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He ht not want me to make any promises, but I wanted to, wanted to offer him my assurances Wanted to bind us both to that promise, honestly I didn’t need rooht find if I dug deep enough into my psyche I didn’t need space Just him But already there was an entire ocean between us

Chapter Thirty-Five

Derrick

“Well, you certainly kno to ardedHe had a shaved head, Southern drawl, co stare that had a way of seeing every uncertainty So I drew ave a firm nod

“Yes, sir” Entrance was one way to put the harrowing foggy medical evac that had required coordination fro the shore-based doctors, the ship the sub had had to rendezvous with, its helicopter crew, and various levels ofhad nothing in co the slick surface in choppy conditions with li that the operation had gone off without incident “You should be proud of your crew”

The sub’s young eith his patient on a litter while the deck crew had to coordinate closely with the evac helicopter

“They did fine work” This senior chief wasn’t the type to smile much, but the warot you on that bird”

“Me too We cut it close” I’d narrowly side the crew following a long flight out to that ship Not counting ties, I’d been awake over twenty-four hours by the time the evacuation was complete But Command hadn’t wanted the submarine to have to surface more than once, and time had been of the essence once the sick chief’s condition had deteriorated “Do we have an update on Gordon yet?”

“Stable He’s a fighter Higher-ups can’t share specific ood last I heard”

“Excellent” Everything I’d heard about the ill chief was glowing I had big shoes to fill on this mission, that much was certain

“You settling in?” The senior chief did another of those hard stares, but I had years of practice schooling my expression This was not a moment for complaints

“Yup” The senior chief didn’t need to hear that I had a rattly botto for my boyfriend’s cramped-but-cozy bed where at least I had Arthur as a pillow and the sound of his heart for white noise Senior Chief also didn’t need to know that I hadn’t slept any of the trip to the sub because I’d been replaying that final kiss with Arthur over and over All s were on automatic, not that I was lovelorn and homesick “Good crew here I’ll be up to speed in no time”

“That’s what I like to hear” Predictably, he nodded sharply and didn’t ask follow-up questions “Now, do you have that report for me?”

“Absolutely” I pushed thoughts of Arthur from my head I had a job to do and needed to prove to both the senior chief and the personnel under e “I analyzed the last few days of data”

I rattled offon the minor discrepancies I’d found, my plans to study them further, quality control procedures in place, and possible conclusions that could be drawn froood at, and my confidence showed in my decisive tone

“Damn” The senior chief whistled low “You do know your stuff Brass said you were one of the best”

I stood a little taller at that It didn’t o still enjoyed the praise, and I had tooto let my funk impact ation “Thank you, sir I try”

“Reputation like yours, you’ll be coh, I reckon” The senior chief stretched, arht compartment ere in

“Oh, I’ve got some years left before that” Any other previous deployment and the comment would have buoyed me for days I wanted to be where he sat, chief of the boat, coht-hand personnel and responsible for so much of the daily operations It was a level of responsibility I’d aspired tothis little voice in the back ofwhat if, and me not sure how to answer it