John O'Brien - Reckoning

Other thoughts circulate regarding the fate of the families and what to do about his crew. Leonard holds onto the slim hope but doesn’t know how to tell the crew and still keep their spirits up. He doesn’t see any way that he can actually do that. Leonard knows they will all be crestfallen, and the ones who had families with them will fall into a depression. He and the officers will need to redirect their attention and focus on a new task, one that will keep some semblance of hope alive. That will lie in finding the fleet, or at least searching for it. If they aren’t able to find it, the finality that the crew has lost their loved ones will slowly set in and they’ll have to deal with it as it does.

Not having any family located near the devastated city, he knows nonetheless that the chances of him finding his mom and sister are low. For all intents and purposes, they are already lost to him. During brief moments, when he has lain awake in his cabin, his thoughts have gone to them and he’s felt the deep sadness of their loss. Leonard knows all too well the despair and pain of not knowing, so has an inkling of how the crew will react. He also knows they already suspect that something is up, considering the continued holding of their position outside of the port. He’ll meet with the officers, give them the news, and they’ll come up with a game plan.

Rotating the periscope, he turns his gaze to the west, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fleet but only sees the Pacific stretching to the horizon.

“Chief, give me one sweep of the radar,” Leonard orders, his eyes still glued to the eyepiece.

“One sweep, aye, sir.”

Moments later, “There isn’t any sign of traffic, sir.”

“Very well. Hold our position and have the officers meet me in the officer’s mess,” Leonard orders.

A short time later, having grabbed the recording of the San Diego ruins, Leonard walks into the crowded mess. Nodding at the officers present, he takes a seat at the end of the table.

“Gentlemen, as you may or may not know, we have halted at periscope depth a few miles offshore. The reason for the halt is the high levels of radiation emanating from the city. At first, I thought it might be from a leaking nuke facility, but, as I’m going to show in a moment, that’s not the case. What I’m about to tell you isn’t pretty, but there isn’t any other way to say it. San Diego was hit by a nuclear device and lies in ruins.”

The reaction is about what Leonard expected, stunned silence. Everyone turns to look at him, staring with glazed eyes, expecting for him to tell them it’s a joke. He meets those shocked stares with silence of his own and the reality of his statement sinks in. In some, tears well as the ramifications regarding their loved ones penetrate their shock. With others, their expressions intensify as they fold into their thoughts.

“Now, I know most of you are thinking of loved ones…so let me say this before your thoughts sink too deep. There are several things that may have happened. One, they may have evacuated the town prior to it getting hit and they may be somewhere safe, somewhere inland. Also, there isn’t any sign of the fleet boats so there is a chance that they gathered survivors and put to sea,” Leonard states.

He notes several changes of expression as they absorb this new hope.

“The bottom line is that current radiation levels won’t allow us to get any closer. I’m going to show you the recording of the city with the warning that it’s not pretty, and then we need to discuss two things; how are we going to handle this with the crew…and what our next step is.”

Leonard then shows his gathered officers the video. They stare at the screen with morbid, shocked fascination. When the recording finishes, most of them continue to stare at the now blank screen.

“Any thoughts about what happened?” the XO asks after a few moments, interrupting the silence.

“I don’t know,” Leonard answers. “My guess is that it may have been hit by one of our own, possibly from a nuke boat.”

“How do we know that? Couldn’t it have been hit by someone else, I mean from someone taking advantage of the situation?” one of the officers asks.

It’s fairly obvious who the officer is talking about. There are only a few nations that have nuclear weapons capable of hitting the western seaboard.

“It could be. However, if that were the case, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle would more than likely have been hit before San Diego. At the very least, Seattle and the surrounding naval bases would have been. So, I’m guessing that one of our own nuke boats hit it in an attempt to stem the tide of night runners that must have been running amok in the city,” Leonard replies.

He continues, “I want you to take notice that there isn’t an indication in the video of any fleet boats in the wreckage. The fleet is gone and only the wreckage of the old boats remains. That means they may still be out there somewhere.”

“If that’s true, wouldn’t we have heard from them?” the XO asks.

“I would assume so, and I don’t have an answer for that. The ships are missing, though, and have to be somewhere. Even if they were at sea when everything went down, there would be a few of the fleet boats docked. There isn’t a one of them to be seen,” Leonard responds.

“Does that mean we are going to search for them?” another officer asks.

“That’s what I’m thinking. I’m also surmising that at least one missile boat survived along with the fleet. They would have to sail west, possibly heading for Hawaii or Guam.”

“Sir, you mentioned that any survivors might have headed inland before the city was hit. What about conducting a search for them?” an officer asks, hopeful that the answer will be yes.

“I think our best bet is to locate the fleet boats, or at least the missile boat. If we can find them, they’ll be able to tell us what happened. Besides, we don’t have the capability to search inland. We only have Chief Krandle and his team for security and, from what we’ve experienced recently, that wouldn’t be a safe option. Our first priority is for the crew’s security. We must stay together. If we put ashore, some of the crew will decide to proceed on their own despite anything we say.”

Even though there is a strong desire among some of the officers, mostly those with families that accompanied them to San Diego, to strike inland, all present nod at the truth of the statements. The loss of hope that many had of finding their home port intact, and, along with that, their families, causes a depressed atmosphere within the crowded mess. However, they hold onto the thin line of hope that their families are safe at sea with the fleet.

“What about the crew, sir?” the XO asks.

“I’ll make a general announcement detailing our situation and plan. This will cause a lot of depression amongst the crew, so it’s up to us to watch for and deal with your individual sections. It will be your jobs to keep everyone focused on the new mission, which may inspire a measure of hope. Most had families and loved ones ashore so we’ll have to provide an example by our actions and words. So, before we leave here, gentlemen, I need to know that each of you is capable of doing this. If you feel you can’t continue in your position, it will be understood and no negative consequences will follow. Because this is vitally important, without peer pressure, I want you to take a piece of paper, write your name on it with a ‘yes’ to indicate you can and are willing to continue, or ‘no’, and pass it to me.”

The officers write on small sheets and pass them to Leonard. He unfolds each one without expression or looking at the ones whose names he reads. Each piece of paper he opens has the name of the officer and a ‘yes’ indicated.