Hello everyone, sorry it's been so long since the last update. I got another job, transferred to a different store at another, trying to just get my life together. Anyway, I made some changes to the story. I have rewritten Chapter 2, nothing too major, just instead of skipping the trip to Hawaii I'm going to tell what happened on board during the trip. How the crew had misgivings about Emily's position on ship, and how she earned their respect. So if you've read this story before, I would recommend you start from chapter two before reading chapter 3, if this is your first time reading this story, you don't have too. I hope to be updating again soon.
Without further ado, on with the story.
I only own my OC's
Beta read by Sabrina06
Later That Day,
As Emily absentmindedly wandered around the ship, she looked at the slip of paper in her hand. After getting off duty she picked up a transfer request form from the budgeter's office. She recalled how she was so ecstatic about being placed on the Missouri after all the hard work she had done; now here she was pondering whether to fill it out or not. As she walked she bumped into someone, she looked to see Mr. Savik standing in front of her.
"Mr. Coldren please watch where you're going, you can't just walk around the corridors without checking your surroundings from time to time." He reminded her.
"Sorry, Sir." She said plainly as she walked around him.
He raised his eyebrow at the lack of emotion in her voice, he reached for the slip of paper in her hands and snatched it from her. She tried to grab it back, but not before he had a chance to look at it.
"Why do you have a transfer request form?" he questioned, still holding the slip of paper.
"None of your business, Sir." Emily replied sternly, as she reached for the slip of paper again. Again he kept it out of her reach.
She groaned angrily at him, "I may want to transfer off ship, now can I have that back."
"Nice try Emily, but I'm going to need more of an explanation than that."
Emily sighed, she knew there was no point arguing with him, "I decided that I don't belong here, I'm tired of hearing the rumors of how I received special treatment to be placed on the Missouri. Everyone thinks I was given my position because I'm the Captain's sister, and my mother is a hero."
"By everyone, does that also include me?" He asked.
"Well no, but that's beside the point." She dodged.
"Did you know your brother was met with about the same amount of skepticism?" He asked.
Emily was surprised at what she heard and shook her head.
"Last year when I was in line to become Captain of the Missouri, your brother was deemed Captain instead of me. Needless to say, there were a lot of unhappy people among the crew, myself included. Though instead of listening to the crewmembers complain about how he was given the position, he proved them wrong by showing them he earned the position. Your brother stood his ground and proved he belonged aboard this ship." He retold.
Emily remained silent as he offered the transfer slip back to her, she reached out ready to be fooled again. However it remained still as she snatched it from him, she looked down at the sheet again.
"You have two choices Emily," he began, "You can request to be transferred, and run away from all of the rumors and lies. Proving to the crew that they were right; or you can stay and prove them wrong by showing them that you earned your position."
Emily gritted her teeth, and tightened her hands on the edges of the paper, "How can I do it?"
"That's not for me to answer, you only have yourself to decide. When you do make your decision, just know that I'll accept your choice either way." With that being said, James Savik continued down the corridor leaving Emily staring at the sheet of paper in her hands.
Early Morning, Next Day,
Emily tossed and turned in her bunk as she slept, "No," she muttered as she shook her head. "No, mom!" she nearly screamed as she jolted awake. A quick look at her surroundings reminded her of where she was, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and threw off her covers.
She was glad she got her own quarters on board ship, this hadn't been the first time she awoke from a nightmare. She laid back down, grabbing her pillow and hugging it to herself. Tears came out of her eyes as she reflected over the dream. She looked over to her desk, the moonlight coming through the porthole dimly lit her room, she eyed the familiar picture frame sitting on the corner of her desk.
She sat up and put her feet on the cold steel floor that sent a shiver up her body, she reached over for her sandals and put them on. She stood up and went over to her chair, as she sat down she turned on the desk lamp, illuminating the files and paper scattered on her desk. She looked to the corner and eyed the picture frame that sat there. It was a family photo which had been taken three years ago, her brother had just been accepted into the academy.
She smiled at the memory, the photo was taken in front of the main school building, Eric was dressed in his cadet uniform, Emily stood beside him, with their mother standing between them from behind, all of them saluting the camera. It would be the last time either of them saw their mother again, as her ship was sunk three weeks later by heavily armed pirates trying to raid the shipping lanes.
She changed into uniform, before heading out on deck.
As she opened the door and stepped outside, a cool breeze blow across the deck as the ship steadily maintained its course. The cool breeze and smell of sea water calmed her mind as she leaned on the railings on the port side of the ship.
She looked around before spotting the Baltimore, she wondered how Wes was doing. Even though the rumors going around about how Eric was goin easy on her, he had the same, if not more expectation from her than the crew.
The newer members of the crew, she was already at ease with, it was the senior members of the crew that had misgivings about her position.
"You only have yourself to decide." She had been pondering those words since her chat with Mr. Savik.
"I thought I might find you out here." Eric said as he walked up to her.
She jumped at the voice, still lost in her own thoughts. She smiled to see it was her brother. Though the look she saw, told her he knew something was wrong.
"Can't sleep?" He said.
Emily shook her head as she looked away, and began to rub her left arm with her other hand.
"Another nightmare?" he asked.
She quietly nodded.
Eric pulled her into a hug, she wrapped his arms around him as the tears flowed. She was most at ease whenever he did this, she listened to his calm heartbeat.
"I miss her too, and I'm sure she would be proud of us right now." Eric said out loud.
"Did I make the right choice Eric?" Emily timid asked.
Eric pushed her away and looked at her, she didn't look up at him. He lifted her head with his finger, forcing her to look at him as he rubbed away the tears with his thumbs. "What matters is what you think. I think if you really didn't want to be here you wouldn't have worked so hard on the qualification and placement exams; though that's my opinion. Do you regret being here?"
She shook her head, he was right she had worked hard to get to this point.
He smiled, he let her go and reached into his pocket. A silver chain was pulled out, and a silver compass came into view. He grabbed one of her hands and laid it in her hand.
"What's this?" She asked as she examined the locket.
"Mom's compass." He answered.
She gasped, before staring at the object in her hand.
"Open it."
She did and inside was a picture of her mother, her brother and herself. She remembered the day the picture was taken, it was the changing of command ceremony. She was eight years old when her mother had taken command of one of the US Navy's newest ships. She closed the locket and held it close to her chest.
"Mom carried that around with her everywhere she went, it gave her strength. I've been carrying it around since the day she left but didn't come back, and now I want you to have it." Eric explained.
"Really?" She asked.
"Mom told me to give it to you, she said that it would give you strength when you needed it most."
Emily had tears rolling down her cheeks, and pulled her brother another hug.
The sun shone over the horizon as it seemed to rise out of the ocean, the water sparkled as it reflected the warm rays. The siblings broke apart and stared out into the new lit ocean.
"I'm sure that somewhere in the vast ocean, mom is watching over us, and will keep us safe. I know that she would be proud of you." Eric said, still staring at the ocean.
"Yeah." Emily croaked.
"Captain and Third officer to the brig," I repeat, "Captain and Third officer to the brig." The PA system announced.
The siblings turned to each other before heading to the brig. It must have been trouble for both of them to be called to the brig.
As they entered the brig hallway, Mr. Savik and two guards stood in front of one of the cells. A redhead teenage girl dressed in a naval uniform, her hands handcuffed in front of her. Mr. Savik examined the clipboard in his hand as the siblings looked in the cell.
"Sara?" Emily called out.
The girl perked up, her brown eyes sparkled when she saw the siblings, "Oh, good Emily and Eric, can you please tell these gentlemen that this is all one big misunderstanding." She smiled innocently from the metal bunk.
"That's Captain and Third officer Coldren to you. Captain do you and your sister know her?" Mr. Savik questioned.
"Yeah, we've been family since grad school." Sara stated.
"Family?" Mr. Savik questioned.
Eric took the tablet from Mr. Savik, "Mr. Savik meet Sara Blakely, a close family friend, our mothers were close friends in the Navy. She's always getting into mischief, been a bit of a trouble maker her whole life. Gotten Emily and I into trouble a few times."
"Yet you still love me anyway." Sara replied.
"How did a delinquent like her get in the academy?" Mr. Savik asked.
"I'll say, mind also explaining why you're on my ship?"
"I was a last minute addition to the crew. I know what you're thinking, but I've changed since we last saw each other." She quickly answered.
"Yeah? Well I'm not buying that story, what's the real reason." Eric replied.
Sara sighed, "I just wanted to see why mom loved the navy so much, so I snuck on board just before we left port. I figured I could just, put on a uniform and blend in, nobody would notice another face."
"Except you can't help but get into trouble, for such a smart person, you can't help but get into trouble half the time. Now mind explaining how you got on board my ship?"
She sighed again, "When I got my uniform, I falsified the placement documents to bypass the security officers patrolling, when I got on board I found a side room that no one was using and hid until we were out at sea. Though the supplies I brought didn't last very long, so I got hungry and well…"
Ryan sighed and examined the tablet, "You stowaway on my ship, stole food out of the galley, injured two crewman…"
"Hey, they cornered me, then one of them tried to kiss me, so I stepped on his foot. His friend tried to punch me, so I defended myself until the ship MP's came but I had already put them in their place." Sara defended.
"After that, ship security questioned you, found out you were a stowaway, and restrained you. After searching you, they found a dagger, you do realize that these are some pretty serious crimes you committed." Eric finished.
"Oh come on, the dagger?" She said as she got up and walked towards the door, "I was going to use it to cut open some tin cans of food. I was never going to use it to harm anyone. Besides I beat up those two crewmen in self-defense, they were making sexual advances towards me."
Eric sighed as he rubbed his face, "Mr. Savik, find those two crewmen and have a hard talk with them. Then report back on what you find."
He saluted, "Yes, sir." Then proceed on his way.
Eric raised his voice as he spoke, scolding her like a child, "You do realize that you're in big trouble now, and that you've put a lot of pressure on me. This isn't something that you can brush off and bounce back from, you're in some serious trouble."
"Eric, I know I messed up this time, but please let all this slide." Sara softly begged.
He shook his head, "Oh no, not this time," he began, then crossed his arms, "You're going to have to explain to your mother everything that happened, when we reach port you'll be turned over to port authority and the Admiral will be notified."
A look of horror came to Sara's face, "No please, anything but that, she'll have me scrubbing barnacles off the side of the docks with a hand chisel for a month.
"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time." Eric replied, he then signaled the guards to get the handcuffs off her and leave.
Sara sighed as her hands were freed, she rubbed her wrists, "So where will I be staying?"
"What do you mean, you're in the brig for a reason." Eric replied.
Another look of horror came to her face, "You can't keep me in here, I have rights."
"Until your story is verified, you have to remain here or if you want I can put you in a paddleboat and you can paddle your way back to San Francisco."
Sara's face turned down, "You're so heartless, especially to your family friends."
"You being a family friend is especially why I'm being hard on you."
"Eric, don't you think you're being too hard on her?" Emily spoke, "We both know that she would never hurt anyone unless they were a threat to her or someone else." Emily then looked towards Sara, "Besides it would be a waste of food and energy to keep her locked up here."
"What are you proposing?" Eric questioned.
"Well, since we still have three days before we reach port, and because she stole food, I say we put her to work in the galley. I'm sure Cook would love the extra help." Emily replied with a mischievous smile.
"Are you serious?" Sara practically yelled.
"Hmm, not a bad idea Emily and Cook would love the help." Eric replied.
Sara face turned down, both of her close friends had turned against her, maybe paddle boating back to San Francisco was looking like a better option.
Love to know what you all think, leave a review.