Decker's Dilemma (7 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

2015, Tuesday, January 7

The plan was simple. Hack would walk aboard ship on Decker's duty night while he had the quarterdeck watch from 2000 to midnight, the perfect spot to be a lookout and the perfect time of night to snoop around while most people were off the ship. If all went well, it'd be a routine evening. No one in the duty section would suspect otherwise.

Hack spent the early hours of the evening pensive, walking around base for two hours. He met Lee at the Sampaguita Club for a beer. She could immediately tell something was up.

“You're acting weird.” she said. “You're not breaking up with me, are you?”

Hack sat his beer down and put his chin in his hands. “No, of course not. It's nothing like that. I have to go back to the ship tonight.”

“For work?”

Hack shook his head. “Not exactly. Decker and I are planning a break-in.”

“A break-in of what?”

“Promise not to tell anyone?”

“Of course, silly goose. Who am I going to tell anyway?”

Hack whispered quietly about what Vega had said about the black market operation, its possible connection, in Decker's mind, to Kippen's death, and the plan to break-in to Chief's safe.

Lee listened with obvious skepticism. “I knew Decker'd get you involved in something like this. And his girlfriend sounds just like him.”

“Decker's not getting me involved. I agreed to help. And Vega's got nothing to do with it. It's our idea.”

“It's Decker's idea,” Lee corrected him. “So what do you expect to find?”

“We're not sure, but it's strange.”

“What is?”

“No one but Chief has the combination to the safe.”

Lee laughed. “What's wrong with that? That's the whole idea of having a safe, sweetie. It keeps people like you and Decker out of it.” She sat back in her chair. “How are you going to open it if you don't have the combination?”

“Decker figured it out. He's been watching Chief the past few months.”

Lee reached across the table and held both of his hands. “You shouldn't get involved like this. Do you have any idea what could happen to you if you get caught?”

Hack squeezed her hand, running his thumb in tiny circles on her soft skin. “I try not to think about it. Decker has quarterdeck watch so it'll be safe. I'll have a lookout. If he has the right combination, I can be in and out of the safe in five minutes.”

Lee let go of his hands and sat back in her chair. “I still think you shouldn't do it.”

“I have to. I promised,” Hack said, looking at his watch. 2030. “In fact, I need to be going. I'll stop by tomorrow night.”

Lee finished her beer and pulled out five dollars from her jeans. “I'll buy,” she said. “I'll save the rest of my money to bail you out of the brig, if that's even possible in the navy.”

“That won't be necessary,” said Hack. “I hope.” He pushed his chair back and stood, taking a deep breath as if to steel himself for the night's adventure.

Lee stood, too, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Just kidding. Please be careful, okay? Promise me that?”

Hack kissed her forehead. “I promise.” His eyes drifted around the club. Everywhere people were having fun, partying, laughing and carefree. How was it that Decker had talked him into this scheme of his? He'd much rather be heading back to Lee's place to spend the evening with her. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I have a few errands to run,” Lee said. She looked up at Hack with a worried expression. “I better get home.

Hack said good-bye and left the club at 2040. He walked up the gangway fifteen minutes later.
Perfect timing
, he thought,
except
…. Decker had been on watch for an hour. Hack saluted the officer-of-the-deck, Lieutenant Duncan, and motioned discretely to Decker that he wanted to talk.

Decker led him to the far end of the quarterdeck. “What's up?” he asked, taking a peek at the officer-of-the deck. “We're looking suspicious.”

“I can't get in,” Hack whispered.

“Sure you can. You can be in and out in five minutes.”

“It's not that. I forgot my keys at Lee's apartment.”

Decker dug a keychain out of his pocket. Three keys and a yellow Tweety Bird fob around a silver metal loop.

“You actually walk around with this in public?”

“It's my good luck charm. And don't leave the ship with it. My rack key's on there.”

Hack nodded and walked across the quarterdeck and down the portside ladder. Standing on the mess decks, Hack scanned the room to see who was on board. A few guys were sitting around playing cards, others were watching television. No one to be worried about.

He walked aft along the starboard passageway, past the supply berthing and down the port ladder. He continued aft along the passageway to Supply Support, pausing as he inserted the key. Above him, the noise of a shipyard worker using a needlegun scaler on the main deck reverberated throughout the stern of the ship.

Hack looked up and down the passageway. No one in sight. As stealthily as possibly, he unlocked the door, turned on the lights, and nearly jumped out of his shoes.

“Wilson. What are, um, it's nice to see you,” stammered Ensign Limpert. “I didn't think, well, I didn't know you had duty.”

“I don't. I just came down to do a little work, sir” said Hack. “Were you in here in the dark?”

Ensign Limpert nodded his head. “The dark, well, I don't like lights on when I'm on the computer. Mine isn't, um, well it crashed. I thought, um, I figured I'd come down here to do some work.”

“I see,” said Hack. “I'll come back.”

“No, I'm almost, well, I'm finished,” said Limpert. “Let me get out, um, I'll shut down the computer and I'll be out of your way.”

Hack watched as Ensign Limpert turned off the computer, grabbed his hat, and shuffled towards the exit.

“Sorry to bother you,” Limpert mumbled as he opened the door to leave.

“No problem,” said Hack, but Limpert was already heading forward in the passageway.

Hack grabbed the growler next to Chief's desk and called the quarterdeck. Decker answered immediately.

“Quarterdeck, Petty Officer Decker.”

“Limpert's on board.”

“Who is this?” asked Decker, smiling.

“You know who it is, damn it. Limpert's on board. You didn't tell me that.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he was in Supply Support!”

“You're kidding?”

“I wish. He was sitting down here with the lights off.”

Decker was silent for a few seconds. “In the dark?”

“Yep, in the dark. He was sitting at Chief's desk on the computer.”

“Why Supply Support and, more troubling, why were the lights out?”

“He said his computer wasn't working in his office and that he prefers it dark when he's on the computer.”

Decker thought for a moment. “That's odd. Where is he now?”

“I don't know. He walked out a minute ago.”

Decker looked aft along the starboard side. “Oh, here he comes. Looks like he's going to leave the ship.” Decker paused while Ensign Limpert walked down the brow. “Must've been working on payroll. He probably knew I was on watch and thought he'd have the office to himself. I had no idea he was still on the ship.”

“You sure no one else is on board?” asked Hack.

“As far as I know.”

“That's not very comforting,” said Hack.

“I'm sure of it,” Decker said, not sounding completely convincing. “It's safe to proceed. Hey, you know what else?”

“What?” asked Hack, exasperated.

“Limpert's hat looks like it's three times too big for his head.”

“I know,” Hack chuckled. “And I'm sure it's the smallest size they make.”

“I bet his wife—”

Hack hung up the growler before Decker could finish his sentence. He knew better than to trust his shipmate completely, so he grabbed the wrench next to the hatch that led to a storeroom below the office and loosened the six bolts.
Better safe than sorry
, he said to himself.

Satisfied that he had an escape route, Hack turned his attention to the safe. He set the keys on the desk, got on his knees, and slowly turned the dial. 36 right. 12 left. 24 right. No joy. Decker had warned him he wasn't sure about the last number. Hack turned the dial once again, this time trying a different ending number. 36 right. 12 left. 26 right. He tentatively pulled down on the handle. It opened effortlessly. He was in.

Hack took a quick look at the safe filled with file folders.
Damn
, he thought.
I'll need an hour to go through all this stuff
. But five minutes later he determined that most of the folders contained causality reports that ships submit when they need critical repair parts to maintain their warfighting capabilities. Most were classified documents with various ship locations and ship movements peppered throughout each report.

Hack was almost ready to give up when he came across a folder at the back of the safe. Labeled “Inventory,” he thumbed through it, noticing the file had been updated during the past week with a recently-run report.

Hack quickly scanned the documents. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he tried to digest all of the names, dates, and figures that he could. Lost in concentration, the 1MC nearly scared him to death.
Harvey
,
departing
. The captain was going home for the night.

Hack exhaled and sat on the deck to stretch his legs. He quickly composed himself and began reading through the documents again when the growler began humming.
Not now, Decker
, Hack thought. He raced to the phone and was barely able to get out “Supply Support” before Decker interrupted.

“Get out of there. Now!”

“What's going on? Is someone here?”

“Hell yes! The commander and Chief Fray are both on board. Commander Doerr walked up the brow as soon as the Old Man rounded the corner to leave. I had to pass the word that the captain was leaving. But never mind that. Get the hell of there! Suppo said he's here to meet with Chief.”

“Holy shit! Chief's on board?”

“Apparently he is, shipmate. Let me say that—”

“I knew this would happen,” Hack growled, hanging up on Decker before he could finish his sentence. For the briefest of moments, the worker with the deck scaler above the office stopped allowing Hack to hear the sound of voices in the passageway. He grabbed the files, threw them in the safe, and closed the door as quietly and quickly as possible. He lunged across the office, dove into the hatch, slipped down the ladder, and closed the hatch to the storeroom just as the office door opened. In complete darkness, Hack dared not move. A step either direction could knock over something and give him away. It was then that he remembered:
Decker's keys
.

The conversation above him was barely audible. Chief was doing most of the talking. Something about inventory.
Perfect
, Hack thought.
They must be discussing the missing items.
The conversation lasted only five minutes when he heard Suppo say he was leaving. Hack, motionless, felt his heartbeat begin to return to normal. But his luck ran out when Chief Fray started for the door.

“Damn idiots,” Chief said. “They left the hatch open. I'll catch up with you, sir.” Hack heard Chief Fray grunt as he knelt to grab the wrench. Hack cautiously felt his way along a row of bins, wanting desperately to move away from the opening in case Chief took a look down the hatch. But Chief was in no mood to mess around. He tightened the bolts, mumbled something Hack couldn't understand, and left the office, slamming the door behind him.

For the next thirty minutes Hack waited in the dark wondering how long it would take Decker to come look for him. He sat on the deck and tried to think positive thoughts to rid himself of his anxiety. To his great relief, ten minutes later he heard the door to Supply Support open and a familiar voice calling out. “Hey, Hack, you in here?”

“Thank you, God,” Hack said to no one in particular. “I'm down here!”

Decker unbolted the hatch and Hack climbed out, relieved his temporary confinement was over. “Why aren't you on watch?”

“I got worried and told Lieutenant Duncan I had to go to the head. Chief and the commander left the ship about twenty minutes ago, and I didn't see or hear from you.”

“I barely made it to the storeroom in time. I started to—”

“No time for your life story,” Decker said. “I need to get back to the quarterdeck. Did you see what's in the safe?”