"Stand-by for Action!"
"We're about to launch STINGRAY!"
"STRINGRAY! STINGRAY! STINGRAY! STINGRAY!"
"Marineville! I am calling Battle-Stations! Anything can happen in the next ten chapters!"
"STINGRAY! STINGRAY!
STINGRAY! STINGRAY! STINGRAY!"
STINGRAY - BATTLE STATIONS!
(Based on the TV21 Comic Strips "AQUATRAZ" & "THE URANIUM PLANT INVASION")
Chapter 1
A POWERFUL MAN
CRUISING on the surface of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from the West Coast of America, the World Aquanaut Security Patrol's super-sub Stingray was travelling at a slow speed along the flat calm waters. Inside the cabin at the controls was Captain Troy Tempest. Beside him sat Lieutenant George 'Phones' Sheridan, and sitting in the lounge area towards the rear of the cabin sat the beautiful Marina, the mute girl from under the sea, along with her pet furry seal called Oink.
Stingray had been on one of its routine patrols, which had proven to be a rather quiet one. Usually the crew would get into some scrape, scrap or other misadventure, so it was unusual for there not to be one.
"Patrol's almost over, skipper," Phones said, breaking the silence.
"Mhm," Troy answered. He seemed to be only half-listening.
"Everything okay, Troy?" Phones asked.
"What?" Troy said, snapping back to reality. "Oh, sorry, Phones, I was miles away."
Phones gave a chuckle. "You looked it, too," he said. "Something on your mind?"
"Oh, nothing major, Phones," Troy replied. "I guess the quietness of this patrol has finally gotten to me. I was also expecting to get a call from Commander Shore about a potential passenger we could be taking back to Marineville."
"Passenger?" repeated Phones with intrigue. "And who might that be?"
"One Marshal Ketov," said Troy.
Phones blinked in surprise and even Marina looked up from her sewing to listen.
"Ketov?!" said Phones. "What would bring him out here?"
"Didn't you know, Phones?" Troy asked. "The Marshal has been on a tour of W.A.S.P. bases for the past two weeks. He's currently visiting the Pacific Uranium Dredging Plant."
Phones checked the scope comparing the position of Stingray to that of the Plant's location. "But that's in a totally different area to where we are now, Troy," he said. "Would the Commander really expect us to go all the way there to collect him?"
"I sure hope not, Phones," replied Troy. "That would add another two days to this patrol at least. I don't know about you, but I've been craving a steak for the past week. Atlanta promised to cook us some when we got back."
Phones felt his mouth water. "Mmmm, steak…" He began to drool.
"Phones?"
Phones spluttered. "Hic! Oh, er, s-sorry…erm…Troy!" he said embarrassed. "I, er, er…" He couldn't find the words to continue.
Troy chuckled. "It's okay, pal," he said. "I've been feeling the same way."
Just then the radio buzzed twice, alerting them to an incoming call. "Marineville calling Stingray. Commander Shore speaking."
"Here we go," Troy said quietly to Phones before acknowledging the call. "Go ahead, Marineville. Troy Tempest here."
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Troy, but I finally have the news you've been waiting for," said Commander Shore over the radio. "You will proceed to Position North-North-East, 1100, Reference Six and rendezvous with the B-4 Bathyscaphe, where you will collect Marshal Ketov and return him to Marineville."
"P.W.O.R.," acknowledged Troy. "How's the Marshal enjoying his visits to W.A.S.P. Installations, sir?"
"He's impressed, Troy, and it must stay that way!" Commander Shore said from inside the Control Tower at Marineville whilst his daughter Atlanta looked on. "He's one of the world's most powerful and strongest leaders. NOTHING must upset him. NOTHING! Is that understood?"
"Quite understood, sir," Troy answered. "We're changing course to make the rendezvous point. We'll report back when the transfer has been made."
"Good!" said Commander Shore and swiftly ended the call, placing his left radio microphone back into its holder on his green hoverchair.
"A bit abrupt with them there, weren't you, Father?" Atlanta asked.
"I'm not having a go at Troy, Atlanta," Commander Shore replied. "You know how important Marshall Ketov is?"
"Of course I do."
"Then you'll know why I won't be able to relax until I know he's aboard Stingray," said Commander Shore. He then hovered away leaving Atlanta feeling uneasy.
As Stingray turned to Starboard to head North, Troy and Phones hadn't failed to notice the tone of Commander Shore's voice. "He sounded worried, Troy," Phones remarked.
"He's got every reason to be, Phones," Troy replied. "When the Marshal's tour was agreed to, the Commander had to give his word that Ketov would be protected by the W.A.S.P.s at all cost. If anything were to go wrong, he'd be in BIG trouble!"
Phones shivered. He checked the scope again. "Luckily we're nowhere near Titan's territory," he said. "And I don't know of any encounters we've had with undersea races in that area."
"Me neither," said Troy. "But we cannot let our guard down because of that. Take us down to two-hundred feet, Phones."
"Two-hundred feet, skipper," acknowledged Phones. "Flooding Q."
Stingray's ballast tanks took in water and the submarine quickly slipped beneath the surface. Once down at two-hundred feet, Troy ordered 'Rate Six' which pushed Stingray to its maximum speed of six-hundred knots.
"Level at two-hundred feet, Rate Six," Phones reported.
"Good," said Troy. "Better make some coffee, Phones. We've got around three hours before we make the rendezvous point. Although Ketov is a well-meaning man, I kind of feel I'm going to need to be fully on the ball with him when he's on board."
"Okay, Troy," said Phones. He got up from his seat, turned only to see Marina heading down the stairs to the galley with a warm smile on her face. "I, er, think Marina's gonna make it for us," he said.
Troy gave a smile. "You spoil us, Marina!" he called down. "Make it extra strong, could you please?"
Despite not being able to talk, Marina gave a friendly wave to Phones as he was the only one who could see her to show she understood.
Phones sat back down. "Say, Troy. Did the Commander mention a B-4?"
"He did, Phones, yes," said Troy. "It's a sister to the B-1."
"I presumed as much," Phones replied. "I didn't realise any more had been built after what happened to the B-1."
"She and the other five members of the class were already in the final stages of construction when the B-1 tragedy happened," said Troy. he put Stingray onto autopilot and sat back in the chair with a depressed sigh. "You remember that day we found them, don't you?"
"How could I forget?" answered Phones. "One of the worst discoveries of my life, Troy."
"Mine, too," agreed Troy. "Professor Darren was a great man. And Chuck…well he was just too young."
Phones nodded sadly in agreement. "One day," he said.
"One day what?" Troy asked.
"One day we'll hold Titan accountable for taking their lives," said Phones.
"There's no proof that it was an Aquaphibian that discreetly punctured the hull of the bathyscaphe and jammed the escape hatch," said Troy. "But…given how he tried once before, we can only guess that Titan was the one who orchestrated it."
"We did the right thing in recovering the B-1 with them in it, weren't we, Troy?"
"Of course we were! Their families needed closure. And the B-1 now resides in the Maritime Museum as a memorial to them. The B-2 to B-6 were then purchased by the W.A.S.P.s to continue the Professor's legacy by becoming deep-sea research and recovery vessels."
Phones managed a small smile. "He'd have liked that," he said.
Just then, Marina returned with their cups of coffee. They thanked gratefully and then sat in silence, sipping at the coffee, and reflecting back on what had been a dark day for the W.A.S.P.s.
The large metal gates that concealed the docks of the Pacific Uranium Dredging Plant slowly opened away from each other to allow the small yellow Bathyscaphe B-4 to sail out into the vastness of the ocean. Once it was through, the gates closed behind it and the craft soon submerged to head for the rendezvous point. It was nowhere near as fast as Stingray was. It could only achieve a speed of twenty knots, but underwater there were no obstacles in its path and it could travel in a direct straight line to where it was to meet with Stingray.
Inside the control room, Marshal Ketov sat in the Captain's chair. In his hand was a brandy, given to him by Captain Aurora O'Shea who worked the Bathyscaphe alongside Lieutenant Ariel Reef. The craft was on autopilot so they could afford to relax a little.
"How's the ride, Marshal?" asked Captain O'Shea.
"Magnificent, Captain," replied Marshall Ketov in his thick Eastern European accent. "Everything I've seen on this tour has been most excellent. And that includes this very efficient vessel of yours."
O'Shea was touched by the compliment. "Thank you, sir. But this is only a deep-sea research vessel. You wait until you get aboard Stingray. That'll really impress you."
Marshal Ketov chuckled. "I've heard a lot about this Stingray," he said. "Apparently she has a very good captain?"
"The best, said Lieutenant Reef. "No offence, Captain," she added.
"None taken," said O'Shea. "Nobody will ever be as good as Troy Tempest." She turned to Reef. "How long before we rendezvous with Stingray?"
"About two hours," replied Reef.
"Excellent," said Marshal Ketov. "Soon my tour of the W.A.S.P. Installations will be completed with a return to Marineville. I am pleased to say that Commander Shore has done a very fine job at keeping me safe from anyone who would want to harm me."
The trio in the B-4 couldn't have known that their progress was being tracked from a sinister-looking red house perched high on a cliff on the Island of Lemoy. It was home to an equally sinister being, Surface Agent X-2-0 who was the number one spy for the evil King Titan of Titanica - a ruthless underwater tyrant who wanted nothing more than to conquer the surface world.
X-2-0 had been waiting for the right opportunity. Once he was certain of the B-4's location and direction of travel, he pushed a button beside a picture frame in the dining room of the house. The picture inside the frame slid up to reveal a series of buttons. He pushed another and everything inside the dining room began to change. Pictures slid up, down or swivelled around revealing speakers and other gadgets. The floor where the table and chairs were swivelling ring over to reveal a control panel. Other pieces of furniture also moved about and as X-2-0 walked up to the panel, the back wall moved upward to reveal a large monitor screen.
The screen came on to reveal the sinister face of Titan with his oily grey skin, black beard and purple crown. His big bushy eyebrows stood out above the green menacing eyes that were underneath. They looked at X-2-0, unblinking. "Yes, X-2-0? What is it?"
"I have news, Mighty Titan," said X-2-0. "I've been monitoring a small terrainean craft identical to the one that was at the Kendrick Trench."
Titan growled angrily. "If those fools think they can try once again to steal what is MINE! They will suffer the same fate as their colleagues did the first time!"
"From their direction of travel, they are not heading to the Kendrick Trench, Your Majesty," said X-2-0. "I have reason to believe they are heading for a rendezvous with Stingray. Apparently it is carrying a VIP who has been touring the W.A.S.P.s bases including the Pacific Uranium Plant."
This caught Titan's interest. "Is that so?" he asked slyly. "Who is this VIP on board?"
"I believe it is Marshal Ketov, Mighty Titan," said X-2-0. "He is one of the most important leaders of the world. The chaos that would befall the surface world if anything were to happen to him-"
He was cut off when Titan began to laugh maniacally. "EXCELLENT!" he boomed. "This is just what I have been waiting for! You have done well on this occasion, X-2-0!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty," said X-2-0. "Although might I suggest you strike now before Stingray gets too close?"
"It shall be attended to at once!" thundered Titan before the screen went blank.
X-2-0 gave a sigh. "I wish he would thank me. Even if it's only once."
The B-4's journey had been uneventful which was what O'Shea, Reef and Marshal Ketov had been hoping for. All the same, Reef had kept a constant watch on the Bathyscaphe's radar and sonar screens to make sure that there was no danger in their vicinity.
"We're approaching the area now, Captain," said Reef. "We're actually a little ahead of schedule. We might even beat Stingray to the rendezvous point."
O'Shea grinned. "That'd be one I'd be more than happy to remind Troy Tempest of more than a few times," she said. "The mighty Stingray pipped to the post by a Bathyscaphe."
"So long as they're not late," said Marshal Ketov. "I have a tight schedule, Captain and nothing must-"
A sharp beep from the sonar screen made everyone fall silent. "What is it, Reef?" asked O'Shea.
"I'm not sure, Captain," Reef replied. "There's another craft out there and it's heading our way."
"It has to be Stingray surely?" asked Marshal Ketov.
"I don't think it is, sir," said Reef. "It's slower than Stingray is and it's coming from the wrong direction."
"Where is it?" asked O'Shea.
"Off to the starboard side," said Reef. "About a-thousand yards and closing."
O'Shea climbed up a ladder into the B-4's conning tower and looked through one of its portholes. It was pitch black outside, except for a pair of bright white lights shining off in the distance. They looked like eyes staring blankly right at her. O'Shea turned a switch by the porthole which turned on a powerful spotlight on the side of the Bathyscaphe's conning tower. It immediately illuminated the unknown craft, and she almost gasped out loud in horror. "Oh, my God!" She hastily turned off the light and slid back down the ladder into the control room. "Reef, get us out of here, now! There's a Terror Fish coming right at us!" She jumped into her control chair just as a shocked and scared Reef pushed the B-4's motors to full power.
The Bathyscaphe responded with a will, turning sharply away to the left and diving deeper towards a series of underwater rocks and caverns below.
"What the hell is a Terror Fish?" demanded Marshall Ketov.
"You've heard of King Titan of Titanica, haven't you, sir?" asked O'Shea.
"I've heard myths of such a person," said Ketov, "but they're obviously false."
"I'm sorry to break it to you, Marshall, but it's not a myth," said O'Shea. "Titan and Titanica are very real, and one of their warships is now chasing after us. You'd better hang on."
For once in his life, Marshal Ketov found himself unable to say anything. He could do nothing but hold on tight as Reef pulled off some slick evasive manoeuvres to try and shake off the pursuing Terror Fish.
The Terror Fish however was a lot faster than the B-4 and it took no effort at all to close the gap and chase after it through the rocky underwater mountain range. As it followed it around, the two grotesque looking green occupants known as Aquaphibians observed their prey from behind the large eye portals. They spoke in their gargling native language and one pushed a button that opened the mouth of the equally sinister-looking fish-shaped vessel. Inside the mouth was a short row of guided missiles. One gave an order, and the other pushed another button. One of the missiles shot out of the Terror Fish' mouth, closed in on its target…and struck.
The resulting explosion didn't destroy the B-4, but it was crippled. The Bathyscaphe lost all control and dropped down, crashing onto the seabed and stopping dead against a rock wall. It then sat there, battered and beaten as the triumphant Terror Fish moved slowly in towards it.
Titan sat in his throne room waiting for news. Soon the two Aquaphibian guards that stood down at the bottom of the stone stand where his throne was moved aside as another Aquaphibian entered the room, hurrying up the steps and then bowing down at his feet. "Well?"
"It has been done, Mighty Titan," said the Aquaphibian in a gargling voice. "The Bathyscaphe has been disabled. The occupants aboard are still alive and are imprisoned aboard the Terror Fish."
"Excellent!" said Titan. "The Bathyscaphe is mine! Order the recovery team to bring it to Titanica!"
The Aquaphibian nodded and hurried off.
X-2-0 had come to Titanica after informing Titan about the Bathyscaphe. He turned to the tyrant on the throne. "The capture of Marshall Ketov gives you a big card to play over the Terraineans, Mighty Titan," he said. "But what use would you have for the B-4?"
"More than your primitive brain could come up with, X-2-0!" retorted Titan. "The Terraineans have many secrets, and perhaps if we can learn what some of them are from it, we could use those to our advantage. We could use the Bathyscaphe as a means to strike back where they least expect it."
"Like the Trojan Horse?" said X-2-0.
"Exactly!" agreed Titan. He gave a cackle. "I can just imagine how enraged Commander Shore will be when he learns of the Bathyscaphe's disappearance."
Four hundred miles to the South, Stingray was still heading for the rendezvous point, unaware of what had happened.
"We're approaching the area, Troy," said Phones. "Should be at the rendezvous point in about ten minutes."
"Okay, Phones," said Troy. "Put me through to the B-4. We can arrange the exact pick-up point then."
"Aye-aye, skipper," said Phones. He opened a link. "Ready, skipper."
"Stingray calling B-4. Do you read me? Over."
They waited for a response to come. But it didn't. All they could hear was static.
"Stingray calling B-4. Do you read me? Over," Troy said again.
Once again, nothing.
Both Troy and Phones began to frown as they exchanged concerned looks. "Phones, can you pick up the B-4's engine sound?" Troy asked.
Phones listened carefully into the hydrophones that he wore. "Negative, Troy. I'm not picking anything up."
Troy's stomach churned. "They should have reached the rendezvous just before us!" he said. "That means something must be wrong! Get me, Marineville, quickly!"
Phones switched frequencies. "Go ahead," he said.
Troy then spoke urgently into the radio. ""Stingray to Marineville. Come in, please. Urgent!"
"Receiving you, Stingray," Atlanta's voice answered over the radio. "Wh-"
"TEMPEST, WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Commander Shore suddenly barked, cutting his daughter off.
"Contact with the B-4 has been lost, sir!" said Troy. "She's not responding to our calls nor can Phones detect her."
An unnerving silence followed this as Troy, Phones and Marina waited nervously for the Commander's angry response. To their surprise, it wasn't loud like they were expecting. Instead, Commander Shore spoke in a low and quiet voice that sounded as though it had a tremble in it. "Troy…I don't care what you have to do…but get to that rendezvous position and find out what's happened. NOW!"
Even though they were expecting it, the final shout still made them jump.
"Yes, sir!" said Troy and he ended the call. "Full speed and give her more, Phones!" he ordered. "We've got to find that Bathyscaphe!"
Even though Stingray was already at full speed, Phones pushed the motors even harder than normal to try and get any extra speed that the vessel could muster.
Titan and X-2-0 stood at the large window in the throne room that looked out into the open ocean that surrounded Titanica as a group of vessels began to sail into view. Leading the way was the Terror Fish that had taken out the B-4. Inside were Marshal Ketov, Captain O'Shea and Lieutenant Keef tied up as prisoners. Following behind were four more Mechanical Fishes attached to an unusual contraption of cables and clamps which connected them to some kind of harness which was carrying the crippled B-4 Bathyscaphe.
"A magnificent sight, would you agree, X-2-0?" Titan asked.
"Oh, yes indeed, Your Majesty," agreed X-2-0. "For once we were able to outsmart the World Aquanaut Security Patrol."
"Yes, and it should remain that way from now on," Titan said sharply. He turned and began to walk back to his throne before speaking to the two Aquaphibians who were on guard at the bottom. "Prepare to meet our 'guests'," he said.
It wasn't long before the Terror Fish had docked and the prisoners were removed into Titanica itself. Titan and X-2-0 watched as four Aquaphibians entered surrounding Ketov, O'Shea and Reef, all three of which had their hands tied tightly behind their backs. O'Shea and Reef were silent due to being somewhat afraid of what was going to become of them. Ketov on the other hand made no attempt to hide his anger at the situation he was in. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" he bellowed at the Aquaphibians. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I AM MARSHAL KETOV!"
"It matters not to me who you are, Terrainean!" Titan's raised voice echoed off the throne room walls. "You are all my prisoners!"
Ketov fixed Titan with an icy cold stare. "And you must be Titan?" he asked with a growl in his voice.
"You have assumed correctly, Marshal," said Titan, standing up. "I am glad to see that my name is getting around on the surface world."
Ketov was shaking with fury. "This is an OUTRAGE!" he bellowed. "When word of where I am gets out, my country will NOT HESITATE TO ANSWER THE CALL TO ARMS AND-"
WHACK! One of the Aquaphibians had struck him on the back of the head with the end of its weapon, knocking him to his knees. Then another one backhanded him across the face when he got ready to shout again.
"ENOUGH!" boomed Titan. "My apologies, Marshal Ketov. My Aquaphibians aren't used to having guests in their city."
O'Shea decided to speak up. "You think you'll get away with this, Titan?" she asked. "Marineville will know we're missing and Stingray will be out looking for us."
Titan chuckled. "I may not know who you are, Terrainean," he said. "And I quite frankly couldn't care less. But I have no doubt that Stingray will be out looking for you, and seeing as we removed all evidence from where your little craft came to rest, they'll have a hard time finding anything." He then addressed the guards. "Take them away. I shall decide what to do with them later."
A full hour had passed since the prisoners were removed from the throne room. Titan had remained silent during the entire time as he waited for his scientists to return with news on the B-4. It seemed a lot longer to him, but then everything seemed to take forever for someone who spent the majority of their time just sitting on a throne brooding mostly.
Eventually, two Aquaphibian scientists entered the room. They were easily distinguishable from the regular ones. They didn't wear the spikey crowns but did wear cream-coloured lab coats. One was holding a piece of slate with some alien writing on it. This was what they used to write on.
"Mighty Titan…" the one not holding anything began to speak. "We have discovered the secret of the power that drives the vessels of the W.A.S.P.s."
"Yes, indeed," said the other scientist. "It is a special type of the mineral called uranium."
"Uranium?" repeated Titan. "Like what that Plant the Terraineans have has something to do with?"
"Exactly!" said the second scientist. "If we could get some of it for ourselves, we could upgrade all of our attack vessels to be faster and more agile than anything the Terraineans have got. Even Stingray!"
A vicious smirk spread across Titan's face. "That is the best news I've ever heard," he said. "With that kind of power, my fleet will be INVINCIBLE!" He turned back to the scientists. "Find out what else you can on this mineral and see about making repairs to the Bathyscaphe. It could be very useful to us."
"As you command, Mighty Titan," the two scientists said before quickly leaving to return to their work.
X-2-0 then spoke up. "What about the prisoners, Mighty Titan?" he asked.
Titan pondered. "They're of no use to me here," he said. "But I fully intend to take advantage of the chaos that the death of Marshal Ketov would bring." He turned to the guards. "Guard! Have the prisoners put aboard another Mechanical Fish and take then to the undersea prison of Aquatraz. Once they're there…they will be EXECUTED!"