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19 - Navy Day · Astounding Sci-Fi Audiobook Library

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Navy Day by Harry Harrison. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: by Dale Growthman. The Army had a new theme song,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: anything you can do, we can do better, and they
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: meant anything, including up to date hornpipes. Navy Day by
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Harry Harrison. General Wingrove looked at the rows of faces
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: without seeing them. His vision went beyond the Congress of
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the United States, passed the bomby June Day, to another
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: day that was coming, a day when the Army would
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  Speaker 1: have its destined place of authority. He drew a deep
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  Speaker 1: breath and delivered what was perhaps the shortest speech ever
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  Speaker 1: heard in the hallowed halls of Congress. The General Staff
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  Speaker 1: of the U. S. Army requests Congress to abolish the
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  Speaker 1: archaic branch of the armed forces known as the U. S. Navy.
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  Speaker 1: The aging Senator from Georgia checked his hearing aid to
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  Speaker 1: see if it was in operating order, while the press
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  Speaker 1: box emptied itself in one concerted rush and a clatter
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  Speaker 1: of running feet that died off in the direction of
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  Speaker 1: the telephone room. A buzz of excited comment ran through
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  Speaker 1: the giant chamber. One by one, the heads turned to
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  Speaker 1: face the naval section, where rows of blue figures stirred
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  Speaker 1: and buzzed like smoked out bees. The knot of men
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  Speaker 1: around a ponchy figure heavy with gold braid broke up,
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  Speaker 1: and Admiral Fitzjames climbed slowly to his feet. Lesser men
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  Speaker 1: have quailed before that piercing stare, but General Wingrove was
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  Speaker 1: never the lesser man. The Admiral tossed his head with disgust,
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  Speaker 1: every line of his body denoted outraged dignity. He turned
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  Speaker 1: to his audience, a small pulse beating in his forehead.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot comprehend the General's attitude, nor can I understand
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  Speaker 1: why he has attacked the Navy in this unwarranted fashion.
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  Speaker 1: The Navy has existed, and will always exist, as the
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  Speaker 1: first barrier of American defense. I ask you, gentlemen, to
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  Speaker 1: ignore this request, as you would ignore the statements of
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  Speaker 1: any person slightly demented. I should like to offer a
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  Speaker 1: recommendation that the general sanity be investigated, and an inquiry
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  Speaker 1: be made as to the mental health of anyone else
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  Speaker 1: connected with this preposterous proposal. The General smiled calmly. I understand, Admiral,
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  Speaker 1: and really don't blame you for being slightly annoyed, but
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  Speaker 1: please please let us not bring this issue of national
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  Speaker 1: importance down to a shallow personal level. The Army has
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  Speaker 1: facts to back up this request, facts that shall be
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  Speaker 1: demonstrated tomorrow morning. Turning his back on the raging admiral,
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: General Wingrove included all the assembled salons in one sweeping gesture.
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  Speaker 1: Reserve your judgment until that time. Gentlemen, make no hasty
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  Speaker 1: judgments until you have seen the force of the argument
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  Speaker 1: with which we back up our request. It is the
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  Speaker 1: end of an era. In the morning, the Navy joins
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  Speaker 1: its fellow fossils, the Dodo and the Brotosaurus. The Admiral's
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: blood pressure mounted to a new record, and the gentle
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  Speaker 1: thud of his unconscious body striking the floor was the
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  Speaker 1: only sound to break the shocked silence in the giant hall.
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  Speaker 1: The early morning sun warmed the white marble of the
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  Speaker 1: Jefferson Memorial and glinted from the soldier's helmets and the
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  Speaker 1: roofs of the parked cars that crowded forward in a
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  Speaker 1: slow moving stream. All the gentlemen of Congress were there,
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  Speaker 1: the passage of their cars cleared by the streaming sirens
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  Speaker 1: of motorcycle policemen. Around and under the wheels of the
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  Speaker 1: official cars pressed a solid wave of government workers and
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  Speaker 1: common citizens of the capital city. The trucks of the
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  Speaker 1: radio and television services pressed close, microphones and cameras extended.
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  Speaker 1: The stage was set for a great day. Neat rows
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  Speaker 1: of olive drab vehicles curved along the water's edge. Jeeps
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  Speaker 1: and half tracks shouldered close by, the weapons carriers and
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  Speaker 1: six buys, all of them shrinking to insignificance. Beside the
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  Speaker 1: looming patent tanks. A speaker's platform was set up in
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  Speaker 1: the center of the line near the audience. At precisely ten,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: a m general wingrove stepped forward and scowled at the
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  Speaker 1: crowd until they settled into an uncomfortable silence. His speech
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  Speaker 1: was short and consisted of nothing more than amplifications of
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  Speaker 1: his opening statement that actions speak louder than words. He
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  Speaker 1: pointed to the first truck in line, a two and
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  Speaker 1: a half ton filled with an infantry squad sitting stiffly
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  Speaker 1: at attention. The driver caught the signal and kicked the
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  Speaker 1: engine into life. With a grind of gears, it moved
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  Speaker 1: forward toward the river's edge. There was an inn drawn
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  Speaker 1: gasp from the crowd as the front wheels ground over
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  Speaker 1: the marble parapet. Then the truck was plunged down toward
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  Speaker 1: the muddy waters of the Potomac. The wheels touched the water,
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  Speaker 1: and the surface seemed to sink while taking on a
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  Speaker 1: strange glassy character. The truck roared into high gear and
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  Speaker 1: rode forwardward on the surface of the water, surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: a saucer shaped depression. It parked two hundred yards off shore,
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  Speaker 1: and the soldiers, goaded by the sergeant's bark leapt out
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  Speaker 1: and lined up with the showy present arms. The general
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  Speaker 1: returned the salute and waved to the remaining vehicles. They
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  Speaker 1: moved forward in a series of maneuvers that indicated a
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  Speaker 1: great number of rehearsal hours on some hidden pond. Tanks
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  Speaker 1: rumbled slowly over the water, while the jeeps cut back
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  Speaker 1: and forth through their lines in intricate patterns. The trucks
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  Speaker 1: backed and turned like puffing ballerinas. The audience was rooted
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  Speaker 1: in a hushed silence, their eyeballs bulging. They continued to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: watch the amazing display as General Wingrove spoke again. You
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  Speaker 1: see before you a typical example of army ingenuity developed
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  Speaker 1: in Army laboratories. These motor units are ported on the
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  Speaker 1: surface of the water by an intensifying of the surface
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  Speaker 1: tension in their immediate area. Their weight is evenly distributed
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  Speaker 1: over the surface, causing the shallow depressions you see around them.
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  Speaker 1: This remarkable feet has been accomplished by the use of
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  Speaker 1: the Dornifier, our remarkable invention that is named after a
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  Speaker 1: brilliant scientist, Colonel Robert A. Dorn, commander of the brook
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  Speaker 1: Point Experimental Laboratory. It was there that one of the
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  Speaker 1: civilian employees discovered the Dorn effect, under the colonel's constant guidance.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, utilizing this invention, the Army now becomes master
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  Speaker 1: of the sea as well as the land. Army convoys
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  Speaker 1: of trucks and tanks can blanket the world. The surface
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  Speaker 1: of the water is our highway, our motor park, our battleground,
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  Speaker 1: the airfield and runway for our planes. Mcann were pushing
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  Speaker 1: a shooting star into the water. They stepped clear as
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  Speaker 1: flame gushed from the tailpipe with a familiar pushing rumble,
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  Speaker 1: it sped down the Potomac and hurled itself into the air.
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  Speaker 1: When this cheap and simple method of crossing the oceans
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  Speaker 1: is adopted, it will of course mean the end of
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  Speaker 1: that fantastic, medieval anachronism the Navy. No need for billion
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  Speaker 1: dollar aircraft, carriers, battleships, dry docks, and all the other
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  Speaker 1: cumbersome chunk that keeps those boats in things afloat. Give
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  Speaker 1: the taxpayer back his hard earned dollar. Teeth grated in
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  Speaker 1: the naval section as carriers and battleships were called boats,
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  Speaker 1: and the rest of America's sea might lumped under the
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  Speaker 1: casual heading of things. Lips were curled at the transparent
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  Speaker 1: appeal to the taxpayer's pocketbook. But with leaden hearts they
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  Speaker 1: knew that all this justified wrath and contempt would avail
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: them nothing. This was Army Day with a vengeance, and
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  Speaker 1: the doom of the Navy seemed inescapable. The Army had
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  Speaker 1: made elaborate plans for what they called operations sinker. Even
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: as the General spoke, the publicity mills ground into high gear.
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  Speaker 1: From coast to coast. The citizens absorbed the news with
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  Speaker 1: their morning nourishment Agnes. You hear what the radio said.
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  Speaker 1: The Army's going to give a trip around the world
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  Speaker 1: in a B thirty six as first prize in its
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: limerick contest. All you have to do is fill in
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  Speaker 1: the last line and mail one copy to the Pentagon
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  Speaker 1: and the other to the Navy. The Naval mail room
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  Speaker 1: had standing orders to burn all the limericks when they
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  Speaker 1: came in, but some of the newer men seemed to
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  Speaker 1: think the entire thing was a big joke. Commander Bowman
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: found one in the mess hall. The Army will always
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  Speaker 1: be there on the land, on the sea, in the air,
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  Speaker 1: So why should the Navy take all the gravy to
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  Speaker 1: which some seagoing scribe had added and not give us
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  Speaker 1: senses our share. The newspapers were filled daily with photographs
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  Speaker 1: of Mighty B thirty six's landing on Lake Erie and
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  Speaker 1: grinning soldiers making beachhead attacks on Coney Island. Each man
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  Speaker 1: wore a buzzing black box at his waist and walked
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  Speaker 1: on the bosom of the now quiet Atlantic like a
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  Speaker 1: biblical prophet. Radio and television also carried the thousands of
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  Speaker 1: news releases that poured in an unending flow from the
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  Speaker 1: Pentagon building cards, letters, telegrams, and packages descended on Washington
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  Speaker 1: in an overwhelming torrent. The Navy Department was the unhappy
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: recipient of deprecatory letters and a vast quantity of little
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  Speaker 1: cardboard battleships. The people spoke and their representatives listened closely.
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  Speaker 1: This was an election year. There didn't seem to be
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  Speaker 1: much doubt as to the decision, particularly when the reduction
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  Speaker 1: in the budget was considered. It took Congress only two
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  Speaker 1: months to make up its collective mind. The people were
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  Speaker 1: all pro army. The novelty of the idea had fired
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  Speaker 1: their imaginations. They were about to take the final vote
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in the lower House. If the amendment passed, it would
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  Speaker 1: go to the states for ratification, and their votes would
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  Speaker 1: certainly follow that of Congress. The Navy had fought a
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: last ditch battle to no avail. The balloting was going
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  Speaker 1: to be pretty much a sure thing. The wet Water
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  Speaker 1: Navy would soon become ancient history. For some reason, the
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: admirals didn't look as unhappy as they should. The Naval
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  Speaker 1: Department had requested one last opportunity to address Congress. Congress
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  Speaker 1: had patronizingly granted permission for even a doomed man is
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  Speaker 1: allowed one last speech. Admiral Fitzjames, who had recovered from
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  Speaker 1: his coloric attack, was the appointed speaker, Gentlemen of the
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  Speaker 1: Congress of the United States. We in the Navy have
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  Speaker 1: a fighting tradition. We damned the torpedoes and sail straight
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  Speaker 1: ahead into the enemy's fire, if that is what's necessary.
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  Speaker 1: We have been stabbed in the back. We have suffered
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  Speaker 1: a second pearl harbor sneak attack. The army relinquished its
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  Speaker 1: rights to fair treatment with this attack. Therefore we are counterattacking.
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  Speaker 1: Worn out by his attacking and mixed metaphors, the Admiral
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  Speaker 1: mopped his brow. Our laboratories have been working night and
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  Speaker 1: day on the perfection of a device we hoped we
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  Speaker 1: would never be forced to use. It is now in operation,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: having passed the final trials a few days ago. The
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  Speaker 1: significance of this device cannot be underestimated. We are so
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  Speaker 1: positive of its importance that we are demanding that the
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  Speaker 1: army be abolished. He waved his hands toward the windows
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  Speaker 1: and bellowed one word. Look. Everybody looked. They blinked and
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  Speaker 1: looked again. They rubbed their eyes and kept looking. Sailing
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  Speaker 1: majestically up the middle of Constitution Avenue was the battleship Missouri.
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  Speaker 1: The admiral's voice rang through the room like a trumpet
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  Speaker 1: of victory. The Mark I D Binder, as you see,
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  Speaker 1: temporarily lessens the binding and ergies that hold molecules of
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  Speaker 1: solid matter together. Solids become liquids, and a ship equipped
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  Speaker 1: with this device can sail anywhere in the world, on
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  Speaker 1: sea or land. Take your vote, gentlemen, the world awaits
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  Speaker 1: your decision. The End of Navy Day by Harry Harrison