Tester by HJ Macey (nonfiction book recommendations .TXT) 📖

Introduction

This chapter is one of thirty-six and is 6880 words out of 135459 Words so far as the story is ongoing. This chapter, if you like, is a mini story of the whole story as on the sea voyage the past life of J J Lacey is revealed by a passenger visiting the high commissioner in Singapore. There are true life revelations in it, only I'll not tell you which ones.  

Chapter 26.

After leaving the Navy, JJ emigrates to Australia. This is the sea voyage.

 

 Twelve on the dot, my friend the Admirals car pulled into the car park. Sid put my luggage into the boot, and I got in the back with the Admiral, we greeted each other warmly but hardly spoke on the hour drive to Southampton docks. I was due to board the ship by two, so after handshakes from him and Sid, and with a quick check at customs. I boarded the liner at one forty-five and shown my quarters for the voyage, which was a shared cabin. His gear was already in the cabin, but he was not, and he had already picked his bed, by putting his case on it, it made no odds to me, one bed was as good as another I just hoped he didn't snore.

 

I left the cabin to explore and find my way around, and to see what amenities were onboard. I had been given a plan of the ship's layout when I boarded, and in it were stipulated no-go areas, like the bridge and engine room, crew quarters and workspaces. Of course, if you were not first-class passengers, certain parts of the ship reserved for first-class only were off-limits to the rest of us. When I found the tiny gym, there was someone in there fiddling with a circuit board, who said the gym could only be used, with written permission and then under supervision.

 

 "Do I get permission from the P, T, I or the captain, and does it open twenty-four hours?" I asked and he finally looked up at me, from what he was doing.

 

 "What's a P, T, I?" he asked.

 

 "Oh forget it," I replied and went on exploring, and found the second class dining room, more like a cafeteria than formal dining, where there were people having coffee and chatting. There was a lieutenant there looking very bored indeed, properly from answering the same questions.

 

 "Where do I get permission to use the gym? I do a ten-mile run and an hour's gym in the mornings. Is it open at six am? Can I use the whole of the promenade deck to run?" I bet he hadn't been asked that question before, and he didn't have an answer.

 

 "Err I'll have to check on that one for you sir, can I have your name and cabin number," I gave him it and went for a coffee, and saw him talk to a steward who left. There were young couples and families with small children, talking in groups around the room, I couldn't tell if they all were pairs or singles, but there was a large group talking to one side. I had a mouth full of sausage roll when this lad came up and asked.

 

 

"Hi, I'm Gary Yates you travelling alone mate?" he asked and waited for me to answer him.

 

"Yes, are you in cabin one-twenty on deck three?" I asked, and his eyes went wide as he said.

 

 "Yes, how did you know?" he asked with a puzzled look.

 

 "Just a guess, Joe Lacey is the name we're sharing," I said with a grin.

 

 "Glad to meet you, Joe, I'm Gary Yates, where you going to Perth or Sidney. I'm for Perth myself, got my sister already out there, her husband got a trucking business. I'm going over to drive for him, what do you do, you got a job to go to?" He seemed to be a likeable lad, I bit younger than me it was hard to tell.

 

 "You seem to have it all sewn up Gary, me I'm going out on speck not sure yet," I answered, but then was interrupted by the lieutenant.

 

 "Excuse me, Mr Lacey, if you would follow this steward, you will get your questions answered," he said, indicating the steward I had seen leaving earlier.

 

"This way sir if you please, sir," he said, and I started to follow him.

 

"See you later Gary, I've got something to attend to," and followed my guild onto the upper deck, then up to the entrance to the bridge.

 

"Excuses me, sir, Mr Lacey to see the captain, sir," the steward said to a lieutenant, just inside the bridge area.

 

"Captain Mr Lacey to see you, as requested sir," the lieutenant said to an officer of about forty-five, sitting in the captain's chair.

 

"Hum Mr Lacey you have made a request, to use the gym out of hours when you would be unsupervised." He stated, looking me up and down, with his hand out to an officer by his side, who placed an open folder into it, and the captain read from it.

 

"I have copies of all my passengers travel documents, Mr Joseph John Lacey. Your file states you're on unsponsored, assisted passage to Perth Weston Australia. Quite unusual to say the least, so I am assuming your skills and talents are wide-ranging and unique, and from your unique luggage are Royal Navy learnt. That old seaman's donkey jacket your wearing makes you look overweight, may I see what you hide under it," he did, then handed me a bunch of keys.

 

"Mr Lacey you have the freedom of my ship, I'm glad to meet you, at last up close. I watched you beat my boy, on your way up to winning the home fleet boxing title. I hope you have a fine trip with us, now if you don't mind I have a ship to get underway." He let go of my hand smiling and turned his attention to the job at hand. As I descended to the boat deck, I felt the ship vibrating we were underway. It would take us six days to get to our first stop the port of Gibraltar, then ten days through the Med to Port Said. Singapore was twenty-three days away from Port Said, and Perth another twelve days further on. That was fifty-one days at sea; add three days in the ports. A total of seven weeks to get to Freemantle, and hopefully a new life away from the guilt I felt.

 

Back in training was making me feel good, and I only had one day I couldn't run because the deck was heaving, and that was in the bay of Biscay before Gibraltar. Very early mornings and late nights I ran, gym work after the morning runs, brought me to breakfast at about nine after showering. During the days, I would lazy jog around the ship, skipping and doing weights in the gym, and Gary never knew what time I got up. We were two days out of Port Said, and I was jogging towards the pool, it was hot and some people had looked at me sweating in my thick Navy tracksuit as I passed them. I was approaching the pool and saw on the other side of it, two young children running, and heading towards a grope of teenagers talking on the side of the pool.

 

They were blissfully unaware of the approaching children, and of the danger, they were to them. I seemed to see in slow motion, what was about to happen and diverted to dive into the water. I come up on the other side of the pool, just as the young children bumped into one teenager, and he set off a domino effect. The young woman standing by the edge of the pool with her ankles crossed, lost her balance and squalled as she toppled. I had surfaced just under her, as she was hitting the water. With the water only coming up to my shoulders, she got wet but she didn't go under.

 

She stared at me shocked to find herself in my arms, as I waded through the water. To put her down safely on the deck, she was unhurt so I left her with her friends and went to the nearest toilet to wring out my tracksuit, before heading for my cabin to change.

 

Chapter 26a

 

 I thought no more of the incident, and two days later Gary and I went ashore in Port Said. I had been here years ago, and it hadn't changed one bit. I had to shoo man away, who were trying the sell their sisters to Gary and there was the same man rounding up parties of tourist, to watch his wife with the donkey. Then there was the slave girl dancer, with the pet snake that did the disappearing act in the same shady bar. I had to explain to Gary if you went down one of these narrow alleys alone, you might never be seen alive again.

 

He wasn't convinced, so I told him the story of a rating, who wanted to make some money because he had spent all he had. He went to sell a pint of his blood, they found him in the morning in an alleyway, completely drained of the life-giving liquid. We ventured into the markets and wandered down the rows of tourist tat on sale there. I saw the young woman from the pool, with an ornate box in one hand, and a wad of notes in the other. She was trying to buy the box, from the seller who just held up both sets of fingers. I pulled a one-pound note from her bundle and waved it at him saying in Arabic.

 

 "This is twice its worth, you can buy a camel with your profit," he went off faster than I could understand, but I got the gist of it. My mother was a camel herder's bed warmer, and his children will starve if he doesn't sell anything, and the box is worth four times what I offer. I took it from her hands and placed it on his stall, then turned her away. We didn't get two steps before he was calling her back, and in broken English offered her the box for the one-pound note.

 

 "Here pretty lady I give you this because your unworthy husband won't buy you pretty things." I smiled she blushed and I said farewell, and as Gary and I moved into the crowd I heard her say.

 

 "That's him, dad, he the one that pulled me from the pool."

 

We were in the Suez Canal when a steward, knocked on my cabin door.

 

 "Beg pardon sir, the captain wishes to see you at your earliest convenience," he said staring at my muscles because I was soaking wet from the shower, with just a towel around my waist, and was drying my hair as he knocked.

 

 "As soon as I'm dressed I'll be up to see him, any idea what it's all about?" I asked and he shook his head and was off. A rating opened the door to the bridge,