<strong>The Hawk</strong><br/><br/><hr/><br/><strong>"This won't take long, Commander. I'd rather have you here for the time I explain the situation to the three officers." </strong>The Hawk wanted to impose on the men that he had Macheath and Harden as his eyes around the sub, and no mischief would go unnoticed. He looked at the three men, and couldn't help wondering if they were fit to be entrusted a girl under their command. They're all good soldiers, but he wasn't sure how they'd handle this new dimension to their roles. The radio boy had a little too much of the wild in him, and the Hawk had never been able to bring himself to like him. But at least if he did anything stupid with the new responsibility, he can be gotten rid of, for good. Brad's behavior had improved over the years and Macauley, he trusted as a good disciplined guy, but a woman was always an agent of chaos. Still, it had to be done, so he decided to get to it.<br/><br/><strong>"Gentlemen, today we were faced with a strange situation, as you'd be aware, and we decided to save some civilians from what could have been horrible deaths by starvation on the sea. Now that we have them with us for a sizable period of time, I believe this is also an opportunity for us to use any skills they may have, rather than keeping them confined to an empty cell. They have been cooperative so far"</strong>, he said, throwing a sideways glance on Ophelia, bound and gagged, adding,<strong> "with just one exception, who'll be dealt accordingly." </strong><br/><br/><strong>"The reason why I called you here is because I want each of you to take one of these girls under your command for a week. Let them do anything they can to make your workload lighter."</strong>And after a pause, he added,<strong>"Be advised though, their tasks have to be limited to those needed for smoother functioning of the vessel, and not any personal errands for you. I'm sure you'll also appreciate the need to restrict your interactions with them to those of a strictly professional nature. Commander Macheath and Officer Harden will have oversight of how the ladies are adapting to their new roles, and they shall be reporting to me regularly."</strong><br/><br/><strong>"Now, it's time to introduce each one of you to the girl assigned to you. Bring Miss Yoko, Miss Jaimie and Miss Holland into the room, please"</strong>, he told Harden.<br/><br/>Once the girls were outside, the Hawk announced,<strong> "Lt. Macauley, you'll have Miss Yoko helping you starting later today. Brad, Miss Holland will be your assistant in the engine room. And Adrian, Miss Jaimie will be working with you in the radio room. The ladies can be re-assigned after a week, unless the officers prefer otherwise. You can come here and escort them to the respective offices after half an hour. Any questions?"</strong>He asked, looking at his men, though his face made it pretty clear he wasn't in the mood for any.