Voyage of the Lanternfish

by C S Boyack

  "Man, is my son." Thooomp! Mal hit him with a dart and he fell from the carriage.

  The women screamed. "You can't just leave us here, Willard."

  "Why not?" The man climbed down, walked around the vipers, then hugged his father.

  Mal handed him the blowgun and nodded toward Pants who carried the darts. "We help." Gunshots resounded from inside the tower as they made for the door.

  Soldiers rushed down the stairs. Fala unloaded her blunderbuss once more and the front three fell. More scrambled over them.

  James unloaded his pistol, then dropped it, drawing his cutlass. The first man to reach him, died when Mule shot him. The second one, when Mal's son shot him with a dart.

  James and Dan charged up the stairs while the others reloaded. Mal and his son followed.

  A line of three musketeers faced them. They took a knee, then aimed.

  "Monchala!" Boss's crew swarmed over them, forcing their shots went wide. The musketeers screamed as the monsters hacked and bit away their throats.

  At the foot of the steps, a man with an axe rushed them. James parried him to the side, and Dan ran him through with his saber. They climbed the staircase with Mal and his son on their heels.

  A mortar shell exploded outside as they passed by a tower window. One of the Hollish cannon toppled from the wall and fell into the city below.

  A group of swordsmen rushed all at once. James and Dan crossed blades with them. Mal's son fended them away from his father with the blowgun. There was no time to reload.

  "Go," Mal told Pants. The little root monster drew one of the darts then stabbed one of the opponents in the ankle. The swordsman died in his tracks.

  Fala entered the fray and used her cutlass. She cut down her opponent then moved on. Pants stabbed the wounded man too, and he died.

  Mule moved up behind Fala, then shot a man who tried to blindside her.

  James and Dan moved through the group then made for the upper floor. Davis LeForge leveled a pistol at them as they stepped onto the landing.

  Dan threw his hat at the man and charged. LeForge fired, but his shot went wide.

  LeForge drew a cutlass and crossed swords with Dan.

  James stepped into the fight, but LeForge was very good. He used the length of Dan's saber against him, and caused him to imbed it into a wooden desk.

  James moved ahead and faced LeForge alone.

  "You've come so far, only to die mere feet from the girl's door," LeForge said.

  "That hasn't been determined yet," James said. He yanked down a narrow tapestry and swung it around his other arm, before pressing the fight.

  LeForge slashed. James blocked it with the tapestry, then flipped the cloth forward onto LeForge's blade. He used his free hand to safely grab the blade, before shoving his own cutlass all the way through his opponent.

  LeForge went down to his knees.

  "Where is she?"

  LeForge fell back, dead.

  "We'll find her," Dan said. "Bonnie! Where are you?"

  The only answer was fighting in the streets. Lanternfish's cannons roared once again. James ran to the window, and smoke billowed away from the ship toward the river gate. The mortars both belched forth flames. "This fight isn't over. We need to find her then get back to the ship."

  The rest of the group climbed up to their level. James knelt down to Boss and his crew. "There is a woman behind the walls here. We need to find her and help her escape. Spread out and look for her."

  "I I I I."

  "You're wounded," Fala said.

  James had a nasty gash in his arm from LeForge's blade. If it hadn't have been for the tapestry, he might have lost his arm.

  "We'll deal with that later. We need to find Bonnie and get back to the ship."

  Dan yelled for his sister once more.

  "I I I I," Boss saluted.

  James fell into LeForge's chair. "What is it?"

  "Oman in there." Boss pointed to a hole alongside the hallway. It was no larger than a pail, and adjacent to the floor.

  "Are you sure?"

  Boss scurried to the hole and walked inside. When he returned. "Ya ya. Pretty sick. Maybe find fresh oman?"

  "No, she's the one. How are we going to batter that wall down?"

  "Ain't got time for that. These Hollish will regroup at some point," Dan said.

  "If they do, they'll probably attack the ship. We'll have to trust Johnny and Don Velasco to make it hard on them. Look for hammers or something we can knock the bricks out with."

  Mal knelt beside the body of Davis LeForge. He tore open the man's shirt then pulled out the fighting knife they gave him back near Loremont and shoved it deep under LeForge's ribs. He made a five inch cut.

  Dan and Fala watched with their mouth's agape.

  Mal pulled the original yam from his bag. The one the root monsters spawned from. The one he'd spent months carving on. It now resembled a large human heart. He shoved it through the gash, then followed it with his arm up to the elbow. When he pulled his arm out, the root was left inside. He tore off the rest of LeForge's shirt to wipe the gore from his arm.

  LeForge heaved upward, then down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. His legs and arms started growing. His boots split, no longer able to accommodate his growing feet.

  LeForge grew to over nine feet tall, then his upper body widened to accommodate the mass.

  A resounding pop echoed through the room as LeForge's skull split open. Rather than brains falling out, a large root filled the skull. An eye, like a potato eye, formed in the center. LeForge's human eyes drifted to the sides then blinked.

  Mal walked to the wall then touched the bricks. "This."

  The LeForge monster sat up, then stood above the pirates. It lumbered to the wall and groaned.

  James' mouth opened too, as he stared at the creature in front of him.

  Tiny filaments resembling hair grew from the monster's chest and wiggled toward the bricks. The monster pressed his chest against the wall, and the filaments found purchase like small roots.

  Sand from the mortar sprinkled down on the floor as the roots delved deeper. The monster pressed his face against the wall, more roots pressed into the brick.

  Red sand, matching the brick, rained down to join the grey mortar sand. The bits grew to pellet size. Finally, a lone brick fell. Still the monster pressed forward.

  His pants split. Even more roots grew from his lower leg and knee. They pressed into the brick.

  A section of five bricks fell to the floor.

  James looked at the rest of his crew. "Reload. We may have to fight our way out."

  Mule and Fala went to work, and even gathered LeForge's pistol.

  "Who the hell is this?" James asked Mal.

  "This Banquo. My son," Mal said.

  "Pleased to meet you," James said. "Are you coming with us?"

  "Yes," Banquo said. "I'm tired of working for my master and being treated like an animal."

  "You'll work for us, too, but we'll pay you well. Your father can help explain it all."

  A huge chunk of the wall fell in with a resounding crash. The LeForge monster pulled the bricks down with his hands until it was big enough to enter.

  The cell was dark, cold, and smelled of feces. Bonnie was passed out in a pitifully small pile of straw off to the side. Fala carried a lantern inside so James could see.

  Bonnie's body was covered in bites, and lice crawled through her hair.

  James tried to lift her, and while she had no weight to her, his wounded arm wouldn't allow him to lift.

  Dan tried, but his leg wouldn't allow him to adapt to the balance.

  Mal put a hand on James' shoulder and helped him stand. He grunted toward the LeForge monster. The monster easily lifted her. "We go?" He pulled out a snail shell, uncorked it, then shook something that looked like a blood clot into Bonnie's mouth. "She rests now."

  "Yes, back to the ship," James said.

  Chapter Forty-One

 
The sun wasn't up, but the sky was light as they stepped onto the street. The mortars belched from the deck of Lanternfish, but the shells went toward the harbor before exploding.

  The group picked their way back amid the rubble and falling ash of the city. Trouble's group stepped out ahead of them. They had a large sausage trussed to a pole like some kind of hunting trophy and carried it victoriously toward the ship.

  Johnny waved for them to get off the street. The sound of horses thundered behind them and they scattered. The LeForge monster sat Bonnie down then faced the mounted onslaught.

  Cannon blasted from the ship once more, and sent horses and men flying. The LeForge monster ambled into the survivors and seemed impervious to pistols and lances. He crushed the heads of all attackers like they were tomatoes. Once the attack ended, he returned to Bonnie, but couldn't lift her. A lance protruded from his chest, prevented him from reaching her.

  Banquo pulled the lance then spun it in his hand. He handed the blowgun back to Mal and grunted his satisfaction.

  The LeForge monster picked up Bonnie once more, then they headed for the ship.

  The grey fu dog wandered out and sniffed the breeze back toward them. Banquo moved forward and took up a defensive position. Mal put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

  The bronze dog joined his mate, followed by Serang, who was covered in blood. She pushed a wheelbarrow filled with crates.

  "It seems you were successful, my Captain. I found a store that is filled with crates of Uncle Guang's huangjiu. We should take all of it."

  "We can discuss that on the ship. We can't leave until the stars return, so there's plenty of time to decide what we need," James said.

  "Glad you fared well," Fala said.

  "I always fare well, and I'm glad to see all of you too. We should drink to our success."

  "Later, I promise," James said.

  Flattop's crew joined the crowd covered with pearls, beads, and gold chains.

  "Ha ha ha!" Trouble's crew pointed.

  "Ha ha ha!" Flattop' s crew pointed back at the sausage.

  Boss tugged at James' pants. He wore a distressed look on his face.

  James glanced quickly around. "Yes, by all means, go loot something. Wouldn't want you to lose face." Boss' crew dispersed through the city.

  Back at the ship, James called for a longboat. The pirates used it to hoist Bonnie aboard the ship.

  James placed a hand on the LeForge monster. "I won't have him aboard my ship. LeForge is my enemy, even if this creature is no longer him."

  Mal nodded his assent.

  "Go. Find a small village to terrorize somewhere," James said.

  The monster groaned then plodded back toward the tower.

  "Just not along the coast," Dan added.

  Mal and his son rifled through the crushed and flooded vending carts. Mal held up a large yam. "This?"

  "By all means, bring it aboard," James said. "Then you've got some doctoring to do."

  They all scrambled up the nets except Serang. She cracked open a jar of huangjiu then defended the loading site.

  "Report in Johnny and Don Velasco," James said.

  "There's a group keeps trying to get through the gate, but we been using the guns to drive them off. Another bunch tried to come in on the canals, and Don Velasco sunk three different boats using the swivel guns. We can keep this up all day," Johnny said.

  "You'e going to have to," James said. "We can't leave until the stars come out. And the mortars?"

  "We put a spotter up on the wall, and we're slowly destroying all the ships in the harbor by lofting shots over it, unless you want us to conserve shot."

  "By all means keep going," James said.

  "If Mister Philson can take the helm, Johnny needs to do some carpentry," Don Velasco said.

  "What seems to be the problem?"

  "When we landed, we cracked the hull. I have Stuttering Lewis setting up the pump, and can assign men to work it, but I have no carpentry skills."

  "How bad is it?"

  "We can fix it in a day," Johnny said. "But we're lucky we're in a canal and not to sea. Might have to scavenge some wood to make it right. Be even better if we could get to the outside."

  "We can get to the outside. This is a canal, not a river. We'll drain it if we have to."

  Fala interrupted. "You need to get your arm looked at. These two are more than capable of handling things for another hour. Dan can take command while you get stitched up."

  "Bonnie has to come first."

  Mal reached in his bag then took out a tin of grease. He handed it to Pants. "Rub in cut." He handed Pants a needle and thread. "Have Stuttering sew up Captain. Then more grease over stitches."

  "Come along, Pants. Let's find Stuttering Lewis," James said. "He should be hauling up the pump."

  Lewis passed command of the pump to several other pirates. They manned the handles in a see-saw fashion and water flowed overboard back into the canal.

  Pants stood by and handed Lewis the needle or salve as needed.

  James looked down at his arm. "Looks like I'm going to be needing a new shirt."

  "Pffffnnn. Ssssttt." Lewis waved his arm toward the city.

  "I'll take it under advisement to go shopping before we leave. Watch over the pump." He patted Lewis on the back then went to check on Bonnie. Pants scurried ahead of him.

  Bonnie was still asleep, and Mal dabbed the insect bites with a pink cream.

  James returned to his duties.

  Over the next eight hours, Don Velasco lowered the water in the canal. He'd sunk enough canal boats to completely block access to anyone trying to get inside that way.

  Johnny patched Lanternfish's hull, and Stuttering Lewis kept the pump going until all the water was gone.

  McCormack placed his folding table on the sidewalk. He made notes about everything the pirates brought back. Fala took a guard then went shopping for clothes. She found a pair of ruffled shirts for James, a couple of nice outfits for Bonnie, and a completely new outfit for Dan. She was tired of his black assassin garb.

  James and Dan stood on James' porch and smoked.

  "I'd like to attack the port at Maldron, but I think we're all tired," James said. "I'll hop us far to sea once the stars come out."

  "Do you think we're too late for Bonnie?" Dan asked.

  "If anyone can nurse her back to health, it's Mal. She was in that tiny cell for months. We've done all we can. We have to hope it was good enough."

  A blood curdling scream sounded from the surgery.

  "Sounds like she's awake," Dan said. "Good healthy scream."

  They ran for the surgery. Mal wore his mask, covered with corals and shells. He shook a string of silver bells, and thick incense smoke filled the room.

  "Shoot him!" Bonnie yelled. Her head had been completely shaved.

  Mal reached inside the leech jar then pulled out a large frog. He placed it on Bonnie's chest and she recoiled flat against the table. She stared into its gold-flecked eyes, and it stared back.

  "What's the frog do?" Dan asked.

  "Makes her hold still," Mal said. He dabbed the pink cream on the bites along her scalp.

  "Always was afraid of frogs," Dan said. "What happened to the leeches?"

  "Need more," Mal said. He finished with the cream then put the frog away.

  "You, your poor eye. It's still red," Bonnie said.

  "Aye. Looks like it's permanent," James said.

  "And you got a new hat." Her hands covered her heart. She turned to Dan. "What have you gone and done to your leg?"

  "It's a long story," Dan said. "I'll tell you all about it after we rescue Dad."

  "And what the hell is that thing?" Bonnie pointed at Pants, who stood beside the pharmacy cabinet.

  "Practically overrun with them," Dan said. "Pretty helpful bunch though. You can meet them after you get better."

  Mal uncorked another seashell, then forced another clot down her throat. Bonnie instantly went to sleep. He
placed his mask on the shelf beside Pants.

  "What did you give her?" James asked.

  "Make sleep. Is herbs, fat, and pollywog," Mal said. He grabbed James' arm and sniffed the wound. "I bring tea. Help with arm."

  "What happened to her hair?" Dan asked.

  "Bugs. Too many. Look bites." Mal rolled her head to the side to show them.

  "Will she recover?" Dan asked.

  "Yes. Needs food, water, rest. Sunshine helps too."

  James placed his arm around Dan. "Run up the recall flag. Let's get everyone back, then go rescue your father."

  Lanternfish sailed through calm tropical seas on her way to Lagarto. Fala and Serang helped Bonnie clean up, then found her a sock hat to cover her head until the hair grew back. They provided her with pants, boots and a shirt. She'd already started to fill out some, and the pink salve was long forgotten.

  They gathered on the forecastle to listen to the monsters.

  Army held up a match.

  James reached out and took it from him. "No matches. Fire is the most dangerous thing aboard a ship." He reached across to Fala, and plucked a single red feather from the anvil bird.

  The bird flew up to the forward yard arm. "Bullshit."

  "Look, a red feather can serve as fire for story time." James handed it to Army.

  "Not fire," Army said. The other monsters shook their heads.

  "Well, you'll have to figure something else out," James said. "You only get matches when we loot cities."

  "Ode Hogar?" Army asked.

  "I like that one," Dan said.

  "I've heard that one," Bonnie said. "I think I'll return to the surgery and lie down."

  "Nonsense," James said. "You can have my cabin. The bed is much more comfortable. I can sleep on the chair up top."

  Old man Philson looked up at James. "Son, you've been holding hands with my daughter ever since you was a boy. Thought you was a pirate. Isn't it about time to take a little plunder for yourself?"

  James' mouth dropped open.

  Bonnie placed her fists on her hips. "Well? Isn't it?"

  Jame stood and placed an arm around her. "Yes, ma'am. I believe it is."

  The crew all cheered.

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