Sean was quiet during the cab ride to the Naval Base.  He was consumed by thoughts of his misfortune — sent on a mission with two undeserving, inexperienced, and inept team mates.   He had three years experience at sea and resented the assignment of Will as team leader because (he had convinced himself) Will was an uppity son of wealth with only a few weeks of basic training.  His antipathy was particularly strong toward Billy whom he regarded as an ignorant farm boy who dared to challenge him about attitude.  Sean's ego, larger than warranted, was injured and that seduced his thinking into how to get revenge.

The guard at the main gate of the Base rightly challenged three men in civilian clothes who got out of the cab and walked toward the entrance.  "Military personnel only, gentlemen," he said courteously but authoritatively.

"We're all sailors, sir," Will replied.  "We've been ordered to report in as soon as we arrived back from the Pacific."

"Sure you are," the guard said with more than a hint of sarcasm.  "Why is it you're not in uniform?"

Will gave a summary of their experience searching for a downed pilot, not returning to their ship before it left for Vietnam, and discarding their uniforms because they were torn and filthy.  He concluded by saying, "We've got dog tags and ID."

As one, the three sailors showed their dog tags and retrieved their ID cards from their wallets They were crinkled from water damage but still legible.  The guard examined the IDs closely and periodically glanced up at the faces of the suspicious trio.

"Looks okay to me, guys," the guard conceded.  "But I'll have to notify HQ before I can let you in.   Wait here."  He stepped inside the guard house and made a phone call that turned out to be much longer than anyone expected.

Sean muttered, "Isn't that just like the fuckin' Navy? Gotta get permission from the brass before you can do anything.  It's a fuckin' wonder we don't have to get permission to take a piss." Billy and Will scowled at him, unknowingly adding fuel to the angry resentment inside the pessimistic team member.

The guard returned and said, "A car will be here in a few minutes.  You'll be escorted to Security HQ." He couldn't say more because he had to deal with several cars waiting to be cleared in.

"Probably got the AWOL report," Sean groused.  "And will lock us up in the brig."

"Put a lid on it!" Will warned.  "Nobody can stop you from thinking the worst but nobody wants to hear your constant complaining."

The admonition stoked the fire of Sean's anger but he said nothing.

Fifteen minutes later a brawny Officer in a Jeep arrived.  "You three!" he barked.  "Get in." The three slightly intimidated sailors settled into the Jeep with Sean in the front passenger seat.  The Officer sized up his passengers and said, "I see you're not armed.  I am.  Don't try any stupid moves."

The unexpected warning caused even Billy and Will to wonder whether Sean had been right about being locked up for being AWOL.

The Jeep pulled up in front of a Quonset building with a sign above the door: BASE SECURITY.  The driver jumped out, put his hand conspicuously on the holster of his side arm and commanded, "Inside!"

Obediently and somewhat timidly, the three perplexed sailors walked to the door and entered the building.  They were escorted to a small room.  The officer unlocked the door and said gruffly, "Wait in here."

The young men entered the room to find concrete block walls, no windows, a small table, and six folding chairs.  The sound of the door being locked surprised and worried Will and Billy but induced a sense of doom in Sean.  Twenty anxious, almost wordless minutes later they heard a key turning the lock on the door, which opened to reveal a fortyish but fit officer who immediately said with a smile, "Good morning, gentlemen.  I'm Captain Wilson.  Which of you is the senior seaman.

"I am," Sean immediately replied, ready to grab command of the team.

"And you are?"

"Seaman Sean Wilcox, Sir."

"Come with me, Wilcox.  I have a few questions for you."

Will and Billy looked at each other as Sean strode out of the room.  Questions without answers coursed through their minds.  Finally Billy asked, "What's goin' on? Why is it they wanna talk to Sean and not us?"

"I don't know," Will replied.  "Unless ...  unless they think we're planning on doing something illegal.  It's a common technique in law enforcement.  They separate suspects, talk to them individually, and try to uncover discrepancies in their stories."

"Then why'd they leave us here ... t'gether? If we was up to no good, we could shore 'nuff make up a story to stick to. Then it'd be us two against Sean."

"I don't know that either," Will said.  "Unless...." He put his finger to his lips to cue Billy's silence.  He looked all around the room, under the table, and under the chairs.  Finding nothing, he continued, "Unless they bugged this room to record what we said." Responding to Billy's worried look, he added, "But we've got nothing to be afraid of, do we? We both know what happened and why.  We're going to be all right." Will then made a circle with his thumb and fingers, pretended to jerk off, and shook his head vigorously.

Billy understood the meaning — no mention of being gay.  He grinned, blew his lover a kiss, and said, "Yur posilutely right 'bout that!"

Meanwhile, Captain Wilson was using his skill as an interrogator in a far more comfortable room.  The first task was to establish rapport by being cordial.  He achieved that goal relatively quickly.  The next task was to gather facts while paying careful attention to any signs of stress or dishonesty as shown by facial expression or body language.

After almost an hour of direct questioning and jotting notes on his clipboard, the Captain said, "I get the feeling that there's something else you haven't told me, Sean.  Is there anything more that will help me understand what happened?" He conspicuously put his clipboard aside and added, "Off the record, of course.  I have all the important details of what happened."

That was just the opening Sean was hoping for but he would have to proceed carefully in voicing his grievances.  "Well, sir.  I don't know if it's important."

"Let me be the judge of that.  Feel free to speak candidly."

"I hate to get a fellow sailor in trouble, sir, because Will Benson is fresh out of Basic Training.  I'm sure he means well but ... How can I put this? I don't think he was the right choice for team leader.  I think some of his decisions and orders were not right.  A more experienced sailor would have avoided the mine and prevented the loss of the launch. When he was injured, he demanded that Simpson piss on the wound. He claimed it was the right thing to do but it seems to me to be just plain sick perversion!  He even ordered us to drink our own piss ... possibly to punish us for questioning his orders." Sean was carried away with his criticism, which resulted in further condemnation of his team mates. "What really bothered me, sir, was Benson's attitude.  It was like he was drunk with power.  He constantly reminded me and Simpson that he was in charge and demanded that we do what he said."  Sean was on a roll, encouraged in no small measure by Captain Wilson's attentive interest.   "Letting Simpson stack leaves on the wound was idiotic.   And then there's Simpson.  How he ever got into the Navy is a mystery.  He's an ignorant farm boy but acts like he knows more than anybody else.  He was constantly sucking up to Benson to prove his loyalty and win trust.  In short, sir, the mission was doomed from the beginning ... by assigning Benson and Simpson to the team."

"I see," the Captain said pensively.  "And what do you think can be done about the situation?"

"I guess that's up to you, sir.  But if it was my decision, I'd court martial Benson and assign Simpson to shore duty doing something that doesn't demand a lot of thinking."

"Thanks for your honesty, Wilcox.  I'll take you back to the conference room now."

The Captain ushered Sean back to what the he had generously called the conference room and said, "Benson, I'd like a few words with you now."

Alone with Sean, Billy asked, "What happened?  What'd he wanna know?"

"Just told him the truth," Sean lied.  "What we were sent to do, the mine, the rescue, nothing else."

The routine was repeated with Will: establish rapport, gather facts, and watch for signs of stress or dishonesty.  The facts were identical to what Sean had related but the Captain continued to exhibit interest and to take notes.  Having heard the same account of the events, the Captain said, "Thank you, Benson.  You've been a great help.  Now I'd like to ask a few more questions — not officially but out of pure curiosity.  Why do you think you were selected as team leader when you're only just out of Basic Training? Off the record, of course."

"I can't say for sure, sir.  All I know is that the Captain of the Brighton told me that he wanted to give me a chance.  He was puzzled about my NROTC training — which I didn't complete because I dropped out of school and enlisted — and turning down OCS."

"That is unusual, Benson, but I suppose you had your reasons.  So tell me what you think of your first leadership assignment."

"I guess you could say I learned a lot.  The first task was choosing two men to be on the team.  Simpson was an obvious choice because as a country boy he would be valuable in scouting the island.  It turned out he was extremely helpful in identifying edible vegetation and a substitute for antiseptic.  He doesn't have a lot of schooling but he's damn smart.  Excuse me.  He's VERY smart."

"And Wilcox?"

"I chose him because he was a muscular hulk and that might be useful if we found the downed pilot and had to carry him back to the launch."

"You think those were good choices then?"

"Yes, sir.  At the time."

"Everything went well? I mean except for the accident with the mine."

"Mostly.  As I said, Billy ... Simpson ... was a great asset to the team."

"And Wilcox?"

"He was a help also."

"I get the sense that you're not telling me everything.  You've praised Simpson but said little about the contributions of Wilcox to the team.  Did he perform up to your expectations?"

Will paused, debating with himself about whether to mention Sean's fatalism and negative attitude.  "Well, sir, that's one of the things I learned from the experience.  A man isn't always what he appears to be.  Simpson can be taken for a dummy until you look beyond the exterior and find his keen mind.  Wilcox seems to be a daring, capable guy but it's not what he's like." Will stopped, having second thoughts about what he was about to say.

"And what is he like if not daring and capable?"

"Well, sir, I had to try to lift his spirits when we got stranded on the island.  He seemed convinced that we would die there.  That didn't work.  So I had to tell him to keep his negative thoughts to himself.  I think he resented that.  And resented that he was senior to me but wasn't chosen as team leader.  And he disliked Simpson — who he thought was ignorant and incompetent — for confronting him about his complaining and bigotry."

The Captain requested and got examples of behavior that lay behind Will's judgments of Sean and Billy before escorting him back to the conference room.

Billy was interviewed next but it took less than half the time and focused exclusively on the events.

After nearly two hours of interrogation (skillfully disguised as interviews), the Captain told the three anxious sailors, "Thank you, gentlemen, for your help.  I've received word that your status is as you claim.  You're free to go.  Report to Base HQ.  It's about fifty yards down the road to your left as you leave the building."

Iatia’s inspiration and editing cannot be ignored.  Thanks, my friend.