He grinned and sat her down at the table. “Hey, don’t worry about it. If you want a bigger place, we get a bigger place. We could even think about buying a house, maybe a used one, the new ones cost so damn much, a half million dollars and up.”
Ardith shivered. “So much?”
“We’ll work it out. For now we’ll store most of your stuff and you move in here and then we start looking. Going to be a big change for both of us.”
She reached across the table and grabbed his hands. “You are pleased then?”
“If you’re this happy, how can I not be happy too? Happy never fills a stomach. What’s for lunch?”
“It seems to me I said this once before. But, well, since you didn’t have almost anything in the house to eat, I ate the shrimp before you came. So, well. Hey, your lunch is me.” Ardith jumped up from the table and ran into the bedroom. She beat Murdock there by only half a step.
SEAL TALK
MILITARY GLOSSARY
Aalvin: Small U.S. two-man submarine.
Admin: Short for administration.
Aegis: Advanced Naval air defense radar system.
AH-1W Super Cobra: Has M179 undernose turret with 20mm Gatling gun.
AK-47: 7.63-round Russian Kalashnikov automatic rifle. Most widely used assault rifle in the world.
AK-74: New, improved version of the Kalashnikov. Fires the 5 .45mm round. Has 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute. Many slight variations made for many different nations.
AN/PRC-117D: Radio, also called SATCOM. Works with Milstar satellite in 22,300-mile equatorial orbit for instant worldwide radio, voice, or video communications. Size: 15 inches high, 3 inches wide, 3 inches deep. Weighs 15 pounds. Microphone and voice output. Has encrypter, capable of burst transmissions of less than a second.
AN/PUS-7: Night-vision goggles. Weighs 1.5 pounds.
ANVIS-6: Night-vision goggles on air crewmen’s helmets.
APC: Armored Personnel Carrier.
ASROC: Nuclear-tipped antisubmarine rocket torpedoes launched by Navy ships.
Assault Vest: Combat vest with full loadouts of ammo, gear.
ASW: Anti-Submarine Warfare.
Attack Board: Molded plastic with two handgrips with bubble compass on it. Also depth gauge and Cyalume chemical lights with twist knob to regulate amount of light. Used for underwater guidance on long swim.
Aurora: Air Force recon plane. Can circle at 90,000 feet. Can’t be seen or heard from ground. Used for thermal imaging.
AWACS: Airborne Warning And Control System. Radar units in high-flying aircraft to scan for planes at any altitude out 200 miles. Controls air-to-air engagements with enemy forces. Planes have a mass of communication and electronic equipment.
Balaclavas: Headgear worn by some SEALs.
Bent Spear: Less serious nuclear violation of safety.
BKA, Bundeskriminant: Germany’s federal investigation unit.
Black Talon: Lethal hollow-point ammunition made by Winchester. Outlawed some places.
Blivet: A collapsible fuel container. SEALs sometimes use it.
BLU-43B: Antipersonnel mine used by SEALs.
BLU-96: A fuel-air explosive bomb. It disperses a fuel oil into the air, then explodes the cloud. Many times more powerful than conventional bombs because it doesn’t carry its own chemical oxidizers.
BMP-1: Soviet armored fighting vehicle (AFV), low, boxy, crew of 3 and 8 combat troops. Has tracks and a 73mm cannon. Also an AT-3 Sagger antitank missile and coaxial machine gun.
Body Armor: Far too heavy for SEAL use in the water.
Bogey: Pilots’ word for an unidentified aircraft.
Boghammar Boat: Long, narrow, low dagger boat; high-speed patrol craft. Swedish make. Iran had 40 of them in 1993.
Boomer: A nuclear-powered missile submarine.
Bought It: A man has been killed. Also “bought the farm.”
Bow Cat: The bow catapult on a carrier to launch jets.
Broken Arrow: Any accident with nuclear weapons, or any incident of nuclear material lost, shot down, crashed, stolen, hijacked.
Browning 9mm High Power: A Belgium 9mm pistol, 13 rounds in magazine. First made 1935.
Buddy Line: 6 feet long, ties 2 SEALs together in the water for control and help if needed.
BUD/S: Coronado, California, nickname for SEAL training facility for six months’ course.
Bull Pup. Still in testing; new soldier’s rifle. SEALs have a dozen of them for regular use. Army gets them in 2005. Has a 5.56 kinetic round, 30-shot clip. Also 20mm high-explosive round and 5-shot magazine. Twenties can be fused for proximity airbursts with use of video camera, laser range finder, and laser targeting. Fuses by number of turns the round needs to reach laser spot. Max range: 1200 yards. Twenty round can also detonate on contact, and has delay fuse. Weapon weighs 14 pounds. SEALs love it. Can in effect “shoot around corners” with the airburst feature.
BUPERS: BUreau of PERSonnel.
C-2A Greyhound: 2-engine turboprop cargo plane that lands on carriers. Also called COD, Carrier Onboard Delivery. Two pilots and engineer. Rear fuselage loading ramp. Cruise speed 300 mph, range 1,000 miles. Will hold 39 combat troops. Lands on CVN carriers at sea.
C-4: Plastic explosive. A claylike explosive that can be molded and shaped. It will burn. Fairly stable.
C-6 Plastique: Plastic explosive. Developed from C-4 and C-5. Is often used in bombs with radio detonator or digital timer.
C-9 Nightingale: Douglas DC-9 fitted as a medical-evacuation transport plane.
C-130 Hercules: Air Force transporter for long haul. 4 engines.
C-141 Starlifter: Airlift transport for cargo, paratroops, evac for long distances. Top speed 566 mph. Range with payload 2,935 miles. Ceiling 41,600 feet.
Caltrops: Small four-pointed spikes used to flatten tires. Used in the Crusades to disable horses.
Camel Back: Used with drinking tube for 70 ounces of water attached to vest.
Cammies: Working camouflaged wear for SEALs. Two different patterns and colors. Jungle and desert.
Cannon Fodder: Old term for soldiers in line of fire destined to die in the grand scheme of warfare.
Capped: Killed, shot, or otherwise snuffed.
CAR-15: The Colt M-4Al. Sliding-stock carbine with grenade launcher under barrel. Knight sound-suppressor. Can have AN/PAQ-4 laser aiming light under the carrying handle. .223 round. 20- or 30-round magazine. Rate of fire: 700 to 1,000 rounds per minute.
Cascade Radiation: U-235 triggers secondary radiation in other dense materials.
Castle Keep: The main tower in any castle.
Cast Off: Leave a dock, port, land. Get lost. Navy: long, then short signal of horn, whistle, or light.
Caving Ladder: Roll-up ladder that can be let down to climb.
CH-46E: Sea Knight chopper. Twin rotors, transport. Can carry 25 combat troops. Has a crew of 3. Cruise speed 154 mph. Range 420 miles.
CH-53D Sea Stallion: Big Chopper. Not used much anymore.