Mashiro's Duty and Honour – Part 2…
It had been years since the death of Akeno Misaki, the first Captain that Mashiro had ever served with, and the years had not been totally unkind to her though they'd not been a bunch of happiness either. Every six months for two years after the events of Akeno's death, she'd had to submit to a battery of mental testing due to her attempted suicide and low self esteem issues. Thankfully, she'd led a long and successful career in the Blue Mermaids but left after fifteen years because she lost faith in their mission to only defend and not attack the pirates in their home base. A number of the Harekaze's crew still served in the organisation, but most had left to move on to other jobs on the seas. A number of them had retired from active duty and taught future generations of girls had to sail the seas and to save lives. No matter what happened, they all still tried to gather as close to where Akeno's ashes had been scattered to drink to their friend and Captain. Mashiro's thought were disturbed by the sound of delicate footsteps walking on the stone surface of the harbour wall and she turned around to see Rin Shiretoko walk towards her with a sad look on her face.
"Are you alright, Rin?" Mashiro asked softly. The girl was always a delicate person, even when younger, so it had surprised her to discover she'd been appointed a Blue Mermaid fleet commander three years ago.
"No, Deputy Captain" Rin replied, using Mashiro's old title.
"You know to call me Mashiro"
"Huh? Oh, sorry… I wasn't thinking right"
"Why not tell me what the matter is – maybe I can help"
"I discovered that our old school is going to sell the Harekaze for scrap in three weeks time when her current crew brings her home"
"WHAT?" exclaimed Mashiro. "Surely it should be saved as a museum exhibit after all of the work it has done"
"I know, but the cost of giving her a refit back to her original configuration when we had her was deemed too much" Rin said. "According to what Kouko said, they will take everything off that they can and then tow it to the breakers yard"
"She's still with the Office of Vessel Management?" Mashiro frowned, trying to remember what a lot of her old crew were now doing.
"Yeah – she's tried hard to get them to save the ship, but nobody wants to preserve her"
"Who is she being sold to?"
"There hasn't been a company picked, so its anyone's guess"
"So…" a plan started to form in Mashiro's mind, "So if a private person wanted to purchase her, they could?"
"I suppose so" Rin shrugged, "But they'd need a lot of money to buy her"
"Rin, I'm not that short of cash… Remember how much I've made in the training business…?" and their eyes met with a clear understanding. "As the Doctor once said, I am not done sailing the Harekaze" and Mashiro opened her cell phone and called a stored number. "Kouko? Its Mashiro… Call the others together… Yeah, as many as you can get hold of and have them meet me at my apartment. Why? I'm putting the band back together" and she held the phone away from her ear and winced as Rin heard Kouko screaming on the other end. "Do you think she is favour for it?" Mashiro asked Rin sarcastically.
#
"Well, I think that is all of us" Mei said, glancing around the room. "I guess the rest of us couldn't make it off from work in time"
"Very well" Mashiro leaned back in her chair. "Kouko, please tell the others the full extent of how you found out and what you know about her condition"
"Yes" the crew's former secretary spoke before reaching to her satchel and pulling out a tablet and recalling the information. "As you all know, I work in the office of Vessel Management which means I help allocate fuel, stores and spares to all of the ships to the training ships, most of the Blue Mermaids squadrons and the home fleet of the Navy. I've used my contacts to keep track on the Harekaze and found her on the list of assets to be sold for scrap after she returns from her latest cruise of training cadets. From what I can tell, the last three crews have not taken care of her engines properly and they are sailing on the starboard shaft"
"Why?" asked Maron.
"The port one fell off"
"It… It fell off?"
"Indeed. They don't need it really because this cruise has them practicing their formation holding and gunnery drills, There is a lot of defects on the Harekaze that would need to be fixed before she could ever go to sea again"
"Do you have a full list of all that needs doing?" Maron asked. Kouko nodded and handed over a fairly thick folder full of the problems with their old ship.
"I don't think that any of us can stomach the thought of her going to the breaker's yard without us trying to save her. It is my intention to buy her in order to preserve her, but I also have another idea in the back of my mind – one that I want you all to think about" Mashiro said.
"What is it?" asked Tama.
"We refit the ship and sail it ourselves as armed security for ships that have to pass through areas that are frequented by pirates" Mashiro spoke calmly. "I see two sides of the coin here… On the plus side, we get to sail our old ship once more and work together. On the loss side of things, most of us would be leaving comfortable and safe jobs for ones of a little more hardship and possible times without a job. It would take us a lot of time to get her ready for sea, even if we could find a shipyard that would do it for a low cost… Which I doubt"
"I can help" Kaede spoke from where she had perched on the kitchen counter top. "My family owns a number of repair stations and drydocks… We can take the Harekaze there for as much repairs as are needed at very little cost and we could base her there for as long as we have her"
"We?"
"Well you didn't think that we were going to let you try and sail the ship by yourself, did you?" Kaede smiled.
"You'll need a good engineering crew" Maron shrugged.
"It is wrong for a ship to sail without a medical officer onboard" Minami commented, "So I suppose that you can count me in too"
"Where the Harekaze goes, I will go with it" Rin said and slowly, one by one, those gathered together said they would join their former shipmates once more and sail together.
"Looks like we have a ship to sail and a crew to man her" Mashiro said. "Kouko, would you do me the honour of being the Deputy Captain?"
"I feared you wouldn't ask"
"I feared you would say no… Well, lets get going"
"Aye Aye, Ma'am" Kouko saluted Mashiro jauntily before they broke into groups to discuss what they had to do.
# # # # #
"Jesus…" Mei muttered quietly.
"He's not going to help her – we will" Maron said firmly, but she was torn up on the inside upon looking at her first ship as Chief Engineer. Most of the paint on the port side was rusty and peeling off, oil stains marked her surface, there was a slight list to port, the forward battery was missing part of its covering, both torpedo tubes appeared to stored inboard and plated over – the crew shuddered to think what had been done with the vessel over the years.
"The school has given us three days to get her fixed up enough to put to sea" Mashiro said. "They have given us all the spares they had for her, little that there was, but that's about it. The place has not done the memory of Captain Misaki well at all, so I want to get out of here under our own steam if possible"
"Do you know if she has a working power plant?" asked Maron as the small group walked towards their old ship.
"I don't know, but I don't see any smoke coming from her stack and she looks to be on shore power"
"Not even that" Rin pointed to the lines that had merely draped over the sides and not connected to anything at all.
"If the power plants have all been shut down, this job just got a hell of a lot more serious. If the engines are both trashed, I might be able to get one of them working by taking parts from both… Won't be pretty, but it will do" Maron explained. "Of course, we need to see if we can actually get to sea"
"Right… Take whoever you need and get them to help you with damage control" Mashiro said. "Rin, see if there are cleaning supplies still onboard and get started on cleaning the floor of the mess hall"
"What are you going to do?" asked Kouko. Mashiro smiled and looked at a point high up on the ship.
"I'm going to take the Bridge"
#
The sight almost broke the woman's heart. It was clear that the last couple of crews had not taken good care of the Harekaze and had allowed compartments to become dirty, broken and almost unusable. It was clear that an attempt at salvaging parts for use in ships belonging to the school as all of the handsets were missing and wires dangled from absent panels. Looking around, Mashiro could see most of the Bridge indicators had been torn out, the map room behind the aft Bridge bulkhead was just a mess of debris and the woman let loose a torrent of curses before shaking her head and going back onto the Bridge. A small object caught her attention and she bent down to find it was the Harekaze's log book. According to the last entry, the ship was towed back into port with her final crew stripping everything from engines to wiring from it prior to the hulk being sold for scrap.
"Hey! This thing work?" Maron's voice filtered up from the voice pipe.
"Its about the only thing that is" Mashiro growled.
"Port engine is wrecked and we'll need to get it completely replaced. That said, we can use some parts to get the starboard one working… I can't give you full speed, of course, but a little more than slow ahead both"
"That's good"
"The problem is that it will take a week to finish it – and that's working night and day"
"That's the truth?"
"Aye"
"What about if we got everybody we could to help us?"
"Still wouldn't be enough to get the engines stripped, repaired, tested and working"
"What… What if you skipped the testing? Could you at least get us out of harbour under our own power?"
"Maybe…" Maron said as she thought of something. "The diesel generator is still in place. I could put in a patch that could get us moving, but we'll not be able to do anything other then slow ahead both"
"Maron, you are the best engineering officer I could hope for"
"Anything for the Captain" came the reply and Mashiro knew Maron did not mean herself.
"Can you spare somebody to check on the steering links? I can print off a map at home with all the depths and details we'll need, so as long as I have one screw working, the wheel answers and a touch of luck, Harekaze will sail in three days"
"With no navigational equipment?"
"We've sailed the waters around here often enough, Maron… Besides, so long as we stick to course, speed and timing, we should be alright to get round a couple of bays and into Kaede's repair facilities. Another thing, is it possible to rig the main batteries to fire blanks?"
"Why?"
"Saluting"
"I will try. Out"
#
"I miss the twins and their cooking" Mashiro said as she bit into her pizza. Kouko and Rin had gone out and ordered a dozen pizzas before coming back to the ship where Rin had worked hard on cleaning the floor and a couple of the old benches for them to sit on.
"I sent them a message, but neither of them replied" Kouko shrugged. "Maybe it got sent to their spam folder instead… I'll give them a ring tomorrow" she added.
"Okay, for the record, give me a report" Mashiro said as she sipped her pumpkin juice.
"Most of the electrical system is shot to hell" Maron said. "One of the electrical boards has just been ripped out without any care in the world, the other one is damaged and will take at least a week to get working"
"Damn" Mashiro muttered softly. "Okay... Concentrate on getting the starboard engine working"
"Okay. You should know that it means no power to the pumps once we disconnect from shoreside power, so we best hope that the patches to the hull hold out"
"We'll close all compartments then" Mashiro said as she sipped her tea. "What do we actually need the power for?"
"Pretty much everything" one of the engineers said. "We could do without the water pumps, heating and most of the lighting"
"We'll also need radios to talk with"
"Except we don't have any radios"
"True... I might be able to rig something that works on solar power"
"Only once the engine works" Mashiro said. "It feels odd to be on a ship with no power at all" she added. "At least the school promised us power for a couple of hours tomorrow while we weld patches to the hull and sort out the engines"
"The Captain would not like it at all" Kouko remarked to which everybody agreed.
"She wouldn't..." Kaede agreed. With no need for her skills in the sonar department at the current time, she was help Mashiro and Kouko put the Bridge into some sort of order. "I know the plan is to sail to my yard ourselves, but do you think I should order a tug to come and meet us just in case?"
"As escort" Mashiro replied.
"For us or them?" Rin smiled slightly.
#
"I've managed to get some electrical power for you, but it isn't much" Maron said, wiping her hand on her forehead.
"How?"
"Well the port engine is all gone, but the generator is still there. I have a few of my girls taking it out and moving it over to the starboard engine. If I can link it up so it takes pressure off the starboard one, i can give you electrical power for a few lights and, maybe, the sonar"
"I thought we didn't have any sonar equipment" Mashiro frowned.
"We didn't... We do now"
"Did you steal it?" asked Mashiro.
"Not exactly... I mean, it was on the ship in the first place" the Chief Engineer smirked.
"Remind me to schedule a drill for repelling boarders" Mashiro shook her head with a smile.
"I've looked at the telegraphs from the Bridge to the Engine Room, and they are utterly smashed. You'll have to give out engine commands using the voice pipe"
"Not too difficult then"
"I have a report on the Sickbay" Minami spoke quietly. "The compartment is a mess, but I have managed to get it hygienic. Unfortunately, there is not much I can do in the way of supplies or equipment. I have brought onboard some basic first aid kits and given most of the crew a short refresher course in using them, but i am not equipped to handle anything major"
"You have done a lot of work for such a short voyage, Doctor" Rin said formally.
"Yes, but it would not do for you to sail without the basic level of care. Hopefully, we will be able to install better equipment"
"Add what you want to the list" Mashiro replied, frowning once more before tossing down a clipboard, "And I will see what i can do about sorting it out".
The next day, the crew had breakfast before going over the upper decks and cutting away damaged equipment and tossing it away. Once that was done, they secured loose items before scraping off a lot of the peeling paint and slapping on some anti-fouling paint that would last them until they got to the shipyard. A couple of the students from the school came over to offer their help and Maron put them to work tracing the electrical circuits and making temporary patches from the Engine Room to the sonar equipment. The Chief Engineer seemed to be on a crusade to get as much of the Harekaze working as possible. When ordered to take a rest by Mashiro, she'd taken her tools to the galley to put it into working order - at least that was the plan until Minami jabbed her with a sedative and knocked her out for several hours.
"I wonder if I am doing the right thing" Mashiro said as she stood on the stripped out Bridge. She wasn't expecting a reply so was very surprised when Kouko answered her from the port entryway.
"If you mean if you are doing right by the Captain, then I am sure she would agree with everything you are doing"
#
After four days, an extra day was needed when it turned out the fuel supplied was the wrong sort, the Harekaze's turbines started up and, with help from the diesel generator, the starboard shaft was rotated carefully before being rung up to speed.
"Bridge, Engine Room… Engineering is ready to proceed to sea in all respects" Maron called up.
"Aye, aye" Mashiro replied. "Cast off the lines fore and aft… Rin, starboard engine slow ahead. Starboard ten on the wheel"
"Ten of starboard wheel on. Starboard engine repeated slow ahead" the younger woman said and the bow swung clear of the dockside it had been tied to for weeks. Even after all the hard work out into it, the ship looked a disgrace.
"Rudder amidships – steady on course 220"
"Okay"
"Small boat coming up alongside us… Its Mina!" Kouko shouted. "I think she wants to come aboard… What is she doing here?"
"Tell she is welcome to do so if she can catch a rope" Mashiro said. "Rin, once we are clear of the harbour, come to port and steer 189 degrees for eleven minutes and then all stop. Kouko, you have the Bridge"
"Clear the harbour, then 189 degrees for eleven minutes… Aye, Ma'am"
"I have the Bridge" Kouko added. She watched as the motorboat came alongside and the German woman climbed up a ladder and onto the Harekaze's deck – wondering why she was here. She was surprised when the woman came up wearing a big grin on her face before standing in front of Kouko and coming to attention.
"Second Officer Wilhelmina Braunschweig Ingenohl Friedeburg reporting for duty" and gave her a mocking salute.
"What…? What are you doing here?"
"I was the Naval Attaché to Japan for Germany. Mashiro told me about what she was planning, so I took some leave and came here as fast as I could do so. It might only be for a few hours, but I would be honoured to serve on the Harekaze again"
"I believe Akeno would be pleased to have you with us" Mashiro said. "How long until we reach the spot?"
"Three minutes" came the reply. "I think so, anyway… It would be easier if we had actual electronic systems"
"Yamato Point, off the port beam!" came a call from the lookout.
"All stop" Mashiro called. "Those who want to take part, there will be the normal service for Captain Misaki in half an hour. After that, we're heading for refit and repairs"
#
After the short service, the engines were rung for slow ahead and Rin swung the old ship round to head for its waiting dockyard. They were about to start the turn for the harbour when Kouko was startled by a message coming in on her tablet device.
"Shiro, I'm getting a distress call from a cruise liner – they've struck a rock and are sinking. I've checked shipping data, and we're the only ones close enough to reach them"
"We're in no position to help them" Rin said.
"I know, but there must be something we can do" Kouko replied. Mashiro stood deathly still and gazed out of the forward windows at the setting sun.
"Engine Room, Bridge – any chance you can give me a quick burst of full speed?"
"Only if you want the engine blown up" came Maron's reply.
"There's a ship that's hit a rock and sinking – the only people close enough to help are us. I'd rather blow the engines and save their lives then ignore them"
"A lot of people onboard?"
"Over a hundred people" Kouko glanced at the message again.
"Hundred and more" Mashiro said.
"Damn… I'll see what I can do – full power at your command" Maron wanted to keep her engines intact more or less, but she knew that saving lives was the more important thing.
"Do it" Mashiro ordered. "Kouko, go round the ship and get everybody who can be spared ready to take the lifeboats and pick up anybody in the water. Mina, go to Minami and tell her to be ready for possible wounded – get people shifting everything in the mess hall to one side. Rin, steer for this course as quickly as you can" Mashiro looked nervous. "Doing this in a crippled ship, undermanned, underpowered, not supplied enough… I must be bloody mad"
"Perhaps" Rin said, "But its what the Captain would have done"
"You think so?" Mashiro looked back at her.
"Of course"
"Bridge, Engine Room… I can give you ten minutes at full speed, but then we'll have to be towed into the dock because I doubt we'll have much fuel left" Maron said. "Come to think of it, I doubt we'll have much of an engine left"
"I am sorry" Mashiro bent over the voice pipe, "But we have to do it to save lives"
"Forget it… Its what the Captain would have done anyway"
#
The minute they had found the sinking liner, Maron shut down the engines and sent most of her crew off to help with the wounded and frightened. The reason for this was revealed later when Mashiro ordered the tugs to cast their lines off and the Harekaze limped into port with a noticeable list, down by the bow but coming in under her own power after another mission to save lives.
It was evening before the last of the crew had disembarked and Mashiro and the others watched their ship sitting in a drydock in the shipyard that Kaede's family owned. Workers were already swarming over her – tearing out damaged pieces and changing them for new ones, installing better engines, increasing the firepower of the batteries, modifying the torpedo tubes so they could fire rockets if needed and a hundred and one other things.
"Am I doing the right thing?" asked Mashiro quietly.
"What do you mean?" asked Kouko.
"I mean getting the Harekaze ready to sail again"
"Akeno would have loved the fact her ship was going back to where it belonged – the open seas… What you and the ship achieved all those years ago has never been beaten by anybody since, the fact most of you have come back together to serve as one crew and to honour Captain Misaki's legacy, hopes and dreams speaks a lot" Mina said.
"I was thinking about naming the two skippers after something the Captain stood for" Kouko said.
"Like?" Mashiro glanced back at her.
"Friendship and Love"
"That…" Mashiro suddenly felt hot and salty tears running down her cheeks, "That would be perfect" and she drew herself to attention and saluted the ship that had finally come home to the family it deserved
A/N:
Has anybody got any ideas what they'd like to see next one-shot?
Also, anon person, can I at least have some name to call you?