Warning: Story contains a hefty amount of dialogue, and not much plot development.

Note: I had a couple of folks asking me who Gilford was, whether if she was an OC (Gasp!). She's the Afro-American female sub captain who was seen in the OVA episode 2 and 4 (where she died). Just kinda felt inclined to expand on her rather shallow character.

Captain Ahab

The Blue Dome mess hall. It was a rather cozy place to eat and chat, although a little unclean. The last place any lower ranking officer would expect to be patronized by the top echelons of the blue fleet. But on that day, N'dulle Gilford decided to pay a visit.

The tall athletic commander of the Corback was an imposing sight as she entered, holding a glass of wine in one hand. The front half of the room immediately went quiet as salutes were quickly given. "At ease people, I'm just here to have my drink" she said, before taking a sip from her glass. Several sailors behind her were now subtlety trying to leave the hall, while the unlucky ones in front were busy trying to tidy things up or sit further away, on the pretext of making room for her.

Gilford spotted a lone sailor sitting by herself at the end of the hall. Her uniform indicated that she was a Grampus pilot, and looked no older than 18. The pink haired youth seemed lost in her own thoughts, as she failed to notice her enter the hall nor the increasing number of sailors now trying to leave it. The sailor still had her back turned towards the commander when she approached her and placed one hand on a chair. "Mind if I sat here, ensign..." Gilford leaned forward to look at her name plate "Kino?"

Her thoughts suddenly broken, an annoyed Kino turned around and then jumped slightly when she realized the source of the interruption. She tried to stand up and offer a salute, but Gilford quickly motioned for her to remain seated. "I'll take that as a yes then. Thank you" Gilford smiled at the nervous ensign, who looked somewhat adorable.

Gilford turned her head and surveyed the surroundings. "Well, since we're the only people left within 10 meters of this table, lets have a chat shall we?" Kino nodded quickly. Its not like she could say no. Her mind was still trying to process the fact that the supreme commander of the blue fleet was sitting next to her and seemed interested in nothing else.

The dark-skinned woman leaned back on her chair slightly and stirred her wine glass. "What is it about me that frightens you people?" Gilford said with a sigh as she looked around again, her smile never leaving.

"Commander, umm I think your rank kind of makes it uncomfortable for us when we see you here. We respect you ma'am, but we've also heard stories from your sailors..."

"That I'm very harsh to those under my command, I make grown men cry and I don't take criticism very well?"

Kino replied in agreement, wondering if that was going to get her in trouble. "Honesty. I like that in a soldier." The commander's smile widened.

For the next 10 minutes the 2 adults - one actual and the other aspiring - talked about themselves. Kino did her best to answer the commander's questions about her background, why she joined, the crew she served with and her experiences so far as a Grampus pilot. She also talked a little about her encounters with the Zorndyke machines, and tried to impress her by reciting what she had learned at the academy.

"You're under Iga eh? Well, you're in good hands. They're little old though" Gilford said with a laugh.

The red-haired youth listened intently as Gilford narrated her story. Born in Africa, a continent that was at that time on the verge of being destroyed by viral plagues, Gilford was adopted by an American couple stationed there as humanitarian aid workers. She migrated with them back to the States at the age of 8, and her parents died several years later. Through sheer hard work and perseverance in the face of racial prejudice, Gilford eventually graduated from the Naval Academy as the top officer of her cohort. She was the youngest sub captain to participate in actual combat, emerging with a near-perfect record. Gilford also made sure to mention her most recognized accomplishment - being the youngest and first woman to be promoted to commander of the Blue Fleet, on the basis of pure merit.

"Maybe she does have a right to be proud" Kino thought, now a little more at ease. Yet Kino could not help but feel that beneath the woman's accomplishments, the display of confidence and the pride that radiated from her, the elite officer was angry and hurt at the world, and wanted to prove that she wouldn't lie down and take it. But what Kino was too young too realize was that she herself had been angry for much of her life, had too been hurt by loss and felt the need to prove something. Unlike Hayami, the death of her parents and siblings didn't detach her from her ability to socialize. Kino was an emotional person at heart, but never wanted to be hurt again. And to that she created a masculine and tough appearance. In some ways, though separated by ethnicity, rank and age, the two women had a lot in common. Only Gilford was able to see this, partly because of her age.

"They were found dead among the sea of other bodies, the ones that died to the first great wave. Their hands were held together, waiting for me to return." Gilford was no longer smiling as she tilted her head up. The unexpected change of topic into a very personal one caught Kino off-guard, and she scrambled to maintain her composure.

"I know I'm an ass for asking this, but I suppose you lost someone too? Perhaps some...people?"

"What is she getting at?" Kino was clearly upset at the blunt question, but she kept it professional, mentioning briefly how her family perished on a boat that was attacked by hybrids. She was starting to feel uncomfortable again.

Gilford's eyes never moved as she listened. She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table. "These are sad times, Kino. Look around you. You'll be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't lost a loved one because of Zorndyke's actions." A few seconds of silence passed before she continued. "...We've all been scarred. All of us here. Damaged." Gilford fixated at Kino, her dark eyes starting to moisten. Yet somehow Kino felt that she wasn't trying to look at her. "So much suffering...because of one man's actions", said the sub commander, as her finger started to fidget. By now Kino was starting to feel very unsettled. Gilford was showing a side the young pilot had never expected. Was she supposed to comfort her or continue remaining a silent listener? Was she drunk? Would the proud commander feel insulted if she showed her pity?

"Are you familiar with the 17th Century novel, Moby Dick?" Kino shook her head. "Jesus...you young people. Moby Dick is a story about revenge Kino. About a Captain's obsession towards a whale that sank his ship and chewed off one of his legs. Ahab was the captain's name" Kino began to understand what the fleet commander was trying to get at. "After he recovered he devoted his whole life to killing the bastard. Even going as far as discarding his smoking pipe - his last source of pleasure. Captain Ahab may not be real, but there are more Ahabs here than you think".

Kino noticed that the woman's fingers were curled up now, as if trying to dig into the table. "They say revenge won't solve anything. But they're wrong. Because I know it'll make me feel better. It'll make the pain go away. And I'm sure it already has for Zorndyke..." Gilford clenched her teeth and lowered her head as she ran her hand across her eyes, collecting the tears.

"Commander, would you..." but Kino was abruptly cut off.

"I'm fine. Thank you" Gilford motioned by raising her hand, but kept her gaze fixated at the table. "Whats important now is that some of us are still alive, and we have an obligation to avenge those who died. They won't rest until justice is delivered to them." She wrapped her fingers around her wine glass and stared at the liquid within it. "My dear husband...my children...I miss you all so much" The commander was no longer trying to hide her tears, and wept openly. Kino looked at her quietly as Gilford drank the rest of the wine that was left in her glass, before slamming it back on the table. "I've thrown my pipe away Kino. I threw it away, the day they died."

"Zorndyke can reason however he wants, but history will remember him as an animal who murdered 10 billion people, thats probably more cells than the fucker has in his body." Anger had taken over the scarred woman. "I will never forgive him, even if God does. As long as I'm alive, I will do everything within my means...to kill him. Nothing else matters anymore." Kino was startled by her use of profanity; She badly wanted revenge on the old man herself, but even she felt a little frightened by her sudden display of rage and despair. Still, Kino felt strangely compelled to ask how the story ended, of all things.

"Ahab never got his revenge. He died trying."

Gilford was quick to continue. "But our story will end differently, Kino. Mankind will win this battle, because I'm playing a part in it. And when its over, the only tragedy left would be that Zorndyke has only one pathetic life for us to take. That he can only die once" Gilford said coldly. She then chuckled in a manner that seemed totally out of her character and shook her head. "Pathetic isn't it, for the commander of the blue fleet to be crying like that? I'm supposed to be the symbol of immovable confidence."

"Absolutely not ma'am, umm...I meant...the part about crying...err"

But Gilford wasn't bothered, and instead replied to Kino "I don't know why I told you all that...But I guess we all need someone to talk to now and then." She is human, like the rest of us, Kino said to herself. Gilford waited a few moments for the last of her tears to dry and adjusted her uniform before rising from her chair, her aura of confidence suddenly returning. The tall woman walked towards a now standing Kino and placed an arm over her shoulder. "Thank you for listening to me, Ensign Kino, instead of hiding like the other little girls." Gilford said calmly, to which Kino responded with a nervous grin and a sharp salute. "Its late. I shall take my leave now." The commander smiled and sighed as Kino returned the salute, before exiting the hall.

In a war memorial, 2 years after the war.

"I had a gun pointed at him. I could have killed him right there, and there was nothing to stop me. I thought vengeance had consumed me enough to make me do it without hesitation, just like it did to you."

"But I couldn't. The old man asked me a question - if I would be happy again after he died. Almost as though he heard our conversation that day in the hall...it was frightening" Kino bit her lip.

"I realized I couldn't kill him, because the pain wouldn't have gone away. My family is dead, and nothing will bring them back."

"In the end, Zorndyke died, and even though you weren't there to see it, it was probably the only thing you wanted."

Kino knelt down in front of the gravestone and placed a bouquet of flowers. "Like you, Captain Ahab died in his quest for revenge, and at least he died doing something he lived for. The only thing he lived for. Rest in peace Commander."

END

Thanks for reading!

Moby Dick is one of my favourite stories to date, and reading the book again inspired me to write something on the BS6 universe that drew parallel to the novel. From there it was rather straightforward as the similarities between Gilford (and to some extent Kino as well) and Captain Ahab were too great to ignore. Both BS6 and the novel are also set in the seas, with plenty of casualties and symbolism.