Russell Moran - The Gray Ship

“Mr. Secretary, we’re officers of the United States Navy,” Campbell said. “That makes you our boss, Sir. Please ask anyone you wish to join us.” Commander David Roebling appeared and Wells introduced him.

Secretary Wells began the meeting. “I have heard many reports of Gray Ship sightings, most of which sound fanciful and not quite believable. Commander Campbell, please enlighten us.”

Campbell began with the Daylight Event , and all of the strange things that happened over the last four days. He discussed Fort Sumter and how he witnessed the bombardment along with the captain. Campbell decided that he should get right to the major point and backfill the details. Gideon Wells was amazed. He didn’t know that his mind was about to be blown, even though he wouldn’t describe it that way.

“Our ship and all of its crew have somehow managed to stumble into an opening in time itself,” Campbell said. “We’ve been calling it a time portal. Moments before the Daylight Event that I mentioned, the date was April 10, 2013, 152 years from now. We can’t explain it, but one thing is certain: We have travelled through time; we are from the future.”

Gideon Wells’ eyes were riveted on Campbell. He then looked into the eyes of Fr. Rick and Lt. Jack. His aide Commander Roebling sat motionless, letting the Secretary deliver the response. “Gentlemen,” said Wells, “do you expect us to believe this nonsense?”

“No sir, we don’t,” said Campbell. “That’s why I’m here to extend the invitation of our captain to visit the USS California , the Gray Ship . We’re inviting you to visit the future and see it with your own eyes.”

Gideon Wells didn’t want to waste any time, and he told Campbell that he would prepare to visit the California the next day. He told his aide, Roebling, to cancel all of his appointments for the next two days. He also told Roebling to find Admiral David Farragut and order him to join them. Farragut was an experienced admiral in the Union Navy, and Wells wanted an officer with a lot of sea knowledge to look at the Gray Ship .

Roebling arranged for sleeping quarters for the Gray Ship officers.

A coach took them to the waterfront at 8 a.m. the next day, April 14. As they approached the launch, Wells, Roebling, and Farragut exchanged glances. This elegant vessel was only a tender for the Gray Ship , Wells thought. Donizzio had tightened the lines to make it easier for his new guests to board the launch.

When they were all aboard, Campbell invited them into the pilot house. He introduced Donizzio, the boat captain, and asked him to explain the workings of the motor launch. Donizzio showed them the radar and depth meter, and described all of the switches on the large console. He pointed to the GPS plotter and explained that they had no satellite navigation. “Global Positioning System?” asked Farragut. Campbell, deciding that their education on twenty-first-century technology would begin now, answered his question. He described the rocket technology used to put satellites into orbit. He tried to explain how a metal object can orbit the earth.

“How many of these satellites are in the sky, Commander?” asked Wells.

“Over 1,000, Sir, about half owned by the United States. But, of course, I’m talking about the year 2013. Now, presumably, there are none,” said Campbell.

Donizzio asked Corporal Falanga to cast off the lines. When Donizzio turned on the twin Cummings diesel engines, each with 320 horsepower, the rumble was something that his new guests had never heard, or felt, before.

Within a half hour, the California came into view. As they approached the ship, all that Wells, Farragut, and Roebling could do was stare. Neither they, nor anyone else in 1861, had ever seen a vessel so large. Farragut asked what about her top speed. When Campbell told him it was over 30 knots, he just shook his head. Campbell also explained the armaments that they were looking at. It was difficult to explain a guided missile to a man who fired cannon balls.

When they pulled next to the California , the ladder awaited them. Donizzio guided the boat so the exit gate lined up exactly next to the ladder threshold. As Wells stepped aboard, the shrill sound of the boatswain’s pipe sounded across the ship, followed by, “United States Navy, arriving.” It was the traditional way of announcing that a dignitary has just boarded the ship and what office the dignitary held. When Captain Patterson came aboard, the announcement would always be “ California , arriving.”

When the group reached the quarterdeck, the ship’s ceremonial entry area, a phalanx of sailors in dress blues came to attention and saluted. Campbell escorted his guests to the captain’s office. Wells and his colleagues would meet with the captain alone. The name Ashley can be male or female, and they were expecting to see a man. When Wells, Farragut, and Roebling were escorted into her office, Ashley almost felt sorry for them. As they looked at her they were more than confused, they were visibly flummoxed. In 1861 the very idea of a woman on a Navy ship was an anathema, but a woman captain was unbelievable. And a colored woman captain was unthinkable. Ashley approached each man individually and gave him a warm, firm handshake.

“Gentlemen, please be seated.” They sat around a conference table. Ashley didn’t want to sit behind her desk, in deference to the Secretary of the Navy. Ashley got right to the point.

“I realize that you’re surprised that the California’s commanding officer is not only a woman but a black woman, or ‘colored’ to use the language of your day.” She gave them a brief synopsis of the advancement of African Americans over the past 152 years. She told them that two Secretaries of State in a row were black, and that the President of the United States in 2013 is a black man.

Gideon Wells, a staunch abolitionist, hated the institution of slavery and the treatment of “colored people.” He even had changed parties from Democrat to Republican in no small part to support Abraham Lincoln in his White House run because he was so enthusiastic about Lincoln’s desire to abolish slavery.

Wells looked at Ashley and said, “Madam Captain, I can only praise God that I have seen this day, and have seen with my own eyes the vindication of what President Lincoln stands for.” He couldn’t wait to report to Lincoln.

“Gentlemen, I fully appreciate how you must feel,” Ashley said. “You’re on a ship that you probably could not have imagined, meeting people who claim that they come from another time, and you’re no doubt thinking that we all must be insane. I know that you would like an explanation of how this occurred. I’m afraid that I can’t give you one because we’re all as mystified as you. But the reality is that a few days ago this ship and all its crew were in the year 2013, and here we are in 1861. For lack of a better phrase, we’ve travelled in time. I believe you met Lieutenant John Thurber. Before he entered the Navy he was an well-known author and had written a famous book on the phenomenon of time travel. In a few minutes I’m going to ask Lt. Thurber to join us for lunch to answer all of your questions. I’m also going to invite Father Rick Sampson, our ship’s chaplain, who you also met. Father Sampson, besides his religious vocation and Navy commission, is an expert on the Civil War. The war for us is history, but we now find that it has only just begun.”

Father Rick and Lt. Jack were escorted into the captain’s office where lunch was served. After lunch and a futile attempt at small talk, Ashley asked Lt. Jack to give their guests a synopsis of his book, Living History, as well as his personal experiences in crossing the time portal.