Author's Note: Mindy and certain other members of Fusion have been taking a break in the United Kingdom for the opening of DJAK|GB and for the weddings of two key Vengeance characters. As such, you can follow these events from the second half of Chapter 81: The Hawk and DJAK GB and in the following six chapters of my other story VENGEANCE.
Two weeks later...
Sunday, April 2nd, 2017
Chicago
It was a first.
It was not just a transatlantic lecture; it was also a transcontinental lecture. Two continents, four countries (five if you see Scotland as its own country), and four time zones. In Vancouver, Los Angeles, and San Diego, it was just ten in the morning. However, in Chicago, it was noon. All the way across the Atlantic Ocean, it was five in the evening in Scotland and England, and six in the evening, across the English Channel in Paris.
It was also to be the biggest lecture Hit Girl had ever given – close to one hundred pairs of eyes would be tuning in.
Training Facility Echo
Level 2: Recreational & Briefing Space
Noon
Hit Girl stood before a giant projector screen.
Arrayed before her were the massed forces of Fusion. They were all happily slouching on chairs and couches. There was some outward surprise as to why Hit Girl wore her mask, but that soon became clear as they were all directed to pull on their own.
"Welcome, everyone!" Hit Girl announced. "Tonight, we have a class which will be televised and broadcast throughout Fusion, Vengeance, Honneur, and some new friends. Certain members of the other branches are not currently cleared to see faces, therefore, anyone on camera will be masked. We ready, Battle Guy?"
"On in three – two – one..."
Hit Girl looked up at the camera fixed to the wall at the back of the space.
"Okay, roll call!" she began. "Los-Angeles, are you up?"
The masked face of Mist appeared on the screen, "We're here, Hit Girl, and all accounted for."
Behind Mist could be seen the masked faces of Venom, Bane, Paradox, Domitor, and Crypto.
"Great!" Hit Girl said as the image shrunk down to the top left corner of the screen. "San Diego!"
"Good morning!" Lilith announced.
"Hi, Chicago!" Lilim called out. "Hi, Los Angeles!"
Trauma and Riptide waved. Hit Girl chuckled as she announced the next destination, "Canada!"
As the San Diego image shrunk to join Los Angeles at the left side of the screen, the unmasked face of Phosphor appeared on the screen and she did not seem all that happy to be seeing Hit Girl. She could also see the many other masked faces and she knew that many were not exactly fans of her either.
"Hello, Phosphor!" Hit Girl said. "Everyone, meet Phosphor, Coyote, and Blackout, who some of you will already know. However, I would like to welcome the Vancouver Ninja!"
There was much muttering from Chicago, San Diego, and Los Angeles, primarily at the knowledge that the famed Canadian vigilante was in their presence, and also that Hit Girl had been able to reign her in and bring her under the Fusion umbrella. Ella waved somewhat uncomfortably at the camera, but she did enjoy knowing that she had some notoriety amongst Fusion.
"Okay, now, we fly across the Atlantic Ocean to France," Hit Girl announced as another image appeared on the screen. "Bon soir, Honneur!"
"Bonjour de Paris!" La Coccinelle announced.
"Hi, Psyche!" La Terreaur announced.
"Oh, brother," Psyche growled in Chicago.
"I apologise for La Terreaur," Termino said.
"I apologise in advance for Psyche and her 'crew'," Hit Girl commented, using air quotes to emphasize 'crew'. "Speaking of whom, let's go visit Scotland. Vengeance, are you there?"
"We are here, Chicago!" Nemesis announced.
"Psyche!" Rigour shouted out. "How you doing?"
Everyone could see Belle and Polaris shaking their heads in disgust.
"I am never going to hear the end of this," Psyche groaned as she slid down in her seat, ignoring Fury as the girl laughed fit to burst.
"Not a chance!" Foxtail announced gleefully.
Around Nemesis could be seen all the members of Vengeance who had gathered at Training Centre Wolf.
"Okay, last but not least, we have those south of the border, in England: Noxa, Custos, Necis, Doctrina, Kora, and Styx."
"Go, Zetas!" Noxa exclaimed, generating shouted responses from Polaris, Tao Wu and Tao Tei. "Bite us Psyche Crew!"
Hit Girl bit down a laugh as she simply shook her head in abject disgust.
..._...
Hit Girl then turned serious as she began.
"Opsec! That is the theme of today's lecture," she lectured. "Can anybody tell me what Opsec is?"
"Operational security!" a voice called out.
"Vengeance on the ball as ever!" Hit Girl responded with a nod at Ajax. "Good. They would know – especially that one," she added darkly. "Now, I am about to show a pair of videos about what happens when opsec breaks down. It will be harrowing, but I believe that you all need to know what happens when things go to hell in a basket. I have received special permission from the person featured to show these videos and she agrees that everyone has a need to know how bad things can get. They are horrifying, but I think they are an important demonstration of what happens should someone break opsec. Q!"
Everyone's attention was focussed on the screen as a warning was displayed:
The following video includes information of a
disturbing nature and is deemed to be of a highly
classified nature and should not be viewed by any
persons without a valid security clearance.
...+...
The screen changed to show a room, and then the easily recognisable face of one Harper Sharp appeared.
The young nine-year-old girl stared up at the camera.
She wore only a T-shirt and underwear, nothing else. Her skin was dirty, as was the clothing she wore. Her face was streaked with tears and her manner appeared tired and strained. Her eyes were dark but there appeared to be some fire left in the girl. She looked very dishevelled, but she appeared defiant as she knelt on the floor
"Is this what you want, dickhead?" Harper called out.
Then the nine-year-old screamed and she fell back, away from the camera as she was struck violently around the head by a large hand from off camera. Harper then got back onto her knees and she held up a copy of the Daily Telegraph with her right hand – it was dated Friday, October 7th, 2016. Her left hand appeared to be out of sight, held up against her chest.
"Tell them how much fun you are having, Harper," a cultured male voice directed from off camera.
"Fuck you!" Harper yelled back.
"You are not learning, are you, Harper."
With that Harper was pinned down by a large woman who appeared from the side, her face turned away from the camera. Harper struggled violently, then she screamed out as somebody else grasped her left hand which already appeared to be red and swollen.
"NO!"
Everyone viewing the video suddenly jumped at the loud yell which blasted out of the speakers.
The yell was full of fear and distress.
Then came the unmistakeable sound of cracking and every room was filled with the sound of screaming as two of the four fingers on Harper's left hand were broken at the second knuckles. The young girl fought and screamed for a little longer before she mercifully passed out from the incredible pain. Harper's unconscious body was left lying on its side, her left hand swelling up even more, but she was still breathing, tears streaming down her red face.
"As you can see, she is not in prime condition, but then she has been rather difficult and not forthcoming with the answers which we have requested. I will give her one compliment, though – her training is impressive as she has not broken . . . but we are working on that," the cultured voice commented. "Vengeance will cease all of its activities. Every member will hand themselves in to the nearest police station where they will be arrested. Should that happen, then young Harper shall be released more or less in one piece. If not, then she dies. You have seventy-two hours as of noon. Good day."
The video faded to black.
...+...
There was total silence across the globe as the video sank in.
Polaris was left shaking as she hugged Scorpion. Polaris had never seen that video and she could feel Scorpion shudder next to her as the video was played. It was hard on them both, but even more, it was especially hard on Ajax who would well remember the situation she had been in when she had first seen the video. Pyrrha too was upset at hearing her father's voice for the first time in months.
"Are we suitably subdued?" Hit Girl asked. "Polaris, are you okay with us continuing to show the second video?"
"Yes, Hit Girl, please continue," Polaris responded.
The next video began.
...+...
It was the very same room, but this time, Harper lay on the floor, not moving.
What appeared to be blood and other bodily fluids pooled around her body as she lay on her back, her eyes closed. There was no obvious movement in the girl's chest to indicate that she was breathing. From the bruising and visible wounds on her skin, it appeared that she had been beaten to death.
"As you can see," a familiar voice sneered, "Little Harper has served out her purpose and thanks to your negligence, she has died. There was no need for her to have died but you insisted on ignoring my instructions. Have a good day."
The video ended, a still of the supposedly dead nine-year-old visible on the screen.
...+...
Hit Girl's image replaced that of Polaris.
"Polaris did not die, obviously, but the enemy wanted it to look like she had. Polaris was recovered during an operation against the Radford Group in Wales. Royal Marines found her in a cell deep beneath an airfield. She was all but dead, but for one who had kept her alive. Bones, could you give us a run down of the injuries sustained by Polaris during her captivity and torture?"
A masked man stood up and the smaller window depicting Vengeance grew to fill the screen.
"When that girl was brought in, I thought she was dead, but the RN Surgeons had accomplished miracles in stabilising her. When I examined her from head to toe, I was astounded by what I found. I now speak from my own notes taken at the time.
"Patient is a nine-year-old Caucasian female. Her face is covered in barely healed bruising. There are several marks on her neck, the front of her body, and on both sides of her torso, where what appears to be a knife has been used to slice her skin. It is obvious to me that the girl has been viciously tortured. There is some limited scarring on her chest. Jesus wept! I count eleven cigarette burns extending from her collar bone down as far as her stomach and burns from what appears to be exposure to a naked flame on her breast in three extended areas. There are some further knife slices on her stomach and several on her thighs. Upon external inspection of the groin and an internal inspection, no sign of sexual interference has been found but there is evidence of a urinary tract infection, identified during catheter insertion."
The man's voice could be heard to alter in pitch, indicating that the man was having extreme difficulty in reading the content of his medical notes.
"The patient's legs show evidence of significant impact and evidence of being dragged along a rough surface. Numerous bruises: some old, lacerations and torn skin is evident, but X-Rays have identified no broken bones in either leg, thigh area, or torso. As for the feet, all but one toe on her left foot are intact. The feet, however, are quite heavily bruised, having been specifically targeted during the youngster's torture sessions. Her right foot has been pierced by a double-edged blade which appears to have missed all the major parts and simply chipped two metatarsals. The worst part of her body appears to be her left arm. Her wrist is broken – a clean fracture. Each finger on the hand is broken at the knuckles in at least two places. They will need to be surgically rebroken and realigned before they are splinted before they can heal properly. Finally, thank God, there is evidence that her lower left arm and elbow were exposed to boiling water, and if that were not enough, there is evidence that salt was rubbed into the raw wound. On a positive note, the salt has greatly assisted in the healing of the scald, but the pain must have been unbelievable."
"Shall we take a break?" Hit Girl suggested as she realised that Blake was really struggling to detail Harper's injuries.
..._...
Forty minutes later, several very subdued groups of people gathered back for the next session.
"Welcome back," Hit Girl said. "Let us continue – I now hand you over to Polaris."
Hit Girl was a little worried about continuing, but a private secure phone call with Harper in particular had assured Mindy that she needed to continue. As the video feed resumed, Harper was standing before her friends in Scotland. The youngster pulled off her mask and everyone could see the anguish in the young girl's pale face and the tears. Only Hit Girl and Scorpion knew that the young girl had spent ten minutes throwing up after she had relived the events of the two videos.
"I am ten-years-old. When that video was filmed, I was nine. They took me after they had tracked Vengeance for days. Just one person caused it; she was new to Vengeance and there had not been time to train her in opsec, so she had no idea that a mobile phone could be tracked, even when it was turned off. That person suffered until is was actually identified that the tracker had been placed within her body during a routine operation. I don't blame that person for what happened, but I want my suffering to serve a purpose. It took me months to regain the use of my left hand and the pain associated with healing was really bad. Luckily, I have a wonderful family to support me, and many friends. However, I suffer from vicious nightmares where I relive everything I went through. Having your fingers snapped is really painful, I can tell you. I suffered extreme torture. They would feed me, and then...," Polaris hesitated, "...then they would torture me, so I threw up everything that I had just eaten. I eventually gave up on life as I was abandoned in captivity; they no longer had any need of me, but I was kept alive. I remember truly little of what happened then, but one person kept me alive until I could be rescued. It has been a long hard recovery which, six months down the line, is almost complete. I lost a lot of weight which I have put back..."
"And then some!" a voice called out.
"Thank you, Aegea!" Polaris growled as she pulled off the top of her Vengeance coveralls to reveal her bare torso. "I see these marks every morning and evening and I remember what I went through."
There was stunned silence as everyone saw the scars left by the burns of the blowtorch and the cigarette butts. Then Hit Girl stood back up.
"Thank you, Polaris, you can get dressed."
Polaris rapidly did so, vanishing from sight.
..._...
After a few minutes, Hit Girl waved her hand for silence.
"I now want to show you one last video. For all of you who are not familiar with how effective a single Predator can be; just watch. This was filmed by a security camera at Kensington Palace, London, England."
The image changed from Hit Girl to an image of a long gallery with a wooden floor which had tall windows running along one side, with large portraits opposite. Some, such as Belle and Rigour, recognised the King's Gallery. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a small group of people could be seen emerging from the far end of the gallery – some were obviously armed. Then, something closer to the camera caught everyone's attention and at first, there was a little light-hearted laughter as a small person wearing pink pyjamas came into view, easily visible in the scattered illumination of the emergency lighting. The small person had run into the gallery from a doorway to the left of and below the camera. Then there was shock as the pink-pyjama-clad girl was seen to attack five armed men who had just come into view of the security camera. The men all wore body armour and carried sub-machine guns. However, despite the apparent inferiority of the girl in pyjamas compared to the fully equipped mercenaries, the girl quickly succeeded in disarming a man clad in black combat gear, and she turned the appropriated suppressed SIG Sauer MPX-K SBR sub-machine gun around and she sent a three-round burst into the man, killing him instantly.
All eyes were on the pink-pyjama-clad person as she gunned down a second attacker before the other three turned on the girl. The girl moved fast, and she dodged the strikes at her person. She struck back, hard, using her fists and the butt of the appropriated submachine gun in her hands. For those unaccustomed to how Predators operated and were trained, many of whom had never seen one truly fighting to the death, they never thought it was actually possible for such a slight girl to be a threat to a single grown man, let alone five! Then a knife appeared in the mix, and blood began to fly as first one and then another carotid artery was exposed to the air resulting in two jets of hot blood which splattered across the wooden floor of the gallery.
"Ewww!" came the general response from around the globe with a few other comments such as, "Awesome!"
Then the final man was shot dead with his own pistol and a bullet through the heart. Only then did the young girl stop her rampage before she was then seen to nonchalantly walk down the gallery towards the people at the far end, then the video ended.
"Who the fuck was that?" some asked.
"Rigour, would you like to stand and take a bow?" Hit Girl asked.
The girl in question did so, stepping into camera view and bowing, theatrically, several times as everyone cheered and applauded. Hit Girl noticed that Psyche was actually lost for words as she cheered for her friend. It was also a happier note to end on. Once the video connection was cut, Mindy pulled off her mask and she pulled out her phone.
"Harper?"
"Hi, Mindy."
"Are you okay?"
"To be honest, yes," came the surprising response. "So many have asked me about what happened – now they know."
"You are an amazing girl and I am thankful that you survived to talk about your trauma. How's your sister and Blake?"
"Blake didn't enjoy reliving my injuries, but he's okay. Keira knew it had to be done, she's a little upset, but we're a strong family and Diana's hugging me stupid!"
"Family is your biggest asset, Harper, always remember that."
"I will, I promise."
"You and Electra make a fine pair with all your scars," Mindy chuckled.
"She's bouncing around here, like you would never believe," Harper laughed. "You made her day, showing that video."
"It was the day she was shot," Mindy admitted.
"I know, but she sees it as just doing her job; protecting that other nutcase: Mary!"
"I am not a nutcase!" came a voice from the other end of the line and Mindy laughed. "Is that Mindy? Now she is the definition of a nutcase! OW!"
Mindy could not resist a big laugh at that.
"I punched her for you, Mindy," Harper said.
"Thank you. Stay safe, Harper."
"Thanks, Mindy!"
Mindy chuckled as she slipped the cell into her pocket along with her mask.
..._...
As Mindy headed for something to eat, she came across Megan dawdling along a passageway.
"All alone, young Megan?"
"I needed time to think, so I sent Curtis on ahead."
"Did that lecture have an effect on you?"
"It had to, unless you had the emotions of Hit Girl!" Megan deadpanned.
"You know I take every injury any of you suffer to heart, don't you?"
"Yes, Mindy; it was a joke."
"Oh."
"Harper is so young to suffer such a hardship – the pain must have been indescribable. It struck a little close to home, to be honest. You, me, Chloe, Dave – we've all been in positions where we were taken and bad things could have happened – well, with Dave it did, and Chloe almost lost her arm."
"It's the dark side of a being a vigilante," Mindy pointed out as they walked.
"There's a light side?" Megan asked.
"The enjoyment from knowing that you helped an old lady across the street. The pleasure at knowing that a store owner can stay open till eleven without being raided by some cunts. Access to some awesome vehicles and weapons."
Megan laughed at the last one.
"I suppose I just need a good licking."
"What!?"
"Curtis – he likes to lick me . . . down there."
"I suppose you like it too?"
"Oh, yeah! I'm compiling a list of everything we do – much like you do with 'creative ways to kill cunts'."
"I didn't know you knew about that," Mindy chuckled.
"You've got to one-sixty-five, last I heard."
"One-seventy-one," Mindy countered with pride.
"Me and Curtis are at thirty-three of 'creative methods for stimulating and exciting sexual activities'."
"Bit of a long title," Mindy observed dryly. "I think there's already a book on that; it's called the Karma Sutra."
"I know; I borrowed your copy, remember?"
"You have a copy of the Karma Sutra?" a disgusted voice chipped in as they approached the dining room. "That is just disgusting."
"Hi, Steph," Mindy said with a smirk. "When you are old enough for sex, you will understand."
"No, I will never understand the two of you and your disgusting fascination with – ewww!"
"I don't know – could be entertaining," Abigail said as she appeared from the dining room.
"Dirty tramp!" Stephanie responded.
Megan and Mindy laughed as Stephanie stormed off with a giggling Abigail in tow.
A few days later...
Thursday, April 6th
Northern Chicago
Mindy and Stephanie were heading into the city for some admin time at D-JAK prior to opening up that afternoon for their customers, plus Stephanie wanted to try out some new moves on the mat without anybody in the way.
"Hello?" Stephanie muttered as she stopped outside the main door to D-JAK.
Mindy saw her daughter peering into the next unit which had been empty for quite a while.
"I think somebody has bought the place," Mindy commented.
Stephanie peered in through a window.
"Crap!"
"What?" Mindy asked as she unlocked the door to D-JAK.
"It's a fucking dojo."
"A competitor?"
"Looks like it," Stephanie responded.
"Could be interesting?" Mindy admitted. "Can you see a name?"
"There's a sign on the back wall – black writing, really large and really bold: strike first, strike hard, no mercy."
"Sounds like something I might have come up with," Mindy mused. "Once upon a time, anyway. Anybody around?"
"Nah."
"Right, let's get going, kid," Mindy sighed as she stepped inside, and she began to deactivate the burglar alarm and other less-benign defensive systems.
..._...
Mindy enjoyed being in the place when it was empty.
Having work to do that was not necessarily related to her being Hit Girl was a welcome distraction, Mindy had found. Her highly organised mind was ideal for running a business as she never left anything to chance, nor did she take any chances with her rapidly expanding business which gave her an income which was deemed by the Federal Government to have a higher legal stature than simply ripping off drug dealers whenever she needed a few bucks. There was also the fact that she was contributing to society in a visible manner which others could appreciate. Mindy loved to see the happy smiles on the young and old children who ventured into D-JAK to learn. They always went away happy having learned something new. She was incredibly pleased to see that girls outnumbered the boys in most classes – they all wanted to learn how to defend themselves. Many had seen Princess Mary's broadcast in Edinburgh, just a few weeks previously, and that had taken membership requests through the roof. Mindy was a little unsure if the two current D-JAK premises could hack it. She was a little annoyed that he next door space was occupied as it had recently occurred to her to try and acquire it – never mind, she thought, it may still come available at some stage in the future.
As was usual, the paperwork was all perfect – Paige saw to that. Mindy had never had cause to doubt Paige and without her, none of the D-JAK facilities would have ever taken off, let alone been so successful. Mindy looked up at the photos on the walls of her office. There was the very first photos taken using a noticeably young Megan to publicise the original D-JAK down in the south of the city. The girl had so young and innocent back then, but then she had grown into something quite different.
"You lost in your thoughts again?"
"Huh?"
"Yes, lost again – you tend to drift off to never-never land for minutes at a time. I'm not complaining – you need all the rest you can get."
"You saying I'm getting old?"
"Yes – we all are, minute-by-minute."
"Funny, Steph!"
"You finished itemising the stock?"
"Didn't need to; it looks like Paige and Megan already did – here's the tally."
Mindy took the offered piece of paper and sighed.
"Paige is amazing – maybe I need to give her a pay rise."
"One of you better decisions, Paige," Stephanie commented. "Her daughter may be wacko, but Megan's a good friend."
"Megan's as sane as I am," Mindy grinned.
"That is nothing to be proud of," Stephanie muttered.
Mindy laughed, enjoying the time she spent with her eldest daughter.
That afternoon...
West Columbia
It was a fairly normal day at the Williams household – if there was such a thing as normal in the world of Marcus Williams.
Marcus had the day off and the man was enjoying getting in the way as well as verbally moralising about his life. Yes, he had the most amazingly beautiful woman as his wife whom he loved and was the mother of his young son, but then there were his daughters: two vastly different girls who were also vastly similar. 'Was that even possible?' he thought. Then he groaned inwardly as he realised that anything was possible where Megan and Mindy were concerned.
The two girls in question were sitting together with his eldest granddaughter – all three of them then watching young Damon as the ten-month-old boy slept in a small crib. Megan and Stephanie were giggling together as they whispered to each other while Mindy just enjoyed the family moment. Mindy was not one for babies, but this one was her brother and also named for her Daddy, so that made the baby acceptable in her eyes. Then Mindy grinned at Marcus in a way that made him cringe.
"What dastardly plan have you got now, Mindy?" he asked resignedly.
"Why do you always think that I have some Machiavellian scheme up my sleeve ready to cause destruction and death throughout Chicago?"
"Well, do you?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, but..."
Stephanie laughed as Megan simply groaned.
Marcus grinned as he looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh, Damon, what did I ever do to you, for you to make me suffer this hell?"
"Horseshit!" Paige responded. "I happen to know that you love Mindy with all your heart. I also know that you love her more than anything on this planet including your wife, daughter, and son."
Marcus nodded, knowing that his wife was right – as she most often was.
"When Mindy left home to live with Dave, I thought my life was going to return to normal, but then I agreed to accept amazing sex in return for taking in what has turned out to be a..."
"Marcus!" Mindy cautioned, knowing where he was going.
"...Mini..."
"Marcus!" Mindy hissed dangerously, jumping to her feet.
"...Mindy!"
Megan grinned up at Mindy who just scowled back at the twelve-year-old before she turned on her heel and went to make herself a drink in the kitchen. Paige eyed the twelve-year-old on the couch and then grinned fiendishly.
"Marcus, I fancy a kiss..."
Megan glared at her mother before she shot out of the room in search of Mindy.
"How about you and I get naked?" Marcus asked a grinning Paige.
"We can still hear you!" Mindy called out from the other room.
"Ewww!" Megan added.
"Right here?" Paige responded seductively.
"Don't you fucking dare!" Mindy yelled out in horror.
"What she said!" Megan added.
In the kitchen, Mindy screamed as something hit her and she cringed as she found that she had been struck by Paige's bra.
Pier 4, Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia
Sixteen-year-old Willow Harrison had some catching up to do.
Not only was her British counterpart keeping up in the game of one-upmanship, she had actually flown a British military jet which was not exactly frontline, but it was still active and the BAe Hawk technically trumped her flight in the Hawker Hunter. Naturally, Kate had been on the phone almost immediately to talk about her flight in the jet. Was Willow envious of Kate? Fuck, yeah! However, while Willow technically had custody of her very own helicopter, Kate did not, but then Kate was able to fly as co-pilot on a massive triple powerplant helicopter, NIGHTSHADE, which easily trumped her single powerplant helicopter, URSULA. Now, though, she was about to fly past Kate – fucking pun intended, Willow thought!
Chloe Bennett could tell that Willow was extremely excited by what was planned and indeed, the girl had not stopped chattering all the way down from Chicago on the plane. Of course, Chloe had to be the one to travel with Willow as it would be the first time that she had seen her father in several months. As the pair halted at the gateway to Pier 4, they were met by a young petty officer who signed them both onto the pier and their original escort, another petty officer, headed back in the US Navy sedan towards the main gate.
"Let me just ring down to the Churchill," the petty officer began.
"That will not be necessary, petty officer."
Chloe grinned hugely as she instantly recognised the voice.
"Yes, sir!" the petty officer said smartly as he saluted the Captain of USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL.
Once Captain Ryan Bennett, United States Navy had returned the salute, Chloe leapt into his arms, "Daddy!", and she hugged her father. Once Chloe had regained her feet, Ryan then reached for Willow's flight bag and he carried it as the three of them walked down the pier which stretched over 460 yards ahead of them. The USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL was moored at the far end and on the south side of the pier.
"Dad, this is Willow Harrison."
"Hello, Willow, how are you doing?"
"Fine, thanks, sir."
Ryan could see the girl's eyes darting around the piers examining everything she could see.
"Tell me what you see, Willow?"
Willow looked to their left, over at Pier 3 where she could see three submarines moored alongside.
"I see two Improved Los Angeles class SSNs and one Virginia class SSN," Willow reported, and Chloe nodded her approval at the correct hull identification.
"How do you know that's a Virginia class submarine?" Ryan quizzed the girl.
"The submarine at the far end of the pier has a sail cusp, that fairing at the base of the front of the sail."
"Well done, Willow!" Ryan chuckled as they approached the flared bow of his command.
The seventeen-year-old Arleigh Burke Flight IIA destroyer was moored with her stern into the river and the bow pointed to the shore. Willow's eyes again darted everywhere – she could not help it; it was her deeply ingrained training. She took in the large hull identification number '81' painted on the bow, the deck gun up on the foredeck. The superstructure topped off with a towering mast liberally covered with antennae and sensors. Very soon, they reached the stern where a gangway led from the pier up onto the flight deck.
"On you go, Miss Harrison!"
"Yes, sir!"
Willow stepped onto the gangway and then climbed up towards the flight deck where she grinned broadly as she stood to attention for a moment at the top of the gangway before she set foot aboard the destroyer; her first ever warship!
..._...
Unfortunately, they would not be going to sea, but Willow could live with that.
Instead, the ships flight, a single Lockheed Martin Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk, was currently sitting on the end of Pier 5. After a forty-minute briefing aboard ship with the pilot, Lieutenant Paul Barton, Willow was fitted out with the necessary survival gear required once she had changed into her own flight suit and boots. She had brought with her a flight helmet and her webbing – minus the pistol – and her flying gloves. A navy-issue life jacket was added to her equipment and everything else was checked out. Then she walked out of the superstructure and back down to Pier 4 where a pickup truck waited for her and the pilot. The girl was all nerves as they were driven up Pier 4 and then back down Pier 5 to where the helicopter waited.
The sleek grey helicopter was four inches under sixty-five feet in length and stood two inches over seventeen feet in height. The four-bladed main rotor created a rotor disk almost fifty-four feet in diameter. The main bulk of the helicopter sat over the twin undercarriage set just aft of the cockpit with a single twin tail wheel at the rear of the cabin. Mounted beneath the cockpit was the AN/APS-153 radar and attached to the nose was the Raytheon AN/AAS-44 electro-optical system which provided a combined FLIR and laser rangefinder. Atop the cabin sat a pair of General Electric T700-GE-401C turboshaft engines each providing 1,890 shaft-horsepower. As far as Willow was concerned, it was the most beautiful helicopter she had ever laid eyes upon as well as one of the most menacing looking.
"Mount up, Willow," Lieutenant Barton said as he waved her into the left front seat.
A crewman assisted her into the co-pilot's seat and ensured that she was strapped in correctly and that she was correctly connected into the communications system via her helmet. Then the hatch was closed, and the crewman ran around the front of the helicopter then climbed into the cabin as Lieutenant Barton strapped himself in and pulled his door closed.
"That was Petty Office Heart," Lieutenant Barton said. "Say hello to Willow, Heart."
"Hello, ma'am," Petty Officer Heart said over the intercom.
"Hi," Willow replied.
"Okay, as we briefed, we're going to take this Sixty Romeo for a test flight around the area for about ninety minutes. Okay, let's crank her up and see if we have any fuel aboard."
Willow watched as several switches were thrown and then another crewman standing out on the dock gave the all clear to start engines signal and first one and then the second T700 turboshaft spun up to speed and the various electrical systems aboard the aircraft came online including the two screens ahead of her. There were almost no analogue instruments visible with the four large displays taking up most of the visible space. Petty Officer Heart reached past Willow and he began punching buttons and setting up the screens before her. Then came the signal from the crewman outside on the pier that they were clear to rotate. Lieutenant Barton pushed in the rotor brake, releasing the blades, and then engaging the clutch which began to spin the main and tail rotor blades, faster and faster until they were just a blur.
"You ready, Willow?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Let's go flying!"
With that, Lieutenant Barton checked in with Norfolk Tower before he received clearance for take-off. He applied power and then pulled up on the collective, lifting the seven-tonne helicopter smoothly into the air. Willow watched everything and everything. Every movement of the controls, she watched – pedals, cyclic, collective. They first headed out over the water to the north before turning east and moving towards Hampton Roads with the aircraft carrier moorings to starboard. As they curved around Sewell's Point Willow could not help herself.
"That's where the USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia in 1862," she said in awe.
"Damn right!" Lieutenant Barton commented, impressed by the young woman's historical naval knowledge.
They passed over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel and past Fort Wool heading out into the Chesapeake Bay.