Time Travel Adventures of the 1800 Club Book VIII

by Robert P McAuley

  Nemo was momentarily at a loss for words and slightly shuffled his feet before replying, “Perhaps you would both like to warm up, and join me for a Brandy before we continue this conversation?”

  “No, thank you anyway,” said Ned. I must return to my ship and see to its’ repairs.”

  “But, I insist!” said Nemo waving to a very large crew member who stepped forward. “Biggs here will take you to the cabin and supply you with clothing. Captain, please believe me, your ship will be safe. And we’ll talk more in thirty minutes.” He quickly walked down a long, carpeted, passageway and disappeared into the ship’s shadows as Biggs gently pointed in the other direction.

  “I do believe we should follow Biggs’ instructions,” said Bill as Biggs led the way.

  A short way down the passageway, the crewman, opened a door and they entered. “Clothes are in the locker and the captain will want you ready in thirty minutes.” He left and closed the door with a click as the lock was engaged.

  “Bill, who is this Nemo fellow and how is it you know of him?”

  “It’s a long story, Ned. I suggest we change and see what he has to say. All I ask is that you just stay cool.”

  “Cool? But, he wants us to change and warm up.”

  Bill shook his head. “Sorry, just an expression. What I mean is, just take things easy.” Got to watch what I say, he thought opening the locker, Can’t speak out of ‘club-time.’

  Thirty minutes later both men were warmly dressed in black turtleneck sweaters and slacks. On their feet, they wore black canvas deck shoes with rubber soles. They both faced the door when it was unlocked and swung open. Once again it was Biggs who motioned them to step out into the passageway. They walked to what Bill believed was the front of the vessel and after passing a number of closed doors, Biggs rapped on one of the two mahogany doors at the end of the corridor.

  A single word was heard: “Enter,” it was Captain Nemo’s voice. Biggs opened the door, let them enter and closed the door behind them as he left.

  Both men looked at the immense size of the room as well as its lavish furnishings. The walls rose and curved towards the top to make them one with the curved ceiling. They were made of burnished steel, and large rivets were not only part of the decorations, but also held the watertight structure together. All around the room were illuminated paintings depicting scenes from beneath the ocean. The floor was covered in a thick, dark brown rug and there were wall-hugging glass fishbowls placed against the curved walls that held marine creatures that neither man had ever seen before.

  “Sit, gentlemen,” came the request from the other side of a large ornate desk as a tall leather wingback chair swiveled around to show Captain Nemo, elbows on the chair’s armrest and his hands together as he rested his chin on them. His eyes seemed to penetrate both men as he studied them. He gestured at the two leather chairs facing his desk and they sat.

  “Captain Nemo, I must protest this, . . . “

  Nemo’s raised hand stopped Captain Land in mid-sentence.

  “Protest what, Captain Land? Protest my coming to the aid of you and your ship? Are you not warm and clothed? Why would you protest?”

  “Sir, we were not looking to be, . . . to be, . . . ah, to be rescued by you.”

  “Captain Land, I feel it’s my duty to help a ship floundering in the Atlantic Ocean. Especially if the floundering was caused by me.”

  “You? Was it your vessel that collided with us?”

  “Yes, an unfortunate mistake. You see, Captain Land, I mistook your ship for a cargo ship out of Liverpool due in this area at the same time that you appeared.”

  Bill shook his head. My gosh, he thought, it’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, unfolding before my eyes. How the heck can this be?

  Ned answered angrily, “Do you mean sir, to say that you deliberately rammed us because you thought us to be a cargo ship?”

  Nemo simply nodded yes, as he poured three glasses of Brandy and pushed two across the desk. He lifted his in a toast, “To peace and harmony on this great planet of ours.”

  Bill and Ned hesitated a second, then hefted their glasses and said in unison, “Peace and harmony,” and drained their glasses, imitating Nemo’s move.

  Bill sat forward and asked, “Why would you seek to ram this cargo ship, Captain Nemo?”

  Nemo’s eyes twinkled as he answered, “I somehow believe that you know the answer to that question, sir.”

  “Could it be, Captain Nemo, that you are on a one-man venture to stop the proliferation of weapons going anywhere by sea?”

  Nemo sat forward, stunned. “I must ask you, Mister Scott, how is it that you came to that conclusion?”

  “First, Captain Nemo, I ask that you enlighten us as to how you came up with this fantastic vessel?”

  Nemo stood and pressed a button on his desk. “Conning tower, please take her down ten feet.”

  From the speaker on his desk came the metallic sounds of levers and wheels being pulled and turned and water being pumped into the submarine’s holding tanks accompanied by the acknowledgement: “Aye, aye, sir, down ten feet.”

  Nemo smiled as he pushed another button. Suddenly the room was filled sunlight as twin, round iris-type openings appeared in the front of the room they were in. “My forward-looking portals, gentlemen. Sometimes mistaken by superstitious seamen as eyes of a sea monster. Observe!”

  The scene in the twin portals was of the Delphi lying about twenty feet away from the front of the Nautilus. Suddenly, the floor beneath their feet shifted slightly causing Bill and Captain Land to grab hold of their chair’s armrests. The twin portals slowly started to fill up with water from the ocean as the Nautilus submerged.

  Ned yelled, “We’re sinking! Sir, get us out of here!”

  Bill grabbed his arm and shook his head as he said in a reassuring tone, “Easy, Ned. This vessel is designed to float beneath, as well as on top of the ocean.” He looked at Nemo and continued, “Correct, Captain Nemo?”

  “It is as he says, Captain Land. The Nautilus is a submersible vessel called a submarine. Please, be at ease, for we are quite safe as Mister Scott will tell you although I am at a loss as to how he knows of it.”

  Ned relaxed as much as possible, as the scene now showed the aft end of the Delphi with six men on a steel raft wearing, what looked like, sea shells on their heads, working on her rudder and screw.

  “You see, Captain Land, I have my men making the necessary repairs on your ship. Soon it will be ready to sail once more.”

  “But, but, I don’t understand. You admit you caused this accident and now are making repairs. Why, sir?

  Nemo pressed the intercom again and said, “Surface,” Once again the acknowledgement, “Aye, aye, sir. Surfacing,” was accompanied by the sounds of mechanical devices being activated, compressed air forcing seawater out of holding chambers and the twin portals slowly showing the green water being replaced by the bright sunlight as the Nautilus surfaced.

  “I shall answer your questions as I take you on a tour of my ship, if you wish, sirs?”

  Both Bill and Ned said, almost at the same time, “Yes, sir.”

  Nemo smiled as he led the way out of the great cabin and into the passageway, “Please, gentlemen, follow me.”

  He opened the first door on the left side as they walked along the passageway towards the rear of the Nautilus. The well-lit room was filled with more artwork depicting scenes from the ocean’s bottom, a huge musical organ and more large fish tanks with species never before seen by either Bill or Ned.

  “My favorite retreat, gentlemen. At times, I set the Nautilus on the bottom and open the portals as I play the organ for hours while many unknown species of fish gather to gaze in and listen.”

  Next, Captain Nemo opened a door across the passageway that showed a large library with three men reading and smoking pipes and cigars.

  “My library, sirs. My crew members spend their off hours here reading up on the woes of our so-called civilization.”
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br />   The next room was an elegantly furnished dining room with silver dishes, goblets and eating utensils dressing the large mahogany table centered beneath elaborate candelabras.

  “Please, don’t think me to be extravagant, sirs, but there are times when even the Nautilus becomes unstable when caught in rough seas and if the dishes were made of china, I’d be replacing them after each voyage. The silver dishes, however, need just a dent or two tapped out to be ready for service once again.”

  Next they came to a circular staircase made of steel with a mahogany handrail going up.

  “Up there is the control room and as they are busy at the moment, I’ll not be bothering them.” He pointed to the next door. “Shall we continue?”

  Without waiting for an answer Nemo opened the door. The room contained diving suits with the same type of helmets the repairmen wore, hanging on hooks on the wall. At the far end of the room was a steel door with a circular locking-wheel in its’ center. Gauges and levers lined another section of the wall.

  “My exit to the ocean’s secrets, gentlemen. You see,” Nemo said explaining, “when we wish to leave the Nautilus, as she’s settled on the ocean’s floor, we enter the air chamber behind the door, lock it behind us, let the seawater fill it and then we just step out onto the ocean floor to farm for our food or mine gold and silver.”

  “But,” asked Ned with raised eyebrows, “how does one breathe under the ocean?”

  “Simple, captain. If you noticed, my men working on your ship wore domes set upon their shoulders that covered their heads. These domes are filled with air, which we pump in through long rubber air hoses. Those hoses are attached to the Nautilus and our pumps constantly send fresh air to the divers. However, should they need to wander further away, there is a twenty minute supply trapped inside the dome until they meet up once again with the air hose.”

  Opposite that room was a room with individual stalls. “Lavatories and showers gentlemen, all with hot and cold water. I find that a clean crew is a happy and healthy crew.” He pointed to the following door and said in a low voice “Crew quarters. I won’t disturb any sleeping crew members as they have to rest in between shifts, for their work is demanding, indeed.”

  Once again across the passageway he opened the next door to show six long tables attached to the floor. All were set with the same silver settings and one had a group of men sitting and eating as they chatted away.

  “The crew’s mess quarters, sirs. Once again, I shan’t disturb them as they will be going on duty after they eat and need this time to refresh.”

  The last area they approached had two steel doors.

  “My pride and happiness, gentlemen.” Nemo said as he slowly opened both doors at the same time as though he were unveiling an art treasure.

  “What you shall see next, sirs, is a product of years of trial and error on my part. Years, when, at times, I doubted my own sanity. Years, while others from my generation played and gambled in the fleshpots of Europe and the Orient, I was in my laboratory capturing the energies of the unknown and trapping them in my lead-lined power units.”

  He stepped aside and allowed Bill and Ned to see the steel encased power plant as he continued. “Explaining how the unit works would be baffling to the uninitiated, so, let me simplify it by saying there are panels lining the top of the Nautilus which catch the suns energy and send it to my lead-lined power units below deck. They then send the energy to the engine you see here, and the engine turns the screw as fast as I want her to turn. And, of course, the faster the screw turns, the faster the Nautilus goes.” He spread his arms as he turned about slowly and said in a low voice, “So, gentlemen, what do you think of her?”

  Ned shook his head and in the same low voice answered, “Nothing but fantastic, Captain Nemo. Nothing but fantastic!”

  Bill ran his hands over the engine and added his admiration, “Not even a slight vibration. Amazing.” He looked at Nemo and tilted his head, “An outstanding achievement, Captain Nemo, a truly great achievement.”

  Nemo seemed humbled as he said, “Please, join me for a light lunch and we shall talk more.”

  Later, as they ate some chilled shrimp and lobster with wine, Bill felt the time was right to see how much Nemo and the Nautilus mimicked the book, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

  “So, Captain Nemo. If the Delphi was carrying munitions, would you have sunk her?”

  Nemo answered in a matter of fact voice, “Oh, most certainly Mister Scott. It is my oath to myself that the oceans be free of war and it’s means. Thus, were a ship to be transporting munitions, I feel it my duty to mankind to sink her and her deadly cargo.” He reached casually for a silk napkin and dabbed his beard. “Of course, at night it is hard to tell whether a ship is a cargo or transport. And, as in your case, I needed to be sure it was not a cargo ship slipping away, so I simply rammed your rudder to prevent you from leaving the area until I could ascertain by daylight what type vessel the Delphi was.”

  “But, Captain Nemo,” asked Ned as he shook his head in disbelief, “you cannot just take it upon yourself to kill hundreds, perhaps thousands of crew members, because the ship they work on carries munitions. Why, sir, that’s murder!”

  Bill grabbed Ned’s hand to stop him from going any further as Nemo dropped his fork with a thud on the table. He sat there for a full thirty seconds of silence staring at both men with his mouth open. Finally, in almost a whisper, he said, “Sirs. You mistake me dearly, for I have never killed a person in my entire life. In fact, I pride myself of stopping a ship at night and awaiting the daylight to see if she should join other munitions carriers in Davy Jones’ Locker. Murder, you say? Why, if your ship were a munitions carrier, my next step, would be to have you and your crew and passengers abandon ship. In fact, my usual mode of sinking a ship is to first stop her by ramming her rudder, and then, after ascertaining that she carried munitions, I would wait until the seas were calm and calm weather was predicted for the next few days, then I would rise gently and press against her bottom without any of her crew seeing anything more than our round portals. Pressing would open seams, allowing water to enter slowly but deliberately, and they would have no choice but to take to her long boats. After that, I back off a half-mile and observe her through my long glass and watch her sink. I let the next commercial ship know where they are by signal flags. This, I do this from a distance of course, allowing them to believe me to be a small ship passing by.”

  Ned wiped his mouth and said, “Please then, Captain Nemo, accept my apologies for making you out to be a murderer, but that is what is being said in ports all over England. And, although I do believe you to be taking the law into your own hands, I truly am happy to hear that you are not as they say.”

  “Apology accepted Captain Land. However, as to your thoughts of my taking the law into my own hands, I say, the laws of the land are different from the laws of the sea, and, as I see mankind exporting terror and the making of terror, I feel it is my duty to keep the oceans clean of this money-making, life-taking habit of mankind. In fact . . . “

  The speaker on the wall suddenly squawked to life: “Captain Nemo, to the bridge, please. Captain Nemo, to the bridge, please.”

  Nemo dropped his napkin, stood and was about to leave when he turned and said, “Join me, sirs? Let us see what adventure interrupts our lunch, shall we?”

  Both Bill and Ned followed the captain as he left the room and went up the spiral staircase to the open control room on the top deck.

  The crew snapped to attention as Nemo stepped on the deck.

  “What is it, Lieutenant Fray?”

  The officer pointed to a spot in the ocean between the Deplhi and the Nautilus. “A man swimming towards us, captain.”

  Nemo took the long glass and snapped it open, training it on the figure swimming towards them.

  “Nothing we can do but bring him aboard. How much more time before the repairs on the Delphi are completed, Lieutenant?”

  “About forty-five minut
es, captain.”

  “Fine. After he’s aboard, back away a mile to discourage others from doing the same and bring him to me in my cabin.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  Nemo snapped the long-glass closed, passed it back to the First Officer and said to his guests, “Shall we go below and finish our lunch gentlemen?” Once again he led the way below deck.

  Back at their unfinished meal, Bill said, “Captain Nemo, I must admit that I had listened to the stories that some of the seamen rattled off over the past few days, and can understand why the Nautilus was thought to be a sea monster of sorts. Also, the stories said that most crew members perished.”

  “Mister Scott, England and Ireland have so many ports and there are so many shipwrecks that no one survives, that should a person mix all of these facts together with the superstitious stories of bored seamen looking for a coin to enter a tavern with, well, a person can see how rumors are spread.” He sat back in his chair and said as he grinned, “Now, to be honest, I too use the story of the sea monster whenever I visit a tavern or dock and help keep the story going. It keeps the authority off my task and at times has stopped a munition’s ship from sailing for lack of manpower.”

  A rap at the door was followed by Biggs’s voice, ”Captain, the man you asked to be delivered, is here.”

  “Enter, Mister Biggs,” replied the captain.

  Biggs entered with a skinny man with matted down black hair dressed in over-sized naval clothes. He fumbled with a pair of glasses as he stood shivering before them in his version of attention.

  Nemo shook his head as he addressed Ned with an infectious grin, “I shall run out of spare clothes if you stay aboard my vessel much longer, Captain Land.” Then he turned to the man before him. “Sir. May I ask what is your mission with me and my ship that you should leave a safe haven for a swim in the shark-filled Atlantic Ocean?”

  The man was visibly stunned by that remark and replied with a stutter either from the chill or fright, “Sir, ah, I mean, captain, I knew nothing of sharks at all and thought them to be only in the vicinity of beaches and that is why I never bathe at the shore. But, as to why I am here, yes, it is a mission, . . . a mission of grave importance, indeed. For you see, I am a writer and never have I come across such a story. In fact, I was set to change my life’s direction for want of work. You see sir, all the newspapers of Europe seem to have no vacancies for a young writer such as myself. I saw this as an opportunity to write the story of the century, so I literally jumped at the chance. When the ship’s officers would not lend me a boat to visit you with my plea, I jumped overboard.”