The Prince Of Wales

Chapter 7: Already Split

"Great, Javelin, that's just great," Long Island said in exasperation. "Why did you do that?"

"Why shouldn't I have hmm," Javelin responded incredulously. "This is a naval base is it not?" She continued in an annoyed tone.

"That may be, but we have no idea where the commander came from. He had no clue of what a shipgirl was until just a moment ago," Long Island said in affirmation of her suspicions. She sighed.

There was a long and awkward silence. The echoes of Riley's footsteps from the corridor had long died out. He had definitely gone that way, but other than that, they had no idea where he went.

Javelin finally seemed to have realized that she had messed up. She acquiesced to the point of retracting her guns and torpedo tubes. "Right," she said and gulped.

Javelin knew she had been way to brash to begin with, and she had not been respectful to Riley as commander, no matter what his level of experience was. "I messed up," she said in a way that recognized Long Island as having authority.

This surprised Long Island, she had only been through sea trails about two months ago, so she hardly had any more experience than Javelin. "Yes. So, I will go find him. You wait here," she said and put her clipboard in a part of the receptionist desk.

Javelin sat down on a dark green sofa in the room and read a home improvement magazine that sat on a table next to the sofa.

Long Island then headed down the hallway. She walked softly and listened closely. She heard Riley breathing from behind a bin.
"Co...." she began.

"Don't call me that," he shouted back. This clearly had messed with his mind. "You aren't a human either are you?"

"No. Sir. I am not, but I am not like Javelin," she said softly and bent down to see him. "Other than what I was created for, if you need me to be a human girl, that is what I will be. I am your assistant after all," she said smiling gently at him.

*She has such a clear understanding of her purpose,* Riley thought. *I don't know what my purpose is here, but I can't fall apart at the first surprise. Even if it is a large one.*

He simply nodded back at her. Her countenance showed that she understood what he meant by the nod to the best of her knowledge.

The two stood up and walked back towards the reception room side by side.