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Jade Greenway Book II: The Persian Gulf Incident
Jade Greenway Book II: The Persian Gulf Incident
Jade Greenway Book II: The Persian Gulf Incident
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Jade Greenway Book II: The Persian Gulf Incident

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When Jade Greenway returns her damaged spacecraft to Earth, she becomes a national hero, but she wants to return to her Navy roots and serve with Admiral Quincy, the man she has been in love with for years.
Admiral Quincy is Commander, Carrier Strike Group Three. He flies his flag on the USS Ronald Reagan, CVN-76 on duty with the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf. He does not want Jade to serve with him, because tensions between Iran and the US are building, and he believes that war will break out at any moment.
Fearing for her safety, he prefers that she marry him and make their home, where she will wait safely for him. However, Jade is not the waiting type. She takes a reduction in rank to serve on the ship with him.
Conflict arises between Jade and Quincy, because she views Iran’s war-making capability much more dangerously than he does. When Iran does attack, and the Reagan is badly damaged, Jade is forced to take command even though she is seriously wounded.
In the White House, President Dwyer’s popularity with the American people is at an all-time low, because he sent troops back into Iraq. With the election for his second term approaching, he needs some event or someone to make a dramatic change in the Nation’s perception of him, or else he can kiss a second term goodbye.
A chance meeting between Jade and Secretary of State Mitchell puts her name into play as a vice presidential candidate. Since Jade is seen as a national hero, the President’s men see her as the dramatic boost he needs to win reelection.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherBob Gabbert
Release dateJul 14, 2015
ISBN9781311437051
Jade Greenway Book II: The Persian Gulf Incident
Author

Bob Gabbert

Bob Gabbert has been writing novels about strong women for eleven years. Asked why his protagonist is always a woman, Bob said that generally speaking, women are physically smaller and weaker than men. Consequently, they must use their intelligence to solve important issues, and that's more interesting for a writer. Bob Gabbert is a world traveler who has lived or worked in many of the places he writes about. He graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle where he and his wife, Janet, make their home.

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    Jade Greenway Book II - Bob Gabbert

    By Bob Gabbert

    Bob Gabbert e-Books

    http://www.bobgabbert.com

    Publisher: Smashwords, Inc.

    ISBN:

    Copyright

    Copyright © 2015 by Bob Gabbert

    All rights reserved, except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher.

    Bob Gabbert e-Books

    http://www.bobgabbert.com

    Visit our website for more information.

    e-Book Edition: July 2015

    The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

    About the Book

    When Jade Greenway returns her damaged spacecraft to Earth, she becomes a national hero, but she wants to return to her Navy roots and serve with Admiral Quincy, the man she has been in love with for years.

    Admiral Quincy is Commander, Carrier Strike Group Three. He flies his flag on the USS Ronald Reagan, CVN-76 on duty with the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf. He does not want Jade to serve with him, because tensions between Iran and the US are building, and he believes that war will break out at any moment.

    Fearing for her safety, he prefers that she marry him and make their home, where she will wait safely for him. However, Jade is not the waiting type. She takes a reduction in rank to serve on the ship with him.

    Conflict arises between Jade and Quincy, because she views Iran’s war-making capability much more dangerously than he does. When Iran does attack, and the Reagan is badly damaged, Jade is forced to take command even though she is seriously wounded.

    In the White House, President Dwyer’s popularity with the American people is at an all-time low, because he sent troops back into Iraq. With the election for his second term approaching, he needs some event or someone to make a dramatic change in the Nation’s perception of him, or else he can kiss a second term goodbye.

    A chance meeting between Jade and Secretary of State Mitchell puts her name into play as a vice presidential candidate. Since Jade is seen as a national hero, the President’s men see her as the dramatic boost he needs to win reelection.

    Table of Contents

    Title Page

    About the Book

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Chapter Four

    Chapter Five

    Chapter Six

    Chapter Seven

    Chapter Eight

    Chapter Nine

    Chapter Ten

    Chapter Eleven

    Chapter Twelve

    Chapter Thirteen

    Chapter Fourteen

    Chapter Fifteen

    Chapter Sixteen

    Chapter Seventeen

    Chapter Eighteen

    Chapter Nineteen

    Chapter Twenty

    Chapter Twenty-One

    Chapter Twenty-Two

    Chapter Twenty-Three

    Chapter Twenty-Four

    Chapter Twenty-Five

    Chapter Twenty-Six

    Chapter Twenty-Seven

    Chapter Twenty-Eight

    Chapter Twenty-Nine

    Chapter Thirty

    Chapter Thirty-One

    Chapter Thirty-Two

    Chapter Thirty-Three

    Chapter Thirty-Four

    Chapter Thirty-Five

    Chapter Thirty-Six

    Chapter Thirty-Seven

    Acknowledgement

    About the Author

    Other Novels by the Author

    Chapter One

    Navy Captain Jade Greenway was in the Parris Medical Center in Titusville, Florida, near the Kennedy Space Center for weeks after she brought her damaged Messenger spacecraft back from the Moon.

    Captain Greenway was the mission commander of Messenger when a large meteor collided with it when they were about 30,000 miles from the moon. Tex Wainwright, the mission pilot, was killed instantly. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Bean, mission specialist and Jade’s best friend, died several hours after the crash, leaving her alone to bring Messenger and their bodies back to Earth with the computers not working and no communications.

    Jade was severely injured in the crash. In addition to bruises and scrapes, she had two broken ribs and her left arm was broken above the elbow. The arm was weakened by a previous injury when she was shot down flying a Navy F-14 Tomcat over Bosnia. In the Bosnian crash, her weapons officer was unconscious from wounds he’d received from the missile that shot them down. Although she was seriously injured and losing blood, Jade kept him afloat in state-five seas with waves from eight to 13 feet high for an hour until they were rescued. She was awarded the Navy Cross for action above and beyond the call of duty. It’s the Nation’s second highest award for valor.

    Beating all odds, she managed to bring Messenger down through the atmosphere to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The landing was made even more perilous when only the nose wheel would come down, causing the entire back end of Messenger to drag along the concrete runway sending sparks up behind it catching the drag chutes on fire.

    Curious as to how Jade had been able to bring a damaged spacecraft back to earth without burning up in the atmosphere, Bob Higgins, the NASA mission director, and Nelson Davis, the mission engineer inspected Messenger right after it landed. Scientist from the Space Surveillance Network had already told them that the meteor was a chunk off of an asteroid. Davis saw evidence that when the chunk was knock away from the main body of the asteroid, it exposed a high content of nickel on the surface of the meteor, and as the meteor violently scraped along the airframe of the spacecraft, it smeared nickel all over the damaged area like peanut butter over bread. With a melting temperature of 2,600 degrees, the nickel had protected the craft from the intense heat of reentry.

    Bob Higgins said at the time, Nelson, I’m not a religious man, but this looks like God wanted Jade to get home safely.

    Jade was in a coma for almost a week after she brought Messenger back to Earth. Admiral Richard Quincy, the man who had been in love with Jade for years, never left her bedside.

    On the sixth night, Jade woke up in the wee hours of the morning. Quincy was asleep in a chair, but she didn’t see him in the dim lights of the room.

    As she looked around the strange room trying to orient herself, she noticed the large solid cast on her left arm. She lifted her arm and studied it. Doctors had used cadaver bones and pins to reconstruct her arm, and then they put it in a solid cast to allow the grafts to take.

    Memories of what happened began to flood back into her mind. She began to whimper, but it was difficult to breathe. When they repaired her broken ribs, they wrapped her chest with a restrictive bandage from her stomach to her shoulders. She began to claw at it fearfully and weep uncontrollably.

    Quincy heard her and came to her bedside. He grabbed her hand. You’re safe, Jade. You’re home.

    "Richard?!" she said hoarsely.

    I’m right here.

    Where am I? her throat was so dry, she could barely get the words out.

    You’re in the hospital. Don’t you remember bringing your spacecraft back home?

    Are they dead? Are Stuart and Tex dead? I dreamed they were dead—was it a dream?

    He caressed the side of her face and said softly, It wasn’t a dream.

    Tears gushed down her face.

    Monitors notified the nurse’s station that Jade was awake. They came in and turned on the lights. Stand back, please, they said to Quincy. They began to check her vitals. Alice, one of the nurses, said, Call Dr Thomas and see if he wants to come in. Her vitals are good.

    The other nurse left to make the call.

    Alice said, Don’t try to talk. Suck on this ice. It’ll moisten your throat, and then I’ll give you some juice to drink. She waited until Jade had taken two or three of the small ice cubes, and then she gave her some orange juice. How are you feeling?

    Have long have I been out?

    Six days. How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?

    I have a headache, and I can hardly breathe.

    We had you tightly bound so you wouldn’t disturb your broken ribs, but after the doctor sees you, we can loosen them somewhat. I’ll get you something for you head. You should just try and relax until the doctor makes his rounds this morning. Would you like for Admiral Quincy to leave?

    No! And then she noticed his haggard face. Richard, you should go somewhere and get some sleep. I’ll be all right.

    He took her hand. "I’ll stay until after the doctor sees you. I’ll have to get back to the Reagan as soon as possible. I’ve been away for a week now.

    Oh, that’s right. You’re a strike group commander, aren’t you?

    He smiled. "Yes. I’m Commander Carrier Strike Group Three. My flag is on the USS Ronald Reagan in the Persian Gulf."

    The nurses left. He pulled up his chair and sat down. He took her right hand and caressed it. When that meteor hit your spacecraft, I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again.

    I didn’t think I was ever going to see anyone. Her face wrinkled up in sadness. Stuart was so brave. He knew he was going to die, but he... tried to help me... right to the very end.

    Try not to think about, Jade.

    How can I not think about it? They were my friends—more than that!

    Trying to distract her, Quincy asked, Did you see the meteor before it hit you?

    Was that what it was—a meteor?

    Yes, a very large one. It’s absolutely amazing that you were able to bring that craft back home. They said it couldn’t be done without computers, but you did it.

    Yeah, I did it all right. I killed my crew. Some commander I turned out to be.

    Jade, you did what you had to do. You brought your people back home. That’s all any of us could have done.

    Doctor Thomas checked Jade. He seemed surprised at how physically fit she was after her ordeal. She had to keep the solid cast on her arm, but he allowed the bandage around her chest to be relaxed. They put an elastic chest protector over her ribs, which only restricted her movement if she tried to stretch or compress her rib area.

    Nurses gave her a bath, and the physical therapist who had worked with her while she was in a coma, had her stand next to her bed for a few minutes to begin the process of regain her strength.

    When she was able to have visitors, Bob Higgins and Nelson Davis came in. They had remained in Florida while scientists and engineers went over Messenger with a fine-tooth comb. After five days, scientists agreed with Davis’ initial assessment, that it had been the plating of nickel over the damage area that allowed Messenger to survive the heat of reentry.

    How are you feeling? Higgins asked.

    Like I was hit by a Greyhound bus. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be in Houston.

    Davis pulled up a chair for Higgins and got one for himself. He said excitedly, "We’ve been inspecting Messenger. It’s pretty banged up. You should see the bottom of it. It looks like peanut butter was spread all over the damaged areas, only it wasn’t peanut butter; it was nickel."

    "Nickel—the metal?"

    Yes. They said that what hit you was a chunk knocked off of an asteroid that was loaded with nickel.

    So they’re right, Jade said more to herself than to the men. Scientists have said for years that the asteroid belt has tons of every exotic metal we need, and that we should be sending mining ships to harvest it.

    Bob Higgins grinned broadly. Guess what my next project is going to be? We’re going to land an unmanned craft on one of the large asteroids. Scientists have estimated that there could be as much as $200 billion dollars worth of nickel and other metals on one large asteroid. My project is going to see if it’s feasible to mine it with unmanned craft. Do you want to be a part of it?

    Bob, I’m not going into space ever again. God told me in no uncertain terms that I don’t belong out there.

    No, I don’t mean as an astronaut—as a scientist.

    I don’t think so, Bob. I’m almost 38 years old. I think it’s time for me to become a woman and settle down with the man I love.

    Are you talking about Admiral Quincy?

    Yes. I’ve been putting him off for 12 years, and that’s long enough. If he’ll have me, I’m going to—

    Just at that moment, Admiral Quincy came into the room. He looked a lot better with a few hours sleep, a shower, and a clean uniform. Someone talking about me? he asked.

    Higgins said, Admiral, you’re a lucky man. I’ve just offered her a job as a scientist on my new project, and she’s turn me down for you.

    Higgins turned to Jade and took her hand. If you change you’re mind, you’ll find the good people of Houston will welcome you with open arms.

    I’ll think about, Bob. Are you heading back now?

    "Yes. The inspectors are still studying Messenger and the collision, but Nelson and I have done about all we can. When they’re finished with the Messenger, it’s going to be put on display at the Smithsonian, along with your spacesuit and all of that. People are never going to forget the flight of the Messenger, or you."

    Higgins and Davis flew back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston that afternoon. Admiral Quincy flew back to the Persian Gulf to resume his duties as Commander Carrier Strike Group Three.

    Chapter Two

    Jade spent six weeks in the Florida hospital, much of which was spent with psychologists helping her deal with the death of her friends. Her nights were filled with nightmares about them and about the flight. It reached a point to where she tried everything she could to stay awake, and her health began to decline.

    Quincy came to see her in the fourth week, but tensions in the Persian Gulf were increasing with Iran, and he was afraid to leave his ship. He only stayed one day, before he went back.

    Physical therapists worked with her body trying to give her full use of her left arm, and psychological therapists worked with her mind using hypnosis and other techniques, so she could learn to accept what happened to her and get on with her life. By forcing her to relive the experiences she suffered on the spacecraft time and time again, it finally became like a horrible movie that one can’t forget but doesn’t control her life.

    She still had nightmares every few nights, but over time she was able to sleep through most nights. It was at that point that she was transferred to the National Naval Medical Center, better known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital.

    The transfer to Bethesda made it easier for Admiral Quincy to come and see her, because he could accomplish necessary Pentagon business at the same time.

    Jade was 25 and Quincy was 41 when they had their first date. She had felt like a Lolita then, but her love for him made their age difference seem unimportant. Their relationship had survived for 12 years and endured time, separation, and even wars.

    He asked her to marry him early in the relationship, but she told him: I can’t be a soccer mom, Richard. Ever since I met Sally Ride when I was 15, my goal in life has been to go into space. If I get married, I know I’ll never do it, so please, don’t ask me to give up my dreams.

    He didn’t ask her to give up her dreams, and over the next many years, he waited. Their relationship advanced sporadically grabbing a week here and a month there as their careers advanced in different directions. He even suffered through a marriage proposal by another man when Stuart Bean asked her to marry him.

    He waited, sometimes impatiently, but he knew there was only one woman for him, so he waited. He was waiting there on the runway when medical technicians lifted her out of Messenger, and he sat at her bedside while she lay in a coma. Now, he had come to claim his bride for whom he had waited and waited and waited.

    The restaurant where they were having dinner was not far from the hospital in Bethesda. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped at his hotel for two hours of getting reacquainted. By the time they got to the restaurant it was almost empty. Jade wore a blue cocktail dress that brought out the color of her eyes against the contrast of her dark brown hair that framed her pretty face. On her left arm, she still wore an elastic support, and it covered up many of the scars she’d received from wounds and operations. There were also scars on her back and on her legs from injuries she received in combat, but none of that mattered to Richard Quincy; he’d lived through them with her.

    At six-feet three-inches tall, he wore a dark blue suit in the same squared away manner that he wore his admiral’s uniform. His height was one of the things that first attracted Jade to him, because she was five-feet nine-inches tall, and his height didn’t restrict the heels that she could wear. More importantly, he didn’t restrict anything about her. She felt free to be herself with him.

    He was a handsome man, but what attracted her most to him was his kindness. She told Clara Greenway, the grandmother who raised her, He’s the sweetest man I’ve ever known.

    But Jade, she’d replied at the time, he’s 16 years older than you. Are you… okay with that?

    Jade was 32 when they had that conversation. Her response: Granny, I felt like a Lolita the first time we went out, but none of that matters anymore. He’s younger than I am in many ways.

    Well, if you’re happy, then I’m happy. When can I meet him?

    Clara Greenway, Jade’s last living relative, died a month before Jade took Messenger to the moon. She never got to meet Quincy.

    Jade and Quincy both liked Delmonico steaks, and after two hours of love making, they devoured them in short order. He called the waiter over and ordered after dinner drinks. When the drinks arrived, Jade picked hers up for a toast.

    He put his hand out to stop her. Don’t drink it yet. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Awkwardly, he said, I didn’t have a ring before. He opened the box and took out an engagement ring. Jade, will you marry me? He held it waiting for her response.

    I can’t tell him now. Yes, Richard. I definitely will marry you. She held her left hand, and he put the ring on her ring finger. She held it up to the light. It’s beautiful, Richard. She took his hand in both of hers. I love you… so much.

    His face fell. But?

    Richard… I love the Navy. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could serve together?

    I thought you were going to teach at MIT?

    I thought so too, but being in the hospital for so long… I’ve had a lot of time to think and go back over my career. Richard, I love the Navy. I want to stay on active duty.

    Don’t you want to have a family?

    Yes. I’m almost 38, and I know my time is running out, but…

    He took his hand away and sat back.

    "Richard, if we get married, we won’t ever be able to serve together, but if we don’t get married we can be even closer. You once offered to put me on your staff. Now, I’m ready."

    No. You’re not. Jade, the Navy advanced you too quickly. You’re a captain—an O6. Normally you couldn’t have achieved O6 for another eight to 10 years. I was a part of the reason why you were advanced so quickly, but in your circumstances at NASA, it made sense. If you go to the fleet, those circumstances no longer exist. You don’t have the experience your rank requires.

    Then let me get the experience. Put me on your staff and let me learn.

    "Jade, I’m in the Persian Gulf where we could go to war at a moment’s notice. As a strike group commander, I only have billets for three O6s: my chief of staff, my operations officer, and my intelligence officer. The rest are flag commanders and lieutenants. My chief of staff has to be ready to take over if I’m not there, just like he’s doing right now while I’m here with you. You don’t have the experience to be my operations officer or my intelligence officer, and you certainly can’t be my chief of staff."

    I’ll take a demotion to commander. Richard, have you forgotten that I was a squadron commander in combat? You know what I can do.

    But I want you to be my wife. I want to come home to you.

    What’s wrong with us working side by side on the deck of a ship?

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