The Old Order Changeth

By: CindyR

"Psst. Hey, Chief, you awake?"

Chief Petty Officer Francis Sharkey slowly opened his eyes in time to see two men clandestinely slipping past the 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign posted on the door of his hospital room, Kowalski, is that you?" though who else would it be/

Kowalski, grinning like a Cheshire cat, quietly shut the door and glided to Sharkey's side. "How ya feelin', Chief?"

Sharkey shrugged, "l'm fine -- a lousy broken leg ain't gonna hold me down for long." He shifted slightly, in an attempt to find a comfortable position, but succeeded only in spilling blanket and pillows onto the floor.

Patterson hastily reached for the pillows. "Take it easy there, Chief," he said, fluffing. "That's a pretty bad break. You were in shock for a whole day."

Sharkey waved a hand. "Hey, I'm fine. Doc says I'll be out of here in a couple days - be back aboard Seaview before you goldbricks even miss me."

"Sure you will, Chief," his visitors agreed.

"Hey, how's my ..,uh ..replacement doing? Giving you guys any trouble?"

Patterson shook his head. "Curly? Nah. Compared to you, he's a real pussycat."

Sharkey grimaced. "A what?"

"Sure, Chief," Pat deadpanned. "A pussycat - two hundred fifty pounds of big, mean pussycat."

"Hey, that's wild, man!" Kowalski, who had been interestedly reading the signatures, well-wishes and assorted graffiti scribbled across Sharkey's cast, bent to take a closer look. "Hey, Pat, look here. That has to be the kinkiest thing I've ever heard!"

Patterson eased the Chief down onto the marginally thicker pillows before joining Kowalski. "What've you got, Ski?"

"It's not what I got," Kowalski smirked. "It'swhat the Chief's gonna get! Look at that!"

Patterson followed the other's pointing finger. "There was a young lady from..." he read, then stopped. "Oh wow!"

Sharkey blushed. "Come on, you guys - that's only Lola's way of saying.. .uh,.. get well quick."

Kowalski whistled, "With Incentive like that, I'd get well yesterday"

"l'm working on it, kid, I'm working on It!"

He sounded so earnest that Kowalski burst out laughing, "l'llI bet you are!" He perched on the bed, leaning closer with a distinctly conspiratorial air. "Hey, Chief."

"Hey, what?" Sharkey's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You're up to something, Kowalski. I can smell it. What's goin' on?"

Kowalski and Patterson exchanged a mischievous look, then Ski cleared his throat, "I've got some dope on Seaview's new skipper."

"You--" Sharkey sat up a little straighter. "You guys are putting me on, right?"

"Straight dope, Chief," Pat said, sitting on Sharkey's other side. "Riley's dating this chick In Personnel, and..."

"And we got. ..kind of an unofficial copy of the new Captain's security file," Kowalski finished.

Sharkey nearly came off the bed. "Are you guys crazy? That information's supposed to be confidential! I'll bet It's even got a Top Secret classification, don't It?"

Kowalski wiggled uncomfortably, Well...yeah."

"Do you two screwballs know the penalty for being in possession of that kind of Info?" Sharkey demanded. He waved his hands wildly, aptly Illustrating the dire fate In store for anyone so foolish as to take the chance.

Patterson took the hint. "Well, If you don't want to know about the new skipper..." he began, edging off the bed.

Sharkey grasped his arm. "Of course I want to know, you Idiot! Anyone who's gonna try and take over Seaview from Captain Phillips-"

"May he rest in peace," Patterson muttered devoutly.

"- uh, right... well, I wanna know about him, that's all," Sharkey finished.

Kowalski peered around the room as though every shadow light conceal a spy, then pulled several tattered sheets of paper from one pocket. "Check this out, Sharkey. His name's Lee Crane and he's supposed to be some kind of hotshot boy wonder - Annapolis, in and out of Naval Intelligence, that sort of thing."

"What are you talking about, Ski?" Sharkey growled, making an unsuccessful snatch at the faded photocopy.

"He means," Patterson broke in, "This guy gets out of Annapolis, hops around with ONI for a while, then gets his own command - all before he even hits three-oh."

"Holy cats!" Sharkey shuddered- "That's just what we need -- some hot dog kid running Seaview into the ground. You guys know the saying about green officers and matches? And us ridin' around in the biggest match this old earth's ever seen."

"Don't jump to conclusions, Chief," Patterson admonished, "Just because he made full Commander young doesn't mean he doesn't have experience."

"He's a year younger than me," Kowalski grumbled, disgusted.

Sharkey patted his cheek. "And Kowalski's barely shaving as it is," he gibed. "Soft as a baby's behind."

"Oh, come on, Chief!" Ski grinned at the good-natured exaggeration. "Just because you're gettin' old and decrepit--"

"Old! I'll show you old, sailor..." Sharkey made a grab for Kowalski's throat, but was hampered by the heavy cast on his leg.

Kowalski danced gracefully out of range. "Slowing down a bit. Chief?" he taunted from several feet away.

"So help me, Ski..." Sharkey waved a pillow threateningly. "When I get my hands on you..."

"Shhh! Quiet, you twol" Patterson hushed them quickly. "If that big nurse catches us again, we're goners." They all froze, listening intently for the tread of heavy feet, but heard nothing more threatening then a passing wheelchair.

"All right, all right." Sharkey said after a moment. He allowed Patterson to replace the newly-scrunched pillow. "So, this kid's gonna captain Seaview, huh? Well, it is the Admiral's decision, ya know."

"I don't like it, Chief," Kowalski told him, scuffing the toe of his deckshoe across the highly-polished floor. "There ain't no way this Crane guy is gonna take over for the old Skipper. Not in my book."

"That's the way we all feel about it, Chief," Patterson added. "Not that the Admiral's gonna listen to us. If Captain Phillips was still alive..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's not talk about Captain Phillips, okay?" Sharkey interrupted curtly.

"Sure, Chief," Patterson said, patting his arm sympathetically. "It's tough to lose a buddy."

"Yeah." Momentarily lost in thought, Sharkey plucked at a thread on the coverlet.

"Don't you wanna know what else we got on this guy?" Kowalski asked, forgetting caution and returning to his seat on the bed.

Sharkey looked up. "You mean there's more?"

"Sure. For example, did you know," Kowalski asked, knowing that Sharkey didn't, "that this Crane went to the Academy with our very own Exec?"

The older man pricked up his ears. "Mr. Morton knows the new captain?"

"Yep." Kowalski smiled smugly In his superior knowledge. "Seems they were In the same class, roommates, even - the whole megillah."

"I heard," Pat interrupted, "that's where the Admiral first met him - and he's been keeping him in mind to captain Seaview ever since."

"That's a crock of bull and you know It!" Sharkey flared. "Admiral Nelson would'a never replaced Captain Phillips. They been friends since, ..since before the last war."

"Take it easy, Chief!" Pat soothed him again. "I only heard it - a rumor, you know?" Sharkey snorted, annoyed. "A pretty stupid one. If ya want my opinion."

Kowalski decided it was time to recapture control of the discussion. "Anyway, that's when his records just, ..stop."

"Stop?" Sharkey asked.

"Yeah - stop." Kowalski bent close again. "They say this guy started doing spy stuff. Maybe even assassinations."

"Assassinations?" Sharkey echoed Incredulously.

Kowalski nodded. "Or worse."

Sharkey absorbed this for nearly a minute before exploding. "I apologize, Patterson. Kowalski's got the stupidest rumor I've ever heard."

"But Chief..." Kowalski began.

Sharkey cut him off. "I swear," Sharkey ranted, waning to his subject, "if you guys repeat one word - one word - of all this, I'll--"