Ghosts

Written by David Mitton with elements of the Salty Lighthouse episode "Blackout"

Adapted by Jonathan Downs, Rachel Ravens and Zack Wanzer

Shortly after Ten Cents' repairs were completed, a medal ceremony was arranged for him, Big Mac, O.J., Warrior, Hercules, Sunshine, Zorran, Zebedee, Zob and Sea Rogue. Aside from myself, Captain Zero, Sea Rogue's manager and Admiral Cardona, other dignitaries were present such as the chief of the Bigg City Fire Department, the mayor of Bigg City, Governor Edward Irving Edwards and even President Warren Gamaliel Harding himself. Zip, Zug, Grampus, Zilly and O'Malley gave smiles of pride for their friends/colleagues, Zak and Zeus looked on in jealousy and Top Hat looked on in guilt. I hung Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J., Warrior, Hercules and Sunshine's medals on a frame outside the announcing house. Captain Zero would also hang Zorran, Zebedee and Zob's medals outside his announcing house, and Sea Rogue's manager did the same.

Now, Top Hat had been put on dredger detail as punishment for his cowardice and he accepted it. To his credit, Top Hat did work hard and Grampus (who had been just as disappointed as the rest of us) and I felt we could trust him. Unfortunately, the other Star Tugs were not as forgiving, as Top Hat found out.

"You ran away from the fire when your friends were in danger!" grunted Scuttlebutt. "So much for rushing in to save Little Owl during the railbridge incident."

"Of course you would be the first to know…" sighed Top Hat.

"At least we can rely on him!" snapped Ten Cents, who was fighting angry tears as he passed with Sunshine. "You're nothing but a fraud, Top Hat! You're not a true Star Tug!"

"Come now, Ten Cents," soothed Sunshine. "Let's go see Pearl and Little Ditcher. That might calm you down a bit." This isn't over, Top Hat, she added silently, glaring at the railway tug.

As harsh as they were, it was understandable why my tugs felt that way towards Top Hat. Of course, he would end up redeeming himself, but I'll save that for a future story.

When Big Mickey's crane was repaired, it was decided to name it after his former operator as a tribute. After that, Big Mickey (the crane) was stationed at the steelworks for a few more years.

A few days after the fire, a funeral was held for Big Mickey (the operator) at Toptown where everyone in Bigg City attended, including the Stars and the Z-Stacks. Sea Rogue, O'Malley, Billy Shoepack, Boomer, Finbar, Peeper Pipes, Puffa, Little Owl and Lillie were there too. As Big Mickey's coffin was lowered into the ground, Captain Zero, Mr. Lloyd, Admiral Cardona and I gave him a final salute and the tugs all lowered their flags to half mast. Billy didn't once say a word as he didn't think it would be respectful for Big Mickey or the other workers who were killed in the fire.

Everyone had experienced shock and trauma from the fire and a couple of months after the fire, these feelings of shock and trauma would manifest themselves in an eerie way.

The Bigg City Port was now in the grips of winter. It had come earlier than expected and with it came the fog. None of us liked fog, but in those days, it was worse. Tugs had no radio and no radar. Long periods of fog had a way of conjuring up old sea stories and superstitions among the boats of the harbour.

I remember Big Mac returned quite late. He'd been working all day with Scuttlebutt Pete, who had been telling him old sea stories of strange things that happened when fog was around. As he passed derelict buildings, they seemed to take on ghostly shapes. They groaned and creaked as if they were alive. As Big Mac came close to an old warehouse, he heard a whisper which grew louder.

"Hullo? Hullo?" asked Big Mac. "Who's that oot thare?!" He then heard several objects crashing down. "Ooh, Ah'm getting hame fast! Fog or no fog!"

Big Mac rushed away before stopping and saw other tugs sailing towards him.

"Och, tugs!" he said with relief. "Thank goodness fur…" Then, the tugs cut in front of him, glowing white and sailing silently. "Who's that? Who's that ahead o' me th' nicht?" the Scottish harbour tug asked. "Can't hear thair engines, that's funny…" Then, a horrifying realisation dawned on him. "They're th' Ghost Fleet! That Scuttlebutt Pete talked aboot! Ghosts! No!" Big Mac cried in fear; it was too much for him. Forgetting safety, he charged into the fog and made his way through the dark shapes of moored boats and trampers, trying to make sure the ghost tugs weren't following him. He was soon back at the Star Dock, where the rest of the Star Fleet, except Hercules, were resting.

"Slow down!" said Top Hat. "You know better than to travel in fog at that rate of knots."

"Are you alright?" asked O.J.. "You look as if you've seen a ghost!"

"Ah… well…" began Big Mac, "Ah saw something. Ah… na, Ah can't tell ye. You'll ainlie laugh."

"What? Oh look, come on," insisted Top Hat. "We won't if it's serious!"

"Well… Ah hae seen ghosts!" said Big Mac.

"What?!" exclaimed Top Hat. "You've seen what?!"

"Ghosts!" insisted Big Mac. "Ye ken Scuttlebutt's story aboot those tugs that sank in th' Great Storm o' 1912!"

"And they're coming back to get you!" joked Warrior.

"Oh, Big Mac!" scoffed Ten Cents. "You're not taking Scuttlebutt's story for real, are you?"

"Aye, weel, I'm nae aff hoorin' thare again till th' rowk lifts!" replied Big Mac.

"Ha! Well, I never thought I'd hear that from a harbour tug!" retorted Top Hat.

"Says the tug who refused to help with the fire two months ago," snarked Ten Cents.

"Well, he could have seen something," suggested Sunshine. "There could be ghosts! You never know!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, really…" scoffed Top Hat.

Zip and Zug had overheard everything and saw the chance for a tease.

"Trying to pull a practical joke, are we, Big Mac?" sneered Zug.

"You're not scaring us," said Zip.

"Ah'm nae trying tae friten ye," insisted Big Mac. "Ah saw it wi' mah ain eyes. Thay wur as pale as sea foam, quiet as clouds. Thay glowed lik' thay wur alive."

"The only thing that's alive is your imagination," said Zug.

"It was nae mah imagination!" snapped Big Mac.

"Or maybe it was something you ate," laughed Zip.

"Stupid!" snapped Zug. "Tugs can't eat anything! Now, come on, Zip; we have to collect some, erm, 'treasure' for Captain Zero."

"Keep an eye oot fur the ghost tugs," warned Big Mac.

"Sure," said Zip sarcastically. "Maybe we'll even see a mermaid or a sea monster."

The two Zero switchers laughed as they moved off.

Zip and Zug collected their "treasure" and made their way past moored boats.

"Ooh, the air is chilly tonight," shivered Zug.

"And the fog's getting thicker," agreed Zip.

Then, they heard something.

"What was that?" asked Zug.

"More like who was that?" said a familiar voice; it was Sea Rogue.

"W-what are you doing here?" asked Zip.

"I've just made a delivery of explosives to the navy," said Sea Rogue. "I think the better question is, what are you two…"

"Zug, Sea Rogue, look!" gasped Zip, noticing the ghost tugs in front of her.

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Sea Rogue. "Ghost tugs!"

"Big Mac was right!" said Zug. "They're coming to get us!"

"Calm down, Zug!" insisted Zip. "They look like tugs, they move like tugs, but… they don't sound like tugs!"

"That's because ghosts don't make sounds," said Zug.

"Wait a minute," said Sea Rogue. "Is it me or do they look like Flotsam or Jets– Oh, dear Neptune! O'Malley!"

Sea Rogue took off without another word.

"Flotsam and Jetsam!" Zip and Zug shrieked in fright. "Let's get out of here!" And the two Zero switchers reversed away as quickly as possible but they accidentally struck their barge on a buoy. The barge sank to the bottom and the "treasure" was lost.

"Uh-oh!" Zip and Zug said in unison.

"You think Captain Zero's going to be cross with us?" gulped Zip.

"YOU IDIOTS!" roared Captain Zero, early the next day. "THAT 'TREASURE' WAS WORTH MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND YOU… YOU LOST IT!"

"Yeah, and all because you bought in Big Mac's ghost stories!" sneered Zorran.

"There are ghost ships, I tell you!" snapped Zug.

"Big Mac was right!" insisted Zip.

"Great, now they're ganging up on us with their tall tales," groaned Zak.

"What is going on?" asked Zob. He and Zebedee had been working up river all night and the latter had gone to refuel.

"Big Mac and those two little tugs claimed to have ghost tugs last night," snarked Zeus.

"What?! Them as well?" asked Zob. He and Zebedee had seen Sea Rogue return to the Munitions Factory in a panic. Sea Rogue had been relieved to see O'Malley safe, but there was a specific bit Zob had caught – ghost ships.

"Don't tell me you believe that nonsense!" said Zorran.

"No, Zorran, I don't," Zob said, matter-of-factly.

"SHUT IT!" shouted Captain Zero. "ZIP, ZUG, YOU'RE ON DREDGER DETAIL WITH SCUTTLEBUTT PETE! THE REST OF YOU, GET TO WORK!"

With that, the Z-Stacks set to work, but Zob went over to the space near the Star Dock. The Star Fleet all had their orders. As they moved out, they were giving Big Mac a hard time about his "ghosts."

"Ah knew Ah shouldn't hae tellt thaim," muttered Big Mac. "Ah juist knew it."

"Don't mind them, the fog plays funny tricks on us," O.J. assured as he set off for work. "Nothing really to worry about. As long as you mind what you're doing, keep your wits about you… But, ghosts, Big Mac…" The old paddle-driven tug let out a chuckle as he left.

"Ah could've bin seeing things," sighed Big Mac. "Seemed real enough mynd at th' time." Zob listened with concern. But that wouldn't be the only scary thing any of the tugs would experience…

It was nighttime and Hercules was out in the estuary. Then, he saw Ten Cents with a flaming fuel barge.

"Hold on, little brother!" Hercules called. "I'm coming!" But when he tried to move, he found that he couldn't.

"Oh no… There is no way that I'm out of–" Hercules began.

Suddenly, the fuel barge exploded before Ten Cents could even reverse and it took him with it.

"What?! No… No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hercules screamed in anguish.

Hercules jumped awake from his nightmare, panting. He was at the coal depot with Puffa and Little Owl, the latter of whom had been startled by the ocean-going tug's screaming.

"Hercules, don't do that!" she snapped. "You could've caused me to get into an accident!"

"Got that right," her engineer sighed. "I nearly fell out of her cab!"

"Oh– Er– I'm sorry, m'dears," said Hercules.

"It's alright. What were you dreaming about?" asked Little Owl.

"Nothing I can talk about," said Hercules.

"It might help if you did," insisted Little Owl.

"Or it might give you nightmares as well…" said Hercules. "I won't let that happen to you."

"I can't tell whether that's selfless or just stupid," said Puffa. "Look, Hercules; you need help. If not from us, then someone."

"Who?" asked Hercules.

"How about Captain Lucky?" suggested Puffa.

"That's right, she's a professional counsellor," agreed Little Owl. "It might help if you talk to her."

"I don't know…" replied Hercules.

"What's the worst that can happen?" asked Puffa.

"Nothing changes?" suggested Hercules.

"Trust me, Hercules," said Puffa. "Talking about a trauma does help, even the tiniest bit."

"Alright, alright," sighed Hercules. "I'll go see Captain Lucky."

"Brilliant," said Puffa. "If you like, I can ask the coal depot manager to pass the message onto Captain Star."

"That'd be great," said Hercules. "Thank you, m'dear."

"No worries," said Puffa.

Later on, Hercules was having a counselling session with Captain Lucky at Lucky's yard. She felt that mental health was just as important as the tugs' physical health, so she took a course in counselling to help the tugs as much as she could.

"Goodness, Hercules!" said Captain Lucky. "No wonder you're having nightmares."

"They got worse after I heard how many people were killed in the explosion," replied Hercules. "One hundred and twenty-six. One hundred and twenty-six people killed all because Bluenose wouldn't put common sense before orders! And Ten Cents would have been the hundred and twenty-seventh if he didn't get out of the way in time. I… I couldn't go and help him…"

"Do you feel guilty about that?" asked Captain Lucky.

"I don't know," sighed Hercules. "I mean, I do wonder if we could have prevented the fire had we just gotten Bluenose out of there before something happened, and that's what makes it so frustrating! If we had just gotten Bluenose out of there earlier… a few miserable seconds earlier…"

"Hercules, it doesn't help if you focus on what might have happened," said Captain Lucky. "Maybe you could have prevented the fire, or maybe Bluenose would have barged in regardless of you ignoring him. You might not have prevented those hundred and twenty-six people dying, but you saved many more from experiencing that same fate, and you should be proud of that."

"You know, I never thought of it like that," said Hercules. "Thank you, Captain Lucky. That's a tremendous weight off my mind!"

"My pleasure, Hercules," said Captain Lucky. "And I would recommend you talk to the others about it. I'm sure they'd be willing to offer their support."

"I will, old darling," said Hercules as he left. "Thank you very much."

"Anytime, dearie," smiled Captain Lucky. "Anytime."

As Hercules left, he saw Zebedee.

"Ah, good morning, Zebedee!" called Hercules.

"Morning, Hercules," replied Zebedee. "You're rather cheerful."

"Oh, I just spoke to Captain Lucky," said Hercules.

"Counseling?" asked Zebedee.

"Yes, how'd you know?" asked Hercules

"Puffa mentioned it when I saw him earlier," replied Zebedee. "'A jolly good idea,' I said. I… think I could use it after the, er… Johnny Cuba incident."

"Ah, I understand," said Hercules.

"I agree," said Sea Rogue, who had just arrived. "I'm going to see her right now for my own experience."

"What do you mean, your own– oh!" gasped Hercules. "You mean the stolen barges–"

But before Sea Rogue could elaborate further, Zob came up to them.

"Hercules, we have a situation," he said seriously, and quickly explained about Big Mac, Zip, Zug and Sea Rogue's encounters.

"So they've found out?" gasped Hercules.

"Found out what?" asked Zebedee.

"You know something about this?" asked Sea Rogue in surprise.

"I'd better explain," sighed Zob. "Hercules, you go back and tell Captain Star."

"Right away, m'dear," replied Hercules, setting off back for the Star Dock. "Good luck with your counseling session, Sea Rogue."

"Thanks, Hercules," replied Sea Rogue.

"Oh dear…" Hercules sighed to himself.

"So we've had four sightings in one night?" I asked.

"Yes, sir," said Hercules. "Not exactly what Captain Zero was hoping for."

"But exactly what you, Zob and I said would happen," I sighed.

"Perhaps we should consider telling the others what's going on," said Hercules, "before any incidents like this happen."

"You're right, Hercules," I said. "I'm going to have a word with Captain Zero about this and see if he can be persuaded to explain everything, especially since Zob has had to explain it to Zebedee and Sea Rogue. But I must warn you – I'm not making any promises."

"Understood, Captain," said Hercules.

"By the way," I asked, "how was your counselling session with Captain Lucky?"

"She's given me excellent advice," replied Hercules. "Captain Star, I would like to talk about my trauma."

I listened as Hercules explained about his nightmares. I felt sorry for him, but it did lift a weight off Hercules' rudder.

"You are a good brother to Ten Cents, Hercules," I smiled. "And you always will be."

"Thank you, sir."

That evening, Warrior was making his way back to port. Some shrimpers were following, using him as a guide through the fog.

"Hey, Warrior!" called the shrimpers. "Are you sure you know your way?"

"'Course I do!" replied Warrior. "Do you trust me or don't ya? A bit of fog's nothing to worry about, I've got a natural sense of direction! If we were running into anything, I'd know…" Then he spotted a mud bank. "'Cor! Where did that come from?" exclaimed Warrior, swerving violently, just in time to miss the mud bank. "Phew, that was lucky. Better head out a bit!"

But the Shrimpers were not so lucky and they ran aground on the mud bank.

"Oh! Ah! Help, Warrior! Oh no! Ahh! Warrior!" the Shrimpers cried in alarm.

"Quiet! When you can't see… What the…" exclaimed Warrior as he spotted the ghost tugs. "Cripes! Who are they?! I don't believe… Yes, I do! It's, it's what Big Mac saw! The Ghost Fleet! It's a Ghost Fleet!" Warrior quickly reversed away.

Izzy Gomez, the old tramper, had failed all day to get a cheap tow into port. So he decided to try to sneak in for free, with the help of the fog. But no sooner had he lifted his anchor when Zorran, who was out on distress calls, pulled alongside him.

"Hello, Hello!" called Zorran.

"Hmm…"

"Ha ha!" chuckled Zorran. "You never learn, do you Izzy, eh? Ha ha! Crime doesn't pay, ya know!"

"Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black," snarked Izzy. "I saw you order Zak to bump Sunshine on her first day. You lot got fined!"

"Slipping into port on your own without a tow?" said Zorran. "Well, I hope you run aground! I'll be there and you'll be my salvage!"

"Hey, I'm not salvage!" snapped Izzy. "Okay, fifty, and that's the most I'll give you for a tow."

"Eh?! Get lost!" snapped Zorran. "Not for five hundred! You'll be worth more as scrap!" With that, Zorran left.

"Well, I did ask about a tow," Izzy smirked as he raised his anchor. "And I did not get a tow. So…"

"Heh, that Izzy," scoffed Zorran. "I'll get him one day! Anyway, with luck, there should be a few distress calls today, eh? Heh, suckers always pay at least double to get them out of trouble!" Then, Zorran spotted the ghost tugs up ahead. "Ah-ha! This looks like money!" he said. "Ahoy! You need a tow into port? Ahoy! You there, ahead. I'm hailing you! Give you a fair price! Get you into port safe…" Zorran trailed off as the ghost sailed in between him. "There's no sound! What's going on? It can't be! Aah! It's the ghosts! It's Big Mac's ghost fleet! Oh no! They're gonna get me! Oh! I'll leave you alone, lads! Don't touch me!"

Izzy Gomez was now sneaking into port in the fog.

"It's very foggy, but if I see nobody, nobody can see me," he said to himself. "So I can get into port for free. It's good!"

Then, Izzy saw the ghosts coming towards him.

"Eh! You watch where you're going," he snapped. "Why don't they answer? It's funny… Ay caramba! It's a ghost! Oh, don't take me! I got a tow already; he's on his way! Please don't take me! Ahhh!"

The ghost tugs slid silently into the fog. Zorran was so shaken, he sailed around in a circle and met Izzy again.

"Oh, ah, oh!" Zorran exclaimed as he collided with Izzy. "Ah! Oh, it's you. Haven't gotten far, have you?"

"Zorran, give me a tow!" begged Izzy. "I'll pay what you want, any price you say!"

"No, Izzy, my old friend," said Zorran sheepishly. "I'll tow you in for free, I need some company getting back to port! Heh heh!"

O.J. returned from escorting two tramp steamers out to sea. Tired, and still some way from our pier, he decided to take a shortcut through the inlet where old cranes were kept. The fog gave everything a creepy look. Being out for so long in thick fog was playing tricks with him.

"What's happening? Oh!" he cried as he passed Big Mickey's crane, working in the fog. He could have sworn he saw a dead-looking face on it.

"Wh-what…" he gasped. "Big Mickey's crane wasn't sentient…" The paddle steamer gulped. "Maybe he's out to get us to avenge its operator's death? But Bluenose isn't alive anymore–"

"O.J.!" called a voice.

"Who's that?! Are those Scuttlebutt's ghosts?" O.J. asked. "Can't be. Oh, blast this fog!" Then he heard an engine working in the fog. "What's that? Sounds like an engine! A crane, working in this fog?"

O.J. jumped as an arm suddenly swung out in front of him.

"Oh, it's you, Scuttlebutt," O.J. said with relief.

"Oi! You stupid tug!" snapped Scuttlebutt Pete. "You sailed right between us! You scared the daylights out of us all together!"

"Sorry about that, Scuttlebutt," said O.J., before joking, "Thought I was a 'ghost tug', did you?"

"Don't joke about those things!" replied Scuttlebutt as he raised his arm to let O.J. get past him.

"Not seeing things, are you?" said O.J.. "You're beginning to believe those tales you tell!"

"You take care, O.J.," said Scuttlebutt.

"Cheerio!" called O.J. as he continued on his way back to the Star Dock, but the ghost tugs crossed his path.

"Ah! Oh! Now I'm seeing things!" gasped O.J.. "They're there! That's the ghost tugs! Right before my eyes! Oh, I hope they don't see me!"

Zak and Zeus were collecting more "treasure" to replace the cargo Zip and Zug had lost the previous night.

"Why doesn't Captain Zero just scrap those two?" said Zeus. "Or better yet, pawn them off onto Captain Star without returning them? They cause more trouble than they're worth."

"Says the tug who almost got the entire port infected on his first day," sneered Zak.

"At least I wasn't stupid enough to destroy an entire railroad bridge!" snapped Zeus.

"Oh, you want to get even, do you?!" snapped Zak. "We'll get ev…"

Then, the two tugs stopped as they saw the ghost tugs passing by.

"I don't believe my eyes!" gasped Zeus. "They are real!"

"Oh no!" cried Zak. "They must have come to steal my soul! Get away from me! Please!"

The ghost tugs slipped away.

"Let's… never speak of this… again," breathed Zak. Zeus quietly agreed.

Top Hat had been out all day too.

"That's funny," said Top Hat. "I can't recognize a thing! Not even hear a fog horn. That can't be right. I'll try once more." Top Hat blew his fog horn. "No one's replying! When I get back, I'm certainly going to complain to the port authority… if I ever get there." Puffa rushed across the railroad bridge with an evening train, his whistle startling Top Hat. "Oh! Ah! What is it?! Ah, no! Ah, it-it's a… What? Oh, I say. The rail bridge, ha ha! Silly me!"

"Evening, Top Hat!" Puffa called as he passed by.

"Er… evening, Puffa…" the Stars' railway tug trailed. After Puffa's train crossed the bridge, Top Hat continued on his way.

"I never thought I'd get as jittery as the others, but I am!" said Top Hat. "Oh dear, where am I?! But if I steer between these trampers, I should be in open water, yes." Then, Top Hat saw two of the ghost tugs approach him. "Ah, ye– Oh! The Ghost Fleet! It's true! Oh! Oh no! They haven't seen me. No, they've missed me. Oh, good." Then another tug passed the other White Fleet tugs in the opposite direction. "Ohh! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" cried Top Hat. "What? Oh no. They must be here to punish me for my cowardice. I'm sorry! That's enough for me. I'm not moving from here until daylight!" Top Hat hid behind the trampers. "It's far too dangerous out there! I'll dock here for the night. They won't see me. Miles from home. Oh, why was I such a coward? Why couldn't I have been brave like the others?"

Ten Cents and Sunshine were taking fuel out to Lillie Lightship.

"Aw, how are we gonna find her in this?" asked Sunshine.

"O.J. taught me to wiggle," replied Ten Cents. "To keep the breeze on the same cheek all of the time. That way, you beat the currents and sail in the right direction. Oh, she can't be too far away now."

The two Star switchers heard the howling wind and the sound of ice breaking.

"Hey, heh! What's that?" exclaimed Sunshine. "It sounds like ice breaking. It can't be, can it? Oh I don't like it, Ten Cents! What's happening?!"

"Yeah, well, how should I know?" replied Ten Cents. "It's weird!"

It was then that Ten Cents and Sunshine saw the ghost tugs and heard the crackling ice again.

"Look!" gasped Ten Cents.

"Ahh, jeepers creepers!" panicked Sunshine. "Oh, we're in for it! Outnumbered! Oh, it is! They've come to get us!" Then, the water started to bubble and ripple as something rose from the surface.

"Oh! Look at the water!" gasped Sunshine. "It's bubbling! It's… What is it, Ten Cents?! What do we do?!"

"How should I know?" replied Ten Cents. "Ah, look at that!"

"Ah! It's a galleon, isn't it?!" said Sunshine.

Ten Cents and Sunshine gasped as they inched closer towards the galleon. They got so distracted that they bumped into each other. This was where things started to get really scary. Explosions, lightning and fog gathered around the galleon, which frightened poor Ten Cents. Then, a ghostly face appeared and disappeared multiple times as lightning and fog took over the old galleon. All the while, Ten Cents started to wince his eyes and cried out in fear.

"It wasn't a face, was it?!" Sunshine asked. "With a crown on?! Like King Neptune! I think…" Sunshine stopped as she saw the state of Ten Cents and realised what was happening. "Oh no!" she cried. "Hold on, Ten Cents. Ah'm gettin' us out of here."

Sunshine slowly backed herself and Ten Cents away from the galleon. The galleon disappeared into the fog. Once they had backed to a safe distance, they heard a voice.

"Ten Cents! Sunshine! Is that you?" it called. Sunshine turned her wheelhouse and was relieved to see Hercules and Zob emerge from the fog.

"Oh, am Ah glad to see you two!" she said. "Ten Cents and Ah saw some ghostly white tugs and a galleon! And Neptune, Ah think, with explosions and lightning which… Well, see for yourself."

Hercules looked at Ten Cents and gasped in horror.

"Little brother," he gulped. "Sunshine, you go with Zob and find Lillie. I'll take Ten Cents back to port."

As Zob led Sunshine to Lillie, Hercules escorted Ten Cents back home.

I hope we can explain everything before this happens again, Hercules thought to himself. "There there, Ten Cents," the ocean-going tug whispered. "Big brother's here… You're going to be alright…"

An early sun had burnt off the fog. But Top Hat was still asleep where he tied up. Then, Grampus surfaced and spat water at Top Hat.

"Oh! Go away, ghost!" shrieked Top Hat. "No, don't hurt me! Please! Please! Ah, oh! What? Oh, Grampus, it's you…"

"What are you doing here, Top Hat?" asked Grampus. "And what's this about ghosts?"

"What, sorry? Did I say, 'ghosts'?" said Top Hat sheepishly. "Oh! Ha ha, I must have been dreaming. I lost my bearings in the fog and moored here for the night."

"This here? That is funny!" chuckled Grampus.

"What's so funny?!" asked Top Hat.

"You're only five hundred yards from the Star Tugs Pier!" replied Grampus. "It's there, look!"

Top Hat raised his wheelhouse to see the Star Dock in plain sight. The railway tug rushed to the Star Dock. The rest of the Star Fleet were there, except for Hercules and Ten Cents, as were the Z-Stacks.

"Listen, everybody!" cried Top Hat. "I've seen ghost tugs for myself!"

"We've all seen them!" replied O.J.. "Ten Cents and Sunshine have seen a galleon too!"

"Yeah, and Ten Cents had an episode of shell-shock!" added Sunshine.

"What?!" gasped Top Hat. "Gracious! Where is he? Is he alright?!"

"Don't worry," said Warrior. "Hercules took him to see Captain Lucky this morning. They're on their way back."

"Aye, sae ye'd better nae be trying tae mock us, Top Hat," growled Big Mac. "Whit happened tae Ten Cents is serious."

"But these were ghosts!" insisted Top Hat. "I assure you! I saw them, really! Silent! Phantoms of the sea!"

"So you admit ghosts exist now, Top Hat?" snarked Zip.

It was at that moment Hercules and Ten Cents arrived, the latter still shaken from his ordeal. Then, Captain Zero and I poked our megaphones out of the announcing house.

"Now," I said, "I understand that there have been rumours going around about some ghosts in the harbour."

"Aye! Ghostly white tugs!" said Big Mac.

"Yeah, white tugs and a big galleon!" Ten Cents said, shakily.

"And Neptune, Ah think!" said Sunshine.

"I saw them too!" exclaimed Warrior.

"Well," said Zob, "I believe it's time we put those rumours to rest, assuming that you agree, Captain Zero."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Captain Zero sighed, "go for it."

"In that case," I replied, "fire away, Hercules."

"Thank you, Captain Star," Hercules replied. "Now, I would like to assure you that there are no ghosts in the harbour."

"Then, what did we see?" snapped Zak.

"Well, I'll tell you," said Hercules. "They're the White Fleet, down here from Northern waters on the trail of an iceberg. These tugs sail at times with engines off, listening for cracking ice. They were set up in 1912 after the sinking of the Titanic so they can warn ships of icebergs so that a disaster of that scale can be prevented in future. Captain Star, Captain Zero, Zob and I were informed of their presence, but Captain Zero insisted on keeping it a secret." He shot a look at Captain Zero's megaphone. My rival gave a sheepish cough.

"Unfortunately," Hercules continued, "this has now reached a stage where we've been unable to do so. There was a wooden galleon frozen in this iceberg which must have melted in our warmer water. That's why Sunshine and Ten Cents saw the old vessel bob up to the surface. As for the lightning and explosion, there was a freak storm at the time. I'm afraid I can't come up with an explanation for why you saw Neptune, Sunshine."

"Perhaps, Ah let the fog play tricks with my mind," said Sunshine.

"Maybe," I said, "I think everyone's been feeling jittery ever since the munitions disaster two months ago, as was evident with Ten Cents' shell-shock episode."

"Indeed," agreed Captain Zero. "We're ordering all of you to go and see Captain Lucky. She's worked wonders on Hercules and Sea Rogue, and is starting to help Zebedee. I'm sure she'll be able to help the rest of you too."

"Yes, sirs," replied the tugs.

"Captain Star," asked Ten Cents, "what have they done about the galleon?"

"Burke and Blair have claimed salvage and they should be passing by right now," I replied.

Sure enough, the tugs watched as Burke and Blair towed away the rotting galleon. Captain Lucky was indeed able to see each of the tugs one by one and they all talked about their experiences both with the ghosts and the fire. As time went on, they began to feel better about it. But Hercules and I both agreed to keep everyone in the loop about special assignments in future so incidents like this never happened again.

The End

Arthur's notes: There you have it. The last of the official episodes uploaded. This one ties a bit more into Munitions as the tugs deal with trauma and supposedly seeing ghosts. Dear little Ten Cents... if tugs could be hugged, I'd give him one.

We also introduce Captain Lucky - a deleted character who I genderflipped (a nod to the show Salty's Lighthouse where Captain Star was a girl). Captain Lucky, according to the wiki, "lacks Captain Star's fierceness and Captain Zero's aggressiveness and is therefore very passionate towards the tugs in comparison." So, it sounds to me that the three captains were originally going to be a "Nice, Mean and In-Between" trio: Captain Lucky being 'nice', Captain Zero being 'mean' and Captain Star being 'in-between'. In all honesty, if Captain Lucky did come to fruition in the show, maybe I wouldn't have minded Captain Star's behaviour in Quarantine and Pirate so much... mostly because I think Captain Lucky could have given Captain Star a crash course on having more empathy toward his tugs. And I did speak to a couple of people on twitter that did like the idea of Captain Star gradually becoming more of a father figure rather than a stoic business person.

From here on out, we have deleted episodes, annual stories, buzz books and some original ideas. Starting off with introducing our Diesel Tug - named Jimbo - next time in Tug of the Future.