Rest and Relaxation Ch. 06

It appeared that Marty, Shauna, Kerri and I had gotten away, at least momentarily, with Grand Theft, Assault Boat.

I met the two gorgeous nurses and Marty at the Supply Quonset where Marty and I drew a set of dress whites, black dress shoes, black kerchief, and white hat apiece. Loaded up, we began walking back toward the piers to grab some clean camos from the boat.

Marty and Shauna walked ahead laughing and chatting like a couple of, well, young lovers. Kerri, like me, seemed content to just follow along, to enjoy their happiness. As we turned toward the boardwalk above the boat dock, amid passing officers, nurses, shore-bound boat crews, and Vietnamese base workers, I felt Kerri's soft touch on my shoulder and turned to look at her.

"I'm so glad today happened," Kerri said, and grinned. "That was pretty good, 'The Official Vung Tau Harbor Tour Boat'."

"Well, I had to say something to get you ladies aboard, ma'am . . ." I started to reply.

Kerri stopped, put both hands on her hips. "I told you not to call me 'ma'am'. Do you have any feelings for me at all, Jimmy . . . besides the fact that I'm a good lay?" she said heatedly.

Surprised, I replied, "Ma' . . . Kerri, you're an officer, I'm . . ." I paused then, comprehending her words. "Are you saying that you, um, like me?"

She melted me with her smoldering brown eyes. "You dumb squid; I'm saying that I'm falling in love with you."

It was that simple.

Though, over the years, Marty has attempted, with some justification, to dispute the title, I became, on that day, at that moment, the luckiest river rat in the world.

Just like in the movies, we moved for a spontaneous kiss then heard the hooting and hollering from the pier. Marty and Shauna had reached the dock, stood next to the Stoned Pony. Both were bantering with the others of the crew, Marty showing off his new uniform and Shauna, arm around Marty's waist, laughing at Ollie Jackson's pretended offence that she preferred whitey tiny over black power. The crew of our sister boat had also wandered over to quickly make Marty's Irish beauty the center of their universe.

"Looks like a freakin' circus down there." I said, unsure what Kerri might make of it. "Guess they've accepted Shauna as just one of the, um, girls, though; nobody's standing at a rigid attention."

"Yeah," she said. "And it looks like your gung-ho Lt. Janvrin isn't around, either. He'd have you all piping us aboard, with side boys and white gloves. Guess he caught Shauna's look."

She giggled lightly when I said, "You saw that look, too?"

"Yep," she replied. "I thought she was going to grab one of those guns in back and open fire on him." She gave me a quick peck on the cheek "C'mon, I want to meet the rest of your crew."

I was, I knew then, in love with one of the finest ladies in the entire Eastern Hemisphere. I prayed to God that this would take, that I could spend the rest of my life with this woman. Remembering the commander's earlier words, I found myself looking forward to fathering Kerri's children, was determined to make myself worthy of her love. "Think you can stand being romantically involved with enlisted vomit like me?" I asked this only half in jest as we walked rapidly along the boardwalk toward the gangway.

"It'll be hard on both of us," she said, giving me a speculative look, "but I think we're both smart enough and tough enough . . . and love each other enough to find a way to make this work. Same thing for Shauna and Marty." She grinned wider, showing perfect teeth and a teasing tongue. "Besides, I adore your pecker, and it just happens to be attached to the rest of you."

In moments we were aboard the Stoned Pony with both women demanding to be treated as just a couple of river rats, which, during our recent voyage, they had, for better or worse, become. Thus, the four of us were inundated with much ribald commentary and make-believe bravado, though not before Shauna had taken one look at the way Kerri and I now fitted together and abruptly embraced each of us. I guess women just recognize love quicker than guys do, but I know I hadn't received so many hugs in one day since I was in diapers.

Marty and I each hurried to dredge a set of reasonably clean camouflage uniforms, boots, skivvies, shaving kits, and floppy jungle hats from various nooks and crannies on the boat. We bundled them, along with the dress uniforms, into a sizeable rucksack that Salty Morton and I had kumshawed from a cute little mama-san for two Cokes and my Kabar bos'n's knife -- a pretty juicy story in its own right. We'd assigned the rucksack as the property of the entire crew, but this was the first time any of us had actually used it.

I hefted the weighty pack, and we rejoined the others out on deck to find a couple of icy beers waiting and Freddie Mikowski, Machinist's Mate Seaman and the Stoned Pony's ching -- her chief engineer, regaling those gathered around regarding his intentions when he got back to the World.

"Gonna get me the fattest, blondest, most round-eye woman I can find, gonna get a case of Southern Comfort, gonna get myself the best hotel room in San Francisco, and I ain't comin' outta there till the woman's half dead and I'm all the way outta liquor."

Though Kerri and Shauna smiled, nobody else commented. All of us, even, I found out later, the nurses, had more or less the same idea when we got back to the World; sex, booze, drugs, sleep, and then more of the same; whatever it took to forget this time and place.

"Hey, Jimmy," Kerri asked. "How long do you have left over here?"

I paused a moment. I knew nearly to the hour how much longer I had to endure the jungle, the rivers, the terror, and the bullshit until I could fly the hell away from Viet Nam. But Kerri changed everything about my plans when I got back to the World. "Two hundred fifty six and a wake-up," I replied. "How 'bout you, darlin'?"

Amid the howls and jeers of "Ooooh, darlin'" and "You pussy-whipped bastard, Axelsson" I heard her reply: "A hundred seventy two and a wake-up; I'm a few months ahead of you."

"Gonna be hard to beat the time we had today," I told her to more jeers and leers.

She moved closer, put her arms around me, her lips to my ear. "The best is yet to come," she murmured with the tiniest tickle from her tongue.

Again with the stiff willie.

Telling the rest of the Stoned Pony's crew that we'd see them later, the four of us headed over to the Base Exchange to purchase the various campaign ribbons, chevrons, and rating patches to which Marty and I were entitled. Obviously, we received plenty of looks -- curious from the Vietnamese, dirty from the officers, and envious from the enlisted men, as we cruised the cramped aisles. We had time to check out all the latest stereo equipment and cameras, as well as those few record albums deemed appropriate for our government-sponsored ears.

At seventeen-twenty-six hours precisely, with Marty and I showered, shaved, and appropriately dressed, the four of us reported back to Commander Lundgren's office.

Upon entering, we saw a captain, uniformed in khaki, complete with Annapolis ring and the gold wings of a naval aviator, sitting beside the commander's desk. We immediately came to attention against the office bulkhead. I didn't place the captain at first, eventually remembered him as a member of Admiral Zumwalt's staff.

"All of you stand easy," the platinum blond commander said in a brisk tone. "This is Captain Reimer. He has orders that originate directly from Admiral Zumwalt."

The ol' danger radar was raised again. It wasn't every day that an admiral sent such a lofty emissary to deliver specific orders for enlisted scum such as myself.

"Ladies, gentlemen," the captain said. "First off, I'm authorized to tell you that we captured three suspected Viet Cong at the co-ordinates where you reported that your boat took fire this afternoon. Intel indicates that at least two, maybe three VC were killed by your return fire. Also, seems like five or six were wounded, including the three that were captured, only one of which, I might add, is expected to live.

"Additionally, a number of weapons were also captured, along with some ammunition and other equipment. Indications are that you were taken under fire by a VC mortar team, whose intentions to lob a few rounds into this base and the town of Vung Tau, possibly tonight, were disrupted by your actions." The captain looked at us and shrugged. "Why these people felt it necessary to open fire on your boat, though, is still a mystery."

"In any case, the prisoners also mentioned that a number of VC infiltrators were among the casualties. These infiltrators, we've been told, were sappers with orders to plant explosives in and around certain military installations here on base, possibly as a diversion or retaliation for the Rung Sat ops. We believe that those plans have been abandoned, since the prisoners' claim that their buddies have decided to get out of Dodge."

The captain pondered us for a moment. "Altogether, you people did quite a bit of damage for . . . what . . . a five, ten minute firefight? Not bad at all. The admiral asked me to tell you 'Well done.'"

Now the guillotine drops, I thought with some trepidation.

I needn't have worried. We were indeed ordered to accompany Kerri and Shauna to the departure ceremony honoring their friend's remains, to give the women what comfort and support we could. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Marty and I were to report back aboard the Stoned Pony, while the nurses would resume their work at the hospital.

The captain also informed us that we were all freed from official duties for the rest of the day, that liberty passes for Marty and me had been, or shortly would be delivered to the duty officer's shack on the Navy Pier.

When he'd finished delivering his instructions from the Admiral, the captain looked around at all of us. "Any questions?"

I had several, but asked only one: "Sir, what about our orders to return to Nha Be tomorrow?"

"Presently, both boats of DET Bravo are, like you men, released from command of RivRon 15 and assigned TDY to COMNAVVN. Both are effectively under my command for the duration. As of approximately ten-hundred hours on the day after tomorrow, both will revert back to squadron command and will be released to return to the coastal operating base in Nha Be. Anything else?"

"No sir," I replied, knowing that the two boat crews would forgive us messing up the Stoned Pony for an extra day of liberty in Vung Tau.

I also realized that, earlier camaraderie notwithstanding, all were madly jealous of Marty and me; would pointedly cruise both the base and the streets of town for their own shot at lust and love.

Chances were, though, that a few minutes with one of the local whores would have to suffice, a fact that pretty much everyone learned to live with from their first day in-country.

Marty and I had been a one-in-a-million, maybe a two-in-two-million shot. We had each "hit the freakin' jackpot," to quote the immortal Salty.

Commander Lundgren abruptly gave Kerri and me an appraising look. "Axelsson, may I assume that you and Lt. Cavalieri have become a bit more than just companionable?"

I answered for both of us. "That's affirmative, ma'am, and . . . well . . . thanks." I looked at Marty, Shauna and Kerri. "Speaking for all of us, I appreciate everything that you've done, ma'am. I promise you won't regret it."

Commander Lundgren, now my personal selection as the Second-Sexiest Woman in Southeast Asia, merely gave us a contented smile and replied, "Bearing in mind my earlier admonitions, I trust you all to use your better judgment in passing the time until your boats depart for Nha Be."

We all stood grinning like simpletons, while I could visualize Marty trying to figure out the word "admonitions".

"Lt. Cavalieri," the captain said then, "I'm assigning you the task of ensuring that these orders are carried out."

"Aye, aye, sir," Kerri gave the captain a small nod.

At that moment, Commander Lundgren and Captain Reimer exchanged a look that I could only interpret as lust. They're screwing each other, I thought with an inward smile, and more power to both of them.

"That's it, people. You're dismissed," the captain said abruptly.

Needless to say, Kerri and Shauna knew of a nook here and a cranny there where we could have some privacy. At last, I found myself alone with my love in a single spacious compartment reserved for wounded or ill senior officers, which, fortunately, seemed to be in laudably short supply this day.

"Finally, just the two of us," Kerri said, locking the hatch and turning to me with an inviting smile.

"Hey, Kerri?" I replied humbly. "I don't want to be a bummer, but what you've been through . . ."

Reminiscent of Shauna when I had to drag Marty away from her on the boat earlier, Kerri put both hands to my lips and whispered a soft, "Shhh. Not tonight."

Silently, I took this picture of loveliness into my arms and kissed her with more than just a little passion.

We remained clasped together like that for some moments, neither willing to let the other go. Finally, Kerri spoke into the crook of my neck. "I think I fell for you the second I saw you on the boat, just sitting there reading the paper; so tanned and relaxed, and just so, well, cute. And then the way you handled yourself today . . ." She pulled back only a little to ask, "Why did it take you so long to figure out that I was falling in love with you?"

"Darlin'," I replied. "I just couldn't imagine that a woman as beautiful and as classy as you are could possibly be interested in a lowly bos'n's mate, 'specially a freakin' child."

She began to protest, "I'm, what, maybe four years older . . ."

I held up a hand to stop her. "Thing is, Kerri, we river rats tend to think of ourselves as some bad-assed sons of bitches. But speaking for myself, I'm just a dumb, scared kid who wants out of the Navy, back in the World, going to school and writing my brains out. All I've got to do is stay in one piece for the next two hundred fifty six days . . . and the wakeup."

In a sudden fit of anxiety, I looked down at her. "By the way, how many guys have you got waiting for you back home?"

In response, she put her hands to each side of my head and kissed me deeply.

"I probably don't need to tell you," she said slowly, "that I've been approached by more than my share of guys who want to go to bed with me, but -- and I swear to Christ this is true, you're the first man I've really wanted to make love with in, like, forever."

"Well," I said huskily as she began to unzip my pants . . . again. "I'm truly honored and humbled, darlin', but I do find it hard to believe that a woman as attractive as you are hasn't bowed to temptation, so to speak, in . . . how long?"

"Way too long; since just after high school graduation, believe it or not," she replied quietly. "My so-called boyfriend -- big, good-looking guy, decent student, great athlete, headed to Boston College on a hockey scholarship -- was, I found out, screwing just about anything that walked, and . . . geeze, who woulda' thought . . . came down with the clap just before he left for BC."

She sighed deeply, and went on as I hugged her closer. "He didn't even have the guts to tell me about it; I'm sure he would've been just fine with fucking me, clap and all. But my father's a doctor. He'd heard about the whole thing, even called me on the phone where I was working to warn me. Dad would have cheerfully shot the bastard if I hadn't gotten there first and nearly killed him myself with a baseball bat. At that point, I had decided that men were pretty much a pile of useless shit, flipped a coin to decide between a convent and the military . . ."

She suddenly smiled up at me, my hardness gripped in one hand, the other still over my shoulder, her eyes glistening. "But now you've come into my life, and I wish you'd undress me so we can make love properly, on a real bed."

Knowing a direct order when I heard it, I slowly began undoing the buttons at the front of her uniform, once more stunned at my good fortune in meeting this uncommon beauty.

I slipped her unbuttoned nursing whites from those delectable shoulders, down to her hips, while she stood in her sparkling white Navy-issue brassier, languidly working my member and softly murmuring those legendary sweet nothings.

After a gentle and lingering kiss, while we explored and feasted with our tongues, I unhooked her bra and took my sweet time lifting it from her flawless breasts. Her dark nipples pulsed and hardened as I bent to kiss first one, then the other.

Meanwhile, this awesome beauty reached up with her free hand to unpin her cap, to let her coal-dark hair tumble to those finely wrought shoulders. A lock drifted over her eye, giving this woman, my woman, a child-like adorableness that I've treasured for lo these many years.

As I tenderly brushed aside the stray strands, Kerri put her hand to the buttons at my chest and began her own chores. We soon stood shirtless, intertwined, beginning to sway with our own soundless rhythm.

I swept my darling up then, and carried her to the bed, a cast-iron construction with clean, white sheets and a real pillow. I'll tell you what, she was heavier than she looked, but I was, after all, one gun-totin', mustache-growin', sun-bronzed, almost-long-haired, bad-assed river rat who had a reputation to maintain. I just prayed that I wouldn't drop this precious cargo on the floor.

I didn't.

She lay on the bed, dusky and erotic in the fading light, against the sparkling sheets. I couldn't take my eyes off her as I sat at the edge of the bed to begin slipping her uniform down those irresistible thighs. As I worked, Kerri was busy undoing my canvas belt, getting to that pesky button at the top of the long-ago-unzipped fly.

We succeeded at the same time in freeing the nursing whites from her magnificent legs, and undoing that always recalcitrant button. I was becoming lightheaded with desire.

I bent to untie my jungle boots and slip them from my bare feet, all the while picturing the nubile beauty that lay beside me wearing nothing but a pair of filmy, definitely non-military sky-blue panties.

I stood and, in what had to be one of my more coordinated moves, smoothly slid my camos to the floor. I stepped out of them easily and, wearing only drab, olive-green skivvies, joined my love on our blissfully yielding bed.

After a further long and sensuous kiss, we moved together to remove those last items of clothing that held our need at tortuous bay.

Kerri's sex, inviting, daintily trimmed, and already moist was once again revealed, this time for my more leisurely perusal. She re-grasped my manhood, began gently pulsing and kneading. I was aching with my lust, with my love for this girl.

I put a hand to Kerri's perfectly formed mound, let it lay for a moment; started caressing the flesh of her willing lips. This was far better, I decided, than the rutting and grunting of our first intimacy. Hell, I was in a whole other world than I had been just that morning.

At a gentle urging from the goddess at my side, I moved to cover her body with my own, entering her clasping softness as the saints must enter heaven. We were one entity, far removed from the world, devoted to one another.

THE END

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Note: This story, though very loosely based on actual events, is a work of fiction. Needless to say, all characters, with the exception of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, are imaginary.