"We should be approaching the halfway point of our journey to Fiji, Are you still holding up okay, Vestal?" Phoenix asked
"I'm doing okay, Phoenix. Thank you for the concern. I finally got my final boiler back online not too long ago so I am running on all cylinders." Vestal said.
"I'm not convinced." St. Louis said as she looked at her radar screen.
"Why's that, sis?" Phoenix asked.
"The radar has been way too quiet for this to be an escape. No aircraft for miles, no sea bound vessels. There isn't a single thing on radar for at least 50 miles." St. Louis said.
"That is rather odd. Surely we should have met some resistance." Vestal said.
"We must be on alert. We are still a week out from Fiji. If we sink, nobody will find us." St. Louis said.
"Sir, It's time for your stress test. If you manage to pass, we can release you from our care." The nurse said as she pulled back the curtains of the hospital room. The morning sun poured through, waking both Isaac and Odin, who had fallen asleep resting her head on the foot of Isaac's bed.
The nurse helped Isaac up out of bed and helped him wheel his IV cart out of his room, Odin following closely behind to watch the nurse.
"Sir, is there any reason that she needs to follow you everywhere?" The nurse asked as Odin scowled at her.
"I am acting as my Kommandant's bodyguard. We do not trust anyone at this point, so deal with it. If it is an issue, release the Kommandant and we will deal with it ourselves." Odin said as she walked in front of the nurse and stopped, forcing her to stop as well.
"I didn't mean any offense. It's just, having non-authorized people following Mr. Garner around is against hospital policy." The nurse said.
"Screw your policy. Our enemies have spies everywhere. For all I know, you could be trying to lure my Kommandant away to kill him. "Odin said as she glared at the nurse.
"That is preposterous for you to even claim, little lady!" The nurse yelled angrily.
"Who are you calling little, human?" Odin asked as she summoned her rigging and drew her sword.
"Odin... stand down. It's too early in the morning to be raising a fuss." Isaac said, still half asleep.
Odin looked at Isaac and back at the nurse.
"I go where he goes. End of story." Odin said slowly.
The nurse looked uncomfortable but allowed Odin to follow regardless.
"I don't understand why you have such a strong mistrust." The nurse said.
"Considering one of our trusted associates was a spy?" Odin spoke, being sure to keep any sensitive info to herself.
"Well, I have been with this hospital for seven years now, aiding the American troops that came through here. I would appreciate some respect for my position as well." The nurse said as Odin glared at her again.
"Respect is not simply given. It is earned. Do not demand respect if you have not earned it from me, dummkopf." Odin said spitefully.
"Odin, name calling isn't going to help the situation." Isaac said as he rested his hand on her head.
"Kommandant..." Odin said before she dissolved her rigging.
"Fine. But I am still going to follow. Nobody is to hurt the Kommandant." Odin said as she straightened out her coat and fixed her hair.
"Just allow her to follow. Less trouble that way." Isaac said as the nurse shrugged.
"Fine. But i had better not lose my job over this." The nurse said.
"If you're fired, We will bring you with us so you can continue to practice medicine. There will definitely be need of medical personnel in the fleet." Isaac said. The nurse seemed to be put at ease by his statement.
"Alright. In here, you're going to run around this track. If you manage to pass the criteria without any adverse effects, you should be well on your way to being released." The nurse said.
"Well on my way? I thought this was it?" Isaac said.
"If you clear this stress test, we can begin the process for releasing you from our care. We will have to cut out your stitches and make sure you didn't pick up any infection." The nurse said.
"Well, if a week is all that was needed for my stitches to be taken care of, then I guess we could do that." Isaac said as he stood still, allowing the nurse to remove his IV.
"So what, run this track until someone says stop?" Isaac asked.
"Pretty much. We will be waiting to take vitals and a few other tests before we determine your ability to function." The nurse said.
"Then let's get started." Isaac said as he started running along the track. He only got a couple feet away before Odin lost her jacket and was in a thick black undershirt.
"I shall run too. Exercise is good for a young woman, no?" Odin asked as she made pace with Isaac.
"You know you could watch, right?" Isaac said.
"I do. Does it matter if I feel like going for a run, Kommandant? I have been cooped up in port for about a week now. I would like to stretch my legs somehow." Odin said as she ran ahead by just a bit.
"Don't be getting any funny ideas Kommandant." Odin yelled behind her.
"That's not fair..." Isaac whispered as he ran behind her.
"What's not fair, Kommandant?" Odin asked.
"Nothing!" Isaac said as he pushed himself to run past her.
"Playing hard to get, huh?" Odin thought to herself with a smile as she leisurely overtook him again.
"You know, Kommandant. They say having a running partner is best if you want to stay motivated." Odin said as the nurse watched on from the door. She jotted down notes as Isaac and Odin made their first lap around.
"Miss Omaha, contact Miss Odin and let her know we just finished assembling the keel of the ship and have finished salvaging the submarines." One of the bulins said as she ran over to Omaha.
"Ah. Good work all of you. I left the bulk of the siren electronics back at the other warehouse so when we are in need of that, let me know and I can retrieve it." Omaha said.
"Will do, Miss Omaha." The bulin said as she ran back to the dry dock.
"Odin. Come in." Omaha called via radio.
"What is it, Omaha." Odin said between breaths.
"What are you doing? You sound like you're winded. Is everything is okay?" Omaha asked.
"Yeah. I'm doing a bit of exercise while the Kommandant performs his stress test. What did you need?" Odin asked.
"I just wanted to report that we have laid the keel for the new command ship. At this rate, we will have the hull done in two days. These bulins are really good builders." Omaha said.
"Understood. I'll relay that to the Kommandant. Have Fusou and Rodney take a shift defending the port. You can recall Friedrich and Richelieu." Odin said.
"I will get on it." Omaha said as she cut the line to Odin.
"Friedrich, Richelieu." Omaha asked over the radio.
"Ja?" Friedrich asked.
"You and Richelieu are to come in Fusou and Rodney will take your spots in the rotation. You two can get some rest." Omaha said.
"We shall be in then. Just doing one more radar sweep." Richelieu said as they both cut the line.
"Fusou! You and Rodney are next on watch!" Omaha yelled across the work site at the two battleships who were aiding in carrying siren armor plates to the bulins.
"Got it!" Rodney yelled back as she and Fusou ran to their ships.
"Nothing on radar. We are coming in." Friedrich said as the huge battleships made their turn towards the docks.