Reboot
Chapter 50

I spent my days training and planning, and my nights with Joanna. She was a smart, witty, exciting and beautiful woman who was passionate about her work and fighting for what was right, and me. At first, I had tried not to get too attached, but it was impossible and I happily gave up resistance. I had no idea what would happen after we reached port. I didn’t even know where we were going yet. Dutch and William were discussing that with the captain and Sark. I’d already told them what I thought and had nothing to add. So I got lost in Joanna’s arms. I showed up all beat up most days. She massaged, and bandaged me. Carefully. Lovingly.

“Where do you think you should go first?” she asked me one hot and humid evening. We were wearing just the bare necessities. She looked incredible in white shorts and a loose fitting men’s t-shirt. The ones that have no arms. That t-shirt teased me to no end by flashing the softest parts of her when she moved a certain way, which she did lasciviously.

“Mmmmmm?”

“Where?” She giggled, perfectly aware that my focus was erratic.

“Oh. Yes, well, we think they’ll send people looking for me. Probably one person per dock all over the coast. So I think we should fly in. Low. Go to a small town inland. We’re trying to decide which town now. I let them decide. What will you do?” It was the first time we discussed the future. We both knew she couldn’t come with me. I felt it was too dangerous and she felt a duty to her ship. It was a big dead grey weight between us.

“We might stay with the ship. I have a meeting with the captain later today to discuss it. We have a few choices. Some want to scuttle it and go ashore, others want to hide it, and another option, the one I like, is to stay afloat as long as possible and see if we can help.”

“Help who?”

“Help you. Twit.”

“Me? Help me? How?”

She was sitting at my desk playing with some papers there. I sat on the floor next to her massaging her feet, which was successfully disrupting her work. She let her head drop to the desk and moaned, giving up on the work. “You’re going to start something over there. Something that will certainly get nasty. I’ll suggest to the captain that we remain on alert and see if we can be of assistance, Mr. Morgan-Robert Morgan. You never know.”

“Wow. I like the sound of that. But what about fuel?”

“That’s the main problem. We’re working on that now too. We can’t refine any more, not yet anyway and the stuff that was stored is only good for about a year. So most of it is finished by now.”

“Other sources maybe? Allies?”

“That’s what we’re looking at now.”

“There’s no money. What would they ask for?

“No idea. Land? Favors? I think other countries will be scrambling to get themselves a spot higher up on the ladder. And we certainly don’t have much to bargain with. Also, no one will trade with us while the current administration has a say. No one legit anyway, so we’re looking into more creative solutions.” She gave me a gorgeous sleepy smile. I stood up and covered that smile with my own. We fell asleep spooning. My arm was over her waist and she was sandwiching my hand with both of hers. My face was lost in that beautiful fiery hair. She played with my hands..

“I like your hands,” she hummed.

“They’re hands,” I answered stupidly.

“Yeah, but I like them.”

“Why?” She then turned to look at me.

“You don’t know? All women love men’s hands.”

“I didn’t know that.” I stared at my hands. “All women?”

“Yep. Think about it. We can tell everything about you by looking at your hands.” She held mine up so I could see what she sees.

“I can tell if you’re a farmer or a lawyer, if you like to work with your hands, if you’re physically strong, confident or an intellectual or an artist.” She smiled.

“Look, see this? I can tell that you like to touch with your hands…”

And so I did.

_________

The next morning, we both met the others for the now traditional warm up.

I got the obvious smiles from Dutch and William, not mocking; happy for me. Which is how I liked it.

A typical day during these three weeks went like this:

Yoga and Tai Chi for ninety minutes in the morning with the entire crew, followed by breakfast and a short break. Usually I spent that time talking with Johanna. Then, a ten km run around the ship followed by twenty minutes of stretching. At this point, there’s just the three of us. Two hours of boxing training. Break, than a copious lunch. I snuck in a twenty minute nap if possible. The afternoon, we spent training in hand-to-hand and weapons. In the evenings, after dinner, we often spent time around a table brainstorming.

“Eugene? Never been there,” said Dutch.

“Nice town, lots of trees and hills. Population 150 000 before the war. Now of course, I have no idea. Could be more, could be less,” said Chenoweh, “but more importantly, it’s untouched by the war. It’s one of the few places that wasn’t bombed because there’s nothing, well, bomb-worthy there.” He continued after a sip of coffee. “It seems to be one of the safest places. You can bypass the ports and Dutch could fly you in as close as possible and either drop you off or hide the helo and join you.”

“You don’t want it back?” I asked.

“Eventually,” he smiled. “Don’t break it.”

“Can you tell me a bit about that helicopter please?” I asked. I knew absolutely nothing about it.

“Sure. The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter . The Sea Hawk carries a complex system of sensors including a towed Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) and air-launched sonobuoys. It carries the Mk 46, Mk 50, or Mk 54 torpedo, AGM-114 Hellfire missile, and a single cabin-door-mounted GAU-16 .50 in (12.7 mm) machine gun.

The Maximum speed is 146 knots (270 km/h; 168 mph) and the Range is about 450 nmi (518 mi or 834 km) at cruise speed.

It was a nice toy to have.

“How do you intend to get the word out about Mooney?” asked the captain. “If I understand correctly, this is the point of this exercise.”

“Not sure yet. First we’ll go in and take a look, see how it goes. We have to see if there are any working radio stations for example. We need to talk to a few leaders, see what their response is. We can’t just blurt it out, no one will pay any attention to us. One step at a time I think. Word of mouth,” I said. William and Dutch were nodding, not saying anything.

“Makes sense to me. You don’t want to attract too much attention to yourself at first.” Chenoweh answered. “I suggest you refrain from staying too long in one place. You’ll be a target, so might as well make it a moving one.”

______________

One evening, after dinner, Dutch and William weren’t at the meeting. It wasn’t a big deal since we’d already pretty much decided what to do, but it was unusual. I found them at our spot, sitting on the edge of the boat on the starboard side. Drunk. They’d gotten to the turpentine.

“Dere ’e iiis. Welcome Robert, join us,” attempted William, slurring his words magnificently. I sat in the middle. I stomached a shot. I cringed and blurted out:

“You guys think this is wise on a boat? That stuff could melt through the hull, we could sink.”

“Not on a boat, not with a goat,” answered Dutch. Could you, would you on a train?” He aimed a bleary smile at William.

“We should not drink it here nor there, we should not drink it anywhere,” said

William. “Robert, have a drink.”

“How long have you been here?”

“No idea,” said William.

“Just a few minutes. A few many minutes.”

I laughed, I snorted actually. Stiller’s booze came out of my nose melting every little hair in there on its way out.

“Anyway, that’s the last of it so…” Dutch said sadly. “Might as well enjoy it. That Hooligan’s a genius”.

“I’m gonna miss him,” I said.

“Miss who?” he asked.

“Hoolihan!” I said

“Hoolihan who?”

“Are we on the ocean?” asked William. “Seems to me the ground is moving a tad.”

“You’re ’allucinaning,” added Dutch.

“Where are we then? And how do you know my nanny?” William asked.

“I’m not even here,” answered Dutch.

“Me neither,” I chimed in.

“GARÇON!” Screamed William. Both me n Dutch got the giggles and rolled on the ground.

“Well good. If you’re not here, I can tell you what I really think of you,” said William, as he took dodgy aim at me with his eyes.

“Oh oooh..!” said Dutch.

“Yer a good kid, Rupert. It’s been my priviblidge to meet you. Your mother and I think you’ll go far and we’re proud of you. Isn’t that right darlin’?”

“Absolutely sweet cheeks,” answered his partner. “Now lets go fer a swim.”

“Sure. You first.”

I only had one shot and it was enough to make me tipsy. I thought I’d better leave those two alone and I went back to Joanna. Last thing I heard as I walked away was:

“Let’s shoot some triigggets.”

“Ok.”

“You first.” Giggles…

We were getting close. Two more days. I was in the best shape of my life, excited and ready for anything.