A Commodore of Errors Read Online Free PDF Page B

our relations with the outside world. This place can be fairly insular, as you know, sir.”
    â€œWe like it insular, Bobby. That’s the way WASPs are.”
    The others nodded in perfect synchronization.
    â€œVery well then, sir,” the Commodore said. “I’ll call Miss Conrad and tell her we’re not interested.”
    â€œNow hold on a minute.” Johnson’s Johnson winked at his cronies. “Reschedule the meeting with Miss Conrad anyway. I’d like to have a look at her—what’d you call them?—shapely legs.”
    The Commodore was thrilled but tried not to show it. “Will do, sir.”
    The commandant suddenly pushed his ample girth back from the table. “Hey, Commodore, I saw you in the auditorium practicing your speech. I must say, you make beautiful hand gestures.”
    The others at the table had another good laugh at the Commodore’s expense. The Commodore, knowing that his roughneck colleagues were simply jealous of his numerous talents, decided to take the higher road.
    â€œThank you, Commandant. Coming from a sycophant such as yourself, your praise certainly is expected.”
    The assistant commandant pushed back from the table now as well, following his boss’s lead. “Hey, what’s a sycophant anyhow?”
    â€œIt means I’m sophisticated, dummy.” The commandant slapped his little buddy on the back of the head. “Let’s go. We’ll leave Mr. Commodore here with Admiral Johnson so he can tell him why he fired our bandleader this morning.”
    â€œYou did what?” Johnson shouted while the others walked away, laughing.
    â€œI fired the man,” the Commodore said. “He was tone-deaf. There is simply no room in this institution for mediocrity.”
    Johnson’s face reddened. “Who died and left you boss, Bobby? You take care of the back end of things here at the academy and don’t you forget it. I do the hiring and firing.”
    â€œI was merely trying to raise the standards of our dear regimental band, sir. They are truly dreadful and it is for want of a proper leader.”
    Johnson was about to respond further when he spotted a young woman in a white nurse’s uniform enter the mess hall from the galley.
    â€œWho’s that?” Johnson was on the edge of his chair.
    â€œOh her?” The Commodore pretended to look to see who it was. “That’s our new nurse. Fresh out of nursing school, I’m afraid. She appears to be a bit wet behind the ears. I’m keeping an eye on her.”
    â€œYou don’t need to do that,” Johnson said. “ I’ll keep an eye on her thank you very much. You run along now, Bobby. I think I’ll introduce myself to our new inexperienced nurse.”
    The Commodore breathed a sigh of relief. The poor nurse would have her hands full in a moment, but the Commodore couldn’t care less. All he cared about was that she had saved him from Johnson’s wrath, for the moment anyhow. The only surprise was that the young thing had followed his orders so well and showed up in the mess hall at the exact time he had asked her to.

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    T he next morning, Johnson’s Johnson gave the new nurse a firm kiss on the cheek and a soft pat on the ass before ducking out the back entrance of the infirmary and walking the short distance across the parking lot to the Superintendent’s Residence.
    The Superintendent’s Residence was the most prominent house on the academy grounds. It stood next to the officers’ club on a high bluff overlooking the Sound. Johnson had promised his wife he would stop in during the day to watch her paint a still life of the clay pot he’d bought her for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. His wife had never tried a still life before but she had always wanted to paint in their English garden overlooking the Sound.
    Yes, twenty-five years they had been married. The last