Chapter 233: The Edna Lorraine

Thursday, August 5, 1971 (Afternoon)

“The fact that you say there is coral present, may be a good thing. That’s because the kind of coral you described usually doesn’t grow below fifteen to twenty meters. That fact shrinks our search area significantly,” Captain Tab explained.

We were in the chart room, immediately behind the pilot house, going over his maps of the area. I pointed out the starting point and told him that I expected it to be within twenty statute miles. That was my best guess as to the distance Don’rahall could have possibly traveled, round trip in a day. Also, it was the distance where the depth became too great for him to have done any salvage work.

“Based on those parameters, we have a search area of approximately three hundred fifty square miles. That’s a pretty big search area, especially if we only have two weeks,” he told me.

“What if we cut it down to within three miles of the island?” I asked.

That would be more doable,” he replied. “Now all I have to do is check out the equipment, take on fuel, replenish the stores, and find me some more hands.”

“More hands?” I asked.

“Surely you didn’t think I was crewing a ship this size with five hands,” he said. “When that American Missile Frigate appeared on the horizon, over a dozen of my crew took the tender and made off to god-knows-where. The five that are here got left behind because they didn’t understand English.”

“And where are you going to find this crew?” I asked.

“In every port in the South Pacific there are sailors looking for a ship. I’ve already sent Larry down to the docks to see what he can find here. If I can’t find enough here, I’ll put you and your crew to work and sail for the nearest large port to find real seamen. Now, let’s go check out the TAS cable,” he said.

As I followed him aft to the equipment locker, I noticed that someone had already put all the girls to work as they seemed to be flitting all over the decks and passageway

“You look busy. What’s going on?” I asked Shelby as she hurried by with a stack of towels.

“We’re all helping Barbara get the forward staterooms cleaned. She said the girls would have to use them when we went to sea, and they’re filthy!”

“Oh, okay,” I thought. I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like they were planning to go with me to look for Don’rahall’s ship.

“Well, of course we are silly! This is the most exciting thing we’ve done since we got here!” Vickie replied. I should have known she’d be listening to my thoughts.

While we worked on the TAS, Captain Tab told me the history of his ship.

“She was known as the USS Ellsberg (ASR-10), a Diver-class Search & Rescue ship, named after Rear Admiral Edward Ellsberg. He was one of the first US Navy salvage experts and he was also a very prolific writer. He once wrote a novel about submarines that got made into a Hollywood movie. I’ve never seen it, but I heard it was pretty good.” (Commander Ellsberg’s 1931 book, ’Pigboats’ inspired the 1933 movie, ’Hell Below’, starring Robert Montgomery, Robert Young, Jimmy Durante, and Madge Evans).

“She was laid down by the Moore Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., in Oakland, California, in December 1941, and she launched on January 15^th, 1943. Sponsored by Mrs. F.J. Fletcher, she was commissioned on May 29^th, 1944 with Commander Benjamin R. Rockwell at the helm.

“She sailed for Iwo Jima where she did two salvage operations before the war ended. After that, she was assigned to mine-sweeping duties in the South China Sea. Later, she was stationed at Buckner Bay, where she did mostly mop-up duties in Okinawa. After returning home to Pearl in 1949, the Navy put her in mothballs. They finally sold her to some investors in California in ‘57, but they couldn’t get any buyers. When the investors went bankrupt in ‘63, Walter and I bought her for a song.”

“Cool!” I said.

“Unfortunately, Walter died of cancer before we could get her fitted out, so he never got to sail on her,” he said sadly.

“Sorry to hear that,” I told him. “She looks like a fine ship.”

“We were going to name her the ‘Mizuage’ after our first real salvage job. But after Walter passed, I decided to name it the ‘Edna Lorraine’ after Walter’s wife. I thought he’d like that,” Captain Tab told me.

“That’s interesting. I have a train car named the ‘Rowena’ named after my great-great-grandmother,” I shared.

“During the war, I rode the train from Chicago to San Diego. It wasn’t too bad. It was loaded with troops and sailors going to bases on the west coast,” he said.

“If you ever get the chance, look me up and I’ll take you for a ride on my train. I’m almost positive you’ll enjoy it,” I offered.

“Well, that’s a fine offer. But right now, we’ve got to find ourselves a sunken ship. And to do that, we’ve got to check out the sonar transponder unit and the cable. The TAS is pretty easy. I combined some of the ship’s original repair shops to make a larger electrical repair shop. So help me load this baby on the dolly and we’ll wheel her over there.”

“How are we going to check out the cable?” I asked as I watched him remove several plates from the TAS unit.

“The easiest way is to head out to sea and let her unspool. Then as we take her back up we inspect the lines” he explained.

“So we’re going out today?” I asked.

“Just as soon as Larry gets back with a few more hands.”

“The girls are gonna love this,” I told him.

“Speaking of girls, just what’s up with you and all of them? And with my daughter as well?” he asked.

“It’s kind of a long story,” I told him. “And one that I don’t often share with people I’ve just met. However, since it looks like we’re going to be partners, I guess I can. I’ll have to warn you though; you may not like part of what you hear.”

And with that, I began to tell him about waking up in the hospital with some strange abilities and no memories. I explained how I was able to sense others feeling, share my feelings with them, and connect people together so they could share each other’s feelings.

“But how can you communicate with someone without speaking?” he asked. Apparently he had talked with his daughter.

“I’m not totally sure but it seems that most thoughts are associated with feelings, so I can sense them. For example, if you tell Barbara you love her, I can sense the words because they are tied to an emotion. However, if there is no emotion associated with the thought, then I can’t sense it. For example, if you are thinking about what you’re going to have for supper while you’re driving home, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell where you were, but I would be able to tell what you were hungry for,” I explained.

“Here, let me show you,” I thought to him.

“Hey!” Captain Tab exclaimed.

“It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it’s easy,” I thought to him.

“I just think what I want to say?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I thought.

“What’s the range on this, er...”

“I call it a gift since I woke up from a comma and was able to do it,” I said, then I looked for Jennifer and Julie. “Hi guys. How’s it going?”

“We just got out of cheer practice,” Julie thought.

“And now we’re headed home to change clothes and then we’re going over to Laurie Teffeteller’s house for a pool party,” Jenny added.

“Oh, really. Well, be sure to tell Laurie I said hi,” I told them.

“Why are you calling us now, Michael? Are you okay?” Jenny asked.

“I’m good. I’ve got a friend connected and he was wondering how far away I could communicate, and I thought I’d show him. His name is Mr. Beauchamp. Captain Tab, these are my cousins and sweethearts, Julie and Jenny,”

After Julie and Jenny talked to Captain Tab for a moment, we said our goodbyes. Then turning to Captain Tab, I said, “Maryville, Tennessee is over 9000 kilometers, or about 5600 miles from here, as the crow flies.”

Captain Tab was standing beside the opened TAS unit with a bunch of wires in one hand and a meter of some kind in the other, staring at me. “So you can communicate with anyone in the world?”

“Your Highness, this is Michael. From New York. Is this a convenient time to interrupt?” I thought, as I tied Captain Tab into the conversation so he could hear.

“Michael? Are you here? In Monaco?”

“No. I’m in Tapato, in the South Pacific. I have been looking for the right time to follow up with you to make sure that you and Princess Caroline are doing okay after your ordeal in New York,” I thought.

“Unfortunately, I am occupied at the moment. However, Caroline and I are both well. Thanks to you. And I’m sure my husband would want us to extend his appreciation as well,” thought back.

Captain Tab’s mouth dropped open, but he didn’t say anything.

“Unofficially, of course,” she added with a youthful giggle.

“Then I’ll bid you a goodnight, your highness,” I thought

“Ileana was right. You DO like to play with titles. Goodnight, Michael. And thank you for checking on us,” she thought back.

“Holy-mother-of-god! You KNOW Princess Grace?” he asked incredulously after the connection was ended.

“Ileana, Anna, and I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with her earlier this summer,” I said modestly. “In fact, that’s when we met Agent Rivera.”

“Agent Rivera?” he asked.

“Luisa is an FBI agent, currently on assignment to the CIA to assist in protecting my family. The gentleman you met at breakfast this morning, General Carter? Well, he’s a Deputy Director at the CIA. He was here to try and get me to do a job for him in Washington, but I told him I couldn’t until we get back in two weeks. I hope it’s a quick one because I start school the day after Labor Day,” I told him.

“Whoa! Barbara was right. There is more to you than meets the eye,” Captain Tab exclaimed.

A short while later, Larry returned with six new crewmen.

“Not enough to run a proper search, but enough to take her out and check the cable. Especially if you and your family come along,” Captain Tab told me after meeting the new crew.

A short time later, just as we were getting things ready to get under way, I heard Vickie’s alarmed, “Uh-oh! This looks like trouble!”