Indian Ocean Invasion - 17. IOI Chapter 17

“As you know this is the start of the second week, of this 6-week season, if any crew member is having troubles with anything, I expect you to assist, as we work as a team here. The yacht’s owner, Mr Wagner, has graced us with a visit, and will be on the yacht for a week, along with two of his staff, and they boarded a short time ago.

Mary and Henry, your job for the next week, is to be the butler and maidservice for Mr Wagner and nothing else, I am sure that the remaining Stewards and Deckhands can take up the slack while they are busy with other duties, both of you see me after this meeting is concluded. Right, we have a total of 12 guests joining us tomorrow morning at 10am, so let’s get to work” the Captain announced.

As I began to stand, I saw one set of eyes looking in my direction, and he smiled before he dashed off, “It looks like that someone has an admirer” Melinda teased as she stood next to me, then gave me a warm hug. “Do you know who he is?” I asked, “No Idea, but I will let you know when I do know” Melinda replied, as she headed toward the Captain, who had indicated that he wanted to speak to her, and I watched from a distance, before she came back to me.

“It appears that when you submitted your resume, the Captain saw Peter and my names as references, and that is why he hired you, we were both hired yesterday, and he now wants to speak to the three of us once he has spoken to Mary and Henry” Melinda informed me. Should I go and get my uniform on, it appears that I am the only one who hasn’t got one” I said to Melinda, as Peter joined us.

“Leave it till after we have spoken to the Captain” Peter suggested, and the Captain indicated for us to follow him, and we went around to the smaller dining area, and closed the door, after we had entered. “Sit please” the Captain asked as he closed the other door leading to the pantry, before sitting down.

“Now why is it that I have a feeling that I haven’t been given the full story about you Lewis” the Captain asked in an annoyed manner, “I am sorry that you feel that way sir, but there are somethings that I cannot reveal, even Peter and Melinda don’t know the full story” I replied, “Well tell me what you can say for heaven’s sake, I don’t have time for mind games on this yacht” the Captain snapped, just when there was a knock on the door, and the 1st officer walked in, and handed the Captain a sheet of paper.

The Captain took his time to read what was on the paper, and he appeared to read it a second time, before placing it face down on the table, ‘Go on Mr Shaw” the Captain said, and before I could say anything, Peter stood up. “Sir, I would like to introduce you to, Commander Lewis Shaw, CVO, VC, DSC, Former Administrator of the Chagos Archipelago and Royal Australian Navy Officer” Peter announced.

“I see, is the Commander, just the Royal Award or is it your Naval rank as well?” the Captain asked, “Both Royal and Naval sir. I am currently in the Naval Reserves till I get my medical discharge” I responded, “What is the reason of the medical discharge?” the Captain asked, “Injuries sustained while on duty in Afghanistan, our vehicle hit an IED, sir” I replied.

“So, we have a Naval hero in our midst then, and you still want to be just an ordinary deck hand?” the Captain commented, “Yes sir, and I would prefer that all the other information is kept secret, from the rest of the crew. I have some Australian Government knowledge, so I do not want to jeopardise any future job prospects, by certain information being leaked out” I replied.

“Very well, just the four of us and the 1st Officer will have any knowledge, he just gave me this information, which confirms what you have told me. If the opportunity comes for you to be promoted, will you accept the promotion, no matter what it is?” the Captain said.

“If you don’t, I will be very pissed off” Melinda said to me, “Well sir, I don’t want to piss off the chef, so I reluctantly agree” I replied, which brought laughter from everyone in the room.

“Is there anything else that you can tell me, that isn’t on your resume?” the Captain replied, and I looked over to Melinda who frowned, “Alright I will tell him… I have a Commercial Helicopter Pilots licence, a degree in Paramedical Science, a degree in Asian Studies, with fluency in Japanese and Malay, and a degree in International Security Studies” I responded.

“Quite a talented young man for just 26 years old” the Captain replied, “Well sir, the branch of work I was in, when I first joined the Navy, it was a requirement for such studies, but I cannot give you any more information on that, as it is classed Top Secret” I replied. “So, I guess you are very skilled in weaponry” the Captain asked, “Yes sir, and explosives, that was one of my jobs in the Navy, that is all I can say on the matter” I replied.

Once the meeting was over, we headed out of the conference room, and I notice Charlie hovering around on the aft deck waiting for me. “What was all that about?” Charlie asked me anxiously, “Stuff that I can’t talk about right now, sorry mate, it’s not about the yacht, I can’t say any more ok?” I replied.

“Ok, by the way, the 2nd Deckie, Wyatt Copper, he was asking who you are, is he queer or something, I saw him staring at you earlier” Charlie said, and I stopped mid pace, when I heard what Charlie said. “I suggest that you do not say anything like that, ever again around me or anyone for that point” I said annoyed and stormed off towards the stairs, and headed up the stairs, to catch up with the Captain.

“Sir, one more thing, I have just overheard a comment by a crew member that I am not very pleased about, what is the Yacht’s policy on sexual, racial and gender equality?” I asked when I caught up on the Owner’s Deck foyer, “Well, we haven’t had any issues so far, that I am aware of” the Captain replied, just as the door to the owner’s suite flew open.

“I will deal with this matter thankyou Captain” a tall man said who had a European accent, that I couldn’t quite place, “Hello young man, I am Mr Sebastian Wagner, the Yacht’s owner, and who are you?” the owner said to me, “Err… I am…”

I stuttered nervously, “This is a new crew member, 4th Deck hand – Lewis Shaw, Mr Wagner” the Captain said. “I see, so what exactly did you hear Mr Shaw?” the owner asked.

“Well sir, it was during a conversation I was having, with another crewmember, who stated that he saw another crewmember staring at me, during the crew meeting that the Captain was holding, and he asked if I thought he was queer or not, I told him that I didn’t want him to say anything like that again, and I stormed off, looking for the Captain to report it” I replied.

“Sir, I think I know who the culprit is, and also who he was referring too” the Captain said, “Yes, I know who he is referring to. It is Wyatt Cooper, he just joined us at the start of this season, I know him personally” the owner said, which caught both the Captain and I off guard. “Sir, the reason why I reacted the way I did, is because I am bisexual, so I felt it important to report the matter” I commented.

“I am glad that you did young man. Now Captain, I will have a notice printed out shortly, I would like it to be posted in the crew dining and lounge area, as soon as possible, it will state that any crew member on this yacht who discriminates any other person on this yacht, whether they are crew or guests, they will have their employment terminated immediately, that is all thank you” the owner said, before retreating to his suite.

I headed back down to the Boat deck and retreated to my cabin, only to find Charlie already there. “I am sorry that I upset you, I didn’t mean to make it sound that way. My brother is gay, so I have no issues with being gay, I just didn’t know how you felt about it, that is why I said it that way” Charlie said to me.

I could see that he was very upset, so I smiled and assured him that it was fine, and to forget the whole issue. The problem know was that the Captain and owner knew about it, and I had to correct my assumptions on Charlies attitude to gay people. “You better go and get your uniform, as the Bosun wants us to do some work, before dark today” Charlie said to me.

I dashed out of the cabin and headed down to the Crew Lounge, where I found a lady and a whole lot of boxes around her. “Name?” she asked as soon as she saw me arrive, “Lewis Shaw, 4th Deckhand” I replied, and she handed me three uniform shirts, and 3 work shirts, before checking it off on her list. I thanked her and headed back upstairs to the Boat deck, to store them away and get changed.

Once that was done, Charlie handed me a two-way radio, which had a piece of tape on the back, with “4th Deck” written on the back of it. “That is your responsibility, don’t lose it, and don’t forget to have it recharged overnight” Charlie said to me, as he led the way out to the aft deck, where the other Deck Crew were waiting.

“About time you two got here, we do need to get some work done you know” the Bosun – Toby said to us, “Sorry Bosun, I was talking with the Captain about an important matter” I explained, “Do that in your own time Shaw, we have things to do” the Bosun snapped, before looking around at all of us.

I noticed Wyatt take a couple of quick glances at me, before looking away, and I tried to ignore him, as we listened to the Bosun’s instructions.

Just by luck, I was assigned window cleaning duties with Wyatt, which I saw he was very pleased about, and the took me to the store room to collect the supplies. “Hi, I am Wyatt Cooper” the young lad said to me, who looked to be only about 18 years old. “Hi mate, I am Lewis, from Melbourne, where are you from?” I said, “I’m from Perth, but for the past two years, I have been living in London, with my Aunt and Brother” he replied.

“I spoke to the Captain and the owner, Mr Wagner earlier, he said he knows you personally?” I stated, “Yes, that is right, my Aunty, Brother and I work for Mr Wagner in London, we are his house staff” Wyatt replied, which surprised me a lot.

“Oh, wow, so is he a nice chap, he looks to be in his mid-30’s” I responded. “Sebastian, I mean Mr Wagner is 31 years old, he has twin brothers who are 23 years old, they are from Switzerland originally, and they are very wealthy, this is their second ship that they own” Wyatt replied as we continued to work.

About an hour later we heard on the radio, “All deck crew, dinner is served in the Crew dining room”, and with a heavy Italian accent, I guessed it to be the head chef who had made the call, as we packed away the supplies, and headed down to the lower deck for dinner.

When we arrived, there was a fair amount of discussion going on, and it didn’t take me long to work out what it was about. “…So, what do you two guys think about this threat of sacking us for discrimination?” the Bosun asked us both, and I glanced over to Charlie first, “I think it is fair enough, we must abide by the rules, no matter where we are” I said, and I saw Charlie and Wyatt nod their heads in agreement.

“Well I think it is bullshit, they have no right to sack us, if we don’t want to be around poofs? I think what they do is sick” Cristina, the Galley hand said. “I agree with Cristina, we shouldn’t have to put up with their perverted ways” Anna, one of the stewards added.

What most present didn’t know, which Wyatt had noticed because he was facing towards the main entry door to the crew area, was that an unknown person to most, was standing just out of sight, listening to everything that was being said. After Anna had spoken, he stepped around the corner, so he was in everyone’s view, and right away the room fell silent.

“Wyatt, can you please tell me, who those two persons were, that spoke just now” the man said, “Certainly Sir, it was Cristina the Galley Hand and Anna the 4th Steward” Wyatt replied politely. “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce the Ship’s owner, Mr Sebastian Wagner” I added with a big smile. “Thank you, Mr Shaw. Now the two people who were just named, you have exactly 30 minutes to pack and get off this yacht” Mr Wagner said sternly.

The two now former crew stormed up the stairs to their cabins, and Mr Wagner turned to face me, “Do you have your radio with you, if so can you call all other crew, down here straight away please” Mr Wagner asked, I nodded my hand as I retrieved my radio from my belt.

“By order of the Yacht’s Owner, all crew to the Crew mess immediately” I said into the radio, which echoed as a few other radios were still on in the room.

Five minutes later, all the stewards, and all other crew, including the captain, were jammed into the crew mess. “Right, for those who do not know me, I am the Yacht’s owner, Mr Wagner, you have all had time to read the notice that was posted a few hours ago, and it appears that twocrew members have already disliked this direction.

Those two crew are currently in their cabins packing to leave, as they no longer work on this yacht, or for any of my companies. This is a last warning, if I hear any more of this discrimination, amongst the crew for the rest of this season, those responsible will no longer have jobs, and will be blackmarked, from future yacht charter jobs.