Richard Castle and the USS Santa Barbara
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Except for the true parts, this is fiction. Rating: K, mostly. Time: The turn of the 20th Century.
Marine National Ship Rafale.
The Red River, Tonkin
April 24, 1899.
The Rafale chugged slowly up the river towards Davidson's village, hoping that the noise of the engines and the sight of the smoke would not give away their approach.
"How far are we, Ananada?" Castle asked.
"Two miles by the river, but less than a mile as the crow flies. The closer we get the more likely that his people will see us or hear us."
"Should we speed up?"
Ananada shook his head and checked his pocket watch.
"The attack by the Thai should have started by now. Perhaps…"
He was cut off by a burst of rifle fire from the bank. Luckily, the ship's steel plates held, and no one was killed.
"We'll have to do this by ourselves." Castle yelled. "Full speed ahead and return fire."
The last order was unnecessary as the guns and rifles were sending a hail of shells and bullets into the jungle.
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire got much louder.
"That's not Davidson's men." Cried Lieutenant Smith. "It's Captain Juin and his men."
"Orlovsky!" Castle yelled. "You know your orders?"
"Aye aye, sahr. Keep Miss Beckett safe."
"Castle…" She began.
"Kate, get down behind the steel plates and the boiler. That's an order."
The Rafale came around a bend in the river and saw Davidson's village. They also saw a few of his men jumping into sampans, trying to get away.
"Open fire. Stop them." Potter yelled.
The men in the boats were cut down.
For a few moments, they had no one to fire at. Then a mass of men, and some women, came running through the village, headed for the boats. The crew of the Rafale opened fire, but there were just too many of them to stop before they reached the boats.
Castle stood in the bow, trying to direct fire wherever he saw bandits.
"To the port!" he screamed over the sound of the firing. "Some of them are almost across the river."
The machine gun cut the men down and then searched for other targets. The 90mm guns worked over the village while the pom poms shot up anything that floated. It took no more than one 37mm pom pom shell to destroy any of the boats, and the men, and the occasional woman, in them. The riflemen took aim at individuals. One after another the bandits were shot and sank under the water.
"Cease fire!" Yelled Mr. Ananada. "There are men with white headbands in the village. Those are Captain Juin's men."
Castle took up the cry.
"Don't fire into the village."
Suddenly, Castle saw a small knot of men, backing towards the pier, firing their rifles at the oncoming Thais. Castle recognized their tall, Caucasian leader. It was Davidson. He took careful aim with his own rifle and fired, but at the last second, one of Davidson's men moved between them and was killed. Davidson turned around and spotted Castle. Both men worked the bolts of their rifles. Castle found, to his horror, that his rifle was empty. He didn't have the time to grab another clip. He saw Davidson stop and take careful aim at him. Then a rifle was fired right by Castle's head. Davidson staggered, then fell to the ground.
With his ears ringing, Castle turned to thank whoever had saved him. It was Kate.
"I thought I told you to take cover? Where's Orlovsky?"
"He got hit. A ricochet, I believe, but he has a concussion, I'm pretty sure. I should check him out."
Kate turned back to Orlovsky who was sitting by the boiler, holding his head.
"Remind me never to get you angry at me." He called to her.
"I don't think you'd ever get me that angry." She blew him a kiss.
A wave of Thais swept over the bandits. Castle ordered his men to cease fire entirely for fear of hitting the Thais. It was all over in minutes. The Thais showed no mercy to the bandits.
Castle brought the Rafale to the pier. He went ashore with Mr. Ananada who spoke to the Thais.
"Lieutenant Castle, they say that most of the bandits are dead, but Captain Juin is chasing a small group. He might not be back for a while. However, they have recovered about half of your rifles. The rest I fear are at the bottom of the river." He handed Castle a gun belt with his own Colt automatic pistol, spare clips and loose cartridges. "They found this on Davidson's corpse."
"I hope it's all right with Captain Juin if we keep a few French rifles? We still have to go down river."
Mr. Ananada smiled.
"Of course. Take as many as you need. Will you stay for the victory celebration?"
Castle shook his head.
"I need to get back to Manila, but I will take Davidson's corpse back to the French."
US Naval Headquarters
Manila, Territory of the Philippines.
May 5, 1899
"Lieutenant Richard Castle, reporting as ordered, sir." Castle said and saluted.
Captain Waller returned the salute.
"Please, sit down, young man. Do sit." He turned away for a moment. "Higgins, a pitcher of cold lemonade, please."
Castle enjoyed the lemonade as did Waller. Finally, Waller spoke.
"I'll read your official reports later, my boy. We've already heard from the British at Hong Kong about your activities against the pirates and from the French about your trip up river. My! These underseas cables are wonderful. There were a few back in the day, but my, what we could have done with what they have now. Yes, indeed."
"I hope my reports meet with your approval, sir." Caste said carefully. He wasn't too sure how his activities would be viewed in Washington.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Oh, I should bring you up to date on things here. The remainder of the 31st US Volunteer Infantry Regiment has arrived in the Marviles Archipelago. There's s Lieutenant Colonel Schliester in command. Frightfully keen chap. He's built his own navy out of sailing ships, barges and whatnot. Put artillery and machine guns on them. Raising Billy Hell with the Moros.
Castle's heart sank.
"If there's a lieutenant colonel in the Marviles now, does that mean that the Santa Barbara will go to a more senior officer?"
"What? Relieve the hero of the Battle of San Benito? The man who wrecked a Chinese pirate fleet and saved countless passengers' lives? The man who destroyed a bandit army led by a renegade American? Why the newspapers would be calling for all of our heads, right up to the Secretary of the Navy. Here, look at these."
Waller took some newspapers from his desk and handed them to Castle. The one on top had a larger lithographed picture. He was shocked when he saw the picture and read the captions.
"Sir, this is totally inaccurate. The ship they have me on is huge. In fact, it looks like the USS Brooklyn, an armored cruiser. I went upriver on a very small French gunboat. And I most certainly did not duel with Davidson with swords." Castle looked again. "And the picture of Miss Beckett! Her dress is torn, and you can see almost all of her legs. She'll be furious. Nothing at all like this happened."
"I'm sure nothing did, Captain. But the press does exaggerate, you know." Waller rummaged in his desk again. "By the way, you received a telegram through official channels from New York."
"New York? It must be from my mother, but how did she get access to official channels?"
"It's not from your mother." Waller said.
"You've read it, sir?"
"It was an official communication. Go ahead and read it."
Castle read it and was shocked again.
My dear Captain Castle,
I have been following your career as best as I can since the famous Battle of San Benito. I suspect you were more vital to that action than is generally understood. Your recent actions against Chinese pirates and Tonkinese bandits confirm my view that you are very much a coming man in the US Navy.
I understand that you are, like me, a native of New York. Whenever you return, please do me the honor of meeting with you and your lovely fiancé.
Sincerely yours,
Theodore Roosevelt
Governor of New York
"My God! Colonel Roosevelt would be honored to meet me?" Castle gasped.
"He was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy just before the war and was practically in charge or so they say. I suppose he likes to keep an eye on the Navy."
"Wait! He called Miss Beckett my fiancé?"
Waller nodded.
"The newspapers may have made some assumptions."
"I don't know how Miss Beckett will take this."
"You'll have plenty of time to discuss this on your next assignment."
"Next assignment? Am I going back to the Marviles Archipelago?"
"You're taking the Santa Barbara to Shanghai, China. There is a lot of anti-foreign sentiment in China right now and it's getting violent. The only ships we have there are some old crocks we took over from the Spanish. Not worth much if you ask me. You'll be going with Captain Ryan. He's being sent with his battalion to protect US interests in China. It'll take a while before you can go. I imagine you need some work done on the Santa Barbara, plus you've lost men and will need replacements. It'll take time to assemble Ryan's battalion. There are small groups of Moros all over the archipelago. Ryan's command is broken up into platoon sized groups and are all over the islands."
"When will I discuss things with Miss Beckett?"
"Whenever you wish. She's going with you as your interpreter. That woman has an amazing command of languages. Did you know that?"
Castle just nodded.
When Castle returned to the Santa Barbara, he found Kate sitting at his desk. Open, in front of her, were a bunch of newspapers. She did not look happy.
"You're reading the newspapers?" he asked.
"Captain Waller gave them to me. It seems that there's some confusion in the press about exactly what our relationship is."
"I did not…I mean, Kate, I would never…I had nothing to do….I didn't…" Castle spluttered and ran out of words.
"Oh?" Kate said, glaring at him. "So, apparently our relationship isn't what I thought it was. Perhaps I should go back to teaching and leave you alone."
"What! No! never! That's not what I want at all."
"Since you apparently don't want me to be your fiancé, perhaps you can tell me exactly what you do want in our relationship?"
"We hadn't talked about…Even mentioned…Discussed." Castle stopped and took a deep breath. "Kate, you're the most remarkable woman…No, the most remarkable person I've ever met, and if you'll have me, I want you as my fiancé. Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"
She stood up from the desk and walked over and kissed him. Castle decided that her kisses were far superior to Miss Meredith's kiss.
"I take it that's a yes?" he asked.
"That's a yes. But shouldn't you have a ring to put on my finger?"
"A ring? I mean…I didn't plan…I'll get a ring…"
"You don't have a ring for me?" She said, glaring at him.
"I'll get one as soon as I can. I swear. Please don't be mad at me for not having a ring."
Kate dissolved in giggles.
"Castle, you are so easy to tease."
They kissed again.
"You told Waller you'd go to Shanghai with me?" He asked.
"I could hardly let you go by yourself."
"By my calculations, we should be in Shanghai in a month or so." Rick said.
TBC
Author's Note: To tallcajun (Guest). You're right. The young lad born Vito Andolini had his name changed and became Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather.