The Adventurous Ero Path of a Sailor

By midafternoon the fires that were left were under control, and the cleanup process had largely begun. Both of the commanding officers under Jack's squadron reported their casualties.

Luke reported that the Valiant lost Lt. Star as well as three additional sailors. Vicky Carter reported the loss of two sailors and slight damage to the bow of the Tiger due to an exploding shell. All in all, they came out relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the town.

After making their reports, Jack tasked both commanding officers with finding replacement sailors. That part wouldn't be too hard, but finding a replacement for Victor would be the difficult part. Jack felt his eyes sting at just the thought. How do you replace such a loyal and brave man like Victor?

By the time the sun was starting to go down, it finally dawned on Jack that he never made that ten o'clock meeting with the commodore that had been scheduled for today. Part of what made him realize was the fact that his deputy, Lt. Settler, suddenly appeared outside his quarters.

Twitch was the one who alerted Jack to the visitor. "Sir, Lt. Settler is here to see you."

Remembering the meeting, Jack wasted no time. "Send him in, please."

Lt. Settler walked in and saluted in a crisp fashion. Jack noticed the smug look on the man's face was noticeably absent today. "Commander Easterbrook, given the events of this morning, Commodore Lucas regrets he hasn't been able to meet with you. If you are ready and willing, I am to escort you to his presence to have that meeting."

"Of course, Lieutenant. I'm ready for the Commodore and will follow your lead."

It was a quick walk over to the Javan headquarters of Quiller's Cove. As they walked, Jack took stock of the destruction caused by the Occitanians and noticed how very different the base looked today as opposed to yesterday.

Now there were men on each of the base's machine guns nests as well as men manning the spotlights around the town. They were all dressed in their formal battle attire. It looked very much like war as opposed to yesterday's peace.

Settler led him to a short and squat building that looked nothing like a formal headquarters, being tucked away from the main buildings and completely unmarked. Jack had to wonder if its obscurity was the reason why it was picked to avoid making it a target.

He noted that the building was one of the few in town that had escaped any damage from the attack.

Once they were inside, Settler brought them up three flights of stairs to the very top floor where a door marked the headquarters of the commanding officer for the entire base. Rapping on the door twice produced a barely audible voice from within.

"Come in."

As soon as Settler cracked the door, Jack's eyes caught sight of the man within seated at his desk. In his hand was a handheld radio, and he was responding to the various chatter that filled the airwaves. Most of it had to do with this morning's attack.

Jack took a seat while Settler stepped out and closed the door firmly behind him. While the commodore responded to the last series of messages, Jack took time to study the man whom he'd only seen once before, and that was in passing.

He was an older man with grizzled, gray hair and a tough-looking demeanor. That tough exterior was further enhanced by a scar that ran the length of his jaw, barely noticeable unless the light hit it in just the right way. With dark eyes and a broad chest, the commodore didn't look like the kind of man anyone would want to tangle with.

Finally, the man's eyes settled on Jack. "So you must be Commander Jack Easterbrook then, I take it? I'm Commodore Stanhope Lucas."

Jack nodded. "Yes, sir. You and I met once before but it was several years ago."

Lucas raised his brow. "We did?"

"Yes, sir. You gave a speech at the academy one year when I was a sophomore. I believe you were still a captain at that point."

Lucas slowly began to nod. "That must have been some time ago. Very rarely do I get such invitations anymore."

Jack nodded but before he could ask why, Lucas stood up and pulled out a certificate from the cabinet. "See this, Jack? This is from the day I graduated from the academy over twenty-five years ago. Do you see that rank?"