Gunslinger Bink


Chapter 48: Total Recall

Captains Eddie Dixon, Linda Hale, and Jim Dooley, of the USS Texas, USS San Jacinto and USS Mahan, respectively, were seated in a small outdoor Cafe in Toulon, France, enjoying their day in town. Together, the three captains formed most of the core command group for Battleship Strike Group-1. Eddie was the group's Surface Warfare Commander, Linda was the Air Warfare commander, and Dooley was the group's Undersea Warfare commander. But right now, those roles were far from their minds as they sipped at their beverages of choice.

"..so anyway, these Greenpeace guys were trying to stop the Trident test, So they parked their dingy right on top of the sub, next to her periscope. They figured that with them in the way, the Navy wouldn't launch the missile. Well, the countdown continued anyway. And with about 30 seconds left to go on the clock, another periscope popped out of the water on the other side of the battle group, about 1,000 yards from where the protesters were. It looked around, dropped back under the water, and then, FWOOOOSH! The Trident shoots right out of the water, and lights up perfectly, and away she goes! Greenpeace had parked themselves over the wrong sub! They got the attack sub, not the boomer! Boy, were they mad!", the cougar laughed.

The two foxes chuckled. Dooley had been entertaining them with funny stories all afternoon. Now it was Eddie's turn.

Jim asks, "What about you, Dixon? You've been around enough, you oughta have some good ones!"

"Well, about ten years ago, I was a navigation officer on the Enterprise. We had one of the catapults on the bow replaced and we had to test it. Well, the CAG, good ol' Tom Evans, had this old clunker of a Ford Falcon that he wanted to get rid of. So he figured he'd ditch the car and test the cat at the same time. Made a big show out of it, too! Half the ship was out there. Man, Evans fired that baby right off the end of the Big E! You should have seen her fly! And she made quite a splash when she landed, too!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

The threesome were still chuckling when the waiter came up.

Waiter asks, "And 'ow are we doing here?"

"We're doing just fine, thank you.", Linda says.

Waiter asks, "How is your drink, Mousier?"

"I could use a top-off, thank you, sir!", Dooley says.

The waiter turned to Eddie.

Waiter asks, "Would Mousier Renard like another drink? One for the lady-friend, per'haps?"

Eddie choked on his water and spat it across the table, while Dooley roared with laughter. Linda giggled when Eddie blushed, which made Dooley guffaw even louder.

Waiter asks, "Is there something ze matter?"

"Ah-actually, she's a friend... A co-worker... A fellow captain...", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

"Le non, lui et moi ne sont pas des amoureux. Collegues justes.", Linda says.

[[No, he and I are not lovers. Just colleagues.]]

Waiter asks, "Ah! Parlez vous français ?"

[[Ah! You speak French?]]

"Oui. Capitaine Dixon ici peut etre un officier naval experimente et capable, commandant un cuirasse, mais il sait peu des manieres de l'amour.", Linda smiled says.

[[Captain Dixon here may be an experienced and capable naval officer, commanding a battleship, but he knows little of the ways of love.]]

At this the waiter threw his head back and laughed long and hard. He was still laughing as he walked away.

Captain S. W. Eddie asks, "What'd you SAY to him?"

"Oh, I simply explained to him that he was mistaken.", Linda says.

"Hmmph. Showoff.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Dooley was still chuckling. Eddie looked over at the waiter. He was at the front counter, talking with other members of the wait staff and gesturing in the direction of the three officers. The wait staff laughed, and Eddie sank lower in his chair.

"Linda, one of these days I'm gonna find out what you said. And then I'm gonna get you for it.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Linda smiled sweetly in reply and sipped at her drink. Dooley chuckled again.

Suddenly Linda jumped in her chair.

"I'm vibrating! ", Linda says.

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her cell phone, which was vibrating away.

"I forgot I had it on silent! Captain Linda Hale speaking.", answering the call, Linda says.

Eddie's phone went off, too. So did Captain Dooley's.

"Dixon here.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

"Officer of the Watch reporting, sir. Command just sent us a packet that you need to see immediately. They also ordered us to terminate our port call and get underway as soon as possible.", Officer of the Watch says.

"Alright, I'll be right there.", Eddie muttered several choice expletives says.

He put his phone away and turned to the other two captains.

Dooley asks, "You've gotta go, to?"

"Yes.", Linda says.

"Yup. ASAP. Get the ships ready to move.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Eddie pulled out a wad of cash and stuffed it under his glass.

"Let's go!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

The waiter came running after them.

"Mousier! Your bill!", Waiter says.

"There's money on the table! Keep the change!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Eddie then took off down the street. Linda had already flagged down a cab, and the three captains piled in.

"Driver! Take us down to the docks! Fast!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

The driver made a gesture indicating he didn't understand.

"Linda! Use that wonderful French of yours, please!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

"Le conducteur, nous portent vers le bas au pilier de marine. Nos bateaux sont attachés là. Et hâte svp, nous devons revenir à nos bateaux immédiatement.", Linda says.

[[Driver, take us down to the Navy pier. Our boats are tied up there. And hurry please, we must get back to our ships immediately.]]

The cab driver nodded and then proceeded to get the three captains down to the pier as quickly as he could. When they got there, Eddie handed him a $50 bill.

"That should cover it!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Eddie then sprinted for Texas's launch.

"Sailor, get that launch started ASAP!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

"Yes sir!", Sailor says.

Within minutes, the launch was underway and heading back to the huge battleship. Captain Dooley and Captain Hale were also on their way to their ships. Another fifteen minutes after that, and Captain Dixon was sprinting up the ladder that led to Texas's deck. After two more minutes, the fox was in the wheelhouse, heading back into the armored conning tower.

"Radio, I hear there's an urgent message for me, ", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Eddie huffed and puffed as he spoke. All the running had taken a toll on him, and though he was in good shape, he was not as young as he used to be.

The radioman saluted, handing Eddie an envelope.

"Sir, It just came in from the boys down in BBIC [Battleship Intelligence Center, center for intel processing in the BBBG]", Radioman says.

Eddie tore it open and pulled out the message contained within.

TO CO USS TEXAS BB71. SCSG-13 CV-6 ENTERPRISE REPORTS ENGAGING HOSTILE AIRCRAFT. OPERATIVES IN ITALY POSSIBLY COMPROMISED. SOME OPERATIVES EVACUATED TO CV-6. REPORT RECEIVED VIA CENTINTEL. NAVSOC DIRECTS BSG-1 BBBG 2TX38 TO STATION OFF GEONA FOR SUPPORT/RESCUE/ASSISTANCE OF OPERATIVES AND REINFORCEMENT OF SCSG-13. LANTFLEETCOM WILL SEND FURTHER ORDERS. CSG-7 WILL PROVIDE REINFORCEMENT AND AIR SUPPORT. BSG-1 WILL PROVIDE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE TO SCSG-13 CV-6. PROCEED WITH ALL DUE SPEED AT WARCON 3.

Eddie nodded as he read the message. He stuffed it into his pocket and strode back out into the wheelhouse.

"Officer of the Watch!", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

Officer of the Watch asks, "Yes, sir?"

"Initiate a recall of all the men ashore. Prepare the ship to weigh anchor and leave port immediately. Bring her to watertight condition Yoke.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

The OOW nodded, and set about giving orders to bring the ship ready to leave port.

"Blow the ship's horn to bring all hands back to the ship. Use the choppers if it'll get them back faster.", Captain S. W. Eddie says.

The gigantic battleship's horn was sounded. It bellowed out with an earsplitting moan that could be heard for miles. All around the city of Toulon, sailors of the US Navy perked up when they heard the blasts. The citizens of the city watched in bewilderment as sailors dropped whatever they were doing and rushed out of shops, establishments, and restaurants.

Soon enough, all were scurrying down to the Navy piers as fast as they could. They had all been briefed that this may happen. Every launch available from the battle-group went out to meet them and bring them back aboard. SH-60 Sea Hawks from the Texas, San Jacinto and the destroyers landed at the piers to pick up sailors. A prearranged coded signal-made up of letters from the international flag alphabet-was flown from the Texas's masts. The code informed the returning sailors that the ships were preparing to set sail and leave port, and would do so under wartime operating practices.

Amazingly, it took less than an hour to get all of the crews back. The destroyer USS Mahan was the first to weigh anchor and get underway. She led the San Jacinto out, who was followed by Texas herself. The destroyers USS Roosevelt and USS Churchill flanked the battleship astern. As soon as the battle group was clear of the harbor and into open waters, they turned northeastward and pushed their engines ahead to flank speed. Straining her engines, Texas could make 31-32 knots. With her escorts barely able to keep up, she would reach her assigned station in a little over four and a half hours.