Looking out the window of the cargo plane, all Anna could see was just endless water stretching to the horizon in all directions. It was a beautiful day and there wasn't a single cloud in sight. What filled Anna's vision was blue and only blue.
Anna's family owned a beach house that she would occasionally visit during vacations, so she wasn't unfamiliar with the ocean, but this is the first time she had gone so far into one.
They had been flying for a couple of hours now. The students were chatting with anticipation about the trip. Like everyone else, Anna was excited, but she was even more excited about what's on the carrier.
"Ms.Hastings, you've been really happy since this morning, has anything happened?" Leah asked.
"You will see." Anna gave a mysterious wink, which only fanned Leah's curiosity.
"Everyone, we have almost reached the GMRS Citadel. It should be in sight very soon." The pilot said over the PA system.
Anna looked in the distance in front of the plane, and soon enough, a small dot slowly appeared on the horizon.
"There it is! I can see it!" Anna exclaimed at Leah.
Leah leaned over and looked out the window and noticed it, as well.
"Yeah, I can see it, too." Leah had a slight hint of excitement in her voice.
As they got closer to the carrier, what used to be a small dot is now a gigantic ship accompanied by 4 other smaller ones.
Anna looked at the incredible mass on the water below her. The GMRS Citadel was indeed worthy of its name. It was like a castle town floating on the ocean. The jets huge in Anna's memories were like ants compared to the carrier they were scurrying around on.
"Hold on in your seats and get ready for landing." The pilot announced.
Anna could see the people on the carrier clearly now. A large number of personnel dressed in color-coded vests roamed around the airstrip. Everyone seemed to be constantly doing something or hurrying somewhere. It was organized chaos. Anna noticed the CIWS turrets automatically locked onto them and followed them as they got closer to the carrier.
Anna could feel the plane descending. There was a big thump as they touched down. The plane caught the arresting gear and quickly decelerated. Everybody on board was pushed forward from the momentum.
Quickly, the cargo plane came to a complete stop. The pilot then drove the plane to the side, out of the way of the other landing cargo planes. After a while, a beep began to be heard as the rear ramp slowly lowered. Loud engine noises filled the cabin of the plane.
"We've arrived. You are welcome to get off and stretch your legs now." The pilot said over the intercom.
Including Anna, all of the students stood up at once. Nobody could wait to get on the deck of the GMRS Citadel.
One by one, the students stepped onto the deck. Anna was one of the last since she sat at the very front.
Anna got off the cargo plane and looked around her. The view was astonishing. The other cargo planes were landing one by one after them. There were people and vehicles running around everywhere, but everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do. The deck was massive as well. The flight strip was the length of multiple soccer fields. The island, a building where the funnel, air traffic control, and bridge were located, was the height of a multi-storied building.
If it wasn't for the cool sea breeze and deep blue as far as the eye could see, Anna could not have guessed that they were floating in the middle of the ocean right now. The scene resembled an airbase more than the deck of a ship.
"Everyone! Just remember to stay on this side of the yellow line!" An officer without a colored vest came with 4 others following him and shouted over the deafening engine noises.
He pointed at a yellow stripe painted on the deck separating the aprons, where the planes were parked, and the main deck, where the people and planes were hustling around.
"I am Commander Drummond. With me are Lieutenant Martinez, Lieutenant Hill, Lieutenant Nelson, and Lieutenant Rivera. We will be your supervisors for the duration of the trip." Their leader said to the 50 students who just came off of the cargo plane with Anna.
"Now, please split into the predetermined 10-person groups." The commander continued.
After some shuffling, Anna got together with her group.
"Lieutenants, pick a group and lead them to the hangar." Commander Drummond said to the people beside him.
"Yes, Sir!" Each lieutenant gave a salute and walked over to a group, except for Anna's.
"Well, looks like you kids will be stuck with me." The commander smiled at Anna's group.
Commander Drummond was wearing a black Navy uniform and cap. There was a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses on his face. There were the golden 3 stripes 1-star badges on his sleeves and shoulders, signifying his commander rank.
"If that's no problem with you." Chris walked up and greeted the commander with a handshake.
"Not at all. Follow me, I will lead you guys to the hangar. The captain of the ship will give a welcome speech there. Afterward, I will show you guys around the ship." The commander said.
Commander Drummond gave a wave signaling them to follow him and began walking toward the staircase on the edge of the deck. The lieutenants and students went with him.
The loud noises were muffled as soon as they got below the deck. Anna could hear people without them needing to yell anymore.
They were walking on a long, metal catwalk on the edge of the carrier. On Anna's left was the ocean, on her right was the massive hull of the ship.
Soon, they arrived at a watertight door. The commander gripped the wheel-looking handle and turned it. With a loud creaking sound, the door opened. One by one, everyone got inside.
The corridors inside the ship were narrow. It only allowed one person to pass through at once. There were many rooms on both sides of the hallway and they were filled with people, just going about their day.
It was indeed like a floating citadel.
After many twists and turns and staircases, they arrived at a large open area. While it was called a hangar, it was more like an indoor airfield. There were already a lot of jets on top of the deck above them, there were even more, no, many times more aircrafts lined up here in the hangar.
It was a wide area that stretched for over 200 meters. Crew personnel were driving vehicles that dragged aircraft around.
Anna soon saw the crowd of students gathering around at the side of the hangar. She could see an officer with four-stripe epaulets on his shoulders, the captain of the GMRS Citadel, talking to some other officers beside the crowd of students.
"Go on and join your schoolmates. The welcoming speech will start once the rest of your friends arrive." Commander Drummond said to Anna's group.
The commander and lieutenants walked to the captain, so Anna walked with her group to the crowd of gathered students.
"Is that the Anna Hastings I've been hearing about?"
"Wow, she's even prettier than I thought."
"Look, it's Christopher and Charlotte Arden. They are so cool."
Anna could already hear their gossip. She smiled at them, which caused some gasps and made them whisper even louder. While almost nobody in their year didn't know who Anna, Chris, and Charl were, the trip consisted of students from year 1 to 6, so some of the students have never seen them.
Anna glanced over at Chris and Charl, curious about their reactions. Charl was blushing a little and was trying to hide it, while Chris was completely indifferent.
When they became part of the crowd, the whispering died down somewhat.
"Anna, this place is… unbelievably huge." Theo came beside her and said.
"I know, right?"
"Will, isn't this crazy?" Theo turned around and asked Will.
"Yeah." Will didn't seem very excited, or even in a good mood for that matter.
"What's wrong, Will? Are you seasick or something?" Anna asked, becoming a little worried.
"No, it's nothing." Will averted his eyes. Anna knew there was something wrong, but she didn't want to pry any further.
"I have been inside the GMRS Marlin during an airshow, but that was nothing compared to the GMRS Citadel." Charl joined in.
"Yeah, I remember that time. You were so scared of the jets you had to hide behind our father the whole time." Chris laughed.
"Wha- That's not…" Charl's face became bright red.
"I can definitely see that." Anna chuckled at the thought of the stern General Arden tugging a little girl behind.
"Ms.Hastings, will you be piloting one of those jets?" Leah asked.
"Of course! What about you guys?" Anna asked around the group.
Everyone shook their heads except for Chris.
"Really? Will, weren't you worried about flying the plane last week?"
"Yeah, that's why I won't be flying it."
"Leah, what about you, then?"
"I had originally wanted to try it out, but after seeing them in action, I really don't think it would be a good idea since I have no knowledge of aviation."
"That's a bummer. So, Chris, you are the only other one?"
"I guess so."
"I really want to fly the G-22, which is a 2-seater. Will you be my co-pilot?"
"Sure. I was worried about my own piloting skills, but I should be fine if I have you with me, right?"
"Of course!" Anna was pretty excited now that she got to spend some time alone with Chris.
She was still curious about her feelings from the night of her party. Anna saw that Will didn't have the happiest look on his face.
"Oh, I think that's the last group." Theo pointed to a crowd of 50 students walking toward them.
"Everyone, your attention, please." A booming voice came from the captain. The crowd immediately fell to silence.
The captain began walking toward the podium in front of the crowd and got on it.
"Good afternoon, students of the Gladakia National Military Academy. You are currently aboard the GMRS Citadel, the largest vessel in our country's Navy. I am Captain Herbert, the commander of this ship. I am sure you know Admiral Howard, the current principal of your academy. He and I were good friends when he was still in service."
Captain Herbert went on with his speech. He explained for half an hour about the history, armament, and some basic information about the aircraft carrier. After which they were dismissed.
"This is pretty cool. Seeing that the Navy is the strongest division in our military, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the GMRS Citadel is the strongest weapon at our disposal." Anna said to her friends, who all nodded in agreement.
"Alright. Chris Arden's group, please follow me." Commander Drummond came to them and said. "We will now go on a tour of the ship."
At the sound of that, Anna's smile widened. Leah was confused, again. She had been puzzled by Anna's excellent mood for the whole day.
They were first guided to the cafeteria. It was filled with people in Navy uniforms, but it just looked like a normal cafeteria, disregarding that they were hundreds of miles away from dry land.
Then they went to the lounge. Like the cafeteria, there wasn't anything particularly special about the lounge, except for the fact that it was huge. There were many kinds of entertainment, like ping pong tables, casino games, and even a small library.
The people do have to spend months at a time on this ship, after all. Anna thought.
After that, they visited many facilities for recreational activities. There was a pool, a tennis court, and a basketball court, among many other things.
Lastly, they went to the living quarters. That was the most unusual part of the whole tour. It was an extremely cramped place. Ten beds were stacked in twos and placed in a room that would normally only fit one. The space between the bunk beds was also really tight. One could reach the other bed when they were lying down on one. The beds themselves didn't look very comfortable, either.
"I know, most of you are children from rich families, so this might not fit your tastes very well. But we do have to accommodate over 3000 people one way or another, right?" Commander Drummond said.
"Like the Captain said, for the first week, just get used to life on the ship. Go around and find something to do, or just chill and relax. Training will start next week. If you ever need help, I will be in my office on the third deck right below us. Just ask anyone for the exact place. Other than that. I will leave it to you guys. Oh, one last thing, the cafeteria closes at 2100. We are having lobster pasta today, so you really don't want to miss it." The commander said and left the living quarters, leaving the 5 boys and 5 girls alone in a room not much bigger than the ensuite bathroom in Anna's house.
"So, um. This is where we will be sleeping?" Ava still didn't completely understand the situation.
"Looks like it," Dylan said matter-of-factly.
"Where… where do we change?" Emily said in a very quiet voice.
"Perhaps, over there?" Nolan pointed to a corner of the room.
There was a thin curtain that was almost translucent.
"Oh. boy." Anna said.
"Well, um. It's a little cramped in here, so Dylan and I will hang around the lounge room. Anyone else coming?"
Nolan, Emily, Theo all raised their hands. Will said "sure" in an expressionless voice.
All six of them left the quarters. The room was a lot more spacious than before.
"Chris, Charl, Leah, are you guys not going anywhere?" Anna asked the remaining people.
"I will accompany you, Ms.Hastings," Leah said.
Anna often forgot that Leah's job as a maid came first.
"I don't mind following you, either." Charl smiled.
"Same here," Chris said.
"Alright, then. I have a place I've been dying to go to." Anna said with the brightest smile Leah had seen that day yet. She could finally solve the mystery of what's been keeping Anna's mood up.
The three followed behind the zealous Anna, who led them all the way down to the fourth deck.
Anna navigated through the corridors like a rat in a maze. She knew her destination, but at the same time, she didn't.
"Anna, where are you leading us, too?" Charl asked from behind her.
"I am not sure either," Anna responded.
She was looking for something, or rather, someone. She just didn't know their exact location.
"There he is!" Anna shouted and started running down the corridor.
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