Chapter 49

Carter steamed slowly into her home port of Bremerton Washington. In the early summer climate, Hood Canal was always beautiful. Stands of thick fur trees lined the banks interspersed with vacation homes that cost their owners a fortune just to buy let alone maintain. It did not matter how brightly the sun was shining, unusual for Washington even for this time of year. Nor did it matter how green the trees were or how loud the birds sang. Nothing was beautiful to Carter anymore. Ahead of her lay the entrance to Banger. The base where she had made her home for her entire service career. Rounding the corner to enter the bay, she saw Nebraska making her way outbound. Carter was large even for an attack submarine but the Ohio-class boomers would always be bigger. For once, the fleet’s troll did not have a silly stupid grin on her face which was good because Carter would’ve punched it off of her if she had. Nonetheless the twinkle in Nebraska’s eyes made Carter nervous.