She looked beyond the junior rank and maintained an arrogant swagger. “I need a full replacement uniform, one dress uniform and three casual wear.”
“Yes Sir, come with me.” She was measured up and the items were selected from the vast range on offer.
She looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit the dress uniform looked good.
“It needs a little work on the lower back, upper leg area.”
A man appeared and pinned up the upper rear legs, she knew it was a bit baggy around the ass. The work was soon done, she kept on the dress uniform and left to search out the Chengdu.
MAY OR NOW SHE SUPPOSED Tang, spotted it from a way off on the quayside. She stopped to give it a once over, aware of its capabilities. The 052D Destroyer (NATO; Luyang III class) was seven and a half thousand tons and over 500 feet long, its most powerful sensor was the H/LJG-346A (Dragon eye) multifunctional active phased array radar. Looking like flat panels on the sloping sides of the forward superstructure. Equivalent to the US AEGIS system. Two sonar including the H/SJG-206 towed array. Forward was a 130mm turreted gun, CJ-10 cruise missiles, YJ-18 anti-ship missiles and HHQ-9 long range SAM missiles. A CIWS last ditch anti-missile defence, 6 torpedo tubes and a helicopter hanger at her stern. Chengdu was a pretty big stick. Soon May was aboard and in her cabin, she changed into a more casual blue camouflaged coverall and a baseball type blue hat. It was time to report in to a senior Officer. She didn’t go to the bridge, she went to the heart of the ship, its control room.
She walked down a companionway deep amidships, the guard let her in through the closed bulkhead. There was a drill on, the room was darkened, rows of sailors looking into screens their faces lit up. They all wore headsets and white anti flash hoods. At the left-hand end of the room on a raised platform sat the Commander with an assistant. There was chatter among the screen operators. “Copy Blue light, we have you at 3km. Make your heading vector two four….”
“Bogie inbound. 20km, 280kt…”
“Go on my word tree rat two.” A cheer went up from the far side.
“Yes! Splash two birds inbound. Threat is green, threat is green.”
“Ok, Chengdu,” the Commander stood, “the drill is over, well done. Safe your systems, report any problems to sparky Chi’s team. Off you go.” The lights flickered on, the operators removed their hoods and left the room. The Commander and his assistant remained.
May walked across to him, she saluted.
“Sir, Lieutenant Commander Tang Li reporting for duty.” He saluted her. “Welcome aboard Lt Commander Li, what’s your speciality?”
“Communication Sir, I have my papers here.” She handed them over, the Commander looked through them.
“Very good Lt Commander Li. I’m Commander Long, Executive Officer. You’ve got your bunk allocated?”
“Yes Sir, I saw the Chief of the decks.” He stepped off the raised platform to take a closer look. She saw he was quite a handsome looking man with a burning glint in his eye and an easy smile. He shook her hand.
“Lt Commander Li. A few Officers and I will be gathering in the Wardroom at 20.00 hours, you’re welcome too, you can meet your new colleagues.”
“Thank you Sir, I’ll be there.” He nodded and smiled. May left the room.
He turned back to the monitor he was sat at. “And you can put that smile away.” He pointed to his assistant.
“I didn’t say anything Sir.”
“You didn’t need to, I know you.” He sat at the monitor, they started to go through the anti-Air drill analysis. HQ is sending us some fine looking Officers he smiled, about damn time. Tang Li wouldn’t look out of place at a party with some of Beijing’s fashion elite. Or as the face of Hermès’ perfumes. The Officers dined in the Wardroom that evening. After the meal Captain Chao pulled his chair out and stood.
“I must leave you, I’ve an appointment in the city. An industrial combine is trying to sell the fleet new radar equipment. I’m to attend. Goodnight Lt Commander Li, I’m sure you’ll find Chengdu a good ship,” he leaned down and whispered to her, “don’t put up with any rubbish from these scoundrels.”
“Yes Sir,” she smiled.
“So, Tang where are you from then?” asked an Engineer.
“From near Guangzhou.”
“Hot down there, I hated it.”
“Yeah but Wu, you’re a damn Manchurian, part Eskimo. Sleeps with his Huskeys.”
The evening passed quickly, they were a good bunch thought May, for enemies. She spoke with Commander Long too, she liked him, and she could tell he liked her more than a bit. That was good she knew, it was a Pity he was her target. A few days and exercises punctuated the day and nights. More than one she’d had to get out of her bunk to man her communications station. Her battle stations were as a member of the aft damage control, not her field, but she learned her duties. Dressed in the cover suit and full-face mask with breathing apparatus, May was hot as hell. One morning she awoke, and the ship was casting off, tugs helped her get into the main channel where she set sail. The Destroyer was soon several miles off the coast, ships were gathering from all sides. She took her breakfast in the Galley. As she was just finished with the last egg fried rice and fish now gone she took a drink of her tea. The loudspeakers sounded with the national anthem. The crew stood. The anthem ended, and Captain Chao spoke.
“Men and women of the People’s Republic Army Navy ship Chengdu. We are here on this historic day, you are honoured to be a part of Operation Dragon’s breath.” May felt sick to her guts, a chilling adrenalin rush ran over her stomach and back. “Today we begin the liberation of Taiwan, our mission is to unify the country. We will take back what is ours, a part of the motherland stolen by the running dogs. Many in the Island will fight us, they have been misguided for years, but they are our brothers and sisters. Remember that. The party expects your victory. Good luck Chengdu.” A cheer arose throughout the ship, May joined in but felt an emptiness and as the minutes went by a terrible rage. May made her way back to her cabin, opened an air duct and took something out. She ascended the decks and walked out of the ship onto the open-air deck. The grey sea streamed by, she looked to the rear and there the city was still visible in the distance. May climbed the superstructure ladders, pulled her way on to an access way be holding on to the handles. She passed a radome and continued aft, there was a recess that offered some concealment, several yards forward of the H70C CWIS, a last ditch Gatling gun missile defence. She faced the city and took out the cell phone she’d concealed in her room. They should still be in signal range. She called Xu, after several rings Gao answered it.
“Yes, Xu’s phone.”
“Hi, it’s just me, I hope you are on form. I’m near Ningbo, the horses are all running and I’m with them. My money is on The water purse. The horses are all running and I’m with them. My money is on The water purse.”
“Thank you Xu. I’ll pass it on to Auntie.” May switched off the phone, now it was back down below decks.
“Hello Lt Commander Li. Getting some air? Watching the city recede in the distance?” She turned, shocked, it was Commander Long. She tried desperately to remain composed.
“Hello Sir.” He must have seen her on the cell phone, heard her. So soon, shit, what was she going to say now?
THE LIGHT HAD FADED from just under the surface, she looked up. A single bright light played on the dancing waves above, it wasn’t always there, but often was. It was the sign of food. Great Sholes of it, all circling weaving around and back. Her sisters were hungry, she saw them all around her, big eyes, tentacles with suckers. The great pod of squid she was part of was hungry and the food was down there. It would shoal together, they were all small poor eyes and horrible scaly bodies. They were good swimmers but stupid, you could mass part of the pod to one side and they’d shoal together and away into the path of her other sisters. They’d eat their fill and charge at the shoal of prey driving them into the first section of the pod who take they’re fill. It was all done down there in the dark. The pod dove into the depths, down and down. She brushed her tentacles over her sister’s mantle, she shimmered. There it was, they could hear a shoal, down there. They split the pod in two, her half to the right. Down and down. Then there they were, you could see them, see them swimming with their small near sightless eyes. This was the time. Charge, sisters charge. The shoal fled away towards the trap. Now it was wait until the other sister’s charged them and they’d be back.