“I want the name of that shit-for-brains son of a bitch who tried to sink my sub!” And so “shit for brains” was shortened to “SFB,” and Alvarez had his new call sign.
“Chief, huh? Since when?”
“Yes, sir! Navy diagnosed me with sleep apnea. They booted me out of flying on P-3s. Got my promotion working on F-14 engines aboard the USS George Washington.”
“Well, congratulations are certainly in order.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“How in the hell did you find me?”
“It’s a crazy story. You see, the USS Washington is docked in Yokosuka, Japan. I was riding the train to base this morning and saw a bunch of people reading the Japan Times. This ugly, bloodied-up man was on the front page, and he looked real familiar to me. He looked a lot older so I couldn’t be sure, though.”
“Oh, God.” Cain sighed. “I know where this is heading.”
“Oh, yeah,” Chief Alvarez said, chuckling. “I’ve already been telling everybody on board the ship that I used to fly with that gaijin who’s all over the news.”
“Talking with you brings back some great memories.” Cain smiled.
“For me, too, Hurricane. Thousands of hours over the oceans looking for commie subs.”
“Look, how about we get together for a drink this weekend and catch up? I’m at work right now and I gotta get back to it. You can imagine how intense things are at the moment.”
“Why don’t you come down to Yokosuka and I’ll show you the base? If you’re up for it, we can even take one of the sailboats out and cruise Tokyo Bay.”
“As long as you don’t read me poetry and try to hold my hand,” Cain joked.
Chief Alvarez laughed. “I’m still trying to find true love”—he paused before disclosing the punch line—“at the bottom of a bottle.”
Cain chuckled. “Then I’ll bring an ice chest full of true love for you.”
“Don’t bring anything! I will take care of everything. If my shipmates found out that my old pilot—”
“Jeez,” Cain said. “Easy on the old jokes. This old man can still whip your ass!”
“That’s probably still true.” The chief laughed. “I can’t wait to smoke a stogie with you and talk about old times.”
“And that’s how sea stories are made up,” Cain said.
“And you’ve got a lot of ’em,” Chief Alvarez said before they hung up.
Chapter 47
Cain thoroughly enjoyed his Sunday getaway with Chief Alvarez in the fishing village of Yokosuka. The navy base felt like a slice of small-town USA. They had a hearty brunch at the officers’ club before renting El Viento, a sailboat from the recreation department. Far away from the US embargo against Cuba, they smoked Cohiba cigars on board the eighteen-foot boat as they sailed around Tokyo Bay and caught up on each other’s lives.
“It’s nice to have someone I can really trust out here,” Cain said.
“We go way back, Hurricane. I’ll never forget you bailing my butt out in El Salvador. You saved my navy career.”
Cain nodded as he puffed on his cigar. “I appreciate that you recognize that I stuck my neck out for you. I did a similar thing for a guy I worked with at the Secret Service, but he didn’t give a damn.”
“He sounds like a piece of shit.”
“He’s back in DC, and I’m over here. I’m not complaining, though. I’m starting to piece my life back together.”
“Like I said, I’ll never forget what you did for me. I’ll always have your six.”
Cain nodded. “Hooyah.”
When he arrived at work on Monday morning, Cain was reenergized but sunburned. It was six thirty and he thought he’d be the first one in the office, but Tanaka was already at his desk going through personnel folders, looking for potential threats, and reading through the reports the guards had generated over the weekend.
“Good morning, Cain-san.”
“Right back at you,” Cain said. “You’re here bright and early.”
“Yes. I wanted to get a head start, as you might say.”
Cain smiled. “I appreciate your work ethic. It would be difficult for me to get this job done without you.”
Tanaka stood and bowed. “Arigato gozaimasu.”
“So, what did you do this weekend?” Cain asked.
“Aito-san and I went near Tokyo to fly our RC planes.”
“Very nice! I’d like to join you guys one weekend. I need help getting better at flying those things.”
“Yes, that would be very fun. Maybe we can build you a navy plane.”
“Make it a fast one, like an F-14 Tomcat.” Cain smiled.
Tanaka gave him two thumbs-ups.
Cain headed to his desk to drop off his backpack.
“Before you settle in, I wanted you to