and he looked pissed. Really pissed. "Who turned off the ventilation to the flammable storage compartment on the main deck? The operating valve for the fan is in the pipe shop, and it got turned off, and I want to know who turned the fucking thing off. The ship almost got blown up." His eyes paced between us.

  We both stared straight ahead, saying nothing.

  The verbal onslaught continued. "If the high temperature alarm hadn't gone off when it got too hot, we could have all gone up in one big puff of smoke, all because there wasn't any air being fed into the compartment." He slammed his fist on the desk, sending his glasses wonky. "Now who turned off the fucking ventilation?"

  Darcy took a step forward. "Sir, I'm the division officer for the space and I take full responsibility."

  The XO slammed his fist on the desk again. "I want to know who the supervisor in charge of that space is!"

  "I am, sir," I replied, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

  The XO turned his gaze to me. It was as if our eyes locked onto each other through a tunnel. "Why did you turn off that ventilation, Petty Officer Chambers?" he asked quietly.

  "I didn't, sir. I didn't even know it was there."

  "Goddamn it!" He slammed his fist on the desk again and stood up. "That's your space. You should know where every valve is and where every fucking speck of dust is in that space. If you want to be the supervisor you'd better start acting like it. I just had the Captain crawling up my ass asking why we almost blew the ship up." He shook his finger at me. "I'm not taking the heat for your fuck-up, Chambers. Now put a tag on that valve, and that tag shall read that the valve can only be closed with written authority from the XO." He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "That's me. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

  "Yes, sir," I barked. The room fell into silence. He looked at me like I was a total dumb-shit, but I wasn't a dumb-shit and I was going to prove it to him. "But, sir, in the event of a fire, where ventilation systems are to be secured, shouldn't there be an exception noted for emergencies?" There. That would show him I knew the proper procedure for firefighting and wasn't a dumb-shit.

  His fist came crashing down on the desk again. "I'm the goddamn exception, and I'm the goddamn emergency, Chambers!" he screamed. "Do you understand me, sailor? Don't be a smart ass. Next time the fucking feathers fly around here they're not going to be mine. Now find the valve and put a fucking tag on it. And that is a direct order from me. If that valve isn't tagged in the next fifteen minutes I'm going to personally have your ass in front of the Captain within the next hour and have you busted down to Seaman Recruit." He pointed toward the door. "Now get out of my fucking sight!"

  As we left his stateroom I wondered if the XO was in there having a good giggle at my expense like the PMA might have. Whether he was merely having fun or not, it made my butt twitch.

  Darcy and I headed down the passageway and I just wanted to hug her for trying to stick up for me. She certainly was a class act.

  "Ma'am." She kept walking and I stayed close behind her. "Thanks for what you did back there. I mean, stepping forward to take the bullet for me."

  She stopped and faced me, hands on hips. "Can I just say, your timing to lecture the XO on proper firefighting procedures, well… it sucked." She turned and walked off.

  I stayed with her. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I'll tag the valve and I accept it was my fault." I didn't really feel like it was my fault, but I wanted to show her I could take the heat.

  She kept walking without looking back. "Well, I made you the supervisor, so your screw-ups are my responsibility." She stopped and turned around. "But only related to work. What you choose to screw up in your personal life is your own problem and nothing to do with me. Are we understood?" Her eyes seemed to have crystallized, creating a hardness my soft look couldn't penetrate.

  "Darcy." I reached out to touch her, but stopped myself. "I really need to talk to you. It's important."

  "It's Lieutenant Novak, and I don't have time. I got word earlier to report to sickbay as soon as I finished with the XO. Goodbye, Petty Officer Chambers." She turned and walked away.

  My only hope of getting out of this would be if the Rapture took place in the next hour or so.

  Chapter 28

  I wanted to curl up in my rack and wait for the nightmare to pass, but I still had to function as a supervisor. I got the ventilation valve marked and tagged, so at least the XO wouldn't pose a problem for me. A works package on my desk needed some signatures, so I grabbed it and headed over to the QA lab for someone to sign it for their part of the work.

  When I arrived at their workshop, I timidly peeked around the corner. Charlotte wasn't there, so I darted in looking for an inspector to authorize the procedure.

  Knothead sat in his office at the back. I marched in and placed the package on his desk. "Just need a signature, Howard. It's a pretty standard job."

  Knothead glanced at the package, but didn't open it. Instead, his eyes shifted to me and he snarled. He stood up, grabbed me by the front of the shirt, and slammed me against the wall, holding me off the ground. He pressed his weight against me and spoke through clenched teeth. "You son of a bitch, you gave Kemp your clap and ruined it for me." He cocked his fist. "I oughtta kick your ass."

  I held my hands up submissively. "Wait a minute. What the hell are you talking about?" Besides the fact I didn't want Knothead thumping me, it was an opportunity to plant some seeds of denial. What the hell was wrong with me? They were seeds of truth! With everything that had gone on, I found myself almost believing I did nail Charlotte.

  He spoke with coffee saturated breath. "You deflowered her with your… rotten prick." He still held me up and my toes struggled to touch the deck.

  "She told you what? Why would she say we had sex when I never touched her? Seriously, Howard."

  He quivered, searching my face for evidence of lying. He relaxed his grip, letting me down and puzzlement replaced his look of rage. Anger etched his voice. "We were out drinking the other night and she broke down and told me. She said you and her both had it and yo
u were a couple now."

  I let out a sigh of disbelief. "We never did it and we're not a couple. Wait a minute… did you make a pass at her?"

  He smirked a little. "Just being friendly."

  I rested my hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Howie, but I think she's just trying to give you the brush off. I don't have herpes, and I never dorked her. Wanna see?" I reached down and grabbed my zipper.

  He pushed my chest. "Get outta here, you queer. No, I don't wanna see." His look shifted back and forth between my eyes, looking in each one independently. "Seriously? You two never…?"

  I shook my head. "Never. Besides, it wasn't me who gave it to her, it was some guy from R-Three division."

  "Why would she say—Wait a minute. Are you calling her a slut? 'Cause I've been trying to get some of that for months. She's not easy."

  Mentally, I rolled my eyes, but I didn't want Knotty to see my physical sign of disagreement. "Howard, you're her boss, remember? You're not supposed to be drillin' her anyway."

  He gave me a knowing nudge. "Yeah, I know, but I did hint to her that I could make her life easier if she offered me some fringe benefits."

  "That's the problem, Howard." I held him by the shoulders and looked sincere as I was about to share my knowledge of the working of a woman's mind. "She knows she'll get an easy ride if she doesn't put out because you'll be nicer to her trying to get into her pants than you will be once you get there."

  A light bulb appeared over his head just like in a cartoon strip. "Oh, yeah. I get ya."

  In his excitement of perhaps trying a new tactic, he seemed to be forgetting another minor detail. Anyway, that was his problem. He appeared satisfied with my denial and happy with my enlightenment. Once he signed the package I snatched it out of his hand and returned to my office.

  ***

  The phone rang, sending my heart rate into the stratosphere. After seven rings, the caller hadn't given up. I picked up the receiver. "Pipe shop, Petty Officer Chambers speaking."

  "Chambers. It's Lieutenant Novak."

  She probably heard me swallow; my Adam's apple felt like a ten-ton truck bouncing down a dirt track. "Yes, ma'am?"

  "We need to talk, but not here. Be at my house at nineteen-hundred." Click.

  I held the phone back, staring at the dead line. No anger, sadness, personal interjection — nothing in her voice whatsoever.

  My watch read three PM, giving me four hours to invent an alibi that even Colombo wouldn't be able to crack. If I pulled this off I'd win an Oscar for 'The Greatest Story Ever Told.'

  The taxi dropped me off at Darcy's flat at five minutes to seven. Instead of bounding up the steps, I trudged, my heart as heavy as my feet. I was about to experience a female generated apocalypse and I still had no idea what I might say or how I would explain the situation. In my contemplation throughout the afternoon, I decided to take a reactionary approach and let her take the lead.

  After knocking, my heart rate spiked when the front door peeled back.

  Darcy stepped to one side without saying a word. If ice were a language, she was fluent. She wore loose-fitting track suit bottoms and a Kentucky Wildcat sweatshirt. Her clothes didn't act as tools of seduction, but I could have done without the prompt that she used to be a cheerleader.

  My 'hello' got stuck in my throat and I never verbalized it. My eyes zeroed in on the lavender sofa when I walked into the living room, but my legs carried me to the matching chair next to it. She probably wouldn't be in the mood to brush up against me anyway.

  She sat on the end seat of the sofa, closest to my chair. Gurgles invaded my stomach making me ill. I had never been as nervous as I was at that moment.

  She didn't even offer me a drink. If I were a 'between the lines' reader, I'd think she wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible and get me the hell out of there. But I did have a pack of condoms in my pocket, just in case.

  She sat with her knees together and her hands resting on top of them, seated more toward the edge of the cushion. She looked me directly in the eyes. "Do you have anything you want to say to me?"

  I had prepared myself for screaming, shouting, possibly flying dishes, but no, she opted for the soft, quiet approach, one that could land me in deeper shit if I wasn't careful; as if giving a girl a sexually transmitted disease wasn't enough.

  Since it already felt like Ice Station Zebra, I decided to play it cool. "I'm not sure what you mean, ma'am." The ma'am just kind of slipped out, but I did feel quite distanced from 'Darcy.'

  She pushed herself into the back of the couch, folding her arms across herself. "Do you want to start with Charlotte Kemp, or with what the medical department told me this morning?" She barely drew a breath. "Tell you what, let's do this sequentially." Her voice went on the rise. "Tell me about you screwing Charlotte Kemp…then tell me about you giving me freaking herpes!"

  I reached over and placed my hand on her knee, which she promptly pushed away.

  Her eyes narrowed. "Don't touch me."

  "Sorry." I focused on one of the small yellow flowers woven into the print of her green carpet. "I never had sex with Charlotte Kemp. Like I said, she got drunk and I escorted her home. Simple as that."

  Darcy tapped her finger against her lips. "Okay, Mr. Simple-As-That, where was home?"

  "Umm… on the ship." I didn't say it with much conviction. I couldn't, and one glance at her told me she didn't believe me anyway.

  "That's funny, and I mean funny, strange; not funny, ha-ha. I spoke to some of the girls in her berthing area about that night, and by all accounts, she didn't sleep in her bunk. So, would you care to try again?" She leaned forward, resting her elbow on her knee and placing her chin on her balled-up fist, waiting with great interest for my answer.

  "You checked up on me?"

  The arch in her eyebrows clearly stated, 'Yeah, so?'

  Wow, she really was acting like a jealous girlfriend. I had no idea she liked me that much. I felt even worse and had to remind myself that I didn't actually do anything with Charlotte.

  I should have known better than to lie to her. She was too sharp for that, but the truth was pretty ugly. I drew a deep breath, desperately wishing there was a Jack Daniel's on hand to get me through the episode. "Truth is, Darcy, Charlotte blackmailed me. She wanted sex in exchange for passing work we did on the subs."

  Her eyebrows went as high as the golden arches of a McDonald's. "You already tried that one, and that's the most absurd reason I have ever heard for anything in my life. Compromising submarine safety for sex. Are you serious?" She peered at me like I just stepped off the funny farm, then her arms suddenly shot in the air and waved around. "Of course! I forgot, I'm from Kentucky. I'm the dumber-than-dirt hick who will believe anything. Is that the angle?"

  "No, of course not. I respect your intelligence and wouldn't dream of insulting you." I pushed myself forward on the chair. "Charlotte threatened to fail my work unless I buttered her muffin. In the end, I had to trick-fuck her. I got her drunk and made her think we had sex, but nothing ever happened." I held my hand in the oath position. "I swear, Darcy, I never did anything with her."

  She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, offering her own self comfort. "Then why lie?"

  "It sounded too far-fetched to be true."

  She nodded. "Yeah, I'll give you that. Why didn't you report her?"

  I blew out a breath. Okay, one more little lie and I'd quit bullshitting her forever. "She said she'd report me for improper conduct if I said anything, saying I groped her or something. And you know about the Navy's policy about sexual harassment. It would be her word against mine, and in that situation, they're always going to believe the woman." I searched her face for a reaction, but she had the unreadable look of a mummy. "Can you see the PMA buying that? Believing me over her?" I pressed on. "Charlotte's a good-looking girl. You wouldn't think she'd have to resort to selling her professional integrity for a bit of cock."

  She gave me a hateful glare.

  "Sorry," I
apologized quickly. "I don't mean my cock, because she didn't get any of that. I meant maybe if she wanted someone else's cock—"

  "Zac. Shut up."

  I nodded respectfully. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Well, I don't believe you. That's preposterous to suggest she'd do such a thing." She bit her bottom lip. I silently urged her to stop before she drew blood. "You've already proven you're a liar."

  "I'm not lying, Darcy." I said it as much as a plea as a statement.

  We sat quietly for a few moments. I wasn't sure where to go next and she wasn't leading the way. The silence became uncomfortable.

  I looked at my twiddling thumbs. "So medical told you, huh?" I felt dirty just asking the question.

  She let out a sigh. "Yes. That was… gross, standing there while they told me the guy I had sex with humped some herpes whore. Yuck. I felt sick."

  "They didn't check you, did they?"

  "What? Why would they?" Her anger became more pronounced. "Unless you told them you happened to pump your division officer for a jolly!"

  "No! I swear, Darcy. I never said anything about us. I wouldn't. Ever."

  I stared at her, but she looked away, pinching and playing with her bottom lip.

  "No, they didn't examine me. They wanted to tell me to keep an eye on you in case you decided to try to kill Kemp for giving you freaking herpes!"

  "Look, Darcy." I took a chance and touched her knee. "I never dorked Charlotte. I'll take a test, anything, but I don't have any diseases. Medical checked me out. I don't have her cooties."

  She smacked my hand away. "Oh, grow up, Zac. Cooties is some imaginary disease third-graders get. We're talking about life-changing stuff here." She combed her hand through her hair. "Besides, there's no conclusive test for it. I've asked. The fact that you're not showing sores now doesn't mean you don't have it." Her eyes glistened from some held back tears. "How could you do this to me?"