The Lone Queen Of The North

Chapter 5: Atlantic Cruise

         "Any updates?" Michael asked as he entered the bridge, a mug of coffee in his hand.

        "No, captain," Rudolf stated, looking up from his console, "the storm's relatively the same, the wind speed increased by fractions as have the waves' height, but nothing more."

         Michael nodded as he peered ahead as the battleship's bow crashed through a swelling wave. The mist caused by the impact flew high into the air, before rejoining the ocean below. The rain seemed to have intensified over the few hours, however nothing of importance was noticed. Among him and Rudolf, none manned the bridge stations. The sea sector that the ship was in had a very low Fog activity rating, marking it to be relatively safe. The rest of the crew were either napping, snacking, or in the case of Tirpitz, Talia, Franz and Gerhardt; watching a movie.

           Nice to know that some of them are having fun, Michael thought with a smile, but at least they'll be loaded with the extra chores they've left for me.

           Meanwhile, in the same sector, a submerged ship drifted by on the currents. It was a Triton-class submarine, and it was slipping by the battleship silently. The sub may have been detected, however, it didn't really matter, it didn't really feel like engaging a former flagship, especially when it noticed another one on the edge of its detection range. It was the Duke Of York, a King George V-class of battleship. The ship followed, but not too close, just bordering on being detected by the Germans' sensors.

         Aboard said ship, a Mental Model resembling a princess sat on a throne. At her sides were two British Bulldogs, both of which were adorning the Union Jack around their necks. When she caught sight of the Tirpitz in the distance, Duke Of York smiled and licked her lips.

          "I found you," she said in a sing-song voice, "we're going to have so much fun together... Michael Schmidt... but not now... not now..."

           Meanwhile, Michael sneezed right after he just took a mouthful of his coffee, causing him to spill over his console, covering the screen and blocking his vision of the movie he was watching.

           "Shit!" he cursed, "what bad timing."

           Rudolf, who bore witness stifled a laugh as his friend grumble in frustration. Michael on the other hand noticed, and sent an annoyed glare in his direction. That was when the dam burst and the guffaws gushed through. Eventually, Rudolf's laughter died out, leaving the faint beeping of the various stations, most notably; the radar array.

        Michael huffed and procured a handkerchief to wipe down his dirtied console. Once clean, he resumed watching Der Untergang. He sipped his coffee as he watched the movie, not paying attention to Tirpitz ,whom had enough of Star Wars (the original trilogy, mind you), slowly creeping up on him.

           Rudolf spotted her, but said nothing, only winking in place of words. Tirpitz winked back, and stood behind her captain. Her arms slowly snaked their way to Michael's sides. Once she found a prime spot, she giggled silently, then jabbed her hands into her captain. Michael released a yell of surprise, further spilling his coffee.

         He wheeled around and faced Tirpitz, an expression of rage stamped on his face.

        "You!" the captain growled, shaking with anger.

         Michael leapt out of his seat and chased after Tirpitz who had run off giggling. Ignoring the large stain on his white shirt, the captain scanned each corridor that he came across. He did so carefully before resuming his pursuit down his planned course.