Im sorry that it has teken so long but I have been real busy lately. I have finished school and started working again, been investing and bought a boat of my own so my time home is very limited.
It might take time before I have the final chapters ready but I will try my best to finish them up as soon as possible
Anyway, please read and enjoy...and review
I love reviews 
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Sunday Evening:
?Welcome, young ladies and gentlemen," the grey haired man that Sousuke had identified as the captain greeted them as they entered the large restaurant.
?Thank you, Captain," Mrs. Kagurazaka answered politely with a small bow of her head.
?Please take your seats at the large table, the waiters will take your orders for your drinks while we wait for the rest of the guests to arrive," he continued.
The class, with Mrs. Kagurazaka in front, walked toward their appointed table. As they approached the table, a band began playing quietly. The table was set in a very delicate way- large flower arrangements were placed upon the table, and burning candles spread their light over small areas, creating what looked like small islands of light in a dark ocean. The plates and dishes were of top quality. They would never have been available in a normal shop; these kinds had to be ordered specifically from a manufacturer?
The class was taking their seats calmly. None of the boys that usually made the most noise were heard, and no chatter from the girls could be heard either. In fact, it was almost too calm . . . like the calm before a storm.
As they took their seats, waiters came and took their orders, and after a few minutes their glasses came out. The captain hadn't arrived at the table with the other guests yet, so after having looked around and gotten their drinks the students started talking again, quietly at first, but soon they were chatting as eagerly as ever. Everyone was very impressed with the restaurant, the table setting and the class trip as a whole.
Kaname turned to Sousuke. She had made sure that he was going to sit at her side when they took their seats.
?Have you ever been at a restaurant as fancy as this one, Sousuke?? she asked in a conversational voice.
?Affirmative. On a mission once, myself, Melissa and Kurz had to infiltrate a family of the Russian mafia. I was acting as Melissa's younger cousin, visiting Russia with her to learn how to do business with the Russians. Melissa was supposed to be a leader of another mafia organisation, and we were meeting the Russians at a Ritz hotel which was even more luxurious than this one.?
?What was Kurz doing then?? Kaname asked curiously.
Sousuke smirked a little at the memory. ?He had asked Melissa if he should act as her lover; he said that that was the only part that the Russians would possibly believe that he could be.?
?What happened?? Kaname found herself being more interested by the second. It was unusual for Sousuke to talk about his missions like this . . . or talk this much at all.
?After his bruises healed Melissa put him as a waiter . . . that is the job that Kurz hates most in the world. He loves being impolite and acting as if he's better than them whenever he goes to a restaurant.?
Kaname laughed. She could almost see how Kurz's face would crumble and fall when Mao ordered him to be the waiter.
?And . . . ?? she said, anticipating.
?And what??
?How did the mission end??
?We were successful,? Sousuke said.
As Sousuke finished they both noticed that the captain was moving toward their table, this time followed by a group of middle-aged men and women who all looked wealthy. The men all wore suits and ties, and their wristwatches seemed to be of top quality. The women had evening dresses and large necklaces weighing down their necks. Diamonds and rubys glittered in the dimly lit room, and gold chains and silver bracelets were common on all of the ladies.
When the new company had taken their seats at their tables the captain walked up to the head end and knocked on his glass with his spoon, calling for attention, the talking died out and both students and the adults looked at the captain.
The captain held a long speech, he welcomed them onboard again and said that on behalf of himself and his mates he was very happy to have just them onboard on this evening. Everyone got the impression that this was a speech that he had given many times before. He told them some general information about the ship - - it was pretty much the same as Sousuke already had told them - - and he told them about their route.
The speech was long and most of the time pretty boring, but eventually it ended, and everyone around the table applauded some.
At the same time as the applause ended the waiters came back and started serving out the dishes.
The food was delicious. First it was a sea crab salad, and it made everyone even more excited for the rest of the meal. Then it came mushroom soup, steaming from the heat.
It made Kanames eyes roll some and she leaned closer to Sousuke to whisper to him.
?Seriously . . . I would do anything for a soup like this. I just LOVE mushrooms.?
?It is very good tasting, indeed. I'm just a bit worried about how wise it is to eat this . . . many mushroooms are very poisonous and - -" He was cut off by a sudden pain on his leg. Kaname had pinched him, hard.
?Don't even get started, Sousuke . . . I'm just warning you . . .? The chill in her voice couldn't be mistaken; you could almost feel how the temperature dropped.
Sousuke swallowed and quickly turned back to his bowl and took in a large mouthful just to show Kaname that he wasn't worried at all. When he side-glanced toward her, he noticed that she was smiling again, and he let out a small sigh of relief.
Who knows what she might have done to him if he had pressed on this matter? He stored away this information in his mind for now; later he would write down in his ?Kaname's Mood and Behavior Log? that mushrooms were of great importance to her.
When everyone had finished with the soup, they seemed to be more relaxed. The students started talking to the adults a little more, and it soon became clear that they were people from one of Tokyo's most exclusive clubs for rich people.
They were all either presidents of companies or investors in stocks- one owned a railway and someone was in the shipping business- but what they all had in common was that they had a lot more money than they could spend. The students fantasized about becoming this rich and prosperous in the future themselves.
The main dish came. It was fresh potatoes with meat stew, fresh carrots and all other vegetables that one could imagine.
The dinner went on and the conversation was pleasant. Mrs. Kagurazaka was talking to the captain, and Shinji could be seen speaking to one of the directors from a company, which apparently was making some of the parts in the reactor unit of the M6 units that the US Marines were using.
Ono D was telling jokes to a pair of older ladies at the end of the table. They seemed to enjoy his jokes. How was a mystery to the rest of the class - - they had grown very tired of all of his practical jokes over time - - but the ladies were laughing.
Sousuke was concentrating on his plate. Even though that he normally didn't care much about how the food tasted, he had to admit that this was delicious.
Usually he either ate in the school cafeteria or he had his MRE with him. Neither tasted very good, but since his childhood days in the back alleys and refugee camps in Helmajistan, he had gotten used to not paying attention to the taste of food . . . as long as it had some nutritional value it was good.
That had changed some when he had joined with Mithril--the food there was often of good quality and he had learned to like some food--but the major change had been when he arrived in Tokyo. He could still remember the taste of the food that Kaname had cooked him; that had tasted wonderful. He wasn't sure if it was because she was a good chef or if it was the fact that it was she that had cooked it - - perhaps he could eat old shoes if they just had been prepared by Kaname?
He glanced to her side as he thought and she noticed his look.
?Ten Yen for your thoughts, Sousuke!?
?I was thinking about the first time you made dinner for me.?
?Really? What about it?? she said with a questioning look on her face.
?I was measuring your cooking against what we are being served here tonight . . .?
Kaname's eyebrow twitched a little. ?And . . .?? she said with an anticipating voice.
?Your food was much better than this, but this is very good too.?
?Ohh . . .? she smiled at his comment, blushing slightly. ?Thank you Sousuke.?
Sousuke stored that piece of information away, too. Of course he already knew that giving Kaname compliments was a good thing, but it seemed that acknowledging her cooking was an extra good thing.
The class kept talking until the end of dinner. Finally, they were interupted when the captain stood up again and asked for silence.
?I hope that you all have had a pleasant time tonight.? He waited a few seconds until most of them had answered ?Yes,? and then resumed his speech. ?Now this dinner is over, and I hope that you have all enjoyed the food. A special thanks to our head chef, Mr Jean-Paul; he is the man behind this masterpiece. For those of you who want to, you can now accompany me up to the bridge for a tour, to see how we have it when we are not sitting down here and eating these dinners.? He smiled at them for a few seconds.
?For those of you who don't fancy that, the bars and clubs are open for the older ones, and our dance club for the younger ones. And with that I want to thank you all for a pleasant dinner. I hope that you will enjoy your stay on my ship for the rest of this voyage. Thank you.? He said.
The students and the adults gave the captain a round of applause and started to stand up and walk away in different directions. Some walked up to the captain and asked to get to see the bridge.
Ren, Kyoko, Maya, Shinji and Ono D walked up to Kaname and Sousuke.
?What do you say, Kaname? We are going down to the club right away. Are you coming, too?? Maya said.
Kaname turned and looked at Sousuke for a moment. He noticed and said to her, ?I think that it would be wise to accompany the captain up. That would give me the opportunity to both visit the ship's bridge and also get an idea of how well trained the officers are.?
?I want to see the bridge, too,? Kaname said hastily. ?But I'm coming down to the club after.?
?All right, we're heading down there right now anyway. See you in a while, then,? Maya said and turned away with a smile.
Kaname turned to Sousuke so she could not see the five's smiles. Kaname's friends smiled as she turned back to Sousuke. She could not fool them, they thought, even is she sometimes fooled herself. It was obvious what she felt for Sousuke.
?Shall we go, then?? she said to Sousuke.
?Affirmative,? he answered, and led her up to the captain. They were the only two youths. There were two older men with their wives besides them.
?It's nice to see that there are at least some among the young that are interested,? the captain said with a friendly smile as they approached.
?Follow me then, ladies and gentlemen,? he said and began walking out of the restaurant. They walked out of the restaurant and crossed several corridors, then walked past the shopping area and approached a door that led out to the deck. The captain walked out and led them forward to a stair that had a sign hanging on a chain blocking their path that said: ?Unauthorized persons may not enter.?
The captain unlocked the chain and let them all past, after which they climbed the stair and reached a platform that led to a door farther ahead. The captain opened the door and let them enter the bridge. The room was very dark since the sun had set and no lights were turned on. The faces of the two people that were sitting in the front of the room were lit by the lights from all of the screens that were placed in front of and around them.
A third person was standing on the far right side, leaning against a window and staring out in the night through the binoculars that he held.
?I'm turning on the lights now, Mr Yang,? the captain said. ?I have some guests with me that want to see how we do things up here.?
?Yes, sir,? answered the on the right. ?There are no ships on the radar at the moment.?
The captain flipped a switch and the bridge was filled with light, allowing them to see clearly again.
It was very large and very nice. The huge panorama windows that went from the floor to the ceiling gave them a spectacular view out over the ocean.
In the back of the room stood a large leather sofa. A coffee machine that was placed on a bench close by and a plate with cookies on the large table made the area feel like a small living room. Plants were placed here and there around the room, which increased the impression that they were actually in a rather large house and not on a ship.
?Let me introduce my officers to you,? the captain said and walked over to the two men.
?This is First Officer Mr. Yang.? The man to the right said hello to them. ?And this is First Cadet Mr. Tsuwongu.? The younger one to the left nodded in their direction, and this is Mr. Ling, he works as an AB ? that means Able Seaman ? and is currently on watch as a lookout so we cant disturb him at the moment.
The Captain turned back to the first mate.
?Mr Yang, could you please tell our guests about your instruments?? the captain asked, and Mr. Yang immediately stood up and faced them.
?It will be my pleasure, captain,? he said.
?Let me begin with this, then.? he said, and pointed toward a large screen that was placed right in front of his chair. ?This is our radar. Simply put, radar sends out a sound signal wich bounces off of objects like other ships or islands. Since we know the speed of sound, it is easy for the machine to calculate the distance to anything that the signal bounces off, and then it presents it on this screen. That is why we call everything that appears on this screen an ?echo?.?
He continued talking about the radar for some time, and then went on and showed them GPS, VHF, Echo Sounder, sonar and many other instruments. It was clear that he liked showing these things since he talked about everything with joy. He really liked to share some of his knowledge with them, and they could see that he brightened up whenever someone asked a question.
As he was talking about the necessity of having the newest instuments all the time, the first cadet turned to him and asked for some attention for a moment.
?Excuse me, Mr. Yang,? he said. ?We are at the waypoint in a few minutes; it is time to alter our course.?
?Thank you, Mr. Tsuwongu,? Mr. Yang said. He turned back to the passengers. ?Perhaps one of you would like to try out how it feels to steer a large ship??
?What about you, young lady?? he said to Kaname.
?What? Me?? she said.
?Yes, why not? It's very easy, and then you will have done something that your boyfriend there can be jealous about.? He smiled at them, and both Kaname and Sousuke blushed slightly. They gave each other a quick glance, but neither tried to contradict the First Officer.
Kaname sat down in Mr. Yang's chair and he explained how she should use the autopilot.
?Now miss, would you please alter our course starboard--that's to the right--to heading 176 south-south-west.?
?Aye aye, Mr. Yang,? Kaname said with a smile. She remembered how the crew onboard ?Tuatha da Danaan? had answered Tessa when she gave them an order.
Mr Yang smiled when she answered with the ?Aye aye? and observed her as she made the ship turn in a soft circle to the right until she put them on the ordered course.
?That was very good, miss. You are a natural.? He smiled at her and was rewarded with a smile in return.
?Well, that was about it. I hope that you have enjoyed the visit here on my bridge,? the captain said when Mr. Yang sat down in his chair again. ?The crew has to return to their work now, and I'm sure that you all want to relax. It was a pleasure to have you here.?
They thanked the captain and the crew and were led down through the ship again to the lobby were they walked off toward the clubs. Kaname and Sousuke walked down to the dancing club to meet up with their friends.
Meanwhile, back on the bridge, Mr. Yang had returned to his post. He was watching the sea outside the huge windows when suddenly something caught his attention. ?What the . . . !!!? he cried as he saw a red light from a rocket rise up toward the sky in front of them. He picked up the phone and called down to the captain who had left the bridge with the visitors.
?Captain! I can see a red flare straight ahead of us. It is a distress rocket . . . we can now see the vessel on our radar. It is approximatly 6 NM in front of us.?
?Thank you, Mr. Yang. I'm coming up to the bridge right away.? The captain hung up the phone and left his cabin, heading toward the bridge.
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That was it!
I hope you enhoyed this chapter aswell, remember to post opinions and suggestions, ideas or whatever
The more posts I get the happier I am With regards
Magsnus
