The Adventures of Phineas Frakture

by Joseph Gatch

  “How…how could you have?” asked Abigail. Everyone in the cabin could hear the empathy in her voice.

  “Thorne…and the designs that he showed me,” Phineas said. “The last time we met, he told me that plans were in motion to control the oceans, both above and below. This must be what he meant. Abigail…we invaded Atlantis. America has done this!”

  “I can’t believe this,” said Abigail. “We…we…”

  “I can,” William said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “The question now is…what are we going to do about it?”

  “I’m going to take it away from them,” said Phineas. He turned to Ashira. “I need to go out there.”

  Still trying to comprehend what had just transpired, Ashira finally answered. “We have suits in storage…for when the Nautilus crew would visit. They will protect you. What do you mean that you ‘designed it’?”

  “Long story. Yes, I created it, but this isn’t what it was designed for. It was meant for exploration. People…evil people have perverted it into that monstrosity.”

  “Then you should set your conscience right,” said Ashira. “It might not have been bad fortune that we encountered this after all. Your presence here is more than a coincidence. It is the will of the gods.”

  “I don’t know about the gods, but I’m starting to wonder about coincidences,” said Phineas.

  Milos went to the center of the ship and opened a well-concealed hatch in the floor. “This way,” he said. “We will get you ready.”

  Phineas and William followed him down to another level where the Atlantean opened a locker containing a heavy full body suit and helmet.

  “This is a modified version of your surface dweller diving suits,” said Milos. “It will withstand the pressure down here for a limited time.”

  “How long?” asked Phineas, handling the suit. It was made of a heavy mesh which felt like canvas, but much stronger, and it was heavily insulated.

  “About twenty minutes, I believe.”

  “That’s not much time…it would take me twice that just to get over there.”

  “That will not be a problem.” Milos pulled a tank from the next locker. “This contains oxygen for you to breathe, and attached to the sides,” he released a catch and two fans folded outwards, “are dual propellers. It should get you to the machine quickly.”

  “Nice. Let’s get me into this thing,” Phineas said.

  As Phineas dressed, William inquired about the machine. “If that thing is powered by steam…where does the exhaust go? I mean, wouldn’t the water put out the coal fire?”

  Phineas grunted, pulling the suit over his clothes. “I designed it so that the smoke would be filtered into a tank, and once the pressure was greater than that of the outside, it would expel the gases out the rear of the machine. The exhaust port would close immediately, before water could make its way into the machine.”

  “So, what you are saying is that the thing…farts?”

  Phineas laughed. “If you want to make it sound so crude, I guess that would be an accurate description.”

  “And that’s what the government invested in? I’m writing to my congressman when we get back.”

  It took close to thirty minutes to get Phineas dressed, put on the boots and gloves, and get the helmet and tank secured. The helmet was a giant hollow metal ball with several circular windows around it for optimal visibility.

  “How do I look?” Phineas’ muffled voice asked. His breathing was loud, amplified by the oxygen flow.

  William looked at him, barely containing his discomfort. “Chillingly familiar,” he said. “All you need is a hook.”

  “That bad?”

  “Yep.” William wrapped Phineas’ pocket belt around his friend’s waist and secured it. “Are you going to be able to use your tools with those gloves?”

  “All I’ll need is the wrench. The rest is just in case.” Phineas holstered the ray gun in his belt. He then put his hand on William’s shoulder. “Look, if I die out there…”

  “I know,” interrupted William.

  “Consider yourself unemployed,” finished Phineas.

  “Not…the fond farewell I expected, but appropriate in its own way. Shall I summon Abigail to do the honors of shoving you out the airlock?”

  “I think that I’ll do it myself.” Phineas opened the interior door, stepped inside, and then closed and secured it. Milos pulled a lever and filled the chamber with water. When it was full, Phineas opened the outer hatch and disappeared into the darkness.

  Through the front window, Abigail and Ashira watched Phineas glide off towards the walking turret.

  “He is a brave man,” commented Ashira.

  “He has his moments,” answered Abigail. “You couldn’t have picked a better husband.”

  Ashira’s eyes widened. “Husband?” she asked. “Why would I want him for a husband?”

  “You did exchange vows…he told us you both said yes, you kissed him…”

  “And he thinks that we are married?”

  “Well, it did sound like a typical marriage ceremony,” said Abigail.

  Ashira put her hand on Abigail’s arm. “I would never take a man away from another woman. Abigail…what transpired was a ceremony appointing Phineas as my champion. That is what ‘Comptala’ means in our language. It is a reciprocal bond that shows that I favor him and he will fight for me. That is all…an ancient notion, but traditional. It was all explained during the ceremony.”

  Abigail sat back in her chair. “There was something with moving parts in the room, wasn’t there?”

  “Yes, the whole room is alive with ancient clockwork running the citadel.”

  “He wasn’t paying attention, was he?”

  “I don’t believe he was,” laughed Ashira. “Oh, this is bad. He believes…I must tell him when he returns.”

  “Never you mind,” said Abigail with a sly grin on her face. “Allow me that one simple pleasure.”

  Phineas activated the propellers as soon as he exited the ship, sending him on a fast trajectory towards the mechanical beast. Lights on his helmet allowed him to see where he was going; however, they would also alert whoever was controlling the beast of his presence. As he neared his invention, cannons of compressed air fired projectiles in his direction. Phineas panicked and accidentally sent his rig into a wild spin. Harpoons flashed past him as he seemingly dodged them with ease…while in reality, he attributed his survival to dumb luck. Phineas slammed into the front leg of the machine and painfully turned off the propellers. He looked around and found his mark on the underside of the machine—a hatch leading to the boiler room powering it. His intent was to flood the beast.

  Phineas swam to the hatch as guns around the hull searched for their target. He heard a ‘clang’ and was jarred momentarily. Turning, he found a small turret on the underside pointing straight at him. Calculating the reload time, Phineas activated the propellers and shot towards the gun. He could see the harpoon entering the chamber and, without thinking, he pulled out his tesla rod and shoved it into the barrel. The rod flared to life as compressed air fired the harpoon. The projectile jammed in the barrel while the tesla charge went racing into the mechanism.

  Muffled thuds of explosions came from within the mechanical beast as electricity detonated the tanks of compressed gas. Hull plates were blown out and the sudden pressure change collapsed the beast in upon itself. Phineas, meanwhile, had fallen to the sea floor and lay on his back, watching the scene unfold.

  The machine’s legs bent outwards, and the whole thing began falling straight down. Phineas once again panicked and hit the propeller controls, sending him sailing up and out of the way of the collapse. He hovered for a moment and then was hit from behind with a blow that sent him tumbling across the sea floor.

  A lone kraken man, expelled from the machine, was making a counterattack. Though this one looked identical to the one Phineas had killed earlier, it was armed with a trident. The prongs glowed and, without any other w
arning, discharged an energy bolt in Phineas’ direction.

  The charge exploded a mere two feet away from Phineas, sending rocks and coral in every direction. Phineas fumbled for the ray gun, only to drop it with the clumsy gloves. He could see the trident charging again and knew that his chances were slim. He disregarded the kraken man and scrambled for the gun. It took both hands to hold on to it, but he flipped over on his back, pointed, and shot just as the kraken man fired his weapon.

  Phineas was later dumbfounded when he realized that he wasn’t thinking of dying at that moment, but was rather doing the calculations of the physics behind the speed of the ray gun’s discharge versus the trident’s. The ray gun’s velocity outmatched the trident’s as it struck the kraken man first, sending the trident’s bolt in another direction. The result was one kraken man falling helplessly to the ground and one lucky, albeit victorious, Phineas Frakture.

  Phineas walked over to his prone enemy and stood over him. He looked down at the creature…and then, for the second time in as many days, darkness enveloped him.

  EPISODE

  9

  “He did it!” yelled Abigail and Ashira simultaneously. In the distance, they watched the mighty mechanical beast crumple like a house of cards. Several flashes followed, and Ashira feared what might be happening.

  “Milos! Phineas is in trouble!” Ashira shouted below.

  “I can get us there,” Abigail said, starting up the craft.

  “We will not make it in time. Milos must go.”

  Down below, William was already pulling out another suit.

  Milos put up his hand as he cycled the airlock and stepped in. “Don’t worry about that. I am faster without it.”

  William, completely flabbergasted, watched in horror as Milos slammed the door shut and then expelled himself from the ship. William quickly climbed up to the main deck and joined the others in the cockpit. “Milos just went outside…without a suit!”

  “It is all right,” Ashira said. “Look.”

  Outside, Milos swam by. As they watched, his legs fused together and his feet blossomed into a tail. Abigail and William observed in wonder while Milos darted off towards Phineas.

  “He’s a Mer,” said William. “But…they don’t exist…they’re just a fairy tale.” He looked at Ashira and the ministers. “Does that mean that you…and they…are…?”

  Ashira nodded and smiled.

  “This trip has really ruined my affection for seafood,” William added.

  By the time Abigail had the ship in motion, Milos was already on his way back with Phineas. He swam faster than humanly possible, much to Abigail and William’s relief. A few seconds later, they heard the outer hatch close. Leaving the ship in the control of one of the Atlantean ‘soldiers’, Abigail, William, and Ashira headed down to the lower level to meet Milos.

  Milos had already returned to his human form when they arrived and was pulling the helmet off of Phineas. He looked up as they burst into the room and winked. “I told you that there were a few more differences between us,” Milos said. “His tank was punctured by a harpoon, but I think that I made it in time to keep him alive.”

  Ashira saw the concern on Abigail’s face. “We Atlanteans, mer-people, have the ability to extend our life force around others while underwater. That is how you were able to be transported down here without a ship. Milos did it again to save Phineas.”

  There was a cough and Phineas sat bolt upright, looking around. “How...?”

  “Milos saved your butt…again,” said Abigail. “It’s becoming a habit.”

  Ashira bent down and hugged Phineas. “Thank you. You stopped it, as promised.”

  “Well, not the way I had planned it, but it will do. I lost my tesla rod,” Phineas finished sadly.

  William patted him on the head. “We’ll get you a new one.”

  “But it was a nice tesla rod. I increased the voltage on it. Wait a minute…how did I get back here? None of you has a suit on.”

  “I’ll explain later,” William said as he helped unhook the tank from Phineas’ back. He held it up, inspecting the harpoon sticking through it. “My, just a few more inches and you would have been skewered. Ow!” William touched the spear tip. “This thing is like a razor. It’s no wonder they can cut through these ships.”

  “It would have to be. Down here, the metals have a higher density due to the pressure. What we consider strong on land would crumble down here,” said Phineas. He was soon fully out of the diving suit and felt light as a feather after being in the heavy material.

  Despite his fatigue and recent brush with death, he quickly bounded up the ladder to the main deck. The ministers, upon seeing him, gave a deep bow of gratitude while the ‘soldiers’ saluted him.

  “All in a day’s work,” Phineas said nonchalantly. “Shall we continue?”

  Abigail took the pilot’s seat again with Milos next to her. William maneuvered himself into the cockpit, not wanting to be banished to the rear any longer.

  “Signal the fleet to resume,” Ashira said.

  “Just out of curiosity,” said William, “how do you communicate with each other down here? Radio doesn’t work this deep.”

  “High frequency,” answered Milos, “like that of whales. It is transmitted and received through ports on the top of the ship. Our ears are accustomed to hearing it, while yours probably can’t even detect it. As a matter of fact, the chatter has been nonstop since we left the station. Now, all they are talking about is what just occurred. Phineas is quickly becoming a local hero.”

  “At least he can’t hear it. His ego would burst the bulkheads.”

  Phineas grunted, folded his arms, and sulked. Next to him Ashira tried to make small talk.

  “We should be there in about twenty minutes,” she said.

  Phineas just nodded and seemed to avoid eye contact.

  “I was impressed with your plan,” Ashira continued. “Do you have much military experience?”

  “I am a pacifist by nature. I would rather teach and work in my lab than have anything to do with war,” Phineas replied.

  “I couldn’t tell. You devised it with such ease, just by looking at a map.”

  Phineas seemed insulted by the remark, but then quickly dismissed it. “I have always been able to see where the cog fits to get the proper end result.”

  Ashira looked confused. “What do you mean by that?”

  Phineas leaned forward. “It’s like the room that we were in. The one where we were…um, joined.”

  Abigail turned quickly and motioned for Ashira to not say anything. Ashira smiled at Abigail’s impending pleasure.

  Phineas continued without noticing either of them. “One cog can change the desired outcome of the whole machine just by the size, number of teeth, and direction. It can make the whole machine move faster, slower, or stop all together, or it can even destroy it. Everything we do also affects future outcomes. I just look at one point, take all the known factors into consideration, and trace it to the desired outcome.”

  “Are you saying that you are the cog that makes the change? That sounds rather arrogant, don’t you think?” Ashira remarked.

  “Not arrogance…reality. I was once told that one man can’t make a difference. This was by the same man who said that we would control the oceans. Today, I am proving him wrong. I may not be able to stop the coming war, but I can derail their efforts and make it harder for them to wage war. Consider me the wrench in the works.”

  “I am not familiar with that term, but I will take your word for it.”

  “If there is one thing that Phineas is good at,” spoke up William, “it’s that he is great at wrenching up the works.”

  “And who was it that caused a blackout of half of New York City two years ago?” prompted Phineas. “Both gas and electric?”

  “It’s not my fault that you don’t know the difference between a gas line and a water pipe. You said—”

  “Boys!” shouted Abigail. “Stop your bi
ckering and take a look out the window.”

  Both Phineas and William craned their necks and peered out the portal. Ahead, several lighted spires rose up from the ocean floor. Around them, creating a spiral pattern, many domes dotted the landscape, connecting to each other to form one giant city.

  “Your orders, cousin?” asked Milos.

  “My orders?” answered Ashira. “My orders are simple. Attack.”

  EPISODE

  10

  Legends abound about the fate of the fabled lost city of Atlantis. Some say that the entire continent sank into the sea, some say that it was buried under the ice at the South Pole, and still others say that it was taken in a flash of light by higher beings. In reality, its fate was determined by its own inhabitants.

  It was true that Atlantis had become the epicenter of wisdom for the Western world. Its citizens became masters of their individual domain, whether it was in philosophy, art, engineering, architecture, science, or literature. Problems were faced, solutions were found, life moved forward. The world, however, was fraught with conflict, and it was only a matter of time before it arrived on Atlantis’ borders. Those who were allies began demanding aid from Atlantis, wanting the scholars and craftsmen to created new and more powerful weapons of war. Atlantis refused and closed its borders.

  Knowing that there would be no escape from outsiders, the Atlanteans began to devise a plan, what would later be referred to as ‘The Migration’. The city itself was slowly submerged through feats of engineering. Whole sections were encapsulated, becoming self-sustaining biospheres. Through science and what the ancients claimed was magic, Atlanteans adapted…mutated to thrive in and under the water environment. Eventually, the city and its inhabitants came to rest in its current location, safe from outside interference for over a millennia. Atlantis was at peace…until the day the kraken men came. Now, the city is under siege by its own people…and Phineas Frakture.