October 14, 2009

1627 hours

Off the coast of California

DDG-100 A.K.A USS Kidd

"Captain on deck!" My navigations officer shouted as I walked in.

"At ease, you two." My name is Cody Kegley. I grew up in San Diego. My father was a captain of a fishing boat. I used to love meeting him in the harbor when the fishing season was over. And then one day, the boat he was on sank and they could never find his body. This made me afraid of the water and ships, but when my mom told me, 'He always wanted you to join the navy,' I overcame my fears and enlisted in the navy. When I showed the navy my potential and determination, they made me an officer. I am now a Lieutenant and the captain of the USS Kidd, a guided missile destroyer we are using for a training exercise off the coast of San Diego. We were training just to get the feel of a destroyer and break in my new ship and my training crew of two.

"What bearing are we at?" I ask Chief Petty Officer Banks. Banks grew up with the navy in his blood. Both of his grandfathers were in the navy, as was his father. He grew up in Maryland and was a troublemaker from the start. Although he was smart, he was often thrown out of schools due to his behavior. But one day, the navy blood spoke out to him. He went on to graduate from Annapolis where he excelled in navigation. He was a normal sized white navy sailor, but he still loved to back-sass me.

"Heading south west at two-hundred forty-seven degrees, sir!" he responded.

"Thank you, Petty Officer," I say back. I look out onto the bow of the ship and noticed the sky turning a nasty black, even though the earlier weather report telling us it was a clear day. "Ensign, check the weather radar, please."

"Aye Aye, sir!" Ensign Brown looked down at her radar and then looked to the sky ahead of us. She then looked dumbfoundedly at me saying, "The radar is pulling up nothing, sir." Brown grew up in a rich family away from all the problems of the world. She wanted to do something crazy and adventurous. Against her parents' words, she decided to join the Navy. Passing with flying colors, she became very interested in radios and communications. She is a pretty lady who is always calm and collective.

I pondered heading toward the storm and thought it too weird not to investigate. "Banks, steer us toward that storm at full speed. Brown, call up San Diego and relay them our location and heading."

"Aye Aye, sir!" they almost said in unison.

As we got closer to the storm, I noticed a dark swirl in the clouds. My brain told me to leave, but I was too interested by it to think clearly. Too quickly, the swirl turned a lavanderish purple and began to form a circle-like shape. With my and everyone else's brain fixated on the purple swirl, no-one noticed the whirlpool below the swirl. When my eyes fell upon the whirlpool, I yelled, "Hard to port! Hard to port!" I shouted at the Banks, who was desperately trying to turn the ship around. The ship lurched left but, the turn was not tight enough to escape the whirlpool. "Flank speed, hurry!" But it was no use. The ship started to swirl about in the whirlpool, throwing the three of us around the wheelhouse. All I heard were grunts and screams of pain until I hit my head on one of the consoles and was out cold.

October 14, 2009

1630 hours

San Diego, California

San Diego Naval Station

Captain Dave Berkley had just sat down in his chair when the phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Sir! The USS Kidd just vanished off the radar!"

"W-WHAT?" Berkley turned an unnatural shade of white. "Was there a mayday or distress signal?"

"No sir, they just said they were heading for an unknown object about 200 miles from here."

This spooked Berkley even more. "Scramble the fighters! I want those F-18s up in the air in record time! And call the Coast Guard with those last known coordinates!"

"Yes sir!"

As the call ended, he dialed the last number he had hoped he would ever dial.

"This is the Pentagon, where may I direct yo-" the secretary started.

"Get me General Stevens! This is a priority one call!"

"Directing you now, sir."

"Stevens here."

"Sir, this is Captain Dave Berkley of San Diego Naval Station! One of our guided missile destroyers vanished without a mayday!"

Stevens knew this was not good, but he knew how to keep himself composed. "Alright, I'll conduct an emergency meeting with the president and the secretary of defense. We'll get this resolved quick."

"T-thank you, sir."

Stevens could tell the captain was shook up and immediately called the president. "Mr. President…"