after the court-martial?â
âYou donât know what itâs like.â His voice hardened, and she felt afraid, a little. He never spoke to her like that; it was another side of him, the Navy side.
âWhat do you mean?â
âForget it. I shouldnât have mentioned it.â
âDan ⦠donât clam up on me. Donât pull that Academy bullshit. It wasnât your fault! Thereâs nothing to prove! The Board saidââ
âI donât care what they said! I keep thinkingâdamn it, I knew the maneuver was risky. I was only an ensign, but if Iâd spoken up, argued with the captain, it might, it might not have happened.â
âDan. Donât, please. They cleared you and the man above you.â
âThe Board hung it on Captain Packer because he was dead and it was neater that way. But none of us on the bridge came off clean, Susan. With that letter of reprimand in my jacket my career is shot unless I pull four-ohs from here on out.â
âThen why are you worried, if he likes you?â
âItâs nothing I can pin down. He just lets things get on his nerves; he worries, all alone there in his sea cabin ⦠then he gives these crazy orders. He ridicules the officers on the bridge, in front of everybody. He treats the chief staff officer like a plebe. Iâve never served with a guy like this before. Commodore MacInroe would tear your ass off if you screwed up, but at least you knew where you stood. He wanted a tight squadron, good performance, and he knew what he was doing. I try to give Sundstrom the benefit of the doubt. Heâs only had the job three, four months. But he seems to be getting worse, not better.â He fell silent, still looking out to sea, toward the ship that was swinging now into the wind. âDonât worry. I can take him all right. But sometimes I wonder ⦠if something happens while weâre here in the Med, I hate to think what itâll be like with him in charge.â
âDonât say that! I donât want to hear about that. Nothingâs going to happen, is it?â
âNot that I know of. But thatâs what weâre here for, Susan.â
âI donât know what youâre here for. I donât know what business the Navy has this far from America anyway.â
They both sensed the argument coming, and neither of them wanted it; they dropped the subject tacitly. She turned to look across the bay. âThereâs yoursâthe big one,â she said. âAnd that other oneâdidnât you say there were six ships in the squadron? Where are the others?â
âYou donât put the whole task force into the same place for liberty, not in the Med. The port authorities donât like it, too many sailors at once. And itâs not a good idea if weâre attacked.â
âWhere are the other ships?â
âScattered around. Guam and Barnstable County here ⦠Newport and Ault in Naples ⦠Spiegel Grove and Coronado in Palermo ⦠Charleston in Civitavecchia. Weâll join up after the port visits for the next exercise.â
âIâd like to go to Greece. And maybe one of the islands, look at some of the digs. Moiraâs on a project in Cyprus. She wrote me about it.â
âOur next port is Iskenderun. Turkey. I guess you could go through the islands on the way.â
âAnd Yugoslaviaâ¦â
âI donât think that would be a good idea.â
âWhy?â
âItâs a Communist country, Susan.â
âSo what? They allow tourists.â
âYou say that like it doesnât matter.â
âThat theyâre Communists? Dan, donât be ridiculous. You act like we were at war with them, or something.â
âI just donât think it would be a good idea.â
âWell, is Turkey any better?â
âThatâs a good question,â he said,