I hope this very urgent message gets to you in time. Our man in Zapato says Miss Colomar never made it to port. It’s said she threw herself overboard at the Pearl. I don’t know if you believe that, but whatever you do, do not land at Puerto Zapato! It’s a trap. Assassins will attempt to board your ship disguised as customs agents. Beware, Manuel, and viva la Revolución!
I crumpled up the message and stuffed it into a pocket. I leaned over the railing and shouted to the crew on deck. “OK, boys, listen up!” Skulls turned toward me as I continued, “We’ve got some uninvited guests: LSA terrorists!” They started exchanging worried looks. “I said listen! Preston, you get your ass over to the port authorities and tell them what’s going on.” Preston took off. “The rest of you, grab whatever you can use as a weapon and get searching! They’re disguised as customs officials! Be careful, but get them!” They all shot off in different directions.
When they were gone from sight I went back onto the bridge. Once inside I took one step and went sprawling. I twisted around to see what had tripped me up… and there on the deck behind me was a surprisingly nautical-looking shrubbery. I scrambled over and pushed aside the vines and leaves around the skull. It was Ensign Arnold. I stood up and then saw the very leafy Deck Officer Glenn slumped over the chart table.
I shook my head in shock. “This can’t be happening!” I said in a tight voice. I couldn’t understand why I was still unsprouted since I had been just outside, unless maybe the assassins didn’t want to show themselves while the bulk of the crew had been on deck.
I clambered below and saw still more sprouted crew. First Lola, now this…
“Hey!” an unfamiliar voice called out. “He’s back here!”
“Sack ’im!” another shouted.
I turned and ran forward. The assassins were unfamiliar with the ship and fell behind, but there were more than those two. When I switched corridors and returned to the aft section, I surprised one of the others in the crew quarters. He raised his daisy maker fast, but I pulled the hatch shut even faster. Sproutella rounds pinged off the metal as I scrambled down to the next deck.
When I dropped down I found three more of them. One chuckled as they casually cocked their guns. Suddenly something powerful grabbed me and jerked me backwards. Glottis dropped me, kicked the hatch shut, spun and then jammed the wheel. I was in the engine room.
The assassins hammered at the door for a while. Glottis said, “Don’t worry, Cap’n. We’re safe in here!” The hammering stopped and one of the bastards outside said something I couldn’t catch.
“Could you make that out?” I asked.
Glottis turned a wide-eyed stare at me. “Something about explosives!”
“We’ve gotta get out of here!” I exclaimed.
“Those guys have guns, Manny!” Glottis exclaimed, sounding panicky. “I don’t know if I can keep you from getting hit.”
“If they’re planting explosives, that means they’re leaving. Do you know what’ll happen when they go off?”
“Yeah. It’ll hurt.”
I shook my head. “Those guys are berserk. I saw only sprouted crew on the way here. If this ship goes up while we’re still berthed, we won’t be the only ones hurting.”
“So what’ll we do?”
I thought a second. “OK, you can’t be sprouted, so I want you to go up on deck and cut us loose. Then get to the bridge as fast as you can. If the tug’s still around, get them to help; but either way, we’re heading back out.”
“Manny, if the tug’s gone…”
“Yeah, I know; it’ll be a messy departure, but not as messy as staying, so go!”
Glottis opened the hatch and sprinted away. I secured it behind him and waited. It wasn’t long before the intercom crackled.
“OK, Cap,” Glottis said, “I’m on the bridge and I’ve cut the lines. The tug’s here and they’re ready to help us get outta here.”
“OK, mano,” I said. “I’m starting the engines.”
“Manny!” Glottis exclaimed. “Raise the anchors first, will ya?”
“I’m on it,” I said. I worked the anchor controls and looked out a porthole to see one of them swinging and banging against the hull (there no longer being anyone to make them fast) as we started moving away from the dock. “You know,” I said, “those must be the only things on board you haven’t chromed.”
“Hey, that reminds me of a song!”
“Save it,” I said.
“Cap’n,” Glottis said after a moment, “Mr. Preston is on the tug. He wants to board.”
That was a relief. At least one of my boys had survived.
“No way,” I answered. “He doesn’t need to risk himself.”
“I told him about the bomb, Manny,” Glottis said. “If he can find it while we’re busy getting out of here, maybe we can chuck it overboard.”
“Maybe,” I said. “OK, he can come aboard, but you tell him not to take any unnecessary risks! I’m not losing anyone else today, got it?”
“Got it, Cap!” Glottis said.
A seeming eternity passed as we were maneuvered out of the harbor. At any second I expected the explosives to go off. Finally, we were in the open sea.
“Manny,” Glottis said, “the tug’s goin’ back. What do we do now?”
“Hang on,” I said. I switched the intercom to general broadcast. “Preston! Are you there? Answer me, mano!”
“I’m here, Captain,” he answered after several eternities.
“Where are you?”
“Aft cargo hold. I figure they’d put the explosives somewhere near the bottom.”
“Makes sense. Carry on.” I switched back to the bridge. “Glottis, point us directly away from the port and tie off the wheel. Then get to the forward hold and start looking. Preston’s aft and I’m going amidships.”
“I’m on it!” Glottis said.
I grabbed a big wrench from the tool locker in case any any those thugs were still on board and left the engine room.
It wasn’t too long before Glottis’ voice came over the intercom. “I’ve found it!” he shouted. “Two charges in the forward hold!”
I jumped to an intercom. “Glottis, if you can pick them up, throw ’em overboard!”
“Can do!”
“Be careful, carnal! Preston, you and me are gonna keep looking.”
Less than a minute later the Lola got a giant kick in the starboard side. I was thrown to the deck as we rolled sharply to port. The ship slowly righted itself, then very slowly started rolling to starboard, as I picked myself up and ran topside. Once on deck I found Glottis leaning far out over the starboard rail, looking down at the hull.
“That was pretty close, buddy,” I said as I came alongside him.
Glottis hauled himself back from the railing, looked down at me and said, “Yeah, but maybe too close, Manny.” He leaned out again to peer down over the side. “I threw the packages out as far as I could, but they went off right after they hit the water.”
“See any damage?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing.”
“Well,” I said, “at least we’re still floating for now. Let’s get to the bridge.”
Before we got there we could hear Preston’s voice over the intercom. “Glottis? Captain? Anyone there? Glottis…”
“Yeah,” I said, punching the call button, “we’re here. You OK?”
“Yes, sir, but the ship isn’t.”
“Gimme a report,” I ordered.
“ We’re taking on water, but I can’t see any obvious damage. I think the concussion from the blast must’ve hit us near an expansion joint. I’ve closed the flood control doors around the affected section, but I can’t get the pumps working.”