Ghosts is one of my favorite Tugs episodes, and I wanted to use the events of the episode at some point in Death on the Water. I also wanted to explain the events of the episode within the story itself, such as the Storm and the Face of Neptune.
It was the second week of October, and Bigg City was hit by a cold snap. The weather was normally temperate during this time of year, but temperatures dropped down to freezing. To make matters worse, Mittsville and some of the smaller towns Up River were covered in a blanket of snow. As a result, people were saying that winter had come early. The tugs did not mind the cold weather, but they were annoyed at how it was affecting their contracts.
During this time, Burke and Blair were starting to make progress with making friends with the White Fleet. Relations were starting to improve to say the least, but many of the White Fleet tugs did not trust Burke and Blair. After some words from Ded Moroz and the Museum, the breaker tugs now had a job. If they helped bring the galleon in, they would earn some of the money promised by the Museum. The breaker tugs took this as a sign that Hades was helping them, and they smiled as they hurried back home.
That night, some chunks of ice floated down near Bigg City. The White Fleet were ready to go, with the mission of transmit the information via Morse Code. They sailed on from the pier to check on the ice, unaware that they were being followed. Hercules watched their actions with great interest, hoping he would see the galleon amongst the chunks of ice. However, he did not want to get caught by the White Fleet and reported to the Port Authority. Instead, he closed his eyes and strayed near some rocks, the area around him and the tugs getting extremely foggy.
"Ded Moroz, I think we should turn back." A White Fleet tug whispered, sweating nervously. He was the first to notice that the light blanket of fog had suddenly become thick, and it was clear that he was worried. "This fog is becoming way too dangerous for us!"
The lead tug shrugged off the concerns, and sailed on. They were soon forced to turn on their lights, as there was the real risk of colliding with other vessels in the area. They turned off their engines, listening for cracks in the ice. No one made a sound, not wanting to make mistakes when it came to transmitting the information to other vessels. It made the White Fleet almost look like ghosts.
At the same time, Scuttlebutt Pete's operator (who was named Pete) was walking along the pier. Although he was friends with the Star Fleet, he liked to snoop in and gossip on their affairs. It was his nature after all! As Pete walked on, he cursed under his breath about how thick the fog was. Then, he saw them.
The White Fleet were now close to the pier where Pete was on, tracking the ice and transmitting the information as needed. He did a double take, wondering if what he was seeing was real. After a minute, he paled, realizing that what he was seeing was no mere fantasy. To make matters worse, he spotted a maroon tug getting close to the White Fleet. Pete gasped and ran for his life, screaming, "Ghosts! Ghosts in the harbor!"
The next morning, Big Mac was doing some dredging with Scuttlebutt Pete in tow. As the harbor tug was working, he couldn't help but notice that the normally chatty operator of the dredger was quiet. After a minute, he asked, "Are ye alright Pete? You look like you saw a ghost!"
Pete answered with, "I did see ghosts! A whole group of them! They were bright white and came out of the fog, looking for lost souls."
"Pete, you were probably drunk!" Big Mac huffed, not believing the operator (Pete had a tendency to drink). "If ye saw ghosts, what would they have looked like though?"
"These weren't the ghosts of sailors!" The man said, getting more and more nervous as he spoke. "These ghosts were the ghosts of tugboats! I thought they lost their faces too!"
"Faceless ghost tugs? At the dead of night?" Big Mac was confused by Pete's claims. "Petey, what exactly did they look like though? Did they have megaphones at least?"
"As far as I could tell, no." Pete replied with a shrug. Non-sentient vessels were required to have megaphones, as living vessels could not understand humans when they spoke at a normal volume. Megaphones gave humans the relief of speaking to living vessels without their voices going hoarse. If these tugs lacked megaphones, they would have been deemed a safety hazard and detained by the Port Authority.
Pete's answer was very concerning. Big Mac normally did not believe whatever words came out of the man's mouth, but this story was convincing. Once dredging was finished, Big Mac took Scuttlebutt Pete back to the dock and went to go tell the others about what happened. Hopefully they would take him seriously, especially with rumors of the grim reaper still swirling around.
At the Star Dock, Ten Cents and Sunshine were getting their afternoon assignments when they saw Big Mac return.
"Scuttlebutt Pete saw a ghost last night." Big Mac replied, his voice becoming rather quiet as he spoke. "Or rather, a ghost fleet."
The news was troubling to say the least. "A ghost fleet?" Top Hat asked doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. "Were they one of Pete's drunken tales? Or was it another ruse by the Zeds?"
"It wasn't a ruse lad." Big Mac replied. "He was still sweatin' bullets over it when I spoke to him this morning. And he looked sober too."
"Ghost fleet?" O.J. asked, processing the information. After a moment, he came to a conclusion. "They must have been the ghosts of those caught up in The Storm of 1912!"
"The Storm of 1912?" Ten Cents asked. "The only notable maritime tragedy we know of from that year was the sinking of the Titanic! What was it anyway?"
"Well you see…" O.J. said, and soon started his his tale. "Four tugs were sailing home to Bar Harbor after they completed an important contract here in Bigg City. They were caught up in a wicked storm while en route and never made it home. They all sank, and the bodies of their crews were never found. They say they still sail that route, always disappearing when they get close to home."
"That story is ludicrous!" Top Hat snapped. "If such a thing happened, why wasn't it recorded and published in our newspapers?"
"They did record it. They even did a search for survivors and all!" O.J. replied, and an argument soon broke out between the paddle wheel tug and the railway tug. Ten Cents and Sunshine decided to slip away, wanting to get their assignments done.
"Ghost tugs?" Sunshine asked, his head spinning at the information. It was all very new to him after all. "Don't you think the grim reaper has something to do with it?"
"Wouldn't be surprised at this point." Ten Cents replied, looking ahead. "He might be using the ghosts to cover up for his actions. Or they're his minions."
"Minions?" The smaller switcher was intrigued. However, his train of thought was interrupted when he spotted Pete eating his lunch. "We should ask Pete himself what happened. After all, he saw the ghosts first!" He said, looking up to Ten Cents.
Ten Cents agreed, and they steamed up to Pete. "Hey Pete, we need to ask you something!" He said, blowing his whistle to draw the man's attention. "It's about last night!"
Pete almost spat out his lunch at the blast of the whistle, and grabbed his megaphone. "Sorry Ten Cents, let a man eat first!" He said, wiping crumbs off. "What did ya need anyway?"
"The ghosts!" Ten Cents answered, looking at the dredger. "We have a question about the ghosts you saw last night."
"I figure Mac already told you." Pete replied, placing his lunchbox down. "Why'd you come here and ask then?"
"We wanted to know if the grim reaper is involved too!" Sunshine answered, and told Pete about the grim reaper and what they were trying to do to stop him. He also told Pete about the numerous rumors they heard from the other vessels. "We think he's using the ghosts as a decoy! Or they're his goons!"
"Well, I did see a maroon tug when I spotted the ghosts. But I don't remember much about him." Pete said, recollecting the information he had. "I heard stories that the grim reaper often works alone, so he must have been trying to reap the ghosts I saw!"
Reap the ghosts? It now clicked! Ten Cents and Sunshine were pleased with this information, and it helped that Pete always tried to stay up to date with what was happening (even if he was wrong most of the time). "We have to get going. Thanks Pete!" The switchers said in unison, heading off to their next assignment.
"Good luck kids!" Pete said, waving them off before going back to his lunch. "I hope they succeed…"
Little did everyone know that Hercules had heard everything. He was on his way to speak to Lillie when he caught wind of the conversation, and had slipped behind some buildings to listen. One half of him was panicking, as he didn't want the truth about the maroon tug and the ghosts to come out. The other half wanted him to punish Ten Cents and Sunshine. They were his friends, but they were starting to catch on when it came to his habits. A few minutes later, the temperature dropped, becoming almost unbearable for anyone who was outside. Hercules came out of his hiding spot, looking around before heading towards the pier where Lillie was anchored at. Hopefully this weather change would prevent anyone else from snooping in.
That evening, the White Fleet were getting ready for their patrols. Burke and Blair were nearby, equipped with a barge for transporting the galleon. "Now, we need you two to come along with us this time." Ded Moroz said, looking at the tugs. "We had thick fog last night, so we need you two as backup in case we run into trouble."
Burke and Blair nodded, but they couldn't help but see a larger tug in the distance. They they figured that it was Hades, but didn't alert the White Fleet about him. After all, he made that promise to assist them with finding the galleon when the deal was made. Once everything was finalized, the group set off.
Hercules watched the group set off into the night, and quietly followed them. With a few puffs of smoke, the area became shrouded in a thick coat of fog. No one would be able to track him or his movements now. And hopefully, he wouldn't get anyone to pursue him this time.
As the White Fleet sailed on, they turned on their lights to find and locate the ice. However, with each turn they made to find the ice, they scared vessels instead. The tugs tried to show that they were harmless, but their replies were in vain as one vessel after another hurried away from them.
After a hilarious incident involving Zorran and Izzy Gomez, one of the White Fleet tugs had enough. "Why is everyone getting scared of us?" He asked. "We mean no harm! And we aren't getting anywhere with finding the ice!"
Ded Moroz was not happy, and silenced his subordinate with a stare. "We will find that iceberg, even if those- Good Lord!" He was interrupted when he spotted something odd in the distance. It looked like a tugboat, one with maroon paint. Ded Moroz, like many others, had heard stories of a maroon tug. He soon shouted, "Run away! The reaper is here!"
At the same time, Ten Cents and Sunshine were towing a fuel barge to Lillie Lightship. Although the weather was foggy, they were determined to make it to their destination. Suddenly, they saw a group of white tugs hurrying off, and a weird shape in the fog! "It must be the ghosts! And the reaper too! Let's blow our hooters to scare them off!" Ten Cents suggested.
While all of this was happening, Hercules had gotten incredibly close to the iceberg. He was excited to say the least, and was pleased that he would work with no interruptions. However, he stopped when he heard the whistles of two familiar tugs. Those must have been Ten Cents and Sunshine! He quickly realized that if they saw him like this, he would be detained or worse, destroyed. His options were running out too, making the situation worsen. He soon settled on one option, one that would certainly scare them off.
As Ten Cents and Sunshine inched closer to the shape in the fog, they were shocked to see a galleon emerge from the water. They watched as the ghostly white tugs turn around, apparently having heard their comments about the galleon. Then, an explosion happened, followed by lightning!
The switchers were frozen in fear, and couldn't move. The clouds around them contorted into a face, one that was angry. The switchers swore they could hear demonic laughter, but with the rumbling of thunder, they couldn't tell. Once the storm ended, Ten Cents and Sunshine hurried back to Bigg City, not caring about Lillie and her fuel at this point. They sailed past the white tugs, not giving much attention to them at this point.
The next morning, the Star Tugs were gathered together at the Star Dock, relating their experiences of the night before to each other. Ten Cents and Sunshine were also scolded by Captain Starr for failing to do the fuel delivery, as many ships would have been put in danger if Lillie ran out of fuel.
"The ghosts were calm, and they weren't afraid of us!" Ten Cents exclaimed. "When we saw them, we also saw a large shape in the-"
However, the switcher was interrupted when Hercules blasted his whistle and steamed in. "Something wrong? You all looked like you're scared out of your wits!" He asked, noticing the concerned expressions on their faces. The other tugs told him of their encounters with the ghost tugs, and he said, "That must have been the White Fleet you saw. They came down here to track a galleon on behalf of the Bigg City Maritime Museum!"
As he explained the details of last night to the other Star Tugs, he noticed his comrades' expressions change from fear to relief. He now had one less thing to worry about now. However, he was disappointed to see how his friends fell for the ghost stories. He expected better of them! This was Bigg City, not Halifax!
O.J. noticed this and asked in a calm voice, "Are you alright lad? You look like you're bothered about something."
Hercules said, "I'm fine old darling. Just a little tired, that's all." He was very good at lying and concealing how he truly felt. The way the other Stars described the thick fog to him made him panic. If they investigated further, they would have doomed themselves. He also couldn't help but glance at Burke and Blair as they towed the galleon to the breaker's yard.
"Ten Cents and I also saw the face of Neptune himself! Crown and all!" Sunshine exclaimed, wanting an opinion on what he and his friend saw. After all, no one was able to properly explain it.
"I doubt you you saw Neptune Sunshine. After all, he is from fairy tales." Hercules said in a soft voice, assuring the switcher that it was just an illusion. "You must have seen storm clouds, and sometimes people make clouds into all sorts of shapes." This made Sunshine sigh a breath of relief.
Deep down, Hercules was not happy at all. He was rather furious in fact. As he watched the other Star Tugs leave for contract work, he couldn't help but glare at Ten Cents and Sunshine. The switchers got close to uncovering the truth of what he had done after all. He had no choice but to play more dangerous cards.
There was no going back...
Oh Ten Cents and Sunshine, you're taking on a foewho won't go down easily...