CHAPTER 2
APRIL 18TH –DAY 16
After another great dinner, Matthew sat back in his chair and sighed with satisfaction. Klein smiled.
“Just think, Matt. You can eat like this every night.”
“I’m not sure, Jimmy. A job on a cruise ship is a big change.”
“Of course it is. But you’re not married; your kids have left home; you don’t have responsibilities –And you love it out here.”
“I know. I just can’t make up my mind.”
Klein studied him for a moment. “I can’t figure you out, Matt. You’ve been in a lot of tight situations, and you always know exactly what to do. The Forrestal is a good example. And some of those jobs you did for Tong. And now you can’t figure out what to do with your private life. How’d you ever decide to take this cruise?”
Matthew chortled. “I won it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. My sister put my name in a contest on the back of a cereal box. I don’t even like the cereal.”
“Figures. I bet they had to talk you into going too.”
“They did. It was a trip for two, so they offered to buy my tickets as long as I bought one for myself. So I agreed, on the condition that they wouldn’t follow me around to make sure I had a good time.”
“Well, are you having a good time?”
Matthew smiled sheepishly “Of course.”
“I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to you. You might even get a little romance out of it.”
“Come on.” Matthew grinned. “I – We’ve hardly talked. The only thing I know about Su Li Chiang is her name.”
Klein grinned. “I didn’t say anything about Miss Chiang.”
Matthew leaned on the railing. How would it feel to do this every night? It would mean leaving his family, his work. It would mean starting over again. The waves lapped gently at the bow. The moon sat low on the horizon. The calm sea reflected its yellow light. Small wisps of clouds crossed in front of it.
It was so peaceful. What more could one ask for?
“Someone to share it with,” he answered aloud.
“Excuse me?”
Startled, he jumped. “I’m sorry. I –I was thinking out loud.” He’d been so pre-occupied with Klein’s offer that he hadn’t seen Su Li.
“Oh. I thought you were talking to me.” Her accent was light, lilting. His mind raced as he tried to think of something to say before she left.
“Actually, I was thinking about the ship. How long have you worked on the Evening Star?”
“Three years. Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering what it would be like to work on a cruise ship. Captain Klein offered me a job as chief engineer.”
She cocked her head and looked at him. “You must be the gentleman Helen has been talking about.”
“Oh?”
“Captain Klein made the mistake of telling Mr. Leary, our chief engineer, about you. He told Helen. By now the whole crew knows who you are.”
“Great. Nothing like being a celebrity. But you haven’t told me how you like life on a ship.”
“The Evening Star is a fine ship.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”
“Captain Klein is an excellent captain,” she said after a short pause.
“I know. He and I have been friends for a long time. We served in the Navy together.”
“I have heard.”
“Hmm. I’m afraid to ask what else you’ve heard.”
“I have heard only glowing reports.”
He noted the half smile. She was teasing him. He chuckled. “I’ll bet. So you’re not impressed with working on a cruise ship.”
“It is okay.”
“It can’t be too bad. You’ve been on the ship for three years.”
“Well, I have enjoyed it. But this is my last cruise. My parents are getting old. They need me. Besides, I do not like traveling all the time.”
He tried to hide his disappointment. “I understand. I’m not sure I want to travel all the time. I had enough of that in the Navy.”
They were interrupted by Matthew’s brother-in-law. “Hey, Matthew. I’ve been looking all over for you. We’re having a little gathering at the club. Why don’t you come?”
“Okay. I’ll be there in a bit.” Matthew turned to Su Li. “Would you like to join us?”
“I appreciate the invitation, but I cannot.”
“Maybe next time. Have a good evening.”
She nodded. Su Li watched him as he left with Jeff. It was the first time in years that someone had evoked her sense of humor. How had he done that?
APRIL 19TH –DAY 17
Su Li woke before the alarm went off. She shut it off before it could ring, and got out of bed.
Her reflection stared at her from the bathroom mirror. She studied it and searched for the telltale gray that told all women they were no longer young. She wasn’t old, she knew. Her father was thirty years older than she was, and he was in excellent health.
She had time for a walk before breakfast. She headed toward the stern of the ship, approached the rail and looked down into the water.
“Good morning.”
Startled, she looked up. Matthew was standing a little to her left. She couldn’t help glancing at his hand. The ring was gone.
“Good morning.”
She turned her attention to the churning water. The propellers kicked up droplets of water, tiny diamonds, reflecting the colors of the rainbow against a backdrop of pure white, streaked with azure.
“It is so beautiful!” Su Li articulated every syllable, her voice pleasantly melodic.
“Yes.” He didn’t look up.
“You must be very early today. I have not seen you here before.”
“I woke up early and decided to take a walk and ended up here.” He turned toward her and leaned on the railing.
“I come here every morning. It is very peaceful. A good way to start the day.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Have you decided about the job Captain Klein has offered?”
“No. I’m not sure what to do.”
“It is a big change.”
“Yes. I’m not sure I want to live on a ship again. There doesn’t seem to be much privacy.”
“It is not so bad. I have a very nice cabin. And the Chief Engineer’s cabin is much nicer. Besides, we can take time off now and then when we are in port.”
“Hmm.” He was quiet for a moment. What would life be like on the ship, especially if she were on it? But this was her last tour. “You didn’t seem so enthusiastic about it last night.” He was repeating himself, and he struggled to think of something to say to keep her from leaving. “What made you take a job like this?”
He stared into her eyes. Wrenching his attention away from them, he focused on her lips as she talked. He felt a strong urge to kiss them.
“My father suggested it. He felt that it would be good for me.” She hesitated for a moment, and he remembered what Klein had told him about her second husband. She continued, “and it has been. But now it is time to go home.” She looked at her watch. “I must go; must eat breakfast; then go to work. Have a nice day.”
“You, too.” Come on, Matthew. Ask her to join you. She turned and walked away, and it was too late.
He watched her for a moment, then turned back toward the rail and stared into the water. He’d loved the sea when he was in the Navy. Would he love it as much now?
And, Klein was a good friend.
Their friendship had started almost twenty-five years ago, when a disappointed young lieutenant had been assigned to a ship in the Mediterranean instead of the Far East. Klein had come to his rescue. They’d had a lot of great times together, until Matthew had been assigned to the USS Forrestal. He was finally going to the Far East.
His elation was short lived, however. The Forrestal was in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of Vietnam, preparing an aircraft for a mission, when one of the rocke
ts on the aircraft went off and struck another plane.
Matthew suddenly was back there again.
“Fire on deck! Fire on deck!” boomed the PA system.
Already on deck, Matthew shouted “Get the hoses over here. Move it! Move it!” Men scrambled toward the blazing aircraft with extinguishers, while others strung out fire hoses. They almost had the fire under control, and then a bomb on the plane exploded.
The explosion ruptured the flight deck, burning fuel spilled into the lower decks and burst into flames. Bombs, missile warheads, and rockets detonated throughout the ship.
Matthew shouted to a man carrying a fire extinguisher. “Chief! We’ve got armed aircraft on the flight deck and in the hanger deck. If they go up, we’ve had it. We have to push them off the deck.” The man dropped the extinguisher and shouted to several men who followed him to one of the planes.
A sailor, hardly more than a boy, stood frozen to the deck. Matthew pushed him toward a plane several men were trying to push off the deck. “Get over there and help those men!” The young man stumbled to help. Matthew turned toward another plane that was dangerously close to the fire.
The plane behind him exploded, and he was thrown to the deck. He struggled to his feet and looked back at the ball of fire. The young man was gone. There was no time to think about him. Ignoring the stabbing pain in his side, Matthew raced to help the other sailors. “Come on! Push!”
Another bomb went off. The explosion injured a number of men; one was Ron Jefferson. Despite his injuries and the pain, he helped Matthew pull men out of the flaming inferno. His strength didn’t give out until everyone was safe. Then he collapsed. Matthew pulled him to safety.
One hundred thirty-four men died in the conflagration. One hundred sixty-one others were wounded. Many had lost comrades. The echoes of the screams and the faces of the men Matthew had ordered to their deaths haunted his dreams for years.
Matthew suffered no more than a couple of bruises and a small flesh wound from the shrapnel. The dreams that bothered him almost every night thereafter hurt more than the wounds.
But for Ron, who had two broken ribs, the psychological suffering was much worse. He couldn’t put the episode behind him; he lived it over and over, day after day. Yet, Matthew, impressed with his determination and spirit, encouraged him. Through the following years, they maintained close contact.
The Navy kept Ron on, despite his psychological problems. He was an expert machinist and a brilliant design engineer. He was instrumental in implementing state of the art control systems on some of the Navy’s newest ships, but he had never gone to sea again. This cruise was his first in many years.
After his release from the hospital, Matthew went to Hong Kong on R&R, where he met Chin Lee Tong, or Tong Chin Lee, as he was called then. That brief meeting resulted in a close friendship which had lasted for the past twenty-five years.
Matthew left active duty and started an electrical firm, which did well. Since he still was a captain in the reserves, he was occasionally called on to work on special assignment. And some of the odd jobs he did every now and then for Mr. Tong paid well.
Then, suddenly, Kathy had died. One second, she was walking beside him after a meal at a nice restaurant; the next, she was lying on the street. None of his training and experience had been able to save her. The mysterious shooter had disappeared as rapidly as he had appeared. Matthew hadn’t even felt the bullet that had pierced his shoulder and struck her. The only memory he had of the event was the look of surprise on his wife’s face as she fell to the ground.
As on the Forrestal, Matthew suffered only a flesh wound. He was in and out of the hospital in one day. His children stayed with him for a few days after the funeral, but they were married, with responsibilities and children of their own. They returned to their lives and he was left alone.
Although he didn’t need the money, Matthew buried himself in the work at his electrical firm. It helped him cope with the dreams that had started again. His life lacked direction; without goals and with no idea of what he wanted. That was the real reason he had joined with Marie and Jeff on the cruise. Deep inside, he knew they were right. Maybe this trip would help him sort that out.