Millennia: Beginning

by Thunderblast

18. Deployment - Part II

After finishing my dinner, I went immediately to my sleeping quarters to relax for the night. It took a short while to get there from the mess hall and on the way, I somehow ended up in the engine room before finally finding the right hallway the room was in. I really had to get used to being on the Eclipse.

I walked into the room and shut the door behind me as regulated and walked over to the small window hatch where we could see the ocean outside. The seas weren't any different than they were when I walked off the bridge to eat, and it relieved me knowing I wouldn't be seasick in the middle of the night to keep me awake. I took my cover off and hung it on a coat rack by the door, or what was now being used as a hat hanger. Or it could have been that from the start.

I laid down on my bed on the bottom of the bunk and relaxed into it. For a bunk bed, it was fairly comfortable and I felt as if I could just doze off right at that moment. But not before I got bored a few minutes later and decided to take a book I brought with me out of my sea bag.

It was a newer book written by the same mare that wrote the Daring Do series, and was a mystery story set in older times in Canterlot. I don't know what it was about the mystery genre, but it was... satisfying to read. A good mystery once and a while was nice, and especially coming from A.K. Yearling. Over deployment, it would be a good boredom-killer whenever I had free time, which I knew after speaking with Shadow would be rare starting tomorrow.

Time slowly passed, and one very long chapter later, the sun was setting and it was time to turn on the room's light so I could see better. Before, there was just enough natural light from the window where I could read. It was a common issue my parents thought I had when I was younger where they didn't think I could see when I read and ended up turning on every light even though I didn't need it. The dynamic changed once the sun was down.

The light was just a bulb with a hanging metal beaded string as a switch. I reached up and yanked down on it gently, the light instantly flicking on and brightening up the room comfortably. I laid back down on my bed and picked the book up off of the desk sitting between the bunks and continued reading.

A few more minutes later, faint clumps of hooves echoed down the hallway and slowly approached, assuming it was some sort of hallway patrol or just a pony walking by. They stopped just outside the door and it was pushed open. I glanced around the edge of my book to see who it was as the pony walked in.

"You're my bunkmate?!" Yelled the dark brown earth pony, who's eyes locked right onto me with an angered look on his face.

"Nightpath?!" I sat up, closing my book and laying it on my bed beside me.

He grumbled and walked closer. "What the hell are you doing? Get out of my room!"

"This is my room too, genius," I glared up at the taller earth pony. "And I thought my first day of my first deployment was going well."

"As did I!" He glared right back. "You're lucky we're sharing the room with two others, otherwise I'd make you pick your own teeth up off the floor right now."

"Oh come on, what did I ever do to you, huh? Never once have I done shit to you, and I still get treated this way for no apparent reason."

"Just shut the hell up, alright? I can't stand your whining," Nightpath rubbed his forehead with a hoof, then climbed up onto the top bunk.

"Whatever," I motioned my hoof in a 'go away' gesture and picked my book back up to keep reading.

Right at that moment, a white pegasus and a muscular green earth pony walked into the room. They both stopped at the door and looked around, their bags over their shoulders.

"Not too bad, eh?" The white pegasus said, walking into the room.

The earth pony kept looking around and shrugged. "Not at all. A little cold though."

"Oh, grow up," the pegasus muttered and set his bag down beneath the opposite bunk and turned around. "Oh, hey Star."

My head snapped to the side and towards the pegasus when my name was said. "Anchorage?" I blinked and stared at him.

"What are the odds?" He smiled.

"Star's in here?" The green earth pony said from the top bunk, peeking off the side and down at us. "He is! Hey there."

"You too?" I chuckled.

"I thought we were all in different rooms to be honest," Anchorage removed his cap and set it down on his side of the desk beside his bed.

"Could you all be quiet?" Said a disgruntled Nightpath from the top bunk of my bed.

I immediately stared up at the bottom of his bed. "Could you quit being so damn salty? I know we're out in the middle of the ocean and all, but you need to chill."

This caused Ashfall to chuckle, as well as Anchorage who did quietly. "You two know each other too?"

"Oh, I know him alright," I rolled my eyes. "Wish I didn't."

"Shut up, Shooter," Night said from beneath his blanket.

Ashfall then rolled his eyes. "How about we swap beds, Night? So you two don't have to share one."

"I'm not gay, damn it! I'm not sharing a bed with anyone!"

"You kind of are right now, to be fair," Anchorage said flatly.

Night stuck his head out from under his blanket and grumbled loudly. "Fine! Anything to get me away from this guy!"

"Yes, please, swap beds. I'd rather have somepony worth talking to sharing a bunk with me," I shut my eyes and laid back, then they shot open and my cheeks turned a faint red. "Not in that way of course..."

"Sure, whatever you say," Night grumbled and hopped down from his bunk with a loud thump of his hooves hitting the floor, which startled me. Both him and Ashfall switched beds, and I relaxed back into mine.

"You still never explained what I did to you," I said in a calmer tone.

"Here we go again," Ash muttered.

"You annoy me, that's what you do," Night replied in a frustrated tone as he laid on his side, back facing towards me.

"And just how do I annoy you?"

"You're annoying me right now! Just shut up and go to sleep!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say," and got up to turn off the light before taking my jacket off and laying back down. For once, he was right. It was time to get some sleep. I was going to need it. We all were.

***

What seemed like just a few minutes in the trance of sleep, I was woken up by a familiar voice being raised. My eyes shot open and my heart raced for a few seconds as I was jolted out of a deep slumber.

"H-wha?" I muttered and yawned.

"Star, wake up, it's time to start our shifts," whispered Ashfall.

I blinked and squinted, trying to look around. "Am I blind or something...?"

"No, it's 0430 hours."

My eyes opened wide and I sat up, nearly hitting my forehead on the bottom of the bunk above me. "0430 hours?!"

"Get up, get a shower, get ready, then head to the chow hall."

I reached a hoof up and rubbed my eye. "Yeah...give me a minute," I yawned again. A moment later, I stood up and grabbed my jacket as well as cover. "Where are the showers at?"

"Down the hall to the left. First door on your right. And please, for the love of Luna, don't drop any soap bars."

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him as my eyesight adjusted to the darkness. "Why would it matter?"

Ash brought a hoof up to his muzzle and facehoofed. "Just don't...it's not a good experience," he said, then walked out of the room. Once he did, light flooded in from the door.

I shrugged and followed suit, but instead went to the shower room down the hallway. It was a large room that held at least ten or twelve small showers that could fit one, maybe two ponies inside of it.

I hung up my jacket and cover on a rack in a small room between the hallway and the showers themselves and waited for an open shower. At that time, many sailors and a few Marines were showering before breakfast or their shifts, and a line was slowly building outside the door behind me. I had to thank Ash later for waking me up early enough to be one of the first in line to shower.

A spot finally opened, and I went into it. Each shower had regular bottles of shampoo and a bar of soap to use, and thankfully, every shower had curtains that locked in place so no one could sneak in behind you. I turned a knob and warm water flowed out through the shower head, and my mane fell down upon the water's touch. Once I felt soaked enough under the water, I took the shampoo bottle in my hoof and squirted a small amount, but enough to wash my mane, into my hoof where I then ran it through my hair back and forth while the water washed it out.

Shortly after, I took the bar of soap in my other hoof and began rubbing it across my chest, shoulders, forehooves, and back to my wings and hinds while the water continued to wash it all out of my coat. It was a slightly longer process than if an earth pony or unicorn were washing themselves with a bar of soap. Then again, I was used to using body wash and a shower puff and not a bar of soap. Something else I would have to get used to.

Once finished, I stepped out where a sailor stood with the grumpiest of expressions as he handed out clean towels to others. He handed me one and I begun to dry myself off. Afterwards, I took the towel to a laundry trolley where the others left theirs, and went to put my uniform on. With my uniform buttoned up and cover on top of my head, I went to the mess hall for breakfast.

It wasn't a very long walk now that I knew where I was going. It was safe to say that I wasn't alone on my way either. A few others walked behind and in front of me on the way to the mess hall, each one of them looking like zombies from the lack of sleep. On the outside, I probably looked the same way. I was pretty tired. After all, it was a quarter until five in the morning.

Me and the other sailors walked into the mess hall to find it pretty busy with many having sat down and were eating breakfast—or for some, it was dinner. No matter who was eating what, the mess hall was full of chatter. I got in line with the others and waited patiently. The mess hall, for breakfast, was serving peppered scrambled eggs and buttered toast with small cartons of milk, and there was plenty to go around.

Once I was served, I went back out to find a place to sit down and eat. It was easier said than done and I assumed my food would be cold by the time I did manage to find some place to sit at a table. Thankfully, it wasn't. But as I ate, I glanced up and caught an angry look from a dark brown pony.

"Do you ever leave me alone?" Growled Nightpath.

"Excuse you?"

"Well, do you?"

"It's not my fault everyone on the damn ship is here to eat," I glared at him and shoveled a spoonful of scrambled eggs into my mouth.

"I'm going somewhere else," the brown earth pony stood up, grabbed his tray, and walked off. It wasn't long before he returned, setting the tray down rather hard.

I glanced up at him and tilted my head, a grin crossing my muzzle. "Do you ever leave me alone?"

"Shut up. My morning's already gone to shit, if you haven't noticed."

"Why's that?" I kept eating.

He grumbled and rubbed his forehead with one of his hooves. "Dropped a bar of soap in the shower..."

I almost choked on my food at that point and took a moment to swallow, then regained my posture. "How did that go?"

"Is that a serious question?" He glared daggers at me.

"Possibly. You tell me."

"No, it didn't go good! If soap bars weren't so flipping slippery, it wouldn't have happened!" He motioned his hooves about in an angered gesture.

All I could do was grin as I ate. "Sucks for you."

"Just shut up..." he murmured and took a small bite of his toast, staring down at his tray while resting his temple on his hoof above the table.

I wanted to laugh, but that probably would have gotten me a black eye or worse. I couldn't wipe away the grin for the first minute or so and eventually it did go away by the time I was finished with my meal. Following a quick trip back up to the kitchen to drop off my empty food tray, I left the mess hall and went upstairs to the bridge to begin my shift. My sixteen hour shift with only a lunch break and quick bathroom breaks. This was going to suck.

I stepped into the doorway leading into the control room and stopped there at attention, where I then saluted. "Permission to enter the bridge?"

"Permission granted," Shadow replied with a salute, having turned around and again had a cup of coffee in his hoof and was sipping it tiredly.

I dropped my salute a moment after and went up to my station where I sat down while the previous shift left to go eat and then rest. Upon glancing up to look out the window, there was literally no light, not even on the flight deck. Not even the bridge had lighting on at the time, the only thing illuminating the room being our computer screens and nothing else. Though I'll admit, I'll take the pitch-black over blinding lights all around me right after waking up any day.

My eyes gazed back down to the radar screens, both empty with no activity anywhere on the screens. For once, it wasn't raining, but the winds were strong in the direction we were moving and I assumed they would be followed by nasty waves.

"Weather report, Shooter?"

I quickly checked over all of the information the computers gave me. "Winds are at fifteen knots to the northwest. Waves currently at two meters. Wind speeds are picking up to our one o'clock and waves are expected to crest at five meters. Other than that there is nothing in our general vicinity."

"Better have the jets tied down then, don't you think?" Shadow said to the others, the two sailors by his sides that were seated at their own computers nodded in agreement. The green earth pony sat forward and set his coffee down before picking up a microphone that connected to the ship's public announcement system.

"Attention all hooves on the flight deck, waves in our general path are expected to crest five meters or higher. I advise all on-deck aircraft to be strapped down until further notice. Carry on," he then put the microphone back down.

Surely enough, a little while later, the winds did pick up to twenty-five knots and the waves increased in height. Soon, the Eclipse was bobbing up and down in massive waves as we traveled to the east-northeast. A few minutes into the rougher seas, my stomach started to feel strange—the bad kind of strange. I strove my best to ignore the sickness slowly growing ailment in my stomach and kept my eyes steadily watching over both radar screens. But even that didn't help. In fact, it made me feel worse.

Soon, I felt as if everything I had just eaten for breakfast was going to come back up completely. I wrapped a hoof around my stomach and let out a soft, quiet groan that didn't catch anypony's attention thankfully. It quickly became recalcitrant and I needed to get to the restroom immediately.

"Sir..." I gagged a little. "P-permission to exit the bridge for a moment...?"

Shadow turned his head and looked at me. "What for, Shooter?"

I could only assume my face was turning green from the sea-sickness I was suffering from for the last few minutes and caused him to jump to a conclusion.

"Don't say a word, just go. Come back when you're feeling better."

"Thank you... sir..." I gagged again and immediately shut my mouth as I felt my cheeks begin to puff out.

I hastily got up from my seat and ran to the restroom in the room just behind the bridge, parallel to the doorway to the staircase. I shut the door and ran up to the toilet where I knelt down and gagged one more time before spitting out a heavy amount of yellow-tinted saliva. The smell of it was even worse, and is what did the trick. Without a moment to spare, there went all of my breakfast. And just like that, I was feeling a lot better.

I walked out of the restroom after flushing the vomit and possibly half of my insides down and sat back down, looking as if I needed to rest again.

"You okay?" asked Shadow.

"Just a little sea-sickness, sir," I replied in a slightly weakened tone.

"Happens to all of us. If it comes up again, just go to the restroom."

"Y-yes, sir..." I sat down at my station again and exhaled deeply. Today was going to be a long day. A very long day.

Comments

[FictionReader231]

And please, for the love of Luna, don't drop any soap bars."

He grumbled and rubbed his forehead with one of his hooves. "Dropped a bar of soap in the shower..."

[Thunderblast]

I'd appreciate if people would leave comments as to why they are disliking the story rather than just disliking it without reading.