Caine Mutiny, The - Herman Wouk [229]
“Did you state in your report of 1 July that he was qualified for command?”
“Well, as I say, he started off like a house afire. If you want to know how he ended up why don’t you bring up his last fitness report?”
“You wrote that report, Commander, did you not, after he relieved you on the grounds of mental illness?”
“That made no difference at all,” exclaimed Queeg; with a touch of the old nasal voice. “The fitness report is not an instrument of retaliation or revenge-not in my hands, it isn’t!”
“No further questions at this time.” Greenwald turned to the court. “Commander Queeg will be called as a witness for the defense.” The eyebrows of the president signaled astonishment followed by resignation. Queeg was excused. He walked out of the room hurriedly.
“Call Lieutenant Thomas Keefer,” said Challee. The novelist came marching in, shoulders thrown back, head tilted a little to one side, his eyes looking blankly ahead. After being sworn he sat in the witness chair and crossed his gangling legs. His elbows lay on the arm rests and his fingers were laced across his stomach. His foot danced slightly all the time he testified.
Challee brushed through the opening questions in a monotone, then said, “Now, Lieutenant Keefer, coming to the morning of 18 December-where were you at the time Captain Queeg was relieved?”
“In the charthouse on the bridge.”
“What were you doing?”
“Well, the weather was pretty terrible. Several of us were there, officers and men. We wanted to be on hand in case an emergency arose, but naturally we stayed out of the pilothouse, not wanting to clutter it up.”
“Describe how you learned that the captain had been relieved.”
“Mr. Maryk passed the word for all officers to lay up to the wheelhouse. When we got there he told us that the captain was sick and he had assumed command.”
“Where was Commander Queeg at the time?”
“In the wheelhouse.”
“Did he concur with Maryk’s statement?”
“He did not. He continually protested and warned us that if we complied with Maryk’s orders we’d be guilty of collusion in mutiny.”
“Did Captain Queeg show any external signs of being sick?”
“Well-” Keefer shifted in his seat and for a moment encountered Maryk’s painfully intense glance. Maryk looked away angrily. “Well, I have to say that at the height of typhoon nobody aboard a four-piper looks very well. He was wet, and tired, and very tense-looking-”
“Was he raving, or foaming, or giving any other common indications of insanity?”
“No.”
“Did he speak incoherently or gibberingly when he protested being relieved?”
“No, he spoke clearly.”
“Did he look any worse than, say, Lieutenant Keith?”
“No, sir.”
“Or Maryk?”
“I guess not. We were all tired, dripping, and knocked about.”
“What was your response to Maryk’s announcement?”
“Well, things were happening very fast and in a confused way. Captain Queeg was talking to us when the capsized George Black was sighted. Maryk began to maneuver to pick up survivors and for an hour that was all anyone thought about.”
“Did you make any effort to persuade Maryk to restore Queeg to command?”
“I did not.”
“Were you next senior officer to Maryk?”
“I was.”
“Didn’t you feel the seriousness of the situation?”
“I certainly did, sir.”
“Didn’t you realize that Captain Queeg’s warning about collusion in mutiny was well founded?”
“I did.”
“Why did you take no remedial action?”
“I wasn’t present when the captain was relieved. I didn’t know what he might have done in a critical moment to convince the executive officer that he was sick. And everyone was concentrating on saving first the Black survivors and then our own ship. There was no time for arguing. By the time the storm subsided the situation had crystallized. Maryk was in full command. The entire ship