Thank you computer, for not crashing during this project. I know we had some issues, but you hung in there for me.
Thank you Internet, for your vast supply of information. You are mankind’s best friend.
Thank you Mary C. Simmons for the wonderful cover design that inspired this second edition.
Thank you Kerry Geneva of Writers Resource for editing. Your insights were invaluable.
Most of all, thanks to my lovely wife, Karen, for enduring another book. Sometimes the writer's bug can last for days, leaving me in a trance that causes me to delay or skip chores, honey-do’s, bill payments, hygiene, meals, and even some favorite TV shows. Hopefully I will be able to reward her with a nice vacation cruise in the Caribbean. Only we’d best stay clear of the Bermuda Triangle.
Howdy! Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink? I have a compelling story to tell you that will keep you on the edge of your seat. You might want to use the restroom now, because once I start, you won’t want me to stop.
You might keep in mind that I was raised in the middle of America, in the 50’s. For some, we may have talked a bit ‘funny’.
Here is an excerpt to wet your appetite:
“Radioman Hay, report to the radio room on the double,” I heard over the ship’s intercom.
I had the Con (duty) that night and had just taken a break. I could feel the anticipation in the radio room as soon as I stepped through the door.
“We just received an S.O.S.,” shouted the excited radioman who had been monitoring the emergency band.
A ship was in danger. It turned out to be a Russian trawler. American fleets were always shadowed by these suspicious fishing boats. They were constantly snooping and spying on U.S. fleets. We knew who they were and what they were doing, and they knew we knew. It was a cat and mouse game, but we couldn’t do anything about it in international waters.
International law required us to respond to an S.O.S., so we took advantage of the opportunity to board their vessel. No U.S. personnel had had that opportunity in the past, so our boarding party was very excited to be able to board a Russian spy boat. Everyone’s adrenaline was flowing faster than a class five whitewater rapid.
It definitely wasn’t a fishing vessel, as we had suspected all along, even though everything about it looked fishy. We couldn’t find one fish onboard, let alone a fishing pole. There was however, a lot of fishy electronic equipment, enough that we wondered how the boat could stay afloat.
The Russian crew was completely disoriented. They appeared to be in shock and were scared shitless. Only one of them spoke. He babbled in broken English, about some strange-looking flying machine, with small hairless creatures hitting them with a beaming light and a crewman gone missing. Nothing he said was making any sense to anyone in our boarding party, except maybe me. I don’t know why, but I suspected I might know what they had experienced. Something in the back of my mind told me that I had been there and done that. However, I felt it best to keep my mouth shut.
We could smell Vodka on their breath, so it was assumed that they had to be drunk. What happened to the ship and its crew was later classified top secret, so if I were to tell you the rest of this story, I’d have to kill you. That might not be good for future book sales. I can say it was another one of those government cover-ups that you don’t read or hear about in the news.
This incident enforced my thoughts that human beings weren’t the only living creatures in the universe after all. But my thoughts didn’t last long as we were thrown into a war.