3rd-Person Point of View
Date: Sunday, July 4th, 2021
Time: 8:47 PM
Location: Primary Hostage Evacuation Zone, Somali Pirate Stronghold / USS Nimitz Multinational Rescue Armada, Gulf of Aden
The first rescued civilians came out of the marked hostage buildings beneath a sky that refused to become quiet, because the battle surrounding the Somali stronghold had only changed shape rather than ended. Helicopters moved above the compound while aircraft belonging to Mary's daughters crossed higher overhead, friendly IFF strobes burned from rooftops already secured by special operations teams, and scattered pockets of Somali pirates continued fighting from outer buildings, vehicle compounds, and hardened positions away from the rescued civilians. Mary emerged from the building with Lieutenant Commander Mercer, the DEVGRU squads, several armed former military hostages, and the first group of wounded civilians while her Contour helmet camera transmitted everything she saw through the communications network. Her six-foot-five Kansen body remained wrapped in the NWU Type III combat uniform, F-IOTV, Advanced Combat Helmet, GPNVG-18, and communications gear that had manifested earlier, while her Mk 23 remained secured at her side and MOTHER NET spoke directly into her Comtac II headset. Hundreds of miles away aboard USS Nimitz, her daughters were watching their mother walk through the battlefield with her own eyes.
The helmet-camera feed occupied one of the large displays aboard USS Nimitz, where Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet, New Jersey, Belfast, Mary's brother, sister, and several cousins had gathered behind the officers directing the rescue. The image shook naturally with Mary's movements, showing concrete walls, rescue personnel, frightened civilians, flashes from distant fighting, and the backs of DEVGRU operators clearing the immediate path ahead of the group. Mary's family had already been told that the camera would remain connected as long as communications permitted, because nobody aboard the carrier wanted to lose sight of her again after spending two months believing she was dead. Enterprise stood almost motionless before the screen with her hands pressed together beneath her chin, while Hornet leaned so far forward that Yorktown occasionally touched her shoulder as though afraid she might somehow fall into the display. New Jersey said nothing at all, because watching through Mary's eyes made the distance between the Gulf of Aden and Somalia feel painfully small.
Belfast remained close to the communication console while Mary's dirt-covered Full Dress White Uniform stayed secured elsewhere aboard the carrier exactly as Mary had requested. "Her helmet camera is stable," a communications specialist reported, glancing between the feed and the incoming telemetry. "We should maintain video until Admiral Nimitz reaches her ship form, provided the tactical network remains intact." Enterprise immediately looked toward him and replied with emotion that overwhelmed any attempt at formality. "Please do everything you can to keep it up, because I don't want to lose sight of Mom again." The specialist nodded without needing further explanation, because nearly everybody aboard USS Nimitz understood the same feeling by now.
At the stronghold, the evacuation problem became clear within minutes because only one open area inside the secured portion of the complex was broad and structurally sound enough to handle the heavy helicopter traffic required to remove the growing number of rescued hostages. The zone had originally been a wide vehicle and equipment yard, but debris from the fighting and the discovery of additional prisoner buildings had forced planners to compress the evacuation into that single protected area. Engineers and special operations personnel rapidly marked the boundaries while IFF strobes distinguished the landing zone from surrounding structures, and rescue teams began funneling wounded civilians toward it in controlled groups. Large Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragons were inbound to carry the evacuees, their size and lifting capacity making them ideal for moving substantial groups once the zone could be protected. The disadvantage was equally obvious to everyone standing there: every helicopter now had to land and depart through the same piece of ground.
Mercer looked across the open yard and then toward Mary. "That's going to become very popular very quickly." Mary heard another aircraft pass overhead before answering, "Then we'd better make sure it stays ours." One of the DEVGRU operators glanced toward her with a trace of amusement because the Admiral had somehow managed to sound like both a mother worried about civilians and a warship preparing to defend her own deck. Mary noticed the look and raised an eyebrow. "What?" The operator shook his head and answered, "Nothing, ma'am, I'm still getting used to the idea that you're technically an aircraft carrier."
Mary almost laughed. "You and me both."
The ground began vibrating before another sentence could follow.
Several rescue personnel immediately turned toward the eastern approach, where armored engines were moving through smoke beyond the secured buildings. For one terrifying moment, the people around Mary thought the pirates had found another armored column to throw against the landing area. Then Russian identification calls sounded across the coalition network, and recognizable friendly markings emerged through the darkness.
The Russian Naval Infantry had arrived.
A BTR-80M armored personnel carrier rolled into position near one approach, followed by a BTR-82A whose weapon station covered a wider section of open ground without turning toward the marked civilian buildings. Behind them came a BMP-2M Berezhok infantry fighting vehicle and a BMP-3F, their crews coordinating with American and allied personnel rather than attempting to dominate a battle already crowded with different national forces. The vehicles spread around the perimeter of the evacuation area, becoming armored walls between the landing zone and the surviving pirate-held portions of the stronghold. Russian Naval Infantry dismounted behind them and immediately joined the multinational defensive screen.
A Marine Raider watching the vehicles arrive looked toward a Russian soldier passing nearby and shouted over the rotor noise, "Never thought I'd be this happy to see your armor tonight!" The Russian Naval Infantryman laughed once and shouted back in accented English, "I was thinking exactly the same about American helicopters!" Mary heard both men and smiled despite everything happening around them. The strange coalition surrounding her seemed almost impossible when viewed through the lens of history, yet none of that history mattered to the civilians being carried toward the landing zone. Tonight the only useful distinction was between the people trying to take hostages home and the people trying to stop them.
The first MH-53E Sea Dragon appeared over the outer buildings. Its immense rotor system thundered across the compound. Mary instinctively looked upward, and her helmet camera followed. Aboard USS Nimitz, Hornet's mouth opened in relief. "There it is."
Enterprise did not look away from the screen. "Come on." Yorktown squeezed her sister's arm while the Sea Dragon descended toward the only landing area capable of handling the heavy evacuation traffic. The Russian armored vehicles held their positions around the perimeter as special operations personnel directed civilians toward protected waiting points well clear of the descending helicopter. Mary remained near the first group of wounded, refusing repeated suggestions that she move toward the aircraft herself.
A Pararescueman caught Mary's arm gently. "Admiral, you're one of the primary recovery objectives." Mary looked toward a stretcher carrying a badly wounded humanitarian worker and shook her head. "Then recover me after the people who can't walk." The PJ started to answer, but Mary continued before he could. "I can stand, I can fight, and I can move under my own power, while some of these people cannot do any of those things." Her expression hardened with unmistakable maternal command. "They go first."
Mercer heard her. "So much for getting you onto the first helicopter."
Mary glanced toward him. "You honestly thought that was going to happen?"
"No."
"Then why did you say it?"
"Hope."
Mary actually laughed. "Optimist."
The first Sea Dragon touched down. Dust exploded across the landing area as rescue personnel moved into action, carrying stretchers and guiding walking wounded toward the aircraft while the Russian armored screen and special operations teams guarded the perimeter. Mary's GPNVG-18 remained raised for the moment because enough light existed from aircraft, fires, strobes, and portable illumination to see without them. Her helmet camera showed civilians disappearing into the massive helicopter one group at a time, and Enterprise began silently counting each person aboard USS Nimitz. Mary could hear her daughters through MOTHER NET, but for once none of them tried to pressure her into boarding.
They knew their mother too well. Then an alarmed voice crossed the tactical network. "Hostile air contact!"
Mary's head snapped upward.
A controller continued before anyone could mistake the contact for one of the dozens of friendly aircraft over the stronghold. "Rotary-wing, low altitude, approaching the evacuation area from the southwest." Another sensor operator identified the silhouette through the darkness, and disbelief entered his voice despite his training. "Mil Mi-24D Hind-D, hostile."
Mary stared upward. "A Hind?"
New Jersey's shocked voice reached her through MOTHER NET. "They have helicopters too?"
Mary's answer came hard. "Apparently."
The implication was worse than the machine itself. Pirates with T-72 tanks had already raised disturbing questions. Pirates with combat helicopters made those questions impossible to ignore.
The Mi-24D came in dangerously low through smoke and darkness, apparently trying to use the buildings to conceal its approach from aircraft higher overhead. Friendly forces around the landing zone began moving civilians tighter against cover while the Sea Dragon remained on the ground taking wounded passengers. The Hind appeared suddenly beyond a damaged structure so close to the evacuation area that Mary could see its shape with her unaided eyes.
Fifteen feet beyond the outer edge of the marked landing zone, it rose into view. Mary's helmet camera caught everything. Aboard USS Nimitz, every daughter watching the feed froze. Enterprise whispered, "No."
Hornet grabbed Yorktown's hand. New Jersey's eyes widened. Belfast lost every trace of composure. Mary herself barely had time to understand what she was seeing before another aircraft crossed the camera's upper field. One of Akagi's A6M2 planes.
The aircraft descended from above with terrifying precision, attacking the hostile helicopter before it could threaten the packed evacuation area. Weapons fire struck the Hind and tore through its exposed systems, forcing it sideways away from the marked zone before flame burst along its upper structure. The Mi-24D dropped beyond the landing area and crashed into open ground outside the friendly perimeter, sending an orange glow rolling against the night sky while rescue personnel instinctively ducked behind armored vehicles and barriers. The nearby Sea Dragon remained intact.
Mary stared. Her breathing became painfully audible through the helmet-camera microphone. "Akagi."
The radio answered almost instantly. "Okāsan!"
Akagi's voice was raw with terror. Mary keyed the radio. "I'm okay."
Akagi made a sound somewhere between a sob and a cry of relief. "Okāsan!"
Mary closed her eyes for half a second. "I'm okay, sweetheart. You got it before it reached us."
Akagi began crying openly over MOTHER NET. "I saw it coming toward you, and I thought…I thought I was watching you die again!" Her aircraft continued climbing away from the immediate friendly zone while other Sakura Empire planes moved to cover it. "I could not let it touch you!"
Mary swallowed hard. "You saved all of us."
Akagi's breathing shook. "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Akagi cried harder. Then her tone changed. The terrified daughter gave way to the carrier Kansen protecting her mother. "I see more hostile helicopters farther from the landing zone."
Mary knew what was coming. "Go."
Akagi answered immediately. "I will keep them away from you."
Kaga's voice joined hers. "You will not do it alone."
Mary heard both daughters' A6M2 Type 0's accelerate away from the evacuation area and whispered, "Be careful, my girls." Akagi answered through tears and determination, "I will come back to you, Okāsan." Kaga's quieter voice followed. "We both will."
Aboard USS Nimitz, Enterprise finally released the breath she had been holding. Hornet wiped tears from her cheeks while New Jersey remained completely silent, staring at the helmet-camera feed as though blinking might somehow make Mary disappear. Belfast placed one hand against the communications console, her knuckles white beneath her glove. Mary's sister looked from the video of the burning Hind back toward Enterprise. "Is that what it's always like when she's in danger?"
Enterprise shook her head. "No."
Mary's sister looked confused. Enterprise swallowed. "It's worse now because we already lost her once."
Nobody had an answer for that. The first Sea Dragon continued loading. Pararescue personnel brought another stretcher aboard. Then another.
Mary stood near the edge of the protected waiting area with Mercer and several DEVGRU personnel while more rescued civilians arrived from buildings marked by IFF strobes. Every time a new group emerged, Mary's expression changed because the scale of the kidnapping network kept expanding before her eyes. Some prisoners looked malnourished, some had untreated injuries, and several appeared to have been held much longer than the humanitarian convoy.
Mary whispered into MOTHER NET. "They've been doing this for a long time."
Belfast answered softly from USS Nimitz. "Yes."
Mary watched another elderly civilian being carried toward the Sea Dragon. "We're going to find out who helped them."
The President's voice did not join the channel, but Mary knew he was listening through the command structure aboard her ship. Intelligence personnel were already preserving captured records, communications equipment, and documents for later examination. The immediate priority remained unchanged.
People first. Answers later. Another alert sounded from the eastern perimeter. This one came from the ground. "Hostile tracked vehicle moving toward LZ!"
Mary turned. Through smoke between two damaged structures came a silhouette she immediately recognized from years around military equipment…A ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle.
The pirate-operated self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle was pushing toward the only landing area being used by the Sea Dragons, and its appearance caused an immediate ripple of alarm across the coalition network. Friendly aircraft were overhead, helicopters were approaching and departing, civilians were exposed around the landing area, and nobody needed anyone to explain why an anti-aircraft platform approaching that location was unacceptable. Russian armored vehicles shifted to cover, but civilians and friendly forces crowded the battlespace too tightly for careless fire.
Mary saw it through her own eyes. Her daughters saw it through her helmet camera. New Jersey leaned toward the screen. "What is Mom doing?"
Mary stepped away from the civilians. Cyan Wisdom Cube light suddenly flickered around her hands. Enterprise knew that glow. "She's summoning something."
Mary herself looked down in surprise as a long weapon began forming across her hands and shoulder. The Mk 153 Model 2 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon materialized fully within seconds. Mary stared at it. Mercer stared at it. One of the DEVGRU operators stared at it.
Mary said the only thing her overloaded mind could manage. "Oh, apparently I can do this now."
A Marine Raider several yards away saw the launcher and shouted, "Admiral, that's one hell of a time to discover new inventory!" Mary glanced toward him despite the incoming Shilka. "I would have preferred a manual!"
Aboard USS Nimitz, nobody laughed. The helmet camera showed exactly what Mary saw. The approaching Shilka. The protected civilians. The Sea Dragon is still loading wounded people. The Mk 153 Model 2 now resting against Mary's shoulder.
New Jersey slowly covered her mouth. Hornet whispered, "Mom."
Enterprise said nothing. Yorktown said nothing. Belfast said nothing. Every daughter who had access to the video watched in stunned silence as their mother manifested a heavy weapon from cyan Wisdom Cube light and turned toward the armored threat approaching the evacuation zone.
Mary's Kansen instincts supplied the ammunition before she consciously asked for it. A Mk 6 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive Anti-Armor rocket manifested with the launcher. Mary did not think about specifications. She thought about the civilians behind her. The wounded inside the Sea Dragon. Her daughters are watching. Her family is waiting aboard USS Nimitz.
The promise she had made to bring everyone home. Mary steadied herself as she went into firing stance. The Shilka continued forward. Mercer shouted for everyone nearby to remain behind cover and Mary fired. The launch cracked through the landing zone. Her helmet camera jolted.
The HEAA rocket crossed the distance and struck the ZSU-23-4 before it could reach the evacuation area. Fire erupted across the vehicle as the armored anti-aircraft system stopped violently and smoke rolled upward into the night. Rescue personnel remained behind cover for another moment before controllers confirmed that the immediate threat had been neutralized.
Mary lowered the launcher. For three seconds she said nothing. Then she looked directly toward the burning Shilka. "I really just do that."
Mercer laughed breathlessly. "Yes, Admiral."
Mary looked at the Mk 153. "This has been a very strange day."
The feed aboard USS Nimitz remained utterly silent. Mary heard nothing from her daughters. She frowned. "MOTHER NET?"
Nobody answered for another second. Mary became concerned. "Girls?"
New Jersey finally found her voice. "Mom."
Mary heard the stunned tone. "Yes, honey?"
New Jersey stared at the screen. "You just summoned a SMAW."
Mary glanced at the weapon still in her hands. "I noticed."
Hornet's voice appeared next. "And destroyed a Shilka."
Mary winced. "I noticed that too."
Enterprise finally spoke. "You told Auntie you weren't going looking for a fight."
Mary immediately protested. "It came to me!"
Yorktown covered her face aboard USS Nimitz. Even Belfast laughed. New Jersey's shock collapsed into hysterical relief. "Okay, that is technically true!"
Mary's sister leaned toward the communications station. "Mary, I swear to God, if you come back from the dead just to get yourself blown up carrying an anti-tank launcher, I am personally killing you again!" Mary immediately answered, "That seems counterproductive!"
Enterprise started laughing. Hornet followed. Within seconds half the family around the video display was laughing through tears because Mary remained alive enough to argue. The first Sea Dragon completed loading. A rescue coordinator gave the departure signal.
The massive helicopter began lifting from the landing zone with wounded civilians aboard, rotor wash turning dust into a swirling wall around the protected perimeter. Mary shielded her face with one arm while watching it rise through the camera. Her expression softened as the helicopter cleared the surrounding buildings. "One away."
Mercer nodded. "One load going home."
Mary smiled. "Good."
Another Sea Dragon was already inbound. The evacuation cycle had begun. Russian Naval Infantry vehicles adjusted around the perimeter to allow the next helicopter into the single usable landing area while preserving armored protection around the approach routes. The BTR-80M covered one flank, the BTR-82A another, while the BMP-2M Berezhok and BMP-3F formed a deeper defensive layer around areas through which rescue personnel were moving hostages. Their presence created a visible corridor of friendly armor that helped separate the landing area from the still-contested portions of the compound. American, British, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Italian, and other personnel moved around one another with surprisingly little friction because every nation had the same immediate task.
Then two hostile vehicles appeared from another approach. A controller shouted the identification. "Two BTR-80 APCs, hostile, moving toward the evacuation perimeter!"
For one instant the resemblance to friendly Russian vehicles threatened confusion, but coalition identification quickly distinguished the pirate vehicles from the marked Naval Infantry armor guarding the landing zone. The hostile BTR-80s emerged from behind a damaged wall and attempted to push toward the open area where the next Sea Dragon would soon descend. Rescue personnel began pulling civilians deeper behind the armored screen.
Two Marine Raider anti-armor teams moved into action. Both teams carried Mk 153 Model 2 launchers. Mary saw them and immediately stepped back rather than trying to solve every problem herself. Mercer gave her an approving look. "You're learning."
Mary frowned. "I can delegate."
"Your family would probably dispute that."
"They're not here."
Enterprise's voice came through MOTHER NET. "We are literally watching you."
Mary closed her eyes. "I forgot about the camera."
Hornet laughed. "We didn't."
The two Raider teams engaged the approaching armored vehicles once the friendly identification picture was clear and civilians had been pulled behind protection. Two Mk 6 Mod 0 HEAA rockets streaked across the dark compound in rapid succession, each striking one of the hostile BTR-80s. Both vehicles stopped in violent flashes before they could reach the evacuation perimeter.
Mary looked toward the Raiders. One raised a gloved hand. Mary raised hers back. "Nice shooting."
The Marine Raider laughed. "Same to you, Admiral."
New Jersey groaned over MOTHER NET. "Now she's making anti-armor friends."
Mary immediately answered. "Honey, don't be jealous."
"I have sixteen-inch guns!"
Mary smiled. "I know, sweetheart."
The second Sea Dragon descended. More wounded hostages moved forward. Mary refused her place again.
A DEVGRU operator approached her and said, "Admiral, command wants you extracted as soon as possible." Mary looked toward the line of stretchers and answered, "Command can have me after the critical wounded." The operator's expression suggested he had expected exactly that answer. "I was told you would say that."
Mary raised an eyebrow. "Who told you?"
"Your daughters."
Mary sighed. "Of course."
The helmet-camera feed caught the entire exchange. Enterprise smiled despite herself. "She really is predictable."
Belfast looked toward her. "Only when someone requires protection."
Mary heard that through USS Nimitz's microphones even without it being transmitted directly over MOTHER NET. She shifted a tiny portion of her consciousness toward her ship form and spoke from a speaker behind Belfast. "I heard that."
Belfast jumped. Mary laughed through her physical headset in Somalia while simultaneously speaking aboard USS Nimitz. Belfast placed a hand over her chest. "Mary!"
Mary grinned. "Sorry, Bells."
"You are most certainly not."
"No."
The extraordinary duality struck everyone again.
Mary stood in a Somali battlefield carrying a combat radio and watching civilians board rescue helicopters while, at the same time, she was USS Nimitz hundreds of miles away and could speak from her own compartments whenever she focused. The single A4W reactor inside her carrier body remained alive at full available output, while the second reactor and propulsion remained silent, waiting for the physical Kansen body shown on the helmet-camera feed. Mary's daughters were not simply watching their mother come home.
They were watching one part of Mary return to another. The tactical network erupted with another airborne warning. "Multiple hostile rotary-wing contacts farther north."
Akagi answered immediately. "I have them."
Kaga joined her. "So do I."
Mary raised her eyes toward the darkness. "Girls, do not chase anything beyond the operation area just because you're angry."
Akagi's voice trembled. "I am not chasing them because I am angry, Okāsan."
Mary knew her daughter well enough to hear the partial truth. "Akagi."
Silence. Mary softened. "You saved me."
Akagi's breathing became audible. "But I almost didn't."
Mary's heart broke at the fear in her voice. "Sweetheart, almost doesn't matter right now."
Akagi whispered. "It matters to me."
Mary looked toward the burning wreckage of the Hind beyond the perimeter. "I know."
Kaga spoke gently across the radio. "Okāsan, I will remain with her." Mary smiled. "Thank you, Kaga." Akagi took a shaky breath and replied, "I will protect the landing area, and I will come back." Mary answered, "That's all I ask."
Akagi and Kaga's aircraft moved against the remaining hostile helicopters farther away from the marked evacuation zone. Other daughters' fighters joined the aerial screen, with Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet, and several carriers ensuring the rescue helicopters could continue rotating without enemy aircraft reaching the single landing area. Military controllers called out only confirmed hostile aircraft, vehicles, and positions while Kansen pilots and human crews responded within their assigned sectors.
Another hostile Hind disappeared from the aerial picture. Then another pirate helicopter turned away and attempted to flee. Hornet's aircraft intercepted it farther from the compound. Mary heard the report. "Mom, hostile helicopter leaving the rescue area."
Mary answered, "Keep it away from the Sea Dragons."
Hornet replied, "Already on it."
Mary smiled. "My girl."
Hornet's voice brightened despite the battle. "I heard that."
More Sea Dragons began cycling through. One landed. Another departed. A third waited outside the immediate zone until the previous aircraft cleared.
Russian Naval Infantry armored vehicles continued guarding the approaches while Marine Raiders, Rangers, DEVGRU, Delta personnel, SAS, KSK, 1er RPIMa, Japanese Special Forces Group troops, Spetsnaz GRU personnel, Green Berets, Pararescue teams, Combat Controllers, and other allied elements continued securing the stronghold and feeding rescued prisoners toward the common extraction point. IFF strobes above newly cleared hostage buildings made the battlefield look increasingly like a constellation of friendly markers spreading through the compound.
Mary watched people arrive whom she had never seen before. Some had been captive for months. One group included aid workers from an older disappearance. Another contained merchant sailors. A third had civilians whose families had apparently been told nothing for weeks.
Mary's expression hardened with every new arrival. "These weren't just pirates."
Mercer stood beside her. "No."
Mary shook her head. "This was an industry."
The thought disgusted her. Then another stretcher passed. Mary pushed the anger aside. "Later."
Mercer nodded. "Later."
The third Sea Dragon began loading. Mary helped a limping humanitarian worker toward the waiting personnel before stopping outside the rotor wash. "You're next," she told him. The man looked at her and asked, "Aren't you coming?" Mary shook her head. "Not yet." His face tightened. "You got us through the worst part."
Mary smiled. "No."
He looked confused. "We all got each other through it."
The man hugged her suddenly. Mary stiffened. Then returned it. "Go home."
He cried against her shoulder. "You too."
Mary swallowed. "I will."
Aboard USS Nimitz, Mary's sister watched through the helmet camera and whispered, "You'd better." Mary heard her through the ship's microphones rather than MOTHER NET and answered through a nearby speaker aboard the carrier. "I know." Her sister looked toward the camera in the command space. "Stop doing that, it's creepy." Mary laughed in Somalia.
Her brother grinned. "I like it."
"You would."
Mary's voice came from another speaker. "I can lock your door later."
Her brother pointed at the camera. "There she is."
The laughter did not last long because another status report arrived. The most critically injured hostages from Mary's original room had been loaded. Mary immediately asked for confirmation. A Pararescueman checked his manifest and nodded. "All critical from your building are aboard or already airborne."
Mary stared at him. "All?"
"All."
She closed her eyes. A huge portion of the tension left her face. "Okay."
The operator beside her smiled. "Now will you consider leaving?"
Mary looked toward the next groups still waiting. "Consider."
Mercer laughed. "That means no."
Mary gave him a look. "It means consider."
"It absolutely means no."
New Jersey spoke over MOTHER NET. "Commander Mercer, I like you."
Mary frowned. "Honey."
"He understands you."
"Unfortunately."
The next Sea Dragon touched down. The armored perimeter held. No hostile aircraft reached the landing zone. Akagi and Kaga continued clearing enemy helicopters from the broader area while Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet, Saratoga, Lexington, and the other carrier daughters maintained protective air coverage. New Jersey and the battleship daughters guarded the broader approaches, their heavier weapons reserved for targets well clear of the civilian evacuation zone. Cruiser and destroyer daughters intercepted surviving hostile vehicles and boats trying to escape from the outer stronghold.
Everywhere Mary looked, one of her daughters was helping. She spoke into MOTHER NET. "Girls."
Enterprise answered. "Yes, Mom?"
Mary watched another Sea Dragon begin loading. "I can hear all of you out there."
Hornet replied, "We're not going anywhere."
Mary smiled. "I know."
Her voice broke anyway. "I just needed to say I'm proud of you."
Silence answered at first. Then Enterprise's voice trembled. "Mom…"
Mary continued before her emotions stopped her. "All of you. Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, Iron Blood, Northern Parliament, Iris Libre, Vichya Dominion, Sardegna Empire..every one of you who came here." She wiped at one eye beneath the edge of her helmet. "You could have turned this into revenge because they had me."
Bismarck answered quietly. "We came for the hostages, Mutter."
Queen Elizabeth joined. "As you taught us."
Richelieu spoke next. "We will not dishonor your return by forgetting why we came."
Akagi's crying voice joined from the sky. "I wanted to burn everything when I saw that helicopter near you."
Mary closed her eyes. "I know."
Akagi forced herself onward. "But there were people below me, so I remembered what you would say."
Mary asked softly, "What would I say?"
Akagi answered without hesitation. "I would say that rage does not get to choose where the weapon lands."
Mary's breath caught. "That is exactly what I would say."
Akagi began crying again. Mary smiled through her own tears. "My beautiful girl."
The landing area continued operating under pressure. Sea Dragons landed and departed in sequence. Russian Naval Infantry armored vehicles remained around the perimeter. Marine Raiders and other special operations personnel moved additional rescued prisoners toward the evacuation point. Mary's helmet camera remained live through all of it.
The feed sometimes shook. Sometimes dust obscured the image. Sometimes Mary's own arm crossed the frame. But it remained connected. Aboard USS Nimitz, nobody asked to turn it off. Enterprise refused to leave the display.
Yorktown stayed beside her. Hornet kept watching every aircraft that crossed Mary's view. New Jersey leaned against a console with both arms folded tightly across her chest. Belfast stood behind them. Mary's brother and sister remained together.
Her cousins watched. Even sailors passing through the command space glanced toward the image because their carrier's human-shaped Kansen body was somewhere inside it. An officer quietly approached Enterprise. "Ma'am, we're going to retain this feed until Admiral Nimitz physically arrives aboard."
Enterprise nodded. "Good."
New Jersey looked toward him. "If it drops?"
"We reacquire through whichever relay we still have."
New Jersey nodded slowly. "Thank you."
The officer looked at all of them. "We want her home too."
Enterprise's expression softened. "I know."
Another Sea Dragon departed. Mary watched it climb. Her radio reported that evacuation from several secondary hostage buildings was nearing completion. The stronghold was slowly changing from a battlefield containing prisoners into a battlefield almost empty of civilians. Mary finally allowed herself to imagine leaving. She looked toward Mercer. "How many from our original group are left?"
He checked. "Mostly walking wounded, military personnel, you, me, and the people helping organize movement."
Mary nodded. "Good."
Mercer smiled knowingly. "You're running out of excuses."
Mary raised a finger. "I still have several."
"Name one."
Mary looked toward another group approaching from a secondary building. "Them."
Mercer sighed. "Of course."
A DEVGRU operator laughed nearby. "I was warned she would be difficult to extract."
Mary turned toward him. "Who keeps briefing people about my personality?"
Enterprise answered over MOTHER NET. "We do."
Mary stared into empty air. "All of you are grounded."
Hornet burst out laughing. "We're warships!"
"I will find a way!"
New Jersey joined. "She's definitely our mother."
The laughter followed Mary into the next phase of the evacuation. Another group of rescued hostages reached the landing area. Another Sea Dragon descended. Another set of civilians went home. And through every second of it, Mary's daughters remained above, beside, and around her.
Akagi's aircraft passed overhead again after driving the remaining pirate helicopters from the evacuation zone. Mary looked up. The helmet camera captured the silhouette. "Akagi."
Her daughter answered immediately. "Okāsan?"
Mary smiled. "I see you."
Akagi began crying again. "You can?"
"Yes."
"I am here."
Mary swallowed. "I know, sweetheart."
Akagi's aircraft banked gently above the landing area before returning to its protective orbit. "I will stay until you leave."
Mary answered softly. "Then stay with me."
Akagi's voice trembled with relief. "Always."
The next Sea Dragon touched down beneath the glowing IFF strobes. Mary looked toward the aircraft. For the first time, she wondered whether it might eventually be hers. Not yet. There were still people waiting.
But soon. Very soon.
Hundreds of miles away, USS Nimitz remained motionless in the Gulf of Aden with one A4W reactor alive and the other still silent. Her flight deck waited beneath the night sky, surrounded by Mary's daughters, allied ships, her biological family, and thousands of sailors. Her four shafts had not turned since the Wisdom Cube left her hull.
Mary could feel them waiting. She pressed one gloved hand against her chest. "Hold on."
Enterprise heard her. "Mom?"
Mary looked toward the Sea Dragon carrying another load of rescued civilians into the sky. "I'm getting closer."
Enterprise started crying. "So are we."
Mary smiled beneath her helmet while her camera continued sending the image home. "Keep watching."
Enterprise looked directly at the live feed. "I won't take my eyes off you."
Time: 9:18 PM
By 9:18 PM, the character of the battlefield had changed again, because the critically wounded civilians who had consumed the first evacuation waves were no longer waiting beneath the glowing IFF strobes. The MH-53E Sea Dragons had carried load after load away from the stronghold, and the single usable landing area remained surrounded by Russian Naval Infantry armor, Marine Raiders, DEVGRU personnel, Pararescue teams, and exhausted rescued military personnel who had gone from prisoners to armed defenders within hours. Scattered fighting continued farther through the sprawling compound, but the buildings around the primary evacuation zone were increasingly covered with friendly identification markers instead of pirate positions. Mary stood near the edge of the landing area with dust across her NWU Type III combat uniform and IOTV, her Advanced Combat Helmet still carrying the Contour camera that had allowed her daughters to watch every terrifying minute. For the first time since the rescue began, there was nobody critically wounded standing between Mary Elizabeth Nimitz and her own evacuation.
Lieutenant Commander Mercer recognized that fact at exactly the same moment she did, and the exhausted officer slowly crossed his arms while studying Mary with an expression she immediately distrusted. "There aren't any critical patients left for you to hide behind, Admiral," he said, sounding far too satisfied despite the battle still echoing beyond the perimeter. Mary looked toward another group of walking survivors being checked by Pararescue personnel and answered, "I was not hiding behind anybody." Mercer raised one eyebrow before replying, "You have personally used every injured civilian in Somalia as an argument for why you couldn't leave." Mary placed both hands on her hips and muttered, "They needed those helicopters more than I did."
A Pararescueman standing nearby laughed before adjusting the straps of his medical pack. "That argument worked for the Sea Dragons, ma'am, but command stopped asking." Mary slowly turned toward him as suspicion crept across her face. "What does that mean?" The PJ smiled in the particular way of somebody who already knew he was about to deliver an order Mary could not easily escape. "It means the remaining Sea Dragons are continuing mass evacuation, but another aircraft has been assigned specifically to you." Mercer immediately started grinning while Mary narrowed her eyes and demanded, "Specifically to me?"
The answer reached her before the Pararescueman could speak. Rotor noise approached from offshore. It was lighter and faster than the enormous Sea Dragons. Mary knew the sound. More importantly, another part of her knew the aircraft itself.
The sensation reached her through the distant 1,092-foot ship body floating motionless in the Gulf of Aden, because the approaching helicopter had departed from her own aviation complement. Somewhere within Mary's newly developing Kansen awareness, the aircraft felt familiar in a way that went beyond simply recognizing its type. It belonged to USS Nimitz, which meant it belonged to Mary because there was no longer a meaningful difference between those statements.
Mary's eyes widened. "No."
Mercer laughed. "Oh, yes."
Mary looked skyward while her helmet camera followed her gaze. "You people sent one of my own helicopters to come get me?" The Pararescueman answered, "Command decided you might have more difficulty arguing with an aircraft that technically belongs to you." Mary stared at him in disbelief before muttering, "That sounds suspiciously like something my daughters suggested." Enterprise's voice immediately arrived through MOTHER NET, carrying far too much satisfaction. "We may have contributed."
Mary closed her eyes. "Enty."
Enterprise laughed through tears hundreds of miles away. "Mom, you ran out of wounded people to put ahead of yourself." Yorktown joined from beside her and added, "The walking evacuees have assigned transport, and the remaining military personnel have their own extraction sequence." Hornet's voice followed with delighted finality. "You have officially run out of excuses."
Mary looked at Mercer. He shrugged. "She's right."
Mary pointed at him. "You're supposed to be on my side."
"I am."
"This does not feel like it."
Mercer smiled. "My side is the one where you go home."
That answer silenced Mary. Her expression softened almost immediately. Hundreds of miles away aboard USS Nimitz, Enterprise saw the change through Mary's live helmet-camera feed and covered her mouth with one hand. Yorktown stood pressed against one shoulder and Hornet against the other, while New Jersey, Belfast, Mary's brother, sister, six cousins, and several other daughters surrounded the large display carrying the feed. The President and senior officers remained farther inside the command area, watching the larger operation rather than intruding upon what had become a deeply personal family moment. Nobody aboard the carrier had looked away from Mary's camera for more than a few seconds since the evacuation began.
Then the approaching helicopter entered Mary's field of view.
A Sikorsky HH-60 Rescue Hawk crossed above the Russian armored perimeter before banking toward the secured landing zone, its fuselage illuminated intermittently by strobes and the glow of fires farther inside the stronghold. Mary immediately recognized the Light Sea Blue coloration associated with the helicopters aboard her carrier and the black-and-white invasion stripes along the tail that marked her unusual CVW-17 aviation complement. The sight hit her with such unexpected emotion that she physically stumbled half a step. Mercer reached toward her instinctively, but Mary steadied herself before he touched her. "That's mine."
Her voice was barely audible. Enterprise heard it aboard USS Nimitz. "Yes."
Mary watched the HH-60 circle once. "That's actually one of mine."
Yorktown answered gently over MOTHER NET. "Four HH-60 Rescue Hawks are part of your helicopter complement, Mom." Mary laughed breathlessly and whispered, "I knew that, sweetheart. I can feel that I knew it before anyone told me." She pressed a gloved hand against her chest as the helicopter descended. "It's different watching one come for me."
Hornet smiled through tears. "Your own helicopter is bringing you back to your own flight deck."
Mary made a strangled emotional sound. "When you say it like that, this entire situation becomes even stranger."
New Jersey answered, "Mom, you came back from the dead as a hundred-thousand-ton nuclear guided-missile aircraft carrier." Mary sighed. "Honey, I have abandoned all hope of anything becoming less strange."
The HH-60 Rescue Hawk descended into the landing area.
Russian Naval Infantry vehicles shifted just enough to maintain the protective perimeter without interfering with the rotor disk, while the BTR-80M, BTR-82A, BMP-2M Berezhok, and BMP-3F continued covering approaches where surviving pirate forces might attempt one final attack. Marine Raider anti-armor teams remained positioned nearby with their Mk 153 launchers, and DEVGRU personnel watched the surrounding structures while the Rescue Hawk touched down. Rotor wash hurled dust across Mary's helmet camera, momentarily filling the feed aboard USS Nimitz with brown-gray haze. Enterprise leaned toward the screen until Mary's silhouette reappeared.
Mary looked toward the helicopter. The side door was open. Two Pararescue personnel waited inside. A small DEVGRU security element occupied additional positions. There was room for Mercer. And there was very obviously room for Mary.
She sighed. "I hate how prepared this looks."
Mercer laughed beside her. "That's generally considered a feature."
Mary turned toward the remaining walking hostages one final time before moving anywhere near the helicopter. "Everyone from our original room is accounted for?" she asked, refusing to let emotion distract her from that question. A rescue coordinator checked the latest manifest before answering that the civilians had either departed aboard the Sea Dragons or been assigned to the next confirmed lift, while remaining military personnel were now under friendly control. Other hostage groups discovered elsewhere in the stronghold had their own secured evacuation movements already in progress. Mary stared at him for several seconds before asking, "Nobody is being left because I'm taking an aircraft?"
"No, Admiral."
Mary looked toward Mercer. He nodded. "Nobody."
Only then did Mary's shoulders lower. "Okay."
Enterprise began crying immediately aboard USS Nimitz. Hornet looked toward her. "She's going."
Enterprise nodded. "She finally said okay."
Mary's sister covered her mouth with both hands while Mary's brother wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Belfast remained outwardly composed for another few seconds before her own eyes filled with tears. New Jersey stared at the helmet-camera feed in complete silence, then whispered, "Come on, Mom."
Mary heard her. She looked toward the HH-60. "I'm coming."
The words carried over MOTHER NET and through USS Nimitz's speakers almost simultaneously. Every daughter close enough to hear stopped. Mary walked toward the helicopter.
The Mk 153 she had manifested earlier was gone, returned to whatever Wisdom Cube reserve had produced it once the immediate threat ended, while her Mk 23 remained secured and her AN/PRC-152A continued carrying the shared communications net. Her helmet camera showed every step through swirling dust toward the open HH-60 door. A Pararescueman reached down from the cabin and extended one gloved hand.
Mary took it. Her boot touched the helicopter's step. She stopped. Something inside her changed. Mary had boarded thousands of aircraft in her human life. This was not the same.
The HH-60 belonged to her. Not in the administrative sense. Not because she commanded the unit. Not because someone had placed her name on paperwork. It was part of the aviation complement of USS Nimitz, and Mary was USS Nimitz. The instant her hand touched the aircraft's interior and her weight settled into the cabin, she felt a faint resonance pass through the Wisdom Cube inside her chest.
Mary whispered, "Hello, girl."
Mercer climbed aboard behind her and asked, "Talking to the helicopter?"
Mary smiled. "Yes."
He strapped himself into the nearest seat. "I've stopped finding anything unusual about that."
Mary laughed. "That might be the healthiest response."
The Pararescue personnel secured themselves while DEVGRU operators took positions near the open side and prepared for departure. Mary sat where her helmet camera could still see through the doorway, allowing the feed aboard USS Nimitz to remain active. She fastened her restraints and looked around the helicopter cabin with growing amazement. "I know this aircraft," she murmured.
One of the PJs looked toward her. "You flew in these before?"
Mary shook her head. "Not this particular one."
She touched the interior structure beside her. "I mean I know her."
The helicopter crew heard that through internal communications. Nobody laughed. By now, everyone involved in the rescue understood that Mary saying something belonged to her ship form carried an entirely different meaning from ordinary ownership. The HH-60 lifted. Mary's stomach shifted with the movement.
Her helmet camera tilted as she turned toward the shrinking landing zone. Russian Naval Infantry armor remained around the evacuation perimeter. Sea Dragons continued moving through the wider rescue operation. IFF strobes still burned from secured buildings. Special operations teams continued clearing sections of the stronghold.
Smoke and fire marked places where pirate vehicles had been destroyed. Mary watched all of it fall away beneath her. For a moment, nobody aboard USS Nimitz said anything. They simply watched through Mary's eyes as Somalia began receding. Then Enterprise whispered, "Mom, you're airborne."
Mary took a shaky breath. "I'm airborne."
Hornet began crying. "You're actually leaving."
Mary nodded even though the camera did not fully capture the movement. "Yes."
Yorktown answered softly. "You're coming home."
Mary closed her eyes. "Yes."
The word came out as a sob. "I'm coming home."
The Rescue Hawk climbed away from the stronghold. Then the escort appeared.
Mary saw the first aircraft move into position off the helicopter's left side, and recognition struck before anyone identified it over the radio. One of Enterprise's aircraft took station where Mary could see it through the open doorway. Another aircraft approached farther out from Yorktown, followed by one from Hornet. Then more silhouettes appeared one after another until the Rescue Hawk seemed to be flying at the center of an aerial honor guard built out of Mary's daughters.
Mary stared. "What are they doing?"
Enterprise answered immediately. "Covering you."
Mary's eyes filled. "All of you?"
Hornet laughed through her tears. "You told us to bring everybody home."
Yorktown added, "You're included in everybody."
Mary looked again.
One aircraft from every daughter in the participating rescue force who could field aviation had been assigned to the protective formation around the HH-60. Enterprise's aircraft occupied one section of the escort, Yorktown's another, and Hornet's aircraft remained close enough that Mary could recognize its shape whenever the Rescue Hawk banked. Saratoga and Lexington each contributed an aircraft, while Akagi and Kaga placed Sakura Empire planes in the outer screen.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales contributed aircraft from the Royal Navy formation, while Richelieu and Jean Bart maintained French aviation within the escort. Bismarck and Tirpitz sent their ship-borne aircraft where applicable, Vittorio Veneto and Littorio contributed their own, and other daughters throughout Eagle Union, Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, Iron Blood, Northern Parliament, Iris Libre, Vichya Dominion, and Sardegna Empire added aircraft wherever their ship forms could support them. Daughters without meaningful aviation capability protected the route through surface radar, guns, and their own Kansen networks rather than forcing aircraft into existence merely for symbolism. The result was still unlike anything the crews of the Rescue Hawk had ever seen.
Mary saw aircraft from nations that had once fought one another flying together around her. Her daughters;
One from Enterprise. (Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat carrier-based fighter aircraft)
One from Yorktown. (Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat carrier-based fighter aircraft)
One from Hornet. (Grumman F4F-4 Wildcatcarrier-based fighter aircraft)
One from Akagi. (Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Zero carrier-based fighter aircraft)
One from Kaga. (Mitsubishi A6M2 Model 21 Zero carrier-based fighter aircraft)
One after another until the night around the Rescue Hawk seemed filled with women saying the same thing without needing words. Nobody touches our mother. Mary pressed one hand against the side of her helmet. "Girls."
Enterprise answered. "We're here."
Mary looked through the opposite side of the helicopter and saw another aircraft maintaining position. "This is excessive."
New Jersey's voice arrived through MOTHER NET. "Mom, I am a battleship with nine sixteen-inch guns, thirty-two Tomahawks, sixteen Harpoons, and four Phalanx mounts that somehow manifested with my 1982 modernization, and even I think this escort is appropriate." Mary laughed through tears. "Honey, you are not the person I would consult about whether something is excessive."
New Jersey sounded offended. "I can be subtle."
Every daughter on the channel started laughing. Mary smiled. "No, sweetheart."
Even Mercer laughed. Mary glanced toward him. "You're enjoying this too much."
"I've been a hostage for a week."
He leaned back against his seat. "I've earned entertainment."
Mary could not argue with that. The escort tightened as the Rescue Hawk crossed farther from the stronghold. Akagi's voice came across MOTHER NET, still emotional from nearly watching the pirate Mi-24D reach the landing zone earlier. "Okāsan, my aircraft is off your right side." Mary turned her helmet until she found it. The camera feed aboard USS Nimitz followed her gaze.
Mary smiled. "I see her."
Akagi cried immediately. "You can see my plane?"
"Yes, sweetheart."
Mary watched it maintain position. "You're really here."
Akagi's breathing shook. "I told you I would stay until you left."
Mary's voice softened. "You did."
Kaga joined a moment later. "My aircraft is farther outside Akagi's."
Mary looked. There. Another familiar silhouette. Mary swallowed. "I see you too, Kaga."
Kaga's otherwise controlled voice broke. "I am glad."
Mary closed her eyes for a moment. "So am I."
The flight continued toward the Gulf of Aden while additional aircraft maintained broader defensive coverage beyond the daughters' visible formation. E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes kept the air picture organized, modern fighters monitored any surviving hostile aircraft, and allied ships farther offshore fed radar information into the rescue network. The HH-60 itself did not need to weave through a dramatic gauntlet of incoming attackers, because the entire point of the escort was ensuring threats never got close enough for Mary to see them. For the first time since waking inside Somalia, Mary was surrounded by enough friendly force that her job was simply to remain seated.
She hated it. A Pararescueman noticed her looking toward the open door. "Admiral."
Mary turned. "Yes?"
"You're thinking about helping."
Mary stared at him. "How did you know?"
Mercer answered before the PJ could. "Your face."
Mary looked betrayed. "I do not have a face for that."
Mercer laughed. "You absolutely do."
The Pararescueman pointed gently toward Mary's restraints. "Your assignment for the remainder of this flight is to stay buckled in." Mary frowned. "I'm an admiral." The PJ answered, "You're a patient until I say otherwise."
Mary's eyes narrowed. Enterprise immediately spoke through MOTHER NET. "I like him."
Mary looked toward the ceiling. "Of course you do."
Yorktown added, "He has excellent judgment."
Hornet joined. "Can we keep him?"
The Pararescueman laughed. Mary sighed. "I regret giving all of you access to this channel."
New Jersey replied, "No, you don't."
Mary smiled. "No."
She looked back toward the aircraft outside. "I really don't."
Aboard USS Nimitz, Mary's family watched her camera feed change from battlefield imagery to open darkness beneath the aircraft formation. The stronghold was gone behind them, and the screen now showed occasional glimpses of escort aircraft, flashes of navigation lights, and the interior of Mary's own Rescue Hawk whenever she turned her head. Her sister stood so close to the display that Belfast eventually moved beside her with a chair, though she refused to sit.
Mary's brother stared at the screen. "How long until she's here?"
A naval officer answered that the HH-60 was already established on the return route and would approach USS Nimitz directly once cleared into the carrier's airspace. No precise promise was added because operational conditions still mattered, but the answer was enough. Mary's brother nodded and whispered, "Good."
His sister looked toward him. "You going to hug her first?"
He gave her an incredulous expression. "You think Enterprise is letting either of us beat her?"
Enterprise heard him. "No."
Everyone looked toward her. Enterprise wiped her cheeks and repeated herself. "No."
Hornet started laughing. Enterprise pointed toward the screen. "I held Mom's hands when she died. I heard her last breath." Her voice cracked but she forced the words out. "When she steps onto this deck, I am hugging her first, and every single person here can fight me afterward."
Mary's sister stared at her. Then smiled. "I'll allow it."
Enterprise blinked. "Really?"
Mary's sister nodded through tears. "You're her daughter."
Enterprise collapsed into Yorktown's shoulder for a moment. "Thank you."
Mary heard the exchange because a portion of her consciousness remained threaded through USS Nimitz's internal microphones. Her voice suddenly came from the speaker above them. "You are all discussing my hug order without me."
Everyone jumped. Mary's brother pointed upward.
"Stop spying on us!"
Mary laughed physically aboard the HH-60 and simultaneously through the carrier. "I am the ship!"
Her sister shouted back toward the nearest camera. "That does not make spying less annoying!"
Mary grinned beneath her helmet. "I disagree."
Enterprise looked toward the camera. "Mom."
Mary softened immediately. "Yes, Enty?"
Enterprise swallowed. "I meant it."
Mary knew exactly what she meant. "I know."
Enterprise touched one hand to her chest. "I need to hold you."
Mary's throat closed. "You will."
Hornet immediately said, "Then me."
Yorktown added, "Hornet."
"What?"
Mary laughed through tears. "You're all getting hugs."
New Jersey entered the conversation. "I want a long one." Mary answered, "Honey, considering the way you hug, I may need armor." New Jersey sniffled and replied, "You have an IOTV." Mary laughed harder. "Fair point."
The HH-60 continued across the dark water. Mary gradually became aware of something else. USS Nimitz was getting closer. Not through distance readouts. Not through navigation.
She felt it. Her physical Kansen body sat inside the helicopter while her ship body waited in the Gulf of Aden, and the gap between those two forms had created a strange tension inside Mary's Wisdom Cube ever since she awakened. Now that tension was changing. The closer the Rescue Hawk carried her toward USS Nimitz, the more intensely she could feel systems within her carrier form.
One A4W reactor remained awake while the second remained silent. Aegis watched the sky. AN/SPS-48E searched the air. AN/SPS-49 reached outward. AN/SPQ-9 tracked.
Her communications systems carried thousands of voices. Her flight deck waited. Her four C-13-1 steam catapults remained powered for aviation operations. Her four hangar lifts remained available. Her guided-missile systems remained ready under human command safeguards.
Her four shafts remained still. Mary pressed a hand against her chest. Mercer saw it. "You okay?"
Mary nodded slowly. "I can feel myself getting closer."
Mercer hesitated. "That is an extremely strange sentence."
Mary laughed softly. "I know."
She looked toward the dark horizon. "But that's exactly what it feels like."
Through USS Nimitz, Mary simultaneously watched preparations beginning for her arrival. Her flight deck crews were clearing the assigned landing area. Lighting configurations changed. Aircraft were repositioned. Her own radar followed the approaching Rescue Hawk.
The realization hit Mary suddenly enough that she gasped. Enterprise heard it. "Mom?"
Mary stared into the darkness. "I can see us."
Hornet sounded confused. "What?"
Mary laughed in disbelief. "I'm looking at the Rescue Hawk through my own ship sensors while I'm sitting inside the Rescue Hawk."
Yorktown understood first. "You're seeing yourself approach yourself."
Mary groaned. "When you say it like that, I sound insane."
New Jersey laughed. "Welcome to being Kansen."
Mary smiled. "I suppose you're right."
Enterprise asked gently, "Does it feel good?"
Mary considered the question. "Yes."
She placed her palm flat against the helicopter's interior. "It feels like I've been holding my arm away from my body for hours and I'm finally bringing it back."
Yorktown's voice softened. "Then come home."
Mary closed her eyes. "I am."
The escort aircraft stayed with the Rescue Hawk. Not one daughter peeled away. Enterprise's plane remained on station. Yorktown's remained. Hornet's remained.
Akagi's and Kaga's remained. Royal Navy aircraft held their portion. Iron Blood aircraft maintained theirs. Iris Libre and Sardegna aircraft stayed with them. Every daughter who had sent one intended that aircraft to remain until Mary's boots physically touched USS Nimitz's flight deck.
The pilots and Kansen-controlled aircraft understood that no escort handoff would occur. They were taking Mother all the way home. The first unmistakable lights of the multinational fleet appeared ahead. Mary's helmet camera caught them.
Hornet shouted over MOTHER NET. "Mom, look!"
Mary smiled. "I see them."
The Gulf of Aden was filled with ships. American escorts remained around USS Nimitz, while allied vessels and manifested Kansen ship forms extended across the dark water beyond them. Radar arrays turned, navigation lights marked positions, and aircraft moved through organized corridors above the fleet. Among all those ships sat one enormous carrier that could not move under her own power.
Mary. Her own vessel form. Her own dark-blue angled flight deck. Her own gunship-gray hull. The Number 68 illuminated against the island and forward deck.
Mary stared through the helicopter doorway. She physically saw USS Nimitz for the first time since becoming her Kansen. Everything inside Mary stopped. "Oh my God."
Mercer looked outward. "What?"
Mary pointed. "That's me."
He followed her gesture toward the carrier. "I know."
Mary shook her head. "No."
Her voice broke. "You know what I mean."
Mercer did. He became quiet. Mary continued staring. The carrier looked enormous from the approaching helicopter, but the size no longer seemed abstract. Mary knew every deck. Every passageway. Every camera. Every major sensor. Every aircraft elevator. Every weapons network. She knew the operating reactor because she could feel its power inside herself.
And yet seeing the entire vessel from outside was different. Mary whispered, "I'm beautiful."
Mercer smiled. "Yes, Admiral."
Mary immediately looked embarrassed. "That sounded unbelievably arrogant."
He laughed. "I wasn't going to say it."
Mary grinned. "You were thinking about it."
"Absolutely."
Aboard USS Nimitz, the ship's cameras caught the approaching HH-60. Mary switched part of her awareness to an external camera mounted near the island. She saw the helicopter carrying her. Then looked outward from her physical body and saw the ship carrying everyone she loved. The two perspectives existed simultaneously.
Mary became dizzy. She squeezed her eyes closed. One of the PJs noticed. "Admiral?"
"I'm okay."
Mary breathed slowly. "Too many eyes for a second."
The medic watched her carefully. "Need me to shut off the helmet feed?"
Mary immediately shook her head. "No."
Enterprise heard that. "Mom, you don't have to keep it running for us if it's hurting you."
Mary smiled. "It's not hurting."
She opened her eyes again. "I promised you'd get to watch me come home."
Enterprise started crying. "I love you."
Mary's face crumpled. "I love you too, sweetheart."
The Rescue Hawk entered USS Nimitz's controlled airspace. The daughters' escort formation adjusted around it. Aircraft gradually spread so the HH-60 had an unobstructed approach, but none left. Akagi's aircraft held to one side. Kaga's stayed beyond it.
Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet, Saratoga, Lexington, and the other daughters maintained their protective ring.
New Jersey watched from her ship form below, unable to send the same kind of carrier aircraft escort as her carrier sisters but contributing every available sensor and defensive capability to the protective bubble around Mary. Her modernized Iowa-class form looked almost impossibly formidable beneath the night sky.
Mary saw it. "Honey."
New Jersey immediately answered. "Yeah, Mom?"
Mary looked through the helicopter doorway. "I can see you."
New Jersey's voice cracked. "My ship?"
"Your ship."
Mary smiled. "You really do look good with the modernization."
New Jersey laughed and cried simultaneously. "Thanks, Mom."
Mary added, "Still excessive."
New Jersey protested. "Mom!"
Mary laughed. The HH-60 turned toward USS Nimitz's flight deck. Mary's helmet camera showed the carrier growing rapidly larger. Flight-deck personnel stood well clear of the landing area.
Enterprise, Yorktown, Hornet, New Jersey's Kansen body, Belfast, Mary's brother, sister, six cousins, and several other daughters waited behind the safety boundary. The President remained farther back with senior officers, intentionally allowing Mary's family to receive her first.
Mary saw them through her ship cameras. Then she saw them through her helmet camera. Her breathing stopped. "My family."
Mercer leaned toward the open side. "They've been waiting."
Mary began crying. "Enty."
Enterprise heard her. "I'm here."
Mary could barely speak. "I can see you."
Enterprise looked directly toward the approaching helicopter.
"I can see you too."
The Rescue Hawk descended.
The rotor wash crossed the flight deck.
Mary's helmet-camera feed shook violently as the helicopter entered ground effect above USS Nimitz. The daughters' escort aircraft passed overhead one final time before breaking into holding patterns around the carrier, remaining present until Mary physically landed.
The HH-60's wheels touched the flight deck. Mary gasped. The sensation was immediate. Her Kansen body was not yet touching USS Nimitz directly, but the helicopter beneath her was. Her helicopter.
Her deck. Both belong to one body. Mary's Wisdom Cube pulsed. Deep inside the carrier, systems flickered. The silent second A4W reactor did not start.
Not yet. The shafts did not turn. Not yet. But something had noticed her arrival. Mary placed one hand against the helicopter floor. "I'm here."
Enterprise stood beyond the rotor wash with tears streaming down her face. "Mom!"
The Rescue Hawk's engines began settling toward the condition required for disembarkation. One Pararescueman released Mary's restraints. Mercer stood beside her. A DEVGRU operator checked the doorway. Mary remained seated for two extra seconds.
Not because she was afraid. Because she understood what came next. The moment her boot touched her flight deck, the separation between Kansen body and ship form would end for the first time. Mercer looked toward her. "Ready?"
Mary stared at Enterprise.
Yorktown.
Hornet.
New Jersey.
Belfast.
Her brother.
Her sister.
Her cousins.
Her daughters.
Her crew.
Her carrier…Herself.
Mary wiped her eyes beneath the helmet. "No."
Mercer smiled. "Good enough."
Mary laughed through tears. "Yeah."
She rose to her full six-foot-five height. The helmet camera followed. Aboard USS Nimitz, the live feed remained on the display even though Mary was now only yards away from everyone watching it. The Rescue Hawk's door opened fully.
Enterprise took one involuntary step forward before a flight-deck handler raised a hand, reminding her to wait until the helicopter was safe to approach. Enterprise stopped, every muscle in her body trembling with the effort.
Mary moved toward the doorway. Her daughters' aircraft continued circling above. Her own flight deck stretched before her. Mary placed one boot on the helicopter step. Then she looked outward.
Enterprise whispered across MOTHER NET. "Come home, Mom."
Mary smiled through tears. "I'm coming, sweetheart."
And with her family waiting only a few yards away, Mary Elizabeth Nimitz began stepping out of her Rescue Hawk and toward the flight deck of USS Nimitz…toward the steel body that was not another ship, not a possession, and not merely something connected to her. Toward herself.