The Event: The Beginning (22 page)

              “I was at Fleet ASW in San Diego for A-school, then stationed on the USS Nimitz while she was in dry dock getting her overhaul from 98 until I got out in 2000. Since I didn’t see any designators coming up to her, what ship are we on?” I asked in return. The three looked at each other and laughed.

              “Let’s go up to the flight deck, I’ll show you.” Lt. Levine chuckled. He led the way out and we all followed him. He took us through an outer hatch onto the catwalk and then up to the flight deck. We walked far enough into the middle so I could see the numbers on the tower appear. I started laughing as soon as I saw them; the huge, white, 68.

              “No freaking way, are you serious?” I laughed.

              “What ship are we on?” Jeff asked.

              “Well, I wouldn’t believe it unless I saw this, but we are on my old ship. Welcome aboard the USS Nimitz, CVN-68.” I told them. I couldn’t stop laughing or smiling at the coincidence. I was always talking about my time in the Navy back home, and how much I missed being in. I couldn’t believe the luck that landed me back on her.

              “Let’s get your group here and get you settled, shall we?” Lt. Levine asked.

              “Let’s. Tony, Jeff, Vince, and Dave, you guys head back in the van to get the group. Leave that gate blocked when you come back through just like we did. Radio when you are back at the base itself and we will get the doors back open for you. Be safe, but quick.” I told them. It felt like the first real order I had given since this group trusted me with being in charge.

              “Why don’t only two of us go back and the rest stay here? I don’t like splitting up too much.” Jeff asked. I knew he didn’t like leaving me somewhere unknown because he knew if anything happened to me he would catch hell from Michelle and the girls.

              “Because that not what I said. I will be fine with just Roger. I need to talk to the sailors, and I want them to know they can trust us without a big show of force. Putting us in a vulnerable position with them should gain their trust once they hear the plan, and that is crucial if this is going to work.” I replied.

              “Fine. Let’s go.” he huffed. Lt. Levine motioned to the Chief who showed the rest of the guys down to the hangar bay and out. The Ensign he asked to make the announcement to gather in the hangar bay.

              “You know, if you let the sailors see your men talk to you like that with no repercussions, it won’t exactly foster a respectful relationship, if that’s what you’re going for.” he told me as we walked back inside the tower.

              “There are only a handful of people I let question me like that. Jeff I have known since we were in middle school, and he is basically my brother. I let him do it because he keeps me on track, helps me think things through completely. He will follow my orders though, but he makes me make sure it’s not a bad order. Roger I have known even longer. I trust their judgement, and I trust them to tell me I’m being a retarded asshole if I am being one.” I replied to him. I wanted him to know he could trust me with the safety of the group, because if he did, then the sailors would.

              “That’s a good explanation, even though you didn’t owe me one. I think the sailors will respect that openness. Just remember though, an order is an order, and they will follow them as such.” he reminded me. I remembered my time in, and the almost blind obedience to orders the military fostered.

              “So tell me Lt, how many do you have onboard?” I asked. I needed to know what I was taking on, and what skill sets I had.

              “I believe the count is 244 sailors and around 250 civilians if I’m not mistaken. I can have a list brought to you, we have a list of everyone onboard, including their rates and skills.” He responded. Once inside the tower, we walked up a flight of stairs to the bridge. The Lt. told a sailor to make the announcement to meet, and he then led us back down towards the hangar bay. Apparently the platform he mentioned was in hangar bay 3, the farthest aft, and just to the side of the machine shop door.

              We stepped into hangar bay 2, the middle one, which was directly below the tower. Something had been bothering me since we first got onboard and walked through the hangar bay, and it finally hit me as we walked through bay 2 again.

              “Wait, where are all the planes? I thought something looked off, and it just hit me. I saw the two choppers on the flight deck, and that one there, but no planes.” I stopped cold when the realization that on an aircraft carrier, there were no aircraft.

              “I wondered when you would notice that, once you said you were stationed aboard a carrier before. We have two pilots left. Once we realized what had happened, and decided to stay, we launched the planes and landed them at the air field on base. It seemed like a good idea, and gave us extra space. The two choppers up top are search and rescue birds, and as you can see, the last one down here is an Apache attack chopper. The Apache was on the base airfield, so the pilots opted to bring it back as a defense option. Luckily, we have not had call for it.” Lt. Levine informed me. I looked around at the empty space and started thinking of ways to utilize it. We kept walking aft as sailors started filtering in from all directions.

              The Lt. led me up on the platform and we waited for the majority of the sailors to show up. So far, most of the ones that had showed up were in full uniform, but a few were in civvies or p.t. clothes which led me to believe they still had some form of duty rotation. Quite a few of civilians had filtered in as well. They were talking in small groups for now, glancing up at me and Lt. Levine, and if I knew sailors, they were all coming up with their own ideas on who I was and what was going on. I assumed scuttlebutt, or gossip, had not died in the Navy.

              “Alright everyone, listen up. This is Sheldon Friend. He is the leader of a group that he has brought here with the intention of taking a carrier and living on it. We threw a kink in his plan by being here, but I have listened to his plan, and it is extremely viable. I have decided that we should join with him and his group for our long term survival. I want you all to listen to him. If anyone has any objection afterwards I’ll be happy to talk to you about it. Mr. Friend, the floor is yours.” Lt. Levine introduced me and then stepped aside. I stepped up to the rail and looked out over the assembled sailors and civilians. A few more were filtering in, but I knew the word would get around quickly to the last few that didn’t hear the intro.

              “Hello. Thank you all for listening. I am from Oklahoma, and like the Lt. said I have led a sizeable group here to commandeer a ship and have a long term survival plan. I knew a ship, especially a carrier, would be the perfect place as we could close the hangar bay doors and raise the elevators and be perfectly secure. That fact that the Nimitz was here and I am now standing on her is great, as I am former Navy myself, and the Nimitz was my ship. I am ecstatic to be back on her, and I know she would make the perfect safe haven to survive on.” I explained. I again spent the next hour or so explaining my plan, answering questions, and trying to show the group that I knew what I was doing. They had plenty of questions, and I answered them all to the best of my ability.

              “Now that everyone has heard the plan, and knows what I want to do, I will tell you that it is going to be a lot of hard work for everyone. I plan on working just as hard as I ask anyone else to, but I expect everyone to do their part. I understand there is somewhat of a chain of command here already, and I plan on establishing one with my people as well to make things flow easier. A good part of my group is either former military themselves or military family, so there shouldn’t be any conflict there. This is my good friend Roger, who I consider a brother. I had four other men with me, who I know some of you saw earlier. They are on their way to get the rest of my group and bring them here. I want to merge groups into one large one, but I need your support to do so. While I have been leading this group, I have not been leading it as a dictatorship. I have advisors, an inner circle who I consult with, whose judgements I trust. They keep me in check and make sure I am always acting in the best interest of the group. Does anyone have any other questions?” I finished. Several of them started talking amongst themselves, and I waited patiently, glancing back at Roger, who shrugged, then at Lt. Levine. I finally looked back over the crowd. After about twenty more minutes, I waved for everyone’s attention one last time.

              “If no one has any more questions, I have some planning to do before the main group arrives. I would like to speak with Lt. Levine, as well as whoever is in charge of guard detail and whoever knows what your supply and inventory situation is like. I need to know what you all have, and what is needed. Please meet me back in Ready One shortly with that information. Over the next week or so I would also like to meet each of you personally to find out what skills you have. Thank you all.” I said to the group.

              “Aye, Captain.” one of the sailors yelled out. A few more called out as well after that. A few even saluted before walking off. Apparently they were taking to the plan and accepting I was in charge.

“Lt., I need to hit the head, then I’ll head up to the ready room. Roger, come with me for a minute please.” I nodded at Lt. Levine then stepped over to the ladder and climbed down off the platform. Several sailors were still standing around chatting, and some walked up to me to introduce themselves. I shook each of their hands and tried to remember their names. I knew I probably would not remember them right now, but I tried. With Roger following me, I headed to the stairwell and up towards the flight deck. Stepping out onto the flight deck, I led Roger aft and port to look out over the water.

              “What do you think?” I asked him as we got close to the edge.

              “They seem to be willing to take on the group and none of them seemed to want to be in charge. It sounds like you won’t have to change the plan at all, just plan for more people. Are we up for it?” he asked me.

              “I think I’m going to have run it more like a ship with a military chain of command than I wanted. I knew I would have to make some people in charge of certain things, but with the sailors here I’m afraid it may be more military than I wanted.”

              “With the amount of vets and active duty we have, I don’t think that will too much of a problem though.” Roger replied.

              “True, but not everyone in the group was military, or military family. Especially Michelle, people like her don’t do well with military rules. It may be a tough sell, and I didn’t want to be “in charge” like that.” I responded. It was true I didn’t want to run things that strictly like a military installation, but with this many sailors onboard, and the amount of vets in my group I thought it might work.

              “Man, how did you ever get around this beast without getting lost?” he asked me. I laughed and turned to look across the deck.

              “It’s actually not that difficult once you learn how to read the space designators. Plus, since this won’t be an active running ship, there are only certain places we will be using regularly, so you’ll get the hang of it shortly, no worries.” I told him. “Let’s go inside and talk to the sailors. I need to know what we are dealing with supply wise here.”

              I led him back across the deck and we entered at the tower. We headed down the stairwell to the next deck to head towards the ready room. I did have Roger head that way while I hit the head, which was the Navy term for a bathroom. Once I finished I stepped into the ready room to see Roger, Lt. Levine, Ensign Harper, and another Chief I hadn’t met yet already there.

              “Hello guys, and lady. Let’s get started shall we?” I said as I made my way to the front of the room. I saw that Lt. Levine left a notebook on the podium for me. I opened it and grabbed the pen, ready to take any necessary notes.

              “I have a list here of crew members, along with any training and special skills they have. We don’t have departments anymore, but I have listed them all by what function they do as well.” Lt. Levine said, handing me a folder and starting the meeting off.

              “I have a map of each bunk room with the names of who is in what bunk, as well as empty bunk rooms.” Ensign Harper said next, also handing me a folder.

              “Chief Brandon Smith, sir. I’m in charge of ship security and posting guards. I also make sure there aren’t any fights, and would run the brig, if needed.” He introduced himself. I thanked all of them for the info and gathered the folders for future reference.

              “Who knows what kind of food, medical supplies, and ammo inventory there is on board?” I asked.

              “That would be Chief Crystal Smith, she has been keeping track of our food and medical supplies. She went to get her lists and should be here shortly. Lieutenant J.G. Jay Daniel is our ammo man. He also went to get an accurate list of what we have.” Lt. Levine told me.

              “Good, good. I could tell from the fact that not everyone was in uniform that there is still some sort of duty rotation going on. That works, and I have some night owls in my group as well, so a night shift would definitely be happening. I also have some excellent hunters and snipers, so I would for sure be adding them to the guard list. I have some excellent cooks as well. I don’t how you are all on that front, but more people who can cook is a good thing on a ship. I will definitely be reviewing all this, and determining who goes where from my group.” I said. The door opened then, and a woman in khaki walked in, who I assumed to be Chief Crystal Smith. She introduced herself as such, handed me a folder, and sat down.