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This was three glasses of wine in quick succession, and when another lurch made them grab their plates and glasses, the engineer observed, “this reminds me of a nine-days blow we had off Sirius in the Savage.”
This was near-enough of a reply to Commander O’Brian’s toast to be allowable, far enough from shop talk to be discussed at table, and everyone had a similar story to share. They all politely listened to Jack’s reminiscence of a two day’s storm that he and a dozen crewmen survived in a shuttlecraft, tossed about “like BBs in a can of spray paint,” then the conversation became general. Courses came and went, the bottle went round and round, and jack, for a moment not engaged in conversation with either his right-hand neighbor or his left-, looked down the table and saw the smiling, convivial faces of his officers, truly enjoying themselves; his officers enjoying themselves at his table.
“Of course,” said Mister Humphries, “her name really is Wrath.”
The remark fell into one of those peculiar silences that punctuate even the most boisterous of gatherings. Ms Lund, to whom the remark was made, looked embarrassed and said nothing; and all other conversation came to an awkward halt, and the engineer found himself facing a full audience. “Mister Humphries,” began Mister Greenstreet, but Mister Humphries, who had by now had an additional two glasses in addition to those of the toasts, was already defending himself.
“Look at the lettering across the counter,” he said. “S'not centered. Too far to starboard, because the W, the first letter, is missing.”
“But the raised letters,” said the carpenter.
“Half of them are gone. W’s gone, half of the O, I mean A, most of the T. ‘S jus’ paint. The O is an A, see? Part of i’s missing and they painted it wrong. Records don’t go back more’n ten years -”
“Mister Hum…,” began Mister Geenstreet.
“- but she’s a Syracuse class - no bilge keel, see. Has to be older than that -”
“Mister Humphries, a glass of wine with you, sir,” said Jack at last, raising his glass an bringing the discourse to a close.
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