As Albert got back into the wheelhouse, he saw the hanger was mostly clear through the windows, and Ida was on the walkie. “AC03, this is Lieutenant Ida...” she looked at Albert, who nodded at her, “...we're ready to ascend.”

  “Roger that, you're cleared to go. Have a safe flight.”

  Ida went and grabbed the wheel, while Damien sat for the first time in his Captain's chair. The Victoria started sailing forward, with Ida doing some minor corrections so they safely cleared the hanger. Once they were fully out, she flipped several switches, and the zeppelin began to ascend. I don't even have to give her orders on liftoff? Not sure why she got transferred... He pulled up the periscope that looked underneath the zeppelin, and watched as the ground slowly growing more distant, until the whole air base fit in his view.

  “Captain, is everything reading fine?” Ida asked.

  Albert quickly slid the periscope back down and looked at the readings. The wind was heading slightly southwest, which would aid them in making good time. “Wind southwest at 8 kilometers an hour. Altitude progressing steadily.”

  “Roger.”

  Albert continued watching, but there were no issues as they continued ascending. He could feel it getting a bit chilly, and remembered his coat was in his luggage. “Do you need your coat, Lieutenant?”

  “No, sir, I wore extra layers under my uniform.”

  Albert realized she was still wearing the same uniform she had picked him up in the rain in. “Lieutenant, you should probably change, your uniform is still wet.”

  Ida blushed slightly, her glasses fogging up, although Albert couldn't see. “Sir, there isn't any need.”

  Albert came over and grabbed the wheel. “That's an order. I'm not having someone get sick on my first training mission.”

  “I...” Ida started, but then decided not to argue with an order. “Should I tell the crew it's okay to switch to casual dress?”

  Albert nodded. “Sure. Have Ingrid start preparing dinner, too.”

  “I'm sure she already is, but I'll let her know.” Ida replied, before heading up the ladder.

  Albert grabbed the wheel, but he only need to turn slightly to account for the wind. This wheel is kind of stiff compared to training. As Captain, he had knowledge on all the other tasks. He could steer, was an okay gunner, knew how to drop the bombs if needed, understood the supplies logistics of the ship, and could do at least some basic maintenance.

  After a few minutes, he heard Ida come back down the ladder. He looked over, and she was wearing the Air Corps issued workout jacket and pants, usually referred to as 'trainers'. It was zipped up all the way, though her breasts were pushing the chest out a bit. He once again tried to make sure his gaze didn't linger on her breast.

  “I can take back over, Captain.”

  Albert quickly let go. “It should be ready to put in auto-pilot.”

  Ida shook her head, “If it's okay, sir, I'd rather get up a bit higher first. It's less likely to throw off our heading.”

  Assuming she would know this particular ship the best, he nodded.

  “Ingrid said dinner would be ready in thirty minutes, if you wanted to change as well.”

  Albert nodded, then headed up the ladder. At the top, he ran into Ingrid, who was wearing a pink shirt and white blouse, like she was going to a cafe, although over top it she had a cooking apron on.

  “Oh, Captain...I was just going to tell you the food would be ready in a half hour,” she blushed.

  Remembering the earlier conversation, he also blushed, although tried to remain composed (and decided not to ask about her 'casual' outfit). “Thank you, Ida told me. I'm looking forward to it. What are we having?”

  Ingrid nodded, “I was able to procure us some beef this time, so we'll be having that in some stew, with potatoes and carrots.”

  Albert nodded. It was a basic meal, but he knew from his three Academy excursions that any cooked meal onboard a ship was a boon.

  Ingrid quickly scurried back towards the mess hall, so Albert went the other way back to the Captain's quarters. Inside, he spent some time unloading his clothing and several snacks he had been allowed to bring. He also hung up his one personal item, a picture of he and his mom from his graduation ceremony.

  After finishing, he stowed his empty luggage under his bed, and put on his own Air Corps workout outfit. He also had a few coats and other outfits as well, but decided to go with what Ida had worn to match the crew.

  It had been about thirty minutes, so he decided to head out and walk down the ship to the mess hall.

  When he walked in, everyone else was already there. Ida stood up and saluted, while the rest of them kept sitting. Ida looked like she was going to be upset, but Albert waved her off and shook his head, walking over to sit down.

  Alice was wearing what looked like pajamas, Lizzy was wearing a t-shirt that barely covered her chest, cleavage showing out the top, and really short-shorts that barely covered her butt, and Zoe hadn't changed, still wearing her overalls, although she had at least washed her face. He again mentally tried not to let his gaze linger on Lizzy for too long, although was soon greeted by Ingrid's chest, which almost hit his face as she put a bowl of stew in front of him.

  “The new captain can have his first,” she giggled, seeming to have gotten over her earlier embarrassment.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Come on, I'm starving!” Zoe said, salivating at the bowl.

  Ingrid giggled, going over and scooping out another bowl and handing it to her. She continued serving everyone until she also had a bowl for herself.

  Normally at this stage you would say a prayer to the future of Swabia, at least according to the handbook. Ida had her hands together and seemed to be silently saying one, but everyone else was stuffing their faces.

  Albert decided to be like Ida, silently say one (though more praying for the health of his mother, and that the mission would go well) and then started eating as well.

  Zoe finished quickly, walking up and pouring herself some more. Normally only the cook was supposed to dole out food, to make sure it was divided equally, but again he decided to not say anything.

  When his bowl was empty, Ingrid immediately grabbed it “I'm glad you liked it, I'll get you some more.”

  “I can pour my own, if that's how it goes on this ship...” he said, looking at Ida for direction.

  Ida, however, was focusing on her own bowl.

  “Nonsense, you're the captain,” Ingrid replied, before handing his now-full bowl back.

  They continued eating together, until starting to filter out as they finished. Ingrid started cleaning up the bowls, and Ida came over to Albert. “Do you have any orders?”

  Albert shook his head, “No, let's go back to the wheelhouse for now.”

  They headed back, and he looked over the instruments to verify there was nothing wrong. The wind had picked up a bit at their current altitude, but nothing seemed amiss. “Is the auto-pilot fine?”

  “Yes, sir. I've set it into sleep mode,” she said, turning to look at him at attention.

  “Do we need any overnight course corrections?”

  “We should not, sir. Permission to sleep through the night?” Ida asked, still at attention.

  “Oh...yeah, if we don't need to, I'll trust the auto-pilot.” No need to make her get up if it's not warranted.

  Ida seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief. “I'll be heading to bed then, sir.”

  Albert nodded, “I'll make my nightly round in a minute then go myself.” He then walked over to the windows and watched the ground below. It was mostly dark, although he could see a few twinkling of lights here and there. We're definitely over the countryside, now. Mom should be down there, somewhere.

  After a bit, he went up the ladder to make his rounds. The supplies closet was full. Next he went to the mechanic's room, which he could see was a mess (they hadn't actually gone in during the initial tour). Zoe seemed to just leave her tools and supplies scattered everywhere. Sighing, he kept going. The mess hall was cleaned up. I'm glad Ingrid at least keeps her areas tidy.

  Down the hall, he half-expected to see Alice sleeping in the bomb bay, but it was surprisingly empty. He then went to the crew quarters. Alice, Lizzy, and Ingrid all seemed asleep, Lizzy snoring softly as she was half off her bed. Ida was sitting at a desk next to her bunk, writing in a book. He slipped away before she would notice. I guess Zoe is doing some late night maintenance? Or maybe she's on the latrine after all that soup...

  He went over to the Captain's quarters, and pulled out a sheet of paper to start a mission log, writing down the few events that had occurred that day. Deciding to leave out some of the...eccentricities of his crew out, he slipped it back into the drawer of his desk, then rolled into bed.

  Staring at the ceiling of his room, he thought about what had transpired. I don't know about this... I can see why some of them got transferred. I know the Air Corps is hurting for crewmen, and that's probably why they weren't let go. Still... He sighed and shook his head. I don't understand why Ida was, though. She seems like a consummate professional helmsman. And if it wasn't something that would get her demoted from Lieutenant...it's confusing.

  Wondering if maybe he should inquire, he slowly fell to sleep.

  Albert woke up, feeling incredibly hot. Why am I sweating? I have the covers on, but we're a mile into the air! He also felt a bit constricted. Deciding he wanted a drink to cool off, he reached up and grabbed the lantern string and turned on his light. Pulling off the cover, he saw that Zoe was in bed next to him, her arms and legs forming a vicegrip around him. “Zoe!?”

  “Mmm...it can't be morning yet...” she said.

  Albert went to grab her off, but wasn't sure where to. She had taken off her overalls, and was only wearing the white t-shirt underneath, and black panties. Her overalls seemed to be on the ground next to the bed.

  “Zoe...” he repeated.

  “What, who is-” she said, opening her eyes. Her face slowly got redder as she saw Albert, then looked at what she was doing. She then leapt out of the bed, looking around. “What...I...uh...”

  Now that she wasn't wrapped around him, Albert was able to think a bit clearer. “Um...is there an explanation for this?”

  “I thought this was my bunk!” she said, pointing to the bed. She then realized she was in her panties, and grabbed her overalls to cover herself. “I must have gone to the wrong room in the dark. I was half-asleep after checking the helium cells.”

  Albert nodded, taking a deep breath. “I see.”

  Zoe blushed harder, then quickly ran out the door, giving Albert a good view of her butt on the way out.

  Albert blinked a few times, then sat up in his bed. He couldn't get the image of the half-naked Zoe out of his mind. Ugh, I know it's normal to work on the same ship with women, but I wasn't expecting something like that...

  Since women were becoming a common occurrence on ships, it was normal to have separate quarters for them apart from the men's. Of course, since this was an older ship, that wasn't the case. And it doesn't make a difference if the women come into my room anyway!

  After some thinking, he decided to chalk it up to an honest mistake. She seemed pretty embarrassed...

  After a few more minutes, he had calmed down a bit, but was now not very tired. Still wanting that drink, and thinking a walk would help him calm down the rest of the way, he decided to head over to the mess hall to grab some water. As he got closer, he thought he heard some humming coming from the hall. Is Ingrid already preparing breakfast? As he turned into the mess hall, he saw it was dark, but the kitchen light was on. He walked up to the door and peered inside.

  Ingrid was sitting in one of the large cooking tubs, completely naked. Her hair was tied up in a bun, and she was pouring water over her arms and humming as she scrubbed. Her back was to him, and he could see the top of her chest pressed against her knees.

  “Hmm..hmm. Hm-hmmmmm...” she hummed as she scrubbed.

  Albert was entranced. He stood there for what felt like ages, not able to pull his focus away.

  “I wonder if the Captain is single...” she said to herself, giggling. “Of course, Zoe's right, he won't be interested in an old hag like me,” she sighed.

  Albert could feel himself tingling a bit at his nethers. That's not true. He was about to unconsciously grab it, when someone grabbed his shoulder.

  He turned to see Ida, her glasses glinting a bit in the light so he couldn't see her eyes.

  He was about to freak out, but before he could say anything, she held up a finger to her mouth, then pulled him away from the door. She then walked into the kitchen. “Ingrid, what have I told you about using our cooking water to bathe?”

  This must have been a regular occurrence, because he heard a pouty voice from Ingrid. “But the shower only has enough water for one a week. I need to keep my skincare routine up, or I'll never find a man. Plus we always have extra cooking water left over...”

  Ida shook her head, “Be that as it may, it's against regulation. And what would happen if the Captain walked in on you doing this?”

  “Well, I might not mind...” Ingrid replied, her voice a bit whimsical.

  Ida blushed slightly, “Just dry off and go back to bed.”

  “Yes, ma'am...” he heard a sad Ingrid reply.

  Ida turned back to Albert.

  Albert wasn't sure what to do, so he just nodded, before turning around to leave.

  Heading back to the room, he realized he never got his drink.