And he went up on the flying bridge with me and such of his officers
as still could walk and said: "Ah."
Then he said in a totally different tone: "What the devil's the matter
over there?"
He was staring east through the muggy haze. I saw right away what it
was that was bothering him--easy, because I knew where to look. The
power plant way over on the East Side was billowing smoke.
"Where's Vern Engdahl? That gadget of his isn't working right!"
"You mean Arthur?"
"I mean that brain in a bottle. It's Engdahl's responsibility, you
know!"
Vern came up out of the wheelhouse and cleared his throat. "Major," he
said earnestly, "I think there's some trouble over there. Maybe you
ought to go look for yourself."
"Trouble?"
"I, uh, hear there've been power failures," Vern said lamely. "Don't
you think you ought to inspect it? I mean just in case there's
something serious?"
The Major stared at him frostily, and then his mood changed. He took a
drink from the glass in his hand, quickly finishing it off.
"Ah," he said, "hell with it. Why spoil a good party? If there are
going to be power failures, why, let them be. That's my motto!"
Vern and I looked at each other. He shrugged slightly, meaning, well,
we tried. And I shrugged slightly, meaning, what did you expect? And
then he glanced upward, meaning, take a look at what's there.
But I didn't really have to look because I heard what it was. In fact,
I'd been hearing it for some time. It was the Major's entire air
force--two helicopters, swirling around us at an average altitude of a
hundred feet or so. They showed up bright against the gathering clouds
overhead, and I looked at them with considerable interest--partly
because I considered it an even-money bet that one of them would be
playing crumple-fender with our stacks, partly because I had an idea
that they were not there solely for show.
I said to the Major: "Chief, aren't they coming a little close? I mean
it's _your_ ship and all, but what if one of them takes a spill into
the bridge while you're here?"
He grinned. "They know better," he bragged. "Ah, besides, I want them
close. I mean if anything went wrong."
I said, in a tone that showed as much deep hurt as I could manage:
"Sir, what could go wrong?"
"Oh, you know." He patted my shoulder limply. "Ah, no offense?" he
asked.