The Taking of Black Molly
Captain Xerxes brought his vessel to a stop in calm waters under a buttermilk sky. He waited for the breaching of a submarine vessel, for which he had a new radio device and some fuel and stores. He stood behind his helmsman and peered about, looking for the disturbance on the still sea that would signal the rise of his ward from the deep. He barked orders into the speaking tube above his head, "Prepare to send over the stores and the new radio and to take the defective radio for repairs. Ready the pumps for refuelling."
Captain Xerxes had no indication of what was about to befall his small ship. As he waited for the submarine that would never surface, a pair of elite military airmen were streaking toward his vessel. They flew with Terra Infinity Jetpacks with wings extended.
Captain Xerxes held binoculars in his hands, ready to look for any signals from the submarine. He was startled by the clang of boots on the starboard side of his bridge and then another on the port side.
Both bridge doors were slammed open. Two men wearing jet packs and carrying short, deadly rifles stepped onto the bridge. With the wings of the Jetpack retracted, and rifles at the ready, their orders were clear and decisive.
"Do not make any moves captain. You, your crew and your vessel, have been captured and you are all prisoners. Make no effort to resist and you will be well treated. Any resistance will be met with force."
Xerxes face went red, "You have no idea who you have attacked and what will happen to you for this outrage."
The captain was handcuffed to the bridge by one of the men while the other removed the helmsman and waited for a signal from the aft deck below. When he received confirmation of success, he motioned the prisoner to go to the aft deck, saying, "Once your cabins have been searched you will be confined there. If you attempt to resist in any way, you will be thrown overboard."
Both men then took off the jet packs and their rifles and placed them in a corner of the bridge. The captain issued a long and singularly creative list of tortures and punishments that would be leveled on both men and their families… for at least three generations.
One man took the helm. The other placed tape over the captain’s mouth and said, "If you remove that tape, I will shoot you. You will get no second warning."
The captain looked at the sidearm on the man’s hip with wide and understanding eyes. He went very still.
While the first man set course and called for a full head of steam, the other set up a small radio from the chest bag of his jet pack. He powered up the radio and said into the mic, "This is Task Force One. We have taken command of the vessel and we are now on a heading to rendezvous with the airship fleet."
The voice of Jacob Elwood filled the small bridge, "Well done General Flagg. My compliments to you, General Banks, and your entire crew. Carry on."
An hour later the ship made contact with two huge dirigibles which took the prisoners aboard. Jacob, Jack and Phineas boarded the vessel and, in a few minutes, met with General Flagg in the quarters of the ship’s former captain. When coffee had been poured all around, Jacob asked the first question, "What have you learned Jimmy"?
James Flagg put down his cup and tapped the ship’s log before him. "This little ship was first christened as the drilling rig tender, Mary Ellen Cantor. Xerxes was the Third Mate. She was believed to have been lost with all hands in a typhoon near Blakes Passage. Xerxes secured a position as crewman with a co-conspirator, and while we have no record of what actually happened, it's a good guess he killed all hands and delivered the Ship to the Cobalt Brotherhood. Her name now reads Molly Reed and her flag is out of New Babbage. That, of course, is all fake and they refer to her as Black Molly. The first entry in the original logbook under Black Molly was listed as a resupply of a submarine named C B #2. The log showed it took aboard a captured cargo of medical supplies, rum, gold and silver ingots and the engine of a cargo airship. There are fifty-one other entries, all pretty much the same, over a five-year period. As far as this log tells, this is their only tender and they worked her pretty hard. There is a small cargo vessel that carries off larger hauls but this abused lady did most of the dirty work."
Jack asked, "Does anything in this log corroborate what we believe to be the location of the main base?"
"It does indeed, the coordinates match exactly, and I can only assume that there will be a massive attack on that location. Jacob, it appears that the majority of that installation is an underwater sub pen."
Jacob cleared his throat and said, "Well, yes it does appear to be so. However, there is also a facility in New Babbage known as Blue Transport and Salvage. That is a well-disguised money laundering operation and hot loot dispensary. That little sham is going to be raided tomorrow morning. It seems to be undefended but the Marines are taking no chances where this bunch is involved"
Eighteen hours later, Bryan Wayne entered the small office of Blue Transport and Salvage. He was flanked by Generals James Flagg and Joseph Banks, dressed in business suits. Susan Wayne entered a few seconds later, dressed like any good secretary, in a tailored suit and carrying the bosses’ briefcases.
A large, red faced man emerged from the door behind the counter and said in a deep voiced and surly manner, "Well?"
Wayne said, "I am in the market for radial airship engines, 400 hp or better."
"How many do you need?"
Wayne said in a low tone, "Well, how many do you have?"
The red-faced man glared at Wayne for a second and then recognition flashed in his eyes and he reached under the counter. He came up holding a shotgun, but before he could bring the weapon to bear, Susan shot him twice in the chest. He fell backward and dropped the shotgun.
"He made you, Dad" said Susan. Bryan Wayne nodded as Flagg and Banks produced high capacity pistols and started through the door. They started firing almost immediately. Susan picked up the shotgun, before holstering her pistol and said, "Stay behind me Dad, watch our six."
"You be careful!”
The fighting was fierce but lasted less than a minute. Four pirates were dead or dying on the floor. Bryan Wayne had shot one man twice with his snub nosed revolver, when the thug attempted to attack from the rear.
From under the floor came the sound of a boat engine starting, and then the full-throated roar of a powerful marine engine. Susan sprinted to the loading dock as the boat erupted from a hidden dock under the building. The boat was directly under her as it sped from its dock. She began firing at the two men in the boat -- one at the controls, the other shooting at her. Her second shot caught the man standing at the controls low in the back and he fell backward, pulling back on the throttle as he fell. The other man stopped shooting at Susan and attempted to get control of the boat. Susan went down on her left knee, braced her right elbow on her right knee and took careful aim. She fired three controlled rounds at the would-be pilot. All three bullets hit him low in the back and he dropped to the floor.
Susan heard footfalls behind her and glanced back to find her father, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
Susan said, "One is dead, the other will live, but I doubt he will ever walk again."
Bryan Wayne shook his head and said, "Where did my darling daughter learn to shoot like that"?
Susan slugged him on the shoulder and said, "You taught me when I was ten!"
The raid on Blue Transport and Salvage, though brief, was monumental in accomplishment. Four pirates dead in the main warehouse, one other dead in the escape boat; his passenger (though badly wounded) would recover and was being surprisingly cooperative. One fellow was found hiding in an upper floor closet and he couldn't wait to tell everything he knew; to anyone who would listen. The only casualty was James Flagg, who took a bullet in his leg, breaking the femur and tearing the femoral artery. He lost a lot of blood, but he was a combat veteran. So, when he had stopped the bleeding with his belt around his leg, he fought on from the floor, providing covering fire. He was expected to make a full recovery.
The amount of loot recovered was beyond impressive. Cargo containers were stacked throughout the warehouse complex. A large vault was found to contain cash, bullion, rare earths and minerals, as well as various works of art: all of which had gone missing in Kraken attacks. One space in the warehouse contained a stack of wooden crates and five radial airship engines with propellers mounted. Clearly, this raid alone recovered enough cash and valuables to justify the bounty paid on all those Kraken beak. If it hadn’t been for the Brothers Tracker and Tong, they might still be losing cargo to Kraken attacks. Bryan Wayne was musing on how good it would feel to present this victory to the Board of Directors when Susan came striding up.
“You should see this, Dad.”
He followed his daughter to a small building at one of the loading docks. Along the back wall, waiting to be loaded was a group of three wooden crates, each one holding a live Kraken.
“Well, this trio won’t be attacking any of our airships. I will have a team out here to have them euthanized and the bodies sent to Tong Island. No bounty on these beaks,” he said.
Susan said, “Hey, wait a minute, I found ‘em!”
to be continued
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