All A Lie And A Test
"There isn't any reply to our messages" the Deputy Captain sighed as she put down the report.
"They can't give away their position" Akeno said as she glanced back, reminding her of the test and training they were doing.
"No, I mean none of our messages are getting a reply – not even from the school or Blue Mermaid Headquarters"
"Alright, that is odd. Anyone got their phone up here?" Akeno asked.
"I do" Rin got it out of her skirt pocket.
"Try making a call to the school" and Rin did so but got no reply. "I'm worried… Shiro, get a relief crew up here and then have all department heads meet me in the mess hall as quickly as possible. Rin, all stop. All hands, this is the Captain – rig for silent running and darken ship. No radio or telecommunications to be issued until I say so"
# # # # #
"As I am sure you know, we've lost all radio and phone communication with bases back home and with other ships nearby. Whatever is causing this is not doing anything to our navigational equipment and we can always take measurements using star sightings" Mashiro was taking the briefing for the rest of them. "As far as we can make out, there was nothing wrong with communications until they all suddenly ceased and a check of all systems shows they are not in error. Captain?"
"The Chief Navigator thinks she has plotted our position according to the last set of navigational data we have. From what she has told me, we don't have enough fuel to get home so we're going to a floating mall for some and hopefully get a message home" Akeno sighed and looked around. "I'm sorry this isn't working out, but maybe this is a test for us all…" Akeno paused as she looked around. "Where is our guest?" she asked.
"I placed her on the Bridge just in case anything happened" Mashiro explained. "I know she's not in our school, but I thought that we might leave a trained officer up there"
"Good thinking" Akeno agreed. "Right, can anybody think of what to do?"
"I think we should get to that mall and find out what is going on" Mei said. "I doubt they'd declare us all mutineers and then cut off everything – the fleet would need to read the navigational beams too"
"Unless there is a mystery power at work" Kouko said in a dramatic voice.
"She has a point" the normally quiet Doctor spoke up.
"I know, and that's what is making it more disturbing" Mashiro muttered.
"Um, I think we should just go to the Mall and find out what's happening – even if we do get arrested" Rin squeaked her own opinion. "At full speed, we can be there in twelve hours"
"What time would that put us there at?" asked Akeno.
"About dawn" Rin quickly did the sums in her head.
"Leaves us with a problem" Kaede said quietly. "Do we arrive in daylight and see any dangers or do we go there at night and sneak in but not see danger"
"Damned one way and damned the other" Tama said dryly.
"Rin" Akeno spoke up, "What time would we get there if we ran at full speed for three hours and then the rest of the time at half speed?"
"Um…" Rin worked it out in her head as fast as possible, "Maybe about the middle of the morning – can't say when for sure"
"Then we will do that – at least this way we will have a chance to get away" Akeno smiled. "Anything else?" she asked.
"I have one idea" said Macchi. "What if we found a weather buoy of some kind and try to use its data link to see whats going on"
"Our beacons and the weather data work on the same frequency" Tsugme shook her head, "But it is worth a try I suppose"
"Is there one on our course?" asked Mashiro.
"Two" Rin replied.
"Mess Hall, Bridge" Mina's voice filtered through the intraship speaker.
"Bridge, Captain" Akeno walked over and took the handset off the wall.
"Captain, port lookout reports a vessel drifting into range. We've tried calling her by signal lamp, but she is not responding"
"Can you make an identification?" asked Akeno as she frowned at the news.
"No, but it appears to be wearing your school's markings" Mina replied and Akeno thought hard about what her course of action should be. She wanted to keep her crew safe, but she also needed to know what was going on in the outside world.
"Set course for that ship at half speed. And Mina?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Sound Battle Stations" and Mashiro's eyes widened as the alarms started to sound.
"Captain?"
"One of the lookouts has spotted a drifting ship nearby – we're going to investigate and see if there is somebody there that can help us"
"But why the alarm"
"Just in case it's a trap – I don't want this to be another Sarushima"
"Good point" Mashiro agreed.
#
Half an hour later, they had closed the distance between themselves and the newly identified Hiel – the other ship's crew in much the same condition as the Harekaze's except one of their crew had had to be tied up and tied down in the cargo hold because they had gone utterly insane. The Doctor was surprised and curiosity got her to cross to the other ship and consult with her colleague and spent almost three hours aboard before coming back and reporting to Akeno – there was an infection and the entire crew had it. Thankfully, because they had only just arrived, the Harekaze's crew were not bothered by it yet. A discussion then took place as to what to do and, as much as she felt sick at the thought, Akeno agreed that the Hiel's crew would be tricked into getting sedated, parts and stores removed from the ship and then they'd run away at high speed – leaving them at the mercy of the sea. Once it had all happened, they moved off into the inky blackness and hurried towards the Mall to find out just what was going on. Nobody spoke a word as if ashamed of what they had done to the Hiel, but they all knew it was either them or them.
"I have the Mall in sight" Macchi called out from high above them. "I can see it but it looks quiet without much movement – just boats tied up alongside the piers"
"What movement can you see?" asked Mashiro.
"Some people moving about on the pathways but nothing much"
"Slow the ship… Prepare to launch the Skippers" Akeno said.
"You're not going over there" Mashiro said.
"I have to… Tell me you wouldn't want to see and hear for yourself" and Mashiro frowned before nodding. "If we're not back in two hours, your orders are to turn the ship round and head for home at full speed"
"If I take command, then your orders wouldn't matter" and Akeno smirked.
"You know what I mean… I don't want the rest of y–"
"Incoming message from the Mall… They say to stay away and not board them at all – something about a disease" said Tsugme as she read the morse code message.
"Ask them what they mean by disease and get the Doctor up here" Akeno ordered as she shared a worried look with her Deputy Captain.
"Captain, they report they were visited by the Sarushima just before the start of the exercise and started getting sick people just after they left. They've got the affected ones in secure places, but they advise us to stand off"
"Understood – do they need help?" Akeno asked as something nagged at the back of her mind. As she waited for an answer, she scribbed something down on a piece of paper, tapped Mashiro on the shoulder and pointed. The Deputy Captain's eyes widened before she frowned and nodded – hurrying to speak to Rin as the reply came.
"They claim they have things under control, but the Hiel will be arriving soon to help them" Tsugme said, unsure over the reply herself as the last pieces fell into place for Akeno.
"Rin, execute" she said. The Harekaze slowly backed up, swung around and then slipped into forward motion as she lept from a crawl to her full head.
# # # # #
They left the Mall far behind as they slipped into open waters, the crew checked every single piece of equipment and it wasn't until well into the early hours of the morning that Akeno was awoken to find Mashiro, Tsugme and Kaede outside her cabin.
"Whats going on?" she asked sleepily.
"These two stripped down all of the radio equipment and found this thing buried in the transmitter and receiver assembly" Mashiro handed over a small little black box made out of some sort of plastic with wire connections that had been freshly unplugged by the look of things.
"What does it do?" she asked, turning it over.
"It seemed to be getting a signal of some sort from outside the ship" Tsugme said. "From what Kaede says, its designed to jam almost anything at all and also relay our position to whoever controls it"
"How do you know?"
"My father has a company that builds them for use by the security services" Kaede shrugged. "Once I knew what it was, we alerted the Deputy Captain and gave her a report before coming here"
"Are we picking up radio frequencies?"
"Everything we should be, but there is a fair bit of encrypted communications that I can not decode" Tsugme said.
"Can you send a message?"
"Sure"
"Then inform the school that we're not playing their game any more and that we are returning to base" Akeno said and then turned to Mashiro who looked at her with a questioning expression. "Think about it, Shiro she explained. "The ship of the Instructor sinking was something that we never saw – only that we took intercepted radio messages as truth. Our damage was just enough to shake us a bit but nothing else, the Doctor was the only one that saw this virus, the Hiel coming close to the Mall even after we had sedated them… Shall I go on?"
"But what does it all mean?"
"It was a test to see how well I could do in a major crisis" Akeno rubbed her tired eyes. "Order all of the crew to wear dark clothing if they step outside, all running lights turned off, disable our navigational beacon for now, no outgoing emissions of any sort and tell Rin to plot us a direct course for the school at flank speed all the way"
"Maron is going to like this"
"If she has an issue, she can take it up with me. Kaede, do I have your promise that you knew nothing about this?" she jiggled her hand holding the jammer.
"I swear it on all that is sacred – I would not have known it was there if it was not for Tsugme assisting me in taking apart the communications and navigational equipment" Kaede seemed very much upset by this turn of events as any one of them.
"Fine – resume your position and listen in on passive sonar for anything" Akeno looked at her warm and inviting bed. "If you want to apologise for what your dad's device has done, go and fetch me some hot chocolate"
#
"Principal, with respect…"
"You may say what is on your mind"
"Ma'am, do you not think that it is being too hard on them? Especially given the fact they all scored the lowest in their tests?"
"The possibility of a major conspiracy is something that all Captain's must face" the Principal glanced down at her desk as a message came in from her communications centre. "On the other hand, I think I might be in for a bit of an ear bashing as the British might say"
"How so?"
"I've just received a message from the Harekaze informing me they are not playing our game any longer and heading home"
"But the exercise is due to last at least another three weeks"
"True, but it would appear as if her Captain is quite the intelligent girl and someone we shall have to watch" the Principal handed her Yeoman the message to read for himself.
"She does appear to be upset and, if I might be so bold, not without cause. These were the lowest that passed and you had them fired upon and then accused of mutiny" and, if it had been anybody else, the Principal would have sacked them on the spot. "You do remember that your daughter is on the Harekaze…?"
"I know – I placed her there"
"I had three daughters of my own, Principal – I just hope that you can find peace with them" and the Yeoman turned to walk away.
"Had? What do you mean by that?" and the Yeoman paused and hung his head low.
"They all died when you took on that fleet by yourself with the Hiro" and he left the room and slammed the door behind him. Mashiro's mother sat quietly as she was taken back to a time she tried hard for over ten years to forget.
"Principal?" a voice came from the speaker mounted to the desk.
"Yes, what is it?" she replied.
"Message from the Harekaze – they report they will be returning to the school in around seven hours. We tried to get their routine reports and vessel status but they've not replied"
"I doubt you will get many replies or other calls from that ship" the Principal said, "But keep trying anyway. Inform me when she is picked on up Radar and any updated time of arrival"
"Aye, Ma'am" and Mashiro's mother readied herself for an encounter with an extremely frightened and angry twelve year old girl who had been running all over the seven seas because of an unannounced drill. If she was honest with herself, she wouldn't be surprised if she was slapped in the face by the Harekaze's Captain, thrown the keys to the ship and told the girl quit.