“Each of us is going to have to take one of those guards, but no gunshots unless it is absolutely necessary, right Dorn?”
“Right, we’ll need to put them to sleep the quiet way.”
Dorn seemed more than determined to get Ara off the ship and I was sure he still had something going for her, but I didn’t want to say anything that would jeopardize our concentration. By the time we reached the bottom of the cliff it was completely dark, the moon having long since disappeared over the horizon. We slipped down in back of a large rocky outcrop about fifteen feet away from the guards. From there we had to creep up on them carefully. One misstep was enough to give us away and I knew they would be shooting first and asking questions later.
I tapped Dorn’s shoulder and whispered. “We need to make sure we hit them hard enough to knock them out. Then we can tie and gag them together with the anchor line from the skiff.”
“Yeah, my thought exactly Richard, but don’t forget I’m a security person. I know a thing or two about restraining the enemy; don’t treat me like your kid brother.”
“Yeah, I guess you bloody well do, don’t you? Well, let’s get on with it then.”
Both of the guards were facing the same direction and we made our way around to their backside. After this, I thought, they would learn to face in opposite directions. Quietly moving, we slowly made our advance toward them while they seemed to be absorbed in conversation speaking Japanese. Since we couldn’t understand a word they were saying, we converged upon them quickly striking them both over the head with our pistols.
I don’t know what exactly knocks someone out, but I’m pretty sure it’s more of the shock of getting hit rather than the actual force of the blow; anyway they were out cold.
We found the anchor line and put it to good use lashing them securely; then, utilizing some small round floating ball markers, we stuck them in their mouths as gags with more cut off pieces of line. As we got in and pushed the small craft out, I glanced back at them one more time admiring our handy work. They would be immobile and out of commission for a while; long enough for us to finish rescuing Ara off the ship. We took their rifles, laid them in the skiff and shoved off toward the ship using only the two emergency oars. The ship now appeared as a dark silhouette sitting in the cove with one blaring security light on shining down on the deck.
As we quietly approached the ship trying to limit any splashing with the oars, we could see two more guards up on the main deck doing rounds on either side of it. The water had been almost like glass with very little undulations and the wind was slowly picking up. There was a long boarding ladder held up by ropes half way up the side of the ship, about twenty feet above us and out of reach. We had to find another way to get onboard and continued paddling carefully to the rear of the ship.
“Look, another light around the rear, it must be for access to the ship from there.”
“I see it and it must be another entry point. Keep the weapon safety off; no telling what we will find, might be another guard.”
“There!” I whispered loudly, “a small landing platform for the skiff with a boarding ladder up the back of the ship. Quiet now.” I whispered, as we pulled alongside the back of the ship to the platform. It was lit with only a small light and we had to be extra careful not to be spotted. We tied the skiff alongside the platform and climbed out. The narrow ladder going from there up the rear of the ship was entirely made of rope. It looked pretty sketchy at first, but I was sure it would be sturdy enough to hold us.
Dorn went first and I followed him closely up the ladder. Leaving the dimly lit platform, it grew darker and darker ascending up the back of the ship.
He peeked over the edge and whispered, “I count only two guards on deck, both with rifles.”
“I’ll take the one on the left, and remember―”
He gave me an agitated stare. “Yes, I remember, no shots unless needed.”
I replied. “Yeah, right.”
We both stepped onto the deck and quickly hid behind several wooden crates. I then cautiously advanced to the guard on the left side of the ship Dorn would get to the guard on the right first as he was much closer and already walking toward the rear of the ship. I quickly moved around a storage area to get a good view of Dorn in action and was amazed at how speedily he put the guard down. He grabbed him around the neck in a tight headlock holding him there till he passed out. I thought I would do the same. Moving back to my position I noticed the other guard, now also heading back to the rear of the ship. I waited till he got within reach and then I quickly grabbed him and put him in a headlock; but not before he managed to yell out ‘Tasukete!’ which I assumed was help, in Japanese.
He twisted and turned around just enough for my arm to graze across a piece of loose sharp metal strapping slicing my wrist, but I was bloody well determined to keep a tight hold on him in the headlock until he finally passed out. We tied and gagged them both, then dragged them behind some crates. It was now a matter of finding the location that Ara was being held captive in. We both knew even if we found her, there was no telling what condition she would be in.
We carefully made our way below decks and the odor of fish mixed with steam was permeating the passageways, fitting I thought for a Japanese ship. Both Dorn and I looked at one another to see if the other was taking in the same pungent fishy aroma, while a sound of voices below seemed to be increasing. We kept moving stealthily down the passageways and heard laughing which sometimes erupted from their normal conversation; it sounded as if the crew were taking part in a game of cards or some such thing.
There were no other guards in the passageway to the second level down below decks and we continued on. Ara could be in any one of these compartments and we began checking everyone of them out.
Dorn finally stopped me and motioned down a smaller passageway. “Richard, down there.”
I carefully looked around the corner down the smaller passageway and there was a single guard sitting in front of a compartment leaning over his weapon, his head down looking half asleep. We backed off and I made a tapping sound that the guard was sure to hear. At first there was no response, so I made another rattling sound and this time we could hear him heading in our direction.
As soon as he rounded the corner Dorn punched him squarely in the face and he went down like a rock. We grabbed his weapon and dragged him into another compartment looking for rope of some kind but instead found a roll of wide tape and used it to tie and gag him. I quickly walked to the compartment he was guarding and looked through the porthole window of the door. There was Ara, eyes closed on a table with a tube going into her arm. Two women wearing hospital clothing were moving about, apparently getting ready to administer some type of injection.
Dorn came over to the door and looked inside. “Let’s get in there now and get her.”
“Alright, we go in but no shooting. We can still get her out of here quietly without the rest of the crew being the wiser.”
We prepared ourselves, pulled out our weapons and pushed through the door.
CHAPTER
TWENTY TWO
The two women were startled dropping the hypodermic needle as we broke into the compartment. One of them attempted to reach a wall alarm but I stopped her and held both of them at bay as Dorn quickly began removing the tube from Ara’s arm. She was barely coherent but opened her eyes looking up at Dorn.
“Eric, Eric is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me Ara. Richard and I came to get you off this tub and back to the island!”
She smiled and reached up putting her arms around Dorn, kissing him and he kissed her back.
She tried to prop herself up on her elbows. “Thank god you’re here!”
I don’t think she saw me. She was drugged, half out of it and must have been showing her thanks to whoever was standing next to her, it just happened to be Dorn; that was surely all there was to it, or was it? He unbuckled the straps holding her down, put his arm around her and helped her u
p off of the gurney type bed. All the while, she kept smiling at him. I searched for a roll of wide tape and some gauze pads using them to tie up and gag both of the women. At this point we had a trail of bound and gagged ship’s crew, with most of them in one of the compartments playing cards totally unaware of our presence.
Both of us held onto Ara, helping her out of the compartment quietly walking down the passageway and up the ladders to the main deck; then heading again toward the rope ladder at the rear of the ship.
“Richard, is my father alright? Where is he, did he make it back?”
“Not yet Ara but he should be just fine; I’ll tell you about it as soon as we can get off this ship.”
We passed by two massive canvass covered objects at the center of the ship and I told Dorn to continue on with Ara while I checked them out. Untying the rope lashings around one of them, I lifted the canvass up enough to get a good look. They were two immense shore battery guns on wheels and their weight must have been in the tons. I wasn’t sure what size the barrels were, but they too were bloody huge. These, I thought, were going to be put in place on the island probably for the defense of the submarine base the German Nazi’s were planning to build. It was becoming apparent what our next battle would be; somehow ensuring their plans concerning this island were entirely wiped out.
Ara seemed to go in and out of coherency while still under the influence of whatever they gave her, but managed to hold onto the rope ladder with both of us helping her down. We continued descending carefully to the small platform at the waters edge, gently set her down in the skiff and paddled off in the dark toward shore. We had done the impossible! Getting her off the ship without a shot being fired! I’m not one to brag but I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face when we finally reached the shore safely with Ara.
It was still dark but it wouldn’t be long till the rest of the crew members discovered Ara had escaped and sounded an alarm. Anders, Paxton and the rest of their renegade Nazi goons would be all over the island looking for her.
“We need to get to fathers apartment without being seen,” Ara mumbled half coherently.
Dorn gently took her arm. “What is it they did to you Ara?”
“It wasn’t so much what they did, as what they were about to do, if it wasn’t for you coming to get me Eric.”
Again, I was becoming a little irritated at the way she seemed to be fawning over Dorn so I unconsciously blurted out, “Hey, I was there too?”
She walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Of course Richard, I meant you too!
If you follow me, there is a little known shortcut to the conduit we should take to avoid the main cave entrance at the beach where there is certain to be a guard there.”
She was a little unsteady but we all walked inland over a rocky area leading through a swampy overgrown inlet where we were eventually up to our ankles in water. Finally we came to an opening on the side of a steep cliff and Ara began searching around for something hidden by the entrance and it was there that I began explaining to her all that had taken place in Munich after she left. I told her of our great accomplishment destroying the machine and I made it clear her father was in a safe place waiting for us to return, which seemed to calm her for the meantime.
She continued looking around. “There is a switch somewhere here; it’s been awhile; ah ha, here it is!”
She pulled straight down on a slotted lever and one light after another began illuminating all the way down a very narrow craggy passageway.
“It’s not far; this leads to the conduit in almost a straight line. Father told me it was built as another emergency escape route which has rarely been used.”
I stood at the entrance trying to see the end of it. “Where exactly does this lead?”
“Directly into the main tunnel; its opening is disguised behind the armory locker across from it. It’s fathers apartment we need to get to now using the tram again.”
“What are we going to do there, hide out?”
“No Richard, it is important now that we hike from there up to Tower Point, the summit of the highest peak on the island. We need to find the old man, William Dunford; He’s been living alone up there for years he’s the only surviving successor of the original founding families.”
Dorn glanced at her with a puzzled look. “Why him?”
I, also had to throw in a bit of common sense to her idea. “Ara, a hermit isn’t going to be much help to us at this point. We need to gather support from some of the people of the Sanctuary, along with what’s left of your security team, arm all of them and take back the island!”
Ara’s eyes narrowed. “Look you two; William Dunford is one of the key people to develop the chair along with help from my father. He is still a very bright and intelligent man and knows this island like the back of his hand. I have a feeling he will know how to help us with this threat.”
Dorn quickly interjected. “But time is critical here, how long will it take for us to get up there?”
“If we gather what we need at father’s apartment, we can leave just before dawn and get there by tomorrow evening.”
I objected again. “Ara, come to your senses here. A long hike up to who knows where and… and we may not even find him!”
Dorn walked around for a moment, then looked up at her with a Cheshire cat grin. “Ok, I’m with you Ara, let’s go find him.”
Ara placed her hands on her hips standing alongside Dorn, both of them staring at me. “Well Richard?”
I thought for a moment more; but looking at the two of their faces, I could see I was out voted. “Well, it’s your island, if you want to take the chance let’s do it.”
We started down the narrow passageway leading to the main tunnel. The lights hadn’t been used for sometime but were illuminating the mossy walls. It wasn’t long till we reached the very end which looked like a wood slatted door embedded in the rock wall. Ara reached up and pulled an identical lever to the one at the entrance. Now the lights went off one at a time back down the passageway and the wooden wall jarred slightly to the side.
She grabbed onto the side of it and I helped her slowly pull it to the side, away from the entrance exposing the main tunnel. There on the other side of the main tunnel was the elevator door and heard voices coming further down the passageway. The three of us made our way to the conduit where two of their guards were sleeping until we startled them as we ran in. Both of them quickly sat up but we had the drop on them and they dropped their weapons to the ground.
We tied them up and dragged them out of the tunnel to a remote section on the beach. This time we didn’t bother to gag them knowing the pounding surf would disguise any of their yelling.
There was still time till daybreak as we moved quickly to the conduit and onto the tram leading us to her father’s apartment once again. Upon arriving, the door slid open to his apartment and we all went in and sat down to rest. As we were catching our breath we had to decide what to take with us on the hike to Tower Point.
Ara gave us all some water and we all sat down questioning the difficulty of our next move.
“Don’t worry, it’s a hike we can do easily enough. There are a couple of rocky cliffs to get up, but most of it is just steep climbing.
“We’ll need some climbing rope my father has stored in the far room; We’ll pack some food and be off at daybreak; right now, though I don’t know about you two, but I’m tired; we need to get some rest for a few hours.
CHAPTER
TWENTY THREE
Dawn came quickly. I had been dreaming of something strange but it was suddenly interrupted by my hand limply falling to the floor. I rubbed my eyes glaring at the window. The early light was just beginning to spread on the sanctuary. I stood up and walked to the veranda looking down at the village and there were only one or two figures slowly moving about on the street. Ara and Dorn both woke at the same time slowly sitting up stretching and rubbing their eyes.
“It’s about that time,” I
said, as I rummaged through some of the drawers. “Anyone care for some tea?”
“Coffee for me thanks.” Dorn replied with a sleepy voice.
“I put rope on the veranda along with some food and water in a backpack. We need to leave soon if were going to make it there before dark,” Ara advised.
We both agreed and put on a few extra bits of warm clothing. After gulping down our tea and coffee, we closed the veranda door, went down the steps into the village and began heading for the outskirts of Sanctuary. We passed by a few more sleepy people getting ready for the day and moved on through to a forested area just outside the village. Above the trees we could see the rising cliffs and we were headed straight for them.
“Those tall cliffs are at the base of the mountain that will lead us to Tower Peak,” Ara pointed out.
“Where exactly does he live up there?”
Ara shrugged her shoulders and slightly chuckled. “Beats me, I’ve never been there.”
I exploded. “Oh that’s rich! You’re taking us up somewhere you’ve never been?”
Then Dorn calmly questioned. “Ara, I thought you told us you knew where he was!”
“Yes, father told me over the years that William had always desired to work and live alone so he chose Tower Peak; that I knew, but I never said I went there.”
We kept working our way through bush and marshy areas as we talked, still heading toward the high cliffs.
“Oh this is great! Your father told you he lived up there but do you know if he is still alive? Maybe he died years ago or maybe he is visiting the village this month.”
“No Richard. We’ve had word from Mr. Dunford not long ago from his assistant, a young man who has helped him for several years now. Every so often he treks up the mountain with his companions to bring the professor supplies and such.”
“What is he doing up there, some type of experiments?”
“Actually, he has remained fairly quiet concerning his work; but after having a conversation with his assistant awhile back, he said Dunford was working on something special, a discovery he made in the same location the chair was found.”
The Chair Page 12