Captain Bradley Smith of the newly christened United States Ship Tombstone, an irregular ship to be sure, was in his quarters enjoying a nice leisurely meal of steak and potatoes with a nice french wine, of course there was sure to be dessert afterwards, when the reports from the island came in. Thomas Conlin was calling for a naval strike, danger close. Apparently the communications outpost they destroyed on the island earlier was being overrun by Japanese forces.
Captain Smith set his dinner aside and sighed, he stood up from his rather comfortable chair that was bolted to the floor to prevent it from knocking about the room in rough seas and storms, much like almost all the furniture was. If it couldn't be bolted to the floor, it was pretty much declared not seaworthy.
Smith himself
