Godzilla: The Series © Toho, Sony, Centropolis; Kantai Collection © Kadokawa Games; inspiration from Pacific: World War II U.S. Navy Shipgirls
Ahoy the Vessel
Chapter 9: Wai Momi
Jason M. Lee
For the first time in a long while, Mendel was happy.
Well, relatively speaking at the moment. He was carefully guiding N.I.G.E.L. on mapping out USS Utah's wreckage at the request of the National Park Service and USN, before moving onto USS Arizona. He wished that he could enjoy the beautiful Hawaiian weather, but considering that he was working at a war grave (and he was going to need to reapply some sunscreen), he took solace in that after this assignment was done, he might be able to check out the museums and maybe visit some of the universities. Hey, when the government was footing the bill on these kinds of trips, he wasn't going to say no. Besides, no Randy to "mess" with N.I.G.E.L.'s vocal processors, no Monique constantly harping "French superiority/American inferiority", and no Elsie snarking at him.
"Yo, egg head!"
Years of suffering from Randy's pranks prevented him from sending N.I.G.E.L. crashing into the sea floor when he almost flinched at the New Jersey accent. Turning around revealed a pair of young women in blue NWUs - the brunette had a Navajo-designed headband that was blue with several feathers sticking out; the red head with a turquoise earring stud also had a similar looking headband but with red, yellow and blue triangles and squares. (And there were a few hints of burn scars peeking out from under their uniforms, but he didn't dare look any further.) Almost feeling his eyebrow twitch at the wide smiles on their faces and their name tags, Mendel wisely recalled N.I.G.E.L. back to the surface, deciding that he was done for the day.
"Miss Utah, Miss Arizona. To what do I owe the pleasure for?"
"Naw, just wondering what the heck were you doing at our old hulks," the younger battleship spoke. "Name?"
"Dr. Mendel Craven. The National Park Service and USN had requested additional mapping of your... wreckage from a third-party perspective," he answered, moving to the water front to retrieve his prized robot. "Namely in regards to environmental concerns from the fluids that were still on board when you two... sunk."
"Oh yeah." Arizona slapped a fist onto her palm. "They've been saying about how the oil from me was screwing up the waters here."
"As if the metal from our hulls aren't doing enough damage as it is," the former battleship teased.
"Hey, you try telling that to every other girl who got turned into a museum ship," the red head shot back playfully, her Brooklyn accent slipping in. "I heard the last time someone poked fun at Blue Lex about that, she all but sicced her entire complement of air wings on to the poor sucker."
Utah chortled gleefully.
It was taking all of his discipline to not stare at the two battleships reborn while putting N.I.G.E.L.'s aquatic sections away and converting him back to land-mode. Mendel had seen part of the Atlantic Fleet out on patrol with the Coast Guard whenever the team left on the H.E.A.T. Seeker, usually those stationed in New York and some of the ship girls from the RCN. He had also read papers released to the scientific community, which resulted in having to build a new book shelf in his office due to the sheer amount of journals and magazines he had purchased from around the world. Heck, he had even bought magazines pertaining to ship girls from religious publishers (reputable ones, of course), which initially lead to a good amount of teasing from Elsie and Randy, given his multiple Ph.D.s. Oddly enough, it was Audrey who came to his defense on the spiritual aspect when she was visiting for a fluff piece on the team and had walked into the duo questioning him reading an article recently published by the Vatican during lunch.
"They had people building and serving on them for so many years." She wasn't yelling, but there was a hint of steel in her tone. "People who literally shed blood, sweat and tears to protect their home countries. Even if some of the servicemen weren't exactly good people or didn't agree with things back then, they still gave up their lives. Wouldn't we be dishonoring their memory? To question the spirit, the soul, of a ship girl like that?"
The embarrassed - and shamed - silence from Elsie and Randy resulted in Mendel later heading to one of the local artisan ice cream stores and buying Audrey a variety of pints. Nick jokingly questioned if Mendel was trying to steal his significant other away, but arranged to let Mendel spend a week with MIT.
While he had always wanted to meet a ship girl in person, Mendel didn't expect to meet two of the three ships that didn't make it in Pearl Harbor.
"How are you two..."
"Yeah?" Utah glanced over, hands behind her head. Arizona was whistling a song that was distinctly Hawaiian.
Mendel fumbled a bit as he started walking, the pair and N.I.G.E.L. following. "I mean... How can you two be so..."
"Cheerful despite we're visiting our memorials where we were sunk during the day of infamy?" Arizona chirped, having paused in her whistling.
A blush that didn't had anything to do with the tropical sun nor his fading sunscreen. "Sorry, I didn't want to offend."
Utah waved it off. "You're cool. To be honest, it was a bit of a shock for both of us after we were called back."
"You have NO idea how much we were seriously tempted to get drunk after we hit the books," the younger battleship spoke, readjusting her headband. "Sure, we were depressed for a good while, Oklahoma as well, but you wanna know something?"
Curiosity as a scholar poked. "Yes?"
"The three of us decided that even with the complete shit that had happened, we were going to live out the rest of this life to our full capacity." A steely glint in Arizona's eye shone.
"Me and Okie might have already served during World War I, but even with what happened here, we weren't going to let it get us down. Sure, we obviously hit rough waters with some of the carriers that the Japs had sent over during our first meet-and-greet, but it's quite literally water under the bridge," Utah picked up. She waved at her memorial. "We can't be constantly having the hatchet hang over our heads, not in this day and age."
"Cuz we've got better things to do than be constantly picking fights over past shit before actually getting into a fight, like how Kaga and Zuikaku kept annoying Enterprise and Intrepid." Arizona made a face. "Remind me to never piss off Langley - she had all four of them clean out the kitchens on almost every base we and the JMSDF operate out of for weeks."
Utah shuddered. "Got that right."
"Ha! KP duty was one of the better punishments!" an old voice croaked out.
Heads turned to see an elderly man wheeling up in his motorized scooter. A patch of the USN's emblem adorned the basket, while a miniature flag fluttered behind him in the island breeze. That he was on Ford Island meant that he more than likely either went through the same amount of paperwork that Mendel did, or his past services gave him some leeway.
"Doesn't that depend on the soldier in question, sir?" Mendel asked.
A gap-toothed grin. "Oh, that certainly depends, boy, but when you're able to sneak away a few bits as snacks, who were we to complain?"
Utah squinted. "An old salt, huh."
"That I am. If you two don't mind, I've been looking forward to speaking with you, Miss Utah."
She used to be a training ship, so she got the hint well enough. "You'll be fine by yourself heading back to Pearl, Ari?"
"If the doc doesn't mind me hitching a ride." A shrug from Arizona.
"None at all. I needed to head back there anyways."
A grin as the younger battleship slung an arm around Mendel's neck and all but gang-pressed him towards the parking lot, tossing a jaunty salute at Utah. "Good! Need to make a quick pit stop - been wanting to try this new spam musubi I heard coming out and I'm in need of a snack."
Mendel quickly hoped that the USN would be willing to reimburse him on this expenditure as he tried to keep pace with Arizona, for some reason now singing that opening song from Lilo & Stitch quite loudly. He had heard stories of a ship girl's appetite, namely those of battleships and carriers, how "snacks" were anything BUT snacks to humans - he could feel his wallet hurting already.
~ O ~ O ~
Utah spent the next several days conversing with the old man, in and around Pearl. He never gave her his name, and she never asked, even though she knew that he was a Navy veteran. Sometimes, they talked about how things could've gone differently. Other times, they'd debate fiercely on the merits of the changes in military tactics and strategies. More often than not, she'd listen to the vet talk about his family and his experiences, as well his perceptions of world events. Hearing him rail on the US Army's not-so-shining handling with the first Godzilla would've been funny, if only for the inter-service rivalry that was inherent, but she agreed with him that at least they tried their best against an uncertain opponent.
Not that much different with the Abyssals. They were still learning about them.
She had to return to Midway, and was sad to not be able to continue her talks with the old man. He merely patted her hand and told her that duty still had priority, and maybe they'll be able to meet up again once she got shore leave. After finding out her next shore leave, the two of them set up a day.
On said day, instead of the old veteran, a USN sailor with Petty Officer and Machinist's Mates patches stood at the rendezvous point, forcing Utah to cautiously approach her.
A sharp salute when the younger woman spotted the former training ship. "May I presume USS Utah, ma'am?"
Utah returned it. "That I am. I was supposed to meet a gentleman here."
Eyes flickered, but military decorum held. "Machinist's Mate Petty Officer Second Class Lisa Grissom. He wanted to pass on a message, ma'am."
Dread filled her boilers. It was similar to how she felt when the torpedoes had hit and the memory of her crew struggling to get to safety. "I'm listening."
"He said that he was sorry that he couldn't make it today, that he was happy to have had good conversations with you, and..." The petty officer swallowed before straightening her spine. "...that he was glad to have seen you one last time."
It felt as if she was listing again. There was usually one reason for any USN vet to visit any ship memorials.
"He served on me when Pearl was hit, didn't he?" Utah whispered hoarsely, turning to the side and clenching her fists. A reluctant rifling through her logs. "Boilermaker Petty Officer Second Class D. B. Grissom."
The younger Grissom's eyes said it all. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Great-grandpa held on as long as he could."
Utah bowed her head. This was a part that she and Arizona hadn't told Mendel.
It was a pain shared by many of the ship girls whose hulls that were still floating as museums. (Some would say that Constitution was the worst off, having been around for so long - she never confirmed nor denied it.) Encountering the older veterans, seeing them aged so far from what they could fleetingly remember, and then hearing the veterans having passed on. Especially those that had served back then. It hurt.
Their greatest generation.
Now, they were working with the newest generation of naval personnel, those that had grown up with and learned of their naval histories. Some of them were descendants of those that had originally served on them, more often than not startling the ship girls upon finding out. Wasn't that a surprise when Texas had encountered the spitting image of one of her original Boatswain's Mate in the form of his great-grandson, who was also a Boatswain's Mate? Many of the regular personnel spoke that those stories were their inspiration for joining up, even before the Abyssals' appearance.
Humbling. So... goddamn humbling.
Texas had all but bawled her eyes out and hugged the Boatswain's Mate after learning why he had requested to transfer, before quickly making sure that he was fine when he started to flail about and turn blue. The Iowa sisters were considered to be the luckiest, as they saw a good amount of action before their decommissioning in the 90s, Iowa and Wisconsin being the last to be struck in 2006. Most of the vets that had served on them would visit their hulls often - Missouri occasionally got misty-eyed whenever she talked of meeting the children and grandchildren of her crew during shore leave.
Taking in a shaky breath, Utah gave a trembling smile as she turned back to Grissom. "He was a good man. Did he say anything else?"
Blue eyes shone gratefulness. "Only that you be present for his ashes to be scattered at your memorial, ma'am."
She showed up in full rigging, even though she didn't need to.
