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Cuttlefish -> RE: Small Ship, Big War (1/6/2008 2:58:49 AM)
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September 10, 1943
Location: Tokyo
Course: Disbanded in port
Attached to: None
Mission: None
System Damage: 0
Float Damage: 0
Fires: 0
Fuel: 475
Orders: Await further orders
---
Around mid morning Senior Petty Officer Aikawa brings the ship’s boat alongside Hibiki. Three men climb the ladder provided. Aikawa follows once he secures the boat alongside, lugging with him a small sack of mail.
He turns the mail over for distribution and then seeks out Taiki. He finds him in the forward small caliber ammo storage locker. Taiki is in the middle of an inspection of the 25mm magazines. There he hands Taiki a note.
“The woman who gave this to me says she will wait on the dock all day if necessary,” he tells Taiki. “Now, if it was me I would try not to make her wait all day. She is very attractive. And she seems very determined.”
Taiki stares at the envelope, then opens it. The note inside is only two lines long. Taiki looks up, eyes slightly wild. Aikawa, who has been married for ten years, almost laughs at the look on his face.
“I’m taking the boat back ashore in about half an hour,” he says. Taiki stammers out a thanks and then hurries past him and out of the room. He has thirty minutes to track down Lieutenant Kuwaki and wheedle a liberty pass out of him.
---
Aikawa has another note to hand deliver, this one to Chief Petty Officer Shun. Shun thanks him. He can tell by the handwriting that the note is from his daughter. She and his mother must now be in Tokyo. Shun reads the note, which confirms this.
Shun, a man who is never known to hesitate, hesitates now. Though his face remains expressionless there is a set to his shoulders that betrays tension. Finally he takes a deep breath and then strides off. He has two liberty passes to arrange.
---
“You want me to go ashore with you this afternoon?” asks Riku in bewilderment. This is in fact exactly what Shun has just told him, but Riku might perhaps be forgiven for being confused by a social invitation from the man who once tried to kill him. Shun does not reply, he merely nods.
“But, Chief Petty Officer, I am on duty this afternoon,” Riku says.
“It is all arranged,” Shun says. “You have permission to go ashore.” Riku’s mind races. What on earth could Shun want? To have a drink together, a little man to man talk? Shun has rarely spoken to him during the past fifteen months. But saying no to the Chief never crosses his mind.
“In that case, of course, I will be ready,” he says.
“Good,” says Shun. He spins on his heel and departs. Riku looks after him, still baffled.
---
Taiki stands holding Sayumi’s hands. He would like to be doing much more, but public displays of affection in Japan are just not done. The wind off of the bay stirs her hair, and her eyes are very wide.
“Marry you?” she says in a whisper.
Taiki nods. In some ways he hardly knows this woman, but something deep inside tells him he is making the correct decision. “I have recently been reminded that I should not waste time,” he says with a smile. “There is a nice hotel near here with a Shinto shrine for marriages. There is a priest. My family can be here by the day after tomorrow.””
“But I have never even met them!” Sayumi says.
“You will love them, and they you,” Taiki says. Sayumi’s eyes are still wide, but slowly she smiles. There is something about the smile that makes Taiki’s insides do flip-flops.
“What can I say in the face of such impulsiveness?” she says. “Yes, Taiki, I will marry you.”
---
Message from First Fleet Headquarters, received aboard Hibiki at 1320 hours:
Urgent. You are assigned effective immediately to Task Force 48, Captain Aoki commanding. Make preparations to depart as soon as possible. Further orders to follow.
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Captain Ishii reads the order. He then hands it to Lieutenant Miharu, who also reads it.
“Captain Aoki…isn’t he a carrier man?” says the lieutenant. Captain Ishii nods and strides out onto the observation wing. There he turns a pair of 21 cm. binoculars on carrier Akagi, visible across the bay. Scaffolding on the side of the big carrier is being hurriedly dismantled and work parties are leaving the carrier and streaming ashore. Everywhere there are signs of frantic activity.
“I think,” says Captain Ishii as he returns to the bridge, “that the wait to find out what the enemy is going to do next is over. Cancel all liberty and recall all crew ashore. Make preparation to get underway.”
“Yes sir,” replies his executive officer.
---
Shun hears the announcement and shakes his head in disbelief. Has he been saved from a terrible mistake, or prevented from correcting one? He has time to send a quick note ashore with the last boat before hurrying to help the deck crew with preparations to depart.
---
Taiki sits in the boat heading back to Hibiki. He is facing astern, looking at the receding shore. While around him his crewmates chatter, speculating on what all the rush could be about, he utters no word. Though his features are set and unchanging his eyes are very sad.
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