Author's Note: It's taken a few months, but here we are, Chapter 10 of the Thomas the Tank Engine and TUGS crossover. We've seen a lot of the Star Tugs the past few chapters, so here we shift focus, and see other goings-on around Sodor. But not all is positive, for it seems that the pinstripe suit men are up to no good. What's going to happen here? We'll have to wait and see.
The next morning, Burke and Blair quietly slipped away, so the Star Tugs never noticed them. However, they did notice a new female tug in port.
"Huh? Harbormaster, what is this? Who is she?" Ten Cents asked.
"Everyone, I have brought in a new tug to help out around here. This is Mary, and she will be joining your fleet." The harbormaster said.
"That's a relief, we'll need all the help we can get." O.J. replied.
"You'll be a fine addition m'dear" Hercules said.
"Well hello Miss Mary, it's a pleasure meeting you" said Sunshine from his drydock.
"You'll be a fine addition to the fleet Miss... Anyway, come on lads, quit gawking, and get to work..." Big Mac said.
"Aye Big Mac..." replied the rest of the Tugs as they went to work while Top Hat woke up.
"I say, did I miss something?" He asked; but the Harbormaster told him to wake up and get Frank and Eddie.
Meanwhile, over at the Search and Rescue Center, Samuel the Fire Tug was being introduced to those who worked there.
"I'll be based out of Brendham Docks for practical reasons; but it is good to meet the lot of you" Samuel said to Harold, Flynn, Belle, Butch, Rocky and Captain.
"Good to meet you too Samuel; what brings you up this way?" Harold asked.
"Harbormaster had some fire barges ordered for me; but they got delivered here by mistake. I'm here to pick them up and take them to Brendham Docks" the fire tug explained.
Several hours later, Samuel had returned and checked in with the Harbormaster. "Glad to have some fire barges to work with again; the only tugs around here that have water cannons are me and Warrior, and with Warrior drydocked I'll need all the help I can get" Samuel said to the Harbormaster. The fire barges were specially designed for maximum fire fighting capability. In addition to the main water turrets on the barges, there were a series of secondary spigots hoses could be attached to in the event more water was needed. "They will make a most valuable asset" Samuel said to himself.
"Well, with luck; we won't have to worry about any fires breaking out" the Harbormaster said.
The hope was short lived though, as suddenly the alarm went off. A nearby worker ran over.
"Distress signal just came in! There's a tramper on fire about 4 miles off the coast! Captain is on his way to pick up the crew but we need the fire tug now!" he shouted.
Samuel's face gained a stern expression. "I'm on my way!" He said as he took his fire barges. Off in the distance he could see a tall column of smoke rising into the atmosphere.
"Well, what a way to get back on duty" Samuel said to himself. "I just hope I can handle this on my own, since I don't see any Stars around" he added; the others were off doing jobs, so as far as Samuel knew it would be only him to respond.
A few minutes later Samuel approached the burning tramper. He could see in the water there were four life rafts, but one was overturned. Several survivors had managed to get aboard the three life rafts, and a couple of the tramper's crewmen had managed to get on the overturned one, but there were also several swimmers desperately trying to get aboard any of the life rafts.
"Darn it; where's that fellow...Captain? I'd better get started." Samuel said to himself; he wasn't designed to rescue swimmers, so there was nothing he could do.
Samuel swung his barges into position as Samuel's firefighting crew boarded them. "Go men go! We need to get those turrets up now!" one of the commanders said.
"I don't have another tug to help me right now; but I'll do my best to keep both barges secure!" Samuel told his crew. Normally, he would get behind one barge, and keep it secure while facing the fire. But here, he had to get sort of between the barges and attempt to keep them secure from their sides. It was not an easy task.
As Samuel began fighting the fire he heard someone shout, "Full steam Ahead!" and then saw Captain arrive on the scene as fast as possible. Captain floated towards the people swimming in the water, and his crew threw a few life preservers on ropes to pull the people towards him. "I'm here to help! Grab the life preservers, and you in the life rafts, row towards me!" he called out. In a matter of minutes, all the swimmers had been rescued, and Captain had picked up those in the rafts.
Once all of the tramper's crew were safely on board, he noticed Samuel was struggling to keep both of the barges in place to fight the fire.
Captain shouted, "Don't worry, I'll help you out!" as he sped towards Samuel.
"Stay back, the fire's too dangerous!" Samuel shouted in return.
"I may be a lifeboat, but I also work for the coast guard and have helped put out fires like this before, I can help in these types of situations." he replied as a member of his crew threw a towline to attach to one of the barges. Soon, Samuel was behind one barge and Captain behind the other.
The two ships fought on for what felt like hours, and all hands helped work the hoses and turrets on the barges, but they still needed more water to throw on the fire. So members of Captain's crew picked up hoses on the barges and proceeded to help the firemen. One of the survivors then stood up "Come on boys; don't just sit there; let's give them a hand!" he told his crew mates. Any of the survivors who agreed willingly joined the fight and picked up more hoses. After an hour the fire was finally out.
"Phew... It could have been dangerous if it had spread to the fuel tank." Samuel said.
"Yeah then we could never have stopped it... It was great to have help putting these fires out for once." replied Captain.
"You're very reliable, I wouldn't mind working with you again." Samuel added.
"Me neither." and they both laughed before returning to the docks with the rescued sailors.
(earlier that day)
Another morning dawned over Arlesdale Harbor. The men in the pinstripe suits hadn't "left a package" that morning, which meant luckily for Sailor John and his Z-stacks, no contraband today.
"Looks like a chance to make real money today; like the guy said, gotta cover the tracks" Sailor John said.
Half an hour later, Sailor John was on his dock, with the Z-stacks waiting for tasks.
"All right you lot, listen up, here's your tasks for this morning. There are two trampers that need to go out today. Zak, you'll handle one, Zebedee, you'll handle the other. There's a couple barges of machine parts that need to be delivered to Tidmouth harbor; Zip and Zug, you'll handle those." Sailor John said as he went down the list.
"And what about me, captain?" Zorran asked. Sailor John looked through his contracts.
"Zorran, there is a shipment of bricks that need to go to Tidmouth harbor; get them there by noon and they'll pay an extra 30%" Sailor John said as he looked over the contract.
"On my way captain." Zorran said as he left to pick up his load.
"I'm actually glad I didn't have a "special" today; at least regular contracts offer more good money that I can use to pay off the debts" Sailor John said to himself. Though specials were worth more money, his cuts were not that big and after paying necessary expenses, there was hardly any left over to pay of Captain Zero's debts. Regular contracts, on the other hand, were strictly Sailor John's, so while not worth as much, he would get more money for himself, including money that could be used to pay off the debts.
"The sooner I pay of these debts, the sooner I can stop it with specials; those loads are way too risky" he said to himself as he went back to his office.
A few hours later at Tidmouth Harbor, Zorran, Zip and Zug has just finished bringing in their loads.
"Well well well, look at the time, it's 11:40; we beat the deadline, so we've earned the extra 30%" Zorran told the foreman at the dock. As the foreman was handing over the money to the captain of Zorran's crew, Zip and Zug were getting the pay from their contracts too, when Zip noticed something.
"Zug, look over there... do you see what I see?" Zip said.
"See what?" Zug asked.
"That tugboat, over there. Doesn't it seem familiar?" Zip said. Off in the distance, they could see a paddlewheel boat having come in with a load of crated goods.
"My helmsman was talking about a paddler called Lakesider III, maybe that's him" Zug said.
But just then another tug came into view... a harbor tug pulling a garbage barge.
"I'm no Warrior Lord Stinker, but I think I'm doing a good job with you" Big Mac said as he came into the harbor.
"Don't worry Big Mac, you're doing fine. Isn't he O.J.?"
"Indeed. The others are quite busy; let's finish up here and go help them" O.J. said.
Zip and Zug heard everything. "It's them! The Star Tugs are here!" Zip said.
"We'd better go tell Zorran" Zug replied.
A couple minutes later, Zip and Zug had sped to the dock where Zorran was.
"What's up with you two?" He asked them.
"Zorran, you're not going to believe who is here; look at the other side of the Harbor!" Zug said.
"Eh? What are you two getting at... wait a minute, is that O.J. and Big Mac!?" He said, surprised.
"Yes, and they mentioned "the others" so the rest must be here too" Zip added.
"Well, this is interesting; so all seven of them did make it through after all" Zorran said. He looked over to the nearby dock worker.
"Excuse me; the Star Tugs, where are they based out of?" Zorran asked.
"Brendham Docks, in the south of the Island" the worker said.
"Thanks" Zorran said. "All right you two; let's get back to our dock; once Zak and Zebedee get back I think it's time we pay our old friends a visit" Zorran said to them.
A while later Zorran, Zip and Zug had returned to Arlesdale Harbor. "We're back Captain; what now?" Zorran asked.
"Captain; Zug and I didn't get a chance to load up on coal yesterday; our bunkers are running low" Zip said.
"Very well; you two go and refuel" Sailor John said. "As for you Zorran, got another job lined up for you" Sailor John said.
"What is it captain?" Zorran asked.
"You'll be taking a special" said a voice. Sailor John turned around to see one of the men in the Pinstripe suits.
"Oh, Oh! Good afternoon sir; I wasn't expecting a special today... there wasn't a package this morning" Sailor John said, surprised.
Then the Main in the Red Pinstripe Suit, who John could only assume was the man assigned to be in charge of the operation he was to be a part of, came up to him and said, "Yes Mister Zero, I need one of your tugboats to move a very special barge full of "supplies" we need stored at a munitions warehouse our employer currently operates. The quicker it's done, the higher the pay will be this time. The barge is currently at a dock close to the Brenner's Barque, the pirate ship you "commandeered" awhile back... Also I could have sent a messenger, but due to everyone being out on other "Jobs", I had to come in their stead."
Sailor John replied, "Yes sir, I'll get one of my tugboats on it right away, Zorran get your lazy hull over here and fetch this very important barge for this very special client."
"I"m on my way Captain; I'll be back in a jiffy." replied Zorran, who, like the other Zeroes, had seen what the Pinstripe Men were capable of to previous owners they had worked under for the pinstripes' "Operations", and were always happy to oblige their every need.
"Well I'll be off then, it seems I have business elsewhere.." said the Man in the Red Pinstripe Suit, as he walked back to the harbor town.
"Thank goodness he's gone.." said Sailor John to his now alone self as he walked back to his office relieved, and worried for his Tugboat.
But back down the dock towards the man in the Red Pinstripe Suit, he received a call and replied, "Yes it is in the process of being delivered as we speak, all we need now is that Tramper to come in, and we can begin the second phase of our operation; but right now I have some unfinished business with the owner of Sodor Ironworks...", and he disappeared into the bustling harbor town.
Meanwhile over on the Ffarquhar Branch, Thomas and Percy were talking at a station.
"Puffa told me about the Star Tugs Percy; they sound like nice tug boats" Thomas said.
"They do indeed; I hope I get a chance to meet them" Percy replied.
"Well, I finished with my passenger runs for now, and I need to get to the quarry... there's a load of stone that needs to go to Brendham Docks" Thomas said.
"See you later!" said Percy as Thomas puffed away.
An hour later, Thomas had arrived at Ffarquhar Quarry.
"I wish I was not so busy that day Thomas; I would have liked to meet Puffa" Mavis said as she shunted Thomas' trucks into place.
"Don't worry; you still take an occasional train to the docks, don't you? You will get a chance soon" Thomas assured.
Thomas would've liked to keep the conversation going, but the stone needed to get to the docks by 4, so he had to leave now.
"I'd better go Mavis; this stone is due out very soon" he said as he set off.
The journey went rather smoothly for Thomas; and he made good time on his way to Brendham docks.
"Hello Puffa, Salty; where do you want these cars?" Thomas asked.
"Ahoy Thomas, right there is fine; Big Mickey will take it from there" Salty called out.
"Good to see you again Thomas" Puffa called as he continued shunting.
Thomas had just finished dropping off his load of stone in the designated spot when he saw the Star Tugs docked nearby. Thomas had about 20 minutes before he was due to depart again, so he decided to properly introduce himself to these new faces.
"Hello Star Tugs, my name is Thomas. Puffa has told me all about you, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Hello Thomas" the star tugs replied.
"I'm Ten Cents, and I see you're number one, like me" as they both chuckled.
"And I am Top Hat, the most grand of the Star Tugs" he boasted rather proudly.
"Oh, put a sock in it Top Hat, or we'll ask the Harbormaster to put you on dredger duty with Scuttlebutt." one of the harbor tugs retorted.
"Me?! Dredger duty!? Well I never!" Top Hat said indignantly.
"Don't mind him Thomas, he's always like that. Anyway, I'm Big Mac" he said to Thomas.
"Don't worry Big Mac, compared to Spencer, Top Hat here is quite meek."
"Spencer?! Who is this Spencer you speak of!? There is no way he is grander than me!" Top Hat shot back. The others ignored him and looked at Thomas.
"I'm Hercules, it's a pleasure to meet you m'dear" the biggest tug said politely.
"I'm Grampus, the submarine of the Star Fleet; but I'm as good as any Switcher, believe you me."
"I'm Sunshine, and I am actually a Switcher" he said in reply to Grampus' comment.
"I'm Warrior, and I do the garbage duty"
"If the dump wasn't landlocked, you would get along splendidly with Whiff and Scruff" Thomas pointed out.
"I hope they come here one day then" Warrior replied.
"And I am O.J. the paddle tug"
"By any chance, do you have a brother named Lakesider III?" Thomas asked
"What's a Lakesider III?" O.J. asked, confused.
"Nevermind" replied Thomas. "So, how are you liking Sodor?"
"It's no Bigg City, but having some of our other friends around does make this place feel a little more like home." Ten Cents replied.
"Maybe so, but there are some faces I would rather not see again" Top Hat replied. The others agreed with him for once.
"Indeed; you know that old tramp steamer, Johnny Cuba? No one's seen him in decades, and quite frankly, good riddance" Big Mac stated.
"Aye, Aye. And Burke and Blair, glad those two aren't around" Sunshine added, referring to the scrap tugs.
"Good riddance to old dirt bucket too" Ten Cents added.
"Old dirt bucket?" Thomas asked, confused
"A nickname for a freighter called the Nantucket; nearly got me quarantined he did" Ten Cents explained.
"And no Z-Stacks too" Sunshine added on.
"Who are the Z-Stacks?" Thomas asked
"They were our competition back in Bigg City. That blasted Captain Zero and his Tugs, always willing to take on bigger risks just to make more money" O.J. explained.
"Yea, but things never really worked out for them. Lets see, there was the time they destroyed the bridge over the Canal..." Top Hat remembered.
"And the time they nearly had me cause an accident with the Duchess" Sunshine added
"And the time they made me take on too much stone" Big Mac pointed out
"And let's not forget the time when I was nearly crushed when they refused to help me with Izzy Gomez!" Ten Cents stated.
"These Z-Stacks don't sound like good tugs" Thomas observed.
O.J. was the first to reply "Yea, but Captain Zero sold them for Scrap when he went broke, so we're never going to see them..."
"Suffren Stacks! Look over there!" Warrior said in shock. The star tugs and Thomas looked over to see five black and maroon tugs sailing towards them.
"Well well well, what's the matter Star Tugs? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Zorran said as the five tugs came to a stop.
-This moment has been a long time coming. What will happen when the Star Tugs and Z-Stacks interact for the first time in decades? Find out in the next chapter.
Thanks for all the views everyone, this has been a fun story to write. Special thanks to my friends over at the various Thomas forums that are helping me write this. Don't forget to favorite and leave a review!