“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Princess Celestia stared at Calm Seas from across her desk. She wasn’t quite sure what the Secretary of the Navy was requesting.
“I’m putting forth the suggestion to bring our sea-based military forces into modern times,” the stallion replied.
“Why would we want this ship?” asked the Princess.
“I believe it would be a great boost to both combat effectiveness and national pride,” explained Calm Seas.
“How is that supposed to help us if the ship won’t fit through the doorways?” Celestia didn’t raise her voice, but her irritation was clear. Calm Seas hadn’t done his homework before rushing into the deal.
The stallion’s face fell. “We could set up some kind of…permanent forward deployment? It would be a huge boost to our presence on Earth.”
“If we’re going to be showing the flag, one ship for the entire planet won’t be very effective,” the Princess pointed out. “Also, think of the operating expense.”
“But we could support our own troops when they’re deployed,” argued the Secretary. “This American ship has already fired Tomahawk cruise missiles into Afghanistan, so we know that we could provide strike capability for our soldiers there.”
“Missiles,” muttered Celestia. “Next, you’ll probably be telling me we need Trident submarines.”
“I’m not sure we could afford those,” said the stallion, showing what the Princess thought might have been the only bit of good information he’d provided in the whole conversation. “We could however afford this ship and more like it. The US is decommissioning quite a few of this kind. We could have a class.”
“A whole class of ships?” asked Celestia. “Just how many do you think our Navy’s budget can support?”
“Er, well…” Calm seas gulped. “Three. With full loads of weapons.”
It was remarkable how the stallion hadn’t bothered to look up the important technical details but had figured out the financial information. The Secretary squirmed under the Princess’ gaze for several seconds until Celestia spoke. “Submit the plan to parliament. If they approve any of it, then we’ll talk further.”
★
Aboard Cushing, the situation had almost been stabilized. Well, as much as it could be with a mysterious, magical, probably evil, object aboard.
The team from the Royal Magic Institute had set up in the bilge of the ship. There were complaints about the tight, damp quarters but all of them knew that they were dealing with something serious.
“All right,” said Solar Flare. “Get that shield up. Easy, we’re just trying to isolate it.”
Working together, several of the unicorns placed a bubble-like barrier around the red-glowing sphere. The force field was intended to keep the influence of the orb from spreading any further.
If there had been room in the crowded bilge, Shining Armor would have both been there to watch. Instead, he sat in the galley with PO2 Bryant examining a dagger that the man had retrieved from the fishing boat.
“I’ve had the Spellbreakers take a look,” said the pony. “There’s nothing special about it.”
Bryant turned the knife over in his hands and placed it on the table. “I don’t have any use for it, sir. You might as well take it.”
Shining nodded and levitated the weapon over to his side of the table. Bryant took a sip of coffee as the stallion examined the dagger. The man asked, “How’s Penny doing?”
“The last I heard, they found a spare mattress and let her bunk with the CO.” Shining knew that aboard a ship the Commanding Officer typically got a large, private room. It was probably the best place to put the young pony. They were working on contacting her parents.
Shining pushed back from the table, picking up the dagger. “I’m going to go see if the research team can do anything with this.”
Lieutenant Martin stepped aside to let the pony leave the compartment. He spotted Bryant still sitting, and asked, “How long have you been awake?”
“Should I count the time that I was out cold, sir?”
Martin shook his head. “We’re at anchor now. I know you’re not on duty. Get some sleep.”
“Aye, sir.” Bryant got up to head for his rack. “If you don’t mind me saying, sir, you look like you could use some rest, too.”
“Probably right.” Martin said goodbye and headed for the CIC. There had just been an unpleasant report received about escaped prisoners from the fishing boat. Security was already tight while the magic workers toiled down below, but he wanted to make sure it was as good as it could get.
★
The small speedboat’s heavily muffled engine sounded like a whisper compared to the other noises of the harbor. Smith knew that it paid to have a wide network of contacts. It was how he had put the project together in the first place. Now, he had used that web to obtain weapons and transportation.
They could see the lights of the US destroyer anchored out in the bay as they motored towards it. Star Show by himself could cast an invisibility spell over their vessel, albeit not as good as the magic that had cloaked the fishing boat.
Smith looked angrily at the still-visible wake that trailed from behind the speedboat. Because of that, they would have to slow to almost a crawl to make an undetected approach. Still, he hadn’t come all this way to fail, even with major setbacks.
The man glanced at his three unicorn companions. They were dedicated, he knew. Well, so was he. Balancing the steering wheel with his knees, Smith racked the bolt on the AK-47 he had obtained. He checked spare magazines and his sidearm. One way or another, this would be finished before morning.