Arthur and the Andarran Rescue

by Craig Speakes

  Arthur looked at her in surprise, and in that very moment he was struck by how pretty she was suddenly looking in the soft, fading light, her hair falling about her face in the gusty breeze and her cheek smudged lightly with dirt.

  ‘Um, it’s okay,’ he replied.

  ‘Really?’ She asked, sounding taken aback.

  ‘Yes, I think so,’ was all he could think to say.

  ‘You think so?’

  ‘Well… yes…’ He said, still caught up in the rush of feelings he’d just been hit with.

  ‘Well?’

  The expression on her face was soft and open, and Arthur about to say something to her when a commotion from the other side of the ship made them both turn around. Margot was pointing excitedly at something in the water. He was sure he heard Sky sigh as they hurried over to her.

  ‘Look, there! Oh no, wait, it’s gone – it’ll come back in a minute.’

  Margot glanced at Sky and Arthur oddly, and almost grinned when her attention was again caught by what she had seen.

  ‘Over there – look!’

  A very long spine covered in large, thick, bony spikes glided out of the water before eventually arching and disappearing below the surface.

  ‘Did you see that? It must have been over 100 metres long!’ whispered Margot, nervously tying her hair up and stuffing it under her cap.

  Arthur went immediately to get Luca, who returned with him to the deck.

  ‘It’s moved round over there.’

  Sky pointed towards the front of the vessel. ‘It seems to be going around us!’

  They waited for it to appear again. When it did, Luca gasped and took a step back. Sky was alarmed by her reaction.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  ‘I cannot believe what I am seeing. This is a Levanon!’ She exclaimed.

  ‘A what?’ asked Arthur.

  Luca stood mesmerised by the long spine gently curving through the water.

  ‘What you can see is only a small part of this giant beast. They are much feared by those who sail these waters, and there are many legends of them. It has perhaps been trapped here by the ice fall.’

  ‘So we’re going to be eaten, then?’ came the voice of the cat, who had ventured to poke his nose out of the cabin door a moment earlier. ‘I just knew something like this was going to happen. I’m sure I mentioned it before we got on this ship – and now look what’s happened! Pirates! Turncoats! Solarians, collapsing roofs, and to cap it all off, being trapped in this fish bowl with a monster! Oh, and it’s getting dark,’ he added. ‘I for one do not want to see my end coming!’ He meowed unhappily and went back into the cabin.

  ‘Mr Positive!’ muttered Margot after he had gone.

  ‘I heard that!’

  ‘We need to tell the others,’ said Arthur. Margot nodded and she and Sky went to fetch everyone.

  Soon they were all spread out around the ship, keeping watch. As the darkness deepened and the cold Andarran night under the ice roof set in, they took it in turns: four on watch and four sleeping. Even the cat was roped into doing his bit.

  ‘I don’t see what a plasma rifle is going to do against that thing lurking below us,’ said the cat, shivering.

  ‘He’s got a point,’ nodded Sky, also feeling the cold.

  Sava, who was listening nearby, climbed up to where Arthur and Sky had taken up position on top of the bridge. From where they were, they had a clear view of each side of the ship.

  ‘There are many legends that tell of warriors fighting off Levanon in the days before plasma weapons,’ she whispered. ‘Even though this one is very large, there is still hope!’

  Neither Sky nor the cat could think of anything to say to that. Arthur watched little waves appearing out of the darkness, and lapping against the sides of boat. He could no longer see the beast, although he could hear it each time it broke the surface of the water, out beyond the range of his night vision.

  By the second hour of the morning, Arthur had been relieved from watch duty by Yan and was just lying down in the warmth of the dark cabin when he felt the boat rock slightly, followed by the sensation that it had bumped into something. Arthur held his breath. Margot and Sky appeared to do the same.

  ‘L.e.v.a.n.o.n?’ mouthed Margot, not wanting to make a noise.

  Sky shrugged and hugged her knees.

  Seconds later, the ship was jolted again.

  ‘It could just be ice – there’s lots of it floating around us,’ said Margot, barely audible.

  Arthur shook his head. ‘Ice feels different.’

  ‘I was afraid you were going to say that!’

  Arthur got up and went back on deck. The Major was discussing the Levanon with Captain Schmidt.

  ‘I fear it’s toying with us, Major,’ he heard the Captain saying.

  The Major patted Arthur on the shoulder. ‘There you are, lad. Can’t sleep? Don’t blame you. Looks as though this beastie is having a play with us and I don’t imagine that’s a good thing.’

  ‘We could try to make it through the ice wall now,’ suggested Arthur.

  The Major frowned and nodded his head.

  ‘We may have to, although I’d prefer not to do it when we can’t see anything at all.’

  No sooner had he finished speaking than the ship took another hit from underneath, rocking violently. Then came a loud splash, followed by a stifled yell. They ran over to the other side of the deck and found that the sudden jerk had caused Yan to lose his footing and fall into the dark, freezing water. He was floundering on the water several metres below the deck. Arthur looked around for a rope or something to throw to him, but there was nothing.

  ‘Damn it!’ exclaimed the Major, who’d been doing the same thing.

  ‘Use me!’ said Arthur, surprising even himself with his idea. ‘I’m light enough – if you both hold me, then he can grab my legs and you can pull us both out.’

  ‘Good idea!’ exclaimed the Captain. ‘Come on, quickly, he can’t last long in these temperatures.’

  Without any more discussion, they grabbed an arm each and carefully lowered Arthur over the side until they were both at full stretch.

  ‘Hurry, please…’ called out Yan. ‘I’m so cold!’

  ‘Stay with us!’ commanded the Major. ‘Try not to thrash around or you’ll lose body heat much faster.’

  As Arthur hung there, dangling above the water, feeling himself stretched out like a bit of rubber, it was clear that he was still above Yan’s reach. Unsure what to do, the Major and the Captain carried on holding him over the side, hoping against hope that somehow Yan would be able to find a way to grab hold of him. There weren’t any other options left. It was in that moment, when all hope seemed lost, that the boat was struck again, and it rocked violently from side to side as the Levanon continued with its fun. Yan, who was by now getting too cold to move and fading fast, came within reach of Arthur’s legs. Instinctively Arthur snatched at him. He had just enough time to wedge his feet under Yan’s armpits and hold on tightly before the ship rocked back the other way.

  ‘I have him!’ Arthur yelled.

  As quickly as they could, the Captain and the Major pulled them both up onto the deck. Captain Schmidt immediately took Yan below, leaving Arthur and the Major to keep watch.

  ‘Well done, lad! You saved that man’s life – you should be proud of yourself!’

  Arthur smiled modestly. He was proud.

  Everything became noticeably calmer after the incident with Yan. The Levanon appeared to have decided to leave them alone. They could no longer hear it coming up for breath as it done when it was circling them, and it had stopped nudging the ship.

  ‘Six hours until first light,’ said the Major, never for one moment taking his eyes off the water surrounding the boat. ‘With any luck, these things also like to sleep.’
/>   ***

  Sava appeared on deck at the beginning of the fourth hour. She had been sleeping soundly and had slept through the half-a-dozen times that the Levanon had banged into them. Arthur, who was still on deck with the Major, filled her in on everything that had happened. It wasn’t until he told her that it seemed the beast had decided to leave them alone that she suddenly became very alarmed.

  ‘When was the last time you saw it?’

  ‘Um… I don’t know exactly,’ replied Arthur, feeling a little alarmed by how animated she’d just become. ‘What’s wrong? I said that we haven’t seen or heard it for a while.’

  ‘Yes, I heard you. This is what Levanons do: they are known to probe their prey, to play with them, and then they leave them alone. Then, when their target relaxes its guard, the beast pounces!’

  ‘Pounces!? But this is a ship! Surely they don’t eat ships – wouldn’t it get indigestion?’ He said, trying to be funny but realising he wasn’t succeeding.

  ‘Do not worry about this creature’s digestion – it can eat anything!’

  ‘What exactly are you saying?’ asked the Major, who was listening.

  ‘I am saying, Major, that we need to get away from here now!’ She said. ‘ Please, believe me, we must go!’

  Arthur glanced at the Major, who nodded his head briskly.

  ‘Go, lad!’

  Without waiting for the Major to say anything else, Arthur darted back into the ship and up onto the bridge, sliding his hand across the control panel, making it light up. For half a moment, as he stared at it, he wondered if perhaps they were overreacting. Perhaps Sava was wrong; perhaps the beast had just got bored and left them alone, or fallen asleep. Then, overcome by the sudden feeling that he needed to act now or it would all be too late, he slid his fingers along the smooth surface, triggering the engines into life with a roar. The ship began to rise out of the water. At that moment, the Major burst onto the bridge.

  ‘You’re gonna have to make her go faster, lad!’ He shouted. ‘Or we’re going to be fish bait any moment now!’

  Arthur bent over the panel. ‘We need a little time to reach full speed!’ He shouted back. ‘How fast is this thing?’

  ‘You wouldn’t believe it! Try that zig-zag idea of yours!’

  Through the front window of the bridge, Arthur could see that Sava had taken up position at the plasma cannon and was already firing as fast as the cannon was able to do without overheating. Luca and Captain Schmidt, armed with plasma rifles, were also doing their best to fend off the beast. Twisting round to look out the rear bridge window, he could see the Godzilla-like monster rising up out of the water behind them. It was clear that the shells were not having much effect. They were bouncing right off it.

  ‘I think Yan said that he had fixed the rockets!’ remembered Arthur. The Major hurried over to the control panel as Sky arrived on the bridge.

  ‘What’s happening?’ shouted Sky.

  ‘Take a look out the back window,’ replied Arthur.

  ‘I tell you what, lad, I’ll take over the driving and you give these rockets a go. I can’t risk pressing the wrong thing!’

  With no time to argue, Arthur quickly showed the Major what he needed to do and leapt across to the panel controlling the rockets. Not knowing what to do, and with no time to try to get Yan onto the bridge, all he could do was try and guess what was required, as he’d done with the other panels.

  Behind them, the Levanon had risen high out of the water and was towering above the ship, its gargantuan mouth open in a span wider than several buses. Row upon row of huge, gnarled teeth flashed and flickered in the light of the plasma shells bouncing and bursting off the creature’s iron-hard skin.

  Arthur looked up from the panel and straight into the eyes of the giant about to swallow them whole. He suddenly couldn’t avert his gaze! A hollow, creepy feeling ran through him. It was overpowering, a sensation as though his mind would soon no longer be his and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He froze. He didn’t want to fight it… why fight it? It all seemed right for things to end this way…

  ‘Arthur!’ yelled Sky, shaking him hard.

  His eyes remained fixed on the Levanon, oblivious to Sky.

  ‘Arthur!’ She cried again.

  Still Arthur didn’t respond.

  Sky pulled back her arm and slapped him hard across the face.

  With a start, Arthur came back to himself. Rubbing his cheek and blinking furiously, he felt his mind returning.

  ‘Whatever you do, don’t look at it,’ he shouted, without even wondering why his face was stinging.

  When he placed his left hand on the centre of the panel, a three-dimensional targeting hologram appeared, with representations of every object in the space around the ship. Using his right hand, he pointed to the image of the Levanon, which lit up as he did so. Without hesitating he pressed the flashing ‘launch’ symbol. Arthur held his breath and waited. Those few seconds felt like minutes, until, with a burst of flame, a dozen rockets simultaneously launched wildly into the air. Once airborne, they sharply corrected their course so as to fly straight at the Levanon, hitting it at exactly the moment the giant creature had chosen to strike! A wall of fire lit up the dark morning sky. Arthur braced himself. He braced himself for the moment when the beast would descend upon them and swallow them alive.

  Blinded by the brightness of the explosions, Arthur never saw what happened to the monster. When his sight returned, it was no longer behind them. The Major eased off on the engines and the ship slowed down just short of the cascading wall.

  ‘A little close for comfort, lad! I thought for a time there that we were going to have to take our chances with a kamikaze run through the wall.’

  The Major peered out the back window. There was nothing to see, only darkness.

  ‘Still, all’s well that ends well, eh?’ He said, turning the ship around and putting it at a safe distance from the collapsing roof.

  Although he didn’t ask him, Arthur felt sure the Major wasn’t convinced that that was going to be the last they saw of the Levanon. As he left the bridge and went up on deck, he asked Arthur to show him the holographic targeting system once more, as if it might reveal something out there which he couldn’t see from the bridge windows.

  ‘Don’t you think it’s strange there’s nothing to see?’ He said to Sky after the Major had gone. Sky still couldn’t take her eyes off him and the big red mark she had given him. ‘Even with the night vision glasses, I can’t see anything.’

  ‘What were you expecting to see?’

  ‘I don’t know… bits of it floating in the water, I suppose. It did just get hit by a ton of rockets!’

  ‘Yes, I agree it’s strange,’ she said. ‘Still, I don’t think that we’ll be taking any chances now. I heard the Major telling Luca that we’ll try to break through the wall at first light. That’s only a few hours away.’

  Arthur rubbed the side of his face and grimaced. ‘I must have hit myself somehow while that thing had me in a trance,’ he said.

  ‘Yes…’ said Sky, forcing herself to stop staring at him. ‘Yes… you must have.’

  For the remainder of that night, no one was allowed to sleep, not even the cat. By first light, nothing more had been seen.

  8

  The Break-out

  While they had been waiting for first light, Yan, now sufficiently recovered, and Sava had hit upon a way to make their passage back through the falling ice wall less dangerous. They had devised a plan to modify the plasma shells fired by the ship’s cannon.

  ‘If we modify the shell’s plasma modulators, then I’m pretty sure we can cause it to break up into a number of smaller explosions,’ said Yan in an attempt to explain his idea to the group. ‘The blasts will vaporise everything around them and create a momentary tunnel effect, big enough for a vessel this size to pass th
rough.’

  ‘As long as we keep the speed of the ship constant and our aim precise,’ added Sava.

  ‘Sounds like a load of mumbo-jumbo to me!’ meowed the cat.

  Arthur scowled at him. ‘We’re all ears if you’ve a better idea.’

  ‘Great ideas take time and should not be rushed!’ replied the cat, putting on an air.

  ‘Well, be sure to let me know when you have one, Cat. But for now, as you can see, we’re in a bit of a rush to get out of here before that thing comes back or this section of the roof starts to melt.’

  To help Yan test his theory, Arthur moved the ship into position while Luca and Sava modified the plasma shells. From the bridge he watched the torrential downpours on each side of them.

  ‘It’s like Niagara Falls on a gargantuan scale,’ said Margot, staring out of the window with Arthur and Captain Schmidt as they waited.

  ‘I’ve never been there,’ said Arthur, suddenly remembering about Earth.

  ‘Well, I loved it. Really magnificent, and to think that people have survived going over it inside wooden barrels!’ Arthur raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Although,’ she continued, ‘I don’t expect anyone would survive this lot in a barrel. Still, on the plus side, at least there aren’t crowds of tourists here.’ She looked at Arthur and smiled sadly.

  ‘Are you okay?’ He asked.

  ‘Yes, yes, just feeling a little homesick, I guess. I miss my dog, Charlie. He’s just a puppy still, but…’

  ‘Levanon!’ came the shout from outside the cabin.

  At first Arthur wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.

  ‘Did you hear that?’

  ‘I thought someone shouted Levanon!’ She said, looking alarmed.

  ‘That’s what I th–’

  Sky burst on to the bridge, followed seconds later by the Major.

  ‘Le–va–non!’ She cried breathlessly.

  Arthur spun round, expecting to see the monster towering above them again out of the rear window, but everything looked normal.