Free Battleship (Movie Tie-in Edition) by Peter David Page A

cake into her mouth, nodded.
    “I’d totally do you,” said Ord. The others stared at him. He looked defensive. “Boy, try to lighten things up around here …”
    Hopper stared forlornly at Sam. She might as well have been standing on the other side of the Pacific for all that he could see of their life together. “Her father’s gonna smash me.”
    “He’s not,” said Stone. His earlier irritation with his brother had subsided, replaced by sympathy for Hopper’s obvious turmoil.
    “I really think he is.”
    Stone shook his head. “He loves his daughter. She loves you. He’s gonna respect that. Stop worrying about what hasn’t happened and get it done.” He paused and then said, “You want me to come with? Would that help?”
    “There’s no need I can absolutely do it myself yeah would’ja, please?”
    Releasing a brotherly chuckle, Stone clapped Hopper on the shoulder and with an inclination of his head indicated Hopper should follow him.
    “Want us to come, too?” said Ord cheerfully.
    “Actually, I’d like you, Ord, to jump overboard,” said Stone. “Raikes, Beast—you two go fish him out once he’s splashed around for a while.”
    As Stone and Hopper walked away, Ord looked nervously at Beast and Raikes. “He was kidding, right? That … wasn’t an actual order, was it?”
    “Sounded pretty official to me,” Beast said sternly. Raikes, wiping cake from her mouth with the back of her hand, shrugged.
    Stone and Hopper walked toward the admiral’s group. As they did so, Hopper was busy running through all the possible scenarios he could employ to casually get Shane away from the other officers. Perhaps Sam and Stone could somehow pitch in. Offer to take the others around the ship, leaving Hopper with the admiral for a few minutes.
    That could work. Maybe this whole thing could work. All I need is for things to go my way …
    “Nagata,” said Stone in a tone of formal greeting.
    The name snapped Hopper from his musings and he looked dead ahead of them. Sure enough, there was Nagata—along with one of his men—having approached from the side and come up to them just before they arrived within range of Admiral Shane’s group.
    Instantly Sam, her father and proposals were forgotten. His world was now filled with nothing but Nagata, standing there in his crisp uniform, oozing smug superiority. Nagata was regarding Hopper with his usual cool contempt even as he said to Hopper’s brother, “Stone. Good weather for our exercise.”
    “Yes, it is, and good luck to you.”
    “And to you,” said Nagata. He tilted his head toward Hopper. “Your brother could use a lesson in tactics from you.” He threw Hopper a cold smile.
    Hopper shoved his hands into his pockets, trying to look casual even as he fought to resist the impulse of smashing in Nagata’s smug face. “We were doing fine last go around,” said Hopper, “till you tried to ram me in open water.”
    “Ships never touched,” said Nagata. “Accident.”
    “Says who?”
    “The independent naval inquiry.”
    Working quickly to avert catastrophe, Stone said, “Hopper, back out of this. Don’t you have something much more interesting to be doing
right now
?”
    Hopper took a deep breath to steady himself, and then looked over to the admiral and Sam. “Roger that,” he said.
    He quickly hurried away, as Stone turned back to Nagata and said, with as much charm as he could muster, “Beautiful day for sailing, isn’t it, gentlemen?”
    From a short distance away, Hopper’s crewmates were watching with growing interest the altercation that appeared to be shaping up. “This is going to be sweet,” said Raikes, who had finished the cake and was stuffing the crumpled napkin into her pocket.
    “He walked away, though,” Beast pointed out.
    “Come on, Beast. You should know better than that. That was just round one. Round two’ll come up before you know it.”
    “What’s going on?” said Ord, relieved that the conversation