A Trap Is Made
"Where are the girls?" asked Principal Mayuki Munetani.
"Being held at a Blue Mermaid facility and questioned as pirates"
"Bring my car around"
"Ma'am?"
"Whatever those girls may or may not have done, they are still my charges"
"Yes, Ma'am"
"Now, what news of the Harekaze?" Principal Munetani asked.
"Last seen heading into deeper waters. The reports we have day she's taking great care to fire to disable only. In fact, there have only been minor injuries as the result of falling over"
"Have you tried calling her by radio?"
"Many times, but she either can not receive the messages or is otherwise ignoring our signals"
"I see... What about Musashi?" Munetani asked and rubbed the bridge of her nose with worry. She had spent enough time worrying about her youngest daughter – now she had to think about the other ships in the school's fleet.
"There was a low power transmission from her Captain saying that some of the pupils had gone into a state of mutiny. Before another word could be said, though, there was a small thud heard and then a scream before the radio went quiet… She's been silent ever since – she's not responding to radio calls and her location beacon has been disabled. The talk is that nearly the entire school has followed the Harekaze into the mutiny"
"I refuse to believe the entire school has gone into a state of mutiny" Mashiro's mother shook her head. "For a start, Captain Misaki never spoke to any of the other ship Captains before. Besides, so many girls were on there that there would have had to have been reports sent in of resistance. Even if not, surely they would have called on mobile phones or sent emails… No! Something else is going on and I intend to get to the bottom of it. I am going to talk to the girls held by the Blue Mermaids – keep trying to raise the Harekaze by radio"
"Yes, Principal" the man replied. "And if we do not manage to get in contact with her?"
"Put our remaining ships on notice for steaming"
"I can't do that"
"Oh? And why not…?"
"Because the Mermaids have cut us off" and the man pointed out the window as the modern LCS vessels of the Blue Mermaid fleet hove into view and surrounded the school. As the pair watched, the main batteries turned to face the school and the speaker on her desk buzzed.
"Principal, there is a message coming in from the leader of the task group"
"Put them through…"
"By order of the government, all ships of your school are ordered to be confined to port until further notice"
"I still have ships out there"
"They will be found and escorted back. If they resist, they will be sunk" and the radio link closed without another word.
"Damn… Get in touch with the Harekaze by whatever means possible and find out what the hell they know about what happened out there. Get a full report and determine their operational status and readiness"
"I will try it personally, but my feeling is that she is listening in but not replying to protect where she is located" her assistant replied.
"We know she was shot at and suffered a fair bit of damage… Could she be hiding somewhere?"
"I would guess so. If she has gone completely silent, then it would be an almost impossible job to find her. By listening in to radio messages only and by not using her sonar or radar systems, she'd be very silent. They'd be forced to navigate by the stars and by paper charts"
"In an experimentally refitted ship with a crew of the lowest ranked people in the school" the Principal sighed. "You have your orders – I'm going to speak to my pupils"
#
It was a week after the Harekaze had got to the old base and repairs to the ship had been made at breakneck speeds. The point of rationing had been well understood and nobody really grumbled about it and a large amount of fish had been collected to supplement the diet by firing a training round out the forward gun and collecting the fish that floated to the surface.
"Captain, we've completed repairs to the starboard shaft and you can have all speeds up to sixth battle speed" Maron reported proudly. She, her staff and Gufran had done miracles in getting the engines fully repaired before moving on to fixing other systems. They had even, in the time given to them for rest, managed to come up with some low powered radios that would allow them to communicate with the Skippers when they were deployed so at least they could scout out places if needed.
"Thank you, Maron… Navigation, have you managed to get the charts sorted and the course plotted?"
"Aye" said Rin calmly.
"Good… Then this is what we are going to do" Akeno took a deep breath before launching into her plan. "The Blue Mermaids have ordered all of our ships to return to port and are blocking them in at the school. Akashi reported in with engine troubles so the Blue Mermaids are coming to tow it in but will take three days to arrive at their location. I am going to take the Harekaze out with a skeleton crew, make contact and get as much as we can hold in six hours before we leave again. The Deputy Captain will remain here with the majority of the crew and get the base fit to live and work in"
"Isn't that going to be dangerous?" asked Gufran.
"Naturally…" Mashiro rolled her eyes.
"Well then" the boy shrugged his shoulders, stood and donned his uniform cap. "If anybody wants me, I'll be in the Engine Room awaiting orders. Captain, Chief" he nodded to Akeno and Maron before leaving the Bridge.
"Sometimes I believe there is no understanding him"
"He's alright" Maron said, following Gufran's back as he vanished round the corner. The other girls all held bemused expressions. "What?" the redhead demanded.
"I want only the senior Bridge crew to remain along with the Engine Room staff, Macchi, Tsugu, Kaede, the twins and Mikran" Akeno said. "The rest will remain here with the Deputy Captain and get the base's workshops running so we can make more repairs"
"Captain, may I be permitted to remain onboard also?" asked Mina. "Although there isn't going to be any fighting, I hope, I could at least take over from Rin when she gets tired" and Akeno ran that through her mind for a while before agreeing.
"Very well. I am going to take one of the low powered radios as well so we can talk to the ship when we find it"
"At least they are line of sight only" Mashiro noted. "Captain, I would advise caution when talking to them as they might be part of a trap. A submarine could be hiding next to them and then submerge underneath so you'd never see them until it was too late. Also, you should be careful about how you go near them"
"Deputy Captain, I have plotted a course for a full day of high speed running away from the island before turning to head to the Akashi from the south" Rin said proudly.
"We'll make contact with them as soon as possible, see if they will help us and turn away if they won't" Akeno shrugged. "Whichever way you look at it, Maron has said that we need the parts they have – a lot of what she has managed to do will only last a few days at the most" she looked around the Bridge. "I need to speak to the Deputy Captain alone – go tell your divisions what is happening and have them prepare"
"Captain?" Mashiro asked softly when the last person had cleared away.
"Your orders" Akeno pulled out a small packet of paper and handed it over. "Tells you what to do if we do not return by the end of the week"
"I am certain you will" Mashiro replied with a slight smile.
"You didn't seem so confident in my abilities when we started"
"True, but I think I was placed here to gain respect and friendship from others – my entire life has been dedicated to becoming a Blue Mermaid" Mashiro looked out the Bridge windows to see the sparkling waters and pristine beaches. "I was rude to you and others when we first came together, and for that I offer my apologies and tender my resignation as Deputy Captain"
"Yes, you were rude and mean spirited, but we have come together as a family" Akeno shrugged. "Families argue amongst themselves, but they still support one another. Anyway, open those orders when we are not back by the end of the week"
"Aye, Captain" Mashiro nodded and walked off. Akeno waited until she was all alone before letting her resolve crumble. This was not how she wanted to start her training and the toll was starting to damage her health and the only sleep she had been able to get was from pills she had had to order Minami to give to her. The girl looked at the small bottle of pills and saw she had enough for one more night's sleep and she sighed before slipping it into her skirt pocket and taking the Bridge of her ship. With most of the systems shut down, she could hear the sounds of her crew packing up supplies and getting them onto the dockside of the base – it sounded alien to her mind.
"Bridge, Radio Room"
"Captain here"
"Getting another message from the school. All ships are ordered to report their locations to the Blue Mermaids and await an escort back to port. Getting another one… Really an odd one"
"What does that say?"
"My daughter, the shrine has blown again – sent directly to us"
"Listen out – maintain radio silence"
#
"Captain, all compartments have been sealed" Kouko said. On this trip, she was going to act as the damage control officer and had gone round and closed and secured every hatch so the entire ship was as watertight as possible.
"Good" Akeno looked around the quiet Bridge. "Chief Navigator, Operations"
"Chief Navigator, Operations" replied Rin.
"Both engines slow together… Keep this heading until we're clear of the islands then fourth battle speed on course 123" Akeno bent down to the speaking tube. "Maron, can you handle that?"
"Sure… The engines will get us there and back" came her cheerful reply. "Even if I have to get out and push"
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that"
"Me too – pushing this amount of weight will give me back ache"
"Radar, go active for five seconds and record the read out – I want a plot of where everything is in the area" Akeno said. "Macchi, sing out like anything if you see anything bigger then a seagull"
"Not a single wave will get by me without me knowing" the girl replied.
"What do you want us to do?" asked the galley crew. They had portioned out food and delivered it to the Engine Room before coming up to the Bridge.
"Man the damage control board" Akeno said. "Rin, we're clear of the island area… Go to fourth battle speed"
"Yes, Ma'am" and the ship seemed to be eager to go faster as it lept forwards and into possible danger. Guided by Rin's expert hand on the Helm, the Harekaze swung round and headed away and on its vital mission.
#
"Let us recap" Principal Munetani said. "The majority of our fleet has gone quiet and is firing upon other ships that get close enough. All of the ships involved were those involved with the training exercise along with the Admiral Graf Spee and the I-201"
"That's about it…" said an aide. "We had brief radio communication from the Captain of Musashi who reported the majority of her crew had mutinied and gave a brief description of what happened before going silent after an audible scuffle. However, we also believe the Harekaze has not mutinied and seems to be going to great lengths in not hurting people. The few times she has encountered other vessels, she's fired to disable only. We have tried to contact her, but she is not replying to anything and we have no idea where she might be"
"Principal, Akashi is reporting engine problems and is going to be escorted back to port by a Blue Mermaid ship"
"Isn't she in port?"
"Yes… It could be a plot to draw out the Harekaze or Musashi"
"If we send a message to either, it could be bad for us" one of the other aides said.
"Unless we code it very well" Mashiro's mother said with a smile. "Have this sent out as a message…"
#
"Captain, I think I see something on the horizon" Macchi called down. "Looks like Akashi but I can't be certain"
"Slow to half speed" Akeno ordered. "Can you see anything else?" she asked the lookout.
"Not yet"
"Sonar, Radio, Radar?"
"Nothing we can see" they replied at the same time.
"I can't even hear the screws from the Akashi" Kaede added. "They must have had to shut down everything"
"Maron, be ready to go to full speed from half speed without the normal progression"
"Something wrong?"
"I don't know" Akeno said, but she wasn't entirely sure what though. "Mina, do you know how to work the guns?"
"Yes" the German girl was taken by surprise by the question.
"Good… Tama, can you and Mina go to the guns and load training rounds into the barrels – just in case"
"You think there might be a hidden surprise?" asked Tama.
"I am sure" Akeno replied. "Macchi, send a message to the Akashi via signal lamp and tell them who we are"
"Understood"
"Message coming in from the school" Tsugu called. "Directly to us"
"What does it say?" Akeno frowned.
"Stay away from the Akashi… It is a fake ship and is a trap set by Blue Mermaids"
"Rin, spin us away"
"SHIPS INCOMING!" screamed Macchi.
"Rin, escape course. Maron, full speed on the engines. Tama, Mina… Open fire as close as possible and ward them off"
"They are better armed and faster" Macchi called. Akeno froze for several moments as the sounds of orders being shouted and gunfire filled the Bridge.
"Mei" she said quietly, "Do we have live torpedoes?"
"Y-Y-Yes" the girl stammered.
"Load a live torpedo into one of the tubes and prepare to fire at the fake Akashi"
"Captain?" Mei wasn't entirely sure what she heard was true.
"Set it to impact as far back as possible" Akeno instructed. "I don't want to hurt people, but my first duty is to the crew and the Harekaze. At least this way we escape and the Blue Mermaids will have to turn round to help whoever that is"
"Aye, Captain" Mei replied and set off to carry out her orders. Just as the torpedo was launched, one of the Blue Mermaid shots soared over the top of the Harekaze and detonated right in front of the Bridge – sending shock waves through the compartment and glass around like tiny darts. The girls were sent crashing into bulkheads and it took them a few seconds to get back to their feet.
"Captain!" Mikran saw both Akeno and Kouko crumpled on the floor with pooling blood and broken limbs.
"Engine Room, make smoke" one of the twins said.
"Aye, Aye"
"Tama, Mina, you need to get back here quickly" the other one said. The pair came racing back up to see their fallen shipmates getting some first aid before being hurried to Sickbay.
"No…" whispered Tama.
"Who is next in line?" asked Mina.
"It should be the Deputy Captain and then Kouko" Tama replied
"So who is senior…? Who has command?"
"Me" said a voice over the lingering sounds of battle.
"You?" Mina turned to look at the scared looking girl.
"Mina, take the Helm. Tsugu, send a message in plain language to the Deputy Captain and tell her we've been attacked and the Captain and Kouko have both been wounded and that I have assumed command. Chief Engineer, can you give us any more speed?"
"Maybe another four or five knots"
"Good enough" Rin Shiretoko said as she took a deep breath to steady her nerves and stepped up to the plate. She wanted to run away and hide, but this was no time to be afraid and she was going to do her very best for the Captain. "Mina, get us away from here and change course for the island the minute that we are out of their sight"
"They will be able to track us using their radar" Macchi called down from the lookout post.
"Damn" Rin uttered softly. "Mei, can you fire a torpedo backwards?"
"Backwards?"
"Over the stern"
"Yes, but the first tube from the launcher and not right over the back"
"Good enough – get it ready"
"What do you plan to do?" asked Mina as she held the wheel.
"I know all about being a chicken" Rin said. "We're going to turn around and charge right at the Blue Mermaid ship. When it moves to avoid a collision, Mei will launch the torpedo and disable the engine"
"We're inside their range" Mei said.
"Standby" Rin said firmly. "Mina, sound collision stations. All hands, brace for impact"
A/N:
Well, reviews in the normal manner please
Robert