Maiden of the USS Indianapolis

Part eight

After Tinian we sailed straight for Guam. There, we were supposed to recieve new orders and change out some of the crew. Many of the men had served on this ship for their whole service, and now that their military contracts were ending, they wanted solid ground.
I'm sure many of the boys waiting in Guam were fresh-faced greenies who had just enlisted or been drafted.
As we neared the docks in Guam, I saw that my initial thought was right. Most of the men seemed too young to even grow a beard. There were a couple who were older, but many were bare faced. They all smiled up at the ship, however, cheering at the sight of the massive hull of the Indianapolis.
I smiled down at them. My new boys! New names and faces! New opportunities to prank people! I was going to be in heaven over the next few days.
About thirty men were changed out while we were in Guam. The chaos in changing bunks meant that it was infinitely easier for me to pull a couple extra pranks. My laugh was a nice, welcome noise to my ears as it rang off the walls. It had been so long since I had laughed.
The youngest boys wanted to peg a ghost as the culprit of the gags, and I smiled to see at how close they were.
Maidens aren't fully alive, not in the sense that humans are. We are more similar to angels than to humans. But we aren't exactly ghosts either.
Obviously we can interact with our environment, despite not being heard or seen.
Ghosts are the opposite. They can be heard and seen -even if only by a few- but they cannot interact with their environment.
My smile slipped as I recalled what I felt at Tinian. That strange presence had not shown itself since then, but I was paranoid.
I was constantly checking over my shoulder, watching the boys closer now than ever. Even with the bomb components off the ship I still felt a constant threat of danger from something. I just couldn't place my see-through finger on what it was.
The PA system crackled. A whistle, long, high, then low. A private spoke first: "Now hear this, now hear this!" The next voice was the Captain's. 
"This is Captain McVay. We are currently getting ready to sail for Leyte, where we will all undergo training. This training is to prepare us for joining Vice Admiral Oldendorf's task force in Okinawa. Please stow all of your gear and make your way to your stations as we leave Guam. That is all. Than you."
The PA system crackled again as it clicked off. I left the boys finishing up their bunk sorting and went to pay the captain a visit. My footsteps fell on deaf ears as I made my way to Captain McVay's quarters. Once I got in the main deck a strong gust of wind blew my hair away from my face. My bangs came out of the Bobby pin and fell into my eyes. The pinafore I was wearing wrapped around my legs, causing me to stumble.
Thankfully I stumbled right into the door of the Captain's stateroom. Literally into the door. It felt weird phasing through things, as if my arms were being left outside of the wall and then slowly pulled through once my torso made it all the way through.
I shivered once I stepped all the way inside the room. My hands and feet still tingled like they were dunked in ice water. That's the biggest reason why I try to use the actual doors as much as possible.
Captain McVay was hunched over several maps on his table. His first mate was standing next to him, holding a compass. McVay removed his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. "I was told that there will not be any threat of Japanese submarines in our route. As we go towards Leyte, we will take standard precautions."
I could feel the ship start to move under my feet. Sitting on the floor, i tucked my legs under one another and leaned back against the wall. I made sure I was out of the way of the door though. Having someone walk through me is slightly less annoying than phasing through a wall, but it was still uncomfortable. That, plus a door would leave my fingers tingling for hours. Yeash.
"As traditional we will zigzag for most of the trip." Captain McVay straightens and looks at his fury mate. "However, since we are behind schedule, we will sail straight on cloudy nights. Understood?" The first mate nodded.
I sat up straighter. Not zigzagging? Zigzagging was standard protocol for avoiding salvos from submarines. But if Command had said that there wasn't any threat of submarines in the area, then sailing straight on cloudy nights must be the best way to make up time. The cloud cover would protect against being spotted by a sub and the straight sailing would help make up for lost time. Plus, several other Maidens had described to me that their captains do the same things sometimes.
Captain McVay and his first mate parted ways and I remained on the floor, mulling things over.
This decision could change the fate of this entire ship.
For better or for worse.