New Homeport Island (20 page)

they pointed their toes up heel to the ground and crossed their
 arms over their chests and positioned their hands as though they
 were pushing away walls. They danced in perfect unison and
Jennifer delighted at their performance.
 A man in a dark hood with a dark scarf acrossed his
 face, holding a folding fan in each hand, concealed himself
 behind the two fans and fluttered them making the sounds of
 wings, he opened and closed them in a mesmerizing pace and
 with them both closed brought them together and taped them
 together just above her head, with that, there in her dream she
 laid down and went to sleep.
 Athena began talking in her sleep, she was dreaming
 she was a princess of an out skirting kingdom, she wear a corset
 and rough lace, and a dress with so many petticoats she could
 only kneel to rest her legs. Should she try and sit she would fall
 over. The rug in her castle was black with golden inlay and
 burgundy trim. Men dressed much as cardinals of the Catholic
Church leered at her lustfully and her garter seemed to tickle and
 tighten as did her corset. She feared her corset would rip open
 revealing her breasts to the men in red. She carried a porcelain
 pitcher to fill a washing bowl to appear busy and unaware of
 their lustful gaze and she took a handkerchief from between her
 full and sweaty breasts and used the water in the bowl to
 moisten her face. She glanced around and the men starred at her
 heaving breast so she moistened the cloth again and wet her lips,
 then used it to cool her inner thigh by reaching up and under her
 dress and all the petticoats she had to lift and hold. She gently
 pated at her inner thighs which glistened with a perfumed
 perspiration, and gently tugged at her garter on her upper thigh
 which had a strap leading down to her opaque white toeless
 stocking. The men stood very close now and she noticed her

pedicure was red nail polish; she then surrendered to the
 moment. She tugged down her corset revealing her breasts and
 erect tan nipples, the foot she had placed in the seat of a chair to
 adjust her garter angled at the hell as she swung wide that leg to
 release her heat and arched her back gathering her hair in both
 hands to tie it up with red silken ribbon.
 The sound of soft moaning woke me up just before
Jennifer kicked me in the throat again. I got up and looked at the
 moon and down at the fire box and the fire was failing, so I
 looked in the vase and it was full so I set it aside and let the fire
 die. I thought I’d never get back to sleep, but I looked down just
 as Athena was issuing more moans and watched her caress
 herself which brought me an odd sense of wellbeing so I lied
 down beside her and fell right to sleep again.
 At the landing Artimus too was awake he stepped out
 of the pentagon and strolled over to where Mormus was
 sleeping, he had slept for nearly two days. Artimus kneeled
 down beside him and sighed; he choked up and rubbed at his
 eyes. Robert Wildly stepped up and kneeled next to Dave and
 took his hand, it was still relatively dark and the captain looked
 up to the dark sky dismayed as to why anyone would stroll up
 and take his hand, as rage began to well up in him he coughed
 out a sigh, but the heard Robert starting to pray. A sense of relief
 washed over captain Artimus and upon the word ‘amen’ Dave
 reached around Robert and gave him a hug. Robert said in a
 hush, “He’ll be okay, just needs rest.”
 Dave had been the captain of that destroyer and he
 knew what the situation called for, just assert a little self-
 delusion and once the context has changed in your mind it will
 be manageable, but you have to bring your subordinates up with
 you or they will shatter your illusion and all manner of

nightmare will become true, but he couldn’t stomach it. It had
 all been bitter for too long, nearly a week on the ocean, without
 so much as a floatation device, from a sunken U.S. Navy
 destroyer; Impossibility upon impossibility he wasn’t even sure
 they were actually alive. The alternative however was hell,
 thirst, hunger, and shipmates dyeing of exposure or dehydration
 and even what seemed to be forgetting to breath under the strain
 of fatigue…they just forgot to breath.  
 Dave thought back to the outright harassments he had
 practiced in order to find the ships first ‘five point oh’ sailor, the
 things he had done to encourage the subordinates to believe their
 immediate superior was always correct which was a task that
 only rose to his level when they were in fact wrong, molesting
 the ship in order to provoke a measurable event for chief petty
 officer performance evaluations under the heading of cultural
 diversity, that being encouraging the racists to believe they
 shared a view with their superiors that due to rank and station
 could not admit it. His list went on, now he was tired and
 defeated but it was anything but a quick death. Some deserter in
 his crew fled the camp site and is now delivering water rations
 and is working on a fishing net, while the noble captain watches
 his crew die apparently out of a failure of leadership, or simply
 having given up. The conversations he had with the corpsman
 concluded this crew could survive drinking sea water for two
 weeks, though some would need to drink urine as it is less
 saline. But, their spirits are failing them as their captain mourns
 a past out of his control and the ranks are beyond restless and
 disheveled, they are becoming animalistic and the captain is
 fighting his urge to just become a hunter of such animals.
 Charlie Mcree lie beside Hauldbalm “the ghost” she
 looked up from her rest and once again removed his hand from

her breast, she looked over and saw Artimus and Wildly
 kneeling together. She asked the master chief, “Hey, what are
 they doing?” Hauldbalm just grumbled in his sleep, so Charlie
 grabbed a hold of his crotch to wake him. Hauldbalm instantly
 woke and said, “About god damn time” Charlie smacked his
 shoulder and pointed at the Captain and Wildy and asked again,
“What are they doing?” Hauldbalm straightened his glasses and
 looked, he asked, “What did you see them do?” Charlie replied,
“Their over there kneeling by the X.O.” Hauldbalm sat up some
 more beside her and watched a little, then put his arm around her
 and said, “Honey we need to sleep, they’re having a séance. I
 know that probably breaks your heart but I’ve got you.” Charlie
 scoffed and looked at him and realized the biggest smile she had
 had on her face in three years was right then, and she replied,
“Huh…you do, you really do.” Hauldbalm tapped her nose and
 said, “Yes I do” he leaned in and kissed her and pulled her to
 him. As she snuggled into his chest she laughed and said,
“ahaha, I’m only twenty four you cradle robber.” and as he
 began to choke with doubt she gave him a long slow deep kiss
 and welcomed his hand back to her breast.  
 Over the island hung a long streak of stratus cloud and
 if that cloud had a mind and eyes it would have seen the new
 allegiances and rivalries forming that night. Old political
 arguments and conflicting leadership still on the back burner and
 new problems of being lost and somehow more significantly
 was the sense of feeling lost. As a sailor being lost is nearly
 inconsequential, feeling lost however was an invitation to
 disaster. From above would be seen the huddled crowds had
 stabilized, no more games of hide and seek, they sat were all
 had, without words, agreed that they belonged. The hostility that
 erupted over the discovery of the water rations and the follow up

discovery of crew members that had broken away to make the
 water, had revealed long held animosities amongst the crew.
Biting and shoving at each other pushing away those that did not
 matter to them only to discover they did not matter to some they
 did care for; leaving them with a new sense of betrayal. They
 were ostracized from their supposed peers and found themselves
 amongst others willing to tolerate them, for too long they had
 held each other’s hands and washed each other’s backs only to
 learn familiarity breeds contempt. If only that cloud could rain
 down on them some sympathy over the brewing anguish that
 would soon yield a bitter fruit.  
 As the sun rose Chief Brosuer went around from
 group to group wakening only those he trusted; gathering social
 support for the morning’s assertion of authority.  Today they
 would be finalizing the pentagon walls, and now that they had
 fire and a water delivery it was time to make tea.  
 Brosuer first woke GMG2 Smity a gunner’s mate
 guns, he had had the position of lead brig watch though he had
 only stood those watches on one occasion under the previous
 captain when I man was put on bread and water and three days
 confinement for assaulting an officer with an additional
 specification of It having happened at sea. Smity enjoyed the
 image of the navy with its heady lusty images of noblemen and
 pirates at sea despite the fact the all his navy experience went
 against that recruiting image. He then woke FC3 Zemkay he had
 been a rising star in the fire control rating, dating females in the
 gunners mate missile rate to have a personal contact within the
 work centers maintaining the other half of the systems he was
 responsible for…he handled the consoles and control systems,
 they took care of the actual missiles. Next was Atrisia Wells,
 relatively new to the ship but impassioned by the job, social

outrage would inspire her to strike with lethal force and without
 the guidance of her chain of command she would act in haste
 and likely kill the victim of a crime before even confronting the
 assailant. Then he woke Hudlow and authoritative engineer that
 had reached E-6 before leaving the training command, he had
 been made a ‘building maintenance supervisor’; BMS a code for
 janitor that was synonymous with mental disorders, in Hudlow’s
 case he had a remarkably low constitution; had personnel at his
 command been wearing costumes during the workday on
Halloween, Hudlow would have gone delirious and stammered
 through the day. This marooning left Hudlow on another plain
 of reality, full of magic and illusion. Chief Tony Casley was a
 navy runt and he was awoken next, the runts were motivated by
 a lifetime of short jokes and harassments within the navy for
 being of a lesser stature, anyone familiar with the old word
 belief that a tall man was inherently more intelligent than a
 shorter man could see the reasoning and the situations that lead
 to those deductions develop on just about any ship in the navy.
On the slightest sign of uncertainty they appeared to be lessor
 men, and it was necessary to leave room for leadership from
 subordinates by not always presenting as domineering;
 something a taller man would survive with his reputation intact,
 but the shorter guys would never live down. He had stayed in
 the navy to build a reputation that overcame this observed reality
 in his life, though it was only high school and the navy where
 that belief system flourished, had he left the navy he would have
 been subjected to a higher degree of maturity and more
 reasonable deductions made by his co-workers.  
 Brosuer had decided that the command master chief
 was genuinely too old for these military endeavors so we woke
Charlie McCree instead of the master chief, she stood there

being stared at by those he had already awoken. They starred at
 her in shock as though they were looking at the command
 master chief’s geisha girl, which was distinctly different than a
 whore. Charlie looked back at them mirroring their shock and
 realized they seemed to have some contempt for her and she
 uttered, “What?”; they then strolled away and formed ranks.
Brosuer said, “Don’t form up yet it isn’t just us. We need a role
 call on everyone. Let’s just cover what we need to get them to
 do first.”                            
  Over at the boiler work camp I started to wake up
 again the sun was just risen and as I awoke I heard music in my
 dreams, violins and cello’s playing a harmony like some kind of
U2 song. I looked at Athena still asleep next to me and I rolled
 over to find Tommi staring at me like she had been watching an
 aquarium and drifted off into thought. I said, “Good morning.”
 she looked away from me by looking down at the ground near
 her feet as she sat there butt on the ground and legs stretched
 feet on the ground and she replied, “Ya..” I asked, “Where did
 you sleep?” She replied, “I’m not sure I have Rob, but I lied
 down on the hillside. I couldn’t find my way down in the dark,
 once the sun came up I went for a walk.” I asked, “How was
 your walk?” as I began to sit up and she said, “Well, there’s
 definitely wild boar here.” I responded, “That’s what I suspected
 and was hoping for.” Tommi crossed her legs and still staring
 toward the ground as if she couldn’t make eye contact with me
 she asked, “What you hoped for?” I said, “Ya, they may be
 dangerous, but when all is said and done they will just be
 cheeseburgers…sans cheese.” Tommi turn on her butt and laid
 back and said, “Ahh…that does make it different.” then she
 rolled over to go to sleep. I glanced back at Athena and she was
 still asleep so I scooted over to Tommi and caressed her hair

asking her if she was alright to which she responded, “Oh, I’m
 fine…just fine…” Tommi drifted off to sleep and I got up to see
 how much more work we needed on the fishing net and how far
 along we were on the other boilers and as I got up I looked over
 to see Athena glaring at me. Athena said, “You pull that shit on
 me and I’ll cut your balls off.” I said, “What shit?” Athena said,
“The way you were touching her, I’m not going to be needing
 any of your reflexology massages Rob.” I sighed and ran my
 fingers across Athena’s head and said, “She slept on the hillside
 stranded in the dark; couldn’t find her way down, I actually slept
 next to you.” Athena responded, “I know…you pull any shit
 with me and your balls will be fish bait.” I replied, “Okay” and
 got up and went back to the fishing net lines we were weaving.
Mike Elper woke up and saw me working on the net and
 looked over at the cooling boiler pieces they had finished last
 night only one bowl half, the top, had cracked and  A couple of
 the bricks had split. He asked, “Hey Rob, what do I do about
 these cracked pieces?” As he held them up I glanced over and
 saw what he was referring to. I said, “Spackle them and recook
 them, if they crack again well just make all new pieces.” He
 replied, “Alright…how long on the net?” I said, “This will take
 the rest of the day and we need a couple of logs to turn into a
 pontoon boat” Mitch interjected, “We need fish soon Rob.” I
 replied, “I know. There’s wild boar running around here and
 we’ll have to take some of them, but there’s something about
 those Hawaiian luaus where they bury the pig for three days to
 kill the worms in it.”  Athena got up and said, “Gruble was up
 all night she could get down from the mountain in the dark so let
 her sleep. I’ll help with the boiler.” Mike retorted, “They’re
 stills. It’s evaporative distillation we’re using.” Mitch said, “I’ll
 look for some logs.” Michael coughed and asked, “Do we have