Is It Possible On A Submarine?

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Saint John is getting to know me. I'd stepped into "O'Leary's" down by the port. The tunes were lively, but the air was thick. I wiped the sweat off my brow and took the vacant stool next to her. We began to chat, but the heat was almost unbearable.

"What's with the damn AC in here?"

Maeve laughed. "This is nothing. I used to be an electrical engineer on a navy sub. Now THAT was a fucking blast furnace."

Of course, I asked the obvious next question.

Maeve took a gulp from her beer, wiped her mouth with a sleeve... and began her underwater tale.

"Well... rules were clear. If you were caught the first time, it was a week's pay. A second, cost you four. We played a stealth game. That was part of the thrill, Pierre."

"There was this one time..."

The electrostatic precipitators went on the fritz. Maeve and her favourite assistant went down to fix it. The quarters were cramped: machinery, jammed tight against the bulkhead.

Maeve leaned into that condenser to loosen the bolts and — to gain leverage — pushed her rump against the groin of the EM behind her. It was a ploy she'd often use to boost his commitment.

Her shorts had slipped as she bent over those hardened bolts. Her EM caught her cue and leaned in to help tug at that long torque wrench she'd wrapped her fingers around.

The red nightlights barely lit their space. Maeve found his hand and guided him to that zone where a leaking valve — needed a tight seal.

He pushed forward. She smiled at how easily her crewmate found that perfect spot to thrust his wrench.

They both moaned as those precipitators finally shuddered and roared back to life. Breathless... and spent, they'd achieved their goal.

"Ten seconds later, our fucking Chief walked in."

Maeve laughed and made a toast.

"Here's to dim lighting... and knowing where to put a wrench."

I raised my glass.

I don't do well in claustrophobic places.

But I know how to finagle my wrench. Shouldn't every man? 😊

• Ever been caught — or almost caught — in the wrong place, doing the right thing ?

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... doing it right...