USS Missouri Bridge,
"Captain all hands accounted for, supplies loaded, and we're ready to get underway." The second officer informed as he went through his tablet.
"Very well, Mr. Savik." Eric replied.
James Savik, was a year older than Eric, and at least a foot taller, he had dark black hair and piercing hazel eyes that could force the truth out of anyone just by looking at them. While not strict, he made sure that the rules and regulations were followed, but he's even bent the rules a few times. He made sure that the ship was well stocked and took complaints and requests to Eric from the crew.
Eric looked at his sister, standing nearly perfectly still at her post, he looked towards Mr. Savik then back at his sister, "Mr. Coldren have you ever commanded a ship out of dock."
Emily jumped before slowly shook her head, "Never, Sir."
Eric looked towards Mr. Savik and smiled, he smiled back knowing what the Captain had planned. After all Eric did it to him on his first day as third officer.
Eric then stepped behind Emily and gave her a nudge forward, she stumbled forward in front of the various communication and navigation consoles. She used the compass to steady herself and looked back at her brother, "E-e-eric" she stuttered nervously.
"Take her out, Mr. Coldren." He stated.
Her eyes widened, "Hah?" She then looked towards the crew of the bridge, all eyes were on her. She hated being the center of attention, but she thought she had more time to prepare for this moment.
She sighed as she straightened up. Leave it to Eric to push me out of my comfort zone, again, she thought. She had doubts about doing this, she had never this before, and even if she did, it wouldn't be anything nearly as big as an Iowa class Battleship.
Eric thought he might have pushed her too far. When he was about to relieve her, she took a calming breath and regained her composure, "Weigh anchor and secure all mourning's."
"Aye, Aye" the crew replied.
The crew on deck secured the mourning ropes and made sure the anchor was raised, they then signaled the bridge with flag signals from the deck
"Anchor and mournings secured, Ma'am" Mr. Savik announced.
Emily nodded, "Both sides, one fourth cruising speed at 270 degrees."
"Both sides, one fourth cruising speed ahead, at 270 degrees. Aye, Ma'am." The helmsman repeated as he turned the wheel.
The ship gently began to move forward, and was soon away from the docks. The other ships in the fleet fell into formation are were soon on their way to Hawaii.
"Helmsman, operations," Emily began, "both sides cruising speed, compass bearing 247 degrees."
"Aye Ma'am, both sides cruising speed, bearing 247." He replied.
Emily sighed in relief, soon the bridge crew began to clap and cheer for her, she blushed from all the attention.
Eric stood in front of her, his hands on her shoulders, "Fine job, Mr. Coldren," He then put his arms down and called out, "Communications, send a fleet wide message."
"Channel opened Sir."
Emily stepped aside as Eric again assumed his post.
"All ships, this is Captain Eric, the fleet is currently on course to Hawaii to begin Naval exercises. For many of you this will be your last training exercise as part of the student fleet. I just want to say, what an honor and a privilege it's been to serve by your side."
Emily smiled as she heard her brother speak, they had both been taught, from a young age, to respect the crew and look after their safety and well being. Emily and Eric both wanted to make their mother proud. What they didn't know, was that the hardships that awaited them were about to begin.
The Next Day,
Emily toured the ship by herself, on her way to the mess hall to grab breakfast, before heading up to the bridge for her shift. As she was about to descend to the second deck of the ship several voices caught her attention.
"I'm telling you it's this way." A male voice said.
"No, the mess is this way." A female voice replied.
"Says the navigation expert that got us lost in the first place." The male voice spoke again.
"Come on guys, let's not fight now." A different female voice called out timidly.
Curious, Emily walked to the source of the voices. Three cadets came into view as she walked down the hallway. Each of them had two white horizontal bars on their left sleeves indicating they were second year cadets like Emily.
Two of them were girls, one had long messy copper hair and light brown eyes, her arms were crossed as she glared at the boy. The other had brown hair which stopped just above her shoulders and she was heterochromatic, her left was light gray and her right was light blue. She held her hands up, timidly, as she tried to maintain the peace between the two.
The third cadet, a boy, had light chestnut hair and dark brown eyes, was glaring back at the girl glaring at him.
Emily came up behind the brown haired girl, "Excuse me?" The girl jumped and panicked, quickly running behind the copper headed girl trying to hide. The two other cadets looked at Emily, who could only fidget nervously from their glances.
The copper haired girl sighed as she looked at Emily, then behind towards the cowering girl, "Ivy it's all right, just another person. No reason to be scared." She turned back towards Emily, "Sorry about that, she gets scared easily."
Emily rubbed the back of her head, "No, it's my fault, I did kind of sneak up on you. Cadet?"
"This is Ivy Mackey, sickbay nurse," The copper haired girl spoke, "She gets scared easily, I'm her faithful shield and friend, Betty Ostrich, navigations" She nodded her head towards the boy, "This tall dude is Logan Nailer, ammunition handler and gunnery assistant."
"Pleasure to meet all of you, I'm Third Officer Emily Coldren." Emily spoke.
Upon hearing her rank and name the trio of Cadets quickly snapped to attention, "Sorry ma'am we didn't realize who you were. It won't happen again." Logan spoke quickly.
"Sorry we didn't know." Ivy quickly added.
Emily laughed nervously as she held up her hands, "At ease… please, I don't like being saluted unless it's serious business. Just treat me as a fellow first year cadet."
The trio lowered their arms and fidgeted as they stood, not really sure on how to continue. Emily broke the silence, "Did I overhear that you were having trouble trying to navigate around the ship?"
"Yeah. Our navigator here got us lost." Logan spoke as he nodded towards Betty.
She shot him a threatening glare, before sighing, "Some help would be appreciated, we're all new to being aboard a ship. I thought I had the layout of the ship memorized."
Ivy nodded her head quietly in agreement.
Emily smiled, "It's no problem at all, I understand it's hard to find your way around the ship. Just wondering, do either of you three know how to read the "bull's-eyes"?" Emily asked.
The trio looked at each other, before looking back at her and shaking their heads. Emily giggled a little as she pointed to the top of a nearby bulkhead, "See those letters and numbers painted on the bulkhead, that's called a bull's-eye."
"Wait, you mean you use those to navigate?" Logan asked.
Emily nodded, "Correct, I'll teach you how to read them. That one for instance reads, "3-21-6-L". The first number represents the deck, the second indicates the compartments forward boundary is on or aft of the ships twenty firsts frame. The third indicates the sixth compartment outboard of the centerline to port, you use even numbers on port and odd on starboard, the letter represents what the is compartment is used for, L means living quarters."
Ivy rubbed her head and groaned, "I don't think I can memorize all of that, it's too much."
"I know it's hard to understand at first. Though by the time our training is over you'll be an expert on finding your way around any ship." Emily encouraged.
Ivy nodded silently as a she offered a small smile.
"Tell you what, I'll guide you guys to the mess hall and answer any questions you have over breakfast."
"Don't officers have their own mess? Ma'am?" Logan answered.
"Yes, they do, but I prefer getting to know my crew outside of duty hours." Emily replied, The trio smiled at her as the followed her to the mess hall.
The mess hall was bustling with activity as the crew got their meals and sat down to eat before starting their shifts or getting off and relaxing. Emily, stood with a tray of food, looking for a place to sit, she eyed an empty table and sat down. A table of fourth year cadets watched her as she sat down.
"So? That's the new third officer, huh?" Chief Engineer, Alex Billhimer asked as he took a bite of his scrambled eggs.
"Aye, Emily Coldren, she's Eric's sister." Chief Artillery Officer, Nathan Nathanael pointed out.
Alex rolled his eyes, "Puf, no wonder she got the position, Captain probably pulled some strings to get her assigned to the Missouri."
Another Cadet angrily tightened his hand around his drink, "I should have been promoted to Third Officer, it's unfair how she got the job. Must be nice to have a famous mommy-," He didn't get to finish as he was smacked upside the head. He groaned in pain as another cadet sat down beside him. He looked towards her, "The hell was that for?"
"For being the greedy, inconsiderate ass that you are Jerred. Her mother died a hero, and you know what the Captain expects from us, his standards are higher for her than for us." The cadet replied.
"Lisa, you know how hard I've worked to become an officer, I'm just saying it's unfair how a second year cadet gets an officer position over a fourth year who's done more on board."
"Well maybe if you studied a little harder, and didn't have a problem with authority half the time, you would've gotten the position. Don't forget you've nearly been kicked off the ship by the Captain for causing trouble." Lisa replied.
Jerred glared at her before getting up and leaving, cursing and mumbling under his breath.
"As cheerful as ever," Nathan commented, "So Lisa? Has wisdom been bestowed from the heavens onto our eagle eye lookout?' Nathan asked.
"I may be the lookout, but I still hear things down on Earth. Just before we left port, I overheard two teachers talking about her. Apparently she has one of the highest scores on the academic exam out of her class. Also notice how she's in the mess hall with us grunts, instead of eating in the officers' mess. She showing that she doesn't think she's above us, so in my book she's earned her place as Third Officer." Lisa replied.
"Academics and getting the crew by your side while the ship is at peace is one thing, actual experience is another, what's to say she won't crack under pressure when we're doing simulated ship to ship combat. The dummy shells hit just as hard as the live ones, just without the explosion." Alex replied.
Lisa looked up and pondered, "If I recall, during your first battle simulation you screamed when a dummy round hit the section of the ship you were in and Nathan and I had to help you to sickbay."
Alex face gloomed, "I thought we swore never to speak of that again."
Both Lisa and Nathan laughed at the old memory, before Nathan spoke again, "Come on Alex, give the girl a chance, she's got a lot to live up to." Nathan pointed out.
As the trio resumed eating, not knowing that Emily had overheard their conversation. She poked at her food, suddenly not feeling very hungry. Logan, Betty, and Ivy came up and sat down with her.
"What's wrong Emily?" Ivy asked.
"Nothing, I just don't feel like eating is all." Emily plainly replied.
"Forgive me for my questioning ma'am, but you were happier just a little while ago." Logan commented.
"I know we just met you Emily, but you know you can tell us if something's bothering you right?" Betty asked.
Emily sighed, "What have you guys heard about me?"
The trio looked at each other, then back towards her. Logan spoke up, "Some rumors here or there. Like how you were given the Third Officer position, because the Captain is your brother-"
Betty elbowed his side, interrupting him.
Emily lowered her head, the trio looked at her, unsure of what to say. Emily got up from the table, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going on duty." The trio of first years watched as she exited the mess hall.