Reluctant Warriors

Free Reluctant Warriors by Jon Stafford Page A

Book: Reluctant Warriors by Jon Stafford Read Free Book Online
Authors: Jon Stafford
geyser dissipated, it once more revealed
the Japanese patrol boat. Men on the deck of the little ship began scurrying about.
In about fifteen seconds another of the heavy and menacing sounds came whistling
through the air, and another explosion rocked everyone.
    “Someone’s shooting at them!” a sailor shouted.
    Harry watched as another shell came even closer to the enemy craft. He was simply
amazed.
    Jeez , he thought to himself, THAT is a gun! Unbelievable power! If I ever get my
own sub, I want a gun like that! It must be one of our newer subs, a Balboa Class
with one of those five-inch guns instead of our three-inch. If I ever get a gun like
that, I am going to use it!
    Shells continued to come close to the enemy ship. The Japanese got under way as fast
as they could. Having nothing to match the big cannon, they moved off in the opposite
direction and began to build up speed. One of the shells came very close. Harry could
barely see as men were blown from the deck by the explosion. Soon the Japanese disappeared
to the west.
    In the next half hour, it became quite dark. With the overcast sky, Harry and the
other men could see very little. But soon a long black shape loomed into view and
lights began to flash in their direction. The men yelled in the direction of the
lights, and the boat drew closer.
    Away from the lights, no doubt, more men were lost. It was impossible to tell. Harry
thought, Those lights can be seen for miles. These guys are risking their lives to
save us!
    Harry swam from group to group, yelling out into the void to see if anyone was still
out there. When everyone he could find was taken on board, he came alongside himself.
    “You Lieutenant Connors?” a voice called down.
    “Yes,” he answered, looking up into some lights and not being able to see the face
that asked the question.
    As he climbed up toward the bridge, Harry started to shake. A hand he could barely
see reached down and helped him up the last rungs of the ladder. He climbed onto
the deck. The helping hand belonged to a tall, red-haired man who looked vaguely
familiar.
    “You Connors?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “This is the submarine Bluefin . I’m ‘Red’ Phelps.”
    “Yes, sir,” Harry said, smiling. “I remember you from the Academy. I was in the ’37
class, two behind you.”
    “Let’s go below. I’m sure you’re beat. Get him a blanket,” he said to someone, “he’s
shaking like a leaf.”
    They went down into the conning tower, to the Control Room directly below it, and
then to the captain’s cabin. Phelps took one look at Harry and started a little.
    “Harry, you need to have someone look at that wound.”
    “Wound, sir?”
    “Harry, you have blood all over the right side of your face. It’s matted in your
hair. You feel okay?”
    “Yes, sir. How many did we get?”
    Phelps frowned. “Looks like ten men, including you. Four were dead in the water.”
    Harry slumped a bit. Mojarra had had an eighty-man crew.
    Phelps jumped up to steady Harry.
    “Harry, I want you to lie down right here in my bunk before you collapse.”
    Harry
passed out the moment he hit the bunk.

    He awoke to someone bandaging his head. He squinted up. The man tending him looked
very tired and very young.
    “I’m Botel, sir. I amount to a medic around here. You can try sitting up, but go
slow. You’ve been out for a while.”
    “My crew!” Harry said, sitting up. This time sitting up was not so painful. “What
about my crew?”
    “Well, sir, I’m sorry to say we lost a man late in the afternoon yesterday, Seaman
Wolston.”
    “Rudy Wolston. I never even saw him in the water,” Harry said. Wolston had been only
eighteen. He was from Dubuque, Iowa, only eighty miles from Dorance. The two Iowans
had spent much time talking. He was an only child, Harry thought , and his dad died
years ago. Now his mom’s got no one left.
    He looked up again. “What about the others?”
    “They’re under control.” The young pharmacist’s mate

Similar Books

Oblivion

Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Lost Without Them

Trista Ann Michaels

The Naked King

Sally MacKenzie

Beautiful Blue World

Suzanne LaFleur

A Magical Christmas

Heather Graham

Rosamanti

Noelle Clark

The American Lover

G E Griffin

Scrapyard Ship

Mark Wayne McGinnis