"Hey Cap." Claude said. "It's 0600. Time to get up."

"How are you up? It's 0600. No one wakes up naturally that early." I told him.

"I'm not normal" he said with a wink.

"I noticed" I muttered. I groaned and sat up, putting my legs over the side of the bunk. These were very small beds, not even six feet long. They were made to be compact. That way it could fit a bigger crew.

I leaned forward, resting my forehead on my hands with my elbows on my knees. Sigh. Time to start the day. I got up and started getting ready for the day. I walked out of my quarters a few minutes later, fumbling with my shoelace as I tried to walk out the door. I almost slipped on the hatch on the way out. Id rather not look like a fool before the first week was over thank you very much. I finally gave up and kneeled to tie the offending shoe.

"Stupid shoe" I muttered as I walked into the command area. I walked in, stepping carefully as to not trip on the hatch. "Status report" I called. "Nothing during the night sir" someone called. "Thanks" I told him, not looking up.

I walked under the conning tower, passing into the rear of the ship. I checked on some of the crew, checked the status of my sub. All good. I stopped by and picked up breakfast, eating quickly. I stopped by the kitchen, giving the cook my compliments.

"I don't know what you put in there but it was good."

"Thanks Cap." he said.

"Dont mention it." I told him.

"Sir, we have orders from HQ." Kenneth, the radio man called.

I walked over to the radio room, across from the radar room. Levi looked up interested, and returned to his job at the radar. I was in the skinny doorway in under a minute, easy to do on this sub. "What have you got Kenneth?" I asked him quickly.

"I'm getting a reading from HQ, they say they are giving us our patrol zone." Kenneth said.

"Ok, give the go ahead." I told him.

"This is USS Seawolf, ready to receive commands." He said into the microphone. I couldn't hear more than a garbled voice but I knew what was being said.

"USS Seawolf, this is HQ, is your Captain there?" the operator on the other side of the microphone said.

"Yes sir, he is. Right here next to me." Kenneth said.

"USS Seawolf, are you ready to receive message?"

"Yes Sir, go ahead."

"USS Seawolf, your orders are to patrol in the South Pacific, no more than 2,000 miles away, no less than 700 miles from the Japanese coast. As you patrol, you will watch for Imperial Japanese Navy warships or merchant ships. You will sink, damage, and destroy all enemy ships you find, if any, on this patrol." The operator said.

They were being a little on the dangerous side... right up on the coast? That would be dangerous. Very dangerous. It was almost certain we'd find a ship... and not make it out alive.

I nodded to Kenneth, letting him know I was finished.

"Message received, thank you." Kenneth said.

"Thank you Seawolf, and luck be with you. Come home safe." the operator said.

"Will do, thank you." Kenneth said, ending the connection.

Southern Japan. Less than 2000 miles. I was going to be in heavily dangerous territory. Right within the easy range of all of their warships. I walked to the bridge, reporting to the crew.

"Crew of the Seawolf, this is your Captain speaking. We have just received orders from HQ. We are to patrol southern Japanese waters, less than two thousand miles and more than seven hundred miles from the Japanese coast. We will be in constant danger. We must stay alert at all times. If one person fails, we will likely all get killed or get captured or both. The Japanese are notorious for their torturing techniques. We do not, can not be captured. Please, watch your post, take care, and we'll make it home safe. Thank you." I hung up the phone. This was going to be a long patrol.

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I've been in school and really never have a chance to work on this anymore. I haven't given up on it, I just don't have a lot of time. Usually on Fridays I volunteer to work the home football games so I get home late then. Between school, ROTC, scouts, and church I have little time. I promise ill try to update when I can, it will just be longer between updates. Thanks y'all!!!

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-Adam