Chapter 15

As they approached the town, Max DeGroot and Blue Dias could tell it was very different to all the others they had encountered since leaving Edwards Air Force Base. This was no cluster of agricultural settlements where the people survived by growing, hunting and occasionally fishing; this was truly a centre of trade. Set back from the ocean and high on a cliff to give protection from any incoming tsunami, travellers could come here and swap their goods and produce for anything they could not provide for themselves. On the outskirts of the town there were some fruit trees and penned animals, but it seemed the town relied mostly on goods from the outside to survive. One important way the townsfolk ensured trade was strong, was to provide something nobody really needed, but everyone wanted; alcohol.

As soon as Blue and DeGroot had left the Bull Ant, different aromas had wafted up from the town. At first it was the foul smell of fermenting hops but as they drew closer, they came across a number of boiling stills making rough facsimiles of gins, whiskeys and other distilled beverages. In the failing twilight of evening, the people of the town hurried to complete their transactions with the many visiting traders; some who had come overland with carts full of produce, and others who had sailed in from up and down the coast. A dangerous way to travel, but many people still made the attempt on a regular basis.

Of course there was no street lighting, but anyone who wanted to continue trading after dark would have a fire brazier burning out the front of their business to attract attention from those passing by. Some of these businesses were simple trading posts, but most were places where tired travellers would go to eat, drink or maybe take a room for the night. With nowhere else to go, Blue and DeGroot chose one that didn't look too rough and wandered inside.

"Oh my goodness" a loud feminine voice exclaimed "I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever see another new face in these parts ever again, and then in comes two of 'em."

A woman in her late twenties stepped out from behind the bar and greeted the pair. Her exclamation had caused every eye in the place to turn towards the front door, but they soon turned back to their own meals.

"You both look like you've been through the wars; long trip?"

"Wars?" Blue was taken aback "Is there some kind of conflict going on?"

His first thought was for Abigail and Calla. If Gran had managed to annoy some other group of travellers by kidnapping another small selection of people, the girls could end up as collateral damage and the thought of it frightened him.

"It's uh... just a term of phrase; I mean you look like you've had a rough time out there" the lady said, concerned by the look in Blues eyes.

"Oh... yes... it hasn't been easy" Blue smiled sheepishly.

"Look... take a seat; I've got some vegetable stew in the kitchen, you can have a small bowl on the house. Anything more substantial and you'll have to pay for it."

"Thank you Ma'am, most kind of you" DeGroot nodded and steered Blue to a table near the door.

Blue tried desperately to get his mind back on track. The more time he spent double guessing himself, the slower he would be to act, and the longer Abigail and Calla would be trapped in the mountains. With his thoughts back under control, he realised the woman running this bar and cafe could provide him with valuable information, if he asked her the right questions. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to help calm his nerves. When he reopened them, he noticed that three men at the corner table were looking at him, while trying to make it look like they weren't. One of them held what appeared to be a card, and his gaze kept changing between it and Blue. Not long after, the woman returned with two small bowls of hot stew and a pitcher of water.

"Here you go gents" she smiled as she placed her tray on the table.

As she passed out the bowls and spoons, Blue decided to take a chance.

"Um... I was wondering if you knew those men in the corner; they keep looking at me."

"That's not surprising" she answered "You're new here so they're probably wondering what your deal is; if you're buying, selling, trading, that kind of stuff. Do you want me to make some discreet enquiries on your behalf? Part of our business here is to act as kind of middleman/go-between for new traders here; my husband and I will make sure you don't get short changed on prices... for a small percentage."

"Uh... thanks but we're not trading, we're hoping to find passage across the Atlantic."

"Perhaps you can tell us what kind of currency is used here?" DeGroot asked.

"Paper money is not trusted much, any recognisable coin is good for a small transaction, and straight trade is negotiated for larger items and bulk goods" she answered.

"Oh... then maybe you could advise me on these" DeGroot took a leather pouch from his pack.

It was not surprising that Blue had not seen this before; DeGroot never strayed far from the pack that held his precious books, and never let anyone see what else might be in there. He opened the pouch and took out a selection of coins to show the lady. She examined them closely, turning a few over to see the other side.

"We'd take the coins from Europe and the Americas, most people here would. But there's a few there I don't recognise" she noted.

"Oh those are some I picked up on the western side of the Pacific; Island Nations, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji... places like that."

"Well it looks like you've got enough in your hand for a good meal, but I doubt the whole bag would buy you passage across the Atlantic; you'd have to work for it."

"Oh we don't mind getting our hands dirty" DeGroot smiled.

"Well I'll ask around but you may have a long wait ahead of you. Most of the boats that come and go from here are fishers and traders from down the coast" the lady noted.

Having been caught up in the conversation, Blue was a little worried to see the corner table now only had two men sitting at it, and they both still had their eyes on him and DeGroot. Blue assumed the third member of the group had gone quietly out the back way.

"Mmm... this stew isn't bad" DeGroot said after taking a spoonful "I wonder how long we will have to wait before the right ship comes along; days, weeks or months?"

"The sooner the better, that's for sure" Blue mumbled.

As they sat and ate, the men in the corner continued to pretend not to be watching them, but ten minutes later when the third man returned through the front door, he had someone else with him. The newcomer definitely stood out from all the other people in the cafe. Several years older than Blue, the best word to describe her would have to be rough. Her light brown hair was long, flowing and rough. Her eyes were a rough dark hazel and her rough skin had seen a lot of sun and weather. Her thin muscular frame showed that her life had been pretty rough too; the most obvious sign being a 25% reduction in the number of limbs normally possessed by the average person. She smiled with a look of delight and relief as she gazed down.

"Henry Dias the 2nd; known to his friends as Blue" she said as she sat down at the table "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

'

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"Fascinating... simply fascinating" Professor Adisa smiled as he looked over the improved Star Runner.

He had never seen below the deck of the yacht before, so he had nothing to compare but he was aware it did not originally have a sealed hatch hidden under a false floor panel.

"Was Maynard upset when they cut the keel? I remember I was when they sliced the One and All" Branson admitted.

"Actually Dad was okay with it" Emerson informed them "Partly because he'd already seen it done to your ship, but mostly because the Star Runner can be returned to almost original condition; if we want to. Your tube keel is well hidden by the One and All's hull, so it was attached directly. But with a smaller yacht, the engineers needed to put it much lower in the water so it wouldn't be seen from the surface; that's why you'll find the ladder to the tube keel is so long."

"I'd love to see it out of the water" Branson admitted.

"Sorry Reed but I doubt you'll have the chance in the near future" the Professor said, disappointing everyone "We can't go back to Sumatra straight away or Sage will know he'd been tricked; not to mention the fact that he thinks this particular vessel is now sitting on the bottom of the Torres Straight."

"So what do we do Linton?" Henry asked.

"First we need to find a way to contact Sarah" he replied.

"Oh we can help you there" Doom smiled "Come into my parlour said the spider to the flies."

She lifted the hatch and started climbing down into the dark tunnel followed by Professor Adisa. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim lighting, and he felt much better now he could see the rungs rather than just feel for them. At the bottom, Doom took the Professor forward to the main computer system.

"Not much room to move in here" the Professor noted as he stooped to avoid hitting his head.

"Yeah they had to cram a lot in here, but it is functional" Doom replied.

Sitting the keyboard, lit only by the light from the monitor, Doom proceeded to type an odd phrase. Looking over her shoulder, the Professor read it out loud.

"Cooling Systems Optimal; okay so what does that mean?"

"Doctor Spencer had an idea to give us back worldwide communication... temporarily at least. With all the weird stuff going on here and in space..."

"Weird stuff?" Linton Adisa was not used to this kind of terminology.

"... Mrs. Dias decided to come back here to have her baby on Earth" Doom continued.

"April is on Earth again?" the Professor was quite amazed.

"I assume so; they were still working on it when we left... or had she just landed? So much was going on I just can't remember" Doom scratched her head.

"Never mind that, what about this communication system?"

"Oh... yeah... when the shuttle was launched to get Mrs. Dias, it also carried a thingy for shooting out tiny satellites."

"A cube sat launcher?" Linton asked.

"Yeah, that's what she called the doohickie. Anyway these cube sats can bounce signals all over the place so we can type out messages to each other. The One and All has the same system on board now too."

Doom smiled with satisfaction at having explained the situation without getting too lost in detail. Her knowledge in electronics had greatly increased since arriving at the Railgun Complex, but she still had trouble with some of the terminology.

"That doesn't explain what you typed" Linton noted.

"Oh it's code" she explained "When Sarah see's Cooling Systems Optimal on her screen, she knows it's us. But if Sage or anyone else should see it, they would think it was just the computer doing regular safety reports."

"Ah... clever; so what next?" Linton asked.

"We wait till someone notices" Doom replied.

And wait they did, but not for long. It only took a few minutes for someone back at the Railgun to notice the code words, and another few minutes to notify Doctor Spencer."

Ready to receive message; Sarah.

"Formal as always" Linton smiled "May I please?"

Doom moved to the side allowing the Professor to sit down at the keyboard.

Hi Sassyhe typed.

There was a short gap till the next message; Linton guessed correctly that Doctor Spencer had gotten emotional upon hearing from her old friend and mentor after so long.

Professor Adisa?

Of course it is; he replied.

Please tell me you are alright. Sarah asked.

I am and so is Henry. Captain Branson is not well, but we are taking good care of him now we are free.

So Sage agreed to release you; any caveats on the deal?

"Oh she is not going to like this" Linton declared as he typed.

Peter and Maynard now with Sage. Prisoners, hostages? I don't know. We are on the Star Runner with Doom and Emerson – Sage thinks yacht is sunk and we are trapped on island and awaiting rescue; but in reality we are all fine and free.

No reply came for a few minutes and Doom became worried.

"Why doesn't she answer?"

"Because my dear, Sarah has now realised that if Sage thinks we are trapped here, we cannot return home lest he find out the yacht did not sink and he was conned. She is trying to think of a way around the problem, but she will soon realise all her plans are far too risky."

You already know you can't come back here, don't you? Sarah typed at last.

Yes; but the question is, where should we go instead? The Professor typed back.

Doctor Sarah Spencer leant back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. She was so relieved to know the Professor and the others were alive and well, but still worried about Sage. How could she help her friends without accidentally putting them in more danger? After much thought, she picked up the intercom phone and called the ship beached nearby.

"It's Sarah here Willow; take anyone you need off any other project, but I want that electric tug in the water and ready to sail in under twenty four hours."

'

'

It was a windy day, but the sky was reasonably clear with only a few high scattered clouds; a perfect day for exploring. The wind blew in from the south so the dragon chose this as the first direction he would take while exploring the area around his new home. After an hour he had only seen a few rocky outcrops offering no real shelter, but they may come in handy one day as resting stops if he found himself a long way from home.

Eventually though, several small islands did appear below the clouds giving the dragon a real opportunity to do some exploring. Due to their smaller size, none of these islands would make a better home but they would support him if he one day was forced to leave his current residence. Most other dragons would be welcome to share his island, but there were some breeds he knew to avoid in order to maintain good health. And so after taking a wild rabbit for his lunch, the dragon took advantage of the prevailing tail wind to make his way back home once again, once again feeling highly satisfied with what he had achieved.

'

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Feeling much better now my cold is subsiding but I'm still a bit sniffily. Holiday break means house is cleaner, garden is neater, and about 500 to 800 words a day are being written. After being bogged down in the mountains for so long, I was glad to get Blue out of the woods and on his way again.

Sorry to hear about your cold Vin, and I certainly would not wish my illness on to others just to make me feel better (lol). Good idea about the gold mine but I do have Blue other good things happening to Blue, so I'm covered there.

You are right of course about the OC stories as the yearly Snoggletog tales always bring in more readers. In the end I am happy to do both just for the fun of it. I once tried to come up with some further stories featuring the characters from Bolthorn Castle because Berk Vikings can be involved in those too. But so far these ideas have not been great and they are still a work in progress.

As for Phyllis, I didn't even notice the similarity to Mildew's sheep Fungus (lol 2). Her name actually came from one of my favourite comic actresses, Cloris Leachman (Frau Blücher from Young Frankenstein) who once played a character named Phyllis Lindstrom in the Mary Tyler Moore Show and in her own spin off series. Gran's middle name Joyce was chosen randomly because the original idea of using the name Cloris just sounded weird when spoken. Phyllis Cloris; it sounds like the Latin name of an orchid (lol 3).