My Journal by Harriman Nelson- Lean on Me

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My Journal

By Harriman Nelson

73

 

“We have rats, all right,” Chip said as soon as I joined him in the lab,  nodding toward one of the specimen tanks containing a couple of live rats, another with a few more dead rats.

“The only harm they’ve done," he added, " is to knaw on a few nuts and bolts. Nothing to cause the trouble with the planes. And there’s also something I need to show you in Sick Bay.”

“Sick Bay?” I asked, my stomach turning, envisioning severe bites on the men retrieving the live rodents.


As soon as we arrived in Sick Bay, the corpsman Frank appeared, holding one of the galley’s cardboard canned food crates. It had been altered in that it had a rope keeping the lid on and holes that had been cut into its sides.

A feline claw reached out, accompanied by a blood curdling yowl.

“My God, it’s a cat!” I exclaimed.

“Brilliant deduction,” Will said, as he emerged from one of the exam nooks with Kowalski and two of the Clyde engineers, all three men heavily bandaged about their arms and hands.

“The blood I drew from you men and from the dead rats," Will told them, "will take a little while to test negative or positive for rabies. Even though the disease has been pretty much eradicated in the UK, it’s not 100 percent clean. We have to make sure of things. If you men have been exposed to it, we’ll have to get you treatment at the nearest hospital right away. I’ve called for a veterinarian to test the cat. Would you believe it, Admiral, but vets make house calls in this country? No way I’m going to risk life and limb with our guest's claws and teeth.”

“What are you going to do about the kitty?” Ski asked,"It seemed nice enough when we found it.”

“You kidding, mate?” one of the engineers asked, “look at us!”

“Well, what do you expect when we grabbed it like that.”

“Not an ‘it’,” Will said. “It’s a female. Trust me, I’m a doctor. I know these things.”

Everyone laughed.

“And gentlemen, while you're aboard, please don’t bite any one...just in case. Ski, show the men to the guest quarters. I’d like them to stay aboard tonight.”

“Aye sir,” Ski said and ushered the men out.

 

I took a closer look at the cat from the air holes.

“That’s a fat cat. I wonder just how many rats we have.”

“Actually,” Will said, “she’s not fat. Without a proper examination, I can’t be sure, but I think she’s pregnant. Pity if we have to put her down. Don’t look at me like that, Chip. It’s the only way to control the disease if she has it.”

“Damn,” Chip said as he bent down to get a closer look. “I like cats.”

It hissed in response.

“Good kitty. Good kitty...you’ll be out of there soon," Chip crooned.

“Even if she’s disease free,” Will said, “she wouldn’t make a good pet for anyone. Feral cats seldom do. They're hard to domesticate. Besides, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you don’t have the lifestyle to look after a pet. You’re away from home for months at a time.”

“What about a ship’s cat, then? She’d insure that if we get a rat problem again, she’d take care of it before it got out of control.”

“She didn’t get it under control, though, did she,” I said, “and you can’t be serious about a ship’s cat. You heard that yowl, saw the men’s hands and arms….”

“Ski had a point though, didn’t he?” Chip asked. “You can’t just treat cats like you’re the boss. They are. And you have to be very nice to them to get them to trust you.”

“All right, all right...I don’t think it’s a good idea, but if it turns out she’s not rabid, I’ll think about it.”

“Great! I guess we should start thinking about names....”

“Whoa. I said I’ll think about it....”

"It's actually for the admiral to decide."

"Not if she's a risk to the men aboard, it's not."

"It's a bit early to start making decisions," I said and left.

 

And so, in a few hours we’ll discover if our stowaways are a danger to mankind. We’ve contacted the Commodore who is getting the base gym set up as a temporary home for us for tomorrow while the boat is fumigated. The base doesn’t have adequate BOQ’s. He offered me his own quarters but I had to decline, using as my excuse my need to be with my men.

 

I’ll be calling Lee later tonight, though I’ll be hard pressed to sound surprised by the rats. He’ll be very glad to know that our little diving plane problem wasn't due to them.  What he’ll think about the cat, I have no idea.

 

 

Entry #74