Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Chapter 52

Sunday, July 28th 2013

At Sea

Sundays are characteristically lazy and this way was no different. What more, Catalina's ship was passing through a stormy patch at sea. The sky was covered with dark clouds unloading their stores of rain down onto the ship below. It was no hurricane, but it was enough to dissuade anyone who had plans to do anything outside. This didn't bother Heather one bit. She was in her apartment sitting up in bed with her computer on her lap. She was alone, room darkened, as not only were the lights off, but the curtains were closed as well. The silence, the solitude, these two feelings put her at ease. She loved moments like this. In a way, she felt secure. On her laptop, she was getting lost in a particular mystery that introduced to her back when the team went camping. The Prinz Oskar. Since learning about the stolen tank, Heather has consumed any and all information concerning the machine all over the internet. Currently, she was browsing a mystery-centric web-form where the Prinz Oskar was a popular topic of discussion.

"Does anyone really believe the thing is still in America?" a poster wrote. "It surely would've been found by now. At least parts of it."

"It's obviously somewhere in Europe," another boasted with huge confidence that could be felt from the screen. "The sudden and hasty departure of a cargo ship from the Port of South Louisiana is ironclad proof that the tank was shipped outta the States."

There was one post in particular that garnered attention, not just from Heather, but from all the posters on the thread.

"I can only speak anecdotally," the poster wrote. "But I've heard from a trusted friend who once worked at a French port from the 70s and 80s. He told me that a cargo ship arrived at an unusual hour at night. The amount of cargo unloaded was weirdly few, a lot less than what a ship of that size can normally haul. The biggest thing necessitate the use of a crane, and was covered with a tarp. But at one end was this protuberance, this bump. Like a cannon barrel."

The post intrigued Heather, who reread it multiple times so that she could commit to to memory. She was now convinced that the Prinz Oksar was in Europe, though it's not like the search got any easier. As she continued to browse the forum, she then heard a knock at the door that startled her as it sounded more louder than usual as her place was dead quiet.

"Who could...oh I know."

She went to answer the door and standing outside was Ashley.

"Hey...man did you lose power or something? It's way dark in there." Ashley inquired.

"No, I just like it like this way."

"Alright you vampire," Ashley teased. "My I come in?"

Heather gestured her inside and the two sat down on Heather's bed in her still incredibly dim room.

"So, got any business here or what?" Heather asked.

"Oh Heather," Ashley said, feigning shock. "Do I need a reason to visit my girlfriend? Do I need to fill out the proper forms to get the okay?"

Heather sported a soft smile. "No, no you don't. But knowing you, you do have a reason.

"Guilty. I want to talk to you about some things."

"Like what?"

"For starters, I'd like to let Valarie and Emma know that we're a couple now. No reason to hide it."

Heather nodded. "Sure, sure. Though, I think they already suspect that we're an item."

This made Ashley let out a laugh. "Oh man, really? Emma, maybe. But Valarie? Not a chance. When it comes to things like romance, she's blind. Especially when it comes to intimacy. You know the type of intimacy I'm talking about.