The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

Chapter 17

Arriving late in the evening back in the docks the young engineer grabbed some of the petrol and filled the lantern up. Lighting it he walked into his little room. Entering it he was surprised to see Prinz Eugen sitting there on his makeshift bed. "You made yourself quiet at home already. Seems like you can't get rid of your bad habits even when you are not at our base." She greeted him with her mocking attitude. " And how long have you been sitting here in the cold darkness?" He replied without stopping a beat. " Not that long. The welcoming was a rather formal thing at the start but the dinner was very pleasant. Especially the amounts of drinks and drinking company. I have to say I never thought to find compatriots that could keep up with me but they all are formidable. Especially that little destroyer and Gangut. But, I am only a bit tipsy and I wanted to figure out how you are doing." She answered while standing up. While the young engineer lit up a fire in the stove, she continued: " So. I see that you have made yourself at home already. Quite a cosy little place you have built here. But I am surprised that I haven't found you here when I showed up. After all I thought it was your duty to always be here at the ready. You have not made any friends here have you? It would be terrible to find out that you are not a heartless machine that runs perfectly without any need for maintenance." She mocked him.

Dropping her deaminer she started to talk seriously: " Anyways. Now that the two of us are here, I can tell you why we are here next to being glorified photo decorations. The admiralty has sent us here to figure out how combat capable the Northern Parliament fleet is. There have been incidents between different nations and factions in the last weeks. Both northern and Ironblood civilian ships have gone missing at the borders to our territorial waters. It was thought to be Sirens but there has not been any proof for that. What survivors on our side stated was that they were attacked by shipgirls. Next to our U-Boote there is only the possibility that the shipgirls of the Northern Parliament have entered our waters and attacked our civilian ships. We are here to find proof of these claims and to see what we have to deal with in a potential conflict." After lighting the two sources of light and heat the young engineer had set down on a little chest and had listened to Prinz Eugens words. " So we are here to spy on the people? How wonderful. I can't think of anything better than being send on a mission that promises torture and death should only the smallest thing go wrong. So I guess that also explains why you arrived here without your rigging? So they can't spy on our equipment? Where did you leave it anyways?" He answered her expose. " I hid it nearby with the help of one U-Boot. She is guarding it for me. But yes you figured out the reason why I arrived here without it. I don't like the idea of spying either, but we have to do what we are told, don't we?" She answered while giving the young engineer a questioning look. "Also, do you speak the language of the people here? They had to have one of the shipgirls translate everything I said and everything that was said to me. Not being able to read or understand the people here makes the entire mission a lot harder." She said. " I do speak the language good enough to have conversations and I can read them at least a little bit." He answered her. She nodded and concluded: " That must surfice. From now on you will work by my side as my translator. Otherwise there is no way I could talk with anyone here or do our job." He nodded in agreement.

" Apropos." She continued and changed the topic of the conversation: " Congratulations, you made it here before me. I guess you won our little race. Well, next to the pride you can take from beating a girl there is nothing else to win. But hey, be proud of yourself for winning." She said in her teasing manner and gave him her typical smile. She sat there for some time longer, watching the flames consume a piece of wood, until she abruptly spoke: " Anyways. I will head over to the dorm I was assigned to. I will see you in the morning. Meet me at my room at 8. See you then." With that rather quick conclusion of their conversation Prinz stood up from the young engineer's bed and walked out of his self built room. Once again waving him her little goodbye.

Thinking about what his new task would mean ensured that the young engineer had a long night ahead and it took him a long while to find his way into the land of dreams.