Author's note: I'm messing with another princess! "The Little Mermaid" meets "The Hunt for Red October"

I was not really looking forward to this deployment. I had just found a girl that I liked, and quite possibly loved. And, living for six months in a metal tube with 140 other men was not my idea of a vacation.

My name is Petty Officer First Class Jason Barrett. I am a Petty Officer first class stationed onboard the USS Seawolf, a fast attack submarine in Uncle Sam’s Navy. I love my work, but one thing got in my way of truly enjoying it. The afore mentioned living arrangements. Don’t let anyone try to tell you different, a cruise in a nuclear submarine is anything but a pleasure: not enough sleep, crazy hours, hot bunking. Well, the only thing good was the chow. But, well, it wasn’t that good; at least not to make up for the other stuff.

As usual, the details of the voyage were classified, but I knew I wouldn’t be seeing Katie, said love of my life, for one hundred and eighty days. And that sucked. As a going away present, she had given me a small necklace with a gold mermaid that she had found in an out of the way shop. She told me that she thought it would remind me of her.

I thought it was a bit on the girly side, but for Katie, well, I’d do pretty much anything. And, if wearing that necklace would make her happy, then I was in. Besides, I guess I did kind like it.

I reported for duty at zero six hundred on June 16th. We were due to sail the next day. The boat was being provisioned, and the crew was getting their berths situated. This was my third cruise on the Seawolf, and I was very good at my job. The multi gazillion dollar sonar unit and towed array were so sensitive I could hear a guppy fart at a thousand meters. The time I was on duty and monitoring the equipment was the most relaxing time of the day for me.

“Petty Officer First Class Barrett reporting, sir.” I snapped a brisk salute to the XO, or Executive Officer, Commander Joe Farris. This was my second cruise with Commander Farris, and we got along well, especially after I saved his butt on an exercise. Top secret, I can’t tell you exactly, but collisions with a blue whale are not pretty.

“Welcome aboard, Barrett," he said, returning the salute. He followed it with a firm handshake. “Glad to see you’re still with us. I thought last cruise would have been the end for you.”

Smiling, I replied, “No sir, I went and re-upped for another six years. The bonus was too good to pass up. Besides, someone has to keep this boat safe. I wouldn’t trust my station to anyone else until the boss tells me to move on.”

“Outstanding, Barrett! Get your gear squared away and meet me in ops at zero eight thirty. You’re on the blue crew with me.”

“Will do sir, and thanks for the assignment. It’s good to work with someone I know and trust.”

The crews of a sub work in two shifts. On our boat, the crews are gold, with the captain; blue, with the XO. There isn’t a lot of free time. We’re on for eight hours, and the twelve off are for training, eating and sleeping. Evidently the first watch was going to the Blue crew.

Preparations went on for the cruise for the rest of the day. The boat was a hive of activity, and the engineering boys were tuning up the reactor for extended fun. The actual reactor is a lot smaller than most people realize, and the power it puts out is truly amazing. We could stay underwater for as long as was needed, and the only limit was the endurance of the crew. My station was up, and the electronics passed the diagnostics. So we were ready to visit Davy Jones for an extended visit.

The tug eased us away from the dock to great fanfare. The departure of a submarine is not a secret. We know our enemies are watching. And almost as gigantic flipping of the bird to them, we are saying, “Yeah we’re leaving so screw you and good luck finding us.” As an attack boat, our job was to track down other countries missile subs. But we ran silent too.

The captain was on the sail with the XO. The COB, or chief of the boat was in ops, relaying commands to the helm.

“All ahead slow, make your heading three one zero”

“All ahead slow, my heading is three one zero”

We negotiated our way out of the harbor, and headed out to sea. The Captain and the XO descended from their position on the sail, and made their way to ops.

“Depth under keel?”

“Depth under keel is 130 meters.”

“Sonar, contacts?”

“Conn, no contacts.”

“COB, rig for dive.”

“All hatches secure, all lights green for dive.”

“Dive the boat.”

An alarm sounded. "Dive! Dive! Dive!"

The sound of the ballast tanks filling echoed quietly through the hull. The hull groaned and popped as the pressure on the hull increased with depth.

“Make your depth three zero zero feet. Ten degrees down angle on the planes.”

“Depth three zero zero ten degrees down, aye.”

The operational depth on modern submarines is classified, but they can dive a lot further down than you’d think. I won’t get into specifics, but if we wanted to, we could go way deeper than a thousand feet.

I listened to the sounds coming through the headphones. The headphones I used were state of the art, and so comfortable I could wear them for my entire shift and not feel them. Their sensitivity was astounding. The sounds I was getting from the sonar unit were filtered through a computer that put anything in the private sector to shame. I picked up some whale sounds, identified through the software as orca. There was a pod bearing north of us, at twenty or so feet.

“Conn, sonar. Biologics bearing zero zero niner. No threat.”

“Sonar aye.”

I quickly settled into my rhythm. The shift passed without a hitch, and I was ready to get some chow.

I met up with my bunk mate, Matt Thomas, a Petty Officer Second class, an electrician’s mate. “Well, Barrett, ready to get your ass kicked for the hundredth time?” He was referring to our regular game of Cribbage, which I loved to play but was woefully terrible at.

“Sure, Matt, as long as you are ready to play MW3 with me." I was extremely good at that, and Matt groaned. As bad as I was at Cribbage, I was nearly unstoppable at MW3.

“I suppose,” he sighed. “One good ass kicking deserves another.”

“I have it on good authority that no training is scheduled for tonight, so we should be good for a few hours,” I said.

We ate a satisfying meal of cheeseburgers and French fries, as good as any I’d had anywhere. Like I said before, at least the chow was good. I then settled in to the cribbage game with Matt. As I expected, he blew me out of the water in short order. We played another game, which was a little more competitive than the first.

“Well, Jason, it looks like you’re finally learning the finer points of this game,” Matt said with a thin smile.

“It’s taken long enough,” I laughed. “One of these days, old buddy, I’ll put you away!”

“I suppose, then my one area of superiority over you will be gone.”

“Not likely: I still will always be the student when it comes to this.”

I looked at my watch. The last game had taken a lot longer that I had anticipated. “Hey, I want to get a workout in before I turn in. I’ll have to postpone you ass whippin’ until later.”

“You go ahead. I have some studying I need to take care of for my proficiency test.”

I got out of my “poopy suit”, the jump suit everyone wore on board, and into my workout clothes. I did three miles on the treadmill, and a little upper body work. Workouts really reduced the stress level of being in such close quarters with so many other people, and were a requirement on board to stay sane.

I caught a quick shower. I say quick, because every shower on board a submarine is quick, as fresh water is not in unlimited supply. As I showered, I felt a sting on my chest where the mermaid pendant was, kind of like an electric shock. the mermaid had also changed color, from gold to a kind of rainbow color. I held it in my fingers, carefully inspecting it “Huh! A mood mermaid. Just like Katie, to get me something like this!”

I hurried to wash all the important parts, and got out. As I dried off, the mermaid changed back to its normal gold color.

“Hey Barrett!” one of my other buddies on board, Petty Officer Donaldson, hooted. “They make those pretty things for boys now or have you been in mommy’s jewelry box?”

I rolled my eyes. “Jealous, Donaldson? The future Mrs. Barrett gave me this, and it doesn’t come off until she says it does.”

Donaldson shook his head in disbelief. “You must really be in the tank for that girl, amigo, because that thing is as gay as they come.”

“Gay it may be, but, my friend, we are on a submarine, and you know what they say. So I’d be very careful about making any snide remarks.”

The saying was that 100 men go on board, 50 couples come off. So Donaldson wasn’t pushing the envelope on the off chance that I was one of those don’t ask don’t tell recruits. I was secure enough in my masculinity to make him sweat.

The Seawolf was cruising at a steady twelve knots due west at a depth of six hundred feet. We didn’t get a full briefing until the fifth day of the cruise.

The skipper called in all officers to a briefing in the officer’s mess after a VLF message was received. It was on my watch, and thirty minutes later, I was told what we were going to do. Chief Yancy briefed us.

“Okay, folks, we got re-tasked this morning. This came from CINCPAC. Our friends in the far east are in the process of deploying their newest submarine. Intel indicates that it is quick and quiet, and it’s a boomer. They have acquired some of our tech for making our subs quiet, and we’re going to get all the noise info off of it we can to build a profile. All of this without being detected. This means we go outside Shanghai Harbor, impersonate a hole in the water, and wait for him to come out and play. Questions?”

No one did. We knew our jobs in a case like this. The Chinese had built themselves a boomer. That was, in submarinerese, a ballistic missile submarine.

“Great. We’ll be on station in four days, so stay sharp. Our formerly red friends will be nosing around too, and we don’t want them to know we’re here either. We’re going to be relying on you guys to be sharp for the duration of this mission. The good news is apparently as soon as we finish this, they will cut our deployment short. If they delay, we’ll be here until they deploy the new boat. Best guess is three weeks, give or take.”

The prospect of an early end to our deployment raised our attention. “Well, let’s hope the Chairman decides he wants the peoples’ new toy in the big bathtub sooner rather than later,” I quipped.

Putting on my headset for another long session of listening to the wide world of the ocean, I cleared the filter to reset the computer. The unfiltered noise was a cacophony of gurgles, squeak and moans. A flip of the switch, and the extraneous noise was gone. I listened quietly, when I heard a squeaky, almost ethereal voice, “Big fish bad. Wish it go away. Scare food.”

“What in the hell was that?" I turned to Seaman Harry King who was on the towed array set.

“What?” he asked?

“Don’t you hear it?" I whispered. “That voice.”

“Dude, all I hear are some biologics. Sperm whales, I think”

Shaking my head, I reset the noise filter. The voice was gone, replaced by the song of a sperm whale. No other contacts were present. “What in the hell was that?” I thought.

“You okay, Barrett?” asked King. “You look like to just saw a ghost.”

I chuckled nervously, not wanting King to know just how rattled I was. “Nah, I was just pulling your leg, dude.”

I continued to monitor the set, getting more and more nervous. I was still hearing voices in the ocean. Taking my headphones off, I found that the voices stopped. It wasn’t a hallucination. Somehow I was hearing voices in the ocean. This was bad, and would get me thrown so far down in the looney bin I’d never get out. Then I heard something that didn’t make sense. “Two big fish! Bad for food. In school.”

Two big fish? Could I be hearing sea life? Specifically … whales? Could the sub be a big fish! Shit! We were being tailed. Looking at King, I could see his mind was elsewhere, and not paying attention to his duty station.

Tapping King on the shoulder, I got his attention. “Trade me. I’ll take the towed array”

He shrugged “Okay, if you insist, but there’s nothing back there”

“Humor me.”

After we switched, I got on the set and listened carefully. Sure enough, I heard a slight metallic sound. It was a valve closing. “Conn, sonar. Contact directly behind, in our baffles, range one thousand yards.” Once I knew we were tailed, the processor noise filter quickly identified our tail as a Russian Akula III class attack sub. They really weren’t all that quiet, and King needed his ass kicked for not hearing it.

“All Stop, Quick quiet.” The ship went dead. The boat was now slowly drifting.

“Target is Akula class, range closing. Aspect ratio change, they’re turning to port.”

I could hear power plant noises increase. They knew they’d been heard, and the game was over. “Plant noises increasing, bearing now niner four degrees. They’ve had enough. It looks like they’re bugging out.”

“Very well, sonar.” The captain looked to the XO. “Joe, go to dead slow, give us five minutes and clear datum. Log the contact.”

“Aye, sir.”

The captain came back to sonar. “Good work, Barrett, King.”

King was white. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes we get in the zone. That’s why we switched. It could have been me.”

“Well thanks for not chewing my ass.”

“Like I say, Andy. It could have been me. Try not to let it happen again.”

After some training exercises and a workout, I took a shower. I felt a little light headed and the pendant changed color again. The feeling passed as I dried off, and hit the rack. I dreamed strange dreams that night, of swimming with fish on a reef. I wasn’t wearing gear, and was completely at home. I could breathe the water and my hair was floating down my back. My breasts were … . I snapped awake. Breasts?

We arrived on station, and settled in for the wait. This got really boring, as noise was extremely limited and no one spoke normally. It was like a library visit that never ended. Do your jobs, eat, and hit the bunk. Like I said, boring.

I was able to take a quick shower after we had been there a week. I really felt tired afterwards and hit my bunk. I had some crazy dreams all night, and I was tossing and turning.

I woke on my own at zero seven thirty. I felt really good. Better than I had felt in ages. Sitting up, I noticed that I had a lot more room in my bunk. I felt a tickle around my ears and neck. It was clearly time for a haircut. I yawned quietly, but I noticed that my voice was way off. It sounded high pitched for some reason. I didn’t have time to worry about that, though. It was time to get to work. I rolled out and nearly fell on my face. The damn bunk was higher.

What in the hell was going on? The feminine yelp as I stumbled was a surprise, but not as much as the jiggling from my chest in my now tent like tee shirt. My boxers were riding my hips differently. I noticed long red hair flying in front of my face. Feeling my chest, I felt two … boobs?

My shock was complete when CPO Jarvis stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes bugging out of his head. “Who in the fuck are you? And, what are you doing on my boat!”

“Chief! I’m Barrett!” I whispered in a panicked voice. My voice, I guess. It was a soprano that sounded like a teenage girl. I had enough presence of mind not to scream, because that’s exactly what I wanted to do.

I noticed that Jarvis now towered over me. “You just stay right there, little lady.”

“Oh God!” I exclaimed as loud as I dared. “What’s happened to me?” I was holding up my boxers and covering my new chest. Different heads poked out of bunks.

“Holy shit! A fuckin girl!” said one genius. This led to others looking. Then a bunch of whispering and pointing. I knew I was blushing furiously. I dove back into my bunk and pulled the covers over me and scooted as far back as I could, terrified.
A whole bunch of crewmates tried to stick their heads into my bunk. “Stop staring at mee.” I tried to growl, but it came out a cute little whine.

Some of the bolder ones decided they wanted to touch. I slapped the first hand that came my way. “Leave me alone, you idiots! It's me. I’m Barrett!”

“If you’re Barrett, you had one hell of a beauty sleep,” said one. “Come on out, little lady. Let’s have a look at you.”

“Leave me alone, you jackasses!” I slapped two more hands. My voice sounded like a scared teenage girl. I was scared. To make matters worse, I was beginning to cry. Where in the hell did that come from?

“Make a hole!” It was the COB. Everyone backed away, and he knelt down to my bunk. He couldn’t hide his surprise that a young girl had made her way undetected on his boat and had managed to hide undetected for over two weeks. “All right, young lady, no one’s going to hurt you. Come on out.”

“Not as long as all of these people are staring. They tried to grab me!” I realized I was pouting. “Son of a bitch!” I thought. “I’m freaking pouting.”

“Turn around, you fuckin’ morons!” He barked. The men all complied. He looked at me with a thin smile. He looked at me with embarrassment. “Sorry for the language. Come on out, missy.”

“I’m Petty Officer First Class Jason Barrett, Chief! Serial number 778654321!”

“Sure you are, missy,” he replied condescendingly.

I edged out of the bunk, my new feminine assets jiggling. It was a little chilly and my nipples did what nipples do in that case. The COB tried not to stare, but it was difficult. "Get this kid something to cover up with!"

There were some groans, and a couple of idiots said she looks fine to me, Chief, to sniggers from the crew.

“Don’t make me ask again, Gray,” he warned the mouthy one. “Now!”

Someone got a poopy suit from one of the shorter members of the crew. It still fit me like a tent. I couldn’t have been more that five two. If I weighed more than a hundred pounds, it would have surprised me.

After getting dressed, I rolled up the sleeves and legs. I looked like a little girl in daddy’s clothes. They gave me a pair of socks, and I was taken to the captain’s quarters. There was a marine with a gun who looked suspiciously at me.

“Here she is, sir. Just like we told you.”

“I’ll be damned. Thanks, Chief. We’ll take it from here.” He left, and I was standing at attention out of habit, more than anything else. I was also terrified and shaking.

“All right, miss. Who are you, and more importantly, how did you get on my boat?”

“Sir, I’m Jason Barrett, Petty Officer First Class. I really don’t know how this happened.”

“You know, you don’t have to stand at attention here. We’re not going to hurt you. Did Barrett Sneak you on board?”

“Sir, that’s impossible, and you know it. Search this boat for Jason Barrett, and you won’t find him. Because I’m here, sir. Please, you have to believe me!”

“Miss, there is no way you are Barrett. For one, you’re nearly a foot shorter, hair like yours doesn’t grow overnight, and you’re a damn *girl*! You are in a whole lot of trouble right now, and I suggest you start giving me some straight answers, pronto!”

I was beginning to cry. “But sir, I don’t know how to prove who I am! I don’t know how this happened, I don’t know anything! I … I ... . ” What I did was burst into tears like the girl I was, which was frustrating as hell.

The captain remained unmoved. “Corporal! Escort this young lady to the brig. In handcuffs!”

“But that isn’t necessary, sir. I’m telling you, I’m Barrett,” I said as I was handcuffed.

“If she tries to make a disturbance, gag her.”

“Aye, sir.”

Fortunately, the Marine was gentler than I though he would be. “Look miss. I don’t get off on shoving women around. You seem like a good person in a bad place. Please just come along quietly, and we’ll get this ironed out, ok?”

All I could do was nod in agreement as he led me to the detention area. I knew if I struggled or screamed the Marine would do exactly what the captain ordered. I was ridiculed the whole way, and pinched from behind a couple of times. I hung my head the whole way, hiding behind my hair so those bastards couldn’t see me crying.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The XO rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “You know, as hard as it may be to believe, she may be telling the truth, Skip.”

The Captain scoffed, “Are you nuts, Joe? How is a thing like that even possible?”

Joe shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know, Skip! I’m just saying that if we don’t find Barrett on board, what the hell are we supposed to think? Scotty beamed him up? There’s no way off this boat, Skip. None. If you eliminate every possibility, then … ”

“I know. No matter what remains, no mater how far fetched, must be the truth. I don’t like the implications of that, Joe. Not one bit”

The entire boat was searched from stem to stern; four hours of quiet searching in every possible nook and cranny. Jason Barrett was not on the boat.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The XO finally came to see me. I had refused to eat anything they brought me. I wasn’t staging a hunger strike or anything like that, I just couldn’t eat. My life had been stolen, and I was stuck as the only girl on a boatload of horny guys.

He opened the door and sat down next to me. “I think we can assume that you’re not going to try anything, right?”

“No sir. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this boat or its mission. You have to believe me, sir. I’m really Jason Barrett,” I looked pleadingly at him.

“I tend to believe you, miss, but can you tell me anything that would prove that?”

I racked my brain, and decided to tell him everything I knew about myself, I left nothing out, and even threw some embarrassing facts in. I even told him about the details of our last cruise. “That’s all I can think to tell you, sir.”

The XO nodded, and scratched his chin thoughtfully. He was really a very handsome man. Wait … stop that, I thought to myself.

“I believe you, kid. As hard as it is to get my mind around a total gender change in the middle of the damn ocean, I believe you. What do you think happened?”

“Truthfully, sir, I don’t know." Then it hit me. The pendant. “Wait. I pulled the pendant out and showed him. This acted funny when it got wet. It looks like gold, but when I took a shower, it got all rainbow colored until it dried off.”

“Try taking it off,” he suggested simply. I complied, but nothing happened. I was still a teen girl.

He took it to the sink to wet it. Nothing happened. “Hmmm.” He was thinking. “If this was the culprit, it’s not working now. It was touching my skin and it remained the same.”

“Great. I can’t go around looking like this for the rest of the cruise.” Then a chilling thought hit me. “What is going to happen to me? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life as a lab rat.” My eyes brimmed again. “Shit. I can’t even control my emotions.”

“Take it easy, Barrett,” he smiled. “Let’s just get through this one day at a time.”

“I look like a complete idiot”, gesturing to myself. I was a sorry sight in my ill fitting jump suit. My hair was a mess and my eyes I’m sure were all puffy from crying.

“Let’s get you to the captain, and we’ll figure it out from there.”

The XO took me back to the captain’s quarters. “I believe her, Skip. She knows too much to be an imposter. Regardless what happened, this is Seaman Barrett. I’d stake my life on it.”

The Captain shook his head. “Wonderful. Now we've got Miss Teen USA on my crew and one hundred and thirty seven potential headaches”

“I’m glad you and I don’t qualify, Skip,” smiled Joe.

“We don’t have any clothing on board to fit her, Joe?”

“I’ll think of something, Jim. Petty Officer Barrett, you are dismissed to your bunk until we sort this out.”

“Uhhh, sir?”

“Yes?”

“I am kinda hungry.”

The Captain gestured to Joe. “Take her to the officer’s mess and get her something to eat. I don’t need a bunch of men slobbering over her. I have a daughter about her age, and girls that age tend to get cranky when they’re hungry. Get her to the doc for a checkup. Let’s make sure everything’s okay.”

“Aye, sir. Will do.”

I’d never been in the officer’s mess before. There were four of them in there eating when the XO brought me in. They stared, but didn’t say anything. The XO broke the silence. "What’s the matter gentleman? Never seen a girl before? She is sixteen years old and not of the age of consent, and I expect you to treat her like she is the Captain’s daughter. Clear?”

There were some muttered “Yes sirs”, and the matter was dropped. They returned to their meals. I didn’t think the rest of the crew would be so easy to manipulate. “What do you want, Barrett?”

“I guess some breakfast would be good, maybe some eggs?”

He looked at me and shook his head. “Damn, Barrett, It’s like having my niece on board.”

“I’m still the same guy on the inside, sir!”

“Maybe so, but I’ll give you some advice. The inside and the outside don’t match anymore. Now, you can go on thinking you’re Petty Officer Jason Barrett all you want. But you’ll end up looking more like a freak if you don’t start to embrace a little more of your feminine side. Being a girl doesn’t mean you’re weak, but you can’t go stomping around like a linebacker either. Really think about it, Barrett”

“I will, sir. I have been. I’ve noticed some changes already that I can’t place. I’m not ready to talk about them yet, but I will.”

“What else have you noticed? Leave nothing out. It could be the key to sorting this business out.”

“Well for the last few days, I’ve been hearing voices in the ocean. I can’t say for sure, but I think I can understand sea mammals. I hear voices. King hears whales. I didn’t want to say anything because I thought people would think I was crazy. But since this happened, how crazy can that be?”

“Yes, indeed. What are these animals saying?”

“They call the sub big fish. They don’t like us because we scare the fish they eat. They talk to each other, about different things, mostly about food.”

“And you hear this?”

I nodded. “Yes sir. Its how I found that other sub tracking us last week.”

“This is astounding!” he smiled. “If this is true, it could open up a whole new science. Are you up to your regular shift on the sonar rig?”

I smiled. “Yes, sir. I‘d love to get back to work!”

He nodded. "Well, Get busy on your breakfast and well get you to the sawbones.”

I ate my breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast with relish. It was very good, but I couldn’t eat everything that was on my plate. I guess my stomach was a little smaller than before. Taking my plate to the trash, I gave the cook a little shrug and a 'sorry' for leaving so much on the plate. He smiled and acted like he didn’t mind. I noticed that his eyes never left my chest.

I didn’t get that. My boobs certainly weren’t that big. I knew Katie was a B cup and I wasn’t a whole lot bigger. I guess since I was the only female on board now. I probably looked like the most beautiful thing in the world to them. In a way, I felt sorry for them.

I was escorted to the doctor’s office by Commander Farris. I was subjected to a thorough examination that stopped short of a full gynecological exam because of the lack of tools. Apparently I was a physical virgin, and was in top physical condition. My resting heart rate was 40, which was very low. I felt fine, however. Blood pressure, all other tests indicated a person in peak physical condition.

One of the things that was beginning to get irritating was being escorted everywhere I went. It was like they didn’t trust me, after admitting that I was in fact Jason Barrett. Commander Farris instructed me that it was for my safety, in that he didn’t want any one with a low sense of self control getting themselves in trouble with me. I understood a little better after that, and was more than grateful for the company.

Since I was not dead, sick or otherwise incapacitated, the Captain decided to continue with the mission because of the importance of determining the nature of this latest potential threat. I was returned to duty, and aside from the occasional whistle, the crew largely accepted me. A cook named Davis gave me the strangest looks when he saw me.

The Captain put it out on the grapevine if anyone had any ideas for getting me a better fitting uniform, there would be a bonus available. One of the crew was a fairly good tailor and he was able to get my measurements and alter a jumpsuit for me. I still didn’t have a bra, and my boobs did tend to get sore by the end of the day. I couldn’t run anymore, because the bouncing was a little painful and was a great distraction to those nearby.

They moved my bunk to the junior officers’ section, as one of them graciously offered to give his berth to me. I made sure to thank him and gave him a big hug. (Hey, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time, and he appreciated it.)

The Captain never did ask me to get my hair cut, and I seemed to know what to do with it. I settled on a high ponytail, as it kept the hair off my neck. Shower and bathroom arrangements were a bit more complicated, as I really didn’t want some horny guy staring at me while I showered or took care of my needs. The Captain was more than accommodating, and I apologized profusely to him for causing so much trouble. He just smiled and said it was no trouble. I think it was because I reminded him of his own daughter back in the States.

My job was going well. The fact that I could comprehend the squeaks, whistles and moans was quickly classified by the Captain. It did let us understand what was going on in the harbor. The new boat was getting ready to sail.

I was taking finally taking my first shower after the change when I was overcome with shortness of breath. I got the strangest sensation between my legs, and as I watched, my legs began to fuse together. I couldn’t stop it, and I slipped down onto the floor. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath as I watched scales form on my fused legs. I dragged myself out of the shower and my escort saw me. I saw the horrified look on his face as darkness claimed me.

I opened my eyes to a bright light. I thought I was dead, and then I heard the doctor say, “She’s coming around.”

“Wha-what happened?” I softly asked, still blurry.

“You had a little episode, Jason. Do you remember anything?” asked the doctor.

“Yes. Did I turn into a fish?”

“No, but you did have a type of change, and we’re trying to figure it out. It seems you are what is known as a mermaid, for lack of a better or more scientific term.”

I sat up, balancing myself on my elbows. “Not funny, doc. They don’t exist.” I also happened to notice that I was naked under the sheet that was covering me. I raised the sheet, and saw my legs were normal. “See, nothing down there but legs and a … well, nothing." With a blush, I covered myself up quickly.

“Yeah, I would have said the same thing about Navy personnel turning into women, but we know how that turned out. Young lady, you turned into a bona fide, half fish, bare breasted mermaid, fins and all. I have the video to back that up too.

I blushed to my toes. “Please tell me you didn’t video me, you know, naked?”

"It was all in the interest in science, dear. Not for publication to the internet. This is beyond fantastic. You actually morphed before our very eyes. You were unable to breathe air, and we had to keep water on the gills that appeared. You almost died.”

I was understandably subdued. “Thanks, doc. I suppose I owe my escort a debt too.”

“He got you here within thirty seconds of your transformation. Apparently it was triggered by the water, and went away within a couple of minutes after you dried off. It seems you are a new species, Jason: Homo aquaticus.”

I winced at that. “I’m not a lab rat, doc. I’m also not Jason any more, either, I guess. I’m closer to Ariel than Jason.”

“Is that what you want to be called?”

“Oh,yes, it’ll give everyone a big laugh, won’t it.” I started to cry again. What was with the tears?

Doc hugged me. “Hey, Jason, don’t worry about it. You are on the verge of an exciting new life. You won’t be a lab rat, I promise you, but I suppose science will want to study the process. In fact, it may be the key to reversing this change. I took a blood sample while you were in your ‘fish’ state and we’ll be comparing the two. Think about it. You will actually be able to explore the oceans without any respiratory assistance”

“Yeah, and I can get eaten by sharks, too” I replied sarcastically.

“No one’s asking you to do anything right now. Just be open to the gift you’ve been given.” I started to interrupt, but he held up his hand, and continued. “You may not have asked for it, but the rest of your life will hinge on the choices you make now. You can either mope and cry about being a girl, or you can take what life has given you and be a success. I suspect you can control more than you know.”

I furrowed my brow, thinking about what he just told me. “But doc, I’m not a girl in here” I held my palms to my chest in what I didn’t realize was a very feminine gesture. The doc just smiled. “There are changes going on in your body and head right now that you can’t even imagine, I suspect. I’m not saying this to tease you, or make fun of you; okay, but I see changes in your deportment already”

“What? You’re joking.”

“I said I wasn’t kidding, Jason. I know women, and you are becoming one, inside and out. You may remember what it’s like to be a man, but you aren’t one anymore. Take your hair, for example. Why haven’t you cut it?”

Blushing, I had to admit to him I liked it. He nodded, and without a hint of humor simply said, “Because it’s very pretty, and you like it”

I looked down, ashamed. “Yes.”

“It’s okay, Jason. It is pretty, and I would be disappointed if you did cut it off. You would be too. Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“I don’t like to. I look ugly”

“What? How can you say you look ugly?”

“I don’t know. I’m too plain.”

The Doc smiled again. “You want to wear some makeup, don’t you?”

I was starting to cry again. “Yes,” I replied, my voice heavy with emotion.

“Hey, Jason, It’s okay to have those feelings. You’re a girl! But tell me this. Do you still like the same things you did before?”

Thinking, I replied with a little more enthusiasm. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“So. You have the same interests as before. Nothing is stopping you from doing those things, plus you get to do those things that are also reserved for girls. Your brain is rewiring itself to accommodate your new gender, I believe, plus you have all the advantages of thinking like a man when the need arises. To top that off, you have this amazing new ability that could revolutionize our world! Hmmm. You know, I think that’s a pretty damn good deal, Jason.”

I couldn’t believe it, but the Doc just made me excited and proud to have this new “gift”. I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Doc. You’ve given me a ton to think about.”

“Don’t fight the changes, Jason. Let them come and work with them. Be who you are, and don’t let any of these knuckleheads make you feel bad about yourself. Any of them would give their left arm to have a girl like you by their side, and you’ll always have that over them.”

I giggled, "Yeah, I know." My chuckle became a giggle. Two octaves in pitch will do that. “I’d rather not go that far yet, Doc.”

“No one’s telling you that you have to. But they don’t know that. Don’t give them the edge” Now get out of here, and do what the Navy is paying you to do.”

A new jumpsuit was delivered to the infirmary, along with some feminine undergarments in a package. They were my size, by some coincidence. There were only three in the package and were pink yellow and white in a bikini style. Plain cotton, but that was okay with me. Where they came from was a mystery, but I suspect someone my have liked the softer side of life. I wished i knew who it was so I could thank them.

I put them on, and they felt so much better than the boxers I had been making do with. The new jumpsuit was tailored to fit my new body. Like a glove in fact. Too much like a glove. The guy who altered it did it on purpose to show off my body. They also had a little cotton camisole. They had modified it from a tee shirt. It was a necessity to wear, because my nipples would have been chafed raw on the material of the outerwear.

“Look at this!” I complained to the doctor. “They made me look like a streetwalker”

“It is a little close fitting; I guess” the doctor said, barely concealing a grin, but if this would have happened to someone else, what would you have done?”

I had to laugh. “The same thing, I guess.”

“Exactly. Just grin and bear it, and be proud of who you are. Give the ribbing right back to them. I think you’ll find they will respect you even more.”

“Thanks, Doc.” On impulse, I leaned into him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a little hug. He got red and tried to stammer something. I smiled my best approximation of a sassy girl smile and said, “No time like the present to get started.”

I felt like a huge burden was lifted from me. I still got little whistles and pats, but they didn’t bother me like before. I was a girl, and until that changed I would be all in. I wasn’t going to bed with any man, but I also knew to my embarrassment that I wouldn’t object either if that opportunity arose someday. Even that thought didn’t spoil my mood. I still loved Katie, but I wasn’t sure anymore if it was the love of a sister or a boyfriend. I suppose it would all depend on her. I knew I would still love her as a friend no matter what happened.

I reported to my duty station with a smile on my face and a cute ponytail on my head. Andy, one of the other sonar techs on my watch, was way more attentive than he had ever been when Jason was there, offering to get me coffee or whatever I wanted. It was cute, and I never told him to stop, always smiling sweetly and giving him a perky “you’re so sweet” when he did something nice. He was only nineteen, so it would be good training for him when he met the future Mrs. King.

The crew had taken to calling me Ariel now instead of Jason. I didn’t mind, and in fact smiled when they called me that. It seemed to fit and I liked the name. I think they did it to get my goat, but when I didn’t complain, they became better natured about it. I also still couldn’t figure out where the panties had come from, but I was more than a little grateful I had them.

My detection skills on the sonar set were heightened to a factor of one hundred it seemed. I could pick different fish up. I didn’t need the filters as much. The unfiltered sea noise was much more informative to me. This wasn’t lost on the Chief Petty Officer in charge of my watch, and he passed it on the COB.

"Graves tells me you’ve become quite the technician, Ariel. Care to elaborate?”

"I don’t know sir. I can hear everything out there, and I can tell you what it means. For example, I can tell you that right now, there are thirty four sharks within a one thousand yard radius of this vessel. And there are two whales and three dolphins who are keeping a close eye on the sharks."

“How do you know this?”

"I can’t explain it, Master Chief. It’s like I understand them as easily as I understand you, and I sense the sea life around."

The new Chinese submarine steamed out of the harbor to a lot of fanfare. I could hear the complaints of the sea mammals as explosions rocked the water from the celebratory fireworks. Any submarine is a cacophony of noise on the surface, and the new sub was no exception. We were sitting in four hundred feet of water on the continental shelf, steaming in slow circles, just fast enough to maintain depth and steerage.

Our target, now named Guppy one submerged ten nautical miles from the harbor. It was quiet all right, way quieter than all of the other targets we had tracked to date. I didn’t have trouble tracking it, and set the computer to record its acoustic signature. The other operators were not as tuned as I was with my enhanced hearing and struggled to maintain contact.

Later, I was on my off time, and decided to try a little quiet exercise. The weight machine was free, so I got on the bench press and set the weight to a nice light 40 pounds for my newly reduced frame it was about all I could do repetitively since the transformation. Much to my surprise, I lifted it like it was nothing. I doubled the weight. Still nothing. I tripled the weight. Nothing but a little resistance. Two hundred pounds was only minor resistance. Four hundred pounds got the attention of my spotter. A little more difficult. At six hundred pounds I began to do a little work. It was all the resistance I could get.

My spotter, Seaman Lima, one who had been particularly nice to me the whole time whistled in amazement. “Shit, little lady,” he said. “Remind me not to get on your bad side. What in the hell have you been eating, cause I want some.”

I seemed to have picked up a little strength since my last workout. My arms, though toned, didn’t hint at the power they obviously contained. I giggled with excitement. I sounded like a teenager on her first date. “I don’t know Lima, but if I knew I’d tell you.”

All of the weight exercises I did maxed the machine. I was literally the strongest crew member aboard, and the smallest. I needed to see the doc. “Lima,” I asked, “could you come to sick bay with me? Doc ain’t gonna believe this.”

I was right. He didn’t until Lima verified what I told him. He called the captain to sick bay and told him the news.

“You just keep throwing out more surprises, Barrett,” said the Captain as he shook his head. “Why do you think this is, Doctor?”

“She’s adapted to swimming now. It makes sense that her strength would grow to propel her body through the water. That’s the best guess I can give you. It makes as much sense as anything I can come up with.”

“I agree with you Doc. It’s the only thing that I can think of, too," he sighed. "Well Barrett, the brains are gonna have fun looking at you when we get back. I imagine you’ll be quite the asset.”

That comment hit me like a ton of bricks. It was the one thing I didn’t want to be. A guinea pig in a cell somewhere. I began to tear up. “I hope not, sir. That would be just awful.”

The Captain, forgetting he was talking to a Thirty two year old Petty Officer, gave me a kind of sideways hug and said, “Hey, don’t cry kid. That won’t happen. I‘ll make sure it won’t.”

I unconsciously leaned in to the hug as I cried. It felt good, and I felt protected somehow. I could probably break most men like a matchstick now, but I still needed a hug? This wasn’t making sense.

I think the Captain realized what he was doing. The Doc had a shit eating grin on his face. The captain cleared his throat and made his excuses.

“The doc was still smiling after the Captain left sick bay. “See what I mean? Go with it.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

Word had gotten around quickly about my exploits in the gym. There were no more unwanted pats on the bottom. "That settled that," I thought smugly.

The other techs were still having problems zeroing in on Guppy one. This boomer was quiet. And fast. If we went any faster, we would start to make noise, and we couldn’t afford that. Our speed had increased to ten knots, and any faster would put us in danger of detection.

Then came the call that anyone in a submarine dreads hearing, and I made it. “High speed screws! Torpedo in the water!" It had come from our baffles. Andy wasn’t paying attention again! Someone had fired a torpedo, and it was closing in on us. “It’s homing!” I called.

“Battle stations!" The room went to red. "Ready Countermeasures!”

The torpedo was analogous to our Mark 48 homing torpedo. It even had a similar signature. Another piece of stolen hardware.

The XO was calm as he directed the crew. “Flank speed. Come about to 270 degrees. Ten degrees down angle on the planes.”

The Seawolf responded. The power levels increased rapidly and the turbines responded.

“Torpedo at twelve hundred yards and closing. It has acquired us,” I reported.

The Captain had made it to the Conn. The XO had his stopwatch out. "Prepare to deploy countermeasures.”

The Captain was on the intercom to the torpedo room. “Load tubes one and two.”

“Where is the son of a bitch who shot at us?”

I reported to the captain, “He’s at four thousand yards, bearing to target now zero niner zero degrees.”

“Weapons, plot a firing solution and fire at that cocksucker!”

“Deploy countermeasures,” ordered the XO.

The countermeasures against a homing torpedo involved a device that sent out a sonar signal to confuse the torpedo. I could hear it working.

“Firing solution computed and plotted, sir. Outer doors will not open.”

“What? Get those things fixed! We can’t shoot back with them shut.”

“Their torpedo has lost lock, Captain. It’s trying to reacquire.”

As I sat at my station monitoring the sonar, time began to slow down for me. I know it was an illusion, but I suddenly had an idea. I knew I could save the boat, but I would have to embrace the other me. It wasn’t even a hard choice.

Pulling my headphones away from my head, I asked, no, ordered the supervising Petty Officer to my station. I ran to the captain.

“Torpedo has reacquired.” The telltale pings of the sonar were echoing through the hull. We were now officially minutes from death. The torpedo’s range was twenty two hundred yards, and it had a twenty knot speed advantage. We would only out run it for so long.

“Captain! I can take care of that torpedo, but I need to get outside to do it. I can’t explain, but I know I can.”

He thought for a fraction of a second and nodded. "Get to the trunk and get out there. MOVE!”

The sub had a special chamber on board to send SEAL teams in from underwater. I would use that to get out.

I sprinted for all I was worth. I made it to the hatch in ten seconds. It would fill with water and enable me to get outside.

“Get me in there and flood the hatch,” I ordered the mate. Stripping off my clothes, I stepped inside, and the hatch was dogged. The hatch flooded and I quickly and painlessly changed into my aquatic form. Opening the hatch was a snap with my enhanced strength. I could hear the torpedo getting closer. I was surprised at the speed with which I could swim as I swam to meet it. I then used my own natural sonar and effectively got its attention.

I swam with everything I had as the torpedo changed course to follow me. I was fast, but the torpedo was within three hundred yards of catching me. The enemy boat was closing on the position of the Seawolf for a kill shot if needed. It was one of the Chinese attack boats. They were on thousand yards in front of me. I was burning up the water and as a result, was beginning to tire. The enemy boat was almost within range. I needed to hold out for a minute longer.

It’s funny what you think of when you know you could be about to die. One thought was that I didn’t feel cold, and the other was “Damn, my boobs are really nice.”

The torpedo was so close I could almost hear the workings inside it. Then I gambled that the time was right. I perfectly pinged the enemy sub with the frequency the torpedo used, not stopping to wonder how I could, and then it then locked on to its mother. I dove out of the way, only one hundred and fifty yards from the enemy. I turned around to put as much distance as I could between me and the explosion that was to follow. This would hurt…

The concussion from a blast underwater is many times worse than a comparable explosion on land. I had made it almost two hundred yards from the resulting explosion and the blast wave hit me like a hammer. I had already held my hands over my ears, but the main effect of the concussion was to batter my insides to jello. I screamed as my body was enveloped in pain, then I mercifully passed out.

I have no idea how long I was out. It couldn’t have been long, because I could hear the Seawolf close by. I was still in a tremendous amount of pain, and I was trailing blood. If I was on land, I would have coughing it up. As a mermaid, well, it was trailing it out of my gills, which were on obtrusively located along my ribcage towards my back.

I swam to the boat, which was traveling at about five knots. I think they may have been looking for me. “They were really sweet,” I thought, "to be looking for me." It wasn’t easy, as I was in agony from my internal injuries, but there was no way I was going to be fish food.

I managed to open the hatch and slide into the compartment. I beat on the door to the inside, letting them know I was back. This was not going to be fun, plus the crew would see me naked again. That really sucked. The water was pumped out and I found myself like a fish out of water again. I passed out from the pain before they got the door open.

I woke up in my familiar spot in sick bay, staring at the ceiling. I had a hospital gown on, which was an improvement over the last time. I coughed, and the spasm sent a wave of pain through me like I had never known. “Doc,” I wheezed “are you here?” I couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open.

“I’m here, Ariel,” he said cheerfully. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

I smiled at that. I was beginning to like the name. It fit me now. “I hurt all over Doc,” my voice was no more than a whisper.

“I can imagine. You’ve suffered pretty horrific internal injuries. In fact, you should be dead, but it seems your body has a little bit different outcome in mind. You’re healing much faster than a normal human would. We’re on our way back to San Diego now. They’ve cut the mission short. I think they are anxious to debrief you after your performance last week."

“Last week? How long have I been out?” I moaned in pain from the effort it took to speak.

“About nine days, give or take a couple of hours. We’re about two days out of port. You actually died on us twice.”

“Never saw the light,” I whispered with a thin smile. “Don’t believe it when they tell you.”

“Well, take my word for it, kid.” He injected something into my IV. I started to feel a little woozy.

“This will help you sleep. See you when you wake up.”

“Nite nite,” I said dreamily.

I was out for the rest of the journey home. I awoke to being put on a gurney and being carried out of sick bay. They managed to get me on deck with a minimum of squeals of pain from me, and then I saw something that made me cry. The entire crew was lined up. The command to present arms was given, and the guys all saluted even the officers. I was strapped down so I couldn’t return their salute, but tears were flowing down my face. I couldn’t speak. There was nothing to say.

I spent the better part of the next two weeks in the hospital. Katie wasn’t allowed in to see me. They wanted to say I’d died, but I vetoed that. She deserved to know what had happened to me. They told her I was still on assignment off the boat. I was still wearing the pendant, and I vowed never to take it off.

I was poked and prodded as you’d expect from someone in my position, but no one ever threatened to put me away.

After I was released from the hospital, the countless hours of debrief and testing began. I found out what my limits were, and also found I could change back and forth at will, and getting wet would no longer initiate the transformation if I didn’t want it to, which made taking a bath a lot easier. My new legal name was Ariel Rebecca Barrett, age 21, after the mermaid and my mother, rest her soul.

I found out that the crew of the Seawolf incorporated a mermaid into the ship’s logo. It looked like me. Since what had happened was classified, no one could talk about the reason why, and the crew took a good bit of ribbing about it from the other ships in the fleet. They just smiled when asked and said it was their good luck charm. I was also recommended for the Medal of Honor for my actions on that day. I didn’t think I deserved it. I just did what any one of those other guy would have done in my situation.

I was offered and accepted an appointment to Annapolis. I would be doing research into incorporating the use of dolphins to help with recovery of crews and intelligence. That would be a lot easier with my talents. I would also be an Ensign upon graduation in four years.

And, finally, after six months, I was able to see Katie. I had long since accepted my girlhood. I looked sixteen, and really hadn’t aged at all, so I suspected my healing also helped kept me young looking.

I carefully picked out the outfit I would wear to meet Katie for the first time. I purposefully decided on a floral sundress, because it literally screamed “girl” I had some sandals with it, my makeup and nails were done. I was completely comfortable with that. I was even comfortable with being with a man, but I still loved Katie. Man or woman, I still liked the same things, and we just got along so well, I didn’t want that to change. I wrote her the whole time, careful to leave out the obvious. It was still classified and would be forever.

I rang her doorbell. She had moved to San Diego to be closer to me when I got home. My stomach was in my throat, doing flip flops. She answered, looking as lovely as she had the day I left her. “Yes?” she asked. “May I help you?”

“Katie, uhh, you don’t know me, but you do.” I was blushing, and felt like a grade A idiot. “May I come in and talk to you?”

Katie, being the kind soul she is, saw this stammering girl on her front step. “Of course, sweetie. Now where do I know you from?”

I was having a hard time controlling my emotions. Tears were starting to form, and I couldn’t stop them. Katie sat next to me with a concerned look on her face. “What is it?”

“Katie, I don’t know how to say this, but I’m Jason. I’m not lying, and I’m hoping to God you don’t throw me out.”

Her mouth dropped open in disbelief. “What in the hell you are talking about! Did Jason Put you up to this?”

I was in full cry now. “P-p-please! Katie1 I’m not lying!” I pulled a file and a DVD out of my purse. “Please, Katie. If you ever loved Jason, read this file and watch the DVD. What you are about to see is classified. I’ll leave for thirty minutes. It is enough time for you to look at the file and the DVD.”

I got up to leave and Katie tried to say something, but I stopped her. “Look at what I brought you” I said sadly, then I left.

Whet followed was the longest thirty minutes of my life. I hadn’t known Katie all that long, but in that short time I knew she was the one for me. We meshed like gears. We never shared a cross word, and I knew from the beginning that she was the “one”. I spent most of the half hour crying. I don’t know why I couldn’t control my emotions any better than I did. I think it helped keep me from going insane due to my change.

Thirty minutes from the time I left right to the minute, I rang her doorbell again. She opened it and asked me politely to come in. She looked at me. Looked me up and down, then she saw the mermaid pendant I was still wearing. Her eyes filled with tears and she held her arms open to me. I rushed into them and we were both crying she was stroking my hair and whispering that she was sorry, so sorry.

“I’m the one who’s sorry for not telling you, Katie. I couldn’t. I wanted to be there and show you. It was just too incredible to believe.”

We sat on the sofa holding hands and drying our eyes. “I’m not the man who left, Katie. I’m not a man at all. I’ve embraced who I am, and that is Ariel Barrett. She’s a girl who loves Katie Grey with all of her heart. She’ll also understand if Katie doesn’t return that love.”

Katie leaned forward, and got on her knees in front of me. “I feel responsible for making you this way.”

I brushed the hair out of her face. “What was meant to be, happened. I don’t resent that at all. The only thing I regret is if it costs me you. But know I will always be your friend, Katie, no matter what. If you can’t love me as a woman, I can understand that.”

She smiled beautifully at me. It was the smile I’d grown to love. She was touching my face and hair. “You look so young!”

I smiled shyly. “My ID says I’m twenty one, missy. So I’m one hundred percent legal, and I’m still older than you!”

“Jas…no Ariel, I don’t care what package you’re in. I love you no matter what. You won’t be my first female lover, but I think you’ll be my last.”

I didn’t know about the other female lover, and I didn’t care. I burst into a new round of tears and hugged my girl, thankful to be alive. Dad on the other hand.

Another note. If you want to comment on how I don't know about submarine jargon, save your breath. I already know that!:) Otherwise, I'd still love to hear what you think! Thanks!