Hello, come one, come all to A Rider On The Oregon.
First of all, this idea hass been plaguing my mind for some time. The muses won't go away. In fact, there are many different senarios I have thought up where Juan Cabrillo meets Alex Rider, and even some where it is Kurt Austin that does the meet and greet. I've finally nailed down this idea and produced a rather good story, in my own biased opinion. Secondly, as many of you will notice, the first couple paragraphs are all introspective and ponderful and kind of questioning life kind of thing. Yeah, that's because this wasn't suppose to be a fanfic when I first started writing it. Originally it was just my thoughts on the ocean, because I was on vacation in the San Juans and right by the ocean so it kind of got me thinking. Funny enough, I got the idea to make this into a fanfic when I was out kayaking.
And lastly, I was thinking about making this into a collection of oneshots. I have a couple more ideas and while they wouldn't be enough to make a fully fledged WIP or story, they are enough to make a couple more brief drabbles about the continued adventures of Alex Rider on the Oregon. It just depends on you readers. I'll likely write more of this 'verse, but I'd like to know if you guys like the story. It would actually be really helpful to know your take on this idea. What I'm basically saying is: REVIEW!
Disclaimer: No, I do not own The Oregon Files or Alex Rider. They belong to Clive Cussler et al. and Anthony Horowitz. I am not making any money off of this, I just own the plot, and even that is questionable. After all, "Originality is undetected plagirism."
A Rider On The Oregon
A figure leans on the railing on the bow of a boat, silent and solemn. This person barely minds the harsh ocean winds or salty spray assaulting their person with cruel velocity. They didn't care for the sun, always dipping lower and lower behind the line where the sky and the sea held their eternal battle for dominance, nor were they bothered by the glances of the curious crew members, even though few ever ventured out on deck.
Three days ago, this person boarded this tanker, its destination Virginia, and had spent the first day below deck, immersed in exploration and adventure. But then the second day this person found themselves stuck in a rut of self-pity and depression. Only that night were they forced out on deck to look at the brilliance of the setting sun. For some reason, the setting sun was eternally better out on the open ocean, when one could gaze upon the fiery ball as its last effects were finally snuffed out by the moon as she came to claim the sky as her territory. But that brief period of fresh air had brought their attention to the bow and the spectacular view it entailed.
Now this person stood firm even with the winds trying to bully him into stooping and submitting. The ocean appeals to them somehow, the way it doesn't bow to no-one. It stands firm against anyone who tries to tame it. This person, though, he had been manipulated and blackmailed and forced into doing things that no sane person would want to.
His name was Alex Rider, he was 15 years old, and MI6's greatest weapon.
In a he envies the ocean, its harsh currents and unforgiving waves taking no prisoners. Humans had learnt through trial and error that not a soul could truly claim mastery over it, and most often times those who tried were swallowed up by the sea, forced to spend eternity at the bottom of its watery depths. Alex wished he could be like that, swallowing up Blunt and Jones when they tried to force him into playing spy time after time.
Right now though, right now he might just be on his way to freedom. Two weeks ago to the day he thought his world was coming to an end. Blunt and Jones had just told him that due to his third and final clash with Scorpia, Alex was being put into protection and Jack was being send home to America.
It was final because there was no possible way that Scorpia could reform now, what with it being public enemy number one. It was all Blunt's fault really. Alex had really thought that Blunt and Jones would let his life return to normalcy, but no, they had to go and drag him into Scorpia's plot that involved shipping fake medicine and faulty relief to Haiti and raking in the benefits. You'd think after Major Yu and Julia Rothman they would have known better than to challenge Alex, or at least go about it than a more subtle way than a disastrous showdown in the ransacked streets and tent cities that filled Port-au-Prince, but no, they didn't.
In the process of running through dilapidated buildings that were half destroyed, ramshackle streets and precariously positioned, highly precarious cities of cloth and tarp, Alec somehow managed to eliminate two more of Scorpia's executives and alert the public of Scorpia's nefarious and ingenious efforts to subtly (or not so subtly) alter the world and its workings to reflect their own twisted desires.
When the public was finally made aware of Scorpia, all of their sinister schemes, foiled or otherwise, came into the light. Alex was lucky. As Blunt and Jones didn't want the public to know that they were abusing a 15 year old, he was only referred to as 'The Agent' in all of the reports, so the world did not now the part he played in the organization's downfall. After hearing about the attempted murder of millions of British school children and the wave that could have killed millions of people, not to mention the current ploy to scam a country that had already been struck with so much disaster and death the people of the world were calling for Scorpia's head on a plate. And all the leaders of the world's nations were happy to give it to them (publically at least).
On the one hand, now Scorpia couldn't go after Alex any more. On the other, every single Scorpia agent and ally of Scorpia would now be out for his blood.
It seems that none of them got the memo that Scorpia had tangled with Alex Rider three times, and three times they were the ones forced to retreat to go lick their wounds.
Never the less, a little over a week after that had seen Alex in Blunt's office.
"Alex, I'm sorry it has come to this but the decision must be made. You will be put in protective custody and Miss Starbright will be send home America. There are many people who want to kill you right now and its just not safe for either of you."
Alex was about to interject, wanted to shout that a lot of people already wanted him dead, even before Scorpia's downfall, but Mrs. Jones caught that he was about to explode and tried to defuse the situation.
"We're sorry Alex, but the risk is too great. You and Miss Starbright will both be safer this way," Mrs. Jones said calmly, still sucking on one of her godforsaken peppermints.
"You're just saying that so you can have more control over me. Jack is the only thing standing in your way right now, and after Scorpia you've finally realizes that I'm not as expendable as you first thought," Alex argued.
"Alex," Mrs. Jones said, looking hurt. "You were never expendable."
Alex chose not to argue with that point because if they still refused to see that by now then arguing was useless.
"But still, Jack is going to be in danger even in America because of her connection to me. Wouldn't it be better to put us both into protective custody?"
"No it wouldn't because the longer Miss Starbright is involved, the longer she is in danger. I'm going to contact Joe Byrne and he'll make sure she's looked after so you won't have to worry," Blunt said in a severe tone, making it clear that this discussion had come to an end.
"Fine," Alex muttered.
But it was not fine. He was going to be separated from the last bit of family that he had left. And what's worse is that if he goes through with this then he'll always be stuck under Blunt's thumb, forced into cloak and dagger missions that will eventually get him killed. He was lucky he hadn't died already.
Alex took a calming breath, trying to override the deep desire to punch Alan Blunt in the face, hard. When he spoke there was only a slight trace of the amount of anger and hatred he held for both Blunt and Jones.
"When are we getting shipped out?"
Jones and Blunt looked at each other. Finally, Jones spoke.
"A week from now, so next Tuesday."
By the time Alex got home, he looked like there was a category 5 hurricane over his head. Jack instantly knew something was wrong and it had to do with that damned bank.
"Alex, what's wrong?" she asked, looking at his murderous face.
"It's Alan Blunt. He's sending you back to America and shipping me to some secure location to be put under 'protective custody'."
"That utter bastard!" She swore fiercely. "When I get my hands on him, I'm going to rip out his rib cage and wear it as a hat!"
In spite of the situation, Alex found himself grinning. Trust Jack to come up with such a colorful way to murder someone.
"Jack," he said softly. Jack looked up from her rant, not used to hearing Alex sound so beaten. "What are we going to do? I don't want to loose you, but Blunt will make sure that we can't escape. If only we could find some way to escape him, or else has some sway with Byrne so that we can hide in America."
Jack gasped slightly at the last part. When Alex looked at her sharply she was staring off into the distance, clearly thing very hard. Then she got a huge grin on her face, so large that stretched form ear to ear.
She turned to him. "I think I might just have a way to fix our problem. Stay here for a second, I have to make a phone call."
Then she was off, rushing up the stairs to grab her cell phone. Ten minutes later she returned, looking triumphant.
"I've found our way out, but we'll have to move fast."
That was all she said. Five days later showed them sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night. All of their stuff was boxed up and on its way to jack's parents' house and the furniture and house was to be sold later. Tom was notified and wished them both good luck. Now they drove down to the marina where they met a small speedboat that ferried them down to a large tanker.
Alex and Jack climbed aboard and Jack tackled the man that met them on deck.
He was a handsome man, in his forties, with blond hair, strikingly blue eyes, and a mustache.
"Uncle Juan," Jack cried. "It's so good to see you!"
"It's great to see you again Jack. You've turned into to quite the lady haven't you? I'm going to have to beat my crew off with a stick," Juan joked.
Then he turned to look at Alex. "Now who is this young man? I haven't had the privilege of meeting him yet."
"Ah sorry uncle," Jack said. "This is my ward, Alex Rider, though technically we're more like brother and sister. And Alex, this is my uncle, Juan Cabrillo."
Juan and Alex shook hands, both secretly impressed with the strength of the other's grip.
"Alex Rider," Juan murmured out loud, trying to remember where he had heard that name from before. Then suddenly, it clicked.
"So you're the kid that's turning the spy world on its head," Juan said.
Alex blushed slightly.
"You've heard of me?" he questioned.
"Did Jack tell you what kind of a ship this is?" Juan countered with a question of his own.
"No, she didn't," Alex responded. He fixed Jack with a look.
She waved her arms in front of her as a gesture of surrender.
"I didn't want to spoil the surprise."
"Very well then," Juan said. He took Alex by the arm and steered him to the secret door to enter the operation center. "Welcome to the Oregon. This ship is a model of high tech, state-of-the-art intelligence gathering equipment. I'm the chairman of this corporation and I helped start this business. Basically, this ship is a ship full of people who are contracted by world governments to do what they won't do."
"So you're mercenaries," Alex deduced quickly.
Juan chuckled, "If you must use such an ineloquent term, then yes, we are mercenaries. But I make it a point to never do a job that goes against my moral code. All of the people that work on this ship are former military or intelligence officials. I've only hired the best of the best."
Then he paused, suddenly looking solemn.
"I've heard from my niece that you had a bad time of it with Blunt. I don't blame you, he's a complete bastard. None of us are like that on the ship, in fact I, along with a bout a third of the people on this boat, have a long standing feud with him. We will not allow him to get to you. We can, and we will, protect you. I hate it when innocent people are harmed during the constant battles that take place only in the intelligence community. Though," at this he quirked his eye brows and grinned. "I did hear that you managed to save the world one or two times."
Alex grinned in spite of himself. "More like nine, but whose counting."
"I should warn you that more than a few of my team have been following your exploits and you might get pulled into a couple conversations. There have been quite a few bets placed on what really happened on some of your missions."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
Their conversation came to an end when the reached the operations center. Alex and Jack were agog when their saw all the high tech electronics that were employed as well as all the other gadgets and gizmos. Only one other person was in the room when Jack, Juan and Alex entered and she stood up to greet them.
"Alex, Jack, this is the security and surveillance specialist, Linda Ross. Linda this is my niece, Jack Starbright, and her ward, Alex Rider," Juan said, introducing them all. They shook hands all around.
"It's nice to meet you," Linda said. "Juan warned us that we were going to have guests and everyone was curious as to why but now I understand. It's nice to meet you, Alex."
Alex blushed.
"Does everyone on this ship know who I am?" He demanded.
"I would imagine so," Linda replied, nonchalantly. "You have to understand, Alex, that you're an anomaly. Intelligence agencies have been working for years to try to train and employ teenage spies, but none have ever had a truly successful mission, let alone six or seven."
"Technically Linda," Juan interjected with a smirk. "It's actually nine missions where Alex saved the world. I'd imagine MI6 didn't want some of them advertized, even in the spy world."
"You'd better be careful Alex," Linda said. "I imagine that as soon as you turn 18, Juan is going to want to recruit you."
"Nah," Juan argued. "Alex has had enough on his plate what with Blunt. He probably doesn't want to get involved in this world ever again."
"That's right," Jack said with a fierce glare. "If you even think about pulling him in, then I will make you suffer even if you are my favourite uncle."
Alex laughed lightly, but it was interrupted by a large yawn.
Linda noticed.
"Juan, you should probably escort them to their beds, they look dead on their feet. It's nearly two in the morning."
"Right," Juan said in agreement. "Come on you two, your chambers are this way."
He led them off through one of the corridors. They hardly noticed the plush carpets below them and elegant chandeliers above them. He showed them to a single door and opened it.
"This is the living room. Jack, your room is the door on the left, and Alex, yours is the one to the right. Both have bathrooms attached."
He paused.
"I guess this is good night. I'll see you in the morning then."
Jack and Alex mumbled their thanks as they stumbled to their beds. They were both asleep within moments of their heads hitting the pillows.
Juan wandered back up to the operations center. He wanted to check with Linda that they were successfully leaving the United Kingdom and on their way across the Atlantic.
He collapsed onto his chair and studied the stats of the ship on the screen in the fonr of the room.
"We've started leaving English waters then?" he asked Linda.
"Yes," she confirmed. "We started leaving the moment you were below deck. Why? You don't think MI6 will come after them, do you?"
"I don't know," Juan admitted. "They probably don't know right now, but in the morning they'll figure it out, and I would rather not be there when the shit hits the fan. In fact, I'd like to be as far away as possible."
"We should be far out into international water by the time dawn sets in. Shall I alert everyone though about the possible threat?"
"You might as well. There is no way that Blunt will know what happened though, he'll probably think they slipped away on some small fishing boat. Best they know the situation and that Alex and Jack will be staying with us for some time."
There was a lull in conversation as Linda typed something in to her computer.
"I didn't expect Alex to look so young," Juan admitted.
"Neither did I," Linda agreed. "We've been hearing whispers for the past year, about a teenage spy that saved the world. How he took down Scorpia and managed to get away, how he went up into space, how he faced down things that grown men would end u running from. I never really put much stock into those rumors. But now that I've met him…" at this she paused, not exactly sure how to phrase her next comment.
"Well, let's just say that the next time I see Alan Blunt will be the last time anyone ever sees him alive."
Juan laughed loudly at that.
"I think that Jack has first dips on Blunt," he pointed out.
"Damn."
The next morning Juan woke jack and Alex up at nine and brought them to the dining room where they grabbed a quick breakfast. Then Juan led them back up to the operations center to introduce them to his partner in crime, Max Hanley, the President of the Corporation. They also said hello again to Linda Ross.
"Hey Linda, do you think you could give them a quick tour? I have to look at any possible jobs right now with Max."
"Sure, but you do know that 'a quick tour' as you put it is an oxymoron?"
Juan just grinned.
So that left Linda to show Jack and Alex through the entire ship. They saw the medical bay, the pool, the exercise room, the hanger bay, the magic shop, and every other room of possible interest. At the magic shop they did meet Kevin Nixon, who had heard about Alex from Mr. Smithers, and was delighted to start making gadgets for Alex to use. Alex argued that he wouldn't need them, but Nixon said that Mr. Smithers had been bragging for months about getting to make cool things for Alex, so now it was his turn.
Alex just shook his head in amazement after he heard Nixon's argument.
It was through another corridor, nearly identical to the previous ones that Jack finally raised a complaint about Juan's choice of renovation.
"You do realize that there is no possible way to remember all this?" Jack asked.
Linda chuckled with amusement. "Don't worry. It takes a couple days, but you get used to it."
She brought them back to the dining room when the tour was finally done, as it was just in time for lunch where they met other members of the crew like Eddie Seng, George Adams, Larry King, Franklin Lincoln, Julia Huxley, and Eric Stone.
During the second day though, the depression finally set in. Alex was out in the middle of the ocean, on a boat filled with mercenaries (really nice mercenaries, but still), and they had just left the only place where Alex felt truly at home. If only Blunt hadn't chosen him to become spy extraordinaire, then maybe this wouldn't have happened, or if his uncle hadn't made it his goal in life to train Alex for the life of a spy. Alex didn't blame himself, because really, it was MI6's fault. But still, he was starting to feel homesick. He should be in school right now, sitting next to Tom in Maths class, catching up on piecewise functions or the like. But here he was, on this highly secret ship full of the best intelligence officers in the world. At least here Jack would be safe from Scorpia.
Jack had noticed his lack of energy and happiness the second day and had forced him to come out and watch the sunset with her. It had briefly worked, but what really cured Alex was the day of standing out on the bow, thinking. It was quiet, peaceful even, out on the front of the boat. In a way Alex didn't want it to end. But as the sun's light was finally purged from the world and the three-quart full moon came out to illuminate the shadows, Alex finally felt at piece.
This boat, The Oregon, with all its odd quirks might not be home for him yet, but it was starting to feel like it could be in the near future.
The end. I know, kind of cheesey. But this is my way of battling all those fics where Alex goes off with K-unit or Jack leaves or such. As much as I love the fics with the return of K-unit, I think that Jack gets overlooked most of the time, so in this one I had her play an important role. I think that the bond between Jack and Alex is even stronger than the one between him and Ian, because Jack goes through Alex's spying months and is there to support him and such.
So let me know if you think this 'verse is worth continuing. I happen to like it alot but I'm kind of biased toward my own work. Also, I'm sorry that I haven't written more for HP and the LotS, but I've been busy with vacation and AP Calc, AP Gov and AP Lang homework. Apparently the teachers didn't get the memo about it being summer and subsequently, no homework!
I'm saying goodbye now, as it is 3:39 AM and I really need to go to sleep before I start to rant and babble even more. I hope you liked this story.
Your sleep deprived, but still loyal author,
Kasumi Hoshi Nishida