Butler Did It! by Sally Pomeroy Page B

completely relaxed
as he threw crewmember after crewmember to the deck with no
apparent effort. He would then tyrannically rehearse the group in
that move. Sometimes he would say, “I’ve seen worse” before he
moved on. Those words seemed to be the best praise he would
give.
    Some other members of the crew appeared
to have been singled out for a special form of torture. They stood
absolutely still in a sort of half crouch; feet apart, legs halfway
bent but backs vertical. Occasionally Chan would walk by and make
some minor adjustment to a person’s stance, before moving on. Their
faces were set in concentration. Among these victims, Katherine
quickly picked out the exquisitely muscled torso of Matthew Butler.
The rosy morning light caught in the droplets of sweat standing on
his smooth tanned skin. Her fingers itched to find a camera. She
vowed to herself that she would find an excuse to spend more time
among these people once she had retrieved her cameras and the rest
of her gear from her hotel room.
    The practice session soon broke up with
much limping and good-natured groaning. Before long, the deck was
deserted as everyone headed off to the showers and their various
duties. Matthew walked up to Katherine, wiping his face with a
towel. “Don’t go anywhere,” he grinned, “I’lll be baack,” he said
in his best Schwarzenegger growl, and headed off to the
showers.
    It was peaceful now and Katherine took
a deep breath and drank in the beauty of the sea with its many
colors of aqua, each wavelet reflecting echoes of the pink
dawn.
    A pale, dark-haired, and slightly pudgy
young man in a wide brimmed hat pulled up beside her. He offered
her one of the cups of coffee he was carrying and said; “I don’t
know about you, but I’m not even alive before I’ve had coffee. My
name’s Richard.” He indicated the name ‘Richard the Great’ printed
in large letters on the gigantic mug he was holding. “I’m Computers
and Communications.”
    “Oh, hello. I’m Katherine, the damsel
in distress.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” he grinned, as
he shook her hand.
    “You don’t participate in the morning
workout?” She asked.
    “No! It’s not required. It’s much too
early for physical activity, if you ask me.” Richard blinked
sleepily at the sunlight. The silence began to stretch.
    Katherine cast around for something
else to say.
    “What kind of ship is this?”
    “The Pelican is a World War II era ship
called an LST. That’s short for Landing Ship Tank, which means that
she is capable of pulling right up to the shore and unloading tanks
through the bow doors. Of course, since she became a Butler ship,
she’s had quite a facelift. All of our ships eventually end up with
numerous modifications and experimental features.”
    “What do you mean; she’s a Butler
ship,” asked Katherine, thinking, you mean there’s more than one
of these?
    Misinterpreting her intent Richard
explained, “The Butler Project provides support and field testing
for new technologies, so naturally all Butler vessels are subject
to a great deal of modification to fit the job at hand. The
Pelican, for instance, should only be able to make about 12 knots
top speed, and with her flat bottom, she should heave about like
crazy in foul weather. But, she’s got a super slick, corrosion
resistant, barnacle repellant coating, new gas turbine engines;
computer controlled stabilizing fins, and a state-of-the-art
navigation system. As a result, she can cruise upward of 22 knots
and is stable in most seas.”
    Katherine got the idea, even though she
was sure she hadn’t understood much of what he’d said. She got back
to her initial question. “So there are more Butler ships?” she
asked.
    “Oh, Butler Marine International, the
parent company, has over 40 ships, but there are only three ships
in the Project Fleet; the Tern, the Albatross, and of course, the
Pelican. There are lots of other sea, air, and ground craft of
different sorts, like