This was already a long chapter when I got the idea to include the letter from Blue and it soon became one of the longest chapters in the story so far, after chapter 30.

Stripesicles222's last review had me giggling with anticipation; there is still so much to be revealed and I hope it puts you all on the edge of your seats (bwa ha ha).

Chapter 31

Stranger than Fiction

Just before breakfast the following morning Emerson decided to assume it was once again safe to talk to his sister, so he went over and pressed the button next to Sarah Spencer's front door. After a brief greeting and kind offer of repast Sarah showed him to the dining area to meet with a person whose mood had not been helped by a good nights sleep.

"Blue's feeling better and the Doc has said its okay for him to go back out to the ship today if you'd like to come with us" Emerson offered.

"What makes you think I'd want to go anywhere with him?" came the terse reply.

"Oh dear" Sarah half smiled "What has our boy done now?"

"You didn't tell her?" Emerson half scolded his sister "After Calla knocked him out... again, he said something unexpected as he regained consciousness."

"What did he say?" Sarah expected Blue may have been quite rude.

"He said I was... cute" Calla almost whispered.

For some odd reason, Sarah had the same reaction as Emerson did at the time of the offending remark. If only Calla could have been aware; she was being followed by the Pilgrim Goose of Uncontrollable Laughter.

"It's not that funny" Calla huffed.

"It wouldn't be" Emerson admitted "but your reactions always make it so."

"Well of course I react you dunce; what choice do I have?"

Emerson thought for a moment until a brilliant thought came to mind.

"You're looking very beautiful today Ms. Spencer" he stated.

"Thank you good sir" she replied as if she were in Dickens novel "nice of you to notice."

"That, my dear sister, is how you should react to a compliment."

Calla head moved back and forth so quickly between Emerson and Sarah, she looked like she was watching a game of turbocharged light speed tennis.

"Oh... shut up, the both of you" and she returned to her eggs on toast.

"Perhaps I should read you this letter Blue wrote" Emerson said as he unfolded a piece of paper and sat down.

"Oh no" Calla sighed and prepared to be embarrassed once more.

"Ahem... Dear Calla" Emerson began "our first meeting was far from ideal, through no fault of yours, and my inexperience with new people has not helped our situation at all. Please be assured that although my latest faux pas was true, it was not my intent to upset you or curry favour. Also I have not been trying to make you feel like you are not intelligent because of your inexperience with many of the systems and machines I work with down here. To the contrary, I have been quite impressed with the quality of your questions along with your curiosity and desire to learn. It should also have become clear to you that I too have a lot to discover about living on the surface and I am already grateful for what I have learned from you and your family. I do hope we can put aside our differences and work as friends in the future. Thank you, Blue."

"Is he kidding?" Calla gasped.

"You have to consider what it has been like down here since Blue was a baby" Sarah sighed "Even thought this place is huge and has close to a hundred people living inside, it has not been easy for us to get along day after day, month after month, year after year and whenever there was a clash of personalities, we only had two real choices; learn to live with each other and respect each person's failings as well as their strengths, or take up knife fighting. I'm sure Blue has been giving all this serious thought and only wants this tension between you two to end."

"Of course he does" Calla huffed "he's in love with me."

The Pilgrim Goose of Uncontrollable Laughter again justified his decision to follow Calla wherever she went. Eventually Sarah and Emerson managed to control themselves once again, so Sarah sat down next to Calla and put her arm around the young girls shoulder.

"When I was your age, I constantly had to deal with other children who would always be looking for any excuse to make fun of me; and I was no better. We were kids and it's just the way we were. But Blue on the other hand has never had to be cautious about the things he would say. He learnt from a very young age how to express himself honestly because there were no other kids to tease him or make him feel foolish. I know he likes you, but if he had a full on crush, we'd all know about it because he'd never be able to hide it" Sarah insisted.

Calla picked up the letter Blue had written and went through it once again, trying to take it at face value instead of always reading between the lines. Maybe she could deal with him after all, but it wouldn't be easy.

Coping with the movement of a rolling deck on the open ocean was not the way Professor Linton Adisa had planned to spend his twilight years, but at least the One and All was far more stable than the Star Runner.

"I think I could get used to this" Henry Deming decided "cruising along while everyone else runs the ship is the only way to travel. Much better than all the rope pulling and boom swinging we had to do on the Star Runner; I feel positively lazy."

"You're very fortunate the weather is mild" Captain Branson mused.

"Maynard's yacht seems to be getting away from us" Linton noted.

"Yes the lighter vessels are much faster, which is why the Star Runner is our scout ship" Branson noted "She has the best chance of keeping a safe distance and outrunning anyone with hostile intent."

"You've been attacked in the past?" Henry asked.

"Not since I left the Americas, but it pays to be ready."

Something had been bothering Professor Adisa since the night before and with everyone settled into the journey, he decided now was a good time to bring it up.

"If I may ask Captain, what can you tell me about the man DeGroot? You seemed quite annoyed with him last evening."

"About the only thing I can tell you is this; there is something not quite right about Maximilian DeGroot."

"Is he dangerous?" Henry asked with concern.

Maynard had been the only other person besides Henry and Linton, surprised by DeGroots unexpected knowledge about the ship because very little had been revealed about it when his sudden outburst had occurred. It was odd enough he knew about the ships legs but when DeGroot had asked about April, the two men from the Railgun Complex had both been pecked by the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock. The strange little man now stood near the bow of the sailing ship holding a tattered leather suitcase close to his chest.

"DeGroot has said a lot of loopy things in the time I've known him, but he's never done anything to make me believe he is dangerous."

"I wonder what is in his suitcase?" Henry pondered.

"Papers mostly" Reed replied "Almost all are in English, but there are many in some strange stick language; he has lots of drawings too but he rarely lets anyone see them."

"I see" Linton exhaled nervously "When we get to our destination we'll be watching him closely; I'd like to ask you to do the same."

"No problem but perhaps you would like to tell me what has got you so concerned."

Professor Adisa thought for a moment before he spoke.

"I have come to have some trust in Maynard Linwood and he appears to put much trust in you. So what I tell you, please hold closer to your chest than DeGroot is holding his suitcase."

"I'll do my best" Reed offered.

"April Dias, or April Haddock as DeGroot referred to her, was indeed on the ship in question" Linton began.

"And you are worried what he may do when he sees her?"

"April was killed in an EFA attack fifteen years ago, but her child was not and lives with us today. Chances are you will meet him soon after we arrive, but I think we should find out more about what DeGroot is up to before we let him meet the boy."

"I'll make sure he is not on the first boat to go ashore so you will have time to make preparations and talk to the boy in question; or hide him if you need to."

"Thank you Captain; I appreciate what you're doing" Linton nodded. "Is there anything else you can tell us about him?"

"Nothing useful" Reed pondered. "I first encountered him in Canada almost twenty years ago. I was working on a fishing boat one summer out of Bathurst, New Brunswick and he came in on a trawler. Apparently he'd been searching Newfoundland and Labrador for any old Viking settlements and was working his way slowly south; I didn't see again him for another ten years. Over time I'd moved on through the United States but went to South America just to avoid the fighting between the people of The Mars Project and the EFA.

One day DeGroot turned up in Barranquilla Columbia; he was arrested for looting at the remains of the local office of Births, Deaths and Marriages but he claimed he was only checking records. They let him go when he said he was headed to French Guiana and promised never to return."

Henry and the professor glanced sideways at each other; they weren't sure if there was a connection but they both knew Blues father, Luis Dias was Columbian.

"About a year ago I was in Montevideo Uruguay when I signed up as a member of the One and All crew" Reed Branson continued. "Soon after, we departed South America for Australia and I found out DeGroot was on board making his way to Europe; he's been travelling with us ever since."

"And you're now the captain of the One and All?" Henry noted.

"Funny how things work out" Branson grinned "Half the crew left the ship when we arrived in Sydney and soon after, we met the Linwoods. A few months of fitting out the ferries and we're on our way to Europe."

"You made the Ferries into floating homes I assume" Henry thought.

"And you'd assume incorrectly. There are people living on board but neither of them works anymore; we just use the tugboats to drag them around."

"What on earth for?" Professor Adisa asked.

"We've turned them into processing ships" Reed informed them "anywhere we can get food; we also get oil from plants, fish, and animal fats. One ship has the equipment for extraction and the other one has the gear to refine bio-diesel. It's how we get electricity and fuel for the tugs; along with the One and All and some of the smaller boats."

"But this is a sailing ship" Henry declared as the Grey Heron of Stating the Obvious strutted by in front of him.

"She's a Brigantine to be precise but she does have a diesel engine too. Don't worry men, we'll make sailors out of you yet" Reed chuckled.

By the time Sarah and her young charges arrived back at the ship, the metal ramps had all been put in place, providing a road across the sand and a single unit shipping container was already on its way to the complex entry ramp almost thirty kilometres away.

"Once we've got the first few layers of containers out, We'll have enough room inside to do some sorting" Willow Pascal informed them.

"How long will it take to clear each layer?" Calla asked, wondering if it would be done today.

"Not long" Willow answered "a couple of weeks maybe."

"WEEKS!?" Calla gasped as the Magpie of Heart Stopping Shock flew in from the One and All and perched on a nearby railing.

"You have to remember there are over one hundred and twenty containers per layer; there's a lot of stuff on this ship and we have to make room for about 2% of it in the complex."

What will happen to the rest?" Emerson asked.

"Stored and sorted here till it's needed; we'll probably set up some construction projects here too" Willow answered.

"Sorry guys but this is just far too boring" Calla decided and to a certain degree, she was right. "I'm going back up to the deck to see if I can spot the Star Runner."

"Wait a second before you go" Sid called as he rummaged through his gear bag.

"Oh; thanks very much" Calla smiled as he offered her a pair of binoculars.

It took Calla a few minutes to get around to the side of the ship and begin climbing the ladder on the port bow leg but as she progressed upwards, the Storm Petrel of Mild Surprise circled overhead. Calla did not expect to hear the sound of people working up top but as she stepped onto the deck, she saw four people working on the bow crane and several more cutting up the pipes running fore and aft down the centre line of the ship. Not being sure exactly what they were up to, she began her long walk to the stern of the ship.

Upon her eventual arrival, Calla found there had been many changes made to the superstructure and the cabins within. She had not realised about a dozen people from the complex had begun cleaning and making alterations. So much had changed in the last few days Calla could hardly recognise the same filthy place where she had slept that first night; there was even air conditioning but she had no idea where the power was coming from.

She didn't recognise any of those working on the bridge, but Calla did notice a man with a very familiar looking set of tattoos.

"Hi there; I'm Calla" she introduced herself "I just noticed your Maori tattoo. Are you from New Zealand too?"

"Well hello little lady" the man smiled "You're close but I'm Samoan. Peter Moke is my name and I'm pleased to finally meet you; you're the kid who tried to take out Blue, aren't you?"

"What makes you think I wanna take him out?" Calla shot back "He doesn't interest me at all."

"No I mean you bombed him, fell on him; a total wipe out I hear. I must admit I was amazed when I heard you'd survived sliding all the way down one of the pressure release vents."

"Err, thank you... I guess. I was going to look out for my Dad in the Star Runner; how do I get out to the stern?"

"Come with me and I'll show you."

Peter Moke led Calla down one level before weaving through the corridors and out to the stern of the ship. He chose a place under the helipad where Calla had an uninterrupted view of the horizon and plenty of shade.

"Thanks; this will do nicely" Calla smiled as she removed the binoculars from their case.

Peter left and went back to the bridge as Calla settled down to wait. There was nothing to be seen in the distance yet so the young girl pondered all that had happened since she and her family had arrived and spent their first night on the ship. She thought the last few days had been quite an adventure, but now Professor Adisa was talking about sending them all to Mars. Was it a bad joke or a bad dream? The more she thought about it, the more Calla doubted it was even possible; especially with nothing but a ship full of fifteen year old junk. The Ibis of Doubt was strutting proudly along the handrail but the Wood Duck of Curiosity was definitely vying for attention as well.

Calla's train of thought was suddenly derailed when an unfamiliar alarm erupted and made her jump. As she wondered what she should do about it, the door behind her opened and Peter Moke called to her.

"You'd better come inside" he warned "a tsunami will be hitting us in a few minutes.

Sometimes the things we write are influenced by what we have read in the past. While I was doing a re-write and extension of this chapter, a light went off in my head as I realised I had given Calla many traits of the character Yukino Miyazawa from the manga Kare Kano. I suppose that means Blue must be part Hiccup Haddock and part Soichiro Arima.