by Chanel Smith
Ellen extended the laminated newspaper article from 1915 that reported the sinking of the Lusitania. “The souls that had been taken from him,” she smiled.
I knew that look of hers, she was already beginning to see a way of getting to Pharaoh.
“But the Lusitania was sunk on the other side of the world,” I countered.
“What was it you said about any decent sort of god being able to cover ten times the space?”
“I’m beginning to be a little more impressed with Dakuwanga,” I grinned.
“And you ought to be,” a voice with a little different accent than we’d gotten used to broke into our conversation. I turned to see Billings and the man who I assumed was his Fijian crew member.
“This is Maciu,” Billings announced proudly. “He told me that he can help you with anything that is related to Dakuwanga.”
“There you have it,” Captain Norris announced in a stentorious tone. “The progress that I mentioned earlier. Do you need anything else in here?”
“I think we’re good,” Ellen smiled. The sparkle was coming back into her eyes and I knew that she was building up to doing some paranormal ass kicking. “Let’s go back to the conference room and interview Maciu. I need some more ammo to use against Pharaoh and I think that he can provide it.”
“There’s some fighting spirit,” Captain Norris laughed. “Let’s go.”
Within a few minutes, Maciu had filled us in on the attributes that were assigned to the Fijian shark god. He was revered greatly by not only the Fijian fisherman, but all of the fishermen of the South Pacific Islands from the Cooks all the way to Malaysia. Though he went by various names, he was still honored in much the same way. Consuming shark meat was a serious taboo among fishermen of the South Pacific Islands.
“Even today,” Maciu said, “fishermen honor Dakuwaqa when they go out to sea. He is a kindly god who will bring bounty to their catch and return them home safely.”
“How do they honor him?” Ellen asked.
I could see the wheels turning in her head. If Pharaoh was battling Dakuwanga, then having us jump in on the side of the god would begin to break his power and allow her to send Pharaoh packing.
“They honor him by pouring yaqona into the water and by tossing in pieces of fish.”
“That’s all?” Captain Norris asked. “We just need to throw some fish overboard and pour this yaqona in and this will all come to an end? How does this connect to the Lusitania and Egypt?”
“We don’t always get all of the reasons, Captain,” Ellen replied. “In the world of spirits and deities, there are plenty of unknowns that we just have to accept. We made the connections that solve our own mystery and they will help us to fix our problem. We need to understand nothing more than that.”
I could feel Captain Norris’ pain. I wanted the answers too. I wanted the entire picture laid out in a neat puzzle with all of the pieces fitted in nicely and ready to be framed. Like him, I wanted the substance. The minute the word came into my head, I began to understand what Ellen had been trying to teach me. There isn’t always substance to be had; sometimes we just had to settle for whatever was there and whatever worked.
“Okay, fine,” the captain said, begrudgingly accepting her response. “What do we need and what is our plan? Do we have yaqona on board?”
“Yaqona is the Fijian name for a drink that is popular in Hawaii. It’s also known as kava. Kava is used in a number of drinks and cocktails that are common in the South Pacific as well,” Maciu answered. “We should have plenty of kava onboard in the bars.”
“Alright, Billings,” Captain Norris commanded. “Gather together as much fish as you can come up with and all the kava we have onboard. We need to organize the crew to pour this stuff overboard and dump in the fish. When do we do this?”
“I need it to be timed along with my next visit to Mr. Hillary,” Ellen responded.
“Just give me a time and we’ll be ready,” Captain Norris replied.
Ellen considered for a minute. I knew what she was thinking. If she was about to take on a spirit as powerful as Pharaoh, she was going to need plenty of energy.
“I need to eat and have a good long nap,” Ellen replied. “Let’s plan it for sunset this evening.”
“A very good time, Mrs. Drew,” Maciu said, beaming. “The old ones say that sunrise and sunset are the very best times of the day to do the ceremony.”
“That will give us plenty of time to prepare.” Captain Norris nodded toward Billings.
Billings responded to the captain by drawing Maciu up out of his chair and going to carry out the captain’s orders.
“I’ll have a hardy breakfast sent to your cabin,” he said. “Why don’t both of you get some sleep?”
“If it’s all the same to you, Captain Norris,” I responded, “I’ll have my breakfast and then help the crew prepare for this evening.”
“I’m sure we can use every hand.”
“Alright, Babe,” I said, extending a hand to Ellen. “Let’s get you ready to send Pharaoh back to Egypt or hell or wherever he came from.”
“I’ll see you at a little before sunset, Mrs. Drew,” Captain Norris said in the tone of a concerned grandfather. He turned toward me and changed his tone completely. “I’ll expect you to report to my quarters within the hour.”
“Aye, Captain,” I responded.
“Very good,” he grinned. “I told you I had a gut feeling about today.”
The captain left the conference room and I could hear him barking out orders as he went down the hall, but I also heard something else that seemed a little odd for the serious old man. Was he singing?
Ellen actually put my question into words as she looked up at me with a wrinkled brow. “Was he singing?”
“Sounded like it.” I shrugged. “Come on, let’s get you back to the cabin. I have to report to duty ‘within the hour.’”
Chapter Twenty-three
I was thrilled that Captain Norris had assigned me to accompany Maciu. No doubt, Captain Norris had an ulterior motive behind that particular decision. I learned a great deal from Maciu, who had been given the assignment of gathering up all the kava aboard the Eucalyptus. There was a lot more of it there than I had first realized, not to mention that there were a dozen bars on the ship.
With the kava assembled in one area, we were able to determine whether or not we had it all. Then we could prepare to distribute it to a dozen points around the deck of the ship. But that was not the only issue involved. Most of the kava that we had gathered was in powdered form. That little wrinkle had to be overcome as well. We’d needed every minute of the time that we’d been allotted to prepare for the ceremony as we mixed up hundreds of buckets of the Fijian drink.
As the sun began to dip low on the horizon, I was dismissed to go back to my cabin and awaken Ellen. When I arrived, however, I found that she was awake, had eaten again and was sitting in the deck chair out on the balcony. I’d competed in numerous sports events in my younger days and recognized Ellen’s intense focus when I joined her on the deck. She was ready to do some serious ass kicking.
“Hey, Babe,” I said as I came through the sliding door and onto the deck. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thank you,” she replied. “How was your day?”
It seemed like a funny question. It wasn’t one that we often asked each other. Since we worked together most of the time, we usually knew how each other’s day had been. I chuckled softly. “Sort of an odd question, isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” she grinned. “So?”
She wanted an answer whether it was odd or not. Talk about being focused.
“For only having heard of kava before, I sure saw an awful lot of it today,” I responded.
“Is everyone prepared?” she asked.
“There are thousands of buckets of kava waiting at a dozen points along the rails of the deck and mountains of thawing fish beside those thousands of buckets. Dakuwanga is going to have
a feeding frenzy.”
“That’s what I am hoping for,” she smiled. The sparkle in her eyes was as intense as I’d ever seen it.
“Okay,” I said, pulling up a deck chair beside her. I was hoping for a little preview of the briefing that she was due to deliver to the captain in about a half hour. “What’s our plan? Do I need to be ready to be your channel or anything like that?”
“No need to channel you, love,” she smiled. “I would like to have Maciu nearby in case I need quick information, but mostly, we’re just going to disrupt his power and make him weak enough so that we can get him to leave Mr. Hillary. The poor man has probably carried this burden for a very long time.”
“Do you think that he’s connected to the Lusitania somehow? I mean, why would he carry the article with him on a cruise?”
“I would guess that maybe he was connected somehow, maybe lost a parent or grandparent and held onto his bitterness about it, made it easy for Pharaoh to take him into possession. However, my love,” she said, rising up from her chair, reaching for my hand and pulling me to her, “we don’t need to have all of the answers, we just need enough to do what we need to do to fix this problem.”
“You know what, Ellen Drew? Every time I think I’ve gotten you figured out, you surprise me with something new.”
“Keeps you coming back,” she smiled, raising her lips toward mine.
Of all of the kisses we’d shared on our vacation, that one held the deepest meaning. I didn’t know why and I didn’t even worry over the explanation.
“Let’s go,” she said as she pulled away and took a deep breath.
I almost laughed when I saw the cloud of vapor come from her mouth when she exhaled. I would have expected that on Lake Superior in Minnesota, but we were in the South Pacific, for God’s sake.
When we entered the conference room, Captain Dawson was wrapping up addressing the assembled crew members that were packed into the room. Our briefing included several more members than it had up until that point. Besides the captain, Billings and Dawson, Maciu had joined us along with twelve people who were to direct the crew in pouring the kava overboard and tossing in the fish at the precise moment.
“Gentlemen,” Captain Norris said. “Let me present Mr. and Mrs. Drew, who have been instrumental in uncovering the bizarre set of circumstances that have led to our vessel’s critical situation. What we are about to execute has my complete approval and you will carry it out on my order, whether you understand or not.” He smiled at Ellen as he said the last phrase, acknowledging that he’d learned the same lesson that I had about substance. He nodded toward her and stepped back, quietly giving her the floor.
“I will not go into the details of what is going to take place,” she said. “Explaining or understanding will not change the outcome. You’ve witnessed some paranormal activities that probably have you confused and will continue to confuse you for some time. The paranormal entity that has seized control of this ship is locked in battle with a Fijian deity known as Dakuwanga. With Maciu’s help, we have learned how to strengthen Dakuwanga and weaken the other entity at the same time. At the moment that the sun touches the horizon, you will direct your crew members to begin tossing the fish overboard and pour the kava into the water. Though it might seem extraordinarily silly to you, it is an essential part of fixing the situation that we are now in.”
Ellen finished and looked at Captain Norris.
“Gentlemen,” he said in a stern voice. “You will remember what I told you before and you will carry out these orders as I have commanded. Mr. Dawson will sound the ship’s bell as the signal to commence. That will be all.”
Chapter Twenty-four
“How are we going to know when it is time?” I asked as Ellen, Captain Norris, Maciu and I entered the brig. “We’re not going to be able to hear anything down here.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ellen replied. “I will begin trying to get his attention. As he begins to weaken, it will become extremely obvious that the ceremony above has begun.”
“Like how will it become obvious?” I asked.
“More substance, Mon, really?” she laughed.
“Sorry. Okay, I’ll just take your word for it,” I replied, holding my hands up in a sign of surrender.
“Mr. Emery,” Captain Norris ordered. “Escort us to cell 3.”
“Aye, Captain,” the jailer replied, already prepared to carry out the same duty that he’d carried out several times over the past couple of days. The weariness on his face and his lackadaisical manner were enough to let me know that he wasn’t predicting any outcome different than the ones that he’d witnessed the previous days. I decided to stir him up a little once we stopped in front of cell 3.
“Watch this,” I whispered to the jailer, nudging him with my elbow. “My sheila has some skills that will gobsmack you for sure, mate.”
He stared at me like I was from another planet. His look must have had something to do with his doubt, because my Aussie accent was spot on.
Ellen took a deep breath, glanced at me as though she was about to step into the ring with Mike Tyson and then turned to face the man who was in the same position he’d been in for since the first time we’d seen him.
“Mr. Hillary!” she called out with an authoritative tone.
Just as before, there was no response, nor even any indication that she had been heard.
“Edmund Hillary,” she said more forcefully. “I need to speak to you, Edmund.”
There was still no response. Captain Norris glanced at me and I shrugged. The jailer, returned my jab with his elbow to let me know that I had been wrong, but Maciu and Ellen stayed focused on the man sitting on the floor in the corner of the cell, staring straight ahead and moving his lips.
“Edmund Hillary!” Ellen called out again.
When there was no response, Captain Norris spoke, giving voice to the three doubters in the room. “It’s not working.”
“Shush!” Ellen snapped. “Or I’ll send you out.”
My eyes widened and I looked directly at Captain Norris, wondering how he was going to accept being shushed by my wife. He grinned at me and winked, but kept his mouth shut.
“I will speak to Edmund Hillary,” she said again.
The head of Edmund Hillary turned toward us, opened its mouth and gave out an earthly scream that sent shivers up my spine and nearly made me widdle in my knickers. It was a long, drawn-out screech that went well beyond any man’s lung capacity and everyone but Ellen and Maciu covered his ears. I even noticed that the jailer had sunk to the floor, was rocking back and forth and letting out a horrified scream of his own.
The spirit inside of Edmund Hillary stopped screaming, drew in a deep breath and then screamed again; however, there were words mixed into it. “What have you done?”
“I have come as a messenger from Awatea,” she replied in a forceful tone.
“Do not speak that name to me!” he screamed, rising from his feet and charging toward the bars of the cell. Everyone but Maciu and Ellen took several steps backward. Actually, it was only Captain Norris and I who stepped backward; the jailer was sprinting down the hallway and fumbling with his keys to get the door unlocked. He wasn’t sticking around.
“Awatea orders you to leave this vessel and this man!” Ellen commanded.
“Awatea orders it,” Maciu repeated.
“I am Pharaoh!” the spirit screamed and then flung Edmund Hillary’s body all around the cell in a fit of anger.
Ellen did not acknowledge him in any way. She just continued to repeat her order.
“Awatea orders you to leave this vessel and to leave the body of Edmund Hillary!”
“Awatea orders it!” Maciu repeated. He turned around and looked at the captain and I and motioned for us to join in.
Ellen’s voice became louder and stronger and Pharaoh’s screaming became louder as well, but with the chorus of the rest of us repeating the mantra, “Awatea orders it!” over and over again, the spirit�
��s screeching became weaker and the violence with which he tossed the poor elderly man’s body about the cell became less intense. Finally, with one final, desperate attempt at survival, cell 3 of the brig became quiet and the battered body of Edmund Hillary lay quietly.
“Edmund?” Ellen said in a soft voice. “Are you okay?”
The elderly man nodded and struggled to raise himself up onto his elbows.
“Just stay put, Edmund,” Ellen assured him. “We’ll get you some attention.”
Captain Norris looked around for the jailer. “Where’s that bloody chicken?”
I motioned down the hall toward the door.
“Mr. Emery, get in here and open up this cell!”
The jailer hurried in, fearing the captain more than whatever the hell he had been witnessing before.
When the cell door was drawn open, Ellen and Maciu rushed in to Mr. Hillary’s side.
“What the bloody hell happened, mate?” he said, looking directly into the eyes of Maciu.
“Mr. Emery, call the infirmary and have them send someone down here right away. This man needs medical attention.”
“But the communications system…” he started to protest.
“Make the damned call!” Captain Norris said, pointing to the light which had just come on overhead.
We all looked up at the ceiling and then my eyes met Ellen’s and we smiled at each other.
“You three take it from here,” the captain said, moving down the hallway toward the exit. “I’ve got a ship to get back in order.”
Ellen and I accompanied the medical crew that came to take Edmund Hillary to the infirmary. Crew members were awakening from their berthing spaces and scrambling to their duty stations to report. Passengers were beginning to awaken and started appearing in the corridors and on the decks. There was some confusion on their faces, but for the most part, they began to resume their activity just as if nothing had ever taken place.