Hearing from the foreman working on the Ourang Medan that a couple of G-men had come down from Washington D.C. to try and reclaim the ship for investigation had certainly been surprising but not unexpected, to be frank the most surprising part of the whole ordeal was how long it had taken for them to notice.
This and the way they were going about the whole business.
They went down to the Dry Dock without proper permission, there was no warning sent proclaiming their arrival and they didn't contact the base commander at all beforehand to at least discuss the manner and reasoning behind their interfering.
You'd think for being the base commander, they'd give you a little more respect as a high ranking officer in comparison to a normal civilian but they didn't even wait for us to have a conversation with each other explaining their presence before disappearing from sight, leaving behind only the impressions they left on the people they encountered.
And it wasn't like we could just give them a call because surprisingly, throughout everything that happened, they did not once give out their contact info.
I was upset, sure. You'd think that they'd at least conduct themselves a bit more responsibly, but instead of focusing on what should have happened we looked into what did.
So, we asked for a couple of personnel to go around questioning people on how the FBI agents had acted so that we could file a report on their behavior later while me and Belfast went once again to visit Madeline and Enterprise before the day was over.
Chances were that the second those G-men had heard that the Ourang Medan had actually belonged to Madeline, they took off running towards her hospital, eager to ask intruding questions and berate her for giving non-sufficient answers.
Though I did ponder what those FBI agents might have took for sufficient.
The ride over was overall quick much like it had been the past few days but hopefully it would be the last one, progress on the Ourang Medan had been going swimmingly and hopefully they would be ready by tomorrow to start moving on to the repairs though the correct phrasing would probably be overhaul.
It would all be worth it in the end though, so long as Madeline would make a full recovery and be able to sail properly without risk of harming herself.
We arrived at the hospital and walked to her room but were surprised this time to find a nurse standing outside the door, normally they would just be walking about and occasionally check in on her so to see one standing guard like this raised a couple questions.
"Excuse me." I called out to the man who reacted almost immediately by turning to face me and giving a salute, "O-Oh, Commander! I wasn't expecting to see you here today."
"You can relax, kid. You're not on trial here." I responded and he seemed to relax a little.
"Yes, right. Thank you sir."
"It's fine. So, is it alright for us to head in?"
"Oh you can head inside but I'm afraid you'll have to keep the noise down."
"How so?"
"I don't know the details myself but Miss Enterprise told me stand guard here and watch for any men in black suits who'll try to approach us. They had apparently gotten into an argument regarding Miss Madeline and had upset her quite a bit, so she also asked if she could have the room to herself while she tried to keep her calm. It was quite some time ago though so I think that she might be sleeping now, I'm not entirely certain though, I didn't want to intrude on their privacy."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind, thank you."
"Thank you, sir!" He proclaimed and then stepped away from the door allowing us to creak the door open carefully and silently before slowly stepping inside.
The sound of the door closing and the soft tapping of our footsteps echoed across the room along with the subtle noise of soft breathing and we started slowly walked on over to her bed before stopping in slight shock of the sight before us.
Laying in the mattress not but 5 bed frames away from us was Madeline, she was sleeping relatively peacefully and only stirred occasionally with her eyes twitching randomly or an incoherent name or sentence being muttered from her lips.
That wasn't seeing her sleeping that shocked us though, it was seeing who was sleeping next to her.
Lady Enterprise was resting right next to her with a relaxed look on her face as well, her legs were pulled up onto the bed and her left arm was draped over Madeline's torso while her right was being used as a headrest, and her hair while still looking neat and clean was slightly disheveled.
Enterprise was not known to get comfortable with other people, it's true that some people would confide in her from time to time to either talk about a mistake they made recently that ended up costing them or something in their past that they regret and want to get off their chest but apart from offering her piece of advice and a quick hug, she would never grow close to those people and typically they would only meet occasionally afterwards.
Aside from those rare moments, she was rather militaristic, sticking to order and following every command to the best of her ability, it was part of what made her such a good soldier but it also meant that she wasn't exactly the life of the party, she didn't know how to relax or express her feelings.
This was part of what made it so shocking to find her in this position, sleeping softly next to someone she had practically just met and embracing them warmly without any of that usual tension or impassiveness.
Perhaps it was because of the nature of the current situation and the current mental state of her ward.
In those other instances the person she would console would always end up moving past their issues in one way or another and never met after that, their pain and regrets were always temporary and small, easily fixed with a word of advice or two.
But Madeline is a much more complicated case, what she has been through is not something that one could just look past and be fine afterwards, it had left a major impact on her life and it was something that she had to live with for years without anyone there to help her so it would make sense the Enterprise would have to take a different approach with her.
Different meaning that she would have to let her emotions show and let her get close to Madeline so that she could learn to relax around her beyond relying on her to get around and playing games with her to pass the time, so that she could learn how to live with this pain without letting it affect her daily life which meant that occasionally she would have to embrace her to calm her down.
And maybe she was aware of her actions, maybe she was not but in either case, Madeline's process would be good for both of them in the end.
But anyways, we couldn't just stand here watching and waiting for her to wake up, we didn't have the time for that.
Gently, I reached down and nudged her on the shoulder causing her to stir for just a moment before relaxing back into her position so I nudged her just a little bit more and this time she cracked open her eyes just a bit and looked around the room, taking notice of me.
"Mmm," She groaned as she eyed me tiredly, "Good morning, commander..." then she appeared to start nodding off to sleep but instead her eyes shot open as she took full notice of my presence and tried to stand up quickly.
"Ahh, C-Commander! I-" She started to almost shout out but I cut her off by raising a finger to my mouth and shushing her, she stared at me confused for but a moment before taking note of the girl clinging to her arm, thankfully still asleep but with brows furrowed in agitation.
Carefully, Enterprise grabbed a pillow from the other bed and slowly removed her arm from Madeline's grasp and replacing it with that which she then snuggled into, a small smile appearing on her face for but a moment before disappearing.
Then she patted herself down softly and followed us out of the room, going right into a straight and stiff position and a raised salute just as soon as we closed the door.
"Commander, sir! I apologize for my crude appearance and my appalling behavior back there, if you think that punishment is necessary in any way-"
"It isn't." I again cut her off leaving her to blankly stare at me in return, "You didn't do anything particularly bad back there. In fact, it was actually nice seeing you giving Miss Madeline such comfort although, I would have liked it if you looked a bit more... presentable."
She frowned slightly and grumbled a bit but her posture seemed to relax a bit and she slowly lowered her hand, "Er... yes... Sorry, commander."
"It's quite alright, just let me know if I should start expecting wedding bells in the near future." I said jokingly and Enterprise seemed to take on an entirely different demeanor, she started waving her hands and shaking her head, "Don't even joke about that commander, something like that happening is entirely impossible besides," she said and placed her hand against her chest, "my duty is only to you and the base, marital romance is completely out of the question."
I chuckled a bit, "No need to act so offensive on the subject, I was just doing as you said, joking. Though we should probably be moving onto more serious matters."
"Such as?" Enterprise asked, a lot more calmer now that we were moving to a different subject.
"I assume that you've heard of a few FBI agents waltzing around the premises and causing something of a stir and we were wondering if you happened to come across a few here."
She sneered and crossed her arms, "A stir is something of an understatement."
"So you have come across a couple of these men."
"That's one way to put it, but yes."
"Did they discuss anything with you?"
"Yes, commander." She said before turning around to start walking someplace else, "Though we'll probably have to go someplace a lot more quieter and isolated before I start sharing it with you."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not so sure if I'll be able to stop myself from shouting while explaining," She then turned around to face us while still walking down the hall, "And I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to either once I tell you."
"They did what!?" I shouted in reaction, my voice echoing around the small empty room we were in while Belfast simply wore a look of shock and anger, clenching her fists to her side.
"Exactly as I said. They simply started to start presenting her with more accusations then questions and then went to insulting her credibility and physically assaulting her." Enterprise finished sighing at the end of it.
"Please tell me you hit him." I begged her, "Please tell me you decked him right in the face."
Enterprise smiled, "Right in the nose, a bit of blood started dribbling too. Though if you ask me, it wasn't nearly enough for him."
"Commander?" Belfast interjected and I turned to face her, watching as she started wringing a bit of her skirt in her hands, "Do I have permission to give them a beating if we come across them again?" she asked.
"If we ever see them again, you can do anything you like." I answered and saw as a small smile also appeared on her face.
"Speaking of which, you didn't happen to catch their names, did you?" I asked Enterprise.
"They said that their names were Joseph Sedal and Michael Chicane and that we apparently met the first one at Truman's Inaugural Ball."
"The name doesn't sound familiar."
"That's because he was one of the attending guards there, beside, how much of that party does anyone remember anyways."
I chuckled a little bit, "Well, you've certainly got a point, there."
Things were a bit quiet after that until Enterprise spoke up again, "So, commander."
"Yes?"
"What exactly do we do from here in regards to... just... well, everything?"
"Apart from have those agents put in the brig the second they set foot in the base?"
"Yes, apart from that." She said with a sly smile.
"Well, we start by increasing guard on the Ourang Medan, enforcing special badges and sending out more night patrol, that sort of thing. Then we employ more repairmen, outsourcing to those outside the base and skilled in their craft that way we could have her fully repaired and ready to sail in a much shorter time."
"Alright, anything else."
"The only left to do would be to have you continue to help Madeline adjust and heal, helping her exercise while also making sure that she's healing properly, then helping her get integrated with the base, introducing her to other people and keeping away anyone who wishes to take advantage of her."
"But if I'm busy looking after her then I wouldn't be able to go out and fight, I'm one of the most skilled and powerful fighters on this base and you'd rather keep me at home babysitting. Oh commander, I'm sorry but have you thought this all the way through."
"Now watch your tongue, Enterprise. Don't forget who your talking to, I may be your friend but I am your commander, first and fore-most." She looked down at the floor, looking like she regretted what she said but still was upset with my decision, "And you're right, you are one of the best fighters I have and I obviously can't have you stationed here all the time when you could be needed elsewhere. So whenever I call you out to sea, Miss Belfast can take after her and make sure that she has all the help she needs when you're away."
Belfast appeared to nod, "It would be my pleasure, sir." she said in affirmation and Enterprise also appeared to cheer up just a bit, obviously still a little upset that she has to continue watching after Madeline after having already been with her for three days.
"Don't worry," I consoled her, "It won't be long until your out there fighting again. In the meantime though, I think it's best that we continue on our current course and deal with the repercussions as they come to us."
Everyone seemed to agree with that last notion and soon the conversation was ended with me and Belfast heading back home and Enterprise heading back to Madeline's room.
It was already Nightfall by the time we arrived at the manor, the few butlers on staff greeting us tiredly and a warm meal already set, it's contents already somewhat cool from the wait yet still enjoyable as we feasted upon it before setting to bed.
We were walking up the main flight of stairs to the rooms when Belfast popped the question, "So, what are you going to do next, commander?"
"How do you mean?"
"I'm talking about those FBI agents that dropped by, obviously you were thinking about them from how quiet you were at dinner."
"Well, you're not wrong about that. Truth be told, I don't know what to make of it from the accusations he made to that thing about the sirens."
"Do you think he was telling the truth."
"Aside from all that other bullshit he was spouting about Madeline, yes, I do. Siren attacks have been rather sparse as of late and the last attack by them was nearly a month ago so it would make sense that they're planning something, to what end, that's the real question. Along with how Madeline is tied up in all of it."
"You honestly think that she has something to do with it, she arrived to this world only four days ago."
"I don't think that she's involved with anything intentionally but I do think that she's in some way connected with a bigger plot." I answered opening the door to my room and starting removing my uniform.
"And you think that the government is also involved in some way?" She asked catching me off guard, stopping me halfway into placing my hat on the shelf.
"I didn't say that."
"You were thinking it, there's a difference."
I cleared my throat nervously, "Well, the fact that a couple days after she arrived a couple of FBI agents show up at our doorstep claiming that they need to reclaim the Ourang Medan and that they were 'taking her off our hands' in such a nonchalant way made me at least question if they had honorable intentions."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that they in some way knew that she was involved in something previously and wanted to hide it so they tried taking her away as quickly as they could before we could stop and ask ourselves why they were doing it. And that the sirens were in some way involved."
"Because they correlated her with the sudden absence of siren attacks without any basis of proof."
"And that means... what exactly?" She asked me, prompting me to turn around and face her with tie still in hand.
"It simply means that our theories now have some proof, something did happen to the original Ourang Medan and the government was in some way involved, the sirens are also plotting something that involves her, and we'll be expecting to see something of both of them in the near future."