The Violent Sea by Russell Moran

Author:Russell Moran [Moran, Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780692034576
Publisher: Coddington Press
Published: 2018-10-24T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Meg and I returned to the Ford, and I ordered the helmsman to steer a course that would take us to the patch of ocean where we hit the wormhole. A patch of ocean is no way to describe an exact position, and to cross the wormhole that’s what we’ll need—an exact position, not a patch of ocean. Tall order if you don’t know the position you’re looking for. Meg thinks we’ll just have to suck it up and cruise in circles, hoping that we’ll somehow encounter the wormhole.

“Admiral Fenton, this is Lieutenant Bowman in navigation. Sir, there’s a petty officer here with me who I think you should talk to. He has some information about the wormhole.”

Show me a straw and I’ll grab for it.

“Send him up, lieutenant.”

“Good afternoon, sailor. Lieutenant Bowman says that you have some thoughts on our wormhole problem. What’s your name?”

“Dan Maloney, quartermaster third class, sir. I should have thought about this before, admiral, but I didn’t fully understand our problem until recently. I think I may have a line of position to the wormhole.”

Holy shit, this kid thinks he has a line of position or LOP. A line of position is nothing more than a line on a chart from one location to another. It doesn’t give you a fix, just a line—a line that you’re on. Add one or two more lines converging on the same spot and you have a fix.

“You have our complete attention, Dan. Talk to us.”

“I was on the fantail watch on the stern. (A fantail-watch stander’s job is to keep a lookout for anything that may be a problem on the aft-end of a ship, such as a flock of seagulls that could interfere with flight operations). I could see the shoreline from where I stood, and I noticed a beautiful old tall church steeple. Here, sir, I took a photo of it. I had no sooner snapped the picture when we went through that light and rumbling experience that you described as the indications of a wormhole. You’ll notice, sir, that a guy wire is across the photo, giving us a better idea of just where the line of position is.”

“Oh, my God,” Meg yelled. “A line of position just as we hit the wormhole. Do you realize how important this is, Dan?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m a third-class quartermaster in the navigation department, and I know a lot about fixes and lines of position. If I understand it correctly ma’am, we just need to steam along that line, and hope that we hit the wormhole. The OOD can give helm commands using this photo.”

“I’m going to the bridge to talk to the navigator, your boss. Nice work pal, and thank you for the heads up. You’ve earned a decoration. Come with me to the bridge.”

The navigator and I agreed that he and Dan Maloney would stand on the fantail, and as soon as the church steeple lined up with the guy wire, he would mark the spot on a chart.

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