Sea Strike

57

There was another mission waiting for the replacement CSR helo: medevac for the Cunningham’s wounded. With the helipad still blocked by the wreckage of Retainer Zero One, the four more critical cases had to be lifted by sling stretcher up to the Oceanhawk as it hovered over the forward replenishment point.

Doc Golden had accompanied his patients topside to supervise the transfer. Now he gave the deck controller the all clear for departure.

Nodding a response, the controller passed the word to the helo pilot with a sweep of his wands. The SH-60 dipped its nose down and pulled away into the lightening sky.

Golden took a deep breath, letting it trickle out from between his lips. One more immediate job left. He picked his medical bag up from the deck and started back toward the superstructure, past his colleagues in the damage-control teams who were tending to the ship’s wounds.

Up on the battered bridge, Ken Hiro slouched tiredly in the captain’s chair. Things were coming back together again here as well. Electrician’s mates were replacing damaged telescreens and systems modules. There was only going to be so much that the crew would be able to do, however. The Duke was going to need a long stretch in the yards before she could be pronounced fully healed.

“We’ve got all of the bad cases on their way, sir,” Golden reported.

“How about the aircrew, Doc? I didn’t see you loading them.”

“We’re going to be hanging on to them for a little while,” Golden replied. “The docs over at Task Hag concur with me that they have no critical trauma that requires any immediate heroic treatment. Bouncing them around in a hoist basket isn’t probably the best thing in the world for them either.” The physician rubbed his tired eyes. “We’ll let them stabilize a little more and move ‘out after we get the helipad clear.”

The Duke’s exec nodded. “Good enough.”

“Speaking of helicopters, what’s the word on Zero Two?”

“They recovered safely aboard the Antietam. The Annie is enroute to rendezvous with us now. We’ll have Lieutenant Delany and her S.O. back aboard in time for lunch.”

“Glad to hear it, sir. Especially that part about the rendezvous.”

Golden leaned against the side of the captain’s chair and peered out at the horizon. “Things are a little bit lonely out here to suit me just now.”

“Not really, Doc. The Antietam already has us under their Aegis screen, and straight up at about thirty thousand feet, we’ve got half a squadron of Super Hornets flying top cover for us. It’s all over, Doc.”

“Not quite. Do you know where the Captain is, Commander?”

“Wardroom.”

“Thanks.”

There were three of them there: the Intel, alert and radiating a near hostility, like a small and wary watchdog; the helo pilot, sprawled back on the couch, his eyes closed and his flight gear stacked on the deck at his feet; and the Captain, sitting upright in one of the lounge chairs, a mug of tea cradled forgotten in her hand.

Golden crossed the compartment and knelt down beside the chair. Taking cotton and disinfectant from his bag, he began to clean the encrusted cuts and scratches on her face and forearms.

Amanda didn’t seem to notice until she felt the first sting of the alcohol-soaked swab. “I’m all right, Doctor,” she said, jerking her head aside. “See to the crew … “

“Don’t worry, Captain. You’re the last one. All wounded have been treated and have either been medevaced out to the carrier or are resting comfortably. Now, shut up, if you please, and let me do my job.”

She accepted his touch and treatment then, sitting quietly as he worked. “How many wounded?” she asked after a few moments.

“Ten. All either on the bridge or in the ammunition handling compartment under the forward Oto Melara. Four of them are serious, but in my judgment, all of them will recover.”

Captain Garrett nodded again, slipping back into her state of somnolent, postmission neutrality.

“Hey, Doc.” Arkady’s eyes were open now, and fixed on the auburn-haired woman seated across from him. “Do you think that it might be a good idea for the Captain to have something to help her sleep?”

“Sounds like a winner to me,” Golden replied, applying a bandage to a cleaned cut on Amanda’s forearm.

“No … Lieutenant.” Captain Garrett shook her head emphatically. “I’m all right. I need to stay clear for a while longer. I’m all right.”

“Your choice, ma’am,” Golden said judgmentally. “However, in my professional opinion, you’re probably going to keel over on your own here presently.”

“I know, Doc. I’ve been here before. I can feel it coming. I’ve just got to get some things cleaned up … Doc, did we lose anyone?”

“One killed in action, Captain. In the ammunition-handling room.”

“Who?”

“Seaman Langdon. One of the new people we took on board at Pearl.”

“I never did get a chance to talk with him,” she almost whispered.

Golden finished and began to stow away his first-aid materials. “Just cuts and bruises, Captain. Nothing major. But I do advise that you get some rest.”

“I will, Doctor. I had to do it … ”

The slight rise in her voice drew the attention of them all.

Arkady sat forward on the couch, and Christine Rendino took a quick step forward. Amanda Garrett’s eyes refocused on the real world and she looked around at each of them.

“I couldn’t leave them out there!” Her words were a plea for understanding. “I put the ship at risk. I got our people injured. I got one of them killed. But I just couldn’t leave them out there. I guess it doesn’t make much sense … “

“It makes perfect sense to me,” Golden replied quietly, “and I expect it does to Mr. Arkady here, and Miss. Rendino, and just about every other man and woman aboard this ship as well.”

He rocked back on his heels, thinking carefully for a moment. He was prescribing for a patient just now.

“Captain, I am not a real military officer. I can’t do what you do, or make the kind of decisions you make. Nor, speaking frankly, would I want to. However, as a doctor. I do have a certain nodding acquaintance with matters of mortality.

“Last night, it cost you one life to get two back. That’s a rather tragic kind of mathematics. However, that still puts you one up on death. And anytime you can manage that, Captain, you are doing pretty damn good.”