to slip up: a stray public comment, causing Shane grief and creating a hostile workplace, and Macho would be there to “protect” her frail roommate — and the sisterhood, in general — from these lecherous assholes. She envisioned Trench standing tall in front of the XO having to explain himself, and a smile formed on her lips.
Just a matter of time…On the other hand, Macho was impressed. Thrust to weight? Turn rate? Slow-speed handling? Wonder Woman had done her homework, and here, on day one, was talking to her aviator squadronmates on their level.
“Are there any questions?” Shane asked the group with a pert smile.
There were none, and Wilson looked over his shoulder to see for himself. “Nice job, Shane. Thanks,” he told her. Flushed with pride, she returned to her seat next to Macho.
“Well done!” Macho whispered and patted Shane’s knee.
“Thanks!” Shane replied. She radiated satisfaction with her performance, which she hoped made a difference to the fleet strike-fighter squadron. She felt she was off to a good start with a great group of people, like her cool roommate, Tiffany, er, Macho.
(Flag spaces, USS Coral Sea, underway)
As he sat at the head of the table in his flag meeting room surrounded by Coral Sea’s brain trust, Admiral Roland Meyerkopf was perplexed.
To him, with his submarine pedigree, a nuclear-powered ship was a nuclear-powered ship, and if it floated on the surface or submerged under, it mattered little. No, it was all about the plant, and in the case of Coral Sea, the plants. The carrier he was on had two Westinghouse AW4 nuclear reactors that drove four massive shafts that delivered a mind-boggling 260,000 shaft horsepower that pushed the 100,000-ton steel mass of Coral Sea over 30 knots and could do it non-stop for twenty years if the machinist mates could keep the shafts and reduction gears lubed. Indeed, this national asset would serve the Navy and the nation for half a century before it wore out and needed to be decommissioned. During those decades, it would serve many roles: deter aggression and occasionally respond to it; deliver relief supplies; project national power, or the threat of it, well inland. And Coral Sea could do this from anywhere on earth.
A capital warship of this stature was vital to the nation’s military policy of forward deployment, the 800-pound gorilla that could be moved to trouble spots quickly and remain on station for weeks or months to maintain — or restore — stability ashore. In that sense, to Meyerkopf, the tactical war fighting capability of these ships was a sideshow. To him, the nuclear carrier fleet — like his submarine navy — was in greater danger from neglect and accidents, the insidious march of corrosion and mismanagement of planned maintenance shipyard availabilities that put unnecessary wear and tear on the plant and associated equipment. Vigilance through exhaustive and repetitive training, strict adherence to preventive maintenance schedules, and thorough inspections could mitigate this danger. Therefore, Meyerkopf was the right man at the right place at the right time.