Legends

Chapter 17~ Sparkly Magical Shipgirl BullS*t!

Admiral Carraway had seen more than enough shipgirl antics to know that nothing would ever be "normal" again. Hell even the girls definition of normal was crazy by human standards. Carrway could say he'd developed a tolerance for it. But there was only so much he could take. Tegran a shipgirl, not just any shipgirl but Titanic herself. Tang, suddenly appearing out of no where. And now Olympia scowering the entire city for her berthmate Becuna because well, cruiser logic. If one submarine was back then they all should be back... yeah Carraway needed a drink, soon.

For now however, he focused his attentions on the girls in front of him. His ears were ringing from the latest blast of some vessel slipping into the tight harbor. Whoever she was, she was being very loud! Normandie looked very subdued, the destroyers even more so. No wonder as Bluenose was still glaring at them. Carraway had no idea what they did to make the schooner that angry and he decided he really didn't want to know. Tang was doing her best to keep at attention but it was difficult as she was constantly resisting the urge to steal something off his desk.

Carrway started his rant by lecturing the submarine. "A dishwasher, an entire set of fine china, a kribbage board, enough food to feed a small army, and everything else but the kitchen sink! You are to return everything you stole back to the supermarket, today!"

Tang flushed bright red but agreed, knowing better than to argue with her Admiral. Carrway turned to Normandie. "Four whole shelves destroyed. What did I tell you about leashing destroyers?"

"To do it tighter?" Normandie asked.

"That would be what Olympia told you." Carraway deadpanned.

She sighed. "To not to sir."

"Why?"

"Because they get even more, rambunctious and naughty when they are leashed." Normandie replied.

"Exactly. Cleanup duty for two weeks."

Normandie didn't argue. Carraway focused on the remaining delinquents. Looking at Bluenose he had to work to push down his sympathy. She had done the best she could to wrangle the crazy pair of DDs in front of her. Still, it was on her advice that Normandie had leashed them.

"Port watch for a week." Carraway told her and she agreed. "Now get out of here." He told all of them.

Just then another ear-splitting horn blast rattled the windows, shook the office to its foundations and rattled loose Carraway's fragile temper. Shooting a glare cold enough to freeze ice at the girls he growled "And go find out who is making all that noise!"

They all had no trouble obeying his command.

.................................................

Tang went off to follow her admiral's command and return her stolen items back to the supermarket. Bluenose went into the drydocks to be with Thebaud as she had done for every waking hour (and sometimes non-waking hours) since her counterpart had been put in the dock. Neunzer and Davis, happy to be free of the schooner's harsh discipline ran to rejoin their Canadian friends to do, whatever it was that destroyers did. Normandie decided she really didn't want to know.

Having nothing better to do she wondered over to the docks to check on Titanic. Her wounds had been repaired, now Bridgeport was converting her to an AMC. Her work was nearly done, it was just a matter of cosmetics now. Normandie nearly jumped out of her skin as, again that horn sounded. Her radar worked overtime to try and pinpoint the sound. Such a loud horn meant a rather large ship. Her lookouts identified what appeared to be a red funnel poking out from behind the trees on the far side of the river bend. "Hmph, probably hit the sandbar. Oh well." Normandie really was not in the mood to care.

Distracted as she was she forgot one of the most important rules when entering the docks. Going in, one always expected a lack of decency from the girls in the baths. Either they had a skimpy swimsuit on, or nothing at all. The latter was most likely the case with Titanic. Not that Normandie cared. She was French and she would be lying if she said that the thought of seeing Titanic naked didn't excite her a bit. Still, the older liner was big on propriety and it was just a polite thing to do. It at least gave the repair ships a brief heads up that someone was coming inside.

Normandie forgot that memo and went in without knocking. And promptly nearly stumbled over herself in shock. "How," She stammered. "Are you even here?!"

'You' was a dark redhead with pale blue eyes. She had olive colored skin only lightly tanned from the last time she was in the Med. Her skinny jeans and "New York is my Second Home" T-shirt formed well with her figure. A figure that bore the hallmarks of Chantiers built ship. Normandie should know. She was taller than Normandie by several inches and the French liner felt a pang of jealousy when she realized that the other girl's assets outweighed hers! Probably literally! Seeing her with her 'kanmusu eyes' revealed a structure that held 18 decks, six more than her. On the top deck sat two pools for cruising in warmer weather and a massive dome hid a planetarium for seeing the stars out at sea. The wartime environment had given her a radar set to rival any modern warships'. The traditional black hull was now dazzle gray. Normandie wasn't sure why the dazzle was necessary. Wartime gray worked just fine. But she had to admit that the patterns looked nice on her. So here was another line who clearly outclassed her in every way, hanging over a sleeping Titanic like a lovesick puppy and that just wouldn't do! Normandie felt her steam lines heating up.

As surely as Normandie was looking her competition over, so was the competition doing the same. For her part Mary was secretly impressed. Normandie was a classic liner, something that Mary could never be despite how hard she tried. The influence of cruising was just too strong, too ingrained in her to ever give her 'purity'. Liners like Normandie, her mother, and her aunt were true liners. That Mary didn't consider herself a true liner was not something she talked about. It was a failing she kept hidden. She pushed that aside for the moment and allowed her jealousy at Normandie's pure lines, her gorgeous three stacks, and her perfectly flared bow come to the forefront.

Thus Mary's response to Normandie's question was as blunt as her bulbous bow. "I came to say high."

"That is not what I meant!" Normandie's flustered response confirmed Mary's suspicions. The older liner had been looking quite intently at her rack. Mary couldn't help but preen a little, delighting in seeing how Normandie became increasingly red faced. She was going to burst a steam pipe at this rate.

"I just, disembarked via a tender." Mary shrugged.

"But your hull is afloat!" Normandie protested.

"Last time I checked." Mary shrugged. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if you could get some tugs out there. I uh, may have misjudged that corner a bit and got introduced to a sandbar."

Normandie, despite being clearly confused, burst out laughing. Mary pouted but seeing that the older ship was surely as jealous as her as she was likewise, she let her have it.

"Okay, I'm gonna phrase this as nicely and and clearly as possible." Normandie began once she'd stopped chortling. "How can you leave your hull?"

Mary knew what she was asking and it gave her pause. She really didn't know. QE2 could do it as well. Little Liz could too. A fact which consistently rankled Victoria who could not, despite how hard she tried. She was also not as easily seen by her crew. Mary never had to work at that, even before the war broke out. And stories from her mother confirmed that the first Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth had just as much freedom of movement. Seeing no way to turn her answer into something irritating, Mary gave the most honest response she could give. "I have honestly no idea. I've always been able to do it."

"Always as in...?" Normandie frowned.

"Before the war. Hell since I was built. My earliest memories are wondering around the shipyard and constantly getting under the foreman's skin! Oh he was so glad to be rid of me." Mary giggled.

"I can imagine." Normandie deadpanned.

"Hey!" Once again Mary was left pouting as Normandie laughed. The older girl kept getting one up on her but she was pure French. Mary had spent her whole life with the British. She had no hope of matching Normandie's skill in amour!

Neither girl was aware that a third member had joined their conversation until a weak and tired voice rasped "Mary? What are you doing here?"

Mary immediately put her full attentions on Titanic while Normandie couldn't take it any more. A burst of steam erupted from her ears as one of her pipes failed. She howled with laughter. Mary groaned, knowing she would have to put up with the French liner's teasings from now on while Titanic just looked very confused.