NS Midway Island, June 10, 2018
It was 0600 when Enterprise was woken by the sound of someone knocking on her door. She was a bit confused as to who exactly would be knocking at this hour. "Hey Enterprise, you awake in there?" called the voice of Captain Smith just outside the door.
Now why is the captain waking me up at this ungodly hour, she thought to herself. Then she had the thought, Just a short time ago I wouldn't have been able to comprehend having to wake up, now I'm complaining about not having enough sleep. I really am adapting to this aren't I. She managed to push herself up on the bed and reply, "Just a minute, sir, I'm not decent."
"That's fine, just meet me outside when you're done," he replied, then she heard the sound of him walking down the corridor. She stood and stretched, thinking about what exactly to do next. She decided that the captain would wait long enough for her to brush her teeth and at least try to tame the mass of bed head she normally sported each morning. After several tries with a brush, she gave up and tied her hair back under an eight point cover. Throwing on a set of uniforms, she opened her door to find the captain leaning against a wall, waiting for her. "You ready?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," she replied, "Now why the hell did you drag me out of bed at this ridiculous hour?"
"You remember how Doctor Richter has been complaining that he couldn't get any work done because some important piece of equipment broke in transit?" Smith asked.
"Wasn't it something that had to be specially manufactured and shipped out here?" Enterprise replied.
"That's right," Smith answered, "Well, he finally got it on yesterday's transport flight, and he got his equipment working last night."
Enterprise made the connection, "Does that mean..."
"That we got another girl brought through? Yes, yes it does," Smith replied. "But there was a bit of a snag."
"What happened sir?" Enterprise asked, worriedly.
"She didn't pass out on emergence like you and the Fletcher sisters did. She came through fully conscious, and when she got a good look at Richter's shop, she got spooked and tried to bolt. Luckily I made it SOP that there be a pair of corpsmen on hand whenever Richter even thinks about playing with that toy of his. They were able to catch her and administer a mild tranquilizer," Smith explained. "She's currently sleeping it off in the maternity ward."
"The maternity ward?" Enterprise asked, confused.
"It's the part of the infirmary, I gave over to be used for rehabilitating new ship girls. Another example of Chief Boggs' penchant for irreverent names," Smith chuckled, "but it's already stuck, and there's no use trying to ignore it."
"So what do you want me to do about this?" Enterprise asked after a second.
"Why I want you to do what I brought you in as my XO to do. Help me talk to her, calm her down, and explain the situation," Smith replied, beginning to walk out of the building.
"But sir," Enterprise called out as she ran after Smith, "I don't know what to do."
"Sure you do, just think back to how you felt when you first woke up, then try to help her though that," Smith said.
"I'll try, sir," she said. Smith simply nodded, then got behind the wheel of an idling jeep. Enterprise got in next to him, and they tore off towards the base's small infirmary. The base really has grown since we first got here, she thought idly as the jeep bounced down the main road. Everything around them was a scene of progress, as enlisted ratings, as well as a few officers, were beginning their duty days.
It didn't take long for them to reach the infirmary building. It was a small building located about equidistant from the barracks complex and the base power station. Outside someone had put up a plywood sign with the words, "Best care anywhere" hand painted across the top. Enterprise didn't understand why it caused quite a bit of amusement for Smith as he passed under it. When Smith entered, the enlisted sailor behind the desk, took one look at him, before waving him down the hall without challenge. They passed through a set of double doors with a sign marked, "No Admittance, Authorized Personnel Only."
"Welcome to the maternity ward," Smith idly remarked as they entered, "This is where all new ship girls are going to come to get physicals." They walked into a room with four hospital beds pushed against the walls All of them were empty, save one. The bed in the far corner was occupied by the form of a young woman, and Enterprise immediately knew this was who they had come to meet. She was young, about 16 or 17 if Enterprise had to guess. She was currently wearing a standard issue hospital gown, but it did little to hide her attractive figure. She had long, light brown hair, tied up in a ponytail that reached halfway down her back.
"Do we have any idea who she is?" Enterprise asked after she had finished her inspection.
"No, she didn't say anything before we brought her here," Smith replied.
"So you're saying we have no clue who she is," Enterprise said.
"Exactly." Enterprise nodded as she walked over to the mystery girl's side. They didn't have to wait long before she groaned and began to stir. A few seconds later, her eyes popped open and she frantically looked around the room. When she saw Enterprise sitting next to her, she squeaked in surprise, then curled up into a ball, pulling her legs close to her chest.
"It's alright, no one is going to hurt you," Enterprise comforted.
The girl slowly looked over her legs at Enterprise, then asked, "Wh...What am I?"
"We called you here, back to the real world. And as a part of the process, you got given human form," Enterprise explained, then she asked in a quiet tone. "Can you answer one question for me? Who are you, what ship did you used to be?"
"USS... USS South Dakota BB-57," Dakota replied softly.
"Well Dakota, my name is Enterprise, formerly USS Enterprise, CV-6," Enterprise said pointing at herself. She turned and pointed at Smith, who was still standing by the door, "That's Captain James Smith, he's the CO of this base." Smith smiled and gave Dakota a small wave.
She raised her hand and copied Smith's movement, then looked down at the hand for several seconds. "I was the USS South Dakota, lead ship in my class of battleships, but now... now what am I?" she asked quietly. Enterprise reached out and took her still outstretched hand.
"You are still South Dakota, you just look a little different now," Enterprise stated. "I know things may feel different now, but you have to push past all that. You are still a proud member of the United States Navy, and you have to accept that fact."
"But what will the Navy do with me?" Dakota asked. Smith walked over to the bed and leaned down.
"Dakota," he began, "We are at war. A war against an evil force beyond even our wildest imaginations. We need your help, and the help of others like you in order to fight them."
She pushed her face closer to Smith's and said, "What do I need to do captain?" As Enterprise watched, the look of fear began to drain from Dakota's eyes. It was slowly replaced by, something else entirely, grim determination.
Smith gave her a comforting smile, "Right now you just need to stay here and get checked out by the doc. Once you do that, and pass a psyche test, we can start working out the terms of your enlistment. Just rest here for a while, I'll send the doc back in a bit."
"Alright captain, but don't forget about me and leave me here," she replied, placing a hand in the middle of his chest.
"We won't, you have my word," replied Enterprise. Dakota nodded and lay back on the bed, obviously still exhausted from her summoning. Enterprise watched as her eyes slowly drifted closed, and she fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.
"Well, what do you think of her?" Smith asked once they were both back outside.
"I think she is going to make a fine addition to our little lash-up," Enterprise replied after a second. Smith gave her a questioning look, then broke out into laughter. "What, what is it?" Enterprise asked, fearing that she had done something wrong.
"Oh, I was just thinking. When did you start thinking of this base as 'our little lash-up'?" Smith asked. "You really are turning into my XO. Which reminds me," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded slip of paper. "I just got this in yesterday's satellite burst. Ms. Enterprise, if you would please raise your right hand and repeat after me." Enterprise was a little hesitant at what Smith was asking, but she did it anyway.
Once Smith saw that she had in fact, raised her right hand, he read, "Do you, Enterprise, solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which you are about to enter. So help you God?"
"I do," she replied without question.
"Well then, congratulations Lieutenant Enterprise, you are now officially a commissioned officer in the United States Navy. We can finally drop the brevet from all of your records," Smith said then offered her his hand. She took it with a firm grasp, then dropped it and embraced him.
"Thank you, sir," she said after they had separated.
"I still stand by my decision to make you my XO, you just proved me right back there with Dakota. I couldn't have calmed her down by myself, I'm just not that subtle," Smith said. "Now go and get yourself some breakfast at the wardroom, tell them to put it on my chit. Compliments of the commanding officer on your new promotion. Then go down to supply and see if they have a set of lieutenant's bars for you to use."
"I will, sir, thank you, sir," Enterprise replied.
"One other thing lieutenant, I also got word from Pearl in that data burst. Now that Doctor Richter has his machines working we are to prepare to begin combat operations," Smith said in a more serious tone. Then he added, "One of the things listed on the manifest of today's supply shipment is combat materiel."
"Sir, what is combat materiel?" Enterprise asked, confused.
"I don't know exactly, but I I had to guess, I would say it's your equipment. Your weapons and rigging, the things that allow you to fight and sail on the open ocean. We never had them here, and I was never told how to get them, so I assumed that Pearl was taking care of it. We'll find out today," Smith explained.
"Very well, sir, let me know what you find out," she said, then gave Smith a salute and ran off towards the main mess hall. She thought idly as she ran, Things really are happening fast around here, I wonder if we can keep up.
An hour later, Smith found himself sitting behind his desk, filling out forms. What he had told Enterprise about them gearing up for combat was the truth, just not the entire truth. They were preparing to go to war, just a lot faster than he had implied. The Chief of Naval Operations, the highest commissioned officer in the navy, had gotten word of their little side show, and had asked why they weren't in this war yet. Admiral Davies had gone to bat for them, explaining that the few ship girls the USN possessed right now were unequipped and unstained, and that it would take time for them to work up to full combat readiness. The CNO had understood Davies' explanation, and had said that Smith's operation now had top priority for whatever supplies and personnel it required. So that was where Smith was now, filling out requisitions for more weapons and personnel so that they would be ready to fight when the time came.
Suddenly the distinct sound of a jet aircraft passing overhead reverberated throughout the office. "Chair force is early today," Smith muttered as he stood up and walked to the window. Sure enough, he caught a glimpse of a haze gray Air Force transport passing overhead on final approach to Henderson field. "Well, let's go see what the good supply fairy brought for us today." Smith pulled his eight point cover off the back of the chair, and made his way down to the airfield.
By the time he got there, the plane had already stopped in the parking apron, shut down its engines, and was beginning to offload passengers. He watched as a steady stream of new enlisted ratings wearing either NWUs or service coveralls exited the C-17's side door. One man in particular caught his attention. Unlike the men around him, he was wearing crisply starched whites. As Smith walked over to him, he noticed that the uniform was not that of the United States Navy. Before Smith could place the uniform, the man saw Smith and made his way over to the captain.
He snapped a salute and said, "Captain, I am Lieutenant Commander Toryu Miyata, Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. I have orders transferring me to your command."
"Well commander, may I ask in what position you are being transferred into?" Smith asked after returning the salute.
"Am I correct in assuming that you lead your nation's kanmusu program?" Miyata asked.
"Kanmusu?" Smith asked, confused at the term.
"I believe your admiral called them, Fleet Auxiliary Personnel," Miyata furnished.
Realization dawned on Smith's face, "Oh, you mean ship girls. But to answer your question, yes, I command our ship girl program."
"Captain, I have been an officer in my nation's ship girl program since its conception a year ago. When your admiral contacted my government about setting up a liaison program, my name came up on the list of potential officers," Miyata said.
"So you're here to serve as a liaison to the JMSDF's ship girl program?" Smith asked.
"That is correct," Miyata replied, "I am here due to my expertise on the kanmusu, as such I will answer any question you have on the subject."
"I do have one. Where does the equipment come from?" Smith asked, "The weapons and rigging I mean."
"I must admit that my knowledge in that field is somewhat, limited, but I do know this. The equipment must be constructed by using advanced machining techniques," Miyata answered.
Before Smith could say anything else, a new voice said something behind him, "I believe that I can answer that better, sir." Smith looked over to see a man wearing Service Khakis and the insignia of a Chief Petty Officer.
"And you would be?" Smith asked.
"Chief Repairman Eric Zimmerman sir," he replied.
"Chief Zimmerman is the senior enlisted man in the main machine shop of Fleet Activities Yokosuka," Miyata supplied, "We have worked together on several occasions."
"And what is your connection with the commander here, and by extension, the Japanese kanmusu program?" Smith asked.
"Sir, back when the Japanese were first starting all this, they lacked skilled machinists – most of them were lost when the ships they were deployed to were destroyed – so they turned to the US Navy in general and my shop in particular to help them out. We built pretty much all of the original ship girl equipment. Now that they have enough trained machinists, they Navy decided that I could be of more use building equipment for our own ship girl program," Zimmerman explained.
"So Chief, when can you start?" Smith asked.
"I can get started just as soon as you can point me to your machine shop, but sir, do you mean to tell me that we already have ship girls on the base?" Zimmerman asked, looking a little stunned.
"We currently have six girls on the base, and all of the summoning equipment on hand. One of the girls just came through last night, and hasn't been cleared for duty yet. The rest are on full active duty," Smith explained.
"I don't see any problem with starting today sir. We even brought a starting point with us," Zimmerman said, making a vague gesture at the plane. Smith raised a questioning eyebrow, and Zimmerman continued, "We've been making standard US armaments for a while now, 5"38 caliber guns, 21" torpedoes, 40mm Bofors AAA guns, stuff that was so widely used during the war that pretty much any ship girl we had could use it."
"I applaud you initiative chief. Go check into quarters, I'll have someone point you in the direction of the main shop when you get done. Come find me when you think you're ready to start making the equipment, and I'll have the girls sent over to you," Smith ordered.
"Aye aye, sir," Zimmerman replied, then saluted and left.
Smith turned back to Miyata and said, "Commander, I would like you to give me a complete brief on everything you know about the ship girls, so why don't we adjourn to my office and continue our talk there."
"I think that would be best captain. If you would please lead the way," Miyata replied.
"Sir could I ask you a question?" asked Enterprise as she stuck her head into Smith's office. She was a bit surprised to see another man sitting in the room.
Smith looked up at her, "Ah, Enterprise, we were just talking about you. Come in." Smith pointed at the mystery man and said, "Lieutenant Enterprise, this is Lieutenant Commander Toryu Miyata, Japanese Maritime Self Defense force, he is here to be a liaison to our ship girl program."
Miyata looked Enterprise over, then offered her his hand, "It is a pleasure to meet you miss. I have to admit that your deeds are legendary, even among my countrymen."
Enterprise took the hand and replied hesitantly, "Yeah, I seem to get that a lot, but that was a long time ago."
"Right now, she's my XO, and a damned fine officer," Smith said. He pushed himself out of his chair and walked over to a mini-fridge sitting in the corner. "You want a beer commander?" Smith asked, opening the fridge. When he saw the concerned look on Miyata's face, Smith supplied, "Commander my policy for drinking on duty is this, for the first consecutive twenty four hours, I don't touch the stuff. After that, anything goes, and I never touch anything harder than beer, no matter how long I've been sitting at this desk."
"That's quite alright captain, this is an unusual command, and requires unusual customs in its running. I would love a beer captain," Miyata said, then caught the can as Smith tossed it to him.
"You want one Enterprise," Smith asked. Then, seeing the look of indecision on her face, he continued, "I also have Coke if you would prefer that."
"A Coke would be fine captain," Enterprise replied. Smith nodded, then tossed her the can in question. After he had filled everyone's drink orders, he settled himself back in his chair. "Before we continue, what was it that you wanted to ask Enterprise?"
"Sir, I just wanted to know when you wanted me to get fitted for equipment," Enterprise asked.
"Zimmerman's working on the destroyers right now, isn't he?" Smith said. Enterprise nodded, and Smith continued, "Let's let him finish up with them, then we'll see about setting you up with yours. That leads into what we were talking about here. Have you given any thought as to what you're going to use to launch aircraft?"
"Sir?" Enterprise said, confused.
"Lieutenant, all aircraft carrier kanmusu launch aircraft by using ranged weapons. For example, Japanese carriers tend to prefer to use bows to launch their aircraft, but it is possible to use something else if you would prefer," Miyata explained.
"Is there any benefit to using something other than a bow?" Enterprise asked.
"I have heard reports from other kanmusu programs of carriers using other weapons, and as far as I know, there is no positive or negative to doing so. Faster firing weapons balance out their rate of fire by launching fewer planes per shot," Miyata explained.
"I think I may have something that you can use," Smith announced, then stood and walked over to the small supply closet in the wall of the office. Reaching inside, he pulled out a long flat object. He laid it on the desk. It was a rifle case. Enterprise instantly recognized the rifle Smith pulled out of it. "My grandfather carried this Springfield back in 1942, at a place called Guadalcanal," Smith said as he laid the M1903 Springfield rifle in front of Enterprise.
"I can't use this, sir, it's an heirloom," she protested.
"Please, I have no one to pass it on to, and all it's really doing is gathering dust in the bottom of my closet," Smith answered, "Plus, I'm certain that my granddaddy would be happy that his old gun is being used to defend this country once more." Enterprise reached over and carefully picked up the rifle and examined it. The stock was clean and glistened with the sheen of wood polish. There was no obvious dirt or grime on the action, and when she ran her finger down it, she could feel a light coating of grease. The only fault she could find with the rifle, was a two inch long gouge in the top of the forestock.
She pointed it out to Smith and he explained, "The way the story goes, that was caused by the bullet of a Japanese sniper. The fact that it deflected off the rifle saved my grandfather's life."
Enterprise nodded at that, then pulled the bolt back and bobbed her head over the action, ensuring that is was clear. Then she brought the bolt forward, shouldered the weapon, and pulled the trigger. The sear broke and the hammer came forward onto the empty chamber with a sharp Click.
"Very smooth sir," Enterprise complimented.
"Well, that rifle is probably the cleanest and best maintained piece in all of 3rd Fleet," Smith explained. Enterprise looked thoughtful for several seconds, slowly turning the rifle over in her hands. It was in beautiful condition,
She finally looked back up at Smith and said, "If you're certain that it is okay for me to use this."
"I would be honored if you would use that rifle lieutenant. Just make sure to keep it clean," Smith said.
"May I see that Miss Enterprise?" Miyata asked. She nodded, then handed the commander the rifle. He looked it over for several seconds, before passing it back. "This is a fine weapon Lieutenant Enterprise."
"If I remember correctly, you haven't fired for record yet," Smith commented.
"That's right, sir, I just completed the familiarization courses, but I just haven't had enough time to go fire for record yet," Enterprise said as she stuck the rifle back in its case. Smith reached into his desk and came back with a small box. Enterprise was a bit surprised to see that it was a box of .30-06 caliber ammunition.
"Here, take this, and when you're down at the range firing for record, you can put a few dozen rounds through the Springfield," Smith said.
"I will, sir, thank you, sir," Enterprise said as she stood up, rifle case in one hand ammo in the other.
"Now go on, I have a few more things to discuss with the commander here, and I would rather no waste your valuable time," Smith said, waving her out of his office. She was lucky and managed to flag down a passing jeep to take her to the island's rifle range. The seabees had built a full length range with covered firing positions and a full pit for target marking. Enterprise had only been out here for her small arms familiarization course, wherein she had the chance to fire a few rounds through the standard issue M16 rifle and M9 pistol.
The entrance to the range was guarded by a young looking seaman holding an M16 at shoulder arms. Enterprise knew that he was there to make sure no one tried to appropriate equipment without permission. Captain Smith wasn't worried about the equipment being stolen, only that certain personnel might perform reckless stunts if they had access to weapons and ammunition. As she approached the gate, she called, "Permission to enter the range?"
He took one look at her, deciding quickly that the base XO probably had legitimate business on the range, and replied, "Granted sir." He reached behind him and unclipped the length of chain that served as a gate. Enterprise nodded her thanks, and entered the range proper. It didn't take her long to find the range officer and explain to him what she wanted to do. He told her that there was already a group on the range firing for record, and that, if she wanted, he would be happy to let her tag along with them. When she told him that that would be fine, he pointed her at a set of benches and told her to wait while he sent a petty officer off to draw weapons for her to use.
When Enterprise got to the bench, she did a double take. Already sitting on the bench were the four Fletcher sisters, obviously waiting their turns at the range. She could see that Fletcher and O'Bannon were having an animated discussion, and as she got closer, she could make out what they were talking about. "I'm telling you this new M16 is way better than the old Garand," Fletcher argued, shaking the rifle she was holding, "Select fire capability, a detachable magazine, and a comparable accuracy, if we had had these things back then, then we would have won the war in a matter of weeks."
O'Bannon countered, "Yeah, that's all great, but it doesn't negate the fact that this thing fires a tiny cartridge. You hit something with a .30-06, it's gonna go down and stay down. You hit something with the 5.56 from this thing, it may get back up and keep shooting."
Enterprise sat down next to Nicholas and leaned over and asked, "So, why're you guys here today?"
Nick leaned back and replied, "We were going to go down to Chief Zimmerman's shop to get weapons and rigging, but someone pointed out that none of us have qualified with small arms yet. So it was decided that before we were given five inch naval rifles, we had to be able to handle this thing first," she rattled the M16 in her hands.
Enterprise pointed to Fletcher and O'Bannon, "What are they arguing about?"
"Fletcher said that the M16 was a better weapon than the M1 Garand, and O'Bannon figured that she was wrong," Nick explained with a bit of a bored tone.
"Where did they learn so much about guns anyway?" Enterprise pondered.
"Who knows, all I know is that letting them argue about which gun is better is keeping them from demolishing the range," Nick replied.
"Well, I'm down here to fire myself, plus the Captain gave me a Springfield to use, then told me to try it out," Enterprise said.
At the mention of the Captain's Springfield, Fletcher turned over to look at Enterprise, and asked, "Captain gave you an Aught three? Can I see it?" Enterprise pulled the rifle from its case and held it up for Fletcher to examine. She looked at it for a second, then her eyes went wide. "Did the captain tell you where he got this?"
"He said that his grandfather carried it during the Battle of Guadalcanal," Enterprise supplied.
"Well then, that's a fine piece you got there, extremely rare," Fletcher remarked.
"Why, what's special about it?" Enterprise asked.
Fletcher pointed to a mark on the tip of the barrel and explained, "That's a star gauge Springfield. The barrel was made to a stricter set of tolerances, meaning that it is extremely accurate."
"How about that," Enterprise muttered. Before the conversation continued, the range officer came over and began the safety brief. After that they were allowed to move up to the range and begin firing for record.
Twenty minutes later Enterprise was able to qualify expert with both the rifle and pistol. Fletcher and Nicholas also made expert with both pistol and rifle. O'Bannon was only able to earn a sharpshooter rating for the pistol, but got expert with the rifle. Radford came away with a marksman rating for the pistol, and a sharpshooter rating for the rifle. All in all the five ship girls did well. If one took into account that none of them had even held a weapon before last week, then they did extremely well.
Enterprise watched as the destroyers left the range, probably heading down to Zimmerman's shop to claim their gear. She on the other hand, took out the Springfield and made her way back to the firing line. I still can't believe that the captain gave me his grandfather's star gauged Springfield rifle for me to use in battle. He must really think a lot of me, she thought idly as she began to put rounds downrange.
Captain Smith was sitting in his office reading a book when Chief Boggs stuck his head in. "Hey skipper, I got that report you asked for," he announced. Smith put the book on his desk and looked up at the chief.
"Can you give me the Reader's Digest version chief?" Smith asked.
Boggs quickly skimmed though the sheet of paper that he was holding then replied, "Sir, all of the girls are doing well training with their equipment. There have been no major problems or injuries as of yet. Commander Miyata says that they should be able to begin combat operations early next week."
"Good, that's about what I figured," said Smith. There was a knock at the door and Smith looked up to see Dakota peeking her head around Boggs. "What is it Dakota?" Smith asked. Dakota tried to squeeze around Boggs, but was unable to fit past the chief's large frame.
Finally, she gave up and quietly said, "Excuse me."
"Sorry little lady, didn't see you there," Boggs replied, then stepped aside to let Dakota through. She walked up to Smith's desk, then laid a manila envelope on it.
"That came in from the comm office a little while ago. It's marked urgent your eyes only sir," Dakota explained.
"Thank you Dakota," Smith said before opening the envelope.
"You're the battleship South Dakota aren't you?" Boggs asked, "I apologize that I never went down to the infirmary to greet you, but I was a bit busy at the time. I'm Master Chief Boggs by the way."
"That's right master chief, I'm South Dakota, but everyone around here seems to call me Dakota," she replied.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out with the rest of the girls doing equipment training?" Boggs asked.
"She hasn't been cleared by the shrink for active duty yet, and she got bored hanging around the infirmary all day, so I made her my temporary yeoman," Smith explained without looking up from the document in his hands.
"That makes sense, though wouldn't that be a better job for a sailor?" Boggs asked.
"She gets experience with naval customs, and what's expected of her now that she's human," Smith clarified, "I'm thinking of giving the post to new ship girls that are having trouble adapting."
"That's not a bad idea skipper," Boggs said. Then turned to Dakota and asked, "So how are you fitting in around here?" Dakota was a little shocked by the chief's question.
"Fine, I guess," she replied, quietly.
"Well, if you ever need anything, my office is right down the hall," Boggs said, then clapped her on the back so hard that she staggered forward a step.
She gasped for air, then replied, "I'll be sure to do that master chief." Boggs simply chuckled at her response and gave her a friendly smile.
"Shit, you've got to be kidding me," Smith cursed, instantly gaining everyone's attention.
Boggs instantly dropped into a more serious tone and asked, "What is it captain?"
"Apparently it has been decided that the continued use of Air Force transports to supply this base is too risky for their continued use. All Air Force transport flights are suspended for the indefinite future," Smith read from the message.
"How do they expect us to survive with no supplies or grub?" Boggs asked, incredulously.
"I'm not done yet chief, there's more: In order to continue supplying Naval Station Midway Island, the fast supply ship USNS Arctic has been dispatched from Pearl Harbor with a full load of Marine Diesel, JP-10, and assorted dry stores," Smith continued to read.
"Tell me they didn't send a transport ship out alone from Pearl?" Boggs asked, shocked.
"Well, they did send along a single DDG as escort, but you know as well as I do that the Abyssals will attack any transport full of fuel and ammunition regardless of escort," Smith said, throwing the message onto the desk. "And the best part? According to this, the Arctic left Pearl an hour ago."
"Who could be stupid enough to try and send a supply ship through Abyssals infested waters. Hell the way they go after supply transports, even a full carrier strike group wouldn't be enough to defend that thing," Boggs spat.
"Master Chief suffice to say, what I am about to say does not leave this room, that goes for you too Dakota," Smith said with a deadly serious tone. "Admiral Davies – he's my boss Dakota – said in a message that there are two distinct factions forming in the upper echelons of the Navy Department. One side thinks that the ship girls are the answer to all of our prayers, and should be given every possible support. The second... well the second thinks that this program is nothing but a waste of money that could be better used for constructing more conventional forces. I have a pretty good idea who is responsible for this, but for the sake of not being responsible for tarnishing the honor of a brother officer, let's just say that he's one of the high ups at 3rd fleet."
"But why would someone risk the safety of a multi-million dollar fast transport and a multi-billion dollar destroyer, just to make a point?" Boggs asked.
"It goes beyond making a point chief, someone wants us to tip our hand, show what we're capable of," Smith explained, "They know that the only way that those ships are going to be able to make it here safely, is if we send out an escort."
"So skipper, what do we do?" Boggs asked calmly. "Enterprise and the destroyers have only been practicing with their equipment for a week, Dakota here doesn't even have any equipment, and the new girls are still laid up in the infirmary."
Smith sat silent for several seconds, thinking, then answered, "We're going to have to show our hand chief, and I intend to be holding a full house." He then turned to Dakota and ordered, "Dakota, please go find Enterprise and the Fletchers, tell them that they are to meet me in ten minutes in the War Room."
"Yes, sir," was all that Dakota replied, before she ran out of the room.
Smith looked over at Boggs and ordered, "Chief, I want you to find our local chopper jockey and tell him to have his bird moved up to alert status five. I want him ready to bounce the minute I send over the girls, I'll tell him which direction to fly later."
"Aye aye, skipper," Boggs said, then ran out himself.
"When I find out just exactly who is responsible for this, I'm going to rip them apart, superior rank be damned," Smith seethed to himself as he ran out of the office himself.
Author's Note: That's Chapter 4 done, again. I decided to re-write chapter 4 because of several reasons. Chief among them being that the first version ended too early. It was essential for the storyline for this chapter to end where it did. That being said, I have to admit that I never thought that this story would take off like it did, so I was a bit unprepared for the levels of reception that it has already gained (for me getting three likes an a review is big news), and I really didn't have much story potted out beyond this chapter and the next one. But I am working to fix that. This chapter is also a milestone in that I see it as the end of the world building chapters, all subsequent chapters will be action/character driven.
I am putting out a request for help. I need characters for later chapters. What I'm looking for are characters based on US ships. I already have plans in place for Yorktown, Essex, and Casablanca class girls. A whole handful of destroyers (including Taffy 3, because seriously who writes a story about the USN and doesn't include Taffy 3). I am particularly interested in ships that did interesting things during the war (eg. How the USS Massachusetts fought off a whole passel of Vichy French ships off Casablanca, or how the Nautilus performed the first submarine launched special forces operation in military history) so if anyone has a suggestion, please leave it in a review.
As always, if typos are found, please let me know so that they may be found and mercilessly hunted down and destroyed.
edited 7/8/15