He was still swirling the bottle to dissolve the last of the soporific draft when there was a knock at the door. He put the bottle down, grabbed his own glass, and went over to open the metal door to his austere quarters. Two men in British Navy uniform stood in the hallway outside.

“Major Jack Toranssen, right?” said Lieutenant John Hunt, “We met at the naval strategy conference in San Diego a few months ago.”

Jack nodded, “Yes, that’s right. Wait, don’t tell me … John, right?”

John smiled, “Yes, that’s it. How’ve you been? Hey, sorry to drop in on you like this, but I saw your name on the duty roster when we came into dock and thought I would drop in and see if you wanted to join me and my friend here for a drink?”

Jack nodded and looked at John’s ‘friend.’ He was a big burly man in his forties with a rugged face that had been hardened by countless years of salt air. He was clearly also English, and they discreetly sized each other up while John introduced them.

“Major Jack Toranssen, United States Air Force, this is Warrant Officer William Shadley, chief engineer of the HMS Dauntless,” said John. Jack put out his hand as Bill Shadley instinctively saluted the senior officer. Jack smiled, politely returned the salute, then put his hand out again.

“No need for that, William,” said Jack, trying to establish a relaxed tone, “we may be on the same side, but we have very different bosses.”

They both chuckled conspiratorially and Bill, relaxing a little, took Jack’s hand and said, “Very kind of you, sir. In that case I’d prefer it if you called me Bill. Only me ’mam calls me William.”

They all smiled at each other and Jack waved them into the room, feeling a pang of guilt at abusing this clearly good man’s trust. But he did not let it get in the way of his objectives, and his smile remained warm as he said, ‘Bill’ and ‘John’ … that sounds good to me. After all, I can’t drink with people who call me sir.”

“Listen,” he said as they seated themselves, “before we go out, I’ve just poured myself a whiskey. Why don’t you two join me for a quick one and then we’ll head out.” He indicated the bottle and two glasses and said to Bill, “Help yourself, and don’t be shy, I get it free from the officer’s mess.”

Bill wasn’t known for being shy with whiskey, in fact, they were very close friends, and he half-filled the two glasses. Jack went a bit wide-eyed, worried for a moment about the strength of the draft, but they all raised their glasses, took a sip, and then sat down, Jack sitting on the single cot, and Bill and John taking the two metal chairs that came with the small room.