Zhong looked up from his notes as his adjutant finished his address to the assembled group.
They included naval and civilian personnel; men who would be directly involved with the upcoming exercises,
and men who would be responsible for the smooth interaction of the foreign crews with the local populace.
He rose from his chair; bring about a scuffle as his officers quickly made to stand.
“As you were Gentlemen” he said, waving them back to their seats.”
“As you have just heard, we have this event planned down to the last detail and it is down to us to make it work”
“ Comisario Principal Wong,” he nodded to the police chief, “has responsibility outside the harbour,
and I am granting him authority over our Shore Patrol squads within the city, should he see fit to use them.”
“Inside the harbour, I don’t forsee any problems. The Thais are regular visitors and the French are keen to be seen as our allies through F.I.R.S.T.,
so all crews will be warned to be on their best behaviour. Put the fear of Hellfire into them, at least that’s what I’d do to my crews!”
Broken laughter circled the room, from the older hands and civilians.
Capitán de Navío Manuel Roya Garcia of the Alba de Tormes,
and Capitáns de Fragata López Covas, García Ramírez, Arroyo López, Sanchez de Cuellar;
the commanding officers of the 4 new destroyers that arrived 2 weeks earlier with Alba de Tormes, looked at each other awkwardly.
The Admiral broke into laughter. “It appears our new arrivals are quite sure what to make of me” he smiled to the older hands.
“Relax gentlemen, do your jobs right and I will be your most ardent ally. But, if you....”
A knock at the door stopped him. “Enter” he called.
An able seaman entered, rossed the room, came to attention and handed the Admiral a note and waited.
The admiral glanced at the note, and dismissed the able seaman with a nod.
“Gentlemen, the French have been sighted by outer picket and the Thais have been sighted by one of the submarine pickets. Let us be about it then. Dismissed!”
This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Commodore Green" (Aug 2nd 2011, 1:55am)