CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
10:15 a.m. Indochina Time (10:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time)
Port of Beihai, China
Commander Patrick Vitale stood with his officers on the dock, facing his opposite numbers from the ships that had captured the Lewiston. Behind him, his men stood in formation, American sailors, every man in formal attire, every man at attention.
The Lewiston itself was in a deepwater dock a hundred yards away, its bridge above the water, waiting for its crew to come aboard.
It was a hot and sticky day, getting worse all the time. It was still morning, but the sun was already like a blazing nuclear reactor in the sky. Southern China in summer was hotter than Hades.
The Chinese had organized a brief ceremony to commemorate the friendly and auspicious meeting of the USS Lewiston and th
