by Mark C. King
“Settle yourself!” he yelled, but didn’t let up on his grip.
He took a few deep breaths and thought of options. He could stay where he was and hope the ship landed or just die of thirst – not exactly a real option. He could climb back up and try to fly off. Or he could make the jump and enter the ship. He knew that he would not stay where he was, he would have to try something. At this point, climbing back up would likely be more difficult than entering the ship – that, and hopefully a little courage, made up his mind. Relaxing his grip, he stared up at the beam and imagined the actions. He bent down again like a coiled spring, made sure he had plenty of slack in his rope, and launched himself up. He grasped the beam tightly with his arms and then swung his legs up and around it. Keeping all four limbs around the beam he slowly slid his way along it. He did this for twenty feet until he was near the vent. Dropping to an outcropping of iron, remnants of a damaged deck, he knew he would be able to climb into the vent. He removed his wrist grappling device, thankful that he didn’t have to rely on it – despite Sutton’s faith in it – and was able to climb into the vent and drag his body, head first, along it into Grimkraken’s ship.
The vent shaft was dark and was a little wider than his body. The cramped space didn’t allow him to move very quickly. He had to use his elbows and forearms to pull himself forward. Sigmund felt a growing dread at being closed in, unable to freely move his limbs. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, a dim light appeared ahead. The thought that this light could be the escape from this vent sent a wave of motivation through Sigmund – although he couldn’t go any faster than he already was. As he got closer to the light, he could see that it was a grate, an opening in the vent that allowed air to flow in the below space. It wasn’t until now that Sigmund considered the idea that the space below, whatever it was, could be occupied and that he needed to be very cautious.
Despite his intense desire to move quickly and get out of this constricting vent, he forced himself to slow down so as to make as little noise as possible and to better be able to listen for sounds. Nothing. No sounds beyond the constant thrumming of the ship. He continued to edge forward until he could see through the thin metal grated opening. The space below looked to be a small room with some small light source that Sigmund couldn’t see. Most importantly, it was empty of people. Sigmund stuck his fingers through openings in the grate and pushed. It bent a little but didn’t open. It must have been bolted. Sigmund looked around the grate inside the vent tube and found four bolts protruding through the corners of the grate with a nut on each one. Sigmund tried to unscrew the first nut and found that it was too tight to loosen with just his hands. The next one, however, he was able to work free. The third one was even easier. With the two bolts nearest him now free, he pushed on the thin metal grate and started to bend it open. When it was opened far enough to allow him to pass through he considered how to lower himself into the room. For a moment he thought of going head first but decided that he was too high to have any chance of not getting hurt. Instead, he worked his body past the opening and backed down, feet first, the bent grate scraping along his belly and chest. With most of his body through, his arms could support him no more and he dropped to the floor.
The room was bare. It had metal walls, a hatch for a door, like you would see on an ocean going vessel, and nothing else. Maybe a small storage area or an unfinished crew cabin? wondered Sigmund. He walked to the hatch and put his ear to the cold metal to listen for noises in the hallway. Again, there was only silence. Although not certain of what deck he was on, he knew he was on one of the lower decks, possibly the lowest. That could work in his favor assuming that the operations, and therefore most of the crew, were all above him.
He opened the door and slipped in to the hallway. To his right the hallway ended abruptly a few yards down with metal plating forming a makeshift wall – repairs to the damage that this section received. Hard to believe he was recently on the other side of that wall. To his left, the metal hallway ran about thirty yards before ending in a wall with a hatch that had a small round window in it. There were doors on each side of the hallway like the one that Sigmund had just came through – more storage or cabins, Sigmund thought.
Walking to his left, down the length of the ship, he stopped and looked through the little window in the hatch at the end of the hall. On the other side of the hatch door he could see another section of hallway that was identical to the one he was in, also ending in a wall with another windowed hatch. He opened the door and walked to the next hatch. Sigmund realized that he had gone far enough so that he should be under the next propeller. This confirmed that the engine rooms were on another level above him.
Looking through the window he could see that the next hallway was different. It was longer and had another hallway about twenty yards down that crossed it, heading to the right and to the left. He had just opened the hatch and was about to investigate when he heard sounds – footsteps and muffled voices. Some of the muffled voices were yelling and then he heard the words, “Traitor” and “off the ship”. Wanting to understand what this was about, Sigmund left the hatch slightly opened and peered through the window. He figured that this group of people were coming down the branching hallway and that he would have enough time to hide if he needed to. The sounds grew louder, footsteps, scuffling, and more yelling. Sigmund could now hear every word. “You want to side with the weak Royals? Well, we will send you to them. We are not far from the palace, perhaps if you flap hard you could make it there!” Some laughing followed and was accompanied by more shuffling. Another few moments and the men came in view. There was one man in the lead, tall, with a satisfied look on his lean face. Behind him were three men, two of them holding the third man – hands shackled – between them. The shackled man struggled against the other two’s grip but was unable to break free. Sigmund was surprised by a feeling that he knew this shackled man, although he wasn’t sure where. The group didn’t turn down the hallway that Sigmund was navigating but continued straight across, from the right to the left.
While struggling, before going out of Sigmund’s view, the shackled man had turned his head Sigmund’s way, and Sigmund saw that he had on his head emerald green goggles. He realized immediately where he knew this man from. This was the guard that had spotted Sigmund when he broke into the factory to steal a cube. Connections started to build in his head, this man is a traitor to Grimkraken and had let Sigmund go. Who was he?
Sigmund decided quickly that it didn’t matter who he was, that this man was on the same side as he was, fighting against Grimkraken. The thought of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ passed through his mind.
The group moved out of sight when they went down the left hallway. Sigmund quickly passed through his hatch and crept quietly to the corner. Slowly looking around it he saw that the men were stopped not far down it and at a wall with another hatch. There was little question that this hatch led to outside the ship. Any doubt was removed as the lead man opened it and the dark night was visible. Sigmund then heard the lead ask the shackled man, “Any last words?”
Sigmund slipped the ether gun from his waist band, walked around the corner, and said, “Yes. Nobody move.”
The men all turned to face Sigmund and quickly their eyes went to his gun. Talking to the lead man, he commanded, “Close the hatch.” The man continue to stare at Sigmund with a dumb look on his face. Sigmund pointed the gun at the man’s face and shouted, “Now!” That seemed to work as the man did what he was told.
Gaining some of his composure, the lead asked, “Who are you? I demand that you drop your weapon.”
Sigmund wasn’t exactly sure what to do now. He stopped them from throwing the man out the hatch but he hadn’t thought beyond accomplishing that. These men would have to be subdued. He said to the two men holding the prisoner, “Let him go and stand against the wall.” Then to the lead, “You too, against the wall.” To his surprise, the men listened and lined up. The shackled man backed away fro
m them and towards Sigmund, a confused look on his face. Sigmund walked closer to the men with his gun constantly trained on them.
The lead spat out, “Are you going to shoot us? Coward! These two are unarmed and my gun is still in my holster.”
Sigmund thought about responding but decided to just give them all a shot of the ether concoction. He pulled the trigger, not knowing exactly how the ether would be distributed from the gun, and found that a thin, but strong stream jetted out. He moved the stream quickly along their chins and throat area and was happy to see that the three men fell to the ground unconscious before they could protest.
From behind him the shackled man asked, “What did you do to them?”
Without looking up from the three downed men, Sigmund answered, “An ether concoction.” Once the shock of the moment passed, he turned to the emerald goggled prisoner and asked, “Who are you?”
With a smile, the man that Sigmund just saved said in reply, “Evidently I am indestructible.”
32.
Randolph Faulkner was eager to settle the score with Grimkraken. He sat in the command chair of the HMS Firefly, one of the surviving destroyers of their first attack – its captain giving way to ‘The Falcon’. He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself for the battle to come. Hopefully it would come, he reminded himself. Sigmund’s plan could work but there were many things that could go wrong. Even if the main cannon was removed, the enemy ship still had many other conventional cannons, it certainly would not be left without claws.
His destroyer had taken off from Northolt and headed west, away from Grimkraken’s ship. He would take up a holding pattern while the other ships from Northolt and other bases got into position. There were nine ships that would be part of the fight. Eight destroyers and one battleship, The HMS Broadside. The combined firepower was more than Grimkraken’s ship if only they could get close enough to use it.
“Hoffman…” he stopped. This wasn’t his crew. What was the communications officer’s name?
“It’s Owens, sir.”
“Right, Owens. Send a message to the fleet. Tell them to radio the moment they are in position and not to move until I give the order.”
“Aye, sir.”
Deep breaths. Deep breaths.
* * *
“Indestructible?” Sigmund said in confusion. “What does that mean? Who are you?”
The prisoner looked at Sigmund, a sly smile on his face and said, “Who am I? Who are you? You are the man I saw at the factory…”
“I’m Sigmund Shaw.”
It took a moment and then the prisoner’s face showed recognition. “The Bomb Bandit? Incredible!”
“Kind of, but not really. And you?”
“Jeremiah Maxwell, at your service.” He said with a flourish. “I represent the interests of the Coal Union. Much obliged for the help you just gave me. Would be further obliged if you could get a key from those guards and unshackle me.”
“You have been spying on them all along?”
“Correct. The Coal Union has many powerful friends. And those who they don’t count as friends have price tags. The interests of the Coal Union were in jeopardy, so they called me in.”
Sigmund rummaged through the unconscious men’s pockets until he found a key chain. He stood and approached Jeremiah, saying, “So the Coal Union is trying to stop Grimkraken?”
“Sure, well, not exactly. We are more interested in stopping the cube.”
“What about the war that Grimkraken is promoting?”
Jeremiah laughed and said, “The Coal Union has no problem with war. However, they do have a problem with war being waged without coal.”
Sigmund stopped prior to releasing the shackles and stared disapprovingly. Jeremiah quickly added, “The cube would likely put an end to coal. There would be countless hardworking citizens that would lose their jobs.” Sigmund hadn’t considered that. Jeremiah rationalized, “But at this point I think we want the same thing. We need this ship to be brought down. You can use my help, I know my way around.”
Despite his mixed feelings, Sigmund couldn’t argue against the help. He unlocked the shackles and said, “Show me to the Gauss gun.”
Jeremiah shook his head, “No. Put on one of the guard’s jacket and follow me. I discovered a much better solution and actually was about to execute it when I had the unfortunate experience of being pinched.” Jeremiah walked over to the lead guard and took his gun.
A lot was happening fast and Sigmund took a moment to take it in. A much better solution? Jeremiah undoubtedly knew the ship well. Perhaps there was something about the gun that made it impossible. He decided to trust Jeremiah, for now. He examined the unconscious guards and saw that one of them was near his size so he took his coat and put it on. Looking back at Jeremiah he said, “Think I’ll fool anyone?
“Absolutely. Let’s go.” Jeremiah turned and headed back down the hallway that the men had led him. He stopped at a door a little ways down and opened it, presenting a stairwell. “We need to go up a few levels and then over to the middle section. If anyone spots us, remember, we are just your average crew members.”
Sigmund nodded in understanding. Hiding in plain sight would be easiest. Jeremiah climbed the stairs and Sigmund followed close behind. They passed one level and kept climbing. On the second level Jeremiah stopped. “We’ll probably run into people here. You ready?”
Sigmund nodded again. The two of them walked into the hallway, near identical to the ones below, and they turned left. It wasn’t long before another crew member passed them. Sigmund stared straight ahead while Jeremiah gave a simple nod. Once passed him, Sigmund and Jeremiah glanced at each other and smiled – laughing at danger was easier with someone else.
They passed one other crew man – no alarm raised – as Jeremiah led them through the bowels of the ship. Sigmund was astounded by the size. It would be large for any vehicle but for something this size to be flying? Amazing!
Jeremiah slowed their pace as they evidently were nearing their destination. “Have that gun of yours ready. I hope we don’t need it but this section was secured. The guards you knocked out were the ones for this area, so it should be clear.”
Sigmund put his hand on the handle of his gun tucked in his pocket and was ready to pull it out at the first sign of danger. They turned a corner and Jeremiah walked up to a closed door with a yellow stripe horizontally painted across it. Jeremiah pushed it open, walked in, and waited on the other side for Sigmund.
The new room was the largest by far that Sigmund had seen on the ship. The ceiling was two stories high while the floor area had to be twice the size of Harry’s barn. Most of the room was empty. There were a few crates along the right wall and two large crates in the middle of the area. “Now what?” Sigmund asked as he looked around and saw nothing critical to the ship.
“We bring the ship down.” Jeremiah answered simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He started walking towards the two large crates.
“I don’t understand. What can we possibly do from here?”
Jeremiah stopped and turned around. It must have occurred to him that Sigmund didn’t have all the facts yet. He said, “I’m assuming that you heard about the Portsmouth attack.” Sigmund nodded. “I’m also assuming that you know it wasn’t an attack from the Ottomans, that it was Grimkraken.” Again, Sigmund nodded. “Are you aware of the nature of the attack? The use of a train?”
“Yes. We deduced that the train was carrying large amalgam cubes.”
Jeremiah nodded, “Yes, that is exactly right. Grimkraken put two enormous cubes on that train and rigged them to activate near Portsmouth. However, those were not the only large cubes that he had created.” Jeremiah nodded at the two large crates.
It took only a moment for Sigmund to understand what Jeremiah was saying. He looked at the crates, each about as tall as a man, and involuntarily stepped back. He knew that a cube the size of a grapefruit would produce enough heat to power a train, the one
s in this box must be a hundred times that size. That amount of heat would destroy the ship.
“That amount of heat would destroy the ship!” Sigmund exclaimed.
“That is the hope.” Jeremiah said and started walking towards the crates.
“Wait! How will we escape? How will the crew escape?”
“Like the ones in Portsmouth, these have a timer function in the electrical apparatus. We give ourselves a little time and we head for an escape hatch. There are silk parachute packs that we can use.”