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Island X.

Dakkar was sitting with Robur, listening to the man's story. In many ways, the rebel prince and Robur were similar. Both were engineers, scientists of incredible intellect, had ideas, both of them wanted little to do with the outside world. But that was where the basics ended.

Robur often used the Albatross, his prized aircraft, to travel around the world. With it, and the other craft he possessed, Robur was truly the lord and master of the air. But they were so secretive, and with good reason. Dakkar found out that his host was an American, a scientist with a genius with the level a prodigy would be at, similar to Dakkar's own intellect.

Robur had once had theories and ideas about powered flight, only to be humiliated as many of his colleagues felt that true mastery of the air came from lighter than air - balloons, dirigibles, that sort of thing. Not Robur, he felt that heavier than air machines held the key to unlocking the doors to air travel, with that in mind Robur spent a good portion of his time and life researching the subject, digging into experiments old and new.

Dakkar found an opening, " You've succeeded in your quest, sir, to become lord and master of the air. But now did you come to find this island ?"

Robur was pleased that he'd perked his guests interest, and had no real reason not to deny him an explanation. Besides he was curious of how the prince came to be here.

" I didn't create the Albatross on my first experiment. The construction of that aircraft only happened when I was fully established here. I, along with my people, arrived on a more primitive aeroplane."

" An aeroplane ?" Dakkar paused in eating to look up from his plate to look into Robur's eyes, " a set of wings with screws underneath them ?"

Dakkar knew enough of aviation to know how successful that particular form of aircraft was, but he hadn't expected someone to pioneer the field so quickly.

" Indeed."

Dakkar frowned, " But surely that form of travel would be all you'd need. Why build something like the Albatross ? I know already some have built hot air balloons." he stopped when he saw the stony look on Robur's face.

Robur smiled, " Simplicity. I wanted a simple machine to conquer the air, whilst of course having access to aeroplane technology. As for balloons," his face went dark, " They lack the criteria I devised for the perfect aircraft, they are slow, hard to handle and don't last long before they run out of gas. I built durable machines, machines which can travel further at a constant rate of speed, impervious to the winds. One of my craft detected your ship, your men should've been more vigilant. I trust they shall be that way when you build your submarine boat."

Dakkar was ashamed of the way his men were vilified as lazy, but Robur ignored the prince as he opened the file and, careful not to damage the plans with his stained fingers, he looked at them.

" Fascinating work, I can see one or two slight errors, but I think the design is sound." He said finally, looking up at the Prince.

Robur looked at his guest, " Do you wish me to help you ?"

Dakkar looked at him in surprise, " Why do you wish to help me ?"

Robur stood up and walked over to the window, his coat tails flapping. He folded his arms and looked out, he resembled a marble statue.

" I pity you Prince Dakkar, you have lost much. I don't like many of the countries, not even my own. They vilified me as a quack when I presented theories on creating heavier than air machines using the previous experiments as a blueprint." Robur turned and stared at his guest with burning eyes, " By helping you, I can turn to a new direction. Your submarine plans are ambitious and remarkable, you need resources, engineers, materials…I have many of them, here on Island X."

" That doesn't answer my question sir, why help me ?"

Robur sat down again, " You and I are similar," he admitted. " We both fled the civilised world, we both want to build and carve empires in elements no one could follow us in. I read your journal detailing your dream and your pledge. It's similar to my own, I felt that if I left the world I could devise and perfect my aviation technology. Whilst here, you can do the same for submarine technology. Besides, I don't care for the British. I can help you get your revenge."

Dakkar put down his cutlery, folded his hands and stared into Robur's face, " What do you get in return ?"

Robur smiled, " I would like nothing better than to see the British empire collapse as its trade is attacked and the ships sunk. I want to see it suffer for its sins over the centuries. Besides, " he frowned, " the French were pioneers in the science of heavier than air, the British waged and wages still constant war with France. I would like to see all world powers see that their cosy little worlds are nothing compared to the environments we shall inhabit."

Dakkar ran that reply in his head again. In truth he didn't really care about who ruled the world, in truth he would be delighted if the seas of the world belonged to India, or what was left of India. The skies could belong to Robur. Robur did get something right, Dakkar did want to carve an empire of the underwater world whilst Robur wanted to do the same with the skies.

So far Robur had succeeded, whilst Dakkar had been seeking an island Robur had been here, looking for resources and discovering them, building aircraft and flying them, making strides in the development of science.

Dakkar accepted.

As the months passed Dakkar took the time to find out how self sufficient the island really was. The island was outside the normal shipping lanes, the ship that brought Robur was still in the channel protected by the mountains and the dockyards.

The dockyards were undergoing vast changes. Robur had issued orders that Dakkar was to co-operated with at all costs.

Robur and Dakkar worked hard to make a list of experiments for the development of the submarine. It wasn't difficult for Robur, he showed Dakkar the flying submarine he'd developed.

" It's not as advanced as your design, the hull thickness isn't much. Only 4 inches with the tanks for submerging protected by a double barrier made of two different alloys." Robur was saying as he revealed the flying submarine to Dakkar.

It was much larger than the normal planes that Dakkar had witnessed and even flown in, this particular craft had its engines built into the wings. The propellers, Robur pointed out, were designed to move from the front to the very back, acting like the propellers of a ship. The cockpit itself was air and watertight, the glass was much thicker than normal to withstand water pressure.

Dakkar got into the cockpit and examined the controls. The dials and systems were slightly different. There was a lever that was labelled ballast intake, another dial that measured the pressure on the hull.

" How deep does it go ?" Dakkar asked, running his hands over the controls.

Robur watched him, thinking of the prince as a child with his admirable, albeit quelled, curiosity, " Would you like to try it ?"

Exhilaration. That was what Dakkar thought as the submarine plane flew over the island.

Robur was in the pilot seat, watching the gauges as he took the plane over the open sea before pointing the nose down into a dive. Robur flicked a few controls, making the cabin more secure than it had been before. He opened the vents that would allow the passing of water into ballast tanks, he made the propellers move back into their submerged propulsion position.

When the plane flew into the water, creating a splash, the automatic system pumped water into the tail system, checked the trim of the plane and allowed the vessel to float, submerged, at a depth of 34 ft from the surface. Dakkar looked out in the vista of the ocean depths.

The sea all around was a blue green colour, with no sign of life nearby. Dakkar twisted around in his seat, trying to get a clear view of his surroundings, but Robur's chair was in the way so he couldn't see the front, and the sea seemed to be in shadows; the prince could just about see the rocks which were the island.

" Impressive, isn't it ?" Robur's question broke through the prince's reverie.

Dakkar had to focus on the pilot to answer the question, he felt so at home, almost as though he was in his mother's loving embrace, or with his children.

Under the surface, Dakkar felt….tranquil, his hate of the world seemed to have diminished slightly even though it was still there under the surface of his skin.

Dakkar finally answered Robur, " Yes, it is. Tell me, how often do you use this plane ?"

" Not very often. I built it as a test for the perfect form of flying submarine. I made 7 previous models, each working out the principles before finalising the prototype. You are more than welcome to go over the schematics of this craft, even create an enhanced model for the Nautilus."

Dakkar caught the suggestion, and thought it over. The idea of an aircraft attached to his vessel was intriguing and it sounded reasonable. Besides Robur had already given him much, his men were helping in the testing of alloys, materials, propulsion systems and air storage systems for the Nautilus. Robur had also made surprisingly brilliant observations and suggestions. For a man who knew almost nothing about marine engineering, Robur knew how to improvise.

The prince nodded.

The building of the Nautilus was slow as the months passed. The testing vessels were simple, they were simply metal spheres lowered on cables of incredible strength. The spheres were used to test the hull materials and alloys. Robur had shared an interesting discovery of his when he'd first surveyed the island, and it's resources. Titanium. The fact it was here, on this island, filled Dakkar will delight. With Titanium, he could easily make a more durable material for the Nautilus' hull.

Using iron, aluminium and glass, Dakkar made a strong and durable material which was easy to make and easy to use for the Nautilus' construction. Dakkar also made a new diving equipment, he called it SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, it enabled divers to move like fishes under water.

Between the two of them, experimenting with SCUBA and other forms of diving equipment, like the dive armour Robur had helped develop, Dakkar and the aerial engineer managed to discover that a layer of gas could help the ship withstand pressure, and the mixing of helium with nitrogen and oxygen allowed for deeper submerging for the vessel.

The engineers had made so many modifications to the original design that there was little left of the crude drawings Dakkar had made. The Nautilus featured a glass - titanium - aluminium and iron and steel composite hull, torpedo loading bays, a torpedo storage room, a diving chamber with a min submarine and flying submarine with a diving bell for good measure.

Dakkar had originally wanted a simple design for his ship, but as time passed he realised that he could keep the basic simplicity and add on new ideas. Robur and his engineers were constantly coming up with new and imaginative innovations for the princes design that it was hard to feel anything but grateful.