Bachelor Officer's Quarters, Joint Base Harbor-Hickam, June 2, 2018
The next morning Smith was lounging on his new bed reading through the dossier that Davies had given him. Besides the multitude of pictures, it had several documents detailing the nature of the ship girls, it was a very fascinating read. We really need to come up with a term for them that doesn't sound like something out of a cheap novel, Smith thought idly, as he read.
Apparently, the Japanese claimed that every ship ever built, possessed a spirit, a soul if you will, within the hull. These spirits were fully sapient and could form memories based on the experiences of the ship. When the ship was sunk – or sent to the breakers – the spirit left the hull and moved on to a sort of ship afterlife. The spirits could then be called back to earth using a complicated device that Smith could not make heads or tails of, even with the detailed explanation and diagrams in the dossier. When they came back, they took on the forms of young women, but retained all of the strengths that they had had as ships. He had heard about the ship girls just like everyone else, they had been all over the internet for the last couple weeks, but he had always believed that it was just some kind of super soldier/exo-suit program, it did originate in Japan after all.
If someone had told him last week that the ship girls were actually human reincarnations of old warships, he would have laughed in their face. Now he had several hundred pages of documentation laying on the desk in front of him explaining how they were. It certainly raised a lot of questions for Smith. I almost can't wait to meet one, just so I can get some of these questions answered, Smith mused. He was so consumed by his thoughts, that he didn't hear the first knock. However, he did hear the second, much louder, knock. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Master Chief Rowin Boggs. "What brings you this deep into officer's country today master chief?" Smith asked.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood, and I heard you got out of the hospital. I thought I would stick my head in, make sure you hadn't died of boredom yet," Boggs explained.
"Come in chief, come in," Smith said and held the door open for Boggs to enter. Rowin Boggs was a short man, whose burly frame displayed the effects of a lifetime spent in the military, but he exuded a physical presence that made him feel much larger than he actually was. "Chief why do I get the feeling that this visit doesn't have anything to do with my well being and release from the hospital?" Smith asked. He had known Boggs for a long time, and the man never did anything without a good reason.
"Cause it isn't," he replied, bluntly, "I wanna know how come I got called yesterday from some two star I have never heard of, telling me that I've been transferred to the Office of Management Analysis. What is that anyway, supply, logistics?"
"It's intelligence," Smith explained.
"Intelligence, I've never been in intelligence," Boggs interrupted.
"Chief hold on a second," Smith said, trying to get a word in edgewise. Boggs suddenly became very quiet and stared at Smith. Smith shuddered a bit internally, he had known many a trouble making rating who had been stopped in their boots by that very stare. "The Office of Management Analysis is intelligence, but they're also the predominant experts on the Abyssals. They're putting together a unit to fight the Abyssals directly, and they asked me to lead it, so I asked if I could have you as my CMC," Smith explained.
"What kind of unit?" Boggs asked.
"That's where it starts to get weird," Smith replied.
"Weird how?" Smith proceeded to explain everything that he had learned over the last two days to the master chief. When he was done the chief simply said, "Okay then, when do we start." Smith was a little shocked that the man had accepted everything he had just said without question.
"Don't you have any questions chief?"
"Sir, you just confirmed something that I had known for a long time," Boggs said.
"Excuse me?" Smith asked, confused.
"You ever hear the snipes talking about how sometimes parts last a lot longer than they're supposed to, or how something will break at exactly the right moment to save someone's life and usually in port where spares are plentiful," Boggs asked.
Smith thought about it for a second, "Yeah, chief, I have."
"We always chalked it up to good luck, good engineering, or the old girl looking out for us. I guess it's not a hard step to say that the old girl, was in fact, looking out for us," Boggs explained.
"I guess you're right chief," Smith replied.
"Of course I'm right, I'm a master chief petty officer, we're always right," Boggs said, puffing his chest up dramatically. He dropped into a more serious tone, then added, "Well, I don't think I have anything else to do today, so I'm going to go arrange to have my personal effects packed for shipping. Where is this new base of ours going to be, sir?"
"Midway Atoll," Smith replied.
"Midway, huh, now there's a name I haven't heard in thirty years. Isn't it pretty run down?" Boggs asked.
"Yeah, but Admiral Davies – he's the two star by the way – managed to steal a unit of seabees to go and fix it up for us," Smith replied.
"How about that, damn seabees are finally good for something," Boggs mused, "If you don't need me for anything, I'll be going."
Smith was about to agree when he had a thought, "Hey master chief, It's been a while since I've seen you, why don't we go out and get some lunch."
"Sir, but wouldn't that be a breach of the fraternization regs?" Boggs asked, jokingly.
"I think there are a few regs that I can get by with waiving for one so, experienced, as you are," Smith replied in a similar tone. "By the way, do you have a car, mine's still in Diego."
"Yeah, I got a car. Well, borrowed a car," Boggs replied. Smith gave him a questioning look. "They had this old jeep at the motor pool, and the chief in charge owed me two hundred bucks, so I agreed to waive the debt if he let me borrow the thing for a couple of weeks," he explained.
"Chief is there a single chief petty officer in the navy that you don't know?" Smith asked.
"Well, there are two in Diego one in Norfolk I've been meaning to meet," Boggs replied.
"Chief has anyone told you that you're amazing," Smith said chuckling, "Let's go get some food and you can tell me about these chiefs you haven't met yet."
"Aye aye, sir," Boggs said as he stood to leave the room, followed by Smith.
Smith opened the door to his quarters about two hours later, exhausted. I can't believe that I'm still recovering from wounds after all this time. Upon entering the main room, he found a chair and plopped down into it. He had just started to unlace his shoes, when he heard a knock at the door. It never fails, and right as I had just started to get comfortable too. He was a bit surprised to see PO Hartman standing on the other side of the door. "Is there something I can help you with PO?" Smith asked.
"I have a stack of paperwork for you to fill out captain," Hartman replied, holding out a briefcase in front of him.
"What kind of paperwork?" Smith asked, suspiciously.
"Just some supply requisitions, personnel transfers, and other forms of that nature. You're the CO of a naval base now captain, there's a lot of paperwork involved in that sort of thing," Hartman explained.
"Okay," Smith said, taking the briefcase from Hartman, "When does the admiral want these done?"
"No later than two days from now," he replied.
"Is that all PO?" Smith asked.
"Sir, Admiral Davies says that he will call you later tonight, and that you are to report to him immediately when he does," Hartman added.
"Understood petty officer, good day," Smith said then closed the door behind Hartman, and took the briefcase over to his desk. He had been told many times that the Navy sails on an ocean of paperwork, a three inch tall ocean of paperwork judging by the briefcase. He set it down and began to sift through its contents. There were transfer orders cut for about fifty different people, apparently his new base was going to have a full complement of enlisted ratings and two additional officers. There was also a stack of supply requisitions for everything from rations: standard mess, to helicopter: SH-60. It was interesting to see what the admiral had thought he had needed for the base. There seemed to be a form in here for everything, and Smith had to sign every last one of them. He finally gave up after signing forms for four hours. He was about to crash on the couch and watch TV, when the phone rang. "Smith," he answered gruffly.
"Captain, it's time. Please report to my office," said Admiral Davies on the other end.
"I will be there in about thirty minutes, sir," Smith said.
"Good, don't be late," Davies said, then hung up. Smith stood up and stretched, then headed for the door.
Twenty minutes later he walked into Admiral Davies' office. "Well, you're early," Davies announced.
"I was taught at the academy that an officer always arrives fifteen prior," Smith explained.
"I hope that's not all they taught you at the academy," Davies replied. "Anyway, it's time for us to go." Davies stood and walked past Smith to his office door. "Major, I'm leaving and won't be coming back tonight. Go ahead and log me out of the system," he said to Major Harte in the outer office.
"Aye aye, sir," Harte replied a few seconds later.
"Come on captain," Davies said, turning back to Smith, "We have an appointment to keep." Smith followed him out of the building towards a navy gray painted staff car. Davies got behind the wheel, then gestured for Smith to get in next to him. "Did you read about the summoning device in the packet I gave you?" Davies asked after driving for a few minutes.
"I read it, I didn't understand it," Smith replied.
"Well to be honest, I don't understand it a lot myself," Davies said. "We're going to meet Dr. Richter, the head scientist behind this little dog and pony show, and watch the device get turned on for the first time."
"Do we have any idea if it will work, sir?" Smith asked.
"It worked for the Japs, the Brits, and the Krauts, and we got their help on building the damn thing. So yeah, I think it will work," Davies answered. "It doesn't matter what I think anymore, we're here," he announced as he turned the car into a parking lot. When Smith got out of the car, he saw that they were going into a large warehouse just outside of the main piers. They were stopped by a Marine sentry standing watch at the door, but were passed through when Davies showed the man his identification.
Inside the warehouse was very bright. There seemed to extra arc lamps hanging from the ceiling of this building, casting their harsh white glare onto a floor of concrete so polished, it shone like a mirror. Looking around the room, Smith could see that it was filled with all sorts of machinery and technicians scurrying around doing complicated tasks. When Davies entered the room, he called out, "Dr. Richter." One of the technicians turned to look at them. He was a short, mousy looking man with thin silver hair and thick eyeglasses.
He ran over to Smith and Davies then said, "Ah, Admiral Davies, is a pleasure to see you."
"Doctor, this is Captain James Smith, he's going to be the new base commander for this little project," Davies said, pointing at Smith.
Richter turned to Smith and said, "A pleasure to meet you captain. I assume you have read the information I assembled about the technical side of this process?"
"Yes, I did, but you have to forgive me doctor, I'm an engineer, not a scientist. I couldn't understand half of what that report talked about," Smith explained.
"Well, suffice to say, most of the science behind this whole project is pretty unknown. The information I put in the report is pretty much sum total of all we know about the science. The only reason we know this works is based on experience," Richter explained.
"Why don't you explain the theory behind the device to Captain Smith and myself, in layman's terms," Davies asked.
"Very well," Richter began, "The device uses a finely tuned magnetic field to punch through dimensional barriers into where the ship spirits are. It acts as a signal to them, a beacon that they are able to follow through the hole we created, and come here."
"How do the spirits know who is calling them?" Smith asked, "What nation is sending the signal?"
"We use a form of amplitude modulation to send a signal that they will recognize," Richter replied.
"And that signal would be?" Smith asked.
"Here, I'll show you," Richter said, then began to fiddle with one of the computers. "We needed something that every ship in the US Navy has heard at one time in their service careers, and something that is instantly recognizable as being sent by the US Navy," he explained, "So we chose this." As he tapped a key, music began to play from some hidden speaker. Smith new immediately what the song being played, and couldn't help but grin as the verse was sung.
Stand Navy out to sea,
Fight our battle cry!
We'll never change our course,
So vicious foes steer shy-y-y-y!
Smith had to agree with the doctor, if there was one song that every member of the US Navy would recognize, it was Anchors Aweigh. "Very good thinking doctor. So, when will it be ready to turn on?" Davies asked.
Richter tapped another key and the music stopped, then he said, "In a few minutes Admiral, the capacitors need to finish charging. The device takes a lot of power, so we use a capacitor bank so as to keep from overloading the local grid." He stood up and waved the two officers to a part of the room where chairs and viewing screens had been set up, we took the liberty of setting up an area where people can view the process without interfering with the technicians," he said.
"Thank you doctor," Davies said as he sat down.
As Smith was sitting down, Richter said, "If you will excuse me admiral, it's time to start. Watch the pedestal right there," he pointed to a square on the floor taped off with yellow and black caution tape, "That's where the magic will happen."
When he had walked away, Smith turned to Davies and said, "Interesting man."
Davies only reply was, "Quite."
"You have any idea what this is going to look like, sir?"
"No captain, I have no idea. Let's watch and find out," Davies replied.
A few seconds later the lights dimmed and Smith heard Dr. Richter call, "Start it up, slowly." A soft whine could be heard as the machine started, it then began to grow in intensity. Smith thought that is sounded very similar to a jet turbine spooling up. When the whine had built up to a thunderous pitch, the lights in the room blinked out, but were soon replaced by a bright, white glow emanating from the taped off square. The glow only lasted a second, before dying and sinking the warehouse into complete darkness. The lights popped back on a second later, and Smith was startled to see the form of a young woman standing in the center of the square. She looked around the room for several seconds, obviously confused as to what was going on, and then promptly collapsed into an undignified heap on the floor.
Before Smith knew what he was doing, he had jumped up and run over to the unconscious woman to make sure that she was alright. He was so busy with his inspection, that he didn't hear Dr. Richter approach. "It's quite alright captain, she's fine," Richter explained. "Sometimes when the spirit comes through, the shock of the transition is a bit much for the new physical body to take, and she passes out."
"I guess it was a good move to call the corpsmen," Davies said as he walked up. He then whistled and called, "Corpsman, stretcher." Two men in NWUs ran up carrying a stretcher between them. They laid it out on the ground next to the girl's unconscious form, then rolled her over onto it. "They're going to take her to the naval hospital, just to be sure," Davies explained.
"Then admiral, I request permission to accompany her to the hospital," Smith announced.
"May I ask why captain?" Davies asked.
"Sir, she's probably going to have a lot of questions when she wakes up, and I think it would be best for her new CO to be there to answer them," Smith explained.
"Very well captain, you may accompany her to the hospital, but I want a full report in the morning."
"Thank you, sir," Smith said before running off after the corpsmen. He saw them putting the stretcher into the back of a waiting ambulance. "Wait up corpsman," he called, "I'm coming with you."
One of the corpsman looked at him, then said, "Okay captain, but you're gonna have to ride in the back."
"That's fine," Smith replied, before jumping into the back of the ambulance and sitting down in a jump seat. The girl had been strapped into a gurney on the other side of the ambulance. If I hadn't seen her appear out of nothing a few minutes ago, I would never guess that there was something special about her. I don't even know who she is, just that she used to be a ship. How the hell did I get mixed up in this crazy mess? Smith rode in silence all the way to the hospital.
When they got to the hospital, the docs checker over briefly, then they gave her a bed and a set of hospital gowns while she was still unconscious. Smith went to "borrow" a folding chair so he could be there when she woke up. He must have nodded off at some point, because he found himself being woken by a call of, "Excuse me?" His eye popped open and he looked around. The girl was sitting up in her bed, staring straight at him.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," he said as he stood up and stretched. "You've been out for quite some time."
"Excuse me," she said again, softly, "Can you tell me what's going on?" She looked so lost and confused, she was in a strange place, with strange people, and in a form that wasn't her own. Smith's heart went out to her.
"It's alright, I'm here to answer any questions you have," he soothed.
"Where... where am I?" she asked.
"The base hospital, Pearl Harbor Naval Station," he replied. "And before you ask, my name is Captain James Smith, I'm your new CO."
"Pearl Harbor? What happened?" she asked.
"First off, what do you remember?" Smith asked.
"I was at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, tied up and awaiting scrapping. I sat there for years before I finally let go. Then I was in a place I didn't recognize. One day an old admiral came to me and asked me if I was willing to serve my country once more. I told him yes, then I ended up here," she explained, obviously straining herself trying to remember.
"Do you know who you are?" Smith asked."
"I was a warship," she announced, "Second of the Yorktown class aircraft carriers, USS Enterprise." Smith's eye grew wide.
"You... you're Enterprise?" he said, shocked. Of all the ships that could have come through, the first one is Enterprise? Well, when you think about it, who else could it be?
"I am, or was," she replied, "I don't know what I am now, only that I remember being an aircraft carrier." It took Smith a moment to regain his composure from the revelation that the girl lying in front of him used to be one of the most decorated warships afloat.
After a quick breath, he explained, "You are human now. You were given this form when we called you back. I don't know why it works that way, but it does." He reached out and took her hand in a gesture of comfort. She looked up at him, the scared expression in her large, gray eyes slowly fading. "If you feel up to it, the doc needs to give you a physical, then how about I treat you to lunch. I always try to take my junior officers out to lunch when they report aboard."
"That would be fine captain," she replied, simply. He held his hand out again, this time in order to help her out of bed. She took it and hoisted herself onto her feet. She almost lost her balance and Smith thought that he would have to catch her before she fell, but she recovered at the last second.
"Are you alright?" he asked after she had regained her footing. He was actually a little surprised at how tall she was. She was almost as tall as he was, and he was more than six feet.
"I'm fine," she said after a second, "It feels like my mind knows that I used to be a ship, but my body knows that it's human, if that makes any sense."
"Probably whoever is out there orchestrating this whole thing decided that giving former warships human form without the knowledge on how to use that form was too much," Smith reasoned. Enterprise simply nodded. "Come on, the doc's waiting," Smith said, and began to lead her out of the room. He had been told by a doctor that when Enterprise woke up, she was to be taken to one of the adjacent diagnostic rooms so that he could give her a physical. The doctor came in a moment later, and unceremoniously told Smith to get out. He plopped himself in a chair in the waiting room, and sat waiting silently.
About an hour later the doc came out holding a clipboard. "As far as I can tell, she's perfectly healthy," he announced.
"So, in your medical opinion, she has nothing that would disqualify her from military service?" Smith asked.
"Nothing that I can see," he replied, "If you don't need me anymore, I'd best be going. Good day captain." Smith walked into the diagnostic room to see Enterprise sitting on the table, staring at her reflection in a mirror.
She was whispering softly, "This is really who I am now." Smith sighed at the sight, she really did look for the world like a teenage girl.
"Here," he said, "I got you these while you were out." The hospital gown she had been given wasn't really suited for everyday use, so he had gotten her a set of NWUs and skivvies from the NEX while she was still unconscious, getting the measurements from a helpful nurse.
Enterprise looked at the clothing questioningly for a minute. "What is it?" she asked.
"New uniforms," he replied.
"That doesn't look like any uniform I've ever seen before," she said, not comprehending.
Smith mentally slapped himself, "Right, forgot about the time difference. Okay, today's date, is June 2, 2018, and there have been a lot of changes to the Navy while you were gone."
"Like this," he said as he held out the uniform, "This is a Navy Working Uniform, or NWU. It's the standard on duty uniform these days." He sat the clothes down next to her and said, "I'll leave while you change. Just come outside when you're done." Five minutes later Enterprise walked out the door wearing the NWUs.
"Is this right?" she asked. He looked her over quickly, and saw that she had managed to put on the uniform correctly.
"That's fine," he said. "Come on, let's go get you some food, then we can meet the admiral. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to meet you." The two walked out of the hospital and off to find something to eat. Here I am going to get lunch with the USS Enterprise. I honestly don't think this day can get much stranger.
And that's the second chapter done, and I got to explain my system of ship girl summoning. One of the best things about playing around in this universe is that the majority of the canon is left up to the readers. So this is my take on it, with technobabble replacing magic because I could honestly never see a situation where the USN would turn to magic to solve their problems, so technobabble.
And we got the first girl, none other than the USS Enterprise, because honestly who doesn't define the US Navy in WWII more than the Enterprise? There will be more ship girls later, I just won't be doing a "Your human now, how does it feel" scene for every one of them, and Enterprise was special because she was first.
Again I have no beta, so this is only proofread as well as I can do it, and I'm terrible at it. So if if any mistakes are found, please let me know.
Edited for typos 7/3/15