by Lee Thomas
Knowing all that would be taken care of, I went up to the bridge to see what was going on. Shift change would be happening soon, and it would be dark in an hour or two. According to Murphy's Law, this is when the crap would usually hit the fan.
"Admiral on the bridge." rang out as soon as I walked in. I really did hate the formality, but the sailors seemed unable to get it out of their heads, so I lived with it.
"As you were, as you were," I said for probably the thousandth time, knowing I would say it a thousand more, "Status update?"
"Nothing on radar, gate and fence line report no contacts, all systems appear to be green." said the OOD, a Chief Petty Officer, or CPO, Chief Brandon Smith, who had stayed behind. I liked when he was on duty, as I knew he kept a close watch on everything.
"Evening Chief, good to see you. At least I'll be able to sleep tonight knowing you're up here." I said.
"Thank you sir. Have a good night."
"Am I ever going to get you to stop calling me 'sir', Chief? You know I only made it to E-2 while I was in." I asked, grinning and shaking my head.
"Probably not, sir." he answered, with his own smile.
I headed down to my quarters, hoping for a good night's sleep. I had plans for tomorrow and I wanted to be rested.
Chapter 3
Aug. 29, 2020
I woke up to the smell of coffee. Since I knew I didn't set it up the night before, I was curious. Getting up and throwing on some jeans, I went to the living area.
"About time you got up, lazy ass," Roger said, "When are we getting started on this pet project of yours?"
"I assume you are talking about the northern peninsula?" I asked, taking the proffered cup.
"Yes. You've been looking at those maps a lot more lately, and taken plenty of satellite pics. The base is as secure as it can be, and everything is running so well you don't even bother taking charge of anything anymore."
"Guess nothing is a secret around here, huh? I was actually planning on asking for volunteers today to get it started. It's going to be a process, just like setting up the base was, but I think it is very doable."
"Then we better get started. Any idea what the first steps will be?" Roger asked.
"Yes. Securing the northern border first with the canal. Most of those bridges will be destroyed, but the most central one is a drawbridge, so I planned on getting enough power to it for now to raise the bridge. Then we secure the western bridge, destroy the rest. The southern bridge will be the most difficult I think, since it will require several areas being secured." I explained, showing him the maps. I had it all marked up, clearly showing which bridges were being taken out, and which saved.
"How long do you think it will take to do the bridges?"
"I'm hoping to have the bridges destroyed and secured within a week. I will send two ships, one to the west up the Potomac, one to the east, through the bay here. The eastern group will secure the southern bridge, and the northern bridges up to the drawbridge. They will also power up the bridge long enough to get it raised, and we will set up a solar station for it later." We continued our discussion of the plan as we made our way to the bridge.
"OOD, please make a general announcement. I would like anyone willing to volunteer for an extended mission to report to hangar bay 3 in one hour for a briefing." I ordered. Roger and I then made our way back down to the galley for some breakfast.
"Mmm, I smell biscuits and gravy." I said as we entered the passageway. We both got our trays and went into the Officers' Mess, a smaller eating room away from the main galley. It was usually quieter, less people.
"Wow, Michelle can cook man." Roger said, as we finished our meals and put our trays up.
"I know, that's why I put her in charge." I chuckled.
We went aft towards hangar bay 3. There was a scaffold set up there to stand on so I could talk to large groups and see everyone. There was a fairly large group there already. I went up the ladder to the platform, and turned to the crowd.
"Alright everyone, here is the run down. There is an area to the north of us, a peninsula that covers most of what used to be Delaware, and part of Maryland. It has farmland, and cities, as well as docks for smaller ships and boats. We can secure the entire area fairly easily. I have a plan, now I need volunteers." I said. I could see several people looking around, seeing who was paying attention, who looked like they would volunteer, who was serious, and most looked like they were listening at least.
"I will go into detail with the volunteers. This will be dangerous, but no more so than getting us here, or securing the base." I ended with. Most seemed to be thinking about it. "I will give everyone a day to think it over. Roger will have a sign-up sheet in the Operations office. Go by there and give your name. I plan on stating preparations tomorrow morning. I need to know how many are going. I would prefer to have two teams of ten to go ashore, plus the two demolition guys on each team, along with two engineers to set up solar panels. More would be better, and safer. This is also on top of ship’s crew that would not be going ashore. I will pick the teams from the volunteers' tomorrow afternoon. Thank you in advance, and have a good day."
I went back down the ladder, and started back towards the bridge, Roger close behind.
"I'll head back to the office, get that sign-up sheet set up. It's good to have a goal again." Roger said, turning down the hallway towards the Operations office.
I went to my office to look at what ships we had available to go, as well as current supply levels. We could afford to send plenty of food for the crew if they limit it to two meals a day. We also needed to ration the amount of ammo sent with them, so I needed to make sure that they were good with a sword too, just in case.
Looking at the available ships, I decided on the Port Royal and the Leyte Gulf. Both had almost full fuel tanks and enough crew to run them. I called to the bridge to pass the order along to prepare both ships for the mission. Both had been refitted shortly before the Event, so they were in great condition. I also ordered the helicopter fueled and inspected. I also wanted a bird's eye view personally of the area, to make sure other settlers hadn't already moved in.
Once all the initial preparations had been done, it was after lunchtime. I decided on a quick workout. It had been awhile since I took advantage of any of our recreational facilities. My favorite, since we managed to find a cruise ship and tow it to the base, was the swimming pool. Thankfully we managed to get enough power into the cruise ship to power the circulation pumps, and a few rooms onboard. It was a nice getaway, when I could find the time, which was rarely.
I went to my quarters and changed into some workout gear, then decided to take my practice swords too, get a little sparring in hopefully. I passed several people on the way to the gym, which was located in the aft part of the ship, one deck below the hangar bay. As I walked in, I noticed several people already in a small sparring tournament. I put my name in the rotation and stated warming up. Most of the guys were pretty good, but new to swordsmanship. They had the speed, and some had decent reflexes, but none of them really had a feel for an opponent's moves just yet. They were too defensive, which is fine on a sparring mat, but out there would get them killed quickly.
Finally, my turn came. It was against one of the newer kids we had in the security force. He had speed, but he was brash, and cocky. My reputation with a sword was something the new kids always wanted to test. Most of them could outgun me any time, but they knew I was lethal with a blade. We started, and I let him advance on me, make me circle a bit, made him think he was backing me up. After I let him have a few close calls, I feinted and knocked the sword out of his hands, then rushed him. The wide eyed look was enough.
"Never telegraph your moves. The way you move your shoulders is a dead giveaway every time. Most of these infected won't pick it up, but if you ever come across a smarter one, or an attacking group of humans, they might. You're good, don't get me wrong, and you're fast. Just work on using you're core strength instead of strictly sh
oulder muscle." I told him, as I lowered my sword. Granted they were just wood and padding, but the point was the same. I wanted these guys to come back in one piece.
"One other piece of advice, for all of you. Learn to fight Florentine, two sword style, like me. One is fine, especially with the speed most of you have, but sometimes they rush you, and you need a second blade to keep you alive. Shorter swords, less reach, but you can be faster, and take out two at once if need be. Good job though, all of you. Keep it up, and don't neglect your target practice either." I said to all of them. I toweled off, and then headed back to my quarters for a quick shower.
After cleaning up, I went for a walk around the ship. I visited Shayne in Engineering, just to see how the new people were taking to the training.
"They seem to be learning it well, some faster than others. We have had a few issues with the water intake pumps, but they seem to have been cleared up now. The engines are operating well within normal temperature ranges, and all ventilation systems seem to be operating normally." Shayne told me. I knew he was always on top of stuff like that. With the few nuclear engineers we had that stayed behind, there was enough knowledge on board to keep the engines running. Otherwise this ship would have been a time bomb.
I next walked up to the galley, to check on Michelle. It was in between meal times, so I should have been able to catch her.
"How goes things in the land of food?" I asked as I knocked on her office door.
"The hunting teams haven't made it back yet, so meat is really low, but veggies are good, and I have plenty of recipes I can use that don't require a lot of meat. I have several decent cooks, and the dishwashers stay on top of things. I would like to stockpile some of the meat for some chili recipes soon since the weather is about to turn." She said. She was always thinking ahead, and was excellent and planning large meals, perfect for this type of situation.
We chatted for a few more minutes, then I took my leave and headed up to the Security office. I wanted to touch base with Tony and make sure we had the ammo to spare for this bridge mission. I didn't want the teams on land for any longer than necessary, so ammo could be shorted, but I didn't want them defenseless either.
With the last of preparations done for the day, I went in search of a card game. I knew several were usually going at any given time, between poker, spades, or hearts, I could usually find something. After going to several bunkrooms without much luck, I went back to my quarters. I decided I better work on my admiral's log some, before too much happens and I forget.
August 29, 2020 - Admiral's Log
Another few days with no injuries, or calamities. The wall is secure, crops are growing-ish. We did have a small group of survivors find us, 36 total. We are going to start on the northern plan tomorrow. Hopefully by the end of winter we will have it cleared of Infected and totally secured.
I set my pen down and started to think. Winter was coming in only a month or two. Once it got that cold again, our hydroponics would be the only source of vegetables we had. I knew we were stockpiled as much as we could, but it was always a worry. Hunting in the winter was usually a little better for some reason, at least for deer.
That thought triggered another. I called the captain of the gate guard on duty and posed a question to him. He gave me the answer I thought I was going to get. "No sir, we haven't seen nearly as many wild animals as we used to."
That was weird. Once the animals broke out of the zoos, we had lions, tigers, bears, hyenas, all sorts of wild animals. Our hunting surely couldn't have killed off that many of them, it was controlled. Other survivor groups could have been hunting them also, or they started moving to better suited areas. Either way, their available meat stock was drying up it seemed. Well, that was a problem for another day. I gave up thinking for today, laid down, and went to sleep.
Chapter 4
Aug. 30, 2020
After my morning cup of coffee, I headed up to the bridge for an update.
"Morning everyone. Any news overnight?" I asked as I walked in.
"Just a few infected trying the wall again, but no damage or injuries reported. It was a small group." reported to OOD.
After confirming no other issues, I went down to grab some breakfast before heading out to the pier. I stopped by my quarters on the way for my swords. I liked to be armed anytime I left the ship. The galley was actually fairly quiet this morning, not too many people up and about this early.
I nodded to the guards on the elevator as I walked out and down the stairs to the pier. It was cool for a late summer morning. No clouds meant it would probably heat up quickly, and miserably again. I took one of the electric carts and headed towards the cruisers. I could see the supplies being transferred from the carrier to the small trains we had and it looked like it was going well. One train was already by the cruisers, almost fully unloaded.
"Morning sir." said the officer in charge of the loading. He was marking items off a list on his clipboard as they were loaded onboard, and kept track of what went to which ship. A daunting task, I'm sure, but he handled it well.
"Looks like things are going smoothly. It's Jimmy, right?" I asked as I approached. I tried to remember names as best I could.
"Yes sir, Jimmy Cook."
"How are we looking? I would like to get these fully loaded today. If we could do it by noon, I would like to cast off by two."
"I believe that's possible sir, but it would be close. Inspection crews are checking out all the ships systems, making sure they are all operational. If they find any problems, we may have to switch ships."
"True. Just keep it up, I'm not too worried if we get started first thing tomorrow morning." I said.
Jimmy nodded, and I got back in my cart and headed for the gate. It had been a few weeks since I had actually toured the base grounds, it was about time I did again. Heading out the pier gate, I turned right to check in with the gate guard first. The western gate was our primary gate, so it seemed to attract the most attention. I could see the wall stretching off into the distance, with the towers every so often. We also had teams patrolling the fence on foot, horse, or cart. We constantly had eyes on every part of the fence, to make sure those things didn't break through.
After checking with the gate captain and being informed that no issues had been reported, I then headed out to the small farm we had, followed by the livestock farm. All seemed well with everyone, other than it was difficult to grow anything. Several small gardens spread around the base were doing ok though. That was expected of course, this ground wasn't exactly farm friendly. The chickens seemed to be doing well at least.
I then turned and headed back towards the ship. It was getting close to noon and I wanted to check on the progress of the loading. I also needed to get that volunteer list from Roger and see if everyone who volunteered was capable. I passed through the northern gate of the pier and made my way back towards the ship.
Leaving my cart near the aft elevators, I headed up to the Operations office. I walked in and Roger looked up from his reports.
"You managed to get quite a few volunteers yesterday. I know you were only looking for 20, but I had over 50 sign up. Here is the list, and skills sheets on everyone. Would you like to choose the ones going?" Roger asked, handing me a stack of papers.
"That's a lot more than I expected. How many of them are good with a sword? Ammo is going be in short supply for this mission, so they will need to be at least decent."
"That would be most of them actually. I have been training people as often as I can, and a few are almost as good as you or me. I think one or two might even be better." Roger said, chuckling.
"Good. They are going for sure then. I'll go over this list, and pick the ones going. I'll be in my office if you need me. I'll make my decision soon." I said. I headed out of his office and up to the bridge.
"OOD, I want the cruisers loaded today and ready for cast off at 0800 tomorrow. I will be making my decision on the volunteer list for the ground crews shortly. Ple
ase make sure all preparations are completed tonight. I'll be down in my office." I expected the orders would be passed on and everything would be set. I then headed down to my office.
The first thing I looked at was if any of these men had families. I checked everything from marksmanship scores, any skills they had, and sword competency from Roger. It looked like most of them would be qualified for this mission and survive easily. I spent the next 2 hours looking them over, debating, and finally chose the final 20, with five backups on each team, just in case. I called the bridge to have them paged to the conference room, and went to inform them they were going.
As I walked in 20 minutes later, I saw most of them there already. Another ten minutes and the last of them showed up.
"Now that everyone is here, let's get started. First off, I wanted to say thank you all for volunteering. This should be a fairly easy mission overall, but I want everyone to be safe. You were all picked on several criteria. First, while many of you are excellent sharpshooters, you are all also proficient with a sword. Since we don't know how strong the infected presence is up there, and ammo is going to be in short supply for you, plenty of swords will be available. I don't want anyone firing a gun if you can help it, to help keep them off of you as much as possible. Your job will be to watch and protect the engineers as they are installing the solar panels and such, and the demolition guys as they place the charges to blow the bridges. This is not a seek and destroy mission yet, this is strictly a securing the borders mission. Does anyone want to change their mind? Now is the time." I said. Not one hand went in the air. They all just looked at each other, and at the provided notes and maps scattered around the table.
"Alright. Well, enjoy your night tonight, any of you that were on patrol tonight are excused. The ship cast off is at eight am sharp, make sure you're on them. The loadmaster will be on the pier between the ships at seven am to let you know which ship you are boarding. Have a good night."
They all went their own ways, hopefully to prepare themselves. I hoped the mission went well, and we could have this project wrapped up by Thanksgiving, or New Years at the latest. It would be nice to have actual farmland to plant some crops in next year. I gathered all of the notes and maps up and put them away, then went to my quarters and got ready for bed myself. It was a long day, and I knew I would be stressed the next few days until the ships came back. I set my alarm for six so I could see the ships off.