Chapter 9: Broken Wings
"Good afternoon Lady Enterprise," Belfast whispered as she leaned over Enterprise's napping face. "I'm such a lucky girl!" Belfast thought excitedly.
Enterprise shuffled around in her bed, before opening her eyes to the sight of her maid quietly watching her. "Why are you here Belfast…," Enterprise mumbled out.
"I've got to go for a couple days. Promise me you'll stay strong. If only just for me." Belfast stood up, leaving the room to left a somewhat confused Enterprise still lying in bed.
The rest of the afternoon was a blur to the carrier. Reading books while snacking on a energy bar, eating dinner with Yorktown and Hornet for the first time in what felt like months, even finally being able to play a couple video games with Laffey.
Enterprise collapsed into her bed, somehow still extremely tired even with how little she had done that day. For what felt like hours on hours, Enterprise rolled around in bed, unable to finally pass into a gentle slumber. When Enterprise finally fell asleep, it felt on the surface, as if a single touch would cause her to wake up.
All Enterprise could see was darkness, followed by the faint sound of crashing waves. The sound increased as light started to shine forward through the darkness. As Enterprise's eyes started to focus, she realized that Belfast was standing in front of her. Belfast was looking up at the sky, seemingly not paying attention to where she was going while she skated across the ocean. Enterprise followed behind her, watching this maid flow across the water's surface. For a few minutes Belfast kept going, slowly going over the gently moving waves across the ocean.
Enterprise looked up at the clouds, spotting one that looked like a fighter plane. As she focused in on the details of the cloud above her, a loud explosion caused a massive plume of water to splash up into the air in front of Enterprise. She quickly looked down, shocked as the dark blue and white spray falling back to the ocean.
Enterprise moved forward, trying to find Belfast in the now rough waters. Searching, finding, just trying to get another look at the one she loved. The clouds above her turned dark and heavy, drowning out her yelling for Belfast with a thunderstorm. Enterprise looked down in the whitewash of the sea, spotting something dark wrapped around her ankle. Reaching down, she picked it up, it's cold wet touch unsettling in her hand. A bit of black cloth, edged with white frills.
The piece disintegrated in her hand, melting down through her fingers before landing into the ocean. Enterprise felt herself getting slammed by a wave, crashing her body down into the dark depths of the ocean. The suction brought her farther down and down into the ocean, Enterprise feeling her back hit the sea floor. She closed her eyes, letting herself go.
A rush of wind, the scent of salt, the roar of an engine in the distance.
Enterprise opened her eyes again, Belfast being once again on the ocean. A large battleship appeared from the horizon, pointing its guns towards Belfast. As the cruiser raced forward, trying to outrun the gun's ability to track a target. The first turret fired, blowing plumes of water behind Belfast. The second turret did a better job of aiming. As Enterprise watched on, unsure if she can interfere or not, Belfast was slammed by a shell, exploding against her.
"Belfast!" Enterprise screamed. She ran forward, trying to grab at Belfast's broken body. As she took Belfast's hand, she was dragged under water once more, sucking her to the bottom. Enterprise hit the ocean floor, suddenly sitting up in a cold sweat. She looked around her room, the faint light of the morning sun coming through the window.
"It's better to just keep myself away…" Enterprise got up from the bed, stumbling against the door, turning the lock shut. Falling backwards with a slam against the wooden flooring, Enterprise crawled her way back to her bed, barely managing to push herself up off the ground onto the mattress. "I've failed you once more Belfast…" Enterprise collapsed down against the sheets, passing out.
End of Chapter 9