What they both saw was a gigantic field of rocks, noble gases & vapors
along with a few broken hulls of derelict ships. This was the Nobles
Belt—the final landmark of matter & mass that is the final boundary before
Chautauqua Barrens. The Belt is known to be 1,340 km in diameter with a
single ring of debris approximately three leagues in depth and 14 leagues
in width. The rock field is able to be navigated and forded by any ship
with a beam (the width of a marine vessel) of less than 40 meters.
Already the Ulterior was approximately 30 leagues from the Nobles Belt. The helmsman, upon first sight of the rock & gas ring, pulled the ships bell cord several times to signal the approach was at hand. A few seconds later the riggers and ropers came running up from below as Mr. Georges stepped out from his quarters and onto the poop deck. "There it is sir, the 'ole gates of that there No-be-less Belt. We should be about there in...oh, say...5 minutes, Sir.", said the crustacean-like helmsman to the first- mate. "Well done there, Mr. Scampi. Keep your eyes set for the nearest passage that you can steer her for." "Aye-Aye, Sir. Will do, Sir" Now Mr. Georges addressed the sailors in position on the mast arms: "All hands, reef in the sails. Every single one of them". While they were busy doing so, Mr. Georges turned his gaze and saw Jim with Mr. Trump at the bow. "Mr. Hawkins!", he called as Jim spun around to face him. "Down below, help Mr. Skewen throttle the engines." Aye-Aye, Sir", Jim answered.
He made a beeline for the hatch, jumped down the stairs, sped through the fourth deck passageway to the engine and skidded to stop just inside of the doorway. "Stella" and "Leah" were quiet except for a low-frequency humming vibration. Jim looked around for Mr. Skewen and spotted the sand colored skink dozing and sleep talking atop "Stella's" combustion chamber where the cold-blooded reptile could maintain a safe temperature. Jim ran over, stood on his toes and tapped Mr. Skewen. "Mmmmm...tell me when redhead stops belching and I'll talk.", he mumbled without waking. "Hey," Jim said while prodding Mr. Skewen, "Hey wake up. We got to get the ship through an asteroid field." But Mr. Skewen didn't hear; he only turned over and murmured some more. "My turn on the pendulum after you...." "MR. SKEWEN!!!!" Jim practically yelled in the reptile's ear. "YYWAAAAAH", went the poor lizard as he came to with his snap reflexes and fell off the engine and onto the floor. Jim leaned down as Mr. Skewen sat up and shook his head. "Hey look, I'm sorry to wake you but—""But What?", asked Mr. Skewen in his nasal pitched voice. "Can't ye even leave a poor, little—""Look, I'm sorry, but Mr. Georges needs us to man the engines, I mean "Stella" & "Leah"; we're getting close to the Nobles Belt, you know, the barrier that's full of rocks that we've got to go around and past?"
As if to underline Jim's words, Mr. Georges voice came down the communication pipe. "Mr. Skewen and Mr. Hawkins, standby to reduce speed on my command." Jim raced over to answer as Mr. Skewen collected himself. "Aye- Aye, Sir. We'll be ready." "Now remember, lad," said the still-shaken skink as he pattered over to "Stella", "Be very gentle with my lasses and they'll go just as ye wish." Jim just shook his head with a small smile; he still couldn't bring himself to comprehend the mechanic's romanticism for inanimate objects. "Aye, Mr. Skewen." Nonetheless, Jim was extra gentle and wary as he began to reset the dials and ready the directional thrusters for close-quarters maneuvering. It all took less than two minutes before Jim gave Skewen a thumbs-ups to indicate all was set and perfect. "Engines are a-ready and a-waiting yer commands, Mr. Georges!", the reptile relayed to the poop deck "Very good then. Continue to standby, we are less than ten leagues from the Nobles Belt."
For the next few moments, nothing was said between the two of them; the "lasses" continued to throb with low inputs of solar energy and the sounds of creaking wood and solar winds echoed around the chamber. Finally, the order came: "Ahead one-quarter, Mr. Skewen." "Ahead one-quarter, Aye Sir!", echoed the lithe yet edgy engineer. The humming throbs grew higher in pitch as more thrust was applied. "Slick 'n simple as a mother giving birth," sighed Skewen. Jim looked at him with surprise. "You call giving birth easy???" he replied. "Why yes. For my kind, there's nothing to it at all—just a little push from the female and the new little one is laid inside of its perfect little egg." Jim rolled his eyes as if to say "Figures, reptiles lay eggs, not give birth to live young". "Well then. That would be about all that two of us can do here, Jim lad. Why don't ye just go topside and watch out for them thrusters so as we don't have us a little mishap, savvy?" "Will do. Thanks again." Jim waved as he jogged out of the now warm engine room.
45 minutes later, the R.L.S. Ulterior had passed the space rock barrier with no damage save for a few scratches from a few close pieces. Now, they were deep inside of one of the last great, unexplored regions of the Etherium—the Chautauqua Barrens. An unmeasured and little surveyed area of undiscovered mysteries that gave rise to unproven legends and superstitious beliefs, there was little that was already known about it and much to discover.
Everyone looked up from what they were doing as soon as Mr. Georges sounded his three-note whistle. "All hands on deck, assemble behind first main mast!" This meant that the time had now come for the True mission to be stated for everyone. Mr. Georges stepped back and to his left as the captain took her post in front of the poop deck railing with First Lieutenant Michelangelo Forbes, commander of the Ulterior's Marine Company and Second-Mate Ripley L. Smalls on her right-hand side. Once the entire complement of sailors, scientists, surveyors, mapmakers and Marines were congregated, Mr. Georges turned to Captain Hathaway and stated crisply: "All hands assembled as per your orders, Captain!" "Very Good, Mr. Georges." She nodded to him and then directed her gaze to the assembly before her.
"Gentlemen, Our mission has advanced as flawlessly as I could have desired and I congratulate all of you for your best efforts in helping to do so. However, as most of you are aware, the most difficult portion of our enterprise is before us—even as we speak!" The many of the crew, including Jim, nodded at this. "As we venture on into this unknown wilderness—"
"Ship Ahoy!!!", interrupted a voice from high up in the crow's nest. Everyone glanced up there while the captain shouted: "Report, Mr. Onus!" Jim sucked in his breath as his eyes went wide. Mr. Onus, one of Silver's pirates??? Here??? On this ship??? But the little slug reported on. "I see ship, far away, captain. One moment there, next—gone!!!" This apparently made the crew nervous and some began to mutter "pirates" or "buccaneers". But the captain just replied, "Keep your eyes open for anything else unusual that you see, Mr. Onus!". And then, "Mr. Georges, sound all hands to general quarters!! Lieutenant Forbes, get your men ready!!" Both men uttered their affirmatives and then sprang into action. "All hands, General Quarters, General Quarters!!!" The "civilians" lined up to get below as the Marines retrieved their weapons and unlocked the firearm closets for the sailors on deck. Jim meanwhile scrambled to the port railing on which he did a handstand and then swung down through an open gun port and into the second deck. He rushed past the men running for their berths and compartments and descended to the third deck.
Upon reaching his bunk, Jim quickly changed from his black jacket to his forest green naval issue jacket. He also donned black fingerless gloves, special kneepads and a "cargo" vest that went under his jacket. Taking a glance in the small wall mirror to check his appearance, he turned, removed his, bag, threw aside the now empty boxes from the night before and pulled out his hidden weapons. First was a 42" long hunting/sniper rifle with a full-length maple stock and a 18-shot energy cell breech. He loaded it and swung it onto his right shoulder. After that he extracted, also loaded and strapped onto his left leg a fifty-caliber, silver-colored, five round revolver (think Smith & Wesson Model 500). Next came a 37" short-range, 48- shot carbine and a 51" Scottish claymore sword ( a la Braveheart ). Jim first gathered all his personal items into the bag, closed it, strapped the sword and short rifle into their sheaths on the bag's exterior and then hoisted it onto his back. He turned to look at himself in the mirror and let out a long sigh. This was IT! It was now almost time for him to use all of his commando and survival skills for his superiors, his company and the ship's complement. But there was no time for that now.
Jim waited until no one was in the passageway and then headed down the stairs to the fourth deck. Waiting to hear if anyone was there, he walked quietly towards the bow and into the forward cargo hold. Without using any light, Jim searched the cargo until he found two wood crates. He pulled off the lid of one and removed the entire contents. "Yes", he breathed. The second crate was emptied as well and ten seconds later, Jim had reassembled his newest and fastest solar surfer that he'd ever built. It was modeled after the makeshift board that carried him across a self-destructing Treasure Planet and was secretly stowed by Admiral Valencia for Jim's mission. Quietly, Jim hid the crates and moved towards the curve of the ship's bow. He felt around until he came across a lever. He already knew what it operated because the Admiral had also supplied him with the ship's layout charts. Memorizing the location, Jim removed his pack, laid it on his board, stowed them next to a larger wooden crate and listened quietly.
On the main deck, Onus had re-sighted the mysterious ship and the Ulterior was steered in the direction of the craft. The burly, squat signalman tried to hail the ship with signal flags but there was no response whatsoever. In fact, the other ship was moving away from them. "Keep your heading, Mr. Scampi! All ahead Full, Mr. Georges." The strong, muscular first mate relayed the order to the engine room where Mr. Skewen lovingly applied the full power. At the same time the other ship did so apparently as the crew spotted the increased combustion plumes from it's rear. The chase was on as the Ulterior slowly but gradually gained by a meter per minute.
But after 30 minutes, one of the crew sailors in the rigging shouted that he saw a what looked like a "....a green triangle of light far away...it's...unbelievable...and the ship is heading towards it!" The captain was intrigued by this and thought for a few moments. Then she shouted, "Somebody find Mr. Hawkins the Cabin Boy and bring him here at once!" Lieutenant Forbes gathered a few men to search the lower decks while he looked in the engine room. But Jim had excellent hearing—even through four decks of wood—and came running up the stairs. "Ah, here he is, Sir," reported one of the sailors. "The Captain requests your presence on deck, Mr. Hawkins.", said the Lieutenant. Before appearing on the main deck, Jim un-strapped his gloves and kneepads. He then, jogged up to the poop deck and stood at attention. "Mr. Hawkins," Captain Hathaway began, "can you please inform us as to what that might possibly be?"
Jim followed her arm and finger and stared with shock and horror at the sight that was getting closer. "It's a portal—just like Treasure Planet !!! That's what Captain Flint used to sneak up on ships and surprise them and steal all their treasures...he'd open a door and disappear through it...and attack from it, too!" The captain and officers were unnerved by this news. "You mean...", Mr. Small stammered, "that the ship ahead of us is going to either disappear or turn on us...?" Jim nodded and added, "Or...there might be more pirates beyond the portal...and he's leading us to them!" "Great Scott," exclaimed Mr. Georges. "We're following him right into a trap!!!" "Then let us make ready to fight!!! This is an Interstellar Naval ship and we shall not be decimated!!!", exclaimed the captain drawing her pistol. "All hands make ready to engage. Load your weapons but DO NOT FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE ENEMY FIRE ON US FIRST!!!!".
Suddenly, Jim realized something: What if the portal lead to the pirate's hideout and they could close it once the ship was inside of it? Would he be losing a perfect opportunity to find out? Could he get there in time? He thought for a little while and then jumped down from the poop deck to the main. "Mr. Hawkins, I did not dismiss you yet!" yelled Captain Hathaway angrily. "I can trail that ship captain; we don't have to follow or go after it. I've got a solar surfer stowed away; I can chase after them and scout out their strength." The captain and the officers looked at him with both surprise and curiosity. While it was true they wanted as much information as possible about the, neither of them was ready to give say-so with.
But before they could answer, Mr. Onus called out: "Captain, the ship, it stopped!" Now everybody was watching the ship come to complete halt right before the portal. Then, it slowly turned around as another ship appeared out of the portal. And then a second ship came through the portal followed by a third, a fourth and then a fifth. Now it was the still approaching R.L.S. Ulterior against five smaller yet still lethal ships that bore an unmistakable resemblance to pirate vessels.
Jim was determined that it was now or never. He bolted for the stairs, ran all the way down to the cargo hold and retrieved his board and pack. Just as he was about to reach for the lever, he heard cannon fire along with several laser shots as the pirates tried to angle in on the massive tub before them.
Fortunately, those shots didn't hit anyone—yet! The ship just accelerated for a few seconds and, just like that, the scalawags were in range. "Commence Firing!!!", yelled Captain Hathaway as she took aim for one ugly insect on pirate ship #2. The Ulterior literally erupted with fire from the deck cannons, rifles, pistols and even the hidden 90-pounder howitzers that opened up from under the main deck along with the 60-pounder cannons that popped out from well-hidden gun ports. And nearly all of the shots hit a target as masts, sails, pirates, decks and guns were pulverized by the heavier Naval artillery.
Meanwhile, a small opening appeared on the bottom of the Ulterior's hull. Out of it swung Jim's solar surfer followed by Jim as he closed the hatch, tightened his boot clamps and then held on as the ship glided past the smoking pirate vessels that were badly damaged but still held their formidable fighting contingents. Alas for them as the 14th regiment Marine's were too well prepared and clever. One by one the ships and their crews fell silent of resistance. Seeing his chance, Jim pushed off from the hull and stepped down on the ignition button. With a blast, the engine came to life and Jim sped right past the stricken vessels. With a quick backwards glance, he made sure that no one saw him get away. So far, so good. With a devilish smile that he hadn't shown since his early days of solar surfing, he raced on straight ahead and crossed over into the portal.
Already the Ulterior was approximately 30 leagues from the Nobles Belt. The helmsman, upon first sight of the rock & gas ring, pulled the ships bell cord several times to signal the approach was at hand. A few seconds later the riggers and ropers came running up from below as Mr. Georges stepped out from his quarters and onto the poop deck. "There it is sir, the 'ole gates of that there No-be-less Belt. We should be about there in...oh, say...5 minutes, Sir.", said the crustacean-like helmsman to the first- mate. "Well done there, Mr. Scampi. Keep your eyes set for the nearest passage that you can steer her for." "Aye-Aye, Sir. Will do, Sir" Now Mr. Georges addressed the sailors in position on the mast arms: "All hands, reef in the sails. Every single one of them". While they were busy doing so, Mr. Georges turned his gaze and saw Jim with Mr. Trump at the bow. "Mr. Hawkins!", he called as Jim spun around to face him. "Down below, help Mr. Skewen throttle the engines." Aye-Aye, Sir", Jim answered.
He made a beeline for the hatch, jumped down the stairs, sped through the fourth deck passageway to the engine and skidded to stop just inside of the doorway. "Stella" and "Leah" were quiet except for a low-frequency humming vibration. Jim looked around for Mr. Skewen and spotted the sand colored skink dozing and sleep talking atop "Stella's" combustion chamber where the cold-blooded reptile could maintain a safe temperature. Jim ran over, stood on his toes and tapped Mr. Skewen. "Mmmmm...tell me when redhead stops belching and I'll talk.", he mumbled without waking. "Hey," Jim said while prodding Mr. Skewen, "Hey wake up. We got to get the ship through an asteroid field." But Mr. Skewen didn't hear; he only turned over and murmured some more. "My turn on the pendulum after you...." "MR. SKEWEN!!!!" Jim practically yelled in the reptile's ear. "YYWAAAAAH", went the poor lizard as he came to with his snap reflexes and fell off the engine and onto the floor. Jim leaned down as Mr. Skewen sat up and shook his head. "Hey look, I'm sorry to wake you but—""But What?", asked Mr. Skewen in his nasal pitched voice. "Can't ye even leave a poor, little—""Look, I'm sorry, but Mr. Georges needs us to man the engines, I mean "Stella" & "Leah"; we're getting close to the Nobles Belt, you know, the barrier that's full of rocks that we've got to go around and past?"
As if to underline Jim's words, Mr. Georges voice came down the communication pipe. "Mr. Skewen and Mr. Hawkins, standby to reduce speed on my command." Jim raced over to answer as Mr. Skewen collected himself. "Aye- Aye, Sir. We'll be ready." "Now remember, lad," said the still-shaken skink as he pattered over to "Stella", "Be very gentle with my lasses and they'll go just as ye wish." Jim just shook his head with a small smile; he still couldn't bring himself to comprehend the mechanic's romanticism for inanimate objects. "Aye, Mr. Skewen." Nonetheless, Jim was extra gentle and wary as he began to reset the dials and ready the directional thrusters for close-quarters maneuvering. It all took less than two minutes before Jim gave Skewen a thumbs-ups to indicate all was set and perfect. "Engines are a-ready and a-waiting yer commands, Mr. Georges!", the reptile relayed to the poop deck "Very good then. Continue to standby, we are less than ten leagues from the Nobles Belt."
For the next few moments, nothing was said between the two of them; the "lasses" continued to throb with low inputs of solar energy and the sounds of creaking wood and solar winds echoed around the chamber. Finally, the order came: "Ahead one-quarter, Mr. Skewen." "Ahead one-quarter, Aye Sir!", echoed the lithe yet edgy engineer. The humming throbs grew higher in pitch as more thrust was applied. "Slick 'n simple as a mother giving birth," sighed Skewen. Jim looked at him with surprise. "You call giving birth easy???" he replied. "Why yes. For my kind, there's nothing to it at all—just a little push from the female and the new little one is laid inside of its perfect little egg." Jim rolled his eyes as if to say "Figures, reptiles lay eggs, not give birth to live young". "Well then. That would be about all that two of us can do here, Jim lad. Why don't ye just go topside and watch out for them thrusters so as we don't have us a little mishap, savvy?" "Will do. Thanks again." Jim waved as he jogged out of the now warm engine room.
45 minutes later, the R.L.S. Ulterior had passed the space rock barrier with no damage save for a few scratches from a few close pieces. Now, they were deep inside of one of the last great, unexplored regions of the Etherium—the Chautauqua Barrens. An unmeasured and little surveyed area of undiscovered mysteries that gave rise to unproven legends and superstitious beliefs, there was little that was already known about it and much to discover.
Everyone looked up from what they were doing as soon as Mr. Georges sounded his three-note whistle. "All hands on deck, assemble behind first main mast!" This meant that the time had now come for the True mission to be stated for everyone. Mr. Georges stepped back and to his left as the captain took her post in front of the poop deck railing with First Lieutenant Michelangelo Forbes, commander of the Ulterior's Marine Company and Second-Mate Ripley L. Smalls on her right-hand side. Once the entire complement of sailors, scientists, surveyors, mapmakers and Marines were congregated, Mr. Georges turned to Captain Hathaway and stated crisply: "All hands assembled as per your orders, Captain!" "Very Good, Mr. Georges." She nodded to him and then directed her gaze to the assembly before her.
"Gentlemen, Our mission has advanced as flawlessly as I could have desired and I congratulate all of you for your best efforts in helping to do so. However, as most of you are aware, the most difficult portion of our enterprise is before us—even as we speak!" The many of the crew, including Jim, nodded at this. "As we venture on into this unknown wilderness—"
"Ship Ahoy!!!", interrupted a voice from high up in the crow's nest. Everyone glanced up there while the captain shouted: "Report, Mr. Onus!" Jim sucked in his breath as his eyes went wide. Mr. Onus, one of Silver's pirates??? Here??? On this ship??? But the little slug reported on. "I see ship, far away, captain. One moment there, next—gone!!!" This apparently made the crew nervous and some began to mutter "pirates" or "buccaneers". But the captain just replied, "Keep your eyes open for anything else unusual that you see, Mr. Onus!". And then, "Mr. Georges, sound all hands to general quarters!! Lieutenant Forbes, get your men ready!!" Both men uttered their affirmatives and then sprang into action. "All hands, General Quarters, General Quarters!!!" The "civilians" lined up to get below as the Marines retrieved their weapons and unlocked the firearm closets for the sailors on deck. Jim meanwhile scrambled to the port railing on which he did a handstand and then swung down through an open gun port and into the second deck. He rushed past the men running for their berths and compartments and descended to the third deck.
Upon reaching his bunk, Jim quickly changed from his black jacket to his forest green naval issue jacket. He also donned black fingerless gloves, special kneepads and a "cargo" vest that went under his jacket. Taking a glance in the small wall mirror to check his appearance, he turned, removed his, bag, threw aside the now empty boxes from the night before and pulled out his hidden weapons. First was a 42" long hunting/sniper rifle with a full-length maple stock and a 18-shot energy cell breech. He loaded it and swung it onto his right shoulder. After that he extracted, also loaded and strapped onto his left leg a fifty-caliber, silver-colored, five round revolver (think Smith & Wesson Model 500). Next came a 37" short-range, 48- shot carbine and a 51" Scottish claymore sword ( a la Braveheart ). Jim first gathered all his personal items into the bag, closed it, strapped the sword and short rifle into their sheaths on the bag's exterior and then hoisted it onto his back. He turned to look at himself in the mirror and let out a long sigh. This was IT! It was now almost time for him to use all of his commando and survival skills for his superiors, his company and the ship's complement. But there was no time for that now.
Jim waited until no one was in the passageway and then headed down the stairs to the fourth deck. Waiting to hear if anyone was there, he walked quietly towards the bow and into the forward cargo hold. Without using any light, Jim searched the cargo until he found two wood crates. He pulled off the lid of one and removed the entire contents. "Yes", he breathed. The second crate was emptied as well and ten seconds later, Jim had reassembled his newest and fastest solar surfer that he'd ever built. It was modeled after the makeshift board that carried him across a self-destructing Treasure Planet and was secretly stowed by Admiral Valencia for Jim's mission. Quietly, Jim hid the crates and moved towards the curve of the ship's bow. He felt around until he came across a lever. He already knew what it operated because the Admiral had also supplied him with the ship's layout charts. Memorizing the location, Jim removed his pack, laid it on his board, stowed them next to a larger wooden crate and listened quietly.
On the main deck, Onus had re-sighted the mysterious ship and the Ulterior was steered in the direction of the craft. The burly, squat signalman tried to hail the ship with signal flags but there was no response whatsoever. In fact, the other ship was moving away from them. "Keep your heading, Mr. Scampi! All ahead Full, Mr. Georges." The strong, muscular first mate relayed the order to the engine room where Mr. Skewen lovingly applied the full power. At the same time the other ship did so apparently as the crew spotted the increased combustion plumes from it's rear. The chase was on as the Ulterior slowly but gradually gained by a meter per minute.
But after 30 minutes, one of the crew sailors in the rigging shouted that he saw a what looked like a "....a green triangle of light far away...it's...unbelievable...and the ship is heading towards it!" The captain was intrigued by this and thought for a few moments. Then she shouted, "Somebody find Mr. Hawkins the Cabin Boy and bring him here at once!" Lieutenant Forbes gathered a few men to search the lower decks while he looked in the engine room. But Jim had excellent hearing—even through four decks of wood—and came running up the stairs. "Ah, here he is, Sir," reported one of the sailors. "The Captain requests your presence on deck, Mr. Hawkins.", said the Lieutenant. Before appearing on the main deck, Jim un-strapped his gloves and kneepads. He then, jogged up to the poop deck and stood at attention. "Mr. Hawkins," Captain Hathaway began, "can you please inform us as to what that might possibly be?"
Jim followed her arm and finger and stared with shock and horror at the sight that was getting closer. "It's a portal—just like Treasure Planet !!! That's what Captain Flint used to sneak up on ships and surprise them and steal all their treasures...he'd open a door and disappear through it...and attack from it, too!" The captain and officers were unnerved by this news. "You mean...", Mr. Small stammered, "that the ship ahead of us is going to either disappear or turn on us...?" Jim nodded and added, "Or...there might be more pirates beyond the portal...and he's leading us to them!" "Great Scott," exclaimed Mr. Georges. "We're following him right into a trap!!!" "Then let us make ready to fight!!! This is an Interstellar Naval ship and we shall not be decimated!!!", exclaimed the captain drawing her pistol. "All hands make ready to engage. Load your weapons but DO NOT FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE ENEMY FIRE ON US FIRST!!!!".
Suddenly, Jim realized something: What if the portal lead to the pirate's hideout and they could close it once the ship was inside of it? Would he be losing a perfect opportunity to find out? Could he get there in time? He thought for a little while and then jumped down from the poop deck to the main. "Mr. Hawkins, I did not dismiss you yet!" yelled Captain Hathaway angrily. "I can trail that ship captain; we don't have to follow or go after it. I've got a solar surfer stowed away; I can chase after them and scout out their strength." The captain and the officers looked at him with both surprise and curiosity. While it was true they wanted as much information as possible about the, neither of them was ready to give say-so with.
But before they could answer, Mr. Onus called out: "Captain, the ship, it stopped!" Now everybody was watching the ship come to complete halt right before the portal. Then, it slowly turned around as another ship appeared out of the portal. And then a second ship came through the portal followed by a third, a fourth and then a fifth. Now it was the still approaching R.L.S. Ulterior against five smaller yet still lethal ships that bore an unmistakable resemblance to pirate vessels.
Jim was determined that it was now or never. He bolted for the stairs, ran all the way down to the cargo hold and retrieved his board and pack. Just as he was about to reach for the lever, he heard cannon fire along with several laser shots as the pirates tried to angle in on the massive tub before them.
Fortunately, those shots didn't hit anyone—yet! The ship just accelerated for a few seconds and, just like that, the scalawags were in range. "Commence Firing!!!", yelled Captain Hathaway as she took aim for one ugly insect on pirate ship #2. The Ulterior literally erupted with fire from the deck cannons, rifles, pistols and even the hidden 90-pounder howitzers that opened up from under the main deck along with the 60-pounder cannons that popped out from well-hidden gun ports. And nearly all of the shots hit a target as masts, sails, pirates, decks and guns were pulverized by the heavier Naval artillery.
Meanwhile, a small opening appeared on the bottom of the Ulterior's hull. Out of it swung Jim's solar surfer followed by Jim as he closed the hatch, tightened his boot clamps and then held on as the ship glided past the smoking pirate vessels that were badly damaged but still held their formidable fighting contingents. Alas for them as the 14th regiment Marine's were too well prepared and clever. One by one the ships and their crews fell silent of resistance. Seeing his chance, Jim pushed off from the hull and stepped down on the ignition button. With a blast, the engine came to life and Jim sped right past the stricken vessels. With a quick backwards glance, he made sure that no one saw him get away. So far, so good. With a devilish smile that he hadn't shown since his early days of solar surfing, he raced on straight ahead and crossed over into the portal.