Chapter 9

ESCAPE

X-2-0 was awoken from his slumber by a bucket of water being thrown over his face. When he came to his senses, he found himself tied to a chair inside one of the warehouses. The only light came from a small desk lamp which was being shone in his direction. X-2-0 then found himself looking at his captor - Troy Tempest.

"H-H-H-H-H-How did you-"

"I'll ask the questions," Troy cut in. "I've often had a strange hunch in the back of my mind which I have never been able to shift. Why is it that so many strangers have visited Marineville over the years with an oddly-similar voice? And why is it that I have paid two visits to the house on the Island of Lemoy, to meet two different people, one who claimed to live there, and one claiming to have been living whilst the owner was away, both of which had an identical voice?"

X-2-0 was in a cold sweat.

"I noticed one of the Fish-shaped craft docked back there was different to the rest," Troy continued. "And for a few minutes I couldn't figure out where I'd seen it before. Then when I heard your voice talking with Titan, it came to me. You were Professor Sanders - the man who claimed he could teach dumb people to speak. You were also the film producer Mr Goggleheimer who tried to make a movie about the W.A.S.P.s and then tried to kill me. We chased him to Lemoy and found the old man there instead. And you were the supposed carer of Duke Dexter when he mysteriously vanished. When we found him after, the carer was nowhere to be seen!"

X-2-0 was sweating profusely. Then he finally spoke. "You are right, Troy Tempest. It was me! And I have done much more than that!"

"Let me guess, it was you who posed as the physiatrist when Phones thought he was going mad after hearing soundings? AND…I now remember Fisher and I chased an identical craft to yours near where the sounding device was found. Was it you who attacked the Oil Snake as well?"

"Yes!" said X-2-0. "And it was me who tried to get Ali Kali killed in that old aircraft before posing as El Hudat's lawyer and broke him out of the Marineville jail!"

Troy felt his blood pressure rising all the time. "All of those things," he said. "And every time it was you."

X-2-0 was managing to get himself together. "That's right, Troy Tempest," he sneered. "I have been inside Marineville many more times than just to gather information. And yet it is claimed the security of Marineville is supposed to be the best in the world." He began to cackle. "OW!"

Troy had slapped him across the face. "I ought to take you back to Marineville to answer for your crimes," he said. "But at least I know your name, X-2-0. If you ever set foot in Marineville again, you will be made accountable for your actions!"

X-2-0 sneered again. "You'd have to find me first, Tempest," he said. "And I won't make it easy for you. That's if you can even survive being here. When Titan finds out you're here, it'll be you on your knees and begging for mercy!"

Troy scoffed. "You keep telling yourself that," he retorted before striking X-2-0 with a powerful punch across the jaw. The agent and the chair toppled over and landed on their right-sides. X-2-0 lay motionless, out cold.

Troy glanced at his watch. "Idiot," he cursed. "Why did you waste time with this guy? You could have found the guys and been on your way by now!"

Deciding not to dwell on it too much, Troy exited the warehouse and carefully closed the door behind him. He then made his way through the complex of buildings that made up the Uranium Plant until he eventually found the one where all the holding cells were kept. Using his stealth skills to evade the patrolling Aquaphibians and the watching security cameras, he made his way inside and up to the levels where the cells were located. "I'm not going to have long in there," he told himself. "I've got to make every second count. I just hope they don't give me away."

Finding one of the cell doors, he was relieved to see it had an open window with bars in it. He went up to the door and peered inside. He saw three men: Russo, Buckman and Day, sitting on a stone floor trying to sleep.

"Psst! Guys!"

The three men stirred. "Huh?" said Day. "Which of you's making that noise?"

"Yeah," said Russo. "Cut it out, will you?"

"Guys, over here!" whispered Troy.

It was Buckman who saw him first. His eyes snapped open and he scrambled to his feet. "Good lord!" he exclaimed. "Captain Tempest?!"

Now all three men were awake and their feet. They hurried to the door. "How did you-"

"Shhhhh!" hissed Troy to silence them. "Don't give me away, guys, please. It's not been easy getting to you."

"Well sure," said Russo. "But how-"

"You can thank Lieutenant Boyd for this later," said Troy. "He managed to escape on a tanker and warned Marineville. I've infiltrated my way in to talk to you guys. I figured you needed to know you aren't alone in this."

"This sure is a relief," said Day. "We'd noticed Boyd was gone. We presumed Titan had topped him off or something."

"What are you going to do?" asked Buckman.

"I can't do anything right now," said Troy. "But I need you boys to do something. You need to fix Titan from the inside."

"But how?" asked Russo. "They watch us all the time."

"You're being forced to convert the Terror Fish to atomic power, right?" The men nodded. "If you alter the isotope radiation gauge by four degrees…"

"Of course!" said Day. "The liquid oxygen activator will burn through the casing and then wham!"

"Exactly," said Troy. "I'll get back to Marineville and organise things from our side. If you can find a way to inform the others without alerting the Aquaphibians."

"We can do it, Troy," said Buckman.

Troy smiled. "Good. I'm counting on you guys." His attention was then grabbed by the ominous sound of webbed feet coming down the corridor. "I have to go. Good luck."

"Be careful," warned Russo.

Troy managed to conceal himself behind some pipes as an Aquaphibian Patrol marched past. "Phew. just in time," he told himself afterwards. "But I bet it won't be long before they find X-2-0 if Titan suspects he is missing. I'll have to move fast."

As stealthily as he'd come, Troy made his way out of the building unopposed and began to make his way back through the loading docks to where he'd hidden his Chariot.

Titan was back inside the Control Room of the Plant. He was watching the docks and feeling a little curious. "Has X-2-0 left yet?" he asked.

"No, Mighty Titan," answered one of the Aquaphibians. "We haven't even heard from him yet."

Titan frowned. "If there's one thing X-2-0 is not, it's late," he said. "Except that one time. Call him up."

"Yes, Mighty Titan," said the Aquaphibian before speaking into the radio. "Plant Control to X-2-0. Are you ready for departure?"

But there was no response from the radio.

"Something is wrong," Titan said. "I can feel it. Send out a search party. I want X-2-0 found!"

"Mighty Titan, there's someone moving about inside the docks!" said the Aquaphibian who was watching the monitor screens.

Titan came over to look. On one of the camera feeds they could see a figure trying to stay out of sight. "Someone has managed to escape one of the cells!" he growled. "Send a patrol over to recapture him."

Just then an urgent call came over the radio. "Mighty Titan. We have just found X-2-0 tied up inside a warehouse. He says Troy Tempest is here!"

Now it was Titan's blood pressure that shot up like an angry volcano. "Tempest?! But how did he-" He broke off and turned back to the CCTV footage. "THAT'S TEMPEST!" he roared. "STOP HIM!"

Troy found himself back by the dock where the Terror Fish were moored. "Just along this dock and around the corner and I'll be there," he told himself. Suddenly a powerful searchlight came on and shone its beam right on him. "WHA…?!"

"TEMPEST!" Titan's voice suddenly boomed out over the tannoy.

"Damn it!" Troy cursed. "They've seen me!" He broke cover and began to run down the dock only to stop dead when he saw the shapes of five Aquaphibians running in his direction. He then looked to his left and saw there was another group running along the opposite quay behind the Terror Fish. He knew he needed to act quickly as he could take them all on by himself. His pistol could only fire one charge at a time. Then he noticed the Fork-Lift Truck he'd used to hide in earlier. "Perfect!" he said, running towards it. He scrambled into the cab and to his relief, found the key had been left in the ignition. "You'd better start for me," he said as he turned it. The Fork-Lift coughed into life and Troy began to drive it forwards. He turned the vehicle around and then raced along the dock, straight at the advancing Aquaphibians. Several of them stopped and tried to shoot at him with their weapons only for him to hit a number of them with the vehicle and either knock them over or cause them to jump out of the way.

The freed X-2-0 emerged from the warehouse with another two Aquaphibians in time to see the commotion. "THERE HE IS!" he shouted. "STOP HIM!"

The two Aquaphibians charged forwards but Troy spotted them. He turned the Fork-Lift in their direction before bumping it into a stack of crates which toppled over and landed on top of them whilst X-2-0 chickened and dived back inside the warehouse in terror.

Troy now had a clear run back towards the docks but soon he realised that the Aquaphibians were recovering themselves and now shooting in his direction. "I need to throw them off my tail," he said. "But how?" Then he had an idea. "Yes, that'll do it." He put on his mask and visor and revved the Fork-Lift's engine to full. It raced along and Troy hurled himself out of the cab just as it drove over the edge of the dock. Both fell down and landed with a big splash in the water. As Troy had hoped, the Aquaphibians came running over to where the Fork-Lift had gone over and began looking in the water for any sign of him. Strangely, none of them thought to jump in after him.

Troy used the distraction to make his way around the dock to where his Chariot was still moored. He climbed aboard and removed the suction cups before pushing himself away. Now he tried to start it up. But to his dismay, it didn't seem to want to. "Come on, damn you! Start!" he cursed.

He therefore failed to notice another Aquaphibian on the opposite quayside. It took aim with its weapon and fired. The blast struck the front of the Chariot and caused Troy to fall back into the water.

"AAGH!" Troy cried out as he disappeared beneath the surface whilst shots from the other weapons landed in the water around him. As quickly as he could, he began to swim down to the bottom of the pen.

The Aquaphibians gathered on the docks and watched as Troy's destroyed Chariot sank beneath the surface.

"Did we get him?" asked one of them.

"GET AFTER HIM, YOU FOOLS!" Titan's voice boomed over the tannoy.

Six of the Aquaphibians now dived into the water and began to search for Troy.

Troy saw them enter the water and knew he had to make a break for it. "Must swim or they'll get me," he told himself and began to swim as fast as he could through the plant. "Gee, my head is pounding. Must swim…fast!"

He swam and swam, trying to make his way towards the dock gates. But as strong a swimmer as he was, he knew he would only get more tired and weaker the more he swam. Soon the energy began to drain and he found himself rising upwards towards the surface.

"No…Must…Stay…Under…"

But he could not. And by the time he did surface, he could hear sirens wailing and searchlights moving in all directions. Troy managed to duck under and moved over to one of the moored ships where he managed to conceal himself behind one of the anchor chains. He was just in time for a trio of Aquaphibians went passing by without noticing him.

"Not good. This is not good," he told himself. Then a thought struck him. "I have one chance left. But it means putting Frank and Joe at risk. I have to chance it." He then got onto his mask radio. Tempest to Albatros. Do you read me? Over."

"Loud and clear, Troy," Frank answered. "You ready for pick-up?"

"Yes, but we have a problem," said Troy. "I was discovered. The Aquaphibians have destroyed the Chariot. I'm stuck inside the Plant. If I can get out into the open section, can you do a snatch retrieval?"

"Of course, Troy," said Frank. "We'll be in and out before those fishmen know what's happened. Get yourself in the dead center of the pen and release your catch balloon. We'll be there in exactly two minutes from now!"

"Roger," said Troy. "Make it snappy. We'll only get one shot at this!"

Troy checked to make sure the coast was clear before coming out from his hiding place. He swam out into what he was certain was the middle of the open area of the Plant's Pen. He constantly checked every angle to make sure that there were no Aquaphibians closing in on him. Once he was certain there were none, he headed upwards and broke through the surface. To his relief, none of the searchlights were shining in his direction. What he wasn't sure about though was which direction the Albatros would be coming in from. However, if his plan worked, he wouldn't need to worry about that. He pressed a button on his belt which released a helium balloon from a pack on his back. It inflated quickly and then began to rise upwards into the night sky. But as Troy watched it rise, he noticed it flashed with a small but bright light which was for the aircraft to home in on. He quickly realised that if the right eyes were looking in that direction, it would be spotted.

His fears were quickly realised when a searchlight quickly shone in his direction. He had to shut his eyes and raise a hand to shield them from the brightness. It was accompanied by shouting from the docksides.

"Ah! There you are, Tempest!" Titan's voice boomed over the tannoy system. "Welcome to the first part of my new empire. Soon all of my Mechanical Fish will be converted to atomic power! And Stingray will be just as defenceless as you are!"

Troy looked around as the heads of several Aquaphibian that were in the water began to emerge from beneath like creatures from a horror movie swamp. They fixed him with their unblinking eyes and vicious teeth. Then he noticed the unmistakable shape of a Mechanical Fish heading towards him. It was one that had been out on patrol outside the Plant and was one not yet converted to atomic power.

"Bring him ashore," Titan ordered over the tannoy. "I have long awaited to have Troy Tempest grovelling at my feet!"

Troy felt sick by those words. "Will I hell?" he said out loud. "I'll die before that happens."

"Be quiet!" barked one of the Aquaphibians, jabbing its weapon into Troy's back. "Start swimming!"

"To the Mechanical Fish!" ordered another one.

Troy was about to comply when he spotted a set of lights in the night sky behind the approaching Terror Fish. Instead he gave a grin. "I have only one thing to say to you all," he said. "Be seeing you!"

The Aquaphibians had been so focused in locating Troy, none of them had thought to check the radar. They therefore had no idea that an aircraft was approaching them at speed. At least that was until they started to hear the rumble of its engines.

Titan and X-2-0 were on a viewing platform on the outer wall looking down at where Troy was illuminated by the searchlights. They became somewhat confused by the strange rumbling sound they could now hear.

"What in the name of Neptune is that?!" Titan asked.

X-2-0 then spotted the lights. "Y-Your Majesty!" he gasped. "There's an aircraft coming right at the Plant!"

"An AIRCRAFT?!" repeated Titan. "But how can-"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the roar of the aircraft's engines as it soared overhead. On the nose of the Albatros was a catch device that snatched the cable connecting the balloon to Troy. One moment Troy was in the water surrounded by enemies, the next he found himself being yanked out of the water and up into the sky. "WA-HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" he yelled in surprise. He was just in time to see two dark objects land in the water on opposite sides of the Terror Fish whilst the circle of Aquaphibians stared up after him, too stunned to even realise what had just happened.

Then came two mighty explosions as the two depth charges dropped by the Albatros detonated, rupturing the Fish's hull. The shockwaves also caused a mini tsunami that splashed against the sides of the pen, wiping out the Aquaphibians in the water and even covering Titan and X-2-0 in water.

By the time Titan had recovered himself, he looked back into the water and watched as the Terror Fish was now sinking beneath the surface. He then looked to where the searchlights were still shining. All he could see were floating bodies of the deceased Aquaphibians. There was no sign of Troy and he quickly realised that Troy had been snatched from his grasp by the aircraft. "No…NO! TEMPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST!"

Once out of range of the Plant, the Albatros crew was able to recover Troy and get him back inside. Troy was feeling somewhat light-headed following the sudden rise out of the water but after some water and tablets he felt a bit better.

"Thanks, guys," Troy said once they were on the way again. "Good job on that Terror Fish. That's got to be a very rare occasion that one isn't destroyed by Stingray."

"Can't you underwater boys have all the fun," chuckled Joe. "What now?"

"I need to get back to Marineville," Troy said. "Now I know the full extent of Titan's set-up, we need to act sooner rather than later."

"You got it, buddy," said Frank. "Marineville, here we come!"

Two hours later, Troy was back in Marineville Control Tower. He was still in his swim-suit but without the mask and tanks as he was handed a cup of hot coffee by Atlanta. "Thanks, Honey," he said gratefully. "Gee, I sure needed that."

"Glad to see you back in one piece, Tempest," said Commander Shore. "How bad is it out there?"

"As bad as could be expected, sir," replied Troy. "Titan's got the captives working to convert his fleet of Terror Fish to atomic power. Several have already been done but there's still several more waiting to be done. And with each passing day, the greater the chance of Titan potentially getting an unstoppable force."

"Hmmm, right," growled Commander Shore. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"There's only one thing to do, sir," said Troy. "Stingray has to go in tomorrow and take out the operation before it can be completed."

"But, Troy!" objected Phones. "Stingray is still under repair. It'll be another three days before she's ready!"

"That's too long!" said Troy sharply. "Like I said, Titan's forces will get stronger the longer we put this off!"

Everyone looked at Commander Shore. In the end, the final decision would always be his. "Very well, Captain," he said. "I will divert all available resources and manpower onto Stingray. You'll have her ready by dawn tomorrow. And then we take the fight to Titan!"