Enter The N.U.B.

         It was summer, toward the end of our refit period, when Andrew arrived at the command. He was decked out in his dress Blues, which were still boot camp crisp. His cover was as white as the new fallen snow. Not that it snowed here in Southern Georgia.

         No medals adorned his breast. Neither ribbons nor qualifications were present either. The only items showing who and what he was, was a name tag on the right side of his chest over his pocket and a red eagle with a chevron and tri-foil propeller on his left arm. The chevron signified he was a third class petty officer. The Propeller denoted his occupation as a machinist mate.

         Just standing there, he looked like the new guy aboard our submarine, the USS Kentucky.

         What would happen to him in the next few months at this command, he had not a clue, but it would change him in ways that no one could have foreseen, not even me.

         The first time I met him, I thought Andrew was a snob, a cocky little brat, educated, but with no common sense. I would soon find out that I was mistaken. He just had that look about him. He was self-confident to be sure, but he knew where his place was here. I’ll leave it at that for now.

         My name is Daniel Lloyd. I am also a machinist mate third class. My story with Andrew begins here, the day he arrived at the boat. My job was to bring him aboard, and help him get started on his extraordinary, if not short lived, career at this command. My leading petty officer had received word that Andrew was topside. The topside sentry called below decks to the engine room to let him know that the new Machinist Mate was here.

         “Andrew Shapner?” I asked, when I made my way topside. He shook my hand as we greeted. All that he had with him was his order package. I proceeded to escort him below, telling him that technically, he was supposed to be escorted at all times until he received his identification badge, but no one would question it once he was below decks.

         Without waiting for a response, I continued with a barrage of questions myself. Asking where he came from, what schools and where and so forth. Andrew answered every question as if he had been asked them a hundred times before.

         “Originally,” He began, “I am from Illinois, a small town south of Chicago. That is where I lived for my first eighteen years, until I joined the Navy almost two years ago. I went to A-school and Power school down in Orlando. I went to prototype at the Moored Training Ship in Charleston.” He also told me that he had not traveled to very many places outside of Illinois or the couple of cities while in the Navy.

         “Well, my friend.” I began with a laugh. “If you are here to see the world, then you’ve chosen the wrong submarine. The only place that this boat goes is to the bottom, and with luck, back up again. Trident submarines do not normally pull in to foreign ports.”

         Andrew seemed displeased at this information, but said nothing.

         As I have already stated, my job was to get Petty Officer Shapner started with his check-in procedures and show him around the boat. As we started down the spiral staircase to Missile Compartment Upper Level, Andrew was already wide-eyed. At the bottom of the ladder (a term used for any ladder or stairs aboard a naval vessel), he looked up into the gaping hole that we had just accessed.

         “Normally a couple of days before we head out to sea, this and the engine room ladders get pulled and replaced with the escape hatches that are supposed to be there.” I answered his unasked question. “ We have three hatches to allow us access to below decks, this one, which begets the missile compartment, one in the forward compartment located forward of the sail and finally the last in the engine room aft of us.” I started to turn when I remembered to add, “The is also a hatch in the bridge, but it is for surface operations only. There is no ladder outside the hull to get up or down.

         Andrew just nodded in understanding. I continued to inform him that he would learn about all these and much more during his Ship’s qualifications. This is a qualification that requires a sailor to know overall ship’s operations as well as damage control.

         “It is one of the first qualifications you will need to complete while underway.” I added.

         Anyway, we began our tour of the boat by going forward, to the bow of the boat. Andrew was in awe of the massive missile tubes in the compartment. I informed him that there were twenty-four tubes total and that there were four levels to this compartment, all of which contained portions of all the missile tubes. I also informed him that the forward compartment also had four levels, while the engine room had only three.

         Andrew did not seem to understand at first, but as we continued along, it became clearer to him. He took in everything I said like gospel. Now, I never claimed to be a smart man, but I did my best to keep our tour short and not too descriptive. He had plenty of time to learn all about the boat in detail, later.

         We went down a ladder and now stood before a watertight door. “There are only three doors like this on the whole boat. This one leads to forward compartment second level, one below us leads to forward compartment third level, and one door that leads to the engine room.”

         Andrew broke out a notepad and began to take notes. I tried to tell him that our tour was going to be brief and that he would learn more during the patrol, but he insisted that he could write as fast as I could talk. And boy could he write.

         We passed through the watertight door and continued our exploration into the forward compartment. I informed that this area was the Officers’ staterooms as well as the Captain and Executive Officer’s quarters. I showed him where the XO and CO slept. The Xo was not around but the skipper was available.

         “Captain Mylod, do you have a minute?” I asked poking my head into the captain’s stateroom.

         “Come on in and let’s talk …” the CO started as I introduced the newest member of the crew to him. The skipper proceeded to ask Andrew all sorts of questions, a lot of which were the same, if not similar, to the ones I had already asked. “So, What do you think of my submarine?” he asked of Andrew.

         “From what I have seen of it, sir, it is quite impressive.” Andrew stated, but I cut in before he could continue and stated that He and I had only just begun the voyage around the boat.

         The captain shook Andrew’s hand again and told us to carry on smartly. As we were to leave the room he added snidely, “I hope you qualify faster than Lloyd there.” He had a broad smile when Andrew and I turned back to look at him.

         Andrew started to answer but again I cut him off. “That wouldn’t be that hard to do, sir.” I smiled back at him with the same goofy smile. Without another word I turned and left, Andrew right on my heels. “He says that to anyone who comes to stateroom, or if he sees you on the deck plates.” I told Andrew when we were out of earshot. “He seems to think that saying stuff like that will make you work harder, or something.”

         Well, we continued on. I showed Andrew the Officers’ three man staterooms and head (bathroom). Next we went up a ladder to the Control room, where as the name would dictate, control of the ship is maintained when we were underway. There was hardly a soul there at that moment, but I assured Andrew that there were plenty of people there when we were underway. Andrew noticed the two holes in the center of the Conn. I told him that that was where the periscopes would be, but they were out for optical alignment or something. Andrew looked down into the thirty feet holes, and then took a step back. Like many others before him, Andrew was not ready for the depth of them the first time he looked.

         Onward we went. Just forward were located sonar and radio. I did not know enough about these two areas to really go into detail about them. I pointed them out, and then continued on aft. Behind Control was the Navigation Center, another place in which I did not go into great detail explaining. Proceeding on, we went down two levels to Forward Compartment Third Level. We stopped in the mess decks and retrieved a drink before going on. I showed him where the officers ate in their wardroom, which was just forward of the galley. Just forward of that I pointed to a door that led to the “Goat Locker”. I informed Andrew that it was where the Chief Petty Officers’ quarters were. Walking aft again, I pointed down a ladder and said, “That leads to Machinery Room One and the Torpedo Room. There is not much to see right now, but you will see it later during the patrol.” Andrew agreed, though to me it looked like he was really interested in seeing torpedoes.

         We continued aft and exited the Forward Compartment into the Missile Compartment. Walking down the long passageway, I showed him where the crew slept. Between the port tubes, nine-man bunkrooms were located along the passage. On the forward end was the crew’s lounge. On the starboard side were located two heads and the crew’s study. I enlightened Andrew to the fact that he would not be allowed to use the crew’s lounge until he was qualified ships. It was an incentive to try and qualify as fast as you could so that you could watch movies before the end of the patrol.

         As we walked on, I told Andrew of the level below us. “It is just like the upper levels,” I said, “Just two rows of tubes along the entire way, although some of our exercise equipment is located down there.

         We came full Circle in Machinery Room Two. “These four levels are connected to the aft end of the Missile Compartment. There are no doors that separate the two spaces.” We went up two sets of ladders and we returned to where we had originally come into the boat.

         “This is like a large maze.” Andrew said in amazement.

         I gave a short laugh, “we haven’t even been to the Engine Room, yet.” Andrew could only shake his head.

         Heading aft again, along the starboard bulkhead, we came upon the final watertight door. This one led to the Engine Room. I told Andrew how this was the only isolation to the Engine Room, “Except to go topside and down through the Engine Room hatch, which would be really hard to do when you are submerged.” I added in a laugh. Andrew did not get the dry joke, so I let it go at that.

         The Engine Room was a maze all unto itself. When we walked along the tunnel beside the compartment that held the reactor, we came out into Engine Room Upper Level. I had already informed Andrew that there were three levels in the Engine Room, each with its own watch station while we were underway, but right now there was only a roving watch in the whole area and two watchstanders in Maneuvering. The Maneuvering area was the control center for the entire Engine Room. As we walked, I showed Andrew the instruments that operate and control the reactor; we passed the panels that supply electrical power to the whole boat. Continuing on, we passed by Maneuvering. Andrew noted how small it was. I told him that there were four watchstanders in the little room while we were underway, one was in control of propulsion, one controlled electrical power, one to operate the reactor and an officer to watch over them other three. Andrew stood in awe at how little room the watchstanders had.

         “That’s nothing.” I informed him. “During drill sets, there could be as many as ten people in that box.” I noted the disbelieving look on Andrew’s face. “I’m not joking, along with the Engineer, they all are simulators for some drills and safety monitors for all drills.”

         “It seems that they would fall over themselves.” Andrew replied incredulously.

         I could only nod at the truism.

         Aft of Maneuvering we passed by the Engine Room hatch. I showed him how we can use the hatch as an escape trunk. “We can only use this if we were less than two-hundred feet deep.” I told him. I continued on before he could ask anything. “They are a political requirement, one to make the civilians happy, knowing that we could get out of a sunken submarine. The only problem is that we rarely operate in waters less than a couple thousand feet. Besides, the boat would crush before we hit the bottom, rendering our little escape hatch useless.”

         Andrew seemed to understand what I was trying to tell him.

         We continued on our little journey aft of the hatch. We took a detour from upper level and headed down into Engine Room middle level. I showed Andrew where we make the water for the entire crew. “This evaporator makes ten thousand gallons of water per day.” I told him. “We use it for make-up water for the reactor, steam plant all cooling systems and our potable water. We also provide water for our oxygen generators.”

         Andrew wrote all the information down as fast as he could write.

         We headed forward. I showed him our motor generators. These five hundred kilowatt machines convert AC power to DC power and vice versa. We saw where we could take samples of water from the reactor coolant system. We also saw other support systems to the reactor.

         We went down another level to Engine Room Forward. I showed him the large pumps that feed water to the steam generators. The hydraulic system that provides high-pressure oil to vital ship’s equipment was located down here also.

         We proceeded aft into Engine Room lower level. In here we found the condensers. These huge units condensed steam exhausted from the steam turbines and turned it back into water. The water was in turn pumped back to the steam generators via the feed pumps we saw in Engine Room Forward. Engine Room Lowe Level was home to the lube oil systems for propulsion machinery. I enlightened Andrew to the fact that this was where he was to stand watch underway. He seemed to know this already.

         We went aft and up another ladder. We ended up in shaft alley, which essentially was Engine Room Middle Level aft. Shaft alley was home of the propulsion system. Andrew got to see where the shaft protruded out from the propulsion turbine gears and headed out through the aft end of the boat to end in the propeller.

         We concluded back in Engine Room Upper Level aft. We came up from Shaft Alley at the aft end of the compartment. I pointed to the Ship’s Turbine generators and the main engines.

         We crossed over to the starboard side of the boat and located the machinery division leading petty officer and chief petty officer. I introduced Andrew to our divisional leaders. They greeted Andrew and said how happy they were to finally have some new blood in the division.

         At this time Petty officer Webber joined the group. He was an old-timer by submarine standards. He had been in the Navy for almost seventeen years. The thing of it was that Webber had spent all of it, besides schooling, here on this boat. He had been there since the boat was commissioned. He knew more than any, the intricacies of operations of the submarine. He was qualified all possible watch stations in the Engine Room, and he qualified all the forward watches too. Not many could claim the accomplishments of MM1/SS Webber. Every person aboard the USS Kentucky had at least some training from Webber. That is, all but the skipper. He would never accept that he had been trained by a lowly petty officer, but we all knew that Webber straightened the captain out on many an issue involving ship’s safety and reactor safety.

         “You must’ve been reading my mind.” Our Chief Petty Officer directed at Webber. “You are going to be Shapner’s Sea Dad.” Webber was to take Andrew under his wing, so to speak, and teach him everything he knew about being a submariner. From the nose cone to screw, Webber was to teach Andrew the systems of the boat and the procedures needed to operate them.

         I thought this a good deal for Andrew, seeing how Webber had a photographic memory and knew more about this submarine than even the Engineers who designed it. He quoted lines from technical manuals like they were bible verse, and with just as much enthusiasm.

         Webber looked Andrew over one time and looked him directly in the eyes. "Any one person on this boat can save it or sink it." He said in a very serious manner. "Even the lowest ranking recruit can save this submarine in a time of need, and even the Captain could sink it by one fatal mistake. You remember that always, and we'll get along fine." Andrew could only nod in agreement.

         After only a short pause, our chief collected himself together and told Andrew that he didn’t want to see him again, until He was completed with his check-in. I took Andrew back up forward to meet the Chief of the Boat and the Executive Officer. He also had to contact others in the command that was part of his check-in. This took Andrew several days to accomplish.

         I had been at the command for one patrol and two refit periods now, so I could help Andrew out with his qualifications as well as Webber. I told him that he needed to get as much done as fast as possible, and what to begin with first. I also gave him a list of items that he would need to bring underway. “I didn’t think I would need so much stuff.” Andrew said. I informed him that he really didn’t need all of it, but in eighty-some-odd days, he would wish that he had brought some hobby or books to bring along. Since we had a couple of weeks yet till underway, he should have plenty of time to get his things in order.

         Andrew thanked me and continued with his check-in. I didn’t see him again until he was completed.

         For the next two weeks, Andrew fell right into the routine of being the new guy in the division. The Newly Unqualified Body, NUB, as it were, was the coke runner, garbage collector, bilge diver and any other command function boy. He learned to volunteer for the tasks as they arose, probably already knowing that he was going to be volunteered if he didn’t. I remember those days when I was in his shoes. Unlike me, though, Andrew did every task without question or argument. Something I could never have done.

         Finally we had made it underway. Andrew and Webber could be found together most of the time. Webber was glad to have Andrew under his wing. He had said that he never had a sea pup before, although I found that hard to believe. No one would question Webber, though. Even though he was small of stature, he could take anyone down with just his stare. You knew that knowledge lay behind those hazel blue eyes.

         One particular time I saw the two together, Webber was asking questions of Andrew about the Main Sea Water system. This system cooled most of Steam system components, and was the largest seawater system aboard the submarine. Webber smacked Andrew across the back of the head if he got a question wrong, or didn’t know the answer. I remember being on the receiving end of more than one of those smacks. Webber didn’t like you to come to him for a checkout unprepared. Andrew received a smack more often than not at the beginning.

         Andrew and I hung out together as much as possible during the patrol. I would inform him of the best people to go to for a checkout. Most of the time, Andrew told me that Webber wanted to perform a particular checkout. Webber, being highly qualified, could sign off an enormous portion of the ship’s qualifications.

         Andrew was soon qualified Engine Room Lower Level, his first watch station. He had completed it in record time. We could tell that Webber was proud, also, but he would never admit it.

         The next couple of weeks went well, for a patrol, drilling Monday through Thursday, Friday field day, and evolutions on Saturday and Sunday. I would still see Andrew and Webber spending a lot of time together, but very rarely did I see a smack to the back of the head. Andrew was ahead of his qualifications. He was almost completed in ships. I was amazed at his accomplishments. Back aft, he was qualified in as many watches as I was, and looking like he was nowhere near slowing down.

         Now is when things started to “JAM DIVE”, if you know what I mean.

         We were nearing the halfway point of the patrol, forty-some odd days into it. Andrew was ready to go to his qualification board for his ship’s qualifications. We all knew that he would pass on his very first attempt. The Chief of the Boat had other ideas.

         The COB decided that it was time for Andrew to “crank”. This is another term for food service attendant. Every patrol, the cooks would require the new personnel to crank for a few weeks. Everyone in the subsurface Navy has done it on their first or second patrols. I myself, cranked for three weeks during the last patrol.

         Well, Webber would have nothing to do with Andrew cranking. He told the so, in not so few words. “…And you have all these other NUBs who have yet to crank and have done nothing in terms of quals…” He yelled at the COB. We all knew the COB was fuming now, but Webber went on. “Yet you want to take the ‘Hot Runner’ of the group and make him crank. We have an inspection at the end of this patrol that I need to get Shapner ready for back aft, but you don’t care about that do you?”

         The COB would have no more of it. He cut Webber short in his tirade. He told him that everyone cranks, and Andrew should have his done before he was qualified ships.

         Webber was none too happy about that. He stormed off the mess decks muttering words that few could hear. He was lucky that the COB couldn’t hear them either. “…Take my pup from me will you? …I’ll show you what you’re in control of…” and that was the last I ever saw of MM1/ss Webber.

         No more than a half an hour passed when I finished eating and headed back to relieve the watch. No sooner had I gotten to the Engine Room watertight door, than thirteen people turned me around and pushed me back into Machinery Room Upper Level. Other people were scurrying about. Someone was manning the phones; others ran forward to inform personnel of the scene.
Others tried to open the Engine Room door, to no avail. It was dogged from the inside. I was about to ask someone what had happened when I noticed Andrew. He looked pretty grim.

         Andrew, with downcast eyes, was shaking his head. He did not hear what I had asked until the third time when I tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s taken over the Engine Room,” he said with a sigh. “I should’ve never let him storm off the mess decks so mad.”

         I tried to explain to him that it wasn’t his fault, and that no one else was to blame hear either, but before I could get any words in, the “general emergency” alarm sounded. The ‘gong…gong…gong’ seemed to last a long time as anticipation of what set in as to what was going to happen next. Over the 1MC, the ship’s announcing circuit, could be heard, “Security violation in the Engine Room. Away the security alert team, back-up alert force muster at the small arms locker.” I thought to myself that it had to be a dream. Either that, or this was going way too far. As I would soon find out, it did not go far enough.

         From what I gathered from the throng of people milling about, was that petty Officer Webber had gone to relieve the watch a little early. As the Engineering Watch Supervisor, he received keys to the aft small arms locker. The off-going watch did not know of the proceedings that occurred on the mess decks, so he stood relieved and went forward. Webber then proceeded to the small arms locker and retrieved all the weapons from it.

         A shot resounded in the Engine Room. No one knew if anyone had been injured or killed, it was doubtful, but at a time like that, anything was possible. All the aft watchstanders were gathered up at gunpoint and marched to Machinery Room Two upper level. That is where they had run into me. Some had said that Webber had some sort of makeshift dog that prevented any from opening the Engine Room door from the forward end.

         Now I knew for a fact that Webber kept a stash of snacks hidden in the Engine Room. With those snacks and all the water he could drink, Webber could’ve lasted a long time hold up in there. He could last until we reached a port, at the very least, but as you will soon learn, the standoff was not going to be long.

         With a loud “click”, the captain came over the 1MC. Normally he was sure of himself in the way he projected, but I thought I could hear an unusual rasp to it now. He did not sound the confident man that he thought he was. “Webber, we know that have control of the Engine Room…” there was a long pause, as if he were deciding how he was going to put his words. “I’m not quite sure of the details, but if you could give a perspective on the situation is back there? Is there anyone injured? Are you injured? Is there anyone else back there with you?” another pause. “What is it that you want?”

         In the moments that we waited for Webber to reply, it dawned on me that they were talking over the 1MC. I would’ve expected the skipper to try to keep the crew in the dark about the ongoing standoff, but as I figured it, Webber wanted everyone to hear. He probably wasn’t answering any of the sound powered phone circuits. There would be no doubt in anyone’s minds who was in control of the situation.

         The moment appeared to last an eternity, when finally a “click” was heard. “There is no on back here, but me.” He began. His voice was slow and precise. He let no emotion show in his voice, none knew what he was feeling at that time. To me he sounded like a madman on the brink. “I am the only one back here and there is nothing you can do about it.” Now there was a long pause, but he still had the microphone keyed. Muffled noises sounded as if Webber were moving about. There was no doubt that he was in maneuvering. There he would have total control of the Engine Room.
“As for what I want?” Another pause to let it sink in to everyone that he was in charge. “I want change at this command! Too much goes on around here that stinks of cow dung and I want it stopped.” There were actually a few cheers from below where I was standing, though none would admit to it later. “But most of all, I want my sea pup back! He belongs back here; not where you forward pukes can get your hands on him and change his promising attitude that he has acquired in the short time he has been here. I will not allow it!” another click meant that the 1MC was off.

         For long moments, neither side spoke. If I were a betting man, I would have said that word had reached the captain that there was no way to enter the Engine Room from below decks and no way to recover the Engine Room at this point in time. By now, the skipper was trying to find a way to deal with the situation before it got out of hand.
“Click… Webber… we are willing to talk to you about change…” as the captain went on, I wondered if he really believed that Webber would agree to talk now after all that had happened. Like he would just walk out of the Engine Room and give himself up.

         “Click… You would like that, wouldn’t you Richard?” Webber spoke to the captain as if they were on an even keel. “I will not give up the Engine Room until I am ready, and not moment earlier. Click.”

         “Web.” It was Andrew’s voice over the 1MC. In all the commotion, I did not realize that he had been taken up to control. He continued, “I’m scared for you, and for me too, but you need to give yourself up. Nothing good can come of this. Please talk to me.”

         Another pause, but not as long this time.
“Click.” Then laughter could be heard. Not the laughter of a happy man, but the cruel laugh of someone going over the edge. “You think to con me, Richard? Well, I’ll play your little game. Send my pup back to the Engine Room and I will give him my list of demands for you to hash through. Click.” Pause, “Click. I will give you five minutes to think about it. Click.”

         Word had it that the skipper took Andrew behind closed doors to plan a strategy. At the end of the allotted time, Andrew came back over the 1MC, “Web, they have allowed me and only me to come back to the Engine Room and talk with you.” There was another long pause, like Webber didn’t actually expect them to let Andrew go back alone.

         “Click. Only Andrew is allowed, anyone else and I will shoot. No more discussion. Click.” Was the last thing he said.

         After only a few moments, Andrew was trudging up the ladder to Machinery Room Upper Level. His head was lowered, his eyes to the floor. He looked a little pale, but did not answer any questions brought to him. Andrew continued straight to the door and opened it. As the door was shutting, I caught a glimpse of his face, if only for an instant. A deep frown crossed his forehead, and then the door was shut.
About twenty minutes passed, but it seemed like an hour. The security team was able to get the watertight door open. Before anyone could enter, Andrew could be seen running up the tunnel. Pure fear shown on his even paler face, now. As soon as he saw the first person, he started to wave them back. “Get back! Get back!” Everyone stepped back to let him through the door. He more or less leaped through the opening. A rush of air caught some people off guard and knocked them a few staggering paces backwards. Andrew quickly turned to shut the watertight door. It took him and another a couple of extra seconds to get the door fully shut.

         With the door shut, Andrew turned his head toward the phone talker. With labored breath, he spoke calmly to the man, “Flooding in the Engine Room.” His voice froze everyone in the immediate area. “REPORT IT NOW MAN!” He yelled seeing that no one was moving at all. There is nothing we can do now. Break out the life boats and Steinke hoods, we’re going for a swim.”

         This broke the paralyzing spell that had captured us all. Everyone broke and began to do what they were trained to do. Obvious fear shown on everyone’s faces as three horns sounded. This was the signal for emergency surface. The flooding alarm sounded shortly thereafter. No one cared that they were in the wrong order. The captain’s voice was heard over the people yelling. He was on the 1MC. “Surface. Surface. Surface. All hands abandon ship.”

         Then, not a word was said. Everyone was scrambling to get the emergency gear broken out and donned, and still others went to opening hatches. With flooding in the Engine Room, we knew that it was not a matter of if she would go down, but when.

         Time was lost now. Or maybe it was at a standstill. All I knew was that I was one of the last people trying to go up the Machinery Room hatch, when I saw Andrew standing alone, with neither life jacket nor Steinke hood. He was standing near the watertight door to the Engine Room. His head hung low. I could see he was crying. I ran over to him. He was talking to no one in particular. “He was my friend. He was my friend.”

         “I know he was.” I said to him. Andrew jumped. He was startled, not knowing that I was there. “But we have to leave here now.” The words I spoke were getting stronger as I reached the end. Andrew nodded as he placed a life jacket over his head.

         By now, there was a significant trim to the boat. The bow was coming up pretty high. Andrew snapped out of whatever daze he was in and grabbed me. He pulled me over to the hatch. Water was starting to pour down the hatch. Andrew pulled a man off the ladder and told everyone around to head forward to the Forward logistics trunk. The few men who were left started forward. I waited while Andrew shut the hatch to give us a little more time. We left together.

         “Too many people left.” I heard Andrew say as we made it to the forward hatch. Andrew grabbed about ten men and directed them along with me to Control. “We will go out this way.” He said pointing to the sail.

         The next thing I remember, I was being hauled out of the water into a lifeboat. Andrew was already aboard. We watched as the last of the bubbles came, and the shadow of the submarine disappeared out of sight. I could hear Andrew talking softly. “Good-bye, my friend.”

         A few hours later, a rescue helicopter came in and started pulling people to safety. The first one flew away, only to be replaced by another just like it a couple of minutes later. Before the third chopper showed up, a Coast Guard ship could be seen on the horizon. The captain had made an SOS call before we went down. When we were aboard, I heard Andrew ask how far the nearest island was. One of the Officers told him that there was an inhabited island less than one hundred miles away. I did not hear the name of it. Another person was saying that there was only one loss from the crew. Jon Webber would be remembered as a friend to only one person.

THE END

         “What do you think, Andrew?” Lloyd said handing his notebook to his best friend and roommate.

         Andrew took the notebook and perused the pages. “You actually used the word beget?” He shook his head as Daniel smiled. “You didn’t make mention of the medals that we are to receive, or that we got discharged from the Navy for this incident. Not one word mentions the fact that they could trust none of us from the boat, even though they never actually came out and said it.”

         “Oh, I forgot about that.” Lloyd interjected. “I’ll add those in when I type it up.”

         Andrew nodded then spoke again, “A few heroic acts in there, but not too far from the truth.” His eyes then took on a sad look. “You shouldn’t make him out to be the madman there. I don’t think that there was some sinister evil plot. I believe it was a cry for help from a sad and lonely man who had very few friends and a lot of pain.”

         Lloyd did not look his friend in the eye. “You never did tell me what happened when you went into the Engine Room to talk to Webber.” Daniel peered at his notes. A relatively large gap stared back at him at this point of the story. Plus, he really wanted to know.

         “Ok.” Andrew gave in. “I’ll start at the point where the skipper called me into his stateroom.” Andrew turned around to face his roommate when he heard the rustling of papers. “Oh no you don’t. None of this gets sent to ‘Hard Copy’ or whatever you are doing with it. I was told by high ranking people not to discuss this with anyone.”

         Lloyd set his pen and paper down. As much as he would have like to add this important intelligence to his story, he wanted to hear what had happened even more. Andrew began slowly at first. Obviously, this caused him much pain.

         “The Captain called me into his stateroom and I closed the door behind me. He looked at me for a moment, looking like he was going to try to blame me for what was happening. He pointed an accusing finger, but held back anything he was going to say.”

         Andrew went on to say that the skipper wanted to take the Engine Room by force. “I said that there was no way that I could go in knowing that Web could get hurt, or worse. Even if Web was mad enough to kill me, I couldn’t. Besides, Web would’ve been expecting that. The Captain then said that he wanted me to leave the door undogged if I could. I told him that I would make no promises. If I could do it without Web knowing, then I would try. He picked up a phone and called for the Officer of the Deck. The two talked so that I could not hear what was being said. When he hung up the phone, the Captain looked to me and told me to delay Webber from doing anything rash for as long as possible. Again, I told him that I could make no promises.
Andrew, then went on to say how Commander Mylod had been carrying on about how that sort of thing could happen to him, and why him? “As I got up to leave his stateroom for the Engine Room, I told him that he was not the only one involved here. I told him that I would see what I could do to help the crew. He disregarded me with a wave of his hand.”

         “I left his stateroom and headed aft. I got to the watertight door faster than I had expected, and still I had no idea what I was going to say or do. I opened the door. I peered through, but could not see Webber. I heard him shout down the passageway to shut and redog the door. His dog was a pretty ingenious device. A piece of bar stock and a threaded sleeve were attached and adjustable to fit in different orientations. He was able to set it to a compatible size for the watertight door. Anyway, I shut the door, but when I went to redog it, I didn’t tighten the dog down. I left it pretty loose, so that the people in machinery space could get it open after a little work.

         “Web came up behind me as I was engaging the dog. I thought that he saw that I had not attached it properly, but it seemed that he did not. Either that or he didn’t really care. Web did, however, pat me down and search for a weapon. He told me to turn around. I was surprised at the arsenal he had on his person. He had never fired more than that single shot. I followed him until we reached the hatch, where we both sat down. We stared at each other for a few minutes, neither of us saying a word. I still didn’t have a clue as to what I should say. All of a sudden he broke the silence, ‘I really didn’t expect them to let you come back here.’ He said.

         “His eyes went to the overhead. He cocked his head as he listened attentively. ‘We are on the surface.’ His eyes came back to me. They were alight with a fire I had never seen in any man before. ‘That is why they let you come back here. To delay me while they try to override the Engine Room hatch.’ I hadn’t understood what Web was saying until I felt the slow roll of the boat, an indication that the sub was on the surface. I told Web that I hadn’t known what was going to happen. He expected that.

         “Now I felt rushed. I asked him what he was planning to do. I told him that no good could come from what he trying to accomplish. I told him there was no way out of this. He looked at me with his hazel eyes and shook his head. He pointed over to the bags and diving gear that were staged by the electrical panels on the port side. He began putting the weapons into the bags. He told me of his plans to try to escape before the boat took him down with it.

         “Realization of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. ‘You need to get as many men to safety as you can Andrew’ He told me. Before I could do or ask anything else, he picked up a sledgehammer and walked over to some of the main seawater piping. It dawned on me what he was going to do before he said it, ‘Once I get this going, she’ll go down fast.’ That’s when I ran.”

         “So that’s it?” Daniel asked in amazement. “So, did he make it out?”

         Andrew shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. They never found the body during the initial searches, and the Engine Room hatch was found open. I just don’t know.”