'I don't know what you mean.' He couldn't tell from Pamela's bantering tone whether she was serious or not. Back at Yokuska, after the fight at Wonsan, the press had had a field day with the fact that he was the nephew of the battle group commander. Tombstone kept his face impassive and turned away. 'This way, if you please.'
As he led the civilians across the flight deck, Tombstone couldn't help connecting Pamela's seemingly offhand comment with their quiet, unstated hostility to the very idea of the Jefferson. To them, the carrier represented billions of misspent dollars, and he could tell they were looking for ways to attack her.
And now it felt as though they were attacking him.
CHAPTER 7
'You're at attention, Mister!'
Batman gave up any thought of keeping this discussion on a friendly, personal level and held himself ramrod stiff, keeping his eyes focused on a point on the bulkhead behind CAG Marusko's left shoulder. 'Yes, sir!'
Marusko examined the Shore Patrol report in his hand and shook his head slowly, as if he couldn't quite believe what he saw written there. 'One ornamental hedge. Two rows of flowers. Tire marks across the landscaped lawn. A rock garden, complete with a decorative Buddhist shrine. A goddamned palm tree.' CAG looked up, peering over the top of his reading glasses.
'Just how the hell did you manage to park the car in the hotel tennis court?
It was fenced in!'
'Well, it was. Sort of. Sir.'
'Rental car.'
'Yes, sir. You see, the brakes were kind of bad, and-'
'How much did you have to drink?'
'Gee, I'm not real sure, CAG. We'd stopped at the Oriental first. Then we went to the That Intercontinental. The girls were showing me around, you see.'
'Driving under the influence. Property damage. This is serious, Mister.
Damned serious!'
'Yes, sir.'
'Next there's this… this complaint from the same hotel. An unidentified man wearing boxer shorts, and two… ah… partly dressed young ladies, ran through the lobby, startling a number of the hotel's guests. That wouldn't be you and your 'friends' again, would it?'
'Uh, probably not, CAG. I mean, I don't remember too much after the-'
'The man in boxer shorts was screaming, 'Viper Squadron, launch when ready!' at the top of his lungs. Ring any bells?'
'No, sir.'
'And then the finale. This same man and his female companions removed the rest of their clothes and went swimming in the hotel pool.'
'I really wouldn't know anything about that, sir.'
'It seems one of the restaurant lounges in this hotel has a large picture window, which looks out into the pool. Underwater. Very atmospheric, I understand.
'I'm sure it is, sir.'
'The man proceeded to grapple with one of the women in the water, apparently in an attempt to copulate with her. In front of approximately fifty of the hotel's guests who happened to be in the lounge at the time.'
'I'm sure if he'd known they were watching, he wouldn't have done it, sir.'
'Responding to a call by the hotel, the Shore Patrol finally found you behind the pool house, apparently hiding from the establishment's security people, stark naked and sopping wet.' CAG looked up again. 'It doesn't say what became of your skinny-dipping companions.'
'Oh, that was their hotel. I imagine they made it back to their room.'
'You sorry son of a bitch! In one night you have managed to disgrace your uniform, your squadron-'
'Well, actually, I wasn't wearing the uniform at the time-'
'Damn it, Wayne, don't you play games with me!' He slapped the report down on his desk. 'I could have your ass out of here with this! Do you understand me? I could have your wings handed to me on a platter!'
Batman swallowed. This was worse than he possibly could have imagined.
'Yes, sir.'
'Now, you have a choice, mister. We can handle this right here, just you and me. Or we can go to the Captain with it. What's it going to be?'
'I'll be glad to… to work it out with you, sir.'
'Good.' Marusko nodded. 'Good! The skipper wouldn't want to be bothered with shit like this. Now for the good news. Somehow you managed to luck out on one part of this sorry story, Wayne. The hotel has agreed not to press charges so long as you pay them ? — ' He consulted the report again.
'Right. Two thousand, nine hundred fifty dollars for damage to their landscaping. Apparently they haven't been able to connect you with the swimming pool incident, because that wasn't mentioned in their claim. Or maybe they've decided to start featuring X-rated sex shows for their clientele.'
'Three… three thousand dollars, sir?'
CAG picked up another paper. 'Add to that an estimated eight hundred dollars for the rent-a-car people. The collision with the palm tree and the tennis court fence didn't do that Datsun's bodywork any good.' Marusko removed his glasses. When he spoke again, it was with a low, almost quiet voice, the voice which CAG Marusko used when he was in his most dangerous mood. 'So, four grand will settle things with the civilians and you luck out, but by God you still have to settle with me, Wayne. I'm not letting you off the hook that easily! Do we understand each other?'
'Yes, sir. Perfectly, sir.' Almost four thousand dollars! As a Navy lieutenant, Batman received $2,596 this month, a figure which included both flight pay and the temporary bonus of hostile fire pay for his service in Korea, but he was still going to have to take out a Credit Union loan to raise that much cash all at once. He'd be paying this one off for quite a while.
'It occurs to me, Mr. Wayne, that a change of scenery would be beneficial for both of us. It will remove you from the temptations of exotic Bangkok…
and it will get you out of my sight. It happens I have an empty slot for a special duty assignment. How does U Feng sound to you?'
Batman's jaw dropped. 'U Feng? But that's… oh, shit!'
'You have a problem with that, Mister?' Marusko's voice was whip-crack tight again.
'No, sir. No problem, sir.' U Feng! And the worst of it was, he hadn't even made it with Becky or Arlene. His attempt in the pool had been just that… and a dismal failure after all that he'd had to drink. And Becky had promised him another chance tonight.
'It is now 0914 hours. I want you and your RIO in the Ready Room, suited up and ready to go, by 1430 hours this afternoon. I'll have your orders cut by then. Launch is at 1500.'
'Yes, sir.' There was nothing more to be said.
'Get out of here!'
'Aye, aye, sir!' He fled.
Behind him, Marusko picked up the Shore Patrol report again and began re-reading it. His reserve broke at last, and he collapsed back in his chair, laughing helplessly.
Made It Bayerly crossed his arms and surreptitiously leaned against the bulkhead of the darkened room.
'Air Boss says they're ready to go on Cats One and Three,' a third class radarman at one of the consoles said.
