SOUTHAMPTON ENGLAND AUGUST 1918 "OLYMPIC"
Since the Armistice a week earlier, the whole of England was in an uproar. Celebrations had been going on day and night. "The unmistakable sound of the English enjoying themselves." As Arizona would say.
I hadn't seen the battleship since February and I missed her dearly. With Britannic gone, she was the closest thing I had to a sister, but she was also in a position of great power and responsibility. From what I'd heard recently, America's naval leader, America was in a bad way since her retirement. She had completely stepped down from her post. As her deputy, Arizona was now in command of the whole US fleet.
The US squadron had yet to return home so Arizona didn't know about her new position yet. I knew I'd have to keep my distance as she'd need to set a good example for her fleet and she'd done nothing but break the rules with me.
My thoughts were interrupted by a group of celebrating US soldiers marching down the dock. I could see that they were drunk because several were stumbling out of formation. "God bless England and God bless America!" They sang. I rolled my eyes.
"Looks like someone had too much scotch to drink." I muttered to Celtic. She laughed. "Or whiskey." She agreed. I sighed. I hated this next part of the 'hosting' job.
"Alright, come on! Hammocks are open on B-deck!" I called. The men at once staggered and stumbled their way up the gangplank. "Thank you." They managed to slur in English Shiptongue. Despite being born and bred Americans they were sounding very Irish.
I stifled a snigger with words like "Yeah, sure anytime. Make yourself at home." My thoughts were just the opposite however. They were more like "Idiots! Imbeciles! Didn't their moms ever teach them not to drink booze?" And so on.
Fortunately, over the years I had become an expert at hiding my thoughts from passengers and crewman alike. As much as I wanted to give my American drunks swimming lessons, I did kinda feel sorry for them.
They'd been away from home for two years in unfamiliar territory. And most of that time was spent sitting in a ditch somewhere in France or shooting or getting shot at by the Germans.
"If they're going to have a roaring headache in the morning, the least I can do is give them a place to cool their hot heads." I muttered to Celtic. She shrugged. "If you say so, Olympic." She yawned.
Just then, Baltic came steaming in, a fleet of sailboats chasing after her. "Hey! Oh, come on, give me a break!" She groaned. The little sailboats were nipping at her stern and sides.
"Get her!" They yowled. I groaned. "Hey, do you think you can keep it down a little. My men will have a headache bad enough in the morning without your noise giving them a migraine instead." I called to her. "Then they should've known better than to get roaring drunk." She shot back. "Ouch!" She yelped, turning to look at the sailboat that bit her side.
"Seriously. Why?" She groaned. "Well, why not. The war's over. Can't you at least play with us Baltic?" Morning Star asked. "Yeah, can you? Can you?" The others sang. Baltic dropped into a crouch. "Oh, you wanna play do ya?" She asked. "Boo!" She growled. The sailboats yelped and scattered. "You've got until the count of 10 before the big bad serpent comes and gets ya. 1, 2, 3... 8, 9, 10, here comes the serpent and she's hungry for some little sailboats." Baltic said and ran off. Celtic was laughing. I was annoyed. "That ship's got no time clock." I growled. "She never has." Celtic muttered.
On board, the troops decided that they were not quite drunk enough yet to go to bed. They raided the pantries for liquor and found it by the barrels. I was a big ship, so I could carry a huge store of provisions, and unfortunately that included liquor.
"So much for a good night's sleep." I grumbled. "Troops will be troops, especially Americans." Celtic replied. "Besides," She added. "I thought you were used to noise." I winced. "That was a long time ago." I said my voice tight. "Sorry, I think I'm becoming as insensible as Baltic." She said. "No, you're just a little bolder than you used to be. I think we all are." I answered.
"True enough." She muttered. We heard a loud noise and watched as the fleet of sailboats raced past, squealing in fake fright. Baltic was right behind them. "Sea, si, so, sum, I smell the blood of a little sailboaten." She growled. "Ok, that's it!" Lucania called from nearby. "The White Star prankster is going down!" She lunged at Baltic.
Yelping, Baltic dodged Lucania's attack and raced out of the harbor, Lurania following close behind. The sailboats joined in the chase. "Get her Lucania!" Celtic called. We couldn't see them but we could hear Lucania giving Baltic a pounding.
"Ooh, ow, no not the face, Lucania Ow!" Baltic yelped. Dong, smash, crunch, splat, splash. I winced at the last one. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." I muttered. "Not as much as that." Celtic replied. I looked just in time to see the lighthouse flash its light on both ships. Lucania gave Baltic a harsh shove to starboard and for good measure, kicked Baltic's propellers out from under her. Baltic landed awkwardly on her starboard side.
Landing in the breakers, she was washed up onto the lighthouse where she smashed all three propeller blades. I turned my head away, wincing. "Ooh, ouch." I muttered. A ships propeller blades and aft keel were like a cars undercarriage or a human's privates. It was the one place where we should never be hurt.
I laughed and laughed. "Oh man, she'll be feeling that tomorrow." I exclaimed. "I think she is feeling it now." Celtic replied. "Ouch." I agreed.
Celtic yawned. "Alright, I think I'll hit the bottom." She mumbled. I nodded. "Good night, Celtic." I murmured. "Good night, Olympic." She murmured back. She settled down beside me and within seconds, she was asleep.
For some reason, I had difficulty following her. Maybe it was because my drunken troops still considered it party time. I allowed it until around midnight when I turned all the lights out. "Alright, go to bed." I ordered.
Most were unhappy about this but oh well. They stumbled off to bed. Once they were fast asleep, I settled down. I always felt better when I knew they were safe. It was a strange maternal thing. Arizona had told me about the relationship between a battleship and her men.
Apparently it was the same with merchant ships as well. They reached out to me and I swear I responded to it. They presented me with love and affection and I gave them love and affection.
Once everything was quiet, I realized how tired I was. No, I was beyond tired, I was exhausted. The war had taken a lot out of me and I wasn't a young ship anymore. At 8 years of age, I was a veteran. Mauretania had a couple of years on me, but Mauretania hadn't lost two sisters for no damn reason.
I blamed nobody for their deaths. It was an accident and nothing more. But that didn't do anything to ease the pain.
I raised my bow up to look at the stars. I knew that my sisters were up there somewhere, watching me. But it wasn't the same as having them down here with me, as living steel and iron. "I love you." I whispered. I got no answer, I never expected one. Just the stars twinkling overhead showed me they were there.
Sighing, I lowered my head and settled down to sleep. I thought I'd be too wired to do so but I did almost instantly.
The next morning was a busy day. There were plenty of things to do, such as carrying the tired but victorious soldier's home. There was still partying going on, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday. Thank Neptune for that.
Celtic was docked alongside me, beside herself with joy. "It's over!" She exclaimed. I nodded. "Yes, it is." I murmured. The war had taken a lot from me, just as it had with everybody. I had lost my remaining sibling, Arabic and several others were lost. I learned that I lost one of my closest friends, Carpathia, to 3 torpedoes. Californian was gone as well.
Things were to be very different from now on to say the least. I had heard that three HAPAG liners were to join the White Star and Cunard fleets as part of war reparations. As glad as I was for a balance, I wasn't eager to meet the Germans.
Sure, the war may be all but over, but the scars of it ran deep. A German mine had taken my sister. German torpedoes had killed Lusitania, Carpathia, Arabic, Californian and many others. The last thing that I wanted was a killer in the fleet, even though these three ships had been locked away in Hamburg the whole time. That didn't make me any less uneasy. If possible, it made me even more so as I had no idea what rumors they could've picked up from the others in the harbor.
"What are you thinking about?" Celtic asked. "I don't know about these new ships." I admitted. She shrugged. "I'm not so hot on the idea either." She said. I sighed. "Why does White Star want them anyway? I've told them 'no' a hundred times." I growled. "You may be leader of the fleet and tell us what to do, but humans are another story. They do as they please, and they get what they want, whenever they want." She replied.
"And don't I know it." I muttered. "They can bring in as many ships as they want but nothing can ever replace Titanic and Britannic." I growled. Celtic smiled. "Except Arizona." She teased. I stiffened. "That's different." I exclaimed. "Yeah, it sure is." She answered.
"They're coming!" A foreman called. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I turned to face the newcomers.
I was very surprised at what I saw. Painted in HAPAG colors, the three sisters moved side by side. "HAPAG refused to repaint them, so we'll have to do the job ourselves." A workman muttered angrily. "Can you blame them? They just lost a war, all they've got is their dignity and it's being given to us right now." Another shot back.
The three ships halted in front of me. I moved forward to greet them. "Welcome. I am RMS Olympic, flagship of the White Star Line." The ship in the middle moved forward. She was over 50 feet larger than I was. "I'm Imperator and these are my younger sisters, Columbus." The one on the right dipped her head. "And Bismarck." She finished. The youngest of the trio bowed low. "It's an honor RMS Olympic." She said.
"There's no need for that, unless you're joining the navy. You're not are you?" I asked. Bismarck shook her head. "Thankfully not, that would've been too much to handle. Columbus is supposed to join Cunard and Imperator and I are to be with you." She said.
Looking at the young newcomer, I could see a difference. Imperator and Columbus looked a little wary and not too pleased to be here. I didn't blame them for that. They had just been forced to leave their home to work for lines which, even before the war, were their rivals.
Bismarck, on the other prop, seemed to be perfectly at ease amongst the British ships. She spoke with no accent, and her English Shiptongue was flawless so far as I could tell.
Looking into her ice blue eyes, I could see a deep respect blazing in them. This liner had obviously made up her mind about whose side she was on long before the end of the war.
Dipping my head to them, I said "It's good to have you here. This is my deputy, Celtic." Celtic nodded. "And our Healers, Adriatic," Adriatic came forward as she was behind a row of ships. "And Cunard's Lucania." Lurania nodded but gave no notice to the German liners. Apparently, she was still stewing over her mentor's demise at German props.
Mauretania now came forward. "Which one of you is Imperator?" She asked. The large ship came forward "I am." She said. Mauretania nodded. "I'm Mauretania, leader of Cunard. Come along, it's time to get that paint off and go to work." She said. "Ok, can I talk to my sisters for a minute please?" She asked. Mauretania nodded. "Of course." She murmured understandingly. "Just don't take too long." She added.
Imperator turned to her cousins. "Well, it looks like I'll have a checkerboard for smokestacks now." She said. Bismarck laughed softly. "You may be Cunard and we may be White Star but we are still family no matter where they put us. Nothing can change that." She said. "Sister's forever." Columbus sang. "Forever." Imperator echoed. "Forever." Bismarck finished.
I turned my head away to get a lid on my emotions. It was almost the exact same thing I had said to Titanic in the building yard. 'I will always believe you for we will always be sisters.' Titanic looked at me with those adoring crimson eyes of hers. 'Promise?' She asked. I nodded. 'Promise.' I replied.'
The three siblings shared a brief but powerful embrace. Even stern Imperator's eyes were watery. "See you later." She called as she raced off alongside Mauretania. Columbus and Bismarck now turned to me. Sufficiently in control now, I turned back to them and smiled. "Ready?" I asked. Bismarck nodded. "Ready!" She sang enthusiastically. "Yes, we're ready." Columbus echoed.
"Then it's off to Belfast for a repaint, and then you may report back here for duty." I ordered. Columbus dipped her head in a small bow and left. Bismarck remained behind. "Yes, what is it?" I asked. "I was wondering, will I be allowed to see my sister?" She asked. "The White Star-Cunard rivalry will most certainly be reactivated now that the war's over but I'll talk to Mauretania. She'll be sure to understand." I replied.
"Do you understand?" She asked. I hadn't expected such a question from the new ship. "More than you think." I answered carefully. She dipped her head. "Sorry if I offended you, Olympic." She said.
"Not at all." I assured her. "I encourage curiosity." She nodded. "As with your sister, it's fine if you want to hang with her. And I'm sure Mauretania would agree. Just as long as it doesn't affect your duties." I told her. "Thanks, Olympic." She sang and loped off to Belfast.