Within the Water

by Kelly Fallows

  Soon the four were surrounded: Minister Devonport travelled with more troopers than they had counted on. They found themselves fighting back to back using knives, sabres, guns and anything that came to hand, only just staying alive.

  ‘Any ideas, Captain?’ Ash asked between shots. But Daniels was out of ideas and was at the point of praying for a miracle, although without much hope – the Fates were fickle and he had the feeling that they just weren’t on his side right now.

  ***

  Meanwhile, back on the Coelacanth, Sophie sat on the bridge, tapping away furiously on one panel then another, getting increasingly frustrated at her lack of success. She had always hated the fact that she was left up here when the rest of the crew were fighting. But then she had found that from this position she could create a remote link into the computer systems of the other subs, which had proved to be very useful on occasion. However, the Serronous’ computer system was a lot more complex and had more safeguards than Sophie wanted to count.

  ‘Stupid, bloody piece of shit,’ Sophie grumbled as she vented her anger on the console, banging her fist on it as, for what felt like the millionth time, she was locked out of the Serronous.

  ‘Argh. Damn thing! It couldn’t be nice and simple for a change, oh no…’ she grumbled to herself as she renewed her efforts.

  ‘Aha!’ she exclaimed triumphantly as she finally gained access, and immediately began looking through the files and programs until she found what she was looking for. Within a few seconds, all the monitors on the Coelacanth showed the inside of the Serronous.

  ‘Oh shit,’ swore Sophie as she zoomed in on the conference room, putting it on the big screen.

  ‘Blue, they’re in trouble!’ she exclaimed down the comm.

  ***

  ‘Ben?’

  ‘Yes, Duncan,’ Daniels replied mildly in spite of their present predicament.

  ‘As much as I hate to point this out – we’re in trouble.’

  ‘You’d noticed that too? I thought it was just me,’ Daniels responded in between blows.

  ‘Ben!’ Duncan exclaimed, Daniels' disinterested façade was getting to him now, even though he knew that Daniels was just as concerned as he was.

  Daniels was about to reply when the miracle that they needed happened – Ben decided he needed to review his opinion of the Fates. A well-timed series of blasts from the Coelacanth sent the whole room into chaos, allowing Duncan and Daniels to charge through the few remaining troopers to reach the hatch, Ash and Simon following closely. Duncan just had time to throw the last of his grenades back through the hatch before they barred it.

  ‘That was close,’ Simon murmured.

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Ash replied.

  ‘Shall we continue?’ Daniels said, setting off down the passageway. Blue’s shots, perfectly aimed, had weakened the hull; Daniels knew it wouldn’t be too long before Serronous went down… again… and he didn’t particularly want to be on it when that happened.

  ‘Do you know where you’re going?’ Duncan asked politely as they jogged through the Serronous.

  Daniels just looked at him.

  ‘Just thought I’d ask.’

  Daniels didn’t bother to answer that last comment.

  ‘Here,’ Daniels said shortly, coming to a halt outside a rather elaborate entrance.

  ‘What exactly is here?’ Ash asked.

  ‘Minister Devonport’s quarters.’

  ‘Shall we, then?’ Duncan said indicating towards the entrance. Daniels nodded. Ash unhooked his shotgun and proceeded to blast it until it gave way.

  ‘Nicely done,’ Duncan complimented him before they proceeded into the room.

  Daniels and Duncan went first with Ash and Simon bringing up the rear, keeping an eye out for any following troopers.

  ‘Ah, good morning, Minister,’ Daniels said politely. After having searched several of the large and lavishly furnished state rooms, they had found Devonport in what looked to be the bedchamber.

  ‘Who are you and what do you want?’ the minister demanded.

  ‘Now, Minister, that’s not very neighbourly,’ Daniels continued conversationally.

  Devonport sneered, ‘A pirate with manners – I am honoured.’

  ‘As you should be, but I haven’t come here to give you lessons in manners, although you sorely need them. You have some information that I require,’ Daniels explained, infuriating Devonport further.

  ‘How dare you!’ he shouted. ‘I will give you nothing.’

  ‘Oh, you will give it to me,’ Daniels stated in a deadly tone, drawing his sabre and placing it at Devonport’s throat. He caught sight of movement in the corner of the room and immediately drew his gun and aimed it in that direction.

  ‘You would do well to come out of hiding my friend,’ he said calmly, nodding to Duncan to check it out. Satisfied that Duncan could take care of it, he turned back to Devonport.

  ‘Now, where would your precious cargo be?’ he asked, applying increasing levels of pressure to his sword until Devonport relented.

  ‘Over there in the second drawer.’

  ‘Simon.’

  Simon looked at the drawer; finding it locked, he pulled out his gun and fired at it.

  ‘Captain,’ he called pulling out several disks and a ledger.

  ‘Now how do we know that’s everything?’ he asked, staring hard at Devonport.

  ‘I swear it is.’

  ‘Why don’t I believe you?’

  ‘Ben,’ Duncan called, coming back to the centre of the room.

  Daniels looked over in his direction, a flicker of surprise passed across his face. ‘Ash, watch the minister here,’ he ordered, walking over to Duncan.

  ‘Well, what have we here then?’

  Duncan had found the cause of the movement: a young woman. She was dressed very simply in a short, crudely cut, sleeveless, cream tunic that was belted at the waist, and which left little to the imagination; she also went barefoot. Daniels regarded her for a few moments; it was clear that she was absolutely petrified and refused to look at him. Duncan held her firmly by the arm, not that there appeared to be any real danger of her running. Daniels took a step forward towards her, causing her to flinch back away from him, which drew his attention to a marking on her upper-left arm. He gently took hold of her arm and looked at the marking:

  Ж 9149

  ‘Zhe nine one four nine,’ he said, his voice as cold as steel. She sent a frightened glance to Devonport as he read those words.

  Duncan had not seen Daniels this angry for a very long time. He let go of the lass’ arm, marched straight over to Devonport and punched him so hard that even Duncan heard the ‘crack’ of his nose breaking. Devonport fell to the floor moaning and clutching his bleeding nose, and Daniels stood there looking at him with the utmost contempt and loathing.

  ‘Captain?’ Simon asked warily.

  Daniels looked at him, ‘She’s his slave.’ He practically spat the last word.

  He turned, and walked back over to Duncan and the lass. ‘We’re not going to hurt you,’ he told her gently, but she just continued looking at the floor. Behind him, Daniels could hear Devonport’s whining and empty threats distorted to the point of being practically unintelligible because of his broken nose.

  ‘Ash.’

  ‘Right you are, Captain,’ Ash responded, pressing his shotgun against Devonport’s head. ‘Just one more sound out of you…’ he told him menacingly. Devonport immediately went silent.

  ‘Good.’

  Daniels gently lifted the lass’s chin so she was looking at him. ‘We need you to help us,’ he told her, ‘We are looking for some very important information; information he always carries with him. Do you know where this is?’ He kept his tone gentle, so as not to spook her.

  She nodded, still shaking.

 
‘Where is it?’

  She pointed to Simon.

  ‘Is that all of it?’ he pressed.

  She bit her lip, but then shook her head.

  ‘Where’s the rest of it? Can you get it for us?’

  She nodded, and Duncan let go of her arm, but didn’t relax his grip on his gun. Slowly, she walked across the room and opened a panel on the wall to reveal a hidden safe. She entered the code carefully, and took out more disks and a strange-looking box. She walked back over to Daniels and handed them to him, all the while keeping her gaze directed at the floor.

  ‘Thank you,’ Daniels said as she returned to her previous position next to Duncan.

  ‘Right, now what?’ Ash asked, eager to be back on the Coelacanth.

  ‘Now we leave.’

  ‘What about him?’ Ash queried, eyeing Devonport with disgust.

  ‘Leave him. The Serronous isn’t going to last much longer.’ Daniels referred to the tremors they had all felt but declined to mention since Blue’s last shots. He knew that Devonport wasn’t in a position to be a threat to them; he was too scared to move, let alone attack them. Besides that, Daniels preferred to let him agonise about his fate rather than just kill him outright. Slavery was a disgusting business.

  ‘And the lass?’ Duncan asked.

  ‘Bring her with us,’ Daniels replied after a few seconds thought. At the mention of her going with them she looked up, more fearful than ever. Daniels noticed, but didn’t say anything, instead just walked out of the room.

  ‘You ever get the feeling that this is a little too—’ Simon didn’t get to finish his observation as their seemingly easy escape turned nasty.

  ‘You had to go and do it, didn’t you?’ Ash berated him. ‘Couldn’t wait till we were in the clear, oh no…’

  ‘Ash, please can we concentrate on the problem at hand?’ Daniels asked him politely, while firing at the mass of troopers who had suddenly appeared at the end of the passage.

  ‘We’ll never get out this way,’ Duncan commented, looking at Daniels, who had taken cover opposite him.

  ‘You’re right,’ he agreed, before turning suddenly to look at the slave girl who had crouched behind him. ‘Is there another way to the mid-starboard hatch?’ he asked her.

  Fearfully, she glanced up at him, only to lower her gaze immediately under the intensity of his – he didn’t have time to be gentle now.

  ‘Come on, is there another way?’ he asked again, as the hail of bullets seemed never ending. ‘Simon get back!’ he suddenly roared, causing the would be deadly shot to embed itself in his left arm instead of his heart. ‘You all right?’

  Simon braced himself against the pain before nodding and returning fire; hoping vainly to catch the man who had so nearly ended his life.

  Daniels felt something touch his arm and turned to find the slave girl looking at him. He looked at her enquiringly before she mimed for him to follow her. ‘All right,’ he told her.

  ‘Dunc, hold the fort here… checking another way out,’ he said as he and the lass scurried back down the passage.

  ‘Where the bloody hell did you go? Abantos?’ Duncan demanded angrily when Daniels finally returned.

  ‘Yeah. You got any grenades left?’

  ‘All out.’

  ‘Shit!’ Daniels cursed at their misfortune. Looking around for some inspiration, he quickly formed an idea. ‘Ash,’ he called across the passage; Ash looked back at him as Daniels pointed to the shotgun and then up at the ceiling.

  ‘Huh?’ Ash looked in the direction his captain was pointing and slowly a grin spread across his face. Loading the gun, he nodded to Daniels.

  ‘Everyone get ready.’

  Ash took careful aim as the others tried their best to provide some cover for him, but their ammunition and strength were running dangerously low. Ash squeezed the trigger twice in quick succession as Daniels sent a hail of bullets at the same target, causing the ceiling just above the troopers to come cascading down. Good old Blue, Daniels thought as they ran back down the passage to the alternative route; one of his stray shots had inadvertently weakened that inconsequential area of the hull – a couple of well-aimed shots were all that was needed to finish the job.

  Daniels led his crew down the alternate route home, grabbing the girl as he went, with Duncan and Ash close on his heels, but Simon’s loss of blood was starting to take its toll, leaving him in the rear.

  ‘Come on,’ Ash grunted as he slung Simon’s good arm over his shoulder and proceeded to drag his wounded friend back to the Coelacanth.

  ‘Of all the bloody people to get themselves shot, it had to be you didn’t it?’ was all Duncan heard from Ash as he pulled Simon through the hatch.

  ‘Get us out of here, Soph!’ Daniels shouted into the comm. as Duncan slammed the hatch closed, securing the bolts.

  ‘Right you are, Captain,’ came Sophie’s relieved reply.

  Leaning against the hatch, Duncan turned to Simon. ‘Right, let’s get you down to the chop shop,’ he said, grabbing hold of Simon before he hit the deck.

  Daniels sighed heavily as he saw the young woman's eyes widen to the size of portholes at Duncan’s comment. Shaking his head, he just took her arm and led her away.

  ‘Right well, what do you reckon, Dunc?’ Ash casually asked, once their “patient” was up on the table.

  ‘Not sure, Ash,’ Duncan replied, wandering around the less-than-salubrious, but practical, chop shop, in search of bandages, alcohol and a couple of knives.

  ‘Well then, I reckon we ought to go with what our own Doc Crippen would say…’

  ‘Amputation it is then,’ Duncan grinned, tossing the bandages and gauze to Ash.

  ‘If you two would quit playing around, there’s a man in pain here,’ Simon managed to murmur from the table.

  ‘Keep your head on; Crippen, we’ll get the saw sterilised and everything,’ Ash joked as he began cleaning the wound.

  ‘Urgh! I’m surrounded by butchers.’

  ‘You’re one to talk, Doc.’

  ‘Still alive, then,’ Sophie commented on entering the chop shop to see Simon sitting up on the table and only swaying slightly.

  ‘No thanks to these two.’

  Sophie just laughed at that. ‘I don’t know, you look reasonably whole to me… no amputations needed then?’ she asked as she hopped up onto the workbench and took a look around. No one usually spent enough time in there to really see what it was like, except Simon, of course, and it had his mark all over it. Although space was limited on the sub, the captain had made sure that the medical room was a fair size.

  ‘It was a close call, Soph,’ Duncan joked.

  ‘How is it I can never get any of you in here usually, but now you three feel the need to badger a wounded man?’ Simon grumbled.

  ‘The answer’s in the question, mate – we’re not in fear of our limbs right now,’ Ash responded jovially.

  ‘You know those isolation rooms are looking awfully empty right now; Ash, and I could always tell the captain that you’ve suddenly contracted… the plague.’

  ‘I’d love to see you convince the captain of that,’ Duncan said as he grinned.

  ‘Maybe the plague is a bit much,’ Simon conceded.

  ‘You could try… the measles?’ Sophie suggested helpfully.

  ‘You know, you two are supposed to be on my side,’ Ash pointed out.

  ‘Where’s the fun in that?’ Duncan asked playfully.

  ‘Well, I’m leaving then, before you give Crippen anymore ideas – as if he didn’t have enough of his own.’

  ‘Bye Ash,’ Simon called before deciding that all this sitting up and talking required too much energy, and lay back down.

  ‘Get some rest,’ said Duncan as he and Sophie made their way out of the chop shop.

  ‘Mmm,’ was all the response the
y received.

  Chapter Three

  ‘That was good shooting, Blue,’ Daniels commented, as they all sat around the table in the mess after everything had been patched up – both boat and crew. They could all breathe a little easier with a good deal of water between them and the sinking Serronous.

  Blue just nodded his appreciation.

  ‘It was a tight spot you got yourselves into though,’ Sophie pointed out, having seen it all unfold from the Coelacanth’s bridge.

  ‘Yeah, could have gone better, but we got what we came for,’ Duncan stated.

  ‘And something extra,’ Ash added, nodding to the other side of the mess where the slave girl sat in the corner.

  ‘We couldn’t just leave her there now, could we?’ Simon defended Daniels' decision to take her.

  ‘And just what are we going to do with her?’ Ash retorted. Simon, who had no answer for this, thought it best to remain silent; not to mention that he really didn’t feel up to having an argument with Ash.

  ‘Let’s get moving, make the delivery and get the hell out of this mess,’ Daniels stated.

  ‘Yeah, just what is this information?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘Don’t know, which is probably for the best. We’ll just hand it over to Rose and we can be on our merry way.’

  ‘Mmm, could be more profit in knowing what it is; we can sell it to the highest bidder,’ Ash commented.

  Daniels looked sharply at him. ‘We give it to Rose,’ he stated firmly, ‘no one else. Is that understood?’

  ‘Aye Captain, it is,’ Ash agreed begrudgingly.

  ‘What are we going to do with her, Ben?’ Duncan asked once everyone had left the mess to attend to their duties – there was always something to be done on the sub.

  ‘Don’t know.’ Daniels sighed and walked over to her. She immediately stood up, but kept her gaze on the floor. She was shaking.

  ‘What’s your name, darling?’ he asked her gently. When she made no reply, he continued, ‘Look, I can’t help you till you trust me’. But she still wouldn’t say a word. ‘You’re not a slave anymore – do you understand?’ Still he got no response. He looked across at Duncan in exasperation.