Chapter 3: Captured!
Whilst all that was going, Ten Cents, Penny, Moonlight, Zip and Warrior were comforting Ariel, Sunshine and Theodore, who were especially worried about Melody, Hank and Emily.
"Thanks for the comfort, you guys," said Theodore. "It scares me to think that Hank and Emily are in grave danger."
"Ah don't want to lose Hank the way we lost Zug," said Sunshine, causing Zip to wince. "Oh… sorry, Zip."
"It's not your fault, Sunshine," said Zip. "I lay blame at the ones who murdered him in the first place."
"I don't blame you," said Ariel. "Poor Melody, though – she's at the mercy of a group of evil-minded tugs who want diesel-powered tugs like her dead."
"Don't worry, Ariel," assured Penny. "We'll catch those monsters with any luck."
"And if they try anything funny with our friends, I'll make them wish they'd never had the First Firing!" Ten Cents said fiercely.
Just then, Salty walked up to them. "I've been checking the CCTV cameras," he said, "and I saw Gabby refueling at an unspecified tanker barge. Not far away from her was an unknown tug. Then Gabby fell asleep and this tug threw a towline onto her."
"That sounds like Gabby was knocked out with Green Water," said Theodore.
"Mmm-hmm," said Moonlight. "Do you have any idea what this mysterious tug looked like?"
"She looked like a harbour tug with the same crest as Ten Cents, Hercules and Penny," replied Salty.
"So we're dealing with an Eagle Works tug," said Penny.
"Mmm-hmm," said Moonlight.
"We'd better keep an eye out for this other tug," said Theodore. "Spread the word to the others."
Everyone else agreed and as they headed off, Ten Cents was thoughtful. An Eagle Works harbour tug, he thought to himself. Could it be who I think it is?
Meanwhile, Julissa was on the phone with Addison. Because of the difference in time zones, the latter was calling from four hours ahead.
"So, how's it been going on your end?" asked Julissa.
"So far," replied Addison, "we've captured BoCo – who claims to be Edward's boyfriend – the snooty railcar Daisy, that tram-diesel who nearly got Toby killed, Mavis, an annoying boxcab named Philip, and a diesel named Scarlett who talks funny."
"What do you mean, 'talks funny'?"
"Basically, she talks like the Hulk would," explained Addison. "You know, speaking in broken English and replacing pronouns with her name or other engines or people's names."
"I see; that is unusual," admitted Julissa. "I wonder what happened there."
"Well, don't worry," replied Addison. "Once we've eliminated all the diesels and electric engines, steam will be free to roam."
"We've managed to capture Jimbo, Gabby, Melody, Emily, Foduck, Hank, George, Benjamin and Jasper," replied Julissa.
"Excellent," said Addison. "Tonight, Lawrence will be going to Arlesburgh to collect the four diesels on the Arlesdale Railway, and tomorrow, I'm sending Rodney to collect Rusty and Fred from the Skarloey Railway."
"I'll leave you to it then," replied Julissa. "I've got to plan for tonight's attack."
"Good idea," said Addison. "Goodbye, Julissa."
The two evil women hung up and Julissa went to look at the captured tugs. They had been siphoned of their fuel, rendering them unable to make an escape.
"Guys, I'm really scared…" Hank said in a shaky voice.
"What did we do to deserve this?" Melody asked, trying not to cry.
"Simple; you exist," sneered Mara.
"That's our crime?!" snapped George. "We're doing our jobs!"
"Exactly," Lightning snapped back. "You took our work and steam tugs like us ended up on the scrapheap!"
"That wasn't our fault!" argued Emily. "It was the fault of people who wanted to cut costs! They're the ones to blame! We didn't want to replace steam tugs! We did it because they left us with no other choice!"
"And besides," added Jimbo, "my predecessor, Bluenose, was steam-powered, but everyone who knew him despised him. He was bossy and obnoxious, always prioritizing orders over common sense. All that culminated in the Munitions disaster of 1922 where 126 people died as a result of Bluenose's incompetence and Ten Cents was almost killed. In the aftermath, Admiral Cardona had Bluenose executed via a Final Firing and brought me to replace him at the Naval yard."
"You just keep proving our point," replied Piranha. "Admiral Cardona obviously wanted a convenient excuse to dieselize."
"Oh, don't worry," assured Julissa. "When we've eliminated these vermin, everyone in Bigg City will realise how idiotic they were and bring back steam once and for all."
"Didn't you hear what they said?!" argued Arista. "They said they didn't want anything to do with this!"
"Try telling that to the Navy," retorted Saleen. "The moment the Soviet Union collapsed, our fates were sealed."
"What do you mean?" asked Emily.
"Oh, you sweet naive tug," Cyclothymia said sweetly. "You monsters don't deserve to know," she added bitterly.
"Yes, they do!" snapped Attina. She then turned to the captured tugs. "Saleen, Cyclothymia, Blaze, Mara, Chlotilda, Lightning, Piranha, Cancer, Venom, my sisters and I were assigned to the D-Day landings back in World War II, but remained in Europe due to the start of the Cold War as part of the Strategic Steam Reserve, which meant if a nuclear attack were to occur, steam tugs would be utilized in an emergency."
"But the Cold War ended nineteen years ago," said George.
"And that's when the trouble started," Alana said sadly.
December 1992
It was almost a year since Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union, which subsequently dissolved into separate countries. This left the United States as the world's superpower, but we were about to receive some bad news.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T WANT US ANYMORE?" shrieked Saleen.
"I'm sorry, Saleen," said Admiral Frank Benton Kelson II, Chief of Naval Operations for the United States at the time, "but now that the Soviet Union has collapsed, the Cold War is over. Because of that, the threat of nuclear weapons has reduced, thus making the Strategic Steam Reserve redundant."
"He's right, Saleen," said Adella. "We've given good years of service, but it's time to let the next generation take over."
"And rust in the scrapyard because of those oil-guzzling sharks?!" exclaimed Mara.
"That's not what I said," insisted Admiral Kelson.
"No, it's what you implied!" snapped Piranha.
"Well, it's nice to see some tugs who agree with me about diesel tugs," said a voice. There, standing on the dockside, was a young woman who wore red clothing and had her hair in curls.
"Hello," she said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Addison Hecate Darnell."
"Err… nice to meet you," I said. The six of us – Attina, Adella, Aquatta, Arista, Andrina and myself – sensed something off about her, but the rest were quite pleased to meet her.
"I'm looking to set up my own heritage railway between Armathwaite on the Settle to Carlisle line and the old mining town of Leadford," explained Addison. "I'm going to call it 'Addison Darnell's Exotic Lakeside Railway'."
"Anyone who names their railway after themselves must have some serious issues," muttered Andrina, but Addison didn't hear her.
"Some people might like to have a ride around Leadford Lake," continued Addison. "How would you like to come and live there?"
My sisters and I tried to say no, but the nine other tugs outnumbered us. Admiral Kelson agreed to the sale and we were honorably discharged from the Navy. With that, we set off for our new home, if you could call it that.
"Why did you do this?" asked Arista. "That woman just screams 'trouble'."
"Sorry, dears," replied Blaze, "but the majority vote counts."
Soon, we arrived at Leadford Marina near her "Exotic Lakeside Railway".
"Now, listen up, my new tugs," said Addison. "I have a plan to eliminate all diesel engines, electric engines and diesel tugs from this planet and bring steam back to its former glory. Who's with me?"
"I am!" shouted Saleen, Cyclothymia, Blaze, Mara, Chlotilda, Lightning, Piranha, Cancer and Venom in unison.
"We're not!" my sisters and I shouted.
"…did you just say 'no'?" Addison said in a dangerous voice.
"We said, 'we're not'," said Arista, "but that does mean the same thing."
"And why not?" asked Addison, trying to maintain composure.
"Because… it's not right," said Alana. "Our sister Ariel would never approve of this."
"Girls," said Addison, still in a dangerous voice, "do you know what you're implying?"
"All we're saying," I began, "is that–"
"IT IMPLIES HOW UNGRATEFUL YOU ARE!" Addison screamed at the top of her lungs. "I SPENT ALL THIS MONEY TO SAVE YOU FROM THE SCRAPHEAP, AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME?! NOW UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE SCRAPPED BY ME PERSONALLY, I SUGGEST YOU DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!"
"Addison!" called a woman; this was Julissa. "Let me handle this!"
Addison, growling like a wild animal, agreed. "Fine!" she snapped. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my smashing room!" With that, Addison disappeared into an empty building and as the door slammed shut, there was the sound of angry yells and items smashing.
"So you have a sister named Ariel?" asked Julissa.
"Yes," replied Adella. "The last we heard of her was in 1942, when she went to Bigg City Port to cover for a tug who had been killed in the attack that occurred there."
"Well, I used to live in Bigg City," said Julissa, "but I never once saw a tug named Ariel."
"You d-didn't?" we asked, realising what she was implying. To us, it meant that she'd died.
"Oh no," she replied. "You see, those who organised that attack weren't done yet." We felt heartbroken at the realisation and ultimately, we gave in.
Present
"But Ariel's still alive!" insisted Emily. "We know we've seen her."
"That's what that wimp Henney said," sneered Saleen. "But they've not heard word from their sister since 1942, have you, Arista?"
"Well… no," said Arista.
"Now then, Lightning Stacks," said Julissa, "let's go and prepare for Stage Two." With that, the Lightning Stacks left and the captured tugs looked at each other in worry.
"Those six tugs are being bullied into doing this!" gasped Hank.
"Did she just say Henney was working for Addison?" asked George.
"Henney?" asked Melody. "Wasn't that the name of Porter's sister?"
"That's her," replied George. "After the war ended, Henney volunteered to go to the United Kingdom to help rebuild along with three logging engines named Lexi, Placido and Maeve, as well as a tugboat named Meridian who was covering for Big Mac."
"Placido and Maeve accompanied Meridian to Sodor," explained Emily. "From what we've heard, the former two worked for a logging company near Cronk, but after that closed, they became part of the maintenance crew on the North Western Railway. Meridian now works at Arlesburgh Harbour with another tug named Drollan, but is occasionally loaned to Tidmouth harbour."
"And then Porter moved to Sodor after he was rediscovered," said Gabby.
"Not only that," said George, "but Skiff, who used to belong to Captain Zero's family, now lives at Arlesburgh harbour after Captain Zero's grandson, Sailor John, was arrested, and most recently, Lexi has joined the North Western Railway."
"Wow!" gasped Hank. "Who knew that Bigg City and Sodor could be connected in such a way?"
"All I know is that these villains are in for a nasty surprise," said Foduck. "When you mess with one tug in Bigg City Port, you mess with everyone with Bigg City Port."
"They've messed with more than one tug," pointed out George, "so the Lightning Stacks could be facing an ocean liner-sized reckoning."
"Well, I'm keeping my bow that Theodore and the others will come and rescue us soon," said Hank.
"Me too, Hank," agreed Emily. "Me too."
Arthur's notes: And now we get to see the extent of the trauma: some of the vehicles in Julissa's fleet used to be in the cold war. Not only that, we see Ariel's sisters are being bullied into working for the enemy.
Next time, we'll be in for an Explosive Surprise. See you then!