Read Online Girl Rides the Wind by Jacques Antoine - Free Book Online

salute.
    “Oh, please, Em,” CJ said, stepping around. “That may work on the boys, but I need a hug.”
    “We’re just trying to figure out where my bunk is.”
    CJ frowned and turned to the chief: “I’ve got three empty racks in my berth, Master Chief. Put Lt Tenno with me.”
    By this time, Clade had worked his way over to the Japanese contingent, who had been waiting in the passageway, and Emily noticed Kiku standing just inside the hatch.
    “And Lt Otani,” she said. “She needs to bunk with me… I mean with us, you know, because of the language”
    “You got that, Master Chief?” CJ said, and led the way out after he nodded. Emily followed her, calling “ Ikimasho, Kiku-san ” over her shoulder, and Lt Otani trotted along behind them, perhaps not used to the pace of CJ’s martial stride. Following in their wake, Zaki brought up the rear of the party
    “It’s a maze down here,” Emily moaned.
    “Yup,” CJ chirped. “Just like rabbits in a warren—that’s what Zaki always says.”
    “Except this one’s the size of a small city.”
    “It’s not that complicated,” Zaki said, pointing to the numbers painted on a bulkhead. “You just have to learn the code. These numbers identify what deck you’re on, how far forward you are, and how far off the center line.”
    Lt Otani nodded approvingly. “Very good, thank you, Lieutenant-san. The numbers identify my position. Is it easy to find a path around the ship?”
    “Not quite.” He scratched his chin and paused to allow a few red-jacketed sailors to squeeze by him in the ladderwell. “There are dead-ends and wrong turns, but you develop a sense for it eventually.”
    With a crew of eleven hundred, the Bonhomme Richard was one of the first ships with quarters designed specifically to accommodate two hundred or so female crew members—as well as however many women might be included in the Marine Expeditionary Unit the ship was intended to carry in combat operations—the primary female-friendly feature being the inclusion of a private head within each berthing room.
    Officers’ quarters tended to be roomy, within the narrow limits of shipboard life, and CJ’s could accommodate four, while enlisted sailors slept in rooms designed for sixty or more in racks stacked three high in most cases. But even with the extra room, once they’d entered, Zaki’s broad shoulders made even simple introductions, or in fact any movement, difficult.
    “ O-Zaki ,” Kiku said with a giggle, and then blushed crimson, before bowing. “I am honored to make your acquaintance.”
    “Zaki and CJ were classmates of mine at the Academy,” Emily said in Japanese.
    “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, too, Lt Otani,” CJ said, extending her hand. When Zaki tried to bow, he almost bumped heads with CJ, the two of them towering over Kiku.
    Once Zaki had been reminded of some other errand, and beds had been assigned and the gear stowed, CJ led them on a tour.
    “First stop is the armory, so you two can check in your weapons.”
    “Kiku-san only carries a regulation sidearm,” Emily said.
    “I’m pretty sure the same can’t be said for you.” CJ laughed and nudged a bulky duffel with her foot.
    “Armory?” Kiku asked with a raised eyebrow.
    “All firearms must be secured unless we’re in an active combat zone,” CJ said, and led them through the bowels of the ship.
    “Excellent condition.” Staff Sgt Huart turned Kiku’s Beretta over in his hands, before finding a place for it in a rack of similar weapons. “Looks like it’s never even been fired,” he said, and handed her a chit.
    Once Emily had laid out her ordinance on a counter in front of Sgt Huart, CJ clucked at her. “I don’t know how you can even lift all that.”
    Huart inspected and appraised each piece, then logged it in: “Remington 870… nice. Good in close quarters… really clears a room.”
    “Yeah,” Emily said. “The M4 never really did it for me.”
    “It’s got decent