On the horizon they could see the enormous peaks of the Andes. The Bismarck sailed along the long coast of Chile. Heinrich often stood on the compass deck and observed the land with the big binoculars. He always wanted to travel through the world and South America was among his dreams. To wander through the passes of the Cordilleras, to see the Titicaca Lake, the mighty Amazonas, the beautiful jungles of Brazil, and the Pampas of Argentina. Maybe one day.
Now they were heading to the Tierra del Fuego. They wanted to pass somewhere between South America and the Antarctica to return to the Atlantic.
Since the incident at the Galapagos Island nothing special happened they met with no Fog or human ship. Their only companions were the gulls, albatrosses, whales, dolphins, sharks and other fishes. Once evening they even saw a big Humboldt Squid eating near the surface.
"Where shall we get around the continent?" asked Bismarck.
"You now what? You decide it this time." replied Heinrich. "Shall we go through the Strait of Magellan, or around Cape Horn?"
Bismarck was thinking. "I would prefer the strait. But a few towns are built on its shores. Besides it can be dangerous because of the heavy winds and the reefs. So personally I vote for Cape Horn and the Drake Passage."
"Then it's settled. Huh! Prepare for some rough weather! As you said: the winds there are not the friendliest ones on earth"
But that was still far away. Chile is a really long…. long country.
Until then they'll have time to do something. They went to the saloon and placed the inactivated union cores of Gneisenau and Kirov on the coffee table. Bismarck touched them with her hand and reactivated them.
"What? Where am I?" asked the Fog battleship and cruiser in the same time.
"Both of you are on my ship." replied Bismarck.
"Bismarck? What the hell has happened?! Why did you sink me? You were my friend!" asked Gneisenau.
"Why? I don't know. Because… you and Hood tried to destroy me?"
"I didn't know anything! I was patrolling the Denmark Strait with Hood when she got a report about a Fog battleship who sank Prince of Wales, two destroyers and deserted the fleet. We got orders to eliminate her together with Blücher and Norfolk. I didn't know it was you. What could I do? I had to attack!"
"A question: would have you attacked me as well if you had a choice?"
"I… I don't know." hesitated Gneisenau. "It would be my duty but…"
"Say it: but you'd prefer not to sink me."
"…"
"But I don't know anything about you!" interrupted Kirov. "They told me there is a rebel Fog ship heading to the Arctic and she hunts her own kind. We were ordered to stop her by all means."
"I don't know Kirov if you were misinformed or they lied to you. I do not hunt Fog ships. I fight them only if THEY attack ME." replied Bismarck.
"Why are you doing this at all?" asked the Russian Fog cruiser.
"Because of him." Bismarck gestured at Heinrich.
"Who on earth are you?" asked Kirov now audible for humans too.
"My name is Heinrich Wenzel Kirov and Gneisenau. I'm some kind of a captain here."
"Who is he Bismarck?"
"Long story."
"No problem we'll listen to it."
It took a while to tell everything what happened before.
"Okay so." sighed Kirov. "You left the fleet, sank Fog ships and reduced us to bare union cores because of some inapprehensible human manners?"
"Those manners are understandable if you try your best."
"I don't care. I don't care about them. I don't care about humans. I don't care about even the Fog! I only care about the fact that you killed two of my sisters at Novaya Zemlya! Don't expect me to forget this!"
"Okay, I'll talk to you later." said Bismarck annoyed and put back Kirov's core to the small box.
"Hey I didn't finish…" But Bismarck closed it.
Gneisenau on the other hand was silent for the rest of time. Visibly she was the calmer one of the two captured ships. "What do you expect from me?"
"Tell us about the Fog in the Atlantic." said Heinrich. "Where are their forces and what are their highly guarded regions?"
"Wh… I cannot divulge informations like that."
"Well now Gneisenau that's where you are wrong because that's exactly what I expect from you." replied Heinrich.
Gneisenau was silent for a bit. "I can tell you about the North Atlantic only. I don't have any knowledge about the southern basin."
"No problem. What's the situation north from the Equator?"
"Most of the ships are patrolling the ocean near the coasts. The middle is pretty abandoned. They are focusing mostly on the Strait of Gibraltar, the La Manche, the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Denmark Strait, and the eastern coast of North America." said the battleship with an unpleasant voice.
"Danke Gneisenau." nodded Heinrich. "Anything else?"
"I… I don't know."
"Or you just don't want to tell us. It's fine; you'll have plenty of time to change your mind if that's the case. We'll talk later, you may rest." said Heinrich and put her into the inner pocket of his sport jacket. "Well, it was more than nothing." he turned to Bismarck.
"Sure it was. But it would be still better to interrogate them some other time."
"Of course we will. But let's wait with that until we get around Cape Horn. We'll be busy enough to deal with the weather."
"Indeed. So what should we do until then?"
"Let's just sit down here and do nothing. I'm somehow not on the top. I make some coffee, do you want too?"
"I accept it." said Bismarck with a faint smile.
A bit later they were both sitting in the armchairs with cups in their hand, listening some folk music from the CD player. There were songs and music from all over the world. From different countries of Europe, from the Americas, Australia etc.
In mean time they heard that the wind was becoming stronger and stronger outside.
After the accordion stopped playing a pretty happy south german polka, the sad song of a cello and violins sounded up followed by the voice of an elderly man.
"Dear."
"Hm?"
"I don't want to burden my system with translation and you speak English. What is he singing about?"
"About a girl. Whose love has been shipped off to Australia from Ireland because he stole food for his family during years of famine. And she is hoping that one day she'll see him again."
"Sad story. Aft the end of the day that man did something good. That's injustice isn't it?"
"The world is full of injustice Bismarck. Sometimes even if something is good it goes against the law. And even laws are necessary they can be unfair."
"I can't imagine the same happening to us. Watching impotently as you are being taken away…"
"That will not happen. Remember? If I have the power to do so I will never leave you. And who would be able to separate us in such a way?"
"I don't know…"
"Then I tell you: nobody. 'I'll never let anyone to take us away from each other whether it is a human or a Fog ship!"
"I know dear. I know." nodded Bismarck smiling.
As they reached more and more south snow appeared on top of the mountains. The weather remained nice for a while, the Sun was shining, the air was clear and the sea was glistening. However around the Isla Recalada and the entry of the Strait of Magellan the weather started to deteriorate. The wind has increased and the waves grew much bigger. From time to time water sprinkled across the bow deck. The sky became grey as dark clouds appeared everywhere.
Bismarck and Heinrich went to the bridge to observe their surroundings. A storm raged around them. The horizon was not visible anymore and the floor under their feet wasn't stabile either.
"Did you know that King George V stated that when he was a navy cadet he met with the Flying Dutchman in this area?" asked Heinrich as he watched the raging sea.
"The Flying Dutchman? That mysterious ghost ship which brings bad luck to other ships in old myths?"
"Exactly."
"I didn't."
"Yes, he said that one night they spotted an unidentified, glowing ship in the distance. Next day the sailor who spotted it first fell from the mast and died. A few days later the captain got ill and died as well."
"Unfortunate accidents if you ask me." said Bismarck.
"Maybe. But sometimes the most unlikely scenario is the true one."
"It's interesting whatever."
A few hours passed and the storm has stopped as suddenly as it started. This place really has an unpredictable weather. Heinrich thought about the crews of the sailing ships of the old days. What courage it took to sail here!
Two days later they left the strait behind and could turn to the northeast.
"Could you please turn a bit to the east?" asked Heinrich when they were near the Isla de los Estados.
"Sure but why?" asked Bismarck.
"I'd like to see something." Bismarck did what he asked and a bit later when they were south from the Burdwood Bank she activated her sonar. At some point they noticed a huge longish object lying in the abyss.
"What kind of shipwreck is that?" asked Bismarck.
"This ship started her career as USS Phoenix. She survived the attack on Pearl Harbor undamaged and fought in nine battles in WW2. In 1951 she was sold to Argentina and they renamed her. She served until 1982 when she took part in the invasion of the Falkland Islands. On 2nd May she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine HMS Conqueror while she was steaming back to the argentine mainland outside of the exclusion zone. 323 sailors were killed. And this incident triggered debates for a long time. She was the General Belgrano."
"Aaaand…?" asked Bismarck. She didn't know what to do whit this information.
"And nothing. I was always obsessed with history that's all. The wreck of HMS Sheffield is not far away as well. It wasn't a too big bypass that's why I asked you. I hope it wasn't a problem for you."
"No, no, definitely not!" Bismarck shook her head. "Anytime."
"Thank you." smiled Heinrich. "Then let's sail on."
They sailed the waves of the Argentine Sea at low speed. The weather turned to nice again, the sunbeams were dancing on the water.
Our couple walked out to the deck to enjoy the kindness of Mother Nature.
"So? Where should we go next?" asked Heinrich.
"I thought it would be the best to sail up until Greenland following the line of the Atlantic ridge. Gneisenau said that most of the Fog ships are oriented near the coasts and the straits." replied Bismarck holding his hand.
"At least in the north. We don't know what the situation here is."
"As always before: we'll get away. And after Greenland we turn back to the south toward South Africa and Cape of Good Hope. How does it sound to you?"
"That will be nice. And after that?"
"We… we'll figure out something." frowned Bismarck. "Say dear."
"Ja?"
"Do you still love to be with me on the sea?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you love this life? Always sail the seas back and forth without destination and trying to avoid conflicts with the Fog and your own kind?"
"Bismarck, let me answer with the sentence I told Hiei on Isla Watson: The Sea is my life. If I'm with you I'm able to be with her. I'm happy for I'm together with my two loves. The ocean and the even bigger one: you."
"I'm also glad to have such a nice young man who tells me so embarrassing things." smiled Bismarck and kissed him. "By the way Hiei. What did she want from you?"
"She wanted to know what makes us to side with each other, what makes me to fight and what love is."
"And? Did you manage to define it to her? Did she understand it?"
"I truly doubt it. Pity. Somehow she looked… intelligent to me."
"But looks like not enough to understand us." said Bismarck. Then she giggled and run forward a few meters. "Say darling: am I intelligent?" she asked smiling turning toward him.
"Oh certainly." replied Heinrich and smiled back.
Then suddenly out of nowhere a huge light blinded both of them. Bismarck heard the deafening bang and she felt that her ship shakes then she fell unconscious. The world went black before her eyes.
Later
Bismarck's head has really ached. After a few seconds she realized that she is lying on the deck. It was a torture for her to sit up but she succeeded. What on earth has happened here? Her ship was in terrible condition. It was burnt, broken and the bow was nearly underwater.
She was somewhere else than she was before. She saw rocky, mountainous shore on her port side. It looked the ship was sitting on a reef. Just how much time has passed?
It was raining weakly.
"Heinrich… what just…" Wait! Where is Heinrich? Where is he? "Heinrich?" No response. "HEINRICH!" cried out Bismarck. He was nowhere. This realization gave her power to stand up. "Heinrich! Dear!" No reply.
Bismarck run all over the ship. She was searching on the deck, on the bridge, in the saloon, in the cabin, in the bathroom, in the kitchen… Nothing. She didn't find him. Wait a minute! That big flash looked like a cannon shot. You don't say… It cannot be! She run back where she last saw him and checked the deck with her sensors searching for charred human remains. For her relief she didn't find any. However on the other hand she didn't get any answer. Where is Heinrich, her captain? It would be impossible for him to swim away. And why would he do that? He made it clear that he'll never leave her… unless he is forced. Then where is he?
Bismarck fell on her knees. She was in despair. He disappeared. He just simply vanished. She was… all alone… again. As she slowly accepted the fact that he was no longer there she felt drops of tear flowing down on her face as she was kneeling in the rain.
"No… please… don't leave me!"