Background

It is the year 2030. The United states had a communist uprising due to years of isolationist policies having devastated the US economy. The economic depression furthered the divide between the political ideologies of the southern and northern states of the US. Two prominent political figures rose to power, each with opposing ideologies. Neo-Browderism, an ideology which aimed to end US isolationism through a corporate run, socialist government. The ideology was popularized amongst the urbanized population of America who were discontent with the state of American democracy, and envied China’s rapid advancements in technology. Under this ideology, The American People’s Progress movement was formed. This ideology was opposed by many in the south, who saw the Neo-Browderist rule of America as unconstitutional, and a violation of their rights of ownership. This opposition began to gather under a new movement, the People’s Democratic Action. As these two movements gained traction, they formed separate governments, and a second civil war began in America.

This short story takes place on the USS Benfold, a warship deployed near the coast of Japan.

“The future of the United States finds itself in the hands of two opposing forces, as the American People’s Progress and the People’s Democratic Action’s skirmishes boil over int-”. “Hey! I was watching that.” Shouted Lucas, whose phone was just snatched from him by his crewmate Jack. “Stop watching this shit, it’s depressing.” Before Lucas could think of a rebuttal, an order to gather blared out the speaker. Lucas and Jack quickly headed to the deck, it was unusual to gather the crew so suddenly. The crew gathered on the deck. There was silence amongst the crew as they awaited captain Jimenez’s orders. “As you have heard, our country stands divided. I am sure many of you are worried about your family at home, and so am I. Regardless of which side of this conflict that you support, I believe that as your captain, it is my responsibility to bring you all back to America. We will now head back to Naha to resupply the ship and head to Oregon.” As the time for lights out came around, Jack approached Lucas. “Captain’s out of his mind. I know he’s tight with those boys in Osaka, but who’s to say that they’ll resupply us with no strings attached? Let’s say that we do manage to resupply and sail to Oregon. Then what? You know, I say we get off in Japan, I heard a few other guys are planning to do that. We’ll be like headless chickens sailing back to the US.” “Calm down," muttered Lucas under his breath. “Captain’s just trying to keep us together, at least until we see land. Just go to sleep bro, we’ll see land early in the morning, we can figure it out then.” Lucas closes his eyes and begins to lose track of time. The situation back home has made it impossible for him to properly rest. Feeling powerless, Lucas closed his eyes and hoped that time would move by, as it was the only thing that he could do.

It is four in the morning, and the USS Benfold has successfully docked at port Naha. Awkward glares greet the Befold crew as they observe the port from their ship. “Aren’t there a lot less people at the dock than before?” murmured a crew member. Lucas also noticed that there were a lot more Japanese faces. Captain Jimenez and a few other officers had left the ship to go discuss the situation with those in charge of the port. Not long after, Jimenez and the officers returned and began to discuss something in private with a few crew members, and within an hour, some crew members began scrambling around to set sail. “Woah hold on, why are we leaving so quickly?” Lucas said, as he managed to grab ahold of a crewmate. “Captain's orders,” replied the crewman as he ran off. “What is going on at the bridge!?” yelled a crewmate. A few men have gathered around with disgruntled looks, Lucas found Jack amongst them. “What are you guys doing?” Lucas asked Jack. “We’re going to storm the bridge,” Jack replied, “I’m not sure why we are preparing to leave without resupplying, we are going to ask the captain about it.” The group of men headed towards the bridge, and Lucas decided to follow them from afar, not wanting to gather attention to himself. The men finally reached the bridge, and a crew member from the group opened the door. “Captain, why are we leaving without new supplies?” asked the crew member. Lucas peeped over the shoulders of the men at the bridge. He noticed that inside the bridge with the captain, there were several officers and some other crew members. “The Japanese won’t resupply our ship, since we have just enough to return home," answered the captain. “We won’t stand for this, we didn’t agree to going back to America,” protested the group of crewmen. The clamoring amongst the men was silenced by a gunshot, followed by the echoing of the metal struck by the bullet. “We will be returning to America. It is our duty as Americans. Everybody will remain on this ship, we need as many crew members as possible to make the journey on time.” Captain Jimenez put his pistol back in his pocket, and the crowd of crewmen begrudgingly dispersed. Two hours later, the USS Benfold began its voyage to Oregon.

To be continued…