Commander's Rounds

Entry 40: The Enemy of the Good

The commander was busy with more things than usual, and so the last thing he wanted to hear from anyone was "A new situation has come up."

And that's exactly what happened when Z23 stepped into his office that morning. "Commander, this may not be the best timing for you, but a new situation has come up that requires your urgent attention."

The commander looked up from his regular work. "Are the Sirens on the move, or is there some other, similar problem?"

Z23 shook her head. "It's nothing of the sort, actually... It's actually something new. I don't know exactly how to say this but... Well, the Royal Maids appear to be on strike."

The commander blinked, and suddenly paused his writing. It was certainly a problem, but at least the universe had conspired to strike him with something novel. He didn't even know how mad he should be at the unforgiving cosmos. "Sooooo... This feels like something that Belfast should be dealing with. She's the one who works with them the most, plus she has the confidence of Queen Elizabeth. I'm sure she can negotiate a workable solution."

Z23 rubbed a temple. "...Perhaps, in other situations, but apparently it's Belfast that's the problem. They aren't speaking to her and they actually want you to come out so they can address their grievances to you instead. They apparently trust you to communicate things clearly."

"Belfast...?" The commander thought about it. For anyone who was on the outside looking in, it could seem inconceivable that Belfast would provoke such a strong response. She was dutiful, pleasant, and comforting in bad times- a perfect maid. But the commander had more insight than that, as Newcastle had told him at least once before that Belfast's perfectionism wasn't merely a personal work ethic, but something she imposed on others when large projects were involved, and manifested in ways that the other maids found difficult to cope with.

On top of that, the Royal Maids weren't known to be layabouts... But Southampton and Black Prince must've gotten out for some reason or another. A general strike among the maids was a new thing altogether, so he began to wonder what, specifically, Belfast might have done. "...All right, so where are they?"

Z23 flipped through the report. "They appear to have holed up in one of the cafeteria buildings right now, so..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry about this, commander. Since they were involved in setting up your wedding, I should've noticed some signs that this might happen."

"It's as big a surprise to me as anyone. I'm heading down there right now. There's no reason to blame yourself for the issues of others."

The commander straightened his hat and went out to have a look at what was happening.

It didn't take him long to find his way there, because it had attracted some other attention.

There were quite a few other ships there having a look, because this was as new to any of them as it was to him. While the maids had wasted no time in fortifying their position, the real spectacle of the moment was the fact that Queen Elizabeth was giving Belfast the business in the middle of the day in front of everyone, and for the first time that the commander could remember, Belfast looked quite distressed. "Your majesty, if you would give me some more time, I'm sure I could resolve this problem-"

"How can you resolve this problem when they say you're the problem!" Queen Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I put you in charge of managing the Maids because you seem to do everything perfectly, but now this happens. This is an unbelievable embarrassment, and so close to the admiral's wedding, too! Just what did you do, Belfast?!"

Belfast, looking thoroughly chastened, tried to explain herself. "I was trying to make sure that the master's wedding was perfect..."

Queen Elizabeth went on. "Well, now the admiral has to get involved and clean up your mess! Having to clean up a maid's mess, it's..." She stopped. "Well, it's ironic, to say the least!"