The Shark Mutiny

“And now, Commander,” said Al Surprenant, “let me ask you the same question I asked Commander Hunter. Do you hold a strong view about the possible conviction of Lieutenant Commander Headley?”

“Yessir. I shall resign my commission if they find him guilty of mutiny.”

“Reason?”

“Same as Commander Hunter’s. Dan Headley saved the SEALs’ lives.”

“No more questions.”

Locker Jones had none either, and the SEAL team leader left the room, clearing the way for Al Surprenant to bring in a succession of minor witnesses, Lt. Commander Josh Gandy, Master Chief Drew Fisher, Lt. Matt Singer, all offering unerring support for the XO. He brought in two more SEALs, the wounded Rattlesnake Davies and Lt. Dallas MacPherson, who both offered the opinion that they would have been killed but for the appearance on the scene of USS Shark.

He then called, in fairly quick succession, the three psychiatrists who had independently examined Commander Reid. One of them was definite: There was nothing wrong with Commander Reid, and on that he could not be shaken.

The other two were not so sure. Neither would say he was crazy, but they both agreed he held some very strange views, for a U.S. Navy commander.

Al Surprenant questioned and badgered, overstepped the bounds of polite interrogation and then dived back behind them against a barrage of “OBJECTIONS” from the prosecutor. Once he nearly had an admission that Commander Reid was just too strange, too bound up in his perceived French antecedents, to be trusted with a modern nuclear submarine.

But a belief in reincarnation, and indeed spiritualism, simply did not constitute “crazy.” Surprenant proved eccentricity, and he proved a profound instability. He almost proved a long-held emotional cowardice on the part of the CO. But he did not obtain an admission that Commander Reid was so unbalanced as to have been relieved of command on that particular morning.

It was immediately after the lunch break when the defense finally called the accused Executive Officer to the witness chair to testify under oath in his own defense. And before he did so, counsel requested permission to “read just two or three lines from Section Three of Navy Regulation one-zero-eight-eight, which the prosecution apparently deemed irrelevant.”

And he then stated, very simply, “Intelligent, fearless initiative is an important trait of military character. It is not the purpose of these regulations to discourage its employment in cases of this nature.”

Lieutenant Commander Headley sat motionless in the witness chair as the short but powerful words were read out to the court. He saw Captain Dunning nod, and he continued to sit bolt upright, immaculate in his uniform, as he began to answer his counsel’s questions, firmly and without hesitation.

“And when it came right down to it, why do you think Commander Reid refused to help the SEALs?”

“Two reasons, sir. One, he did not want to be associated with another disaster, like he had in another life. Two, he kept yelling that the planet Mercury was in retrograde.”

“He what?”

“He told me that the mighty planet that controls us was stilled in the heavens and that by dawn it would be in retrograde — going backwards, that is.”

“Did you have any comment?”

“I believe I just said, ‘No shit?’ I found it a bit bewildering, given the urgency of our situation.”

“Did this conversation take place in front of anyone?”

“Nossir. This started in his cabin. But then it continued back in the control room in front of everyone after the SEALs had transmitted their call for help.”

“Did you go back to the control room, leaving the CO in his cabin?”

“Yessir. I was in charge of the rescue operation, and I immediately ordered the submarine inshore to get the guys out.”

“You knew they were under attack, from Chinese helicopters?”

“Yessir.”

“And how did you assess the danger?”

“I planned to down the helos with our Stinger missiles from range eight hundred yards, handheld right off the bridge. They’re very accurate.”

“And what about the danger to your own ship?”

“Negligible, in my view. I thought the Chinese might have a couple of missiles. But there was a morning mist, and I thought they’d be preoccupied with the guys who were battering them with the M-60 machine guns. If they carried ASW mortars or depth bombs I knew they’d be largely useless if we were on the surface with Stingers. I thought we were in there with a good shot at success.”

“You were not afraid the Shark might be sunk?”

“Sir, Shark is a U.S. Navy fighting ship. We had eight valued colleagues being wiped out by Chinese gunships. Of course we went in to save them. That’s what we’re for. This is the Navy, not the Cub Scouts. And yes, I was afraid. But not too afraid to try.”

“And what happened when the CO arrived in the control room?”

“I told him precisely what we were doing. And he objected, as I knew he would.”

“How did you know?”

“Because Commander Reid is nothing short of a goddamned coward. And he’s plainly crazy.”

Finally uttered, the words hung like the sword of Damocles over the courtroom. “OBJECTION!” shouted Locker Jones, springing to his feet.

“Overruled,” snapped back Captain Dunning. “That is the heart of this case. The accused XO has been asked his opinion. And he has given it.”

“Was he afraid the ship might be hit and everyone killed?” asked Al Surprenant.

“Of course. And he thought because Mercury was in retrograde, that might happen.”

“Did he say so?”

“He shouted out, sir—‘RETROGRADE! RETROGRADE! The great planet Mercury is in retreat.’ He called me an ignorant man for not knowing what was happening in the zodiac, in front of everyone. He said my life was insignificant, that I knew nothing. That all of our lives, particularly in the areas of transportation and communication, were ruled by Mercury. And now the darn thing was kinda spinning backwards.”

“And then?”

“He told me there was no way he was going to allow his submarine to continue on the surface, in the path of an ASW helicopter, not while the planet was in retrograde.”

“Lieutenant Commander, is the direction in which the distant planet Mercury spins a normal consideration in the United States Navy when making combat decisions?”

“Nossir.”

“Ever?”

“Not in my experience, sir. It was a new one on me.”

“And then what happened?”

“He ordered me to turn the ship around, and to proceed in a direction away from the SEALs.”

“And did you do so?”

“Nossir. I told him I could not do that. Would not do that. And he told me I was making a one-man mutiny.”

“And did you change your mind and retreat, like Mercury?”

“Nossir. I did not.”

“You proceeded with the rescue?”

“I did. I told the CO I had the support of the entire command of the ship. That I would not leave the guys to be killed. I offered him the sick-list option as laid down in the regulations. But he declined.”

“And then?”

“I ordered the conn to hold our course on the surface. And I ordered the missiles to be brought up from below.”