***** Vol.1 Chap.21 Confrontation with the captain *****

Though not yet fully recovered from her underwater adventure, Kristin progressed with great difficulty up the spiral staircase leading from the living quarters to the control deck and the captain’s quarter, located right next to the control room. A few officers glanced at her and pretended not to notice her presence. But she could hear them mumbling behind her as she walked past. Definitely, something fishy was going on. She came to the captain’s door and knocked.

“Come in.” The voice did not sound friendly.

She opened the door and walked in while the XO discreetly stayed outside and shut the door.

“Sit down. Let me come to the point. I was extremely disappointed in you, though I was not surprised a bit, for disobeying an explicit order from me not to leave the sub. You had put yourself at risk and almost lost the sub.”

“But I didn’t. …”

“Enough. Good thing the sub is still here. I could have you court marshaled if the sub was lost.”

“I saved the people, didn’t I?”

“That is beside the point.”

“What is the point?”

“The point is that you knowingly disobeyed an explicit order. You put yourself and the sub at risk. You foiled the rescue attempt. You nearly lost the yacht while we had a perfectly good rescue plan to raise the yacht. You damaged the sub. You…”

Jonas kept pointing his finger and yelling at her.

“I only lost the cable.”

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“I am gravely disappointed at this.”

“I just did what I had to do.”

“What you had to do? That justifies nothing.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to be bothered again.”

“Don’t give me that crap.”

“You told me not to call again.”

“And you blatantly violated a direct order.”

“There was no time to waste. The yacht was going down into the deep crevice.”

“Have you no consideration that we are also planning on the rescue up here on the ship? What if something happened to you? We cannot plan the rescue of the yacht and try to save you as well. Have you not considered that?”

“No.”

“What we have here is a complete breakdown in the chain of command. What happens if every one of my officers does things their way? Would we still have a ship to run and a mission to accomplish?”

“I guess not, sir.”

“Be quiet! You may feel justified in what you have done. But from my perspective, you have jeopardized the entire mission, the ship, the sub, and yourself.”

“May I speak frankly, sir?”

“Go ahead. I like to hear what you have to say about all this.”

“I did not think at the time that you were even concerned about the rescue. I thought you were more interested in salvage operations.”

“That is preposterous. You are too presumptuous.”

“I thought you were convinced that the boaters were dead.”

“How do you know what I am thinking?” Jonas jumped up and banged on his desk and the cabin walls. When she came in, he was steaming mad. Now he was uncontrollably furious.

“You do not know what perils you have put the entire ship into. I am the captain here, not you. I do not need another captain. If I need your opinion, I will ask you for it…”

“Sorry. But...”

“Sorry? You are a little too late for that. I just wanted you to know that from now on, you are confined to your quarters until the end of the trip. Be sure that my report on you will not be as good as you expected.”

“I didn’t think that there was enough time for your divers to come to the rescue because the boat slid further and further towards the edge of the ledge. …”

“Enough of your reasoning. Dismissed.”

“But captain …”

“Dismissed.”

“But…”

“One more word and I will have my officer put you in the brig.”

Clearly, his mind was made up and there was no use talking to him anymore. Sorely disappointed, she left the captain’s quarters and slammed the door shut. While walking slowly back to her room, she heard whisperings and jeering behind her, but she did not care. Puzzled why Jonas was so mad at her. She sacrificed her project to save the people. Why was Jonas so mad at what happened? Everyone was elated that we rescued the two boaters, except Jonas, who was not happy at what happened.