The Fighting Seabees Page #2

go and get yourself one?

Well, thank you.

How you doing?

I haven't had a real

chance to talk to him yet.

He has promised to come to

Washington. They'll listen to him.

His reputation in

construction is tops.

There's more than that to his

reputation. I looked in our files.

So?

Let me warn you that

your friend Donovan...

is a hotheaded ape with

a hair-trigger temper.

When he's nice, he's very, very nice,

and when he's not, he's stinkin'.

Hello. Yeah?

Wait a minute. Hey, Wedge.

Yeah?

The manager of the hotel

wants to talk to ya.

So it's you again.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're the manager and we're

makin' too much noise.

So what? I rented this suite

till 10:
00 tomorrow morning.

- I don't want any more calls.

- Ain't wantin' to get any more calls?

- No.

- Ain't gonna make any calls out?

No!

Hey, Wedge.

This her is "Twinkles" Tucker.

She claims to be a champion jitterbug.

But she says she'll no dance

with anyone but the boss.

Come on, Wedge. Get in

there. Oh, come on, Wedge.

- What do I do now?

- Pull.

Hey, jitterbug!

Attaboy, Wedge.

- I like your finish.

- Yeah, "finish" is right.

So don't forget,

we've got a date.

Gonna see you tomorrow

in Washington, 11:00.

- Captain Joyce's office.

- I'll be there, right on the pin.

Say, uh, what do you

two do for an encore?

Oh.

- Right on the pin. Ready to go?

- All set.

- What are you doing here?

- Waiting to join you two...

in a little celebration

at lunch time, I hope.

It's in the bag.

You can order the wine.

- Captain Joyce will see you now.

- Oh, thank you.

Don't you wish you could come

inside and hear what's going on?

Might make a front-page story.

- Want me to fix it up for ya?

- Don't bother.

I'll know more about it in

24 hours than you will.

- It's nice to see you, Bob.

- Thank you, sir.

- This is Mr. Donovan. Captain Joyce.

- Good morning, Mr. Donovan.

- Good morning.

- Your name is a familiar one to this bureau.

- Sit down, won't you, please?

- Thank you.

Commander Yarrow wanted you on hand

when he discussed some matter with me.

Mr. Donovan had a construction job on the

island when the Japanese attacked, sir.

- Most of his crew were killed.

- Yes, I know.

If these men had been in uniform,

they might still be alive.

They would be alive.

- And I submit, sir...

- No, thank you...

that every day this war makes

more and more demands...

for construction under

combat conditions...

airfields, roads,

beachhead installations.

The navy has been impressed by

that fact ever since pearl harbor.

We've been giving it

consideration in principle.

You have a definite

suggestion to offer?

I'd like to suggest the raising

of a model basic unit,

large enough to include the specialists

and machinery to do any kind of a job.

Say a 1,000 men, sir,

self-contained, self-sufficient.

- A battalion, a construction battalion.

- Right.

And I can get you the men for it:

bulldozers, blasters, drillers, cat-skinners.

Any men you want, and the

best in the country.

That would be a model basic

unit indeed, Mr. Donovan.

I'll take it up

with the Admiral.

In the meantime, you're

attached to my office.

I want you to prepare a

complete, detailed report.

- Concentrate first on a training program.

- Yes, sir.

Why waste time?

What training do they need?

Training to fight.

Training to fight? You might as

well start training them to drink.

I'm offering you construction

crews, not white-collar lads.

They know what it is to fight.

Every rock tunnel they

drill costs a man a mile.

And every steel span they

bridge costs another.

- They know that when they take the jobs.

- But, Mr. Donovan...

All they want is something in their

hands when the trouble starts.

That's not the navy's opinion, sir.

We send no man into action until he

has been disciplined, conditioned,

and taught to use his weapon.

That'll take months.

It may take 3 months,

it may take 12 months.

That doesn't make

any difference.

If we send out one

untrained man,

some mother may pay for our

impatience with the life of a son.

Look, I've got 3 contracts

in the pacific,

and my men mean as much to

me as yours do to the navy.

What are they, expendable?

I want 'em armed.

The arming of civilians is prohibited

by an international convention,

not by the United States Navy.

There is nothing you or

I can do about that.

Isn't there?

I have a contract here for

an airfield on island X-214.

I'm going there personally

and take my best crew.

And if Tojo and his bug-eyed

monkeys get in our way,

you and the navy may find out

you have a construction unit...

and a combat unit

rolled into one!

- Wait, Wedge.

- For how long, 3 months, 12 months?

I'm sorry, gentlemen.

I'm not built for waiting.

You learn that in the navy, not

in the construction business.

What happened?

You'll know more about it in 24

hours than I do, Miss Chesley.

Hey, Collins. Where about's

is Flatbush from here?

That's it over there, and you

better take a good look at it,

because the Dodgers'll win the World

Series before you ever see it again.

This job's supposed to take

30 days, not 30 years, Collins.

- Got a cigarette?

- Yeah.

So long, New York.

We won't see a good-lookin' pair

of legs until we see you again.

Oh, I wouldn't say that, Speck.

Well, if it isn't Inter-Ocean's

special ace! How are you, Connie?

Fine, you old son of a gun.

Hello, fellows.

- Say, this is great!

- How do you do, Mr. Donovan?

Well, what are you doing aboard?

Same thing as these alleged

gentlemen of the press.

Oh, by the way, the

Captain wants to see you.

What for?

So he can throw your junk out of the

bridge deck cabin and put mine in.

Are you gonna be a

nuisance on this trip?

No more than usual, Mr. Donovan.

Sure you're not running

out on your boyfriend?

You'll know more about

that in 24 days.

Twenty-four days? How come?

They flew Bob out to island

X-214 last Wednesday,

as officer in charge

of construction.

Oh, and now, if you don't mind,

I'd like to get settled in your...

I mean, my cabin.

So, teacher's pet is on her

way to Australia for news too.

Uh-huh, on 30 minutes'

notice, sweetheart.

Anybody got an extra pair

of nylons in their pocket?

- Nylons?

- That ought to be easy, I always...

Excuse me, I think I

observe an acquaintance.

You're a fine bundle

of mollycoddles.

I give you a little party last

night, and now look at ya.

Why don't you be men, like I am?

Hey, Novasky, a glass

of ice-water, quick.

I think I had too

much fish last night.

Was that what you was drinkin'?

Looks like we're shipmates,

old sesquipedalian.

- "Sesquipe-who-lian"?

- "Pedalian."

- Oh, sesquipedalian, is it?

- Uh-huh.

- Eddie? Eddie, is that good?

- I wouldn't know, Novasky.

I never run across that canary in all

the crossword puzzles I've seen so far.

That means, "a user of big words",

Mr. Powers. Now we're even.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Oh, it's you.

Yes, it's pretty.

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