deck handlers going about their duties–all served to emphasize the
overwhelming size of the Jefferson.
With no flight operations going on, the flight deck was unusually quiet.
“You still haven’t convinced me, Commander,” Pamela said as they stepped
off the elevator and started across the flight deck. She stopped
Tombstone with a hand on his shoulder and turned, facing west. Three of
the other ships of Jefferson’s battle group were visible scattered at
widely spaced intervals across the Sattahip anchorage. Closest was the
shark-gray shape of the Vicksburg, the CBG’s Aegis cruiser. Astern was
the DDG Kearny, and farther off still, the frigate Biddle. Winslow and
Gridley, the remaining two vessels of CBG-14, were still at sea
patrolling in the Gulf of Thailand. “Look,” she continued. “You have a
nine-billion-dollar aircraft carrier … and you still need all those
ships just to protect her!”
Tombstone laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Excuse me, ma’am, but that’s a pretty common misconception.”
“Those other ships don’t protect the carrier?”
“Oh, to a certain extent, sure. The frigates are mostly for ASW–that’s
anti-submarine work–and they act as a screen to keep enemy subs from
getting too close. But Jefferson’s aircraft are her whole reason for
being. Look …
think of a map of the United States. Now imagine the Jefferson sitting
in Washington, D.C., okay?”
“Okay.”
“Her frigate escorts would be deployed as far apart as, oh, say,
Pennsylvania and parts of North Carolina. But her F-14 Tomcats would be
on patrol over Maine, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Michigan.”
“My God …”
“Her S-3 Vikings would be sub-hunting in Ohio. If there was need for a
bombing run, her A-6 Intruders could hit Chicago.”
“Good Lord! I had no idea you guys covered so much territory,”
Baughman said. He sounded impressed.
“Put that same battle group in the Med,” Tombstone continued. “With the
Jeff off Greece, our planes could cover places as far apart as northern
Italy and Syria, Odessa on the Black Sea and the deserts of Libya.” He
paused, suddenly self-conscious, then smiled and gestured at the
Vicksburg. “You see, as far as we’re concerned, it’s us who protects
them!”
She laughed, a warm sound, and she reached out and touched his arm. “I
must say, Commander, that I admire your love for your ship. Boat,” she
corrected herself. “It certainly shows when you talk about her!”
He smiled in reply. “If you think that’s bad, wait until you get me
talking about flying. That’s my real love.”
Suddenly she turned serious. “Yes, I imagine it would be.” She looked
at Tombstone for a moment, then, abruptly, turned away. “Okay, boys.
You got what we need?”
“That should do it,” Griffith said, patting his camera. “We’ve got
five–ten good minutes’ worth.”
“We could get you back on board in the next day or two while we’re
conducting flight ops,” Tombstone offered. “You could get some great
shots of catapult launches … or recovery operations aft. It’s a lot
more exciting than miles and miles of gray steel passageways!”
“We may take you up on that,” Pamela said. “For now, though, I think we
should set up a time to meet you in Bangkok. I’ll want to get some of
what you said today on tape. You can be quite persuasive when you want
to be, Commander.”
“I guess that’s why they made me tour guide,” he replied. “To keep your
show from getting too one-sided!”
She smiled. “We’ll see. I’ll take up your schedule with your admiral.
By the way, Admiral Magruder is your uncle, isn’t he?”
That again. “Yes, ma’am, he is.”
She laughed. “Well, that must be convenient!”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He couldn’t tell from Pamela’s bantering
tone whether she was serious or not. Back at Yokuska, after the fight
at Wonsan, the press had had a field day with the fact that he was the
nephew of the battle group commander. Tombstone kept his face impassive
and turned away. “This way, if you please.”
As he led the civilians across the flight deck, Tombstone couldn’t help
connecting Pamela’s seemingly offhand comment with their quiet, unstated
hostility to the very idea of the Jefferson. To them, the carrier
represented billions of misspent dollars, and he could tell they were