Stepping into the dimly lit bar I find more than the usual number of people are seated throughout than one would expect to find at seven in the morning in the middle of the week. Walking up to the counter I ask the bar tender, "I'm looking for the captain of the merchant ship Percy. I was told that some of the crew could be found here?"
"Some?" the bar tender replies with a laugh, "Everyone in here right now is from that ship."
"Can you point me in the direction of the captain then?" I ask.
"He's in the back corner over there," the bar tender answers pointing towards a crowded table at the rear of the room.
"Thanks," I answer as I step away from the counter and make my way further into the bar.
On reaching the table indicated, several of the men seated look in my direction.
"Captain Jones?" I ask the table.
"Who wants to know?" a short balding man asks.
"Nathan Harrison," I reply, "I believe you have a delivery in the hold of your ship for Midway Atoll."
"And if I do?" the man asks.
"I've been asked to escort you and your ship from here to Midway," I say.
"As I said to that crazy fool Strickland, I'm not leaving the safety of this harbour without an armed escort," the man states.
"Well, that answers my question on which of your is the captain," I reply, placing both hands on the table and leaning closer, "As for your armed escort. That's why I'm here. You've got two hours to get that rusted hulk you call a ship underway."
"And if I refuse," Jones says nervously.
"Then I'll take aforementioned rusted hulk under tow and drag it all the way to Midway," I state, "Your choice captain. You can hide here in this bar and hope the naval yard across the harbour isn't attacked again, or you can do your job."
"Hold up a moment," one of the others pipes up, "Aren't you the same Nathan Harrison that commands one of the research boats out of Midway?"
"I am," I reply looking over at the man, "Your point?"
"Last time I saw those boats you didn't have anything on board that could qualify you as being armed," he states, "He bluffing Captain." He finishes turning to face Jones.
"And the last time I saw my ship it was sinking in the Pacific Ocean," I reply sharply.
"So just how to you intend to follow through on either your promise of an armed escort or your threat of taking my ship under tow," Jones asks with a smirk.
Removing my phone from a jacket pocket, I scroll quickly to find the live stream from one of the cameras pointing across the harbour. Opening the video player, I turn the screen to face the others, "This is a live view of the Port of Honolulu, do you see the ship docked to the right of shot?"
"Yeah, what of it?" Jones asks.
"You think it's got enough firepower to escort your sorry arse to Midway and back?" I question.
"I suppose so," Jones replies.
"Good," I say, "That settles it then. You now have one hour and fifty minutes to get your ship underway." I add putting my phone away.
Turning to walk back outside, Captain Jones speaks up behind me, "Hey, Harrison. Just what makes you think that this delivery will change anything?"
"I don't even know what the Professor has ordered," I call back over my shoulder, "But it's better than cowering in a corner doing nothing." On reaching the door where Pensacola is standing observing the scene, "They've got just under two hours to get back aboard their boat and get it underway."
"Do you think they'll listen to you?" Pensacola asks.
"If they do, they do," I reply, "If they don't then I told them what would happen."
"Okay," Pensacola says, "I'll keep an eye on them and report in once they make their choice."
"Sounds good," I answer, "I need to get some supplies before we leave. And Bogue has a list of materials she needs to complete the repairs to her flight deck."
"Is this everything you need?" I ask looking through a page of items that Bogue had itemized the previous evening.
"That's everything I need to be able to conduct flight operations," Bogue replies, "The rest of the repairs I can complete during down time."
"Well, we should be able to get everything from here," I answer, "They might even have enough electrical cabling to replace the burnt-out wiring from the fire."
Ignoring the open stares from the handful of customers in the carpark, I lead the girls through the front door the Home Depot and to the building supplies section. Finding a member of staff standing behind a computer, "Can I help you find what you are looking for today?"
"I need everything on this list," I answer passing the page over.
The staff member scans through the list, "This looks like a major home improvement project."
"More like a major repair project," I answer, "Is there anything on that list you don't have?"
"Well, that depends," the staff member explains, "We have everything on your list. But not in the quantities you need. Unless of course you can wait for our next delivery."
Shaking my head I reply, "We'll be leaving in just over an hour, just deliver as much as you have in stock to Berth Number Eleven."
"It will take a while to get this order together," the staff member says, keying in the various items and quantities into the computer.
"I'm prepared to pay extra to expedite this," I reply, "Like I said, we are leaving in just over an hour."
"Looking at this, the earliest we can get this delivered is in two hours from now," the staff member explains finalizing the order details.
"Guess that'll have to do," I say handing over a credit card to pay for the order, "Bogue, you'll have to bring your ship in. I'll make sure the Harbour Masters know that you will be coming in."
"And after we load up?" Bogue asks.
"Head back for Midway," I reply, "You'll catch up with us at some point. That tramp steamer we have to escort is painfully slow. We'll probably be faster taking it under tow."
After leaving Home Depot and quickly checking the directions to the next location I needed to visit before heading back to the Pensacola for our planned return to Midway. Making my way along the waterfront, I find a number of armed soldiers gathered around the gangway of the Pensacola.
As I get closer, one of the soldiers' steps to one side, and I see an officer standing at the base of the gangway loudly berating Pensacola who is standing on deck with her rigging deployed and guns trained on both the officer shouting at her and the other armed soldiers.
"Shouting at her isn't going to solve whatever your problem is," I call out when the officer pauses to take a breath.
The officer turns in my direction, and before they can say anything I speak up once more, "Well, what a pleasant surprise. This saves me the trouble of contacting you with an update."
"Update!" Admiral Jensen roars, "I thought I told you to get off my base."
Looking firstly to my left and then right in confusion I finally reply, "I didn't realize I was still on your base. Last time I checked, this part of the harbour was for commercial shipping and the occasional privately owned boats to dock for resupply."
"Does that look like a privately owned boat?" Jensen demands pointing at the Pensacola.
"No," I answer simply, "It looks like the USS Pensacola a heavy cruiser that the US Navy decommissioned at the end of the Second World War."
"Exactly," states Jensen.
"Well, given your position yesterday regarding the USS Bogue, I fail to see your problem today," I counter.
"My position yesterday?" Jensen asks calming down slightly.
"Yes, that's right," I reply, "Which reminds me," I add fishing through one of the zipped pockets in my jacket. "This is yours Bogue," I say turning to her and handing her a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Bogue asks.
"A legal document granting the bearer Rights of Salvage to the hull of the USS Bogue," I answer, "The Admiral informed me yesterday that the Navy would want nothing to do with this madness," I add looking back at Jensen, "I believe they were the words you used."
"What does that mean?" Bogue asks looking firstly at me and then towards the Admiral in confusion.
"In essence it means that whoever has document is the owner of the hull," I explain, "In reality it means that you can do with your ship whatever you wish."
"Yo-you can't be serious?" Jensen splutters, "I signed those to over to you, and now you're just giving them away?"
"I only requested them to cover my arse in the event someone in Washington wanted to make a name for themselves," I state, "I have no need for a legal battle with the US Navy over ownership of a shipwreck or a hull that was scrapped decades ago."
"Well, you're going to have one hell of a fight on hands," Jensen states, "There is no way, I'll be signing any more for you. And as you have illegally commandeered an American warship."
"Let me stop you there," I interrupt, "Firstly I haven't commandeered any warships, American or otherwise. I have offered a number of young women who have not only memories of being warships, but also the abilities of those warships a chance to help me find the answers as to why they exist in this form now."
"That's not how I'm going to report it," Jensen states.
"And just how to expect the Admiralty in Washington to react?" I ask, "Because so far every person I've brought into this project has thought me to be insane until such time as I present proof they can clearly see before their own eyes."
Jensen looks at me in silence.
"If you're lucky, they'll believe you," I continue, "And they order you to hunt me down and capture every one of them so they can do their own research. Most likely though, they'll lock you up in a mental asylum."
"You don't seem too concerned about the Pacific Fleet hunting you down?" Jensen asks tilting his head slightly.
"Not really," I answer, "I already know that you've lost a third of your fleet power in the region with the sinking of the Gerald R. Ford and her escorts. I have two fleet carriers out there that I'm sure would love a rematch against the US Navy. And given your attitude towards them so far, a battleship, three heavy cruisers and a support carrier that would more than likely join my side of the fight."
"And you think that's enough to take on the US Navy?" Jensen sneers.
"No," I admit, "But when you add in the second battleship currently in Germany and whoever they find on their expedition, along with any others I find and make the same offer to, I'm sure it will give me the extra advantage I need if you really want to go down this path."
"You're going to need a huge extra advantage," Jensen states, "The US don't negotiate with terrorists. And that's exactly how you'll be portrayed."
"True," I admit, "But you're forgetting that I'll also be holding an American Admiral as a hostage. I think that your superiors might be more willing to come to a peaceful solution."
"What hostage?" Jensen asks.
"You," I reply, "Right now you're standing at point blank range of Pensacola's main guns," I add before looking behind me to find that Graf Spee had also deployed her rigging at some stage during the heated argument, "And we can also add her guns as well." I finish pointing out that fact.
The soldiers gathered around the Admiral quickly lowered their weapons as I stared down the Admiral, whose face was rapidly draining of colour as the enormity of the situation he found himself in sank in.
"Well?" I ask after giving Jensen a chance to assess the situation, "Do I need to get Pensacola to lock you in the brig? Or do we put this behind us as a misunderstanding of the real situation facing us and we work together to flush out the real enemy?"
"I still can't believe that you managed to get the Admiral to not only back down, but also agree to help you with supplies," Bogue says to me nearly twenty minutes after I had finished detailing the last of the supplies we required with Admiral Jensen and he had departed back to the naval yard.
"As I said back at Midway," I answer, "Jensen believes with his eyes not just with words. As soon as he saw that in the moment he was completely out gunned and that I wasn't going to back down, he saw reason."
"Surely that will cause trouble at some point though?" Graf Spee asks, shadowing Bogue closely.
"Probably," I admit, "But I'll deal with that when and if it happens. That's the best part of only contracting out to the Navy. I don't have to follow all of their protocols as they aren't my main source of work."
"Still, he did have a point," Bogue continues, "Walking around in public like this, we are bound to get some unwanted attention."
"I know it's not ideal," I say, "But where we are going next. A young woman with a shark tail will look positively normal compared with some of the sights I've seen there on previous visits."
"And where are we going?" Bogue asks.
"Walmart," I reply, "I need to splice into one of the ships main power lines onboard, so I can power my laptop given that when your hulls were built. The designers never envisioned portable laptops or phones like we have today."
"So, why didn't you get those things at the last place?" Bogue asks.
"Home Depot don't sell laptops," I answer, "There's no way that the first thing I plug in to the power board I ordered is going to be my laptop or either of the phones I have with me. But I'll happily sacrifice a cheap laptop or ten whilst I get the wiring and voltage supply sorted."
Continuing to talk between ourselves, we cross the carpark leading up to the Walmart. On reaching the main entrance the door greeter says, "Good morning, sir. Do you or any of your party require any help?"
"Just a trolley and directions to the electronics section," I say in reply.
"Certainly sir," the greeter replies, quickly walking over to the rows of trolleys and bringing one back, "The electronics section is to the right of the store in the back corner."
"Thank you," I answer taking the trolley and leading the way deeper into the store.
On reaching the aisle lined with various laptops and other computers, I started scanning the prices listed, searching for the cheapest.
"Do you require any help sir?"
I turn to see that another member of staff is looking in my direction.
"Yes," I say, "I need as many of the cheapest laptops you have in stock."
"We have this one which is currently one hundred and twenty dollars," the clerk explains, "We also have this one which offers more features for three hundred and fifty dollars."
"I'll take ten of the cheap one," I say.
"Okay," the clerk answers taking out a set of keys and opening a locked cabinet, "It looks as though we only have four left in stock."
"That'll have to do then," I admit taking the boxes from him and placing them in the trolley.
"Would you be interested in getting insurance on them?" he asks.
"Its okay," I reply, "These are my insurance against blowing up my main one after I finish re-wiring the radio room back onboard ship."
"Okay then," the clerk says looking puzzled at my answer, "Was there anything else you needed today?"
Before I can reply, Bogue calls out from the other side of the aisle, "Can we get this?"
Looking at what she is pointing at I ask, "You know there are plenty of TV's back at the lab, I'm sure we can spare one for your room if you need one."
"That's at the lab," Bogue says, "I want to put one up on my ship."
I look at her for a moment in silence before turning to the sales clerk once more, "Does that particular screen have internet capabilities?"
The clerk quickly looks at the spec sheet for the TV before answering, "It does. However, it requires a modem and an internet account to be able to so."
"Right," I say, "We'll take it, along with a modem, a Wi-Fi range extender and a five-foot CAT5 data cable."
As the sales clerk goes to get the items I had requested I turn to Bogue, "You know, I'll have to create a modified power source to get this to work?"
"That's okay," Bogue answers, "It should be easy for you."
"And what gives you that impression?" I ask, "I know that I take a hands-on approach aboard ship and can repair most systems. But I don't specialize in electrical wiring."
"Eugen said you pulled the radio apart and re-built it in a day," Bogue replies, "She said it works better know than it ever did."
I silently shake my head, as the sales clerk returns with last of the items.
"Thank you," I say, "I believe that's everything."
As the sales clerk walks away, I turn back to the girls, "Alright, let's get this paid for and get back to the harbour."
On arrival back at the harbour, I handed a couple of bags to Pensacola, "Can you put these somewhere secure. I'll need to take them across to the Prinz Eugen when we get back out to sea."
"Okay," Pensacola replies, "What about those ones?"
"They can go with Bogue to her ship," I reply, "Once I've finished the refit to the radio room, I'll have to go over and install that for her."
"Speaking of which," I add turning to face Bogue, "How far away is your ship?"
"Just entering the harbour now," Bogue replies, "I'll have time to put this away before the other delivery arrives."
"Good to hear," I answer, "Radio us once you get back underway. I assume you'll be staying here?" I finish turning to Graf Spee.
"Yes," she replies.
"Alright," I say, "Just remember to keep an eye out for any potential threats. And do whatever you need to ensure you can re-join us safely."
"We are ready to go," Pensacola calls down, "The merchantman is already making its way out of the harbour."
"Then let's go," I call back, jogging up the gangway, before pulling it up.
Joining Pensacola on the bridge, as the ship passes the Bogue heading in the opposite direction, I say, "I assume that Arizona decided to remain in the cabin you provided?"
"Yes," Pensacola replies, "She seemed very reluctant to leave the ship."
"That's understandable given the previous two days," I admit, "If I were to guess, yesterday's attack on the naval yard probably brought back a lot of unwanted memories."
"And yet, I'm told that she saved your life yesterday," Pensacola says.
"Indeed, she did," I acknowledge, "I'm no doctor, so I'll save the professional diagnosis to the medical team back at Midway. But if I had to guess I'd say she was suffering either from shock or post traumatic stress. Maybe even both."
"Anything we can do right now?" Pensacola asks.
"There probably is," I admit, "But I wouldn't know what that is."
"So, what's the plan then?" Pensacola queries.
"Well firstly, we escort that ship to the rest of our fleet," I say pointing to the tramp steamer further up the harbour channel, "And then we all head back to Midway, to get its cargo unloaded. From there we'll work out the next steps."
