Chapter 31- The Spirit of Enterprise
Captain Ayers was a hunted man.
There weren't many merchantmen sailing the waters near Australia anymore, so what few remained knew just what it was like to be stalked by the Sirens. A captain who had been able to survive for the years of the Siren blockade had to have a sixth sense, an intuition that bordered on clairvoyance, to have even a chance of slipping through the net.
Which was why he was scanning the horizon as soon as the moon rose, despite the doubled lookouts he had posted.
Unfortunately, he had been right. His spyglass stopped as he caught a glimpse of something, a darker spot on the water that was now being illuminated by the gibbous moon.
His first mate noted the sudden tension in the captain's stance. "Siren, sir?" he asked.
"Aye," said Ayers as he made out the distinctive faint glow from the object he had sighted. It was actually easier to make out the Sirens at night due to that weird, disconcerting illumination. "Pawn-class, I'd wager. Turn everyone out of their bunks, all hands on deck."
As the sound of a whistling alarm filled the ship, he heard the sudden thumps and pounding feet that told him his crew was on the move.
The Lamerton was an old ship, though well maintained. She would likely have been broken up for scrap years ago, but the shortage of merchant shipping ensured she would sail as long as she was able. She once would have been considered a fairly mid-size merchant vessel, displacing some 4800 tons, but as far as Ayers knew she now was the largest in the Southern Pacific. "How far out are we from Brisbane?"
"A good fifty miles, sir," answered his mate. "I don't think we can push the old girl much past nine knots, though. Not with the engine acting the way it is."
"Bloody hell," said Ayers to himself. A Siren Pawn destroyer could easily make thirty knots without even pushing herself. "Tell the radioman to send out an SOS. Maybe they can spare an airplane or two for us." It was unlikely- and unlikelier still that it would have any effect- but it was the only chance they had. He felt a wave of sadness wash over him as he realized that Lamerton had almost certainly reached the edge of a plank she had been walking for years.
A stern chase, they say, was a long chase, but this one passed by far too quickly. The Siren ship seemed in no particular hurry to catch them, but nor did it show any signs of letting them go. Less than an hour after she had first been sighted, the Siren fired a shot.
Many of the Siren weapons were direct fire, an unusual design for a naval vessel. Instead of an arcing shot, the main gun of the Siren destroyer fired directly at its target. On the other hand, they hardly needed more than a single hit to cause major damage to an unarmored merchant.
Less than a hundred yards away from the ship's stern, a flash of light and burst of steam marked the Siren's missed shot. "Return fire!" shouted Ayers. They'd managed to wrangle themselves a small and temperamental 3 inch gun a few months ago- but had almost no ammunition for it. Still, it was better to use up what they had then have it sink to the bottom.
The gunners, both former Australian Army men, did quite well- Ayers marked two hits and a probable. Then there was another bright flash and the Lamerton rocked back as a grazing hit turned the gun into a smoking shambles. One gunner was dead, the other screaming from the pain of his burns. Ayers ran to him, covering his still flaming body with a fire-retardant blanket.
He would have sworn he'd only been assisting his sailor for a few seconds, but when he looked up the Siren destroyer was no more than a few hundred yards away, turning broadside. It almost seemed like the ship had been playing with them, as ridiculous as the thought was. They were automatons, at least according to everything he had been told. But as he watched the leisurely way the guns took aim at his ship, he felt a burning resentment take hold.
"You bastard!" he yelled. He jumped up, striding to face the Siren. "You bloody Drongo! What are you waiting for, you-"
He stopped as he noticed a wake- no, two of them- silently moving across the water toward the Siren ship. Then, he grinned.
The Siren ship exploded.
The blast knocked him flat on his back, a wave of hot air washing over him. Where the Siren ship had been, guns trained and prepared to kill, a burning wreck was already sliding by the stern into the water.
"Cap'n!" said the first mate, running to help him up. "What happened?"
"Dunno," said Ayers as he unsteadily rose to his feet. "But that was too close by half."
"Forsooth," said a voice, almost in his ear. "Far too close. But all is well that ends well, 'tis said."
Whirling around, Ayers found himself looking into the eyes of a young woman hovering slightly above his deck. His eyes widened as he saw her pale hair flowing in the wind, her blood red eyes, the sharp white fangs in her smile-
He took a step back. "Who are you?" he demanded, hiding the sudden, atavistic fear he felt inside.
Still floating, the girl curtsied. "I am Vampire, first V class destroyer. I am pleased to make thine acquaintance. Permission to come aboard?"
Ayers nodded, confused. "Destroyer? But-"
"Tis a long tale, Captain," said Vampire as she settled onto the deck. "But all will be clear when we make port. In the meantime..." The girl licked her lips. "I am quite thirsty."
The captain blanched, taking another step back. "Oh. Well, I don't know what I can offer you to drink, other than some water or wine-"
"I do not drink..." She paused, smiling wickedly. "-Water."
Ayers gulped.
"But wine would be most welcome," she added.
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The crowd gathered before the Communist speaker turned silent as San Diego posed, one arm high into the air.
San Diego was unfazed. At last, she had an audience. "Are we ready?" she shouted.
Someone coughed.
"I said," San Diego raised her voice. "Are we ready?"
Hundreds of puzzled gazes greeted her.
"Tough crowd," she muttered. Then her expression brightened. "How about a few fireworks?"
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Marne was not a large man. He was strong enough that no one would call him a weakling, but pushing his way through a mass of beefy workmen was not in his skillset.
Fortunately, he had Nevada and Cleveland with him.
They were practically on the waterfront, so they had more than enough brute strength at their command. The two waded through the crowd only slightly slower than if they had been cruising against a moderate wind. Marne followed closely behind, muttering apologies as they made their way to the stage.
So he found himself directly below San Diego when her rigging flashed into existence.
"No, you idiot!"
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Raising her arms high, San Diego prepared her star shells. They were intended to illuminate an enemy at night to mark a target, but she found they made pretty decent fireworks. The thought of what lighting them off in a crowded warehouse might do didn't cross her mind.
"Ready...let's go!"
Just before she could fire, she was yanked back bodily. She tripped, falling to her knees, and looked up to see Enterprise looking down at her with a stone-faced expression.
"Um..." San Diego frantically tried to think if she had done anything wrong.
"San Diego," said Enterprise, ignoring the increasingly confused Communist agitator she had pushed to one side when climbing onto the stage. "Return to your quarters."
"I didn't-"
"RIGHT NOW, LIEUTENANT!"
San Diego shot to her feet, saluted with both hands, and fled through the murmuring crowd.
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"Enterprise? What are you doing here?"
The carrier girl turned, doing a double-take as she saw Marne pulling himself up onto the stage. "Commander? I should be asking you the same thing."
"I mean, I heard there was a disturbance so-"
She glared at him. "So you decided to put yourself in the middle of it? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?"
"Now wait a minute-"
"Who are you people?" screamed the Communist, catching them both by surprise.
He shrank back as the ship-girl and her Commander turned their angry looks on him. "I will not be-"
He squawked as Enteprise grabbed him by the collar and, as easily as if she had been lifting a puppy, tossed him off the stage.
She turned to look over the crowd, which was only now starting to recover from its confusion. A rising murmuring of discontent could be heard, though there were more than a few guffaws when Enterprise had removed the previous speaker from the stage.
Marne eased up beside her. "Okay, I have the MP's coming," he said in a low voice. "We just need to get all the girls out of here-" He stopped as she stepped away from him, facing the gathered throng with a determined look in her eyes.
"I don't know how many of you know me," she said in a firm voice that somehow filled the warehouse. "I am Commander Enterprise of the United States Navy."
There were a few gasps from the few that hadn't recognized her from the newsreels. The others remained silent. Some of the faces that looked up to her were reverential, like the pious looking upon the image of a saint. Some were defiant, a stubborn refusal to be browbeaten already evident in their eyes. All, however, were expectant. They wanted to hear what she had to say.
Marne knew, suddenly, that whatever was said here would determine how this ended. His immediate instinct was to take command of the situation, to step forward himself- but when he looked at his executive officer, he knew she had it under control.
He took a short step back, yielding her the floor. He trusted her.
"We are about to undertake a journey," said Enterprise. "A dangerous one."
There were many nods, some of them wary.
"I was born in the sea," continued Enterprise. "I lived with the depths under my keel, the sky the only roof I ever knew. I know exactly how dangerous the ocean is. To me it has always been a place of sudden death, whether from storms, waves, or gunfire."
She paused, her eyes suddenly downcast. "For me, the sea has never been a place of wonder."
Marne shifted uncomfortably, eyes scanning across the crowd. He was not the only one, he decided, that was wondering where she was going with this.
"It didn't used to be that way," she said, her voice rising again. "When man first went to sea, it was to trade, to explore, to make the world a smaller but more wondrous place. The first sailors to go on the high seas went to trade one horizon for another. Man may have been given dominion over the land, but we couldn't be satisfied with that." She smiled, a brilliant, radiant smile that Marne didn't doubt won a few hearts then and there.
"No, we had to go and conquer the seas as well. And that is exactly what we did."
"That's right!" someone shouted. A few other cries echoed the first.
"Our dominion over the sea," said Enteprise, walking to the front of the stage, "has been won with the lives of countless sailors. How many of you have lost shipmates? How many times have you sweated and swore, straining to keep your own ship afloat while the ocean did her best to send you to the bottom?"
Now there were increasingly emphatic nods, a sense of pride rising in the room.
"Did the navies of the world conquer the seas for mankind? No, we exist only because of those men who cast their hopes and dreams and fears upon the water! Humanity crossed every ocean with our wakes, turning our greatest barrier into a path of gold!" She raised her voice to a shout. "Are we going to let the Sirens take that away from us?"
The crowd shouted. "No!"
"I am the USS Enterprise. I am named not for war, not for glory, not for a long-dead king. I am named after what you represent, what you are- the spirit that drives us forward through danger and into prosperity! And when you sail proudly into that vast ocean, you will bring food for the starving, fuel for the cold, and hope for all mankind. And the reason that you will do that is because every man-jack of you has the spirit of enterprise within you!"
The warehouse, a few minutes ago dark with suspicion and fear, erupted into thunderous cheers.
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Marne watched idly as the crowd dispersed. A group of men nearby were painting over a sign with a Communist slogan, he noticed. They were replacing it, he noticed, with the words Enterprise for President.
I'd vote for her, he thought, grinning.
Things were settling down in San Diego, at least. Oh, very few had returned to work, but by and large it appeared most of them would be back at it the next day, probably with even more gusto.
Other port cities had not fared as well. There had been deaths, riots, even what sounded like an abortive insurrection. Enterprise couldn't be everywhere, of course. But San Diego was the main port for the embarking convoy, so Marne believed things could be salvaged.
It could have been a lot worse.
Tennessee and California came strolling up to him as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and began patting his pockets for a match.
With a deft move of her hand, Tennessee flicked away the cigarette. "Those aren't good for you."
"What?" Marne glared at her. "Says who?"
"Trust us," said California, grinning. "Every time you puff on one of those things we can feel it. Don't even get us started on your diet."
"Feel it?" He looked at them, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
"You didn't know?" said California in surprise. "I assumed Enterprise had told you. We can sense when you're hurt or in danger, to some degree."
He shook his head. "That's crazy. How-"
A gunshot rang out.
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Across the West Coast, shipgirls paused in their tasks and turned their heads in the direction of the Port of San Diego, sudden fear on their faces.
A/N: Trust me, I hate cliffhangers as much as anyone, so I'll get the next chapter out as quickly as I can. This was pretty short compared to most of my chapters, but it took me a surprisingly long time. Speeches are very hard to write, and I wouldn't be surprised if I went back and tweaked Enterprise's periodically. In the end, I decided to post this with the proviso that I'll get the next one out in a reasonably short period of time so we don't have to wait too long to see what happens next.
I noticed I just went over the 200 kudos mark on Ao3! Thanks so much to all my readers, whether here on or over there! I obviously don't get paid for this, so those little acknowledgements that my work is being enjoyed are why I keep doing this. I dislike self-promotion, but I would like to ask that if you are enjoying the story, do please recommend it to others if the opportunity arises.