Waterson was relaxing at his desk in his ready-room, going over the usual post-departure paperwork when there was a knock at his door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that it was the new ensign again. Was this guy going to be a pain in the ass?
--“Enter!”
--“Sir, I was just going over the course the OIC set and, well, I know I don’t know for sure where we’re going, but a rendezvous in the Sea of Japan seemed, well, something I should probably report.”
Waterson glanced at the nametag out of the corner of his eye. Rowe. Hmmm, didn’t ring any bells. He thought of a number of things to say, none of them very nice, but finally just sighed.
--“Look Ensign Rowe, you are correct you don’t know where we’re going because you’re NOT SUPPOSED TO KNOW! The Officer In Charge, does! Second, we are not going to the Sea of Japan. I have no idea where you got that idea. Third, I believe your job on this ship is to make sure all messages get to me pronto and that all my messages get out. Any questions?”
--“No sir! I mean, but, no. No sir.”
Ensign Rowe spun on his heel and was about to leave when Waterson motioned him to stop. He had been about to let this unpleasantness pass quickly, but something about the look in the Ensign’s eye made him reconsider.
--“Tell me again why you were thinking we might be going to the Sea of Japan, young man. Perhaps we need to give you some remedial navigation training.”
--“Here, sir.”
He handed the XO a sheaf of papers including a few folded charts. Stephen began going over them, quickly at first, then slowly, then he came to a dead stop. He could feel his temperature rising.
135 degrees East? Who had botched this up? He’d find out, and quickly, hoping it was a stupid mistake and not something more sinister. Years of training and exposure to a great number of tense situations allowed him to regain control almost instantly.
--“Thank you, Ensign. I believe there may be an issue here but I will take care of it. I do appreciate your bringing this to my attention. You certainly had scant clues to make you wonder about this course. Mind telling me what you know?”
--“Don’t know anything, sir. But I have always had a knack for putting two and two together it seems, even when I didn’t even know the numbers were two and two. My dad always used to call me little Sherlock Holmes. And, well, I overheard one or two things, saw one or two things, and then we this came out …”. He trailed off with his hands up in the air in an “I don’t know” gesture.
Waterson eyed him carefully for a few more seconds. Over the years he had developed a pretty good ability to read men quickly. This one was smart, possibly really smart. But there was something else. And that bothered him.
--“Okay, Ensign. Return to duty.”
Rowe left the office. As soon as he was gone Waterson got on the horn to the bridge. After he had chewed the CIO a new one, including giving him a quick course on the difference in East and West longitude, he turned to the cabinet and pulled the tea assortment down that had been a gift from Susan. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was time he cut down on the coffee. And tea seemed to be a nice methadone.
Billy Rowe sat down on his bunk. He held his head in his hands for a full minute before speaking. Then he glanced over to the figure crouched down in the corner.
--“That was close, Clint. I thought I was doing the right thing, but now, now I don’t know. Was I? Did I? I can’t remember. Was that part of OUR plan? Did I just screw things up?”
--“No”, said Clint calmly.
He was always the calm one. He saw the dangers ahead of time. He knew who the bad guys were. And he had never let Billy Rowe down.
--“You did the right thing, just like we talked about. It’s not time to head … over there. Right now we want this mission on track. A rendezvous off San Francisco is what they have planned and that’s what needs to happen. The silly young officer screwed things up by his dyslexia, east for west, west for east. How do they let those people through the Academy? No, we’re okay now. We just have to remember what were really here for.”
--“Right, right. But I know they’re everywhere. I’ve swept this little room five or six times and I still think there’s a bug in here. I think we need to move fast; move now!”
--All in good time, all in good time,” whispered Clint in his calming voice. “We’ll succeed. You just have to be vigilant. Staying close to the XO was the way to go. Don’t worry. We’ll stop this crazy plan the government has.”
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