The ship was pitching and rolling in heavy seas. Flashes of lighting punctuated the overcast skies soon followed by deafening booms of thunder. Rain was lashing the windows of the bridge and the wipers were having difficulty keeping up with the torrents of water. Suddenly a shout
"Enemy vessels dead ahead, one about 800 yards and the other 1100 yards!"
I calmly told the young officer standing next to me
"Sound general quarters."
The button was pressed and a claxon reverberated throughout the ship, making an already keyed up crew became that much more alert.
"Battle stations, this is not a drill!"
Those seven words were repeated and the claxon continued for a full minute.
The ship's executive officer (XO) called from the combat center to say all weapons were on line and the ship as a whole was ready for battle.
The range closed very slowly. The rain and dark, and the corkscrewing effect caused by wave and wind made targeting the enemy with any assurance difficult, but we were able to come up with a solution.
I ordered my ship to turn 5 degrees to port and in three minutes to return to our original course. That way we'd be coming up on them from abeam and could bring more weapons to bear. After the course changes were made I told the Officer of the Deck (OOD) to let me know when the distance to the nearer enemy had closed to 400 yards.
Time crawled at a maddeningly slow pace. I told the XO we were approaching the nearer of the two enemy vessels and would fire at 400 yards. XO concurred, saying that as soon as that target was hit we'd shift weapons to the lead vessel.
At long last the OOD said
"400 yards, Captain!"
"Fire at Will!"
The fore and aft guns belched fire and smoke as their shells flew through the elements toward the enemy. A couple of intense flares announced surface-to-surface missile were set loose to wreak havoc. Bright flashes and muted booms meant the shells had hit and almost immediately there were enormous explosions from the missiles finding their mark. As the darkness returned, I could see the short, but wide enemy vessel, name Will, turn turtle and settle into the deep abyss.
This all transpired in mere seconds, but every delicious detail was etched in my brain. I shook my head and saw that XO had indeed targeted the second enemy. Destroying Will had been easy, but the new target was alerted to our presence and would take defensive actions against us. I didn't worry much.
The XO called and suggested we commence firing immediately, before the target had too much time to prepare. I agreed. Where Will had been short and wide, this one was long with less beam. It would be more difficult to ensure its destruction.
"All weapons, fire at Steve!"
The guns blazed, more missiles left their mounts and three torpedoes hissed from their tubes. It took a bit longer, but the missiles struck the enemy's superstructure, followed by shell hits to its bridge. A minute later the first torpedo hit, followed by the second then the third. The enemy broke apart and quickly sank.
We cheered our success at vanquishing both enemies. Proper naval decorum was allowed to lapse for a bit. Backs were slapped and ranks were forgotten. I didn't mind. Will and Steve, my mortal enemies, had been both utterly destroyed!
"Life raft off the starboard beam. There appear to be survivors!"
I gave the necessary orders to bring the ship toward the raft. There were two survivors. We rescued them and I had them brought to my cabin for questioning. The OOD relieved me on the bridge and we returned to a normal cruising status. I went to my cabin to await the survivors.
A knock on the door frame.
"Enter"
Two women, about the same height and build, but one about 20 years older than the other, entered, followed by a security guard.
"Sir, these are the two we picked up from the raft."
"Thank you. Please close the door and wait outside."
"Aye aye, sir!"
The guard saluted, did a smart about-face and exited my cabin, closing the door behind him.
I offered the two women places to sit. They did. I then asked if they'd like some coffee or other drink. Both thanked me but declined. I began the questioning
"Who are you and which vessel did you come from?"
They looked at each other before replying. The older one spoke
"I'm Esther and this is my daughter Sophie. We were riding on the vessel Steve when you destroyed it."
"And what were your positions on that vessel?"
Sophie answered for them
"My position was cowgirl. My mother's was face sitting."
I continued
"I see. And before that were you aboard the vessel Will?"
Esther replied
"Yes we were. We took turns riding up and down the mainmast. That was fun, wasn't it Sophie?"
Sophie nodded in enthusiastic agreement. She then added
"Earlier both vessels were tied up together and we were able to ride them both at once. Now THAT was lots of fun, I tell you!"
She then faced me and said
"You know, this isn't a bad ship. It's bigger than Will and wider than Steve. Mom, I think I'll like riding this one a lot! What about you?"
Esther replied
"You know, it's funny, but I was thinking the same thing! Odds or evens for which one goes first, OK?"