Upon getting confirmation from Enterprise that Miss Madeline was ready to proceed with the next step, me and commander Alex went through a list of all the ship girls currently on base and picked out the ones we felt would be beneficial to her welfare and had the least chance of upsetting her before calling them to meet in his office.
Vestal and Washington were the first ones to arrive, since they already knew who Madeline was and the story behind her, they could introduce her to the others who have yet to know the full truth and keep them in line from doing or saying anything that might upset her.
I would also be included in that task, seeing as I knew the score just as much as they did and follow them around the base while the commander stayed in his office and worked.
They both arrived sometime after 10:00 when the call was first made and conversed amongst each other tiredly in the hallway while waiting for the commander to call them in, which I thought was a little rude of him since he revealed that it was only because he was waiting for the other three to get here before discussing anything.
Fortunately, he soon got a call twenty minutes later that they had just entered the building and granted me permission to let the two in the room, which I did so immediately and then proceeded to watch the two march in with cross faces and Washington raise her finger pointedly towards the commander.
"You have some nerve making us wait that long, you could have at least let us in." She said to him.
The commander leaned back in his chair and cracked his neck, "Well... I figured that it would be better if you two were here before Madeline and Enterprise arrived so that you could bring the other three people we're letting in on this whole thing up to speed. I would have preferred that we'd had a bit more time to introduce what the plan is regarding her but it seems like they instead choose to take their sweet time in getting here."
"So that's supposed to justify leaving us out there in that cold hallway."
"It's not that cold, besides the heating's on."
"Barely." Vestal added, clearly shivering a bit in her light breezy clothing and trying to wrap the extra bits of cloth around her.
"Look, will it make you feel better if I apologize?" The commander said resting his arms on his desk and his chin on his interlocked hands.
"No." "Maybe." Vestal and Washington both said at the same time, allowing him to slip in, "I'm sorry, there, we're all good." answering for seemingly both of them and upsetting Washington just a little bit more.
They continued arguing between each other while me and Vestal stood off to the side, trying desperately to tune them out until finally there was a knock on the door, silencing the two of them.
"Well, as fun as this has been, perhaps it would be better if we got down to business." He spoke and gestured over to me, "Belfast, can you let them in please."
I gave a quick nod and walked on over to the door, opening it for the people waiting on the other end.
The first person to walk through the door I instantly recognized as the battleship North Carolina, her long blond hair and tall figure paired with a white uniform and an armband displaying our state flag made it easy, she entered with the room with the same type of poise she took everywhere with her.
The person following her I judged as the Light Cruiser Reno, her short white hair bobbing with every step she took and her black skirt with white lining and a star emblazoned on it swaying with her movements, she looked a bit excited and a little anxious to be there so it was obvious to see that she was expecting to receive an assignment greater than the one she would be presented with.
And finally the last person walked through the door, this one was a bit harder to place but eventually I got was able to place her as the submarine chaser Lingard, her shorter height was a drastic shift from the other two but she kept quick pace with them, her short red hair poked out and curled around the Dixie Cup she wore and her dark blue ascot hung out from underneath her collar which carried two pins, each one being the numbers 11 and 68 respectively. The rest of her apparel consisted of a tan dress suit and a similarly colored knee length skirt with white lining and on the floor boards clicked the pair of fine running shoes that she was known to wear.
She was just finishing off an apple as she joined up with the rest of us clearly having just finished off an early lunch or a late breakfast and as she took the last bite, she tossed the core in the nearby trash bin where it landed with a wet thunk which the commander immediately took notice of.
"You know it's always a pleasure to have you around, Lingard but would it kill you to simply walk on over to the waste basket to place your trash in it instead of throwing it from halfway across the room?" He asked.
She scoffed and wore a sly smile, "And why would I do that when I can just as quickly toss it in from here, besides," she said and looked directly towards, "why should you be allowed to complain about me when you were the one who called us here supposedly for something important and didn't think to disclose anything."
The commander looked a bit more embarrassed with that last statement and stammered with his words for a bit as he tried to come up with a clever answer but eventually he gave up the ghost and said, "...You do have a point there and for that, I apologize. With it though, perhaps we can get down to the reason I called you here."
"Fine with me." She replied and returned to the line in front of the desk with her hands clasped behind her.
"Right. Now, I'm sure that by now you all may have heard some rumors about a ship of some sort we currently have stationed in one of our drydocks."
North Carolina thought on it and was going to answer but was cut off by Reno who said, "Not exactly like that, but we have heard people talking about other things involving a recovered ship. Stories of rusted metal and people going stark-raving mad, is that what you mean?"
"Er, yes. I didn't know they were quite that violent but that's right, although I think you cut off miss Carolina there."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Reno apologized and North Carolina quickly replied with, "It's quite alright, now may we please continue." and spurred on the commander.
"Alright then, now even though the extent to some of those rumors may seem a bit drastic in some places I also can't deny that most of them are probably based on fact. In truth, we did recover a ship five days ago, she sent out a distress signal and an attack occurred when they Vestal, Washington and Enterprise found her."
And he gestured to the other two still stationed to the sides of the room with Vestal near me and Washington standing near a picture of the USS Arizona that hung on the wall, the three in the middle turned their heads towards them and they waved weakly in return.
"Now it is also true that the ship recovered was very old and had been abandoned for quite some time, she was in a horrible condition when we first found her with her entire structure completely coated in rust and much of her machinery in horrible condition and even worse than that, the entire crew was found dead inside."
To me and the others this news was already familiar and as such, came as no surprise but to the three people fresh to this situation, it was one of the most shocking things they've ever heard. North Carolina's eyes went wide and her stance went rigid as she quickly tried to regain her composure, Reno clasped her hands over her face and let out a small but noticeable gasp and Lingard had her mouth agape and wore a worried expression in response to this startling revelation.
"Jesus Christ." She quietly said as she shook her head and stared down at the floor.
"Fortunately, this is where things start to get a little brighter. Since her recovery we have been working repairing her ship and restoring her to full operational status, progress has been going steadily and she should be set to sail in just a few more days but it was decided that in that time, she should be introduced to the base. Which is where you three come in, now normally I would have only employed these two and Enterprise to watch after her but unfortunately the ship girl paired with this vessel was accosted by a couple of FBI agents who thought it would be a good idea to rough her around a little."
"Whoa, wait a minute. You never told us anything about this." Washington spoke up and stood up from leaning against the wall, "Is she alright?"
"She's fine but the experience had her a little shaken up so it was decided that it might be better if she went around with a bit more protection, which is why your here, you're going to be walking around with her to make sure that if any trouble does arise, you'll be able to put an end to it, keeping away any people who want to get a little too hands on or just someone wishing to stir up something and cause some damage. You'll also work to introduce her to the other members of the base, slowly of course as to not overwhelm her but enough so by the time she's able to start training, she'll be comfortable."
One of them was about to say something in response, maybe ask a question when a knock sounded from the door.
"Ah, it seems that our guests have finally arrived. Belfast, can you please let them in." He asked, I gave an affirmative nod towards them and walked towards the door, opening it for the people waiting on the other side before being taken aback a little at the sight on the other side.
Enterprise was familiar enough but it took a moment to even recognize the girl standing next to her as Madeline, she looked like an entirely different person from the one we had come to know. She had taken a shower recently so the tangled hair she was always seen with was nearly straight with a soft curl here and the uniform she wore was a far cry from the tattered clothing she was found in.
It honestly looked rather nice on her and seemed to suit her perfectly.
Enterprise coughed into her hand and gestured to me, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to what I was doing so I quickly recovered myself and let them into the room, allowing the rest to see them.
The commander took notice of her new uniform and applauded her, prompting her to move and hide behind Enterprise, "I must say! That new outfit looks good on you, I applaud your good taste."
"Sir." Enterprise spoke up and addressed him as she placed her arm over Madeline, "Might you calm it down a bit, I think you're scaring her."
"Oh, I apologize, I didn't realize. Um. Anyways, this is the person you will be escorting around the base, introducing to people and teaching the daily schedule, don't worry about Enterprise, she's assigned to be with her at all times. You mind introducing yourself?"
The young miss stepped out from behind Enterprise and presented herself to everyone in the room, a crutch still positioned underneath her arm and said, "H-Hello, my name is Madeline, it's a pleasure to meet you."
North Carolina took the first move and raised her arm over her chest and gave a short bow and said, "Hello, my name is North Carolina, a North Carolina-class BB-55 battleship, pleased to meet your acquaintance." followed by Reno who did a small curtsey and said, "My name is Reno, an Atlantic-class CL-96 light cruiser, nice to meet you too." and finally came Lingard who waved her hand in greeting and said, "Hello, my name is Lin-"
The commander interrupted her by clearing his throat before saying, "Now Lingard, as much as you may hate your title, you still have to say it." which spurred her to turn and stare at him angrily until finally she sighed and turned back to answer properly.
"My name is the... PC-1168 Teakettle, a PC-461-class submarine chaser. But I go by Lingard!" She finished off loudly, shouting at the others to shut up when they started snickering before calming down and allowing the commander to continue.
"Now that introductions are finished, does anybody have any questions they would like to ask."
Nobody seemed to have anything to say until Lingard spoke up, "Now that all the pleasantries are over may I say something?" she asked and waited to see if anyone would protest, when nobody did she continued.
"Now, since you are a new recruit and since they said that you were found in the middle of the ocean, I can only assume that you were one of those natural summons, is that correct?"
Madeline thought on the question for but a moments before nodding her head in affirmation.
"And I can also assume that since you said your name was Madeline and since that I can remember no United States military ships named Madeline that you are like me and prefer a different name to the one you carry, right?"
Another nod.
"Well if that's the case, then perhaps you could tell us what your ship class and your actual name is, it wouldn't hurt to know right?" She asked expecting an easy response but to her surprise, she watched as Madeline started going back and forth on what to do, how to answer, and the commander seeing her conflict decided to offer up a choice.
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to but you will have to do it at some point, it's your decision.
Madeline thought it over and looked to Enterprise who told her something similar to what the commander said and after a short while, she came to a decision.
"A-Alright, I'll tell you, but just... promise not to freak out?"
The three were a bit confused by what she meant by that and why she thought that they would react badly but eventually they all agreed to keep any sudden reactions to a minimum, allowing her to take a deep calming breath before answering.
"I am a Victory-class cargo ship, the VC2-S-AP1 Ourang Medan."
Then everyone watched as each of them went still, with eyes wide just staring at Madeline in complete silence and the sudden tension that filled the room caused each of them to shift awkwardly in their spot before the room was suddenly filled with noise as the three all screamed simultaneously a single loud exclamation.
"WHAT!?"