Murdock and the SEALs, minus Kat, had just returned from a ten-mile run without their fighting gear, weapons only. Murdock paused to talk to the men for a minute before he headed for his shower. The phone rang and Mahanani answered it, listened a moment, and pointed at Murdock.
“Murdock here.”
“Good, I found you. This is Admiral Tanning. The Chinese destroyer is moving. It lifted anchor and is now steaming along at three knots on a generally northwest course, which could mean it’s heading for Athens.”
“Good. Are the health authorities alerted?”
“They have been waiting for three days. We have two teams on the dock with the sniffer equipment. It’s so sensitive that it can pick up a glowing wristwatch dial from across the room. If there are any warheads on that bucket of bolts, we’ll find them. Then the Greeks will decide what to do with the ship. They could confiscate it for violating Greek nuclear weapons laws.”
“Good. I hope it all works.”
“Their ETA is about thirty-two more hours, which makes it sometime tomorrow afternoon. I’ll send a car over to give you and your party a lift to the dock. I’m sure you’ll want to be in on the final kill of the campaign.”
The next day at 1615, Murdock, DeWitt, Kat, and Dobler watched the two “medical” teams swarm on board the Chinese destroyer that still looked like a freighter. Admiral Tanning’s car drove up, and he went to Murdock’s group to watch.
“Should be a good show,” the admiral said. He held a civilian Handie-Talkie radio, and used it.
“Medical One, how goes the search?”
“Admiral Tanning. We’ve found traces of radiation in a large work area that is long enough to accommodate the eighty-foot Russian missiles. One of our men says he has a trail of radiation traces that could lead us to the prize.”
An hour later it was all over. The “medical” investigators had found the three stashes of warheads. Greek military units stormed the ship and carried out the nuclear bombs in special sealed containers. The final count: forty-seven warheads. They were quickly transported to the NATO compound, where arrangements would be made for their destruction.
“I don’t want that job,” Kat said. “I’ve done enough of that for one trip.”
It took two days to get all of their gear sorted out and ready to travel. Kat asked to be sent home with the SEALs, but she was overruled and booked on commercial first-class the next day. She had one last beer bust with the SEALs at the noncom club that night. Two hours into the fest, she held up her beer for quiet.
“Just a little drunk, but ready to take on any of you shitheads who want to try to outswim me.” She took a long breath and held on to the table for balance. “Going home tomorrow. Probably never see you fuckers again. Been good shooting up people with you. You ever in D.C. and need an overnight, give me a call. ’Course you don’t have my number. I can give it to you.” She frowned. “Yeah, I could if I remembered it.” The troops cheered and laughed.
Kat began to cry. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She went down the line of SEALs and punched each one in the shoulder, then kissed him on the cheek. At the end of the line she punched Murdock, then kissed him on the lips and grabbed his hand, and led him out of the place with hoots and hollers following them.
Outside, Kat stopped and looked at Murdock.
“Oh, shit,” she said. “He’s still a one-woman guy. My fucking luck.” She giggled. “Actually that should be my no-fucking luck. No, no, don’t walk me to quarters. I’m not that drunk that I can’t find them. Get back in there with your men so I don’t ruin your rep.”
She turned and walked away with only a slight list to port.
Murdock grinned and went back into the bar for another round of drinks with the best damn SEALs in the Navy.
33
Third Platoon of SEAL Team Seven had been back at base for three days. The jet lag was over. Their weapons had been scrubbed, cleaned, repaired, oiled, and readied. Those who wanted them were off on a three-day liberty, and Murdock was trying to find Ardith Manchester at her office in D.C. She wasn’t in, and her secretary didn’t know where she was or when she would be back. “But then, sir, it is Friday at two and some of the offices around here don’t do much work on Friday afternoons.”
Murdock left a message. He was home. Call him.
Jaybird stood near the Coronado public library at a telephone booth. He had called Senior Chief Dobler’s home twice now. Once the chief had answered, and Jaybird had hung up without a word. The next time, ten minutes later, Mrs. Dobler had answered, and Jaybird had mumbled something about a wrong number.
Did he dare call again hoping that Helen would answer? He’d been trying to get up nerve to call her since they came home. Just before they left for Athens, he’d had two delightful meetings with her. The one at the library had been delicious and thrilling, and he had to admit, he’d never even seen a girl like Helen Dobler, much less had the fun of talking with her and trying to get to know her.
Yeah, the big problem. Her old man was his top chief in the platoon. Senior Chief Dobler could make life so miserable for Jaybird that he would want to ask for a transfer. He’d seen a senior chief chase one guy out of the platoon, not because the kid didn’t belong there, and wasn’t good enough. No, the chief had just taken a dislike for the guy, and in two months the poor sod was begging to get transferred to another platoon.
What the hell could he do now?
Another call?
He took a deep breath, walked up the block and back down, taking his time, getting up his courage. Facing enemy fire was child’s play compared to this. He stopped at the phone and reached for the handset. He hit the first three numbers, then the last four. Before the instrument could ring, somebody pushed down the turnoff button.
“She isn’t home,” a voice said close behind him.
He still held the phone and turned.
“Helen!”
“Yep, me, gonna stay that way all day. When I heard the second phone call was a wrong number, I just knew it was you. So I came to the library. Want to look in the stacks for some books?”
“Oh, yeah. I love those stacks. Let’s go look there first.” He held her hand as they walked into the library and into the tall shelves of books all in a row. In the far corner they stopped and looked at each other. There were books all around them. Nobody could see them unless they came right into the aisle. She moved closer to him until their thighs touched, then their chests, almost. He reached out and brushed her lips with his, then came back and kissed her firmly. Their hands were at their sides.
When their lips parted, Helen let out a sigh. “Oh, my,” she said. “Wow, I mean, I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“That wasn’t your first kiss, Helen, was it?”
“Well, no. I mean I’ve kissed boys lots of times.” She hesitated. “Just not… just none of them felt as wonderful as that time.”
“One more,” Jaybird said.
Helen smiled and backed away. “No, not right now. I think we better find two books I can take home.”
They found the books and checked them out, then went back to a reading room and sat and stared at each other for a minute. The talk came then, both anxious to learn more about each other.
“So, on my fifteenth birthday I got a new portable CD player and ten CDs. But I’ve never even tried to play them. Some kind of a package deal and the discs were gloppy. I have my own set of CDs I play. You have a CD player?”