World War III

USS Hunley

Helen planned to turn over the conn when she reached safe water. However, their new orders forced her to change those plans. She remained on the conn using her willpower to keep the boat moving toward their new target as the crew busily repaired the battle damage. Helen and the crew knew they would be walking a fine line for the next hour or so. Picking up the mike, she punched the button for engineering, “Maneuvering, conn. How’s our battery power holding up?”

“We're down to fifty percent reserve. At the current use, we'll be dead in the water in sixty-seven minutes.”

“Very well,” was Helen's response. Then, turning to the Navigator, “Nav, how long to target?”

“In firing range in twenty minutes.”

Helen hastily calculated what battery power would be left if she had to use the cannon in the upcoming battle. She figured that after firing the cannon, the boat would have about ten minutes left on the battery and their hope for survival would be to disable all five enemy ships with torpedoes. If they have to use the cannon, they’d stop dead in the water and be blasted to pieces. “Nav, take the conn, steady as she goes. I'll be in Engineering.”

“Yes, ma'am.” The young Lieutenant stepped onto the platform.

Helen, hit the deck at a run on her way aft. As she moved through the tunnel, she saw a group working at the far end and yelled, “Make a hole!” Once through the group, she hurried to Maneuvering. Upon reaching the ten-by-twenty-foot, air-conditioned box known as maneuvering, Helen barged in. Upon entering, she felt a rush of cold air hit her in the face, in sharp contrast to the one hundred plus temperatures of the other engineering spaces. “Why the hell is it so cold in here? Ensign, turn that blower off, damn it!”

“Yes, Captain, but I'm a Lieutenant JG.”

“Correction - you were a JG. Get the Engineer in here, NOW!”

The man picked up the mike and requested the Engineering Officer to come to Maneuvering on the double.

When the Engineer showed up, he stuck his head in, “Request permission to enter. Oh, hi, Captain. Why’s it so cold in here?”

“Commander, I want this man relieved of his current duties and assigned to the hottest and dirtiest job possible.”

The Engineer glowered at the man who was in tears and coldly said, “You are relieved. Step outside and wait at attention.” With that, the cowed young officer moved outside. “Captain, what else can I do for you?”

“How long until we can start the reactor plant up?”

“We’re working on the last breakers now. But, we then have to test them, so I estimate another two hours.”

“What if we skip testing and override all the protective features?  How long to get to full power then?”

“Captain, if we get everything operational, go directly to pulling rods, and everything works perfectly, about an hour. But, Captain, there are some other problems. The crew is getting sluggish from the heat. I'm afraid if we keep pushing them like we have, they’ll start collapsing from heat stroke.”