The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy [72]
"May I ask a question, sir?"
"Sure."
"What's the flap?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, sir, that they turned my ship around. Then I get orders to ferry a VIP from Kennedy to Invincible."
"Oh, okay. Can't say, Parker. I'm delivering some messages to your boss. I'm just the mailman," Ryan lied. Roll that one three times.
"Excuse me, Commander, but you see, my wife is expecting a child, our first, soon after Christmas. I hope to be there, sir."
"Where do you live?"
"Chatham, that's—"
"I know. I live in England myself at the moment. Our place is in Marlow, upriver from London. My second kid got started over there."
"Born there?"
"Started there. My wife says it's those strange hotel beds, do it to her every time. If I were a betting man, I'd give you good odds, Parker. First babies are always late anyway."
"You say you live in Marlow?"
"That's right, we built a house there earlier this year."
"Jack Ryan—John Ryan? The same chap who—"
"Correct. You don't have to tell anybody that, Lieutenant."
"Understood, sir. I didn't know you were a naval officer."
"That's why you don't have to tell anyone."
"Yes, sir. Sorry for the stunt earlier."
"That's all right. Admirals must have their little laughs. I understand you guys just ran an exercise with our guys."
"Indeed we did, Commander. I sank one of your submarines, the Tullibee. My systems operator and I, that is. We caught her near the surface at night with our FLIR and dropped noise-makers all round her. You see, we didn't let anyone know about our new equipment. All's fair, as you know. I understand her commander was bloody furious. I'd hoped to meet him in Norfolk, but he didn't arrive until the day we sailed."
"You guys have a good time in Norfolk?"
"Yes, Commander. We were able to get in a day's shooting on your Chesapeake Bay, the Eastern Shore, I believe you call it."
"Oh yeah? I used to hunt there. How was it?"
"Not bad. I got my three geese in half an hour. Bag limit was three—stupid."
"You called in and blasted three geese in a half hour this late in the season?"
"That is how I earn my modest living, Commander, shooting," Parker commented.
"I was up for a grouse shoot with your admiral last September. They made me use a double. If you show up with my kind of gun—I use a Remington automatic—they look at you like you're some kind of terrorist. I got stuck with a pair of Purdeys that didn't fit. Got fifteen birds. Seemed an awful lazy way to hunt, though, with one guy loading my gun for me, and another platoon of ghillies driving the game. We just about annihilated the bird population, too."
"We have more game per acre than you do."
"That's what the admiral said. How far to Invincible?"
"Forty minutes."
Ryan looked at the fuel gauges. They were half empty already. In a car he'd be thinking about a fill-up. All that fuel gone in half an hour. Well, Parker didn't seem excited.
The landing on HMS Invincible was different from the COD's arrival on the Kennedy. The ride became rocky as Parker descended through the clouds, and it occurred to Ryan that they were on the leading edge of the same storm he'd endured the night before. The canopy was coated with rain, and he heard the impact of thousands of raindrops on the airframe—or was it hail? Watching the instruments, he saw that Parker leveled out at a thousand feet, while they were still in clouds, then descended more slowly, breaking into the clear at a hundred feet. The Invincible was scarcely a half the Kennedy's size. He watched her bobbing actively on the fifteen-foot seas. Parker used the same technique as before. He hovered briefly on the carrier's port side, then slid to the right, dropping the fighter twenty feet onto a painted circle. The landing was hard, but Ryan was able to see it coming. The canopy came up at once.
"You can get out here," Parker said. "I have to taxi to the elevator."
A ladder was already in place. He unbuckled and got out. A crewman had already retrieved his bag. Ryan followed him to the island and was met by an ensign—a sublieutenant, the British call the rank.
"Welcome