Atlantic Sea Destroyer, 2044
Belle was focusing on the pink and blue sky that was just beginning to glow from the morning sun. Her blonde hair was being kissed gently by the fall breeze, her eyes a darker blue than the surrounding ocean were narrowed in on one particular cloud that she thought resembled a large cat. She had been back out to sea aboard the USS Minerva II for 5 months now as one of their onboard corpsman (a navy medic) and she had just finished praying that her husband would be safe and return a call to her soon.
Her husband was the chaplain for their battalion and had been ordered to attend some executive mandate which forced all chaplains to attend back in Quantico, VA. There hadn’t been much warning before it, but then again when it came to the military you never knew about something important until the last minute. “Corpsman!” someone yelled franticly from behind her. Belle turned to face the voice, it was a young marine Lance Corporal running towards her “Corpsman!” he screamed again.
He arrived to her sweaty and breathing hard. “What’s the emergency Lcpl?!” he held his hands up apologetically “You’re needed in the barracks, there’s been a fight and Sgt. Foreman had a broken nose, there blood everywhere! He’s passed out cold!” “That’s the third fight this week!” she replied hastily, the marine nodded “I understand, but if you could just follow me, mam.” Belle clenched her teeth, following him across the deck “This is the last time I treat one of you drunken imbecile’s! I swear it!” they ran across the deck towards the port going downstairs. She had been one of the Marines favorite corpsman because of how discreet she was.
Other medics would file reports and complaints over things she believes, could be handled without fellow servicemen losing their rank or home. As she followed him she wondered how she would be able to cover up this mess for them, hopefully it was just a small fight in one of the living quarters. This sort of thing made her worry, as she cared for everyone aboard the ship in the same was she cared for her daughters. Belle cringed at the sight of a broken fifth of whiskey that was shattered in the middle of the Marines living halls.
“Smells like shit down here Lcpl. Captain sees this and we’re all dead meat.” “We’re almost there!” he replied while beckoning her to follow with his hand, the marine turned a corner at the end of the hall leading towards the direction of the captains dining area. “Oh lord” Belle though. How bad could this be? Sweat now forming on her brow. They had been down past the enlisted quarters and officer quarters, two halls where marines were kept and they drudged deeper into the heart of the ship. Now she watched him turn again, she knew something disastrous was waiting around that corner because it could only be the captains dining hall. She followed him turning the final corner to find the Lcpl had now disappeared into the crowd of people that stood before her.
“Happy birthday Belle!” the smiling crowd yelled, Sgt. Foreman handed her a bouquet of yellow roses as everyone began to laugh, noticing the tears streaming down her smiling face. “You assholes.” She whispered, grinning happily. Her hand was over her mouth as people rushed in ushering congratulations, the truth is she had forgotten it was her birthday because she’d been so stressed out over recent events and now her husband’s sudden absence. She had just gotten back from a deployment with this unit and they were closer than most family to her. All aside from her two daughters and husband.
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Captain Buchannan shouted and raised a glass dinging it with a spoon in traditional announcement fashion. He looked ridiculous standing on top of the white dinner chair. “Would Chief Petty Officer Kayer please step up here!” he motioned to the other chair next to him. She was rushed to the chair by several people and as she arrived Captain Buchannan extended a hand, helping her up onto the chair. She was blushing and wiping away tears from her pale face as he began to announce. “Chief Petty Officer Kayer” or as most of us call you, Belle.” He paused, and the room grew quieter “Normally, it’s beyond unprofessional to address each other by first names, but today we celebrate not as fellow seaman and marines, but was brothers and sisters” a few of the people in the hall erupted at this, whistling and hooting. “Belle had been one of our beloved corpsman for many deployments and trips now, and had been personally responsible for saving not only my life but the life of many others as well.”
A few more cheers and hollers were heard, Belle was wiping away a tear as she sniffled back more “Let me close this quick speech by saying it’s been a pleasure to serve beside you, and you’d better be drunk by 1600, and yes that’s an order!” Capt. Got down from his chair, extended a hand to Belle helping her down as well. She hugged the man and whispered in his ear, “Thank you, Cap.” He smiled “Call me Roy, we’re family remember?” she squeezed him tightly “Thank you Roy” and let go, then giving various other people hugs and shaking hands. She noticed a makeshift bar was set up at a far table.
Which is extremely against policy as alcohol isn’t allowed on ships, and you aren’t allowed to drink on them either. The only time you could drink was when the ship was docked for the weekend (hopefully). So the fact that they had snuck alcohol on and threw a party spoke volumes of how much they cared for her. There was also a large assortment of food and dessert laid out on the black stainless steel table, about 50 chairs long. It reminded her of the middle school lunch tables she had sat at as a child. She was walking over to the bar for a drink to calm her nerves when she noticed Petty Officer One Almonetta, a fellow corpsman.
She was waiting by the bar, waving at Belle. Almonetta could have been her brunette twin sister if belle had one, they were the same build and height, even the same bust. The only difference was their hair color, and Almonetta had slightly higher cheek bones than Belle. Most people mistook them for twins, such was their nickname when they were seen together. They even walked the same, even though most service people walked the same after boot camp.
Belle was smiling after she stepped in to give her double a hug, when their embrace ended Almonetta said “Happy birthday sis” Belle broke out in a large smile, “How long has everyone known about this!?” “Well quite a while considering we had to sneak all this alcohol on board, if admiral knew, he’d have everyone demoted back to seaman.” Belle laughed, “I’ve never had surprise party before, I actually spent two birthdays in the field eating MRE’s in Russia.” Almonetta placed a hand on Belle’s shoulder, “Well you deserve a good celebration sweetie, everyone knows you’re always working hard around here" Belle blushed as she nodded “You work just as hard sis, so make sure you celebrate too.”
She took her hand back, sipping on the amber drink in her glass “You bet!” she grinned “Get yourself something to drink, you look like you need it!” she said, cheering. Belle replied “I do. I’ve been so str- “she was interrupted by an explosion of yelling “SHOTS!” a group of people called “Get the twins!” “There they are!” Before she knew it, Belle was as carefree as a bear eating honey in the woods on a bright midsummer’s day. She drank, and laughed, and played cards. Then she felt fuzzy, a haze. Everything went black, and then nothing.