Larry Bond - Dangerous Ground

Before they went to the wardroom for lunch, both Jerry and Lenny went to the stateroom to grab their notebooks. There would be little time after lunch before Davis would give her presentation on the capabilities of the ROVs and go over the launch and retrieval procedures. Rustling around his disorganized desk, Lenny looked over his shoulder at Jerry and asked, “So, who do you think is going to win round two? Yesterday was a bit of a draw.”

Sighing, Jerry replied, “I’m entertaining the fleeting hope that both will act like civilized human beings this afternoon.”

“Ha! Little chance of that, I’m afraid,” chortled Berg. “But, as much as I hate to admit it, the Captain has every right to be pissed off. Patterson is way out of line.”

“She certainly knows all the right buttons to push, doesn’t she?”

“Well, since they are both control freaks, it doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to see that they have the same buttons,” stated Lenny firmly. “Ah, there’s my notebook. What say we go and enjoy a quiet lunch at Chez Memphis before this afternoon’s festivities.”

Lunch was indeed quiet, with only four at second sitting. Jerry, Lenny, Al Millunzi, and Jim Porter had all just come off watch and they enjoyed their temporary isolation from the rest of the boat. During the meal, they talked, joked, and generally enjoyed each other’s company. For a brief moment, Jerry saw the wardroom atmosphere he appreciated so much during his days at the squadron. He was glad to see that the camaraderie he missed wasn’t completely dead on Memphis, just buried under the oppressive cloud cast by Hardy’s command style.

Just as the dishes were being cleared away, Emily Davis walked in with her laptop. The four officers rose to greet her and then helped her hook up the computer to the flat panel display on the forward bulkhead. The mood remained pleasant and the banter lighthearted. It included the predictable joke by Berg on how many engineers did it take to screw in a light bulb. No sooner had the groans died down when Patterson burst into the wardroom.

The change in the room was palpable. Instantly everyone, including Emily, became tense and silent. Everywhere she went, Jerry thought, her sour, cold disposition dragged everyone down. Jerry found himself deeply resenting Patterson’s influence.

After briefly conferring with Emily about the afternoon’s presentation, Patterson poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the wardroom table. The room was now so quiet that her sipping could easily be heard. Ten minutes later, the wardroom was full to capacity, but it remained just as quiet. Hardy finally entered and motioned for those that had them to take their seats. He didn’t even look at Patterson.

“Dr. Davis is going to brief us on the capabilities of the ROVs. Since very few of us have NMRS experience, I expect you all to give her your undivided attention. In an hour and a half, we’ll slow down and give each ROV a shakedown test. We’ll resume our transit north once the tests have been completed,” declared Hardy. “These ROVs are crucial to the success of our mission and I expect a flawless performance from everyone involved. Dr. Davis, the floor is yours.”

“Thank you, sir,” replied Emily nervously. “As the Captain has already mentioned, the Draper Environmental Survey ROVs are based on Near Term Mine Reconnaissance System vehicles. However, they have been heavily modified to collect environmental data from undersea sites that are suspected to contain radiological contamination.”

Emily was fidgety, tense, and definitely uncomfortable giving the briefing as she moved through the introductory material very quickly. As hard as he tried, Jerry just couldn’t keep up with all the new information as Emily flew from one slide to the next. From the frustrated expression on a number of the crew’s faces, he wasn’t the only one, and Hardy was starting to get that impatient look. Fortunately, the XO piped up and asked Davis to go back a slide and clarify a point she had just made. As she looked at Bair to provide further explanation, Jerry saw him mouth the words: “Slow down.” Emily nodded and her pace noticeably slowed.

It was only after she got to the detailed technical specifications of the ROVs that she seemed to reach her comfort zone. Slowly and deliberately, she went over every system and explained its function in detail. She also went over each step in the launch and recovery processes with the same degree of detail.

Jerry was furiously writing notes as he listened, and he couldn’t help but be impressed with Emily’s technical competence. Every question posed by a crew member was answered thoroughly and professionally. Even Hardy was getting into the briefing, leaning forward in his chair as Emily highlighted the various features of her vehicles. Patterson, on the other hand, seemed bored with the whole thing. Toward the end of the presentation, there was a lot of discussion on the sampling system and how it operated.

“Dr. Davis, since many of the sediment and water samples may be radioactive, how do we safely get them back to nucleonics, where the analysis equipment is installed?” asked Ho. “I’m concerned about the risk of spreading contamination throughout a good chunk of this boat.”

“I understand your concern,” replied Emily. “The sediment and water sampling systems are encased in individual watertight containment modules and are removed from the ROV as complete assemblies. They’ve been pressure-tested to four hundred pounds per square inch. The test pressure is greater than the ROV’s maximum design depth.”

“Good,” said Hardy. Then, turning toward Jeff Ho, he continued, “Engineer, only your people will be allowed to transport the sample modules from the torpedo room to Nucleonics. And I expect radiation surveys to be made along the entire route to verify that there was no leakage.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” responded Ho.

“Any other questions?” demanded Hardy. When none were forthcoming, he said, “All right, then, we’ll man ROV launch stations in half an hour. Dr. Davis, make sure the XO has a copy of your brief so it can be uploaded to the network for reference by the crew. Dismissed.”

As people filed out of the wardroom, a number of the officers and chiefs paused to compliment Davis on her presentation. Patterson appeared annoyed by the attention that Emily was getting and left in a huff, nearly running over Cal Richards in the process.

Jerry stayed behind in the wardroom and waited for an opportunity to talk to Emily. It took a few minutes before he was able to get near enough to speak without having to raise his voice. “Great presentation, Emily. Even the Captain seemed to like it. I’d interpret that as a rare compliment.”

“Thanks, it did seem to go well. Still, I’m just glad it’s over.”

“How are you doing with your little issue that we talked about yesterday?”

“Better, thank you. I’m still somewhat nervous, but the XO was very helpful in talking me through it. Thanks again for all your help,” replied Emily sincerely.

“Glad to be of service, ma’am.” Jerry said with a mock bow. He then took a quick look around the wardroom to make sure Patterson wasn’t within earshot. “Switching topics, I noticed that Dr. Patterson didn’t look too thrilled during your presentation. You’d think she would be more interested, seeing as these ROVs of yours are key to the success of this mission.”

“Well, Jerry, in her defense, she has seen this brief over a dozen times,” said Emily apologetically. “I’m sure it starts to get a bit stale after the fourth time.”

“Yeah. well, I see your point. I guess I’m just reacting to her sandpaper approach to interpersonal relationships. She damn near ran over Mr. Richards getting out of the wardroom.”